I have some actual, real, by-god news to report.

But first, I'm going to waste your time.

I was having a discussion with Lady Maverick81 a few...uh...months ago, and she somehow conned me into going through the Tarot deck and assigning Strider characters to each card.

Why? Hell if I know. She just kind of appeared and said, "Hey, I think Hiryu would make a good Death card, don't you agree?"

Naturally, my answer was a resounding, "Hell no."

An hour and a half later, here's what we came up with:

00 - The Fool - Hinjo
01 - The Magician - Kain
02 - The High Priestess - Nam Pooh
03 - The Empress - Sheena
04 - The Emperor - Captain Beard
05 - The Hierophant - Ryuzaki
06 - The Lovers - Sai Pooh
07 - The Chariot - General Mikiel
08 - Justice - Hiryu
09 - The Hermit - the Director
10 - Wheel of Fortune - Caduceus
11 - Strength - Herzog Schlange
12 - The Hanged Man - Hiryu's Sister
13 - Death - Hien
14 - Temperance - Ton Pooh
15 - The Devil - Emperor Dragon
16 - The Tower - Meio
17 - The Star - Kuniang Sisters
18 - The Moon - Matic
19 - The Sun - Rin
20 - Judgment - Solo
21 - The World - Blue/Red Dragon

During the course of the (lengthy) discussion/debate, she revealed to me that she was actually drawing a set of the Tarot cards, which is why I'm telling you guys all this.

(Fanart pickings are kind of slim these days.)

Nonetheless, I was duly impressed. I don't know if any of you remember Lady Maverick81's Race For The Dark Goddess doujinshi, but that's more or less how she made her mark on the Strider web community.

And that comic was incredibly rough compared to these Tarot cards.

Click here, here, and here for preview sketches of the Kuniang sisters' cards.

Hm...what else?

Oh yeah! I added a bulletin board to the LSCM, "The LSCM Nexus". Just click on the new button underneath the contact button to start posting. You don't need to sign up or anything, just post away!

Alright, now for the news. Rumor has it that a VERY popular US manga distributor (I can't say who, but I'll give you a hint: their publications account for roughly half of the manga shelves at Books-A-Million) is looking to do an official English translation and release of the original Kadokawa Shoten Strider manga. You know which manga I'm talking about. It's the one that'll cost you $50 bucks if you go through my friends at Tiger Direct (has anyone actually taken advantage of that offer?), the third rarest collectible in the Strider merchandise canon.

Yes, THAT Strider manga. I dunno about you, but just knowing that a major publishing company is considering translating and distributing it...man, it gives me hope that not all is wrong with the world.

There's nothing more to report. Sorry. See you again in a few months.