5/5/03 "I was abducted by ninjas...seriously."

Shadowlark Symphony: Page 4- 13

Shadowlark Symphony: Page 4- 14

It's about time I came back. I took a bit of a vacation over April, and just plum forgot to tell anyone. The problem of the site bandwidth is still ever-present, and I am not getting much help from my host... A few solutions have presented themselves, but not all of them are appealing to me for various reasons:

For example; switching to a pay site. There are all kinds of reasons I dont realy want to do this, not the least of which is the fact that PW has a number of fans who might not be able (or willing) to view the site under this condition. Switching hosts is a possibility in other ways as well, but this is the first problem I have ever had with our current host, and we are given ALOT of leeway from him we wouldnt get from most people. The other issue at hand is the matter of images being hosted directly off the site- if there is an image you want to use on PW; ask us first please, and then save the image somewhere local - too many people have not been able to access the site, and alot of it is because of needless bandwidth waste.

Im also looking into setting up either ads or banners to help with the burden of the site's increasing bandwith. Ick.

<looks at the novel he is writing> On a more positive note; Im going to start a remodel process for the site to clear up a few issues, get things updated and current, and hopefully take care of a few other issues while Im at it.

Sorry im in a bad way right now guys. Second year is proving to be alot of work ^_^.

"It's easy to be good when you have no motivation for evil." -Icymasamune

 

-04/15/03

Shadowlark Symphony: page 4 - 12

Shadowlark Symphony: chapter 4 cover

My lack of time is getting out of hand. Gimmie till the end of this month and I will try to have everything back to normal ^_^.

-04/08/03

Shadowlark Symphony: page 4 - 11

Uhg. Been sick....

"It's not fair that beauty gets to be on the inside too! Why can't personality be on the outside too?"-Icymasamune

-04/03/03 (Nooo chipoodle! Nooooooo!)

We thought a long time about how far to take the April fool's joke...then we decided to go a bit farther...then we just kinda forgot to stop ^^. Ain't we funny?

Alas, we have translated these into english for you:

SS: Otherside of the Coin - #8,9 &10

Another note on our bandwidth problems; if anyone is using images directly off the site - I ask that you save them to your own site or find another way to host them...apparently that's one of the biggest problems that the site is having. Honestly though, I am still kinda in the dark on what, exactly, the problem is right now <sigh> it's a bit fustrating for everyone, and I know alot of readers have lost interest as a result of the problems (I don't realy blame them), but hopefully everything will be ironed out and they can come back =^.^=.

"I am the King of Vanity!!" -Icymasamune

-3/21/03

Shadowlark Symphony: page 4-7

Today I got to pee into a cup and then replace the little card that proves I exist! Wai, what fun!!! It's the little things that make life worth living.

I'm still going through emails I got over the last two weeks, so the cleaning of the links page is gonna be held off a bit (there are quite a few modifications I need to do, I may even have to change the format again...).

"Most of my plans end with 'it seemed like a good idea at the time'"

-3/19/03(out of a puff of smoke does he appear...)

Poisonwind Inc. part 3

New Fanart (Ya gotta see Zelly-chan's ^_^)

Fixed some typos...SOME o.O. Next update (tomorrow-ish?) will be more Shadowlark - finally - and I will post some of my new material for the encyclopedia, as well as update the links page. Promise ^^.

I suppose I went on vacation and forgot to tell anyone... Truth is, I had other things on my mind, and had to work out some stuff before I could devote time and energy back to what is really important. Anyways, all better now - and I can get back to what I was doing (assuming I remember how).

On a lighter note - I was playing Anarchy Online again...it's quite a bit better than when I first played it, but still has the basic flaw of being UNCONSTRUCTIVE! It's a conspiracy by the vedio game manufacturers to exploit my weakness for the drug they call entertainment, and keep me from working on the site; "Let's send him a free month to retry the game! Yeah, then he's gonna be all 'I have to use my free month, or it will be wasted!', it's brilliant I tells ya!". So, if you run into Icymasamune on Rubi-ka One, make sure to brow beat me into getting back to work, think of it as tuff love.

"Super-panty-shot-attaaaaaaaaaack!!"

-03/12/03

Sorry about this guys - the site is being move from one machine to another at our webhost, so Thursday the site will be down. All the backlog will be up over the weekend.

-03/05/03

Poisonwind Inc. part 2

Sleep..yes. Must start doing that again o.O. More color images, and comic pages to come (color comics arn't spoiling you guys are they?).

-03/03/03 (all threes? wierd)

Poisonwind Inc. part 1

Fanart From Me: Nesshin (yeah - it's for another site, but I'm proud of it).

Ok. Apparently I think I can color now..weeeeeeee. Actualy - it's about time I worked at improving my CG skills - I mean, I work on a computer for this website, I might as well figure out how to use it properly for art stuff eh?

I was mildly agitated all month last month. Things kinda got...fustrating for a bit, but I am lucky enough to have friends who help out more than they realy should. Anyways, anger and fustration bring the imp out - and I don't particularly like my own attitude when I'm fustrated (I like being my silly, happy self). So hopefully this month will make up for the last one.

-02/27/03

New work in progress cover!! (wai wai!!) The old one is now in image archives.

Simon + Genhe (snuggles ^^).

Ta-da. New cover work in progress. As I said before - the soulset was neat, but just not realy our style (someone might have come to the site expecting Comic Noir or something). In case you didn't get a chance, take a look at the designs I had last update and let me know on the forums what you guys want to see for new design works - most of these are things we are going to make into T-shirts for the site..yeah, kinda sweeps month I guess.

I have the first page of the Meushi comic inked - but I'm doing them in color, so it's gonna be a bit longer before it's up.

"If I had to choose between skill and talent, I'd take a muffin."

-02/25/03 (Insert witty comment here)

Shadowlark Symphony: page 4-6

Almost about time for some spring cleaning for the site...havn't a clue where to start. But I do think it's about time for a new coverpage. The soulset image is neat..but just seems to Shadowlarky to be the site cover (I mean c'mon, I may write Shadowlark, but anyone can tell you that I'm a cheesey cornball). So Meushi needs to take over the cover again. Moo.

Two new images being worked on (both are ideas I want to use for shirts).

Project: Through the Neko's Looking Glass

Project: Knight and Mage.

-02/21/03

Shadowlark Symphony: page 4-5

Well, I figured that was about as much of the snake you guys were going to take ^^. Why does everyone think I'm going to kill Edge...soon. I mean, I FINALY have an idea of some kind of depth for the character and then it's all "boo-hoo, Edge is talking to a shadowcaster, he's gonna die" or "It's Graves! he's so gonna get him!!" or "Didja hear that! he's got a family! I bet he's close to retirement also!". Maybe, just maybe, he might live...for a bit.

 

-02/19/03

Shadowlark Symphony: page 4 - 4

Sorry about the wierd week so far - late update (I don't even have a good excuse this time: there are three pages of Meushi comic that just need to be inked, along with a slew of Dark Neko...they are all in a box around here somwhere). And then the two days the site was all wonkey o.O.

Is anyone getting sick of the Valentine's background? TO BAD!!! ha ha ha ha. <snuggles the pink snake and nods his head while it whispers the secrets of the universe to him> yessssssssssssssss. Master....

-02/14/03

Happy Valentine's!!

Wow. Poisonwind is one year old this month. Y'know, I still can't get over all the great support and encouragement we have gotten from our readers. Great sites like PCC, NekoExpress, Fantasy Final Saviors, Elemental Fate, and our close buddy at Orange Rocks. Most of the success we have enjoyed this year came as much from the people who believed in us as our own work (which was usually late or behind schedule anyways). According to my files - the first comic posting on PW came at 1/17/02. But the first official format (reformat?) was done on Valentine's day. It's poetic I think that Meushi can share her birthday with Valentine's day.

-02/11/03

Shadowlark Symphony: page 4-3

Elemental Fate is going to be updating regularly again (Seph promised me!) make sure you all go and push him around so he keeps with it!

-02/10/03 (I'm never letting MP do anniversary pictures again...EVER)

Shadowlark Symphony: page 4-2

Despite the misconception you may have gotten from my sleep-deprived and mentaly disturbed partner - we are not changing formats to hentai porn...yet.

We got reviewed! <dances in little circles> It's so nice that everyone is so supportive of us - gives me warm fuzzies ^_^. If you want to take a look at the review, you can see it here.

Oh, and in case no one saw them before: Grim sent us these :D

CUTE!!

"why do I look so proud?"

 

-01/31/03(egads!? what's up with Icy actualy WORKING on comics so much?!)

Shadowlark Symphony: page 4-1

Well now, time to start on a new chapter: "Other Side of the Coin". I havn't decided what I want to use as a cover yet..but it has to take a back seat for a couple of days so I can finish the Omake you guys earbed for your donations (thanks again guys ^_^ we wuv u awww!!). Resseting the donation counter.

-01/30/03

Shadowlark Symphony: page 3-26

Before anyone gets too excited; this is all Spaces' fault. We were both up around the same time and it somehow turned into a race to see who could get thier page done first. Now, Spaces does her comic in color, and to be fair, I had to do the same. Don't you guys go expecting this now.

-01/29/03 (consistancy in updates?!? what's wrong with me!?)

Shadowlark Symphony: page 3-25

I want everyone to either thank/blame Tae Bee for the torment you are going to end up suffering at the hands of Simon Midori. Part of Simon comes from the over-characterization we use in Dark Neko. And part of it comes from the demented people I hang out with in my free time (Tae Bee, Mutant Penguin, and a few others that note play a large roll in just how demented I wound up making the good Doctor).

For those of you confused, and this was all my fault realy, there was two pages to the prologue. If you go to the comic archives page, you pull up both of them now.

"I seem to have misplaced my 'I Don't Cares', can I give you a rain check?"

-01/28/03

What happens when you post updates at 4 in the morning? Well, for starters; you confuse 'epilogue' and 'prologue'.

"It's not that I condone murder; I just don't believe in the senseless pursuit of life." -Icymasamune

-01/27/03

Shadowlark Symphony: page 3-24

Shadowlark Symphony: prologue

And so we have some new pages. I have been pretty busy trying to do pages for our sumbissions (did em the wrong resolution...have to redo alot of the work). We finaly have an epilogue for everyone - short but sweet ^_^.

"I need my head. It's where I keep my hat."

-01/22/03(I feel pretty, oh so pretty!)

Sorry about the lack of pages so far; most of my time this week has been on a submission to a new manga compilation coming out (wootage, more on this later). I I'll try and post some of what I have been working on tomarrow - something to thank you guys for your patience.

Mostly we have been fixing up the site - there have been quite a few bugs popping up (MP has been a big help in getting rid of most of our broken link issues). I also fixed up some of the problems with site links and fanart. Honestly though, I think I may have lost some of the fanart that was sent us (my email account got maxed out and I think some files may have been dumped). If you sent us images that havn't been added, let me know - and we can see about correcting the problem.

So many great artists out there ^_^. Like Aido - Everyone should be a pal and check out this site, great artwork and an interesting comic ('Fallen').

"If everyone was half as smart as they are ugly, you would be quite the ladies man."

 

-1/15/03

Shadowlark Symphony: page 3-23

Page up, Icy tired. Snooooooooooooooooooooore.

-1/14/03

Shadowlark Symphony: page 3-21

Shadowlark Symphony: page 3-22

Ah, taking me a bit longer to ink all these than I thought. Busy Weekend for me ^^. The Dark Neko drafts should be finished this week, but I want to stay on schedule for the Shadowlark pages now that I have my momentum going. The closing of 'Playing Games' should be around page 25 or so (this looks like it is going to be the standard length for most chapters...consistancy always makes things easier on me). After the close of Playing Games I might have to move onto something a little different rather than just continue following the Travelers - I'm thinking a little flashback chapter on Sakura might be in order: alot of her past has popped up in the comic, and it's about time I answered some questions.

I'm also way past due for some more dojo episodes...I'll have to focus on that a bit as well.

-1/09/03

Shadowlark Symphony: page 3-20

Not much to report other than another page going up. But I am going to be away from the computer over the weekend, so the third page will be going up along with the first page for next week (along with some more draft pages for Dark Neko.

I'm attempting to make the pages a little more dynamic, more often. The overall effect reads a little better, I think. Skyfall and various manga I have been reading of late (mostly Angelic Layer and Ragnorok) have been going along ways towards helping me work out how to do this, though I have a bit of a concern that it may make the pages hard to follow for some readers...it's not much like typical strip comics or American styles - everything bleeds together with weaker boarders.

-1/06/03

Shadowlark Symphony: page 3-19

We have page 19 of Playing Games...I think the pages that I add more detail on the inkwork rather than the CG tend to look, idunno, more 'manga'. Anyways, the new page and the new coverart for the site are two of my favorite works I've done recently (although Simon's upside-down breasts was a notable accomplishment).

On other notes: wow. I guess you guys realy DID want a donation sustem, If this keeps up, I'm gonna have to do extra omake for you guys the first month of donations ^_^. So far there is quite a bit of interest in a Meushi comic, and some votes for a 'Girls of Poisonwind' pinup. This is a conspiracy to make me draw up some fanservice.

-1/02/03

Shadowlark Symphony: page 3-18

Oh yeah. 2003. ^^. I hope everyone made some kinda ridiculous new year's resolution. It builds character. There have already been a few donations for the site - but none of them have had any indication of what they want for the month's bonus. If you don't specify what you want, we are just gonna count it as votes to get Meushi her own comic ^_^. She might like that <Icy laughs wildly at the idea of an entire comic of Meushi in cosplay outfits>.

Comic-wise; we have another page of Shadowlark today, but it looks like some of my older links and stuff might be broken..it seems like I end up spending as much time fixing links as I do working on comics. I must a:) be the worst html programer on the face of the planet (a distinct possiblility), or b:) the purple girraffes are getting their revenge for lives of servitude.

On other notes: go visit Spaces and say "Hi" for us. She hasn't been as carefree lately, and I think she could use some cheer. Make sure you pester her about starting up a radio-play again. The world needs more radio plays, and no one does them anymore.

-12/24/02

Trying to stay busy. I'll post all of this week's pages on Friday, along with an extra large rant. ^^ Enjoy the holiday.

-12/22/02

Ok, usualy I don't update over the weekend - this is the time I use to work on little tidbits for maintaining some kind of working order to the site - but there is something I need to do, and working on fanart and the links page reminded me of it: You all need to read Kagerou. This is easily one of the most inventive and captivating webcomics I have ever found, and I feel bad in a way you cannot understand for not plugging it sooner. Kagerou is simply amazing; one of the best stories I have ever read even if it wasn't accompanied by spectacular artwork and visuals.

-12/20/02

Shadowlark Symphony page 3-17

Guess what guys! Page 17 is up and running on Shadowlark Symphony. And I'm sure you guys noticed a few things about the next change in layout: the pull down options have been replaced by links leading directly to pages dedicated to each story (some new artwork is in order I think), and there is a new way to support us <cough fundraising cough>.

The Paypal option is being set up for accepting donations: if we make our donation goal in a month there will be a bonus on the site on top of the three a week - the bonus is either a wallpaper, a graphic, or a bonus comic. Each time money is donated you have the option of leaving a note; using this you can vote for what you would like to see for the bonus (the votes are based on how much money each option raises, and there is nothing saying you can't split up your voting). Ok, I think that's just about enough self-serving for one post ^^.

The image we are using for the holiday/new year is a lower resolution pic I made as a greeting card for some of my family and friends (mostly those of you who have been a big help to Poisonwind ^^ thank you guys). Uh..if you didn't get one, please don't get offended, I only sent out a handful.

-12/18/02

Sort of an unusual update today. First of all - the fanart is being delayed; I wanted to get some work done on Dark Neko while we have personal access to the writer, and the Fanart stuff is kind of a train wreck right now...I will be posting all of the stuff we have been sent, but it's just taking me a while. This brings me to a point that was made a while ago on the forums:

There was a suggestion that I set up a Paypal system on the site for donations - I personaly would rather people recieve something tangible for their money, so I opted more for the idea of merchandise. The problem is that some people (most by the sounds of it) would rather donate a dollar or so on something they got enjoyment out of than spend twenty dollars when the site itself only recieves a fraction of that ammount. Due to the number of people that expressed this exact statement to me, I think I need to come up with a donation/rewards system for the site, and I just may have an idea along the lines of a bonus comic or artwork.

Anywho. Three 'draft' pages of Dark Neko have been posted; as I complete pages this is how I will be posting them until Mutant Penguin can get a chance to color and clean each page. MP is a busy guy, so please understand that he will do his part when he gets a chance, please don't send him threatening emails or anything..it's not nice, and he works hard enough to put up with my crap ^^. The draft pages are like the intermediate stage after I ink them, so you can also see kind of what the art looks like when I send it to MP on the larger projects (no one is falling for this are they?). I also have been revamping the encyclopedia - have some fun looking up..not nearly as much information as should be posted at this point (here we are, almost at the one-year anniversary of the site,a nd Im still working out kinks in my own system...arn't I a goober?).

-12/13/02 (oooh, Friday the thirteenth..I'm so scared I have lost all bowel control...no realy, it sucks).

Page sixteen!!! WAI, am I on a roll this week or what!? Y'know, I don't think many people realy noticed that Grave's jacket has always had a hood...seriously, it's part of the whole 'angel of death' thing I'm going for with him. All of the fanart I have yet to put up is still on track for monday, The size of the fanart selection we have is a bit more than I ever would have thought we would get (but we do like to show off our fanart ^^).

Another web note: most of you know how much Mutant Penguin and myself love oddity and silly humor - that stuff is like crack for us (or wahtever is like crack to a penguin..I never realy bothered to ask). Sometimes I get a wild hair and decide to go browsing for other websites; this last time I took a note from everyone's aspiring manga artist (Kokayi) and checked out site he recommended. The target of that recomendation is this. If you are one of those people that doesn't like stupid humor, insults about otaku, and gender-bending fun...don't go, but if your sense of humor is like mine, you should get a kick out of it ^_^.

There are some new comics coming before the end of the year; gifts for you guys. Tae Bee is back in town for the hollidays, so she is going to grace us with her lovely pressence and help MP and I work on some Dark Neko (everyone cheer, you know you want to ^^). The second bonus....well...I think some of you may like it.

-12/11/02

Ok, we have a page fifteen. I'm going to try and get the two image archives updated by Friday's update. I don't have anything other from the comic to show you guys - but we have a guest chibi!

Special thanks to Katherine World for her Psyte chibi ^_^. Sooo cuuuuuuuuuuutttttttttttte!

Another add-on note: the basic work on the Poisonwind stores has been finished. Keep sending me ideas on what you guys want, so I can put more stuff together. Most everyhting is just T-shirts for now, but I will start working on other products after I have done two more T-shirt designs :P.

-12/10/02

Page fourteen. Whatever it was I had been meaning to bring up has eluded me all week. Brain is pudding.

Just like when I was trying to figure out the links page - I'm rearranging things for the two image archives (fanart and PW images). The difference is that I have a better conception of what I think I am going to do - so this time it shouldn't take a month for me to do it....or it may. Who knows ^^. I want to assure everyone that there will be more Dark Neko - quite a few folks have asked, and yes- there is a great deal more to come. We just happen to be a bit slow on that one ):.

-Quick add-on. Did a little pic for Aries Arms...enjoy!

-12/5/02

Page thirteen- wootage. Uh, so I was going to have something interesting to talk about...but watching more Excell Saga has distroyed my brain for the evening. It does that.....hmmm <drool>.

-12/4/02

A short intermision in the story for you guys. I know you were just dying to know how she was handling things ^^

-12/3/02

Why a day late? Well, at aikido last night I attempted to prove that my right ankle is double-jointed. For future reference...it's not. I have some fanart to post - but that is going to wait a bit: the links page got updated, but I am only going to use a simple format for the time being. Page 11 and some new links have been posted, check em out ^^.

I ditched the voting box and link to the funny papers...I dunno, it just seems like it's taking up space - I don't have anything against those lists, but I would rather be connected through actual communities of artists and comics that we respect, and link exchanges. <shrugs> I don't wanna sound presumptious or anything, but I noticed most sites, including our own, get most of their refferals through link exchanges.

-11/29/02

....Well, I had an excuse for being lax for about a week; after that - the blame rests entirely on myself and PSO. I had the origional versions, and I still played it up until the point that the new one came out for the Game Cube (why on earth is Nintendo not releasing the adapter for broadband?!?) Anyways, I got sucked in all over again. Video games are especialy bad for me I guess..

As an apology, I have two pages of 'Playing Games'. [with any luck there won't be any emails pointing out that I'm, like, four pages behind on the schedule after last week. Ouchies]. This also marks the point where you guys get to see some of the capabilities of the two 'non-active' party members (why does everyone think Genhe is supposed to be a combat character?).

-11/18/02

I think I've watched those two episodes of FLCL like thirty times...and it just keeps getting more funny. Send help.Page 8 is more of just a single pannel. For those of you who have not been able to get into the third episode of Shadowlark Symphony - there is now a link to it on the comics page (have fun getting to read it all at once - you guys are so lucky ^^).

-11/15/02

Amongst my other bizzare flaws; I've noticed I have a wierd obsession with Director commentaries. FLCL was outstanding in it's own rights (from what I have seen so far, I think it's going to be one of my favorites - I love silliness and bizzare stories that are done well), but I was excited on an unhealthy level when I saw there was a Director's commentary on the disk. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

Watching something I enjoyed so much was neccissary today though. If you work for the post office; stop reading, Now - just read the comic and pretend I didn't write anything more here........Ok. I have decided the world would be better off if we just elliminated the post office all together - it's retarded, could be handled better another way, and there never seems to be anyone willing to actualy WORK there. Not only does it turn out I DON'T EXIST according to the post office (and that's just wierd considering my name is clearly on my lease on the appartment, and I have pretty precice memories of getting mail up until three months ago), but apparently no one has any interest in giving me information on how I can solve the problem or go about claiming the mail they have at the main branch. I talked to three seperate supervisors in my hopeless attempt to try and get the problem solved in one day - none of them wanted to talk to me, and they all treated me like total crap. To summerize: screw the United States Postal Service...the bastards.

As for comic goodness: I posted the newest Icy's Dojo - a two-pager on spell casting.

-11/14/02

It's not that I forgot about the site or anything - I was just practicing my ninja invisibility. I have a big update tonight folks: fanart, some minor changes to the site (more of my slow remodel), a new page of Playing Games, and a two-page Icymasamune's Dojo omake feature a guest appearance from Skyfall Manga will be soon on it's way (I'm kinda being slow today - Mutant Penguin made the mistake of lending me CLAMP comics and a DVD of FLCL, so my inspiration to work is somewhat dampened by my deep-rooted need to ooggle over life's simple pleasures of anime and manga).

I have a number of designs I have been toying with for a logo for Poisonwind - and one thing I always like was the idea of the 'Toxic Roger'. Kind of a mix between Mr.Yukk and the Jolly Roger. Variations of this will start being used as a central logo for the site....or whenever I just want to doodle skulls.

-11/6/02

Page 6 of playing games - it's about time Psyte started acting like the main character. I'm still trying to put together merchandise for the store; if any of you have ideas or requests on what you would like to see, let me know. remember that any support we get for the site could save a space girraffe's life.

-11/4/02

To start with - Page 5 is up for 'Playing Games'. Hopefully I can get some material finished for the Poisonwind shop. With any luck I can put together five updates this week like the last (wouldn't that be a nice change of pace right?).

-10/31/02

Happy Halloween!!! WAI WAI! I posted the fourth page of Playing Games - I am also currently working on setting up some more merchandise for the Poisonwind store (I'll set it all up soon and then notify you guys when it is up and running). The Nice is running a Holoween special - make sure you guys go and visit it.

I love Halloween; it's like a cosplay holiday.

-10/30/02

On page 3 I reformated the comic page to a larger size - the new font we are using for the comics needs a bit more space so it doesn't look so cramped. Usualy we shrink the pages down a bit before we post them anyways - so this might work out better all around. Sakura is sort of taking over the comic...right now she IS just about the only hero with combat skills, so she tends to gravitate to the center of the story during dangerous encounters.

After a day of bumbling around; I was able to get 'The Nice' picture box up and running. Which brings us to some other matters that MP and I have been going over. The site seems to be standing on it's legs now and we have been thinking about finding some way to have the site pay for itself: of course there are a few ways we can go about this. We could set up paypal, and the idea of merchandise is always kinda neat, but there is also the prospect of trying to find sponsors.

MP and I both hate pop-ups with a passion; but I would like to see the site operate without trying to extort money from our readers. On this note, I think I am going to try and look into setting up goodies for people to purchase should something catch their eye, and possibly set up the top of the site to have banners. If any of you have any comments, suggestions, or critisism on this note - MP and I would love to see a discussion on it at the forum. As always we appreciate all of your support ad interest.

-10/29/02 (Posting early today)

Page 2 of Playing games is runnin'. I'm going through some material I plan on using for the link page remodel - and I found two sites on my list: Skyfall and Satunalia. I want all of you to go and visit these fine folks and drool over the artwork. Seriously. Now. Then you can come back and read the new page. Go vote for your favorite main character on the forums; it makes them feel loved.

Yes, I am going to keep those as the chibis untill the Haloween season is over. Yay! Haloween!!<sits and stews in warm fuzzies>.

-10/28/02

Okay, so we have the first page from 'Playing Games' - I don't realy think it turned out as spiffy as some of the later pages...but we are just gonna have to see what you guys think.

I'm sure all of you noticed the next big change on the site: The cover page (don't everyone pass out from sheer joy all at once! deep breaths, c'mon) If you came to the site from a direct link to /Index then you didn't spot the cover page, but it's there as the home page for the site. The cover page was simply put up so people would know that the current site layout I'm working on is best viewed at 1024x768. The extra space makes it easier to work with the page designs.

-10/27/02 (...still)

It feels good to be in the chibi-making business again. I changed the link for the forum to the new forum site we have started trying to move everyone over to; you can visit the old forum here and I will wait for a while before I shut it down. I also posted the cover for the third chapter of Shadowlark ("Playing Games").

-10/27/02

Who's happy to see me again? C'mon I wanna see a show of hands ^_^. Over the next couple of updates I am going to start remodeling the site - it's about time I livened things up after being away for so long. For those of you who are die-hard penguin fans; worry not, MP will continue doing updates on his own as well - and between the two of us there should be a more regular (or at least often) schedule.

Over the time I was gone I got quite a few link requests and other material for the site. Along with the site remodel, I am going to start making good on some of these.

Gainax are bastards. Watch the final movie of Evangelion and you too will be convinced that they are sadistic and without an ounce of sanity. I even had a dream that I woke up with a three hundred foot HALF OF A HEAD outside my window thanks to that retarded movie....ugh.

-8/15/02

For those of you who haven't heard yet - my computer died. There was smoke and everything, it sucked. Anyways; Mutant Penguin will be taking over the posting duties until I get a new computer, so this is the last you are going to hear from me for a little bit. Anyways, sorry again guys, and hopefully MP doesn't make too much of a mess (I have faith in him.). This also means I won't be able to post fanart or be too good at setting up links and whatnot (please be easy on the e-mails guys).

Oh yeah - My post about Hellsing? I'm glad so many people sent me a response on it (most understood my point of view) and I DO have every intention of giving it another shot (I thought that was somewaht implied in the post). I just don't like vampires is all. The only negative response from the post was a particular cat girl who apparently thought that a difference of oppinion means a personal attack at her....yeah - I should be used to her vindictive personality towards me <shrug> oh well.

-8/9/02

Page 6 is up. I know I said I was using inks for flashbacks and dreams - but I LOVE working with inks and pencils over CG, so I think I'm just going to start using the two together like in the page for today ^^.

Anyways - I purchased the first volume of Hellsing - 'cause it's popular so I figured there had to be something cool about it...

First of all, vampires bore me - it's the single most overused supernatural element, and they are one of the least interesting kinds of monster. Plus, they are always portrayed in more or less the same exact way in everything they appear in. Hellsing was no different - the predictable 'noble vampire' character is fighting against a mass of lesser undead to protect his human wards and a woman who he takes pity on and makes a vampire. It's kind of like plot-by-numbers ("a vampire story! This crap writes itself!! woo-hoo!!"). Not that there aren't ways of making vampires interesting - it's just that no one seems to want to break the mold. <Sigh> I DID like two of the characters in Hellsing, and some of the animation wasn't that bad. Most of the characters (like the vampire hero and the newly created vampire woman) were WAY basic and not all that interesting. In short - this isn't a show I would recommend to anyone - but it looks like it could get better...especially if Victoria dies a horribly gruesome death for being such a watered down namby-pamby bleeding heart (excuse the pun).

-8/6/02

IM BACK!!! Yay! C'mon, who missed me? The comicon turned out to be quite the experience - those of you who read MP's post on the forum already got a hint of what happened - it turned out to be quite entertaining ^^. Enough about the con - on to more things you guys will be interested in ^_-.

I put up a new panel - and there are two new images in the archives (one of Sakura and one of Meushi). I started working with inks again - something I turned away from for a while due to lack of materials; I figured as long as I was working on it I would start doing dreams and flashbacks in inks rather than CG - it just looks more appropriate.

I have a quote...sort of, today: at the con MP and I were using little stickers of the Poisonwind chibis as business card thingies. Weeeeeeeell; we started to run low one of the days and a girl wearing bunny ears (the bunny ears are incredibly important for the anecdote) sifted through the little pile and declared "need more stickers". Now, those of you that realize what a deprived and oddball I can be know I have an unhealthy fetish for the Power Puff Girls - now, those of you who have ever watched the show may recall an episode were the girls were dressed up as various other characters, and Bubbles (wearing a bunny suit) tried to defeat a monster by smacking stickers on it ("need...more...stickers!!"). I was entertained for like an hour afterwards.

-7/29/02

Issac got his own page in the Encyclopedia, but I got sad news. With the comic con I will be away from the site until I come back on the fifth. Till then - seeya all later.

-7/26/02

Page Four is up and runnin' plus I have made some more characters available on the Encyclopedia. I'm also still having some problems with my site on certain web browsers....arrg.. If the drop down menus give your web browsers problems, there is now an alternate list on the comics page that should be mroe reliable ^^.

You know...Riggs doesn't get nearly enough attention.

-7/24/02

Yeah, um, Iv'e been pretty bad about putting up chibis and quotes - I need to sit and make a stockpile of both that I can use later. Anyways - Page three of the new chapter is up.

A few minor notes: The Commander has two colors in her eyes - this is intentional (one is silver the other is gold), and she has no pupil - creepy aint it? Also, I think Edge is stealing his wardrobe from a friend of mine...

-7/22/02

I added ORyu to the characters list - just for a little color. You can see the full picture of her from a link at the bottom of her page. For some reason I just keep running into endless problems with web browsers and my page....sigh. Now drop down menus are having problems...

-7/21/02

Stress over the comic convention is starting to affect my mind, so I don't have the mind to write a good blog tonight (I know, I know, my blogs rarely have much material to them anyways -_^). Page 2 of the new chapter is up, and some of the readers should get an idea of the connection between Anna and Sakura.

-7/18/02

The first page of the next chapter is now up. I don't realy have much else to talk about - the first few pages are going to tie up some of the questions that popped up about how the heroes actualy managed to survive their run-in with Aries arms and their goons.

Guess what? Mutant Penguin and I will be happy to see anyone at the SanDiego comic con who wants to come by and bug us ^_^.

-7/15/02

Things are still in the process of work on the next chapter (yeah I like to leave things in the middle of a action sequence). Seeing as how the story has some defined shape to it; the next chapters should be a bit faster paced than 'To See With a Blinded Eye".

For the time being I have been updating the encyclopedia section a bit - once I start the next chapter I will open up the pages I have been working on (I have a bit of a problem with spoilers - so I have to restrain myself ^^). So then; enjoy a bit of fanart and I will see you guys soon

- 7/10/02

Okay - lets see now; there have been some attempts to make the layout more friendly to those readers who don't use IE - so you may be reading a rant for the first time ^^. Page 61 was redone so it was the correct size, and page 62 has been posted. For the record - page 62 was a real pain to ink <grin> its a labor of love though.

Okay - everyone who hasnt gone through the links page - do it the next chance you get; there is some spectacular stuff you should be reading! If you like Shadowlark you are going to love comics like PBA and No Need For Bushido. I added some new stuff to the links page, and next update I have some fanart to put up. I have to apologize how long it takes me to add material I get sent sometimes; If I don't respond right away, it's just 'cause I'm busy ^_^.

-7/9/02

I tweaked around with a few things for minor changes; including the characters section of the encyclopedia. I also added page 61.

-7/5/02

Page 60 <Icy grins> In the first plan for the story there is no character for Eve - Violet was the one who dies next to Psyte. The funny thing was; Belicose would only trigger a death near Psyte if he was provoked (already he knows it was a boo boo) so Violet would have had to sacrifice herself intentionaly. Violet would have had no way of dooing this - but Eve has a much bigger bag of tricks than any other character in the story. I know there is at least one reader that is dissappointed in the direction of the story - but Eve has a pretty important role to play in Psyte's life, and the story in general.

Minor tweaking was done - nothing realy noticable. I have more fanart updates and link maintnece to do; but I decided to go see MIB 2 rather than be constructive. Gives me something to work on over the weekend I guess (finaly a slow period for me ^^).

I love writing dialog between Genhe and Eve - a quick note: Genhe makes more sense if you look at it from a distance and pick out the key words.

-7/3/02

Gotta set ready to blow stuff up tomorrow - so I put up the new page, but didn't tweak anything else tonight. I am trying not to get on the forum or chat room too much so I don't spoil the last pages of the comic for anyone ^^.

-7/1/02

Hey look! Monday night and there is a page up!! Yes this means I have gone back to the seven day week ^_-. Plus it's the first of the month so please vote! As for the content for today's page - hold the flames for a while, and beleive me that I know what I'm up to.

I still have some buttons to add to the links page - I will try to get that finished as soon as possible.

-6/28/02

Ok, pages 56 and 57 are up, and I made an attempt to catch up on some of the fanart and link updates that I have had to do while I was slacking off these past two weeks. On the bright side, Next week looks like it will be back to the standard schedule (woo woo).

-6/26/02

Last week I posted all of the pages for the week on Friday night. And it looks like I'm going to have to do that again this week. Most everyone who has been reading for a while knows already that I have a number of responsibilities that require my attention most of the time - and I don't have much to spare on the site: With any luck this will be changing, depends on how things work out in the near future. But, for the time being, I appreciate all of you who have tolerated the erratic posting schedule.

Anyways - see you all Friday, and here's looking forwards to a better schedule in the future ('kampai!').

-6/21/02

Okay guys - big update tonight: We have two new pages for 'Blinded Eye, A new dojo episode, and a new Mutant Penguin Productions comic. I didn't get much of a chance to update this week - I won't bore you all with excuses, but I'm feeling much better ^_^. So this means I can get back to working on that picture I have owed Seph for like three months now @_@.

So have a blast, and check out the new stuff; I'll see you all on the next update - if the stars stay in alignment, that should be on Mon..

-6/14/02

Page 53 is more silent movie combat - I have a problem with sound effects; they just don't look as cool when writen in english o.O.

I've been feeling pretty ill the last few days - this is good in the sense that I have been able to work more on the site than normal, but it's a little irritating to be sick. Right then - must get some chicken soup.

-6/13/02

Page 52 is up...nothing else to say tonight...tired...must...sleep...zzzzzz.

-6/10/02

Back into the action as I start getting close to the end of the first chapter (kinda on the long side - sorry guys). We also have some new fanart to go with the page ^^.

If you spotted the Kenshin refference in page 51 - I'm sorry, I got a little carried away ^_-.

-6/6/02

I spent the entire day at work thinking about Phantasy Star Online - and then I remembered I had a page to put up tonight. Soooo, it looks like I'm going to sleep at 5 o-clock weeeeee!!!

Page 50 is up - and I think some of you should be able to see the end of this chapter starting to take shape. I think Sakura is stedily taking shape as a mentor / older sister type character - I kinda like the idea of her 'adopting' the group rather than just getting tossed in with them.

Oh, and thanks to everyone who voted! This just goes to show all the great support I get from all of you ^_^. I only hope I can keep you guys entertained.

"Paranoia is a survival trait, not an insanity." -Icymasamune

-6/5/02

The next page is going to be up a little late; it looks a little bland - so I want to spice it up a bit before I finish it. Tonight, I'm posting some new links for web comics, and there is new fanart too ^_^. Also - I didn't notice before that there was a problem with the link buttons from Academic Probation and Zeek Online. See ya all tomarow.

"It's not a conspiracy if everyone is in on it."- Icymasamune

-6/3/02

Let's see now; I have a new page up. For those of you getting bored with all the stupid jokes and dialog, I should be getting back to a bit of violence and bloodshed pretty soon. I also have a few pics from Mutant Penguin added to the images section (he's on a Aries Arms romp apparently).

-6/1/02

It's a new month guys! That means vote time! Yay!!

-5/31/02

Two pages got put up - (so you returning readers remember to start at page 47). Page 47 has the punchline for the rabbit joke...not much of a joke; I feel a little bad about everyone's expectations for that one. Page 48 returns to Psyte and Sakura.

- 5/25/02

No page is up tonight - but I posted the character descriptions for Sakura and Genhe (woo kitties!).

- 5/24/02

You know - I was a little worried about page 46 (mostly due to how long it took me to figure out what direction I wanted to go on the next few pages - but I didn't want to leave the Aries soldiers without setting some more ground work on them). I was quite pleased - yeah, it's not common but it happens ^_^ - with the way the page turned out; I think the texture and shading worked out, and Issac's character design woked out better with a few last minute changes. Woo-hoo! <pats himself on the back> now I just have to work on getting the pages done in a timely fasion <grin>.

"This 'schedule' you speak of interests me, and I would like to hear more of it...after lunch." -Icymasamune

-5/23/02

Okay - I got late in posting again; I am having a kinda hectic week (apology to even Mutant Penguin who hasn't seen me all week). I put the fanart I had sitting in my email up - but the updated page for the comic is still in the works.

-5/20/02

Trying to be a nice person is a pain - really; you have no idea how often people assume I'm being friendly just to get something, or for shifty motives. <Sighs> I should, like, learn to be cruel and mischievous just so people aren't imagining these things. That would last for an hour before I felt bad and started apologizing like crazy. It's so much easier when people can tell when I am joking around or just being silly.

The idea that I was going to have a page up for Friday got later and later - in between spending time with friends I have been neglecting of late, going to see the new Star Wars movie, trying out a new game, and work (all in that order of importance) I kind of lost track of my responsibility to you guys -_-. Anyways, I now have page 45 up. The inking and line work on the page turned out good - but I think the gradients and darker shades got kind of screwed up; I might rework this page later.

On the next update I have some fan art to add - and the Link2Me page should be ready by then as well.

-5/15/02

Apparently I forgot to add my email link to the page when I reworked everything - the email link is now my sigiture at the bottom. I might be switching email addresses soon, but I will give warning ahead of time.

Page 44 is up - and I have some links and fanart to put up tomarrow.

...I'm going to go throw up now.

"Damn my feet are beutifull" -The Guy On My Couch

-5/13/02

Sakura is all better, Wai!! you guys didn't realy think I'd start killing heroes this early in the story did you? ... Ok - I realy was going to kill Sakura, but I got kinda attatched to the character, and she is going to fill the slot I had another character planed for (I'm babbling, I know). Page 43 is up, and I have corrected a few problems the site was having.

-5/10/02

Page 42 is up; and it looks like I have decided to focus a bit on Sakura (she's getting popular on the forums anyways ^_^). And speaking of Sakura's popularity; we have new fanart of the blademaster from Seph over at Elemental Fate. There is also some new chibi artwork from Neko7, Wai!!

Oh yeah, and go see Spiderman - the basics of the movie are a bit different from the comic, but I got a real kick out of it: and Spider-man is about the only spandex super hero I like.

"See, now everyone is afraid to talk 'cause they are afraid my stupid is contagious." - Icymasamune

-5/7/02

This is the basics of the new site layout - I still have some graphics to do, and a bit of fine tuning still; but I think you guys can see kind of what I'm shooting for. I have new links, new fanart, TWO new pages to the comic(so you need to start at page 40), plus I added a cover page to the story, and new artwork from Mutant Penguin. I have some more pages started - and I'm going to buff up my schedule a bit to make up for the week long break.

Oh yeah - one last thing: Don't forget to vote ^_^.