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Focus on a Fan: Maru-Light - Kira Dollmaker, Light Yagami Costumer and More

8/2/2016

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Welcome to our Focus on a Fan feature - this time coming as we launch a new monthly fandom focus upon characters in our favourite manga.  So who could we hunt down to do justice to this Death Note Month of Light Yagami?  Only one contender really.

The rest of this post is given over to the Goddess of our Old World, the inimitable Maru-Light!


Hello all~ So I was Maru-Light for a brief stint on MangaBullet (but an ongoing stint on DeviantArt).

The lovely Matilda hunted me down recently after a 5-year absence from the Death Note world, to inform me that it’s Kira month on Death Note News and could I please contribute to the Focus on a Fan, to which I couldn’t say no.

So about me, (which admittedly is kind of weird, but here it goes).

I devotedly cosplayed Light/Kira (in addition to L, B, Mello & Matt) between the years 2008 – 2011, and featured my pix both on MangaBullet (briefly) and DA, where most of it still is.

I founded the Kira Worshippers Group there, (which could probably use some new activity).

I actually wasn’t aware MangaBullet had a demise, and I haven’t been very active on DA either lately. When I am, it’s mostly through my Ball Joint Doll face-up work, and no longer my cosplay.

These days I mostly haunt a forum for an original novel series Anda-Chan and I have been working on. I have really limited my involvement in fandoms outside my own thing.

I lost the cosplay bug a few cycles after we stopped cosplaying Death Note (really was my biggest passion, and since then being inspired to cosplay has never been as strong.) My “bros” (MB’s Anda-Chan & Blairbender) and I went through a brief stint cosplaying My Chemical Romance (I was Gerard, that was an odd experience) and flirted with doing Hannibal but never got there.

Anda and I segued into a bit of Joker & Harley (so.much.make-up) and then Star Wars (even.more.make-up), before moving into an apartment together, which suddenly featured a new round of rent and a depleted source of cosplay funds. That, and getting to cons lately, has been a tall order.

So while it was a good run and fun while it lasted, we’ve since moved on to stranger pastures.
Maru Light Kira Cosplay
We entered into the bizarre, but Zenful world of urbexing for a bit (that’s urban exploring for laymen), which roughly translated into avoiding-getting-arrested-while-exploring-abandoned-asylums-and-taking-photographs-of-urban-decay.

On one such excursion, while covered in roof soot at an abandoned Victorian Mental Institution in upstate New York, Anda whipped out a ring and popped the question—so we’re engaged now.
Maru Light and Anda-Chan. Photography by A.C. Santos
I guess you can say we’re flirting with wedding plans, which usually goes from “I want an awesome VICTORIAN wedding in a mansion” to “meh, lets just do pizza and call it a day.”

Think maybe we’ll do a court ceremony and blow the money on a trip to the Caribbean instead (which admittedly is one of our addictions and seems like a more responsible investment of funds, unless the wedding becomes the best Halloween Party Ever, in which case we can justify the expense.)

And besides, I have my heart set on a replica of Mina Harker’s red dress from Dracula as my wedding scrubs, so maybe I’ll get the dress, do a court ceremony, eat the pizza and then go to the Caribbean. Sounds like a plan.
Cosplay L and Mello - Maru-Light and Anda--Chan

When Maru-Light and Anda-Chan were L and Mello. *little tear* The Good Old Days.
ANYWAY, so we’re living together and still writing together. We used to pour all of our efforts into a Death Note fanfic tome called The Redeemer Series, but I just sent Matti an article longer than anyone wants to read about why we don’t write that anymore.

[Coming soon to a Death Note News near you - Matti]

Instead, we’ve been hard at work on an original series called Breaking Across Devotion, which we’re adamant we're going to publish; otherwise my purpose on this planet is pretty moot.  Write or bust, basically.

The “B-A-D” series is literally about rock stars and serial killers, and - to prove life weirdly imitates art - as of the last year+, Anda and I have been working in the music business, as a concert photographer and copywriter respectively.

It’s been a pretty incredible experience. We go to at least 4 shows a month, sometimes more, sometimes less. Anda shoots rock stars in the photo pit [Still Mello! - Matti]; I get to watch and sometimes write about it. Along the way we’ve met some of our hero bands including Black Veil Brides, Nothing More and Like a Storm. It’s nuts. We’ve covered bands like Slash and Myles Kennedy, Frank Iero & the Cellabration, Six A.M., Marilyn Manson, The Pretty Reckless, Breaking Benjamin, Motionless in White, and a ridiculous amount of others for Music Existence.

We’re hoping to expand our careers deeper into the industry, and maybe actually get paid for this stuff (imagine that, not working for free.)
Anda and Maru at work

Anda and Maru at work

Meanwhile, I was featured as the face of an album for New Jersey band A Midnight Tragedy, as well as in one of their music videos - where I definitely proved to myself that I can’t act for nothing, but I still enjoy getting covered in make-up and blood. So it was a lot of fun.  (See pic below right from the video shoot.)
Maru-Light tattoos
Let’s see, I also fell down the tattoo rabbit hole.

Someone once warned me that if I started with ink, it would become an addiction and I’d throw away all my money.

I didn’t believe them. I should have.

I’ve been steadily getting inked for a few years now.

Last spring I began what’s turning out to be almost a full back/side/eventually leg piece, which is nuts because I never planned that, but it’s happening.

I got a raven inked on my ribs over the summer, and it was seriously the worst pain of my life, but somehow a proving grounds.

In the end, I think I’m just a masochist because I can’t wait to go back and keep getting work done.
A Midnight Tragedy/Maru-Light
Right now Anda and I are planning our first trip to London in the spring. Gonna hit up all the Jack the Ripper and Sherlock Holmes haunts, because we’re morbid, and maybe even track Matti down for some tea. [Kettle's on - Matti] Definitely looking forward to it, since we’ve been writing about it forever, but have yet to get the full experience.

As for Death Note, every now and then I really miss it. I itch to cosplay Kira and L again, but then I realize my wigs have gone the way of the dodo and I’m just not in the mood to duct tape my boobs down anymore. I still miss writing about them too, but my heart’s moved into another creative universe and I’m committed to seeing it through.

For now, Anda’s in the kitchen cutting onions for soup and has managed to burn even my eyes here in the next room. So I’m going to cut this short, and when my ability to see comes back, I’m going to binge some episodes of Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Maru-Light Star Wars cosplay


If you’re so inclined, you can find me here:
  • The Breaking Across Devotion Forum
  • DeviantArt
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr
  • Flickr
  • The Redeemer Series
  • Kira Worshippers DA Club

Posted as part of the

Death Note News Month of Light Yagami
Read More
Maru-Light
Maru-Light cosplay The Joker
Maru-Light's tips on cosplaying Kira will be coming along later in the month; as will her article explaining in detail what happened to her and Anda-Chan's The Redeemer Series.
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Focus on a Fan: MihaelJKeehl, Erstwhile Death Note Vlogger, ex-MangaBullet

25/9/2015

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As part of this blog, I promised to highlight those Death Note fans who scattered when MangaBullet went down.
Welcome to our monthly(ish) Focus on a Fan feature!

The rest of this post is in the very capable hands of Mr MihaelJKeehl!


Well...hmmm. Where to start.

Hey everyone... this is MihaelJKeehl. Long time no see. I guess MRSJeevas wasn't too thrilled with me being gone and insisted I check in. Whelp... hmm

The last I spoke to most of you was after Orangepunch did my interview on Guns and Games.

Sure do miss that site.

At the time I was working as a pizza delivery guy and going to school for welding. Seems like just yesterday but damn... it was a while ago.

Well let's recap from there.

I had lost touch with pretty much everyone except MelMat. That's right NicotineUke and I had parted ways and I lost touch with the rest of my MLife Family. Mostly because of my own inability to contact them.

I got lazy... I dunno...

I completed my studies as a welder and was hired by the school I graduated from as a Welding Shop Technician.
MihaelJKeehl
MihaelJKeehl and mascot



I had the opportunity to teach the students and repair machines, while working on special projects.

I was commissioned to build the school's mascot after the old one suddenly fell apart after a storm.

That's the nearly 10 foot tall Oakey Doke and his 15 foot tall lance. He took me about 6 months in between doing other work around the shop. Yeah that is me standing by him.

He is my pride and joy.

When most of you knew me I lived in California and, minus the 3 weeks MelMat and I lived in Connecticut, I have pretty much always been there.
After working for my college and other shops around the area, my older brother moved to Texas. He was also a welder, so he instantly got involved with the welding community.

After a couple weeks he finds out that the local Technical College was in need of welding teachers. By this point I was already a certified welder, inspector, graduate of the American Welding Society's leadership symposium, assistant instructor and professional fabricator. I applied for the job and to my surprise I got it.

On January 1st 2015, I moved to Texas and began my career as a welding educator. Pretty sweet considering just 3 years ago I had no damn clue what I was going to do with my life. 

I love my job and everything about living in the Great State of Texas.
MihaelJKeehl Welding
Some other things...

Yes, my YouTube Channel went out the window. One of my subscribers filed a complaint about me using a word they deemed inappropriate. YouTube shut me down. I just let it go at that point.

I guess you could say I still write fanfiction, but I hardly have the time to anymore. I still have my account on fanfiction.net and AO3 Zachary Finnius Oleary. I try to write, but I feel I can't compare to the greats so it discourages me and I give up a lot.

I did however get a sweet tattoo:
MihaelJKeehl anime character tattoos
Basically I had this idea that I wanted all of my favorite anime to be coming out of a pokeball. Pokemon being the anime that started it all for me.

So we have: Alakazam (Pokemon), Death the Kid and an OC I created for a story (Soul Eater), Sailor Neptune and Uranus (Sailor Moon) Matt and Mello of course, Levi and Erwin (Attack on Titan), Washu and Ryoko (Tenchi Muyo) and Duo Maxwell and Death Scythe Hell (Gundam Wing).

These anime all mean something deep down in my heart, so I had to give them a spot on my arm. 

My recent inception into Attack on Titan has filled the void left by the nearly dead MxM fandom. Levi and Erwin take a very VERY close second place in my YAOI desires. Matt and Mello will always be my main squeeze.

Let's see... anything else? Aside from practically being married to my work I live alone. I have actually been single ever since June of 2013 when NicotineUke and I split paths. It's been bitter-sweet. I have no one to distract me from work, but also no one to snuggle with at the end of the day. :(. 

I will say that I am incredibly excited about the news regarding Nintendo releasing the new POKEMON GO app coming out next year. If you haven't heard about it YouTube it like right now!
All in all I have been pretty happy. My students keep me incredibly busy and my life goes at a million miles a minute.

Thanks, MRSJeevas for thinking about me and suggesting I do this. I don't think I am going to be super active on the forum, but I will do my best.

If you want to reach me just shoot me an email - ckmo2010@gmail.com, or Skype - mihaeljkeehl. I also have Snapchat, which is mihaeljkeehl as well. Lastly you can kik me at zfinn2014.

Thanks for reading and keep living the MLife. I know I do.

You're very welcome, my love. Thank you for bringing us up to date with your life.  So when are you going to weld a 10 foot Mello?

If you'd like to feature in Focus on a Fan, then please let me know via the contact form on this site. It would be great to know where we can find the old gang!
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Focus on a Fan: Mistress 9 from MangaBullet

9/5/2015

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As part of this blog, I promised to highlight those Death Note fans who scattered when MangaBullet went down.  Welcome to our monthly Focus on a Fan feature!

The rest of this entry is given over to, and penned by, Mistress 9!

Hello everybody! Mistress 9 from MB here. If you knew me from ffnet, then I used to write under the name Miharu is Haruka's Love Child. I think I have that name on AdFan too, but I've long since forgot my log in details from there. Oops? XD
Mistress 9 Death Note Fan

Mistress 9: Obligatory Selfie Collage
I wasn't around when MB went down for the count and as for my ffnet account? It got compromised and all my stories were wiped so I had to start fresh, like a phoenix from the ashes. The old account is still there but it's empty. I currently write as Banen.

So. My name is Madelyn Holly, aka Banen, and yes I answer to all of those IRL. I never used to give my name out, but I'm nearly 24 so I'm less paranoid now. I live in sunny southern California, just a short traffic-filled drive from Downtown LA.

I'm not sure where to start so I'll go ahead and begin with my ongoing relationship with Death Note and all the things that branch from it.

I was seventeen and a senior in high school when I discovered Death Note. I hadn't been much of a manga reader before then, but I had a few volumes of One Piece, Rave Master, Sailor Moon, and Yu Yu Hakusho, so I knew what I was getting into when my buddy Rosa handed me a copy of Death Note volume 1 during silent reading.

It was love at first light (bad pun).

That was 2008. This was during the time of my life where my only online presence was a long-forgotten MySpace and a semi active MSN messenger. I was a total n00b with computers; I'm surprised I had an email! And then 2009 happened.

2009 is important for several reasons. UCLA and Japan.

Mistress 9: Yaoi and UCLA

Mistress 9 and her Converse

My first pair of Converse and they had to be Batman and the Joker.
I entered UCLA in September of 2009 and my life changed because I discovered the power of non-dial up internet (I had dial-up internet in my house until late 2010).

With the explosion of the internet came my ability to explore the online world, albeit only while I was on campus because I've been a commuter student all my life.

(That's one hellish commute btw. I live only 33 miles from campus but I still have to get up at 4:30 AM to get to school on time).

One the first courses I ever took at UCLA was a year-long general education cluster titled Politics, Society, and Culture of Modern East Asia. I had four professors and nine post-doc teaching fellows teaching that class (you read that right, exactly thirteen people, each with their own specialty, working together to teach a single class).

That class was amazing for all kinds of reasons, but one of the main professors who covered (never forgot his name, Yamaji Smith) had us read a selection from the God Child manga as part of the curriculum. That was when I got my introduction to yaoi.

Yes, yaoi was on the curriculum.

That was also the time I found out about manga scans and where to read manga online. I quickly rediscovered Death Note and my world changed.

Then in November my parents surprised me with a late 18th birthday present - they sent me to Japan.

MangaBullet's Mistress 9 Goes to Japan

There were many many wonderful and beautiful things about Japan.

Going to the Pokemon Center, visiting Akihabara, Harajuku fashion, all the hype for the tenth anniversary of One Piece, eating real ramen for the first time, rubbing the statue of Hachiko and pretending like I was Neku from The World Ends With You DS game as I ran around all the places featured in the game, riding the subway, visiting shrines, taking pictures of Lolita and wedding ceremonies, discovering that Palette Town is a real place, going to Tokyo Disney Sea...
Mistress 9 in Akihabara

Akihabara 2009
Japan was more than I'd ever imagined it to be.

Due to some magical intervention from my cousin, I was set up at the Prince Park Tower in Akebanebashi district just a floor below the penthouse suites, and I kid you not, the view from where we ate breakfast... it was nearly the same view of the Tokyo tower that Light and Takada have during one of their meetings in the manga!

I was blown away. So very blown away. Best time of my life.

It was in Japan that I found out what doujins were, and consequently fan-fiction in general.

A Californian Death Note Fan

When I got back to California I went straight to ffnet and went straight for Death Note. I started off in LxLight but quickly moved to LxMxN stories. I might have read all the MelloxNear fics on the sight by Christmas that year.

By chance one of the fics mentioned this redheaded character that I didn't remember from anime. I changed my search settings to look for stories with Matt. My mind exploded and I never went back. I began publishing my first Matt and Mello story in February of 2010.

That same year, in that same class I mentioned earlier, around the time we were coving yuri after watching Ghost in the Shell, my TA Noriko asked if any of us were into fan-fiction, and more specifically, yaoi fan-fiction. I raised my hand and tried not to explode as I explained to whole class the merits of MxM.

School is so awesome sometimes.


But as time went by I was slowly crashing into deep depression.

Dark Looking-Glass: When Mistress 9 Went Down the Rabbit Hole

I wasn't posting so often anymore. I wasn't logging into MangaBullet, ffnet, Facebook, anywhere. I slowly began to isolate myself and I stopped caring about anything.

Even spending my 21st birthday at the 21st anniversary of the Anime Expo and meeting Vegeta's original Japanese voice actor didn't lift my spirits out of deep depression.

Although dressing up as a Lolita and meeting fashion designer Cyril Lumboy (aka Dolldelight), was probably one of the most fantastic moments ever.
Nothing could hold my attention for long, though.

I started skipping classes and not doing my homework. UCLA threatened to kick me out if I didn't get my grades back up to par and I found myself switching majors just to keep myself afloat. It was an ordeal to force myself to shower in the morning, much less do anything else.

Fast forward to December of 2012 and I found myself very close to jumping in front of a train in Korea Town on my way to a final exam.

I will spare everyone the nitty-gritty details of my breakdown, because the important thing isn't what was going on in my head during the times I wanted very much to die. The important thing is that I was kicked out of school and told sent to professionals who helped me reclaim my brain.

And that is what I've been doing since February of 2013.
Mistress 9 as Lolita Alice in Wonderland

Me in my Alice in Wonderland themed Lolita dress.

A Life Reclaimed with Mello & Matt

Raichu painting by Mistress 9

First time painting in years, I love this innocent Raichu
For the past two years I have been on a mission to not give up on my life.

There were hits and misses.

I've had panic attacks, my hair fell out in chunks, I gained tons of weight after having lost a grip of it.


My brain turned to mush. I lost the ability to recognize emotions in both myself and other people and I honestly feel like I'm rediscovering everything. Sometimes I burst into tears folding socks because I realize that I'm having the emotion of 'oh this isn't so bad' and that freaks me out.

It's incredibly crazy. But I'm getting better.
Every morning I look at a picture that Striped Tabby sent me for winning a Halloween contest on MB one year. It reminds me of the years building up friendships around the world and how we all connected over these fictional characters and how much love we poured into making our fan works... and I want to be apart of it again.

Every morning I look at that little Matt and Mello as they gaze up at the full moon under a tree and lean into each other for support and it helps.

Because that is what Death Note is for me, it's my greatest help and my greatest therapy. Death Note will never let me down. Mello and Matt will always be there for me. I'll grow up and become a proper adult who pays bills and takes care of herself so that I can have time indulge in the great pleasure that is MxM. :3

So what am I up to at this very moment in time?

Nail Art: Mistress 9 Finds Her Claws

I had to cut them painfully short a few weeks ago so I could type again, but I legit grew myself a pair of claws!

I'm getting steadily better at nail art.
Mistress 9's fingernails

My nails. Yes, my real nails.

School: Educating Mistress 9

Since I was able to prove that I can do satisfactory school work again...and more importantly that I'm not suicidal anymore, I was re-admitted to UCLA back in January of this year.

I'll be graduating from UCLA in 5 weeks with a BA in Spanish and Linguistics.

Yay for finishing, finally! June 27 (my real birthday) is gonna be my graduation party. Anyone gonna be in the LA area? You're invited. <3

I'm currently tutoring English Language Development students at my old high school, deciding if I like the idea of being a teacher. I might try the whole substitute teacher thing. My mom wants me to join the Navy and that certainly would be awesome but I'd have to lose weight and get off my meds first.

The thought of graduation is super scary because I have no idea what is gonna happen and I'm scared of the thought of being an adult. I should be looking for a job but I'm not read to grow up! Somebody take me to Neverland!
Mistress 9 with a beard

#1 on my bucket list was always to have a beard...

Death Note Writing: Mistress 9's Fan-Fiction

I made a new fan-fiction account late last year on ffnet and a few months ago I started reposting all the old stuff. One of my readers from back in the day had some backups of stuff and I found some other things on the ancient desktop that my bro uses.

My main titles (Tearoom, Barbie Boy, and White Chocolate) are getting make-overs and dear God do they need them. But I hate editing so I'm going a little slow at it. I'm still sticking with Death Note 99% of the time. First loves die hard.

But I'm must more excited about two projects I've put the front of my writing folder!

The first is already up a few chapters and it's called The Headliner. It's an AU where Mello has been rotting in jail for forty years, long-since convicted as Kira (but not in the conventional sense of Kira). But suddenly he has a chance to leave prison to go hunt down and reunite with Matt (who should have been dead).

The real kicker here though is that I'm finally getting around to including a NearxMello scene in one of my fics. I had hinted to this sort of relationship at times in Tearoom and more than a handful of people told me I should try writing it because seme!Near is so off the wall bizarre to imagine. But I'm gonna do it, and keep it in character if it kills me... I just signed my own death warrant didn't I? *gulp*

Buuuuuut I'm drowning in plot bunnies at the moment for a project I was just given to the green light to do! A fanfiction of Mrs-Jeevas' fanfiction! *dies* My own take on how Mello paves his way into the Mafia, but written in Matti!Canon. *devilish grin*

I've never bothered to really sit down and research and get source materials for a story before, so if nothing else this will be the best researched story I have ever written... whether I actually adhere to my own research is another thing *cough* but I'm so excited I can't sleep at night. I'll be in the shower and imagining Mello doing xyz and then rush to my laptop to jot it down so I don't forget to add it later.

Mistress 9's 20 eye Doc Marten Boots

#2 on my bucket list was to own a pair of 20 eye Doc Martens

Hook Back Up with Mistress 9

Where to find me:
  • Email me: banen.holly@outlook.com Don't feel awkward about sending me emails. This is the easiest method to find me because I get everything to my cell phone;
  • Banen on ffnet, because ffnet is still my main home;
  • I just made an A03. Gonna start posting soon under my most recognizable pen name, Miharu_is_Harukas_Love_Child;
  • I'm still hArUkAs-lOvE-cHiLd on DA, though I'm rarely there;
  • Facebook. I don't discuss the yaoi in public, but I most certainly will in PMs. If you request me, please send me a PM explaining who you are and how you found me.

Contact me privately and I'm not above exchanging phone numbers. Or you could get one of those fake texting numbers that let's you text from your computer and hit me up that way. I'm terrified of phone conversations but I'm all for texting :D Texting is my favorite method of communication atm.

- Madelyn <3

If you'd like to feature in Focus on a Fan, then please let me know via the contact form on this site. It would be great to know where we can find the old gang!
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Focus on a Fan: Blondie-Love from MangaBullet and DeviantART

6/3/2015

2 Comments

 
As part of this blog, I promised to highlight those Death Note fans who scattered when MangaBullet went down.
Welcome to our monthly Focus on a Fan feature!

The rest of this entry is given over to, and penned by, Blondie-Love!


Hello friends! My name is Sarah, but you might know me as Blondie-love, if you followed me on DeviantART or MangaBullet!

Yes hello I look exactly like I did 6 years ago whoops.

Also I took this selfie just now because I didn’t have any pictures of myself wearing my ~new glasses~ yet.


I was supposed to write this in January but I am the most forgetful person in the world actually. The only reason I remembered to do it now is because there is a sticky note on my desk reminding me orz… SORRY MATTI.


I guess I’m supposed to write about what I’ve been up to since then? I haven’t really been doing a lot, I graduated from high school in 2014 (thank freaking Christ) and I’m currently being held captive in this strange building amongst a bunch of other people around my age?

They have given me a schedule and I am expected to go to certain rooms within this large building nearby at designated times?? Sometimes I just sit in these rooms for 3 hours while someone stands at the front of the room and tells us about things? Like is this even legal because what the heck.


Blondie-love
Apparently this is called “college” and I’m being “too dramatic” but honestly I’m not buying it. \:

But yeah, I still live in Michigan. Because honestly why would anyone not want to live here? I feel privileged to live in such a tropical climate, especially this time of year. We have beautiful white sand everywhere, literally everywhere. People typically have to brush it off their cars before they leave their house, but it’s not even a big deal, you know?

Check out this scenic picture of my residence hall!

Image: Snowy College

Eat your heart out, Hawaii!!
Even though I constantly get into and out of different fandoms, Death Note is one that I am still always low-key obsessed with.

Like someone just kind of casually mentions death note and I'm like ‘okay Sarah,,.,., act casual,.,. you can do this…..’ and then i just “did i just HEAR someone say deA TH NOT E?” and try not to violently tremble like a dog who can see a squirrel outside the window.

But honestly I’ve met so many amazing, nice, and talented people through this fandom I wouldn’t have it any other way.


No seriously I was the most annoying little 13 year old and I don’t know how people online talked to me without dying omg thank u guys for tolerating me??

I don’t have a job right now, because that would infringe upon my ‘sitting-in-my-dorm-and-scrolling-through-tumblr’ time, obvi. I just can’t have that???

My major is hospitality management right now, I don’t know what I plan on doing with that, or whether I plan on actually staying in college.

I know, I know. Get your life together, Sarah.



I have started taking art more seriously, for what that’s worth. I really enjoy painting things. Specifically flowers and random nature scenery. Like here’s a painting I did for my mom last mother’s day~

If anyone wants to follow me on these things, here's a list of my accounts and stuff. Like seriously I am always online it’s kind of sad actually omfg.

Your best bet for contacting me and getting an immediate response is Skype because I always have that open. (seriously though I am always on my phone any of these things will work)
  • Twitter: @yarnbali
  • Tumblr: cronuslampora
  • Skype: blondie-love
  • Instagram: thankstarclan
  • Snapchat: ghostytrickster
  • Kik cronuslampora
Image: Sunflower Art

If you'd like to feature in Focus on a Fan, then please let me know via the contact form on this site. It would be great to know where we can find the old gang!
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Focus on a Fan: BrookeStardust from MangaBullet (aka Bubbles from the EHC)

17/12/2014

7 Comments

 
As part of this blog, I promised to highlight those Death Note fans who scattered when MangaBullet went down.  Welcome to our monthly Focus on a Fan feature!

The rest of this entry is given over to, and penned by, Bubbles! By which I mean BrookeStardust, who plays Bubbles in Twitter's long-running EHC group and on the He Moves Me Differently website forum.

I have come to realise, in the many days I have spent with this document open and only the header of “DN Thing” typed on the page, that I am not particularly good at writing about myself.

I think the crux of this whole event came to pass when I found myself on tabloid websites, trying to find interview questions which might seem useful to ask myself.


It does not particularly help that I am not a celebrity though.
Questions like “how’s the new album coming along?” or “so are you and Beyoncè a thing now or….” just don’t apply to me. (For the record, if they did apply, the answers would be “Oh, it’s great, we’re on the mixing stage” and “Duh”.)

I guess all that leaves is trying to think of what’s happened that’s worth filling people in about since MangaBullet stopped being a thing and my immediate access to the fandom kind of withered away.

It’s a bit interesting to think back on, but fandom locations in general have changed so drastically in the past few years. I might wax poetic a moment here, but I remember the days of Geocities fan-page circles, LiveJournal communities and DeviantArt and the slow transformation that had to something like MySpace then things like Tumblr or Reddit.

We are in weird times, friends.
Image: BrookeStardust and boyfriend... erm... actor Ben Whishaw
Image: Furry commission drawn recently by BrookeStardust

Furry commission drawn recently by BrookeStardust
This leaves me trying to think where things left off though…

2011 I graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology with a BFA in Film and Animation after finishing a thesis which I still cannot watch.

This happened around a pretty weird time in the Animation and Film world. Layoffs were happening across all the major companies (Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks,etc.) which created a giant market flood of people who had far more experience than the kids just getting out of college.

So, like literally everyone in my graduating class, I had to improvise and scramble a bit for a job (for the record, not a single person I graduated with has a job in the industry right now). My first summer out, I moved back home and put in about seven applications a day to different animation companies, film houses, advertising firms, graphic design companies, video game houses, special effects houses… whatever.

At the time, I was working full time at the eBay job I had in high school, as well as working as a law office secretary part time. Eventually, I started getting desperate (you can only sell so many used women's sweaters online before you /really/ start wanting to not do that), so I began putting in applications wherever I could think of.

Long story short, I was hired in November of 2011 as a sales specialist for a fruity computer company, moved to technician within about three months, and have been there since.

As far as retail jobs go, it’s pretty good. I really love my team and have come to think of them as more of my family than my actual relatives are. We’re a close knit group, especially in a store of over a hundred employees, and I couldn’t ask for better coworkers.

Customers are customers and I think that would remain a true statement no matter where I worked. Some are great, some are not.
Unfinished sketch by Brookestardust

Unfinished sketchy thing I still like the look of
I wish I could say that this is my dream job, or even what I thought I’d be doing at this point in my life, but it really isn’t.

I know that, in the situation of the economy being what it is and the market being what it is, that I’m doing pretty well, but there are days (a lot of them) where I just feel stuck or lost or terrified that I’m going to wake up in twenty years still trying to fix the iPhone X9000, or whatever’s out by then.

I make sure to put in at least one job application a day now (long work hours leave one quite tired, so the seven I did when I first graduated had to be cut back a bit), and I just keep hoping that maybe something will strike a lead up. In the mean time, I keep saving as much as I can to eventually use to move to New York City and try to strike it big with some tiny animation house there.

Something something best laid plans of mice and men, perhaps, but it keeps me on a goal path, which has been useful when I get really emotionally lost.

Image: Force10 and Bubbles by Brookestardust
Force10 and Bubbles
by Brookestardust
Other than work, I have been trying to enjoy the few bits of free time I do get.

My platonic life partner, Niki, and I have been attending more concerts lately than I ever have in my life. Last month included Streetlight Manifesto, Emperor Norton’s Stationary Marching Band, ReBulder, Weezer, and O-Town. (I know you are jealous of my early 2000s boy band viewing. It is okay.)

We have also been making as many plans for both day trips in the area and longer trips out of New England as we can.

I make it an absolute point to attend Otakon in Baltimore MD every year (this year marked my… sixteenth year going, I think? I’ve started losing track) and make it more of a point to hunt down BlAIRbender for annual dinners.

For those who follow the EHC twitter group, which I still hold irrationally near and dear to my heart, consider it the real life reunion of Bubbles and Force10. I hold a firm belief that BlAIRbender /is/ Force10 and no one can convince my Roomba and I otherwise.


Tweets by @Opaque_Bubbles
I’ve been trying diligently to keep up with my art (to some success), and generally have been sketching more on real life media than on my computer.

Every once in a while I’ll post over to my Tumblr (which, because I am original as anything, is my name. But it’s under the tag AlexArt there).

Or I’ll post on Furaffinity, although I have been really bad about posting with any sort of regularity. I tend to draw on my lunch breaks at work and just never think to post anything when I get home. The worst!

I still cosplay with complete regularity, wear more makeup than a streetwalker, watch more anime and movies more than is probably healthy, play D&D or PathFinder whenever possible (ask me about my bard hooker and her bag of holding wedged between her boobs), and dye my hair more than any person should be able to get away with.

Not much has really changed, I guess. Beyond the whole… being older thing. Which, for the record, is really weird and I do not agree with. I refuse to feel like an adult until I am 85. No matter what the government or my retirement fund has to say about it.

I am pretty easy to find on the internet, which is good if you are into that sort of thing. Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram all rock out with my name. The real one, not BrookeStardust, even though that name is infinitely cooler.
Folgers by Brookestardust

Folgers - two characters from Niki's current novel which I drew
I am trying to think of something profound to leave this off with. I wish I had a meaningful quote or a song lyric or something.

I could put a video link to A Better Place A Better Time, which has been a tune that has helped me out a lot over these past few years, or perhaps I could find some serene yet inspiring image on Google, which somehow reflects a perfect summary of this write up.

I like to imagine there would be several lobsters and a jackalope gazing off meaningfully into the sunset. Perhaps a rainbow would float across the sky. Eagles.

Instead, I am going to leave you with perhaps my favourite short collection of arranged words. I have no idea where this came from anymore. I only know that I have had it saved on every one of my computers for years and that I will go and reread it more than is normal.

I hope it brings to you all what it has brought to me.

What is McRib? 

McRib is peace of mind and a sense of purpose. McRib is a memory of simpler times--of cool pitchers of lemonade on hot summer days and respect for one's elders. McRib is renewed consumer confidence and economic prosperity. McRib is conviction in your own beliefs. McRib is Manifest Destiny and the American Dream.

McRib is your first kiss and the embrace of a former lover. McRib is a shoulder to cry on and a confidant in troubled times. McRib is watching your child take his first steps. McRib is your favourite tee shirt fresh from the laundry. McRib is timeless elegance. 

McRib is desire. McRib is a thirst you can't quench and an itch you can't scratch. McRib is a tangy, sauce-covered reminder of what you didn't even know you were missing. McRib is ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife. McRib is a destination. McRib is a state of mind.

What is McRib? McRib is back.
Brookestardust and friend
Love forever and ever chickadees,

-Alex


If you'd like to feature in Focus on a Fan, then please let me know via the contact form on this site. It would be great to know where we can find the old gang!
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Focus on a Fan: MelMat from MangaBullet!

4/11/2014

17 Comments

 
As part of this blog, I promised to highlight those Death Note fans who scattered when MangaBullet went down.
Welcome to our monthly Focus on a Fan feature!

The rest of this entry is given over to, and penned by, Melmat! 


I've tried so hard to forget about you, to leave you and move onto something newer. But I can't- I'm in love with you! Yes Death Note, I'm talking to you. You come in here flaunting your charms in a cat and mouse game; then hit me where it hurts, your irresistible characters. Yeah, you got me good this time. I hate you! (screams) I hate you!

I love you!

(Inhales, then exhales slowly) Okay, all better now.

But in reality, it's true. Oh, I have tried numerous times in the past few years to write for different fandoms. Ones that I adore- Attack on Titan, Free!, Kuroko no Basketball and so many more. Damn you, Death Note for holding my heart so tightly.


Melmat Mello cosplay
Mello cosplay Melmat
The Battle Within

I am a writer, not a cosplayer. They were done as a homage of sorts for me, because Mello has been such intricate part of my life; in ways I can't begin to explain. The pictures were taken by MihaelJKeehl and the rosary was sent to me from Poland by non other than my chaos twin, TrishKeehl. I tweaked the color to add more focus to the scar. I liked the result. It wasn't bad for a first timer. (laughs)

“You got to lose,
to know how to win...”
This lyric reminds me of Mello. He knew who Kira was!

He freaking knew! And he died proving he was right!!

Oh, Mello (sighs)
When I'm not in a Death Note coma as I like to call my alternate reality, I enjoy hanging out with my family, reading, watching movies and music. My favorite thing though, is concerts! I'm addicted to them. And oh my God; September 2013, I got to see HIM live. Yes, after eleven years of waiting; it finally happened! Little did I know I would get another opportunity six months later. (laughs) It was heavenly!

Nowadays, I spend my time talking to my Shini (aka my MattyMatt), writing and balancing being a parent. I'm a rockstar, babyyy!

I have plans on going back to school or at least taking some classes to help me further my writing. I've been working on a few fan fictions but I really want to start on my original ideas. Maybe in the next year or so?

Not much else has been going on as of late. Though I can say, I am disappointed that my Shini has not moved here yet, but I guess that's life. Stuff happens! Right? Oh yeah, my kid will be going off to college in two years. I know it's still a ways off but not to me. I mean, one day she is heading off to kindergarten and the next, a sophomore in high school.

Umm...wow. (shakes head)

I just realized my life is not remotely interesting. I'm rather boring. (Laughs) Totally not cool.

(Annoyed growl) Okay guys, I can feel my A.D.D creeping up on me as my focus on this has drifted in other directions.

So with that; I will now end this, leaving you with one of my most favorite songs. Ciao!
-Fin
Places you can find me:
  • Fanfiction: ~melmat
  • Archives of Our Own: MelMat

* I would like to publicly apologize to MRS-Jeevas. She had approached me back in mid-May about doing this and at that point things were not going good for me in the writing department. There were more failed attempts at this than I care to count. And, for that - Madam, I am deeply sorry.

* No prob! And no apologies necessary. Less than three, MelMat.

If you'd like to feature in Focus on a Fan, then please let me know via the contact form on this site. It would be great to know where we can find the old gang!
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Focus on a Fan: Cat, aka StripedTabby - Founder of Guns and Games on MB!

14/9/2014

5 Comments

 
As part of this blog, I promised to highlight those Death Note fans who scattered when MangaBullet went down.
Welcome to our monthly Focus on a Fan feature!

The rest of this entry is given over to, and penned by, StripedTabby! 


Cosplaying Striped Tabby
Hello, my name is Cat aka StripedTabby, and I was the original founder of Guns and Games on MangaBullet.

I hope you all still remember me ^^;;

I feel like I should have a stronger introduction of some sort aahah, but, hello hello! It's good to be here!
It's been a long time since my days on MB, and while I may have hopped fandoms here and there, briefly staying in Supernatural for about three years, my love for the Death Note fandom never ended. I made some long time friends there after all! 

Anyway, Matti contacted me while I was shopping around for food to fill in for this month, and so here I am! I'm terribly horrible at trying to figure out how to write things about myself, but oh well. Here's what I've been up to lately: 

I've moved from my coastal town, to the city of Austin, TX (if you're around let me know! I'd love to meet up sometimes :D) and then I was flung into the workplace where I have very little time off, but hey its a job that pays my now expensive habit of anime merch (mostly in the name of swimming anime boys).
Anime at the seaside
Austin, Texas
It's funny, coming back here after the news that the 10 year anniversary of Death Note was this year. Its been so long, and yet, it seems so short too. All those years, and friends and memories. It's amazing. The good and the bad. I'd probably change a few things but for the most part, it's a part of who I am. 

I remember starting the Guns and Games club on MangaBullet, and watching it grow and grow. Watching all the community come together slowly and seeing people make bonds with each other. My little team made sure that there was always something happening, that the club was in good hands, and that the love of DN and Matt and Mello stayed strong. 

I was sad when I wasn't able to keep up my duties as founder, so I handed the reigns over to Matti and Silvia who took wonderful care of my baby. If I could renew the club somehow, I would. I thought about doing it on Anipan, but I think things weren't that great with the site? 

Anyway. 

It's a nice thing to reminisce about and actually, this day that I'm writing this entry, I finally completed my DN collection. I bought the 7th volume of Death Note. I skipped it for some reason, and while comic book shopping, I decided to finally buy it. To have the collection. 

Ten Years, and One Full Collection.
Death Note book collection
Mmmm, currently, I'm on several websites and I do try to stay social! My job hours don't really allow for constant connection, so I'm usually lurking around in the early hours, or late hours. Which really bothers me because I used to spend so much time online before!

On my website, I do try to keep up with little journals and my artwork. I'd like to draw more! It's been ages since I've had a long day to sit and have a good draw.  Anyway! I would love love to sit and chat with people, even if its through email! just let me know ahaha. 

But mostly, on the sites you can find me on, I'm usually crying over the wasted potential of Supernatural, and the unexpected tear your heart out slice-of-life anime, Free! (but come on, plot and fan-service aimed at females? sign me UP, cause hot damn those muscles. Sports anime man. That came out of nowhere and hit me right in the feels.) 

Oh and a few side projects I've been doing these past years, was an English text-to-text transcript of Death Note: Another Note and I have been slowly...very slowly.............doing the same for Death Note: L Save the WorLd. Mostly because I don't think there's any pdf available for it still. ^^ People still ask for DN:AN, so I can only imagine that the second novel is still unavailable for online reading. But since everything is online, I can only wonder. 

Please don't be afraid to contact me on any of these sites! I'm always around ^^ 

Take care everyone! It was a pleasure to be your president while I was able to /bows
Anime Free! figurine
You can find me on:

Twitter: @stripedtabby

Tumblr: @stripedtabby

as well as my personal site + journal.
Free fandom picture
If you'd like to feature in Focus on a Fan, then please let me know via the contact form on this site.

It would be great to know where we can find the old gang!


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Focus on a Fan: ShinigamiMailJeevas, aka Alexhliel from MangaBullet and DA!

1/8/2014

14 Comments

 
As part of this blog, I promised to highlight those Death Note fans who scattered when MangaBullet went down.
Welcome to our monthly Focus on a Fan feature!

The rest of this entry is given over to, and penned by, Alexhliel! 

I am Alexhliel, and most of you will recognize that name from MB or Deviant Art. Otherwise I am known as ShinigamiMailJeevas. I guess that kind of confuses people, but by the time I started to make a name as Shinigami the other accounts had already been created and had my work on them. And well, I was not about to pay to change the old name.

I might also have to tell you that my mind goes in about a thousand directions at once so if things seem a bit jumbled here, they probably are :D

So, about me and what I have been up too. Not much to be honest. My life still revolves around “work days” and “days off” and I am still trying to move out of my state. At this point I am going to accept the fact that I either need to win the lotto or deal with being up to my eyeballs in debt—or I'm never going to leave.

I don’t have much to tell about how things have been going other than that. Everything is sort of just the same as it has been. Crappy health. Still struggling with weight. And would generally be happier becoming a hermit with my Mello, MelMat, with internet access so I can buy and watch my anime online. >_> That makes my life sound so boring.

While I miss the MangaBullet community, I am happy that there is at least a few small places we can gather again. I can be a bit of a lurker, mainly because I don’t do well in social situations and come across a bit cold and awkward. Though people who know me personally know I can be...a bit of a dork.

Example: I sent this to my lovely Mello on Valentine's Day.

Be my Bacon Valentine gift
Recently I have been into watching anime more than anything else. I finally finished watching Gintama after a few years of waiting for the subtitles to catch up. It is, and has remained, my favorite anime. Don't get me wrong, I love Death Note and my OTP will always be Mello/Matt. But my favorite anime is Gintama. That is an absolutely insane anime. It has comedy, samurai, aliens, slice of life, great fight scenes and is just generally awesome. I would also like to mention my second favorite anime is Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin), though the manga for that is much more involved and doesn’t have the unwanted bonus of animators trying to add more romantic undertones. The soundtrack for both are well worth buying as well.

Randomly, has anyone seen the show The Walking Dead?

I love zombies (not enough to, you know, meet them personally) and this show is freaking epic. Its the rare kind that gets better every season instead of backtracking. Even if you are not a fan of zombies, you will like this. Unless you cant handle a little gore...then you might not want to watch it.

But this is what I have been caught up on recently when not writing.

As for fanfiction, I am still very much attached to Death Note. The M's have forever engrained themselves in my brain and wont be leaving anytime soon. I am currently flopping back and forth between more than five multi-chaptered stories. Zombies, the crazy house, werewolves, Stargate crossover (I know, bad bad me with the cross over...but I'm only using the universe not the characters. Heh) and Mello as FBI. I have my plate full and cant seem to focus on just one of them to finish.

On top of that my mind has been going over the ideas I have for novels I hope to get published. Including turning “Radio Nowhere”, my zombie fic, into original work at some point. So I am a bit crazed right now.

Look out world, you will soon be flooded with what I call horror novels :D

The only thing other than my Mello that keeps me sane during all this is.....music! It is my secret weapon when writing. A simple word or phrase can change my mood, and in turn my stories, so easily it is almost scarey. I however, can't write without it.

Anyone can skip this part if you really are not into music. I will just ramble on about a few bands that have really impressed me this year by having me buy the entire album. When it comes to music I am rather picky, and even when I say I love a band generally I will only like a few songs per album. These bands I bought the entire albums, not a single song disliked. And for me that is a feat.

Lacuna Coil. That bands last two albums have been pure genius. And the most recent one has spawned two multi chapter death Note fic ideas. Neither of them are warm and fluffy either.

Starset— their sound is described a “cinematic rock”, and I guess it is. The way the music melds with their vocals really just make me want to close my eyes and feel the songs. Not quite sure what I want to write to them just yet but it wont be anything fluffy.

One last band I have to praise is Digital Daggers. They did a “reimaginations” EP, which was basically a cover EP of older and well known songs. On it was “Aquarius”. You know the original, “Age of Aquarius” by The 5th Dimension? I rather dislike the original, and was about to skip over it, but I love digital Daggers so I gave it a shot. I am so glad I did. The melody is hauntingly beautiful. This song spawned a rather unique Death Note idea-but that is all I will say at this time.

Well now all of that is out of the way, I guess it is time to close this. It's been fun :)

I mainly reside on my Fanfiction.net account “ShinigamiMailJeevas” but should something happen to that I also have an account of the same name on Archive of our Own. I am just too lazy to deal with HTML codes to update....

  • Fanfiction: ShinigamiMailJeevas
  • AO3: ShinigamiMailJeevas
  • DeviantArt (not really here anymore but I left my artwork up): Alexhliel

If you'd like to feature in Focus on a Fan, then please let me know via the contact form on this site. It would be great to know where we can find the old gang!
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Focus on a Fan: TrishKeehl from MangaBullet

2/5/2014

5 Comments

 
As part of this blog, I promised to highlight those Death Note fans who scattered when MangaBullet went down.
Welcome to our monthly Focus on a Fan feature!

The rest of this entry is given over to, and penned by, TrishKeehl! 


(NB Trisha speaks English (extremely well) as a second language. She asked me to double-check her grammar and spelling, which I've done.
But I've aimed to retain throughout her own phrasing and voice.)


This is a short story of the last few years in the life of Trisha Abaddon, formerly known as TrishKeehl on Mangabullet.
TrishKeehl Mello cosplay
Imagine yourself a sieve.
Then apply it to the way my brain looks like.
Yes, you've got the point.

Not that long time ago I was sitting on a meeting with a Job Councillor and after what it seemed like 1.5 hours, the lady got up, staring at me with wide eyes and said:

'You know, I'm not a smoker, but I think I need a cig now'.

And I hadn't even started on my past...

As a teenage, rebellious kid I had this plan - to die before turning 22. I thought it was long enough to taste life, and to be full of it to the point of nausea. I didn't have any more plans except those funeral ones. And to tell you in all honesty - I died. Not literally, no... I've gone to the dark pit of Hell and made myself there at home. For a good few months... or years... (remember - the sieve). But in the end I came back, to tell you this a bit gruesome tale.

I invite you to the single-person circus and roller-coaster called humbly Trisha.

I think I left some of you on my oh so well chosen point in education that IT school was. Well, I finished that school, but didn't get the title of technician. To tell you the truth, I didn't really care about it. Because the main events were happening outside my education...

I had my school in another city, so to not travel there every time, I used to stay at my father's brother home during some nights. I used to stay there unto the one night when my alcoholic uncle decided it was a good thing to rape me.

I'll spare you the details.

I managed to get away from his house early in the morning and ran through the woods to the city. I was furious. At him, at myself and at everything that had happened to me.

I stopped at the gas station, bought myself a beer and a pack of cigarettes and went to school like nothing was wrong. One thing I knew - I was never a crybaby and the world would not wait for my royal self to get myself together.

Oops, did I mention I spent my money on beer and nicotine supplies?
Yeah, I had nothing in my wallet to cover the bus ticket to get me home.

However, I had enough money to buy myself a 'phone card, so I called Mom telling her I decided to come home by foot. In the end she got in touch with my cousin who took me to his home and made me a tea.

This is important little thing to me - that hot tea. I felt so cold and shaky and it soothed my nerves and felt like a real gift from the Heavens. Since then, I'm a big lover of tea of any kind. Trisha - the tea freak - how funny is that?

What came later was a dose of total chaos mixed with a few spoons of self-destruction and poured with alcohol.

As the informed vampire that I am, I've read all the side effects - physical and psychical - of that damn event, so I would know what to expect from myself. And I gave myself a month for a total freak out when I drank every day, self-harmed, starved myself and read depressing fan fiction.

The month, but did it end? Some of those things stand with me to this day, but I got hold of myself. However, my addictive personality - that I received as a present from my dear Daddy - had different plans and I kept drinking and skipping school.

Not everything was dark though.

I used to take care of some gentle old lady that I called lovingly 'My Lady'. She was a bright star in my dark moments. Unlike my blood family - she hated lying and held a deep respect for me, for which I am thankful. I really loved her and loved keeping her a company. She was my best friend and a role model - she was very sick - she lost her leg due to diabetes, was blind on one eye and had problems with heart. But I never heard her complain - she was always smiling even when she recalled things that made a bow out of my gut.

That Christmas, she left the town to spend time with her family. I didn't know then that I saw her for the last time. I got the information she was sent to hospital - what shocked me deeply was the fact that she hid from me: she had bone cancer.

As soon as My Lady came into my life, she was gone.

Many people came to her funeral, but... not her family... not the priest, but I held the duty to keep the keys to her house, to close it once the coffin was out.
I locked the door and bid her goodbye.

I stopped drinking, much to the dislike of my father, who loves telling me how he doesn't care if I end up on a street, and the relief of Mom, who was ignoring me during this whole time anyway. Oh well. You look only good with the family on the pictures, right?

Making a quick summary: not only had My Lady died, but also a neighbour who helped us when Dad was in depths of alcoholism - a nice lady, whom I treated as my Grandma; my cat; two hamsters; and my cellphone. For the last one, I have no regrets.

I really wanted to be good, to not to let all those deaths be meaningless - I even started exercising daily.

...did you know I can get in trouble, even from such a simple task like performing push ups?

I renewed my arm contusion, that I got as a teen when I was trying Le Parkour. It hurt like hell, and being a true blood Pole that I am, I decided to self medicate with what was on our shelves at home. I found a Tramadol - highly addictive painkiller to which, guess what, I used to be slightly addicted in the past - and happily downed it.

The high... that wonderful feeling of being normal and loved. Suffering from Bipolar Disorder, I cannot really tell you what 'normal' is, but then, on those meds, it felt just right. In the end Tramadol was my first love, my teenage affection that I forgot about for seven long years.

Can you see where I'm heading?

I ended up getting more and more high with every day, until the doses became so big I was losing consciousness. I wanted it. I needed it. Good people were telling me to stop doing this, before something bad would happen and I listened to them, heartlessly... sipping on my new favourite thing.

The bad thing happened when I'd OD'd so much, I lost it while out shopping and brother had to literally drag me back home. Oh, joy, the rumours I heard about me then! Dad was happy, 'cause I reached the bottom. Godspeed.

Every good story, however, has to have a plot twist in the end.

...it didn't feel like a good thing when I was sick to my core and going cold turkey all alone. I was lucky enough I didn't get a stroke or die, because that can happen when you dance with Lady C16H25NO2.
Cosplayer Trish Keehl
Also, chronology was never my strong point.

But I made it. I was finally clean and ready to strike and rise from the ashes.
I've chosen a new school, that I attend to this day, this time: administration law. Hell yes. A punk rocker going straight into the heart of the system.
I've made a new, great friendships and I passed the point of my deadly 22.

I am 23 years old now and still kicking. And I'm not planning to go to the other side any time soon, not anymore.

I participate in a project from European Union, where I go to courses and learn new things.

I didn't rest artistically either.

Even though I still didn't find a publisher for my novel (it's not like I constantly look for it...), I've kept doing cosplay, outside the Death Note fandom, wrote poems and fan fiction... and enjoy the best part of dinner which is... afternoon tea!

I'm preparing a cosplay project with my brother Izzy, which is going to be GREAT. It's going to be something you haven't seen from anyone before. I won't go into details yet, but we are even plan to engage town's head into it! So look out and beware: I'm just starting and I gonna make it big!

To end it on a light note, a little trivia: for a few years, I've committed myself to my patron Goddess and being her priestess, I live in purity. That was unexpected, ha!

Here ends, for now, the story of a little Trish. But sure as hell, I'm writing a sequel to it, which will be much more amazing! Take care!

You can find me on DeviantART: Queen of Beers
Facebook: Trisha Keehl

I'll leave you with the words of John Paul II:
"Expect things from yourself, even when others do not expect from you..."

If you'd like to feature in Focus on a Fan, then please let me know via the contact form on this site. It would be great to know where we can find the old gang!
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Focus on a Fan: Orangepunch from MangaBullet

4/4/2014

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As part of this blog, I promised to highlight those Death Note fans who scattered when MangaBullet went down.
This is the first of the monthly Focus on a Fan feature!

The rest of this entry is given over to, and penned by, Orangepunch!


Hello all!

It feels a little weird to be the first person to write one of these…

Anyways! I guess as far as I understand it, it is supposed to be a blog post of what I’ve been up to and where I am now if you want to find me, and otherwise basically treat it like I might’ve done to one of my journal entries.

So, here goes!

TL;DR- life and love ramblings, you know. Skip to the bottom if you want to know where to find me <3
Image: Mello/Matt Fangirls by Orangepunch

The Misadventures of Fangirls on a Mission by Orangepunch
Before MB went down, I remember one of the last blog posts being about how I was trying to move to San Francisco. So, I’m really happy to greet you by telling you all that I did end up in San Francisco, and have had the most exhilarating time here so far.  It is such a hard city to make it in, but I did it and I’m here!

This is an incredibly rough update of the past couple of years, which includes lots of firsts, some high highs and some lows, lots of fun and growth.

I have to say, the decision to come to San Francisco has absolutely got to be one of the best I made in my entire life, just because of my personal growth.

I’ve really developed my confidence, and really come into myself and my sexuality, among about a million other little changes that happened a day at a time as I got more and more comfortable with my self-liberation. Serenaded, of course, by Lady Gaga. (Who else?!)

One thing I got into after moving to SF is herbalism, and I really love it. I got started in it when I got a job at a health food store as a health and wellness educator.

Fast-forward a couple of years, and I’m actually quite knowledgeable in the area now. I really enjoy having this as a hobby, even if it is also my job. I am constantly learning more about herbal healing. So, that’s one new thing I’m up to I guess.

About a month ago I was fired from my job. It was a part of a mass culling the company went through, and next to no one who had been with the company more than a year is still there now. I was sad, but also relieved because I couldn’t stand the company I worked for anymore. I loved my manager and coworkers, and I definitely really loved my job, but the company itself had really poor values overall.

A few days after getting let go, I got violently ill. I had an awful combination of strep throat, an ear infection, the beginnings of a sinus infection, and some kind of stomach bug. The stomach bug was the more ‘violent’ part of the illness, and lasted nearly two weeks, even after the ear and throat pain had cleared up. I couldn’t eat, at all, for about ten days.  Given my illness, it was actually a good thing I wasn’t actually employed at the time!

Meanwhile I was literally getting calls from company representatives whose products were carried in the store I was fired from. I had worked with and gotten to know them quite well over the past couple of years. They loved me (apparently) and if I was now looking for work, they wanted me to work for them.

It was honestly one of the strangest experiences of my life—to be called and offered a job interview, instead of the stressful process of applying for a job. It was a massive stress relief, and at the same time a huge confidence boost. I had a moment after one of them called me, and I kind oh thought ‘Wait, am I good at something?! Am I that valuable?!’ It’s made me really excited about it, all over again.

So, I basically fell right into a new (better!) job in the same field. I do the same job as before, but I also get to choose what products the store carries and whatnot, like a manager. I am incredibly happy about where I ended up because I am working in the Castro district of San Francisco now. (WOO HOO!!!!)

To be honest, as soon as I got the interview at this place, I was pretty certain it was the job I wanted based on location alone out of all the people giving me offers.

I’d wanted to be more heavily involved in the LGBT community of San Francisco, and clocking out of work and already being in the area, instead of having an hour of bussing to get there, would help that a lot. There is something incredibly amazing about working, and really being a part of SF’s LGBT community, instead of just visiting. I really, really love it.
Image: Rainbow Walkways in The Castro

The Castro in San Franscisco is getting rainbow walkways!
If anyone is interested, I wrote about the history of the Castro , and plan to do a follow up, as my friend has set up a chance for me to meet some members of the Radical Faeries!!! I should have that written some time in the next month, and I’ve been planning it for several months now, so I am absolutely thrilled about the chance to finally meet some of these history-making men.

About two weeks ago I actually got strep throat again(!!!). I have gotten strep every year but this is the first year I’ve ever had it twice! And harking back to the awfulness of my previous illness, it got really bad. I lived.


I wasn’t about to let strep stop me from attending my first Tool concert (which may or may not have something to do with how bad it got >.>). It was as awesome as I anticipated it being. I (kind of, sort of, accidentally) ended up in my first mosh pit. It was equally exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. I got punched in the face.
And then, that same week, I got not one but TWO tattoos. And one of those two was my first tattoo… :D

The first was a really simple little peace sign on my back. It wasn’t meant to really be anything beyond a simple first tattoo, and associating myself with certain communities/lifestyles.

The second one though, I freaking adore. It is a unicorn, on the inside of my ring finger on my right hand.

It holds a lot of meaning for me. In the simplest of explanations, it is supposed to represent some sort of spirit guide for me, for life to come.
Image: Unicorn finger tattoo

Orangepunch's Unicorn Tattoo
I’m trying to let go some on my strict adherence to the most rational or realistic answers to life. For example, moving to SF was technically a very stupid decision to have made, but it ended up being one of the best things that could’ve happened. It also has a really personal meaning on top of that, too.

I’ve not gotten too crazy, but I am really enjoying life right now. Leaving out a lot of stories of fun times, ups and downs, new experiences, weird experiences with new people in strange places (like finding myself hanging out on a rooftop at 5 am with complete strangers who became new friends in a night)...and so on, that’s what I’ve been up to the past few years.

In the words of my first apartment-mate here in SF—I work hard to party hard. SF has really been the sort of paradise I had really envisioned it being.
Orangepunch Mangabullet Profile
The one thing that was missing throughout this all was my MB community, there was something so amazing, empowering, and unique about the group of people that clustered together over Death Note, Mello, and Matt.

Personally, it was the first community like this that I’d ever really been a part of, and for all those reasons, I definitely will always love you guys.

Thankfully, I did keep in contact with many of the folks who I chatted regularly with on MB, but there are many more of you out there that I am missing! So if you want to connect with me, I kind of have practically all the social mediums!! (No seriously, I might have a problem…) These include:


  • my twitter
  • facebook
  • instagram
  • tumblr (though posts there are pretty sparse, and not terribly interesting for the last two, but whatever).

I am currently also highly amused at snapchat, and do send the dumbest things imaginable there, so feel free to add me on that and I’ll send you stupid pictures.

Sooooo, yeah! Feel free to add me on any and all of those mediums, or connect with me on Matti’s site (I am orangepunch there, too) if you want to privately message me about anything.  :D

I’m excited to hear from others and catch up with some old friends<3

If you'd like to feature in Focus on a Fan, then please let me know via the contact form on this site. It would be great to know where we can find the old gang!
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