Hey guys, here's the update! Told you guys it was a big one, right? XD; Sorry it went up so late. It's 3:15am here and I have work tomorrow. :'D But I really, really wanted to finish this! So I hope you enjoy it. It's not perfect and I'm sure in my sleep deprivation I've missed a couple of things that I can hopefully fix over the weekend.
Btw: Happy birthday Outlaw! XD; (It should still be your birthday in your timezone, I hope XD) If you don't already know his kickass webcomic I Kill The Hero?! then whatcha waitin' for! :D Truly, thank you Outlaw for always being so darn supportive and leaving the loveliest comments. Have a great one!
Bless you guys for your patience, thanks for reading! I'll post another more coherent author's note later, for now I will pass out.
Hey guys! A slightly more coherent A/N this time - sorry about being so rushed about the last one.
So first off, the next update should be on Thursday, 3rd of November, and updates should resume as usual until the end of the chapter. I hope. *crosses fingers* I hope you guys don't mind me taking Monday off, I want to leave the long update up for at least a week! XD;
There were quite a few references sprinkled in this update that I think I should probably try to provide some helpful links for: This page is actually the first reference made in-comic to King Titus. "The Last King of Clandest" is, as Nemi points out in this update, King Titus himself.
If you check out the world map, you'll notice that Imperia has a 'Western Wing' and just a 'West' section on the cut section of the map we can see. Imperia is huuuge. The Anjelian race description mentions Imperia in passing as well. (Clandest is mentioned here too, incidentally.)
If you put it all together, King Titus is credited with the end of the Purge. So you might imagine he's a rather popular figure in Archaiea! (At least, among those who care for equal rights and freedom and stuff.)
Okay, that's it from me for now. I hope that helps connect some dots or at least provide some more insight. I know it's still a little vague in terms of context, but I hope that over time I'll be able to fill in more blanks, and in the meantime I hope it's not too hard for readers to fill in some blanks themselves. <3
Thanks so much for reading, catch you guys on Thursday!
now that I'm home and actually have time to make a real comment (although the one above still stands!)...
The amount of work you put into this is just stunning! It would take me 2 days to write a poem that good... then add the artwork into that...
Thank you DLKmusic! This is really kind and encouraging of you. To be honest, I probably spent a lot more than 2 days on the poem. XD;; I drafted it before I started Chapter Seven, and edited it over time before finalising it for this update. I'm really glad you find that it works!
I've been reading SF for a while now (honestly I've probably read through the archives like 20 times) and I never cease to be amazed at your world building. I really hope you keep doing this for a long time, because you are really good at it. I don't usually comment on comics because I find it hard to find the right words, but you've genuinely carried me through a really tough time in my life and this page is a prime example of why your world means so much to me. I don't know how to finish this comment so I'm just gonna stop.
Caramaram. <3 *gentle hug* ;3;*
Truly this is one of the sweetest comments I've ever received, so thank you so much for taking the time to write it and let me know your thoughts. It means a lot more to me than you might imagine, and it is my blessing to be able to bless you even a little bit with this story. Thank you so much for reading!! ;3;* I will do my darndest to continue to bring this story through to completion, and I hope you'll still be reading by the time it's done. <333
*one more gentle hug*
Thank you, Matt! <3 ;3;* Gosh, to hear it called a parable <3
Ahahaha it's something like 14 regular pages lulz :'DDD but then the artwork took considerably less time than my normal pages do, in regards to the story/parable artwork, so I guess it does boil down to around 6 in terms of total time taken XD;;
This a wonderful update with some marvelous storytelling. Well done. However, one minor nit: Did something happen in panel 9 to Nemi's left eye, or is it just a perspective thing? It seems to me (non-artist that I am) that in this view both of her eyes should be visible.
Thank you, Gil! <3 ;3;***
It's less a perspective thing and more of a lazy thing. XD;; You're right, of course. I might fix it so it looks proper later!
Woah, you weren't kiddin'- It's HUGE! Wahhh, it's so impressive how you got all this done like this! And the story part- The art is so nice! (I mean, your art is always nice, hahha~)
I just love that coloring lineless style- 'Specially worked great for the crowd- And the whipping... D:
ikr XD;;;; Aw geez you're too kind <3 ;3;* Thank you! It was... a lot of work and sacrifice of sleep but XD it feels like it was worth it <333
The lineless style is fun and I do enjoy it! >3<* In the future I'll continue to experiment more and more with it <3 :D
(the whipping was hard for me, I must say :'D so thankyew for letting me know it works!)
Ok, I'll actually say something this time.
First of all, I love how you changed the art style for the story-- it turned out really well and looks great! :D
Also, Nemi's face in the fourth panel is great xD
And "random literary blah", oh Nemi... xD
I'm a little confused about the whole Clandest/Imperia thing-- who "wronged" who, initially? I'm not sure if that's the right way to word my question but I'm getting a little mixed up about who's from where and who was under who's control, I guess x'D
Great update though!
Aww geez Kat, you're too sweet! <333 *hugs* ;3;*** Thank you for such kind words on all the things! It's a long update so I wasn't sure how it would be received, but I'm glad to know you enjoyed it <33
There is a lot of history I didn't want to bog the update down with, so it may get explained over the course of the story over time instead. I didn't think the details were strictly required for the story to work, though of course feel free to correct me if otherwise XD;;
Clandest was its own domain until it was taken over by Imperia near the very beginning of Imperia's conquests, over two millenia ago. Hundreds of years down the line, though, Clandest revolted and civil war began. The civil war went on for two generations, until finally Clandest gained independence as its own domain once again and Imperia relented. </long fictional history spiel>
All to say, these things aren't always clear cut. The Kijin and Danrir too have a history that is both simple, and yet convoluted as heck. XD;
Don't worry MST3K, I could never hope to pull off the same frequency of your double-pagers XD;; and this update was special~ thank you! <3
I might be over-generalising but in some places, I'd guess that sadly illiteracy and crime rate have a correlation, so... :'D it'd help to have a Jinn-type guard conveniently standing around to read the walls out for them XD
Ohh such a huge update o.o and it looks amazing! Love the art for the story, also the textboxes and colours and everything. It looks beautiful *-* read it like 5 times now (and probably still counting xD) <33 such a well written page too! ^-^/
I imagine he now thinks that Michael cares quite a lot about her (considering her a candidate for life partner maybe) and starts from there. Both in generally trusting Mike's judgement and in believing them to stay together for a long time. Meaning Jinn has to live with her around as well. A feat made way easier to accomplish if you don't hate each other's guts.
I love this mini tale inside your story! Such a good message and you can totally imagine such a story living on through the history books. I feel like your universe is so big, you could have multiple stories inside it! Just like beloved RPGs :)
<3 Aww Proxy!!! ;3;** Thank you, that makes me super happy! I'm really glad to hear that the universe feels immersive, especially knowing how immersive the world of PA is as well ;3;*** (Is that the right word? Ihopeitis) it's super encouraging!! I'll keep doing my best to keep up the RPG feels <3
One long update indeed!
Vaporeone and I are back and what an update to come back to! What was that 14 pages?
(We are up late because we are still on Hawaiin time XD )
That's exactly right! XD;;; Yesh ish a big update :'D <3 I'm glad to be able to welcome you two lovebirds back with it! X3 Welcome backu~~~
(I know jetlag, that thing must be beaten with sheer will and... and lots of sleep XD go go you two <3)
Holy moley... Woman, are you trying to rip yourself apart?! (0_0)
I mean Holy-multiple-updates-big-artsy-beautiful-poem-page Batman, that's like what? Eight or so standard updates long? And with poetry (and long one at that)!
It's a lot of pages squished in, yesh XD;;; but honestly, I debated with myself a lot on this particular update and chose this crazy path instead because this story just wouldn't have read well broken up into pieces, I felt like? Maybe? >.<
Yesh I know I did some crazy but! I'm still in one piece though, yay! XD;;;
DANGIT I guess my computer died before I posted my comment QAQ. O wells I'm happy to redo (I'm so good at redoing things LOL)
DANG Rufi! You have set the new standard for crazy amount of panels! THis is beautiful tho! And I"m glad you decided to tell this story all in one go! It's a beautifully rendered page for a very beautiful scene <3
If only all rulers and authorities could be like this King!
Awww dangit I hate it when that happens BUT thankyew for taking the time to write one again!! ;3;** (and omg I felt so sad for you when I read your remark about redoing things LOL *hug-pat*)
And trust me, NEVER AGAIN XDD I mean this was crazehhh :'D but thanks so much for affirming that it was the right choice, to do it all in one go. I just didn't want to break this one up!
Thanks so much again <333 it means a lot to me to hear what you thought about it! ehehe <33
Re: Friday Flare-- oh hey, that one was my request too :p I really like the dynamics between Kylie and Seia, I think it's really interesting to see, even though we don't get that much of it in-comic...
Great sketch :D
Beautiful. Just beautiful. (well, alot more words can describe this particular update, but if I had to use just one, beautiful would be it) Beautiful poetry. Beautiful story. Beautiful relationship builders, both in and out of the poem.
...I thought it was ironic that the jailers would stick a Danrir and Kijin in the same cell together, even though Jinn and Nemi are in disguise.
D'aww Digi ;3;*** that is just too kind of youuuu *hugs* I'm super touched you found it so, thank you <333
And indeed, if they knew what they were doing... XD; well they might've still done it anyway, LOL. Off-panel, I guess I should explain they had more people in that cell earlier in the day, but they are the only two left from the bar brawl, and have been for a while now... for certain reasons. ;)
Calculus... I actually was quite good at that. As well as probabilities or equations...
Quite good in a number of mathematical fields, actually. But not vector analysis. That one was my eternal foe.
Aww Roux!!! ;A;* *squish-hug*
Thank you!! I'm really glad you liked it! This update was important to me on multiple levels so it matters a lot to me that you felt it touched you <3 ;3;***
Wow.
I felt like I was reading a variation of the sacrifice of Christ. Wow. That's an amazing and beautiful parable. And I felt a relation to the Dancer, having nothing to give but my talent and pride. My eyes kinda teared up.
I especially love the style of art you used for the parable. :D
This is a beautiful page! I remember you mentioning that you were having a hard time figuring out why you kept this series going. For who, for what reason? I think this page is one of the reasons. If there's some God inspired meaning behind this story, there is meaning to continuing the updates. Because I felt inspired by this page alone, not to mention the depth and development of each character. Keep it up rufi!!!
Aww, thank you CraftyNessi! ;3;* I really appreciate you taking the time to let me know your thoughts on this update. I'm very happy that the heart of the story was received!! <33 And I'm very glad you liked the presentation, hehe. <33
Thanks also for such encouraging words, truly. I will take them to heart. <333 I'll keep doing my best!! >3<)/~~~
Just... Wow...
The amount of work you put into this is just stunning! It would take me 2 days to write a poem that good... then add the artwork into that...
This is simply.... Wow!
I'm sure GOD is reading this too, and saying to himself... "Well done, my good and faithful servant!"
Truly this is one of the sweetest comments I've ever received, so thank you so much for taking the time to write it and let me know your thoughts. It means a lot more to me than you might imagine, and it is my blessing to be able to bless you even a little bit with this story. Thank you so much for reading!! ;3;* I will do my darndest to continue to bring this story through to completion, and I hope you'll still be reading by the time it's done. <333
*one more gentle hug*
Like a 6 page update all at once, too!
Thank you, Matt! <3 ;3;* Gosh, to hear it called a parable <3
Ahahaha it's something like 14 regular pages lulz :'DDD but then the artwork took considerably less time than my normal pages do, in regards to the story/parable artwork, so I guess it does boil down to around 6 in terms of total time taken XD;;
BTW - the champagne bottle has christened the ship and it's about to set sail... ;)
And wait... are we referring to who I think you're referring to...?? XD that's definitely a new one!
It's less a perspective thing and more of a lazy thing. XD;; You're right, of course. I might fix it so it looks proper later!
Great update by the way. Very pertinent to these two.
And thank you! <333 ;3;* I'm really glad to hear you feel it's pertinent. That's important!! <333
I just love that coloring lineless style- 'Specially worked great for the crowd- And the whipping... D:
The lineless style is fun and I do enjoy it! >3<* In the future I'll continue to experiment more and more with it <3 :D
(the whipping was hard for me, I must say :'D so thankyew for letting me know it works!)
Waaaaaaaa... O_O
(I'll come back later to actually say something once I'm done staring in awe at your update)
First of all, I love how you changed the art style for the story-- it turned out really well and looks great! :D
Also, Nemi's face in the fourth panel is great xD
And "random literary blah", oh Nemi... xD
I'm a little confused about the whole Clandest/Imperia thing-- who "wronged" who, initially? I'm not sure if that's the right way to word my question but I'm getting a little mixed up about who's from where and who was under who's control, I guess x'D
Great update though!
:D
There is a lot of history I didn't want to bog the update down with, so it may get explained over the course of the story over time instead. I didn't think the details were strictly required for the story to work, though of course feel free to correct me if otherwise XD;;
Clandest was its own domain until it was taken over by Imperia near the very beginning of Imperia's conquests, over two millenia ago. Hundreds of years down the line, though, Clandest revolted and civil war began. The civil war went on for two generations, until finally Clandest gained independence as its own domain once again and Imperia relented. </long fictional history spiel>
All to say, these things aren't always clear cut. The Kijin and Danrir too have a history that is both simple, and yet convoluted as heck. XD;
I love Dancer and King <^^> <3 And the art style of this story, was so pretty too <3
great love for this page ^^
Quite the story you have showed off here though.
I wonder if prisons of today were to put such stories on their walls wouldn't be a bad idea to get the ol' moral compass going in criminals.
I might be over-generalising but in some places, I'd guess that sadly illiteracy and crime rate have a correlation, so... :'D it'd help to have a Jinn-type guard conveniently standing around to read the walls out for them XD
It means a lot to me <333
That is such touching story, and is jinn finally warming up to nemi?
I can't say too much on what's going on in Jinn's head or heart, he's a hard nut to crack sometimes XD
Great and long story - I hope Jinn learned something here...
And I do interpret that last panel as both of them going "Kinda makes you think do I want to think about that still..." (^_^)
It is kinda long! :'D And we'll see if the captives learnt anything, in time. XD;;
Vaporeone and I are back and what an update to come back to! What was that 14 pages?
(We are up late because we are still on Hawaiin time XD )
(I know jetlag, that thing must be beaten with sheer will and... and lots of sleep XD go go you two <3)
I mean Holy-multiple-updates-big-artsy-beautiful-poem-page Batman, that's like what? Eight or so standard updates long? And with poetry (and long one at that)!
Yesh I know I did some crazy but! I'm still in one piece though, yay! XD;;;
DANG Rufi! You have set the new standard for crazy amount of panels! THis is beautiful tho! And I"m glad you decided to tell this story all in one go! It's a beautifully rendered page for a very beautiful scene <3
If only all rulers and authorities could be like this King!
And trust me, NEVER AGAIN XDD I mean this was crazehhh :'D but thanks so much for affirming that it was the right choice, to do it all in one go. I just didn't want to break this one up!
Thanks so much again <333 it means a lot to me to hear what you thought about it! ehehe <33
Great sketch :D
I swear I didn't cry.
Those aren't tears, the monsoon was just.. bad... and the house is flooded... *weeps under blanket*
(This storytelling was so beautiful and perfect in every wayyyyy *tries not to weep some more*)
You sweet muffin you XD <33 I'm super glad you liked it! I owe you lots for affirming the art style to go with in the end for the story :D thank you!!
...I thought it was ironic that the jailers would stick a Danrir and Kijin in the same cell together, even though Jinn and Nemi are in disguise.
And indeed, if they knew what they were doing... XD; well they might've still done it anyway, LOL. Off-panel, I guess I should explain they had more people in that cell earlier in the day, but they are the only two left from the bar brawl, and have been for a while now... for certain reasons. ;)
Quite good in a number of mathematical fields, actually. But not vector analysis. That one was my eternal foe.
Thank you for always noting the Friday Flare updates Mjkj <3 XD
So beautiful, rufi!!! I knew it was going to be the king but I still got choked up. Wonderful work!
Thank you!! I'm really glad you liked it! This update was important to me on multiple levels so it matters a lot to me that you felt it touched you <3 ;3;***
I felt like I was reading a variation of the sacrifice of Christ. Wow. That's an amazing and beautiful parable. And I felt a relation to the Dancer, having nothing to give but my talent and pride. My eyes kinda teared up.
I especially love the style of art you used for the parable. :D
This is a beautiful page! I remember you mentioning that you were having a hard time figuring out why you kept this series going. For who, for what reason? I think this page is one of the reasons. If there's some God inspired meaning behind this story, there is meaning to continuing the updates. Because I felt inspired by this page alone, not to mention the depth and development of each character. Keep it up rufi!!!
Thanks also for such encouraging words, truly. I will take them to heart. <333 I'll keep doing my best!! >3<)/~~~