listening: jex opolis - bad timin' part 3
watching: stargate sg-1
as promised, back to my more ordinary blog topics this time. i had a minor surgery to alleviate my allergies and chronic sinus congestion about 2 weeks ago, and the recovery has forced me to actually slow down for once. since i can't be as active and running around in the city as i'm usually inclined, i've been staying home and focusing on hobby activities. i built some model kits, have been collecting and cleaning secondhand figures, and trying to find the motivation to delve back into drawing.
this cute waterway and snail clock are between my ENT doctor's office and the nearest bus stop.
this cute waterway and snail clock are between my ENT doctor's office and the nearest bus stop.
i recently started buying up some small trading figures off the fleamarket apps, there's a lot of cute, edgy, or otherwise interesting designs and most of them are really affordable. i stopped collecting scale figures for the most part a few years ago. i feel like the scale figure arms race has kinda gotten out of hand, as they keep getting bigger, more elaborate, and more expensive. the art is impressive but it's reached the point where it's just not something i feel the need to own. and tbh since i don't watch vtubers or much in the way of anime, i don't care about like 95% of the characters who are getting figures at this point. i still collect the occasional older figure or throwback re-release figure here and there. the downside to buying old figures is that a lot of them are sticky and gross from plasticizers surfacing over time, so i currently have a bucket of them soaking in dish soap. nasty figures go in the bucket 
most of the figures i've gotten lately have been from VNs, and i'm working on a cute retro looking shelf display for them to match. i found a vintage hello kitty shelf secondhand, i'll post the setup later when it's filled out more to my liking. meanwhile, here are the two figures that reignited my interest in trading figures. i picked them up at bookoff a while back; they're super nostalgic. i actually had a different colorway of the girl on the left back in my early years of collecting japanese toys.
i have a few more small figures on the way-- one from DearS (one of my favorite anime), and a gtaste figure. i always wanted those back in the day, their fetish-y outfits seemed so cool and edgy to me when i was uhhhh probably way too young to be looking art and figures like that online
otakuworld moment lol
most of the figures i've gotten lately have been from VNs, and i'm working on a cute retro looking shelf display for them to match. i found a vintage hello kitty shelf secondhand, i'll post the setup later when it's filled out more to my liking. meanwhile, here are the two figures that reignited my interest in trading figures. i picked them up at bookoff a while back; they're super nostalgic. i actually had a different colorway of the girl on the left back in my early years of collecting japanese toys.
i have a few more small figures on the way-- one from DearS (one of my favorite anime), and a gtaste figure. i always wanted those back in the day, their fetish-y outfits seemed so cool and edgy to me when i was uhhhh probably way too young to be looking art and figures like that online
otakuworld moment lol
i've also been continuing to decorate my space and items around me. i got this cool CD rack from mercari, then filled it with the albums i have that match the colors. my bottom CD rack is alphabetical by artist, the tall brown and seaglass looking one is paper sleeve albums and some heavy rotation i listen a lot, and this new one is just stocked and sorted for aesthetic haha. that brazil album on top is another exciting secondhand find-- it's a two CD set with one disc of brazilian classics, and one disc of modern club music by brazilian artists. once again the 'world music' section at bookoff is full of treasures.
even though i can't do much in the way of fashion and going out at the moment, i got this new (to me) bag a few weeks ago and started decorating it recently. my daily fashion style is something in the neighborhood of heisei gyaru.. i don't really put enough effort in, or wear makeup often enough, to really call myself gyaru lol. it's more "whatever beachy 2000s clothing i find at the thrift or on flea market apps." but nonetheless, i really dig the prada nylon bags to go with my style, as they feel like an 'aged up' equivalent to the nylon high school bags that kogals carried. i got the furry tail at don quijote when picking up some household essentials, and the q-pot blue hawaiii shave ice charm came from closet child. i've had the samantha thavasa monstera charm for several months now, but that was also secondhand at the time, i think off mercari.
even though i can't do much in the way of fashion and going out at the moment, i got this new (to me) bag a few weeks ago and started decorating it recently. my daily fashion style is something in the neighborhood of heisei gyaru.. i don't really put enough effort in, or wear makeup often enough, to really call myself gyaru lol. it's more "whatever beachy 2000s clothing i find at the thrift or on flea market apps." but nonetheless, i really dig the prada nylon bags to go with my style, as they feel like an 'aged up' equivalent to the nylon high school bags that kogals carried. i got the furry tail at don quijote when picking up some household essentials, and the q-pot blue hawaiii shave ice charm came from closet child. i've had the samantha thavasa monstera charm for several months now, but that was also secondhand at the time, i think off mercari.
a few days ago, i finally checked out the kojima x bic camera in my neighborhood. since i basically live in a suburb of a suburb of tokyo, i didn't expect our local bic to be all that exciting or well stocked.. i was dead wrong lol. compared to the ones near shin-yokohama and kawasaki stations, ours has wayyy more girlpla, almost three full aisles of megami device, frame arms girl, moderoid, 30 minute sisters, etc. i picked up a few kits and supplies while there, since i had just made a big mercari sale and bic enables me takes digital mercari pay. i got plamax's sophia f shirring, kotobukiya's asra tamamonomae utage, a simple cinnamoroll kit, bandai sprigatito, as well as some glue and sanding sticks. i picked up puni✰mofu tou from an online shop recently too.
as much as i enjoy building model kits, i kinda "forget" that i get so much enjoyment out of them, since building them does require sitting still lol. so usually i'll go several weeks or a few months without building any, then build one that reignites my interest in building several more. i have the same issue with blogging tbh, as much as i enjoy writing about my hobbies and activities, it's hard to slow down enough to actually do so.
they look super cute with re-ment as well. girlpla kits are typical a compatible scale with figma/revoltech/sh figuarts, so they have plenty of options for props and display. one thing i want to do more as a hobby collector is spend more time posing and photographing the figures, dolls, and plush that i already have. sometime this summer, i'd like to set up a diorama shelf or photo box to make for more fun and polished pics.
i'm looking forward to building sophia f shirring next. her bunny girl design is really cute imo, and what's even cuter is that she's actually designed on the concept of a sea bunny, per the screen printing on the surfboard parts from the model kit. you love to see it.
i've been working on this kitbash since november (by which i mostly mean i started last november and just now got back around to working on her
). the options for model tools and supplies are so much better here. i got some colored adhesive to make the assembly look cleaner, ofc still needs a lot of sanding and polishing.
as much as i enjoy building model kits, i kinda "forget" that i get so much enjoyment out of them, since building them does require sitting still lol. so usually i'll go several weeks or a few months without building any, then build one that reignites my interest in building several more. i have the same issue with blogging tbh, as much as i enjoy writing about my hobbies and activities, it's hard to slow down enough to actually do so.
they look super cute with re-ment as well. girlpla kits are typical a compatible scale with figma/revoltech/sh figuarts, so they have plenty of options for props and display. one thing i want to do more as a hobby collector is spend more time posing and photographing the figures, dolls, and plush that i already have. sometime this summer, i'd like to set up a diorama shelf or photo box to make for more fun and polished pics.
i'm looking forward to building sophia f shirring next. her bunny girl design is really cute imo, and what's even cuter is that she's actually designed on the concept of a sea bunny, per the screen printing on the surfboard parts from the model kit. you love to see it.
i've been working on this kitbash since november (by which i mostly mean i started last november and just now got back around to working on her
). the options for model tools and supplies are so much better here. i got some colored adhesive to make the assembly look cleaner, ofc still needs a lot of sanding and polishing.
my friend jenn has been talking a lot in the demuresoft groupchat lately about art inspiration, emulation, and drills. she's really inspired me to get back into drawing and working towards an art style i really want for myself. i picked up some secondhand art books from faves of mine (PEACH-PIT, koge donbo, and kanan), and hope to use those as a springboard to developing and polishing a style of my own.
another thing that's really sparked my interest lately is 'wafer seal' stickers, they're square and usually holographic with super deformed style art. they started out as a prize in lotte cookies, with art from an original franchise called 'bikkuriman,' developed specifically to come with the cookies. but there's wafer seal stickers of all kinds of properties by now, such as pokemon, one piece, kinnikuman, and so on. more than the licensed ones, i'm really into the doujin ones. i got some off of booth from indie artist kaiwareme recently, as well as a bunch of blind bag ones from queen's blade. i'd love to make some wafer seal stickers of my own at some point, either fan art or made up characters of my own design. so that's kinda my goal for getting back into art. i already found a manufacturer that can produce stickers in that style.
another thing that's really sparked my interest lately is 'wafer seal' stickers, they're square and usually holographic with super deformed style art. they started out as a prize in lotte cookies, with art from an original franchise called 'bikkuriman,' developed specifically to come with the cookies. but there's wafer seal stickers of all kinds of properties by now, such as pokemon, one piece, kinnikuman, and so on. more than the licensed ones, i'm really into the doujin ones. i got some off of booth from indie artist kaiwareme recently, as well as a bunch of blind bag ones from queen's blade. i'd love to make some wafer seal stickers of my own at some point, either fan art or made up characters of my own design. so that's kinda my goal for getting back into art. i already found a manufacturer that can produce stickers in that style.
i've still gotten to do a bit of outing, not so much fun stuff, but it's still nice to go out and see things. i went up to shinagawa yesterday to mail some documents related to my visa application, and stumbled on a beautifully designed office courtyard area and great view of shinagawa station in the process.
i'll close with some obligatory flower photos from my walks, as well as my own hibiscus that recently started blooming. it was neat seeing evening primrose on the sidewalk near my new house, as that was an abundant wildflower back where i used to live as well. the star jasmine in the third photo grows wild along a fence i always pass when walking to the nearby drugstore; it smells incredible right now.
i'll close with some obligatory flower photos from my walks, as well as my own hibiscus that recently started blooming. it was neat seeing evening primrose on the sidewalk near my new house, as that was an abundant wildflower back where i used to live as well. the star jasmine in the third photo grows wild along a fence i always pass when walking to the nearby drugstore; it smells incredible right now.