Anyone who knows me at all knows that I really hate doing stuff like this. And yet, I keep doing it. Why? Because the world is filled with a massive crap ton of people who keep putting me in this position.

So, this is to clear the air a little bit.

1. I’m 27, Canadian, married, and a mother of 2 (4 if you count the cat and the dog).

2. I love my readers and I love getting comments.

3. I hate hiding comments. I really do. People are entitled to their opinions.

4. Regarding my art: Please note, I am not an artist. I draw because I enjoy it. I’m doing this comic because it’s a challenge. This doesn’t come easily to me. Yes, my art looks bad in a lot of places and I know this. I try very hard. I don’t have the best art by a long shot and it’s not the worst drawn comic I’ve seen.
Bad art doesn’t mean I’m tracing. I’m not entirely sure how that particular bit of logic came to be and yet I’ve received comments to that effect. I’m sorry my art isn’t perfect. My perspective and foreshortening look bad BECAUSE I’M LEARNING! Come on now! I’m doing things with the art in this comic that are so far outside of my comfort zone it stopped being funny months ago. I’m drawing animals and people is strange poses with odd lighting.
So yeah. Leave that alone.

5. Credit. You want to know where I get my poses and stuff from? Some of it is made up. Some of it is based on the stock art made by a friend of mine who has said that her stock is unrestricted for pose references. She has no problem with me using it as references for the comic. Often, she’s quite happy about it. I also tend to get my poses from a place called Posemaniacs. Look it up. It’s awesome.
Any time you see just a head? Yeah, that’s me. All me. So back off already. I don’t label things a lot on here as to where I get my references from. Should I? Perhaps. It’s all a matter of opinion.

6. My comic reads like a comic-ed novel. Guess what? It is! *shock* I’m attempting to adapt something that I wrote a long time ago into a comic. It’s wordy in places. It can’t be helped. I’ve pared the dialogue down to it’s most basic bits. At some point, I’ll offer the original novel up for sale or something, but not now. I want to see how far I get doing the comic first.

7. Did I mention yet how much I love my readers? Especially the ones who comment? I seem to have attracted a new commenting reader and that just made my day. It quite nicely negated the ick feelings I got from the troll saying my art looks traced.

8. Anyone in the Edmonton area from August 7-9, I’ll be in the Artist’s Alley selling plushies and hand drawn chibi-style art. Because yes! I know how to draw, yo!

If I missed anything, or if there’s anything you’d like to know, poke me on twitter or comment here and I’ll address it.

First of all, we have a new redux page. Chapter 02 page 07. I’ve been wanting to do this page for a long time but didn’t really feel up to it. The background looks so much nicer now. I’ve also made some slight adjustments to the line art, altering Kinrou’s facial expressions slightly. Hopefully for the better.

Now, on to the more important part of this post:

I’ve been accused of this comic sounding like a comiced version of a novel. Big shock, that’s what it is. It’s not a secret. The problem with that is that it can be really, really text heavy. So, as a test, I went through chapter 1 and deleted all the unnecessary text. Not all pages needed this tweak. One page wound up having an entire panel completely redone.

These pages, labeled as ‘light’, are as follows:
Page 03
Page 08
Page 09
Page 10
Page 11
Page 12
Page 13

If this is an improvement, one that is to the liking of my readers, I will continue to do this, creating more light pages and eventually replacing the text heavy ones. For those of you who like the text heavy pages, those will still be available, but as a link much like the redux pages.

I’ve been asked to create an 8-10 page mini comic for an anthology being sold at this year’s Animethon (in Edmonton). I figured I’d do something in the CoT universe rather than do a fan story. Problem is, I’m a little stuck on subject matter. I have a few ideas, but I thought I’d ask for opinions.

Ideas:
The adventures of Toef the cat
A prequel story of some sort
Something dealing with the Skylords

I’m open to other suggestions as well.

Meinna and Kinrou have shown up on the latest page of ‘Real of my Roommates Closet’.
Oh, and Nahiro, too. I just noticed him hanging around behind Glen. Awesome!

Go check it out!

Character Meme

Choose twelve of your original characters, in no particular order. Then, answer the questions that follow, but don’t look at the questions before you pick the characters!
1. Kishandren
2. Chounen
3. Mienna
4. Sahiren
5. Toef
6. Aldiara
7. Kinrou
8. Kenjariyo
9. Nahiro
10. Leshmiir
11. Inhari
12. Jiken

1. Who would make a better college professor, 6 or 11?
That’s a very good question, actually. Aldiara is a Princess, so she’d probably be decent at teaching manners or dancing. Inhari, however, is a priestess. I can’t really see her teaching college.
2. Do you think 2 is hot? How hot?
No, not really. Chounen, for one, is female and I don’t swing that way. For another, I designed her to be not all that pretty despite being noble.
3. 12 sends 6 on a mission. What is it, and does it succeed?
Jiken sends Aldiara on a mission. That’s just doomed to fail. Jiken is a bandit leader. Aldiara, as mentioned, is a princess. Doesn’t matter what the mission is. I doubt she’d listen to him.
4. What is or would be 9’s favorite book?
Nahiro would read something highly intellectual. Or religious texts. As I don’t read that kind of book, I can’t really give more specifics on that.
3. Would it make more sense for 2 to swear fealty to 5, or vice versa?
Chounen and Toef. Wow. Ok. Since Toef is Chounen’s cat, I suppose her swearing fealty to Chounen is a good metaphor for pet owning. Unless your the cat in which it could conceivably be the other way around.
4. For whatever reason, 5 is looking for a roommate. Should 5 share a studio apartment with 9 or with 10?
Toef is a cat. But I think she’d prefer Nahiro to Leshmiir. I would. (Psst! He’ll be introduced in Part 2!)
5. 2, 7, and 12 have dinner together. Where do they go, and what do they discuss?
Chounen, Kinrou, and Jiken. That’s something I’d pay to see. They’d likely go to some kind of sports bar, eat heavily fried food and drink copious amounts of alcohol while discussing said said alcoholic beverages.
6. 3 challenges 10 to a duel. What happens?
Mienna challenges Emperor Leshmiir? *cough*fat chance*cough* Mienna would get her ass kicked. Assuming that Leshmiir could stop laughing long enough to fight.
7. If 4 stole 8’s most precious possession, how would 8 get it back?
Sahiren and Kenjariyo. Actually, I can’t really answer this question. By even saying that, I’ve spoiled parts of the comic.
8. Suggest a title for a story in which 7 and 12 attain what they most desire.
Kinrou and Jiken. Strangely, I’m in the process of writing that. It’s a segment of ‘Children of the Dragon’.
9. What plot device(s) would you use if you wanted 4 and 1 to work together?
Sahiren and Kishandren. Funnily enough, a mission where they have to rescue a princess. See plot of the comic for more information on that.
10. If 7 visited you for the weekend, how would you get along?
Kinrou coming for a visit? *drool*
Sorry, where was I?
Probably wouldn’t get along as he’s a woman hater. I is woman.
11. If you could command 3 to perform any one task or service for you, what would it be?
I’d ask Miennato maybe bless my house or something.
12. Does anyone write or draw anything regarding 11?
Nope. She hasn’t even been mentioned yet.
13. If 2 had to choose sides between 4 and 5, which would it be?
Chounen would likely take Toef’s side if the cat had a confrontation with Sahiren.
14. What might 10 shout while charging into battle?
Leshmiir would never charge into battle. That’s what he has Generals for.
15. If you chose a song to represent 8, which song would you choose?
The first thing that springs to mind is ‘Butterfly Kisses’.
16. 1, 6, and 12 are having dim sum at a Chinese restaurant. There is only one scallion pancake left, and they all reach for it at the same time. Who gets to eat it?
Kishandren, Aldaira, and Jiken having dim sum. Kishandren gets the last one. Aldiara would never fight over food and Kishandren would beat Jiken in a fight, hands down.
17. What might be a good pick-up line for 4 to use on 10?
*dies laughing* Sahiren and Leshmiir. Neither of them swings that way.
18. What would 5 most likely be arrested for?
Toef would most likely be arrested for fish theft or bird poaching.
19. What is 6’s secret?
Aldiara’s secret? Can’t tell you that. Spoilers and all that.
20. If 11 and 9 were racing to a destination, who would get there first?
Nahiro would beat Inhari in a race any day. Granted, Nahiro could probably just teleport himself there.
21. If you had to walk home through a bad neighborhood late at night, would you feel safer in the company of 7 or 8?
I would definitely feel safer with Kinrou than Kenjariyo.
22. 1 and 9 reluctantly team up to save the world from the threat posed by 4’s sinister secret organization. 11 volunteers to help them, but it is later discovered that he is actually a spy for 4. Meanwhile, 4 has kidnapped 12 in an attempt to force their surrender. Following the wise advice of 5, they seek out 3, who gives them what they need to complete their quest. What title would you give this fic?
Kishandren and Nahiro reluctantly team up to save the world from the threat posed by Sahiren’s sinister secret organization. Inhari volunteers to help them, but it is later discovered that he is actually a spy for Sahiren. Meanwhile, Sahiren has kidnapped Jiken in an attempt to force their surrender. Following the wise advice of Toef, they seek out Mienna, who gives them what they need to complete their quest.
You want me to give this mess a title? ‘The Tiger’s Acid Trip’ most likely. That sounds like something I dreamed once. Not with these characters, but similar. That’s just…messed up.