Does anyone know how to do text-wrap around inserted images in an LJ post?  Xpyne and I think we've seen this done before, but we're not sure... ',: /

Here's that pic of Kanzeon.  Figured I'd post it rather than email in case anyone else wanted it.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a73/Xpyne/dirtyKanzeon.jpg

Minekura's Kanzeon, from backpages of Gaiden volume 2. 

I photoshopped out the words "Saiyuki 02" but it was a bit of a lazy job since i've misplaced my tablet (i know where it is, i just cant go get it until saturday ::sob::) and i had to use a laptop finger pad, booo.  so, uh, it might need some touching up, sorry!  feel free to do as you like with the image, ya'know, like adding those cool swirly things you do and such! :) 

any one else who likes this image feel free to take; it's all Minekura's.  all i did was clean it up and remove some text from over Kanzeon's person.

  This is a little drabble I wrote way back when for keire_ke 's birthday, but I was too...I don't know; I felt shy and didn't want to post it. ><;;;;;; haha, but it's been languishing on my computer ever since, so I thought I might as well post it after all. Happy super-belated b-day!

Title: Goku x Sanzo Love Concerto in Four Seasons
Author: Xpyne
Warnings: None, worksafe.
Notes: Inspired in part from reading too many j-pop lyrics, such as The Future by Black Horn, and by flipping through Gaiden.



Flist your thoughts, of course, are quite welcome. #^^#

This is for mokona13  , and anyone else who hasn't read these. Go do so now! XD

First and foremost, anything by Sleeps With Coyotes is AMAZING, (and she does many fandoms. I LOVE her FMA stuff to death!!) but I particularly recommend:

Dead Again, (PG13; post-Gaiden fic featuring Konzen, Kenren, and Tenpou experiencing sex the time between reincarnations waiting for Goku.)

Assumptions Unlimited, (NC17; Sanzo x Seiten Taisei Goku, need I say more?)

How the Four Traveled to India, or, Somebody's Been Sleeping In My Bed. (PG13; a clever & insightful fairytale-style re-telling of Saiyuki.)

Also, I really liked

Awakenings by stitcher2ficcer (I'm trying to remember--I think this actually might be the fic that was REALLY GOOD but annoyed the crap out of me because the sex ended up being off-screen... >:T haha but it's still definitely worth the read; 39 Goku-becoming-a-man type story.)

Lotus Land by Viridian5 (PG13; eek, one sided 53! lol well, more like Gojyo just being a perverted opportunist and Sanzo-chan none the wiser.)

Hot for Teacher by Cosmo (NC17; 58 Gojyo in a schoolgirl uniform kink. XD)

Addicted to Love by Madamhydra (NC17; Kougaiji x Sanzo absolute porny crack. Surprisingly has a bit of plot, but mostly it's just a sexy excuse to see Kougaiji and Sanzo go at it in a contrived situation that allows them to remain somewhat in-character. :3 )

Wake Up is another much meatier fic by Veridian5 (NC17; 39 & 58 reincarnation fic.) <--I can't seem to link directly to this one. Follow link to main page, use left scroll section, click Saiyuki, click "Wake Up" to read.

Pearls by kispexi2  (NC17; 93 Sanzo and Goku go on holiday to the seaside, and Goku gets to top since it's his birthday.)

Red Lights by moshesque  (R; 39 Sanzo and Goku take a wrong turn in a shoddy village but somehow still end up in the right place after all.)

Into Bed by Trismegistus (NC17; 58 Gojyo wants to sleep in his own bed for once, but that doesn't keep Hakkai out of it.)

X____X;;;; ::pants:: if only there was a way to just link y'all to my "Saiyuki fix" folder on my computer and save me the trouble of hunting down links to all these... Maybe i'll rec some more stuff later. This is like, the tip of the lazy iceberg.  ^^;;; Now go on, spend the rest of your week reading/re-reading all these! ♥

We are now hip-deep in the moving process, and I still haven't gotten around to calling Time Warner and getting us Internet...  Of course, my old roommate made off with my ethernet cord, so one of us will also have to drive on down to Fry's for a wireless router at some point.

How long will this process take?  With us, who knows?  Ahahahaha.  =_=;;;

Gambatte, self!  >.<

EDIT: Xpyne says:

OMIGAWD.  MY INTERNET IS TOO FAST. WHAT WILL I DO WITH ALL MY FREE TIME NOW?!?

What's with me and cosplay Saiyuki pictures? LOL well, here's one I actually drew over a year ago but I never finished coloring it until eyesofshinigami    prodded me, hehe. ♥  Since today is my birthday, I wanted to post something! XD  So here ya go! haha

Title: Naruto Wut?
Artist: Xpyne
Rating: PG
Warnings: this is worksafe, I think.  but quite silly.
Characters: Sanzo, Goku, Gojyo, Hakkai
Medium: sketched in 8H pencil, inked, colored with Prismacolor pencils (yay real media!), cleaned up in photoshop
Notes: this picture makes me all warm and fuzzy ♥  haha why yes, I am a Narutard.
Time Taken: I have no idea. *__*;;;

Wow...  When you take a look at this Stigma picture, it practically screams shota Saiyuki reincarnation.  LOLZ  >:D

I don't think it's humanly possible to be as busy as my sister, but yes! I'm still here, I've just been a bit busy myself, though I have been lurking, so I haven't fallen too far behind on the latest flist dramas. :3 For those of you concerned, or just wondering, Solitaire has had all her free time lately eaten by:

- Working
- Actually having acquired some semblance of a social life ::gasp:: (usually just dinner or movie-night in with my girlfriends)
- Lots of sewing, mostly for cosplay
- Watching The Office (I really don't watch tv, but everyone has been raving about this show forever so I gave it a try, and now I'm hooked!)
- Playing with my Bimbo <-- BIGGEST WASTE OF TIME IMAGINABLE. But oh, so addicting. TAT

I haven't had much time for writing, which disappoints me, and there are so many things I've got started that I desperately want to finish and share... I've been hanging on by my fingernails, though, telling myself that once I'm no longer working (the week of the 22nd is my last!) I'll finally have the time to buckle down and get shit done. ::cough::LikeWakeUpHeart::cough::

And for those who do worry when they haven't heard anything from me for months weeks on end, I figured I should probably explain that I have this mental block about just posting to eljay for the sake of posting... I tend to feel like I'm wasting the flist's time unless I have something significant to post about, or a story or something worthwhile to share. ::laughs:: That, and I tend to think of Xpyne and myself as a unit, so I fall into the habit of thinking that as long as one of us is posting and not saying otherwise, the other is therefore evidenced as doing well, too.

But I figured you guys deserved an update, even though the only reason I'm finally posting now is because I DO have a drabble to share this time. ~♥!

Just an update, Solitaire an Xpyne will be going to Anime Expo for all four days, w00t! Though we will only have the full ikkou in cosplay on Saturday. So hopefully we can meet up with and say hi to any of you guys that'll be there. ♥ I wonder if there will be a Saiyuki group meet up? I think there usually is. <:3

So of course I put this off until (almost) the last minute, but I people have been asking whether or not we're going to Anime Expo this July. Xpyne and I keep saying "most likely," but I, erm, haven't actually bought any tickets yet.

Usually there isn't much dilemma involved, and by paying for the younger siblings' registration, they (meaning specifically our 16 year-old brother who's far too cool to hang around with his sisters all day in quite the un-manly wig--sorry, Gojyo) are obligated into cosplaying with us. Except I won't be working any more come the end of June, and by this point, for the four of us to go to AX all four days would be $240. ',:O
And that's not counting the (exorbitant) cost of food during those days, nor all the money which will inevitably be wasted spent wisely on crap indispensable items of the fannish sort.   In addition to the obvious money issue, there's the fact that this would be our third year in a row cosplaying Saiyuki. Now I'd be content to dress as Sanzo every year for each con we go to ::laughs:: but I am kind of conscious of seeming like no one (read: EurobeatKing) ever sees anything new from us... :S

I'm debating whether I'd rather save myself a couple bucks and just do the two day thing... Xpyne and I would really like to see Seki, but he's going to be there early (12:30 - 1:30 pm) Thursday, and a Thursday at any con is practically a waste of money anyway because the weekend hasn't even really started yet, and any decent vendors who want to maximize their profit for the space they'll be renting are more likely to wait for the bigger-crowd days anyway.

But if there's anyone on the flist who will be going and would like to meet--or if you know someone from the comm who'll be going--it'd be nice to have the opportunity to do that...

So I guess I'm trying to get a feel for what would be the best two consecutive days to attend, if I do in fact only register us for two.  Anyone care to throw out there what days they'll be going, if you are?

Happy Birthday kispexi2!!♥♥♥♥♥♥

Sorry I don't have anything super cool to give you at the moment, but we want to wish you a happy birthday and a wonderful year!  I'll try to have something lovely up for you by next week. :d  and, um, wellll, it's not much, but until then, please enjoy this little drabble!

 

 ***EDIT  alright! ♥ I've finished drawing you a birthday gift!   I tried to put in many things I know you like, such as hands, glasses, cuddling, and 39! X)  nyaaaa~ I hope you enjoy it. ::xoxoxo:: X3

Title: Happy Birthday, Kispexi!
Artist: Xpyne
Rating: PG13
Warnings: this is worksafe, I think.  man-on-man cuddling.
Pairing: 39
Medium: sketched in 8H pencil, gone over in HB pencil, cleaned up in photoshop
Notes: this picture makes me all warm and fuzzy ♥
Time Taken: about 3 hours

 

 

I compiled some info I researched a year or so ago for a recent response to kambeiadaro's interesting translation of the phrase "Makai Tenjou!" and it occurred to me that perhaps the flist would be interested in said info.  So, here it is.  Feel free to ignore this if you saw the other post.

The Maten Sutra that Sanzo chants is based off the Heart Sutra. I don't know of anyone else who says so, but I researched sutras when deciding what text to use for the cosplay sutra I made for Soli.  On page 122 of gensomaden Saiyuki volume 1, Sanzo chants,

"Kanjizai bosatsu gyou-jin han-nya ha... ...shoken go on kai ku do issai... ...soku setsu shu watsu... ...gya tei gya tei ha ra gya tei ha ra so gya tei... ...bodhi so wa ka hannya shingyo... ...on ma ni hatsu mei-- un... makai tenjyo!" 

Oddly enough, I recognized the phrase, "Gya tei gya tei ha ra gya tei ha ra so gya tei... ...bodhi so wa ka!" because it seemed similar to my favorite mantra, the Pranja Paramita, or Great Wisdom, mantra that I use when I practice transcendental meditation.  The original phrase is in sanskrit.  This made me look up the Japanese for the Heart Sutra, which is the text in which the pranja paramita is revealed.

"MAKA HANNYA HARAMITTA SHINGYO

Kanjizai bosatsu gyô jin hannya haramitta ji shôken go un kai kû do issai kuyaku.
Sharishi. shiki fu i kû kû fu i shiki. shiki soku ze kû kû soku ze shiki. ju sô gyô shiki yakubu nyo ze.
Sharishi. ze shohô kûsô. fu shô fu metsu fu ku fu jô fu zô fu gen. zeko kû chû mu shiki mu ju sô gyô shiki. mu gen ni bi zetsu shin i. mu shiki shô kô mi soku hô. mu gen kai naishi mu ishiki kai. mu mumyô yaku mu mumyô jin. naishi mu rô shi yaku mu rô shi jin. mu kushû metsu dô. mu chi yaku mu toku i mu sho toku ko.
Bodaisatta e hannya haramitta ko shin mu kege. mu kege ko mu u kufu onri issai tendo mu so kugyo nehan.
Sanze butsu e hannya haramitta ko toku anokutara sanmyaku sambodai. ko chi hannya haramitta ze dai jin shu ze dai myô shu ze mujô shu ze mutôdô shu nô jo issai ku.
Shinjitsu fu ko. ko setsu hannya haramitta shu soku setsu shu watsu:

Gyate gyate haragyate harasogyate bodhi sowaka.

Hannya shin gyô."

As you can see, Sanzo in the manga chants excerpts from the Heart Sutra, plus the phrase, "on ma ni hatsu mei-- un... makai tenjyo!" Here's the English translation of the Heart Sutra:

"When Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara was practicing the profound Prajna Paramita, he illuminated the Five Skandhas and saw that they are all empty, and he crossed beyond all suffering and difficulty.
Shariputra, form does not differ from emptiness; emptiness does not differ from form. Form itself is emptiness; emptiness itself is form. So too are feeling, cognition, formation, and consciousness.
Shariputra, all Dharmas are empty of characteristics. They are not produced, not destroyed, not defiled, not pure; and they neither increase nor diminish. Therefore, in emptiness there is no form, feeling, cognition, formation, or consciousness; no eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, or mind; no sights, sounds, smells, tastes, objects of touch, or Dharmas; no field of the eyes up to and including no field of mind consciousness; and no ignorance or ending of ignorance, up to and including no old age and death or ending of old age and death. There is no suffering, no accumulating, no extinction, and no Way, and no understanding and no attaining.
Because nothing is attained, the Bodhisattva through reliance on Prajna Paramita is unimpeded in his mind. Because there is no impediment, he is not afraid, and he leaves distorted dream-thinking far behind. Ultimately Nirvana! All Buddhas of the three periods of time attain Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi through reliance on Prajna Paramita. Therefore know that Prajna Paramita is a Great Spiritual Mantra, a Great Bright Mantra, a Supreme Mantra, an Unequalled Mantra. It can remove all suffering; it is genuine and not false. That is why the Mantra of Prajna Paramita was spoken. Recite it like this:

Gaté Gaté Paragaté Parasamgaté Bodhi Svaha!

End of The Heart of Prajna Paramita Sutra"

Aaaand, "Gaté Gaté Paragaté Parasamgaté Bodhi Svaha!" is, like I said, a sankrit phrase. It's my favorite mantra~♥  In Japanese you say it "Gyate gyate haragyate harasogyate bodhi sowaka."  In English, it means, "Gone, gone, gone beyond, completely gone beyond, enlightenment hail!"  Prajna paramita means the wisdom (prajna) that has reached (ita) the other shore (param) and is known as the wisdom that leads to complete awakening. The Japanese rendering of prajna paramita is hannya haramitta.

Okay!  So hopefully someone besides me finds this type of trivia fascinating. :D  I haven't compared this with the audio from the anime, but it's likely that this is the untranslated chant he recites there as well.  Now if only someone knows what Kougaiji chants to summon that flame monster of his...

***Edit:  oh, duh, Volume 1 translator's notes mention the excerpts are from the Heart Sutra, but doesn't translate anything, so I think this is still useful info.  XD  Editor also mentions "on ma ni hatsu mei un" as meaning "the jewel is in the lotus" which isn't quite right; the sanskrit mantra of Avalokiteshvara (which I recognized after celestriad pointed it out) is "Om mani padma hum" and it is untranslatable, but "the compassion is within us" and "behold! the jewel in the lotus!" are metaphors, so to speak, often used as translation.  Each syllable of this mantra stands for the purification of a sin/flaw.

---

	Purifies	Samsaric Realm
Om	bliss / pride	gods
Ma	jealousy / lust for entertainment	jealous gods
Ni	passion / desire	human
Pe	stupidity / prejudice	animal
Me	poverty /  possessiveness	hungry ghost
Hung	aggression / hatred	hell

So altogether, take its meaning to be what you will.  Mystics have dedicated their lives to contemplating its meaning, lol.  ::rolls around on the floor::  Oh, and Mr. Editor translates "Makai Tenjyo" as "divine purification from evil," but after reading kambeiadaro's notes on the multiple meanings of each kanji, I am inclined to take that with a grain of salt. :D

((ps. And according to vol.1 translator's notes, Hakkai's chants are streetfighter moves and jibberish. XDDD  Hakkai, you are too uncool! lol)

Heeeeeeeey~! I feel like it has been a very long time since I've drawn something. But I did some doodles today. :D They're rather crack, but I still liked how they came out and spent far too much time on something so simple! heh. ^^;;; I'll get on to some more substantial stuff sooner or later, I swears! X)

Also, there is this "orphan works" thing going around. As both a fan artist and a semi-pro artist, I looked into it, and it's not something to stress over. It was basically just an issue of copyright terms and "public domain" works, and it didn't even pass. And it supposedly would have been somewhat beneficial to the general public if it had. I'm not going to get into it, but you can read this if you're interested in more info on the topic, complete with cited, verifiable information and links. Honestly. People like to worry about everything, lol. Anyway, on with the art! ♥

Title: Zakuten-rosei and Kogaikoku <--what??
Artist: Xpyne
Rating: mmm, G?
Warnings: this is worksafe, but not totally brainsafe. X)
Characters: Zakuro and Kougaiji
Medium: sketched in 8H pencil, gone over in black micron pen, cleaned up and tonered in photoshop
Notes: I was going to do a Hakkai and Gojyo clothes-swap picture, but then when I was flipping through Reload 6 for references, Zakuro and Kougaiji distracted me with their hot asses. My first Zakuro fanart, yay! Also, is it just me, or does Zakuro look SO HAPPY to be wearing this?? hehe
Time Taken: 20 minutes apiece for the art, plus another 40 or so total in photoshop. @__@;;;

I'm...reasonably sure I haven't already posted this.  About 90% sure. lol

I wrote this quite a while ago, but just now came across it in my writing folder!  (To relieve the inevitable confusion: Goku is raising Sanzo's reincarnation.)




My roommate and I picked up a six pack of Smirnoff Green Tea at the grocery store today, and while we feared this had the potential to be really, really gross, it's actually pretty good!  I would recommend it to anyone who likes cooler-type drinks that are not sickeningly sweet.  :d

Ohhh noes, an anti OTP fic, and the day after Goku's birthday, no less? <-- ಠ_ಠ how could you?!

Written for yuletide_smut , oh so long ago.  As this story here was solely responsible for the most heinous writer's block, I've finally touched it up and decided to post it--and god, I feel so much better now, LOL.

I won't take offense if none of the 393-ing parties on the flist would care to read (I sure didn't), but I can promise it's not so horrible.  ...Okay, well it's horrible, but in a good way.  >:D


Title: Battles Not Won
Author: Solitaire Solitaire
Pairing: Sanzo/ Go Dougan  (::dies a thousand traitorous deaths::)
Rating: NC-17
Notes: Written for epiphanytiff as part of the yuletide_smut  exchange.  Prompts were 'ass play' and 'cum slut.'  Hohoho, ohhh Sanzo.  If you have any "creepy stalker" music on your random play, I suggest you 'repeat' button that shit for ambiance, lolz.  I found A Perfect Circle's "Pet" quite helpful in writing this.  Dubious consent leik whoa.


Creepy stalker...ftw?!?  D:

The next one will be Goku/Sanzo, I promise guys.  DDD:

Dear lj_seek:

It is not helpful, when I enter a search for "Goku/Sanzo bondage domination," that the only legitimate hit is my own fanart.   DDD:

...There are a lot of naked boobies on Deviant Art's main page today.  ',:T

Ah, looks as if I'm alive, after all. ::laughs::  I've been letting Xpyne handle making comments while I try to get back into writing.  I'd been having the most awful writer's block since CHRISTMAS, when Xpyne finally suggested this was because the last thing I wrote and posted was the Sanzo/Dougan monstrosity I did for yuletide_smut.

APPARENTLY, THIS WAS TRUE.  lolol  Once I sucked it up and actually read my own fic, I realized it wasn't so bad after all, and I certainly didn't need to be ashamed to have my name attached to it.  And after tweaking a few words here and there in order to make it ready to post to the general public, it was like...well, I can't think of a non-lame metaphor at the moment, but the writer's block is gone, yay!  Of course, I'm not any faster at writing than I ever was (Soli = snail), but I can get more than 50 words out of myself at a time again, and that's what counts. >:d

So!  I will be posting some good (hopefully, haha) stuff in the near future--and will be catching up on all of what the flist has been writing in the meantime. 

Now I've got to go see if I can possibly finish last year's attempt at a fic for Goku's birthday in time for tomorrow. >_>

Oh, and I almost forgot: I've finally given my 12-week notice at work. (Eep.)  Voluntarily giving up employment to move to L.A. with Xpyne and mooch off her/become her domestic servant???  ಠ_ಠ  Ri-cock-ulous!

Here are some cosplay pictures I've intended to post since, um, yaoi-con 2007, lol. These are of Solitaire, cosplaying as battleversion!Sanzo, in all his bloody glory, hehe. These are worksafe, unless your work has a problem with a little bruising and bleeding or Smith & Wessons. ;D Please check them out and lemmie know what you think! ♥

Costume by Soli, and props, hair & make-up by Xpyne.  Photography by me (Xpyne), Eurobeat King, and this one random nice guy whose name I do not know, but he had a professional camera and a card to his website where he posted con pix. Spruced up and resized in photoshop by me. :D

lalala

Happy birthday, dear!  Ima draw you something crazy fancy and mail it to you so you can hang it up and stuff, but for now, i made you a quick sketch and colored it.  It's a simple thing, really, but i hope you like it anyway! ♥




Hope it was a great one!