But yeah, just wanted to say hi, and I’m not dead, and I got a lovingly boring class in which I draw, too.

School is going great, my grades show very well how much I like it. I’ve been lucky to be a quick learner and to understand easily, so I’ve been trying to help classmates too when they needed it. It’s fun

Stress is taking its toll on my body though, and I’m seeing many effect of it none of which are pleasant. I’ll have to improve that next semester.

I realize I don’t really have anything to say without going into personal, boring details, so I’ll stop here. And for visiting the site still faithfully, have a monkey drawing to color if you wish to

                          

Hello.

To Cali: As I told you

You might have noticed that I don’t seem to have a fixed update schedule.
That’s because I don’t have one.

So I don’t know when I’ll be updating again, or when I’ll stop to.

Updates will still be posted on Facebook, Twitter (and MySpace by extent) and LiveJournal.

                          

~ * ~

Mikko: He finally got what he wanted – a cello. And now, he’s had it for some time, and got bored with it.

Life: There was time before there was life.

Em&Comm: Counting sheep to fall asleep, anyone?

Love: Cheesy one. When you’re with people you love, you can’t see time go by, but you always know where it went, because you keep the memories o it all

Janne: How does beard grow? …with time…

Kris: With time, he either got worse, or better, so their relationship has not been entirely good, but he’s doing ok now

Jussi: Aikasi On Nyt, their first single off Kultakalat, means “Your Time Is Now”

Hate: With lots of Time, Hate has been known to get worse and consume people.

PK: As he is a ghost, as in not alive anymore, PK is outside the effects of time. And it kinda annoys him to be stuck unchanging.

Jyrki: He doesn’t quite look his age, and well, he’s Elvis.

Jonne: The actual Jonne is looking a lot less like a girl than he used to, so closet!Jonne is blaming time for being “turned” into a boy.

~ * ~

You know, if I keep revisiting comics like that to get links, I might just get nostalgic enough and take it all up again >_>

                          

However, my mom (who did not have extraordinary artistic skills on paper but enjoyed it a bit nonetheless) decided, when I was 4, to scale one of my drawings in her own sketch pad. She saved it and gave it to me many years ago. The pad is in pieces now, but I’ve kept the drawing. Here it is, just to prove all of you that hey, I started somewhere too

It’s a cat!

Notice how I drew some fingers on the paws (but only 2 paws, because it’s sideways, obviously). For SOME reason, I REALLY like the tail.

My mom told me that when I was young, I’d draw (quite good) faces upside down. She’d ask me about it, so I’d just turn them around and tell her, “See, they’re on the right side!”

Weird… =P

(btw sorri about the lack of posts in the past few days, I’ve had trouble with my file manager. All sorted now.)

                          

The idea of a karaoke comic had formed a long time ago, mainly from Oskari’s admittance that he knew the lyrics to Scissor Sisters’ “I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’” (mostly because he works in a bar so it would play all the time). In the above sketch, Lil Lii is singing Katy Perry’s “I Kissed A Girl“, and people are laughing at him because in the comics, he doesn’t really know what a girl is.

Janne is singing this song, chosen by Jussi without telling him (it’s actually a PG version of, hum, this song (not really safe for work), but that was definitely not relevant). When he reads the lyrics though, he goes on to brick Jussi, who then sings “Another Brick In The Wall” by Pink Floyd.

Teemu is singing Basement Jaxx’s “Where’s Your Head At“, and his pondering at where his head is at, actually, is related to his emu costume.
(Yes, I actually kinda blinked at his reply for a moment before I remembered. At the time of drawing it, the emu costume was actually a fresh thing.)

And Theon, well… he’s not singing anything, cause he lost his microphone. XD

Speaking of music and of Theon, Lovex had just released their new video for Slave For The Glory. View it below!

                          

~ * ~

Thunder tore the already tense silence, as everyone prepared mentally for the final showdown.
“Do we really have to?” asked warily an already exhausted Aleksi.
“You know we don’t have a choice,” answered Paavo, completing a bandage on his leg. “We can’t let it continue any further.”
Aleksi turned to Alarik, who was snoring softly on the floor. “I fear we might not come back from this one…”
The bearded hero regarded his companion gravely.
“I know, but this is the life we chose. If we backed up now, would you be able to live with yourself, knowing everything that is at stake? People trust us, we have to live up to their expectations, or perish trying to protect them.”
His friend sat down beside their sleeping partner. Poking him distractedly, he answered in a tired voice, “…I know.”
Lightning brightened the inside of Dog’s Home for an instant, highlighting their worried faces as Alarik stirred in his sleep, annoyed by Aleksi’s poking.

~~~

“Your evil days of frightening people are OVER!”

The statement hung heavy in the air, to be soon chased away by the wind. Rain had ceased, for now at least, you know the weather in Tampere, and a fresh breeze reminded of the nice summer days and strawberries sold by the street.

The blond hero stood defiantly in front of his enemies.
“…you think you can stop us?” asked Kimmo, his eyes squinted in a mild glare.

Theon replied with a duck face.

“…alone?” added The Scary One, stretching his arms.

From his mighty dolphin steed, Iso T refused to flinch.
“I vowed to protect the people and I will risk my life to fulfill my promise!”

The Glaring Finns glanced at each other, careful not to wound themselves by doing so.
“Very well,” replied Grumpy Antti. “If you are willing to give your life, we’ll gladly take it.”

Thunder rolled again, and rain resumed pouring, extracting a loud “SHIT!” from everyone present. Theon was introduced to the ground as his fearless dolphin ran for cover, cursing the freaking rain that would ruin his hair.

Already, Kimmo, Oskari and Antti were glaring at the sky, scaring the clouds away. When the sky proved empty of everything, they had to threaten the sun to go back in place, after finding it hidden behind a building.

They were all ready to pick the fight where they had left it – Theon had straightened his costume while his enemies were arranging the scenery – when a voice was heard.

“You didn’t think you could begin without us, did you?”

Theon looked up in disbelief.

“…is that you, GOD?”

Through the loud clap of simultaneous facepalms, the voice added, ignoring the previous question,

“We are the Flying Potato Junkies, and we shall not let you rule this Earth with your Evil Glares!”

Eyerolls from the enemies’ side.

“You again? I thought we’d gotten rid of you french fries like, an hour ago!” answered a very annoyed Antti.

Alarik looked suddenly alarmed. “WHAT? Really?? Did I miss that again??”

Aleksi comforted his friend as Paavo flew to Iso T’s side. He placed a hand on the young hero’s shoulder, declaring solemnly, “I will not let you down.”
His blond associate looked at him, bewildered. “Who’re you??”

The Glaring Finns snickered, which was almost scarier than them simply glaring. A moment later however, everyone was in position.

Alarik, decided to make the best out of this one, would take on The Scary One. It might ressemble a bitch fight with drumsticks, but the best drummer would win.

Aleksi would take on Antti, though he wasn’t completely sure his frown and middle finger would be able to defeat the drummer’s grumpiness. It would be a tight match.

Paavo would bravely go against the Glariest Finn of All Finns, though the outcome was far from obvious. Used to bear with Aleksi – who had luckily stayed on the Good Side, he might be able to resist Kimmo’s glare.

Theon had run off after Vivian, because he’d already lost his duck, not his dolphin too.

The air was charged with electricity. Everyone was jumpy, and thus everyone almost had a heartattack.

“What is going on here?”

All eyes turned toward the source of the question. A purple-haired girl, dressed vaguely punk, was looking pointedly at them.

Antti gulped and replied, in a tiny voice, “….nothing.”

The atmosphere was heavy, and soon everyone slowly inched away toward their respective home. An eyebrow raised, the girl continued to watch them without another word, until her eyes fell on the Glariest Finn.

Frowning, she said warningly, “Kimmo… your beard.”

The bassist knew what was at stake. He also knew he only had a few seconds to make a move, but that he would never have the time to remove his facial hair.
His eyes widened, and upon uttering a terrified “OH SHIT”, he ran for his life.

Immediately, the purple-haired girl called for her associate, and soon the two of them were gone after the poor Kimmo.

The remaining fighters looked at each other.
“Again?” asked a very annoyed Aleksi.
“I thought the Selo were supposed to hold them back!” replied apologetically Oskari, just as confused.
“They’re going to be grumpy at me for the rest of the week,” whined Antti, who didn’t manage to get anyone’s sympathy.
“Well, I guess we’ll have to try again next week,” concluded Paavo.

Exchanging greetings and drumstick hits on the head, both camps departed back home, flinching as they heard the fallen King of Glare scream in terror.

~ * ~

The above would have been utterly epic if I had been able to pull it off as a comic, but alas, backgrounds and I do not mix well (failed my classes as a chameleon, see). It was inspired by my friend Las’s awesome name mixing ability, which transformed “The Potato Junkies” (the name of the Therapy! cover band Paavo, Alarik and Aleksi formed after Bloodpit imploded in 2007) into “The Flying Potatoes”. It sounded so much like a superhero league that I did the above sketches, and eventually found them “villains” (the Glaring Finns) and wrote the above story.

                          

In the next few days (weeks…?), as I don’t yet have a job and thus more time on my hands, I will be posting some of this lost material – scripts or outlines of comics, some alternate versions of published comics, or never seen before drawings

I would also like to remind you all that if you have a question about a comic, a character or an unresolved storyline, do feel free to ask

Take care!

~Laury

                          

Thank you all for your participation, in comments and suggestions, and to everyone who helped with the ideas and promotion: it’s been a good five years.

The website will NOT be taken down, and it’s most likely that I’ll keep paying for the domain, so all the comics will remain accessible, should you wish to read them again.

If you have any question concerning an unresolved issue with a character or a plot, please ask, I’ll be happy to answer as honestly as possible.

You can still see more of my art on deviantART, and I also now have a tumblr account where I write and post… stuff.

Once again terribly sorry for everyone who had been waiting for more… =/

Best wishes to all :3

~Laury

                          

I hope you had a lovely end of February. I am now back in Quebec (since Monday) and quite looking forward to move in with my sister’s family in about a month.

The past few weeks have been silent here and I apologize. I have had things to solve in my head and pretty much got off the Internet for a few weeks.

Now that I’m back though, I intended to start drawing comics again. However, a moment ago, my laptop seems to have died on me. As my computer is the gateway for anything closet inc., well, this doesn’t look good.

Long story short, until I manage to get it fixed, or buy a new one with the little money I have left, I doubt there will be any updates here =/

I have 2 computer techs in my family, so here’s hoping for the best…

In the meantime, I wish you a very nice beginning for spring – or autumn, if you live in the south hemisphere – and talk to you soon, hopefully…!

~Laury

                          

I’ve had a lovely time in England over New Year’s Eve and the first week of January. One of my friends introduced me to her job – archivist – for which I had expressed interest, and it just totally blew my mind on how fun and interesting I’ve found it. I know now what I want to study when I come back to Quebec (countdown: 40 days left in Finland)!

For some reason, knowing what I want to do as a long-term job made something click in my… head, mind, soul, whichever. I’m now a lot more relaxed about that whole Future thing everyone’s talking about.

For some other reason, I’ve experienced a wave of artistic inspiration like I don’t remember having in the past 6 years. I now start random drawings on paper that end up being colored by pencil (I hate pencils) if needed and some who are just tediously long to draw but that I stubbornly finish anyway (I’m usually lazy about that).
So, in short: the artist in me is kinda revived.

Now the bad part: it doesn’t include Closet Inc.
No, it’s not that I lack inspiration or ideas. I’m not… bored with it either. But it’s pretty much been the only thing I have drawn in the past 4 years, and like a child outgrowing its toys, I’m also going toward things suiting my “new” state of mind better.

No, this is not the end of Closet Inc. To all the people who read every comic and to my character, I feel like I owe you all more than unfinished story lines. I just need some time to do something else, and then to learn to reconcile both branches of my creativity

There is currently 2 projects I’ve begun, one of which has a close deadline and the other which is just stupidly long but well begun. I’ll be finishing those and then hopefully resume Closet Inc. normally, but we’ll see. You’ll have something new by Valentine’s Day

TL;DR – Closet Inc. is on hiatus

until February 14th at the latest.

Thank you to all who’ve supported me through these -almost- 5 years, and I hope 2011 is beginning well for you anyway :3

~Laury