a ball with hair growing all over its body.

Buy Strange Bedfellows! Art and comics by eggplant celebrity Ariel Slamet Ries. I made Witchy, Cry Wolf Girl, and Strange Bedfellows. Some may consider me the godfather of Bowuigi. [email protected]

[arielries]

I saw that anon from yesterday(?) asking about where to purchase Witchy Vol 1a nd you said that it's out of print, but I wanted to let you know that barnes and noble has it available! I don't know if that helps as far as international purchasing but it is still out there

Oh nice, this is good to know! Thank you.

[brainchildcomic]

Patreon Announcement!

Chapter 4, Pages 50-55 (ROUGHS) | Suzanne Geary

Chapter 4, Pages 50-55 (ROUGHS) by Suzanne Geary on Patreon. Join Suzanne Geary's community for exclusive content and updates.

wrote a little more about this on the site, but all 34(!!!) remaining Brainchild chapter 4 pages are completely penciled, and I'll be posting these black-and-white roughs on a weekly schedule for the next several months on Patreon (3 USD/mo) for anyone who'd like to read ahead, with 5 whole pages up there already!!! wowie!!

this will not be usurping the usual free model for the comic--the finished inked and colored pages will be going up on the site for free as always within a matter of months. Just think of it as a little nice-to-have early bird special for anyone so inclined ;>

[arielries]

It's pride month so once again I am telling you to buy my gay trans book about navigating new powers, the future, and getting a second chance with the boy who got away, STRANGE BEDFELLOWS!

It's Anti-Prime day over at Bookshop.org which means free shipping until the 26th. If you purchase the book from my affiliate page I get a little cut, too!

[arielries]

Where can I buy the witchy books?

Currently book 1 is out of print as far as I know, unfortunately! You may be able to buy secondhand copies on places like ebay, thriftbooks, or betterworldbooks.

You can, however, currently buy the second here if you're in NA, or there's more links on my site.

That being said, I'm hoping there will be movement on getting book 1 back in print in 2027, so please look forward to any news on that front.

[arielries]

Hi! I hope this isn't too sudden but I recently just finished a copy of Strange Bedfellows I got from my local library and wanted to let you know that I loved it sooooo much. It's a very fascinating concept executed in such a well paced, captivating way, and your use of colors and clever paneling does so well to exemplify all that! There's so many things I can go into about why I like it so much-- like how you handled Kon and Oberon's relationship, and their relationships with their friends and family, or the blending of dream and reality, and all the dream world character designs... It's such a wonderful balance of world building, romance, humor, and existential dread! And it's one of my favorite comics I've read in a while ^^

I actually want to buy a copy of it for myself to have in the future. Though I was wondering what the best place to buy it in North America would be? Thank you!

Thank you so much for the kind words, I appreciate you taking the time.

Sorry for taking forever to reply to this, I wanted to set up my affiliate store with Bookshop, so people can both support local independent booksellers while also supporting me with a little cut of your purchase!

You can do that now through my Bookshop affiliate store.

It's a good day to do that because they're offering free shipping as part of their Anti-Prime day deal until the 26th!

[arielries]

Q: This is kinda wierd and specific, but when reading witchy, i noticed that they use Garuda as sort of a "Oh my god!" substitution, and I was wondering if that was based off the indonesian garuda? and also i was wondering what culture this part was based off? Context im indonesian and im just really happy to see representation, I know that witchy is generally based off asian and oceania culture but is there any specific instances of anything specific being absed of indonesia? thank you!

Not weird at all 😌

I am half Indo myself, so Indonesian mythology is where I first learned about Garuda, yes! Though important to note it is a mythological figure that exists throughout South and South East Asia more generally. I am definitely partial to the Javanese/Balinese depictions where he is kind of a teethy freak though:

The most obvious example for Indo influence I can think of off the top of my head is the orphanage in chapter 4:

The split gates on the hill are influenced by candi bentar (below, left) and the entrance to the compound proper is inspired by paduraksa (below, right.)

The orphanage actually exists in a former temple to Garuda, who existed in the universe, albeit in a different context.

It's been a while, but I'm fairly certain I based the style above on Rajput and Ottoman court paintings, (with mixed success, imo) though I think the first figure there is wearing Thai-inspired garb.

Hope that answers your question!

[arielries]

accidentally deleted that post about indo culture in witchy instead of the reblog

[arielries]

whoa the waitlist for witchy at the lending library you shares is 24 weeks! they need more copies! :,o

Oh that's neat! But if only there was some way to read the whole thing for free without waiting...

[arielries]

hi! i'm a novice comic artist and a big fan of your work :) i was wondering if you'd be willing to share a little sample of what a comic script looks like for you?

Sure! I'll share below the cut because it'll get a bit long.

(this turned into a longer post on my scripting process for comics, so do click through if you are interested in more than just a sample)

Here's the script for the opening pages of Bedfellows. The images have alt text so you can read it straight, but i'm posting screencaps because there's no way to share the exact formatting otherwise. Here's the pages themselves, for comparison:

I didn't write the script in any specialty software, just google docs, and for formatting I just memorised the different shortcuts for left/center alignment and indentation. I need a program that I can open up on any device and have my project synced across all devices because I actually do a fair amount of quick drafting on my phone, so a lot of professional script writing software doesn't work for me in this regard.

Though I wouldn't recommend any google product on principle. I hear Ellipsus and Proton Docs are less evil and programs that work just the same.

For my latest project, Surface Tension, I also set up paragraph styles for certain types of text. In this screenshot the blue text indicates flashbacks, and the green highlighted text indicates narration:

paragraph styles are assigned shortcuts, so once I memorise those I can shift into the style I want immediately:

It's worth noting that these are scripts I use in a professional context that an editor has to come in and read, so I keep them tidy and more detailed than scripts that are just for me.

Here's an excerpt from the Witchy script:

[LOUD SCREAMING AND GROANING FROM OFF-SCREEN BECAUSE IT'S REALLY EMBARRASSING LOOKING AT OLD WITCHY SCRIPTS]

Okay I'm not going to show it here but it's a lot lighter on description, and there's not a lot of information about the character acting during dialogue. It's honestly how I prefer to write, but when working with an editor there are just times you need to explain to them what things look like. You can sometimes also just draw them a picture.

You'll note that I don't demarcate page numbers anywhere here: I just really don't like to write and think about pages at the same time. That's what thumbnails/layouts are for. I have enough scripts behind me now that I can estimate roughly how many pages something will be from word count.

If you are doing things with a competent editor, or just working for yourself, you also don't have to script things formally like this if you don't want to. I would actually say that the vast majority of artist/writer cartoonists that I know work from an outline and script directly onto their thumbnails/layouts.

Sometimes I'll throw in a few thumbnails while scripting so I remember how I want to execute something, but largely my brain is not big enough to think about writing and drawing at the same time.

Also, while it doesn't really work for my needs, comics peer and former Witchy editor Steenz has developed a standardised comics script template alongside Camilla Zhang that is worth looking at if you're working with a larger collaborative team: https://www.oheysteenz.com/scs-template

Hope that helps!

[oliveoilcorp]

Happy Pride.

My werewolf-western-horror-romance story DARLIN' AND HER OTHER NAMES is now a weekly webcomic.

The first 6 pages of Part 1 are up now. 🐺❤️🌿 darlin.webcomic.studio

[oliveoilcorp]

psst... DARLIN' AND HER OTHER NAMES now has its own webcomic site!

You can check it out alongside this week's 2 page update~ 🐺❤️ darlincomic.com

🩸Today's Update: darlincomic.com?pg=7#showComic 🐺 Read from the beginning: darlincomic.com?pg=1#showComic ❤️ Mirror Site: darlin.webcomic.studio

[frankenfossil]

fanart for Strange Bedfellows by @arielries

[lucybellwood]

Shoutout to @arielries for making me absolutely lose it with the timing of this bit:

WOOP WOOP WOOP WOOP.

God tier cartooning.

If you’re looking for an absolute stunner of a queer graphic novel to get lost in, go check out Strange Bedfellows! It’s rich and beautiful and original and emotionally punchy, but also SO funny?? I absolutely loved it. You can buy it here or check out loads of preview pages on Ariel’s tumblr.

[queerliblib]

Hey Tumblr, we're Queer Liberation Library (QLL)

we're a queer digital library, by & for the LGBTQ+ community

Our Mission: Queer Liberation Library fights to build a vibrant, flourishing queer future by connecting LGBTQ+ people with literature, information, and resources that celebrate the unique and empowering diversity of our community.

Learn more about us on our website: https://www.queerliberationlibrary.org/

or other socials:

Instagram: @queerliblib 

Tiktok: @queerliblib

bsky: @queerliblib.bsky.social

(here’s our linktr.ee as well)

QLL launched on October 23rd, 2023, and are currently accepting membership applications on an ongoing basis! Please note we are a US-based organization and are currently only able to make our library available to patrons in the USA. If we are ever able to expand internationally we promise to shout the news from our proverbial rooftops <3

we’re a 501(c)3 non-profit, and are funded primarily by donations - you can support our mission by donating here.

you can also get some rad QLL (union made!) merch here!

and if you want to support us but don’t have the financial means (we get it, it’s rough out there) you can print out our flyers and distribute them at your local queer cafes, bookstores, club bathrooms, community notice boards, etc..!!

[arielries]

If you would like to read Strange Bedfellows (along with many more great queer books) but don't have access for whatever reason, QLL has it available on Libby!

[hotbloodcomic]

HOTBLOOD! VOL. 2: THE VALLEY OF KINGS SEPTEMBER 8, 2026

"After a fire, you can see farther. Everything is red."

Alta California, 1880: Evander Rook–alias John Davidson–is a centaur on the run. When his trail leads to two unidentifiable corpses in the ruins of a house fire, it’s the job of US Marshal Iban Zarco to bring him in, dead or alive...but it's not that easy. As he gets closer to his quarry, what started as a routine investigation will lead Zarco to the edge of everything he’s ever known.

➔ PREORDER

How is the Mad Cave edition different from what was printed for the 2018 Kickstarter? The script was rewritten, every page was redrawn, the page count has doubled to accommodate the new story, and even the trim size has changed.

You can follow me for further updates on bsky or instagram.

Thank you! 

[careydraws]

Applications are open for (free) individual comic critique/feedback sessions! These are intended for emerging/ intermediate cartoonists without BFA/MFAs with a comic at least at thumbnail + text stage. apps open 4/10 through 4/24; notifications go out by 5/1.

More info & apply❗️here! ❗️

IF YOU RUN INTO A PROBLEM WITH THE FORM, or if you have a question not addressed in the form itself after you've read it thoroughly, please leave me a comment here or email me at the contact address on my portfolio site! This is my first time running something like this and I'm learning as I go. Thank you!!

[coquettedragoon]

Coquette Dragoon Chapter 5 Part 1 Now Available!

Coquette Dragoon: Volume One (Early Access) by Ivy May

Girls love eternal mech war VN.

Coquette Dragoon Chapter 5 Part 1 is finally out! 30k words of Wibble goodness. Make sure you're on version 4.1!

[kimyoonmiauthor]

US Book ban on LGBTQIA books

The Nationwide Book Ban Bill Moves to the House: How to Take Action Now

The nationwide book ban bill, HR 7661, has progressed out of committee and into the House. Here's what you need to know to take action.

At least hit the shiny repost button if you're going to do nothing else. This should not stand.

Stop the bill dead in its tracks. LGBTQIA people have a right to be represented in books.