Appa's Thoughts

Finished the initial Haruka translation this morning. Meant to type it up. Things were crazy instead. But at least I have a drabble!

six_crazy_guys's drabble request from this drabble meme (SPOTS STILL OPEN).

Title: Hiding Spot
Series: Digimon Adventure 02
Characters: Iori, Armadimon, Mrs. Hida
Prompt: closet
Rating: G
Word count: 537

( I should just be glad you’re not evolving any more inside my bedroom )

After going to Odaiba in real life, it was very different watching episodes 35-37 of Digimon. Glee-hee-hee. Granted, watching them in Japanese feels entirely different than watching the dub.

Watching Condor Hero in live action versus the animation? Not so different, it still feels cheesy (I don't even know how many remakes there are, I think this is the most recent). XD Really cheesy, but they got some good actors. The child actor they got for Yang Gor was really, really good, being so obnoxious like that. I've only gotten to when they've jumped ahead a few years and brought in an adult actor, but he just seemed retarded when he's fooling around. ^^;; But the acting is endearing, I suppose, and I'm sure Gor will grow on me all over again.

What I really love (besides seeing a bunch of characters I already know!) is the screenplay. The special effects are cheesy, but I'm really enjoying the good old Chinese slap stick humor in Gor's antics, and the conversation he had with Xiaolongnu was very, very well executed. :D I shall have to read the novels someday, either when I find an English translation or when I can read Chinese well enough. (I asked for this so I could listen to more Mandarin, and I'm surprised how much I recognized. *_*;; This is a very good thing.)

Speaking of language projects, I haven't started on the Haruka short stories yet, but I hope to start sometime this month. I'll certain leave reviews, but don't know whether or not I'll attempt a translation project.

Hee hee, I hope I'll have time next Sunday to watch more Yang Gor/Xiaolongnu exchanges. :D

More about that Osaka trip to look for anime goods and finding lots of stuff I didn't want instead.

*sigh* I'm a closet Rozen Maiden fan.

While my friend and I got stuck in one floor of a store looking for the escalator back down, we stopped for a moment to look at a few t-shirts (which were on a doll/model-making supply floor). And I found myself quietly singing along to "Kinjirareta Asobi" (the first Rozen Maiden opening).

For having not seen more than a few minutes of the anime, I know a surprising amount of that song. But as soon as I caught myself I was like "ahh! Some of the guys here are going to stare!", so I stopped singing.

Then later on at a cosplay goods store, I found and recognized Suiseiseki and Shinku's outfits immediately, but was annoyed, thinking "don't use this fabric if you're going to make (and sell) Rozen Maiden costumes! They don't use colors this bright and gaudy! They use darker tones that should be a little shinier. Don't use the absolute highlight as the base color, this fabric doesn't even have good shadow contrast! Please, use slightly better fabric next time!"

*sigh*

So I'm highly critical of anime like Haruka, even though I am not an animator or animation director, and I'm highly critical of cosplay, even though I can't make it worth anything. I'm an idealist in that arena.

Yet I find myself far less critical of fanart and doujinishi because I do know how fun and/or difficult it is. I did stumble on some doujinishi while I was out (and even though I don't like yaoi, I felt far more at home with those pictures posted all over the staircases instead of the pictures aimed at the other fans). I found some Digimon doujinishi with adorable art on the covers, and while I love how Digimon characters work so well in any kind of art, I couldn't bring myself to consider buying any of it because of what would probably be inside. *sigh* They were all arranged by pairing... doesn't anybody write platonic doujinishi!?

So... I'm enough of a dork that my reasons for going to many spots aren't so much because they're simply famous, but because I've seen them in anime or they have to do with historical periods I like.

So I have my list thus far of places I've been and why, and then I'll happily take my F-list's suggestions for places in Japan that I might go that were settings in anime you know I like. Italicized ones are ones I'm already planning on going to or might go to.

Heian related places
Heian Jingu
Arashiyama (did the Juuni Hitoe!)
Uji (saw Byoudouin and the Genji Monogatari Museum)
The Imperial Palace
Seimei Jinja (As in Abe no Seimei)

Edo, Samurai related places
Toyokawa Edo Museum
Nijo Castle
Gifu Castle
Osaka Castle park & nearby shrine I'm forgetting the name of
Sekigahara
An Ukiyo-e exhibit

Meiji related places
Meiji Jingu
Some Shinsengumi spots in Kyoto? Although this would count more as Peace Maker Kurogane dorkdom than Meiji dorkdom

And the funner side of things:

Anime/Manga Settings
Iga Ueno (Tsuki no Shippo/Tail of the Moon)
Hiroshima (Kamichu, Asagiri no Miko)
Tokyo Metropolitan Building (X, Digimon Tamers, probably others)
Shibuya (ChoGALS)
Odaiba: Fuji TV Station, the harbor (Digimon Adventure! <3)
Tokyo Tower (Please Save My Earth(!), Digimon, Magic Knights Rayearth, ext.)

As far as Tokyo's concerned, I had also wanted to go to Ueno Zoo just because that's the zoo Alice and Rin went to in Please Save My Earth. XD *dork* That's also the zoo they went to in the Hana Yori Dango live action drama. Also, I have no idea where the National Library would be, so I probably can't go looking for the Universe of the Four Gods. ^^;; Too bad I won't have much time in Tokyo.

I also want to have another excuse to go back to Osaka, as I've only gone once but did a lot of stuff. I want to go back and find an anime goods store (I want more Haruka goods!), but I don't want to go for that reason alone...

Well, it's midterm week, and to give you an idea how things have been going, I had the experience of attending a Buddhist funeral yesterday. And having no seat on the bullet train for an hour, that too.

But I stayed up late last night making sure I finished up making the CD for the speech contest I've been working on for weeks, and that was fine. I got to the post office today and was able to send it, and they assured me it will get there in time for the deadline. Qutie pleased with myself for having finally sent it, I enjoyed a quiet lunch of cup noodles sitting under a maple tree in a very soft rain.


...and then I remembered that I didn't send the script with the CD, which was required. I am such an idiot.

------

My mind has been retreating in Digimon fandom lately. I keep getting overly nostalgic about how active I was in the fandom back when 02 and Tamers were airing. I started thinking about how many different things I've felt about the characters over the years versus how I feel about them now. I started having little digiworld fantasies again.

It is, after all, thanks to Digimon that I'm where I'm at today. I really, really hope I'm able to get to Odaiba while I'm out here because unlike the digiworld, I can actually get there. Even though I don't consider myself as big a fan of Tamers, and in fact, usually just ignore it ever existed, but while I was in Shinjuku last year I had big rushes of "oh my gosh! This is where Jen had that encounter with Yamaki!" and stuff.

I started getting rushes of Tamers fandom all over again, too. I do love some of those characters, after all. Excluding the digiworld and such chaos, there was a lovable element Tamers had that none of others did. They were just kids and it was just a game at first, not a saving the world thing. These characters certainly weren't your Adventure and 02 kids, who I certainly have deeper bonds with, but they were deep in a different kind of sense. I miss you, Digimon Tamers! I wish I could remember more of your plot...

I randomly started thinking about Sora, too. It always felt like I was never allowed to like her because my sister hated her so much. But once I think about it, no, Sora in Adventure was really cool. She was mature and tried to help others instead of making problems for them, and when she did have her moments, it was because everything was pent up. I think she deserved those moments. Plus, she was the tomboy character, a very nice contrast to Mimi (who is lovable in her own sense).

But I can't say I like 02 Sora much. She lost all of her Sora-ness and just calmed down or something... calmed down and got boring and feminine. What happened to you, Sora? You would have been so much better if you had stayed cool instead of suddening turning all yamato nadeshiko on us!!

What I really can't stand about what 02 did to her is... just... why in the world did she become a fashion designer!?!?!?! How!? WHY!?! That is just... ugh. I can stomach a lot of the rest of the stigmatized epilouge, but Sora being a fashion designer is just... no, I still cannot fathom that. I'd be more willing to accept her and Yamato as a couple than to accept her turning into a fashion designer. That's saying something, because Sorato was one of those things on my list of things I would never draw for requests (no other straight couples ever made that list).

I am so sleepy. I stayed up late reading Skip Beat last night, had to get up early for work, had to go run some errands and do some stuff at home, then read until chapter 61.

My eyes hurt. I'm debating how I want to make the most of my chance to sleep in: read more while I have the chance, or sleep more while I have the chance. But I'm enjoying it so much...

Despite being so sleepy, I'm in this strange, over-happy but over-emotional state. I was looking over some people's responses on an FY survey, and I started wanting to cry with joy when people mentioned their favorite parts of some of the death scenes, because they were just such good scenes.

I was very insulted today when I met the 13-year-old I did the bedroom for. She liked it, fortunately, and I was proud of her for instantly recognizing which manga had inspired me for the hyper shoujo look I wasn't used to! But she said Digimon is gay now. *sob* It is not!! Well, of course I wasn't that effected, but I did get defensive. It's still my first love.

...I think sleep is winning. I shall just be a mean older sister tomorrow and kick my brothers off the computer so I can read more. Darn it, I want to fully enjoy and relax and veg on my day off! Plus, with all the money I spent on them last weekend, they have no right to complain! ROAR!

...ha ha ha. I'm actually not mad at all. Like I said, it's this strange over-tired-induced good mood. I think it also has to do with the cold, drizzly rain today, which also strangely made me happy. It also might have to do with the fact that I'm going to be in Japan ten days from now. A week from now, though, and I assure you I will be spazzing out about not being ready.

Aw, shoot. Getting into a relatively long, addictive shoujo manga was not I what I needed right now.

But I tend to have no resistance when someone says the character in something reminds them of me in anyway. Thus, I started reading Skip Beat yesterday, and am now five volumes into it. Just, that is besides being as work all day!

I am enjoying this far more than I thought I would~! And yes, while I don't see a total match, I can see where my friend got off saying Kyouko reminded her of me. I love the 'makenai' characters, especially the ones that aren't 100%-zettai-makenai.

It's not the best manga I've read, and I do get a little tired of the constant show-biz manga and orphan-ished characters, but it is enjoyable. I read all of W-Juliet but didn't get nearly as into it as other people did. Skip Beat is a little bit funner to me, because despite that I ship Tsuru-Kyou, it's just a thousand times more interesting because it's more about hatred than romance (subject to change, of course, I can tell).

I hope, at some point while I'm in Japan, I can afford a trip to Tokyo again. Just a weekend trip would be fine. I just need to see Tokyo Tower, because that's where the final action scene of Please Save My Earth was set, and the Magic Knights got taken to Cephiro, ext, and I have to see the Fuji TV station in Odaiba because that's where the digidestined destroyed Myotismon (the first time, anyway). Plus, there's this "Ooedo Onsen Monogatari" place that looks awesome. That will keep me motivated for these last few days at work.

I love Digimon.

---

I was doing some chores while listening to my MP3 player and nothing quite makes me break out into song like "Prism". Of course, something deep inside my while I was lip-sync-ing was screaming all fangirlish like, "KI-YO-TA!! <3" Oh, Aquarian Age dub...

I still love Midorikawa's "Voice".

Oh my gosh, I wish I was daring enough to sing Full Moon songs for the idol contest at the Japanese univeristy (only open to foreign students singing in Japanese). I'm pretty sure I'm going to sing a YUI song because it's not quite as dorky and I have karaoke, but... Eternal Snow somehow still feels like it's my song, even though I can't relate to the lyrics much. It was just such a touching episode of Full Moon... *sob!*. Plus, I have the opening karaoke, and Scanty can be a blast to sing to, and dance to! Plus, the long Japanese words are fun.

I still have time to decide I want to do an anime song because I know them better, but I don't know that I want to sing it in front of a school full of people at a cultural festival. YUI is popular right now, YUI would be much safer, but I hope I'm able to sing YUI-style songs well.

I need to go to another anime con to sing a bunch of anime karaoke where I'll actually feel like less of a dork than many of the other people.

A different topic than usual, but a rant that's been bubbling. I usually only get really into anime, but I only started watching Digimon when I was 11. Prior to that time, I was still free to watch many hours of TV. I got sucked into Power Rangers early on, then a couple years later my biggest fandom was Beetleborgs, so apparently I was already into Japanese-style fighting shows before I was aware of it. At that time, I thought Japanese animation was weird and stupid. Little did I realize where G-Force had come from. I was also really into Freakazoid for a while.

Primarily, though, I watched a lot of Nick Toons. Rugrats was a major favorite for most of elementary school (and I'm getting more flashbacks while living with two toddlers at once). I watched a whole lot of Doug until Disney bought it, and a couple of my other favorites were The Wild Thornberries and Hey Arnold.

( A little of what I liked about each )

So why do I bring this up? Because Disney irks me.

( My spiel )

And with all this put aside, I won't go into my love-hate relationship I always had with Cartoon Network. Oh, my Johnny Quest days, they seem so far away, yet still so pre-Digimon. Yes, apparently the day they showed the Myotismon-centric episodes in that digithon and I finally gave up my anime-grudge was a defining moment in my life. I feel like such a dork for admitting it, but I wouldn't be the same person today if not for Digimon. ^_^;; It put me on my path in life, and aided me in finding a love for Japanese culture.

Oh, since it's appropriate, I should mention that I know many, many, many self-proclaimed 'Avatards', and I've got many many bits and pieces but very few full episodes thanks to everyone one of my siblings being big fans. The animation is very high-budget and well thought out (though a lot of it was done in Korea, right?), and it's apparent how much research the creators did for it. They've figured out how wonderfully addicting serious-yet-fun anime can be, and have done a good job putting their own spin on it with it feeling too gaggingly like a knock-off (although sometimes I do snicker at where it fell through a tad). I've enjoyed the well-thought-out pacing I've seen for all of it, and my kung fu fighting friend really appreciates how they used the forms. Sometimes I get sad when everything has to fall back on using basic elemental powers, but I'm guilty of it, too, and it keeps getting used because it's cool and people like it. The likelihood of my ever sitting down and watching it is low, and I've heard the fandom can be vicious, but it looks like a very satisfying series. Nickelodeon, you win. I shall fear the day Disney tries to copy you on this.


And to think, this whole rant could have avoided by watching less TV all my life and reading more books instead. But that's an entry for another time.

I was going back through my papers to decide what to take home and what to recycle, so of course I came across many, many sketches & doodles from the semester.

I found a couple terrible crossovers, but I still remember the reasoning.

One was Fushigi Yuugi/Bleach. I was looking at some official FY anime art and I noticed that there are pictures where Chiriko is up on Mitsukake's shoulder like he's riding on his back or something. It's like... what the...? It's not as if Chiriko never got piggy-back rides (we know he got one from Tasuki), but it's like he's trying to be a second Tamaneko up there. I know Mits' shoulders are wide, but it's like their just trying to grab for the cute-factor of how physically different they are. It's like...

Yachiru and Kenpachi. So I drew them like that. Mitsukake was like, "Let me see you try to keep me in 4th squad."

Then there was Haruka/Digimon 02. I was in "Sefuru mood" that day, and I noticed how it was similar to my "Ken Ichijoji moods". So I made the obvious connection about them being roughly closer in age than other characters, and their similar hair style, and their impatience for stupid people despite the fake-friend smiles. So... why shouldn't Sefuru be a Digimon Emperor?

So I drew him with the glassed and the Kaizer hairstyle and it didn't look anything like him, so I drew the others briefly.
Shirin (as Miyako) was very displeased. Ran (as Hikari) was not amused, but not complaining. Ikutidaru (as Takeru) wasn't sure what to make of the bucket hat. And to round out the group, I threw in Shimon (as Iori) wondering why he was there, because he wasn't part of the Oni-ichizoku.

And that left Akram as Daisuke.... after trying to draw that, I quickly stopped.

1. Death Note live action movies: were great.

Finally saw them last night, and while some changes bugged me at first, they ultimately were good theatrical decisions. Some of the changed fates really appealed to me, but I'm also really fond of how they jumped around the plot and still managed to fit a lot of important stuff in. Sometimes it looked tacky, but for the most part, the CG looked great, and Ryuk had really good expressions. A lot of the giggle-fishers worked really well on me, but hey, what can I have against them? I was pretty satisfied with most of the actors (Light didn't feel Light enough at first, though), and hell, I loved Misa-Misa, even though I wasn't as fond of her in the series. L is still <3.

All in all, they were really good movies, and I would indeed suggest them to people who are curious about Death Note but don't feel like watching or reading the entire series.

2. Split Loyalties is: vrooooom vrooommmmmmm

In the home stretch! I really love the scene I wrote last night. Ahhhh, I just loved canon ****** before he **** because he was so much more ****** **** *** ******, and I tried really hard to bring that in. I could see the scene SO well in my head. Maybe I'll see if I can sketch it out while waiting for my flight tomorrow... because there's not much that's interesting to do at the airport here... oh I could see if I can finish vol. 3 of Tenkuuseiryuu.

Numemon is: full of memories

Since I've been home over break, my sister and I have been making jokes as usual, and apparently, she loves how I do Numemon impressions saying "I don't want your toothbrush, it has germs!". *sweatbead* Nothing against Numemon, but I can't say I'm all that proud of the imitation. Still, isn't it funny how despite what Numemon was, he had such perfectly white, straight teeth??

My favorite Nume-memory is from back when my siblings and I had all those little plastic Digimon figures- remember those? We also had a little soap-making kit. I don't remember which one of us did it, but we made a circle bar of soap out of clear, bright green stuff. But that was boring, so before the soap got set, we put in the Numemon figure to get stuck in the center with his little eyes sticking out. Ha ha, I wish I knew what happened to the Nume-soap.

Well, I thought I had more to say about that, but I guess not. I go back to college tomorrow, and while I feel a little bit guilty for leaving things like this (gah! There's that Tamahome-syndrome!!), I'm not the one who set up my flight for TWO days before the dorms open again, not ONE. -__-;;

I am on a very, very, very random Amiboshi kick. I'm not sure why at all.
( So I drew 'im. )

( And while I'm posting pics... )

So... woot!! I turned in the last of my long term papers in today! *dances* No more Genji-fanart, no more Nigerian oil economy (except for my presentation this week), and no more women of the Chinese opera! Now I only have a 3-pg paper due this Friday, a 5-pg paper a week from tomorrow, and 3 final exams. Ha ha. I just wanna go home.

And chapter fifteen of Split Loyalties is up: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3727190/1/Split_Loyalties
The volume of reviews has been down for the last month or so, which doesn't surprise me. It's bland in it's writing style in those chapters... and to be honest I just cannot wait to bring in more Seiryuu warriors, but it's just too soon still. At least another one makes a cameo appearance in this chapter!

I've done plenty of little seiyuu crossovers before, but it's so easy to get carried away with them they just aren't good, you know? And some seiyuu are just so widely used that you can throw them in ANYTHING, so it's just not funny anymore. Still, I can't help but always enjoy that Nuriko from Fushigi Yuugi and Agumon from Digimon Adventure are both voiced by the amazing Chika Sakamoto. Seeing as Miaka and Hikari also have the same voice, I could not help but make the little doodle: ( Click here! )

Of course, Keisuke doesn't really fit as Taichi, but I can't help it. Heck, if I had done it by dub voices, he'd have been Ken- and Miaka would be Juri! But I didn't stop there with doodles. I then did one with Gomamon in a Naruto headband yelling "I'm gonna be the hokage, believe it!" and annoyed Jyou next to him saying "More like the fish-kage." Of course, that's a clash of dub and Japanese jokes right there with the "believe it", so why stop there??

I remember one time while the Fairly Oddparents were on that my sister and I hear Tasuki's dub voice in Cosmo. Granted, that VA didn't always voice Cosmo, but we lost it in a giggle fit picturing Cosmo with a tessen. Why not take it the other way?

I then made a frightening doodle of Tasuki as a fairy in as close as I could get to the Fairly Oddparents style. Next to him was Tamahome with Zelgadis' stone face, very displeased (it goes with out saying, but they indeed have the same seiyuu). Fairy!Tasuki is saying, "Sorry. That wasn't supposed to happen, Timmy-home."

Thinking of crossovers over is like thinking dirty thoughts. You can't help it if one gets in your head, but if you choose to dwell on it, more and more come and it gets dangerous.

V-mon: V-mon armor shinka.... GUREN!!

~or~

Hotohori: Tenjou Chiriko, I challenge you to a duel.
Chiriko: What? Why do we have to duel each other, Hotohori-sempai?
Hotohori: I want my holy sword back.

Digimon and FY are obviously two of my favorite things to crossover. XDD Of course, now I just had the thought that I shouldn't just always limit myself to those. I mean, let's go Fruits Basket: Kyou is so much like Tenma from Haruka and Yuki is so much like Miki from Utena that it simply isn't funny. Okay, that's my cue to stop. NOW.

Yes, it's almost 2 AM again. Yes, I'm up because I was enjoying a few episodes of Death Note, even though I have already read the whole manga! Worry not, I was more productive today than yesterday. I spent several hours cleaning my room and sorting through stuff and reorganizing, all the while listening to Digimon music to celebrate Odaiba Memorial Day (not to mention bugging my siblings all day with random digi-dub quotes). *sigh* I'll have to spend several more hours in there tomorrow if I want to finish, though... I don't even have any boxes yet to put things in. o_o

The purpose of this entry is to squeal a bit. So far, the anime has been almost exactly like the manga, only more dramatic. Really, kudos to the artists. However, episode 25 was different... ( MAJOR DEATH NOTE SPOILERS )

What's funny is that today I found out the Chinese government has banned this series (or so says Lelola.net). Well, I guess that if they want to ban something, Death Note is a good series to ban. It is a pretty morbid series, as intriging as it is. It sounds like it's already been popular there for a while. My friend from Taiwan was telling me about a teacher he had in high school who would sit and slouch on the desk and monotonly talk as he wrote on the chalk board over his shoulder. My friend finally asked him one day, "Are you L?"

The teacher perked up and said, "Oh! You read that, too?"

XDDD

Now of course, most of this babbling of mine has been about the dramatics and character interation and plot devices. I say those simply as a fan. Heck, I'm a sucker for character demises. But in real life, that's not literature... that's sad.

And of course, reality snaps back in when you see the news. Death is taken very lightly in fiction, isn't it?

My kohai just offered to help pay for me to go to Noto this summer. *happy whimper*( However... (very short cut) )

*sigh* I have no idea what's to become of me after this semester. All I know is that I'm already tired of it. I should start on my Myao costume soon.

There have been a couple interesting parts of this semester, of course. Yesterday in biology, my notes were layered with digimon jokes, mosting poking fun at Ken and Puppetmon. My favorite little doodle was of Ken as a piece of bread. XD Don't worry, Ken, zygomycetes think you're delicious! *thinks this is hilarious, but no one else gets it* But hey, they all related back to the subject material, so that should count for something, right? (That more than I can say for a lot of the doodles on my notes.)

And in calculus, I have come to the conclusion that Chichiri spent many more long years wandering Konan and doing nothing, then decided to become a math teacher. I thought my teacher was kind of a funny guy for a while now, but today he said something very Chichiri-ish, and then everything he said started to sound like Chichiri. XDDD I'm going to be stuck thinking of him like that for the rest of the semester.

Uwaa. Some guy just tapped on my shoulder to wave to me. I have no idea who he is.

Three reasons for this post.

1. Fanfiction update
Panic in Edo is finished. Praise God. http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2807529/1/
Chapter 4 of Relegates is up. http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3315731/1/

2. Meme
Stolen from crsg
Reply to this post, and I will tell you my favorite icon of yours (and why). Then post this to your own journal using your own favorite icon.
Though I won't get back to you 'til later this week...

3. Drabble!
Title: No good answer
Series: Fushigi Yuugi
Characters: Hotohori and Miaka
Rating: G
Word count: 324
Note 1: Written earlier this week between essays. One too many "why do you like your major?" ones.
( Was there anything very special about Konan? )

Ha ha ha, no, I didn't put anything like that in my essays.

Tonight I developed an unhealthy obsession with this song.

Creepy Puppetmon laughter for the win!

*giggle* I did some looking around briefly, and found MORE of my digimon fanart being used as icons. Pictures I haven't seen in years but spend hours on them. XD Wai, nostalgia. And here I thought I was have a seperation of fanart/fanfic. *cough* As if I could hold my fanart away from anything.

I tried posting chapter 21 of PiE this week... I haven't recieved any confirmation e-mail about it. I wonder if it's up or not. I still need to write chapter 25, the LAST chapter... but I never thought that far ahead. XD

Oh crap. How ARE Miyako and Hawkmon going to make things right? For now, that's anyone's guess.

I had a dream last night that I wrote a Tentomon rap. And performed it well. Sorry... I can do Sampler, but not Nimoy.

YAY! I put up a gallery for some of my original sketches when I was planning the fic! http://pics.livejournal.com/appaku/gallery/000018yh

Go, readers, look at them and feel happy.

(Pssssst. You might recognize a couple of them. *points to icon*)