Nahh, not really. But another late apology for no update! I'm very much afraid Louisa is off gallivaunting about Eastern Europe on a well-deserved holiday, so that's your pretty Underground coloured page delayed awhile. You know they're worth it.

Yeah, I think you can kinda consider this an official announcement of regular standard Wednesday posting to be a luxury of the past. I have very little buffer, this Back-to-the-Underground arc keeps twisting unpredictably in ways I need some serious thinking-cap time to optimize, I do not want to rush and and end up missing out on any good ideas on this majorly plotty arc, yet I have little spare creative time to spend on mulling it over. I do feel that keeping to a schedule is part and parcel of the webcomic funtimes, and I feel a little odd every Wednesday that passes without an upload - but I can't do that and do right by the characters, not with my current projects.
Just assume that the whole being-in-the-Labyrinth thing means time is passing differently and that affects my posting schedule, if you want to get meta about it...

( Or, you could just, if it's more amusing (for you), picture me being unable to draw anything Labyrinth-related at the moment because of the spluttering apoplectic incapacitating rage I feel at this piece of news... > [link]
Because we were all so distracted with the Disney Princess Leia jokes I completely failed to twig that owning Lucasfilms means Disney owns the rights to 'Labyrinth'  (and Henson Co.) and can do. what. they want. with the franchise.
This is so not-cool.)
EDIT ( I hate having to temper my frothing righteous fanrage with common sense, don't you?) - OK, so Disney doesn't quite own the entirety of the Jim Henson Company, it would seem - not yet, anyway.
But it's still a side-eyably similar storyline and I doubt they'll capture what made the original so strong.


But hey. In a half-assed attempt to make up for no update and my still being a tumblr-holdout. I'll do an Ask thingie here on this Journal, if you've got any GND head-canon points you'd like to share or be clarified? I'll try and respond to questions in comments. Naturally, questions about the Prom Photos or What's In The Box will be circumvented shamelessly.

---

Sorry girls and boys and mostly girls and Other,

busy week teaching and le sniffles (and some GND plot tangles to smooth that are rather daunting, honestly...). Anyone folornly hitting refresh on their devwatch for this week's page, I am officially letting you down. Sorry 'bout that.

Laters!

___
EDIT MARCH 17th (Happy Saint Paddy's! )

Issue #03 of VS Comics, with the third and final part of my contribution Swan Song, is out! in pdf form > [link]
Sorry, I can't post a new page of that part without spoiling something. Lots of reveals and twists and gotta warn you, it's pretty bittersweet.
OK? So any of you who were hanging back, or tablet-less.... pdf format yo, pretty compatible with whatever device you are surfing dA on methinks, and no cut-off series leaving you hanging - you get 18 pages by me and a complete neat little story, plus oodles of different comic goodness to go with, for less than 10 bucks / 6quid in toto. Contributions to the cause mucho beaucoup appreciated. and THANKS to the people who have already bought the first issues and spread the word.

ALSO. Unrelated personal matter. If any of my watchers goes to UT Austin, could you PM me plz?

____


... I mean, um. In more polite and less evil plotting madman terms.

Dudes and mostly dudettes, this is the part where I need you – all of you. Gondor calls for aid. ...And other assorted geeky rallying calls.

I made a thing. In fact I made 4 things – 3 six-page installations of a short story in comic format, Swan Song, written by Paul Alexander. I posted a coupla pages on here for looksees. It's cleverly paced, quiet sci-fi, about robots serving on a geriatric ward, with the focus mainly one one dysfunctional duo… basically, in this case, think of a British Pierce Hawthorne and the granddaughter 'bot of Wall-E and EVE.
 


[ Incidentally, I found out about this movie partway through… [link] ]

Anyway. I've spent a couple of months working on this project (egads, actually pen and nib inking…) (ARCHITECTURE and MEDICAL EQUIPMENT aaaargh), and my boyfriend joined in to do the colours. It's a neat little one-shot we're rather proud of, and it's published by VS Comics, who are a newsie digital publishing team with some pretty cool ideas about creator ownership of works, and giving the readers mucho bang for their buck. They're getting some pretty good write-ups in the UK geek magazines and blogs, 4.5/5 stars and all.
Checkit here > [link]

It's also a gamble I made. It was not a paid gig, but, as mentioned above, royalties and sales profits go back 90% to the creative teams. And this is the part where I look at the, frankly, insane amount of followers I got outta doing GND, and I really, really hope I can point some of you guys in the direction of the VS Comics website and "purchase" option. Unlike my graphic novel Yessika Voyance, this one is, A. in English, B. available worldwide in digital format, and C. not a massive expense – 2 quid an issue, for a pdf or kindle/ipad/reader format. (That's 2 UK pounds, a shade over 3 dollars says current conversion rates.) About ten bucks if you buy all three issues for the complete story (Issue #3 out 1st of March, all going smooth).
You guys know I can't legally profit off fanwork and sell you the bound copies of GND I keep getting requests for. The fancomic is freely downloadable from dA, dangit. Maybe if I ever get my rear out to a fun con Statesside or in London, who knows, but in the meantime… if you ever wanted to pay me money to show your appreciation for GND, and I thank anyone who ever expressed that opinion – or any other nice things said about my fanwork, then, to quote a foul-mouthed but to-the-point O-Ren Isshii, now's the f*cking time.

Now, you are in no way responsible for my errors in judgement. But I kind of fobbed off other, serious, commercial work for the time it took me to wrap up Swan Song. Nothing I can't catch up on, at least so I am certainly hoping. But in a freelance "time is money is time" equation of where creative efforts go, doing this little project was bet that it would pay off later rather than immediately; I want exposure in English-language comics, and I am totally experimenting with you guys on dA. Because, and this is not blackmail, but something you need to understand. I flove doing GNDs, and my reasons for keeping it up for, eh, nigh on 5 years, are several-fold. There is personal fansquee – that much is fairly obvious. I ship and I like spreading the love. There is the notion of it all being good practice, in drawing and storytelling in comic format, and a fair-sized body of work to show for it. And there is, at the end of the day, the aforementioned gamble on the exposure and potential personal gain from the audience it has created for me. I'm sorry if that sounds manipulative and a cold calculation. But… Reason #1, fansquee, is a personal little indulgence that I may or may not grow out of, and while "time spent doing something you love is not time wasted" is a beautiful sentiment, it don't pay the rent; reason #2, apart besides from the "learning to wrap things up satisfactorily", can arguably be said to have run out. On those alone, I can difficultly continue justifying creative energies and weekly hours spent on GND when I have just signed on for a new, 2-album deal that could be my big break and really requires all my focus and drawing mojo.
(Pour les francophones, j'entends: projet BD jeunesse signé chez Delcourt whoohoo!)

So this is kinda me testing the waters to see how well reason #3 holds up. Are you guys reading GND an investment of my work and time that is quantifiably profitable in this ruthlessly material world.
I really do apologize for sounding so heartless and un-fanfuzzy. And like I said, this is not blackmail. I am not holding GND's continuation hostage to a certain volume of certified VS Comics sales (besides, I don't get the figures til 6 months in…). (You can consider it forewarning of me maybe coming to the conclusion this year that I can't keep up weekly updates and posting schedule may become less regular, but I'll certainly let you guys know if and when that happens). I don't want anyone who doesn't have a Paypal or the inclination to buy an unknown UK comic for whatever reason, to feel any guilty sense of obligation, or for any of you to feel soured by this sudden uncouth interruption of RL monetary issues in your favourite escapist fanfix or whathaveyou. You are quite free to forget about the baby this verbiose announcement and just carry on with cheering on the glitter or asking for more E/C. Y'all are super appreciated, fave-and-runs and silent watchers and re-bloggers and squee-ers and long insightful comment posters alike (OK, maybe the latter get a little extra fondness from me ). No one signed nothing and the comic is indeed officially produced for shits and giggles alone. You really don't have to respond to this Journal with excuses or apologies.
But anyone who does want to help out and pay it forward and make some gesture of appreciation  - please and thank you.

And especial thanks to those couple of people who have already done so. Oh, and while I'm on the public displays of gratitude topic, thanks also to for buying me my Premium membership here on dA - again.

Oh and for those of you who were keeping track, and the OCD crowd, the 4th thing mentioned earlier is another digital comic short story – this one's an 8-pager by James Moran (scriptwriter on 'Severance' and several Doctor Who spin-off comics) with adorable little 5-year old zombies gnawing on their sitter's entrails. It's part of the Dead Roots anthology, another fun UK project with lots of different art styles and story tones, all based around a zombie apocalypse. I'm in coming-soon volume 2. There's talk of a published paper anthology at some point, but again, digital purchase only for now – [link]

Voilà. I figured catching you all on a *BAMF*-y high was as good a time as any. Yes, there should be some shippy goodness coming your way by V-day, also.

And answers all your wishes for a hi-rez desktop version of That One Glittery Panel here! >

Oh, and Kayla, we really have to stop talking like this.

Cheers all!

---


Blackadder: Baldrick, I have a very, very, very cunning plan.
Baldrick: Is it as cunning as a fox what used to be Professor of Cunning at Oxford University but has moved on and is now working for the U.N. at the High Commission of International Cunning Planning?
Blackadder: Yes it is.
Baldrick: Hmm... that's cunning.  

Hey guys,

Hope you had a lovely time over the winter holidays. I received the complete Blackadder DVD boxset for Christmas, and a dress-up David Bowie paperdoll from my sisters - delightful.
(And a poster from certain persons Statesside YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE turned up, which is much-appreciated, but I must point out you guys wussed out on labelling the tube-shaped parcel sent to my parents' address as "Contents: David Bowie's d*ck" like you said you would. Chikins.)

Anyhoo.

Many apologies I haven't yet resumed GND (I see little Wednesday spikes in my daily pageview stats and feel mildly awful). I basically spent the last week of the official "holidays" hurriedly finishing off a project that had gotten delayed by Christmas shopping and family obligations. It's another issue of that digital comic I may have mentioned and certainly will again once they get their e-reader format neat and ready for download - it's an unpaid, creator-owned publication and I would immensely appreciate any of my dA watchers helping boost sales - and since it's in English this time and availlable online... Expect a spot of shameless self-promoting on that matter soon.

I think I can safely forecast a new GND page for next week, at the very least. In the meantime, there's the new single and promise of a new Bowie album that could substitute as a fangirl fix, 'cos damn, no one saw that one coming.

Also: 'Rise of the Guardians' gets a 4/5 stars from me and a hearty reccommendation to anyone not quite sure they want to see it. Sure, as far as "the evolution of myths" and "the power of belief sustaining anthropo(or bunny-)(cunni?)morphic personifications/immortals in a symbiotic relationship with humanity", it ain't quite Neil Gaiman or 'Small Gods'-level deconstruction, and there is undeniably a slightly problematic Anglo-centric cultural slant to the Guardians (fyi, France has no form of Jack Frost, and I find it hard to believe he's a familiar personification to peoples living in tropical climes...)(and Bunnymund getting Aboriginal motifs and a boomerang when rabbits are so very very painfully NOT native to Australia, hello reason for releasing myxomatosis on them...) - although nice tip of the hat to the Petite Souris who takes teeth in lieu of fairies over here. Those problems aside, it is a gorgeous film that is just incredibly generous with its visuals (the dream sand! the Nightmares!), dynamic, and finely animated. I see serious progress from the Dreamworks people in how Jack is really rather likeable and sympathetic, when you just know a few years ago he'd've been an insufferable cool dude with snowboarder moves and hip teen lingo because DEMOGRAPHIC APPEAL commercial trawling. They are getting so much better at CHARACTER and storytelling. Maybe less so on the latter, because as previously mentioned, some interesting facets of the Guardians idea are treated rather frustratingly superficially, and the /////// SPOILERS //////// final fate of the bad guy seemed pat, ruthless and hurried - there was a more interesting aesop to be teased out of the story about the usefulness of Fear, methinks, in measured doses and as a teacher... ////////// SPOILERS //////////. So yeah, it kinda feels like more story-polishing time, like is traditionally Pixar's forte, was a little lacking.The voice-acting is a treat, mostly - Frost left me indifferent, but North, BUNNYMUND (that's Hugh Jackman voicing a fluffy bunny, people), and oh my fangirl goosebumps, Pitch, were glorious. Some seriously sexy villainy going on there from Jude Law.
And North's Christmas Elves are the most ridiculously likeable Ugly-Cute critters since Gru's Minions and the closest I have ever seen on-screen to Lixxle/GND goblins.
And really I encourage people to go see it... because it would be nice if this sort of creativity is seen as commercially viable, rather than have Dreamworks churn out more Shrek spin-offs?
(In a similar vein, much as I enjoyed and applaud 'Brave' - 'ParaNorman' needs to win Best Animated Film, plz.)

Bee tee dubs for a few folk asking me about appearance updates in the GND cast and all that, please bear in mind that the Les Mis film ain't been released here yet.

The other major film of the moment being of course The Hobbit.... oh, so many mixed feelings.
Eh, I was all over the place watching that movie. Like, I had forgotten how much Jackson's films toy with my Tolkien love - alternately coaxing and flattering it (Istari trivia! Rhosgobel! that Misty Mountains song sounding just so perfect!!) and then suddenly slapping it in the face like a dead smelly herring with stuff like hurrhurr slobbery Dwarves scraping their shoes on the furniture (Come on - Dwarves of all peoples respect private property!), and being able to sneak out of Rivendell, and oh dear, Sebastian the hedgehog. SEBASTIAN. That's a Baltic Christian name, WTF is it doing in Arda. I mean -

List of things J.R.R. Tolkien did Not do very well as an author:
- Diversity casting
- Getting ON with it.
- Sex and titillation
- Gunfights, drugs, car chases...
- Hide a rather problematic fixation with lineage and hereditary greatness and grey eyes
- Make a case for not having arachnophobia
- Give his important Elf characters names that didn't start with 'F' in the Silmarillion

List of things Tolkien bloody well aced as an author:
- Kickstarting the entire f*cking High Fantasy genre as we know
- World-building
- Epic
- Songs and poetry
- Scenery porn
- Creating, like, at least three functional fictional languages with clear grammatical rules and extensive vocabulary oh, and a coupla alphabets
- Leaving realms upon realms of notes and extra material pertaining to said languages and the cultures of the word he built, as well as dozens of unfinished tales full of minor characters whose names it would be no trouble to recycle Mandos hang whoever named that hedgepig SEBASTIAN.

Some stuff, I understand needs to be changed because movie making =/= writing a book. THAT, was just WTF. This is The Hothouses of Minas Tirith* controversy ALL over again....
Also my inner purist is annoyed they did a shot-by-musical-theme re-enactment of the moth fetching Deus Ex Machina Airlines instead of the Eagles being out on patrol, and changed Gollum's riddle from fish to wind when the whole point of that scene is that he has been living in silence and darkness for years and FORGOTTEN sunshine and wind, and I am so over Jackson's unnecessary additions of video-game-esque run-jump-tumble-platform-escape sequences.
Martin Freeman was impeccable, however.

Also, while Thranduil looks mighty fine, why why WHY no Sons of Elrond in that Rivendell hunting party???

(... Yes. If you go waaaaay back to the beginning of my gallery and my fandoms, I am a big ol'Tolkien nerd first and deepest, for all my love of glitter and tight-pants-beclad glam rockers in makeup. )

Cheers all.

----

*Hothouses of Minas Tirith: Denethor. Eating tomatoes. In a Western-Europe themed fantasy world. There are issues of both climate and non-native flora going on there.
... Look, just don't get me started on what the movies got wrong, ok? I love them dearly. BUT.

Hello folks,

Well, I'm hitting a good and busy patch, and thus ended up calling in various favours to get you your GND pages [more or less] on time. You may have noticed (Ahem. Artist Comments under the deviations - read 'em, people) that the latest pages have been full glittering Undergroundian colour, and that you need to be thanking *LouisaGallie (formerly Phuriedae of the amazing JS fanart?) for that.

In fact in proper pay-it-forward fashion, it'd be really nice if you helped out some by supporting her work. When she's not being a wonderful fanfic sounding-board and colouring GND pages after a long day at the office, Louisa has been working as a games artist -

EDIT : The app her company worked on is having technical glitches apparently and is being taken down. Laters, then!


In other appy-y news, the Dead Roots comic anthology I provided some early promotional artwork for ( [link] ) is up and running and you can also purchase issue 01 here: [link] . Imma saying this because I have a 8 page story of my own in issue #02, scripted by James Moran (of 'Severance' and Doctor Who writing cred), with 6-year-old junior zombies wreaking bloody havoc. So keep an eye out for that (I'll be self-promoting again when it does hit the virtual shelves). It was great fun to draw and unlike my 'Yessika' graphic novel, is in English and costs under 5 quid. Anyone willing to support their friendly neighbourhood fanartist in works that she CAN legally publish and profit from would really be awesome and virtually huggled to bits.

I've ANOTHER digital comic short story in the works too, what my boyfriend did an amazing colouring job on, that will be in the up-and-coming funky collective by newbies VS Comics. [link] Keep an eye on 'em too!


And we got snow here already - I gather some UK meteorologists are predicting the harshest winter in 100 years for Europe. Ye gods and little frozen fishies.

Stay warm, and here's wishing you lots of spiced cookies and fuzzy moments and great present ideas and a spiffy start to the impending winter holiday season.



-----
"Would you rather have exceptions made for you in deference to your weaknesses, or expectations made of your strengths?"  - P@L

---

Aye-oop. Imma running around and busy with kiddy holiday activities, GND page delayed, tomorrow if all goes smooth.

A festive Samhain to all.

"... You and I remember Budapest Bucarest very differently."


Do I have any Roumanian watchers? Anyone living in the Bucarest area? Sing out please.

(incidentally I have been to Budapest. I was taught to waltz, overlooking the Danube, by a charming young pizzeria waiter. )

---

Also this week is October 3rd aka The Glorius Chikin Revolushun Memorial Day the Underground's brand new ages-old traditional holiday, Clucktoberfest. Be sure to share fried chicken with your neighbours, toast to the Goblin King's good health, get very, very drunk and generally have a very good time or else.



Cheers all!

I... follow a lot of US-based political blogs. And have friends out there, and ... find what is currently going absolutely f*cking terrifying and enraging on a visceral bloodboiling level.  But, you know. That's just me, out in some secular socialist Old World country, quaffing down my cheap birth control pills and, outrageously, not crippled by hospital bills after my freelance boyfriend's domestic accident of two years ago because of all that damned taxpayer money going into a national health insurance.
But that, of course, is anecdata and nothing to go forming political opinions on. (Also I have a uterus, and what with all those craaaayzee lady hormones swishing around my weak little brainpan, I'll've completely changed my mind in a week don't mind me!)

Just like to point out, though.
I seem to have a... lot of followers. That's super cool and all. I'm guessing most of you are here for the GND. That's really great and I am so chuffed you are enjoying
my attempts to tell a story,
about, you know, if you boil things down to bare bones I guess -
(and forget about [thebaby] the glitter and the giggles)
mainly about two young women attempting to keep control of their own lives
have a personality beyond that of "love interest",
pursue their own career plans and/or love stories at a pace they are comfortable with,
and not allow themselves to be emotionally or psychologically or magically or physically abused
and to see their own agency respected
by the domineering creeps and villains of their stories.
yes?

and if you are rooting for them at all in all this and enjoy and approve of the silly fictional story being told -
don't f*cking vote for the two grinning entitled richboy sexists who have no respect for real-life women's agency nor dignity.


I'm NOT going to argue this for paragraphs upon paragraphs or pull up the data. [Wait yes I am because I can't help but react to wilfull ignorance.] I'm assuming most of you aren't frothing fundies, and that even if you do have certain strong convictions, a webcomic fanartist isn't who you're going to be listening to to change your mind any by instrumentalizing a cast of fictional characters (I didn't even build them!). And I'm sure you could make some strong economic and philosophical arguments against voting Dem, I honestly do believe you. And certainly I've been influenced by Social Justice blogs, the bane of all fun natter on the internets!

But by any measure the Romney-Ryan platform is the most rabidly socially conservative in decades if not centuries, and the part that enrages me most is how much of it is focused at getting women back to barefoot and pregnant and dependant on some dick-owner to provide for her. No sex ed, no affordable or easy-access contraception, no abortions, no maternity leave, no welfare, no equal pay in the workplace... That all adds up to "stay home and make babies" ("and sandwiches LOL" because HEY that joke never gets old or is ever viciously loaded with patriarchal bullshit!). Just wait til "no recognition of marital rape" and "no vote" sneaks in there, and go read 'The Handmaid's Tale'.

Now, whatever shitstorm this may or may not stir up in comments (and how dare I think to preach across the pond, I don't know what is REALLY Going on in the US of A, I mean, that hard-hitting totally factual documentary about Obama 2016 isn't even getting released in my country what do I know without Fox News to instruct me??)  - and no matter how violently I wish I could talk to anyone who doesn't get this  - and fully admitting that I'm not addressing the current GOP's other blatant -isms and discriminations...

... all I can do over here, and shall do with all my electronic might (look at me go, guys - I am so angry I made a Jounal!!), is to attempt to convey to any of my regular readers who agree with the current Republican ticket how very disappointed I am in 'em, and to heartily invite them to feel unwelcome on my page and comic.
I get that fandom unites strange bedfellows, and that everyone can all just get along if we don't talk about touchy RL topics like politics and religion and I am really being a boring old square and suddenly preaching at my unsuspecting audience and attempting to use some sympathy capital or something is seriously uncool, dude... but here's the thing:

You agree with people who don't believe I am a fully autonomous rational human being worthy of respect and equal rights.

That's what it boils down to for me (and for so many other people NOT [richwhiteableheterocisneuronormal]- I realise and acknowledge their own struggles, at an intellectual and emotional level, but the visceral teeth-gritting anger comes from where it disses ME, personally) (Hey, valuing the individual over the collective, where have I been hearing that one lately??)  You cannot politically argue me out of being furious about that.


tl,dr: Female Deviantart fancomic artist majorly against Romney-Ryan2012!


I may, or may not, shut up forever with the RL Serious Issues now I've said my piece, and resume merely entertaining you with fanservice giggles.

... But if I haven't with this one chiding Journal post single-handedly changed the course of this American presidential election and the whole political atmosphere, I shall be very disappointed. *eyes you sternly*


----

"The Devil can cite scripture for his purpose."
The Merchant of Venice, I.3 - William Shakespeare


----


EDIT Whee!! So much for not arguing the toss any further. It is 5am my end and my inbox has been blowing up for the last 3 hours. I'll see you in the morning! Please clean up the blood when you're done!

OK. Using traditional pizza ovens is HARD.

Coupla days roughing it up in the hills with som friends. Back now. There oughtta be a GND on schedule this week.

In the meantime, I submit to your own cracky inspirations the cell-phone ringtone idea played with last page. Please spam the comments - who on the GND/Roommates cast do you suggest has what song as a personalized ringtone for which character? (and you can even add a "default"/masked number option like Sarah's which therefore reflects the character's own taste and opinion of self).

(I'll update this with my absolute favourite ideas you can come up with.)

please?

Cardboard boxes of Moving In Stuff, Ikea trips, birthday shenanigans, aaaaand delayed GND for now. xxxx.

So, I haz a cosy little rental flat in downtown Lyon, 5 mins walk away from half a dozen school-day friends, tucked away on the keys in a renovated 17th-century nunnery that's been converted to wee little appartments. Yay.

Thank you for the postive vibes.


The results of the latest Poll are highly amusing. There's like a hair's breadth distance between the two options asking for the reveal of Jareth and Sarah's respective [assumed Dirty] Secrets. And the sexy vote beats the fluffy. Ahahaha.

And predictably enough with S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Coulson showing up, the requests for a cameo by fangirl-favourite Loki are snowballing. (Aha. Snowballing. It's funny cos he's an Ice Giant. And adopted.)
Loki. God of Mischief. Multiverse-level troll.
GUYS. GUYS.
Be careful what you wish for.

---

... househunting. Which is rarely happyfuntimes even when it ain't 35degreesCelsius downtown. My feet are killing me and my patience grows threadbare, and I have been bad at doodling ahead and building up buffer material - I always used to but as of the last 40 pages or so I'm still enjoying the thrill of living dangerously deadline to deadline! - and so sorry; GND this weekend if you're lucky.

Wish lots of positive karma my way if you'd be so good!

cheers,
Pika

Hi guys. Ok, so hurried updatingness.

- I have a two-page comic oneshot in Shawn Gabborin's Angry Gnome Comics SHORT STACK #8 -
So if you see that at your local comic stores, do the decent thing eh??
Also available online:
[link]

- I've done the lineart for another short story in Mike Garley's Dead Roots anthology project (yay moar  [link] zombies), on a script written by James Moran (of 'Severance' and various other geeky projects like Doctor Who comicbooks and all). Will keep you posted on that one's release...

Three random films I'll rec if you ever get a chance to see them:
- The Fall (Tarsem Singh )- Tumblr is all over the love for this one - the visuals! shot in all the most beautiful places in the world you would not believe are real -  the twisted storytelling and the amazing child actress....
- Sunshine (Danny Boyle) - wow, so not the corny disaster movie it sounds like. Beautiful semi-contemplative semi-thriller scifi imagery; the plot gets weird but the visuals and music are so worthwhile. Also, pretty pretty Cillian Murphy.
- Ronal the Barbarian - I was lucky enough to see this at the Annecy animation festival. A recent Danish CGI animated flick spoofing all those loincloth-and-muscle tropes in a refreshingly trashy manner, with an awesome metal soundtrack. I mean - seriously WTFBBQ with awsumsauce: [link]

(anyone want to provide pretty links and better arguments in the comments, please do.)

I am off for a long weekend camping with friends in Provence and shall probably get sunburnt. Possibly this means a delay on next week's comic, I'm not sure how it's going to work out.

THIS PERSON IS DOING SOMETHING PRETTY DANG AWESOME. Go help out! [link]


Also: some people have asked for a portmanteau name for shipping Erik/Blind Mag. Suggestions? I've a soft spot for Phantomaggia myself.

cheers all.

(is a pune on may as in the month. i slay myself.)

Yeahh, so is rather amusing how the Parisian shadowcast for RHPS has to make do with rather less opportunity for punnage and line-subverting - they do loads using the subtitles and what you can expect by way of basic English from the audience, but is nothing like the constant ribbing of the show I saw in California - but instead are WAY into the simulated orgies and molesting the audience. Ze French, ey? so crey-crey and taquins.

Anyway. Sorry guys. I am le busy currently and GND is disrupted. I'll keep you posted. Meanwhile, lets all go "gasp" over at Roommates. Ashe is bringing the drama.

best,
Pika

Please shut up.

I get it. The Winchester brothers are top of the poll. You've been spamming every "monster hunters" GND page thus far, a grand total of two, with "SAM AND DEAN!!!" squee-age and suggestions. Yes, I know they fit the bill perfectly. Yes, I know they are 3+ super hott and funny actors and OMG the Castiel/angel/Crowley connection to 'Good Omens' - I GET IT.

It's not a show I am even that into and I am thinking hard to make the crossover work and the flood of comments requesting/begging/demanding they show up as I do so is seriously tempting me to do something uncharitable to your darlings.

Now, I get it's kinda bitchy of me to start on this tut-tutting when I was asking for opinions just a while back and I deliberately set up a situation that is just perfect for the Impala to drive up to the Building, and serves me right for teasing, and I know you guys don't read all the comments posted before your own on the comic pages and therefore don't realize when your own heartfelt and spontaneous comment about bringing in the Supernatural lads is utterly redundant with 15 others on the same page. I am taking all that into consideration, but at the end of the day it is still driving me bonkers.

I hate to dampen anyone's enthusiasm and I do very much appreciate any time taken to comment on my work and people feeling invested and excited. Really truly. So I am putting up this awkward but public announcement to save me jumping down the throat of the next hapless person to type "Sam and Dean" who'll end up paying for all the others.
(That happened to me when I was 5 - all the kids at the birthday party were crowding around the puppet lady and poking and bothering her until she eventually came out, furious, and properly shouted at the last kid to pick up a puppet, which of course was my innocent younger blonder self who had just wandered up to see what the other kids were doing. I can still remember the utter cruel injustice of being singled out for an unmerited yelling-at and running off crying because of how utterly and terribly not fair it was. Cue a certain Labyrinth quote, indeed.)

Think of that poor unfortunate theoretical fellow fangirl taking the heat for the whole of you, people. A crying shame and a smarting injustice that YOU can prevent.


Thank you for understanding and being considerate of my blood pressure and theoretical fellow fangirls. I hope you enjoy the show.


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Yep. Much as I would *prefer* to be working on silly, shippy fancomic, I'm coming down with a serious case of Too Much Damn Work.
I'll try and get the next page posted this weekend. A thousand apologies! but I just ain't gonna be able to make it earlier.


best all.


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Only two things are infinite: the Universe, and human stupidity - and I'm not so sure about the Universe." Albert Einstein

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Hai guyz -

Imma starting a new job this week (part-time teaching comics/BD to various schoolgroups) and generally running around post-holidays and I'm suspecting I won't have access to a scanner where I'm staying, and this week's page is going to be skipped. I'll see about planning ahead more in the coming months, but yeah.

Also fingers crossed for a new BD project up for review this month, and wish me luck with the teenagers...

Cheers all!


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UPDATE Feb. 14th

... to say pretty much the same thing. I've been home, but am back on this teaching mission-thingie again now, and I can't guarantee a comic update tomorrow - mebbe some Valentine-related silliness if you're lucky.

Bearability of student workgroups varies wildly.

Comic/BD project currently in limbo due to sexist and narrow-mindedly commercial attitudes on publishing committee; we shall see what we shall see, else we shall bugger off to submit to the competition.

V. excited over the 'Iron Sky' theatrical trailer. They've ONLY been teasing this movie since 2006...