Disclaimer: I wrote this out way back when I was catching up with UnOrdinary (just never got around to proof-reading it). Iirc Season 1 had just concluded and all the hate Arlo got over the overwhelming majority of its runtime was still fresh in my head. Please bear that in mind when reading.
So. UnOrdinary. There's two people I want to really talk about, or rather, how incredibly toxic the social environment in this world is for everyone involved in it and the two characters that show this most blatantly: Arlo and John.
I never really understood all the hate Arlo got. I'm talking about back when the comments on the Webtoon chapters would consist of 90% "Asslo"-shaming. I feel like that happened because we, the audience, failed to understand what it was like being a royal. And not because Uru-chan didn't hint at it enough or explain it badly or something, no, we simply didn't want to admit that John's view of Arlo was skewed. Badly skewed.
The way this world is set up, you have basically three "types" of people, classified through the ranking system, and based on estimates of where you will end up in the system, kids are educated in very different ways:
High Tiers are taught one thing and one thing only: they're to lead, keep everyone else in check, make sure everyone behaves. Anyone who doesn't is their personal responsibility, fault and and direct consequence of their failure to do their duty. Also that ends always justify the means, no matter what. See Arlo, Remi, Sera before meeting John and rebelling.
Mid Tiers are directly or indirectly taught to feel inferior to High Tiers. To compensate for that, they are also explicitly taught to feel that Low Tiers are second-rate (or rather, third-rate) humans. Worthless. The story doesn't really feature focus characters from this group as of now, which might be why I can't think of a named character in this group off the top of my head. But these are the aggressive side characters that have Low Tiers do their homework, the kind that default to ranking battles whenever they feel questioned or that group that kidnapped Sera when it first got out that she had lost her ability.
Low Tiers grow up being taught they're the dregs of society. No matter what they accomplish in life, they will never measure up to High Tiers or even just Mid Tiers. Take the beating, keep your head low and move on. Keep yourself in the shadows, a life of being ignored is the best you can hope for. High Tiers rule and get whatever they want, by force or right of birth, Mid Tiers take the spoils, you live off the waste.
So when Arlo and John first clashed, it was destined to end badly.
What Arlo saw was a dude systematically rebelling against the order he had worked his fucking ass off on restoring for what he felt was everyone's safety and best interest. Arlo didn't see the institutional racism and bullying this was enabling. Why would he? All he's ever been taught to believe was that this order was the only thing keeping everyone from killing each other, and his experience with his role as King when Rei graduated and everything went off the rails only reinforced that belief. What he saw was a person risking to instigate what basically amounts to a school-internal civil war, and for no reason at all. Of course he'd look into it. Of course he'd try to stop it, by any means necessary. Remember, "the ends justify the means" and it's HIS responsibility to keep the status quo intact, HIS job as the King to keep everyone in their place, HIS fault if something goes wrong.
Meanwhile John was born as and lived a lot of his formative years at school as even less than a Low Tier. He was a cripple. Basically a punching bag ready for anyone to let their frustrations out on. All he saw was people with even the slightest sliver of power forcing their will on those below them. All he saw was authorities not only protecting this system, but enforcing it. All he saw was a a selfish world where everyone would use whatever power they had to get what they want. And then he became King. By this point, all he had ever known was force, so that's what he turned to. He was only in middle school, but his heart was bitter, angry and cold. He turned to what he knew and failed to see behind the curtains. He was (and still is) a child, how could we expect him to? So when he got expelled and forced to attend that "re-education class" he was in a very bad place. He was a kid that had only known hate and violence from the world, an angry kid incapable of seeing beyond his (for very little of his own fault) skewed world view, a lost kid in desperate help of help, guidance, and love; but what he got was even more hate and violence. And this time, it was very specific and targeted hate, violence with a purpose. No wonder the poor kid seems to have two separate personalities, they were literally BEATEN INTO HIM. Make no mistake, what he went through in that "re-education" class is torture, gaslighting and brainwashing. And I don't use these terms lightly. John is obviously showing an extreme trauma response and likely already had some form of PTSD (I am not a licensed professional, I am only going off of what little I read for my own interest) from being put into the position of King with no clue of how to actually fulfill the duties of what those duties even are (no wonder everything went to shit), and that asshole from the authorities used those cracks to completely break the kid.
Tl;dr: Season 1 John and Arlo are amazing antagonistic character foils to each other, John being the Lancer to Arlo's Leader if we're going by the 5-man-band dynamics, and the only reasons Arlo got as much hate as he did is the somewhat unusual choice of making the Lancer the sympathetic POV character and the Webtoon comment system being EXTREMELY polarising and detrimental as FUCK for any actual discussion for the chapter at hand. It's the Twitter of media discussion if we're being honest.
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Hi! Love your sonia characterisation and from your ooc posting, I see your tastes are great~ Can I ask the mun: do you have any recommendations for books or TV series? c:
Hi anon! Thank you so much for your kind words regarding my IC content and OOC ramblings, that's really nice of you to say. I'm happy to recommend some things (I admit I did a 'Stitch laughing maniacally on a pile of wreckage' when I got this ask because anon, I am not sure you know what you have asked to unleash!).
However, I wasn't sure if you were asking for recommendations for books/TV series that have directly inspired my Sonia portrayal, or recommendations of things I enjoy in general. With that in mind, I'm going to be sharing a long list of books, TV series, manga/webtoons, and story-based video games that I just happen to like.
If you're looking for media that has directly inspired my portrayal though, please send another ask and I'd be happy to narrow it down for you!
In order not to keep the dash tidy, everything is under a cut, with notes (some important, some just me making jokes) beside a few of them. I hope you find a new favorite book/series to enjoy!
Books:
General Notes: For book series where the first book title isn't the series name, I've indicated which book to start with, save for the historical romances because that's easier to find online and there's a lot of them. I hope that helps!
Additionally, for all romance series, assume that there is some mention of sexual content in various degrees of description, aka. "spice." Depending on your comfort level of literary sex, I highly recommend checking out each title on https://www.romance.io/ for their spice level rating, at the very least. The site will also show you tropes found in each book as well as reviews.
Contemporary Romance:
The Time-Travelers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
American Royals series by Katharine McGee
Crazy Rich Asians series by Kevin Kwan (way, way better than the movie! It's a trilogy, followed by China Rich Girlfriend and Rich People Problems. I'd highly recommend this if you are writing a modern wealthy character of East Asian descent. Yes it's romance, humor, and contemporary family drama, but it gives what's apparently a very accurate look at high society)
Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade (if you are looking for contemporary romance with plus size heroines, you want to check out Olivia Dade! Also Mary Warren and for young adult romance, Kelsie Stelting)
Modern Royals series by Aven Ellis (start with A Royal Shade of Blue)
The Royal Runaway by Lindsay Emory
The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan (and its sequel, The Heir Affair)
One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston (this was better than Red, White, and Royal Blue, IMO)
Fantasy Romance:
Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas
A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas
Crescent City series by Sarah J. Maas
A note about SJM series: I highly suggest reading TOG or ACOTAR first, with the understanding the first three or so TOG books and the first ACOTAR books have a slower pace and are more about worldbuilding than anything else. Read Crescent City after these two (CC 1 is also a big, long worldbuilding book). You must read ACOTAR to read CC, but you do not need to read TOG to read CC (though you'll miss some of the references/easter eggs!).
The Empyrean series by Rebecca Yarros (Start with Fourth Wing)
The Shepherd King duology by Rachel Gillig (Start with One Dark Window)
The All-Souls Trilogy/series by Deborah Harkness (Start with A Discovery of Witches)
Historical Romance:
Don't Want You Like a Best Friend by Emma Alban
Love by Numbers series by Sarah MacLean (start with Nine Rules to Break While Romancing a Rake. If you finish this series and like her writing, move on to the Bareknuckle Bastards series and the Rules of Scoundrels series)
Spindle Cove series by Tessa Dare (start with A Night to Surrender. If you liked this series, move on to the Castles Ever After series and the Girl Meets Duke series)
pretty much anything by Lisa Kleypas (Bridgerton fans? This is how you get over your hangover/wait between finishing the books and/or Season 3. start with the Wallflowers or the Hathaways series, then move onto the Ravenels and the Bow Street Runners series. This is mostly historically the chronological order with crossover characters between the Wallflowers and Hathaways. Bow Street Runners is chronologically before Wallflowers but it's disappointing if you read it first, trust me!)
everything by Jane Austen. Just everything.
Series/books I'm in the middle of/currently on my TBR list so I can't recommend them fully yet but I'm actively reading them:
The Folk of the Air series by Holly Black (start with The Cruel Prince)
Letters of Enchantment duology by Rebecca Ross (start with Divine Rivals)
Crowns of Nyaxia series by Carissa Broadbent (Start with The Serpent and the Wings of Night)
Hades x Persephone saga by Scarlett St. Clair (Start with A Touch of Darkness)
The Shadow and Bone trilogy by Leigh Bardugo (and Six of Crows. And everything else: I've yet to dive into Bardugo's series)
A League of Extraordinary Women series by Evie Dunmore (Start with Bringing Down the Duke)
Royals series by Rachel Hawkins (start with Prince Charming)
Infamous by Lex Croucher
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
Deliciously Dark Fairytales series by K.F. Greene (Start with A Ruin of Roses)
TV series:
Downton Abbey (my love for this show runs deep. It changed my life!)
The Gilded Age (Carrie Coon deserves an Emmy for this at some point I s2g)
The Crown (Claire Foy is the best QEII, Elizabeth Debicki is the best Diana, Josh O'Connor is the best Charles)
Gossip Girl (original 2007 series, not the remake)
The Royals (the E! show)
Succession (Come for Brian Cox emotionally and verbally harass his children, stay for Kieran Culkin, Jeremy Strong, Sarah Snook, Matthew MacFayden, Conheads, and a Ludicrously Capacious Bag.)
The White Lotus (Tanya is ICONIC.)
Miss Scarlet and the Duke
Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (If you like Miss Scarlet, I can almost guarantee you will like Miss Fisher. And vice-versa.)
All Creatures Great and Small (the remake)
Sanditon
Black Mirror
Skins (UK series only)
Sex Education
The IT Crowd (the creator is an ass. The show is eternal.)
The Great
The Sopranos
The Empress
The Fall of the House of Usher
Midnight Mass (arguably the best Flanagan series. Fight me.)
Marie Antoinette (2022 TV series)
Dickinson
Euphoria
Stranger Things
The Tudors
Versailles
Unforgotten
Endeavour (you don't need to have seen Inspector Morse beforehand but it helps contextualize where some of this cast ends up in the future! Endeavour is the best murder mystery show ever written, IMO. Unforgotten is a close contender for second place.)
Outlander
Sherlock
Mad Men
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
American Horror Story (earlier seasons are way better than the later ones)
Gentleman Jack
Ted Lasso
Emily in Paris
Pride and Prejudice (the 1995 miniseries with Colin Firth)
Books and TV (that is, read and watch both!):
Bridgerton (books by Julia Quinn)
Magpie Murders (books by Anthony Horowitz. One of my few book recs that isn't a romance! Horowitz is a wonderful contemporary mystery writer)
Webtoons/manga:
(Because some people prefer manga/webtoons to novels! I have read all of these on MangaKatana. Mostly fantasy romance and contemporary romance, several have been made into J or K-dramas)
Under The Oak Tree
See You In My 19th Life
What's Wrong With Secretary Kim?
Like Wind on a Dry Branch
Marriage of Convenience
Father, I Don't Want to Get Married!
We Are Not Ourselves Today
An Hour of Romance
Innocent (The sole historical drama over here. Every sex and violence trigger warning you can imagine applies to this manga. It is also one of the most beautifully-drawn and intriguing stories I've ever read. Rose of Versailles fans, this is for you: this is your fave but darker.)
Marry My Husband
Video games with excellent storytelling:
(mostly. These are primarily otome games, mystery visual novels, and horror visual novels):
Zero Escape: The Nonary Games (there are three games in this series: 999, Virtue's Last Reward, and Zero Time Dilemma)
AI: The Somnium Files (There are currently two games in this series, AITSF and AITSF: Nirvana Initiative. Zero Escape and Somnium Files are basically required to play after Danganronpa. I said what I said: the storytelling is better)
Code: Realize (The best storytelling of all otome games, hands down. Do not watch the anime: it sucks. The first game is the best and really the only one you need to play. The other two games have okay side stories and are mostly romantic continuations of the first game's routes)
Collar x Malice
Cupid Parasite (mostly for the last two routes, though: if you're using a walkthrough guide. Generally much lighter than your usual otome...save for the last two routes that serve to break you.)
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (you could watch both seasons of the original anime if you really want to, but the games are better)
Umineko no Naku Koro ni (Note: please keep in mind this was written 10+ years ago in Japan, especially when you get to the Big Reveals in the final game. There are Some Takes that would go over poorly today. Like Code: Realize, do not watch the anime: IT SUCKS.)
Spirit Hunter: Death Mark
Spirit Hunter: NG (You don't technically have to play Death Mark first but it makes one of the endings far more impactful if you do!)
Honorable mentions:
Hakuoki (so many routes, so very long! But if you like Japanese history around this time, you may like this)
Olympia Soiree (good on the more mature content, bad on some of the LIs giving me pause like 'this is not a good romance idea')
Amnesia: Memories (I'm not a fan of the female main character or two of the LIs. At all.)
Piofiore (Similar complaints as Amnesia.)
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Tomorrow premiered today and it is the first time in a while that I have been excited for a drama. The premise was too good for me to wait for the end of airing to binge it so we shall hope that keeping up with this drama doesn’t deprive me of my sanity.
I really love the premise of the show. It gives me Hotel del Luna and Mystic Pop Up Bar vibes in that it is people-centric and aimed at resolving people’s woes. It could actually be seen as the middle ground as Hotel del Luna focused on people after death resolving their regrets and Mystic Pop Up Bar focused on issues affecting people while they are alive. Tomorrow is about people who are toeing the line between life and death and saving them.
I hope that it is as comforting as its counterparts. I really appreciate that there is a trigger warning before each episode and (through MBC) a s****** prevention message by the actors and hotlines provided. I respect that they are taking this topic seriously especially given its prevalence in Asian countries. I am also grateful that this drama will delve into the hows and whys that lead people to that precipice. I think this will help people to understand one another better and also encourage people to be kind, empathetic, understanding and supportive. I hope that it will destigmatize mental health and struggling. I also hope that it helps draw others away from the edge with these messages that they are not alone and their life is valuable.
I adore the main five characters so much. I am already eagerly anticipating watching their dynamic grow and develop.
I adore that both the head of Jumadeung and the Grim Reaper in charge of Risk Management are both women. Goo Ryun gives off badass-fashionista-with-a backstory-vibes a la Man Wol and Hong Ji Ah of Sell Your Haunted House. It definitely feels like the aim of Risk Management is personal to her and I have a feeling that she was in the same position while she was alive. Perhaps when she passed away, s****** was considered a sin and that was why she was in Hell to begin with. However, I think she has also been doing this for so long that her job is now a check-list and she has become de-sensitized to the human element of it. I feel like with Joon Woong that will change.
I heard that in the webtoon (which I have not read), the head of Jumadeung was a man. I think making her a woman really adds a softer touch to the position. The way she can transition between a grandmother who is doting and caring for everyone to the head of everything is amazing. It really makes you feel that she also wants what is best for the people who have given up on life.
Joon Woong has been such a source of joy already. I think he will be the breath of fresh air that Risk Management really needs. Because I think the issue at hand is that though Risk Management saves people in the moment they do not concern themselves with the mental welfare of people after the fact. Thus, people’s feelings that drove them to the precipice still remain. I think Joon Woong will connect to the human element and their heart and be the support they need to feel less despaired. After all, while having the worst day of his life he was still dedicated to making sure that the homeless man did not take his life. I think he will become the heart and soul of Risk Management. I also love how Joon Woong and the director of Jumadeung give off grandson and grandmother vibes. I hope that he gets reunited with his mother at the end of the drama and that something doesn’t happen to her for the sake of drama.
Ryung Goo is an interesting one for me. I am interested him indirectly as a result of being directly interested in everyone else. I hope that his character will grow on me. It will be interesting to hear the reason behind why he is adamant on only working for 8 hours. There must be a backstory there because he looked desperately at Goo Ryun to let him leave when his time is up. Their brother-sister relationship though is very amusing.
Joong Gil. aka Lee Soo Hyuk (the hook that led me to this drama in the first place). By far one of the most badass character entrances in recent times. He is so completely badass in this role and he looks incredibly fine in those suits. It makes me very excited for his character going forward. I hope he gets more screen time. I also really really really pray that he is not the villain. This show does not need a villain in Jumadeung (there are plenty of villainous people within the living world to choose from). I also do not want it to be him like please. I would really love for Joong Gil and the Risk Management teams to be allies. I want him to see that the points Risk Management are making are valid. While there are people who take their lives to get out of responsibility for their crimes (i.e. criminals) there are also those who are driven by external forces to that point. Honestly, his perspective and Risk Management’s perspective are two sides of the same coin. He is concerned with the people that are affected by the loss of the individual’s life and Risk Management are concerned with the individual. They both fundamentally care about people. There is no reason for them to work against each other. They have a common goal.
The octuplets in Jumadeung are hilarious and I'm sure they are going to become a running gag and I am here for it. Can't wait to meet the other 6.
All in all, I am very excited for this drama. I love the combination of humor and heart that carries this show. I hope they keep the current momentum going and continue to respect the message of this show. I can’t wait to see the characters grow and become closer as time passes. I really hope that they don’t make a villain out of an individual. I hope that instead the show tackles the factors that lead people to that sense of hopelessness and we see the entirety of Jumadeung working together to help people.
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Lesson 6 - Build Your Relationships
Today’s Lesson: Build Your Relationships
Today’s Teacher: Odd Girl Out by Morangji
We’re talking about a comic I like again this week!
I love romance! Well-executed and original romance stories, at least. I love character-driven narratives, and since a romance story is focused on the character arcs of the two (or more) people getting into a relationship, I get to see a lot of what I find interesting in fiction in the romance genre. But how do you make your romance stand out from the crowd? How do you keep people interested in a tale as old as time?
Odd Girl Out is a comic about Nari Oh and her three cooler, prettier friends as they navigate high school together. It’s a comic that took me a while to get into. The art starts off somewhat wonky, and the pace is leisurely, as it’s a longrunning series with nearly 300 episodes as of today. What kept me reading was the fact that there was actual progression happening. Characters grew and changed from the situations they encountered, and their relationships with each other changed rather than circling around the same status quo like a newspaper strip from 1938 (or Lore Olympus). I wanted to watch Nari and her friends grow closer and become better people from knowing each other. Nari develops from an insecure and shy girl convinced she’s unworthy to be friends with her three best friends to a strong leader who won’t put up with any nonsense.
(A glow-up for the ages.)
Odd Girl Out isn’t even a romance webtoon for most of its run-- Nari’s love interest doesn’t get introduced until over 200 episodes in. But here’s the secret- there isn’t much difference between writing compelling romantic relationships and writing compelling friendships, because the appeal of both is the way the characters interact with each other and the world around them. (It’s why people ship characters that are close friends in the universe of the franchise- because they like seeing them interact.)
Odd Girl Out is very successful at developing a wide variety of relationships over the course of its run- between classmates, between relatives, between friends and teammates working together on different projects, so when Morangji tries their hand at romance, it ends up working very well.
When Seungha first shows up, Nari finds him attractive, but they’re immediately at odds. (You see this a lot in romcoms, and that’s because initial dislike creates narrative tension and means there’s more room for growth and development in the relationship as they get over their differences and build comraderie instead. It works really well in Odd Girl Out because the source of their conflict is funny and the eventual resolution is hilarious. Please read it.)
Seungha’s class is directly above Nari’s, and they get in a fight about their respective classes making too much noise. Both are the presidents of their classes, both are smart and stubborn, and Nari captures Seungha’s attention by winning their battle.
They end up working together on a student council committee, and after spending a lot of time together, helping each other through problems and flirting by leaving each other snacks, they finally go on a date and it’s very cute.
But what makes it so cute, and what makes their eventual romance so rewarding to readers, is the buildup. It’s clearly shown that Seungha and Nari like and respect each other, have a lot in common, and enjoy spending time together. We see them having a good time in each other’s company often enough to believe that a relationship between them might be cute. The author is also careful to use visual shorthand like blushing and longing stares to establish that there is an element of attraction there as well.
Not all romance has to develop from friends to lovers- a non-comics relationship I recently loved reading was in Holly Black’s The Cruel Prince trilogy, where the protagonist and her enemy are lovers while still hating each other. But all romance must develop from attraction. The readers need to believe the couple is attracted to each other. The same goes for friendships: the reader needs to believe that the characters enjoy spending time together, unless it’s an unhealthy friendship dynamic on purpose, which Odd Girl Out also explores and resolves over the course of the story.
To make a relationship believable in fiction, you have to show the readers how it works- whether they’re just getting to know each other now or have been married for fifteen years. Why are these people together? How will they change over the course of the story?
Exercise: Honestly, writing romance is highly dependent on people’s personal preferences for fictional relationships. So, think of your favorite fictional couple (or friendship, or rivalry), and write a paragraph about how they work. How does character A feel about character B, and vice versa? What do they do when they accidentally end up in the same space, and what do they do when they hang out on purpose? Write a fanfic if you’re feeling particularly inspired.
Webtoon rec of the day: Please read Odd Girl Out!
Since this whole post was a rec though, I anti-rec Third Shift Society again: side characters keep trying to tell me Ichabod and Ellie look like boyfriend and girlfriend but there’s been literally nothing to support that ship besides the fact that they are physically located in the same space.
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I’ve been holding off on making this post because I wanted to try it out myself and get settled in and make sure everything went okay, but seeing as I’ve gone ahead and updated my site and everything I thought now might be a good time to start talking about this publicly!
If you’ve known me for more than five minutes you know I fucking hate Webtoon, like, a lot. Every aspect of it disgusts me to the core of my being, and while Webtoon is the ugliest version of them the aspects that I hate also extend to basically any comic aggregate site. I hate that they treat artists like content robots, I hate that they treat comic readers like morons who aren’t capable of engaging with complex stories, I hate that they actively try to strip away all the cool parts of indie comics by cultivating sterile and impersonal environments that discourage artistic experimentation and unique expression.
So! I hope you’ll be interested in what I have to say about this new platform that’s (hopefully) going to be out of alpha this summer. If you think you like reading comics on Webtoon, I really encourage you to check out Dillyhub once it launches. That’s the short version, but I have a LOT to say about this! So I’m putting the rest of this under a cut.
Full disclosure, I’m not getting paid or anything for this. The creative outreach at Dillyhub contacted me a few weeks ago asking if I’d be interested in having Kidd Commander be one of their launch titles when they go live this summer. I was hesitant at first, since I actively distrust anything claiming to be For Creators at this point, but they answered my pushy questions patiently and everything seemed on the up and up so I gave it a shot; I’ve been needing a mobile mirror for KC anyway. Eventually they invited me to the alpha creator discord, where they’ve been working directly with all of us artists to improve the platform, and now to be honest I’m REALLY excited for this thing to get off the ground. Nobody asked me to make this post, but since I’ve spent years whining and bitching about how other services do wrong by their creators, I thought I’d talk about this one that’s doing things right.
So, the biggest advantage this site has for creators over others in my opinion is that it. Treats us like individuals, regardless of follower count lmfao. If you’re a new person just starting out with your new webcomic, here’s what webtoon does for you:
Note: you don’t get a custom banner, you don’t even get to choose the solid color it is. That big circle icon is ALSO the image that shows up in searches, but everywhere else on the site it’s a 100x100px square, so you have to choose whether you want it to look good as a giant circle at the top of your comic’s page OR whether you want to look good in search results. Which, by the way, is the ONLY way for people to find you if you’re not partnered. And that’s it! You have no monetization options, you won’t show up on the genre pages, and when someone DOES stumble across your page it looks super unprofessional. Good Luck!
Now here’s my Dillyhub page(s):
You don’t get a static banner and one icon, you get a whole carousel banner with as many images as you want front and center as soon as you get to the project page. You get seven (custom!) genre tags, as opposed to Webtoon’s single tag you have to pick from their list, and plenty of room to talk about your work. The episodes are even laid out better, you get a MUCH bigger preview space to work with and they’re nice and big on the bottom half of the page:
you know, like they’re actually presenting ART lmfao.
That’s already an ENORMOUS improvement, but here’s my favorite thing.
o hm that’s a lot of super cushy settings I have for every individual episode, but what’s that, Episode Type?
LIKE.
listen, i know this is probably a bit specialized if you’re not a comic maker yourself, but this is a HUGE DEAL. You can post vertically OR page by page! You can even post pages two at a time for double page spreads, or so they read like a physical comic book! AND their specs are really open, as long as the file meets the size requirement you can make it whatever shape you want. You don’t have to reformat all your shit to post here!! I posted the entire first volume of KC STRAIGHT FROM THE PRINT FILES in like half an hour!!! The episodes can also be any amount of pages, you can post a single page or an entire chapter all in one go!
So that’s just the project page for the comic, let’s see what happens when I click on my username there.
Each author gets their own unique page (which you can tack a vanity url to!) to present themselves however they want! You always have the banner at the top, but beyond that you have a ton of options. Among other incredibly useful tools that really should just be bare fucking minimum at this point, like the ability to preview your page on different devices, you start customizing your blank page with this set of widgets,
and from THERE you can customize them MORE, you can promote your patreon or your kickstarter or whatever! Having this creator space ALSO means that if you run several comics, or if you want to promote your comic AND your illustrations, you can just separate them into individual projects! Each with their own page! This is also really nice as a reader because you can subscribe to a creator but you can also just subscribe to specific projects, if you don’t want to get ALL of their stuff in your inbox. It’s so good y’all hh.
Once again, all of this functionality is just THERE as soon as you make your account. You don’t need to be “partnered” or whatever the fuck, you don’t need to meet a certain follower threshold to unlock the ability to operate normally. You get your own creator space to present yourself how you prefer, you get pages for all your projects, you can even set up monetization options (and change them for individual pages IN a project) right from the start.
ok ok let’s compare this to my webtoon page
oh that’s right webtoon just puts your greyed out name at the bottom of each comic and that’s it because human beings don’t make this stuff, my bad lol anyway
Other fun shit that Dillyhub does that makes me feel like they’re people who have actually consumed or made comics on the internet at some point in their lives:
-When you log into the “studio” space, you’re in your creator account. When you log OUT of the studio space, it’s like you swap to a “reader” account, where you can access your pull list and comment on things with a different name and profile icon. Again, maybe only cool if you’re a creator, but if you ARE then you know exactly why this is incredibly useful lmao
-You can set up “hidden” projects, so if you only want certain things to be accessible by certain people or to not show up in searches that’s an option! You have SO much control here it’s great.
-The comment section has moderation options GODDD. You also have a real comment space, you know, so it actually encourages building a community (and a rapport with your community, if you like), and you also can just turn comments off entirely if you want! I haven’t used it much yet, obviously, but it’s been made very clear in the discord that artists want better control over their comment sections and the devs have it on their priority list.
-Absolutely every step of customization gives you a preview before it’s live, so you can easily see what these images you’re posting in different places are going to look like before you beam them to your followers’ inboxes. This includes individual episodes!
-This was sort of in one of the screenshots but it’s important so I’m saying it here too: the option to mark individual episodes as mature or with content warnings, rather than having to mark an entire comic as Mature Spooky Scary Content because of one or two pages getting a bit hairy.
This site is only in alpha right now, and it’s invite-only until they get to beta (for creators; anyone can make a reader account! but they haven’t set up a way to browse comics without direct links yet so) but honest to god it’s already blowing every other site I’ve used clean out of the water. And the staff has been really kind and responsive to us proposing fixes or changes! I will always defend individual websites as being the best option for an indie comic, but everybody’s gotta start somewhere and we NEED something that isn’t Tumblr or Webtoon to fill this role; this site feels a lot more like a symbiotic relationship than any of the other staples available for new creators right now. If you’re a comic reader and you want to see your favorite comics on Dillyhub I’d suggest keeping an eye on this site and once it’s live start poking them to look into it, and if you’re a creator follow their social media and hop in when they open up for anybody to join. I would LOVE to see this site take off as a viable option for hosting and reading comics.
Thanks for reading all this! I haven’t quite finished setting up yet, but if you want to poke around a project/creator page for yourself mine is here have at it. As things progress I’m sure I’ll have more to say, but since I’m usually so aggressively negative about places like this I just wanted to give some credit where it was due. fucking finally.
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Why did Ranamun enter the harem? It was stated that he probably wasn't going to unless his father forced him bc of his pride but it turns out that he actually entered the harem on his own free will. why do you think he had a change of heart?
Oooh, thank you for asking, that’s flattering! Ranamun is a character that we get a lot of information about from other people in the story. I think it’s important to keep in mind that Ranamun himself doesn’t say a ton. Still waters can run very deep! These are just my takes and theories. I’ve only read the freely available episodes on the Webtoon app, so while I am tagging this as spoilers (just in case I’m right! 😳), this post is NOT me revealing what I know to be coming, only what I think from what I’ve seen in the story so far.
My take was that Latil’s retainer thought Ranamun would not want to enter the harem because he’s known to be reclusive/not very social. Duke Atraxil thinks to himself that the institution of a harem must be damaging to Ranamun’s pride (because some people viewed Ranamun as the likeliest husband for Latil), but Ranamun himself doesn’t say anything like that, that I remember. He was not obviously interested in Latil when his father introduced them once the Atraxils backed her claim to the throne. He doesn’t even have to be asked to join the harem, though, he says he wants to (like you said), and then he yanks the harem application paperwork out of his father’s hands and signs! those! damn! documents!
Ranamun does seem quietly, uh, NOT THRILLED that there will be a harem. But there are a lot of ways to interpret those panels! I don’t remember any thoughts or dialogue from Ranamun about how he felt about likely being a consort before the harem was announced.
>> There is (was 💀) definitely SOMETHING going on with Ranamun’s family and Latrasil’s half-brother Thula (and likely his mother Anatchka). When Duchess Atraxil was urging Duke Atraxil to back Latrasil, she made a face when she mentioned but trailed off something about Thula, and MY THEORY is there was bad blood between Thula and Ranamun— I think a conflict with Thula might have been the reason Ranamun was such a reclusive person when we first hear about and meet him. And if that’s true, I think Ranamun could be some silent combination of furious at and grateful to Latrasil for having Thula executed. Maybe this was the point at which he went from passive grump to interested contender.
>> I don’t know if this is super meaningful yet/at all, but when Latil’s courtiers are kicking up a fuss about her wanting a harem, she points out that it was Duke Atraxil who suggested her father take consorts (in part “to keep the empress in check”)… which I’m sure Latil did not fail to notice was how they got Anatchka in the first place.
If Ranamun’s pride was damaged, then I think he entered to prove he was the damn best even in a contest of other people the Emperor approved for the harem. He tells his father he wants to be a consort. He only asks for the books on sex and so on AFTER he decides to apply to join the harem. He declares that the emperor WILL name him the royal consort within a year. Though he be but bookish, he is dick proud… gotta wonder if Guesta is the same way, not so deep down?!?? Maybe he wants to establish himself as royal consort and be so good at pleasing the Emperor so he can work to make sure there are no more Anatchkas/Thulas? Get the empire away from harems altogether.
More, possibly related theory! This is totally conjecture, though: I think Ranamun’s mom, who seems to have a brain, might have been a big supporter of the Empress (Latrasil’s mother, who is at a temple or something like that— it’s implied this is because Anatchka was making the empress’ life difficult? Man, FUCK Anatchka), and Ranamun values and aligns with his mother’s position more than his father’s. Originally Duke Atraxil wanted to wait and not support Latil, but his wife very openly and directly encouraged him to back her.
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Genshin Impact, Discussion about the Anemo Element
Anemo is one of my favorite elements in this game and with the release of the 1.4 trailer and soon Venti rerun I decided now was a good time to talk about it. I won’t be going much into gameplay elements just how it’s represented in game and the characters with the Anemo vision.
Warning, Genshin Impact spoilers!
Let’s start with Venti, for the obvious of him being the Anemo archon.
Venti is typically carefree and pretty free spirited, which is just about expected since Anemo is also the symbolism of freedom in Genshin. Venti is really the only Anemo character that’s truly free. He chooses not to rule over Mondstadt and even in his archon quest isn’t really directly involved because he is the archon, compared to the Liyue story at least. Him being Barbatos or just Venti himself isn’t the main plot point, it’s mainly about Dvalin.
Venti has seen three very distinct versions of Mondstadt; old Mondstadt(Stormterror’s Lair), the aristocracy period, and current Mondstadt. Old Mondstadt is referenced and discussed briefly in his story quest, and the aristocracy period is very briefly discussed in the Genshin Impact Webtoon. The first two have the citizens or common folk of Mondstadt trapped or chained down. In both of those Venti helps in it’s liberation, though not a major force of it.
Venti has his issues and trauma, but is working through and with it. He’s optimistic but also putting up a facade at times. But even with that he’s still pretty carefree and cares that others are making choices for themselves rather than some outside force.
--
Next up, let’s talk about Sucrose
Truth be told, I don’t know much about Sucrose in a lore perspective. I do know that she devotes herself to alchemy greatly. She doesn’t have many friends and a lot of what she does is to try to bring two of her old friends back, since she believes if she can realize their dreams when they were kids, they’ll come back.
The reason I said Venti was the most free of the Anemo users is well that the other 3 are devoted or bound to their duties or work. Sucrose is devoted to mostly only the art of alchemy and that’s why I find her not to be as free as Venti but she’s not as trapped as the other’s I’m going to discuss. Sorry I don’t know much about her.
--
Next, Vanessa, the first Grandmaster of Mondstadt
Vanessa is the first grandmaster of Mondstadt once the aristocracy peroid is done. She was a gladiator fighter before then, put in literal shackles. She helps free Mondstadt from the oppressive rule of the nobility. Even after then, she became metaphorically shackled under the weight of the protection and duties to the people of Mondstadt.
We don’t know what vision Vanessa had, but we know she had one since she ascends to Celestia. The most likely options are Pyro or Anemo since her heritage comes from the people of Natlan, land of the Pyro archon Murata. I feel like it’s Anemo since Vanessa from what we do know is a character that values her freedom. Even after she ascends to Celestia, she still checks over Mondstadt and I believe is the eagle in Diluc’s idle animation(and possible his burst).
--
Following her, is Jean, the current acting Grandmaster of Mondstadt
Jean, much like Vanessa, is burdened with the weight of the responsibilities of Mondstadt. It’s even seen taking a physical toll on her during her story quest. Jean isn’t the “real” Grandmaster, she’s the acting one while Varka is out on a mission.
Jean has a lot of her character I do want to delve into but I’d rather save you the time for now. She wants what’s best for Mondstadt above all else, as seen in her story quest as well as the archon quest. She’s the definition of what to expect when you here the word knight, devoted, chivalrous, and compassionate. Though despite being one of the prime characters that should represent freedom, she’s burdened by all she does for Mondstadt.
--
Lastly, Xiao, the last Yaksha of Liyue
To save you and myself time, I’ll do my best to summarize here. Xiao has been defending Liyue under a contract and his devotion to Rex Lapis for well over a millennia. Over the years of his protection of Liyue has been building up karmic debt that might end up killing him one day.
Xiao is the most currently shackled character that belongs to the Anemo element, in my opinion. His eternal service to Liyue’s protection even though “the age of the Adepti has long passed” and his past during the archon war when he was forced under the service of a cruel archon before he was liberated by Rex Lapis.
--
That’s where I’ll end this to keep myself from rambling too much. Anemo is one of my favorite elements in this game, gameplay and character wise(mostly Venti and Xiao). I might do one of these again for the other elements, who knows. Thanks for reading my rambles!
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Ask Explosion #9:
Asks answering previous posts:
Sabrina, I have one word of advice for you...
R U N
“Chat, please stop talking.”
“But that’s my thing!”
“YOU JINX EVERYTHING!!”
Ayyyyyy~
Well, it’s something, I suppose?
Answered this here.
It absolutely did. Bless you, kind and hilarious citizien. ;P
I’m torn because... on one hand, I want to give proper mythology and such for like--anything that’d be put into the show, but on the other, I liked the idea that Alix’s brother was just sort of a conspiracy who thought of stupid stuff (which is why I kept the concept for MC Jalil Kubdel).
Zoe did it really well in Scarlet Lady where Alix knew the actual mythology and started blurting it out whenever Jalil got it wrong.
New Asks:
Considering “Ikari Gozen,” I imagine Alya and Kagami don’t get along as well. I agree with basically everyone that Marinette and Kagami not getting along is bad, but Alya and Kagami not really getting along makes more sense and is more tolerable.
Since Alya is Marinette’s “““BFF”““ (supposedly), I could see her kind of being like, “You’re competing with my girl over the same guy,” and keeping Kagami at arm’s length, worried that keeping Kagami close will allow Kagami to be closer to Adrien since Adrien is an extension of their friend group (kinda, sorta, not really, but Marinette calling him a friend so technically--)
You know, Alya trying to be a good friend and help Marinette with Adrien in more subtle ways. It’s the wrong way to go about it but she’s trying.
LUKANETTE IS AMAZING IN TERMS OF PROGRESSION KDJNGJDFG, I ADORE IT. Every episode they share together, we either learn something new about them or see more details on their relationship.
I think I was already all-in before “Silencer,” but man, that episode just sealed it even more. I was like well dang, why does the love square even EXIST???
jfdngjkfdjgfdg
Incredible. Only problem is that the creator doesn’t know how to use it properly.
You mean fourteen year olds aren’t perfect human beings???? :o
(no, but really, that’s me all the time; like, she’s barely a teen!)
He’ll believe it if it’s Chat Noir who’s doing it. If Marinette ever does it though, he’ll be sure to shut it down. ;P
Ugggggh, the worst part is that I have the same exact fear that they really are going to be like yeah Ladybug you silly fool Chat Noir has been with you since the beginning!
I mean, we’re already basically getting that with the New York special; Chat was supposed to protect Paris and then didn’t tell Ladybug that he “had to” leave for New York (and the New York thing is inadvertently Marinette’s fault and parts of the fandom actually did blame her for it even though it was Chat’s choice not to say anything), then Ladybug gets upset with him when she discovers it mid-battle, which leads to Chat being distracted and Cataclysming someone (another thing that Ladybug can be “inadvertently” blamed for), then Chat gives up his miraculous so Ladybug isn’t even allowed to be angry and cue the later line of “I can’t imagine being Ladybug without... him.”
So clearly that’s saying something. Adrien doesn’t get anything close to that level and Marinette is chewed out for not asking him to stay when Nino had already asked him too.
It’s like--Marinette chooses to go after Adrien and then gets either nothing in return, or humiliated by the narrative, and then in the New York special, she decides to do nothing and everything still goes wrong while Alya yells at her for it. The “damned if she does, damned if she don’t,” on display is stunning. The girl tries to confess and it’s like, “no, not allowed, but Chat is allowed to confess.”
I still don’t understand this logic of his overarching plot but also “there’s not much of a timeline.” I think the only solid thing we’ve ever gotten was something about all the episodes in one season coming after all the episodes in a previous one, but there are still things that don’t add up? The only thing the season 3 production order will give is making sure the hero debuts work out (so no Viperion or Pegase before “Party Crasher,” for example).
It’s not really reliable. I mean, like--I’ve been experimenting with timelines for a while, and stuff like “Miraculer” baffles me. It’s basically non-canon with no value whatsoever. All it does is make “Heart Hunter” look even more confusing and treats Marinette even more horribly for not picking Chloe when she explicitly told Chloe that she wasn’t getting it back.
I’m not familiar with that one! Is it any good?
(Okay, I actually was too curious and ended up looking it up; fancy! I couldn’t have guessed that it was a webtoon! I started reading the 1st issue and before I knew it, I was on the 6th! Oops~)
Lila is totally Rashta, 100% agree. The fact that the comments have a nickname of “Trashta” for her, equivalent to Liar Rossi, says as much ;P
Because lessons that involve telling someone that they’re valid and allowed to feel a certain way don’t apply to Marinette. Isn’t it nice? :3
Not that I know of? Though I also don’t look for that kind of thing, so it’s possible that it exists and I just don’t know about it.
Even if it did exist thought, I don’t see a problem with you doing your own regardless. Good luck if you do!
No. No I do not. ;P
GREETINGS FELLOW INTJ!
And yeah, I’m not really capable of not analyzing shows. There are some small exceptions, but they’re usually not full shows in the normal sense. If there’s an ongoing plot, my mind tends to be working at all times.
In terms of Miraculous, Season 1 was harmless enough where I was bothered but pretty quiet about it, but then it just got progressively worse. It really feels like one of those things you can’t unsee when it finally hits you, y’know?
I’m glad I was able to help you get that satisfaction you need (and appreciate Lukanette, of course ;3)!
Non-Miraculous Asks:
(some heavy Puella Magi Madoka Magica salt below)
Wow, this is a really dedicated ask! Nice!
Gonna go point by point here:
1 - Yeah, the whole thing with Homura not “being able” to save everyone... kinda questionable, and I didn’t really buy the arguments they used to explain it away. I think there was this one PSP game or something with Madoka Magica where you could kind of choose what happened (like, there were bad ends where Sayaka didn’t get her soul gem back in time and her body was partially decayed; ick) and I think there’s a good end where Homura saves everyone but--yeah, not canon.
I just don’t care for twisted stories like that unless there is actually a good end on the horizon (and I mean like “Everyone Lives and is Happy” good end). Angst is just so exhausting so the second I saw Mami’s head being bitten I was just like, “Ah, okay, so we’re doing this then.”
2 - Eugh, the sexism thing. It’s so... yeah, and especially this because the whole “girls are emotional” thing, I don’t really care whether or not the show is trying to “subvert” or “explain” anything, it just feels like poor taste and I don’t like it. (I also didn’t know about that Death Note thing because I didn’t watch it, but geez.)
3 - Wow, I’ve been away from the show for so long that I forgot what Mami’s wish was; I thought it was to “not be alone” or something (or maybe not die alone?? I really don’t remember), but either way, the fact that it follows some sort of genie wish logic is just--*sigh*--they’re teenage girls, come on (plus, the “genie wish logic” is really overdone to me anyway).
4 - The other thing about Sayaka is that it’s really predictable that she’d “die so quickly.” Basically everything was pointing to her just being annihilated at some point, and being Madoka’s best friend, it was pretty inevitable that she’d go.
((semi-unrelated, but someone also asked me which character’s name was lied about before episode 3 hit and they wondered if it was Sayaka’s; it was Kyubey’s))
Yikes. Sorry you had to experience that.
Anyway, I guess I’m not experienced enough in multiple fandoms to say for sure? If I was ever in a fandom, I would just blacklist the people/stuff I didn’t like, so I didn’t get to see a tong of “bad things” going on.
+ I try really hard not to generalize fandoms into one thing.
𝓖𝓮𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻 𝓝𝓸𝓻𝓶𝓼 𝓐𝓻𝓮 𝓢𝓽𝓾𝓹𝓲𝓭 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓑𝓸𝔂𝓼 𝓐𝓻𝓮 𝓐𝓵𝓵𝓸𝔀𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓛𝓲𝓴𝓮 “𝓖𝓲𝓻𝓵𝔂” 𝓣𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼
Oof, uhhh, shows, huh? That’s tough.
I think the main ship from Given (Mafuyu and Ritsuka) is really adorable (you might’ve seen the amusing video of their love being mutual before), and while I would’ve said the same thing for the kinda-sorta side ship, it gets--uh... really bad during the movie/rest of the manga, I’ll just say that much.
Mafuyu and Ritsuka though, totally adorable.
Inuyasha kinda? Though Inuyasha and Kagome are definitely not the kind of romantic chemistry that I lean towards (I find “the bickering couple” to be rather exhausting). Plus, Cardcaptor Sakura did the “male tsundere” better than Inuyasha did (though the Clear Card Arc was terrible, at least it’s not canon kinda-sorta? idk it seems like a mix of the anime and manga so...).
After that there’s...
uh
...
hm.
I mean, there’s probably a couple more examples somewhere, but--yeah, I’ve got nothing. Maybe if I thought back to all the generic children shows I watched when I was little (like those old Disney live-action shows; I had no taste when I was younger), there might’ve been something that satisfied kid me but idk.
I don’t remember what post inspired this, but I have no problem answering regardless, ahaha~
My main issue is Aang’s attitude about the whole thing. I’m not saying it was right of Katara to go out and get “revenge via murder” exactly, but I also think that Zuko had the right idea with allowing her to go and face the man who killed her mother so she could get some form of closure (also note that Zuko doesn’t express any sort of opinion when Katara decides not to kill him; he just wanted her to have whatever she thought she needed to heal).
It’s also the episode where Zuko directly confronts Aang on his “violence isn’t the answer” rhetoric which then goes completely ignored as Aang lionturtles his way out of the conflict. Aang is also not confronted on his point of “forgiveness is the first step to healing” (when Katara has a right not to forgive and Aang isn’t challenged outside of Katara commenting on it) and was permitted to ride his high horse when Katara “steals” Appa like, “It's okay, because I forgive you... that give you any ideas?” which is just--
reaaaaaally "holier than thou”-esque when Aang is like, ten, and Katara is a sort of motherly figure to him. The episode even has Sokka praise Aang for how “wise” he is and I groaned through the entire thing.
Another smaller thing is that it sort of makes the air kingdom look way too “perfect” by having Aang be the “source of wisedom,” especially when it’s like “violence isn’t the answer” while all the other airbenders are dead.
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As I re-watch the Tower of God anime (and will soon inevitably read the webtoon for the 3rd or 4th time), I'm reminded of the feelings I have as I travel together with Bam. We've met all these people who become associates and friends, and then we have to part ways, always, always.
That's it. That's the TLDR gist.
But for the longer post:
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From one floor test to another, there's not always a guarantee that we will make it out together.
Sometimes I go ahead and wait for you, or it's the other way around.
We lose touch for several years at a time. We like each other but we can't be together at all times. That is sweet and sad. Hoping the people you like are coming closer to happiness and prosperity.
This is the shit I don't think about a lot but this is what life is.
This journey of Tower of God reminds me of having friends myself. It's an honor to hang with people who are not like me, whom I don't truly understand, but I appreciate them and some of the things they bring to my attention. They all make me happy in different ways, thus I want to be with them when I can, and protect them, and get through life together. We are not granted this future together, however.
Climbing the tower together is...our dream.
Circumstances tear us away from one another and I can only wonder about some people I’ve grown to love, cloaking them in a small prayer, an expectant gesture that they are well. Then if we ever reunite, it's back to a sweetness and I hope for more good times to come. If we never meet again, I'm still happy I met you.
That's the feeling I get when I follow these characters. It's been such a long journey that is not nearly over... I hope everyone is okay and would like to see them again, but we probably won’t.
It's not quite the "memories" that are precious to me. I'm terrible about specific memories. In the span of 4-5 years I probably only have a handful of things I can say about anything at all.
When it comes to friends and sunshine, it's about having felt it in my heart and on my face at a time.
In high school I had a few guys in a human anatomy class that I would laugh so much with. I was so amused by whatever we would discuss I was crying in laughter all the time (while trying to be discreet and not get the table in trouble). My heart was so merry with that bunch, but too bad I have no idea what the hell was so funny! It's a complete blank. I sort of wish I remembered, but honestly all I can feel is gratitude that I experienced that period of time at all. It was a fucking treat. I sort of remember our personalities, and it's not that we were all on the same page either. It's all pure art that I've forgotten all about except for the fun feeling. I'll never get that back nor those people, and I don't want any of it back. I just hope everybody is okay now, or getting there. I'm just glad it happened.
I've had more cordial acquaintances that made me happy even though I never told them how much I liked them, and I think about them from time to time. There are so many awesome people in this world. I won't remember everybody but I am glad I met them. They really made the journey easier.
I feel dramatic for writing all of this...
But this is how watching Bam's climb up the tower feels to me. This is about the only phenomenon from a show I've ever been able to relate directly to myself. I don’t typically think or feel like any of the characters from all the series I love. I also don't want to or need to see myself represented to enjoy any story. However, arc after arc Bam meets cool people and then they're gone. And you just keep moving. You kinda hope they're OK, maybe they're dead, but if not, cool.
Just a few days ago I asked myself “Does TOG introduce too many interesting people per arc and then drop them just because they’re not in MC’s crew?” But actually, no. That's how my life's been too. So I guess for once, I'm personally touched. Thank you SIU. Thank you Bam. And everyone that stands by him for his soul and not an ideal such as what he might bring for for you.
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Random Webcomic Reccomendations
This post is dedicated to bringing to the spotlight several webcomics
(some would be considered webmanga but I’m counting them too since they are primarily presented on webcomic websites) which I’ve been enjoying that I hope can get more traction/fandom with this post. Due to my personal tastes I can say many/most have a sci fi or fantasy theming as well as some (definitely not all) have wlw as well.
Since this post will be quite extensive, I’ll first start with a “table of contents” for those who don’t want synopsises or ramblings, but instead just want titles and want to just check them out themselves.
Bybloemen
My Dragon Girlfriend
Sanguine
Straylight Tiger
Cariciphona
Amongst Us
Kiss It Goodbye
Mokepon
Seven Miles Down
UnDivine
Bybloemen
Hosted on its own website under hiveworkscomics
This is a historical semi-fantasy set during the infamous Tulip Mania period of Dutch/European history when people would pay an arm and a leg for even a single potentially valuable tulip bulb.
In this setting we follow two devils Basil and Ludwig and their avian familiars strut into the action, pretending to be foreign investors getting in on the tulip hype, probably to ensnare some desperate souls, all the while keeping man and beast alike from catching sus that they are not as human as they claim to be.
As of writing this the story is just starting up but is already making quite the unique statement. The distinct black and white artstyle is clearly holding homage to the historical “Woodcut” printmaking style in how it’s drawn, lined, and textured, which is a refreshing way to artistically state that the comic is “set in the past” w/o doing just grayscale or sepia tone that one is used to seeing for media set in historical times.
The interactions between the devils as well as the animals they can communicate with so far have been quite amusing.
If you don’t directly use hiveworkscomics for your usual webcomic browsing (so don’t get notified by it) they do have both a tumblr and twitter which frequently announce/link its updates. Bonus following their twitter/tumblr being you get to see occasionally “sketches” (I say that term very loosely) of the characters outside of the webcomic series if you’re into that.
My Dragon Girlfriend
Available on Webtoons and Twitter
Fantasy alongside modern era setting. It is primarily a wlw webcomic series about a human girl named Christy who is swept off her feet by a dragon girl named Dani, semi-magical/mythical wlw hijinks ensue. It’s hard for me to pin its identity entirely, cause while I wanna say it’s a “Slice of Life” the webcomic is at the point where Dani is fighting a werewolf tooth and nail so it’s hard to pin. It’s clearly romance genre, as even if Dani and Chirsty end up together lickity split (a blink of the eye compared to the slow-burn of most romance stories) there are other wlw subplots going on with secondary primary characters which you’ll be routing for.
It has its steamy moments and implies sex but not so far as to show full-on nudity of the main characters characters. Though there is some nudity of some of the monstergirls such as the fawn girls on the other hand it does not beat around the bush with, but luckily takes the nudity in a natural non-sexual way Correction as of writing this; only the Twitter version shows nudity, they had to censor with bras on Webtoons cause it got flagged.
If you want it hotter/steamier, sign up to the artist’s patreon. It’s definitely a nice softish wlw webomic if you’re craving a lil monstergirl flavour.
Sanguine
Available on Tapas and Webtoons
Full-on adventure fantasy setting set in a world where magic and mages have been persecuted to the point of going into secrecy.
It stars a cute red-riding-hood-like implied secret-royal (that was too much a mouthful) lady named Red, and a tall gorgeous beefy secretly mage lady named Morgan which Red has dragged into her shenanigans with.
It’s early to call this a wlw gem as of the current updates, but it is tagged as lgbt+ so take that with potential further wisdom.
This webcomic uses colour a fair bit to set its tone/mood, but otherwise has a very comfy/warm feeling about it somehow, like some of those old comics/webcomics/novels you would welcome to read while snuggled under blankets. Also the outfits are REALLY nicely designed, and I could definitely see some peeps having fun cosplaying many of these characters.
As the story slowly progresses I am holding with baited breath to how Red and Morgan’s interactions/relationship may or may not evolve, as I am totally an absolute sucker for “friendly/bubbly naïveish character dragging along the cool/grumpy don’t-get-involved character that has a hidden soft heart” trope.
Straylight Tiger
Available on Webtoons and Tapas
WARNING- while infrequent this one has some blood/gore that will shake you up, though it puts it where it would be most sensible to. Lucky for you most blood in this series is not the usual human-red blood which tones the edge down.
It may have lots of fantasy elements but this one definitely holds its identity as Sci Fi. Set in a futuristic cyberesque city full of both good and bad superhumans (one group being animal shapeshifters and the other being elemental casters), there is an extremist cult out to wreck havoc in the city, so a company responds by recruiting a handful of individuals from all 3 races to make a secret task force to eliminate the threat.
The main character in this story is a secretly-a-tiger shapeshifter named Angeline.
This is probably the most visually colourful of the webcomics in my list and is really using it to charge up its stylistic sci fi setting. Best way I could compare it to; you know those glow-in-the-dark cyber avatars you occasionally see in VRchat? Straylight Tiger matches that visual energy. Of listed so far this is also the most action-packed webcomic on the list. I could almost call it a Trigger-like comic but luckily unlike Studio Trigger it’s not into going nuts on fanservice.
If you’re craving your superhuman sci fi action, this one should at least be checked out. I want to say there’ll be wlw at some point, but it’s too early to call, and if it does I would not expect it to be a major arc when it has larger fish for plot points to deal with.
If you’re craving wlw of at least mc and her weapons-savvy human friend, I highly recommend you checking out the artist Flying Frappe’s twitter to get some sating for you wlw cravings for the two.
Caricophona
Available on webtoons as well as its own webcomic site
Tragic fantasy setting starring a supermagical woman named Veloice as she is hunted by an Assassin. I tag it as there is an undertone of death in some of the arcs, which give this colourfully magical world a more sombre tone. Among the webcomics on the list this one may be steepest when it comes to catching to speed of the world’s setting/rules/hierarchies but once you do you’ll hunger for this more.
I can’t entirely make a perfect comparison for it (Full Metal Alchemist is as close as I could compare and they are still as different to each other as apples and oranges) but it really has that rich nostalgic old manga style/world/tone to it, and its most welcome to as well.
The world building is rich, and Veloice is a mental/magical powerhouse even if at times she has a fragility about her. The fact she’s a Caricophona; magical beings which tend to either get persecuted or expire early at age from their own condition, definitely helps with giving her a almost “glass canon” energy about her.
While those points have definitely helped hook me in, the thing that tends to excite me the most in this webcomic is Veloice’s interactions with the assassin who’s been send to kill her, named Blackbird. The tension between them, the fact Blackbird both wants to toy with her, Blackbird’s somewhat flirtatious nature towards Veloice OMFG I EAT IT UP!!!! They have such a enemies to lovers feeling to them (though no, they are not lovers- we can dream though) which just gets you so excited.
I should also mention there are two other “primary characters” in the group. Two rich naïve kids ready to help Veloice however they can. You grow to like them (even if they hit tropes that may strike a nerve if you’re tired to their character type), but the mvp of this webcomic for character and interaction has to be Veloice and Blackbird.
Amongst Us
Available on webtoons and its own website
Say you like Veloice and Blackbird from the previous webcomic, but find the hefty fantasy setting a bit too much, and you’re more for the romance? What if I told you the artist was galaxy brained enough to make a chiller AU? That is what Amongst Us is; a music college-set slice of life with a slow burn romance between Veloice and Blackbird. They’re dorky, their cute, and seeing some of the characters you’re familiar with in Caricophona in a different setting is nice to see.
In some ways Veloice is less proactive in Amongst Us but still feels very in-character of her. The webcomic would end pretty quick if Veloice were to get-to-the-point with Blackbird after all (granted with how we see them in the future together at the start of the webcomic it’s not like they have to be in a hurry anyways).
Seeing a wlw / slice of life set in a college setting rather than a high school setting is extremely welcome. Please, more of this.
Kiss it Goodbye
Available on Webtoons
Slice of Life high-school beginnings of wlw romance. The artstyle is good, the characters are lovely. We know canonically that they end up together (as the webcomic starts with them in the future where they are a couple, as they begin to weave the story to their curious friends wanting to know how their romance came to be).
It’s not an unwelcome Slice of Life.
BONUS / HONORABLE MENTIONS
Mokepon
Available on h0lyhandgrenade’s website
I have honestly not read this one in a while and dropped it like, several years ago, but it was interesting and is still ongoing, so I had to mention it. Set in the Pokemon universe, it stars the main character who has been thrown into the pokemon trainer career while absolutely wanting nothing to do with it. Ends up becoming a rocket grunt which is an interesting change of perspective from many pokemon fancomics. It has old-nuzelocke energy though it is not a Nuzelocke. Be prepared for the brutality as you cry for the pokemon (especially his pikachu). The undying loyalty of his Charmander as he himself struggles with his position as a trainer/grunt is interesting. He is definitely not the usual pokemon trainer protag you’re used to.
Seven Miles Down
Available on Webtoons
A completed oneshot psychological horror where a girl takes her submarine to the deepest unventured oceanic trench in the world. Tragic end, but horrors can be like that. The psychological nature of the horror is an interesting angle. The rounded cute style may throw you off but it works.
UnDivine
Availabe on its own website via hiveworkscomics
This comic has since been cancelled from continuation, but is the webcomic to set me off in making this list, so it will still be mentioned in memory/tribute, and is the grand example of why you should interact with the webcomics you read as well as share them; there is a good chance they will not hold on their own without fan interaction and traction. Excuse me as I just use two full-on pages cause I’m wearing out on this list and browsing through tons and tons of pages for highlights wears a peep out.
Modern-set religious fantasy on an island where local their religion may be more than it seems. Stars a boy named Daniel, and Esther the Demon girl. From what can be gleaned the Demongirl knew the “god” of the island’s religion and was double crossed, so has a bone to pick with them and their “angelic” entourage now that she’s free when she got accidentally summoned by Daniel.
This webcomic loves its use of blood, but your grow used to it after a point. The setting is interesting, and its also cool to see how the “angels” are far from the usual “pretty human-like” in their true form and are instead more monstrous than you could say even the Demon Esther is.
A lot of what makes this comic interesting, outside of the “revenge against a god” main plot going on, is how messy the characters can be.
Daniel, Esther, and the one angel named Manual are all pretty interesting in how they interact with their roles that they’ve been put in and how they react to others, and are all very morally grey complex characters.
Daniel is an angst machine who tends to really wear himself out (though how he’s positioned/pressured by the world doesn’t help) and shoot himself in the foot a lot, and that’s even before Esther “turns” him into her lil monstrous pawn, not something you commonly see in main characters from the get-go.
Esther (the tall blondie) while being a Demon ready to get her vengeance on is in many ways naïve/childlike despite her powerful nature, and despite using Daniel as her pawn is shown to grow to have feelings/care for Daniel which is very interesting for “The Contracted Devil” position.
Manual…. We haven’t gotten to see a lot but it’s clear he’s meant to be the angelic hero position but its clear he does not like the position, and he also has a thing for a human woman named Rosamaria but we have not gotten to see why that’s the case.
This webcomic didn’t get the traction it needed to keep going, so was recently cancelled by the artist.
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What is wrong with lore/olympus?
so I got four anon asks about this in the past hour so I’ll just answer in one big post. also this is going to be long because I don’t feel like giving generalized blanket statements bc I actually want y’all to understand.
1. “what’s LoreOlympus?”
LoreOlympus is a webtoon based comic that revolves around the lives of the gods of the Greek pantheon, specifically Persephone and Hades. it’s set in the “modern” world with a few adjustments. it’s gorgeously illustrated, so it’s very intriguing and inticing to read. a few different Greek myths play out in the story (or are told), like the Cupid and Psyche myth, but the main myth is the Persephone/Hades ordeal......
2. “what’s wrong with it?”
the fact that it romanticizes the Persephone/Hades story. the Persephone story (specifically a myth revolving around her) has become an entire phenomenon online recently. young women (mainly) have begun identifying with the goddess for a variety of reasons, and many have begun creating NEW STORIES to justify this obsession. on the surface this is fine! why not love a Greek goddess? Greek goddesses are cool! the aesthetics are pretty! we all love Rick Riordan! but when you dig into it, there’s an underlying problem with this form of obsession.
Greek myths have always been a part of our pop culture. but often we don’t analyze the underlying stories of the myths. sure we talk about how Zeus is a dick to Hera, but we don’t talk about why Hera even exists. what the gods/goddesses actually represent, more than just their surface deity existence.
so take Persephone. sure you could say she’s the goddess of spring in a sense. she’s the daughter of Demeter. what else is she? the personification of a young girl. the same way Demeter is the Mother, Persephone is the Daughter. she was also known as Kore (directly translated: young girl) and what else were known as Kores? grave statues for girls who died before marriage. persephone is intended to be the embodiment of all young women stolen before maturement/being able to married off. one of the more famous statues’ inscriptions can be translated as “given this [being named Kore] instead of marriage by the gods.” so who is hades? he’s the god of death yes. the god of rebirth some might say in a sense. he also acts as an explanation of stolen brides. in Ancient Greece and now but whatever, young girls were often stolen by older men (sometimes related to them) to be married off. even more common was the simple handing off of young girls to older men/relatives as wives to create bonds within the family/carry on bloodlines, create children, etc.
so the Hades/Persephone myth exists not only as an explanation of the seasons of harvest, but also a cultural explanation of the lives/forceful marriages of young women/girls.
so that’s the ancient cultural context. now for our context. young women today, yesterday, since the beginning of time, have had no power. simply stated. they don’t. but who does? older men. so who do women turn to when they need power or when they feel powerless? older men! it only makes sense. and men know this, so when they feel like they need an ego boost or to hold power over someone, they turn to younger women. this is so widely accepted in our modern culture that we create falsities to justify it, like “girls mature faster than boys, so women seek out older men to meet their intellect.” and we have THOUSANDS of our own mythology backing this story of young woman + older man=love. books, movies, tv shows, anecdotes, famous people we idolize. so this story, a young girl who’s “seduced” by an older man, seems enticing!
but is that the story of Persephone and Hades? of course not. in what world would Ancient Greece give that much power to a 12 year old girl. Artemis barely had any power and she was a way more important deity. (that’s the other thing, Persephone ain’t shit but whatever). Persephone has no agency in “her” myth. the myth’s most famous form is in the Hymn to Demeter, where Persephone says one (1) thing and it’s her talking about how violent Hades was in forcing the pomegranate seeds into her mouth. (the story is Demeter’s, but we don’t care about older women or we hate them, so she’s been demonized in our modern retellings.) Persephone is not a powerful girl who runs away, she is stolen by her old uncle, r*ped, and forced into a marriage. after that’s her role, she does become the queen of the underworld in a sense, and she does gain agency in myths about her queendom, but the initial marriage to Hades? not of her own accord by any means. how could it be?
so of course I’m torn. I know why young women need these stories. I even like some of these stories—hello ACOMAF! hello Fifty Shades! hello Twilight! but am I okay with the fact that we keep sanitizing and romanticizing this original story? no! because a) if we keep romanticizing these Greek myths, we will never escape the racist and classist hold they have over us and b) we can’t keep perpetuating our own oppression. we can’t keep stripping away context from stories that shape our culture. we can’t ignore what this myth (and others like it) have done to young women and their psyches.
so stop reading it. stop reblogging those bullshit posts saying Persephone chose to eat the seeds. she didn’t and she deserves better.
also if you want to debate with me on this, just know I studied classics and media communications, and wrote my thesis on this topic. and I’m sick of it.
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The Glass Scientists Art-Style Changes
Hey yeah sorry but I saw someone complain about how the webcomic’s art style is jarring in the later chapters and that the noses are bad because they’re big and I’m back in full salt mode WHO WANTS SOME TEA!?
@glass-scientists your art-style has only gotten more beautiful as the webcomic continues and you work extremely hard on the comic by yourself and I am amazed you kept working on this for more than four years now while in a career and I hope you’ll be able to do so for the foreseeable future. When I comment on how your art changed please know that I’m not doing it to critique you. Okay you don’t have to read more of this I just wanted to be the 156th person to let you know you’re doing great.
ONE - The noses have always been prominent on the characters’ art design and having a big noses does not automatically make it look ugly. Admittedly there are artists out there who draw very ugly noses for very ugly reasons, but Sabrina Cotugno is not and never has been one of those types of artists. Yes, Jekyll’s nose is bigger, but is not the end-all, be-all take from his design changes.
Here’s him from Ch.1 Pg. 15.
And here’s him from Ch.7 Pg. 22
(And no, I do not know why the latter two picture are bigger.)
As you can see, the nose in the earlier chapters looks smaller, but Jekyll’s face is also a lot more...soft? Like think of ceramic pieces. You start out with soft clay and you mold it into the shape you want (but don’t forget to wedge don’t want it to explode in the oven) but then after the clay firms up a little you’re ready to carve it and give it a more pronounced form. That’s what happened in the later chapters: Jekyll’s nose, the shape of his jawline, his sideburns, hair and even his eyebrows has become sharper and more distinct. His nose isn’t just an attachment like a Mister Potato Head, its a part of him. To give him a smaller nose would mean changing his whole character profile.
TWO - Like Clay, Art Changes. Admittedly I was taken aback by the change in the comic’s art-style as well, but that will happen to literally any long-form manga or comic. Unless you’ve been doing comics for literal decades your art is going to change, because you’re going to change, and what you want from your art and the characters you create are going to change. Look at Bluechair by Shen on WEBTOON: while his artstyle has solidified these past few years his earlier comics are unrecognizable, because he’s been working on his Bluechairs comic for five years, often updating two or three times a week, and is currently on Episode 536 of Bluechairs, but technically he currently has 706 of them under the Bluechairs page. His comics are like the Sunday Newspaper kind of comics, so I’m not asking you to read his stuff starting from the beginning (in fact please don’t try to read it all at once: his early stuff is pretty good but let me remind you he has SEVEN HUNDRED AND SIX COMICS OF STUFF) but maybe read a couple of them from the beginning and then read some of his latest ones.
So yeah, its not unexpected from comics to change in style, either slowly due to how the artists gains a more experienced hand or by an intentional shift in art direction. Sabrina was in the latter camp, due to the fact that she felt the earlier character designs was too much like a Disney Princess Line-Up, which she mentioned in a page description that I cannot find but I know was real.
Honestly I really do like the more recent pages. I disagree that they’re less vibrant, because I think removing the high glossy sheen made the characters even more distinct from each other. Before the shift in artstyle I felt like everyone was getting the same brand of hair gel. Hot take coming, but the character who most benefits from this shift is Rachel, who’s been looking gorgeous these last few chapters.
THREE - Sabrina Cotugno has been working this story, these characters and the art of this webcomic mainly by herself, while still working a job as a cartoon director for multiple shows and is currently working on a project for Disney. She does not have a lot of time on her hands to fix mistakes and asking her to change things or give her “Advice” on her art is...I won’t say unwanted because that’s up to her as to whether or not she’d use that language, but I will say she probably doesn’t need your advice on how to draw art when she has already worked in professional spaces as a storyboard artist AND as a director.
Plus I’m going to be upfront here, and this is going to sound harsh: Do not fucking nitpick and tear apart content made independently unless warranted by offensive language or imagery, because not only is it unhelpful it is just plain mean. Yes, Sabrina has worked on shows before, but The Glass Scientists is not made by a group of people working together, with producers and press and editors to back them up. This is entirely her work. She is spending her own free time making this. This webcomic is hours, days, weeks, years in the making, in the wake of hot days, sickness, travelling, other deadlines and dying plants.
And to turn around and say “Oh the way you do the art now isn’t as good?” Fuck off with that. I’m not Sabrina, so I get to be mean here - You are allowed to admit you dislike these changes, but sending the artist messages directly telling them of your dislikes is an absolute garbage thing to do. Especially when you yourself are not an artist.
Like Sergeant Brokenshire has a beard in one panel but loses it in the next few pages. Cue the Cinema Sins ding noise I guess. Okay, that happens sometimes, she doesn’t have an editor to correct. Am I going to directly send her messages letting her know she did her webcomic wrong? Fuck no. She probably has been sent hundreds of “helpful” messages about it already, and guess what? She doesn’t have the time to correct every mistake because she has a job.
Of course if Sabrina or any independent artist does something horrifically offensive or even just something that makes you uncomfortable you are absolutely allowed to air your grievances. But so far Sabrina has been good so I’ve got nothing to complain about, and the asks she gets that do have issues with the webcomic she answers with grace.
So basically this wandered completely off from the nose discussion and into the ethics of fandoms for independently made webcomics, but anyway long story short.
The Glass Scientists is not yours and its not mine. It belongs to Sabrina Cotugno, and its hers to change how she sees fit. Get over that and enjoy the webcomic as it is and you’ll have a much better experience.
Sorry to sound preachy there. I’m not trying to act like the Fandom Police and I’m not trying to fight Sabrina’s battles for her. I just see a lot of bad fucking behavior toward other independent artists and I don’t want to see it here. I have been that anon who “critiques” or gives “helpful” advice to artists who had far more experience than me, so its not like I’m pretending to be above it all here. I’ve buried many a blogs because of my shameful past.
Most of this Fandom has been wonderful. Let’s keep it that way while it lasts.
Anyway that espresso really did a number on me. I’m about to crash and I’m getting the awful sense of deja-vu here. Sorry for being so salty on Fandom lately, I won’t do it again unless I see some real trouble. This has accidentally become a Midnight Post, so go to bed!
...Oh wait one more thing: PLEASE DON’T REPOST FULL PAGES OF THE WEBCOMIC!!! Access to the official page is not hard and despite a few hiccups (which is not Sabrina’s fault but the webpage itself) we have been able to see all of the webcomic. There is no need to repost the whole page and on Sabrina’s FAQ she specifically asked people not do this. If you want to read each new page and don’t want to refresh the website twenty time on Monday morning you can always follow her twitter or her blog “arythusa” where she posts a link to each new page after it uploads. In fact starting tomorrow I’ll be sure to reblog these posts to make sure you have a link available to click.
Okay now good night.
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April 15th-April 21st, 2020 Reader Favorites Archive
The archive for the Reader Favorites chat that occurred from April 15th, 2020 to April 21st, 2020. The chat focused on the following question:
If all webcomics everywhere suddenly costed money to read, how much would you be willing to pay to read them?
carcarchu
i've currently spent about 10 dollars reading paid webcomics and got about 60 chapters with that much. i'll be buying more webcomics in the future but if it's too pricy i'll be less inclined to buy
chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]
I buy the print volumes of my favourite webcomics, which is about £10-15 for around 100-200 pages? Depends on the comic. But I do get a book to leaf through, so dunno if that counts.
carcarchu
as an added note the app i use to buy webcomics has an interesting feature where u can purchase "food" to donate to the author directly without / in addition to buying the chapters themsevles(edited)
oh now that chalcara mentioned it i also buy the physical copies of webcomics as well and i've probably spent close to 100ish on that
also also that same app gives u daily login coins and u can also watch up to 5 video ads per day to gain extra coins which u can use to buy more chapters or donate directly to the author
chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]
I DID try a monthly subscription to a rather specific comic content webpage, but I don‘t like that comittment. Vastly prefer buy-once-keep-something-forever; even if it‘s just pdf.
Yeah, have bought pdf‘s of comics before because of shipping expenses.
So yeah, buy once, get something, yay! Subscription, boo.
carcarchu
i had to buy a monthly subscription thing for a webcomic once too but it was a completed comic and the app has a download button so i just downloaded all the chapters of it all at once. i could see the monthly payment being annoying if u had to keep paying it in perpetuity though
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
i've paid for comics before
I'd probably pay to keep reading the comics I love
but I'd be reluctant to invest money to read a new comic i don't know is good or not
i'd need a good friend, person I follow, or well written review's recomendation first(edited)
Feather J. Fern
I will buy physical copies most of the time. I do like having the print in my hands. If it was like a site sub though, like you can put your comics on a site and everyone gets paid a share, then I wouldn't mind because you get options.
But if it is just one comic though, I would be worried,
For example, if people were paid to upload onto Webtoons, but you have to pay like 5 dollars for reading for 1 month, I wouldn't mind because I still can choose what to read
But if for example, my comic is five dollars to read monthly by itself, I don't htink people want it
Especially new readers
Deo101 [Millennium]
Yeah i think that I wouldnt want to have to spend money to try a comic. Im really very picky and I wouldnt want to risk basically just losing money because I dont like a comic. To continue reading the ones I like I think I'd spend money, but honestly I'd probably only do that once they're complete, too. A monthly payment/subscription for a service with many comics, though, I could see myself paying for
shadowhood (SunnyxRain)
Depends. I’m fine with paying it at once to read it in one go, but not necessarily per month
Also would pay if I got to see a preview first
Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]
As a reader, I also prefer to know what the comic is about first, before committing to pay to read it, like going in blind. I prefer the subscription option to read any comic but not per comic chapter. I like to support the authors if the story appeals to me or purchase their ebooks(edited)
keii’ii (Heart of Keol)
I would likely pay to keep reading the ones I'm already into. But I would be very reluctant to check out new ones if I had to pay to even check them out. The first few pages aren't enough in most cases. I also wouldn't be averse to the subscription idea, assuming the platform isn't like, catering to a genre that I'm not interested in. Physical volumes actually don't interest me in most cases. Storage is a huuuuuge issue for me.
DanitheCarutor
Depends on digital vs. physical, the amount of content and quality. Usually I prefer a physical copy since I like collecting indie comics and am willing to pay 10USD - 30USD, I'll even pay high price for hardcover collector editions if I really, really like the creator's work. Like, I actually have a section of my bookshelf dedicated to printed webcomics, which isn't very full yet but I plan on practically overcumbering it someday. Digital copies and subscriptions, I'm oddly a little more stingy about. I tend to forget about stuff like that very easily, so to save myself from wasting money I would have to be almost a mindless fanatic about the webcomic to buy it digitally or keep up with a weekly/monthly pay subscription. As far as price, if it's a subscription I can't afford a whole lot since I'll probably be trying to take on multiple comics, a digital copy I may pay around the same amount as with a physical book.
I'm not too picky about what I would buy, if it looks really good or interesting I'll maybe subscribe to give it a look through, or buy a chapter/volume if I can afford it. Worst that would happen is I didn't like it after all but supported an indie creator trying to get their work off the ground. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)
I actually have in fact read many pay-to-read webcomics, and my experience has been somewhere in the middle. I think the most important thing is that the webcomic in question has the first few chapters as free-to-read so that new readers can get a feel for the story, because I wouldn't pay for something I didn't know I would like. The other things is for comics to be affordable. I'm not very wealthy, so the price of a comic chapter needs to be pretty cheap for me to invest. $1 per chapter is the absolute highest limit, and the chapter has to be at least 10+ pages. I'm way more willing to spend more money on print comics because it is something physical that I can put on my shelf, and because I know printing costs can be expensive.
LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)
No way I'd pay to read a comic without having at least the first chapter free. Even if people are recommending it to me, I still want to see it for myself first. But even then... I don't know if I would spend money on an online subscription - I'd probably wait to see what people are saying about it, save my money, and shell out a bit extra for a print edition (if that's in the cards for the comic). If a comic is free online, I feel even more like supporting it with a physical purchase. If a webcomic is locked behind a paywall... I get it, but it certainly discourages me as a reader.
Eilidh (Lady Changeling)
Same here really. I much prefer giving money to a Patreon or buying merch for something I love than pay to take a chance on something I might not like
Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)
I agree. I don't mind subscription if it's someone's work I enjoyed but I'm more inclined to buy physical copies or get my own digital pdf of the same thing tbh
Feather J. Fern
I wouldn't mind an idea of like, you get 1 page free a month (Slow I know) but you can buy the full thing now as an Ebook or something. That system would help the author get money (for people who want to support and love their comic from the slow post rate) and great for people who can't afford comic, and read them free at the library becuase they can't even afford computers at home.
I like the print comics too for libraries, gives comics more free access
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
ah imagine if we could check out print webcomics at the library now
Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)
there is a few libaries that are doin that
Feather J. Fern
Yes! Actually, a few librarians went to Vancaf as long as it has an ISBN it makes it easier (Well we hope there is a copy catalogue somewhere lol) And I know in the US there are a lot more librarians grabbing comics for their shelves
Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)
yesss which makes it super good
makes me wish I could go to my local libary but like everything else here, it's currently closed orz
Feather J. Fern
Hell, from a podcast I know there is a large interest in comics for libraries, and I know recently they are using comics to try to bring more literacy to people who don't want to read.
This might be off topic I will move it somewhere else
Eilidh (Lady Changeling)
Maybe when I get mine printed I'll go see if the local library would like a few
Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)
that is why I'm going to be a teacher. Get more people use comics for education lol
GuildmasterPhill
The tricky thing would be finding new comics to get into... how would you get exposed to them? And there are so many, how would you know which ones are worth whatever pricetag goes with them? It would certainly change the whole landscape of webcomics, to be sure.
keii’ii (Heart of Keol)
It would probably increase the demand for webcomic reviews.
Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)
yeah
And again, the first few chapters being available as a sample would be really important.
Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)
Put in requests for webcomic print collections at your local library! They probably won't get bought during the lockdown, but at least your interest will be on record when the librarians get back.
Mine stocks some, although it's skewed toward really well-known ones -- Homestuck, Digger, Nimona, Cucumber Quest, Skin Horse, Penny Arcade, Gunnerkrigg Court (there's more, I just can't remember them off the top of my head).(edited)
Capitania do Azar
If I have to pay before I can know if I'll like the contents? I'd probably pass, unless there was some other big incentive for me to read it (like a friend's recommendation). Paywalls can be a big turnoff if you don't know what you're paying for, that's what I'm saying. However, if there were previews or free chapters, and then I had to pay to read the rest? I'd probably invest those €€€.
kayotics
I read Stand Still Stay Silent at the library, actually. That’s how I managed to actually get into it, I felt like it was a better experience. As for paying: I will sometimes buy a physical book of a comic I want to read but haven’t yet, just because reading on paper is easier on my eyes. So, sometimes I’ll pay money if I’m really interested in it. But it usually takes me a while to get to that point. If every webcomic went to a paid platform, I’d probably be less likely to read Webcomics.
Feather J. Fern
A thought occurred to me, if all webcomics are paid to read, how would the newbies, or highschoolers, get an audience at all if no one would buy to read their comic?
keii’ii (Heart of Keol)
The under 18 creators does pose an interesting question -- are they allowed to make money at all? Would they have to get their parents to sign a thing for them?
snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)
I believe so
keii’ii (Heart of Keol)
As for small creators with no existing fans, I imagine they'd have to rely on subscription platforms where readers don't have to pay for their comic specifically.
Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)
Yeah, or just make no money like now
snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)
well, it would just also mean no readers because in this world, there isn't even an option to make no money in this world, the webcomic emperor has decreed that all webcomics must cost money to read, and you shall be thrown into The Pit if you make yours free
Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)
Exactly
snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)
actually i guess you could kinda get around it by making your comic cost a penny
Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)
But yeah, you'd also not have readers and be unable to build a following
Basically the barrier to entry shifts and becomes more like traditional print publishing
keii’ii (Heart of Keol)
Slightly different from trad publishing since anybody CAN still post up their comic -- even if no one would read it X'D
Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)
TRUE
snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)
actually you know what it would kinda be like? steam like basically any game devs from the smallest indie devs to the massive corporations publish their PC games through steam. and to my knowledge, all games on steam cost at least some money so indie creators' only option to get eyes on their comic would be the same as indie devs getting eyes on their game. find someone popular willing to review it, and hope for some word of mouth.
Feather J. Fern
Odd take, hold a seminar or not really that but a group gathering where people pay like, 2 dollars, because money still needs to happen, so a bunch of newbie comic artists and pitch their first chapter or something
Oh wait I know what my brain was thinking
like comixlogy
If you can have like a section like "New comics starting out, you can read the whole first chapter for just 0.99" then I might scroll through and be like "You know what, I wouldn't mind some entertaiment"
I think also defintely reviews are really important with this situation
If someoene was like "This art is good, plot is good, grammar is good" I woudl be like "Yeah I would read the first three chapters"(edited)
keii’ii (Heart of Keol)
Steam sounds about accurate
Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)
I definitely think that in this case, good reviews would be like gold
keii’ii (Heart of Keol)
Yeah
chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]
Even Print comics do freebies to rustle up new audience. And steam has a pretty lenient „don‘t like this game? Get your money back“ policy.
RebelVampire
For me the answer here depends on a lot of factors. If it's a one time "bulk" purchase, I'd probably go from $5-$10 depending on amount of pages, time to read, and just overall quality. I'd of course have to be interested as well, but that's an aside point for me in terms of what I'd be willing to pay. Anything past $10 is just kind of too rich for my blood sort of thing, unless it's like a super volume or something. As a subscription, this would heavily depend on the service. How are they curating content? Do they add more content regularly? How much content do they have? How are they innovating to improve my experience as a reader and to be able to find content? How is the industry as a whole? Are there a few competitors making it an affordable option, or is it becoming like tv cable because everyone wants their slice of the pie? With this many questions, it's hard to put a price on a subscription service. Definitely no more than I pay for Hulu or Netflix. But honestly, with the state of the industry right now, I don't think the price would be justified if they made it even like $10/month. Cause as it stands none of the hosts really do anything to improve my experience as a reader and only make things harder for everyone.
Feather J. Fern
This topic makes me love webcomics more, people are giving it to us for free, and It is amazing the internet can give someone an outlet to do so. Thank you internet
Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]
If you can have like a section like "New comics starting out, you can read the whole first chapter for just 0.99" then I might scroll through and be like "You know what, I wouldn't mind some entertaiment"
@Feather J. Fern dang I would sign up so fast if there was a good subscription service like this. And same time it helps give something back to New creators!
Feather J. Fern
To be honest, if I had the money, and the power, and the programing skills I would. I would love to support creators like this. Becuase it also gives people confidence too.
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Hello boys and girls. I hope you are having a great day. Healthy, happy and well rested. For my part, I’m still struggling to get that last one under control after that wonderful horrible thing that happened at the convention. What thing you ask? Well I’m so very glad you did ask! It would have been a really short post otherwise. Sit back, relax: let me paint you a mind picture.
do I have your attention now?
A little while ago, I dragged Mel out of Anime land where she’s been… Well… You’ve read the fanfics… To attend Otakuthon with me. It worked. Yay! I’m generally ambivalent about conventions but I’m glad I went. It was fun. And exhausting. Funny how those two things so often go together. Like most conventions, Otakuthon has a large amount of artists from all over coming together to sell goods. The special part is that unlike in US cons, you can hear them talk in French which is entertaining… I’m not a very nice person. I must say though, most did a wonderful job no matter what they may think!
Mel and I decided to do a tour in the artists’ alley (that’s how it’s called but it’s more like an artists’ gymnasium), on Friday evening after work. No big thing, I had been up since 5 and I really just wanted to scout out the place before going back the next day. I was successful! In one of the back rows, a pleasant and clearly very talented young lady was displaying her prints for sale (side note: there were so so many prints guys, it made me consider putting in more walls….) which caught our eye and we went in for a closer look.
This sounds like a casual venture but you need to fight your way through hordes of fans, occasionally in pointy and dangerous looking cosplay, to get anywhere near the booths, let alone buy something. Moreover with my vertically challenged state I really need to have a front row view. As I try to avoid touching strangers, this closer look involved a series of acrobatics, getting on my tippytoes and trying to figure out how to stretch my neck like a rokurokubi while working hard on giving off an intimidating aura to make people part before me. I’d like to think it’s the aura that did the trick.
there’s no way this can go wrong
When we finally reached the booth, victorious, Mel bought some stuff and I admired the images on display. Off to one side there were a few BL and Yuri prints that caught my eye. The images were lighthearted and loving. I didn’t recognize any characters but the BL one’s were labelled 19 days while the ladies sported a neat little tag with the words “their story”. I made a mental note, hoping it wasn’t original art work and moved on.
Friday evenings are busy for me. No no, not with social outings and tons of friends, you silly! Friday evenings are when I finish up the Given collabs with Karandi and put the gallery post together to go out on Saturdays. It’s also when I watch DanMachi, Dr. Stone, Granbelm and Fire Force and review them all (or as many as I can before passing out). Coming home late means it was around 11 when I was done watching and had to start on writing. Keeping in mind that I had been up since 5 and had a full Saturday planned. I got through 2 reviews before giving up and calling it a night.
That’s when I got the bright idea to read a little something before bed. I remembered the prints and got to googling! 19 days is indeed a rather popular Chinese you series. It’s artistic and a lot of it has no dialogue. It’s in my to read pile. Their story is also a Chinese webtoon (alternate or original title: Tamen De Gushi) about two girls finding each other and it devoured me.
I had to force myself to close my computer early Saturday morning when I got to chapter 130. I finished up the remaining 63 chapters when I got up a few hours later. It’s an ongoing series and believe you me that I will be keeping up with it!
anytime, anywhere
I read a lot of webtoons, doujin and even more traditional manga but I rarely talk about them on my blog. I also rarely give up my sleep on the one weekend I actually have to stick to a schedule in order to read something I could finish anytime. So why is Their Story different?
That’s an impossible question to answer. The short and most accurate response is : I like it. I really like it. The longer one is that it has great pacing and a good sense of humour. The narrative respects the characters which are all well crafted and complex while remaining realistic and consistent. They are recognizable as people you may be friends with but just a bit more fun since you only hear about the adventures. The discovery of sexuality and social pressure is modernizes, told from a contemporary setting where a lot has changed and the stigmas aren’t the same but some things are still painfully old fashioned. Their Story is a coming of age from the point of view of modern young women and we don’t get enough of those. And it is also absolutely heartwarming. Not everything needs to be tragic and sometimes we can manage to cut ourselves on the softest things.
I didn’t do a good job. I’m still trying to get back those lost sleep hours. Ok, let me just give you this one random chapter as an example:
This chapter isn’t directly related to the story so there are no spoilers here, but the general theme has a connection with an earlier arc. It’s obviously feminist and if that annoys you…well you probably have given up on my blog a long time ago cause I am way more annoying than Their Story. I don’t see that many webtoons trying to make these points. Their story is fairly innocent and could easily be targeted at a younger audience. An audience that might not have completely acknowledged these realities. It made me so happy to think that somewhere a 13 year old saw this and thought, I never thought about it nut that’s sort of true…it kinda sucks. I also don’t think this story is particularly targeted to girls, as such the more personal perspective is even more interesting.
And a chapter like this works only because the author spend 180 chapters before it making us laugh and worry and fall in love with the characters. It’s not a message manga it’s a story that occasionally has something to say beyond it’s own fiction. Have I mentioned it’s adorable. Ok. Let me try again, here is one of the early chapters…..
I hope this has wetted (yes, this one time the error is on purpose) your appetite enough. It really is a great webtoon. Unless you are opposed to Yuri for some reason, I recommend you give it a try.
For my part, I scrapped myself together best I could, trying to make myself look somewhat presentable for the con and went right back to spend an entire day walking in heels on a few hours sleep. When I got back to that booth I told this entire tale of woe to the poor confused artist and openly blamed her for my sleep deprivation. Then I bought the Their Story print. here it is. I love it. Thank you..
I Ruin My Sleep Schedule Again, This Time With Yuri! Hello boys and girls. I hope you are having a great day. Healthy, happy and well rested.
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Ooops
Sorry for the unplanned hiatus! I had a lot of things going on in real life that were very emotionally draining and I just didn’t have the energy to keep up with social media and ended up quietly and unintentionally slipping into a hiatus. And then I decided to just stay offline until I was feeling back on top of things.
I really should have made a post saying that I was hiatus-ing (especially so nobody thought I was ignoring them - I’m sorry! I wasn’t ignoring you!) but I didn’t because I’m a terrible introvert who really needs to put a more effort into communicating with people. (This is a call-out post for myself, to not do this again :P)
To those of you who sent me asks off anon - I think I’ve replied to you all, but feel free to re-send an ask if I missed you :)
To those who sent me asks on anon:
1) If you sent me a question about my next comic - I will shortly be posting about it! I’m excited! I hope that people who are not me will also be excited :D EXCITEMENT :D
2) If you sent me an ask that didn’t have a question, you were just being a sweetheart and saying nice things, THANK YOU <333 Coming back to tumblr and reading through your messages has been so incredibly uplifting, you are so very kind. I don’t think I can reply to all the asks individually but thank you so much, you’ve honestly all made my day ; - ;
3) If you sent me an ask with a different sort of question, I will answer it under the cut :)
Anonymous said:Have you heard of the game Deus Ex? it's a dystopian look at mods
I’ve heard of it (apparently it has spectacular world-building) but haven’t played it. Unfortunately 3D video games give me headaches/vertigo/nausea which is a pity because I think I’m missing out on a bunch of really great stories/settings.
Oh well, more time to read books/manga and watch anime/cartoons?
:)
Anonymous said:hi dad
Anonymous said to alwayshumancomic:Hello Ari, could you talk about your experience as a featured creator on Line webtoon? If you don't want to that's fine. Have a wonderful day!
Hey, I’m happy to answer questions as best as I can, but this is such a broad question I don’t know how to answer it.
Um, being able to work full time on something I love is AMAZING, serializing a story is a wonderfully organic experience that I like a lot, weekly deadlines are super stressful??? Not sure what else to say.
Please feel free to ask more specific questions if you’d like :)
Anonymous said to alwayshumancomic:So mods like, change DNA with nanobots, right? If so, how can someone get a mod for pink hair when human DNA doesn’t code for pink hair?
I’m sure that a couple of hundred years in the future we’ll be able to look at pink things that do exist in nature (maybe pink feathers on birds?) and then find a way to teach the human body to create pink pigments. I haven’t a clue exactly how it would work, but it doesn’t seem that far-fetched (I believe scientists have already done a bit of experimentation with mixing non-human DNA with human DNA.)
Anonymous said to alwayshumancomic:Hello! I just have a question about how people in Always Human have babies. I remember seeing something about artificial wombs, which makes sense, but am a little confused about the rest. For example, can two gay men have a child that is genetically related to the both of them (the child has two biological fathers) without having to involve an egg or a woman? The same goes for a lesbian couple. Sorry if these questions are too weird. Can’t wait for the new webcomic 😘
It seems quite possible that science will one day allow two cis women to have a child that’s biologically related to both of them, by creating sperm from stem cells, and it seems reasonable to assume that something similar might one day allow two cis men to have biological children as well :)
Anonymous said:I know that Always Human has already ended, but I want to ask if it’s alright if we make fan characters for the comic, and maybe even make our own side comic in the Always Human universe? I love your comic though! It has a lot of diversity and the colours are eye-gasmic.
Thank you so much, this ask fills me with joy and delight <333
You are absolutely free to make fan characters and your own side comic, you are welcome play around with my ideas in any non-commercial way you want.
If you ever want to do something commercial that’s directly inspired by Always Human please talk to me, and we’ll figure it out :)
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Etsy shop in the making
Hello!
just wanted to share an idea that I had for a couple years now, I know other people have made an etsy shop selling prints and stickers, cards etc. but of course I don’t have an audience large enough to try setting up a shop. if you have followed my blog for a long time, I had some diy jewelry and key chains I was making for fun but I was honestly considering selling those one day.
fast forward to now, my friend and I were talking and we decided to try out sticker making with her cricut, I’ve seen other people do this as well and they all seem to have etsy shops. So I made a few pieces that we will work on printing and just see where it will go.
no promises yet for an actual shop, the idea is there but we need to work out a few things.
I have a few ideas I wanted to share on here as samples of the type of stickers you will be receiving in terms of quality.
ANIME/MANGA/GAME CHARACTER TYPE:
okay this is subjective of course since we know the popularity of games and anime are different per season and such. this may end up being a commission based pre-order. This means that you would need to specifically tell me the series/ character from the series that you want for your batch of stickers. I will put up some examples of some that you can find, But of course if you want a type of character that isn’t featured you will need to commission the work.
hope that makes sense for now.
KPOP-IDOL GROUPS/SOLO SINGER TYPE:
Got a group of idols you admire and want some fanart of them? I got you covered, this will definitely be commission based pre-order as you know there are many k-pop idol groups out there at the moment and I can’t keep up with all of them to make many samples. But if there is a group you like and you want to support my small business please do let me know, i’ll make sure the art is to your liking.
PAIRING/COUPLE TYPES:
this is new, since I have started reading a bunch of shounen ai/ bl webtoons, I pretty much know a lot of series not by choice.lol. But if there is a certain pairing you want from a certain series and you can’t find any fan stuff on it, I got you covered! this is commission-based pre-order but I will draw some samples of series I have talked about on my blog, so if you like those you can purchase those directly!
last but not least
AVATAR TYPE:
I promise it will look better than these, these are for my own avatar character but definitely can be customized for the client’s avatar.
as for prints you will have to check out my deviantart and instagram for the type of prints I will be selling since I post my art on there mostly. I’ll link my social media below. I will be updating you on the process once everything gets started so stay tune for more updates on this project.
I hope this will be successful and I’ll have some actual physical samples to show you guys soon. But other than that, let me know if anyone is interested?
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