Omake

MiryoMono FAQ
General Questions

Q. What about the person doing this?
A. Well, what is there to say about me, other than...

Name: Rebecca
DOB: 12/22/1981
Occupation: Currently between jobs.
Schooling: Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, with a specialization in Japanese. I studied abroad for one semester in Japan.
Languages Spoken: English, French (8 yrs. experience), Japanese (3 yrs. experience)
Family: mother, father
Pets: Greta, a Miniature Pinscher
Favorite American Comic Artists: Phil Foglio (Myth Adventures; Girl Genius), Art Spiegelman (Maus), Bill Watterson (Calvin and Hobbes), Carl Barks, Don Rosa (Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge)
Favorite Japanese Manga Artists: Akira Toriyama (Dr. Slump, Dragonball), CLAMP (Magic Knight Rayearth, Card Captor Sakura, Clover), Natsumi Andou (Zodiac P.I.), Koi Ikeno (Tokimeki Tonight, Nurse Angel Ririka SOS,) Kazuya Minekura (Saiyuki,) Koge-Donbo (Di Gi Charat, Pita-Ten,) Kiyohiko Azuma (Azumanga Daioh, Yotsuba&!) Arina Tanemura (Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, Fullmoon wo Sagashite,) Yoshitaka Amano (Final Fantasy character designer, Sandman: The Dream Hunters)
Favorite Books: Harry Potter series; Redwall series; Stephen King's The Girl who Loved Tom Gordon; Lord of the Flies; the Alvirah Meehan mysteries by Mary Higgins Clark; Jane Yolen's Sister Light, Sister Dark series; Fahrenheit 451
Favorite Anime: Card Captor Sakura, Tokyo Mew Mew, Slayers, Magic Knight Rayearth, Fruits Basket, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Wedding Peach, Azumanga Daioh, Kiki's Delivery Service
Favorite Video Games: Final Fantasy 1, 4, 5, 6 and 7 (yes I know I'm behind;) the Seiken Densetsu series, Chrono Trigger, the Dance Dance Revolution series, Taiko no Tatsujin, the Kirby series, Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town
Hobbies: Knitting and other crafts, doll collecting

Q. What does the name mean, exactly?
A. While searching on the Web for meanings of names, I came upon a site that did Japanese calligraphy paintings of the meanings of names (in Japanese.) I found Ribby’s (and my!) real name (Rebecca), and for its meaning was the Japanese word miryokuteki, meaning “captivating” or “charming.” Monogatari means “story” or “legend.” So the name means “captivating/charming story/legend.” Give the translation a tweak, and you come up with “The Charming Files.”
Grammatically speaking, the title is NOT grammatically correct when you put it in Japanese. Since miryokuteki is a na-adjective, the title then would have to be “miryokuteki na monogatari.” However, there DOES exist an anime whose title also breaks the rules of grammar: Yuu Watase’s Fushigi Yuugi, which ALSO should be “fushigi na yuugi.” So I guess I’m off the hook.

Q. So how exactly DID this whole entire thing come up, anyways?
A. Well, when I was a young kid, I had an entire family of Pound Puppies, and I sat down to write stories about two girls (Ribby and Tanya) who found this world of dogs and cats and decided to live among them. I decided to drop the whole dog-and-cat-world thing somewhere in high school. A lot of the plots and characters come from some all-night IRC role-playing sessions with some Internet buddies while some other come from dreams or life experiences.

Q. Is this supposed to be anime?
A. As much as I’d like it to be, but it’s not. Considering that this takes place in America and works with the American school system it just wouldn’t pass as anime. But of COURSE this doesn’t take place in the real world…would Ribby be living the way she does in the real world?

Q. If it’s not anime, then why are they all wearing uniforms?
A. Because they’re cute, and because Pierrepoint Academy is a private school, so they can set whatever rules they want.

Q. Hey, did you name a whole town after Ozzy?
A. I did NOT name Osborne after Ozzy. I named it after Sharon because she kicks ass and I wish she could be my mom. Actually, no. One of my earliest stories (Heir Loss) that I still have somewhere includes the member of a very rich family called the Osbornes. Apparently, somewhere back in the mists of time, the city was named after a very famous Osborne. Osborne was originally known as Sleazo City, and its sister city Hoodwink was right next door. Hoodwink was invented in 2^nd grade, I kid you not.

Q. Where is Osborne, anyways?
A. It’s fairly close to Boston. It’s a suburb, but a modest suburb. I kind of like to place it near the town I grew up in.

Q. Is it a real place?
A. Is the Pope Jewish?

Q. So how do you draw this?
A. Basically I start by drawing the comic in pencil on 8.5/11 copy paper that I raid from the printer. As I draw, I write in dialogue, which I then transcribe to a computer file so I know what lines go where when I erase everything. Then I go over my drawings with an ink pen (I have a set of Staedler ink pens that come in four sizes) and erase the pencil lines underneath very carefully. I scan the drawings in using the grayscale setting on Paint Shop Pro 7, then add tones that I've downloaded (the majority are from http://psychobob.xepher.net/screentonez/) after touching up gaps and making sure lines are even. Finally I add the text and any special effects that I need.

Q. Did you write the title yourself?
A. No. What I did was download a Japanese font called “Akubin” from a Japanese Web site, Pandachan.jp. There’s an option in Windows XP to enable the language bar which lets you type in all sorts of different layouts and languages, including Japanese. I have it set up so that as I type in the romaji, the computer automatically replaces it with hiragana, katakana or kanji (sometimes I have to scroll through a list of 20 or more kanji to find the right one.) The other font is Catholic Schoolgirl, downloaded from Freefonts.com.

Q. So you know Japanese?
A. 大学の三年生の時、日本で関西外大で勉強しました。このまえに、日本語を二年ぐらい勉強しました。
Translation: During my junior year of college, I studied in Japan at Kansai Gaidai. Before that, at St. Michael’s College, I studied Japanese for 2 years.

Q. Ooh! Can you translate all of Naruto for me?
A. Even I have my limits.

Q. Jeez, what's with this warning for e-mail and such?
A. One of my biggest, if THE not biggest, pet peeve I have is when people send me junk e-mail. You know, "good luck" charms and stuff and anything that says "PASS THIS AROUND TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW AND THEIR MOTHER!!!!!!!!111" So if I get an e-mail from you, and I send you back an e-mail that includes a link to Snopes, you better damn well read it!

Q. I’m a Yankees fan. I find this comic to be offensive.
A. Geez, you blow one 3-0 postseason series lead and you think the whole world’s against you. Chill.

Q. Speaking of major events, when does this story take place?
A. In the tradition of video games like Earthbound and even Stinkoman 20X6, MiryoMono takes place in 200X.

Fan Work Rules and Regulations

Q. I'm sending you this awesome fan art I did.
A. Awesome! Just make sure it follows these rules:

Pictures must be rated at least PG-13. I won’t accept anything that involves these characters (the MAJORITY of which are underaged) engaged in sex acts, or in bloody violence.
Image formats I’ll accept are GIF, JPG and PNG. Anything other than that I’ll ask you to send again.
If you submit a short fan comic I’ll consider running it and will contact you to ask if it’s OK to do so.
When you send me your picture, give me whatever name you’d like to be referred to on the gallery page, or you will be put up as a citizen of Anonymous Land.

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