The Radical Dreamers forum is located at http://pub72.ezboard.com/bradicaldreamersonlinegraphicnovelforum

"One big medieval mess!"

Okay, the rant from last week seemed to kick up things a bit. There's actually activity on the forum, which, so it can't be that bad of a thing. I guess the first thing that needs to be cleared up is where we stand on some things. First of all (like I posted on the forum), just because we don't want to live in the shadow of Squaresoft, doesn't mean that we're going to deny its existance (I love Squaresoft and the Chrono series games are some of my personal favorites). It also doesn't mean that any mention of Squaresoft or related games can't be mentioned in our presence. And, it doesn't mean that there can't be discussion comparing and contrasting characters or elements of this work to any other existing work. The one thing that will not be tolerated is unfounded accusations of plagiarism. You see, having people initially think that we are in some way related to any of the Squaresoft stuff is really just an annoyance. Well, I guess after a while it builds up and eventually became a major irritation, but we can't blame other people for it since the term "Radical Dreamers" was used in Squaresoft games. The "straw that broke the camel's back" so to say was the accusation of plagiarism. I don't think it's appropriate to go on and on about plaguarism, so i'll just say that it's a serious charge and to not make it lightly.

Alright, now that that unpleasantness is out of the way, let's move on to some more fun stuff... like that "Kings of Chaos" link that's been on this page for a while. In case you haven't notice, it was broken for most of last week. According to their forums, there was a "security breach" that they had to work on. It's back up now, and the maintainers added a lot of new features. I really have sympathy to the people who ran that site. It's awesome idea, but there are a bunch of L4m3rs out there who take it way too seriously. I mean c'mon people, it's only a game. This is the reason I haven't really gotten into any MMORPG games. Anyway, I'm having a lot of fun with the whole Kings of Chaos thing. Please click on the link... and join up yourself if you want to. I'm having a lot of fun beating down on said lamers.

The next bit of "fun" on the agenda is Anime Boston 2003. The con is in April, but I was visiting their web site and saw that they had a form where people could apply to run a panel. The idea that's been kicking around in my head is the posibility of running a "so you want to start a web manga" type instructional panel. However, I'm not sure how much interest there is in something like that. So, if you have an opinion about this, please voice them on the forums here. Also, if you happen to be a creator of a web manga and would like to be a panelist, drop me a message.

Well, if you're read this much of the rant, I guess you want an update on the name thing. We're working on it. Since we are going through the trouble of changing our name, we want to make sure that we choose a good one. Thanks for all the encouragement and support that we've gotten over e-mail. We'll announce the new name when we've decided on one.

Currently updated weekly every Monday.

February 4, 2003

• Issue 2 page 4 is up

February 3, 2003

• Issue 2 Page 3 is up
• we're going to change the name of this comic/manga/doujinshi/whatever

January 27, 2003

• Issue 2 Page 2 is up
• Links page has been updated *gasp* !

January 20, 2003

• Issue 2 is under way with Page 1!

January 18, 2003

• Last page of the Omake is up (sorry for the delay). Issue 2 page 1 should be up for Monday.

January 16, 2003

• Omake page 4 is up (sorry for the delay)

So when I think about it, I realize the double whammy of venting rants may have been a bit much last week. I suppose I could've waited until this week to do my howling (since Joe almost always writes his rants before me), but I was feeling all indignified. I suppose every artist has a bit of prima donna in them. We don't like to admit it or act like it, but we all get defensive when criticized, even if it is constructive. But fortunately, where as I felt like singing "Everybody Hurts" last week, I now feel like dancing to "Born to Be Alive" this week, mostly because I've been listening to disco a work at lot. That and "This is What We Do" because the new "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" cartoon started this week.

Well, Joe has the privlege of attending the Anime Boston Convention in a about a month and a half. I have to hold off until Otakon but there is Wizard's World Philadelphia in May. It's not strictly anime, but I might be able to get my hands on some stuff. Unfortunately there's mostly bootlegged items, but there's some great artists attending this year like Alex Ross (I think). Anyway, I feel that I'd be somewhat shamed to attend the Anime Boston Con since I entered their mascot design contest and got rejected. :( I can accept defeat pretty well most of the time, but sometimes I guess I get my heart set on somethings. Anyway, I can always count on good old Joe to get me some stuff. I especially have my eyes on the Kingdom Hearts soundtrack and artbook.

As you can guess, I am very fond of Kingdom Hearts. Square has made me eat my words thouroughly since I went from being very skeptical to a big fan. I have to credit Squaresoft with the skillful execution of the game, since most Disney games that come to mind haven't been that memorable. But the game has re-ignited a love for all things Disney within me, which I think is quite an achievement since there have been many times in the last few years where I have been rather disenchanted with them. And then there's that kick-ass trailer at the end for a possible sequel. It's pretty awesome, and I think Riku would make a great sort of anti-hero. So I'm really looking forward to E3 this year because there's a bit of buzz that Square may reveal Kingdom Hearts 2. And then there Soul Reaver 3 which I really need to play. As Joe mentioned to me, it's really a shame we can't attend E3. Maybe if I ever get into video game development.... :)