#(my one criticism of the book is that the prologue is actively terrible)

[themidnightcircusshow]

My one snipe with Iron Widow is that it did the typical sci-fi thing of throwing the most interesting possibility in just as a random line (the aliens being the reincarnated murdered women)

[randomidiocyncrazies]

i know you like them both so yunichika and oda/aoki for the ship ask

thank you for giving me a chance to gush about these kids!!! they’re precious.... this got pretty long so imma put it under a cut

YuniChika, the main boys of 2.43:

• when or if I started shipping it:

tbh i didn’t really ship them when i read the first book... they’re the kind of pairing that i can see people shipping and i think it’s cute, but i’m not super invested in them as a romantic pairing. I think i was more sold about them as a ship in the second book, but i can’t quite remember if there was a specific moment that made me change my mind, or if it was a gradual process

• my thoughts:

i think the anime definitely played up the tension between them (allll the blushes lol), but i’m glad people are enjoying the YuniChika content XD they’re pretty cute!

also, i think they balance each other well and spur each other to become better—Yuni and Chika are both self-centered(?) in very different ways: Yuni lacks drive because he mostly wanted to please people so they’ll like him, while Chika has the opposite problem in that he acts like he doesn’t care what people think of him. 

but now Yuni is able to take a stand for his interest in volleyball and for Chika, and while Chika doesn’t really soften and still has a problem with not realizing how harsh he could be, he’s more willing to communicate his thoughts.

• what makes me happy about them:

boys reuniting! relearning how to have a relationship with one another! learning from past mistakes and trying to be better people together! HELL YEAH

• what makes me sad about them:

boys, please use your words to communicate with each other...

also, from Yuni’s perspective, it’s kinda sad when someone you used to know really well comes back into your life, but they’ve changed so much that they are essentially a different person... but of course they have a new opportunity to become closer now 😉 so i’m not that sad about it

• things done in art/fic that annoys me:

... there are fanworks for them????????? 

(on a more serious note, erasing their flaws to make them more likable... please don’t make Chika ‘secretly nice’ or whatever, the kid is blunt as hell, and not realizing how his words affect others is his biggest flaw. on the other hand, Yuni can still be a little spineless at times, and sometimes his priorities are. questionable.)

• things I look for in art/fic:

hm, i’d like a future fic about them as professional players! i think their inclination is to stick together (they’re a package deal!) but it’d be super interesting to read something where they’re on rival teams years down the line

EDIT: haha Chika actually transferred to Keisei High School after their first Spring Tournament, so he and Yuni have faced each other as rivals since then (2.43 next 4years). they’re go to the same university and are on the same team now though!

• who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other:

uh i don’t really have specific people for this, but Chika would probably have to be with someone who understands his love of volleyball (like Oda, but if Oda wasn’t their team captain and thus too much of a dad friend to qualify as a romantic interest), and someone who can inspire Yuni would be good for him

also, i know who i’d NOT be comfy about: the first book (and anime i guess) had this weird tension between Itoko and Yuni, COUSINS who BASICALLY GREW UP TOGETHER. i think(?) their weird whatever was mostly dropped in the 2nd book and wasn’t really made explicit, but like. what the hell. (i have no idea what happens beyond the 2nd book.)

• my happily ever after for them:

the YuniChika in college arc is being serialized rn, so in a way that’s already fulfilled? (i have NO idea what’s going on tho) 

in general i just hope they can play volleyball together until one or both decide not to, for whatever reason, and that they stay in each other’s lives and support each other even after they’ve retired from competitive volleyball. i think with Yuni’s personality he could be a good coach after getting more experience, and Chika... he’s really valuable as a strategist, but I think he’d always be a little brusque, so he’s respected but hard to bond with if he does take on coaching?

• what is their favorite non-sexual activity?

bold of you to assume Chika even cares about sex

anyway, they don’t go to movies for a romantic date night, they go watch volleyball matches. sometimes this backfires when Chika gets too frustrated at bad plays tho

and of course i will never pass up an opportunity to talk about Oda/Aoki, the main guys of my heart (my OTP for this series tbh):

• when or if I started shipping it:

they pinged on my radar when they were bickering in Ibara’s chapter, but i wasn’t super duper invested... and then I got to The Dog’s Perspective and the Giraffe’s Perspective (specifically The Kick™) and oh god i’ve never fallen so fast

• my thoughts: 

GOD WOW Aoki really loves Oda... even though objectively Oda’s height prevents him from being a super ace, he is the coolest, strongest super ace to Aoki. i think it’s beautiful that someone can see you as your best self even when you’re feeling shitty about yourself. Aoki knows that objectively Oda faces a lot of obstacles, and wants to support him as best as he can—not out of pity (pity would’ve burned out long ago), but because he really respects Oda’s passion and drive.

also, these two have unaddressed issues that they should talk about! Oda, i know you feel inferior but you are so much better than you think you are. please accept that Aoki really does respect you, and that you are worthy of it (or like, you don’t have to be ‘’’worthy’’’’ or ‘’’’’’deserving’’’’’’’’’’ of it, because it is Aoki’s choice to support you and play volleyball with you!!! it’s not something you gotta earn, it’s something freely and happily given to you)

(ahhhhhh i die when i think of them)

• what makes me happy about them: 

gosh i love their dynamic SO MUCH! Oda is exactly my type of character (passionate, determined, knowing that he can never be the best at what he’s passionate about due to factors he cannot control, trying to be kind and gracious but struggling with feelings of inferiority and jealousy, thinks of himself as a selfish person, a supporting character...) and Aoki’s devotion is really touching. 

again: even when you feel like crap about yourself, there’s someone out there who thinks you’re the best thing that happened to them.

there’s also the fact that Oda thinks the world of Aoki as well (to the point of feeling inferior, which is like... c’mon Oda :/ you are better than you think you are!) he trusts Aoki a lot, despite knowing his willingness to engage in, uh, underhanded methods

• what makes me sad about them: 

it’s their last year together, and they’d be approaching a new phase of their lives in different places... although Aoki offered to lower his rankings so they’d go to the same university, realistically they’ll go to different colleges, and most likely end up in different prefectures. (like, not only do i think it’s a Terrible Idea to give up your dream school so that you could stay with someone else, there is no way Oda would accept the offer without being crushed by guilt. something like that would actually ruin their relationship, which i think Aoki knows as well.)

there’s also a lot left unsaid between them at this point and i just want them to lay everything out between them and move forward together

• things done in art/fic that annoys me: 

the fact that there’s NONE >:[ what does a gal have to do to get some content for them???????

• things I look for in art/fic: 

at this point anything is fine.... it’s a desert out there and i’m dying

more specifically i’m Extremely Down for a get together fic; i personally only see them getting together after high school, at least several months (or even longer) studying in different prefectures and no longer able to see each other every day. (i mean... absence makes the heart grow fonder right?)

i’d also love to see Oda using Aoki’s first name, considering Aoki calls him “Shin” and all. Oda managing to surprise/fluster Aoki would be nice too.

EDIT: they’re both in the Kansai region (2.43 next 4years prologue). Oda’s revealed to be studying in Osaka, and assuming Aoki got into KyoDai, they should be around 2 hours away from each other by train? so visiting each other over short breaks would be cute! also, apparently Oda took a gap year before going to Osaka (2.43 next 4years Ch 1.2), so something set during that time would also be awesome :V

• who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: 

hm... if i had to imagine people well-suited to them, i’d say Aoki’s type is people who are straightforwardly passionate about their interests (Oda hooked him with his unbridled love of volleyball way back in their first year of high school after all), and I think Oda probably needs someone who is willing to indulge him a little (like Chika he can be pretty dang determined about what he wants, though without the single-minded intensity at the expense of everything else)

... this is just a roundabout way of saying i think they’re ideal for each other, especially if they resolve the problem of hiding things from the other

• my happily ever after for them: 

they get careers/hobbies they enjoy, and get a place together as boyfriends/husbands. no i will not hear any criticism of this idea

i can see Aoki working in the private sector (this guy is fine with ‘joking’ about blackmail after all!) after getting his law degree. this is super self-indulgent, but given his penchant of rooting for passionate but objectively disadvantaged entities, i think it’d be pretty awesome if he works for a smaller company that truly believes in their work, instead of working at a big firm pulling in big bucks.

while I’m not sure what Oda is canonically studying, I can see him going into sports education or sports therapy—i think he’d be really good at nurturing the talents of other athletes, and he’s good at rallying the team (Aoki pretty much says he’s the heart of the team in the epilogue of the first book, though Aoki’s kiiinda biased lol). i think it’d be really cute if Oda coaches a grade school team!

neither plays volleyball competitively after high school, but sometimes they watch matches for fun (esp if their ex-teammates are playing). Oda also makes Aoki come to his students’ matches if he doesn’t have work

EDIT: apparently Oda continues competing as a wing spiker in college, playing in Kaisai’s 2nd Collegiate Division (2.43 next 4years Ch 1.2)—Aoki probably watches his matches, even when he’s busy (and Oda probably chides him for neglecting his work, but they both know Aoki can manage his workload).

• what is their favorite non-sexual activity?

hm... idk, i think they’re the kind of couple who are cool with just chilling with each other doing their own work. like, Oda planning strategies for the kids he’s coaching while Aoki reads next to him, occasionally glancing over to make comments, stuff like that

also since Oda says they mostly talked about volleyball during high school, I can kinda see them finding something new they both enjoy after they get together? Maybe shounen manga, for something fun

[cheetoflavoredcake]

Hate is Such a Strong Word - Reddnook

Since A03 is refusing to activate my account as of right now, I’ve decided to post the prologue of my Reddnook book here instead for now. -------------------- Everyone knows of Timmy and Tommy, the two nookling twins, but what if they weren't the only twins? What if, once Redd left Nook, Redd got two of his own reddlings?

--------------------

He had done it. Another successful scam landed him with over 200,000 bells in his pockets and them with not a bell left to their name. Sure, he had gotten into a bit of a scuffle and earned a broken nose with some bruises, but it was well worth the pain. He had a grin plastered on his face as he walked down the city streets, a skip in his step. Along with the money, he scored a nice white button down shirt with black dress pants and shoes, courtesy of the sucker who fell for his charm.

 It has been two, maybe three-ish years since he had left Tom and stole every last bell and valuable possession the man had to his name. He still felt extremely guilty for what he had done and sometimes it even kept him up at night. The guilt ate away at him everyday and he was feeding into it, believing the hurtful comments and snarky remarks his mind told him. Even though he knew it was all in his head, he listened to it religiously. If his mind told him he was a good for nothing street rat, he’d believe it. It wasn’t healthy, of course, but he had no one to talk to. All he had was Tom, who’d listen to every word he said and help him through his problems, but he was long gone.

 Along with Tom leaving, so did his self esteem. He didn’t take care of himself all that much anymore, only taking a couple showers when he had to and eating the bare minimum. He lived in a old, rundown building with a low rent of 700 bells - probably because the place was so terrible in quality. All he cared for was that he had a roof under his end and he didn’t have to sleep on the streets, because that would really ruin his ‘I’m a fancy salesman looking to help you’ look.

 Although he had the charming smile and the seemingly always unbothered attitude, he still had his moments. His moments where he would contemplate life and where he was going in it. His moments where he would let the bottled up emotions up go. His moments where sobs would rack through his body and he would apologize for everything, and apologize for being such a terrible boyfriend to the one person he couldn’t seem to let go of. The red head would always argue that that was what he was meant to do, and it was just how the cycle had to go, but deep down he knew that wasn’t the case and given a little time and effort he could have quit his shenanigans and lived a happy life.

 Sometimes he wondered if the other male had those times too, or if he went on with life and proceeded the successful businessman life. He knew the latter of the two was most likely the answer but he enjoyed the thought, made him feel a bit better. 

Coming to a halt, he stopped at the faint sound of whimpers and whines. At first he thought he was going insane and hearing things but the second time it sounded a little more desperate, like a cry for attention. When he heard it for a third time he looked towards an alleyway just a little ways ahead and decided to investigate - what harm could it do, anyways?

Venturing away from the bustling streets and lively chatter and down the dark and eerie alley, he pondered what could of made the noise. Maybe a lost puppy, or kitten? Surely it couldn’t be some thug or criminal, no way someone like that would have such a small, childish voice enough to make that sound.  

As he round the corner, a tuff of orange caught his eye and curiosity, making him slow his pace in case he scared what ever it was away. As he inched closer and closer, his body almost in a crouching position, his mind raced with ideas and questions. The whining was louder now, and seemingly scared, but his curiosity had gotten the better of him and there was no backing down now. In one swift motion he rounded the dumpster corner and landed in a attack like stance, preparing himself in case of fight.

Instead he was greeted with a shrill yelp and a cry. His honey colored eyes widened by ten times as he saw the two small faces of toddlers. They couldn’t have been older than three! How could someone be so cruel and heartless enough to throw a toddler on the city streets where they could get severely injured!? Upon seeing the scared face of one and the angry pout of the other, his stance dropped completely and he dropped to the ground in a crouch.

 Examining their features, he could tell one was a girl and the other was a boy, both with messy ginger hair - just like his, but much shorter. The boy, small and thin, held one of his frail arms over his sister in a protective manner. He wore a large brown sweater that had to be over four sizes too big on him, with a pair of worn out basketball shorts. The girl, just as thin and maybe smaller, wore a ruffled black T-shirt and grey leggings that barely clung to her. She had freckles, unlike her brother, and honey colored eyes like the boy and himself. Overall, they looked alot like him, and it had to be pure luck that the two happened to look exactly like him.

“P-please go away….”

The man jumped at the girl's meek voice that was all but pleading for some peace. It hadn’t hit him till now that the kids were probably terrified of him and him sitting there staring at them was only making it worse. He took a couple steps back with his hands up in a surrender motion to show he meant no harm.

“Hey, calm down. I ain’t gonna hurt ya’ , just wanted to know who you were.”

His voice was soothing and calm, making them relax a bit just like he planned. The girl swallowed hard before speaking shyly.

“R-roxanne a-and Ryan, you?”

A lopsided grin made its way onto his face, showing off his sharp and shiny canines. 

“Redd, pleasure to meet ya’ kiddos.”

He said, as if he was making another business deal, and stuck his left hand out for them to shake. The boy, Ryan, eyed it suspiciously before slowly lowering his arm away from his sister and reaching his right hand out. Redd took the small boy’s thin hand and shook it gently, a smile still on his face. The boy’s pout lessened as he awkwardly tried to mimic Redd’s quirky smile - which made Redd’s smile seemingly grow bigger and brighter. 

Both let go, Redd dropping his hand lazily in front of him and Ryans going straight to his sister, instead this time he only held her wrist. Sensing the kids were waiting for his answer, the man cleared his throat before speaking.

“You kiddos have a home?”

He asked slowly, careful to not trigger a memory by accident. They both looked down solemnly, before the boy shook his head, confirming Redd’s suspicions.

“Thought so,”

The red-haired man started, grunting as he got up. The kids heads darted up, waiting and watching for his next move. “Welp, come on.”

He said as he held his hand out again, waiting for them to take it. They both made a face at it but before the girl spoke up.

“W-what?”

Her voice was small and gentle, but still a bit weary. The boy had that pout on his face again, and he was squinting at the other males hand in curiosity.

“I got a cozy apartment and a fridge full of food I have yet to eat and it has your names written all over it.”

He said in a playful tone as he made a grabby motion with his hand, still waiting for them to take up his offer. Their eyes brightened up significantly at his words and Roxanne quickly got up with shaky legs and grabbed the males hand desperately. She yelped as he scooped her up and propped her in the crook of his arm with her clinging onto his shirt for dear life. Ryan quickly followed, jolting as he too was lifted up and propped in the same position, only his arms were wrapped around his neck. Redd laughed wholeheartedly at them before rushing out of the alley and disappearing into the streets towards his small, rundown apartment with a new meaning to his life.

-----------

I’m sorry but I live for a fatherly Redd. Sorry if it seems out of character, but I love writing this so far. Constructive criticism is welcome 

[xexilia]

I notice when you do your comics, it applies a certain level of toner. I ended up deciding on the route of using paint brush india ink, and charcoal for toner instead. Does this aesthetic difference change the marketability of graphic novel, compared to just using toner? In the context of the prologue in this web comic, it is used to denote a fog atmosphere. In the upcoming chapter, I might use it for graveyard fog.

I think first I need to establish that what you mean by “toner” is “shading”?

I do use tones, but tonER is the stuff used in and by physical printers. Print tones refer to the dots, lines, etc. that are present in the majority of my work and that Roy Lichtenstein emulated in his paintings. Tones are dots because that’s how printers print; Thousands of dots. The closer together, the more solid the shade or color is. I’m not trying to correct you on terms, but knowing this difference will help you later because I promise, if you buy toner online and expect to get tones, you’ll be disappointed by what arrives in the mail!

So, I think you’re falling into a common trap webcomic artists make in the beginning, which is focusing on the wrong parts of the project. You asked me if this changes marketability; But you didn’t tell me:

What medium do you want to publish in? Do you want to ONLY have your comics online, or do you want to print them?

Who is your target audience and age group?

Do you want to sell or profit off your webcomic?

The first question is important because far too often, webcomic artists design for the web/screens first, foremost, and only; Later, they decide to print a book, and this is when all hell breaks loose. Lots of media (Charcole, watercolors, etc.—media is the art term for materials) can look both better OR WORSE on a screen—this is where technology comes into play, like the scanner you have, the DPI (dots per inch) its able to scan things in at, and the size of scannable area. A lot of my favorite media and mediums (I like pencil on paper), are really delicate drawings—and like a lot of artists who favor these materials, scanners just never seem to do them justice. Lots of fine artists I talk to admit that they feel their work looks best in person, and no matter how high the quality scanner, small, delicate details get lost. Part of it can be a cheap scanner, the wrong DPI setting, but the other part can be the wrong medium (That’s the term for things like canvas or paper), or the wrong SIZE medium.

Size matters; Both in terms of the scanner surface area AND the size of your medium. A lot of people (And I did this myself for a lot of the first book), work on standard size paper—8.5 by 11 inches; But professional artists, print or not, are always better off to work at a LARGER size than the end result will be. When I printed my book, I didn’t come out too terribly for the size I worked in, because manga book page sizes are smaller than their American counter parts. I also knew I planned to print from the first page onward, so everything was designed for print first and web second—this is much easier and less time consuming to do than the reverse, because a lot of print errors can occur that don’t appear on screens—and literally can’t—and can take hours, days, weeks or more to fix, depending on how bad and common the issue is and how many of your pages have this problem. A big one is called moire, which DOES NOT show up on screens; This happens when an artist applies on tone directly over another. Because most of us work digitally these days, it’s even easier for artists to start doing this and not realize the consequence until you print a book. . .and discover all places where tones overlap create this weird square pattern within them—which is called moire. This is why it’s critical to use separate tones for different shades and such, because unlike solid color printing, you cannot overlay tones like you would layers in Photoshop or other such programs. Ignore this at your peril!

My first suggestion before you go to far is; Of you want to ever, EVER print this, print out a copy of a page at home. Even if you’re happy with it, consider how you may be printing or mass producing these things; If you’re going to make them via a copier at Kinko’s, take a page down to a copier at Kinko’s and see what quality you get. If you don’t like it at full size to the ratio you worked in (In other words, printing on the same size paper you created it on), you can get some improvement by using smaller pages—but going UP in page size will cause quality to drop. I now work on paper—digital or not—that’s always 11 by 17 inches AT LEAST. For anything I make, I try to work in a size 3 to 4 times larger than the end result will be.

When I first began, I made my comics with a copier at Kinko’s, and discovered while my ink wash method looked good, it looked better with color printing; Color printing is ALWAYS more expensive, hence why when digital comic creation tools (Like Clip Studio) got invented, I was an instant convert! It saved a lot of time and money (Tones and such are all expensive), the environment (No trees died for my drawings), effort (Tones are REALLY tricky to work with by hand), and it’s no wonder that manga artists now are nearly ALL working digitally.

Also, for the disabled (Like me), digital allows us to work from beds, at home, etc. instead of in front of a desk, all hunched over. I don’t accidentally smudge ink, my cat doesn’t drink my ink (Yes, it’s a thing cats do!), and if I mess up, the power of Undo/Redo/Copy/Paste/Transform CANNOT be understated. I’ve mentioned it before, but I believe in working smarter, NOT harder. This is why I draw out a lot of backgrounds (Which you can’t see on the free copies online, but you can if you buy a physical copy or the Amazon eBook), separately, and I can just drag and drop them around as I need. That way, I can focus on drawing the characters and not on drawing a giant cathedral for every damn appearance it makes or scene change I do.

As for marketability; A lot of this depends on your target audience and age group. Even so, people tend to grow to like something even if it may be atypical of the general stuff they like. I’m generally not a fan of shoujo-ai—but many of my favorite anime and manga ARE in this genre! Turns out, if the story is good, I don’t care about the sexuality of the characters!

A lot of people expect or want color comics these days though, which is odd to me, since the manga produced in Japan is in black and white (Color printing is expensive—even for a major publishing company!) People still read it, and those who expect an artist to make a free webcomic with color pages and update several times a week or month aren’t aware of the time, effort, or consequences. Generally; No, they will NOT buy a book they’ve read for free online (As much as people love to say to support us creators, they rarely actually do), and they damn sure won’t pay for the extra cost of color printing. If you want to see the difference, check out Ka-Blam comic printers and do a price comparison between printing pages in color versus black and white.

Yes, there are people who do a Kickstarter and such and get these funds up front; They are exceptions, not the rules. Consider them—and most artists who make comics or art they make of their own choosing (Not commissions, but only originals), the same as you might someone who plays a sport and decides that they are GOING to play professionally for some orginazation or team—which is, they are counting on being in this LESS THAN 1% of their field. Yes, some people pull it off; The vast majority don’t—and skill isn’t the biggest factor in the end. Just like an athlete with all the promise in the world can have their career ended before it’s begun by an injury that never heals right, art itself is a career path with MANY hidden pitfalls and problems—and health is a major one. Too many of us don’t eat right, don’t exercise our bodies and minds, and so on; It adds up. I personally really recommend a diet with a caloric/carb intake ratio that works within your activity levels; In other words, if you’re determined not to work out (Which—don’t make this mistake), you can’t eat as much as you’d like—not only will you gain weight, but it impacts your health health, your blood sugar—it can be a recipe for an early, but preventable, grave or a LOT of suffering that could be avoided. I try to jog at least two miles a day, meditate daily, and really put my health as the main focus in my life—even before my art. I can’t draw anything or write more stories if I’m dead, after all, and I can’t produce my best work if I’m not in the best condition I can manage. With an autoimmune disease, there’s only so much I can do or control and I’m often still very sick and in a lot of pain; But I still do all I can to run or walk two miles—at least, and even if it takes me an hour or more—and to keep my heart rate at 120 beats per min. when I do. There’s a lot of days where this is about the ONLY thing I can manage and where my pain is so bad I cry and cry—because right now I don’t have a lot of means of relief; This doesn’t happen to everyone, but it means that health—no matter what you do in life—can make or break you at times. Audiences aren’t always understanding of these circumstances and yes, ones career can dry up as a result. Just because someone manages to play for the sports team of their dreams doesn’t mean their health can’t or won’t turn on them, or a serious injury will end their career; We do not live in a world where people will continue to support you because of a series of or singular unfortunate event.

This brings me to the last point, which is if you plan to sell or profit off your work; We all want to, but often making sales can come at the cost of producing something that we, as the creators, really love or are passionate about. I decided from the jump that, while profiting was nice, I’d much rather make the title I wanted to make rather than the one that sells the most copies; If I were concerned with it, trust me, Eternity Concepts would be a wildly different story, with different art, etc. I’d have written a formulaic story that was entirely predictable and changed so many aspects, you’d never recognize it; Manga fans tend to be teens, so I’d have made the cast all teenagers! It’d be set in school! Someone might magically transform to fight evil or some such thing.

I didn’t want that; If you do, there’s no shame in that, but audiences will keep buying and reading what we keep producing, and if we’re too afraid to take a risk on a chance that our story won’t make a dime—because making a dime is the most important part for you—then we can’t be surprised when it’s what people keep buying—because we aren’t even attempting to sell anything else.

Publishing houses (With novels and such) can be really guilty of pushing for changes based on market research; The thing is, the research is often based off past sales of what’s already in the market. Plenty of novels that became classics and best sellers got rejected for years and years until a publishing company was willing to take a chance and discovered that people can, will, and do enjoy new and different things. They might also do market focus group testing—but these are small sample sizes of average people—and your audience may NOT be average people.

All creative pursuits involve risks, at the end of the day; You just have to decide what rewards you want or are willing to sacrifice if you take them.

As for aesthetics, there’s no accounting for taste and I’ve seen plenty of paintings I hated sell for insane amounts of money, plenty of art styles I hated become popular titles, etc.

I will say this; When I, PERSONALLY, see a comic with tones or color, usually that’s digitally produced (It cuts out the need for a scanner!), it looks to me like it’s professionally made—by someone who is on their way or already at such a level.

While a lot of newer artists try to make do with other materials, again, the world is not a kind place and making do is just that—making do. Yes, there are a million and one reasons why one can’t get their hands on better or more professional materials—but sadly, people don’t want to hear excuses, and many successful artists got their tools by working jobs they hated, saving up, living in their cars—making major sacrifices to get to where they are now. There’s no easy road or shortcuts to the end; Yes, I do, sadly, think the mixed media approach you’re trying won’t be favorable towards your marketability—but I could always be wrong (Look at how many MS Paint comics made it big!) There’s a first time for everything.

Comics, though, is also about production speed, and traditional materials can come at the cost of working quicker. I’m a big fan of suggesting people save and wait and invest (And it IS an investment) in serious materials and tools if they wish to be seen and taken as seriously; This means making sacrifices and at the end of the day, plenty of people still won’t like what you make, no matter what tools you have or plot you employ. The person who NEEDS to like it most? . . .Is only you.

You cannot please all of the people all of the time, and the faster you accept that, the happier you’ll be with what you make.

[ghostmartyr]

You seem to be a big fan of the Stormlight Archive series. How strong of a recommendation do you give it?

(I think I managed to do this all spoiler free.)

Very.

So the Stormlight Archive is a high fantasy series by Brandon Sanderson. I like most of his books, though his earlier work is a little too intent on wrapping things up neatly, in my opinion. Where he really shines is designing settings and magic systems. Even if the plots and characters weren’t engaging (they are), he creates insanely cool worlds, with a lot of variety.

World? As a Sanderson fan, I’m somewhat lacking, but from what I currently understand, all of his books take place within the same universe. You don’t need to read one series to follow another, but there are a lot of cool easter eggs if you do, and there are some fundamental consistencies to his various settings that come from everything being based in what is referred to as the Cosmere.

Anyway, Stormlight Archive. You’ve got the magic, you’ve got the massive battlefields, and you’ve got the motley collection of a cast expected to handle some great, nefarious evil from eons ago. You’ve also got a lot of separate story threads that don’t mind taking their sweet time to come together.

That’s something I’d actually warn about; these books are dense as heck. The first book in particular feels like its beginning is designed as a prologue for the entire envisioned ten-book series. There are currently three out. It’s all very worth reading, especially if you’re interested in the world, but it takes a bit to reach the perspectives of the characters who qualify as leads. On my first go I struggled some with the sheer number of names in the first few chapters, partly because I wasn’t sure which I needed to pay attention to.

Having spent some time observing other people talk about this series, that’s not a thing to worry about. There is always something to pay attention to, so the idea of picking the ‘right’ one is silly.

I could read this series a dozen times over, follow the plot just fine, and still miss something like a million tiny details that enhance the story. I know this because common discussion topics are things I didn’t even realize were there to notice.

If that sounds daunting, that’s because I don’t know how to recommend things without being overly cautious about what style of writing people are willing to put up with.

These books are long, but they’re wonderful for it. They themselves are a fitting example of one of the oaths that help structure the main story line; “Journey before destination.”

Because there’s so much to potentially focus on, I don’t know the best way to say why this series is so wonderful to me, but I’ll try.

One particularly appealing part to me is this world’s system of magic. It’s based on different sects of people swearing different oaths. They’re known as the Knights Radiant. Different Knights swear different oaths to beings called spren, who serve as their partners. The partnership and the oaths bind the Knight and spren together, bringing out incredible abilities.

Only the Knights Radiant no longer exist.

They abandoned their oaths.

Where the story picks up is the age where the evil the Knights were instrumental in facing is coming back, and there’s once again a need for them.

Except people are terrible, and the ideals that the Knights lived are as dead as their oaths. Worse, a broken oath kills the spren partnered to the Knight, so spren aren’t exactly inclined to try rebooting the whole system.

But some are still willing to try, and willing to work with people again.

This is a series where the main characters are largely broken. They make or have made horrific mistakes. They’re subjected to unimaginable cruelty. They fall into psychological pitfalls and don’t know how to fight their way out. They don’t know how they can possibly deal with all of the problems laid at their feet.

(The way the books are formatted, one main character per book gets consistent flashback chapters. The third book is pretty much one long string of “oh my gosh you were a terrible person wtf how.”)

So in a world of broken, tarnished oaths, people try to live up to them again.

And there are some masterpieces of promises in those oaths.

The original creed, which is the one oath all Knights share, is,

“Life before death.Strength before weakness.Journey before destination.”

As anyone who’s suffered knows, even that starting point can be difficult. Then the individual sects push even harder.

“I will protect those who cannot protect themselves.”

“I will put the law before all else.”

“I will remember those who have been forgotten.”

Ten orders of Radiants, each with their own philosophies, and a partner who will die if you turn your back on them. Not all of them have spiffy quotes yet (and one order demands truths instead of oaths), but the ones listed above are only Second Ideals out of several more, and based on what the characters go through to reach just the Third, they can be doozies.

This is not a series that is shy about the atrocities people are capable of.

It is also not a series that neglects the glory they can reach. The perspective characters are often people carrying the burdens of both.

I like reading about royally screwed up people, but I don’t like stories that beat on them with no point. This story is kind of about the redemption of a species, and about how hard it can be to be better when you have been the absolute worst of yourself.

You’ve got a member of the order who needs to speak truths for their bond to work, and she’s buried her own life history and self in lies so she can survive.

A person who bonds with an honorspren says that honor is dead, and by all accounts, he isn’t wrong.

This series just has such damn good characters, full of tragedy and heroics.

And severe psychological damage.

Depression, anxiety, trauma (lots and lots of trauma)… there really isn’t anyone who wouldn’t benefit from therapy, and all of those issues are active companions to the journey. Being kind of a mess myself, seeing characters swearing oaths, doing magic, and being all around badasses throughout their psychological woes is really neat, and adds to the relatability.

Other fun features include heavy class and race criticisms, Xtreme gender roles, and omnipresent religion. Just as part of the everyday setting. It’s all ripe for critique and discussion in-universe (one of the best characters is an atheist princess scholar who turns people into fire), and memorable enough to feel like a real society, with all the problems and neat concepts that civilization gets up to.

I go back to my “cool” comment. The magic’s cool, the worldbuilding’s epic, the people are damaged, and your word as your bond means something.

So… yeah, I really like it.

[severelyfoggytragedy-blog]

MOTIVATIONAL PUBLICATIONS (318 Textbooks)

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