Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in masterxiam's LiveJournal:

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Wednesday, October 8th, 2008
10:16 pm	Xiam's Comic Blog - I Won The Game In all honesty - I don't play the Game. For those who don't know what "The Game" is, it's a moronic meme in which, by thinking of it, you lose it. You then have to announce that you lost it. Thereby making those around you lose it. I'm sorry, but there are only three games you can only lose. Arguments with idiots (they don't understand your point anyway), Yu-Gi-Oh! (you're a loser for even playing), and life (you die, GAME OVER). While some may argue that, like arguments with idiots and life (and, occasionally, Yu-Gi-Oh!) people come into it unwillingly, just as with The Game, I argue that I have never purposefully wished to play The Game, so I refuse to believe when some idiot argues that I have, in fact, lost. I win that argument, but at great cost - I have to act like a complete idiot to win. (By the way, you CAN'T lose at Pokémon. You only lose battles, then wake up at the Pokémon Center, a little dazed and hung over, but otherwise fine. No Game Over. Ever. You only "lose" when you decide to stop playing. And some particularly bitter people would see that as a win.) Current Mood: cranky (Comment on this)
Wednesday, August 20th, 2008
11:17 pm	Xiam's Comic Blog - Vampires Don't Sparkle To be fair, I started it. So, this is Tricia.  Longtime CB readers will remember her from... like... two comics I've done with her previously.  I promise to use your more, Tricia, especially now that you have a fun quirk I can pick on you for.  ;) As it shows, I am not a fan of Twilight.  For one, I really don't get the fascination with modern vampires (Dracula was good, Nosferatu was good, Underworld SUCKED).  For another, I don't go for fads, especally when it's girly romance novels. Where the fangirls swarm, that's where I claim my crosses and holy water. So yeah, I'm sorry, but I just really don't have an interest.  Despite how much I love my friends who do read it (Leandra, Laurel, Tricia - the lack of couch is only due to my hatred of the couch, not her), I really can find nothing but contempt for it.  I mean, why is it popular?  Seriously.  Name one thing Twilight has that no other vampire series in the history of vampires has. Don't even respond to that, because I know any of you who have read it will say "EDWARD CULLEN!"  Except for Laurel. And since it bears repeating... I'm sorry, but vampires do not sparkle.  If a vampire sparkles, he's obviously just some sort of mutant incubus. (Comment on this)
Saturday, August 16th, 2008
1:05 am	Xiam's Comic Blog - An Ornery Vice Two comics about boredom?  WHAT? I promise you all, despite Laur's claims, she's actually not this bitchy.  In fact, she's rather sweet, and I consider her my best friend.  I promise you, she'll be wonderful as my new sidekick. I really only wrote that last part because Panel 3's punchline wasn't funny enough.  And because let's face it, damn near all of you have wanted to say that at some point. So, I intended to date this for the fifteenth, but I went to see The Clone Wars, and when I got home I piddled around for a while, and by the time I actually got into the comic, it was late, and by the time I finished it, the date had already reached the edge before turning over.  I would have gotten it done within the last hour of the night, but... let's face it, this computer sucks, and Norton sucks, and Norton made the computer lag, which sucked, and I knew I wouldn't have it finished and posted in time.  So, 16th. I wanted to do a Star Wars comic specifically for the day, but I'd already drawn this one, and I REALLY wanted to introduce you guys to my friend (who I was going to name after her common username, but as she and I both love her real name, we thought against it, hah). I'll fudge the facts and do it later.  Tricia, I promise to still do your comic by Wednesday. And all of you who haven't been in my comics yet - don't worry, you might eventually.  But begging makes me not want to, 'cuz I hate being burdened like that.  I do the comics when I have something to tell.  ;) You may have noticed this one was colored.  I decided it was best, since Laur has some epic hair.  I had to edit it a bit, too, you might notice that too, 'cuz her bangs were too short. Am I the only one who thinks she looks a bit like a red-headed Melody here?  Except without the squirrelly eyes.  I might need to work on the hair a bit - dammit, she seriously is a better artist than me, haha. (I hope I got that shirt color right - she suggested a salmon, and I forgot what the hell "salmon" looked like.  She said a reddish pink, so I made a pink out of red, haha...) I promise to show off eye colors later on - You WILL get your green eyes, Laurel!  ^_^ Also, Chibi Me looks a bit more like his old self here.  Even if it is at an odd angle, hah. Current Mood: dorky (Comment on this)
Wednesday, August 13th, 2008
9:24 pm	Xiam's Comic Blog - Time Off You can tell I'm a bit rusty. Chibi Xiam looks a bit like... not me... I love Panel 3 though. That's what I want! The comics I'm referring to here are for my series Melody & Macabre (yes, I just gave two links for the same comic), which is currently on a two-week hiatus while I write out some more chapters and pretty much take a break to relax. Fat lot of good that's doing. So, I decided to start up on more Comic Blogs to cure the boredom. And because I've had a lot to say lately. Let's hope I can say it well. At any rate, you'll now notice that instead of numbering my comics, I'm dating them, and comic titles are going in my post title. This is because of space, and also with this, I don't need to worry about how many 0's to put in front of each one, haha. I'm actually dating the images year-month-day, so I can organize them better in my own folders. :) While you won't be seeing all the same characters this time around, you will be seeing a few old friends, and some new ones. I won't have a strict schedule, but will update whenever I have something to say. Pleeease keep an eye out for them! Current Mood: bored (Comment on this)
Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008
2:09 am	Melody & Macabre Sorry about the hiatus, guys - you may have noticed it, right? I've started on a new series, which I will not be posting up here, but I've been into it since January and I don't really intend to stop just yet.  Originally, it WAS going to be a return to my Comic Blog, but instead I decided to do this... Click Here to View Click Here to View Elsewhere Enjoy, folks! Current Mood: creative Current Music: Blue Oyster Cult - (Don't Fear) The Reaper (Comment on this)
Thursday, March 6th, 2008
9:58 pm	In My Mind Imagine a room. Not a very large room, a bit small and cramped. It's not too bad, it has a bed. Maybe a cot. OK, it's a mattress on the floor. Across from this is a window. Two windows, really, but it might as well be one. Even so, the blinds are often down with the shutters closed, as I let the gears turn inside. That's right, gears. Along the left and right walls are gears, cogs, and other such contraptions that click and whir and whistle and buzz, keeping the room running smoothly. Against the front wall where the windows (presumably) look out, a desk sits. Upon the desk is a movie projector which points directly at the back wall. Also on the desk are various Post-It notes, tacked along it and almost every surface of the room. Upon the notes are various bits of trivia and thoughts that I may have in the day - often notes on what I've seen on the projector. The projector itself shows movies - usually original movies, with actors and actresses I have never met nor even seen before. I also have an MP3 player which blasts music through the walls, but it's on shuffle and pretty much plays whatever the hell it wants unless I outright force it to play something else. Why am I describing this? So you know exactly how it is to be me. This room is not simply my mind - this room is my LIFE. It's rather different from my actual physical room, and probably a bit cooler. It doesn't seem like much, but the contraptions (as well as a certain pretty female) are enough to keep me company, and I like to spend my time sitting in the most comfortable desk-chair EVER and stare at the back wall, switching between movies as I see more and more of them. And as I lie on the mattress, I become part of them as they play in the back of my mind. The notes are often scattered and misplaced, but I love my tiny room nevertheless. I just wish that projector would stop playing bad memories. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, January 29th, 2008
11:31 pm	Melody & Macabre: Le Mort I updated my comic! For those who don't remember (or didn't see the first), the comic is available here. Don't forget to check out my new banner, too! It's based off the "Vanitas" still-lifes. If you get it, you're a better art critic than I. Maybe it's because artists don't become art critics unless they're pompous. In the mean time, look forward to Thursday! I start dipping back into humor! :3 (Comment on this)
Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008
1:23 am	NEW COMIC! Melody & Macabre: A Girl And A Shadow The new comic is here!  And it's called "Melody & Macabre." But where, you might ask, is "here?" Why, here! I will later determine if I want to post the actual comics themselves here, but for now this seems the most efficient.  If you wish for commentary, I will feel very free to post it here, though.  But only after you read the comic.  :whee: I might stick some commentary on the News posts there, too.  We'll see how it goes. Don't look forward to seeing the coloring there as it always is, though.  Her ribbons are going to be lighter in all subsequent comics, and the shading might be a bit more varied.  Hopefully. Also, be careful in the future, the themes will get darker (this is NOT the fucking Family Circus).  I'll tag it as Mature when it comes, but until then I'll treat it as it is.  It's pretty cute for now (especially Melody, yay!) but as one of the characters IS Death Personified, I'm not going to take it lightly. Don't expect any lame Billy and Mandy bullshit, kids. Anyway, enjoy!  Feel free to lemme know what you think.  ^_^; (Comment on this)
Sunday, January 20th, 2008
1:52 pm	It's Coming... Gasp! What's this?  A new comic?  Coming WEDNESDAY? Initially I wanted to do it for Monday, but... whatever... 1-23 is sequential, and it gives more time to think of a title.  I have a list of names I'm going for, but I'm not certain quite yet. PREPARE FOR RANTS! Basic Comic Description: The series will be about a little girl whose imaginary friend, if you have not guessed, is Death.  It's a bit darker than I'm used to, both in art style and in themes, but I still intend to bring some comedy to it.  Which is why I chose a girl (I initially planned for the child to be a boy), since it would allow for better contrast between the two characters. I've devised something of a plot beyond the simple "Death haunts a little girl," which I have realized would become boring very very quickly.  There are more characters beyond these two, obviously, but I still need to perfect the style for them. Regarding the Art Style of Choice: I determined that given the subject matter, returning to black, white, and shades of grey would be the best choice.  A sort of "Gothic Horror" feel would be perfect, and it allows for me to work on actually SHADING for a change.  Also, thanks to my tablet and certain art programs, I can perfect my style in an interesting way.  Rather than the previous way of "Clean and color" I've been doing, I can work in layers, which allows me to actually KEEP a bit of the sketchy work before I clean and color.  Which is more fun for me, because it allows for a bit of grit in the whole feel, and gives it a bit more bite to it. More About the Characters: I initially planned to do Death as a character in my Comic Blog, but after I scrapped the idea entirely (I may still bring it back since I like to put my opinions in comicky form) I decided to put Death in something else.  As previously noted, I thought about a little boy who was practically tortured by the fact that his imaginary friend was, in fact, Death.  Though recently I decided to change it as I believed it was less believable, and therefore more interesting, that a little girl would decide to have DEATH as an imaginary friend. As for the little girl herself... I never named the boy she came from, and only recently decided on a name for her.  Initially I went with Lizzie (the first named that popped into my head, which I assume derived from Lizzie Borden), but after Laurel told me it wasn't dark enough, I settled on Melody (which I feel is prettier and more bright than Lizzie, but it works for various other things.  It was almost Melanie, which has connotations to black or darkness, but Melody's yet another sharp contrast anyway). Regarding the Comic's Title: Well... there is none yet.  I have a list of possible titles, and those of you I've talked about it have no doubt heard some of them.  I'm wanting something simple yet dark, but it's INCREDIBLY difficult to not go something too goofy or too abstract.  I'm a perfectionist when it comes to my work.  If any of you have suggestions, please feel free to make recommendations. Remember to check back Wednesday!  I'll probably do it early early in the morning before I go to bed.  Hopefully either 4:56, unless I don't think I'll make it to that late, at which point I'll just go for 12:34.  I'll give a link on here to the comic's site, since I don't think I want to put non-blog comics on my blogs anymore. A final treat before I finish this off... (Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 6th, 2007
3:57 pm	In case you kids have been wondering... Due to my lack of a muse, I have discontinued all comic work.  If I had someone around me worth being self-motivated for... sure, I'd give it a shot... but currently there's nobody.  And without a muse, an artist is worthless. So... enjoy a nice poem for the time being.  I've always got that going for me, at least. Are we at the zoo? They say that elephants never forget, But I've got a story for you: I'm an elephant with Alzheimer's, And I love it here at the zoo! I don't remember my life in Africa, Yes, it's sad, but it's true. But they feed me constantly, as far as I know, So I love it here at the zoo! They say I can be a bit dangerous As I forget you as soon as I see you, I'm never aware, but why should I care? I love it here at the zoo! I don't understand the people in PeTA And I wish ALF would go away, too. I've got what I need, so they can leave I love it here at the zoo! I'm so going to Hell... (Comment on this)
Monday, July 16th, 2007
1:06 am	Harry Potter and the Comic Update First off, I'd like to give my personal review of "Harry Poter and the Order of the Phoenix." Why do I do this? Because it's my blog and I'll do what I want, dammit. Also, because it was my favorite book. For those who haven't seen it, I will just say this much - it is, as my mom said, the "Readers' Digest version." And very well it should be. In case you haven't read the book, it's a fucking MONSTER of a book. I think it's actually thicker than the first two books of the series - maybe even the first THREE. I'll hafta check that out later. If I can get a hardcover copy of the first book. If they did it by-the-book, it would have been three hours long, at best. Now, for the things I did miss... for those who have neither read the book nor seen the movie, feel free to skip down to my comic news. -------------SPOILERS------------- The pensieve is not in this movie, which is tricky because we now find the memories of Harry's father torturing Snape, by way of Harry deflecting his Legilimency and seeing them. We also don't get to see the full prophecy and the means by which Voldemort found out about it, as well as the reason WHY Neville's parents were tortured, and the connection between Harry and Neville, and how Voldemort viewed Harry as the threat, instead of Neville. Firenze doesn't make HIS return, either, as the replacement Divination teacher... which I miss, but can see why they wouldn't do it, as it would have merely been padding. Also, Sirius dying was a bit different, by way of Avada Kadavra, and, as my sister pointed out, being PULLED into the archway, rather than falling in. I guess Avada Kadavra makes it more obvious that he died, rather than trying to explain that entering the archway ensures that you're never heard from again. Even though I missed these things... I still loved the movie. I liked that the centaurs still made an appearance, and I was happy to see the Black Family Tree, though it looked nothing like I imagined it. Grawp was cool, certainly BETTER than how I imagined it (I could never get the troll from the first movie out of my head), and I was happy to see the Weasley twins -------------END SPOILERS------------- Ultimately, I loved the movie. I'd say it's tied with Goblet of Fire, which I also loved. Everybody did amazingly, I swear. When it comes out on DVD, it will be a must for my family, haha. All I could think of when it was ending, was about how I can't frickin' wait for the next movie. Seriously, the next one promises to be effing sweet. Now, about comic stuff... I was going to scan and work on some previews for you folks, for my new comics, but... first the movie, then after we were home for a bit, the power went out from a storm, then when it finally came back on, I got on here... and that's crazy distracting. Then... I had another breakdown. Kinda still in it (only perked up while I wrote that review, ha), and I dunno when it'll change, but... I'll definitely try to do it by the weekend. DREAMER UPDATE: I was talking to Allison yesterday, and if her brother is interested in doing the artwork (and her in the editing), I may be able to revive the series. I just feel like doing all of it on my own is too much, and if I can get help with it, I can focus more on writing. I may redo the first bits I did do, hopefully to make it look prettier. All I know is I want a comic strip that doesn't look like a strip - each one has to look like an actual page of a larger book, yet still be rather self-contained, either ending with a joke or making you want more. I hope to scan other work I've done on that matter, too, for Cameron to look over. She said he was starting to draw stuff, I can't recall if that has to do with Dreamer, but I guess we'll see. And if they are okay with it, then I guess we'll try that. All I know is... I don't have quite the motivation to do anything on my own. Not anymore. FINAL NOTE: Regarding HP spoilers, please refrain from anything on here about books 5, 6, or 7. I myself am trying to keep everything a secret for the last book, and I do NOT appreciate spoilers, which is also why I would rather not ruin anything from the ones I HAVE read (1-6) for anybody else. So please be respectful and do not ruin anything for anybody. Thanks. (Comment on this)
Thursday, July 5th, 2007
12:53 am	Independance Day and Comic News So yesterday was Independance Day. ...You know... July 4th. The only time (excluding Cinco de Mayo) when we recognize the holiday by the date. Now, in and of itself, I'm fine with celebrating the birth of a country. It's just... patriotism that bothers me. I blame it on the aftermath of September 11, 2001. After that, all the damn gun-toting chest-beating redneck Country Music bastards were all "LET'S KICK THEIR ASSES!" and every damn person under the sun bought anything with the flag on it. Now, I love our country. But it's more in the same sense as I loved my high school. You know what I mean... how you went to the pep rallies to cheer on the team before a major game, but only because it got you out of class, and you couldn't really care less about the bastards. Similarly as I only go to the football games because I had to (I was in the band), I would not go to war unless I had to (drafting, yuck). On second thought... I'd try for Canadian citizenship. I mean... come on, I like the whole ability to say whatever the hell we want, but at some point it gets annoying when people are bullshitting us with the concept that the people going to war right now are somehow "fighting for our freedom." I'm thinking the FBI is doing a better job with that, then those soldiers are. Let's face it, Iraq was never directly threatening us. All we had was a few fanatics who sent some planes into towers - the majority of which were Saudi, and all of them were led by someone holed up in Afghanistan. But let's face it, that wasn't good enough for Dubya. We were just looking for someone to blast. The last time we fought for freedom was World War II. Because let's face it, if we didn't participate and help England win (you heard me, they were the main force against the Axis, we were too selfish to get involved until something actually happened to us), we would be speaking German right now. I'm getting into a very old conversation here, of which I have voiced my opinion many times... but come on. July 4th should only be about having a cookout and watching fireworks. I'd love to argue the national anthem, too. Up north, they have "O Canada," a patriotic anthem proclaiming their love for their country, and willingness to protect it. Pretty simple for a national anthem, anyone could imagine that. And what do we have? An account of seeing a damn flag during a war? What does THAT tell you? We're more obsessed with our own flag than we are with the country itself, maybe? Apparently "America, the Beautiful" isn't GOOD enough for anybody, is it? Yurg. Moving on... I have some new ideas for my comic. I would've done the return of Xiam and further events lately, but... ugh... I'm taking another road, I guess. I really don't want to get into what's been going on just yet, but... for now, I'll just tell you that we will meet two new characters, but lose many previously seen. It will also be much darker in tone, so... don't look for any lighthearted fun anymore. You bastards ruined that for me. I'm sick of trying to please people. (Comment on this)
Saturday, June 30th, 2007
10:49 am	Rant: I don't care about the iPhone. I feel like I'm betraying my fellow geeks, but... I really don't care about the iPhone. I mean, maybe it's because I don't really care much for Apple (I don't know why), or maybe it's because I don't really like phones all that much (even less, ones that do damn near everything like a combination Cellphone/Camera/Food Processor). Or maybe it's because I don't like things that are overhyped. I mean, people always go on and on about The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and I just see it for what it is. A game of the 1990's, which is now outdated. To be honest, A Link to the Past has held up a lot better than OoT. I also thought Napoleon Dynamite was shit. Though maybe it was because it was. But I was also hesitant about Pokémon, though now I'm a major geek for it (309 seen in my Diamond Dex). But I still say Napoleon Dynamite sucks. At any rate, I really don't see what the big deal is about the iPhone. For all I can tell, it's nothing more than a fancy PDA. Remember the PDA? They've been around for a while. I agree they should have a comeback because they're frickin' sweet, but... I've heard the iPod has a lot of faults, for something that should be a "Miracle Machine" of some kind. Let's face it, a lot of the iPhone's accessories are the same things you can do on a regular laptop. And better. And all for what, the ability to fit it in your pocket? Ooooh, THAT'S impressive. >_> Also... well... I've already said this with the PSP, but who the hell would want to watch anything on a tiny-ass screen like that? The best you can do with a small screen is handheld gaming. You want a real experience, use your DVD player at home, with surround sound and HD quality television. I have a normal TV and stereo, at best, but... still, it's better than a frickin' PSP. All I'm saying is... we can do better. And this is not a revolution, so stop acting like it. And to those of you who waited in line for that thing... what the hell is with you? Go get a regular cellphone. And save your money for... I don't know... A Wii and some games. Or donate the money to me so I can get 'em. Andy's been missing out on too much Wii. (Comment on this)
Thursday, May 24th, 2007
12:52 am	Pokémon Comic 7 In case you're wondering, that kid is not the same from the "New Pokémon" comic. You can tell by his outfit. In fact... while the other is the Youngster from Ruby and Sapphire, this one is from Diamond and Pearl. You can tell by his outfit. =P I almost didn't do this one - I'd sketched out what was to be the final comic, which I was gonna have done by yesterday, but... well, I saw how close I was to finish this, so I cleaned it up and... there ya go. For those who don't get it, this is making fun of losers who ask moronic questions to which the answer is obvious. People ask "Where do I find so-and-so?" when they can easily just find out by ASKING PEOPLE IN THE GAME. Seriously, why ask questions on a forum or in a chat when you can just... you know... talk to everybody and figure it out for yourself? It boggles the mind. As I've said before, I sketched out (and scanned) the last comic, which I should have at some point next week. Hopefully Monday, but don't put your hopes on it. All I know is, I wanna get over this storyline and play around with the Comic Blog some more. Easy Comics = Happy Andy. A tiny bit of news: For those who don't know, the season finale of Heroes was this past Monday. And it... was... AWESOME. I've heard from Wikipedia (via Jake) that the DVDs of Volume One (AKA Season One) come out on August 28th. The DVDs that aren't HD seem pretty cheap, relative to the awesomeness of the series as it is. I'm guessing there will be a Special Edition at some point, but the notes suggest commentary and behind-the-scenes stuff on these. So I dunno. But I must have it. (Comment on this)
Friday, May 18th, 2007
6:09 am	Pokémon Comic 6 I'm so sorry for the delay this week. I am so out of it. Mostly because of Pokémon, haaaaa. I could very well stop at 6, as a play on the maximum amount of Pokémon you can have in your party at any given time... but I think it would be lost on most of you. Besides, I've got one or two more things planned. At any rate, for those of you who don't get it... this is another forum-based comic, regarding people who are all "YATTA!" about the slightest accomplishment, as if it's some new discovery. The only reason why I placed myself in the spotlight as the person doing so is because I have the same feeling when people talk about them (i.e. spoilers), or battle me with Legendaries, thereby cheapening the entire feeling that I'm somehow alone on this journey. Just doesn't seem as fun, y'know? In bloggy life news: Nothing's going on whatsoever. Short of the fact that I may have lost another friend (surprise surprise), humanity is still one giant pain in the ass, and those who do don't piss me off just leave me anyway. So hey, just in case you still don't know why I'm doing these Pokémon comics... Xiam is symbolically doing the exact same thing I'm doing, by obsessing with Pokémon in order to get out of having to deal with all the shit that's going on. How will all this play out in the end? You'll just have to find out. In other news, HEROES SEASON FINALE ON MONDAY! To catch up in case you haven't, I suggest all of you stay home and watch the entire series. There's a marathon on Saturday, starting at 9 AM. And I think there are about 21 episodes, so um... get some coffee. And make some calls, tell everybody you're staying home with the Flu. Do it, dammit. It's a great show. And rounding back to Pokémon before the end... I have beaten the Elite Four some time ago, so yeah, you should expect me back on real comics soon. I'm currently working on the Battle Tower (a place which I have loathed for the past two generations, but am now trying to brave it the best I can), and I managed a bronze trophy. It's no gold, but it's a start. I have a great team, and I'm determined to AT LEAST beat the Tower Tycoon. That's the guy in charge, I guess. Kinda like the folks in the Battle Frontier in Emerald, who (like Gym Leaders) are the best in the location they hang out in. In the Battle Frontier, you got Symbols for beating them, but I'm not sure if you get anything for beating this guy. Even so, it'd be pretty sweet to have on my record. Well kids, it's past 6 here, so I'm gonna wrap it up. Enjoy the comic, and have a good day. I'm going to bed. (Comment on this)
Monday, May 7th, 2007
8:50 am	I'm pretty sure that even though that Electrike is incredibly weak (Xiam didn't even need Eevee to battle it in order to weaken it so he could catch it), I'm pretty sure Xiam just saved that kid's life. I doubt you can see it from here, but it had the look of murder in its eyes. I'd just like to say that I fully agree with my side-commentary. In my head, Eevee's "Vui~" is the cutest freakin' thing ever. So here we have the Youngster, voicing the whiny complaints every little purist goes through EVERY TIME A NEW GENERATION COMES OUT! I'm serious. Every time new games come out, some whack-job starts bitching about how "NINTENDO ARE RUNNING OUT OF IDEAS!!!!11111one" By the way, geniuses, Nintendo has no part in creating Pokémon. Ken Sugimori and the other folks at Creatures, Inc. (itself part of Game Freak, which does pretty much all of the major Pokémon games) do that. Not only do they complain about the new Pokémon (which are SUPPOSED to look bizarre at first, but as has been proven over and over again, people eventually warm up to), people start whining when the English names are revealed, mostly because these kids are too stupid to wait - no, they import the games, and memorize the Japanese names on all the guides they read because they don't understand the meaning of SUSPENSE. Nah, they want their spoilers upfront, and their Pokémon named in Japanese. Seriously, they complained that Piplup was renamed from "Pochama." Yes, it's a cute name, but they NEVER keep the original names for the starters! GEEZ, you'd think they'd get it by now. And yeah... I used to be one of these people... back when Gold and Silver were released, I thought a lot of the Pokémon were too "fancy," that they didn't even SEEM like Pokémon. But guess what? I got used to them, and I personally think Azumarill (a Pokémon first introduced within Gold and Silver) is one of the best Water-types available. And from then on, I never complained about new Pokémon. I originally planned to end this with Xiam having Electrike shock the hell out of the Youngster, but... well, I was lazy and I knew I wouldn't have the patience to edit six damn panels of this, so I left it at five and simply had him walk off. Why is Eevee out of her Poké Ball? Simply because I wanted to make her go "Vui." That's it. By the way, I dunno if you really care, but I did some MAJOR image recycling. I had drawn individual images of Eevee for each panel, but I was unhappy with them, so I went back through other comics for images of Eevee in the same position, and actualy took the middle panels' Eevee from the comic with Ninetales. Meanwhile, the other two were just the last Eevee I drew in this comic's raw, and I closed the mouth for her first appearance in this one. And covered her with my leg and bigass foot. Also, I should note that I actually thought about having him say "Let's go, Eevee" - without the caps, which is not found even in the new games. It would be a joke very few people got, though, implying that he in fact nicknamed his Eevee "Eevee." If you're confused, I've done my job well. One last proof of my geekiness: Check out that panel where Xiam catches the Electrike (Poké Ball added in is also from the Ninetales comic, BTW). I actually researched to make certain I was correct in my guess that the beams from the Poké Ball are different colors. I was. When catching a Pokémon, or calling one back to its Poké Ball, the light is red. When sending a Pokémon out of its Poké Ball, the light is white. The light is also white for evolution. Just a random note. (Comment on this)
Thursday, May 3rd, 2007
10:27 am	Pokémon Comic 4 If the font looks a little small in this one, it's because I was surprisingly cramped. I think I did something wrong. Even so, it's really cute. Mostly because the Bug Catcher there. Those kids have the weakest teams, I swear. At any rate... many of you may not get this comic, due to the fact that you probably do not frequent the Nsider forums (for Nintendo.com). Now, I love these folks, I really do, but... they really do make numerous pointless threads about the same topic. Geez, since Diamond and Pearl came out, there were constant trading threads - keep in mind, Friend Codes (which are used so people can connect directly via WiFi) are not allowed on Nsider (protective reasons, mostly), so they have either been going behind the Moderators' backs with PMs after MAKING A THREAD REQUESTING TRADES, or simply setting up something via the Global Trade Service, which (to make a long rant short) does not need Friend Codes, but trades cannot be assured to go to the two people involved, it's basically the equivalent of trading with the world. Anyway... a couple days ago, the folks at NOA decided to put a stop to these endless hoardes of GTS/WiFi Trading Topics, and then it generated an uproar of complaint topics. Which also were locked and deleted. Much to my dismay. No wait, not dismay. What's that word? Oh yes. PLEASURE! Again, the kids over there are nice, but... I mean, even if they ARE mostly children, they're being INCREDIBLY immature. I was NEVER that bad when I was 10, was I? Seriously, there's no pleasing them. They hear about the new games, and rather focus on the new region and the GLORIOUS return of the day/night cycle (the sun rises and sets depending on the time of day!), or the various other cool features, they have to focus on the Pokémon being too "weird," or their English names not being as good as the Japanese names (simply because they were stupid enough to memorize the Japanese names, a mistake I hadn't made since the days of G/S), and then when they heard there will be no random battles (a la Mario Kart DS's random multiplayer racing), they complained and hoped that for some reason, they'd change it and add that feature JUST FOR US AMERICANS. Seriously, how more arrogant can we get, huh? Oh, then there's the thing with the glitches. Y'see, there were glitches in the Japanese version, which allowed players to get what were supposed to be event-only Pokémon. But it could also screw up the game. Upon hearing of this, Nintendo made a patch for gamers to download. It is presumed (though I can't confirm this) that the patch was added to the American version, to keep the glitch from being abused. Gamers were upset, because they're too lazy to go to an event or find a friend who did. Just so you know, these special Event-only Pokémon are MEANINGLESS for the Pokédex, as you could have not a single one of them, and still have your Pokédex considered "complete." For those of you who know nothing about Pokémon, I am sorry if I just wasted your time. I had many ideas of what to put into their mouths, but originally I just went back to my first lines, which came from before the games came out, and everybody was discussing which starter (basically, the first Pokémon you get in the game) they'd start with. The topic became so annoying, I decided to do this comic to honor it. (And sooo many people pop up from time to time to ask to rate their Pokémon teams, despite rules SPECIFICALLY STATING to go into the designated official thread for it.) I hope you enjoyed the comic, and I'm sorry I'm mega-late, but... well, video games are more fun than stupid editing processes. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, April 24th, 2007
1:52 am	Pokémon Fancomic 3 The reason why Dawn looks so strange here, is because it's not Dawn. It's Michi in her wonderful new hairdo, dressed as Dawn just as I am dressed as Red. I wanted to do something with her and Ninetales, though the original thing was her having it use Attract to make my little Eevee infatuated with it, then to pull out to reveal Xiam infatuated with Michi. Common theme as always. But... that was gonna be too difficult to draw, plus it made no sense with my whole Pokémon theme, so I went with the "trying to catch another trainer's Pokémon" angle. For the record: you cannot catch another trainer's Pokémon. But yeah... Michi's into Pokémon too, and I'm into her (much to her dismay), so it's only natural that she shows up in one of these. I'm proud of how I did with the Pokéball, but not its path in Panel 3. Ninetales looks beautiful in Panel 1. And just so ya know, you're not missing much in Panels 1 and 2, since they're basically the same as 4 and 3, respectively. Now, I've been meaning to talk about my geeky weekend (or "Geekend"). Anybody who doesn't care about my rants can stop here, but anybody interested can keep going. It began with Friday, when I got to check out the last few episodes of Heroes to prepare me for yesterday (Monday), which was when the new episodes began. Then I watched Raines, which is always good. If you don't know what it is, I'm sick of explaining it, so go Wiki it. On Saturday, it was my sister's friends birthday, so they were doing their own thing, though I tagged along when they went with Jake to the movies. We saw Disturbia. I recommend it for a DVD rental, or a midday on a weekday. Seriously. Frickin' teens and tweens watching, and they were NOISY, cheering and shrieking at appropriate (or INAPPROPRIATE?) moments. One kid in front of us screamed like a little girl. He was a boy. Probably about 11. He also stood up and applauded at certain times, and I wanted to kick him in the face. It was good though, an apparent blend of Rear Window and The 'Burbs, and I sat through the whole thing without having to go to the bathroom. Which may have not otherwise happened if I gulped down the whole thing before the movie like I was about to before I stopped myself, haha. I got myself something (large Cherry Coke and Skittles), but my sister complained about how she could too if mom gave her money (my mom gave me money in case they wanted to see something else), so I offered to get her something too. I didn't go BACK to get it, if that's what it sounds like... I just got hers when I got mine, haha. I also checked the table, and presumably the lady's gonna talk to her manager about my application. I hope. I should probably call, but I hate phones, so I dunno. Sunday was good, too. Pokémon Diamond and Pearl was released, and I went uber-mega-early to pick it up. Jake didn't have the money to get Pearl, but he took me to get Diamond. I love it. I got the first badge on the first day (while a Futurama marathon played in the background), though I missed out on the second day to get the next badge because I was doing this stupid comic. Michi had better be happy I love her enough to do that, 'cuz I'm tired of comicking right now. Besides the comic stuff, Monday was great. New episodes have finally begun on Heroes, and it is AMAZING! As always. Not only that, my mom got me ice cream (Ben & Jerry's - can you guess? - Stephen Colbert's Americone Dream). It was frickin' delicious, and we downed it all. I scooped us out even bowls, yesh. Also, new episode of The Riches, which is always good. And so now, I finish my rant to go and get my next badge. Michi's brother's way ahead of me, and I can only be happy that she doesn't have the game yet and I can be ahead of her. ...For now. Stupid naps. >.>; (Comment on this)
Monday, April 16th, 2007
5:06 am	Pokémon Fancomic 2 YATTA!  I finally did a new comic!  This took about 2 weeks because I've been dragging my freakin' feet. You might not be able to tell, but I am INCREDIBLY proud of this one.  In part because I was playing with some new stuff in the beginning there (the characters are their FULL SIZE, pasted over into the frame), but also because I did VERY well with Mewtwo.  And as such, I present you this comic in GLORIOUS WIDESCREEN! It's mostly just because it's the only way I could've shown everything. A few small notes about the comic which I'd like to point out for the fun of it.  I'd drawn Eevee in both panels you see her, but I was not happy with the second drawing, so I copied and pasted.  As a side note because of the pronoun I used in that sentence, I'd like to state that yes, Eevee IS female, as was established in the first comic.  The gender of Xiam's Eevee originated with Tricia's words completely, as she pretty much said EXACTLY what her character says in that comic.  And I'd never really thought of what gender it would be (I mostly figured I'd leave it ambiguous, as there is nothing to visually define each gender for Eevee), but after she said it, I decided to just go with it.  I mean, why not, right? Color notes:  I doubt anybody of you will notice or even care, but the red of Xiam's Poké Ball matches the red of his hat, partly because I was lazy and because it fits better.  Meanwhile, the colors of the Cool Trainer's Master Ball originate from Mewtwo's tail and eyes.  And most of that Master Ball stuff was done in editing, the original ball I drew was just blank (like Xiam's). I originally drew the entire bodies for the top panels, but ultimately I decided that if I'm gonna split the panel like that (as I had planned from the beginning), I might as well separate for a reason.  Also, because the Cool Trainer had kinduva gay pose. And while we're on him... I'd just like to say for those who aren't Pokémon fans that the Cool Trainer is (gasp!) an actual type of trainer that you face in the games.  I had to play around with his outfit (mostly the shoes) since you only see him in a little sprite before and after battles, and since the hair changes depending on what games you're playing, but I think it turned out well.  The hair kinda resembles a certain character's scarf-wearing superhero alter-ego, though, doesn't it? One thing I'm kinda frustrated with: Mewtwo's legs.  The only way to give depth was to show its right leg raised.  But because of that, it looks like it has a limp.  Hm.  Maybe they were in a previous battle, I dunno. Another thing I should mention to those who aren't into Pokémon: Mewtwo is what they call an "Über."  In other words, it's an incredibly powerful Pokémon which takes very little effort to train to beat the pants off anything that comes around. It's also a Legendary (which explains the title).  Legendary Pokémon are (obviously) Pokémon to which legends are attached, often being very powerful, and overall, a one-shot Pokémon.  By which I mean, you can only get one chance to get it.  If you knock it out, you can't go find another.  You're screwed. As you can tell, I don't like the use of Legendaries or Übers.  I believe that use of Legendaries in serious battles ruins the fun and awe of encountering them within the games themselves, and use of Übers is basically a cheap action for those who are too lazy to train.  So nyah. As a last note, I'd like to say that this is actually based upon the third drawing of Xiam as Red that I've done, the first being two general prototype drawings - the second being the image you see with the "Goodbye Letter" prior to these comics, and the first having a redraw later on to become my sig for Nsider. You know you love it. (PS: I hope you all get that Xiam's pointing at the Cool Trainer, not Mewtwo. 2D doesn't always work how I'd like.) (Comment on this)
Thursday, April 12th, 2007
4:54 pm	M'kay, so I saw on Yahoo! News that by 2008, NASA will start a search for planets that might have life on them. They're hoping for ADVANCED life. Now, I don't know if this has anything to do with the Global Warming thing, or maybe the population problem, but I do get the feeling that we have almost LOCUST intentions for any inhabitable planets. And if there is any advanced civillizations out there, they'll know it. They WILL ask questions. And we WILL have to explain to these foreign beings why they should befriend us, when we can't even be friendly towards our own species. Or any other species on our planet. Think about it. To all other creatures on our planet, we try to tame or place in zoos or aquariums - the intelligent ones, we have perform tricks just so we'll feed them. To our own species, we descriminate... we fight... we make war... we KILL. All because of (SURPRISE) our xenophobia - fear of anybody who's in any way different from ourselves. That's gonna go over SO well with the others out there in the galaxy, right? My biggest hangup with us going out there, will be that they will see us, and think we are INCREDIBLY hostile, and possibly a threat to all other civillizations. And they will either place some kind of embargo upon us, banning other societies from communicating and/or trading with us, or they will outright DESTROY us to protect the galaxy - nay, the UNIVERSE - from any of our oppressive bullshit. Because if we're going to be viewed as anything USEFUL to the extraterrestrial societies, we've got ot get past a LOT of our own issues. Aside from the obvious "don't kill people," we've got this twisted need to change everybody to be just like us. I'm sure part of it will have to do with clothing and politics, when we reach these galactic thinkers, but there is one point that scares me even more. Religion. Y'see... I'm pretty sure no alien gives a shit about Buddha, Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, or any of those people. These men were humans after all. The extraterrestrials, of course, are not. And any "pearls of wisdom" we may have could very well be KINDERGARTEN knowledge to these people. And given that we don't even LISTEN to our religious founders, and do the exact opposite of what they say (think Ten Commandments vs. murdering, stealing, and adultery), I don't think these folks are really going to take what we have to say seriously. Who cares if they're not gonna be saved? By their logic, neither will you. And for all we know, their religion may already have a "Savior," or perhaps they already have a form of Buddhism. Or maybe, just maybe, their society is filled with Atheists. I'm not saying some won't fall into the religious propaganda, and we might see some Grey with a crucifix, but I do think the majority of them will be smarter. And will probably turn their faces in disgust at our naïve superstitions, or our egotistical pride, thinking that somehow WE know what's best for everyone else. Because we do think so. I hate to bring up current events, but... our actions in Iraq prove it. And I think that if we DO find other civillizations, we're gonna hafta start learning to cooperate. We'll have to accept that they have their own names for stars and planets, of their own and OURS. And we will have to find an agreement. For instance, all locations near ourselves will probably be interestellarly named for how we call them, and all locations close to them will be interstellarly named for how THEY call them. If our languages clash and we are unable to pronounce their words, or they are unable to pronounce ours, we can simply agree to disagree, or try to the best of our abilities. But we WILL have to agree amongst our own species on what to call everything. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune (yes, I'm leaving off Pluto). Do we want to agree on this, or do we have something better? And as for the Sun. That seems rather... well, odd. We're acting as if no other system has suns. Or that ours is a SUN, rather than a STAR. We'd have to go with the obvious choise, and call it Sol, correct? At least now it's not "The Beaver" of stars. Also, "Sol" will fit better with the "Solar System." Which we are a part of. Wowww, isn't it wonderful how we work? And the moon will have to get a real name. We can again go back to older language, and place the name Luna upon it. It seems to fit, no? And from there, we can possibly stop calling the Earth "THE EARTH," and maybe just go with Earth. Or Gaia. Or, if we still feel rather prideful about how we're living on land... Terra. All I'm saying is, we need to keep our minds open for the possibility that the universe doesn't revolve around us. We are not the greatest beings. And we probably never will be. And y'know what? Even if there are civillizations out there, they may just not care about us. They may actually AVOID us, and possibly expect us to either get our act together, or ultimately destroy each other. Because as it stands now... at least for Earth, we ARE still on top. And when you're on top, and have no natural enemies, you still have one enemy to deal with. Yourself. And war isn't getting us anywhere but a step closer to extinction. So to sum up, Terrans, if we wish to be taken seriously... we should probably stop acting like jackasses. Remember, you can't spell "humane" without "human," so try acting like we're supposed to, or I'll wish you a happy Extinction. By our hands or theirs, it doesn't matter in the long run. Either way... we have two choices. Shape up, or be vaporized. (Comment on this)