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Update:   Friday, May 27, 2005

I'll be brief with the descriptions today. It's really late, and I'm very sleepy. ^_^ Apologies in advance if there are any goofy typos in this post. CONTEST Saiyagirl85, a new artist at the site, has a wonderful picture of Misao and Aoshi in a sweet moment. I like the soft colors in this. Nice job on the shading. And the expressions on their faces are great. Great job. Kendranoelle has a beautiful picture of Kenshin and Tomoe. It's nice to see the two of them in a happy moment. Warm, vibrant colors and careful attention to detail. Lovely work on this. WALLPAPERS Eunie, a new artist at this site, has sent in a beautiful wallpaper featuring scenes from Seisohen. Done in greyscale, the wall has a lovely nostalgic feel to it. Author-chan has sent in a new wall that is very cute and funny. I don't want to describe it too much for fear of giving it away. But trust me. You'll smile when you see it. Kitsune-Onna19 has a lovely new wallpaper of Misao. Simple and elegant in design with muted colors. Beautifully done. MISCELLANY Two new polls. Pointless as ever, but hey, they're more fun that way, right? Thanks very much to all the nice people who contributed art for this update. Addendum: For those interested, there's a Battousai coloring contest being held by Obi-quiet at Deviantart. Due date is June 10th, and the prize is a request pic from Obi-quiet. Check it out here: battousai-realistic-contest. Posted by hakubaikou, 5:19:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Sunday, May 22, 2005

Thanks so much to all the artists who contributed artwork! There's a lot of beautiful stuff to see today. CONTEST Artist hitokiriraion has two beautiful pictures for the contest. The first is a dramatic scene dealing with ghosts of the past. I like the emotional feel of this one, and the choice of monochrome matches the tone of the scene well. The second is a charming colored pic of Kenshin and flower blossoms. Kenshin looks so sweet here. Both pics are very well done. Artist Bunneh has sent in a great picture of Sano and Megumi in a delightfully romantic scene. I like the attention to detail in everything from the patterns on cloth to the seeds on the watermelon slices. Megumi looks fantastic here. Lovely work. Please check out these artists' fine entries here. FANART Ai, one of the first RK fanartists I've had the pleasure to know on-line, has sent in an gorgeous pic of Kenshin and Kaoru amid sakura blossoms. Ai's pictures are always wonderfully fluid and filled with emotion. This one's no exception. Author-chan has sent in two very different fanarts of Kenshin. The first is dark and intriguing. The second, a chibi, is precious and cute. Both are wonderfully drawn. I like the delicate shading in the first pic and the bold use of color in the second. WALLPAPERS Kitsune-Onna19 has a new wallpaper to add to the gallery. This one features Sano and Megumi. I like how the image was purposefully pixellated. It gives the feeling that we're looking in on some secret moment. Beautiful job. Posted by hakubaikou, 4:21:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Sunday, May 15, 2005

I've been informed that the entry form for the contest may not be working properly. I think I've fixed the problem. However, if it doesn't work for you, feel free to e-mail me or post a comment here to let me know. Thanks! The second contest entry is in. A very emotionally powerful image by Author-chan, and quite an original concept. I like the subdued color palette. It matches the tone of the pic well. Thanks for sending this in, Author-chan! View contest entries here. Author-chan also has another fanart up in the regular gallery (a lovely pic of Battousai) as well as chapter 3 of Yin and Yang, a very funny story featuring Saitou and... himself? Heh. Sound interesting? Please check it out. Stone Penguin, a new artist to this site, has a cool pic of Kenshin to add to the gallery. Sketched in pencil, I like the way Kenshin looks in this profile. His expression, especially, seems very determined. Do have a look, folks. Well, it's been a year since I did any RK fanart, but I've got a new pic up in my gallery. With all the talk of the contest, I guess I got inspired. ^_^ Posted by hakubaikou, 5:43:00 PM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Friday, May 13, 2005

Check out the new polls. Artist angelhitomi has a new picture of Aoshi posted. It's gorgeous. Rich, velvety color and a killer expression on his face. What's not to love? Artist mimi has a great pic of Misao that is adorable and funny. The title says it all: "Why Misao Can't Meditate". This one made me smile. Please have a look at the new art, everyone. And thanks to mimi and angelhitomi for sending these wonderful pics in. Posted by hakubaikou, 3:41:00 AM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Monday, May 09, 2005

A lot of really wonderful stuff in today's gigantic update. Gorgeous art. Long over-due chapter updates in the fic section. Our first contest entry. And yet another goofy poll. This ought to keep you folks busy for a while. CONTEST The first entry is in! View it here. Thanks so much to tatatsumari for sending in a wonderful picture of Battousai. I lke how the sparse coloring brings a sad mood to the piece. The textures are lovely too. Nicely done. Several people have expressed interest in the contest. Thanks to those who are thinking of sending in art. I'm looking forward to seeing the submissions. If anyone can do so, I'd very much appreciate it if people helped spread the word. On the contest rules page, near the bottom, I have a link to a banner that you can use to help advertise. Thanks in advance to anyone who plans on helping. FANFICS I'm incredibly embarrassed at having failed to update DQBunny's wonderful, sweet post-Jinchuu story, For This Dojo's Honor. It's been a year since the last chapter was posted, but the fic somehow slipped between the cracks, and I didn't realize. Sincere apologies to DQBunny for the lapse. For those unfamiliar with the story, this is one of the most rich and fully fleshed-out portrayals of Kaoru I have ever run across in a fanfic. She's given concerns of her own that don't necessarily deal with just fretting over Kenshin or bickering with Yahiko. She's treated as a person in her own right, and is not a mere foil for the other characters. That's what first attracted me to this story. It was the first time I'd seen Kaoru depicted as a truly independent character. Curious as to what I'm talking about? Read, and you'll see. Conspirator never fails to please with her stories. The latest chapter of An Unexpected Lesson has been posted. Suspense abounds in this installment. Poor Kenshin is trapped in a situation that is far from comfortable, but as he tries to escape, he continues to be thwarted by a rather, erm, unusual "obstacle". As usual, Conspirator's storytelling abilities are among the best. Chapter 5 of Terry McElrath's action-packed Kyuushutsu features plenty of tense fighting. Kenshin at the height of his deadly hitokiri days. At times, he's absolutely frightening in this fic. Such a contrast to the gentle rurouni later on. It's hard to write violence in such a way that it's fascinating yet awful at the same time. Terry McElrath handles such scenes with an impressive combination of ruthlessness and restraint. A very exciting read. It's always a little sad when a fine fic comes to an end. Nekotsuki's Tanabata Jasmine is complete (although there's apparently an author's note and omake still to come). For those of you who are unfamiliar with the fic: Trouble ensues one day as Kenshin buys a flower. Only our dear Rurouni could get into trouble from such an innocent-seeming task, right? Sound intriguing? I hope I've whetted your appetite, heh. The Courtship of Lady Tokio by Mio is one of the most elegantly and subtly written fics I've come across in a long, long time. I really enjoy the interactions between the characters. Each personality is wonderfully fleshed out, and the conversations between various persons can be read on so many levels. A rare and beautiful drama of manners. Chapter 23 was especially powerful. FANART Tera-chan, a new artist at this site, has four lovely drawings of Kenshin to add to the gallery. Two are beautifully colored with colored pencil. The other two are monochromatic with some lovely shading. My favorite is HitoBattou, which has a very impressive background. Keurigi has two cool new pics of Kenshin done in her realistic style. He looks so happy in these. That's a pleasant change of pace. Lovely bright colors. These pics really make me smile. Artist secretarytocapt3 has an awesome new pic of Saitou Hajime tattooed. According to the artist, the NHK Taiga drama "Shinsengumi" created a Yakuza-connected past for Saitou in the show, and since some yakuza members get full body tattoos.... Heh, it results in a gorgeous pic done in a beautiful, elegant style. Artist tomuyu has sent in a magnificently beautiful picture of Kenshin. The style is wonderful, the movement and flow of the pic is impressive, and the coloring and shading are first rate. This is so wonderfully done. Simply marvelous. Kenshin's Soul has three lovely new drawings to add. My favorite is "Sharp Eyes". The title says it all. Also, due to some technical difficulties, Kenshin Soul's pictures from the last update were posted at far too small a size and resolution. Larger versions of the pics are now available, so please check out those as well to see how they're meant to look. There are some really great details that don't show up in the small versions. WALLPAPERS Author-chan has a cool new wallpaper to add to the gallery. Elegant in its simplicity. It features Kenshin and Kaoru on a black background. Excellent work. Posted by hakubaikou, 8:53:00 PM EST. on today's updates.

Update:   Sunday, May 01, 2005

FANFICS I haven't had a chance to update the fanfic section lately. I'll do so as soon as I have the time to read them. FANART Gumdrop, a new artist at this site, has a lovely pic of Takagi Tokio. I really enjoy seeing people's interpretations of this mysterious character, and Gumdrop's version is quite a lovely one. I like the expression on her face, and I like the way Gumdrop drew her kimono. Nicely done. Keurigi has another gorgeous pic to add to the gallery. Kenshin looks wonderful here, and I really like the background. Nice color pallette as well. In my opinion, the best part of the pic are Kenshin's eyes. Jonathan has a cool new pic of Kenshin for the gallery. This is a colored version of a Kenshin profile he submitted a while ago. I like the darker color choices. Very striking. Soujiro has sent in a lively and vibrant pic of Shura the Pirate. Beautiful colors on this one, especially the background. And as always, I do enjoy seeing artwork of lesser known RK characters. Kenshin's Soul has sent in five wonderful new pics. A couple of them (featuring Kenshin with a camera) were drawn for me, and I'm so flattered and pleased by that. Thank you so much, Kenshin's Soul, for your thoughtful gift. The pics really are splendid. WALLPAPERS Kimmi has sent in a beautifully designed wallpaper featuring Kenshin and Tomoe. I especially like the snow in the background. It definitely adds to the appeal of the wall. Aikawarazu Ai has a lovely new wall for the gallery. I like the tastefully subdued colors on this one. Bold images and subtle coloring. Nice job. Lolo popoki has three beautiful new walls, all featuring various Kenshingumi members amid photographed backdrops. As always, lolo popoki does an impressive job with very clean extractions and impressively consistent colors. CONTEST In case you somehow missed the giant in-your-face banner at the top of the page, the 2005 Ruroken Contest is now up and running. I hope we get a good turnout this year. It ought to be fun. Posted by hakubaikou, 2:45:00 AM EST. on today's updates.