This is vastly entertaining. I especially agree with her points on misogyny towards the female characters. NOTHING angers me MORE than reading mischaracterizations of Relena and other such lampooned anime girls. If you deny that there is something between Relena and Heero, some kind of special bond, then you're mad. I'm not saying what's between them is romantic, but they care for one another, on a level possibly even higher than romance. The fact you hate Relena has NOTHING TO DO with that.

I joined the Keenvention. Yee!

(Yeah, I'm having fun.)

I think I'm one of the few people who hasn't drawn a Megatokyo guest strip over here... XP; I'm no good at drawing other people's characters. But I will try to draw Sein, and possibly Wrey (for her head wings), for Tengu... especially after the beautiful Sinclair picture she gave me!! :D

Billy Elliot was very good, but not what I expected. I really liked Billy's little friend Michael.. he looked cute in his dress. XD

Here are my Disturbing Search Queries for the day:

Google: porn stories of nuns & priests
Google: draco hermione fucking
Google: dbz "gay porn"

Lot of perverts surfing Google. XP;

I haven't seen my favorite cat, Patches, today... I don't know what I would do if I lost Patches. I love her so much... I want to hug her but she's not around.. .__.

We just buried Jonathan... I started to cry... not only because he was dead, but because of the way Dad's voice was cracking as we set him in the little grave. It was so sad...

I forced my brother to go the Gorillaz website. Huuuge site... just wish it weren't all flash.

Die wunder dieser welt werden dir geschenkt
Glück ist nicht käuflich sehnsucht bleibt unerreicht
Preisrätsel winken nimmersatt
Kein mitleid für die mehrheit

Nihilistic mystics
Apostolic alcoholics
Messianic manics
Cataclysmic and prolific

In the age of super-boredom
Hype and mediocrity
Celebrate relentlessness
Menace to society

Refuse is our inspiration
Terrorism our trade
Sabotage and piracy
Chaos our mental state

Mesmerizing festering
Intended for the faint of heart
Cultish and anthemic
Until death us do part

Like a fiendish tropic virus
Spitting bile at all you whores
Razor-sharp tongue-in-cheek
Poking in your open sores

A wolf in sheep's clothing
The ultimate disgrace
Wrapped up as a gift of god
Exploding in your face

This is counter-culture from the underground
Eternal revolution this is our sound
KMFDM better than the best
Megalomaniacal and harder than the rest

Wenn der untergrund bebt ist die ordnung erschüttert
Der verrat an der seele macht leben ungesund
Mit unschlagbaren reimen werden wir uns vertreiben
Die zeit der langen weile bis zum grossen bums

It's disturbing; how much I love this song.

Jazriot reads my blog. XD That makes me happy. I love Litost, and I will faithfully read Bohemia, as well. I need to do another link update (especially since I forgot Invasion last time.. d'oh!)

I lurk at the Bad Blood board.. as I lurk at every board I've introduced myself to. The only board I really, honestly post at is the AF one. Don't really know why.

Actually, Jaimie-J, down here, it's the private schools that are rampant with drug use and other bad behavior. At least, moreso than the public schools. Everyone sends their bad apples to the private schools... I'm willing to bet that the average population of a private school here is made up of 60 percent rich folks and 40 percent kids who got kicked out of a public school for acting like an asshole.

'Earth is a wasteland. The remains of the Human race live in an orbiting habitat, under constant threat from the seemingly indestructible alien army that has taken over our home. One woman has the answer, but few believe her. One woman can save the future, but some won't let her.

She can rescue the Human race. If she can survive.'

The basic premise of the Final Fantasy movie. I don't know what to think of it. :\

This blog is very cool.

And I would like to thank this blog for linking KS... thanks.

Happy Birthday, Hikari.

One of my cats died this morning. His name was Jonathan, he was an orange tabby, and he was nineteen years old. He died of natural causes--he was, after all, very old for a cat. Older than me, even. Mom cried and cried; I just feel this vague, listless hollowness. And, as mom said, no one can really understand what this feels like but a fellow cat lover... so if you don't like cats, you probably don't understand.

He was a very good cat.

Sigh. I'm depressed. Damn.

There are, however, a couple brands of 'promotion' that I haven't gotten into yet, and might not, ever. The first is the cafepress store that many comics have (and which I'm not begrudging them), because I don't think my art is worthy enough to grace a T-shirt or other merchandise. Using fanart is not really an option. I wish it were, because I have beautiful fanart, but I don't think my artists would appreciate me profiting off their work. The second is having a contest of some sort--like art or writing, usually. Not as many comics do this, but a fair amount do. I've always pondered one, but then discarded it because I would want a decent prize. Something meaningful, like money =p Or some material object. Having no money and no decent material objects to give away, I do not have contests.

It makes lovely sense, but you really shouldn't feel that way. :\ You have quality work, and the adage that good work sells itself is NOT true. It IS true that if it's quality, what work you do will pay off, but if you write the world's greatest novel and never do any work to get it out there, it means nothing. You are an incredibly talented person, and if you really want the exposure you seem to want, you've got to get up the confidence I know you have and get out there. I can understand you feeling that way if your work really did suck, but it doesn't. You're a great artist/writer and very imaginative. Shake off those insecurities, girlfriend. :B

Not to say that I'm all that creative.. aw, you know what I mean. -_-

I'm a really cranky person, aren't I? Oh, well. Most creative people are assholes in some way or another, anyway.

Yo, blink, wherefrom is that art on your layout? It's nice.

I don't consider it 'pushing for hits'... I consider it promotion. Which is a part of most endeavors, whether anyone likes it or not. :\ I'm my own PR manager; my own publicist. You want people to see you, you have to put yourself out there. There is NOTHING shameful about that, as long as you're polite and don't over-do it. And even then... the adage about no publicity being bad publicity is true.

I'm in three dropdowns.. ahh, the joy of self-promotion. But now it's time to set a schedule..and that schedule is Mondays and Fridays, so I can keep up my focus on my other things that I've been neglecting. Namely Claris and Clarity (which I'm typing right now).

Sorry, Jessica, but whenever I see quotation marks around a word I see someone saying it aloud and holding their fingers up in that annoying, condescending way, as opposed to a general change in tone that indicates you wouldn't normally say what you're saying. I'm the same way with shrugging. I just can't stand it. x__x When I use a word I don't usually use I just tack on a modifier like if that's the term you prefer or whatever.

I'm also a little weary of people poking at the whole thing, especially since it wasn't even an issue when it was just me and people I knew.

Rraaarr, and thunder doth shake the house. I really like how Sinclair's character page turned out (especially since I didn't use any references..maybe I am getting better at this), and I really like him in general, but his addition to the story actually gives it more of a story--which means that it will be harder to do. Since I might actually have to draw an action sequence or two. Scary.

Anyway, here's what I've figured out about him--he's 27 years old, and he was born in England (haven't decided where yet; the obvious choice is London, though) to a very poor family. The thing about his family was that, while he knew their poverty all his life, they were not poor before he was born (his father lost his job just before then). So his parents were kind of maladjusted, not being used to not having all that they wanted/needed and being doubly burdened by a son. He grew up mostly tending to himself, as both of his parents were often out either looking for work or working. Sinclair helped out by taking odd jobs when he was 12--usually things like babysitting or yardwork or whatever he could find. They were a very hardworking, decent family, actually, though his parents were always affected with a kind of strange depression that made Sinclair feel very guilty over his existence.

Another thing about his parents was that they were both well into middle-age when they had him, so by the time he was 14 they were in their mid-fifties. His father died of cancer when he was 18 and his mother died the year after--also of cancer (so it runs in the family, which means that he's very likely to get it... the main thing he's afraid of). By this time, Sinclair was out of school and ready for college. He was a smart boy and always made very good grades, and sent off applications to colleges both in London and in America. He knew the only way he would be able to attend an American college would be if he got a nice scholarship, which, as luck would have it, he did. So he took some of the money his parents left him and went to America. Despite the scholarship, he worked all through his academic career, putting the money he earned in with what was left of his inheritance. When he graduated, he took the money and began a business, selling/appraising/etc jewelry. He was interested in both the occult and in weaponry, as well, so he expanded his shop to cover those, making the store an odd amalgam of his interests. ^_^; He was a ruthless businessman, and still is, which is why he was nicely successful. As for how he fits in to KS, well, that will be explained. But that's his basic history, as it stands now.

And he wears the monocle just because his eye is bad. ^^; The other eye is fine, but it's usually covered by his hair, so.

Now running on the correct time.. X3;

It's only 11 here, but it's dark and overcast outside. According to the radio, we're under a Severe Thunderstorm Watch...
and that reminds me... I need to reset the time for this. XD; It's actually three hours ahead of whatever time is stated. Let me go mess with that now...

Updated my blog links.... I think I changed most all of the addresses that needed changing (I say most because I always forget somebody. .__.;)

::thocks Jaimie-J:: Quit putting that word in quotation marks, damn it. =P

::recently finished pruning the SB list..removed lots and lots of lazy bums... but won't update till the new folks are checked and added::

Things that annoy the hell out of lyn, Part I:

When writers take themselves too seriously. I know some online writers (no one that reads this, so don't panic) who get uptight and bitchy over the SLIGHTEST not congratulatory remark about their fiction. Even harmless critiques which have praise and criticism mixed in, they get holier-than-thou over and act like a whiny baby--'Well, I don't care if it might be better this way, my way is best and I'm sorry you're too stupid to see that.' It makes me wish I could put my hand through the screen and slap these people. God forbid someone not be a salivating lemming!

I tend to take negative remarks a little seriously, or, at least, I used to, but now I've learned to take everything with a grain of salt (though I will still be upset over poor feedback for a time... that's just how I am. But I don't dwell on it openly for days and days). And I'm only seventeen. The people I'm thinking of are much older, and they have jobs and their own apartments and everything. =P

Yes, Yujoon, your comic looks badass. :B I can't draw neat details and backgrounds. ^_^;

Actually, there isn't an easy way to do it, Tengu..and I don't even remember the whole process. You have to login into your webshell through Telnet (the login bit is what I forget), and then it lists your directories and the number of bytes in each. Then you have to add all that together and divide by 1000 to get your kilobytes, and then divide again to get your megs. :3; The last time I checked I was using up like 25 MB, but that was back when kurai was new, so no doubt that number has more than doubled. ^^;;

My brother and I are watching Days of Our Lives together.. Mom would be proud. XP

Now that I've gotten all patriotic, some responses.

The mighty AutoKeen seems to have worked. :D ::hugs Kylee for remarking:: I'm glad you like him, even though he's extremely evil. ^_^;

Ooh and let us all welcome Sally home..and give her love.

And yes, Jaimie-J, I told you that's what you have to do. Did you think I was joking with you? =P Regardless of whether or not I get any responses, I know people are clicking the link, and that's the point. And that paranoia layout is nice. I like the border around the picture. :3

Today, America celebrates 225 years of making fun of Europe. Er, I mean, independence. Yesss.

Seriously, though, I like this holiday. I'm not one of those disillusioned teenagers who thinks America is a horrible country from which there is no escape--I actually like my country a great deal. Like every other nation, it has its share of problems, some more serious and obvious than others, but you know, it's a nice place to live, especially for families. I'm a little tired of these overprivileged teenagers bitching, actually. I'm not saying America is perfect, because it's not. I can't stand our current President (and am terribly embarrassed at how he behaved in Europe, since apparently he just reinforced the stereotype that we're all morons) and many other things about this country, but I honestly wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

There's clothes on my back, food on the table (although we currently have no milk at all because Bryan keeps drinking it), and a nice bed for me to sleep in. I'm grateful for my life here, though of course I do want to visit Paris and Rome (Rome especially) and other beautiful European cities someday. But I'm proud to be an American, even if most everything we do is backwards from the way the rest of the planet does it. -__-;

::knocks on Blogger::

I hated it while I was drawing it, but I'm actually kind of proud of how tomorrow's KS page turned out. I really want some remarks on it, since it has both Sinclair (the new person) in it and also what will be KS's new, likely permanent font. Let's see if the mighty Autokeen works... I have it set to update at 9PM PST, which is midnight my time (I'll probably be asleep if it updates itself). My remarks and other updates will have to wait until I actually get up, I suppose (but I get up early, so. ^_^;).

Ali, you are one of the coolest people in the universe.

...and not just because you've got a three letter name. XD

... fuck. o_o;; I want a new computer.

Things that make lyn uncomfortable, Part I:

When people get all jealous on me. Like... because I have some nice fanart and such. How am I supposed to respond to that kind of thing? -_- It makes me feel like I don't deserve what I have, or don't deserve to get any more. depressing.

D'oh. Sorry, blink, I forgot. x__o;

My glasses are usually fairly messy, but right now they're so dirty that it's actually difficult to see out of them... it's funny to let other people put my glasses on. My prescription is incredibly powerful, so the looks people get on their faces when I let them wear them are vastly amusing. I have no idea as to what they're seeing, since most people act like I've just given them acid or some other powerful hallucinatory drug.

On an only vaguely related note, back when Claris was new (when I was 14, which is Claris's age when the story begins, so about three years ago) and Sean had just arrived (replacing the video game characters I was using before), no one that read the story mistook the acid Sean liked to prepare (and still does, actually...) for the drug, though a lot of people do that now. I just think that's a little weird...

I really enjoy reading Scott Kurtz's rants; regardless of whether or not I agree with the opinions expressed. He seems like a smart guy. I'm not worried by his talk about the dangers of a successful webcomic though--at least, not in terms of myself, because I know that KS will never be popular in the way that Megatokyo and Scott's own strips are popular.

And for once, I'm okay with that. Of course I want people to like and link and generally enjoy Karma. But the fact of the matter is that I'm just a writer pretending to be an artist so I can do a comic. I'd much rather be known for my writing than my art, which is second-rate anyway. My writing might not be first-rate, but I'm definitely better at describing a scene as opposed to drawing it. That I would prefer to leave to the gentle readers who are kind enough to send me fanart. ^_^; Or at least, it's better left to them, because I can't draw full scenes worth half a damn.

Despite the illness of the Bonsai Kitten site, Rose is right. You'd have to be extremely insane to think that was real. People, it's not physically possible to keep a kitten inside a bottle (or 'mold it' into a starfish shape, as one 'fan letter' said). You just can't do it. Aside from the fact that cats are nowhere near as stupidly loyal as dogs (no offense dog lovers, it's true), a kitten likely would not fit inside most of those bottles (there is such a thing as doctored photographs, my friends). But, again, even if you tried, the kitten would realize your game and scratch the bloody hell out of you. Cats don't take that kind of nonsense. I know; I have six. As for putting very young and itty bitty kittens in there, well, we all know that kittens without nursing milk die. COME ON, people. I know I don't have much common sense, but I've got enough to know that this is just another disgusting effort to rile the masses.

Mmmph. Everyone is saying how proud they are of Disney because of Atlantis, and I am too, but the cynic in me is saying that next time they'll be right back to where they were before. I say this because I read that it really wasn't a big box-office draw like some of their other animated films. And you know it's all about the money.

Also, I'm getting kind of sick of people associating bishounen with angst (I'm not targeting anyone here, I've seen this complaint on like ten webpages in the past month or so, which is why I'm bothering to remark). Just because a guy's got pretty long hair doesn't mean his past was a horrible amalgam of pain and suffering. And even if it was, that doesn't mean they're all angsty and uberpoetic over it all the damn time. :\ Signal in Twin Signal is very bishounen, and he's just a cyborg (meaning he has no past, really, since he was just created), and his chibi-form is extremely cute and genki. And, sorry, ladies, but Vash with his hair down still has hair too long to be considered 'manly.' Also his eyelashes and such are usually pronounced in his 'sexy closeups' so he's a bishounen too, and he's the happiest anime character I ever saw. =P

The G-boys (as they're called) are all bishounen, but most of them except for Duo have fairly short hair, and they ALL -ooze- angst except for Quatre (who just went psycho that one time).

Setzer Gabbiani in Final Fantasy 6 and Edgar from the same game also had pretty long hair, and they were not angsty. Squall has short hair (though he is still very bish because of the style) and he is a walking pile of angst for most of his game, as is Cloud. Sephiroth has pretty long hair and he's not angsty, either (though most people think his past was horrible...I just say he's crazy; sorry Scully).

Grr. People who make such claims without examples to back them up anger me in ways I do not understand.

Aw, thanks, Kitsu. You sweet (I actually read that a while ago, I'm just now responding to it).

Bwoo, so many links for me to change.

Jaimie-J! I have a cat named Cleopatra, too. XD She's a grey Persian. They have those smashed in faces. :3;

B, I feel the exact same way. Not only do I switch between those two frames of mind, but I, too, have friends who are, for the most part, smarter and better at everything I consider myself pretty good at. The thing to remember is that there is always someone better, no matter how good you are. For everyone better than you, there's someone else better than them, and on and on. There is no best, there is only better. That's just how it works, I suppose.

Though it doesn't make it any less depressing.

Oh yeah.. Happy Canada Day to any Canadians reading this.. ^^;

Woo! Everything is up. :D

Also pertaining to Karma Slave... I thought of a fourth character as I was lying and pondering in bed last night, one that should serve to bring a much-needed subplot to the overall madness. He's evil, of course. Will probably be in the next page. Then we get back to Kuruma's lecture to Sattva. =P

...and I also need to write more Clarity. Yes.

I'm sloooowwly figuring out keenspace. So far none of the auxiliary pages (like characters and such) are up, but the archives and all the previous pages are fine and dandy. The only reason you'd have to look is to see my cute little Previous (it's not showing up, but I swear it's there x_o)/Next/First buttons, since the pages look just the same as the old ones...there's just an advertisement at the top, now. =P And because of the archiving system, you won't be able to see my comments for each page like before, which I guess is kind of a good thing since all I usually do is insult myself. I was quite pleased that I'd been naming all my comics properly(YYYY/MM/DD)..otherwise I would have had to go back and rename them, and that would have been a monumental pain in the ass.