I haven't been feeling very funny lately, and for that i apologize. I had intended to do some normal quick humorous filler comics, then launch into a Omake to give me a few weeks to finsh up my prep for starting chapter 7, but things aren't really working out that way. Such is the ebb and flow of things, and you can't fight the tide too hard, or you won't go anywhere.

That said, there are a lot of reasons for me feeling sullen and out of sorts right now, one of them I talked about a bit on my fredart blog. (reference to my sister's good news removed after a number of nasty emails about it. And people wonder why i try to keep some of my private life private :)

The other is a function of my normal struggles with writing and general moodiness. You people think Piro is a sad sack, you should see me sometimes :) MT itself is like a huge malformed pile of yarn, ribbon and thread that snakes about and can lead into almost any direction - to intertwine, braid, tie, tangle, knot or even slice thru other elements of itself. For me, it's almost impossible to see it as a whole. I'm down in the middle of it with the rest of you.

I really envy people who can look at projects as a whole. Dan Kim, the massively talented (and mightily disturbed) individual behind Clone Army, has finally finished Paper Eleven (or PXI) and is ready to embark on his next project, Kanami. (before i continue with this thought, be forewarned that some of Dan's stuff is definitely NOT for the under-18 crowd nor for the easily disturbed. Paper Eleven is a remarkable work, and i recommend you read it, but the sensitive and the younger should avoid Tomoyo42's Room at all costs. (End disclaimer) :P)

Recently, Dan gave me a pretty succinct synopsis of the Kanami story, and i have to say that i'm envious of his ability to be able to have such a good grasp of the story as a whole, know exactly where its going, and what to do with it. My ideas tend to be much more ethereal, and have a critical mass of thoughts, feelings, imagery, ideas and other muck that is good fertile soil for the growth of stories, but is fraught with a lot of unknowns. That makes the starting of things, be it new stories, new chapters, or even little omake ideas, nerve racking for me.

I've struggling with being torn between two concepts for the Omake for this chapter. The original idea is a decent one, but not fully formed. It follows the same kind of overall theme that previous omake have followed -- an opportunity to cut loose, stretch my creative muscles, break free of the strands of the MT story and get some air. A lotta craziness, a lot of insanity, and a healthy serving of disturbing. But is that what Omake *has* to be?

I dunno.

The other idea that has taken root in the loose soil in my head is much more... serious. Like any Omake, it contrasts the main work in many ways and it spoofs several manga and anime titles... but 'spoof' is not a good term here. I am not sure if it is a function of my more sombre mood, or the creative paths i just tend to take, but i can't help but feel myself leaning towards this omake project.

Of course, it's just an omake. Maybe i should not worry about it, and just follow my subterranean emotive vectors and see where it goes. Worst that happens is people will just pound on me to cut the crap and get on with chapter 7. Silly thing is, i have to do THIS to give myself the time i need to pull chapter 7 together more solidly. Just pulling together a 4 or 5 comic short story is very difficult and hard for me to get a handle on... grasping an entire chapter is almost beyond me, and i can usually only build a fertile framework for it and see where it grows.

What was particularly interesting was that when i tried to explain even the barest basics of my omake idea to Dan... i couldn't do it. It sounded insanely lame to me. This is not unusual for me - seraphim will often ask me to explain what im thinking of doing with some story bit, and ... i never can. I have to produce it to get it out. I can't explain it. Maybe that's part of my problem, i need to learn how to create better, workable synopsis of things...

In some ways i do. It's those stand alone sketches i used to fill up the fredart site with. Thats about as clear as any of my ideas ever get before i finish them.