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Update:   Monday, September 29, 2003

Healer is a great fic by Sean Montgomery, a new author at this website. Taking place a few years after Jinchuu, it tells the story of a troubled Kenshin and what Kaoru has to do to help him. Sean Montgomery's fic gives a wonderful look at Kenshin and Kaoru's married life, showing a maturing love between the two that is very sweet without being cloyingly so. Thanks so much for allowing me to post this fic, Sean Montgomery! Please check it out, people. Seifer-sama is a new artist at this site and has a great picture of Sanosuke up in the fan art gallery. Great shading and coloring. Nice clean lines. I like the way Seifer-sama did Sano's hair. And I especially love the intricate folds in his clothing. Thanks so much to Seifer-sama for allowing me to post this wonderful picture. Please have a look, everyone! Posted by hakubaikou, 12:21:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Sunday, September 28, 2003

Thanks so much to Blitzballbaby, a new artist to this archive, for allowing me to post two gorgeous pictures, one of Tomoe, and one of Kenji. The Tomoe pic has some beautiful colors. Soft violets and pinks that go well with her delicately beautiful face. And the Kenji pic, is wonderfully stark with its lack of color. And I love Kenji's facial expression. It goes so well with the small bit of text at the bottom of the pic. Great work. Please check it out, everyone! Posted by hakubaikou, 4:19:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Friday, September 26, 2003

Annie Navarro has a new pic up at her gallery. It's a great image of Soujirou. As always, I love the way she colors and shades her figures. Her images have a very clean and sleek quality that I really admire. Wonderful artwork. Please take a look, everyone! Thanks also to Narrator, who has kindly provided the next three pages of the wonderful doujinshi, Confessions Beneath Cherry Blossoms. Beautiful drawings and a nicely understated romance make this a pleasure to read. Please check it out, everyone! Posted by hakubaikou, 1:10:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Thursday, September 25, 2003

A lot of cool updates today! First, thanks so much to dementedchris, a new author at this archive, for an amazing AU fic called Defying Gravity. I have to admit, I normally am not at all interested in AU fics that take place in a high school. In fact, I tend to avoid them like the plague. But I read this story on a recommendation, and I was absolutely riveted. For starters, it's told in second person narrative, which I found most intriguing. Add insightful characterizations that are true to the spirit of the manga, elegantly concise prose, and beautiful emotional moments that are heartwrenching, yet manage to keep from slipping into melodrama. And you end up with one hell of a great story. Please check this fic out, folks. You won't be disappointed. The Narrator, a new artist at the fanart archive, has contributed a lovely work of art as well as three pages of a marvelous doujinshi! It's the first doujinshi hosted at this site. (Woohoo!) The fan art is an adorable chibi pic of Kenshin and Kaoru. And the doujinshi, which was originally featured at Every Step You Take (a great K&K site), features lovely B&W art and some really tender moments. I particularly love the image of the cherry blossoms and bridge on page 1. Thanks so much to Narrator for the wonderful art submissions. Please go take a look, everyone! And last, but not least, the final chapter of Conspirator's newest fic, A Star Is Born has been posted. This 3-part story features a young Hiko Seijurou XIII before he became master of the Hiten Mitsurugi style. Filled with engaging characters, hilarious interaction between young Hiko and his shishou, and some powerful moments that are truly intense, this story has it all. It's a wonderful and imaginative 'what-if' story that gives a possible (and quite satisfying) explanation of what made Hiko into the arrogant Hiten Mitsurugi Master we all know and love. Thanks for yet another great fic, Conspirator! Posted by hakubaikou, 3:31:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Wednesday, September 24, 2003

I've been following Ayashi's wonderful fic, Under the Shadow for some time, and I'm so glad to be able to post it in the archive. Each new chapter has been getting more and more interesting. And Ayashi maintains a very thoughtful, introspective tone throughout the narrative. I can't wait until the next chapter. Please check this fic out, folks! It's a great story. Posted by hakubaikou, 12:26:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Tuesday, September 23, 2003

Sincere thanks to ChiisaiLammy, a new author at this site, for allowing me to post two short, but oh-so-excellent one-shots. The first, Selfish Selfless explores Kaoru's feelings after being left alone in Kyoto. The second, Endless deals with Kenshin's thoughts at the beginning of his rurouni years. Both are wonderfully insightful character pieces. Both are great stories, but I found Endless, in particular, to be really poignant and beautiful. Two wonderful new fics, people. Please check them out! Posted by hakubaikou, 2:24:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Monday, September 22, 2003

Much thanks to Cugami, an artist new to this site, for allowing me to post a wonderful pic of Tomoe. I like how Tomoe is set against a black and white background although she herself is in color. And I absolutely love the intricate designs and patterns on her kimono. Such lovely detail! Please have a look, everyone. It's a wonderful work of art. April-san, an author who never fails to please with her wonderful stories, has two fics added to the archive. The first, Aoi Kaze (Blue Wind), is a story of two people (Soujirou and Aoshi) trying to find their way in the world a year after the events in Kyoto. The second story, Aoi Ame (Blue Rain), is a sequel of that fic with just a little bit of shonen-ai. Both stories are quite poignant and touching. Please do take a look, folks! Posted by hakubaikou, 12:14:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Sunday, September 21, 2003

Thanks so much to Sachi for the wonderful new sketch of several of the men from RK. Hiko, Aoshi, Saitou, Sano, and Kenshin all in one image. Woohoo! They're all great, but I think I like Hiko the best out of the five. Head on over and take a look, everyone! Posted by hakubaikou, 3:12:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Saturday, September 20, 2003

Take a look in the fan art gallery for a beautiful picture of Kenshin by bouzu, an artist new to this site. I love the soft, muted colors. And I really love the way bouzu drew Kenshin's hands. Hands are difficult to draw, if you ask me, and I think Kenshin's hands in this pic are especially beautiful. Thanks so much for allowing me to post this, bouzu! Night~Mare, an author new to this site, has two great one-shots posted in the fic section. The Gift features a meeting between Soujirou and Kenshin. I loved the insightful characterization of Soujirou in it. The other story, Still, is about Kenshin and Tomoe together on a quiet night. This one contains some gorgeous visual imagery. Thanks so much to Night~Mare for allowing me to host her stories. Finally, I've got a quick one-shot, Observer, posted at ffnet and here. I did it in an effort to get out of this nasty writer's block I've been experiencing. Anyway, I don't feel that it's on par with my other stories, but hey, it's short, at least. And it's probably the closest thing to a romantic fic I'll ever write. (HB doesn't do romance, people.) Posted by hakubaikou, 12:53:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Thursday, September 18, 2003

Beshimi fanart! Now that's something I don't see everyday. Thanks so much to Rinoa Tilmitt, a new artist at this site, for her wonderful pictures of a character that doesn't seem to get much attention otherwise. Lovely facial expressions on Beshimi and other figures. Lovely colors and backgrounds. My favorite pic is one of Beshimi and a certain Weasel girl and ex-okashira. Marvelous work. Please check it out, folks! Posted by hakubaikou, 2:12:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Tuesday, September 16, 2003

Joy! Two great new artists today! TJ Larson has a wonderful picture of Kenshin inside a dojo. I love the clean line art and shading. The background is beautiful with strongly contrasting patches of light and shadow. You really get a good sense of the space in the room. A wonderful piece. Please do check it out, folks! And thanks so much to TJ Larson for allowing me to post his work. Shuui also has a fantastic picture of Kenshin. Her version of Battousai is all warm colors and dangerous allure. The lines in shuui's picture are also very clean. And Battousai has a very interesting pose and facial expression. I especially love the look of his eyes. Sincere thanks to shuui for allowing me to post her fanart. Please have a look, everyone! Posted by hakubaikou, 2:39:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Monday, September 15, 2003

Many thanks to slinkster sunshine, an author new to this site, for Fishbone a short but wonderful one-shot featuring Sanosuke and that ever-present thing in his mouth. The author sums up the story best by calling it "the tragic history behind Sanosuke's strange habit." Apt summary. It's a great story, everyone. Please check it out! Fenrier, an artist new to this site, proves that a wallpaper doesn't need to be bright and flashy to be beautiful. Thanks so much, Fenrier, for your jaw-droppingly gorgeous wall. Intricate yet subtle background. Great use of color. Not to mention the whole work just looks so clean. Such care and attention to detail sets it apart from other walls. Do take a look, everyone. Tani-chan, who has had several walls posted here, has moved on to fan art. Two cute oekaki drawings of Kenshin. One of them even has swirly eyes. Thanks so much for the artwork, tani-chan. You know what I'm going to say next, people. Please go take a peek! Two reminders: Sherlgirl of shrine of ice and fire announced a fan works contest a while back. The contest runs until November 16, 2003. If you're interested, click here for the rules. Mir of TFME (one of my favorite RK sites) is hosting a fall 2003 fan fic contest. Deadline is November 1, 2003. For rules, click here. Posted by hakubaikou, 3:37:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Saturday, September 13, 2003

I'm quite excited about all of today's updates. Jen, an author new to this site, has a great story posted called Come Undone. It's a short tale about Kaoru's stay at Enishi's stronghold during the Jinchuu arc. Although I'm not usually a fan of non-canon events, I couldn't resist asking Jen to post this story since she made the situation and character reactions quite plausible, convincing even a cynical skeptic like myself. Lovely story, Jen. Thanks for allowing me to post it. Enjoy, folks! I'm pleased to post some truly wonderful pics by an artist whose work I've admired for quite some time. Thanks to stan522 for allowing me to post 2 Kenshin paintings and 1 other painting that technically isn't Kenshin, but looks a bit like him. I love everything about this artist's style. The colors, shading, composition, and the figures. If you can't tell already by my gushing praise, I'm grinning from ear to ear. Please check out the gallery, everyone! Finally, I've got one of my own artworks posted in the fan art gallery. It's a picture of Kenshin and Tomoe. I was experimenting with lighting and shading, trying to paint with a light source that's in an unusual position (down low) that I don't do very often. I'm not sure if this picture came out looking romantic or demonic. (I was shooting for romantic.) Anyway, I had a hard time with this picture, but I think it turned out decently considering I wasn't sure how to go about it, and I don't use models. Plus it was a good learning experience for me, and it helped get me out of my artist-block funk. Now if only something would fix my writer's block as well.... Posted by hakubaikou, 12:24:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Friday, September 12, 2003

Artist Sachi has a beautiful new pencil drawing posted of Kenshin and Tomoe. It has an interesting layout, and I think Kenshin's face in particular was very well done. Lovely work, Sachi. Thanks so much for sharing! Please take a look, folks! Six more wallpapers from tani-chan. When you're on a roll, you're on a roll, I guess. Heh! These feature several different RK characters. I like #15 the best. Anyways, many thanks to tani-chan for sending those in. Please have a look, everyone. Lexie-chan701 is an artist new to this site. She has a very nice sketch of Kenshin posted in her gallery. I like his facial expression. Makes me curious as to what he's thinking. Sincere thanks to Lexie-chan701 for her wonderful art. Please check out her work, everyone! For those of you who are planning on sending submissions (whether you've sent them before or not), I'd like to take a moment to remind you to please read (or review) the submissions page before sending your stuff in. I've made the font larger in case it was too difficult to read before. Please take note in particular of the file size recommendations. I realize that it's not possible for every picture, but for the most part, please try to keep image sizes under 200kb. I've been getting many submissions (from many different people) that contain files larger than 1MB, and in some cases over 3 MB, per file! I'm sorry, but that is much too big. I only have so much disk space. And besides, for those who are surfing with 56k modems, a file that large would take a ridiculous amount of time to download. So please, in consideration of other site visitors and of myself, please try to keep your file sizes reasonable. I can condense files for you if you don't do it yourself, but it would be very considerate on your part if you could please do it before you send the picture in. I would really appreciate it! Thanks! Posted by hakubaikou, 4:09:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Thursday, September 11, 2003

Chapter 20 of Linay's angst-ridden AU fic, Broken Pieces is up. In case you hadn't noticed, Linay's story won a heap of awards at RKRC this week. And Linay herself won the award for author of the year. Congratulations, Linay! Have a look, folks. Amantis, a new artist at this website, has sent a very cool Misao wallpaper. It features Misao in a number of poses, all on a dark background, with some interesting text. (The last line amuses me.) Anyways, thanks ever so much for the wallpaper, Amantis! Everyone, please take a look. Posted by hakubaikou, 4:12:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Wednesday, September 10, 2003

Kimieko is an artist who is new to this website. She has two wonderful images in her gallery, one of Kenshin (black and white, done in ink) and one of Kenshin and Kaoru (in color). I particularly love the bright colors on the Kenshin and Kaoru pic. They're all the more remarkable in that they were done by hand, not CG! Brilliant and bold with wonderful shading! Thanks so much for allowing me to post your pictures, Kimieko. Please take a look at the lovely artwork, everyone! Posted by hakubaikou, 12:07:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Tuesday, September 09, 2003

Three cool new wallpapers by tani-chan today. All three are images of my favorite RK character. Take a wild guess as to who that would be. Heh. Anyhow, thanks to tani-chan for sending those in! Please take a look, folks! And that's it for today because I have to go study for a quiz now. (Gotta learn to stop putting things off until the last minute....) Posted by hakubaikou, 2:36:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Monday, September 08, 2003

Author Akai Kitsune has a gift for making me feel intense emotions whenever I read her fics. And her two Light of the Snow Red Village side stories are no exception. These were written a while ago, but I just posted them today. They're side stories to LSRV, but if you read the summary of LSRV and keep in mind that they're alternate event fics, then both side stories ought to make sense even if you haven't read all of LSRV. The first is Piercing the Darkness, a quick tale about Kenshin's reactions to being a father. The author describes it as "senseless WAFF" in her summary, but it's far more than that. Very touching and romantic, if you ask me. The second fic, Peace, In Your Arms is quite a bit darker, and if you ask me, one of the most emotionally draining fics I've ever come across. Thanks a lot for throwing me into a complete funk with this one, Akai Kitsune! Heh, just kidding. It's beautifully written. Wonderful stuff as always. Please take a look, folks! I've been in a bit of a rut lately. I'm suffering from a rather severe double-case of both writer's and artist's block. It's not fun, and I'm hoping to break out of it soon. I'm not sure how, but I've been working on a drawing in the hopes of getting my creative juices flowing again. I don't know. Maybe I'll post the pic when I'm done, or maybe not. I'm not sure if I like this one. But enough of me moping. On to far better news. The 2002 RKRC awards results are in. Click here to see the final results. Congrats to the winners! And hey, congrats to everyone who was nominated! And thanks to Ariane and Sevarem, the two staff members who have kept the tradition alive. Great job, everyone. I had a fun time following the whole process. Posted by hakubaikou, 12:15:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Sunday, September 07, 2003

Conspirator's new story, A Star is Born has been updated. Chapter 2 follows the adventures of Genji as he learns Hiten Mitsurugi swordsmanship under Hiko Seijurou the 12th. Genji and Hiko's interactions are hilarious. Do take a look, folks! I've been slowly converting all my pages from HTML to CSS/HTML. Some old browsers (like Netscape 4) will not be able to handle the new format. My apologies to the few people (about 1% of the site visitors according to my web counter) who will be affected by this, but I'm making the change because it makes it far easier for me to keep this site updated. As it has grown, I've found that plain HTML has become increasingly inadequate for my editing needs. Anyway, as with all updates, if you happen to find any egregious typos or broken links, please let me know. Thanks! Posted by hakubaikou, 2:14:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Saturday, September 06, 2003

Akai Kitsune is back on-line (and there was much rejoicing!). Her epic Light of the Snow Red Village has now been updated. For those of you not familiar with this story, I highly encourage you to take a look. It follows the RK timeline from the Bakumatsu through the time of the Tokyo arc, only with one major twist. Curious as to what that is? Check it out. It's a great story. You won't be able to stop reading once you've started. Several announcements. First, the RKRC awards have now closed off voting. (The last day was September 4th.) Results will apparently be posted tomorrow. Good luck to all the authors who were nominated! Second, the Oro.com is hosting an RK site award contest. They're currently accepting nominations for best RK websites in multiple categories at their forum. And finally, a reminder to all that if you like a particular fan fic you've read here, please feel free to write a quick review at ffnet. Authors like feedback. And if you like fan art, you can always e-mail the artist. I'm sure they'd appreciate knowing that others are enjoying their work. And that's it for today. Have a good weekend, all. Posted by hakubaikou, 1:29:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Friday, September 05, 2003

Thanks so much to Sigel Phoenix, a new author at this site, for allowing me to post her excellent story, Tsuki no Nai Yoru. This angst-filled drama deals with Kenshin's feelings regarding his first assignment as hitokiri. Sigel Phoenix does a great job suffusing the tale with tension and inner turmoil. The story is also filled with rich imagery and interesting personification of the moon and night. Beautiful and dark. Very well written. Please check it out, folks! Oh, and I made a Yahiko wallpaper. Whoopty-doo. Posted by hakubaikou, 1:51:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Tuesday, September 02, 2003

LadyGuardianPhoenix, an author new to this site, has written a poignant, beautiful one-shot called A Good Man. Filled with emotion and rich with character insights, the story deals with Kenshin's struggles with his past, and of what Kaoru means to his future. It's really a beautiful piece, and LadyGuardianPhoenix's understated, subtle narrative enhances the emotional impact. Wonderful stuff. Thanks so much for allowing me to post this lovely story, LadyGuardianPhoenix! Please check it out, everyone. I felt like doing cartwheels when I learned that Conspirator-san has started a brand new story! This one, called A Star is Born, is a bit on the lighter side compared with Conspirator's previous angst-filled epic (Descent into Madness). It deals with a very young Hiko Seijurou the 13th before he actually became Hiko Seijurou the 13th. Very funny. Very likable (if arrogant -- but what would you expect?) protagonist. I enjoyed the first chapter and really look forward to the next. Thanks for letting me post your fic, Conspirator! Have a look, people! Posted by hakubaikou, 12:38:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Monday, September 01, 2003

Chapter 8 of wombat's hilarious Ni To Iu Hitokiri is up! For those of you familiar with the works of Monty Python, this fic (or series of sketches, really) will have you rolling. This chapter is a twist on the infamous Castle Anthrax/spanking sequence from Monty Python's Holy Grail film. (One of my favorite scenes from the movie.) Aaah. Wonderful. More wallpapers from Tani-chan. This time, she's got one of Megumi. (I don't see too many Megumi walls on the internet. I wonder why that is.) Also, another one of Kaoru, and a third one with the entire Kenshin-gumi. As always, wonderful stuff. Thanks for sending in the walls, Tani-chan! Artist Sachi has another pic up in her gallery. This one is a pic of Sano and is titled, "Broken Path". Sachi explains that this picture is of Sano thinking after Kenshin breaks the Zanbattou, hence the title. The image is filled with emotion. Thanks so much to Sachi for the marvelous pic! Posted by hakubaikou, 12:36:00 AM EST. on today's updates.