in response to Koto's International Cultural Exchange for Rukia, I did one for Malay's traditional clothes;

Argh. So I finally finished my picture for Koto's gallery.
It's not really good and at the top of all, I do not possess any good art software (or scanner, for that matter), so I couldn't really air-brush it or anything.
But on the other hand, I think the dress itself looks quite faithful to reality. XD

Notes augmented

We've enhanced and de-bugged Notes. If you haven't tried it yet, now's the time! You can create a private note when you ban multiple users. You can also delete multiple notes at once. Lastly, paid users have the option to add a note (visible only to you) whenever you add or remove a friend (guaranteed to avoid embarrassing social mishaps). If you don't currently have a paid account, you can upgrade now! It only takes a few minutes and costs less than a bad shopping mall haircut (plus, it's way more fashionable)!

Product tweaks and bug kill

1. In another effort to zap spam, comments containing links from domains LiveJournal deems untrustworthy are now automatically screened
2. If you sign up to get notifications of the Writer's Block question of the day, you'll now see the daily question in the email notification, so you'll have a little extra time to ponder before you post. You can subscribe to Writers Block notifications here
3. The issue causing random comments to vanish has been fixed!
4. If you visit a LiveJournal page and get prompted to log in, you'll be returned to the same page after you sign in (Thanks, Dreamwidth)!
5. If you don't edit the timestamp for an entry at all, the entry timestamp will indicate the time the entry was posted instead of the time the Update Journal page was loaded
6. Comments with paddings/backgrounds render correctly within the comment box (and will no longer wrap outside the box and break frames/margins)

New FCK fixes rich text editor!

1. We've updated our RTE (Rich Text Editor) to FCKeditor version 2.6.5
2. When switching from the RTE to HTML editor, links for syndicated feeds are no longer broken
3. RTE now functions properly in Safari 4.0
4. An extra line/space will not be auto-inserted whenever you switch from RTE to HTML editor
5. The insert image link now works correctly in all browsers

LiveJournal Cares

We’re pleased to introduce you to lj_cares, a new LiveJournal community dedicated to raising awareness and funds for U.S. charitable organizations that improve the health and well-being of people around the world. Each month, we’ll spotlight a nonprofit that is making a significant global impact through medical research, public outreach, and/or humanitarian social programs. Charities will be selected in accordance with the U.S. calendar of national health observances based on a high rating (of over 60%) on Charity Navigator and global scope of impact.

In this, our inaugural month of November, we will celebrate national adoption month by offering a charitable virtual gift (priced at $2.99) to support Love Without Boundaries, an organization that saves the lives of orphans with life-threatening diseases and places them in loving homes around the world. LiveJournal will donate 100% of the proceeds from the sale of charitable vgifts (we'll cover the cost of credit card transaction fees). To learn more about Love Without Boundaries, please visit lj_cares and read about how they helped save Baby Kang and the Rainbow Twins from fatal illnesses, who are now thriving in nurturing families. You can purchase your Love Without Boundaries gifts in the Virtual Gift shop.

Papered in postcards

A couple of weeks ago, we asked you to send in postcards to surround us with LiveJournal community. Thanks for coming through! We've received postcards all the way from Germany, Finland, and Canada and from all over the US, including Texas, Florida, Alaska, Montana, Wyoming, Indiana, Hawaii, and Oklahoma just to name just a handful. We're thrilled with our improved decor.

Please keep the love coming for one more week by writing to Frank the Goat, Esq., c/o LiveJournal, Inc., 539 Bryant Street, Suite 210, San Francisco, CA 94107. Be sure to include your username, since we'll be drawing the names of ten random contributors next Thursday to win paid account credits!

Photos of the week

We have more dazzling images posted by talented LiveJournal photographers from around the world. We're hoping to span the entire globe, so please continue posting and tagging. Of course, you can also sit back and enjoy the view at lj_photophile.

You can see a sample of this week's gorgeous photos and check out spotlight communities and awesome user content after the jump!

( Read more... )

Curtains

We thank you, once again, for joining us. See you next week!

Here ya go! http://www.mangafox.com/manga/bleach/v42/c382/1.html

I'm still reading, so discuss away.

ETA: Here's the link to the slightly different scan at onemanga: http://www.onemanga.com/Bleach/382/

The new art from Kubo-sensei for the 2010 calendar cover is as gorgeous as expected.... it's also breathtakingly IchiRuki.

Click here and keep clicking to enlarge

Here's a MQ version:

( A beautiful Winter scene )

At first glance it looks like Ichigo and Rukia are wearing the same scarf. Are they? Well, to be honest, one can't be sure since the scarf goes off screen but the point is that it looks like they are, and wearing the same scarf is such a lovers thing among Japanese couples. And the drawing says what we all know about Ichigo and Rukia--we can assume that they're off together in their own sanctified place while everyone else (the colorful shoes and boots) stand around, but we can't exactly be sure of the connection... haha, the scarf is really implied.

As for the shoes, they have to be the nakama. Annie is calling the green boots Orihime's. The red boots are obviously Renji's, the blue jeans with the big shoe belong to Chad and the narrow yellow shoe has to belong to Ishida--right? Kubo always draws Ishida's foot small and narrow.

ETA: ULQUIORRA IN A SANTA HAT IN THIS CALENDAR! OMFG! WEEEEEE!

Thanks to Annie for the info beneath the cut and to Cez for the translation.

( calendar doodles )

ETA2: WE HAVE THE SKETCHES!

( BEHOLD THE CUTENESS! )

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS BEEN DRESSING UP RUKIA FOR KOTO'S INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE

Koto thanked me personally for sending along her message and here in the IR fanclub at BA is a post from pikeish giving an update on where you can view the new gallery Koto has made for the works. She also gives a short message there to contributors. She's putting up new works this Friday but there's really no deadline to submit your Rukia art, so keep them coming!

EDIT@08:16 UTC/GMT. Wow. That was ugly. I expected it to go for 30 minutes and have maybe 1 minute of broken connectivity. Instead it lasted over 4 hours and we had 10 minutes of downtime directly related to the load balancer upgrades and then another 5-10 minutes of downtime when our primary Pingback database server crashed and the secondary couldn't take over; which could have been indirectly caused by the network upgrade missing a self-VIP.

Anyways, we're up, we're working, the load balancers are barely breaking a sweat right now and I need some food and a shot of whiskey. I don't even *like* whiskey!!

Thanks mhwest and dnewhall for helping out!

---

On Saturday the 14th at 4AM UTC/GMT we will be upgrading the operating system of our network load balancers to a newer version, one that will allow us to use both CPUs! Nifty, because multiprocessing is nice.

Since we have 2 load balancers, the plan is to upgrade 1 at a time, and there really should be very little impact to our website. Hopefully you won't notice a thing and I'll get to go back to the hotel and watch some wonderful late night infomercials.

We've got a lot of exciting projects coming up for 2010 and we're hoping that we'll be able to deliver them all to you, that you will find it useful/cool/lovely and then you will use the site even more. Behind-the-scenes work like this will give us the capacity to handle the anticipated traffic, so expect a few more maintenance windows especially in the beginning of next year as we've got some neat ideas to improve performance around here! We had the recent 30-45 minute outage yesterday due to one of our logging databases filling up disk space -- not so great design coupled with my human error in handling the initial problem -- and it looks like we're going to finally have some resources to eliminate stuff like that. I can't wait!

As usual, I will be updating status.livejournal.org before and after, just in case you are not able to reach our main website during the work.

From here: http://bleachasylum.com/showthread.php?t=12847

( Kenpachi and Yammy and Byakuya, oh my! )

Okay, I'm usually don't pay that much attention to the anime when it's in Filler-Land, but this filler arc has been pretty entertaining, and I'm totally IN LOVE with the latest one!

Why, you ask?

( Cut for huge spoilers! Go watch it and then come back! )

Imma go watch it again!

I have to really be in the mood to draw someone for it to look nice, and lately I've been in a Kurotsuchi mood. I drew this up today while listening to his songs, which inspired this image. Don't ask me what it is, though XD


mochavalentino.deviantart.com/art/Black-Soil-143208843

So, when I saw the spoiler thread at BA, I started a response with my theories... and got a little carried away.

No objectionable content beyond crazy theories that actually have basis, a bit of NelIchi wishful thinking, and a long mini-essay.

Oops, I'm so sorry for spamming my own community yet again but it seems I've left off an entry on one of the polls. Unfortunately, LJ doesn't allow you to edit polls after the voting has started. So if you want to vote for "Feel the Love" by darthsqueechan in the fanart category, here's your chance to do so.

Don't forget to check out the other polls strewn throughout this community today. Only members of bleachness may vote in the poll. You may vote for as few as one or as many as all entries in the two fanart polls but I suggest that you limit your votes to three because there will be three winners in the “Draw Ishida” fanart category. The poll will close on Tuesday, November 17, 12 midnight CST.


Poll #1483644 Draw Ishida Category Poll, IMPORTANT POSTSCRIPT
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 26

If you want to vote for "Feel the Love" by darthsqueechan in the "Draw Ishida" category, please check that option below

Bear with me! There are the THREE polls for the fanart category of the birthday bash. Because of LJ poll limitations, the fanart poll had to be divided into three parts. All of the fanart entries in the “Draw Ishida” category are linked in this post, but the following poll contains only a third of the entries you may vote for. Please find the other posts which contains PART ONE and PART TWO of this poll and vote for entries on those polls as well.

Only members of bleachness may vote in the poll. You may vote for as few as one or as many as all entries in the two fanart polls but I suggest that you limit your votes to three because there will be three winners in the “Draw Ishida” fanart category. The poll will close on Tuesday, November 17, 12 midnight CST.

Again, my deepest thanks to all who entered. I felt the love for Ishida Uryuu!

Please let me know if any links are broken or do not link to the correct art.

special note: prizes this year will be mailed worldwide registered mail only because I know longer trust the international post! Alas, one package to France and one package to England I mailed out this year seem to be lost *grumbles over European post* but all my packages to Asia and Australia got to their destinations. MUCH LOVE and thanks to all of you who have sent parcels my way. Only one from Indonesia was lost and one from Tokyo was eventually recovered. I'm still amazed that we can connect over the miles at all in ways other than the Internet! I hope to reach out to more of you in 2010.


Gift art:

IshiHime Confetti by nijibug

"Draw Ishida" fanart links:

Draw Arrows and Love is Simple by nijibug

IshiHime Sketch by peca_06

IshiHime Kiss by renki_chan

Megane Nashi by renki_chan

Ishida Adult by renki_chan

Pride of the Quincy by kwansan

Ishida, the Cake, and the Others by good_chaser

IshiHime for Uryu’s Birthday by shirafune6

Hand in Hand by sketchbaka

Just Like I Taught You by hidden_gems



Love is War by fanartist

Quincy Onmyoji by khallandra

Happy Birthday Uryuu Ishida by espadadina

Let’s Go Home by nacchan_tova

Dragon Quest by shynishyshallow

Birthday Toast by mezzo_marinaio

Pride of the Quincy II by bananakaya

simply by bluffee

The Quincy’s Strawberry by mochavalentino

Uryuu by picturesmcgee



Bunny Clips by picturesmcgee

Switcheroo by picturesmcgee

The Rain Dragon by mooguriklaine

IshiHime School Days by kthigh

Festival by darthsqueechan

Feel the Love by darthsqueechan

Puddle by darthsqueechan

Life by luminous85






Poll #1483527 Draw Ishida Category Poll, PART THREE
Open to: Friends, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 33

Vote for your favorites. You may pick as many as you like, but I suggest limiting yourself to three because there will be three winners

Whew! Trouble getting the polls up. First Real Life then Live Journal freaked out on me. Now that the site is back, here are the THREE polls for the fanart category of the birthday bash. Because of LJ poll limitations, the fanart poll had to be divided into three parts. All of the fanart entries in the “Draw Ishida” category are linked in this post, but the following poll contains only a third of the entries you may vote for. Please find the other posts which contains PART THREE and PART ONE of this poll and vote for entries on those polls as well.

Only members of bleachness may vote in the poll. You may vote for as few as one or as many as all entries in the two fanart polls but I suggest that you limit your votes to three because there will be three winners in the “Draw Ishida” fanart category. The poll will close on Tuesday, November 17, 12 midnight CST.

Again, my deepest thanks to all who entered. I felt the love for Ishida Uryuu!

Please let me know if any links are broken or do not link to the correct art.


Gift art:

IshiHime Confetti by nijibug

"Draw Ishida" fanart links:

Draw Arrows and Love is Simple by nijibug

IshiHime Sketch by peca_06

IshiHime Kiss by renki_chan

Megane Nashi by renki_chan

Ishida Adult by renki_chan

Pride of the Quincy by kwansan

Ishida, the Cake, and the Others by good_chaser

IshiHime for Uryu’s Birthday by shirafune6

Hand in Hand by sketchbaka

Just Like I Taught You by hidden_gems



Love is War by fanartist

Quincy Onmyoji by khallandra

Happy Birthday Uryuu Ishida by espadadina

Let’s Go Home by nacchan_tova

Dragon Quest by shynishyshallow

Birthday Toast by mezzo_marinaio

Pride of the Quincy II by bananakaya

simply by bluffee

The Quincy’s Strawberry by mochavalentino

Uryuu by picturesmcgee



Bunny Clips by picturesmcgee

Switcheroo by picturesmcgee

The Rain Dragon by mooguriklaine

IshiHime School Days by kthigh

Festival by darthsqueechan

Feel the Love by darthsqueechan

Puddle by darthsqueechan

Life by luminous85




Poll #1483521 Draw Ishida Category Poll, PART TWO
Open to: Friends, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 40

Vote for your favorites. You may pick as many as you like, but I suggest limiting yourself to three because there will be three winners

Whew! Trouble getting the polls up. First Real Life then Live Journal freaked out on me. Now that the site is back, here are the three polls for the fanart category of the birthday bash. Because of LJ poll limitations, the fanart poll had to be divided into three parts. All of the fanart entries in the “Draw Ishida” category are linked in this post, but the following poll contains only ONE THIRD of the entries you may vote for. Please find the other posts which contains PART TWO  and PART THREE of this poll and vote for entries on those polls as well.

Only members of bleachness may vote in the poll. You may vote for as few as one or as many as all entries in the two fanart polls but I suggest that you limit your votes to three because there will be three winners in the “Draw Ishida” fanart category. The poll will close on Tuesday, November 17, 12 midnight CST.

Again, my deepest thanks to all who entered. I felt the love for Ishida Uryuu!

Please let me know if any links are broken or do not link to the correct art.


Gift art:

IshiHime Confetti by nijibug

"Draw Ishida" fanart links:

Draw Arrows and Love is Simple by nijibug

IshiHime Sketch by peca_06

IshiHime Kiss by renki_chan

Megane Nashi by renki_chan

Ishida Adult by renki_chan

Pride of the Quincy by kwansan

Ishida, the Cake, and the Others by good_chaser

IshiHime for Uryu’s Birthday by shirafune6

Hand in Hand by sketchbaka

Just Like I Taught You by hidden_gems



Love is War by fanartist

Quincy Onmyoji by khallandra

Happy Birthday Uryuu Ishida by espadadina

Let’s Go Home by nacchan_tova

Dragon Quest by shynishyshallow

Birthday Toast by mezzo_marinaio

Pride of the Quincy II by bananakaya

simply by bluffee

The Quincy’s Strawberry by mochavalentino

Uryuu by picturesmcgee



Bunny Clips by picturesmcgee

Switcheroo by picturesmcgee

The Rain Dragon by mooguriklaine

IshiHime School Days by kthigh

Festival by darthsqueechan

Feel the Love by darthsqueechan

Puddle by darthsqueechan

Life by luminous85

Poll #1483518 Birthday Bash Draw Ishida Fanart Poll PART ONE
Open to: Friends, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 38

Vote for your favorites. You may pick as many as you like, but I suggest limiting yourself to three because there will be three winners

Was it just me who missed Live Journal for that whole hour it was down? I was just trying to get polls up is all.

That and waiting for Bleach spoilers. There appear to be none today even though One Piece and Naruto spoilers are already out. I'm pretty sure that there's a Bleach chapter in this issue of Shounen Jump. It's the following week that Kubo-sensei is taking a vacation (just a heads-up for you addicts).

Anyway, for those of you who need a spoiler fix, Guildenstern has provided some:

( warning: fake spoilers )

In other news, people are predicting that Unohana is going to gouge out Ichigo's eyes in the next chapter so that he can't see Aizen's shikai. Now, I know she looked scary in the last chapter's close-ups and I've always suspected SS of shady doings but do you really think that the four devils are the Shinigami of the last chapter and that SS is setting Ichigo up? There's an interesting thread on the subject at BA. It's really my favorite subject in Bleach, believe it or not--the whole ethics of SS business, not who gets to rape Uryuu next in my upoming fic.

Sorry for taking my time getting the polls up! It's been a hectic week. I want to again thank everyone who participated in the birthday bash contests. Watching the arts come up on Ishida's birthday is such fun, and being inundated with IshiHime fic (the pairing's not terribly popular among fandom writers) in a single day is a super treat for me. I'm always touched that this community inspires all the art and posy and babblings it does.

Below are links to the fanfic entries and the poll so you can select the winners. Only members of bleachness may vote. You may check as few or as many of the fics as you like in your vote but I suggest limiting yourself to three votes because there may be three winners in this category. The poll will close one week from now, Tuesday, November 17, at midnight CTS.

I enjoyed all the fics. Again, thank you so very much for all of them.

Fic links:

“Of Hearts and Smiles” by syneiam

“To Be or Not to Be” by ashariham

“A Quincy Carol” by lori_fan

“A Necessary Diplomacy” by adam_epp

“Illusions in Which She Drowned Herself” by iluxe_love

“Sky Gazer” by darthsqueechan

“Reaching You” by naviji

“The Scientific Method” by vesperh


Poll #1483430 Birthday Bash IshiHime Fanfic Contest Poll
Open to: Friends, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 21

Vote for your favorites. You may pick as many as you like, but I suggest limiting yourself to three because there may be three winners

Also, not in the running for prizes were these gift fics:

Gift fic by adam_epp : “Ishida: Communication”

Gift fic by secila80 : “Version 5: An IshiHime Mystery, Part 2”

Hi! I'm new to the fandom, and the community, but it was suggested that I post this here, because you may enjoy it. I certainly hope so! :)

It's my first Bleach fanfic.

Title: At What Cost
Pairing: None really, but focuses on Ichigo and Rukia.

Follow the link: You can't have him!

**scampers off to enjoy fic and art here**

sixwordstories
Whether you're in the mood for a creative challenge or you're short on time or attention span, this semi-addictive community is perfect for those who find flash fiction way long. Once you get the hang of it, you won't be able to stop. The prince turned into a frog. The girl ran home to mother. Tough to write. Easy to read. It's a double threesome of fun.