Day 12: Twelve Drummers Drumming.

[elenniel]

And this is the last day, minna! (I can't decide if I should put :D or :( here )

Don't have time right now to answer the comments on my previous post, but I'll answer them as soon as I wake up!
Now, since I'm nodding off already - it's nearly 4AM - I'll just cut to the chase. This last post consists of Arashi, Shirota Yuu, Ikuta Toma, V6 and Hana Yori Dango.

Oh, before that! If you're an Aiba Masaki fan, check out my friend snoew 's post here - she did a whole bunch of Aibachan wallpapers in honour of his birthday! XD

Now for the wallpapers...

Arashi
1. 2.
I didn't plan #1 like that. It just... happened. hahah... (Basically I didn't achieve the initial look I wanted, so it turned into that. Love how the clouds turned out though.)

MatsuJun
1. 2.
#1 here is a variant of the pale blue one I posted earlier in this series, only this has more decorations in the back. :P
#2 I did in something of an indignant fury after seeing the ending of Ultra Strong Game. One of my nuttier fangirl moments. heh.

Ohno Satoshi

Riida is displaying a rare excited expression here. Ahahahah!

Shirota Yuu
1. 2.
I... Wanted to add more to #1, but anything I added killed it completely. So that was all I could do. :| And I tried out little sparkles in #2 :P (I seem to have this thing for those faint sunburst rays inthe background in this post...)

Ikuta Toma

(Sunburst rays again! hahah) An unusual colour for me to use, this greenish yellow, but it works. :)

Hana Yori Dango

Doumyouji & Makino! :D I like the pastel, happy look of this. ♥

V6

I really love how this turned out. The soft, aged desaturated pastel look... *satisfied*
V6 needs more attention. :D


**********

- All are at 1280 x 1024 - because that's what fits my screen.
- The watermarks / sigs. They're there because I've had my stuff stolen before (a Bleach wallpaper) and I don't take well to that sort of thing....
- Credits are given on the wallpapers when possible.
- If you'd like any of them without the watermark, just leave a comment with your e-mail (unless you've requested before, then I'll just check my contact list for your add) and I'll send the 'clean' version over.
- Do drop a comment if you like them, or if you have any suggestions. :)
- Also, please do not post my wallpapers anywhere else without first asking me. Generally I won't say no if you ask nicely and credit me. hehe

**********

So....................... That's it. elenniel's Twelve Days of Christmas Wallpaper SP is over. Owari desu~

No more wallpapers from me till mid-January at earliest, but I will be trying to finish all 7 requests by then (as well as some of my usual Arashi/Shirota and whatnot), if not by February.

I hope everyone has enjoyed this - I've posted about 70 wallpapers in all! (I can hardly believe the number myself..) It's been interesting for me as well as loads of fun reading all the comments! I really really really appreciate all of it.

Comments

[nezuko2109.livejournal.com]

Merry Christmas to you ^__________^

[elenniel.livejournal.com]

Thanks! And likewise to you :) Hope your Christmas was good!

[prussianblue1x2.livejournal.com]

merry christmas. those are so awesome. i would love to have both of arashi, both of jun, the ohno one, the second yuu, the toma, and the hana yori dango.

[elenniel.livejournal.com]

Thank you ^^
Will send them as soon as I can (ie. when my 'net connection is more stable - it's been rather poor all day)

[fishie]

Ahh, fantaaaaastic~ ☆ If I may? Both Shirota wallpapers (you know that by now, though, right? XD;), + MatsuJun #2 and the Toma one. ♡

I really like the first Shirota/Tezuka one, too~ It's simple, but it looks good — I guess it's another case of KISS? ;D

Merry Christmas~! ☆

[edit] I think you may have missed putting a link to this post in the Shirota comm, though. >>; Just letting you know~

[elenniel.livejournal.com]

I'll send you the wallpapers once my connection is more stable. For some reason it seemed to have decided that Christmas day is it's holiday too and deserted me all day. >.< So now I don't quite trust it yet. (haha)

Ye-aaa... I guess you could say it's another case of KISS. XD

(Eek. didn't realise I missed putting a link there! Fixed it. Thanks ^^; )

[fishie]

Take your time~ I'm in no hurry; I have... *checks.* — one of the Shirota walls from the second day up atm. :Db

(No problem~ ♡)

[font.livejournal.com]

Merry Christmas! I have to be honest, it is going to be kind of a relief to no longer be making a bother of myself for the next few weeks. I had considered dropping you a long comment about the acting styles of Jun vs. Nino (we're more or less in agreement, I think) as some sort of compensation for all your amazing wallpapers and all the patience you've shown, but then I figure that hearing more from me is a pretty poor reward.

So, um. If you could send me the Arashi, Ohno and Jun ones, along with the Aiba one from yesterday, I would be really grateful.

You have really been a champ. Thank you so much.

[elenniel.livejournal.com]

(I just have to answer your comment before my internet connection dies again - it's been really bad today >.< )

I had considered dropping you a long comment about the acting styles of Jun vs. Nino (we're more or less in agreement, I think)
Oh we are? Please do! Would really like to hear what you think =D (And who says it's a poor reward? hehe) I sometimes feel in such a minority because of my opinions in that respect, so it's always nice to know I'm not one of the few nutcases. XD (It's because I have such a "minority" opinion on some things that I friends-lock a lot of my posts. Don't want people coming after me.. :P )

Will try to send you the wallpapers a.s.a.p. - when my internet connection is more stable. I don't trust it tonight ^^;

Sorry, but your comment of 5033 characters exceeds the maximum character length of 4300.

[font.livejournal.com]

Oh, gosh. I have actually had several long discussions about this subject, and I am going to go on way too long about it, and I am going to include a lot of extra detail that isn't really relevant. Sorry.

I should get my prejudices out of the way first -- while I'm primarily a Sho fan who can't stop squawking about Aiba, Jun doesn't fall far behind. I love all of Arashi, but my feelings are coolest towards Nino. I don't think that it has too much to do with what I'm about to say, but if anyone wants to write off my opinion because of that, go ahead. Anyway, I think Nino's a good actor. I don't think he's great and I'm not certain he could be great, but I do think he's very good.

Jun, on the other hand -- I think Jun is a great actor. I first met Jun in Hanadan 1, and to be honest, I didn't get him. I thought he was ridiculous. ("Does he ever get any less -- weird?" I asked my friend. "No," she said, "but you will come to love him anyway.") As stupid as this sounds, it took me a while to figure out that Jun wasn't Domyoji. I mean, obviously, I knew it, but I didn't really believe it. I couldn't believe it was possible that anyone could play a role like that with so little irony.

I think I watched the Pikanchi movies next, and I started to twig onto what was going on with Jun then. In the first movie, I thought he was pretty lol, but he was hardly alone in that. (Another friend -- one who loves Nino best -- commented to me, "Wow, everyone's role was completely humiliating but Nino's." Which was true, but I felt that this kept you from loving Takuma the way you did the rest of them.) When I watched Double, though, Jun just blew me away. "Even the way he parts his hair is heartbreaking," is how I tried to explain it to uninterested friends.

I didn't realize just how amazing he was until I watched Hanadan 2 and then Bambino in quick succession -- how is it even possible for someone to play someone like Domyoji and then, without pausing for breath, Ban Shogo? How is it possible for anyone but a complete ingenue to play someone like Ban Shogo, anyway? His face is so open and guileless, but not in a way I have ever seen an actor pull off before -- and this is what is so amazing about Jun. It never seems like he is acting. It seems like he is.

Jun gives himself fully to every role he takes on; he doesn't worry about how it makes him look, he doesn't worry that it will damage his image, he doesn't worry that what's required is foolish or humiliating. Nino, on the other hand -- Nino kind of holds himself in reserve. He tends not to take characters that have weaknesses, or at least not weaknesses that aren't somehow cool.

I haven't watched as many of his dramas -- maybe only Yamada Taro, now that I think about it -- but I've seen several of his movies -- Ao no Honoo, Letters from Iwo Jima, both Pikanchi movies, Kiiroi Namida. In all of them, he was very good, but there is always this feeling of ironic distance. Nino's the misunderstood true artist; Sho's the scraggly pervert. Nino's heading up the California skater punk band; Aiba's wearing tiaras and crocheting capes.

(con't)

Re: Sorry, but your comment of 5033 characters exceeds the maximum character length of 4300.

[font.livejournal.com]

Nino does what he does really well -- I just ached for him in Ao no Honoo, Letters from Iwo Jima made me sick watching it -- but he really only does the one thing. There's not a lot of risk involved in Nino's acting, whereas Jun kind of throws himself off the cliff for every role.

I'm trying to think of more to say on Nino's acting, but that's just the thing! There's just not a lot to say about it. He's very good, and if he could just -- I don't know, get over himself a little bit, he could maybe be great, but I'm not holding my breath.

For what it's worth, my friend who loves Nino best of all more or less agrees with all of it. My friends who aren't really into Arashi but are predisposed to like Nino best think that Jun's acting is astounding and that Nino's is pretty good. For what it's worth, they offered these opinions with no prompting or prodding on my part at all.

I have one friend who loves KAT-TUN, loves Kamenashi, and wrings her hands over the fact that Nino could get a role like Saigo, but Kame, who is really a pretty great actor, ends up with binge-eating boxers. But Letters from Iwo Jima was meant for a Western audience, and Saigo was meant to seem to us to be not so different from ourselves. I'm not saying that Nino isn't beautiful, but it's a far quieter beauty. There are roles that he can step into easily that someone like Jun or Kame would never get a chance at.

Ugh, I really see what you mean about friends locking these things. I'm kind of chewing my lip nervously about posting it. This is totally different from talking about it over dinner or on the phone or in chat. Anyway, I really wanted to friend you but I still feel so awkward after being so demanding! I feel pretty awkward about saying it now -- no pressure, okay. Thanks for all the gorgeous wallpapers, and a happy new year to you.

[elenniel.livejournal.com]

Interesting points you make...

"Wow, everyone's role was completely humiliating but Nino's"
Y'know... I never thought of it that way before. But that's really rather accurate! Everyone was at least a little bit idiotic (except maybe Aiba, but he got made a fool of in the end and in Double he was a joke with the whole crocheting thing). Nino's heading up the California skater punk band; Aiba's wearing tiaras and crocheting capes pretty much sums it up. heh.

I've not seen much of Nino's stuff either, apart from Yamada Tarou (which, at the end of the day, wasn't that great - I only watched it for Sho), Iwo Jima and the Pikanchi movies. But even from those I got the feeling that he's a bit one-track. He's good at his roles, no doubt, but as you've pointed out, they're all roughly the same type. There isn't the variety that Jun (and, I think, even Ohno) has.

Nino's good at doing those 'quieter' characters - I like to say he's good at being the "emo Average Joe" XD - and besides his own preferences, I suspect it's partly because of how he looks. Not that he's ugly! It's just that he does look like a "normal" person... And I guess that helps elicit empathy & sympathy from viewers for roles like Saigo. (Ok, I don't think I'm making sense.)

I do think Nino was pretty good as Saigo. My only problem with him was in that scene with his wife. I didn't feel as sorry for him as I should have.. He came across as a bit distant to me. (I can totally imagine Jun in that scene and I'd be half-crying over that.)

There are roles that he can step into easily that someone like Jun or Kame would never get a chance at.
True too, although I'm rather of the opinion that if they had to, Jun (I don't know much about Kame) would be able to take on Nino's roles better than the other way around.

He's very good, and if he could just -- I don't know, get over himself a little bit, he could maybe be great
LOL. "get over himself a little bit." Ye-es... I do get that impression from him sometimes too ^^;

When you said that Jun kind of throws himself off a cliff for every role (and he sure is doing that for the upcoming Kakushi Toride no San Akunin), I had this vision of a cartoony MatsuJun walking to a cliff's edge and jumping off - with a stupid Bon-like grin on his face. >.< ahahahahaha

MatsuJun does go out on a limb with his roles. I'm still astounded that his major characters are so different from each other - Doumyouji, Sawada (which was when I became convinced that he wasn't ugly), Ban Shogo, Bon... Even his characters in BokuImo and now Kakushi Toride are worlds apart! I haven't seen BokuImo, never finished Kimi wa Petto, and am only midway through Bambino, but it's pretty clear that the characters are nothing alike, yet he does them all excellently.

Some people might say I'm biased too, seeing as I like Jun best and Nino's kinda at the other end of the Arashi spectrum. :P But I should hope that studying what I did in uni made me able to be give somewhat fair judgement on it. And anyway, if I can acknowledge that Jun's singing voice isn't really great, that his fashion sense scares me sometimes and that I can't stand some of the faces he makes at concerts, why would I be unable to acknowledge that he can't act? heheh

I'd say more, only it's a bit hard to think about this properly when at work ;P

Yep, having opinions that go against the flow makes one cautious. Heh. I find myself being very carefully diplomatic when discussing this, if I discuss it outside an f-locked post at all.
I don't have a problem with you friending me XD *friends you first so you don't feel so awkward*

[azurewolf7.livejournal.com]

Lovely, lovely, lovely!
Merry Christmas and thank you so much for sharing all your wonderful wallpapers!! :D

[elenniel.livejournal.com]

Merry Christmas to you too!

Thank you for all your lovely comments ^^ Glad you enjoyed them!

[snoew.livejournal.com]

mevvy krismassu!

nyeh for some reason before i notice i found myself snagging almost everything i know. me favourite is the doumyouji n makino..it makes me want to watch again~

i like ur grey matsujun also, nice brushes combi ^^ oh chan looks really happy in his wallie, and nice clouds and army pattern :P

and and....omg u really put up the link *thankies*. *give u a christmas hug~~*

[elenniel.livejournal.com]

Doumyouji & Makino look so sweet together in that pic, ne? ♥

Sankyuu~ *is somehow very proud of the clouds* ;P
The grey MatsuJun one... I dunno how many layers I had. Each brush one layer... hahaha

Of course I put up the link - I said I would, didn't I? hehe

[(Anonymous)]

hehehe^^ some how i miss ur everyday post @.@"

it feels really weird..

[anime-chiq.livejournal.com]

merry christmas to you!!=D

*snags shirota and toma wps*

and thanks..again!!=D

[elenniel.livejournal.com]

You're very welcome! :)

[damagepersecond.livejournal.com]

oh wow... i really loved the shirota ones! (especially his tezuka image *___*)

[elenniel.livejournal.com]

Really? I'm so glad! (I thought most people would kinda ignore that one... ^^ )

[white-ashes07.livejournal.com]

Taking Shirota's!!

Thank you for this wonderful Christmas wallpaper series~ ♥

[elenniel.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! I'm just glad everyone sems to have enjoyed it. =) You're all so nice to comment!

[twistedhalo04.livejournal.com]

Wow! Congratulations! Otsukaresamadeshita! Thank you for the hard work.

Could you please send me the 1st Arashi one and the Toma and V6 one? Thank you very much!

[elenniel.livejournal.com]

Arigatou gozaimasu! *bows*

Will send the wallpapers when I'm more certain my connection can handle it (it's been wonky all day). ^^

[twistedhalo04.livejournal.com]

Thanks... don't worry you don't have to hurry. ^^

[elenniel.livejournal.com]

Sent! :D

[none-neither.livejournal.com]

Merry Christmas!!

They're lovely. I'm now catching up with the last 2 or 3, I haven't had time online.

I like the Ohno one in this batch the best XD

[elenniel.livejournal.com]

Christmas is a busy time, ne? ^^ (How does one say that in Japanese?)

The Ohno one is funny XDD
His expression... LOL.

[none-neither.livejournal.com]

クリスマスは忙しい時期です

I think lol

sorry I took forever to reply, but, I should be on regularly from now on.. except tomorrow lol

[elenniel.livejournal.com]

ahahah that's all right ;)

I just popped over to your LJ to read the translations (man, I'm always in awe of those of you who take time to translate blog entries/interviews/videos...)
:D

[m4sita.livejournal.com]

sorry I'm a bit late cuz I wasn't online yesterday... Merry Christmas to you!! snagging the wallies!! thanks~ aa~~ its the end of the SP...

[elenniel.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! And I hope you had a good Christmas :)

[hamykia.livejournal.com]

WAA, thanks, those are awesome, really!
Oh, I will take Ikuta-san and Shirotan ones, if u don't mind.
I like the watermark, so you don't have to send anything, as I wanted them for a friend too, I don't want to share an unsig. one, better safe than sorry, ne?

So thank you very much and MERRY CHRISTMAS

[elenniel.livejournal.com]

Of course I don't mind! ^^
You're very welcome, and thank you for the nice comment.. I hope you had a good Christmas! :)

[xevluvmatsujun.livejournal.com]

thankyu, for arashi and jun wallie. i take them. i'll use arashi's wallie as my FS background image, and i'll credit for you on my 'about me'.. once again, arigatou!!

[elenniel.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! ^-^

[nerfracket.livejournal.com]

These are gorgeous! Please could I have the Shirota Yuu as Tezuka wallpaper without the sig/watermark through it? I promise not to redistribute it. It's really gorgeous! My email is nerfracket @ gmail.com

Thank you! ^_^

[arashitonews.livejournal.com]

I really love that first Arashi wallie in this post ^__^ the clouds are pretty cool~ and Matsujun looks good ^__^ your wallpapers are so pretty and amazing <333