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New and dangerous magic

November 16, 2024

I finished the sketch zine I’m planning on bringing to the zine off today.

A finished Death Mark zine on top of some scattered papers.

It’s 16 pages, with a collection of Mashita and Yashiki drawings from the Spirit Hunter: Death Mark game. I also finally made that hanafuda minizine I’ve been thinking about for ages, even if the art is old.

Turning the Wheel A Spirit Hunter: Death Mark fanzine cover featuring Mashita and Yashiki standing in a dark room while Mashita smokes a cigarette.

Someone had described the cover is very “noir.” I don’t know if I’ll be able to draw a whole book in this style, but I guess we’ll find out (after a lot of research and experimentation).

I read Claudine by Riyoko Ikeda while visiting a friend. Even after writing the fujoshi zine, I’m constantly surprised how far ahead the manga-ka of that generation was in terms of telling these types of stories, even if, by modern standards, there are flaws on the outcome of it. I felt the ending matched with the tone of most of the manga I’ve been reading from that vein. It’s not a manga of that generation unless it comes with tragedy, incest, or me yelling “HE WAS A BOYTOY???” (not Claude, if you read it, you will know who it is).

Teenage Claude from the manga Claudine by Riyoko Ikeda smiles while holding a book up. His blonde hair is covered with dark cap, and he wears a large checkered sweater, puffy jacket, and dark pants. He is surrounded by large sparkles.

I’ve moved to Bluesky for social media. It was strange and saddening to delete all the things I’ve made over the years. I’m still glazing things as I go, because my skepticism is higher than ever when it comes to big tech. I have a lot of unsorted thoughts around social media…mostly that it’s both a curse and a boon.

The main group of art friends I have don’t even post their art on social media, and sometimes I wonder if I should join them since they seem like perfectly well-adjusted people. Social media doesn’t come easily to me, as I tend to overthink it. I understand that a lot of artists are there for marketing or promotion purposes, and to grow your following for some goal in the future. I’ve been at this blogging thing for 10+ years, and this has so long outlasted all the other social media accounts I have created. But every event that needs an application asks for social media. Even setting this site to not be indexed is not guaranteed - the robots.txt is a suggestion, and you know how tech feels about boundaries (they have none, and nothing is sacred).

I did manage to make it out to at least one seasonal market this year, as I promised. As much as I say that I don’t go out much (due to energy levels or other reasons), it’s still a lot better than a few years ago.

Chibi demon Tadashi and angel Ainosuke sit under some falling stars. Ainosuke appears like his teen self, and is holding his hands in front of his face as if praying. Tadashi is lounging casually and yawning.

Demon Tadashi and teen angel Ainosuke standing next to each other while Ainosuke holds a large sword over his shoulder. His angel wing is partially visible behind him.

Demon Tadashi and teen angel Ainosuke standing next to each other while Ainosuke holds a large sword over his shoulder. His angel wing is partially visible behind him.

I made this mini sign for the zine off. I’m happy with the way it came out, even if it’s fairly simple looking. Do people even use RSS? I doubt it, but nevertheless, I persist.

A hand-made sign made from a single sheet of paper featuring Tadashi and Ainosuke from Sk8 the Infinity. The information reads as "Kaitou-al awsketch.com Twitch Instagram Bluesky RSS"

An extremely happy Ainosuke hugs Tadashi around the neck while Tadashi carries him in his arms with a stoic expression.

Mashita looks out the side window while smoking a cigarette. Yashiki is driving the van with an angry expression.

Yashiki lies down asleep on Mashita's chest while covered by his long jacket.

This is a rough for a submission to the next CAC quarterly. I am enjoying my time working on these non-BL comics, though, I could make it BL. We’ll see. Apparently the next quarterly will debut at SUCZ 3 in Staunton, Virginia. You can also get the files to download and print at home if you get on the mailing list for the club.

A rough comic page with a lady shopping in a supermarket with a baby stroller. People are smiling and waving at what is in the baby stroller.

I have been showing my newest doujinshi around to friends, even though I feel like it has a lot of flaws. I did really enjoy my time making it and it expresses what I hoped for when I drew it. It might be a bit out of character since it’s so far outside of canon. I’d like to work on an in-canon timeline story next time. Before then, I’m working on a Death Mark book. I have a general idea of what I want to write about. This new book is honestly for myself and my friend that convinced me to play the game. That’s probably one more person than last time, since the old man Tadashi & Ainosuke was mostly for myself. Probably don’t ask me too much about audiences and advertising. But I’m happy that the old man doujin is going to print, and I feel okay enough for it to happen. I’m probably too anxious about everything…but I won’t get better if I keep shrinking myself and avoiding it.

I don’t know why I even need to be anxious.

I went to a workshop at the Queer Zest Zine Fest where Laura Chenault was demonstrating how to do stab binding, and I think I’d like to try that next time for at least one copy. The use of Japanese papers and vellum greatly appeals to me. Also I was worried about having to make a book press, but now I can just bind it with thread.

A pile of folded Days Gone by Tadashi Kikuchi x Ainosuke Shindo Sk8 Unofficial Fanbook zines with light purple covers. The covers feature an older Ainosuke hugging and older Tadashi. They are both wearing their suits.

A box of sorted and organized zines.

Sideview of a box of sorted and organized zines.

I watched Desert Bus for Hope in the background this week, and enjoyed a lot of the activities. I particularly enjoyed the Beyblades x art contest.

My friend asked me about putting something on their table at Comiket, but I only have BL. I am really enjoying the Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End’s playlist a lot lately, especially Zoltraak, Knife to the Throat, and Dragon Smasher.

Twitch 100 follower celebration stream

I hit 100 followers on Twitch. The 100th person was Kokaise visiting my unannounced 2AM stream, haha. I’m planning a celebration stream for December 8, 2024 at 2PM ET on my Twitch account, where I will be taking sketch requests. I haven’t been consistent with it, but that’s okay.

I’m planning on playing Monster Hunter Wilds in February next year. My machine seemed to do okay during the open beta, despite having to lower a lot of settings and it loaded the graphics slowly.

Happy Hunting! Monster Hunter Wilds Open Beta 10.31.2024 A hunter in the beginner Hope armour poses with a 2 finger salute and tongue sticking out.

Watching

  • Genshiken Nidaime: I still enjoyed it, and found it very funny. Some people might find the way Hato is handled annoying by today’s standards, but I thought it was a good attempt of the time. I’d like to see the first season again, or read the manga.
  • Been reading more Shigeru Mizuki.
  • Been reading and copying manga action. I think I need to use a ruler on the iPad or do certain things in Clip Studio Paint, instead of Procreate. I’m still very attached to using Procreate. I don’t have CSP on iPad.
  • I’ve started reading all sorts of topics related to Death Mark. I might even be able to understand Saint Young Men now! I kid.

It turns out the CAC calendar from the last post is USA only. Sorry.

Playlist

In case it isn’t extremely apparent, I am very excited about the upcoming Sk8 the Infinity OVA. It will be screened in Japan in January 2025, and then be on disc in March. I’m not sure when I will be able to see it, but from the trailer, I’m very excited for what is in store for Tadashi & Ainosuke.

This site doesn’t have a comments sections yet, sorry. I do have an idea of how to go about it, though.

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CAC 2025 Pinup Calendar

November 8, 2024

The secret project that I previously mentioned is now live. Please note that this item will only be shipped inside the USA.

Presenting: Comix Accountability Club (CAC) 2025 Pinup Calendar pre-orders!

The Comix Accountability Club's 2025 Pin-up Calendar: support indie comic artists preorder yours today!

12 pages of spicy art to keep you company all year long: the art features a flip through of the calendar, with censored pixellation on the bottom of a character in a cheeky pinup pose in the rain. The final calendar is not censored.

Mockup of the calendar, with previews of the 12 artist's work on the cover and a flipthrough.

I drew the May art. It’s for a fundraiser for the club that will support the CAC Mini-Grant initiative. It features 12 full-color illustrations by CAC members! Please note: the final version is uncensored. Hope you check it out!

A closeup of a man with green and blue hair looks coyly over his shoulder with a blush. He is dressed in a totally soaked and translucent dress robe while clutching an orange umbrella.

Here’s the full drawing.

A man with green and blue hair looks coyly over his shoulder with a blush. He is dressed in a totally soaked and translucent dress robe while clutching an orange umbrella. He is splashing through puddles while wearing a pair of tall, bright, yellow, rain boots.

I’ve been having a rather emotionally trying week, so I’ll update stuff later. I signed up to go to the TZL Zine Off, and I’m planning on bringing some of my zines and hopefully the new Death Mark sketch zine. I managed to purchase the paper for the printer, but I think I overshot when I should have gotten the 24lb paper. Sok, it works well for colour printing, which is what is what I wanted.

Tadashi’s birthday is coming up, and I think this song is rather fitting for him (and Ainosuke).

Playlist

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Zine Shine 2024

July 8, 2024

See you @ Citrus Con: Lewis Smith, a blonde anime character with an open shirt, stands in the sun next to Isami Ao. Isami is also wearing an open shirt. Lewis is smiling, while Isami stares at the viewer. Lewis is taking off his sunglasses to look at Isami, while Isami is pulling his sunglasses up.

Zine Shine: July 9-21, 2024

I’m participating in Zine Shine, which will run July 9-21, 2024 at the Issues magazine shop. There will be a bunch of zines by other zinesters there as well. Tadaai logs will be there at the shop.

You can find out more details on Zine Shine here. Issues magazine shop is located at 1489A Dundas St. W., Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Zine Shine July 9-21, 2024 @ Issues magazine shop. A drawing of a avatar wearing a top hat with short brown hair points at the words from the bottom right corner. On and next to the person are a small bird and little manju plushies.

Tadaai logs sk8 unofficial fun book zine on a red background Tadashi & Ainosuke on the cover

Citrus Con, August 23-35, 2024

You can still sign up to attend Citrus Con in August, which is a free 18+ BL/queer media con. Hamletmachine is going to be a guest(!). I’m running a watch party for Word of Honor, and also participating in the Artist Alley. Hope you check it out if it’s your jam.

Word of Honor is free to watch on Youtube, and is also streaming Netflix. When I filled in the form, I did note that the show doesn’t contain sexual content, but it does contain self-mutilation (self-harm) and violence. My favourite character list does contain Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishou, but my favs are actually Ye Baiyi and Scorpion King. This show is hard-carried by the actors, especially Wenzhou. I believe this drama was shot post-lockdown in China: there are some really funny screenshots of this show where it’s very clear that the production budget simply wasn’t there. I seriously think this drama is worth your time, even if it won’t compare in popularity to works by MXTX. I really enjoyed the videos by AvenueX on the flirting and lip reading for this show, as well as the explanations for the poetry and other literature that is referenced. If you do end up watching it, please note that there was an episode 37 that was created and does conclude the show in a satifactory manner. It does seem that episode 36 was made to appease the censors, and if you didn’t know episode 37/the special does fix the ending implied, you would find the ending enraging. (Not sure how many people have seen Guardian, but I was so mad at the end. My god.)

Anyways, this could be us at Citrus Con!

I finished this drawing…I actually painted this twice because the first try was pretty much a failure. I’ll try the oil painting brushes in Procreate some other time.

Lewis Smith, a blonde anime character with an open shirt, stands in the sun next to Isami Ao. Isami is also wearing an open shirt. Lewis is smiling, while Isami stares at the viewer. Lewis is taking off his sunglasses to look at Isami, while Isami is pulling his sunglasses up.

Canzine postcard

I don’t think I’ve posted this here, but here’s the postcard that was included as a gift for purchasing Midnight amaretto at Canzine earlier this year. Hope people enjoyed the comic!

Tadashi and Ainosuke sitting in the garden surrounded by fireflies while drinking from whiskey glasses. Tadashi is looking at the sights and Ainosuke is smiling with his eyes closed.

Other

I haven’t worked on figuring out how I can get this blog to have summary posts yet, so I’m probably doing that for the next while. Also comments?

The robots.txt is a web standard file, and apparently scrapers have taken to not respecting it. You can read more about it here.

Despite posting all of the above, I feel like I can actually write more freely here than what I was doing for the last year on the old blog.

I actually watched all of Unofficial Sentai Akibaranger recently, and found it to be a fun take on the sentai genre. Despite the name, this show is sanctioned by Toei, and is shot in Akihabara. It was cool window into Akiba of 2012. I feel like I really appeciate suit actors and practical effects a lot more after. I might watch another sentai show sometime, but so far I’ve simply started watching Fuuto PI.

In some ways, when I watch shows like Akibaranger and Bravern, I have this small fear that the things I enjoy are contributing to me not expanding my borders and reading other things. Like a snake consuming its own tail; when is it bad if something is too meta? But I enjoy them so much…I know some people might say that modern otaku/fans are too concerned with only reading specific media and not going outside what they knew from childhood, but I do try to watch/read other things. I suppose having been an anime/manga fan for a long time lends itself well to being able to enjoy these kind of shows.

Playlist

Yes, we are continuing with this endeavor.

Anyways, I’m doing my best to not to be a shut-in, since it is summer.

Until next time!

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