Signs of A Madwoman

Sacre Bleu!

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 15:11:40 GMT

Apparently, when I'm tipsy after having some of the best french food in ages, I can work miracles with the dragon cave. WHOOHOO!

YEAH BABY

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:54:24 GMT

Trying out one of those new fangled incubators, since....I GOT A SILVER, BABY.

Glad I missed it, but pissed it happened...

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:41:20 GMT

Wow, apparently I've gotten better at missing drama- I was in the middle of one and I didn't even notice it!

So at Otakon this year, both Kat and I noticed a proliferation of some very...very similar art styles being sold by little Asian girls (not that little Asian girls are bad- they just made us old white folk feel bad). Apparently what we didn't know was that most of them weren't selling their own art. They were just cronies for a nefarious duo that had 14 tables to shell their art.

Seem a bit much? Yeah, it should- seeing as there are only about 100 or so tables in the Artist Alley, and there's a limit of 4 tables per group...

Talk about ruining a fun thing.

Luckily, someone made an effort to document their asshattery:
http://neolucky.deviantart.com/journal/19938012/
http://riiz.deviantart.com/journal/19974119/
http://jurijuri.deviantart.com/journal/19931021/
http://banzchan.livejournal.com/31854.html

Curse of the addictions

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:42:44 GMT

Gah, you know you've possibly become a wee bit addicted when you attempt to search for a fanbook that came out on Saturday in a language you don't speak just because you need the fluff!crack. I know, I know....

And yes, this afternoon will be spent working on my book orders, I promise.

EFJSEFDNSKJHFKISFHKJ!!!!

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 19:20:48 GMT

http://comments.deviantart.com/4/526603/810587455
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

There might be a God....

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 23:02:45 GMT

There might just be some hope for DeviantArt- IP banning was just instituted on the little twit....

And I got yelled at for telling her to stop ban evading...ah well.

Still in the mood for pr0n, though.

Sweet mother of all sockpuppets.

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:56:06 GMT

UGH.

So I'm being harassed on DA by a lovely little art thief and ban evader. Now, I get this on occasion, so normally I'm fine with it, but...

She now has 6 active ban evasion accounts. Every time she comments and I go, "Hello, idiot" she makes a new one. 3 of them were made in the last 12 hours.

Normally I'd stop bothering at this point...but now she keeps friending me and commenting on my front page. Holee shit, I'm starting to think there is serious brain damage involved (apologies to anyone with brain damage, you're probably a lot smarter that this little twit).

http://comments.deviantart.com/4/526603/806299501
http://comments.deviantart.com/4/526603/809242706
http://comments.deviantart.com/4/526603/809308648

Can I have a very stiff drink and a pointy stabby thing now? ARGH.

(Or maybe some porn. Porn would be good right now....(is it just me or is a lot of my f-list horny lately?))

Better than dealing with the idiot ban-evader....now if I could JUST get a oragami egg...

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 03:11:38 GMT

I got a freakin' gold egg! WOOOOOO!

Otakon 2008: The Report

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 02:47:43 GMT

PHOTOS OF THE CONVENTION, INCLUDING THE DOCTOR WHO PHOTOSHOOT!

Thursday:
We drove down from Boston with relative ease, although I managed to leave my $500 set of commission TRIAs markers back home, and Wiki the hedgehog got carsick. Got our con badges, and got registration all set.

Now on the trip down, our friends from New York found an interesting feature- Google maps doesn't believe you can turn left on Roland Ave, near where I live. Instead, it told them to come to my house via York rd.... but they had a few problems finding York rd. So, they got a little York obsessed. Eventually, we began shouting "YORK!" at every mention of the word....and at Naruto cosplayers, because "York" is one letter away from another word, so it was amusing, without being overtly mean....this went on all weekend.

We promptly went to Bertha's for out annual mussels dinner, and enjoying Fells Point (the good part of Baltimore).

Unfortunately, swankkat's plane didn't get in until 12:37 in the morning. Stupid hurricanes.

Friday:
Got to the con, and poor swankkat had to get in line for her badge while dealing with otakafunk.

But we got our table set up,

and in a matter of a few minutes were providing counseling for the season finale (and selling prints and doujins). Strawberry Gina came by and was awesomely nice for such an amazing artist.

But the highlight for me was these three guys. Not only did they have some the most awesome costumes, AND commission me for 4 chibi sketches, they were a load of fun and the nicest people ever. Guys, you officially have 2 red headed fangirls. (And you don't know how close you were kidnapped).

Saturday:
Saturday had us finally venturing into the Dealers Room, with me purchasing a Phoenix Wrigh manga, and more importantly, having Kat meet her favorite author, Peter S. Beagle. You couldn't ask for a nicer man. Really. He spent 15 minutes chatting with her, and it was awesome :D

We also met ifritshiva, who (along with the Awesome Guys) helped us find the Saturday Doctor Who cosplay photoshoot. I took 115 photos there, alone.

We managed to see most of Masquerade (Our personal favorite was Link's flute concert against Navi), and there I managed to lose my phone. (UPDATE: It's been found by staff at the Mariner Area, so all is not lost).

We also met up with principia_coh (YOU ARE SO AWESOME, LIJE, I hope I wasn't too much of an idiot for you and your husband), and I dragged everyone out for crabs. I am still impressed they WALKED to the restaurant.

Sunday:

Sunday started off on a VERY bad note.

I realized at that point I had lost my phone at the Mariner Arena, but I wasn't that upset- it's just a phone. However, as I am packing up Wiki's pen, the worst thing is discovered- the hedgehog is missing.

Cue the massive panic attack. We tore apart the entire club room, looking for her. When she still hadn't turned up, I sank to the floor, ready to be miserable...when I saw the small space between the wall and the mini-fridge. One semi broken door and a thrown back later, Wiki was found, looking at us like we had just busted a party. She's grounded, btw.

But we got back to dismantle our table and do a quick wrapup. I bought a "What Would Who Do" t-shirt, (complimenting my "Attorney at LOL" shirt from the Alley) and me and Olivia managed to bargain some production books down 15 dollars (never argue with a adorable Asian girl).

We said goodbye to some of the awesome people we met, (including the http://www.rocktheshiny.com folks, who forced upon us wicky-wacks), and headed home. Unfortunately, "home" proved elusive. Last year, due to shore traffic, the 8 hour drive took 10 hours. This year.... 12.

That's right. 12 hours. I got the car unpacked at 2:30am. I AM POOPED.

We do have a few extra books from the convention, and I'm going to get them to those who ordered. Just...gimme a few days to recover, ok?

And again: PHOTOS OF THE CONVENTION, INCLUDING THE DOCTOR WHO PHOTOSHOOT!

The Report: Prologue

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 06:58:18 GMT

Alright, I can't actually coherently post anything about the con yet, as a 7.5 hour car trip back to Boston was turned into a 12 hour long one (CURSE YOU CONNECTICUT!), But I will mention the quick highs and lows:

Taking about 120 pictures of Doctor Who cosplay action (those will be linked tomorrow),

Meeting some of our wonderful friends (EEE! I spent time with awesome in human form (Kat and Lije)), fans and making new friends,

Walking away with 2 art books and manga at vast discount prices (hint for bargaining- make the cute little Asian girl do it for you, or know the owner),

Loosing the hedgehog (found; somehow escaped, fell off the counter and crawled under the mini-fridge (She is SO grounded))

Loosing the phone (not found; oh f*&k)

Not being able to man our table all the time, due to delinquency and just scheduling problems (sorry everyone!)

The car ride home (New Jersey, Connecticut, I'm looking at you)

Lastly, I would like to send a special thank you out to a fabulous 9th, 10th, Jack and 4th- you guys now have two redheaded fangirls.

Alright. Real update tomorrow, after hiberating.

And yes, we have plenty of books left over.

Conning....

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 03:00:06 GMT

Some handy dandy random soundbites from pre-reg at Otakon:

"It's Thursday- the con doesn't start until tomorrow....WHY ARE THEY IN COSTUME?"

"Oh, god...the Otafunk!"

"CHIBI-DALEK!"

"Oh, shit, now I remember you. You're the girl whose art I ALWAYS HAVE TO BUY."

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:34:32 GMT

Apparently Tennant and Stewart's Hamlet is such a big deal it made CNN.

And please note, they talk more about our boy, despite the fact he's labels a "cult star"....

They just did a quick story on the channel- Tres amused.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAgaspAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:51:24 GMT

'Kay.

Officially freaking out now.

EDIT: Less freaked out now. Business cards managed to print on the copier.

THEY'RE HERE!

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 21:52:00 GMT

THE BOOKS ARE HERE!!!111!eleventy!!

Again, if you haven't already, if you would like the option of purchasing our remainder stock when the con is over, you can do so here (and see pretty pictures of the innards): HERE.

AAAAAAAAND, look carefully at my eggs. There's one that's not like the rest....*EEEEE*

Attention Kieth Olberman fangirls

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 01:06:01 GMT

So I know there are quite a few Olberman girls on my f-list. (ivydoor, ginamak)

Well, as I just discovered, introducing my friend to the humor/horror of the The Soup this week, Olberman showed up (WITH SIMON PEGG!) this past week.

It involved him crying like a babe over the "Legally Blonde" musical and threatening to rip out Joel's endocrine system.

(If you have Comcast On Demand, it's the 7/25 show and free until the 12th)

The Doctor Who Doujinshi- Purchasing Post

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 18:17:40 GMT

So, for those of you who don't know, swankkat, superherogrlcat and myself have put together a fanbook for Doctor Who, specifically to sell at Otakon this year.

The book is 30 pages long (not including the cover), with original stories and art from all three of us that will NOT be published online. The fanbook is having a one time printing of 150 copies.

Action!Ten used for a size reference.

However, we do realize that a) not everyone can make it to Otakon, B) there are other people who would like this book C) Printing this book is not cheap.

So we will be offering the books we don't sell to our online compatriots first, and then to anyone else.

The price at Otakon will be $10 per book.

The online price will be $11 +shipping (Priority mail is $4.80 domestic shipping). Add one dollar if you'd like a personal chibiDoc sketch in the book.

If you would like to purchase one of the remaining books from the run, please leave your name and contact information (EMAIL ADDRESS REQUIRED) within the comments of this post (comments will be screened). I will contact you on a first come, first serve basis.

WE CANNOT KNOW HOW MANY WE WILL HAVE UNTIL AUGUST 10TH. I'll contact you when I know exactly how many books we'll have

(and really, this is just to cover the cost of printing the book- it's not cheap, and is coming straight out of my pocket at the moment.)

Timorous Beastie

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:35:58 GMT

I'm running on three hours sleep, it's that time of the month, and I'm in utter pain.

But I don't care. Why?

The printer came back to me with the book estimates, and they will be on time, and will not kill me financially. (I hope).

I spent last night coloring the cover, converting jpegs to tifs and realizing I had misplaced my final page. (I had to redraw the damn thing). But it doesn't matter now.

THE DOUJIN"S BEING PRINTED!!!

WHEE.

(CLICK THEM)

Wiki, skilled human operator

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 01:08:21 GMT

So, there seems to have been a demand for more of my master and her high and cuteness, Wiki.

Well, she cooperated (somewhat), proving that she doubles as a fashion accessory as well as uber-cute prickly human operator. (Aka, someone decided to climb up to their favorite perch, my shoulder.)

(Also, finally, I got a stripey egg! CLICK THEM)

O__________o;;

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 17:00:14 GMT

Ready for Boston is Bizarre story #213243420398401?

Saturday was my darling friend Olivia's birthday, and that meant dinner in the heart of chinatown, family style, oh so yummy. (And when the cake got brought out, they pumped a seriously whacky version of "Happy Birthday" through the speakers.)

But afterwards, we all keep talking, and decided to walk by the Shakespeare in the park, to see how it looked this year (actually, really decent). This meant a stroll through the Common, which at 8 o clock at night was really chock a block full. We get to the far end, me showing off a picture of Wiki snuggled between my bosom, when a family approached us. Specifically the father, a 50-60 year old gentleman.

"Are those black chucks?"

"Um, yes, yes they are!"

The man promptly high fives me, and asks to take my picture.

....I SWEAR THESE SHOES ARE BETTER THAN PROZAC.

(Also, finally, I got a stripey egg! CLICK IT)

Desperate, but not Serious...

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:26:06 GMT

It is incredibly wet and rainy out, and I have to stay late at work *pout*.

While my art block is only semi abated, I've been trying to get the coat fabric painted the right color.

What am I dressing up as, for a Japanese convention?

Adam Ant.

Again. (Hey, he did help inspire the Visual-K movement! But, yeah, I'm an ass- that's the fun of it.)

But this time, it's the more awe inspiring, dangerous-to-my-well-being, Prince Charming.

Don't know what this entails? Here, let me show you:

http://adam-ant.net/pictures/pc1s.jpg

and the hair alone:

http://adam-ant.net/pictures/backhair.jpg

Thank the gods, Amphigory said they could get me my wig on time, no worries. Now just to cut and dye the coat, sew the buttons, add the trim....AAAAAAAAAA.

BuWHA?

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:11:59 GMT

So, I'm pretty sure this has to do with the little perp who tried to sell a bad copy of swankkat's art earlier.

So, yeah, I'm not a nice person when it comes to art theft. I will report, and let you know I've reported (unless I think the person is going to attempt to delete and reupload- I dealt with one of those recently, to humorous results...) and will let you know that if you keep it up, the mods will probably suspend/ban your butt to the stone age.

So, I commented directly on the person's front page that according to the rules of DeviantArt, she was committing Art theft, and could very well be banned. She gave me a little baww story, and told her she owed swankkat a big apology- not that she's going to do it, but it's now something people will know happened.

Well, an hour later, I get one of the most bizarre comments on my featured deviation: Wait, WHUT?

Now, I've dealt with a lot over my time mired in various fandoms. Trolls, whiney little fantards' text speak, and just plain stupidity. But...

How do I respond to this? I mean, I full admit, I made Ten more in shape than he probably ever has been. I mean for the love of Bruce Timm, I fully admit I learned a lot of my comic skills from comic books. But even still.... Well you tell me, is it really that bad?:

Doctor Who: Harem by =JesIdres on deviant ART

I pretty sure this is just an attempt to 'get back' for humiliating her friend. Do I just leave it? Respond to it in a witty, yet sarcastic comment? Or just whack it off the page?

Dragons!

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 15:49:36 GMT

QUICK! CLICK ON THE BABIES, OR THEY'LL DIE!

HAPPY ME-EEP, Larissa and Alan!

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:26:07 GMT

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, larissa_j and rexlapinii!

Larissa, hopefully the plan worked and a tied up David Tennant will be arriving shortly at your door. If not, customs caught wind of the scheme.

In which Frank Miller proves he stopped having good ideas 15 years ago....

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 06:00:48 GMT

Frank Miller, GTFO of my Spirit.

So they leaked the theatrical trailer for "My City Screams" and now, even more so than after the teaser, I'm having urges to take my complete volume set (24 volumes, plus the Best Of and Eisner's 2 biographies) and beat Miller over the head with it.

Basically, my main two problems can be summed up like thus:

1) THIS IS NOT SIN CITY 2.

2) You know that joke a while back that Miller can't write any woman character that isn't a whore? Yeah....turns out? He can't. Way to throw out 30 years of character development right there.

What IS this? The joke was that the Spirit wasn't really all that interested in the various girls he teamed up with. Sand Serif and Ellen Dolan were the only two that really got under his skin. And judging by the trailer, Miller has conveniently forgot that a)Ellen and Denny were sort of a chummy-but-I-really-love-you relationship (Doctor and Rose fans? Yeah, it's kinda like that, but Ellen wants Denny to actually admit he loves her, every now and then) b) Sand Serif does use her charms on me, but not on the Spirit- she respects him too much.

Lorelei never had interest in the Spirit- HELL, she showed up for one ehn story!- Same with Plaster of Paris! Silken Floss never hit on the Spirit, she kept her crush a secret- that was the point!

(There's a fantastic article of the women of the Spirit located here that the ladies over at Sequential Tart did a few years ago).

YOU NEVER SEE THE OCTOPUS'S FACE. THAT WAS THE GREAT PART ABOUT THE CHARACTER- YOU SAW THE GLOVES AND THAT WAS IT. Showing him in the trailer? FOR SHAME.

And the Spirit's mask is meant to be a small, cloth domino mask. NOT LEATHER FETISHWEAR.

Never mind that suit itself looks horribly ill fitting.

Last, but not least, tying back with the "This isn't Sin City 2, idiot" is the using of "cartoonish" backgrounds to portray Eisner's city backdrops. See, Eisner, unlike Miller, could actually draw pretty things. And he drew some of the most beautiful backgrounds- in darkness, yes, but NOT cartoon cut out- to the point that even today, a moody, dark, evocative background (usually with rain or fog) is known as Eisnespritz.

A great example can be found here: http://dccomics.com/media/excerpts/1196_x.pdf The reintroduction of the Spirit's origin done by Will right after he had returned from WWII. It gives a great example of the use of background (or lack of one) that Eisner knew how to do, and Miller just doesn't get.

So why am I bothering to whine about this? Because Will Eisner, who coined the term "graphic novel" and really created everything that modern comics rely on, deserves better than this. The Spirit was a larger than life character that is still amazingly relevant today.

And before you say "Oh, but translating comics to the big screen is hard", I know there are people who could do a much better job. Darwyn Cooke, who restarted the Spirit comic with Eisner's blessing before his death in 2005, originally was an animator for "Batman: the Animated Series", and has shown a lot more ability handling the material than Miller.

Anyways, don't take my word on it. If you want some summer reading that will show you just how much of master Eisner was and how the movie should have been done, pick up either The Best of the Spirit by Will Eisner or Will Eisner's The Spirit by Darwyn Cooke.

EDIT: HA! Apparently, I'm not the only one complaining- they've disabled the official message board. Gee, that's a good sign.

Art wankery!

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:07:54 GMT

Lookie! I have a MangaBullet! Except I'm too stupid at the moment to upload anything there. Foo. Probably stick my more non-western fandom stuff there (like the huge drawing of Phoenix Wright vs. Law and Order that I'm selling at Otakon...) BUT IT HAS OEKAKI. Which, I forgot how much I suck at.

Oh, lordsie.

There was Doctor Who art wank! And I wasn't a part of it! Wow, I really am out of touch with fandom lately. It was even in my specialty, art theft and filter-raeping! I am sad.

For those of my f-list who don't know, I'm part of a group that makes an effort to report stolen images and people who pass other's art as their own (such as tracing, running it through filters and claiming you meticulously painted it), or who just don't get that DeviantArt is not photobucket.

Doctor Who fandom on DA has some fabulous artists (we are generally cordial to each other except when mimi-na makes a point to bash (most of us just go yesyes, and pat her head), and the trolls who fail to get that discussing how bad Rose is in a generic Doctor/Rose piece IS NOT KOSHER). Fanart is when it's your own art, and you have to respect anyone who bothers to take inspiration from Doctor Who and try and put it to paper.

However, there has been a huge upswing of people posting manips and wallpapers up on dA that use BBC's publicity stills. I know that those are neat and fine for livejournal, but not for dA. The images from the BBC (screenshots, publicity stills, magazine art, ETC) are not stock. Which means, you cannot post them to art sites like DeviantArt, SheezyArt, StormArtists and MangaBullet. AT ALL. Because you do not have the permission of the copyright holder, the BBC.

Lj and photobucket? that's fine. But sites meant for your OWN art? Notsomuch.

AGHHHHHH, It drives me nuts- I make a point to visit every person that favs me on DeviantArt (yes, all 1,000 of them) and I end up tearing my hair out when there's yet another person who fails to get that NO, DA is NOT PHOTOBUCKET.

This is why we can't have nice things. Although, thankfully it means some people will never have a DeviantArt account, no matter how many manips they post and claim are "MINEMINEMINE YOU CAN'T USE THEM EVAH!"

So yeah, you see something that uses a BBC photo on DeviantArt, be sure to click on that little "Report Deviation" button on the side and fill out an art theft form. And you too can learn to wield the BanHammer.