Hard to believe, but I've actually received enough e-mails to warrant a FAQs page. How cool is that?....Very. Heh. Actually, this isn't just a page for frequently asked questions. It's a page for any kind of e-mail comments I've received that I think are worth addressing publically. Some of them are great. Others are a bit ridiculous. Oh, and this is also a page where I whine and complain a lot. Teehee!
My thanks to all the kind strangers out there who have offered both compliments and constructive criticism. Your input is very much appreciated. And my thanks to all those who have asked intelligent, thought-provoking questions. You made me use my brain, and that's always a good thing. Heh.
Warning: This FAQ page is really, really wordy. I mean it. Very verbose! However, for any masochists out there who insist on reading every word of it, I will not be held responsible if you injure yourself physically or mentally in any way as a result of falling asleep face first on your keyboard or succombing to ennui. You have been duly warned.
| Haku Baikou Gets Preachy | ||
Lack of common courtesy.Sorry to start this page off on a negative note, but I really feel the need to say this: Some people in this world really could do with a good lesson in ettiquette. I've received several e-mails that were obviously not intentionally insulting, but nevertheless made me more than a little irritated, either because of the lack of courtesy or because of the utterly ridiculous nature of the request. And I've also received a few e-mails that were just downright rude, intentionally or not. Folks, if you're going to criticize, or make a suggestion for improvement, or ask me for a favor that's going to require an unreasonably large amount of time and effort on my part to do, it wouldn't hurt to do so politely. And if you're going to submit artwork, it also doesn't hurt to say something a little more than "Here's a picture. Bye." Abrupt messages like that are okay if English isn't your first language, but otherwise, a little politeness goes a long way, and it makes life more pleasant for everyone. A little consideration would also be nice. Before you ask me for information, think to yourself: is it something you could easily search for yourself? Is it something that's already listed in plain sight on this website? And if you haven't found it, and you want answers, then I strongly suggest you phrase your questions in a decent manner. Starting off a message with "U suck" is not going to get you the answers you're looking for. I'll most likely point you toward Google and send you on your merry way.... *sigh* Rudeness. Inconsiderate e-mails. A few of the downsides of running a website, I suppose. Thankfully, the rude or unreasonably demanding e-mails are very rare. Most of the e-mails I get are quite wonderful, thank you much! I really do love getting e-mail, folks. And most of you are kind and wonderful people. But for the few bad apples out there: Please remember that I do have feelings. I am not a machine. Also, I have a life beyond this website. I am neither your mother nor your servant, so please do not treat me as if I were. | ||
"This [insert artwork here] is a piece of crap, but I'm submitting it anyway."You wouldn't believe how many submission e-mails start off with something like the above statement. I'm always puzzled by people who do this. I'm never sure whether I should be offended or not. Because if you truly think you've created a piece of crap, then what does it say about me if you're sending it to me as a submission? Am I supposed to take said piece of crap and thank you for it? Really. I'm supposed to be grateful to you because you sent me something you think is garbage? Am I supposed to use up precious disk space hosting crap? Hmm. You'll understand, I hope, why that kind of talk doesn't exactly make me do cartwheels. Why would you send such a thing to me to be posted on a public site, viewable by anyone, if you hate it so much?... What I suspect is that you don't think it's crap at all. You really like what you've created, but you're afraid I (or someone else) will reject it. So you add a little disclaimer saying it's "crap" just to be safe. People, please don't do that! If you've created something that you think is worth posting, then chances are, it probably is worth posting. Please be more confident in yourselves! And if by chance (and I think this is highly unlikely)...but if by chance it really is as awful as you say, don't worry. I'm not going to laugh at you or snap your head off. Really! I'm not that evil! And besides, what does my opinion mean in the grand scheme of things anyway? What do I know about art? I've never taken art classes, for goodness sake. I don't know anything more than you do. So, anyway, I may try offer some constructive criticism (which you may reject, of course). I'll try my best to be kind and helpful about it, okay? :-) | ||
Stealing other people's stories or artwork.In the seven months I've run this site, I've uncovered at least 5 instances of stealing. I've suspected more, but I don't have the proof. I take this issue very, very seriously. I'm normally a very nice person. But instances of theft (whether they involve me personally or not) are one of the few times you will ever see the mean and cold side of Haku Baikou. If I find out or suspect that you have stolen something from another writer or artist, you can be sure that I will get to the bottom of things. And if that other writer or artist happens to be a contributor at this site, I guarantee you I will do something about it. I remember every single story and piece of art that is submitted to my site. I will recognize these works instantly if I see them on another site. And if I suspect theft, I will not hesitate to notify the proper owner of my suspicions. I don't care if you didn't mean any harm. I don't care if "everyone's doing it". I don't care if you claim that you're young and didn't know any better. In case you really don't understand, I'm going to list, clear as day, all the things that I consider to be stealing. If you have done any of these on your website, then you'd better hope I never see your site. So here's the list.... THINGS THAT YOU SHOULD NEVER, NEVER DO:
If I suspect anyone of doing this... I kid you not. I will hunt you down. | ||
| Fan Art & Wallpapers | ||
What programs do you use for your artwork?Mostly Adobe Photoshop 7, although I often will do a preliminary sketch on Painter. Please don't ask me how to obtain a free copy of either program. I honestly don't know. I got mine from a friend, and I don't ask him how he gets them since I'm sure he uses shady means to obtain them. | ||
How do you draw your pictures?I have no idea how to answer that. If you mean what materials I use, then that's easy. See the above question and answer. But if you mean what process I actually go through.... I'm sorry, but there isn't any. I picture it in my head and my hands do the rest. Um, I really don't know how to answer this question. | ||
Do you take commissions?Yes. Click here for more information. | ||
How do I submit artwork or wallpapers to your site?Easy. Check out the submissions page for more info. | ||
May I post your artwork/wallpapers on my site?READ THE FOLLOWING: Some of these may seem ridiculous, but believe it or not, I'm not requesting these in anticipation of theft. I'm requesting these because some of these bad things have already happened. *sniff*
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May I use your wallpapers as the background of my weblog or webpage?No. I used to allow this as long as people gave credit and didn't remote-link and steal my bandwidth. However, that was being ignored far too much. I've discovered a disturbing amount of people hotlinking (linking directly to the picture at this site instead of saving it onto their own server) to my wallpapers and my site background image. (Strangely enough, most of these people had accounts at xanga.com. I've not had the same troubles with other blog/journal sites.) Hotlinking costs me money, people, and I don't appreciate it. So please do NOT use my wallpapers and do NOT use this website's background image as part of your blog. I occasionally track these things. I can find out if you are doing so. | ||
May I use your fan artwork as part of my own website or weblog's design/layout/background?No. Sorry, but I'm far more possessive of my fan art than I am of my wallpapers. | ||
May I post one of the contributors' artwork/wallpapers on my site?As with the case of fan fics, you really have to e-mail the individual artist for permission. I will not answer for them. Please remember that an artist has every right to deny your request, and if they do so, you must not post their work anyway. Just because you ask, doesn't mean a person is obligated to grant you permission to post their art. It's disappointing, but there's nothing you can do about it. So if an artist says no to you, please continue to be polite and don't hassle them any further. I'm sure the artist has very good reasons for saying "no", and he or she has every right to protect his or her work. Please respect that right. | ||
What is [insert artist's name]'s e-mail address?I cannot believe I've been asked this. People, please note that almost all the contributors at this site have their e-mail listed on their respective fan fic or art gallery page. There are only a couple of them who don't. In those cases, feel free to ask me. But with everyone else, it's listed right on their page. In plain sight! | ||
| Fan Fics | ||
Regarding your fic, Recovery: Will Kenshin and Megumi ever get together?Um, I thought I'd made this pretty clear by the end of my story. Well, maybe not, considering I've been asked this more than once. Simply put: No. | ||
Will you write a Sano/Megumi fic?Again, I'm surprised by how often I'm asked this. I generally stay away from writing romance stories. So I highly doubt it. Sorry. | ||
Which fan fics are your favorites?Heehee. I will never tell. Really, I don't think I should, considering I host a fan fic archive at this site. Let's just say there are 4 stories (by 4 different authors) in particular that I absolutely adore and love. I'm pleased to say that all of them are archived here. | ||
How do I submit my fan fic to your site?Sorry, I do NOT accept any fic submissions for this site.
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Why won't you take fan fiction submissions for your site?Many reasons. One of them, I've already stated. The fiction pages take me a long time to format. (Some of the really long fics literally take me hours to do.) I don't want to spend a large amount of time working on formatting a fic if I don't particularly like it. (Selfish me, I know.) There are other reasons as well. This may sound really harsh, but there are a lot of fan fics out there that are poorly written with an astonishing array of grammatical and spelling errors. There are also a lot of fan fics out there that are thinly disguised personal romantic fantasies that may be enjoyable to the author but really have no plot whatsoever. I don't particularly enjoy reading either of these types of fics, and I don't think most of you do either. I wish to exercise some quality control on this site so that people won't have to sift through 20 poorly written fics just to find one good one. (Like we have to do at FFnet these days, unfortunately.) Seeing as I'm the type of person who has a very hard time saying anything negative about a story or turning anyone down, I decided it would be best if I accepted no submissions at all. This way, I will never have to say no to anyone and hurt their feelings. I hate hurting people's feelings. I don't want to do that. So that's why I refuse to take fic submissions. Of course, I'm sure there are a lot of really wonderfully written fics out there that I'm missing out on by doing this. It's an unfortunate trade-off, but it's one I'm willing to take. One final note: Just because I don't post a story, doesn't mean it's not good. I choose stories based on my own personal preferences. Obviously, there may be some wonderfully written fics that I won't post simply because of my own biases. Hey, I'm only human. Anyway, sorry for being such a jerk about this, but I don't plan on changing my policy any time soon. | ||
Will you at least read my fan fic?No. Even if you just want me to review it and you don't expect me to post it, the answer is still no. For the same reasons I won't accept fan fic submissions. I wouldn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. If I love your story, it would be easy to write you a review. But if I happen not to like your story, then I would feel incredibly awkward about posting an honest review. I'm picky and judgmental. I freely admit it. So please do not ask me to read your story. And please do not send me a fan art or wallpaper submission and then say "By the way, I write stories as well, hint hint." I'll be happy to accept the artwork, but if you're hoping I'll read your story...Sorry, I won't. If you're dying to submit your fanfic, try FFnet or Mir's TFME site. My own stories are arhived there. Mir-san's site in particular is fantastic. Tons of great stories archived there. It's huge with more visitors than mine, so your story will get greater exposure. And obviously, Mir is far more open-minded than I am. :-) | ||
May I archive your fics at my website?Sure. My God, I'd be honored and thrilled. Just e-mail me and let me know which one(s) you want. | ||
May I archive your fics at my website and claim it as my own work?Har har, funny huh? It hasn't happened to me yet, but it has to other authors that I know. Plagiarism is a bad, bad thing.... | ||
May I archive one of your contributor's fics at my site?You need to ask the individual author for permission. I can't speak for them. And don't be upset if not everyone says "yes". Just because you ask, doesn't mean a person is obligated to grant you permission to post their work. Trust me. I've had people turn down my requests before. Disappointing, yes, but in most cases, perfectly understandable. They have their reasons, and they're usually very good reasons. So if an author says no to you, please continue to be polite and don't hassle them any further. Writing a fic takes a lot of time and effort, and an author has every right to protect his or her work. | ||
What is [insert author's name]'s e-mail address?I cannot believe I've been asked this. People, please note that almost all the contributors at this site have their e-mail listed on their respective fan fic or art gallery page. There are only a couple of them who don't. In those cases, feel free to ask me. But with everyone else, it's listed right on their page. In plain sight! | ||
| Linking & Website | ||
Will you link to my site?I think there are plenty of links on the page already, and I only rarely add any more. Please don't e-mail me to ask this unless you are confident that your site: 1) Has a substantial amount of RK content. 2) Is mostly free of typos and grammatical errors. 3) Is mostly finished with very few "under construction" areas. 4) Does not contain any pics stolen from other sites or pics posted without permission. (This last one is very important. If you've posted images or text belonging to other people without their permission, don't even think of asking me to look at your site. Because I will report you. I'm ruthless when it comes to that.) | ||
Can I link to your site?My goodness, of course. I would be immensely pleased. And no, you don't have to e-mail me to tell me. | ||
| General Rurouni Kenshin Questions | ||
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Can you summarize [episode __ / the movie / the OAV / Seisohen] for me?Can you tell me about [insert obscure RK fact here]?Really, no joke. I have been asked (a few times now) to provide a detailed summary of an entire arc or OAV for people. Am I being oversensitive, or does this seem a bit of an unreasonable request to ask of a stranger? Summarizing an episode is bad enough, but to summarize an entire arc? Wow. I'm not sure why I get asked this so often, especially when you consider there are so many quality RK sites out there that actually do have substantial summary and review sections. As I've said in my welcome note, HakuBaikou.com is not an informational site. I don't have the time or energy to spend time writing summaries or reports for complete strangers. Please try looking it up yourself instead of asking me to do it for you. Really. I don't have any special RK information books. Any information I find comes from searching on-line. You have access to the same sites I do. | ||
Where can I find translated manga scans?See my links page. There's an entire section there that's dedicated to manga text translations and image scans. Unfortunately, most manga scan sites are down now because of the purchasing of rights by VIZ. Some folks say you can still get them on IRC. Unfortunately, I'm an idiot and don't understand IRC at all. I looked at the homepage once and got all intimidated. HB is a big chicken. I've been told that Kazaa-Lite is another place to get them. Again, I have never used Kazaa-Lite, so I have no idea what to tell you. HB is a big chicken and a big idjut when it comes to things like this. | ||
Where can I download RK series episodes?Sorry, I have no idea. I saw the entire series because I blew a small fortune buying the DVD's. | ||
What happens in the Jinchuu arc?I realize most image scans of the manga are no longer available, but Maigo-chan's translation site is still going strong. Please see her site (listed on the links page). You'll find the entire script for the Jinchuu arc there. It's good stuff! | ||
What happens to Kenshin in Seiso-hen?Actually, the question I'm usually asked is a lot more specific than this, but for massive spoiler reasons, I'm sure you'll understand that I can't list that particular question in glaring green text where any unsuspecting person could see it. Anyhow.... Please look this up on Google and find this answer on another RK site! Or you can try some of the informational sites on my links page. (Try the Kenshin Craze Shrine, Journey's End, or the Spectrum Lab for starters. All three have excellent Seiso-hen sections.) I've been asked this question several times, and you know something? It is really easy to find the answer to this particular question by doing a quick on-line search. So please give my poor little fingers a rest and look up the answer yourself before making me type a long and drawn out response to you. I'd really appreciate it! | ||
| Questions for Haku Baikou | ||
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How old are you?Erm... Do I have to answer this? I'm kind of surprised at how often I'll get e-mails with this as the only question. Uh, I was born in the 70's, and that's all I'll say. ;-) | ||
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What does Haku Baikou mean?How did you choose your pseudonym?Haku baikou means "white plum" in Japanese. Tomoe uses that particular scent for perfume. I just liked the sound of Kenshin saying those words on the OAV. Please note: In real life, I do not in any way resemble a white plum. | ||
Whom do you like better: Tomoe or Kaoru?I will never understand why people think this is so important. Really, why does my lousy opinion matter? But for the record, I like Tomoe better. There's no logical reason for it. I don't know why. Might as well ask me why I prefer chocolate over vanilla or blueberries over strawberries. It's completely subjective. | ||
Do you like Megumi?Yup, I like her quite a bit. She's not my favorite female RK character, but I think she tends to be portrayed more negatively than she deserves in fan fics. Sure she's sly and conniving at times, but that's what makes her so fun. | ||
Who is your favorite RK character?Kenshin! Kenshin, Kenshin, Kenshin. | ||
Do you prefer subtitles or dubbing?Subtitles. Because I like hearing foreign languages spoken. I think it adds a whole new layer to the whole viewing experience to hear the intonations and sounds of the native language in which a film was made. This doesn't just apply to anime. I prefer subtitles for any foreign language movie I see. | ||
What do you think of Seiso-hen?Oh my. Uh...Hmmm..... MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR RK IN GENERAL. DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN SEISO-HEN. SERIOUSLY. M.A.S.S.I.V.E. SPOILERS AHEAD... Ideally, I think Kenshin deserves to live to be 90 years old, surrounded by a dozen great-grand kids. He should finally be reconciled with his past. He should witness the peaceful times of the new Meiji era he fought so hard to bring about. He should die happily in his sleep, surrounded by those he loves. That's what I would wish for him. So in that respect, I hate the ending. It seems very unfair considering all the suffering Kenshin's had during his life. However, if Kenshin did have to die young, then I think Seiso-hen offers the best possible death out of several worse scenarios. It's nice that he didn't die in battle. Nice that he remains undefeated. It's nice that he lost most of his memory, actually. Because for him, his memories of his past have brought nothing but pain, and it must be liberating in a way to live only in the present, to no longer be haunted by his memories of the Bakumatsu. It was probably for the best that he was living in a hut by himself. Kenshin would hate to be a burden on his loved ones, and in his weekend state, he would have hated to have his family members have to take care of him. It's probably good that Kenji never sees him in such a weakened state. Finally, he dies pain-free on a beautiful day in a beautiful cherry orchard in the arms of the one he loves. That's not a bad way to go, all things considering. So, my feelings are pretty mixed on the matter. I'm really torn about Seiso-hen. On the one hand, it really is a beautiful story if you stop and think about it. On the other hand, there's plenty to complain about as well. There are a lot of plot problems and questions that are never answered. It doesn't stand alone as a movie, and those unfamiliar with the rest of RK will be very confused by it. A lot of characters in Seiso-hen are completely out of character. And such an unfair young death for my favorite anime character of all time just... hurts. For me, it destroys the legend rather than enhancing it. I think Seiso-hen is a finely crafted, beautiful movie. But I really wish it had never been made. | ||
| Questions That Haven't Been Asked Yet, but HB is Anticipating or Feels Guilty About | ||
Why bother having a FAQ page when the people who don't really need to read it do, and those who really should be reading it don't?That's the million dollar question isn't it? *Smacks heel of hand against forehead.* Really. I don't know why I bother. Since I've put up this FAQ page, I've received numerous e-mails dealing with topics that are plainly answered here. A great deal of time could have been saved by just looking up the question here. Same thing goes for the submissions page. *Haku Baikou sighs in frustration....* | ||
Haku Baikou, are you really as mean as this FAQ makes you sound?Heehee. I hope not. Seriously though, this FAQ tends to have a negative tone because it's a response to questions that I get asked over and over again. It becomes a little frustrating after a while. Sorry, I'm normally a much more cheerful person than this FAQ makes me sound. | ||
Isn't it rather arrogant to name your website after yourself?Ahem. Yeah, it is. Actually, I thought of using Haku Baikou as the name for the website first. This was before I had actually had made the website, of course, but I thought it would be a cool name. Then, when I signed up at FFnet, I used the same name, thinking that it would be nice because this way, people would associate my stories with the website, and if they wanted to visit the site, it would be easy to remember the URL. It didn't occur to me until later that people might think I named my site after my alias instead of the other way around. Doh! Not one of the smartest things I've done. And now it's too late to change my alias since it's already been established. It's all kind of embarrassing. Do you think I'm awfully conceited? I hope not! | ||
Isn't it rather arrogant to have such a longwinded FAQ page?Umm... *Avoids the question and skulks off...* | ||