Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Zero Dragon Episode 2 Chapter 7 Uploaded

Yes, I've uploaded a newly revised chapter of Zero Dragon

Here it is - - http://www.fictionpress.com/s/1027750/16/

I was kinda having this 'editing' mood all of a sudden, and I thought of editing an unedited chapter of Zero Dragon. Really, it is literally screaming for edits. Lots of grammar errors I've spotted - ah, high school days of writing that bulk... Just now when I get the time to make the necessary revisions.

Aside from editing ZD, I also edited Chapter 7 and 10 of Fists and Lipsticks. I spotted quite a number of grammar mistakes. In addition, I also edited the Crosse-Aya conversation that night and removed the 'You even changed your name' party, since I thought of something more interesting. I also added the info pertaining to Kosuke's dad being one of the chosen by the Diet to become the next prime minister. In the previous installment, it mentioned merely 'as a chief justice'. Also, I spotted a line by Tomo calling Kosuke as 'Kosuke' when it should have been 'Yamazaki-kun', since I've mentioned that Kosuke is called by his first name only by Yuken (and Fuuko... and yes, later by Aya).

Well, enjoy!

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

F&L Chapter 19: The Highest Bidder - now UP!

http://www.fictionpress.com/s/2191842/20/

It's a short chapter (only 5 pages in MSWord)...
This one I made in the plane from Manila back to the US.

And yeah, this chapter doesn't have too much of the
much anticipated Aya-Kosuke; however, Crosse enters the
story and faces off with Kosuke for the first time, although
indirectly...

I'll stop here, or I'll end up telling the whole story.



Hope you like it!

Monday, October 29, 2007

Fists and Lipsticks Banner - Banned in MediaMiner.org?!?!

Here's the e-mail I received:

=========================================================
Dear hiro-0911,
Your artwork 'Fists and Lipsticks Official Banner'
was removed by MM.org administration staff due to:
Unless you actually drew the pictures in your image
you can Not post it here. This is for art which you
created not someone else's art you took and edited.
Do not repost this unless you can verify you drew
the figures in it.

Please avoid violating MM.org Gallery Guidelines,
repeated violations may lead to your account
being disabled.

Regards,
MM.org Managment

P.S. Please do not reply to this message

========================================

Well, all I can say is THANK YOU! They
actually thought that I stole it
somewhere, so they must think the art rocks!


Lol...


I already sent a mail, explaining to them
that I really drew and
CG'ed those drawings myself.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

F&L Chapter 18: Hidemi's Pursuit Now UP!


I always hope that things would remain as smooth flowing as now. Day after day updates - man, it can't get any better!

Chapter 18 of Fists and Lipsticks now up! - - http://www.fictionpress.com/s/2191842/19/

From the 'cheezy' scenes, the story leaps back to some action. I'm pushing the plot an inch further with this particular chapter.

I'm still here in the beach, but we're leaving this afternoon. Ahhh, the wind feels great here and the people are really friendly. Earlier, we had some yummy BBQs, calamares (breaded squid), and adobo (Filipino pork cooked in soysauce, yumm). We rented a jet ski and went island hopping. And the girls... man! (Oops, I hope Meia doesn't read this haha...). Yeah, Meia's the only one missing here. Otherwise, it would be the perfect vacation!

In case you haven't seen it yet, I've placed above the CG of Aya. Pretty eh?! I drew that ! I drew that! Hahaha...

F&L Chapter 17: Kosuke's Secret Revealed! Now up




How I love beach vacations...

I'm currently in an island in the Oriental Mindoro, Philippines called Puerto Galera. It's beautiful here. Actually, I made this chapter by the seaside (while occasionally disturbed by pearl vendors every now and then lol...)

Here's another chapter of F&L - http://www.fictionpress.com/s/2191842/18/

I enjoyed writing this installment too. And yeah, because of Akio's big mouth, alas Kosuke's secret is revealed to the whole school *grins*

Enjoy!

Friday, October 26, 2007

F&L Chapter 16: I am the Competition Now Up!

Another fast update ^_^

http://www.fictionpress.com/s/2191842/17/

Well, from the all-Kosuke-Aya scenes, the other characters would be playing more roles now. Shizuki and Makiko's back on the story as well as the Yamazaki gang. Ruri will also come in the story (remember Aya's blue-haired female gang colleague?).

Nothing very notable in this chap as far as the story line is concerned (as compared to the previous chapters, which are typically one of the highlights of the story). Watch out for the next chapter, however. It would be kind of... amusing ^_^

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Chapter 15: The Love Charm, The Kiss, Him, and Her

I just happened to watch The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe in DVD... Maybe that's why my title kinda sounds like it (haha...)

Well, that was a short interval from the previous update. I guess because the ideas are coming and coming. More shoujo-ness in the particular chapter. Don't miss it:

http://www.fictionpress.com/s/2191842/16/


It was fun writing this chapter (and Meia was like 'oh my god Hiro-kun, I loved it!'). I particularly placed stresses on 'awkward intervals'. You'll see another side of Kosuke and Aya - nothing of the harsh, I'm-ready-for-battle kind of aura. This is the chapter where you see them blush like typical high-schoolers in-love (nothing like a gangster at all) and seemingly unsure of what to do next for every surge of 'doki-doki's.

The original plan was to lock them in the staircase, but I realized that it is too cliche. The world has gotten enough Hana Yori Dango-like scenes. So I came up with another idea, hence the necklace scene... I dunno if it has been done before (please message me if you know of one movie / anime / book where a similar scene happened) but I SWEAR I thought of the idea myself.

I may be uploading new chapters more often since, as I have said, the ideas are currently smoothly flowing in my brain (good thing for me!). The story hasn't gotten much plot to this point, and it seems as if the whole 15 chapters were all Aya-introductions. But now, things would revolve around the characters. In fact, in the next chapter it would be Hidemi who's going to be in the spotlight (and a FEMALE character... *grins* Watch out for it.)

I said before that Fists and Lipsticks may be patterned to a movie's length. But I guess the story wouldn't fit in a 2 and a half hour film. So perhaps yeah, this one's a series already. Although, the story is still much much shorter than Zero Dragon.

Ah... Zero Dragon... When can I ever find time to re-edit you *sweatdrop*. Currently, ZD is also in the 15th installment. However, I pulled it out from FP for editing (so you may have noticed that I have more than 200 reviews, a number of them reviewing for chapter numbers that do not actually exist - - - that's because I pulled the latter chapters out for revisions).

I'm coming to Manila tomorrow. My lil' brother (not really little, he's 16 already) e-mailed me, inviting me to go with them to Puerto Galera, a beach spot in the Philippines. Apparently, they're having their November break. So yeah, since I think it would be nice to go for some tropical heat, I'm flying back to Manila and get some sun.

My Oakley shades, my handy-dandy $20 beach shorts, yellow Havainnas, and the vanity lotion... Pack pack pack... Galera, here I come!

Oh, I'm bringing my laptop too. It might be good writing stories at beachside.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Official Website for Fists and Lipsticks NOW AVAILABLE


Yep, yep, yep! It's up. Way too early for a 3-day initial target.

Here's the website: http://fistsandlipsticks.multiply.com

Although I've finished only CGs of Aya and Kosuke (I've been up all day, sheeez...), I'm happy to finally have it running at last. I chose Multiply.com (as opposed to the Angelfire Zero Dragon site, which is too difficult to access nowadays) since the overall format of the site allows easy browsing and easy updates. No html required, so it really is easy to use not only for me but also for those who would come and visit.

Aya's CG is omgwtf it turned out perfectly! Just like how I wanted her to look like. Pink lips (but does not look like make-up), doll-like features, blonde hair, and intimidating and mysterious blue eyes. I always wanted her to be someone that you can easily recognize in the middle of a crowd - striking features - a look that you would never expect belongs to a female gangster.

Kosuke's CG on the other hand... Ugh... I've tried correcting his eyes for gazillion times but there's really something wrong with it... It's either too big, or one is bigger than the other, or it's not aligned... I really don't know what's wrong with it. I actually wasted 9 or 10 pieces of drawing paper to come up with a what-my-girlfriend-Meia-refers-to-as 'bishie' looking guy (oh Meia, I'm sorry, I think I murdered Kosuke's face *sweatdrop*). But when cover half of his face, he looks fine... then cover the other half, he still looks fine... but totally remove the cover... WTF! Warped!

Aside from the CGs, I came up with this idea to put some kind of anime/manga simulation, which turned out really, really good (at least for me). It kinda looks like a real fan-subbed anime and a translated manga hahaha... Serious! See them in the website if you don't believe me and see for yourself! Hahaha...

Well, I'm thinking of a good melody for an opening and ending theme MP3... And also I'm planning to draw either Yuken or Crosse next. I just hope they'll turn out just fine. Lots and lots of work to do! Great that I have a lot of free time recently! Works for me, hahaha...

Monday, October 22, 2007

Fists and Lipsticks Website - *Coming Soon*

Due to insistent public demand and e-mails I've been receiving, I decided to draft out a website for Fists and Lipsticks. This would include character CGs, character profiles, and perhaps some mp3s for theme songs just like what I did for Zero Dragon. For easier formatting, I'm looking at Multiply.com to possibly host it since it contains a blog, music bank, video bank, a guestbook, and an organized photo album all in one. No html formatting needed. But I have yet to check their rules whether Anime is allowed in their website or not.

Character design is my main concern right now. I haven't drawn for a while, so it may take several revisions. But I promise to come up with the best portrait, especially of Aya (she must look extremely pretty - that's a challenge for me... *come on, hiro-hands, you can do it!*). Aya's lips is another difficult feature... And Meia keeps on insisting that Kosuke and Crosse MUST and MUST MUST MUST look totally hot... (*sweatdrops*)... So I said "fine, fine, I'll make them look 'hot'... Well, let's just see. I hope they turn out okay.

F&L - Chapter Fourteen: Warmth Uploaded in FP

At last - an October update (although its long overdue...)

It's a 10 page update, the bulk of it revolving around the Kosuke-Aya rooftop scene. You wouldn't want to miss out this one, would you? *wink*

Here's the link - -
http://www.fictionpress.com/s/2191842/15/

Hope you like it! And leave your reviews in the FP website, here, or in my e-mail ...

~hiro