For people who aren't going to make it, don't feel too left out because over the past week I changed my personal site to include an online store! You'll be able to find everything that I've been selling at these conventions over there, including the Something Colorful artbook! Furthermore, in addition to PayPal, the store also accepts payments through Google Checkout, as well as automating check and money order transactions so you don't have to print and fill out a form! ;D Check it out!

Incidentally, my personal site itself got a nice facelift too. :3

Since I last posted, I managed to move back into my mom's house, although everything's a complete mess! I've been living on the couch of the living room this whole time because we haven't cleared out enough furniture for me to establish myself in an actual bedroom, but we're hoping to get that underway after I get back from Otakon. Because of this, I haven't been able to work on the comic pages since there's literally no physical space for me to do so! :[ But what I HAVE been doing is planning out more of the plot, so when I do get those pages underway they should pan out smoothly?

As for my laptop, it finally got fixed too! It turns out that they had to replace the whole motherboard along with the cable connecting it to the LCD. >_o BUT it's been working splendidly now, so glad that's been taken care of. :Db

Anyway, I'll definitely get back to work on the comic when we get all the furniture in place. Until then, I'll try to keep you regularly posted!

Aaand more bad news is the fact that my laptop's back in the shop now for the THIRD TIME. It's still the same problem as before, which I thought was fixed the first time around, but I guess it was just biding its time?? So they never actually figured out what was causing it until this afternoon when the screen messed up and froze again, and rather than just trying to turn the computer off and back on like I used to do, I just brought it into the shop in its frozen state and told the guy, "THIS is what my laptop's been doing for the past MONTH AND A HALF!!"

So I guess it's got nothing to do with overheating and everything to do with the graphics card (which is integrated into the motherboard) being messed up? :< Hopefully it'll be fixed some time next week.

Anime Expo was pretty cool, although I was nervous about it because it was the first convention where I had already brought Directions of Destiny to before. Of course everybody who bought the book the first time two years ago gave me a hard time about the second book not being out yet, but I don't blame you guys. 8D()() It does motivate me to work harder to get the second book out by next year though, so wish me luck >3<b

And for people going to Otakon, table assignments have been given out, and I will be sitting at table C5! See you there~

The most minor of the problems, although it'd still given me endless amounts of grief, was Rupert's (my cat's) inconsistent toilet habits. Ever since I left him with my mom while I was gone to conventions, he'd been peeing and pooping all over the apartment instead of in the toilet like I had trained him to. Before I left for the conventions he was really good about using the toilet, but since I came back it's like he'd been detrained. For the past three weeks I had tried to keep a constant watch over him to make sure that he didn't leave me any presents on the floor, and some nights I would stay up all night just watching him because it would be maybe 12AM and he would start acting like he needs to go, but then it'd be 5AM and he still hasn't gone, until finally I fall asleep at 7AM to wake up an hour later and find that the whole apartment smells like crap. Suffice to say these are not ideal working conditions. Today, however, I gave in and put him back into a litterbox on top of the toilet, where I plan to retrain him back up towards using the toilet, but at a slower pace that's more comfortable for him. I think that if he can associate the bathroom and the toilet with elimination again after getting used to using the litterbox on top of the toilet, he'll stop doing it everywhere? So um, that's one issue taken care of for now?

Another issue was the $700+ which one of my old roommates owed me for his final rent payment. I don't think my roommates and I left on good terms, especially after certain events that happened halfway through their stay; and even after a year I still have no real insight to their character, so for all I know the guy could just up and leave and not return my money. I would be able to get a hold of him sometimes, but he kept saying that he'll pay me later, he'll pay me later. I kept telling him, "Well, okay, take your time," because I wanted to trust that he's not in fact a terrible person and he won't just make off with my money. But finally, it was last Saturday, and I was calling him while he was at the airport about to go back to Japan for forevers, and he's still telling me that he'll pay me later. By this point I've practically chewed my whole hand off with anxiety. Anyway, the short of it is that at long last, yesterday one of his friends came over to drop off his money and forge his signature to cancel his lease. (The other roommate who had left earlier hadn't signed his lease cancellation letter either, but I just forged his signature myself because I had already collected his debt. 9_9) So that's one more thing off my chest.

The most dire of my problems however had just reared its head to me within the past week, although I should've seen it already from miles away. It has not been resolved yet, so I'm not going to talk about it, but basically if worse comes to worse I might have to move back to my mom's house. That in and of itself isn't so bad, but if it does happen, it will take a while.

Anyway, I really hope everything works out, but I'm not betting on the solution being clean and easy. Until then I'll try to squeeze whatever comic drawing I can inbetween, but I can't guarantee any consistent updates until everything's resolved. I apologize :/

...Except there is the minor complication of my laptop being in the repair shop right now. >_o I should've mentioned something sooner but augh no updates for like three whole weeks right after I said I'd resume updates == my eternal SHAME. But in any case, while working on prints at A-Kon, my laptop started to just freeze up completely and the fan would start going off right afterwards. It survived through the con all right because I managed to finish my prints before it really started going haywire, but since I've been back every time I tried to turn it on it'd freeze before I could even get past the log-in page.

So now the laptop's being fixed and I'm not entirely sure when I'll get it back. In the meantime I'll try to pencil and ink more comic pages? But to tide you over for now, I started updating my deviantArt gallery! Granted most of the stuff I'm uploading is already on my website, but eventually I'll get around to uploading some of the new fan art prints that I did for the conventions. :D

I'm hoping that I get my laptop back by next Thursday's update so I could put something up, so check back then!

The original is on 18x24 hot press illustration board, and the whole thing was painted in gouache. Unfortunately the gouache I have is some cheap, crappy brand I bought from the student book store, so any time I wanted to blend anything it would act up on me and I'd go slam my head in the wall. =_= BUT IN ANY CASE it's done now, and I will be offering it as a print for sale at the conventions I'll be attending starting from *gasp* NEXT WEEKEND!

That's right, I'll be attending the artist alley at several conventions this summer all over the United States starting May 16, at Anime Central in Illinois! I've listed my full schedule in today's page update, and also here. Check to see if I'll be going to anything close to you, and maybe we can meet in person! :Db

My apologies for not having the new pages up this week, but I'll make my strongest effort to get it done for next week!!

I-I need some time to get back up to speed on this comic-making business is all. >_>

Anyway, today's the first of the month, and that means that vote counts reset at TopWebComics and Buzzcomix, which means it's especially crucial to get some good votes in now since if we get a decent surge of votes NOW then it means a decent surge of exposure for the comic, meaning more readers and therefore more PRESSURE FOR ME TO UPDATE MORE FREQUENTLY AND ON TIME...!! O-on second thought, maybe you shouldn't vote too much after all.

But the daily vote incentives thing is still going on, by the way.

Also, I updated most of the rest of the site with the new layout, but more significant is the fact that I updated the cast page profiles with real descriptions of each character! Albeit it's only maybe two sentences each, but augh I was up 'til 7AM one night just getting the new cast page up and working!!

Mmm, well, until next week!

Furthermore, if you'll notice the front page, it looks like I did a bit of spring cleaning with a new layout! The first time in how many years...?? As of this writing I haven't carrried the new layout over to the rest of the site just yet, but I'm hoping to do that as the week progresses so that by the time next Thursday rolls around, everything will be uniform again.

I designed the new layout to fit with wider screen resolutions now that I'm pretty sure nobody's using 640 x 480 anymore, and also to make things less cluttered and confusing. It's still got the same general look and feel as the old though to maintain a bit of familiarity, but once I get the other sections updated, the site's organization should be much fresher!

Also, the internal workings of the site will also be completely different (for one thing, it's all in CSS instead of old-school tables >3<b), and basically it'll be a loooot easier for me to update the site now. Where before it would take me between half an hour to an hour to get everything ready for the site after I finish the page, now it's just a matter of preparing the thumbnails and writing this blurb.

Let me know what you think of the new layout in the comments! :D And also remember that I'm still updating the vote incentives eeevery single day, Monday through Friday!!

It's Sunday morning near 3AM and I fjsald;fsdaf FINALLY finished colouring that title page! @w@ Auggh I could go on and on about my troubles with it, but instead you can look at the description (and the full version of the picture) here on my personal site for all the details. Also, the cover for Unit 2 has been fixed a little, particularly with regard to the discrepancy with Auden's hair color. Woooo gonna go to bed now! :D

Anyway, regardless of whether or not I'd have the title page finished, last week I said that I WOULD have a little something for you guys this week. So, here it is: Daily Vote Incentive sketches for the next three months!!

You know how I did all those bonus sketches for people who pre-ordered the book way back in 2006? And how I also did free sketches for people who ordered prints? Well, before shipping off those sketches to their respective owners, I would always scan them in to save a copy for myself. Well, to verify to all of you who got sketches that they are all in fact genuine, unique sketches, I'm going to upload all of them as vote incentives every Monday through Friday so you can check out all the other sketches that I did!

...Granted some sketches were perhaps more, eh, inspired than others, but now you get to see whether you were one of the luckier ones?

Next week I'll try to have at least the first real page of Unit 2 up, but in any case I will have another -something- for you. :D

O-oh, but thank you everybody for the warm welcome back! @w@ Despite my failure to meet this week's deadline properly, every one of your comments made me feel very motivated, and also warm and fuzzy in my heart. ;D I'm really grateful to have readers like yourselves, so don't ever worry about me stopping this comic because I already decided long ago that I would never betray you guys like that!!

Umm in other news, I had mentioned on my journal entry on my personal site that I got a cat recently named Rupert. Somebody on the forums requested that I draw him for this week's vote incentives (remember those??), so I thought, sure! :D() So vote for me at TWC and Buzzcomix to take a look at my renditions of my adventure kitty Rupert! ;D

Oh, and here's a photo of him:

<3

Again, I'll try to finish the title page by next week's update, but even if I don't, come back anyways because I'll be sure to have *something* for you. :D

Oh, and to anybody who was wondering, Unit 1 IS still available to purchase online, and I even have a new address for mail orders to be sent in to. :D I'm actually starting to run low on copies of the first printing, so if you want one you better get it now~ >3<b

As far as what I had been up to during the past nearly-two years, I wrote a little bit about that in the journal on my personal website, so you're welcome to read that if you want, although it's really no proper excuse for my absence--mostly it's just an excuse to flaunt my new layout and art. ;D()

In any case, not a whole lot yet for this update; just the cover of Unit 2. A bit unceremonious, but it's a start, and now that I've finally shown my face to the internet world, I feel like it'll give me enough pressure and motivation to really push forward with the book. Incidentally, Auden's hair is a lot more pink than we last saw him, but that's mostly my fault because I kind of forgot his hair colour in my absence. 8D() I'll fix it for consistency's sake later. Next update I hope to have the Section 2.1 cover done, and hopefully a few pages if I can squeeze it in. Look for it at my normal Thursday schedule, 12AM Pacific Standard Time! :D

SOMETHING COLORFUL
nine artist collaboration artbook with exclusive & original art

SAMPLES: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
ARTISTS: Mojgon Vatanchi, Carli Squitieri, Jeannie Park, Hans Tseng, Bing Lin, Eastwood Wong, Christie Tseng, Stevie Lewis, Tanya Hioe
GUEST ARTISTS: Jessica Chang, Christine Vu
SIZE: 8.5" x 11"
BINDING: perfect bound
PAGES: 112
PRICE: $25

I've contributed 10 full pages of new, original artwork, including a new Directions of Destiny illustration! If you're planning to attend Anime Expo 2007 this weekend, look for the table with pink tablecloth where the lovely loli Jeannie will greet you and sell you copies of this book. :D She'll also be selling copies of the first volume of Directions of Destiny as well as 8.5"x11" and 11"x17" prints of mine from last year in case you missed out!

Information about ordering the artbook online will be available soon after the convention. <3

As far as my progress on Directions of Destiny goes... mmm, I'll get to that later!! 8D() If you missed the last entry about the current hiatus, please feel free to read through it.

So, yes, for the record, two weeks after my return to the states from my trip to Taiwan in August, I flew back across the Pacific to Japan, where I'll be staying until August this year studying at Waseda University. I'm staying in an apartment building on the property of a temple located near Asakusa and Ueno, and life is wonderful. 8D The past three months of my stay here has proved to be more eventful than perhaps the prior twenty years of my life combined, and at this point the only things I miss about America are a small handful of restaurants; but even then, bachelor-living has given me some sort of handle on cooking, so I could at least pretend that I'm back in America whenever I make myself a meal that's five portions too large for the average Japanese.

Asides from that, I love pretty much everything about this country. In spite of the smaller portions, the food is still delicious; the transportation is amazingly efficient and I never want to drive again; and while I always used to wear just simple t-shirts and jeans back in the states, Japan has since infected me with its obsession with fashion, as evident from the 15,000 yen I plopped down last week on a new jacket, complete with fur-lined hood--I'm still telling myself that this is Okay, because it was a birthday present to myself.

Incidentally, January 4th was my 21st birthday! Except too bad 20 is the legal drinking age in Japan, so I was already good for alcohol from the moment I stepped onto these soils back in September, in effect rendering the whole glory of 21 kind of null. Nevertheless, it was the most fulfilling birthday I've ever had, and I still made sure to give my liver a good beating with gallons of girly cocktails before the day was done. 8D Furthermore, the day after my birthday was the temple priestess's birthday too, in which she and her family brought me out with them for even more food-whoring--Two-Day Birthday Extravaganzas for the WIN! >3<

...and today also happens to be Azalea's birthday. Aheheh. 8D() (Yes, I purposely timed the update for this day. This is very dorky of me, I know. :X)

A-anyway. I suppose what you're really here for is this: No, I have NOT forgotten about this comic! I fully intend on finishing Directions of Destiny--all 16 volumes of it! Suffice to say, however, I've had a few distractions since I first put up that "Update in August!" note way back when, and again I apologize for not saying something sooner. But still, I've been sketching every now and then, and every so often I've been brainstorming at plotting the story as well. My vigor for this series is still just as strong as ever...!

...Although I guess I shouldn't beat around the bush in saying that, um...a regular update schedule is probably not happening just yet in the immediate future...

AAHH I'M SO SORRY >A<

The thing is, I looked over the previous summary I had written for Unit 2, and um... it sucked balls. I think it was last editted in either 2003 or 2004, perhaps even before this last revision of Unit 1, and every time I try to read it, muscles I didn't even know I had start to cringe. So the past few weeks I've been starting from a clean slate. Progress is coming along at an even pace, albeit a little slow, but so far I can at least say that it's far less repulsive than its previous iteration, if not just a little disjointed.

My main problem with Unit 1 was that I didn't think through the whole book before I first started work on it five years ago, which is part of the reason how we ended up puddling through four revisions before ending up with the final product. So with the second book and on, I want to get at least the whole thing scripted first before I even let myself think about drawing any pages. Seeing as I'm still strugging to just put together a coherent summary however, it probably goes without saying that there's still a long ways to go before we get to find out just what exactly is going to happen with our dear starcrossed lovebirds Auden and Chrystelle. :D()

So I've got another seven months here. I'd be lying if I said that I wouldn't mind skipping out on a few social gatherings to work on this comic, because I honestly do want to make the most of my time abroad. But like I said, that doesn't mean all work on this comic will be completely halted! I-it will just be mostly behind-the-scenes work is all. :D() As far as actual pages goes though...it's probably not going to look like I'll have any real comic updates here until I get back to the states. >_o

Th-that is to say, the comic is officially on hiatus until August. In the mean time however, I've moved the bits of trivia about the Alatus Institute onto a temporary page on AlatusInstitute.com, which I plan on updating with a real layout in February, with regular updates continuing on there while I write out Unit 2; and I've also replaced the current comic pages on this website to match those in the book. In case you didn't know (and if you didn't order the book, you probably wouldn't know since I never made a public announcement about this!), for the printing of the book, I had completely revised several pages between Sections 1.1 through 1.3, as well as finished all the pages that were left incomplete in 1.4 and 1.5. Now that everyone who's ordered a book has received them, I'm finally putting the revised pages up here for all the freeloaders. Please read through them if you're interested! :D

Now if anybody who's ordered a book has yet to receive their copy, please contact me about it, because as far as I know, all the books have been shipped! As far as orders for prints go, because they include free sketches, I'll have to finish a batch of sketches here first before mailing it back home to my mom to package it together with the prints to mail them off. Either way, they'll get to you eventually, I promise! D8 But if you cannot wait, I'm more than willing to offer a refund; just drop me a line!

Well, I think that's that. I'm still planning on updating my personal site eventually, and I'm hoping to put up new stuff in my art journal as well. If you're interested in reading about my adventures abroad, you're also welcome to take a look at my Stuffings in Japan blog, which I've been updating with a little more consistency. And again, I plan on updating AlatusInstitute.com over the next few months periodically, so check back on that from time to time! Otherwise, Adieu until August!! >3<

On that note, I've shipped most of pre-ordered books before I left, and my mom will drop off the last batch at the post office this weekend, HOWEVER the pre-order bonus sketches were not included in that shipment. As of now, I still have 40 sketches left to complete, so I decided to just send the books first for now, and then send the sketches after I come back from Taiwan in September. I'm really sorry about this. D;! If I had planned it like this from the beginning you would've all had your books by now. :x

Anyway, I don't have a scanner here yet, so I'll update the site next week when everything's a bit more settled.

With that said, August 6th is Directions of Destiny's Fifth-Year Anniversary!

...aaand it's too late to give a speech, so you can go occupy yourselves by taking a peek at what I'll be selling at Otakon!