#might make it into the future webcomic but the script? might have to make a whole new version i think idk!

[abyssalzones]

What's your comic writing process like? I'm starting to get into making my own comics and I really admire your work!!! Any advice?

Ah, intrepid traveler, you've done well to journey to this secluded mountaintop spire, in search of the answers you seek. I indeed can provide such forbidden comicmancy knowledge... at the cost of your mortal soul...

coughs. anyway, I'm going to warn you immediately that what works for me does not work for everyone else, and in my experience the way I do things can prove very slow and discouraging for anyone who is more interested in the actual "drawing the damn comic" part of the process. I only do it this way because I enjoy weaving a narrative web that feels not only fully contained but re-readable, but my projects are often so long and my memory so shitty that I can't just keep all of it in my head! It would spill all over the place and make a really embarrassing mess of brain-juice. Not ideal.

but as for my own process, uhh... I suppose a comic would be fitting, right?

a little choppy but you get the idea.

as for turning words into art, I've been experimenting with figuring out the best way to do that for a little while now. Originally what I was doing for something like Ad Astra Per Aspera was to take my "script" and sketch it out on paper very loosely, before transposing that onto my canvas and working from there:

...but, I've found that can make it kind of difficult to space everything around on your standard page-size, and the thing I'm having the most problems with currently seems to be finding the sweet spot of panel-size proportions. So, I've taken to printing out standard thumbnail templates (you can just find these on google) and sketching very tiny panels in those, which seems to give me a slightly better sense of scale... (mild chapter 5 spoilers, sorry ad astra fans)

but I have yet to totally pull through on this, so who knows, maybe I'll try something else in the future!

As for advice, this is probably most applicable to me, but as a disabled artist I have a very hard time managing my workload without literally working myself into injury. I don't think I talked about this publicly but when I was working on that ten year anniversary comic I was literally drawing every single day for 3 solid months. Sometimes, in my case, I really can't bring myself to stop once I've latched onto an idea, and sometimes I find the most rewarding thing I can do with my time is to draw- but I seriously cannot overstate: Do not fucking do this.

You will fuck up your wrist, your back, your neck, your eyes, and probably your mental health. It's a well-known fact that mangaka have a lower life expectancy than the average japanese person due to the intense workload imposed on them by deadlines and personal expectations. Comics are a very demanding artform, and even though I'm not on any sort of mandated schedule there are times where I've toiled away at something when I likely should have been exercising or taking vision-breaks. Therefore the best advice I can give you is to chill the hell out.

Namely, find parts of the process you can be lazy about, and embrace the laziness! You don't like digitally sketching? Don't do it! Skip it, or maybe find a way to traditionally sketch things out in advance like I do. Hate lineart? Don't fucking do it. You really don't feel like wasting your time writing 72k words of comic scripts? ...then, don't be like me. skip that part. I'm a flawed human being and what works for me might not work for you.

The second most important piece of advice I could give is to read comics. Of all kinds. The reason for this is pretty self explanatory: In order to figure out your own comic-making style, you should first pick out bits and pieces from the artist's buffet to add to your plate. Manga, graphic novels, american comics, european comics, weird niche little webcomics, funny papers, anything and everything. This advice rings true of pretty much any art form, but I find it to be essential to honing comic-making skills because so many things you feel will just come intuitively often don't. and that's okay! nobody is born knowing how to leave space for speech bubbles or shape their panels in a way that imitates stretches of time. The best way to figure out stuff like this, in my experience, is to study the "masters", and then after becoming well accustomed to the basics, figure out what rules you want to bend or break to create your own style.

I consider myself to be in equal parts a writer and an artist, which lends itself well to making narrative comics, but maybe you're a bit more of an artist and want to focus on panel-by-panel visual storytelling. Or, conversely, maybe your talents lean closer towards writing, and the art itself is more of a secondary skill. Regardless of your unique blend of talents you can and should make a comic, you should just also be aware of your strengths and try to hone in on those- there will always be opportunities to build up skills you lack, but focusing on what you do best will always lead you in the right direction.

Anyway, that being said, here are some recommendations in no particular order:

Monster, Naoki Urasawa (!!)

Bone, Jeff Smith

Witch Hat Atelier, Kamome Shirahama

The first IDW run of Transformers comics (namely More Than Meets the Eye and Lost Light)

Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (!!)

Through the Woods, Emily Carroll (really any Emily Carroll comics)

Kill Six Billion Demons (webcomic) (!!)

Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo

The Third Person, Emma Grove

Tintin, Hergé (can be super racist please be wary)

Dungeon Meshi, Ryoko Kui

Calvin & Hobbes, Bill Watterson

Maus, Art Spiegelman

Cucumber Quest (webcomic)

Jellyfish Princess, Akiko Higashimura

Golden Kamuy, Satoru Noda (!!)

Note that I did not grow up with manga so I am seriously behind on a lot of extremely influential japanese comics such as Dragon Ball, One Piece, basically any of the original Shonen Jump comics, but they're widely considered building blocks of the genre so if you love the artform I think you should give them a try! Same goes for classic non-shonen manga genres like various Shoujo, Josei, Yuri, Gekiga, ETC.

same as above applies to a lot of classic DC and Marvel works, I unfortunately am just not a big fan of superhero comics... but I'm sure there's good stuff in there. a couple of my mutuals talk about booster gold and the blue beetle all the time so I'm assuming there has to be something worthwhile.

...and many, many, many more that I'm forgetting! I noticed as I made this list that, to my knowledge, hardly any of these are made by black or just non-japanese-mangaka BIPOC artists, which makes me sad about the gaps in my own comic collection. Therefore, anyone is welcome to add their own recommendations in the replies!

now go forth, and combine images with text!!!!!!!!!!!

[dukestewart]

I actually have a question, I'm wanting to start a webcomic at some point in the future myself, do you have any recommendations or advice for me?

Okay, I have a million things to say on the subject but to save you a lot of scrolling I’ll cut it down to the main things I wish I knew when starting my webcomic.

Don’t overprepare

It’s easy to fall into the trap of perfecting your art style or developing your character arcs before you actually, like, make the thing. The truth is you get diminishing returns on the pre-production phase, and too much planning will just waste your time. I once wrote an entire script and sketched out 200 pages for a graphic novel version of my webcomic Roundhouse, 90% of which is now redundant or contradictory. Probably took me hundreds of hours. Whoops. Make a basic plot line and some concept pictures by all means, you gotta start with something, but you’ll be much more motivated to make the comic when you’re already making it.

Collect references

This might sound kind of contradictory to my previous advice but bear with me. It’s important to prioritise creation over planning but gathering a compendium of your favourite artworks and writing techniques will save you time in the long run. If I’m ever stuck on how to draw a certain expression for example I know I have a folder full of expertly drawn faces to remind me how nostrils work. Personally I keep separate reference folders for colour, anatomy and character designs. Fantastic cure for artist’s block, swear by it.

Get someone to proofread

You have no idea how important it is to get a second opinion. No one in the history of media has ever been better off without a different pair of eyes to catch a mistake. They’ll see the obvious things you missed, a typo, a pacing issue, a joke that makes no sense… if you’re embarrassed to show it to anyone in your life then get an internet friend to have a look. Hell, I’ll have a look. Send me a message, I’m easy.

Even the most talented creators struggle to be seen

A good comic will always have a better chance of success than a crap one but that’s only a part of the equation. We’re forgetting our two troublesome neighbours, Monsieur Marketing and Lady Luck. It stinks, but we operate in an algorithm-based economy, and getting things out there takes a lot of hard research. I hate the marketing side of things, personally. I’d much rather make a page every week and not care whether it’s seen or not but such is the nature of capitalism that I have to try and monetise my work any way I can. Knowing someone in the business can’t hurt either.

Look, I’ll never be able to condense everything I know about webcomics in a single post so consider this my declaration to give advice to anyone who asks for it. Got a specific question about comics? Message me.

[olderthannetfic]

Hi! So it says in your bio that you're both a filmmaker and novelist, so I'd like to ask you something. First, are you involved with the script part of filmmaking specifically, or fo you work mostly with other elements of filmmaking? Second, if you are, what are the major differences you've noticed between script writing and prose writing?

For context, I want to make comics, and I'd like to have a script to work from, but I've only occasionally dabbled in script writing. I know I could just use thumbnails and that's definitely something I want to be part of the process, but one of the reasons I want a script is so that I can have something to hopefully make my comic accessible to blind readers. I don't have the money to pay for an audiobook version to be made, so my thought process was if I make a text version of the comic, like a script, I can then make sure that at least a version of that copy is screenreader friendly.

So, do you have any advice for me?

--

I'm a film editor, or was, which definitely involves a lot of understanding of narrative, but that's different from being a screenwriter, and being a screenwriter and/or novelist is different again from writing scripts for comics.

That said, I have written scripts. The biggest difference is that if your script is intended for someone else to direct, you are asked to leave out a lot of commentary and stage direction that director-written scripts tend to have and that novels would have.

--

Dialogue is a fairly minor aspect of both novels and films—at least most good ones.

In a novel, much of the actual characterization is done in the actions characters take or in the way things are described in the narration.

In a director-written script, the writer will often include a lot of stuff that isn't put into actors' mouths to remind themselves of what the point of a given scene is. What would be narration in a novel becomes cinematography and editing choices.

As a rando writing scripts, you're not supposed to shove in that stuff because you're telling the director and other creatives how to do their job. You're just the writer: you don't get to decide those things. The script is less a finished blueprint and more a main melody line that someone else will improvise on top of.

Unfortunately, most of the ~great scripts~ people are told to look at for inspiration are by someone with more creative control (director, showrunner, creative producer) and do have a lot of interpretation already baked in. That makes them more fun for a layperson to read, but it doesn't always make them great examples of how to write commercially.

--

My impression is that a comics script is a specific thing in the pro industry, and it's not a thing that would necessarily be ready for blind readers. If you want to make an accessibility aid, I think you're looking at descriptive commentary along with any dialogue. Depending on the nature of the comic, it might be useful, or it might be pointless.

I would indeed storyboard your comic, not for future readers but to help you plan layout. The visual storytelling is a key part of any visual medium, and a good comic does more than just put the key actions on page. Where are people standing relative to each other and relative to the edge of the frame and how does this create a balanced composition or an awkward tension? Do you need the equivalent of a film insert shot and why? How is the eye being directed around the page, and does this make it easy to follow or chaotic?

What kind of comics format you're doing will matter a lot, obviously, but even in a basic 3-panel webcomic, you can control things like how close to the edge of the frame characters stand.

If you want some 101 on visual storytelling from a film perspective, one of the best regarded books is The Visual Story by Bruce Block. I personally also greatly enjoyed The Eye Is Quicker by Richard D. Pepperman. I remember the latter having more on film editing but nice storyboards and the former having a lot more visual arts-adjacent commentary on cinematography: line, color theory, negative space, etc.

--

People focus way too much on words as a crutch because they don't understand the far more important grammar of visual storytelling.

If your visual story—comic, film—cannot do 90% of its work without the words, it probably sucks.

That's my biggest piece of advice.

[all-soul-crossover-comic]

BIIIGG ANNOUNCEMENT FOR ALL SOUL!!!

I know I haven't been posting much, but trust me, it's for a damn good reason. That reason being...

I'm making a webcomic!!! An original one! This is amazing! (For me at least.) I haven't really felt anything with my past stories aside from this one because they've always had to be something, and I could never figure out how to get from point A to point B in a "respectable" way. (That way being with no fun or whimsy or glitter and sparkles). It's been occupying my brain just as much as All Soul usually would. So much so that I might either leave all soul off here or write the chapters exclusively in text. Script form, of course. Descriptive writing isn't my strong suit, I've realized...

I'm still working out the details of the story but it still feels like that all soul thing where a lot of different lore from different things are mixed and matched. A bit from kaiba, a bit from moomin. That sort of thing. I'm trying not to give too much away in case I either end up dropping it due to lack of motivation or the story changes drastically, but I can confirm that it shares a lot of DNA with All Soul (due to them having the same mother lmfao) so if you liked this, you might like my future original work! I'm really excited about it and worldbuilding has been so fun, and I haven't been so invested in writing since I started with the basic concept of All Soul 7 years ago. I think about it often still, just not in the way I used to, yk? Like I finally feel content with just having it live in my head again. It doesn't need to be a whole thing, it doesn't need to be like that one loud house fanfic that gets updated every few hours and has more than 1000 chapters.

More about the webcomic

My plan isn't set in stone (mostly because that's the only way to go assure that I won't complete anything at all) but I plan on releasing it on webtoon canvas, tapas, or Tumblr itself! Will she go to boarding school or will she stay in public school with her older sibling? Find out in about a year from now!

That's right! It's January, and i said a year! I plan on using 2024 as my sort of planning phase. I don't want to rush into this like I did in the past with my other abandoned projects. I hope to reveal the main plot for it in at least a few months, if I don't forget. It stars a female protagonist (because I can only read books or watch movies about womengirls or I get so bored that my brain functions start slowing down and my eyes start rolling into the back of my head), and that's pretty much all I can say! It features a straight romance because I love prettyboys and none of you can stop my teenager brain from being attracted to men, and borrows a lot of worldbuilding things from Winx Club. I hope I can share it with you all soon! See you all next time!

If you wanna maybe see some of the details about it sooner, or just see what else I got on my mind, follow my main blog, @eepop-stuffs .

[goddamnwebcomics]

6 years ago I gave some advice...

Let's see if I still agree with myself.

Write a script in literaturic form before turning it into comic, the script of the comic must be in advance at least three arcs before you start submitting content to the webs.

I still agree with that, but I don't think you need to go out of your way to write a script, you should also have a general plan of how things will go, even after the first three arcs. But a more "literaturic" script would also work, so you don't come up with shit on the fly.

List each planned thing for the future of your comic so you know what to foreshadow, if you lose interest on a thing you can remove it and all references to it from the script before you have published it. This prevents plot points that lead to nothing, and pointless foreshadowing.

Yes I agree with that, but there are more things to hint at future plot points and revelations than foreshadowing.

Even then it's not the biggest crime in the world if some plot point is abandoned in favour of something else, especially if there is some critical backlash or you feel like the idea isn't good enough. There is a rejected plot point in Peter and Company I won't spoil, but am glad was never really followed up on.

Not everything that suddenly comes is needed to be foreshadowed or built up to, but if it’s a huge twist, like character learning a new ability, don’t pull it out of the blue. Try to be as clever as possible but not too subtle.

I agree, but I do think sometimes ass pulls are justified when they're realistic like, I don't know, suddenly some character gets hit by a car and dies. Because that shit happens in real life. Of course it depends on how it's written, like don't make the character into a blatant diebait, and don't include it for the sake of a SHOCK.

Learn to keep an appropriate distance between comedy and serious stuff, comedy usually lightens serious story if used properly. And if you intend your comedy comic to be comedy, keep it comedy. Don’t transist to seriousness out of nowhere for whatever reason, because it’ll never stop being a comedy despite this. Take my advice.

Yeah.

Avoidfor the love of god taking influences from other webcomics, because those webcomics usually have taken their influence from shit things. Read books, and official printed comics, as well as pick up possible advice books written by masters of creative writing.

Yeah this feels overly elitist. Because just because you're inspired by something written by a great literaturist, doesn't mean your stuff will be good. You can take influence from bad webcomics too, you just have to make it better. Like Gene Catlow has a lot of great concepts, but you have to alter them, like Friendship Island would work well as a villain masquerading as a good entity.

Don’t plagiarize. Just because someone did it cool doesn’t mean you also do it cool. Think this is a school essay and that plagiarizing automatically gives your webcomic F–.

This is pretty useless advice because unless you're SuperSaiyanCrash you always have some awareness that you can't just completely rip something off from a more well-known source.

Not all non-webcomic influences are good though, so avoid using Dragon Ball Z, Lord of The Rings, H.P. Lovecraft’s work and other over-referenced things as influence. Someone’s masterpiece can be your disaster.

I...what? Yeah I probably used to think pop culture references were "influences" or something. And I remember I used to really hate superforms. Otherwise I can't make sense about any of this.

Underrated Creator of Influence is Music, listen to it and form images in your head what atmosphere you want your comic to have.

I agree, go with the mindset that the music you're listening to is like the soundtrack of your comic, and it might help paint a scene.

The most underappreciated influence of them all however, is the real life. I’m not talking putting self-inserts, but rather study nature, learn to use your imagination to make the most boring thing exciting and see fucked up dreams. Avoid doing drugs though, drug-influenced media was only acceptable in 80′s.

Oh you sweet summer child. You didn't know about Peter And Company back then.

This is terrible advice. What can you learn from nature? Unless you're trying to look for backgrounds and doing "pollution bad" story. Nature is something that should be reserved for mindfulness, not creativity.

I think going "HAHAHA WAS THIS MADE ON DRUUUUUUUGS" to anything weird or surreal is cringe, and the last part is not helping that. That and I have some friends whose creativity has been boosted from smoking weed. Just don't overdo it, and don't use dangerous shit like DMT.

There are two important rules regarding this type of story. First, don’t make characters, especially the main one, your mouthpiece or make your opinion or point of view the character’s good opinion, because that leads to Strawmanism, mary sue self-inserts and circlejerk hivemind settings buzzword buzzword.

I am...torn on this. I know that people love to say "every fictional character ever is a selfinsert" which is fucking wrong, but isn't the point of a story you're always trying to make the story's theme, message and whatnot align with how you see the world? Some people do it in more nuanced ways than others. And obviously the protagonist isn't always going to be good or sympathetic. I like a hero with flaws more than a perfect hero. I think my general point here is "the hero should not be a carbon copy of the author, unless you have some justification for it." And no, there is no such thing as "semi-autobiographical".

The Second Important Rule is Five Nos of Webcomic Subjects, five themes you must never insert into your webcomic, especially if you’re not a good writer and add them for “shock” or “drama”. They are environmental messages, political opinions on gun control, using anthropomorphic animals to carry anti-racism messages, miscarriage and rape. Using any of these in serious manner you have gone too far for attention and usually this leads to your comic becoming internet infamous, unless getting publicity one way or another is okay.

Five Nos of Webcomic Subjects is something I wish I had never come up with. Mainly because it feels like policing. That being said I do agree that using rape as a shock factor is terrible. The only way it's justified is if you're writing it to cope with your trauma of being SA'd or raped in the past. Rest of these topics should be handled with the biggest fucking nuance you possibly can. I don't know why I put gun control there, I am not even american!

Aesops are okay, and it’s okay for characters to teach something that you also see as a right method of life, but don’t teach that anyone who opposes it is a villain or such. You’re not George Orwell or Ayn Rand.

Oh for fucks sake. It's literally impossible to depict "side you hate" as not a strawman. I am not going to further touch this topic because the discourse around this topic is so rotten to the point it gives me radiation poisoning.

Never do something for shock value, don’t just avoid stuff that’s listed on the list of Five Nos, but also the murder of a child or an animal most people find adorable. You’re an absolute piece of shit and should stay away from anything creative as far as possible unless you’re intentionally doing this just to trigger people and cause controversy, then you’re just a loser.

This is still true. You heard that, UrbanSPOOK?

Settings that are set on Fantasy World, High School, Space or Superhero-infested universe are overdone, so if you’re using it try to pull an interesting twist to it. If you’re not trying to break any new grounds, just try writing an entertaining story.

Once again this is elitist. It's not cliche to have a story on any of these settings, it's about how you portray it. That being said if you're doing it with "I hate every work set on this genre" mindset, I will make fun of you.

I still agree with the last part though. Not everything needs to be a deconstruction or subvertation of expectations.

For the love of god, AVOID settings where anthropomorphic animals and humans live together in harmony or war. This is never done properly. Ever. Also, if you’re trying to do anthropomorphic animal story, don’t do it to expose your furriness. You can also make an anthro animal story entertaining.

I disagree with all of this. I think it's all bullshit. Sad truth is furries are more dedicated to the craft of writing webcomics than anybody else. Why else would I have SO MANY furry webcomics on the rifflist???

No character in your comic should ever have a superform, moving on.

Female characters are an interesting piece of cake,let’s get this down though, Strong Independent Female Characters are even more blander than stereotypical damsels.They have only one character trait, they‘re women but they fight.Making your female character STRONK and INDEPENDENT isn’t revolutionary, it’s as generic as possible. What you should do is to write female characters like how you see them suiting your story without trying to pander to PC bullshit, because then you just come across as pretentious. 

I still...kinda agree with this aside from the last part. Let's just say, the defining trait of a female character shouldn't be they're a woman. It goes both ways.

I’m not that good talking about diversity

And I still am not.

Villains must have a motivation, other than “i’m evil”, “i want revenge” and “i represent the side of the world author finds uncomfortable and scary”. You know you’ve made a bad villain if you’ve basically created an edgy teenager who might also be a school shooter. Villains need to show sympathy to at least someone and they should also have an excellent fashion sense. I’ve heard someone say Flawed Webcomic Protagonist makes a good villain, so seek on to that.

Flawed Webcomic Protagonist still makes a good villain and Gene Catlow is proof of that.

Once again this feels elitist. We kinda live in post-villain society where a lot of the mainstream stuff is afraid to depict a villain that is evil for the sake of evil. It's funny how villains who have sympathetic backstories became so common when in real life, evil people are evil for the sake of being evil.

But what about a third option, a villain who thinks they are the hero? Someone who acts like everything they do is for the greater good, they've just mastered good PR, therapy speak and logical fallacy accusations to make themselves unquestionable source of virtue? The definition of "Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions".

I used to not understand what they meant by "villain who thinks they're the hero" until I saw what Family of Intelligent Life is. This goes back to Flawed Webcomic Protagonists making good villains.

Fanservice is okay, as long as it doesn’t distract from the plot 

Fanservice is still okay even if it distracts from the plot. Just don't make it Monster Girl Academy please.

Don’t use your fetishes as fanservice, or disguise them to be part of a joke. Please.

Everything is fetish now. So don't write anything. Got it.

But seriously, I feel like "haha is that a fetish" has harmed creativity immensely. We have people overreacting on Twitter to that new Mario game because there's inflations and elephants.

Yes, there are times when writer's overly specifc fetish sticks out like a sore thumb and webcomics are the biggest example of this, but don't act like it's possible to make something with nothing anybody would find kinky. It's only bad when a sicko is making something absolutely disgusting that they get off to under the guise of "commentary" or "horror" (again, looking at you UrbanSPOOK)

I am not the kind of person to be asked about this, because i believe good script makes up for bad art, but good art doesn’t make up for bad script, you heard it Spinnerette.

I STILL stand by this after all these years. That being said, good script can't justify inconsistent artstyles, bad designs or worse redesigns!

I have one thing to say about art, if you want to go with anime-inspired style, it’s okay. Just don’t include chibi faces or other animu art cliches.

I still don't like chibi faces. Oddly enough it's a webcomic specific issue. I don't really have an issue about those in anime and manga because they have the hometown advantage, of course if it's overused or it causes tonal issues I am still going to complain about that.

I don't know what other "animu art cliches" are there, speed lines?

Don’t get your style inspired from so-called “Cal Arts style”, or Steven Universe art style. This website fucking loves that style, and it’s used to make some terrible false-ass diversity shit. Even good script can’t save how simplistic and….ugly that style is.

I stopped using that term the minute I learned John Kricfalusi was the one to create that term, and it didn't originally even apply to Steven Universe style, just any mainstream american style in general. John K's style is not any better.

What people call "Cal Arts style" has been on its way out since the pandemic, and it's just another style that will pass. I think people only hated it because of the Tumblr noses. Like I am willing to admit, I hate the tumblr noses too, but it's odd because Steven Universe almost never features those noses.

I will still raise an eyebrow if I see a webcomic use that style instead of something more unique. But trust me, I've seen bad artstyles that are even worse than the "Cal Arts" style.

Let’s get one thing down, react to critism with neutrality, don’t get angry at people who don’t like your comic. I know there’s a difference between troll saying “this is shit” for cheap reaction and a person in actual real life way disliking your comic, but as person with good guts you should learn to see the difference.

Yes, not sure what critism is, but it's funny how I advocate for neutrality when I also tell you to learn to differentiate between flaming and reviewing.

Listen, flaming, riffing and reviewing are all different levels of criticism. Flaming is destructive, reviewing is constructive and riffing is...in between. Like obviously I am not going to start acting like my blog is all 100% constructive criticism, I like having fun, I like cussing out fictional characters, I like making stupid theories. But if the author of any comic I was riffing came to me, I would be able to present them with genuine critique. And that's why I make separate reviews for webcomics after the riffing is over. I am also open to criticism myself, which is why I am critiquing all this advice!

If people start liking a character audience isn’t supposed to like, don’t kill them off. It just makes you come across as petty douche. Unless you’re trying to be George R.R. Martin, then at least kill them because plot demands them to be killed.

I still agree a lot with the first part. Don't kill a fanfavourite off just because you don't like them.

Killing characters is rather so-and-so, don't do it for the sake of a shock. And also if the character is dead, most of the time they should stay DEAD. Don't pull Marvel or Dragon Ball and resurrect everyone all the time.

And that was me critiquing my old advice. A lot of it is a product of my mindset back then, but there was still a lot of valid advice. And it could've been a lot worse, it could've been Lily Orchard's writing advice. I might look at that another day.

[c0smiccom3t]

I'm going to be a little honest with you.

I've had some deep thoughts last night. Yes, its about Pocket Adventures, but not only that, it's about IRL stuff as well. I've been trying my best to find a school for september (either in another country in the EU or in Germany) and ive been trying to pay close attention to finish pocket adventures as well. So... here's the thing.

I'm thinking of taking a break from social media.

Yes. It's not only due to personal reasons. But it's also about how i want to not distract myself and want to work on D.D full-time. Which means i'll work like everyday off social media until P.A production has wrapped, so we can take a 2-month or longer break from working on d.d content and just focus on drawing art pieces. I don't want to stress myself or anybody else out, so from now on 'll try to get a decent sleeping schedule so i can wake up early to have breakfast, stay hydrated and work on d.d.

Sure, it's tough. But that's the indie creator thing for you. Not to mention, I'm a newcomer, so i still need to be taught and know how things work in the community. Especially for webcomics. (I'm not in animation yet, i am used to making comics, but once i finish animation school and get a degree i might as well start making indie animations as well.)

You all as well have to keep in mind that content creators and artists have a life outside of the internet, they have irl stuff to do and serious stuff to do as well. And right now, if i don't get enough money to go to Canada, i'll have to think of a Plan B, which is, find a school in another country part of the EU. It's challenging, but i'm trying.

In conclusion, i want to tell you all the truth. I think it's about time i take a break from social media. I've been active on socials for like, years! (2016 in my g+ era to 2023, today.) and i think it's about time i take a break. working on d.d full-time is important for me, but self-care and handling IRL responsabilities is even more important.

Now, if i DO end up going on break from socials, you can always find me on Discord, however, i'm not going to be available to talk all the time. mostly because of working on Dimension Dyfenders. The reason why i'll use discord is to contact the co-creator (aka Alex) in case we work on scripts for the next minisodes and think of ideas and work together and other stuff about d.d. Another thing is that... I'm the only illustator on the comic. However, i would LOVE to get some more people to help me illustrate for P.A and future comics as well, But i can't, i'm still a kid, and I can't do this whole indie thingies yet. (I'll be able to do it once i hit the big one-eight and/or get my own bank account with a lot of money, hopefully... Remember, artists and people who work on indie projects deserve to be paid and get breaks for all of their hard work)

Thank you all for everything. I am glad to have been in a place in where i could feel safe, happy, and included. This whole break thing is not going to be a Good-bye. It's just a See you next time. So, yes, if i stay inactive from socials for a while. this whole post is why.

[TL;DR: I'm thinking of taking a break due to IRL situations and wanting to work on Pocket Adventures full-time, if i end up taking a break, i am available on discord and just discord, working on d.d is important for me, but self-care is even more important. Thank you all for your support <3]

[kelmcdonald]

August Newsletter: Back From Comic Con

Hi everyone! And welcome to everyone who signed up for my newsletter at San Diego Comic Con. It was fun to see a San Diego Comic Con where comics were the focus again.  If you're new here I'm making these comics:

Blue Moon is a werewolf romance gn I'm writing and Meredith McClarren is going to draw. I'm late on its script. 

The City Between is my webcomic about werewolves in the future. It updates Wednesdays. The current story is called Shards of Reflection. 

You are the Chosen One is a fantasy comic about 23 kids who got the same prophecy dream. It was posting on Fridays on my Patreon. But my editorial work has been piling up/overwhelming me lately. So it's on hold until I finish up some other stuff. 

My day job is an editor at the manga company Seven Seas and the indie comic publisher Iron Circus Comics. I like folklore, fantasy, and especially like werewolves. 

This month I'm making tweaks to my website. So we finished some more minor switches like adding more social media buttons to the top bar. But this month we are gonna revamp the store section. Speaking of the store, Misfits of Avalon volume 1 is out of print. I just sent the last ten copies to White Squirrel who handles my store fulfillment. I'm not gonna sell it at cons anymore. In about a year or so, I'll probably talk to Darkhorse about putting it back online and printing an omnibus. 

This month's werewolf movie is The Howling 2. I'm showing it in my discord server August 30th at 5pm PST. Pop in to join if you like!   

As always I'll be streaming art on Twitch. My schedule is currently the following:

Tuesday 8pm-10pm PST

Wednesday 8pm-10pm PST

Thursday 6pm-9pm PST (during the Iron Circus Geekshow)

On August 24th, we'll have Tracy Butler of Lackadaisy Cats on Iron Circus Geekshow as a guest to close out the wildly successful Iron Circus crowdfund for Lackadaisy Season 1.

So last month I was too wiped to post photos of going to the Del Tor that I went to in June. But I sat down and put them in a drive that anyone can browse. So have a look if you wanna see some of the puppets used in the Pinnocino movie. 

While I was at San Diego Comic Con, I went to a Junji Ito exhibit. It was very cool seeing his originals. I always think its cool to see how different artists end up using white out or what needs correcting. All the photos I took during SDCC are also in a drive for you to browse. 

If you just want to see cosplayers though and not horror art I posted cosplay photos on my instagram.

As for what I'm working on, I'm still playing catch up on stuff from shake ups at Iron Circus Comics. So I'm officially putting You are the Chosen One on hold until I have Blue Moon scripted. I might put it on hold longer because I realize I'm almost half way through Shards of Reflection and haven't finished the next City Between stories's script. I'm pretty sure more people read/are interested in The City Between than You are the Chosen One. So it's got to take priority. 

Some time this month I need to find time to clean up Murky Water. It got it's first proofreading pass and I need to fix text. Then I need to start building a crowdfund for it and decide when and where to run it. Iron Circus has been having good luck with Backerkit, but it's back end is overly complicated in my opinion. Meanwhile, I said last year that I probably wasn't gonna use Kickstarter again because of them moving to the blockchain. They have kinda walked that back, but not 100%. Either this month or next, I'll type something up and ask what you all think of both platforms. 

With all this on my plate, I haven't had much time to check out new stuff. Plus with the writers/actor strike, I don't want to promo any TV or Movies I've been watching. The makes my what I've been checking out section pretty focused/brief. 

I started reading Berserk. 

And it's really really good.

If you are unfamiliar with Berserk, it's a classic manga/anime. And about a year ago it's creator, Kentaro Miura, died. Since then more and more people online have been giving it new attention and encouraged people to sit down and read it. The youtuber Super Eyepatch Wolf had a video that got me interested, Then FD Signifier brought it up in his videoessay about masculinity and anime. And then War Rocket Ajax reviewed it on Comic Catch up. So I pulled the trigger and read a big chunk of it. 

And like I said, it's really really. It's extremely violent and frequently indulges in edge lord levels of grim dark. So skip it if you don't like extreme violence. But there is some beautiful character moments that are all the more touching because they contrast the violence. 

It's just some really good comic storytelling. 

That's it for this month. Thanks everyone for your support!

[whoiskt]

2022 draws to a close... it is time now... the questions...

1: What did you do in 2022 that you’d never done before?

WENT TO THE OCEAN!!! BABEY WE FINALLY MADE IT!

Also wrote a TV pilot script which has altered the course of my future in ways that are yet to be determined....

I did some other things, of course, but nothing as big as those. Like, I went to the renaissance faire, and tried hot pot, poisoned myself with mold. Just a tastes of some firsts.

2: Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I made... so many. It was too much. 

Read 10 books--- Yeah, I technically have started and failed to complete many books. This does include Dracula -_- I’m so bad at finishing things. I’m trying to finish one before New Years.

Go to an event I wouldn’t normally attend--- I mean, I did go to the ren faire... so I want to count this.

Run a mile in less than 12 minutes outdoors--- I didn’t try lmao once it was warm enough to run outdoors I had completely forgotten.

Apply for at least 4 jobs a week----

I was trying to film a second a day too and that ended in... February. 

Yeah, anyways, I don’t know. I got to be more reasonable.

3: Did anyone close to you give birth?

Nay! Least you count all the girlies at work.

4: Did anyone close to you die?

Nay!

5: What countries did you visit?

I’m still working on that ok?

6: What would you like to have in 2023 that you lacked in 2022?

Watch as KT chooses “career” for the fourth year in a row... Honestly, no. I’m going to say a feeling of community. That’s what I really want.

7: What dates from 2022 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

I will probably forget everything. I still remember the queen died on the 8th of September. I don’t know why I remember that but I doubt it will last.

8: What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Writing the script. I mean, it has changed a bit, and will continue to, but it was a big step in this journey I’m on. And as you know, I rarely finish things I start, so this was a big deal. Even if it never sees the light of day.

I read it to my family at Christmas and my oldest bro-in-law told me to keep making it because he likes it.... HUGE compliment coming from him.

I have also written the outlines for several other episodes for this not-real TV show of mine. I think I’m up to 5 outlines, in addition to the script. So, yeah. Even if it never gets to TV I might make it into a webcomic. Like, I'll make a pact that if I haven't gotten it made by the time I'm 30, I'll start making it into a webcomic instead.

Plus, I’ve been working a lot on my portfolio. I need to finish that up in January and then I’ll be applying for grad school! Scary but exciting. 

9: What was your biggest failure?

My biggest failure of the year was probably whenever I applied and interviewed for that broadcasting job. I was really bummed that I didn’t get the job because of the following reasons:

1) It was “the perfect” job for me, I was perfectly qualified and it was in the perfect place, as close as I could get to my “dream job” without leaving the state.

2) There was three (3!) openings. The odds should have been in my favor

3) I knew someone who was already working there. Just embarrassing to me like, ok, so he knows I didn’t get the position. We went to school together our resumes were VERY similar ya know? How did I not get it?

But my biggest failure did lead me to self-reflect. The job search the last few years has been so hard. Getting this rejection was a very big “I can’t do this anymore” moment, so I was thinking, what has brought me satisfaction in all this? The answer was the TV show I write in my notes app.

And because I believe in that enough, I guess I’m going to go do that now instead. Either way, it’s been really fucking nice since then to have just completely given up on the job search. Just so nice.

10: Did you suffer illness or injury?

Yes, first I was sick... idk some time in Spring. Then I drank mold and became poisoned that way, so that was fun. And this last week I’ve had a stomach bug so wooo! I look forward to being well again.

11: What was the best thing you bought?

I bought the new tablet. It is really nice. But it would really only be useable thanks to Will, letting me borrow his computer all the time these days. 

12: Whose behavior merited celebration?

I respect all my friends for their behavior and growth or dealing with challenges. It was tough ages 18-24 dealing with losing friends, but now the people I choose to surround myself never worry me, or shock me, or even come close to disgusting me. That’s not something I could have said when I was younger (sadly). But now all my friends are super solid and I am proud to know them.

13: Whose behavior made you appalled?

I don’t know... sometimes my coworkers do stuff but I wouldn’t call it outright appalling? At worst it’s petty drama or bootlicking. But I’m very good at leaving things at work so I don’t care.

14: Where did most of your money go?

They keep increasing the gd rent grrrrr

15: What did you get really, really, really excited about?

The ocean and the beach and the accompanying aura was really cool. I was so excited in general for summer and warm weather, which I think I’m just thinking about because I want it really bad right now. 

Chainsaw Man anime! It’s been great showing it to Will, now he knows who tf I’m talking about.

16: What song will always remind you of 2022?

I really don’t listen to pop songs anymore but on our drive to the east coast we discovered Brick + Motar which has become a staple in our home, so pretty much all their songs.

17: Compared to this time last year, are you: (a) happier or sadder? (b) thinner or fatter? Richer or poorer?

I’m probably in all ways about the same. This is what I talk about when I say all the last few years have been a blur because things really don’t get better or worse they just stay the same.

18: What do you wish you’d done more of?

Focusing on finishing things I started. Running theme here, I know, lmao

19: What do you wish you’d done less of?

Play stupid little games on my phone. I seriously get addicted to these things.

20: How did you spend Christmas?

Went home. It was really brief this year. I'll make sure my visit next year is an extended stay.

21: Did you fall in love in 2022?

Never stopped.

22: What was your favorite TV program?

Some things I enjoyed this year: Severance, What We Do in the Shadows, Arcane, Chainsaw Man, Spy x Family, Jojo Part 6, Bee and Puppycat: Lazy in Space, Fringe, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Gravity Falls, and many docs.

23: Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

Nah.

24: What was the best book you read?

I have been and should be finished reading “The Song of Achilles” soon. I enjoy it because before I played Hades, and as a former greek mythology kid, I hadn’t heard of Patroclus, and I enjoy learning more about him..

25: What was your greatest musical discovery?

I did a lot of musical discovery this year. Like, more than usual, probably not a lot compared to most people. First off, I discovered Of Montreal (not from Montreal sus) TV on the Radio, and of course my Spotify top song of the year: “Heart It Races” by Architecture in Helsinki (I have yet to listen to a single other song of theirs because I just know nothing can top this).

Will discovered Brick + Mortar, and Fish in a Birdcage, which I have coveted.

I have also enjoyed That Handsome Devil and Spoon. Although there is more diving to do with them.

26: What did you want and get?

New drawing tablet. 

27: What did you want and not get?

New laptop. My tastes are just too expensive and so I ended up using the money for other things.

28: What was your favorite film of this year?

EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE!

29: What one thing that made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Writing things for myself and then reading them off to Will. Oh, yeah, my TV show has a fan! Just greenlight me baby!

30: How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2022?

Visions from higher powers. But mostly I don’t wear pants at home. I’m not wearing pants as I write this.

31: What kept you sane?

Socializing. Going outside. Going for walks. Music. My notes app.

32: Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

I don’t care about celebrities but I do care about Aki Hayakawa.

33: What political issue stirred you the most?

I lost rights this year so..... oof.

34: Who did you miss?

My kitty cat. 

35: Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2022.

I learned not to compromise on quality of life? Life is filled with dreams. You gotta follow the string of satisfaction. 

It’s easy to get caught up in a stream of “well I have to do this, and then that, and then I’ll be happy.” Which is pretty much how I have lived my life up to this point. I went to college because I thought it was a step to happiness. I wasn’t happy while doing it. I should have done something else, I think. It was unhappy times. 

Like, I don’t really like my job, it’s not what I want to do for the rest of my life, or even a year more, but it’s something I can do now, while pursuing other things that DO satisfy me... and THAT’S the satisfaction I have in my life. Before, it was just a step while I waited for something better. But I realize that’s not a good way to live life.

36: Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

[ghostoftheyear]

It occurs to me that I’ve never really talked a lot on here about the Felids despite sporadically posting art of updated designs and mentioning a “series”, so I thought I’d ramble a bit about it for those who might be interested. I’ll keep it under a cut so you can scroll on by if you want.

So, the Felids! This is a project that started way back when I was in my early teens, inspired by -- you might have guessed -- the Thundercats cartoon. The original one, mind: I am very old. Marvel’s junior imprint (Star Comics, I think?) ran a series that expanded on the universe a bit and included some new characters, and I was so enraptured by this that I started creating my own. The first was Siam, with her tragic backstory and twin children; after them came Tigreer, and then I started making more in earnest. Marx and Daman were soon created specifically to be Tigreer’s mates; I remember I was penpals with someone at the time who was also doing the same thing -- I might even have written to her from a letter in the mailbag column of the comic? At any rate, polyamory somehow because established in my head as a natural thing from a far too early age, even if I didn’t have a word for it then. But that’s beside the point.

At some point I realized I had to make these characters their own original thing (aka their own property, though I wasn’t thinking in those terms) if I wanted to ever actually do anything with them, so they became Felids -- Homo felidae, to give them a proper classification -- and for a time I fannishly placed them in the Marvel universe, though they were definitively not mutants but their own thing. I had kept creating new characters to the point where many were just a name and a costume, but I wanted to do something with them, so I decided they lived in a secret compound in the Colorado Rockies named Sanctuary. This came into focus in college, when my RPG group had adventures set in the far flung future of 2003 (I told you I was old; I started as a freshman in 1990). We had a superheroes game and Sanctuary turned into part of that, with my explicit permission. A former friend who is no longer with us did a lot of creative work with various Felids, though it never came to fruition; I still appreciate the stories he came up with.

Many of the roster of Felids are also creations of friends, from that group and later on. The idea of Sanctuary became more fleshed out as a place where Felids lived in peace, safe from the world that mistrusted and hated them. A few safehouses appeared here and there, with missions going out to rescue Felids who had been identified as endangered. Some actually chose to stay where they were, feeling safe in their communities, while others mistrusted Tigreer’s ideal of keeping every Felid safe.

Eventually, I established a history for them. Felids were randomly born to standard humans all over the world, but very rarely -- or at least very rarely known of -- until the 1990s or so. Tigreer, whom I’d decided now was the leader of the community, wanted nothing more than to bring them all together. She’d experienced violence and danger herself and didn’t want any other Felid to have to go through that. Eventually she’d come across first Marx and then Daman -- each one of them taking on a name for their society as it was established, rejecting or at least leaving behind their time in the human world.

That’s pretty much as far as I’ve gotten in terms of story for them. Most Felids at present live in Sanctuary; Tigreer is the leader, but the governmental system is pretty ad hoc (needs work) and she delegates responsibilities to quite a few people who are in charge of departments such as sanitation, child care and education, medicine, weapons and defense training, and so on. Mostly it’s just a place for them all to stay right now. The webcomic I started putting together several years ago has about five pages done and a bit more script written, but I got stuck on an action page and have yet to do more with it. Someday, I hope.

Anyway, that’s basically the rundown. I’ve never really had a clear idea of what I want to do with these characters, but they’re always there in the back of my mind, waiting. Watching. Getting the occasional short story. And getting art, bit by bit.

Oh and when I’m referring to the “Felid series”, what I mean is the collection of drawings/portraits/designs or whatever you want to call them. I did one run-through between like 1997-2001 or so, and then later thought I’d do one more final set. Ahahaha. There’s something wrong with me. I started this new “series” in 2009. 2009. When I started, I was using colored pencils and ink on sketchpad paper. During that time I’ve transitioned to sketches on paper-->scan-->ink and color in Photoshop, then to full digital art, beginning to end. It’s been a journey. One I am never doing again.

[legend-of-velvet]

i've had FM mostly on my mind lately because i'd love to change certain things about it and one of the things i've jokingly thought was "give vely a gun"

[void-inked-pen]

Late Night Update!

Another late night update because I'm a dork and refuse to not be a night owl.

you all know I've been pretty busy, I've mentioned a project in passing recently and I'm to a point where I'm far enough along in the process I can mention some of what I'm doing. So here it is:

I'm making a webcomic :3

It's gonna take me a few months still to reeeeeeally get some stuff done for it, but I'm on the scripting phase for the first few episodes which I plan to post onto Webtoons. I'll post something more official when I'm closer to uploading and I'm making a Patreon so you all can support me when I'm to a phase I can actually show off.

Be warned tho, the comic itself is more mature, focusing on some intense stuff related to mental health. And since that is literally part of the main plot, if you have depression or anxiety I am not sure I would recommend this comic to you.... or maybe I should? because of a lot of the psychological stuff these characters go through... perhaps you might relate.

anyway, that's all I got to say for now! excited for you all to see in the future~ see ya for now!

[hometownrockstar]

okie so im trying vainly to come up with a plot for the clown troupe, bc i just have like, a setting and backstory/conclusion but no middle really, and might as well start thinking it up and writing a rough draft script or smth, for the far future when clown troupe webcomic is a polished masterpiece with an actual name. anyways my plot idea: in-between the years percie and dimitri (he needs a new name someday ughhhhhh but hes LITERALLY dimitri in my head..) had first ran away and to when the troupe was established, they normalize street performances and traveling acting/circus troupes for the public, as acting was only seen as a rich/royal thing and rise to notoriety for it (they end up famous but like in an indie game way like undertale) also there was some kinda revolution or political disruption that lead to the monarchy being... dissolved? but the king still has some power. still thinking of this. anyways that happens and lots of stuff changes like magic being legalized and traveling circus troupes being put under like licensing by the state and u have to follow their standards, and percie doesnt wanna register mostly bc well. theyre a federally-wanted criminal. so the story is like abt them outrunning the cops for illegal clownery, but then percie's backstory starts getting revealed and why the troupe is specifically targeted. maybe make it like an enemy of the week-type deal but with friend of the weeks in there too. oh also maybe i'll put jesterval flashback chapters here and there too

[griffinnorth]

I'm ready to talk about something I've been working on for a long time...

APOCALYPSE CHILD: A New Original Webcomic

I've been working on this project semi-secretly for awhile now, and I finally have enough work done on it that I feel confident and ready to share with you all what I'm working on.

What is Apocalypse Child?

It's a whole new original webcomic separate from Guild Wars 2 and Tora Steals Things ( @torasteals​ ). Almost every artist I know has a passion project or two that's been with them from their childhood and this one is mine. I've been world building and developing it for years, and I finally started the script for it roughly a year ago. It's near and dear to my heart and I'm both elated and terrified to even let you all know that it even exists.

Is it anything like Tora Steals Things?

No. Oh no this is a completely different beast...

Tora Steals Things is an episodic and mostly comedic series with a few darker stories here and there.

Apocalypse Child is an adventure story with an actual overarching plot, far less goofs and gags, and a generally more serious tone.

What's it about?

A nerdy archeologist, who wants to be a father, tries to raise a strange kid who might bring the world to ruin. That's its most basic premise.

In more detail...

Apocalypse Child is a story about Thunder, a mysterious and terrifyingly powerful boy who may be the most dangerous creature alive; Buzz Clarwin, the nerdy archeologist trying desperately to raise him as his own out of the kindness of his heart; and Roy Ilzura, a runaway Prince and the archeologist's best friend who is trying to save him from his newfound "son."

The three travel the world together - trying to piece together the mystery behind Thunder while exploring ancient magic ruins, fending off assailants from a secret society hellbent on murdering the boy, and discovering hidden truths about their world's long dead Gods.

If you like modern fantasy settings, ancient ruins, found family dynamics, fight scenes (lots of them), pretty boys (...look I'm not gonna deny it), elemental powers and races, and road trips (no I'm not kidding) - then this is probably your jam.

Cool so when can I read it?

There's no release date for this yet, but I can tell you where it is in development:

16 chapters of the first draft are finished

3 chapters are more or less ready for thumbnails

77% of the character designs are done for chapter 1

60% of the environment designs are done for chapter 1

Once the design work is done, I should be able to move into thumbnails and finally start the first chapter.

And from this day onwards, you'll actually get to see all this design work as I continue development!

What does this mean for Tora Steals Things?

It means a lot of things, but namely it means a change in its current update schedule. TST is now going to be updated every two weeks instead of every week, starting today. (It'll still be two weeks early for patrons on my patreon though)

This wasn't an easy decision to make, but it's one that had to be done. I've been trying to work on both Apocalypse Child and Tora Steals Things at the same time which simply wasn't working. TST eats up a lot of my time and doesn't leave a lot of room for other projects. In order for any of my other work to shine, it needs to take a backseat.

What can I expect to see in the future and where?

Changing TST's schedule to a bi-weekly one actually opens up possibilities for me on what I have time to work on. It means not only will I have more time for Apocalypse Child, but also other art. Here's what you can expect going forward:

Apocalypse Child Design Work:

This includes character design sheets, environment sketches, and concept art. I have a lot of this already so you can expect to see that here as early as next week.

New (and Old) Art:

Ever since starting Tora Steals Things, I've been hesitant to share any art not related to it which has resulted in me sitting on just a ton of art that no one beyond close friends have seen. Some of this art is a decade old! You can expect to see this art finally released for viewing here.

I'll also be making new illustrations going forward so you can expect to see those too.

You can find this design work and art being posted on my main blog here @griffinnorth​ , on my twitter (SoulBreather), on my instagram (griffinsdnorth), and two weeks earlier for patrons on my Patreon.

(Some of this art is NSFW btw, but those will only be posted to twitter just FYI)

Also there isn't a strict schedule for these like the comic, but you can expect to see something every week as usual - it just won't always be the comic like before.

Going Forward

As an artist I'm changing my direction and expanding what I create and share with you all. It's incredibly liberating to finally share with you some of the work I've been doing in secret for years, and I hope you're all as excited for it as I am.

There's a lot of cool stuff coming your way and this is just the start!

If you have questions, feel free to ask me!

[wromwood]

could we hear about 2 and 20, for the writing asks, if you like?

Thanks so much for asking! :3

2. Tell us about what you’re most looking forward to writing – in your current project, or a future project

Ooh, good question. Honestly, I'm most looking forward to writing an actual goddamn novel. But I have no idea what it is yet. (Perhaps the story idea I have on the back burner with the code name "Everyone's Gay") I'm also looking forward to writing some actual scripts for children's picture books. But I'm just too good at procrastinating, and webcomics are so much easier.

I suppose the project I'm most looking forward to writing that I might actually ACCOMPLISH in the not-too-distant future is some fanfiction for The Goes Wrong Show, which I have been enjoying IMMENSELY.

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

Huh. This is a really interesting question, but it's kind of hard to answer without having a specific story in mind. When it comes to my writing overall, I suppose I like the "meta" of how I refer back to various aspects of my own life. I turn my experiences, pain, fear, happiness into stories that people can enjoy without even knowing me. I let them experience what I did, and hopefully produce empathy for me. This is not the only reason I write, of course. But I suppose it's one of the only ways I can try and make people feel a parallel of how I've felt. It makes those feelings feel valid or more.... believable, I suppose.

Of course, fanfiction is a bit different. With fanfiction, I like pointing out how I reference various aspects of canon so that I can safely put my work in some timeline, real or imagined.

[jeans-ong-ong]

Hi! I just wanted to say I adore your comic! The colours are so beautiful, your art style is lovely, and the care you put into this project is evident. With so many things to tackle, like using real life cultures, the effects of war on those in service and out of it, and mental health, How do you go about doing research for it?

Hello! Thank you for this wonderful ask - both for the compliments and the interesting questions. So, let’s dive right into it: apologies for the long answer, but when you ask a creator to talk about their projects, they love to do it.

I started planning Introspection of a Deserter right when I began attending my Bachelor course in Education and Pedagogy - I met a lot of philosophical concepts that tingled my creativity, and I had to read a lot of books, so I felt like I was in the right mental space to handle a project that was deep and complex. I was studying how people grow up and shape their life, and it felt relevant for me to write a fictional biography that hit a series of themes that were interesting for me. I was 19, and now I am 22, and in all honesty I don’t think I’ve done a good job on the needed research.

Cultures Well, this part was simplified by the show. I think the creators of Avatar did some decent research, especially aesthetic wise, but they didn’t really go for the authentic representation. The info I got by talking with some asian fans is that Avatar does not work according to determined social mechanics, for example, in Korea or Vietnam. From what I gather, it was felt closer by Asian Americans, due to the characters feeling quite american, but the aesthetic being non-western (in A:tla at least). Being pretentious as I am, I felt like I wanted to use a bit more authenticity, but I didn’t really get it right on several aspects. I watched some fantasy asian movies to get examples for the tone I wanted (fun fact: I’m working on a watchlist of 30 movies to find the root of the mood of Introspection), mostly chinese; I read some articles about daily lifestyles and so on. On a hindsight, I should have watched more documentaries. I actually planned a trip to Vietnam in the indefinite future to “feel” the vegetation more! Vegetation is one of those thing you tend to take for granted, but it gives an entirely different texture and feeling to the landscape. Take, for example, the webcomic Heart of Keol: I couldn’t do that just by watching some fantasy movies (the author is, indeed, Korean), I need to live it first. However, a lot of stuff was made up and conveniently placed there, and that ... that has some consequences. See, for example, the religion storyline. Now, this one is a sore spot for me, because I’m viscerally attached to it. I don’t actually plan to change it in the near future - even if I do have a pair of books about buddhism on my readlist. What I’m telling in the comic is fundamentally a story about pseudo-catholicism: the concept of sin doesn’t match the concept of karma, the “sinfulness” of homosexuality and the desire of redemption, that’s just something that does not make sense in the context of a Buddhist culture. Let’s not even get into reincarnation: I have not done the minimum amount of research necessary to get such a difficult concept. And yet, I feel like changing this side of the comic would distort it to an unrecognizable story, and if I want to keep drawing it, I believe I need to mantain a bond with it. Will I try to be more authentic nonetheless? Yes. The effect of war I must admit I am quite fashinated by war. There is actually a branch in Medical Anthropology that studies war! And not only in the Medical one. However, the academics that do that have a severely higher risk of getting shot so I’m... still considering it, yes? I started looking into it because of Introspection. I think reading stories is educational most of the time, if only for the spark of interest one might develop for certain themes. You create some basis neuronal connections that will make it easy to look into more reliable sources later. But what is even better for me is Writing Stories: perfectionism forces me to look into sources (and as I grow older, I get that more and more), and looking into those makes me wish to write a story in that setting. That being said, my personal connection to war has been pretty indirect so far. I’ve listened and read stories about people who have been in battles, soldiers, victims - and I’ve been reading a lot about colonization in the last 4 years; from the classics to current issues (think Palestine). I include this bit on colonization because it will/would be a very recurrent theme in the story, and yet I know I’m still not there yet, I need to be more informed. The interest started with the disciplined experience of being in the military as studied by Goffman, and later on by Foucault, but then came in the concept blood thirst, and how does one person manage to enjoy killing people? How does one’s conscience tolerate it? I still haven’t finished doing research for that, because that story line “has just started”, and I like to keep concepts fresh in my mind (probably a mistake. Artists: do the research before you start working on the story, not while you’re doing it - unless it’s a written piece, that you can rework and rework. I didn’t finish the script before starting to draw the comic, so uh ... that’s a consequence). Mental health This was probably the one I winged the most through experience and knowledge gathered over the years. I haven’t properly read a book about depression yet - but I’ve just got one pending in the reading list, and the same goes (spoilers!) for alcohol and drug addiction. I did read a lot of experiences told by those who have been there, and I’ve even done an internship (actually only half of it because of Covid-19) in a rehab center for alcohol and drug abuse. However I know depression a bit, I’ve had several people with a variation of it in my life, and part of this comic is a re-elaboration of what I and other people have gone through in a (not always) exaggerated way, and fictionalization. When I was in a very different mental place, I used to refer to this comic as my “self-therapy”. Just an example can be found in (planned) book 4, which will be an hypothesis of therapy for someone with serious suicidal thoughts. Never will the comic be about “complete healing!”, because that’s not something I believe in, however it will be used to experiment, and hope a bit for a better, if bittersweet, vision of life. As I got into doing the comic, some themes became more important than others because I felt more bound to them, and usually I do more research on those now. Academic paper reading, people who live them in first person experiences (through documentaries, autobiographies, or youtube videos), or even personal experiences are all sources I draw from in comic planning. This being said, I should either choose shorter stories or simpler subjects for my next comic. But will I? Who knows. Thank you for reading so far!

[fairytalesandfandoms]

writing meta: 4, 20, 21?

4. Share a sentence or paragraph from your writing that you’re really proud of (explain why, if you like)

OH GOD this is the mortifying ordeal of being known

(here you go, have something which is not amazing stylistically but where I had ended up more or less making a magic system on the fly like a cartoon person laying train tracks ahead of a train)

“No one’s that good. There’s always a counterpoint because you cannot create a spell without one. It has to… balance, compromise within the bounds of what the universe will tolerate. How do I put this…? You, you have fighters who are strong, fighters who are fast, fighters who are tactical. Fighters who are fast need to be small, so they won’t have the physical bulk of the strong fighters. They might still be strong, just not the strongest. And if it’s a weight-bearing contest they would be beaten. Do you see?”

(and one from a Cabin Pressure fic I ultimately decided not to post because I couldn’t make the ending convincing)

“I rather enjoyed having someone in the flight deck who hadn’t seen it all before, although frankly I doubt any pilot has seen all the things we encountered before, of which Arthur is one.”

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

hmm I’m trying to think of something I can put without giving important stuff away, and also it’s tricky because there are still a lot of gaps that I have yet to fill

I will say that I more-or-less know what the Ember is, but the form it takes is not what the characters or the reader expect (I hope). I’m toying with the idea of having it appear early on before anyone realises it.

21. What other medium do you think your story would work well as? (film, webcomic, animated series?)

I joke that maybe I'd be better writing scripts than stories, because I most often get ideas for dialogue/scenes and have to add in the description and so on, so maybe some sort of film? idk that sounds pretentious, like I think it’s good enough for a film. A TV series could work if I or someone else came up with enough scrapes for the gang to get into in order to fill out the episodes.

Thank you!

writing ask meme