OK!!

Portrait now uploaded, Recreation now uploaded and Zone Update emailed off...

Some thanks, first. To my GoodTwin Carol, for putting up with me hunting through my DBZ highlights tape and taking photos from her TV with her digital camera so I could draw Zorun properly. Ditto pics of Radittsu and Zaabon. And for enjoying the stories enough to read them and feedback, even though you're not an anime fan. I really appreciate it!

To Lutra, for endless hours of ICQ discussion, sparking ideas and pinning down the minutiae of character, skills, history and appearance.

To Talon, for the kind of boundless enthusiasm that makes me simply want to write more!

To Sue, for silent support (and not nagging for Timeslipping! I haven't forgotten, honest...)

To the Zone Members, without whom this would all be pretty much pointless!
And to artist onna, for solidly constructive criticism and keeping me on my grammatical toes! Thank you for your 'rave', too - personally I don't think I deserve it, but I really do appreciate it!

Onna mentioned the AC characters relative sizes: it might be worth noting some of them here... These are sort of based on the canon DBZ eps, as best I can (and I'm not good with numbers. Any kind of numbers - maths, time, measurement, birthdays...)

Radittsu - 6' 8".
Zha'haabron and Zorun - 6' 4"
Hijau and Kelapa - 6'
Mahrayne and Zha'haarak - 5' 8"
After that I get a little more vague. Vejiita, Ti'aasaan and Jeice are all pretty much the same height - 5' 4"? 5"? 6"? Leteetza is a couple of inches shorter. 'tiisaan will be as tall as his sire when he's fully grown, as will 'raadiin: the other hostlings will vary between 6' and 5' 4".
Merica is 6' 3", Jagung 5' 7".

Does that help at all?

I need to take a break for a day or so, I'm tired. A nuisance really, because I have the next part of Silk and Leather bubbling, and the next AC - but I have to get some sleep... later....

Sshai'hashri!!!

Done. I'll upload it later, along with the pwp I wrote for onna.

Right - second pic finished. Will go and feed the starving hordes (and myself - I forgot again!) and come back to it after dinner, so I can see what needs tweaking...

On track so far!

Brief break....

First half of the pic is now finished. It'll never be perfect, but if I don't stop tweaking it'll never get posted either! Am about half way through the second part - barring domestic crises, I think it's safe to say the whole thing will be posted tonight, as a full size pic and a smaller thumbnail, and I guess I'd better include some sort of name chart too.

Thanks, onna, for the PS info. I did actually have it set to non-web-only colours, but I'd forgotten how to do it! Problem is I still can't find the colours I can see in my head, even playing around with different effects... Never mind, the whole thing's in my usual rather naive 'style' anyway, so anything subtle would look out of place!

Back to it...

Nope - no good. My hand's gone completely numb and my eyes are stinging - can't do any more tonight - uh, I mean this morning. But the first part is just about finished (need to check and tweak later) and I've started colouring the second part (3 adults and 3 hostlings so won't take anywhere near as long.) Overall I'm fairly pleased with it: managed to get most of the expressions as I wanted them (though 'fallon still looks like a Powerpuff Girl.... ) But I'll state it now - I'm never going to try anything like this again! Far too ambitious for my limited artistic skills!! (Though it's been fun, sort of...)

I should add Tane and Dari aren't in this one. I am however planning a subsidiary family pic - Zh'leet and Gh'veen, Jagung and Merica, Tane and Dari, possibly even Vinas! - but it won't be for a little while. I need to recover from this one first!

I want a tablet. I need a tablet. Trying to colour something this big with a trackball mouse is not easy.

Taking a break for a moment: my hand's aching.

One of life's little mysteries - why is impossible to eat just one stick of pocky?

Heh...

Well, I can't quite believe it but everyone is drawn and inked. Now I just have to scan, slot the two together (that'll be fun! The second pic has to go under the first...), correct all the glaring errors, and colour. (How many pale blues and greens does PhotoShop have?)

Please don't hold your breath...

[snort] Lutra, you do 'threatening' about as well as I do 'sweet and innocent'....

A dragon, huh? You do realise I take that as a challenge, don't you?
[starts plotting, rubbing hands together in the prescribed 'villainous' manner and cackling quietly to self...]

On a lighter note (top C perhaps?) I've now drafted in the rest of the family in the family portrait - having to do it in two parts because of the size - and only have 6 to finish. You never know, I might be ready to start scanning tonight. Then I have the fun of colouring in...

Hmm.... feeling peckish. Wonder if Lutra's guarding the pond?...

Took the bratling to see Scooby-doo... What can I say?... "mostly harmless" comes most readily to mind! (Shaggy was kind of cute, though...) Except the volume was far too high as usual and I left with a headache.

Births finished, as is Lutra's Silk and Leather pt 2, so will be coding and posting those a little later - and the followup to S&L is bubbling, as usual.

Forgot to mention what a wonderful day we had with Good Twin and mate on Sunday. I love Farleigh Hungerford castle (for all that it's a ruin) and the tournament was great (good research for me for Haadri too.) The plaisance at the end was a noisy and vicious affair with knights knocking hell out of each other with sword and mace and axe - and they really did hit hard, too! Kai looked quite worried at times...

So our thanks to Carol and Adrian for a terrific day!

YAY!!!

Lutra has a blog - sorry, pond (glomps othertwin and hands over three large ghost koi as a contribution to the pool...)

Was woken in the middle of a most intriguing dream by Argent, the cat who thinks he's Vejiita - small, noisy and continually fighting Quyn (the dog, ten times his size and built like an incredibly shaggy ambulatory coffee table)...

I can't really complain: if he hadn't woken me I may have finished the dream but probably wouldn't have remembered it (gave up keeping a dream journal after Kai was born - simply couldn't make the time anymore). It's only a tiny snippet - in it I'd had a brief meeting with Duncan (see below) to arrange a training session, and was walking down a long, broad flight of stairs, my arms full of books and a laptop, on my way to a lecture...

I was a member of Yuuzen's species (I know I've made him a variant of my version of Zaabon's species - ye gods this could get very complicated! - so I have to be specific. Definitely Yuuzen's species, but not actually Yuuzen….), starting at a university on Earth. I don't know exactly when, though it must have been some time in the future as the fact of an alien being onworld wasn't considered anything that unusual...

I'd been on Earth for about two weeks - long enough to know my way around the university complex (it looked old to me) and start getting used to the very different conditions and environment here.

I found everything very dull - literally. My eyes were adapted for a much brighter sun, and I found colours here quite dark, but with a yellowish cast, which made things (and people) look dingy. My sense of smell was - not exactly non-existent, but definitely less acute than human. Taste was also muted, though that didn't worry me: for me, food was a means to refuel the body, and I was bemused both by the incredible varieties of terran cuisine and by the way humans used meals as social occasions. My hearing was - different, sharper and capable of a much wider range than a human, but I couldn't hear loud noises. Anything over a certain (quite low) decibel level was simply inaudible.

My tactile senses were different, too: I was able to close down touch receptors (if that's the right word!) at will, effectively 'numbing' chosen parts of my body. My kinaesthesia was well-developed, as was my perception of those around me, their position and movement - I was acutely aware of what was happening in my immediate vicinity (and could act to defend myself if necessary).

I found the gravity here a little lighter than at home, and I was very aware of my body - the fluid way it moved, how strong it was (considerably more than human: I knew I had to be careful to keep myself under control to avoid hurting anyone, it was one of the things I'd been warned about before leaving home), how different it was to human bodies… I'd also been warned not to engage in physical intimacy with humans - at least, not until I'd become accustomed to the planet and its natives - though right now that idea was less than appealing…

Nevertheless I had to workout regularly - if only because of the lighter gravity. One of the first things I'd done was to find a sparring partner, a big, bearded biker called Duncan, incredibly 'laid back' but a fine martial artist who treated me like a normal person (rather than an object of curiosity).

I was gradually getting used to the curious - and lascivious - glances from my fellow students and learning to ignore the snide comments and innuendo, finding it surprisingly easy to maintain a calm, equable attitude in my dealing with humans. The academic work wasn't too hard (I was studying anthropology and human psychology) - at the moment, anyway - and now that I was settling into university life I was reasonably comfortable with the way things were going.

My main problem was not being taken seriously because of the way I looked!

It's been a loooong time since I've had a dream like that - I'd almost forgotten how much fun they are!

.....tired...........

Five hours at explore@bristol with bratling - four and a half of them on my feet. He had a wonderful time, and I enjoyed myself (and learned a few things too! I'd always thought that pterasaurs, plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs were dinosaurs, but apparently not...) although the sheer noise was something else... Still have a headache...

Came back to Lutra's completed Journeys pt 6 - great stuff! - and making a start on my next chapter, though given I can hardly see straight it's debatable how much I'll actually get done.

The notion of Vejiita - Radittsu lemon seems to have gone down quite well (excuse the pun!): onna thinks Vejiita Ou should just be thrown onto the sleeping platform in the suite and left to the family's not-so-tender mercies... It's a fun idea. I'll see what bubbles up...

Good Twin is coming to visit on Sunday! We're aiming to all go to the Mediaeval Tournament at Farleigh Hungerford castle - should be terrific!

Heh...

My Radditz action figure fell from his place - beside and slightly in front of my monitor - and landed on top of my Vegita action figure - in a perfect 69.

Lutra says it's a sign I should write some Radittsu - Vejiita lemon...

I could cry.

I spent days designing the Haadri site. First frames site I ever did. I now find that not only does Netscape 6 not support the links in the drop-down menu javascript I used for the navbar, but it doesn't even recognise f***ing relative style sheets...

I have to redesign the whole bloody site. Like I don't have enough to do. I suppose I should be grateful I've found out now, before the proposal and sample chapters go to the agency.

Better download another couple of browsers. And keep checking for changes in acceptable codes.

I loathe Netscape. Don't like Microsoft much either, but of the two their software works better. A curse upon them all...

[Joules, so pissed off she could kill something. Again. Glares at the AC. Who do I want to get rid of?...]

Well, it's been quite a productive day. I've designed the background tile for Ken's new domain, and we now have connectivity, so I need to upoad the index page later. Lutra whapped over Silk and Leather pt 1 and I've nearly finished its followup, Plaint, so I can code/upload those later too. Holiday is coming on apace, hoping to finish that tonight, and I've also done some more to the family portrait - Buahan, Ti'ani and Le'leen, Radittsu and Vejiita jrs, Ra'vahn and Za'rayne (copped out there: have done the backs of their heads....) 'haabron and Kobis, and Kiraz and 'raadiin. And started inking. Phew....

And I'm a muse! Thank you, onna - I'm dead chuffed! Never been called a muse before...

Steak for dinner - better go prepare...

Ye gods....

Lutra emailed the first part of Silk and Leather, her follow up to Inconvenience... [drools...]

And I have my follow up to that writing itself in my head already.
I'm setting up a new section in The Zone for these PWP shorts and calling it Lemon Meringue - it looks like there may be more...

(I also have the urge to draw the pair - and Choichan - if I can ever find the time...)

Well, the intention was good, and I got well into it... Then Ken came downstairs wanting a new domain as an adjunct to his next book (due out in November), so I stopped work while we bought it, in my name since I'll be creating and maintaining it (lucky me - that'll be my ninth). And that's kind of thrown me off course a little.

Still, I've written three more of the sections to the chapter. Seven more to go...

Can't work too late tonight, Kim is arriving with her 7 year old daughter Sarah early tomorrow to take Kai and me out for the day. Be good to see her - haven't for some time.

[sigh] So will have another go at finishing Holiday tomorrow.

Spent a considerable part of today getting the AC Timeline whipped into shape (everything from AC11-1 up until Mahrayne's sprog's Naming Day next V year) - it's the only way Lutra and I can now keep track of everything that's happened/happening. I can't believe I'm writing such a monster!

Aiming to continue with Holiday once bratling's gone to bed. Be good to finish it tonight if I can. Hoping to include some Tane/Dari/Mahrayne lemon....

Lutra asked what I was going to do to celebrate my 500^th Zone member (assuming it ever gets that far, of course - which I doubt...) I said perhaps we should have an AC convention! She grinned and said she'll start saving now...

I should keep my big mouth shut. But at least this time I didn't actually promise....

I just want to walk along a beach...

Well, seven pages into Holiday and I'm horrified at how much more there is to write. I'm trying to tie up a whole load of loose ends and set up scenarios for the next Sequence as well as write in some lemon: the last chapter had no sex! (Shame upon me...)

Didn't manage to do any more of the family portrait - but then I did say in the Update it would take a while. It's very difficult to concentrate on anything with bratling and partner walking back and forth behind me all the time between lounge and kitchen/garden...

Labels: Alliance Chronicles

I can't bloody concentrate! Lutra and I had a wonderful ICQ chat last night that would translate into a very funny little comic strip (yes, I confess I've been reading too much on Keenspace. I am now addicted to Boy Meets Boy - Mik and Harley are soooo cute, and Skids is simply adorable...) I could draw it, too - not particularly well, but enough to raise a chuckle... And then we have - hundreds? thousands? - of pages of other ICQ chats with some very funny scenarios as well...

So I'm sitting here trying to write Holiday with the comic taking shape in my mind. Too hard..... Need clones...

But Lutra has ideas for an Inconvenience follow-up, which I for one am looking forward to. Interesting responses to the story: not sure if I managed to gross people out or not!

Heh - back to it. Whatever it might be...

[I need a Trigun-fest. I haven't had one for far too long....]

Knackered....

Took the brat on an open-topped 'hop-on-hop-off' bus tour, stopping off at the zoo. Much fun was had...

It's going to be too cloudy to see the asteroid. But at least we did manage to catch a few Perseid meteors the night we had the bonfire (Wednesday? I'm having trouble with haddock again...).

Back to Holiday...

Inconvenience finished, posted and begging for (a) sequel(s)...

And Good Twin took the Pandora's Box Quiz - and ended up as Vejiita!!

So, there we were on ICQ, discussing a possible new Lutra project, when I had one of those flashes of inspiration...

Is it possible to have a crossover of the same series? I guess it is now.

Inconvenience is nearly finished. It's daft. And funny. Severely lemony. And definitely a bit - different...

ROFLMAO!!!

Lutra just took the quiz - and ended up as Goku!!

Yes!!!

I wouldn't normally post this, but as a break from the next AC chapter (Holiday) I tried the Pandora's Box quiz - and look who I am...

See which Pandora's Box character you are...

I am sooo chuffed.... (s'true, s'all true...)

Ouch…. Ouchouchouchouchouch

It was hot and sunny yesterday - so we worked in the garden. Pruned the bay tree and the goat willow to half their previous height, removed one of the buddleias, cut back the eucalyptus and hacked off this year's scheduled lilac tree branch. And those cries of delight you can hear are our next-door-neighbour Dave, overjoyed that we've finally decided the golden willow has to go…

The willow was the reason we (well, I, anyway) bought the house, eleven years ago - not so much bought a house as bought a garden with house attached. No-one had lived here for 10 months, so the garden was a jungle, with overgrown privet outside the patio doors, the horse-chestnut in the front cracking the old wall, the apple tree at the back in a sorry, unloved state, and the willow… the willow must have been at least 50' high. (One of the first things we did that summer was have it cut back to a third of that.) The house itself was warm and comfortable, even in March and with no heating for nearly a year. And the price was excellent: people tend to shun ex-local authority houses. No idea why, they're extremely well built, and the inconvenience of only one socket in each room (well, it was built in the 50s) was easily overcome.

I love that willow. We've sat under her to eat, in the summer, for years, watched the cats learn to climb it - and, more importantly, how to get down again - and chased Kai around the branches. But it's an old tree, now, and very unhappy, and the nearest stream is a mile away. It looks - sad. It's dying.

So we're going to pull it down, and plant another tree - crab apple or rowan, something native anyway.

I'm going to miss her…

Where was I? Oh, yes, garden work yesterday… So I'm now aching all over, with the muscle below my thumb bruised from using secateurs to cut branches that really needed a saw. And I got sunburned across my shoulders and back - went bright red and blistered - which is ridiculous, I don't burn (well, obviously I do now. Mind you, that was about six hours in full sun with no lotion. My own fault…) Just as well I heal quickly.
Anyway, I can still use a keyboard and hold a pencil, so I started the promised Alliance Chronicle family portrait. Haven't done too badly either, pencilled eight of the adults and roughed in Jeice and thirteen of the brats. Good Twin thinks it's looking good! Hopefully have it finished by the weekend…

Waaaay back when The Zone was still tiny with only about 50 members, I made Lutra a very rash promise.

Chuckling merrily, I told her that if the membership ever reached 200, I'd do a special picture - an Alliance Chronicles family portrait....

Guess what? My 200th member just joined...

Let's see... The family currently stands at 11 adults (13 if I include Tane and Dari) and 22 brats (including the three not yet born).

Erk!!

Well, it's going to take me a little while to get that lot drawn! But I will do it. Hopefully before Kai goes back to school.

And in the meantime, will someone please thwap me if I show signs of making any more rash promises? Please?...

YES!

Yes yes yes yes yes!!

Thank you so much, B' Onna, for the advice on getting rid of the showing codes. I've now got the thing sussed...

It's been a strange couple of days - much of it spent on AIM online-writing the first Devon/Daemon (Purgatory) chapter with Reshenna, which has been a hell of a lot of fun and a discipline I've never tried before. Even if Devon (my character) is heading off in a slightly different direction than I'd first intended. It's been a while since I've written any UST: let's see if I still can!

More later - off to code up Progress, the latest Fourth Alliance Chronicle chapter...

Forgot to mention the four main websites (2 frames, 2 no-frames) and three minor sites I run. And trying to learn Japanese. And teaching basic html and web design to others...

Still, I now have four whole days to myself while Ken is in Exeter staying with a friend and Kai is visiting his grandparents. I should be writing, but after 2.5 hours sleep last night I feel more like taking a nap.

Why can't I amend this template without bits of the blasted code showing?