Kanako is… awesome, somehow.

He is known for saying, “You want the truth? Jace the Mind Sculptor is the truth. Everything else just helps you win.”

“Our family used to own lands,” said my grandmother.

I blinked. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“You are the eldest son of my eldest son,” she replied. “Those lands would have been your inheritance.”

My father would later explain to me that the government of the Philippines had distributed those lands to the tenants that worked on them, as part of a land reform program. A good thing for those tenants, and they deserved it anyway, for all their hard work. I didn’t know what I would do if I owned those lands, except collect rent maybe, and getting rich off of something I didn’t work for seems weird to me.

“And?”

My grandmother adjusted her thick glasses as her voice became quiet and serious. “This is your inheritance,” she said, sweeping her hand in the direction of the window. “The privilege to study here, in the United States – this is your inheritance now.”

My grandmother is a highly intelligent lady who had been a principal of a school in the Philippines, and to her, education was one of the most important things in the world. Her words silenced any objections I may have had.

“I understand,” I said. “No more complaints.”

(Edit: My parents know, however, that I have complained a lot in the years since.)

As a nurse, my father is well aware of the problems of the USA’s health care system. As a teacher, my mother knows that the educational system also leaves much to be desired. America has problems, for sure. But that does not change what they told me, long ago:

“America is the land of opportunity,” they said. “You have a better chance of making your dream come true here, than anywhere else in the world.”

And they believed it, or they wouldn’t have made the effort to migrate here.

Yesterday, Monday the 30th of August 2010, my parents took the oath that made them citizens of the United States of America.

I myself won’t become a citizen until 2017, at the earliest. But I have continued to persevere, going back to school for my third degree after the new immigration restrictions rendered me underqualified for a green card. And while going to school while having a job is difficult on the schedule, I’m glad that all I have to do is spend $1000+ a month and work 60 hours a week. There are many prospective immigrants who would love to be in my place.

There is a cloud of guilt that hangs over the head of any Filipino who chooses to migrate to America. “Don’t abandon your country,” it says. “You have been given wealth and education so you can use it to help others. Return home and help make life better for your true people.” I do donate to Children International to sponsor a child in the Philippines, and my parents and I send money back to my brother and our other relatives there – money we would not have if we weren’t working in the USA. And part of the Philippine economy is driven by money sent home by overseas workers. That doesn’t change the fact that “fleeing” the Philippines is selfish, even if it is to have a better life for yourself and your descendants.

But you know what? I’m fine with that.

The many years of working and waiting have finally paid off for my parents, and they have given me hope that one day, I too will be able to call myself an American. There are Americans who take their citizenship for granted. There are even a small number of Americans who hate their own country. But my parents and I will not be counted among them.

Instead of giving me lands for “mana” (the Filipino word for “inherit”), my grandmother and my parents have given me the opportunity to study and work in the United States, and to eventually become a citizen of this great country.

And I know that’s a worthy inheritance.

Omiwatari (お神渡り, or “gods’ crossing”) is the name given to the ice patterns that form across the frozen surface of Lake Suwa in winter. The patterns are caused by the water circulation triggered by a natural hot spring at the bottom of the lake. According to myth, the patterns are formed when the god Takeminakata-no-Mikoto walks across the frozen lake to meet the goddess Yasakatome-no-Mikoto.

Toho fans are no doubt familiar with the names Suwa and Yasaka.

epic lulz! lolis!

That was a good comment for such a milestone, if you consider that comedy and lolis are the foundation of this blog. That’s why J.C.Staff is the best anime studio on earth, why Kito is better than John Avon, and why Toho is the best game series around. For his prize, he requested a catgirl with glasses, and this was the result.

This illustration spent a while as the banner of his blog, then I adopted it as my own banner after he stopped using it.

And then my blog got hacked.

Heart’s Content was reborn as the more appropriately named “Heart’s Content (H.C.) Staff”, but the posts were all lost and the comment counter was reset to zero.

The Comment #666 award was replaced with a Comment #999 award, and I never announced it, because announcing the award made people comment more and I wanted it to be a surprise.

Reader Falkonus made the 999th comment:

lol at cirno’s face.

The comment is strikingly similar to that of the previous winner; but now refers to a Toho character instead of “lolis”. This is also highly appropriate for the blog, when you consider that H.C.Staff is just like Heart’s Content, only with more Toho.

So what’s the prize?

A picture of Cirno.

Now what exactly Cirno is doing in the picture is up to you, and what else besides Cirno is in the picture is also up to you. Let me know in the comments what you would like.

The following restrictions apply:

1. This is the last project I will undertake full-time before school starts again in September. While there will still be updates to both Fairy Ring and Lotus Cobra is Evil after this is done, activity on this blog will slow down because of school.

2. The time budget will be about 20 hours. If you ask for something difficult and epic, know that the end result may be incomplete and underdeveloped because I run out of time.

3. Sexually explicit requests will be toned down or sidestepped entirely. If you ask for a picture of Utsuho and Cirno doing 69, the result may be the two of them in the kitchen preparing a cake for Satori’s birthday. Revealing attire such as swimsuits or underwear, or non-sexual romantic scenes, are fine.

4. Cirno must not be portrayed in a dark or gory fashion. If you want to show her stabbing Daiyousei with an icicle or getting decapitated by Yuka’s sunflowers, I will confiscate your award and let Muffin decide what should be in it. Cirno suffering clothing damage during a losing battle, or freezing a frog and getting chased by Suwako, are permissible.

5. Non-traditional depictions of Cirno are fine. This includes Miko Cirno, Achi Cirno, Genderswapped Cirno, Cirno-neesan, or the Japanese World War II piloted bomb known as the Ohka.

So, Falkonus, make your request and I will do my best to carry it out. Congratulations on winning the Comment #999 award, and thank you for playing!

Back in high school, I remember my mind being completely blown by “Cliffs of Dover”, which went on to become one of the all time classics of instrumental rock. Eric Johnson is one of the best guitar players (electric or otherwise) on the face of the earth.

Today, August 17, 2010, is the 56th birthday of the national (guitar) hero of Texas. I’m taking a break from drawing to watch his 2006 Anaheim concert video on DVD.

Why don’t you watch part of it with me?

(Edit: Uploaded by doubledge101, not by me.)

This is the most obvious example, but even with stuff like Lotus Cobra is Evil, layouts and writing undergo many changes before the final product goes out. The latest comic with Jace being a jerk was the third idea I came up with, having scrapped both a sequel to the “All Your Jace” comic and a graveyard joke guest-starring Orin, and the line insulting Suika was originally “Looks like you just searched out two Marsh Flats”, far inferior to the end result.

Fairy Ring used the first draft of a script. I don’t know what possessed me to do that. It was probably because Miao Diary used the first draft and came out okay – until the last chapter, which I stalled on for a long time before finally figuring out how to end it properly. After drawing 26 pages into the story, I’ve realized the problems with the script, and have resolved to fix them.

1. Getting to the point.
Miao Diary dropped its first punchline on Page 5. With the current script of Fairy Ring, Cirno and Suwako don’t meet until Page 14, and the punchline wouldn’t have happened until the end of Chapter 1. With the new version of the script, Cirno and Suwako meet on Page 2, and the first punchline comes around Page 10. And the end result is that the chapters are shorter, see #2 below.

2. Sticking to the source.
The first chapter of Fairy Ring is based on the African folk tale Why Frogs And Snakes Never Play Together. But you couldn’t tell, what with the unnecessary cameos of Reimu and the Aki Sisters, and equally unnecessary demonstrations of Sanae’s miracle power and Kourin’s eyes of truth. The source says “They meet, they have fun, and when they meet again they have learned that they are incompatible”. While the following chapters 2 and 3 are about them overcoming this incompatibility, for the first chapter anything that distracts from the basic outline should be trimmed.

3. Improving the art.
The worst part of posting Fairy Ring was my constant embarrassment of how sloppy the art was in places. I know this was to save time, but I need to bring the quality up to Lotus Cobra levels at least. It won’t do if I’m deterred from posting by my pride not being able to take working below my established standards. Just look at the above picture. Isn’t it so much more appealing?

I know there are some people who are content with the original version of Fairy Ring, but I guarantee that when I finish the revised first chapter, you will see why I, or anyone else, should “never submit the first draft”.

Too lazy to memorize the blind spots in that last fairy’s attack? Bomb it. (The fairy drops 1.00 power worth of items anyway.) Dying twice to Double Death Butterfly? Bomb it. (Satori drops 1.00 power worth of items anyway.)

Besides that, I’m glad Terrible Souvenir and Satori’s nonspells are trivial. I’m going to need all the lives I can get for the catgirl from hell.

Green hates Blue.

That’s just the way it is.