L'Après-Midi

I'm posting this now as I'm simply bored of finding time to draw this. There was meant to be another poodle (a chocolate coloured one) but because I've had a lot of exams recently, I've hardly had time to draw at all! Also, I'm sorry about how horrible the poodle looks; I really can't draw animals! The poodle design was based off one of my lolita dresses by Baby, the Stars Shine Bright, from the "Lovely Sweet Room" print series, which I really love. What I really wanted to draw was a Victorian dress from the back, as I love to draw detailed clothes.

Aspergirls by Rudy Simone

I was reluctant to read this book, because I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to relate to the author or the ladies she interviewed at all. Then what? Did I really have Asperger's, or was I just confused and slightly on the disturbed side? Within the past year or so, doctors have tried to diagnose me with all kinds of things; schizophrenia, OCD, conversion disorder, PANDAS, but when they mentioned Autism Spectrum Disorder I knew that was it. So when I read this book, I was really happy to know I relate to literally all the sections in the book, and I wasn't schizophrenic or whatever other thing doctors have suggested was what made me sick. In fact, it was strange how much I could relate to a lot of the experiences in this book. It was although someone had written a book about me! XD

Despite being a neurological disorder, Aspergers and Autism has a lot of stigma. In fact, just the other day I overheard a group of girls in my form giggling about it; the word 'special' was mentioned, and I just felt so angry. I kept calm and ignored them, when what I really wanted to do was explain to them what autism really is, and how it effects people. It is very complex and differs in every person. Some are high-functioning (like myself) and can sometimes carry out conversation, but find it very dull and tiring, as well as other things, and some people are unable to speak at all. One thing I think we all have is sensory issues. I have a lot of those. I'm very sensitive to light, smell (I can't wear or go near anybody who sprays perfume), touch, and most of all, sound. Most people with ASD are very intelligent and fastidious when it comes to school and work. So really, I don't know what all the neurotypicals (as the author in Aspergirls calls people without ASD) fuss about.

My favourite section of Aspergirls was the part about careers and future. It made me feel like the future isn't going to be so scary after all, and that I can do anything as long as I set my mind to it.

Also, it made me realise my dreams for when I leave school. I want to go to a local college to study Art and Design, Creative Writing, and maybe French and German. And when I leave college, I would like to become a writer and a costume designer for film sets.

Basically, I really enjoyed reading this book! It gave me a boost of confidence, as well as the realisation that I'm not crazy, and I'm not a freak. I would recommend this to anybody with ASD, or their family - it really explains things well, and will come in useful in times of stress.

Another Lolita Co-ordinate

Saturday

Blouse: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright

JSK: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright - Shirring Princess

Socks: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright

Head bow: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright

 

 

Usually I don't wear so much Lolita clothes, because a) Indy's and Cleo's paws are almost always muddy, and b) I still need to lose a little more weight for my other JSKs. I used to wear Lolita every weekend when I went to school full-time to have a break from my really unattractive, bottle green uniform, and now I'm well enough to go to school full time again, I'm getting back into that tradition. Also, when I feel ill I don't really want to wear Lolita in case I get it dirty fainting or having a seizure, but now there's no risk of that at the moment, I want to make the most of it!

I'm wearing a lot of BtSSB today! It must be my favourite Lolita brand by far... Also, I took some quick photos of details in my Lovely Sweet Room JSK for inspiration of my next artwork. I just love all the details in BtSSB dresses, and the poodles are so adorable! I wonder if someday there will be a print with cocker spaniels on? It would be at the top of my dream dress list, if so!

 

 

 

 



Summer Fireworks

 Note: I know they didn't have all the means to just suddenly jet off to another continent for the week in the 1950s, without paying an arm and a leg for it - and also that they didn't have most of the rides mentioned here... But I was really setting this in an alternative universe, so anything could really happen. Also, I think I'm beginning to ship Aika and Cherry way too much! 

P.S. Carrie is Cherry's real name, and this is revealed in When the Summer Ends. The main reason I stopped posting When the Summer Ends chapters to my blog is because some of them need to go through a lot of editing, and also because I'm becoming serious about wanting to be an author... Right now I've completed fourteen chapters.

Bara no Konrei~Bridal of Rose

I was surprised to find that my favourite band, Malice Mizer, had made a film in their years together, so I watched it, and I loved it! The film was just like their music; dark, gothic, and beautiful, with religious imagery!

Bara no Konrei is a silent film loosely based on Bram Stoker's Dracula and other vampire tales, with Japanese and English captions for dialogue. Klaha, Mana-sama, Közi, Yu~Ki, and Terumi Nagayoshi star in the film. Malice Mizer's final album taking place in the Klaha era, Bara no Seidou, serves as the soundtrack for the film, with the song Zenchou~ from the album Voyage ~Sans Retour~ included in one of the scenes. I was really impressed by the music in this film, so much that I downloaded the album.

The storyline isn't particularly anything new, but I still like it nevertheless. Klaha plays a character similar to Jonathan Harker from Dracula, who goes on business to Transylvania where he meets Yu~Ki (the Earl of Dracula). And Mana-sama was a female vampire nun, who was meant to be burnt at the stake for being a witch, but was saved. These two were my favourite characters, although Yu~Ki as the womanizing vampire was actually kind of funny in a twisted, strange kind of way!

My favourite parts were the music soundtrack, and the beautiful costume design! There are Victorian-styled clothes for Cecil (a woman kind of like Mina from Dracula) and Klaha, slightly more gothic Victorian clothes for the Earl of Dracula, a gorgeous gothic nun costume for Mana, and some Tudor/Stewart/Baroque-like clothes for Yu~Ki. The costumes in the film make me wish to become a costume designer for films and music videos even more (as well as an author)! Basically, it was beautiful in an odd kind of way, and the gothic music made it really special.

Black Butler Chapter 92

First of all, the chapter starts from Finny's point of view, which I always find interesting as I love the Phantomive servants. He is in captivity as a medical experiment (as we saw in the Murder Mystery arc) and escaped covered in blood to find Ciel and Sebastian waiting for him. These few pages were particularly disturbing, as we saw his two friends shot and killed by the 'doctor'; at this point, I'm wondering if I should stop reading the really gory chapters, as they're actually quite upsetting, especially where it concerns children being kidnapped and tortured... I won't stop reading Black Butler - and I know it isn't meant to be light and fluffy - but I just feel upset seeing children being so cruelly abused, even though it is just a comic.

Anyway, it soon goes back to the castle in the forest, where Finny tells Ciel that if it weren't for him, he wouldn't be alive and there today. Sieglinde accompanied with Sebastian goes to visit Ciel and see how he's doing, then change his bandages. He seems to be healing well, but is obviously still emotionally unstable, as Sieglinde comments later on. The loss of vision is apparently psychological (which again, I'm surprised, as I know all about that myself as I had conversion disorder!) and his eyes will heal soon along with his stress.
Outside, Sieglinde asks Sebastian if he and Ciel are devil worshippers. It was actually quite amusing, as she called Sebastian an amateur that will be cursed by a demon if he isn't careful, not knowing that Sebastian is actually a demon himself!
There is a secret passage way that Sebastian and Snake find together, and Wolfram becomes furious when he finds them there. Later it is revealed that the passage way is where the werewolves are kept.
Back in Ciel's bedroom, Finny is trying to persuade Ciel to eat more food, when he sees the werewolf looming over him in the window. Much to my surprise and horror, the werewolf shattered through the window and attacked Finny whilst trying to get to Ciel, as the servant threw himself in front of Ciel to protect him. The way that Finny emotionlessly told the werewolf "That hurt." was kind of creepy, I had to admit! The werewolf jumps back out the window as the others arrive to see what all the fuss is about, and Bard threatens to go after the werewolf to protect the others. He is persuaded not to, as he would be cursed also. Sieglinde tells Wolfram to prepare the Green Witch "service", and together they go down to the passage way where Sebastian and Snake were accosted. Surprisingly, we find that down in the passageway, there are many werewolves gathered there, and Sieglinde addresses them as "beasts that protect the forest". At this point, I'm really curious about Sieglinde. What is she doing with the werewolves in her castle?
Ciel is more frightened than ever, and is screaming (understandably so) that he wants to go home. Everyone is bewildered by the change in the young master, after all, he used to be cold, calculating, and extremely emotionless, and to turn into the terrified person he is now - well, anybody would be alarmed.
Personally, I hope that they go home for Ciel's sake. I know that he has a mission to complete there in Germany, but I'm hoping that they'll all put Ciel's wellbeing first. He's suffered enough already.

Afternoon Stroll in the Meadows, Promises Exchanged at Sunset

 

It was a beautiful day, so I wanted to take some photos of Aika and Beverly in the park. I think they look really cute together! These shots were taken in the rose gardens at Hesketh park, yet there were no roses in season at the time, so I used the bluebells and daisies.

Daenerys Targaryen

This picture is for my friend's birthday, as she loves Game of Thrones. I've never seen or read it myself, but I really enjoyed drawing this picture. The lady who plays Daenerys is very beautiful.

Jeeves & Wooster by P.G. Wodehouse

Due to my new fascination with the 1920s-1930s (books and films such as The Heart of Thomas and Les Amitiés Particulières got me into this, I swear) and my love of classical comedy, my dad found Jeeves & Wooster for me, and I'm in love with the series! At the moment I'm halfway through the series, and I've read the first volume of the Jeeves Omnibus obsessively whilst in France. So I suppose this is a review for TV and book.

The Jeeves and Wooster book and TV series both follow the theme of master and valet; Jeeves is the intelligent, calculating valet who always remains stoical and has a solution to everything, and Bertie Wooster is the master, who is labelled as one of the 'Idle rich'. He doesn't really have an ambition in life except to have fun, and is always getting himself into trouble, and relying on Jeeves to get him out of it. Sometimes he is even arrested by the police for schoolboy-like pranks!

First of all, the series has never failed to make me laugh. The comedy is light, innocent and very witty compared with the comedies produced today that lean more towards a satirical, sarcastic side of things. The part about Roderick Spode, an intimidating dictator-like character secretly designing ladies lingerie, and not being able to beat Bertie and his friend Gussie to a pulp because he knows all about 'Eulalie', without actually knowing a thing about 'Eulalie' had me howling for days whenever I thought about it!

Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie make the best Jeeves and Bertie Wooster portrayals, and I couldn't imagine anybody else playing these characters half as well as they did. I've watched every season of Black Adder (another comedy I adore) and I've come to the conclusion that they're just amazing actors all round. Everything from their voices, to facial expressions and dress suit P.G. Wodehouse's characters to a T! Whist reading the books, Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry's voices are the voices I imagine for the characters, and it's always their faces I see for Bertie and Jeeves.

As for the book, I couldn't put it down! The Jeeves series is one of the best books I've ever read. It's very amusing, very different to anything else I've seen, and extremely casual as it is set from Bertie's point-of-view. The language used by Bertie and his peers sometimes is comedy in itself - after all, I'm British, but to me, they sound really stereotypically British, like the sitting down for an afternoon tea party whilst eating cucumber sandwiches and crumpets kind of British. Yet, I suppose that is the way they spoke in the twenties and thirties? Either way, they sound very posh, and I love the phrases and exclamations that Bertie makes. For example, he 'says "bally" as a euphemism for "bloody", and exclaims, "By Jove!" every so often. There is more, but those are the expressions off the top of my head.

Can I just say that I love the characters? Bertie Wooster in particular. I love his attitude, the fact that he is always in good humour, and very gentlemanly, cheerful and charming to everyone. He is really funny, and has a good outlook on life. In fact, I think he must be somewhere in my top five favourite characters! I also really like Jeeves, as he is very trim and proper, intelligent and independent. Somewhat, in the series he seems almost too good to be true, leaving everybody wishing they had a manservant just like him (including me).

I would recommend this book and TV series to anybody. It is something that anyone would enjoy as it is so light and funny. Soon I hope to find time to watch the rest of the episodes, and some extra time to read the next few volumes of the Jeeves Omnibus.

Les Amitiés Particulières Chapter 3

Shirring Princess - Today's Lolita Co-ordinate!

Saturday

Blouse: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright

JSK: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright - Shirring Princess

Socks: Secret Shop

Necklace and earrings: Disney

 

 

I just adore this JSK! It's simple, really versatile, and has beautiful details in the back with a bustle-like effect. I think it has to be my favourite Lolita dress by far!

I wore this outfit for about 20 minutes before I had to get changed into old clothes, as I remembered that I had a lot of art homework to do for upcoming exams!

The Chorus

My class were supposed to watch The Chorus in French class as a treat for getting good scores on our writing exams (I got a B+!), but the computers and projector were having technical difficulties and we only managed to watch about five minutes. It's a shame, because in those five minutes it was looking like a very interesting film. However, I bought it later on and watched it in France, as a part of my French listening revision!

Fond de l'Etang is a boarding school in the countryside of France, built especially for troubled boys. The Chorus, or Les Choristes is set during the early 1950s. Headmaster of the school, Monsieur Rachin, is a very strict, harsh man whose mantra is "action - reaction", meaning that the children of the school are severely punished for being naughty. The boys that attend Fond de l'Etang each have problems of their own, and behave very badly, often resulting in being beaten or locked away for long periods of time. They are treated horribly, and when a new teacher, Clément Mathieu, comes to the school, he tries to make their life better with music, as he does not believe in the "action - reaction" policy. He starts a choir, with every boy in his class involved (one of them as a music stand as he can't sing).

One of the boys in the school, Pierre Morhange, is described as having the face of an angel, but being the spawn of the devil. He is one of the quieter students, but still has outbursts of bad behaviour, resulting in his reputation. Despite being in the school, he has a hidden talent for music, with a beautiful singing voice, yet refuses to join Mathieu's choir. When he finally comes round and joins the group, it is obvious he is the best singer in the class, and becomes head of the choir. Later in life, he becomes a famous musician thanks to Mathieu persuading his mother to enrol him in a music academy.
Another boy, Pépinot, is one of the youngest boys in the school, and yet I'm not entirely sure why he attends the school, as he actually seems quite sweet and calm compared with the rest of the boys... He is unaware that his parents died during the war, and waits by the gate of the school every Saturday for his father to pick him up.

Soon, the evil headmaster is dismissed, leaving the school in a state of relief. Thanks to Mathieu, Fond de l'Etang became a much better place for all the boys.

I really enjoyed this film, not only because it is set in a boarding school in France like Les Amitiés Particulières, but because all the characters were really unique, but believable. Not only that, but the story line was so sweet, and the ending of the film was really satisfying! I'm so pleased that Morhange and Pépinot got the happy ending they deserved. Really I would recommend this film to anybody.

Back From Paris!

Recently I've been to France with my family; we visited Disneyland most days, and my Dad and I went to Paris for one day. We all had a great time, yet at the end of it, I can't help admitting that we were glad to be home, eating the usual food, resting more, and speaking English!
On the first day, after unpacking and whatnot, we went to Disney for the first time in almost a year (my mum is addicted to all things Disney, so we can't go a year without going there in any shape or form). It was very exciting to be there again. I just love all the architecture and attention to details that Disney has - I'd like to practically live in the place, but without all the people and crowds.
Again, my favourite ride was the Haunted Mansion . Not too fast, no flashing strobe lights, and great atmosphere all round. It particularly appeals to me for the gothic feel, and I think it would be amazing to live in a house based on the Haunted Mansion, although I admit all the ghosts would be rather bothersome...
As for my favourite part of Disney, I'd have to say Main Street USA. I just adore the old-time Americana feel of the place, and as it has a kind of New England-ish vibe, I could imagine that Aika would love it too. Speaking of Aika, I think she would love all of Disney, as it has that cutesy, friendly atmosphere; I'm going to write something along those lines as a oneshot, but not include it in the main story of When the Summer Ends...
All of the rides were really good (well, the ones that I could go on. Some *looking at Space Mountain and Indiana Jones* are not very good for my health), and for a couple of them we were at the front of the ride! Unfortunately, a few of the rides we went on broke down halfway through, or were out-of-action for the whole day due to technical difficulties. But that didn't matter at all, as we got on them at some point or another.
A couple of days later, dad and I went to Paris for the day while mum took my siblings to Disney. The day was beautifully sunny and hot, so we could really make the most of it, as we had a city tour on a double-decker bus! We saw most of the famous landmarks that way; Tour Eiffel, Champ de Mars, Musée du Louvre, Notre-Dame, Musée d'Orsay, Opéra, Champs Elysées, Grand Palais, and Trocadéro. The guide we were listening to was very informative, and I found out a lot of interesting facts I never knew before about Paris. The headsets also played classical music, which added to the atmosphere.

Notre-Dame

Notre-Dame 2

If I went to Paris, and wasn't allowed in the Baby, the Stars Shine Bright store, I think I would have died, so after a long walk along the Seine, and lots of other roads (we got kind of lost) we arrived at the shop. In the shop I tried on a skirt and a dress that I loved. The dress was "Shirring Princess JSK" in pink, and the skirt was "Soirée of the beginning of my memories" in green. To be honest, I didn't expect anything to fit me, as the Baby dresses I own are really tight around the chest area, and my Angelic Pretty JSK won't zip up at all - but that's all because of the horrible medicine I had to take for an illness I recovered from recently, as they made me put weight on... I'm slowly loosing weight to the size I was before, so that's good. The skirt was tight, but the dress fit perfectly because of the shirring in the bodice. I was really happy! It was wrapped up beautifully and came with a fancy bag.
On the way back to our hotel, the traffic in rush hour was crazy! It took an extra hour, but that meant we had a longer time to look around Paris on the bus.

Shirring Princess JSK

The perks of missing out on some rides, believe it or not, is that you get surprise presents when a family member has been on the ride, ahaha. Despite me being absolutely, positively bankrupted from my visit to Paris, I managed to get cute souvenirs last minute. I'm happy, because I really want to have something to remind me of this fun trip... I have a feeling it will be the last time we visit the Disney in Paris, as my parents have their hearts set on California and Orlando for the future.

Alice teacup and saucer, pink earrings, and Minnie Mouse pen