Webcomic Club (and Anime Club): A Bit Brisk, Fundraiser, Webcomic Reading

I finally have a working computer to do this on, but not for long, so I'll be brief here.

A Bit Brisk:

I'm giving the first few pages of script of our webcomic A Bit Brisk to Floxy and Chloe. Come up with cool character designs for the characters that EVERYONE agrees on and can draw. Talk to the Writer Team if you're confused with anything, but don't be afraid to have your own interpretations and ideas. This is the CLUB'S webcomic, not just one singular person. If you don't remember how the initial character designs look like, you can find them here. I want to see everyone's interpretations of the first few scenes when I come back (I'm not going to be in club today because I have a doctor's appointment).

Fundraising:

To both clubs, remember, our fundraiser is the third week of March, so please make as many merchandise and art to sell. Send me the scanned copies to my email (in my About Me page) or give me the physical copy anytime you see me. Remember, what we want are key chains, bookmarks, buttons, and prints, as well as any craft stuff you think we can sell. I will not be here on Friday except for 1^st and 2^nd period and probably during 8^th because I have a luncheon to attend to. You can give any of your art stuff to David (the wheelchaired one), Cooper (the fluffy one), Floxy (the deaf one), or Saffron (the green haired one).

Webcomic Reading:

We'll be reading Nerf This for a while and a few other webcomics that are simple or don't have a heavy plot. We'll rotate this between other more complex webcomics to contrast the difference. We'll also need voice actors/readers who would be willing to read the webcomics to the whole club.

Hope you have a good week Webcomic and Anime Club~! Remember Anime Club, we're watching My Bride is a Mermaid episode 10 & 11 next week.

Webcomic Club: "A Bit Brisk" the Webcomic Amongst Other Things

So today was the first day that Webcomic Club actually tried to make a webcomic. And it kinda went ok. So we shall continue with the working of the new webcomic A Bit Brisk (tentative title but I really like it).

Random Cool Thing of the Day #2: Crocodile/Dragon Scales Stitch

I really love crochet a lot, so today's RCTotD is the Crocodile Scale Stitch or what I prefer the Dragon Scale Stitch. Just like the name implies, it's a crochet stitch that makes it look like scales. Hella cool. Here's a few pics of a Dragon Scales glove I made for a friend.

If you want to learn how to make it, I suggest going to this blog here.

Random Cool Thing of the Day #1: Freerice

I'm gonna start a thing called "Random Cool Thing of the Day" were I'll just post a thing that I find really cool for the day. Aw yeah guys. Cool stuff!

Today's RCTotD is Freerice. Freerice.com is this hella cool website were by answering questions based on vocab, grammar, landmarks, geography, math, humanities, chemistry, whatever, and for each question you get right, you send 10 grains of rice to an underfed country to help stop world hunger. It's a highly addictive game, but I'll warn you, the longer you play the harder it gets, so you'll probably have Google open in another tab trying to get the right answer. It's surprisingly fun and you get to help feed people with it, so why the hell not?

If you wanna know more about Freerice and the cool stuff they do, I suggest you go to their about page here.

Happy Birthday Coops and Communist Snack Locker #2

Today is Cooper's birthday and he is now eighteen. Aww don't they grow up so fast? He can now legally do what he probably has never done: read porn. *ecstatic clapping in the background* Now I don't have a photo of Coops mainly because I never got around to it and because my phone is an utter whore and will no longer take photos. So here's a sorta description of Cooper: massively tall (but shorter than Jacob), tanned cos he's part Italian, black, and I think Polish if his last name is any indicator. And he has the most curly fluffy goddamn hair I have ever fucking seen. Like goddamn it's like he's a floofy princess or something. It's like he has clouds for hair. It's the groups favorite pastime to pat his hair. So damn soft. According to him, to achieve this level of fluffiness, one must think fluffy thoughts. Happy birthday Cooper. And remember, we will steal your birthday food.

Now for our second subject of the day: the Communist Snack Locker. Inventory has fluctuated to this:

•One and a half boxes of Blue Raspberry KoolAid

•One box of peanut butter go cups

•One container of homemade Blackberry & Strawberry jam

•One slightly bruised apple

We now just need bread and we can make sandwiches. Awwww yiss.

Have a good day whoever's reading this~!

In Which Mabel's Faith in Humanity is Momentarily Restored

The coolest thing happened just now. So my parents were complaining about shoveling the snow (we got about another 4-6 inches today, that's about almost 1/2 a foot guys), so I told them I would do it since I didn't wanna do homework and shoveling snow is kinda fun. When I get to the gateway of our lot, and was getting the last bit of snow off, I heard someone calling to me, asking if my parents paid me to shovel the snow.

I turn around and it's one of the neighbors who like in the apartment complex in front of us. Now, I live in a coach house. That basically means I live in a small two floor house that is directly behind a main building. Here's a shitty diagram I made up to show you how it looks like from the gateway/sidewalk.

Diagram aside, the neighbor that lives in the apartment building asked if my parents paid me to shovel snow. I told her no, that I volunteered. She asked if I could help her, and I thought, might as well, I'm already out here and I don't wanna work on language homework.

She was shoveling snow to park her car, and apparently she works as an architectural preserver (the people who are hired to help upkeep and preserve architectural landmarks and whatnot) as well as interior design. Now, since you probably don't know, I am a huuuuuuuuuge architect nerd. It's pretty much all I've ever wanted to be since the 5th grade. It's my passion, my life's work, everything I love and more. Architecture is the utter best, hands down. I love it more than anime.

So it's safe to say that our conversation was chalk full of awesome stuff. Anyways, after we've effectively cleared out enough snow, she told me she would pay me. Yeah, I know, insane! I was totally not expecting that, especially since the work wasn't too hard to manage between two people and it wasn't a lot either. I tried to tell her no and give her back the money, but she really insisted. I was like, well ok man, if you're sure.

She gave me $10. I would've expected her to give me like 5, but nope, she gave me ten whole dollars. Hot damn man, that's like 10 fucking McChickens right there. I gave it to my parents for gas money, but my mom didn't wanna take all of it, so she only took half. Long story short, I am now five bucks richer, aww yeah~!

Anime Club: My Bride is a Mermaid, Fill the Damn Survey, and T-Shirts/Fundraiser

Hope you're having a wonderful day Anime Club. The snow's being a bitch, no? Anyways, we have a few things to announce today.

My Bride is a Mermaid:

From now on we will be watching My Bride is a Mermaid. Yup, you guys voted and the verdict is that everyone really loves the show and wants to keep watching it with me. So from now on we will watch MBiaM until we finish it. We may watch a few episodes of something else in between but the number one show we will be watching is My Bride is a Mermaid. Awww yeah guys! Can't wait to see the Masa backstory. All time fave. We may have some cool stuff to do with MBiaM, like debates/trivia, competitions, and the like. Who knows~!

Survey:

Guys, fill out the survey. Please! It's not that hard to do and shouldn't take too long. Thanks guys.

T-Shirt/Fundraiser:

Ok guys, we will be doing T-Shirt Designs and the Fundraiser Art really soon. We bumped the fundraiser to the third week of March instead of the second, so you have an extra week, but don't let that let you slack off guys. We need art and we need it ASAP. Send me your stuff at ladychan101@yahoo.com. And remember guys, school appropriate.

Next week we will be watching episodes 10-12 of My Bride is a Mermaid. We will also start the initiation process. You'll know what I mean by next week. ;) Have a nice week Anime Club.  

Space Cradle - Chapter One

Chapter One: Preconceptions

It was nighttime. The air was slightly chilly and Jamie Waftsman was sitting on the front porch that had been in xir family for years. Xe had inherited the ranch from xir family when xir parents died, but not because they felt a paternal love to give it to xem, but because xe was the only child they had and had no other close relative to give to instead. Jamie was born a man, but had never felt like one. Or female at that. Jamie was just Jamie, and had lived xir life as neutrally as possible. This, of course, did not fare well with xir parents, who insisted on calling Jamie a him and calling xem James instead of xir preferred more neutral nickname. Still, Jamie loved xirs parents, even though they never fully accepted xem. Besides, they had long passed away, and xe was content to just live the rest of xir life up in the ranch. Here, all xe had to do was tend to a few animals and continue making xir living painting and writing xir next novel.

Communist Snack Locker #1

Goooood morning Otaku Sages (or to anyone who reads my blog for that matter). Today is the first day of the Communist Lunch Locker. To those that don't know, the Communist Snack Locker is just a snack locker here at Lane Tech to be used for the Communist Lunch Table.

The CLT isn't really communist, but just a table in lunch where everybody shares food. And I mean everyone. The practice started sometime my sophomore year, where everyone in the group could finally go outside to eat lunch but had no money to do so. So we would all steal food from someone who did in the group. 9 out of 10 times this was Cooper. It's gotten to the point now that we just pool our money and send someone out to get the food. But since no one is actually rich enough to do that everyday, we now have a snack locker to feed ourselves during 6th period lunch (which is the period for the main CLT). Any affiliates to the CLT who are not in 6th period may use the Locker as long as they have permission and access to a key. So far the Locker is stocked as thus:

•  Two boxes of Blue Raspberry KoolAid
•  Two pieces of quesadilla (the bread, not the delicious cheese between tortillas)
•  Homemade Blackberry/Strawberry jam made by my me
• An already opened package of knock off Oreos

Any changes and/or additions to the Snack Locker will be posted here to keep log and inventory of what we have. You can ignore it if you like. 

Space Cradle - Prologue

Prologue:

The skies were black. Voltru could see nothing save the pinpricks of light from stars long dead. The starship was deathly quiet; a lesser Eltroin would've been scared, but Voltru had been in the Black Wars and appreciated the silence in a way only someone who had heard the cacophony of war for too long. Voltru was close. The planet that he had picked was only a few lightclicks away. He flipped a switch and the small ship jumped through a self created wormhole. His visors lit up rapidly; colors blasting his sensory feelers to the point that he was almost blinded. Still he pressed onwards. It would only be a matter of time before the Star Police were after him. High Treason was top priority nowadays.

He piloted the ship outside the wormhole, and across the empty space as he fought for momentary control. Not far below him, a blue and green planet waited. He would need to release the Cargo now. His Directional Coordinates glowed up, the words "The Water Grave" popping up. It was a Class Zor planet, meaning it was protected by the Interstellar Union. The Skefas would not go after the Cargo unless the IU gave them the ok. And the IU would never do that. Not since the last debacle.

Voltru hovered over one of the smaller landmass, and before he pressed the release button, he prayed to the Great Goddess Welva. He prayed for her forgiveness. Then he pushed the button. From the bowels of his ship, a pod was sent barreling down to the planet. Purple and blue fire emission glowed from the rear, leveling the pod as it descended before extinguishing itself quickly. It fell ever faster before colliding violently in the ground. Voltru had left the moment the pod left his ship. He was going to return to his home, drink a bottle of Oflo's finest, and wait for the Star Police to come. There was nothing more he can do.

Webcomic Club: New Power, Creepy Cafe, Making Webcomics, and Actually Reading Webcomics

Gooood morning Webcomic Club! (Or afternoon, depends when are you reading this.) I have a few announcements for you guys that I know for sure you'll be interested in.

New Power:

That's right guys, as of last week, I, Mabel Escobar, has taken over Webcomic Club in a peaceful coup d'etat. Chloekins will still be president and Saffron is still vice president, but it's just a puppet government where the true leader is me. You will listen to everything Chloe tells you (or Saff), but all higher up decisions will ultimately be from me. Don't worry though, I won't turn into Stalin. I just think it's high time the kohai of Anime Club had a few changes.

Creepy Cafe:

Webcomic club will be hosting a creepy cafe (with zombie/monster maids!) sometime mid-April. This will be one month after Anime Club's fundraiser. This cafe is not connected with the school, and will be hosted in an outside location (tentatively the gallery(?) of Chloe's father). We need people to be maids/butlers, chefs/patisseries, and artists to create and sell creepy artwork. We already have the creepy art book that we will be selling, but sculptures and craft items should also be considered in our inventory to sell.

Making Webcomics:

Yup, we'll be making webcomics from now on. I am hoping that with the combined talent with everyone, we can create a mini webcomic that we will eventually publish and create in a physical and digital format. So come to club with good ideas and characters! I have several ideas we can work out, but I want to give creative freedom to everyone.

Reading Webcomics:

That's right guys. From now on, we'll actually be reading webcomics. Huzzah! They'll be on a PowerPoint/slideshow and will be shown in rotation. That is to say on one week we read Webcomic A, next week we read Webcomic B, third week we read Webcomic C, and the fourth week we go back to Webcomic A. If you would like to read a specific webcomic, tell me, Chloe, or Saff, and we'll try to bring it in.

Have a good week Webcomic Club!

In Which Mabel Tells a Story: How David Left His Mark

STORY TIME GUYS! I'm gonna tell you how David broke his leg (despite being in a wheelchair) and how there is now a permanent mark at Lane Tech of our existence.

To those of you who don't know, David has SMA (spinal muscle atrophy) and has been in a wheelchair most of his life. He also get's really sleepy in the morning when it's cold. This is a very bad combination. This is what the little fucker of a best friend looks like:

Anyways, it was my freshman year, we weren't as close as we are now. It was dead end winter, and the only thing on my mind at the time (other than listening to Rise Against on full volume on my mp3) was getting inside as fast as possible. As I was about to walk inside the building, I see David parked nearby the little rail guard things by the entrance. Now I'm not paying attention, so from my point of view, it just looks like he's stuck or something, so my first reaction is "Hey David, see you inside." And for the rest of the day I'm wondering where David was because he never showed up.

The reason for this is because he broke his leg. Yup. The kid in the wheelchair broke his leg. What happened was that, because it was a cold early morning, he was super sleepy and thus not in full control of hit motor functions, so he accidentally drove his chair into the railing. The snow made him lose control momentarily, so he couldn't stop and ended up crashing into the post. And consequently broke his leg. So while I thought he was just stuck (with a bunch of people crowding around, in what I presumed, to help him get unstuck), he was actually cursing worse than a sailor and yelling at the top of his lungs because he broke his leg. Yes, that actually happened.

To this day, there is a mark on that rail guard and we see it whenever we enter and exit the school. Somehow David blames me.

That long grey mark is where his chair hit the rail guard. It's been three years and it's still there! I laugh every time I see it. 

Anime Club: Initiation & New Titles, and the Fundraiser

To those that don't know it already, I'm Anime Club's Vice President, or as we now call it, the Hokage of Anime Club. As such, I have decided to use this blog not just for school, but for Anime and Webcomic Club (I have taken over the latter in a peaceful coup d'etat). Because of the disconnection within all the clubs, and the fact that no one actually goes to Anime Club's website, we'll be using my blog as the standard frontsman for connectivity. Huzzah. So here's what's new for you guys at AC.

New Titles:

That's right guys, from now on we have new titles. They go as this:

• Club President = Daimyo (Lord)
• Vice President = Hokage
• Sargent of Arms & Secretary/ies = Elder Council
• Office Members & Treasurer = ANBU
• Members that have been with us for all four years = Jonin
• Members that have been with us for two/three years = Chunin
• Members that just joined us = Genin

I may make some buttons or keychains for you guys to signify your ranks. But that may take some time, so we shall discuss this further next meeting. There may be an initiation process with these new titles headed by me (Hokage), David (Elder Council), Cooper (Elder Council), and Marrisa (Daimyo).

Fundraiser:

I have said this once, I shall say this again, the fundraiser is the second week of March, and if you have art that you think is good enough to sell, send me scanned pictures to ladychan101 (at) yahoo.com. Seriously guys, how are we going to go to ACen if we have nothing to sell? We will be working with Webcomic Club and some members from Knitting and Area 51 to sell, but the main brunt of the sales will be from us. It doesn't have to be perfect/complete. Just something usable. Scan them, send them to my email, and we'll take care of it from there.

Next Week's Anime Will Be: My Bride Is A Mermaid Episodes 5 & 6. We are watching the whole season most likely before moving onto either Dangan Ronpa or a Ghibli film of our choosing. Have a good week Anime Club!

In Which Mabel Does Xir First Assignment

 The Metamorphosis Assignment One:

In Part I, the manager says to Gregor’s family, “We businessmen – fortunately or unfortunately, whichever you prefer – very often simply have to overcome a slight indisposition for business reasons.”

 How might this manager’s attitude affect Gregor’s attitude towards himself and his work? Are there times in your own life when you might need to ignore personal discomforts? In your opinion, is this a “fortunate” attitude to have, or is it “unfortunate”?

That's the prompt to my first assignment for class, so here I go, since I have nothing better to do.

The manager is a total asshat, (as exemplified with his lack of care/decency to Gregor's sickness), and from what we can gather from the way he interacts with Gregor, it's not un-normal for him to treat Gregor this way. As such, he's begun to hate his job more and more, holding it in contempt since he isn't treated with decency (or as even a human being, hurr hurr, see what I did there?), and because of that, his own self worth diminishes. Like, big time. see, Gregor has no real care for himself. Everything he does and strives for is for his family and their well-being. In a way, he has begun to see himself as a mere machine that constantly works for the good of others rather than himself. Which is kinda sad.

But you know what, I can relate. A lot actually. *Painfully see's self in Gregor.* While it is unfortunate that one has to ignore their personal discomforts for whatever reason (or the Greater Good^TM), it's a necessary attitude. And because of that, I can heavily relate to it. Just like Gregor, I gave up a lot of shit as a kid because I knew that, in my family, we were broke. We were working poor. We still are working poor. And at a really young age, I never asked for a single thing as a kid. It actually frustrated my parents (my mom especially) that I never asked for anything, because they always thought "Goddammit, she* must want something?!" And I did, I just never asked for it. I would get really jealous over the kids who had cooler and nicer and newer things than me, but I never said shit because I knew we didn't have money for it. It's made me really awkward at receiving gifts from people. Especially my friends. I always get weirded out when they give me things. >.>

So yeah, in all honesty, while I do think it's unfortunate to have such an attitude, I do think it necessary. And that's all have to say about that.

*I used female pronouns because, obviously, at the time, my parents didn't know about my genderfluidity and my preference for gender-neutral pronouns.

Pieces of My Mind: Sad Smile

Sad Smile

May wisdom and its words

Be passed down to you.

For every time I see your

Saddened face

Icy inside.

My only joy in this world is to see you smile.

But it’s an impossible dream for one so sad.

Your sad smile haunts me though

The night, causing alone howl

To escape my lips.

Pieces of My Mind: Life

Life

Children laughing

And shrieking.

Warm blue skies.

Smiling

Sins and sailing clouds,

Dripping ice cream cones

Puddles in her hands.

And one thinks:

It shouldn't end.

In Which Mabel Found An Old Made Up Song/Rap/Poem

So I'm looking through my old documents, and I see this little piece of shit from three years ago. It's old, shitty, and super fucking catchy. I never wrote song lyrics before, but for some reason, I did this one time. So here it is. (Maybe I'll actually record this, who knows.)

Music Blaring From the Bottom of the Sea

Music blaring from the bottom of the sea,

she plays onwards, 

only to sink down, 

aquamarine waves flowing themselves over her. 

Still she plays on, 

swinging herself back and forth, 

shaking her head side to side, 

and her body moving to the motions of the sea.

Music, music, it’s all in the sea,

in the sea, 

in the sea. 

She can’t stop, 

she won’t stop, and she’ll never stop.

The preppyness of the world, 

bruised to a dark shade of purple.

In the sea, in the sea! 

She’s crazy, 

oh Lordy, she’s crazy! 

Go crazy babe, 

‘cause there be no more for you! 

Rocking in the sea,

in the sea, in the sea! 

Blaring music, 

crazy music, 

music, music, in the sea! 

Little mermaids prelude to sharks,

let the stars eat you away. 

IN THE SEA! 

Blaring, blaring, 

the music beats the rocks into sand,

the maiden dances. 

Babe, you be crazy, 

but there’s no more, so keep going,

keep going. 

Crazed bitches be playing in the sea,

in the sea, in the sea! 

Little girls are crying in the sea, 

the foam cascading over the maiden’s body 

in small waves of tears. 

The sea, 

oh sea, let the music play on. 

IN THE SEA! 

And she keeps on dancing, 

just to have music in the sea!

The Depression Cure: My Heart

(That awkward moment where you get your heartbroken so you write shitty poetry to help yourself get over it.)

My Heart

The Depression Cure: Perfect

(I hated how I had to be perfect as a kid. But I hate this poem even more.)

Perfect

The Depression Cure: Happiness is a Drug

(The following's a shitty slightly more recent poem about how much I hate being truly happy because it never lasts.)

Happiness is a Drug

The Depression Cure: Death of Nothing

(The following is an angsty depressive poem I wrote when I experienced one of my first heartbreaks. It's whiny and stupid and honestly, no one should read it.)

A Death of Nothing

Poems for the Soul 8

Eaten

It would be an honor

To have my heart

Eaten by a monster

Like you.

Poems for the Soul 7

Empty

Truth rings within me like a bell.

Hollow and broken

Falling upon deaf ears

Until they can withstand no longer

And falls like a shadow.

Poems for the Soul 6

Shaking

I can’t quite stop

The shaking of my fingers

As they glide across your Life

And nestle between your Soul.

Super Cool Article/Analysis About Frozen

So I read a really cool analytical article on the Disney Pixar movie Frozen, and honestly, it's such an interesting read. Like hot damn, never would've thought it that way. Linkage here!

Also, here's another cool little insight about Frozen on what it really may be about: Link here~!

That's all. *runs off into the sunset to finish Spanish homework*

Poems for the Soul 5

LoveMe

If you saw my smile

And knew I was hiding pain

Would walk the mile,

Or leave me in the rain?

Poems for the Soul 4

Tasting Shadows

True to our word

We keep pace

Only to slip into Oblivion

And slip back out again.

Poems for the Soul 3

Blood and Iron

Warbled Misconceptions

Taste like iron

On your lips

Only too late you realize

That it’s your blood.

Poems for the Soul 2

Soulless Inquiry

It is with an Empty Heart

That I must tell you

That your affections

Will no longer be required.

Poems for the Soul 1

Stone

I can feel the depression

Weighing me down,

Like a stone

Aching to touch the ground.

The Lady Who Went Insane Chapter Three

Chapter Three:

Won’t You Have Some Tea?

The Lady Who Went Insane Chapter Two

Chapter Two:

Flying

The Lady Who Went Insane Chapter One

Chapter One:

And So She Went Insane

In Which Mabel Decides to Showcase Xir Poetry

Yeah that's right peeps. I'm gonna start posting some poetry here. It's gonna be a bit different, since poetry is actually not my forte, but you can't get better if you keep it to yourself, right? Anyways, this is just a heads-up post. No actually poetry here.

Series of poetry will be:

• The Lady Who Went Insane
• A story in the form of a series of poetry describing the downward spiral of insanity of a girl called She. Contains some adultish themes and they're pretty long so they're under a cut off/read more.
• Poems for the Soul (one stanza, 3-5 lines poetry)
• A collection of small poems that tend to be personal and ambiguous. 
• The Depression Cure
• Poems I wrote during severe bouts of depression. They tend to be pretty dark and long. They're also very old, so I have no real pride in them anymore. They will always be under a cut off/read more.
• Pieces of My Mind
• Poems and short stories that don't fit in The Depression Cure series, but are still personal. They range from dark to lighthearted and happy. 

In Which Mabel Animated A Few Things and Wanted To Show Off

I have a serious love for pixel animation. It's like the funnest thing ever. So here's a few that I've created recently:

 (Source)

Senior Research Paper: Or In Other Words, Mabel Saw An Opportunity to Talk About Manga and Took It

Since this is a brand new blog, and y'all don't know very much about me yet (or read my About Me page and decided that it must not do me justice, because how could it?) nobody on this little corner of the internet knows that I'm a hardcore otaku. Really hardcore. I mainly prefer manga (because it's easier to absorb versus an anime that's shit quality on my dinosaur of a laptop), but when I heard that my senior research paper had to be about an art form and its influence upon the world, I knew what I was gonna write it about.