. . . about hurting your neck playing the Wii! I'm pretty sure that's the reason why my neck and upper back hurt right now, not because of massive boobies or anything . . . Although, that would be an awesome excuse to get out of work . . .

It's not an excuse for not doing my arts though, so please forgive me! I'm almost done with Twilight Princess anyway, so then I'm going to tackle all the rest of my requests and sneak in a comic or three . . . I also have to go back and make sure all the Shikamaru requests from two journals ago have been snapped up. Now that's one way to get me to do my drawing . . . Yeah, I could do, er, DRAW that boy six ways to Sunday . . . Whoa, I'm such a lech when it comes to Shikamaru . . .

Here is the progress for my projects:
1. Contest requests - 1 down, 3 to go (sketched)
2. Shikamaru requests - all sketched
3. Naruto Fan Comic 36 - half-drawn
4. E-Ranks 3, 4, 5 - inking half-done
5. 4 Dates with Temari - needs to be inked
6. Kakashi's Most Excellent Day - needs to be inked
7. The Campaign for Kazekage - needs to be inked
8. Clan pics - Yamanaka, Aburame, and Akimichi sketched

Did I miss anything? As always, thanks to all who visit the page and leave mysterious stains in the corner! And all this time, I blamed it on Kiba . . .

. . . thanks to my middle brother! Last week, he sent me an XBox 360 AND an early Christmas present . . . the Wii! So goodbye free time (at least for a little while)! My friend was supposed to bring over Halo 3 last weekend, but it didn't work out . . . but this weekend should be it! So if you've played, don't spoil it for me! My brother nearly did when he called me yesterday to see if I'd finished it yet because he was playing it through a second time . . . damn him!

Meanwhile, I've been playing "Twilight Princess" as well as a host of weird little games that the local libraries ordered like "Cooking Mama Cook Off." And I've been making Miis on the Wii. It's horribly addictive sitting there and making characters from manga / anime series . . . I have a ton of Naruto Miis, a couple of Bleach ones, and Santa Claus. The best Naruto Miis are Lee, Kabuto . . . and Asuma! Sasuke turned out looking like some metrosexual in biker leather . . . wait, that might be an accurate representation . . .

I haven't forgotten the art though! I have so many Shikamaru pics and comics to finish as well as completing the first of two requests for each of my winners from my last contest. I'll have a Halloween-themed contest again at the end of the month like I did last year, so look for it if you want to win something from me! And I think there are still some questions left from the last journal with chances to score a Shikamaru request. If you want to take a crack at the shogi or Go questions left, the link is here: [link]

Okay, I did my playing for tonight, so it's back to work on the art. Maybe it was a good thing my friend DIDN'T bring over Halo 3 last weekend . . . And I'll troll through my messages soon too, lovelies! Thanks for all you do for me!

Yeah! It's my favorite ninja's birthday! And so kicks off my Shika love-fest! I'll be drawing Shikamaru pics for the rest of the month . . . though I might sneak in comics and other things here and there . . . I hope you enjoyed today's birthday comic! I wrote the thing in 5 minutes yesterday because the idea came so clearly to me, and then all I had to do was draw it! Whew! Just in time for his actual birthday too!

And what, you may ask, is SCORE? Well, guess what? Every day until the end of this month, I'll post a shogi question to give you a chance to score a Shikamaru request! First right answer for each question gets a request with Shikamaru, so please don't bother to post if you don't want to win a Shikamaru request! Also, if you win one request, you can't win another . . . sorry to all you fellow rabid Shika freaks out there!

SCORE A SHIKAMARU REQUEST!
22 September - Which unpromoted pieces in shogi have the same moves as their corresponding pieces in chess? Request won by *vbabe1! And, I had to give it to ~HieiDory too for giving such an accurate and detailed answer! Check out the complete answers in the comments! Okay, can't accept any more answers for this one . . .

23 September - What are the prohibited drops in shogi? Request won by ~NordicAngel, who had such an amazingly detailed answer, both Shikamaru and I were impressed! Actually, he may have been more impressed that I remembered those complicated rules without looking them up . . . The answer is in the comments!

24 September - According to the Japanese Shogi Federation, what is the recommended handicap for a seven grades difference between players and what is it usually called? Request won by ~misato-k, who knew both parts of the answer! Hurray! You're all so amazing! Check the comments for the answer!

25 September - If an impasse (or jishogi) occurs in a game, how is a winner determined and when is a "no contest" declared? Request won by ~mothproofrhubarb, who floored me with the accuracy of the answer to this question! Down to the points assigned to the pieces! The answer is lurking below in the comments!

26 September - How is a repetition of moves handled in shogi when the repetitions are not the result of repetitive checks? Request won by ~Wolfii-san, who even gave me extra on top of what I asked! How's that for service? Check the answer in the comments!

27 September - "Striking at the head of a piece" refers to what in shogi?

28 September - What is the difference in opening play between a Static Rook and a Ranging Rook, and what is it called if you have the rook on the middle file, second rank (5h)?

29 September - The standard komi awarded white is worth how much in Go? Request won by ~thefuriouspanda, who took a stab at it! The Japanese Go Association raised the komi to 6.5 pts in 2002, though occasionally 7.5 pts is used. And ~sagebrushh brought up another factoid related to why the komi is usually half-points, so another request too! For more explanation, read some more answers in the comments!

30 September - What circumstances in Go would result in seki? Request won by ~rii-namuras! Ah, it's good that I included a couple Go questions, no? Answer is in the comments! And I also gave it to ~cancan-group too because I'm feeling happy AND she's been a fan for a long time! Check the answers in the comments!

Have fun, lovelies!

Holy crap. I mean every word in my title. I'm not just referring to the frickin amazing entries but also to the incredible voter turnout! Whoa. I couldn't have decided on my own, so thank you so much to all of you who helped out! And because I'm such a geek, I made a spreadsheet to keep track of all the votes. Haha . . . why am I admitting such a thing anyway . . .

And now, the winners . . .

For the Hyuuga contest, it was really close for a while, but *kawaiiS gets the prize! The winning entry is here:


For the Uchiha contest, ~Nakayoshi-chan took first place! The winning entry is here:


And the prizes, which I totally forgot to post, will be two art requests per winner. Why two each? Because coloring is damn hard, and I respect a good colorist! I'll note each of the winners with what I am willing and not willing to do, and then I'll get to work on their prizes. I was almost going to offer a set of Gaara's YUM! bowls from the Sand Sibs comics, but I never got the chance to make them. Besides . . . I'd probably keep them for myself to fall asleep facedown into . . . Maybe I'll offer them in another contest . . .

Well, hopefully you all discovered some really fantastic artists out there. I know I did, and I'm going to add each of the entrants to my watch list because I was so impressed! I have no idea what the next contest will be, but maybe I'll make it a celebration of the minor players in Naruto. We'll see . . . but thanks so much to everyone who participated as voters and artists! As Shikamaru might say, "Contest no jutsu . . . success!"

Wow! I'm so pleased by all the entries! I can't wait to see the winners! And I have such a great group of judges too! I'll take judges up until the judging closes, so if you want to judge, let me know in your comment and cast your vote. Oh, and I'll list the prizes later this week. So here are the judging rules:

1. If you did not submit an entry, you get TWO votes, one for Hyuuga and one for Uchiha.
2. If you submitted an entry, you get ONE vote for the category you didn't enter.
3. I'll be keeping a running tally of the votes which must be submitted as a comment on either this journal or the previous one. If you voted before all the entries were up and want to change your vote, just leave it in the comments.

HYUUGA CONTEST ENTRIES:
~Starartx [link]
~FlottOker [link]
~chihiro191 [link]
~FrozenDagger [link]
~Morana2006 [link]
~atumn-rane [link]
~Wolfii-san [link]
~Akatsuki-XIII [link]
~rii-namuras [link]
~shadow-hostage [link]
~darkpurpleanime [link]
~Suiton-no-Aeren [link]
*kawaiiS [link]
~Kaida-Crystal [link]
~Devkyu [link]
~LilyFlare [link]
~GirlDemon [link]
~SinfullVirtue [link]
~waterbender8 [link] (couldn't get it on dA, so it's photobucket!)

UCHIHA CONTEST ENTRIES
~Tsukoyomi-Wolf [link]
~Abigel [link]
~will2bill [link]
~Zanelover93 [link]
*Niji-iro [link]
~Hazmanian-Devil [link]
~Aaronelf [link]
~Ja-Kitsu-Ryou [link]
~Nakayoshi-chan [link]
~NordicAngel [link]
~The-Psychic-Paligin [link]

If your entry isn't listed, please let me know! And to my hot, hot, babelicious judges . . . GO LEE! I mean . . . GO JUDGE!!!