[Koma] Son of Stripey: His Reference Materials

What's a good anime to watch with your kids?

[Koma] Son of Stripey: Secret Ambition

Red bomb alert!

[Hontou Ni 4koma] Make a Contract with Me

Depending on your contractor, having your soul ripped out and placed into a phylactery is the least of your problems.

[Hontou Ni 4koma] Hostage Exchange

I have seen thousands of dollars change hands over anime goods that a fan has bought on behalf of a fellow fan. Those of us who lust after DVDs, figurines, artbooks, dakimakura, mugs, key chains and other merchandise would often rather try to get hold of the loot with our own hands. But it may not always be possible with obstacles such as the lack of a credit card - an indispensable tool for online purchases or the cultural-linguistic inability to navigate Yahoo! Japan auctions and to jump the necessary loops, post-auction win with deputy services and forwarding agents, in order to arrange delivery outside of Japan or the release of an item as a limited edition event-only item with the event in question being in Japan itself.

Given the sums of money involved, it is also amazing (even more so when you think about said sums as a proportion of the disposable income of some buyers) how much trust there can be between buyer and getter. The former have been known to dole out cold hard cash up front before a purchase has even been made and fully expecting that, bearing the dreaded cry of 'Kanbai' (Sold Out), the goods will be delivered. Who knows when the favour will be need to be repaid and the buyer becomes getter for that Must Have item? Or the social sanction in the circles against someone who has gone rogue with all of another's life savings? Or sometimes one may need some form of insurance:

[Hontou Ni 4koma] Team Blogging: Communication

The modus operandi of team blogs vary according to the composition of the team and the dynamics between members. If they originate as groups of RL/online friends, they tend to be less hierarchical (though the one who owns the domain and/or has administrator rights is often prior, i.e. first among equals, such as Kanzie of Metanorn). Others, like Rabbit Poets, started out as solo gigs that signed up new members later.

The older surviving team blogs tend to be multi-generational teams; if the founder is still active (in blogging or maintaining the backend), she/he/(s)he will clearly be head honcho. For example, Kabitzin of  Sea Slugs! (where I have the honour of being a third-generation recruit; nb. other bloggers affiliated with more than one team include Leon and 2Shea of Sekijutsu and Kita ze Inbou!) and Impz of THAT. The new Random Curiosity also has a clear leader in Divine who had worked with and then received that mantle from his predecessor Omni. Minaide! Hitorigoto stands out as a KYAARIFIC wife x husband team who were initially introduced via aniblogging.

Hontou Ni remains staffed by just its two founder members and works on a consensus-based model. Building and maintaining that consensus can be like a duck (or UNCLOS III) - it may look placid and slow-moving on the surface but there be furious paddling underneath - and involves lots of communication. Some examples follow:

[Hontou Ni 4koma] 100% Lolicon Vampire

My thanks to Kabitzin for the comment that inspired this.

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Tanuki and LovePlus and Durian Summoning

Inspired by Near infidelity with 2D bishoujos