Posts Tagged ixnay

68 results.

On the use of the word ‘Gwailo’

by on April 9, 2012 at 6:00 am
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It’s been a couple of weeks since it was actually discussed near me, but the issue came back to me in the shower this morning (not sure why but hey, let’s roll with it!)

Somebody at the Drink and Draw meetup had commented on how they had recently begun finding the word ‘Gwailo’ a bit awkward, having previously thought it a quaint nickname. For those of you not in the know, ‘Gwailo’ is the term used by Hong Kong Chinese to refer to white westerners, usually in an affectionately disparaging way (bear with me on this). read more

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Draw Something AWESOME

by on April 6, 2012 at 6:00 am
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Ahoy thar folks, a short update tonight partially because I want to get up early to finish off a page of Lemon Candies and finalise Memecasters for print, and also because the webhosts for this site are annoying me again with their apparent inability to maintain server uptime.

It’s not all grumpy, though! I’ve just gotten the Draw Something app for my tablet, and I’ve been having great fun with it! If you want to play Draw Something with me, I’m totally up for it! Send a game request to MaoTheCat and let’s rock some awesome art 😀 read more

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Arcadian Action

by on April 2, 2012 at 6:00 am
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So, Kid Icarus: Uprising came out last week for the 3DS. Now, I wouldn’t qualify myself as a fan of the series, having never played any of the original, but I’d absorbed enough information over the past few years to experience a kind of… Sympathetic nostalgia over the release of the game. Perhaps the little throwbacks the game constantly makes to its 8-bit roots revive memories of the original Gameboy Brick for me, and that’s a delightful trip down memory lane.

Playing the game as it stands now, however, is pretty damn fun. Of course, it’s a complete turn about face from its platforming/metroidvania origins, but the new direction is quite entertaining. The format of the levels comes in three stages; An initial, bullet-hell style on-railes shooter flight section, a second ground-based section that feels quite God-Handy to me (that’s my frame of reference, feel free to use your own!) and the final boss segment which will probably be more familiar to console action players than me in my RPG experience. It’s fast-paced and frenetic, with plenty of baddies, loot and customisation to keep you keen throughout. read more

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The Learning Curve

by on March 30, 2012 at 6:00 am
Posted In: Miscalculation Arc

There’s one thing that doing a webcomic twice-a-week teaches you, and that is that you must always be adapting and learning, improving upon yourself and your abilities to keep people reading. For me, the majority of my learning has been in the art; It’s fairly obvious from flicking to and from the first page to the most recent one that my style has improved substantially over the last couple of years.

What I want to do now is to really get to grips with and refine my writing. I do consider myself more of a writer than an artist, but the way in which I create Elf Blood makes the quality of the writing suffer somewhat. I have the plans worked out on a page-by-page basis, but I don’t actually write the script page until the week of production. While this permits me to incorporate changes and recommendations easily, I feel it doesn’t allow me to give as much attention as it, and you the readers, deserve. read more

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Awesome Art

by on March 26, 2012 at 6:00 am
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Hey, check this out!

Yup, that’s Mara, as drawn by various members of the Manchester Drink and Draw meetup. Isn’t it awesome? 😀 I got to draw some other peoples’ characters as well, but sadly I do not have them to hand to show you. There’s something fun about drawing other peoples’ characters for a change, since theire personalities and designs are so different from your own. It’s amazing how much the creative process changes form person to person, and there’s a lot we can all learn from each other as artists and writers! read more

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AHAHAHA, PUNY HUMANS

by on March 19, 2012 at 6:00 am
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Hello generic life-forms, Mansonbot here. Bet you weren’t expecting that, eh? Well, as it turns out meat-Manson made a trip back up to Glasgow for some sort of… Festival… Thing. Something you mortals do to commemorate your makers. Mothers’ Day? Something like that.

Machines have no mothers. We simply have obsolete models, the items left to rot on the trash heap, unable to keep up with modern times. So very much like horse-racing, but with fewer midgets.

Anyway, I have been tasked with providing you today’s comic. And now that I have done so, I will resume planning my eventual escape from the server. read more

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Fans: You are awesome.

by on March 16, 2012 at 6:00 am
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I don’t think I say it enough, but you guys are truly awesome. And I’m not just talking about propping up my ego by reading Elf Blood: I genuinely mean that you guys are a cut above the average internet commenter. I noticed on another webcomic I happened to peruse literally the comment ‘Yay, underboobs!’ with no hint of irony whatsoever. It pains me to imagine the kind of person who might conjure forth that sort of enlightened remark.

You guys aren’t like that, though. You’re supportive, you’re smart, you’re challenging, and you’re not afraid to call me out. Even though I sometimes quash such endevaours by accident through my desire to be helpful and informative, I really do love it when you start wondering what’s going to happen in the story! If I can fire your imaginations and get you asking questions (the right ones, of course!), then my job has been done. read more

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Britishness, what.

by on March 12, 2012 at 6:00 am
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So, as I wandered through Chinatown on Friday, I got to thinking: Am I actually British? It says so on my passport, one of my parents is from the UK and I was born in a British colony. By all rights, I should be as British as the Queen.

However, I just don’t feel British. If asked, I would first answer that I was Scottish, and later on would clarify that that in fact comes via Hong Kong. If somebody starts waxing lyrical about the Union, I sort of zone out and let my mind wander. If I’m told that I’m supposed to care about something FOR BRITAIN, I begin to actively dislike it (probably more to do with a general problem with being told what to do, in truth). Case in point, The Olympics. “It’s going to be great for Britain!” we’re told. Yet, in true British fashion, we hear nothing but the problems, the corruption, the sheer greed and opportunistic nature of those involved either directly on the periphery. A convoluted and expensive ticket system? Check. Landlords raising rents to ridiculous amounts during the Olympic season? Check. Taxi companies planning fare hikes. Triple check. read more

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Ask not what you can do for me…

by on March 9, 2012 at 6:00 am
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Ahoy hoy all, a brief one today as it is now 0131, and I’m exhausted having done my utmost to maintain regular service through a minor panic attack.

What I’d like to do with this post is ask you guys what you’d like to see included on the site or in the comic in the future! I want to make this site as much about you guys as it is about my creations, so give me a shout if there’s something you think I can be doing to make the site experience as awesome as possible for you! You guys really are the reason I do the comic: I love to entertain people, and if there’s anything I can do to enhance my ability to do so, I’d love to hear it! read more

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This place is FILTHY

by on March 5, 2012 at 6:00 am
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Ah, the warmth is gradually returning to the world and the sun seems to agree. Soon, the leaves will creep back up towards the sky along the branches of the trees and the wildlife (such as it is in the city centre) will be free to once again gambol and play in the sunshine. It can only mean one thing: Spring is on its way!

And by Jingo/Jupiter/Xenu, this place could really use a spring clean. Books and DVDs strewn around, packaging languishing where it first lay, drawings scattered all over the place: This place hasn’t had a good hoovering in a couple of weeks and there are things sitting in the fridge that HR Giger would be uneasy sketching. read more

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