#shaderunners

[chimeracomicscollective]

🌈 Queer Webcomic Spotlight: Shaderunners 🌈

This Pride Month, we'll be sharing some recommendations for webcomics that feature queer characters and storylines! Today, we'd like to tell you about Shaderunners (@shaderunnerscomic), an alternate history noir comic by the writer Lin Darrow and the artist @alexassan.

A thousand years ago, the last colour in the world faded to grey. Now, after a great archaeological discovery, it stands ready to enter the world again. Ironwell City will become the birthplace of a burgeoning new industry, where colour is pumped out of factories, poured into perfumed bottles and sold at exorbitant prices to those wealthy enough to afford it. Now, in the city’s shadows, a group of ragtag bootleggers and bohemians band together to steal colour from the wealthy echelons of the city’s high society. Among them: a philosopher, a puppeteer, a gutter rat, an opera singer, a naval officer – and a hopeless romantic. Together, they run The Glass Dial, former watch shop and future speakeasy, where all the drinks run red.

If you'd like to help support these wonderful comics and the collective, reblogging our posts goes a long way. And of course, make sure to follow this account if you'd like to see more webcomic spotlights like this 🩵🩷 💛

✨ Start reading here! ✨

[cabinette]

Recently just caught up on the @shaderunnerscomic and let me tell you, i have NOT been normal about mister Easton Lynch.

As much as i ADORE his moustache, I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for the scruffy chin and floppy hair he had in the early pages....

Go read Shaderunners!

[hiveworks]

The third & final act of Shaderunners begins now!

Act III : Chapter 1 of this color heist historical fantasy webcomic will be updating with 2 pages per week on Sundays and Wednesdays until the chapter is completed.

Art and story by @alexassanart and Lin Darrow. 💚

A thousand years ago, the last colour in the world faded to grey. Now, after the great archaeological discovery of Queen Sorizahana’s shade-stocked tomb, it stands ready to enter the world again. Ironwell City will become the birthplace of the burgeoning colour industry, where colour is pumped out of factories, poured into perfumed bottles and sold at exorbitant prices to those wealthy enough to afford the luxury. At least, that’s the plan according to the Five Financiers of the Sorizahana excavation. One part Prohibition fantasy, one part Robin Hood, and a whole lot of epic heist, Shaderunners follows a group of ragtag bootleggers and bohemians who band together in an effort to steal colour from the wealthy echelons of Ironwell’s high society. Among them: a philosopher, a puppeteer, a gutter rat, an opera singer, a naval officer and a hopeless romantic. Together, they run The Glass Dial, former watch shop and future night club, where all the house drinks run red. Speak easy, pal, ‘cause the road to ruin is paved with good intentions.

[ipsl0re]

From the page notes:

“Drawing Pamina Smiling is genuinely such a treat I’m always so stoked when the script calls for it.”

FIRST PAGE | LATEST PAGE | ABOUT | ASK

[alister312]

gregstophien prohibition au…… they are all running a bar together…… getting blackmail on powerful people they can leverage to their advantage….. dancing and pomp….. Gregory runs the books and generally hosts while Christophe and Damien do security and acquire liquor…..

[goldenshrikecomic]

do you follow any other webcomics? If so, which ones are your favorites/would recommend to others? (Preferably on comic fury)

I follow some! I've recommended other xenofiction comics before but you can just look at the animal tag to find a lot of gems that could interest you there. New recommendations:

Jumalanpelko by Sysi Skyling Song by astrofern Lost Scent by Mikaley and Buntfeder Cat Island by spageddy MOTHERS THOUSAND EYES by Holycorrupt Shaderunners by Alex Assan (recently found out it's back from its long hiatus, gotta reread!)

[feathernotes]

BACKGROUNDS IN WEBCOMICS

I want to talk about sustainability in your work process, featuring our fave: Backgrounds. How to simplify, convey, and deliver in comics! (examples include Phantomarine, Wychwood, Shaderunners and Ghost Junk Sickness) The usual suspect to burnout is often the workload involved. Many ppl who FULL HAM on pages that def need a detail cut for many reasons Main one being: You don’t need excessive detail to tell whats happening in a small panel, in fact, less is better. When you observe a page in its entirety, where does the eye travel? Where does the eye stop? Having a fully rendered BG in multiple panels can actually be a huge distraction, on top of the time it takes to get there. So how do you balance?

In Phantomarine, the most detailed panel is the establishing one, it holds our characters and allows readers to understand the positions they're all in/standing at. Its one panel that provides a specific telling detail: the railings behind Phae indicate we're on the boat.

In the bottom left panel,the artist uses the railings again, but doesnt have to render the lights, floor boards, or sea to show where we were, then uses the colours of said BG and mood to paint the rest of the page. This is where colours/gradients and small objects save the day! The same example is here, just flipped. The establishing shot shares DETAILS that you need to show the readers where we are, then the BG of Pavel eating food isnt over whelmed with background characters or other details that get in the way of the ACTION that is to be conveyed

it would be rather distracting if we were to see Pavel eat that bowl, with sooo many more details involved in the panel- instead, the drapes, hues of light, and clever sound effects tell us what is happening. Wychwood does the very same with establishing shots, then KEY DETAILS to provide the reader with where the character is standing, without sacrificing the facial expressions and details of the CHARACTERS that we need to get across

Most detail is in the top panel, the BAR that Julian holds onto is a KEY PIECE to show where they are in the BG already established. Perfect use of BG! Get used to thinking of those key details when changing scenes and establishing shots!

Pick those key details to tell the reader where they are and draw that. If you have a library scene, please just draw that BG once! Take a specific bookcase or key feature, use blocked shapes and colours, and make it less detailed than the provided establishing shot. I also wanna talk about : Action Scenes Focusing on the ACTION of the scenes is SO important when you have them, and often details get lost when a creator focuses on details that can distract a reader! My advice? Most action scenes are best without/need little backgrounds. A few shots from Ghost Junk Sickness demonstrate this. We're paying attention to the action- we've been established where we are before, so let's play in the sandbox now.

Have a panel or two peppered in there, with the same principal as above to ground where your character is, but do not add a BG in every panel. It instantly takes away from the action when it's not integrated as well, and it takes SO MUCH MORE TIME to draw that sequence!

Read More amazing tips: Here are some GREAT examples by the creators of ShadeRunners, HERE who break down how they do backgrounds ( AND CROWD SHOTS!!!!)

TL;DR: Comics are a MULTITUDE of skills and needs. It takes a lot of time and work to pull it off, so working with methods that make it easiest for you as the creator is what will help you maintain that momentum and stability you need! Good luck and get comicking!

[the-bi-space-ace]

Happy Pride Month!

As my username suggests I am bisexual & asexual and (something you might not know about me) I go by she/they pronouns. As a queer fan in the Star Wars space sometimes it can feel a little isolating. Which is why this year I wanted to do a rec list for the pieces of media that elevate queer voices and have touched my heart.

Please add your own fanwork recommendations to this post!

Reblog and add anything queer you've created to this post. It could be fanfiction, art, headcanons, anything. Shout yourself out! I want this post to be a place for you to celebrate yourselves and every beautiful thing you create - whether it's fluffy, spicy, or anything in between. Feel free to shout out fanworks you love, too. I don't have any rules here except for it has to be LGBTQIA+. Romance is not a requirement. A character is still queer with or without a relationship. For example: I consistently write Crosshair and Echo as people who are not straight, even if the fic doesn't feature either of them pursuing anything romantic or sexual. It's just how I interpret them while I write.

I'll start us off with some recommendations of my own.

Webcomic:

Shaderunners - 'steal from the rich to give to the poor' found family. Amazing art and a beautiful story.

Podcasts

The Penumbra Podcast - Private Investigator with a tragic past and A LOT of issues meets a thief and they fall in love.

The Magnus Archives - for you horror fans out there who love a good tragedy.

EOS 10 - Space found family and one of them is a space pirate. Who doesn't love space pirates?!?!

TV Shows

The Last Of Us - again for you horror fans out there.

The Haunting of Bly Manor - another one for horror and tragedy fans

The Owl House - animated, adorable, and heart wrenching.

Dead Boy Detectives - campy thriller ghost detectives

And last but not least:

My own fanfictions that feature individuals who are not straight:

Everything in my Cody & Obi-Wan series on Ao3

Grow Where You Are Planted - Stargate SG-1 Jack/Daniel Rated M

For The Republic's Use - Echo/Quinlan Rated T

The Spy Who Shagged Me - Echo/Quinlan Rated T

Alive - Pathologic 2 Artemy/Daniil Rated E

Not Every Miracle - Pathologic 2 Rated G

Add your fanworks! I'd love to read them. And, above all, happy pride month!

[paintedcomputer]

Acornfuzz, Blazestorm, Driftbark and Shaderunner. all kids belonging to two of my ocs called Dovesong and Owlwhisker for an AU im working on

base belongs to @eeveekitti

[chaikachi]

Hi, Chai! I've been following you for a bit, mostly for the RG content, and I've recently seen you talk about your other non-RWBY interests when I realized that I'm really curious on what other media do you like? (Be it shows, movies, music, games, books, etc.)

Oughh this is a very good question. I'll put them under a read more cause I have a feeling I took this question too literally and it might get just a little bit long because of that. 💦

I'm generally very passive with the media I consume and only draw as much RWBY as I do because RG has had me in a vice grip since V8E1 and isn't letting go anytime soon. 💀 But I do engage with lots of other stuff too! This isn't an exhaustive list, just ones I like lots or re-watch often enough.

Anime

I probably watch this stuff more than anything else. My favourite of all time is probably The Eccentric Family, both seasons. The art direction and the messages of the story just hit very hard for me and I re-watch it pretty much every year. My second favourite is Kekkai Sensen (i prefer the first over second season as they switch directors).

As for others enjoy:

Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood

Silver Spoon

Yona of the Dawn

Snow White with the Red Hair

Kyousogiga (recommend if you liked Kekkai Sensen)

A Lull in the Sea

Chaika the Coffin Princess [Now why does that name sound so familiar 🤔]

Anohana

Been really enjoying this season's shows and am looking forward to the Winter 2024 lineup (Dungeon Meshi and Yubisaki to Renren at the same time!!)

Shows

Dragon Prince

The Owl House

Good Omens

Games

Nier (2010),

Transistor

Pyre

Zelda Series (Ocarina of Time & Spirit Tracks are my favourites)

Nier: Automata

Honorary mentions to Grand Chase (an old MMO i used to be obsessed with), Avalon Code (a niche DS game that I really liked), Fire Emblem Awakening (a classic) and Animal Crossing (that I played like it was my day job in 2020).

Movies

Can only think of two live actions and the rest are animated/anime 😭

Stardust

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Howl's Moving Castle

HTTYD (1 & 2)

Kubo and the Two Strings

The Wind Rises

From Up on Poppy Hill

Penguin Highway

Books

I don't read as much as I did when I was a kid, but my top three are probably Runemarks, Howl's Moving Castle, and Stardust (I like the last two a lot because I liked their movies).

Webcomics

Used to be really into these and wanted to write my own before Webtoon kinda... gentrified the entire industry. But hey, I can still talk about some of my favourites!

Shaderunners (queer heist in a roaring 20sish setting)

Witchy (queer south East Asian inspired fantasy adventure)

Kochab (sapphic story between a skier that gets lost and meets a fire spirit I think? It's final updates are going up this month!)

Lady of the Shard (all time favourite. queer polyam lovestory between a goddess and her acolyte. Complete. I reread it every year, I love it so much. The rest of the authors work is also great, you might know them from Cucumber Quest).

Then lastly...

Music

I mostly listen to indie/folk more than anything else, with a bit of jazz/R&B thrown in for flavour. Favourite artists are probably:

San Fermin

Flock of Dimes/Wye Oak

Of Monsters & Men

Maggie Rogers

Florence & the Machine

Paper Kites

Matthew and the Atlas

Halsey

This list obviously isn't exhaustive because I have the memory of a goldfish but those are the highlights that came to mind at least.

Sorry for the long list, but thank you for the question!! It was fun to put all these in one place.

[alexassan]

It's a few days late, but July 1st was Shaderunners' 10-year anniversary. Today, I'd like to tell you a little bit about how the comic came to be, and what it's come to mean for Lin and me.

Lin and I met on LiveJournal over 15 years ago, and over time our friendship has grown until we could no longer imagine who we would be without the other. Once we shared our work with one another, we became each other's biggest fans, and from there creative collaboration was the natural next step.

We live so far away, when we started working on Shaderunners we'd never even met in real life. When we finally did, though, the time we spent together was so wonderful, we decided to make an effort to visit each other at least once a year. We have been there for each other through personal victories, career changes, relocation, gender transition, heartbreak, loss, creative challenges, and more and more and more. When we started publishing Shaderunners, we knew it would be a big project, but I don't think either of us expected it to last over a decade. It's been such a wild ride, and so many things have changed, but our commitment to the comic and our love for the characters, the story, and to each other never wavered. There is no one I would rather have gone on this artistic journey with than Lin - we are each other's creative soulmates.

Shaderunners is a product of our friendship, and we create it for ourselves and for each other above all, but from the bottom of our hearts, we want to thank everyone who has stuck with it through the years. Now that it's growing ever closer, we hope that you enjoy the story's ending.

Read Shaderunners from the beginning 💚

[bbboar]

been reading a comic called shaderunners for the last few days and now im up to date and im looking at my hands like omfg what do i even do with my life now?

like i need to stop reading these incredible webcomics that alter my brain chemistry, i cannot survive it!

[skullinahat]

one thing i really love about reading webcomics is seeing how they improve over time. shaderunners has gotten really good

[eyesteeth]

shaderunners is coming back AND new e_e_ music video tomorrow… oh baby…

[shaderunnerscomic]

Shaderunners returns November 3rd!

The third and final act of the story begins with two pages per week on Sundays and Wednesdays! The chapter is already complete, so updates will be consistent until mid-March at least. Thank you sincerely for your patience while we were on hiatus.

We were originally planning on dropping each chapter in its entirety once it was completed, but after receiving some feedback from readers we decided to return to our previous update schedule instead. We hope that you enjoy the upcoming chapter!

-Alex and Lin

[the-bi-space-ace]

Thanks @eclec-tech for the tag!

Let’s get started!!!

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

38

2. What's your total A03 word count?

352,072

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Actively? Star Wars. Particularly the clones. But I’ve written for Pathologic 2 & Stargate SG-1

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Write on me

Oh, Shut Up

In Their Own Ways

A Matter of Trust

You’re Calling Me Home Like A Ship That Got Wrecked

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

YESSSSSSSS. I am a little late sometimes (bc my brain doesn’t always work so good) but I will always respond. I love responding to comments. I love the conversation. I love hearing what people have to say. I love it. I love all of it.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

A Promise Kept

Oof.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Maybe Distractions. Or Valentine’s Day on the Marauder. Both have fluffier concepts and fluffier endings. Very low stakes fics that are just meant to be sweet.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I’ve only gotten two or three shitty comments and they’ve all been fairly tame. So I don’t really get hate but there are definitely people who do not like my writing choices & that’s totally fine.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes sir I do. It was all kind of tame at first but I’ve gotten spicier! I’ve gotten more confident writing it! I’m interested in writing more smut and making it more detailed. I was definitely a little scared of making it too explicit at first but I think I’m ready to write spicier stuff tbh. I just have to find the right situation and the right ship and just let myself go. My spiciest so far is a Pathologic fic actually. Something took me over during that one.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

No! But I could someday.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nah.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nope

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Bro I have no clue. I sure do dabble in CodyWan. I love Merrin/Cal. I am currently very invested in a ship from a web comic called Shaderunners and that ship is Easton/Ezra. Taken me over tbh. But I don’t write ship stuff too often. I read A LOT of it but I’m not picky about the ship (if that makes sense). I’ll read Good Omens fic then immediately pivot to some RDR2 stuff and there’s no rhyme or reason to it. Just whichever ship is going to give me the vibes I want. Depends on if I wanna read smut or not too. This answer is too long now but I had words 😅

15. What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Honestly? It’s nothing that I have posted rn but I have a wip in my folder that I desperately want to finish called ‘Hunter is a tired dad’. Premise is that Hunter and Echo aren’t really bonding all that well at first and Hunter can’t figure out why he’s the only one having issues with their newbie. He finds some old ‘how to bond with your step child’ book at a thrift store while they’re all on some planet and is like well that kinda applies I’ll see if it has good advice. (He steals it… his options are so limited lol). The batch finds it and they all have so much fun making fun of him and Echo is so charmed by this awkward man who is trying so hard that it fixes all the difficulty between them. Very fun and cracky concept that I love because it highlights one of my favorite Hunter qualities: he’s endearingly awkward but he’s trying his best.

I WANNA FINISH IT BUT IT PLAGUES ME. WHY DOES IT HAVE TO GIVE ME PROBLEMS?

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I have a good sense of balance. Balancing character growth with plot. Angst with fluff. I’m good at finding a middle ground and finding places where the tension can be appropriately broken to make their interactions more realistic and natural. I don’t like writing straightforward plot all the time so I throw in extra scenes or fluff or something to break the tension and make myself more interested.

I also describe emotions really well. It really is where I thrive. I can get really lost in the emotions of a situation and write it for pages. I have to cut things out sometimes because I’ve ranted about how someone is sad for two pages lol. I like that about myself.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I don’t use Star Wars words. I genuinely refuse to my partner edits for me and has to change so much bc I refuse to write the word ‘flimsi’ or ‘kriff’.

I also overthink my writing and get frustrated. I will spend weeks trying to sort out a chapter and stare at it and rewrite and talk to my partner about what’s wrong with it and then I can’t even make progress because I’m so caught up on a detail that doesn’t really matter. I make myself cry sometimes when it’s really not that deep and I should just have fun with it and write something down. Or write something else for a little while.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I have not done it yet but I think it’s a nice touch when I see it.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

If you wanted the og answer from back in my Wattpad days it’s Teen Wolf or Supernatural but I can’t remember (and it’s not on the internet). First fandom you can still find on the internet? Bad batch.

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

Ooh tough one.

I reread some of my favorites last night and Oh, Shut Up still has me in a chokehold. Soft and protective Crosshair has my whole heart and his brand of affection is still a little prickly which I just love. Idk there’s something about that one. It was my first ever fanfic that I posted on Ao3 and it has a special place in my heart.

Keep These Shadows Out is up there too. I love that fic so much it’s unreal. It’s my favorite long fic by far. I love the plot and the story really keeps me interested in writing more for it which I love. This one, at least in my opinion, is the fic that actually challenged me to write something more cohesive and I am very proud of it.

NPT: @floundrickthewayfarer @saturn-sends-hugs

20 Questions for Fic Writers

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

23 public but I’ve archived 26 so total of 49!

2. What's your total A03 word count?

344,609

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Star Wars! Specifically the clone wars and bad batch eras

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

I Bleed the Same (M)

Evenly Trimmed (E)

Phonetic Convergence (T)

Two Years to the Day (T)

Getting Some in the Gunship (E)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes! I love gushing with people who are excited about the same things that I am. Also to give my thanks for taking the time to read my works.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I guess the only one that followed canon where Wolffe makes it to where Rex and Ahsoka can’t have contact

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

All of them except the above mentioned

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not that I’m aware of! I do have a secret hater from afar though hehe

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do!! And I’m not sure lol. The nothing-is-left-to-the-imagination kind? Copious use of the words cock and cunt? What do you want me to say?

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

No

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Also not that I’m aware of! ALSO ALSO! I just want to take this opportunity to say that fics that share ideas or tropes don’t count as plagiarism. Unless it’s a word for word verbatim copy, please touch grass.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! It was such a good experience and I highly recommend!!

Sheevy SithDonald’s (E)

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Rexsoka!! 💙🧡

15. What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

All of the other longfic ideas I have lmao

16. What are your writing strengths?

I guess writing the thoughts of all characters present? Third person omniscient I believe

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Writing action scenes. Actually, anything that’s not romance or smut, I’m staring into the void of the google doc

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

In a fictional language? Sparse use of Mando’a can be fun! I’ve not yet attempted an irl language other than English

19. First fandom you wrote for?

…One Direction… please don’t look at me I do not wish to be perceived

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

Evenly Trimmed (E)

Thank you @sleepingbeauty21 for tagging me! This one was really fun!!

No pressure tags @whyamismall / @maxrebofeetpics / @melting-houses-of-gold / @taylorswiftscar / @lamaenthel and whoever else wants to!