R.A.N.T

Yes, I'm back at the library. This is just a short note to inform you that my computer is now in the repair shop (yes, that's right. The PHONE store has a computer repair shop. Who'd have thought?), and has been there for about two weeks now, and while that doesn't say anything about when I'll get it back, at least they didn't just laug´h at me and tell me to buy a new.

So that's a good thing.

Also, I'm currently on a roll, creativity-wise (okay, so more plotting-wise than drawing-wise - if I had to choose, I'd definately be a comic writer over an artist): the rest of Episode 4 has been fully scripted (20 pages to go - ack!), Episode 5 has been laid out (so it DOESN't end up 44 pages long), and, most importantly, pages 107 and most of 108 have been drawn and inked. And considering that I started friday, I think that's quite good. ^_^;

And now: Bufferbuilding yay!

Yes, something is seriously wrong. And no, it has nothing to do with the 'missing' page (that must have been the longest April's Fool's in the history of webcomics)

For reasons I am soon to explain, I'll do this as quickly as I can, so here goes: I am currently without internet. In fact, I am currently without a computer in a condition that enables it to do more than start, tell me it can't start because it's missing a system file, and rejecting all the boot discs I give it to repair said system file. Also, I don't know when the heck I WILL have a computer in working order, not to mention internet access, again.
What complicates the matter furter is of course that I'm stuck here in Viborg, where I have a) no access to my mother's computer so I can go online and figure out what to do, b) not bought the computer and c) am not storing the receipt I got when I bought it in Copenhagen. Well, at least there IS a store from the same chain I bought it from here, so once my mom sends me the receipt in snailmail, I'll at least be able to take it down to tehm and scream at them until they take it to repair (it's a phone store, though, so I don't really expect them to be able to do anything else than give me a new one - I bought it less than two years ago, so it should still be covered by the varranty. Or else, they die. Damnit, if I can't get it replaced, it'll be another six months before I can afford a new computer.)

So, now that we have established that I'm stuck in a deep, dark pit of computer-withdrawal, how am I writing this? Well, seeing as I have only been able to borrow my friends' computers for about five minutes at a time, that there is no student internet access at my school (if you don't bring your own laptop, that is), and that, as far as I know, there are no internet cafés in this twon, I've had to do it in the oldfashioned way. Yes, I'm borrowing a computer at the library. With pre-registry of timeslots, no scanning, no PSP, and a maximum of one hour per day. At least it's free. -_-;

But what about the comic? I suppose none of you will be surprised to hear that I won't be posting anything until I have a computer again (well, unless you expect me to do it by magic, in which case I'll have to disappoint you), but since I for once don't have a bunch of internet-related things to distract me, I'll try and use the sudden amount of spare time in my life to make a buffer. I hope it'll be a small one - but if I have to buy a new computer, you can at least be assured that I'll have a full chapter in the buffer when I come back. <_<

So, that's pretty much it - if any of you have something urgent to tell me, email FriedDeer, and she'll probably tell me earlier than I would've seen it myself (sorry for using you as a mail service, FD - I hope it's allright. -_-) I'll try to get online at least once a week, too, but don't expect me to do a lot - an hour is very little time. >.<

Which reminds me that I only have 35 minutes left of THIS hour, and plenty of other things to do, so this'll be all for now. Again, sorry for this crap. I hope it'll work out soon...

HOLY SHI-! Well, that was a bit of a surprise, wasn't it? Come on, admit it - hell, if I hadn't been the one writing and drawing this page, I would never have seen it coming either. I mean, who would've thought that Lisa's parents were keeping something like that in their lab? Or that those two would hook up? Or that that was what Io had been alluding to since the beginning of Episode Three? Or that Emme would confide her secret to Lisa, of all people? Or, for that matter, that Emme had been hiding that all this time? Not me, at least. (But go ahead and try to prove me that you'd guessed that Kin was really Pink Flash way back in Episode One.) It's pages like this one that make writing comics fun. ^_^ Sorry for letting you all wait an extra day for this page, but I hope the revelations make up for that. And if they don't, I at least hope the art does - after all, the reason I didn't post a notice to say that the page was going to be late was simply that I was too busy finishing all those metallic highlights and energy beams to even get online! ... Okay, I was slacking a bit, too - but they ARE impressive, aren't they? But one thing is the art and the revelations: with all this new information comes even more new questions. Will Lisa kill Emme to save the world? What happened to Pinkys ferrabbit back in Japan? Will Sanus learn to eat cheese? Well, I'm not telling (at least not now), so how about you try and figure it out for yourself? ^_~ If anyone can guess before it's explained in the comic, I promise I'll cosplay as Pinky at the next J-popcon. Because if anyone can figure those things out, that will be so humiliating for my skills as a writer that I might as well dress in pink and blondes for a whole weekend... Gah, I need sleep now. It's already April... -_-

...and there you have the reason why I haven't been around. Yeah, simple as that.

...okay, so it's a little more complicated in real life. The story goes like this: As anyone living in a pseudo-Christian country such as mine should know, this week is the week of Easter, and while we non-Christians could normally give a dead rat about that, it happens to be that the holidays of majority religions (or, in the case of Denmark well-it-used-to-be-pretty-big-so-let's-just-say-that-it's-still-a-majority-even-though-pretty-few-people-actually-believe-in-it-religions) are also, usually, national holidays. Which means days off. Which means a much welcome chance for me to go home and spend some quality time with friends and family I've been missing like crazy for the last three months.

And that means that there are no comics, because when I finally have the chance, I prefer to actually DO stuff with my friends and family rather than just sit here and draw stuff I could just as well draw in Viborg. I think that explains it better. ^_~

I really wanted to post about this before leaving, and possibly put up another Badly Drawn, but things got ahead of me. Or rather, deadlines for applications to the Animation School my Art School is part of got ahead of me. Sure, I'm not applying, but most of my friends in Viborg are, and I spent most of last week helping them finishing their portfolios (quick tip for anyone ever making a portfolio for anything: Have it finished AT least three days before the deadline. Scanning and arranging 'till 3AM because the deadline is the next day is no fun.) It came to the point where I had to lend out my computer and scanner for two full days, which effectively stopped any plans I had about getting a filler, not to mention a page, done, and once I had it back, I was home and had other things on my mind than posting here. Sorry about that. -_- But, at least, now you know. And, as a screechingly US-patriotic cartoon I never watched as a kid puts it, knowing is half the battle.

As for the future, I'm actually going back home again as early as next weekend because my male cousin (I think I've been ranting about it before, but it really does disturb me that the English language makes no distinction between cousins-who-are-boys and cousins-who-are-girls, especially since the word 'cousin' is almost identical to the Danish term for female cousin, of whom I have none) is turning 18 and for some reason didn't feel like doing it THIS weekend, so I have to go back four days after leaving. In fact, I think the extra journey costs me MORE than the value of the lessons I would miss if I just stayed here for those four days, but well, the value of those lessons can't really be measured in money. Too bad. Realistically speaking, three afternoons (I'll be back in Viborg late Monday night and leaving again Friday afternoon, so it's really only three afternoons there) is not enough time for me to make a comic, so the next update is currently scheduled for MONDAY MARCH 31st. If possible, I'll put up some fillers and Badly Drawns until then, but there is a pretty big possibility that my mom will want to borrow my scanner next week (it's the only scanner in the house), so I might not actually be able to put anything up. Unless I decide to do some Badly Drawns on the computer. Well, they ARE supposed to look like ass...

I'll get back to you once I know whether or not I'll have a scanner for that week. Until then: Have fun, and happy Easter for - both for those who believe in God and those who believe in chocolate eggs.

Wow! Would you believe that I didn't even use an eraser when I made today's update?!? Isn't that amzing art skills right there?
...

So, yeah, I didn't get today's update ready in time. There's not even a real reason - I just didn't get it done. -_-; BUT, instead of giving you nothing, I decided to swap this week's update with the one that was really supposed to go up on next Monday, when I'm going to be busy with the hard task of having an Easter break (that means you'll get regular update next week, peeps)

...yeah, the art is ugly as hell. But then again, that is sort of the point, isn't it? At least this way I can give you something resembling an update when I'm too busy being home/slacking/having a life to actually draw. ^_^; Also, I might be making more of these, so if you have a question you'd like answered by any of the characters, send it to Hamsterant@gmail.com. *hinthint*

And, once again, it's past my bedtime. Time to go sleep so I'll be fresh to work on page 107 tomorrow. ^_^;

...I'm never shading Mariam's dress again. >_<

And now: To bed (can't believe I ended up pushing this until after my bedtime when I had the whole afternoon to do it in...)

HopelesslyBelatedShrovetideFanartThatIActuallyGotInTimeForShrovetideButNeglectedBecauseIWasMentallyAbsentAndSuckyButNowItGoesUpBecauseIHaven'tColoredPage106YetAndIReallyOweTheArtistToPutItUpBecauseItRules-time!!!

In other, less breathless words: I'm late on the page. Well, I'm me, what did you expect? I'm not VERY late, though - it's drawn and inked and would probably have been colored as well if I hadn't remembered at the nick of time that I actually HAD a specimen of the rare species known as homework this week. And that that homework-specimen was to draw a dice. Yes. A dice. IN DETAIL. So, I spent this evening on dice instead of Lisa. Yes, it hurt.

So, because of this, the real page is delayed. It will hopefully be up by tomorrow evening, depending on what I'll be doing after school tomorrow. As said last week, though, I'm PRESENT, and therefore you get not a blank page, not a lousy excuse on the blog (well, you get that too), but an actual FILLER!

And there was much rejoicing.

Seriously, though, this a filler I'm very, very happy to have received and more than a little shameful not to have put up earlier. You see, Shrovetide (y'know, that vaguely Halloween-esque holiday that is apparently celebrated only one place on the internet: in A.N.T fanart) was four weeks ago, and it was back then that I received this lovely piece from CrimsonCat. Four weeks ago, however, was also the deep pit of my non-updating streak of early 2008, and the very depts of my likewise early-2008 absence. So, the main reason this picture was not posted early is the simple one that, when I received it, I was somewhere else entirely mentally and couldn't even consider such a revolutionary idea as actually updating. (The secondary reason for the non-posting of thsi image earlier? By early February, I hadn't updated for over a month, and the last update had been a holiday filler. Breaking the silence with ANOTHER holiday filler? Not good webcomicmaking. At all.)

Anyway, here it is. Enjoy it for now, and I'll hurry up to replace it with something inferior from my own hand! <3

...

Well, after I've slept, that is.