Because I enjoy translating and subtitling Japanese music videos (or PVs, if you prefer), and because they're excellent practice, I'm always looking for new projects. Unfortunately, I don't have the money or time to buy every new release, and sometimes older video releases are no longer available for purchase. So, should someone out there have a video they'd like to see subtitled, I'm happy to take suggestions. If you haven't seen any of the work I've done previously, please check below for links to YouTube previews and downloads for everything I've done so far. There will also be a list of upcoming projects. I would ask you to check this list before making a request, but if you want to second someone's request it's perfectly okay with me.

I do have a couple guidelines for making suggestions, also below, though I cannot promise to take everyone's. A lot is dependent on the time available.

( Request Submission Guidelines )

( Projects: Past and Future )

Way No. 1 to make Skinner the happiest person on Earth:

Make an AMV that truly demonstrates an understanding all the truly wonderful things about the original Macross television series, including Minmay. The creator of the video linked below deserves every thunderous ovation he gets for having a fantastic vision and managing to bring it across beautifully.

Consider it recommended~! => "One Day More" by Otaku Outpost, featuring music from Les Miserables and footage from SDF Macross.

Way No. 2 to make Skinner the happiest person on Earth:

Find this video for me. Thank you, sumeria!

Oh, and in case I haven't mentioned it before, the Macross TV series (the original Japanese TV series -- the movie, the sequels, and even ::gasp:: Robotech have their own appeal, but there is no match for the original) is one of the best things I have ever seen in my life, and I highly recommend it to everyone. Yes, the beginning can be slow. It's absolutely worth the setup. Yes, you may not like Minmay as a person, or be a fan of all her songs. That's a whole 'nother can of worms -- music is subjective. I'll defend her existence as a character to the death because when I started watching, I didn't like her either; but by the end, I could have no doubt that without her presence, the show would be lacking something vital. (And here I will stop myself from writing a tangential essay on the concept of the "hashira".)

What every one of those characters together creates on the screen is, I say without hyperbole, one of the most poignant depictions of humanity's essence and the will to live and love that I have ever seen created or believe is possible to create. I cried for an hour and a half the first time I saw the final episode, and I'm not often moved to tears.

So, to the person who wanted to make a video that highlighted all the best parts of Macross and then put forth the effort to do it well: I salute you.

[EDIT: In all fairness to those who have not seen the series in its entirety, I should mention that this video contains ENORMOUS SPOILERS. Huge. Really important stuff.]

There's only one thing more annoying than coming up with translations for words that express concepts utterly foreign to the destination language, and that's when you have a word -- exactly one word, with no reasonable synonym -- that means precisely what you want to say, but you can't use it because this word is rather less than common.

Oh why, oh why do I live in a world where I can't put the word "cynosure" into the mouth of a common street thug?

( Click if you want details )

I see a lot of computer issues in my day job as a Systems Administrator for a company whose name I will not identify for security reasons. I don't usually blog about them because they tend to be commonplace and thus well documented. Today and yesterday, I have spent a significant amount of time battling a piece of malware that deserves blogging about for the safety and peace of mind of all my friends and aquaintances, as well as random internet denizens:

File: pmxqsysguard.exe
Location: (in WinXP) C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Local Settings\Application Data\jrqrvc
Registry Entry: HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run [executed file above on startup]

Symptoms: Presents as ordinary "fake anti-virus program"-type malware. Scare window pop-ups, as well as internet pop-ups pointing to porn sites. Probably a variant of older SysGuard malware strains, but this program was able 1) to insert itself into the directory above and edit the registry to run on start up while the user was logged in without administrative privileges and 2) to block the user from opening Task Manager or running legitimate anti-virus programs.

( more... )
Prevention: the exact source of this malware has not been identified. I suspect that it may have been infected Flash content. Make sure that all security updates for your Operating System are installed. Go to the websites for your web browser of choice and for Adobe to UPDATE YOUR BROWSER AND FLASH PLAYER TO THE CURRENT VERSION. Please. For your own sake. ( more... )

Dealing with it: As with any malware of this sort, don't click on anything it shows you. The first step in any case like the one above should be to try killing the process using your Task Manager and running at least one legitimate anti-malware application that is updated with current anti-virus definitions (preferably more than one). This malware could not be removed in this fashion, and the drive must be formatted for network safety. Please read under the cut for more information.

( more... )
I hope you never need this information, but when I did a web search on this file, I came up with absolutely nothing, which is a first for me. Now, at least there's something.

UPDATE: McAfee's labs have identified this as a strain of Generic.TRA, and indicated that "Detection for this threat will be included in the Beta DATs within an hour". That would be approx. 5AM GMT on Nov. 12.

TITLE: Since Last Goodbye - Chapter 7
SERIES: Prince of Tennis
PAIRING: Tezuka Kunimitsu x Fuji Syuusuke
DISCLAIMER: The original manga Tennis no Oujisama is the work of Konomi Takeshi. Characters, settings, and events have been adapted without authorization or approval, and I am making no profit from their use.
WARNINGS: While Tezuka and Fuji will get together eventually, they do not do so at this time.
RATING: PG.

THE STORY SO FAR:
There's no such thing as a life with no regrets.
     Tezuka decides to register for an Olympic-qualifying tournament, returning home as his first step towards convincing Fuji to give him a second chance. Fuji's decision to come watch him play gives Tezuka an opportunity he hadn't expected, but when he tries to apologize, it looks like that opportunity will slip away.

Previously...
:: Prologue : 1 : 2 : 3 : 4 : 5 : 6 ::

( "I told you, I have to be going. I'll see you on the courts." )
( But... you still need to eat. )

And speaking of which... my penchant for making mix CDs combined with a challenge from a friend spawned a plot-mix for this story based on the songs I use as character foci and motivation. If you'd like, you can take a peek inside my head at the future of this plotline. Obviously, warnings for potential spoilers apply, though I've tried not to make any big reveals. And while I'm sharing things vaguely related to the story, I'll throw in some fan art! Click the snippet below to visit the post:



Thank you all for reading! You comments are always much appreciated.

::frowny face::

Is anyone aware of some mysterious reason that the animators for Tsubasa Chronicle might have had for skipping the Infinity arc and everything that took place on Ceres?

Any reason at all?

Or perhaps someone is aware of some OVA or movie that retells those events, and yet has managed to escape the notice of the Anime News Network website and the Japanese Wikipedia page for Tsubasa? And unless I'm mistaken, of the official Tsubasa site as well. Because those two arcs were kind of important, and I feel kind of sorry for anyone watching the Shunraiki OVA without reading the manga. Heck, I feel sorry for all those people who were planning to make music videos from the highly dramatic and plot-filled footage those story arcs would have provided. Or those who just really wanted to see them and didn't predict even a little that they'd be considered "skippable" by the animation studio. I can't have been the only one...

But seriously... they've cut the whole mess with Sakura's tremendous character growth, and reduced Fai's backstory and Kurogane killing Ashura-Ou to a half-second flashback? How is that okay?!

::pout::

Okay. I'm done.

While preparing for a road trip to Marcon, arrogantemu proposed a challenge inspired by a meme that was going around LJ at the time. The concept was that the poster would pick several tropes that they preferred to read in fanfiction from a "kink list", and commenters would write drabbles inspired by the selections. In the challenge arrogantemu proposed, everyone who wanted to participate would make a mix CD on the same theme. We would then listen to the mix CDs during the roadtrip.

I love making mix CDs; however, I don't particularly have any fanfiction kinks. I couldn't even do the original meme. So, sumeria made the recommendation that I ignore the kink theme and just make a mix about what I do have an interest in. The answer became simple: Tezuka and Fuji. I'm a complete sucker for anything about them.

In order to make a mix on a schedule, however, I needed a very specific topic. I chose the plot of my own Tezuka x Fuji epic, "Since Last Goodbye", since I already had a grasp on what I would pick. I just had to raid my "inspiration" playlist and find some other specific songs.

After playing it for everyone and going through explanations of why each song was chosen for its particular place, I decided that I wanted to present the final product as a kind of side feature when I posted the next chapter for any readers who were interested... and as I am crafting this post, that chapter has finally entered beta. Below the cut, please find a download for the MP3s, as well as lyrics and explanations.

WARNING: This list both DOES and DOES NOT contain spoilers. I have taken the liberty of NOT explaining any reference that I feel would spoil any key events. What few real surprises exist in this story, I will guard with my life. I will not explain these references anywhere but within the story itself. HOWEVER, not everyone has the same spoiler threshold as I do. Please bear in mind that the following mix list was chosen to represent character motivations and events from the entirety of "Since Last Goodbye": the prologue and all sixty chapters. Looking at the following track list, reading the lyrics, and/or listening to the mix may constitute spoilers for themes and events to come. Reading the explanations may constitute more significant spoilers. I have included spoiler space (in the form of fanart) after the track list and before the lyrics, and the explanations (incomplete as they may be) have been spoiler-shielded. Highlight to take a peek. You have been warned.

( Click to Proceed )

"The Trials of Rikkai ~A Rebel who Challenges an Emperor~" (Rikkai Retsuden ~Ouja ni Idomu Hangyakuji~)
Downloads from MediaFire and MegaUpload Split files may be joined with HJSplit
	AVI (Xvid) 140.45 MB	MF: 001/002 MU: Full Torrent
	WMV 157.41 MB	MF: 001/002 MU: Full
	MP4 (H264) 187.11 MB	MF: 001/002 MU: Full Torrent
	MP4 (PSP) 109.08 MB	MF: 001/002 MU: Full

Subtitles by Impetuosity Productions

I give permission to share this download link around with friends, on communities, other websites, etc. Please let me know if you're posting it somewhere else, though.

That said, please do not post the video to streaming websites. Thank you!

DISCLAIMER: The original anime Tennis no Oujisama is based on the manga by Konomi Takeshi, produced in association with NAS, MSC Animation, Production IG, and the Tennis no Oujisama Project. The DVD is released (in Japan only) by Bandai Visual. The owners retain all rights to the original work, and the fansub distributed above is for preview purposes only. Please support the creators.

( Translation Notes )

Here it is!

"The Prince of Naniwa - Second Act" (Naniwa no Oujisama - Kouhen)
Downloads from MediaFire and MegaUpload Split files may be joined with HJSplit
	AVI (Xvid) 129.34 MB	MF: 001/002 MU: Full Torrent
	WMV 138.54 MB	MF: 001/002 MU: Full
	MP4 (H264) 165.82 MB	MF: 001/002 MU: Full Torrent
	MP4 (PSP) 90.34 MB	MF: Full MU: Full

Subtitles by Impetuosity Productions

I give permission to share this download link around with friends, on communities, other websites, etc. Please let me know if you're posting it somewhere else, though.

That said, please do not post the video to streaming websites. Thank you!

DISCLAIMER: The original anime Tennis no Oujisama is based on the manga by Konomi Takeshi, produced in association with NAS, MSC Animation, Production IG, and the Tennis no Oujisama Project. The DVD is released (in Japan only) by Bandai Visual. The owners retain all rights to the original work, and the fansub distributed above is for preview purposes only. Please support the creators.

( Translation Notes )

While it is my habit to take any random "Which ______ are you?" quiz I run across while doing whatever I do online (at the moment, researching Bleach character profiles), it is not generally my habit to publicize my results. They're not usually anything noteworthy. However, the following test result caused me and everyone I told to raise an eyebrow:


Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?
Final Fantasy VII


Me = Reno? And I didn't even find the test particularly predictable on 80% of the questions (in terms of which answer clearly corresponded to which character). Usually, that means some thought has been put into how the questions define a character rather than depending on superficialities.

Not that I have any idea which Final Fantasy character I would have picked for myself.

In honor of neverendingjim's birthday, I present the following:

"Gift from Atobe: A TeniPuri Festival Dedicated to You" (Atobe kara no Okurimono: Kimi ni sasageru TeniPuri matsuri)
Downloads from MediaFire and MegaUpload
	AVI (Xvid) 184.82 MB	MF: 001/002 MU: Full Torrent Link
	WMV 228.42 MB	MF: 001/002/003 MU: Full
	MP4 (H264) 258.52 MB	MF: 001/002/003 MU: Full Torrent Link
	MP4 (PSP) 149.67 MB	MF: 001/002 MU: Full

Subtitles by Impetuosity Productions

I give permission to share this download link around with friends, on communities, other websites, etc. Please let me know if you're posting it somewhere else, though.

That said, please do not post the video to streaming websites. Thank you!

DISCLAIMER: The original anime Tennis no Oujisama is based on the manga by Konomi Takeshi, produced in association with NAS, MSC Animation, Production IG, and the Tennis no Oujisama Project. The DVD is released (in Japan only) by Bandai Visual. The owners retain all rights to the original work, and the fansub distributed above is for preview purposes only. Please support the creators.

( Translation Notes )

The second DVD of the "Another Story ~messages from past and future~" OVA arrived the other day, and I'm very happy to be able to start making fansubs. First, the 5-minute bonus feature, featuring Oshitari Kenya of Shitenhouji:

"Oshitari on a Certain Day 2" (Aru Hi no Oshitari 2)
Downloads from MediaFire and MegaUpload
	AVI (Xvid) 22.66 MB	MF: Full MU: Full
	WMV 15.37 MB	MF: Full MU: Full
	MP4 (H264) 43.07 MB	MF: Full MU: Full
	MP4 (PSP) 6.52 MB	MF: Full MU: Full

Subtitles by Impetuosity Productions

I give permission to share this download link around with friends, on communities, other websites, etc. Please let me know if you're posting it somewhere else, though.

That said, please do not post the video to streaming websites. Thank you!

DISCLAIMER: The original anime Tennis no Oujisama is based on the manga by Konomi Takeshi, produced in association with NAS, MSC Animation, Production IG, and the Tennis no Oujisama Project. The DVD is released (in Japan only) by Bandai Visual. The owners retain all rights to the original work, and the fansub distributed above is for preview purposes only. Please support the creators.

( Translation Notes )

Happy upcoming birthday to sumeria! It had originally been my intention to gift her with a translation of a Gackt video she particularly likes (12gatsu no Love Song), and I will still release the download on her birthday, but I actually finished it and uploaded it to YouTube early because another good friend, beltenebra requested it two Fridays ago for very legitimate reasons. As such, I offered Sumeria one fic request, and she chose Sasuke x Naruto. Recent events from the manga (rather indirectly) inspired the following:

TITLE: Spectacles
SERIES: Naruto (post-series)
PAIRING: Uchiha Sasuke x Uzumaki Naruto
DISCLAIMER: The original manga Naruto is the work of Kishimoto Masashi. Characters, settings, and events have been adapted without authorization or approval, and I am making no profit from their use.
RATING: PG-13 for occasional strong language and reference to adult situations.
SUMMARY: Sasuke may have to wear glasses, but that doesn't mean he has to like it -- and it definitely doesn't mean he needs help picking them out.

( Spectacles )

I feel like having an open forum, in case anyone feels like waxing philosophical.

Opening Remark:

"Men speak of natural rights, but I challenge any one to show where in nature any rights existed or were recognized until there was established for their declaration and protection a duly promulgated body of corresponding laws." -- Calvin Coolidge, President of the United States.

...and think they understand it, or want to.

My friend neverendingjim is analyzing the process of the Revolution in order to determine 1) if it truly exists and 2) if so, how.

The thread starts here: http://neverendingjim.livejournal.com/12136.html

I wrote this for two or three reasons, depending on whether you consider the statement: "When Fuji's characterization in 'Since Last Goodbye' was driving me up a wall and I needed a break, the dialogue in this story practically wrote itself" to be a single element or separate things. The other reason is that I felt like making some noise on and on behalf of the royal_pair community.

TITLE: Prowess
SERIES: Prince of Tennis
PAIRING: Atobe Keigo x Echizen Ryoma
DISCLAIMER: The original manga Tennis no Oujisama is the work of Konomi Takeshi. Characters and settings have been adapted without authorization or approval, and I am making no profit from their use.
RATING: PG-13. Mild language and reference to adult situations.
WARNINGS: Kevin Smith is not having his best day.
SUMMARY: When Kevin has questions about Atobe, Echizen never really wants to answer them; but this time, more so than usual.

( Prowess )

Dedicated to sumeria, who has done what any right thinking friend should do and spent the last few days getting me to read all the Girl Genius that has been published to book form, as I don't have time to follow web comics.

TITLE: Happy Birthday
SERIES: Girl Genius
PAIRING: Gilgamesh Wulfenbach x Agatha Heterodyne
DISCLAIMER: The original comic Girl Genius is the work of Phil and Kaja Foglio. Characters, settings, and events have been adapted without authorization or approval, and I am making no profit from their use.
RATING: G.
WARNINGS: Fluff.
SUMMARY: Set in the nebulous future, Gil has carefully crafted a birthday surprise for Agatha.

( Happy Birthday )

Correction! It's now nearly one in the morning. But beltenebra did tag me, so here goes. The conditions are as follows:

Firstly: If you've been tagged, you must write your answers in your own LJ and replace any question that you dislike with a new, original question.
Secondly: Tag eight people. Don't refuse to do that. Don't tag who tagged you.

[Skinner: "... Do I know eight people? Well, eight people who do memes? Is it cheating to go after persons who I know have already been tagged? Well, it's not against the rules... Oh, look. The questions are next."]

( THE QUESTIONS )
And now to tag eight people... hmm. Difficult. 1) sumeria, 2) putsoneinmind, 3) neverendingjim, 4) imifumei, 5) arrogantemu, 6) scintilla72, 7) hiyokonojinsei, 8) uilliam. But I understand that you're all very busy, so if it's any trouble, please don't worry on my account.

Best wishes,
Skinner