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Update:   Tuesday, July 29, 2003

Thanks to Saitô Midako for a lovely new fan art for Akai Kitsune's story, Light of the Snow Red Village. This one's an image of Akai Kitsune's original character, Hikari. She's a cutey, for certain. Please check out Midako's new picture. And while your at it, why not read LSRV if you haven't already? I'm rather miffed. Well, mildly so, at least. My hit counter has deleted about 60 visits off of yesterday and today's count. Alas. May those 60 little hits rest in peace. Ah well, guess I can't really complain seeing as the counter is free. What else? Hmmm.... Vote at RKRC. Read Calger's Japan trip diary (link is on her author's page). Look both ways before crossing the street. Always brush and floss. Eat more fiber. Visit hakubaikou.com everyday; it's good for the soul.... Posted by hakubaikou, 12:04:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Monday, July 28, 2003

Artist Saitô Midako's gallery page has been updated. A new picture, this one is of Kenshin (pre-scar) just about to perform a Battôjutsu. Hooray for action pics! Anyways, thanks so much to Saitô Midako for sending in her work. Please take a look, everyone! I've streamlined the fan art gallery a bit and tried to make it look more like the fan fic gallery pages for a more cohesive site design. Cleaned up the code for the artists' individual pages (like I did a few weeks ago for the fic section). Also drastically changed the format of each gallery page. If you don't notice the difference (or if the thumbnails look oddly stretched), please try refreshing your page. As with any new change, I think I've found all my mistakes, but if you happen to come upon a stray broken link somewhere, I'd appreciate it if you let me know. Thanks! Oh, and in case you're interested, voting has begun for the 2002 RKRC Awards. Several of the stories archived here have been nominated. Why not wander on over and vote for your favorites? Good luck to amamiya, Akai Kitsune, Calger459, Fitz, Mir, wombat, and all the nominees that I don't know as well! Posted by hakubaikou, 12:44:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Sunday, July 27, 2003

I've struck gold. Was surfing around the net late last night and stumbled upon a ton of stunningly beautiful RK fan art by Lorelai. With images done in various styles from anime to more realistic styles to gorgeous Chinese brush work (my favorite section), her gallery was a pleasure to browse through. Anyway, thanks so much to Lorelai for allowing me to post her wonderful art. Please check it out, folks! Posted by hakubaikou, 1:26:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Saturday, July 26, 2003

A Whisper of Yesterday by Vitani FyreWolf (an author new to this site) is a story that takes place after Seiso-hen (American title: Samurai X - Reflection). In this beautiful, poignant story about the bonds of love, Vitani Fyrewolf does a fine job of suffusing her story with great emotional depth. One warning, however. If you aren't familiar with either the Jinchuu manga arc or with Seiso-hen yet, then you might want to steer clear since this story contains substantial spoilers regarding the future of several RK characters. But for those of you who have seen Seiso-hen, this story makes an excellent continuation of the RK legend. Many thanks go to Vitani FyreWolf for allowing me to archive her story. Please check it out, folks. Sagara: Rebel in Willow Falls, a very cool fic set in 1940's America, has been updated! In act 3, the already interesting plot thickens even more. More of Sano and Yahiko's past is revealed. New RK characters are introduced. And starshifter continues to maintain a wonderful 40's atmosphere to the narrative. I found this particular chapter to be filled with nice emotional interactions and great dialogue. Read to your heart's content, people! Posted by hakubaikou, 12:12:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Friday, July 25, 2003

Two new artists at the site today. Many thanks go to Hiromi for allowing me to post two very cool pieces of art. The first is an absolutely adorable and humorous picture of chibi Kaoru, Yahiko, and Kenshin. The second is a lovely image of Battousai and Tomoe-san in the snow. Clean lines, excellent colors and shading, and a good eye for movement. Please check these out, folks! Saitô Midako is the other new artist for today with ten great pictures, nine in the fan art gallery, and one fan art of Calger459's fic, Prism. Great use of shading in both black and white as well as color images. Nice emotions and facial expressions ranging from happy to quite serious. Thanks so much for the wonderful artwork, Saitô Midako! Have a look, everyone! Posted by hakubaikou, 12:08:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Thursday, July 24, 2003

A ton of updates today! Three new contributors, two fan art pics, two wallpapers, and one new story. I'm floating, I'm so happy.... Sincere thanks to Draconian Elflord, a new author at this site, for allowing me to post Been There and Back, a story featuring Sanosuke. Not a story for those who view the world through rosy-tinted glasses, this fic may be a tad bit offensive for some. An alternate event tale, it's brash and gritty, and some of the people are quite out of character, in my humble opinion. But I liked this story because it's... I don't know...spunky. In an angry, alcohol-hazed kind of way. ReiKo, a new artist at this site, has two wonderful fan arts posted in the gallery. The first is a gorgeous picture of Kenshin in prayer. I love the way he's leaning against his sword. I'm not a particularly religious person, but I found this picture quite moving. Reiko's other pic is a hilarious rendering of Shishio. I won't say anymore than that, but it had me laughing out loud when I first saw it. Black Fireball (who happens to be the 50th contributor at the site, woohoo!) has submitted a beautiful wallpaper of Kenshin, in triplicate. Great colors, and a very nice layered look to it. The wall also has a nice sense of movement. Thank you so much, Black Fireball. Annie Navarro has a new image in her fan art page. It's a lovely pic of Kaoru. The colors are wonderfully vivid, and the detail as impressive as all her other amazing works. And finally, Calger459 has a great new wallpaper posted. This one is really cool looking. Elegant monochrome with contrasty imagery. I love the inverted mirror effect. The layout is sleek. And heck, I'm a sucker for dark images. Love this one. A lot of cool stuff. Please check them out, folks. You'll like what you see. Posted by hakubaikou, 12:01:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Wednesday, July 23, 2003

Thanks ever so much to starshifter (a new author at this website) for allowing me to post Sagara: Rebel in Willow Falls. This is an AU fic set in 1940's America. I found the premise fascinating. I personally haven't run across any other RK fics set in this time period. But it makes perfect sense to see Sano as a rebel, and starshifter does an excellent job in capturing the feel of a 1940's black and white movie. The story's still in progress, but it's a great read so far. I look forward to seeing where starshifter's going to go with this. Please check it out, folks! I've added a FAQ page. Well, a pseudo-FAQ page, really. It's more of an "interesting e-mails that I've received" page. It's quite long, and possibly boring, but if you're desperate to find something for procrastination, it'll serve as well as anything else, I suppose. Heh. I just hope I don't come across as an egotistical cad. Woohoo! Posted by hakubaikou, 12:23:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Tuesday, July 22, 2003

Ruriko, a new artist to this site, has a lovely picture of Kaoru posted. I like the colors and the pose. (Kaoru is spinning.) Thanks so much, Ruriko, for allowing me to post your art! Please have a look, everyone! Posted by hakubaikou, 12:57:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Monday, July 21, 2003

I'm back from my trip. It was interesting. I was thinking of posting a rant about America West airlines, but then, I thought better of it seeing as it would be riddled with expletives and other unseemly choice phrases involving the airline, certain employees, and inappropriate parts of human anatomy. But, I digress.... It's good to be home. Even if it's a day late due to the moronic nincompoops at America We--No, no, I promised myself I wouldn't start ranting.... Anyhow...back to nicer things. A lovely short one-shot by wombat has been posted. This one's called Glove, Glove Mibu. Wombat never fails to impress me with her odd sense of humor. Although not a sequel, this story goes nicely with wombat's other clothing fic, Enishi's Bathrobe Writes a Fanfic. Thanks for letting me post this, wombat. Finally, I've been dabbling a bit with other series, drawing some Trigun stuff. Nothing to do with Rurouni Kenshin, I know, but I've added a little non-RK art/wallpaper page for myself in the Miscellany section. I am NOT going to expand this site and accept any non-RK submissions from anyone else. This is just my stuff that I felt like posting. Self-indulgence. Hey, it's my site, so I can do that, right? Heehee! So if you like Trigun, feel free to take a look. Otherwise, just shake your head at HB's nuttiness and move along, move along. If I seem odd or different at all, I blame it all on the 10-hour ordeal of utter boredom I had to endure at Las Vegas airport due to the imbecilic muck-up of America West--Gah! Behave, HB. Behave! Posted by hakubaikou, 12:18:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Sunday, July 13, 2003

Two lovely new wallpapers are up at the gallery, one of Kaoru and one of Kenshin. These are compliments of son arroz and mvdiva, respectively. Thanks to both of you for the new walls! They're wonderful. I'm going to be out of town for the rest of this week, so I'm afraid there won't be any updates until the weekend. If you have any artwork or wallpaper submissions, please feel free to keep sending them, however. I will update as soon as I get back. And hopefully I'll have found some interesting new fics to post as well. As always, thanks for stopping by. See you later, people! Posted by hakubaikou, 10:00:00 PM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Saturday, July 12, 2003

Calger459's epic tale, Prism is action-packed and tense. And it contains by far the most thorough exploration of Kenshin's psyche that I've ever seen, literally taking a look at each facet of his personality: Rurouni, Battousai, Shinta. This sequel to An Inn in Hokkaido finally comes to its conclusion almost a year after it was begun. And the ending is worth every minute of the obvious time and care Calger-san has put into this story. A wonderful tale of a tainted lust for power, of loyalties stretched to their limits, of searching for inner peace. You name it, it's got it. So if you haven't read Inn in Hokkaido or Prism, you're in for a treat. Check 'em out. Calger-san is going away to Japan for a year. She will be posting The Employed Otaku, her travel journal, at LiveJournal.com. I've included a link from her author's page. It ought to be an interesting read. Also in the fan fiction section, chapter three of my own story, Oiran, is up. I don't have as much to say about this except that if you read it, I hope you enjoy it. The fic is basically about the first meetings between Yumi, Shishio, and a few other of the future Juppongatana members. I'm not sure how long this story's going to end up being, but based on my notes so far, it'll probably be about the same length as Recovery, if not slightly longer. Makes me nervous just thinking about writing so much. Heh. And finally, mvdiva has two new wallpapers to add to her gallery. The first is a dark and brooding image of a pair of dangerous looking eyes. Guess who they belong to? The second one made me laugh out loud. It's utterly hilarious, and that's all I have to say about it. Curious? Go take a look. And thanks, mvdiva, for sending those! Finally, more of a housekeeping note than anything, I've re-arranged the genres and fixed up the fan fic index pages a bit. (Cleaned up the HTML big time.) This is more for my personal convenience than anything, really. I'm only mentioning it because as with all changes, I may not have caught all my broken links. So if you find one, please let me know. I'd appreciate it! Posted by hakubaikou, 1:03:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Friday, July 11, 2003

I am re-posting a fan fiction that I had taken down last week due to some confusion regarding authorship. After e-mailing both parties for an explanation, I've decided that the evidence points overwhelmingly towards one person as being the true author of the story. The situation has hopefully been cleared up once and for all. This was not a fun experience. I hope I never have to investigate such a situation again. Anyway, I'm pleased to say that Kenji's First Day at School is back up at the archive, this time with proper credit given to the author, Gypsy-chan. It's a cute fic about...well, the title's pretty self-explanatory, isn't it? Anyways, thanks so much to Gypsy-chan for graciously allowing me to post her story. And my apologies to her for previously (and inadvertantly!) posting this under another author's name. Three new wallpapers have been posted. Many thanks to son arroz for his gorgeous work. They're wonderfully textured with subtle, almost monochromatic images. Gorgeous and grungy. Please have a look, folks. And finally, Tokio Saito, one of the first artists ever to send me something for the fan art gallery, has a wonderful new picture to add. This one's a picture of Saitou versus Yatsume (from the Jinchuu arc). Thanks for the new pic, Tokio Saito! Posted by hakubaikou, 12:20:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Thursday, July 10, 2003

ISJ is a new author at this website with a wonderful new story titled The Crafting. It's a "what-could-have-been" look at an alternative way for Kenshin to get his sakabattou. Well written with a smooth narrative style and just a touch of angst. I hope to read more RK tales from this author. Thanks a bunch for allowing me to post your fic, ISJ. You know the routine by now, people. Please do check this one out! Posted by hakubaikou, 12:31:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Tuesday, July 08, 2003

Kaliko Rosa, an artist new to this site, has 5 gorgeous pictures up in the fan art gallery. She has a wonderful style. Her images are rich with details and vibrantly colorful with warm tones. Beautiful figures and wonderful textures. Great stuff. Thanks so much for allowing me to host your images, Kaliko Rosa. Please, everyone, check out her gallery. Posted by hakubaikou, 12:29:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Monday, July 07, 2003

Thanks so much to Prudence-chan, a new artist to this site, for her wonderful fan art of a grown-up (and quite alluring) Misao. In this pic, Misao's hair is down, and I think she actually looks better that way than with the braid! I like the innocent yet attractive expression on her face. A new story, Should Love Hurt So Much? by Zeitgeist, has been posted. This one's very dark, very violent, rated R, and shonen-ai. Obviously, this is not for everyone. A lot of potentially offensive material here, so if you're not comfortable with any of these aspects of the story, please do not read it. However, for those who are interested, I found this to be a very powerful fic. It's a tension-filled story about Kenshin and Saitou with plenty of angst. The violence is not gratuitous. It's an integral part of the story and is vital to the characterizations. A rather disturbing story, no doubt. But I really liked it. Finally, I've got a new fanart of my own posted. It's a picture of Battousai (yet again--I know, I know, I'm obsessed with Battousai). Just a portrait this time, no backgrounds. Very dark and shadowy with glowing yellow eyes. I'm rather pleased with the way it came out. Posted by hakubaikou, 12:09:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Sunday, July 06, 2003

Well, for those of you who have been following Fitz's fantastic My Life, the latest chapter, Making Amends was posted up at ffnet a couple days ago and has now been posted here as well. This is another one of the few stories that I absolutely love, one that I check frequently for updates. Fitz once again delivers a chapter filled with a great blend of humor, emotional tension, and some wonderful angsty (is that a word?) moments. Please take a look, everyone! Thanks to all who voted on my June poll. The topic was whether or not shonen-ai centered stories should be posted here. Previously, I'd already had a few stories that had some mild shonen-ai moments in certain chapters, but none of the stories had had shonen-ai content as a major theme. Usually if I want to make changes to this site, I just go ahead and do them. It's my site, after all. I'm the one paying for it. But for this topic, I was pretty indifferent myself, and I was a little worried about insulting or offending people, hence the poll. For those who are wondering, the results were 59% yes, 24% no, and 16% no opinion either way. Which means I will probably be posting a couple shonen-ai stories soon. Not too many though. I really only have 1 or 2 that I'm considering. Like I said, I rarely read these types of stories, and it's even rarer still that I find one that I really like. And be assured, these stories will have warnings posted at the top so that those who wish to avoid them can do so. Anyway, once again, thanks for the votes. I appreciate your feedback, folks. Not much else to add. A few administrative/non-fanwork changes to several pages, but I have a feeling most of you won't even notice those. I hope everyone in the U.S. had a nice 4th of July. I certainly did. Posted by hakubaikou, 12:52:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Friday, July 04, 2003

Thanks to mvdiva for her wonderful new wallpaper! It's an image from OAV1 that never fails to put me in a melancholy mood. And I mean that in a good way, of course. Please check it out, folks! Conspirator's Descent into Madness comes to a close with an emotionally draining epilogue that's now been posted. This story is one I've been following for the last 4 months. I eagerly awaited each new chapter. So I'm a bit sad that it's over now because that's one less fantastic fic to look forward to. But man oh man, this epilogue was good. Very powerful. Anyway, if you haven't read Descent into Madness then I suggest that you do. I can't recommend it highly enough. It's a story of young Kenshin, of how he became a hitokiri. Rich and poignant in some parts, tense and action-packed in others. Well researched with plenty of historical references, and a story that takes place on both an epic scale and a smaller, personal one. It doesn't get much better than this, folks. Please check it out! Some of you may have noticed that one of the fics from the archive is missing. Sorry about that, but I've decided to pull it since I'm not quite sure who the actual author is. I'm in the process of figuring it out, but still, the story will most likely be off the archive indefinitely. See my note from July 2 if you don't know what I'm talking about. And for you Americans out there: Happy 4th of July! I'll be participating in all sorts of merriment. Hope you folks get to do the same. Have a good holiday, everyone! Posted by hakubaikou, 1:00:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Thursday, July 03, 2003

I've posted another wonderful fic by Fitz, entitled Young Again. This one made me smile. Poor Yahiko! Heehee. That's all I'll say. Please check it out, folks. Posted by hakubaikou, 2:14:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Wednesday, July 02, 2003

I'm rather upset at the moment. As you can guess, I search the web frequently for RK fics and artwork. I run across countless numbers of sites in my explorations. Well, today something happened that I, in my naiveté, hadn't considered. I discovered that one of the fan fics posted at my site has been posted at various other sites by two different authors. Same story, word for word. Different author names. Hmm. Either this particular author posts under two different aliases....or I have an unpleasant problem to solve. I've begun my private little investigation into the matter. So...what's the point of this? I'd like to think that people in general are honest and fair-minded. I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt whenever I suspect something potentially bad. I really hope this is just a case of a silly misunderstanding. I hope I'm only being paranoid. But if it isn't, then I would be...disappointed. People, I truly hope that folks would be honest regarding giving proper credit to a written or painted work. If I ever e-mail someone requesting to post their fic, I would hope that it truly is their fic and not something pilfered. I've learned my lesson. From now on, I will have to be more careful in checking my sources before posting a story or picture. I can't believe I even have to consider this. It just seems so wrong in my mind. And if anyone out there ever sees anything on my site that they feel was taken improperly, I would hope they'd e-mail me so I can straighten the situation out. What can I say. I'm feeling rather glum at the moment. Call me a romantic idealist or call me a fool, but I really think most people are honest at heart. I truly hope my suspicions are in error. Posted by hakubaikou, 9:56:00 PM EST. on today's updates.

Update:

The newest addition to the fan fic archive is...well, it's just plain nutty. An amusing fic that had me giggling, Beef Pots NOW is the collaborative effort between writers Youkai Kris and I R PinkCake, both new contributors to this site. Thanks so much to both authors for allowing me to post their story. Thanks also to souchan, a new wallpaper artist, for his elegant wallpaper of Kenshin. I was halfway tempted to stick this in the fan art gallery instead of the wallpaper section since it's hand painted. Gorgeous. Very impressive. Posted by hakubaikou, 2:24:00 PM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Tuesday, July 01, 2003

Sincere thanks to mvdiva for her cool Kenshin wallpaper. It's got an interesting inverted color scheme and a chalky appearance to it as well as lyrics from Evanescence's song, "Field of Innocence". Please have a look, everyone! Warm welcome and thanks to Meriko, a new contributor to this site. Meriko is both an artist and an author. Her portraits of various RK characters are wonderful. Crisp and clean style, and excellent contrasty lighting. My favorite pic is of Okita Soushi amid Cherry blossoms. It's a lovely image. Please take a look at her gallery. Meriko also has a beautiful story posted, What the Day Demands. A rare find among fan fics, this one deals with the bonds of loyalty and friendship between Shinsengumi squad captains, Saitou and Okita. Featuring insightful characterizations and beautifully elegant prose, this was one of those rare, poignant stories that moved me to tears. Definitely not one to miss. Posted by hakubaikou, 12:36:00 AM EST. on today's updates.