Journals37
Newest
'Spring' Cleaning Notice (2019)
1 min read
Hello, everyone! How's life?
It's been a while since I've been active here. I've been focusing my attention on various life-related matters as well as a few personal projects. One of the things I've been working on is spring cleaning, not just for my belongings but for my life in general. I thought that I might as well do the same for my DeviantArt account.
Over time, some of my previous works and some of my many favorite works by other users may disappear from my pages. I might do this just to make some space or to remove items that don't reflect the current me.
I just wanted to post this notice so that anyone who visits my pages would understand my reasons for the changes.
Do people receive notices when someone 'unfavorites' something? If that is the case, then I apologize in advance. It doesn't mean that I suddenly hate your art. I just want to try 'refreshing' myself by organizing the different aspects of my life.
Anyway, thank you for your time. Please take care. ^_^
It's been a while since I've been active here. I've been focusing my attention on various life-related matters as well as a few personal projects. One of the things I've been working on is spring cleaning, not just for my belongings but for my life in general. I thought that I might as well do the same for my DeviantArt account.
Over time, some of my previous works and some of my many favorite works by other users may disappear from my pages. I might do this just to make some space or to remove items that don't reflect the current me.
I just wanted to post this notice so that anyone who visits my pages would understand my reasons for the changes.
Do people receive notices when someone 'unfavorites' something? If that is the case, then I apologize in advance. It doesn't mean that I suddenly hate your art. I just want to try 'refreshing' myself by organizing the different aspects of my life.
Anyway, thank you for your time. Please take care. ^_^
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
The Race for Originality
4 min read
When you're brainstorming ideas, chances are you'll end up coming up with a variation of something that's already been used. Sometimes, it's intentional, a homage to or a parody of whatever work you're referencing. Other times, you'll think up something that feels refreshing and original…only to find that someone beat you to the punch in making said idea public. 
Because of this, I find it hard to come up with and then actually get to use certain ideas like character names or fanfiction premises.
One of my earlier brainstorms a couple years back (sometime in the earlier years of the new millennium, I think) that never went anywhere was a concept for a creature based on the usagi ringo (apple rabbit). Since I couldn't come up with any pleasing designs for this fictional animal, I decided to put the idea on hold. After a while, I forgot about my character concept due to life, school, and my other projects. However, I was swiftly reminded of my old idea years later when I saw a new Pokemon named Victini that had come out in 2010. I hadn't been keeping up with the Pokemon episodes for ages, but I did occasionally like taking a look at whatever new designs the creators had come up with. After all, living in Japan, it's not uncommon for me to see Pokemon-related merchandise in the city or on the TV. Naturally, I get curious. Anyway, seeing the Victini design made me wonder what I might have come up with had I continued to work on my idea. I'm not sure if I would have been able to come up with a design as cute as what the Pokemon creators did, but I'd had the idea for quite a while before Victini even came out. Or were the creators already brainstorming the idea around the same time I was? Which of us came up with the concept first?
I also have a hard time coming up with a unique username. I keep wanting to base my pseudonym on some clever pun or on my favorite things. However, a lot of other people do the same thing and have similar interests, which leads to a lot of the good names being already taken. It's sad and a little frustrating because I really had my heart set on some of those choices. I could, of course, simply add some numbers or extra characters to my username to differentiate it from the other person's username, but it feels weird having almost the exact same name as someone else. It's like having three Rachels or two Erics in the same room. (I've actually had that happen to me at one of my last schools.)
I suppose one of my biggest worries when it comes to actually making my ideas public is whether or not I have to ask for permission from another person with a similar idea to use the idea in my own projects. I mean, I didn't actually base my idea on theirs but rather on generally known concepts that a lot of other people probably make use of in their own ideas. Does it still count as my "original" idea if I didn't take anything from the other person's similar idea despite the similarities? What if I don't ask the other person if I can use the idea and then people start saying that I stole the idea from the other person? I'm always trying to be careful about plagiarism, so the last thing I want is someone saying I'm a thief. I suppose it would be safer to ask just in case…
When we imagine things, we often draw from our knowledge of the world and from preexisting stories. We take what we know, take it apart, and reassemble it into something new. Various permutations can arise from this process. But every once in a while, at least two of these permutations have so many common elements that they're near-identical.
Originality is certainly something to aspire to, but is breaking the mold easier said than done?
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
April showers bring May flowers
1 min read
Hi, guys! I'm back in Tokyo after spending the holidays in Sapporo with the folks, and just in time for the new semester too. Not much to talk about regarding this last week, just your usual school chaos, but we do have some lovely cherry blossoms in the city now. It's a stark contrast to Sapporo, where it was still cold enough to have a few inches of snow when I left, though most of it's probably melted by now.
Speaking of flowers, I'd like to thank all the people who favorited the photos of Japanese flora I recently posted.
Well, that's all for this entry. More for later, bye for now! ^_0
P.S. I recently made an account on the Custom BIONICLE Wiki. My page is located here: custombionicle.wikia.com/wiki/… .
If you have time, please feel free to take a look!
Speaking of flowers, I'd like to thank all the people who favorited the photos of Japanese flora I recently posted.
Well, that's all for this entry. More for later, bye for now! ^_0
P.S. I recently made an account on the Custom BIONICLE Wiki. My page is located here: custombionicle.wikia.com/wiki/… .
If you have time, please feel free to take a look!
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Ideas that people beat me to
2 min read
Hi, everyone. Just sharing a random thought I had today. I actually realized this a while ago, but I only decided to post my thoughts on it now.
Three or four years ago, I was working on original character designs for fun. One of them was an animal familiar that resembled a ringo usagi (a cute apple bunny sometimes included in a bento). It was just a fleeting idea brought about during my brainstorming session and was abandoned for a long while, though I still occasionally considered it during my search for a cute fictional animal character design. I still couldn't find a good design for that concept though.
Then, about a year or so ago, I came across a picture of a cute Pokemon called Victini. According to one Pokemon profile website, Victini's design was based on an apple bunny. I was a bit surprised that the guys that created Pokemon had the same idea as me. (And slightly miffed that they managed to come up with and present the design before I did.)
Well, I suppose it's not THAT surprising in retrospect. The apple bunny is a fairly well-known item in Japan. Still, I never thought someone else would think of trying to create a character out of it like I did.
I think there was a similar incident to this a while ago, only for a fanfic instead of a character design. I forgot what it was though.
Ah, well. I guess I'll just have to keep striving to come up with some great ideas. ^_^
Three or four years ago, I was working on original character designs for fun. One of them was an animal familiar that resembled a ringo usagi (a cute apple bunny sometimes included in a bento). It was just a fleeting idea brought about during my brainstorming session and was abandoned for a long while, though I still occasionally considered it during my search for a cute fictional animal character design. I still couldn't find a good design for that concept though.
Then, about a year or so ago, I came across a picture of a cute Pokemon called Victini. According to one Pokemon profile website, Victini's design was based on an apple bunny. I was a bit surprised that the guys that created Pokemon had the same idea as me. (And slightly miffed that they managed to come up with and present the design before I did.
)Well, I suppose it's not THAT surprising in retrospect. The apple bunny is a fairly well-known item in Japan. Still, I never thought someone else would think of trying to create a character out of it like I did.
I think there was a similar incident to this a while ago, only for a fanfic instead of a character design. I forgot what it was though.
Ah, well. I guess I'll just have to keep striving to come up with some great ideas. ^_^
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Most Favorite Picture of the Year
1 min read
Wow... Is it just me, or is the "Snow Totoro" in my gallery getting a lot of people's attention? 
Every time I check this account, I can't help but notice that there's always at least one message telling me that someone's faved or commented my photo of the Totoro snow sculpture.
I'm glad people like it so much. The Sapporo Snow Festival has always been a fun experience for me with the fantastic sculptures that pop up each year, and I'm happy to share it.
If only my other submissions were this popular or got this many views.
Anyway, thanks to everyone for viewing! ^_0
Every time I check this account, I can't help but notice that there's always at least one message telling me that someone's faved or commented my photo of the Totoro snow sculpture.
I'm glad people like it so much. The Sapporo Snow Festival has always been a fun experience for me with the fantastic sculptures that pop up each year, and I'm happy to share it.
If only my other submissions were this popular or got this many views.
Anyway, thanks to everyone for viewing! ^_0
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Featured