Hail 2009!

This is the last day of the year 2009, the last year of the 21st century's first decade, and what a year it was! Wouldn't you agree? Well, it was for me. A lot of things happened. Let's see how many I can list that made things good in my favor.

• January 20, 2009 - Obama is inaugurated as the first African-American president of the United States. Definitely a great way to kick off the year, what with history in the making! No bashes on this one, but I was supporting Obama right from Day 1. If anyone thinks anyone could do better, it's because they haven't fully acknowledged who sent our country into near ruin in the first place. But let's get a move on, shall we?
• My brother and I discovered the online games Duel Monsters Expert and Duel Monsters Unlimited, based on the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game. We eventually gave up on Expert due to issues with cards and other users, but we still check out Unlimited every now and then.
  
• March 10, 2009 - Julien-K's debut album, Death to Analog hit stores and iTunes this day. I waited two years for this album to be released! I could have purchased it on iTunes, but I wanted to own a copy of their CD, so I made a reservation at Newbury Comics for one.
• May 22, 2009 - I joined YouTube.
• July 9, 2009 - I joined SMWCentral.
  
• July 22, 2009 - I created my blog site.
• September 17, 2009 - I finally uploaded my first web site!
• September 29, 2009 - Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days was released in stores across the country. My brother and I made plans to go to the Maine Mall and purchase our copies!
• I started watching episodes of Phineas and Ferb and got hooked on the series. Currently, I have seen all 84 episodes up to date, including the Christmas special.
• December 7, 2009 - Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation became available on iTunes and I purchased it. Between then and Christmas, I saw the special 10 times!
• December 8, 2009 - The soundtrack of the same special was available on iTunes and I purchased it. I've practically got all seven songs memorized, if not, at least six.
• December 18, 2009 - I uploaded a video on YouTube, showing that after three years of getting back into drawing, I did a Christmas theme for my original characters.
• During the Christmas season, I made half a dozen Christmas cards featuring one of my original characters and handed them all out to some friends, and in one case, someone I wanted as a friend.
• Christmas 2009 - I got what I asked for and as a half surprise, got the Phineas and Ferb video game for the Nintendo DS! Because my family was well aware of my obsession with the series, I figured I'd be getting it as a gift.

Now that New Year's Eve is here, it's usually a good time to reflect on the year and all that has happened. In the news, it is a time of loss, as many well known people that changed faces are no longer living. Some of us are always hoping that next year will be better than the last, right? In that case, let's see what the year 2010 brings for us! Happy New Year! And Happy 2010!

Got That Christmas Feeling

So, with Christmas only a week away, who's got that Christmas feeling? I know I do! And to show it, here's a video that depicts my original characters celebrating Christmas. While the characters are mine, the audio song is not. It is the song "That Christmas Feeling", performed by Olivia Olson, one of the seven songs from Phineas and Ferb's Christmas Vacation. This is the extended version from the episode soundtrack. Therefore, this is a disclaimer and I personally give credit to Disney, Olivia Olson, and of course the series' co-creators, Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh.

NOTE: It actually looks better here.

Now, how about the holiday season? I may have asked this question regarding Halloween, but how are you people gonna spend/celebrate it? Let's not forget that friends and family are most important of all. As for me, it's the same deal, but in terms of media, let's see what I can think of:

- Listening to the Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation soundtrack on iTunes. There's also Walrus Cove and Frosty Village from the Nintendo 64 video game Diddy Kong Racing - sounds appropriate enough, if you ask me.
- Watching Phineas and Ferb's Christmas Vacation on my iPod or iTunes countless times - well, I'm gonna try for it! It's a really good Christmas special!

As a bonus, the slide show's last image is the front and inside of a Christmas card I made recently. I made half a dozen, but now anyone who views my blog can see it!

Merry Christmas!

It Airs Tonight

This is it, Phineas and Ferb fans! Tonight is the big moment in this show's history, as the Christmas special airs beginning at 8:00 P.M.! So get your family together round the tube and switch to the Disney XD channel to watch it! Phineas and Ferb are ready to spread some Christmas cheer and save the holiday season from certain cancellation! So get your holiday spirit on and join the cast as they celebrate Christmas in Danville! Unfortunately, I'll have to join the fun a day late, as I don't have Disney XD. So tomorrow, check your video on demand and look for Phineas and Ferb's Christmas Vacation available for download! And if you have iTunes, you can download all seven songs from the episode as well! Seriously, this is gonna be great!

Wendy Stinglehopper

Hail December! To kick off this month's posts for 2009, I'm introducing a new Phineas and Ferb character introduced in the Christmas special - Wendy Stinglehopper. Not much is known about her, seeing as this episode marks her debut, but she apparently knows one of the main characters of the show, Baljeet, as a friend from a math team that they are both on. It is possible that Wendy becomes Baljeet's new love interest after Mishti because in a commercial promoting the Christmas episode, Baljeet is clearly seen kissing her on the lips under mistletoe. Now, isn't mistletoe the cause of Harry and Cho's first kiss from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (not that they became an item anyway), both book and movie? In any case, this brings out a side of Baljeet that we've never seen before. He overcomes his apparent shyness of her and puckers up for the holiday season! Cheers, Baljeet! 5 more days until the special airs on Disney XD! Do me a favor, fans, and don't miss it! I might not have an opportunity myself!

Mom! Phineas and Ferb are making a Podcast!

Actually, it's the co-creators of Phineas and Ferb, Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, that have made the show's first ever podcast on iTunes. And in it, they discuss a special episode that they are really proud to have put together. That's right, it's the very first Phineas and Ferb Christmas special! Basically, they explain the plot, the length, and the number of songs all in this packed episode. Also, Dan and Swampy turn on their voice talents as they bring in the characters Dr. Doofenshmirtz and Major Monogram for their discussions. So fans, check out iTunes and if you have an account, go ahead and download it! Actually, the podcast is for free!

The Star Riders band complete

Check it out! All those original characters I created and sketched are part of a rock band named "Star Riders" (a.k.a. "Seven Stars"). The band name might not be an original name, but my characters are. Looks like they're having fun! It's amazing that the power of music can change lives! Here are the band positions:

Shroud the Skunk - lead guitarist, lead vocalist, band frontman

Sonia Light - bassist (on occasions, she is a background vocalist and sometimes she'll perform solo, singing country music)

Flare the Dragon - bass guitarist

Bleon the Parasite - drummer (and he's darn got it covered!)

Gusty the Robin - background/backup/assistant vocalist

Kid the Raccoon - background/backup/assistant vocalist

Notice that Bow the Cat is not present. Although she is considered a member of the Star Riders, she is not seen with the band on stage and instead does solo dance performances. So get a good look at these freedom-fighting musicians ready to rock-and-roll their way into the future!

Xigbar pronounced "shig-bar"? As if!

Today, I'm briefly discussing something probably rather pointless. Throughout the Kingdom Hearts series, several of the Organization XIII members never have their names mentioned in cut scenes where players hear characters actually speak. These include Xigbar, Demyx, and Luxord, so we likely don't know how they're pronounced, but can make a good guess. So why would Xigbar be pronounced as "shig-bar"? One reason is that Marluxia was revealed in the English version of Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories to be pronounced as "mar-loo-sha", the "xi" being replaced with the sound "sh". This was also used in Xion's pronounciation ("she-on"), which was revealed in the July 2009 Nintendo Power magazine. So, why not Xigbar? Because it wouldn't make sense? Probably. We don't know anyway, so why don't we just pronounce it as "zig-bar" and call the whole thing off? This post is ridiculously pointless anyway...

What'cha doin'?

And for today's post, I will discuss something rather debatable. From the hit Disney television show Phineas and Ferb are the characters Phineas Flynn and Isabella Garcia-Shapiro. For those who are new to the show, it's basically about two stepbrothers, Phineas and Ferb, who attempt to make every day of summer vacation worthwhile by doing stuff that's normally nigh impossible for kids their age. But it's a cartoon, so anything is possible in that case! Anyways, up for discussion is the relationship between Phineas and his next-door neighbor, Isabella. When viewers were introduced to Isabella for the first time, she came into Phineas's backyard with hearts in her eyes and said her catchphrase "What'cha doin'?" in a rather flirtatious manner. This, at most obvious, meant that Isabella has a huge crush on Phineas, but he seems to be ignorant towards this. That's too bad, because she can get disappointed if she fails to catch his attention and even angry if Phineas gives someone or something a little more attention.

But I'm gonna assume that Isabella does care for Phineas. In the episode "One Good Scare Oughta Do It!", she gets the hiccups and Phineas builds a haunted house to scare them out. It doesn't work, probably because Phineas accompanies her the whole way through and gives her unwavering attention. But when Phineas nearly falls to his death, Isabella's hiccups are instantly gone and for this, it is believed that her deepest, darkest fear is losing Phineas, either if he dies or is simply not a part of her life. Imagine that as a girl's worst fear! Not spiders, not snakes, not any creepy creatures or anything that looks scary, but something that IS scary (note the fine line between the two).

However, in the episode "The Chronicles of Meap", Phineas built a device to detect cuteness to search for a lost alien. Despite Isabella's insistence, Phineas assures her that she wasn't causing an interference with the device because he had set it up to exclude her, apparently knowing she was too cute for it to handle. To prove it, he sets the device to normal and it gets short-circuited. You could say this is the biggest hint of them all that Phineas either indeed does notice Isabella or has a crush on her and seems to pretend that he likes Isabella only as a friend. In the episode "That Sinking Feeling", he invites her on a romantic cruise, but it turns out it was Baljeet and his childhood friend Mishti who were getting the romantic treatment instead. But when the ship sinks, the passengers board life preservers going down a water slide and Phineas offers Isabella a seat next to him and they both ride down together. Personally, I'm not sure that Phineas is fully understanding of what the term "romance" actually means. I think that Phineas would never do one single thing without his stepbrother and best friend Ferb. So dating Isabella would not likely be probable. But then again, we never know, do we? Let's just wait and see!














See? Look how happy they are!

Happy Halloween!

So, how are you folks gonna be spending Halloween? Will you be out trick-or-treating? Or will you prefer a nice, quiet evening at home? I'm settling for the latter, actually. But for a guy like me, I plan to celebrate Halloween in the form of media and games! How will I do that, you ask? Here's a list of what I have planned:

- Play music on iTunes - "This is Halloween" and "Spooks of Halloween Town" from the Kingdom Hearts series
- Watch the song scene "One Good Scare" from the Phineas and Ferb episode "One Good Scare Ought to Do It!"
- Play Halloween Town missions from Mission Mode in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
- Watch "Field of Screams" Parts 1-3 from Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

I guess that's about it for me. Happy Halloween, folks! Do something productive!

Return

Yeah, I'm back... and after only a week. Little did I expect it would take me that short a time to clear the Story Mode of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days and discover the biggest secrets of the Kingdom Hearts storyline. As of now, I fear no spoilers. But to think, I did it before the Europeans could get their hands on this game. They'd better beware of spoilers now!

Only a Day Away

Tomorrow, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days will be released in stores across the country. I plan to put a lot of time into clearing the game's story mode, as spoilers continue to run amok, so I will more than likely take an extended absence from the Internet and maybe even my laptop. I do not know when I will return, but I will at some point.

So long for now!

A Name Never Been Used Before

My web site is up and running!

Belpheles.com

Remember, I hereby disclaim any and all material used for images, videos, and games, so I personally give credit to their original sources.

Shadow of the Duelist

In a booster pack I made up, I came up with an entirely new set of cards known as the Shadow Cards. These include Monster Cards with Shadow sub-types and powerful Spell and Trap Cards. Normally, monsters with sub-types have special properties (Spirit Monsters return to the hand, Toon Monsters can usually attack directly, and Tuner Monsters are used for a Synchro Summon, for example), but Shadow Monsters are different. They allow the controllers to play certain Spell and Trap Cards. I'm going to talk about the three most powerful Shadow Cards. Serving as an equivalent to the Egyptian Gods, the Sacred Beasts, and the Wicked Gods are the dangerous Shadow Masters! They are three Dark-attribute Level 10 monsters, all with 4000 attack points and 4000 defense points.

The first of the three Shadow Masters is Shardin, Master of Abyssal Spirits. In order to summon this beast, a player must sacrifice three tokens created by the effect of a Spell Card (Fiend's Sanctuary and Scapegoat are examples). Shardin has 4000 attack and defense points, and for even more potent, whatever monster it destroys in battle it can resurrect it on the controller's side of the field as a Zombie-Type! Also, if Shardin is ever removed from the field by the effect of a card, all damage to its controller's Life Points is nullified and the controller gains 1000 Life Points for the trouble. An easy way to summon Shardin is to simply play three Fiend's Sanctuary Spell cards, but an even dirtier tactic is to activate Scapegoat during your opponent's turn and if you have 3 or more Sheep Tokens remaining, you can summon Shardin instantly! I named the Shadow Masters by rewording the names of the first three members of Organization XIII from Kingdom Hearts II. Shardin is named after Xaldin, No. 3 in the Organization.

A most terrifying creature, this is the second of the three Shadow Masters, Sigmar, Master of Covering Darkness. Summoning it is a little more trickier, as it requires a sacrifice of three tokens created by the effect of a Monster Card (Lekunga and Cobra Jar, for example). It's tough enough to take down a monster with 4000 attack and defense points, but what's more frustrating is finding out that such a monster can't even be destroyed by battle! Like Darkness Neosphere, Sigmar cannot be destroyed by battle, so the only way to take it down is to use a card effect, such as Lightning Vortex. Also, by making another sacrifice, Sigmar can increase its attack by another 1000 points - and it stacks! Of course, this action can only be performed once per turn. And while Shardin had to be removed from the field to cancel out effect damage, such is not the case for Sigmar. As long as it stands tall on the field, it can negate effect damage of any kind. And being indestructible in battle makes it easier for its controller to utilize this effect. An easy way to summon Sigmar is to run it in a Water deck and summon Lekunga. By removing 6 Water monsters in the Graveyard from play, you can create 3 Lekunga Tokens, and since summoning a Shadow Master counts as a Special Summon, you can do it all during the same turn. Sigmar is named after Xigbar, No. 2 of Organization XIII.

Said to be the most powerful of the three Shadow Masters, this is Ramnas, Master of Calamity! The sacrifices needed to summon it are a little different than the last two. What a player needs is three monsters created by the effect of a Trap Card - and the monsters must also be treated as Trap Cards! Embodiment of Apophis and Zoma the Spirit are examples that fit the bill. While Ramnas starts with 4000 attack points, it can get even stronger if its controller chooses to remove any of his/her monsters from play. Since the ability of Ramnas does not cover this, removing monsters must be done using other cards. For example, Soul Release is an easy way to increase the attack of Ramnas up to 9000! Also, Ramnas has the potent to destroy any face-up card on the opposing side of the field and dish out 1000 points of damage to the opposing player's Life Points. Of course, it can't attack that same turn, but it does help to take care of any pesky monsters that might be stronger. For example, on the same turn you summon Ramnas, you can use its effect to take out an opponent's Five-Headed Dragon! Ramnas cannot attack that turn, but to you it's worth it to take down such opposition! Ramnas is named after Xemnas, No. 1 in the Organization and the Superior. The "Ra" part comes from The Winged Dragon of Ra and Raviel, Lord of Phantasms.

Make-It-Oh!

If you remember in a previous post, I mentioned the Yugioh Card Maker web site, which allows fans the freedom of making their own cards, with minimal exceptions. It's time for me to show off again, this time with five new cards of my own creations, including fan-made archetypes. So, let's get started!

Kicking off is this magnificent powerhouse boasting a whopping 3300 attack points - and that's just a start! If she destroys any opposition, she gets even stronger. To be more precise, she gains 800 more attack points. Starting off with a high number is one thing, as it is simple enough to destroy opponent's monsters, but Apollyon Osa can become nearly unstoppable if she keeps going! Normally, a Level 10 monster requires two sacrifices, but such is not the case for this monster. Apollyon Osa needs a special card, a Spell Card named "Dark Tri-Element", which requires that a player has three Level 7 or higher monsters on the field or in the hand and they must have different Attributes - Fire, Water, and Light. After that, Apollyon Osa can be called out from anywhere, even the Graveyard! While the summoning requirements may be a little strict, it certainly helps if you're stuck with a few high-level monsters in your hand. Just think - if you're stuck with a bad hand, you can trade it for Apollyon Osa, a big, battling behemoth!

Next up is yet another powerful female from an archetype that focuses on controlling opponent's monsters and using them for their abilities. In some cases, they use monster control mainly to clear the way for them to attack directly. Phoenix Lady is no exception, and with 2800 attack points, she almost doesn't need an ability to kick in from seducing an opponent's monster. However, she can be summoned more easily than you may think. If a player activates a Spell Card that includes the effect of sending cards to the Graveyard, watch out! Phoenix Lady might be in the hand and if she's sent, she can pop out next turn! Actually, being summoned from the Graveyard is the only way she can take control of an opponent's monster and since she doesn't have to be sent there by her own effect, the methods are near limitless! With the ability to take control of any monster your opponent has, Phoenix Lady can easily get past opposing forces that are stronger than her. And the best part is, the monster you take control of can also attack, which is a bigger bonus if you choose your opponent's strongest monster.

This card is from a rather unique archetype that happens to be all over the board with kinds of abilities. But, plain and simple, Dragon Girl is an ideal anti-Dragon card and possibly the best next to Buster Blader and Dark Paladin! While she doesn't draw on power while dragons are on the field or in the Graveyard, she cannot be attacked by them and can take control of them! This means that she can easily evade a Blue-Eyes White Dragon, the strongest Normal Monster in existence, as well as command it to be its master! Seto Kaiba would be at her mercy! So if your opponent is running a Dragon Deck, this card would make a suitable counter card. She also does well fighting alongside Buster Blader and Dark Paladin, but the latter is preferrable, as Buster Blader only benefits from your opponent's dragons and Dragon Girl can change that by taking command of one. But with 2600 attack points of her own and the possibility of a powerful dragon at your disposal, who's going to quibble? The choices are yours to make.

Like Elemental Heroes, Destiny Heroes, and Evil Heroes, the new Champion Heroes boast a wide variety of abilities. Most of them may have hybrid-like names, but they can prove you to be worthy combatants. Similar to Jaden Yuki's Elemental Heroes from Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, some of the most powerful Champion Heroes are Fusion Monsters, so they are reliant on the Spell Card Polymerization. There's also a Spell Card I made up called Fusion Master, which is the best choice by far to quickly summon a Champion Hero Fusion Monster. Anyway, let's have a look at this mighty beast. Kaiser Panther not only wields an incredible attack power of 4000 points, but the moment it hits the field, all other cards on the field are wiped out! This makes it all too easy for a direct attack that, when combined with other cards such as Wild Nature's Release, can easily best your opponent for an OTK (One-Turn Kill). And the only drawback is that the player who summons Kaiser Panther must take damage equal to its original defense power, which is 2900 by default. And using cards to lower its defense doesn't help. But with 4000 attack points and the power to eradicate everything else, there's no arguing against its potent side effect.

Elemental Heroes use the word "Man" and Destiny Heroes use the word "Dude". So my Champion Heroes will use the word "Boy". I know it's silly, but try to warm up to it, okay? This bad boy may look exactly like the X Copy from Mega Man Zero in its seraph form, but as a card I made, it is not to be laughed at, as with any challenge from the Mega Man Zero series (some of you may remember how hard those games were). Starting with 4000 attack points alone is powerful enough, but Shining Blaster Boy LV10 can get even stronger for each Champion Hero in your Graveyard, which means that at a minimal, it could actually start with 5200 points. It can also pierce through defending monsters, meaning that your opponent's Life Points would not be safe no matter what it attacks, AND when it strikes, your opponent cannot activate Spells or Traps to try and stop it! This means, no Mirror Force, Magic Cylinder, Shrink, Mirage Tube, or any cards that activate exclusively in battle. With 4000 attack points by default, removing Champion Heroes in the Graveyard from play might not help too much. But Shining Blaster Boy LV10 does however have a crippling weakness - only 1600 defense points. Therefore, if your opponent activates Book of Moon, it could mean lights out for even this near unstoppable battling machine if your opponent summons a monster that is strong enough.

Pinocchio's Last Lie?

"Oh, boy! I'm gonna be in the next Kingdom Hearts game!" *zonk!* "...Uh-oh... my nose just grew an inch. Does that mean I told a lie?"

To coincide with my last post on Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days is the debate on the appearance of Pinocchio and his own world. According to sources, Pinocchio was to appear in the game as a real boy due to a scene in the ending of Kingdom Hearts, but got removed most likely due to data restrictions. After all, a LOT has been programmed in this epic new game, so that reason wouldn't be a surprise. And yet, a few sources, including Nintendo Power and BradyGames suggest that Pinocchio and his world are to appear in the game's international release. Who's gonna prove that? Much as fans would like this to be true, probably due to his popularity, at this stage, it is difficult to believe. Sorry, fans, but don't get your hopes up for the adorable wooden puppet, even if he touched us all.

According to the game's Japanese ROM, sprites of Pinocchio, Geppetto, Foulfellow, and Gideon were found, meaning that while they were programmed, they were never used. Apparently, the world had been scrapped while it was in production. Is there still hope for this long-lost cast to appear in a future release? At this stage, only time will tell...

As mentioned previously, I own none of the images. All copyright belongs to its owners.

Counting Down the Days

Well, I guess this is it! The countdown to the English release of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days has officially started, I guess. How many of you Kingdom Hearts fans have been waiting for this? A lot, I'm sure. As some of us know, Kingdom Hearts is more than just a crossover of Disney and the Final Fantasy series. Original characters, such as the main hero Sora and his friends Riku and Kairi, have their parts to play. And in this upcoming game, we're going behind the scenes of Organization XIII, the antagonists from Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II, but particularly, we're looking into the untold story of Roxas, the newest member of the Organization and the Nobody of Sora. Excited? You should be. I know I am. I've been waiting too long for this.

What exactly happens during the year that Sora was asleep? Since this game focuses on Roxas as the central character, it starts with his creation at Twilight Town, a world on the threshold between light and darkness. Roxas is a Nobody, which means he has no heart and doesn't truly exist as a whole being. In fact, the Organization consists of powerful Nobodies with a goal: to become complete beings and exist. To that end, they need to release captive hearts taken by dark beings known as Heartless and use them to complete Kingdom Hearts, which in Kingdom Hearts II was seen as a heart-shaped moon. The Keyblade is the ideal weapon of choice to release hearts, so Roxas proves to be a most crucial member. But there's more to this game than fulfilling missions for the Organization - the storyline. Most Nobodies remember what life was like before they became nonexistent, back when they had hearts. For example, the first six members of the Organization were once former apprentices to Ansem the Wise, a man who researched hearts in hopes of finding a way to protect them from giving in to darkness. Roxas has no memory of Sora, but instead has visions of him. Another important part of the game's story is a new friendship triangle. Roxas first meets and is befriended by Axel, a fellow member of the Organization who serves as the young man's mentor and becomes his best friend. Joining them is the fourteenth member of Organization XIII, Xion.

Like Roxas, Xion has no memory of her past life, so not much is known about her at first. All that is known is that she strangely resembles Sora's friend Kairi and she apparently has a connection to Sora and Roxas. And there's a reason that the Organization keeps its name, despite having fourteen members.

The gameplay consists of a one-player story mode and a multiplayer mission mode. That's right! For the first time ever in Kingdom Hearts, 2 to 4 players can choose any of the 13 members of Organization XIII and compete with each other to clear a mission. Who will finish first? And the character selection doesn't stop there. By progressing through the story mode, you not only unlock new missions for multiplayer, but you can also unlock six new characters - Xion, Donald, Goofy, Riku, King Mickey Mouse, and Sora himself! The mission mode can bag a player a Mission Crown, which is worth trading for prizes in story mode. Also, in story mode, there are optional trial missions that help contribute towards obtaining special items at a Moogle shop. Hopefully, with this in mind, no one's going to rush through the story mode without possibly upgrading Roxas. There's a lot that can be said about Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, but I can't possibly list them all here. So, get ready all you gamers for September 29, 2009, and see everything for yourself!

"Now, I'm sure that since the original Japanese version of this game was released May 30, 2009, most of you fans probably couldn't wait and just HAD to find out the biggest secrets of the Kingdom Hearts storyline. Am I right? If so, then please do me a favor. Keep them to yourselves and don't go spreading the word without spoiler warnings. I mean, that would be bad, right? Try as we might, we don't want to be spoiled. So, if any of you already played through the game and found out everything there is to know, don't spill it here on this blog site. Because if you do, you'll be ruining the storyline of one of the most anticipated games in the Kingdom Hearts series. Although, I hate to think that some of you wouldn't give a damn, but please... don't tell. Keep it dark. Got it memorized?"

Seven Waysiders

This piece of artwork is actually edited from a sprite of the Seven Heroes, the main antagonists from the Japanese video game Romancing SaGa 2, in their final form. I got a crazy idea and used Photoshop to turn them into seven of the main characters from the Teletoon animated series Wayside, based off the Wayside School book series. Remember, this only makes me no different than anyone else who designs fan art and such. For those of you who have seen any Wayside episodes, or if any of you people out there are familiar with Romancing SaGa 2, see if you can recognize them! Also, it's kind of a coincidence that each of the hair colors makes it look somewhat like a rainbow from a certain perspective.

Want to know who's who anyway? Here they are:

Maurecia - Rocbouquet
Mr. Kidswatter - Subier
Myron - Noel
Louis - Kujinshi
Dana - Wagnas
Todd - Dantarg
Mrs. Jewls - Bokuohn

Mario and the Chronicle King

Hey, all you Super Mario World fans out there! Have you ever heard of SMW Central? It's a web site dedicated to hacking into the game's ROM files with many different programs and creating custom versions of the original game. Many hacks nowadays include the use of custom graphics, sprites, and music from other games, with Mario (and sometimes Luigi) starring as the playable characters. A few hacks completely change the playable characters and in even rarer cases, the ASM (assembler) is changed, meaning a part of Super Mario World's inner workings is reprogrammed.

Apparently, there are Japanese hackers out there as well, and they hack into Super Mario World with lots of knowledge on ASM. Because of this, their hacks sometimes come out better than the ones that hackers on SMW Central can create. We are blown away at these Japanese hacks, but I personally noticed that some of them make Princess Peach and Luigi enemies of Mario in many ways. This usually puts a twist into hack plots, as normally they are the two people Mario cares for the most.

I first heard about SMW Central while I was foolishly looking for a way to design custom levels for Super Mario Bros. and ended up learning about Lunar Magic, the program that hacks into Super Mario World's level and overworld design. The hack known as Super Demo World: The Legend Continues gave me a whole new look at Super Mario World, as it was designed to demonstrate how well Lunar Magic can remodify the original game. Inspired, I began my own project, which went through several versions before I finally came up with an official title - Mario and the Chronicle King. Although my original intention was to use Lunar Magic to make my own custom levels as difficult as possible, the title fits more towards my custom storyline, in which Mario goes to a distant land for a challenging workout to lose weight, but finds himself caught in an epic event that covers an ancient history never heard before and learns of a fabled figure known as the mysterious Chronicle King.

One thing to note about SMW Central is that they don't aim to distribute copyrighted material, but to honor a classic Super Nintendo video game. Therefore, I once again disclaim all material used to create my hack. The site also discusses hacking into Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars.

Bow the Cat

Name: Bow the Cat
Age: 10

This was the first of seven characters I sketched by studying June from Little Einsteins and like her, Bow is also a gifted dancer. Isn't she cute? I styled her tail after that of a Maine coon cat named Andie, one of three cats that my family currently owns. Being a cat, spirited and young, Bow constantly strives to gain attention. And at an adolescent age, she tends to be smitten with older males and can be extremely flirtatious. Despite being anthropomorphic, she tends to have some behaviors of a house cat, including purring, hissing, and scratching.

Bow and the other characters I have sketched are to be featured in a graphic novel trilogy I am planning. She is set to appear in the third volume and will take part in a great battle to save her animal friends from the misunderstanding of mankind and the world from a dark demon spirit. She has a key role in the battle, as she possesses the power to enhance the strength of others around her that she loves and cares for.

Far Side Project

This was my final exam in my Advanced Video Editing class in college. Our class was to use footage based on the song "Far Side of the World" by Jimmy Buffett and put together a trailer using all the skills we learned during the semester. This was how mine turned out, though I'm a little disappointed that the video and audio sync might not be as accurate as it once was, but it's still very good. Also, when we were assigned the final exam, it looked as though Michael Moore was telling us to get it done or else. Maybe it was a joke, but I included his name under special thanks anyway. Again, I disclaim all material. It was provided to us anyway. I hope you enjoy this video, because I sure had a blast doing it! You'd better believe it!

The Next Level

Those of you who are Yu-Gi-Oh! fans, check out the Yugioh Card Maker web site! Basically, you can choose what kind of fan-made card you want to create and it will appear on the main site. You need an account to save and upload them, but you don't need an account to right-click on them and save them as your own files, which is what I do. You can even create your own archetypes! Try to be an original because it's more fun that way! Of course, you don't necessarily have to use an original image, as in my example, I used a character from the Mega Man Zero series.

You'll need your own images to upload for the card image and perfect squares are personally recommended by me. You can also make one using an image-editing program.

It is also possible to create your own sub-type apart from the choices that are given to you. Simply choose a sub-type except for "Divine", finish your card, right-click on it, choose "Copy Image Location", and paste it into either a word-processing document or the address bar. From there, find the sub-type word and replace it with whatever you want and go to that address. The card image will appear on a separate page with your chosen sub-type.

There are two things you should take note of when making your own cards. Tuner monsters use the color of Effect Monster cards, but it is possible to create Normal Tuner Monsters. Simply make a Normal Monster card and in the Type box, choose your monster's type and then put " / Tuner" after it (Example: "Psychic / Tuner"). The other thing is that Dark Synchro and Dark Tuner monsters from the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's anime series cannot be created, as their options do not exist on the site. At least, they cannot be made without using an image-editing program or the trick to changing sub-types. With some of the Dark Synchro cards being remade into Synchro Monster cards for the card games, it is clear that the site is not going to add this feature.

As stated before, I disclaim any used material. I've started several archetypes from my own fan-made Yu-Gi-Oh! card series. The above card is an example of what can be created from the card maker site. More are to come!

Sonic X - Accidentally In Love

All copyright and credit goes to any and all original sources and owners. I hereby disclaim all material.

This video contains footage from the anime Sonic X and the Shrek 2 music video.