Drawing Conclusions

[bobthedragon]

Hey webcomic makers and enjoyers!!

My very cool partner has been working on a site called webcomicweb to try to help collect comics and help people find them, spurred on by hiveworks dying* and randomwebcomic's domain expiring.

more info under the cut, but it is a voluntary webcomics directory and we'd love to have you check it out to add comics or read comics if you are interested!

*more complicated than that so look it up if this affects you ok

----

We're both millennials who grew up with the birth of the webcomic format, spawned from passionate strangers making things out of the human need to make art and stories and connect. When you stumbled from comic to comic through webrings and link pages before the internet got so small and so centralized and before comics became a business model for middlemen who have never cared about them.

webcomicweb can't promise any of the things a big, corporate product can promise because it's run by one person and hosted on neocities as a passion project with a $5 domain. we're not planning on making this a business and we don't know how long it'll last! but at least! we give a shit! my partner's going to keep paying for this and keep updating this directory for at least as long as our own comic is running (estimating 8 years at least at this rate lmao) so if this sounds appealing to you: bookmark the site, send us your links, tell your friends, whatever!

some features I wanna highlight bc I like them:

default randomized comic order - Zani specifically did not want to have the list end up with a bias based on time or alphabet. every time you refresh it re-shuffles so everyone gets seen!

filterable ratings from Everyone to Explicit

comics can ONLY be submitted by comic owners, so if you don't want to be listed you will not ever be dragged in by mass link scrapers or w/e!!

no monetization - this is literally JUST a directory for serving and displaying links to comics. because we like comics. because we want more people to read cool things and we want to read more cool things.

There's categories for paused, scrapped, and finished comics as well as ongoing! it's hard to get people to look at old things you've made in this feed-based world!!! but there's still so many people who wanna see it!!

anyway yeah that's my pitch!!! neither me nor zani benefits from this in any way other than the fact that we get to read and share comics! that is literally the whole goal! They've also been sending out emails asking people if they want in, but anyway they are so cool and handsome check out their site

[kabocha-chan]

Hi is everything on shooting star’s website free to download?

If it is offered for download, yes.

(for those who do not know what website this is, here: https://shooting-stars.org/ )

You may use them for free for your projects forever. You can sell the things you make using them. Credit is appreciated, but not required.

Just, please, do not take the materials (image packs, brushes, etc) on my site and list them for sale elsewhere. I will be very annoyed.

Sorry I didn't get to this sooner. I'm really bad at social media as of late.

[genericpuff]

Tbh at this point you should just make your own webcomic app/website because it would probably be 100 times better than whatever going on with webtoon right now.

hahaha it wouldn't tho, sorry 💀

Here's the fundamental issue with webcomic platforms that a lot of people just don't realize (and why they're so difficult to run successfully):

Storage costs are incredibly expensive, it's why so many sites have limitations on file sizes / page sizes / etc. because all of those images and site info have to be stored somewhere, which costs $$$.

Maintenance costs are expensive and get more so as you grow, you need people who are capable of fixing bugs ASAP and managing the servers and site itself

Financially speaking, webcomics are in a state of high supply, low demand. Loads of artists are willing to create their passion projects, but getting people to read them and pay for them is a whole other issue. Demand is high in the general sense that once people get attached to a webtoon they'll demand more, but many people aren't actually willing to go looking for new stuff to read and depend more on what sites feed them (and what they already like). There are a lot of comics to go around and thus a lot of competition with a limited audience of people willing to actually pay for them.

Trying to build a new platform from the ground up is incredibly difficult and a majority of sites fail within their first year. Not only do you have to convince artists to take a chance on your platform, you have to convince readers to come. Readers won't come if there isn't work on the platform to read, but artists won't come if they don't think the site will be worth it due to low traffic numbers. This is why the artists with large followings who are willing to take chances on the smaller sites are crucial, but that's only if you can convince them to use the site in favor of (or alongside) whatever platform they're using already where the majority of their audience lies. For many creators it's just not worth the time, energy, or risk.

Even if you find short-term success, in the long-term there are always going to be profit margins to maintain. The more users you pull in, the more storage is used by incoming artists, the more you have to spend on storage and server maintenance costs, and that means either taking the risk at crowdfunding (ex. ComicFury) or having to resort to outsider investments (ex. Tapas). Look at SmackJeeves, it used to be a titan in the independent webcomic hosting community, until it folded over to a buyout by NHN and then was pretty much immediately shuttered due to NHN basically turning it into a manwha scanlation site and driving away its entire userbase. And if you don't get bought out and try your hand at crowdfunding, you may just wind up living on a lifeline that could cut out at any moment, like what happened to Inkblazers (fun fact, the death of Inkblazers was what kicked off the cultural shift in Tapas around 2015-16 when all of IB's users migrated over and brought their work with them which was more aimed towards the BL and romancee drama community, rather than the comedy / gag-a-day culture that Tapas had made itself known for... now you deadass can't tell Tapas apart from a lot of scanlation sites because it got bought out by Kakao and kept putting all of its eggs into the isekai/romance drama basket.)

Right now the mindset in which artists and readers are operating is that they're trying way, way too hard to find a "one size fits all" site. Readers want a place where they can find all their favorite webtoons without much effort, artists wants a place where they can post to an audience of thousands, and both sides want a community that will feel tight-knit. But the reality is that you can't really have all three of those things, not on one site. Something always winds up having to be sacrificed - if a site grows big enough, it'll have to start seeking more funding while also cutting costs which will result in features becoming paywall'd, intrusive ads, creators losing their freedom, and/or outsider support which often results in the platform losing its core identity and alienating its tight-knit community.

If I had to describe what I'm talking about in a "pick one" graphic, it would look something like this:

(*note: this is mostly based on my own observations from using all of these sites at some point or another, they're not necessarily entirely accurate to the statistical performance of each site, I can only glean so much from experience and traffic trackers LMAO that said I did ask some comic pals for input and they were very helpful in helping me adjust it with their own takes <3).

The homogenization of the Internet has really whipped people into submission for the "big sites" that offer "everything", but that's never been the Internet, it relies on being multi-faceted and offering different spaces for different purposes. And we're seeing that ideology falter through the enshittification of sites like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. where users are at odds with the platforms because the platforms are gutting features in an attempt to satisfy shareholders whom without the platforms would not exist. Like, most of us aren't paying money to use social media sites / comic platform sites, so where else are they gonna make the necessary funds to keep these sites running? Selling ad space and locking features behind paywalls.

And this is especially true for a lot of budding sites that don't have the audience to support them via crowdfunding but also don't have the leverage to ask for investments - so unless they get really REALLY lucky in EITHER of those departments, they're gonna be operating at a loss, and even once they do achieve either of those things there are gonna be issues in the site's longevity, whether it be dying from lack of growing crowdfunding support or dying from shareholder meddling.

So what can we do?

We can learn how to take our independence back. We don't have to stop using these big platforms altogether as they do have things to offer in their own way, particularly their large audience sizes and dipping into other demographics that might not be reachable from certain sites - but we gotta learn that no single site is going to satisfy every wish we have and we have to be willing to learn the skills necessary to running our own spaces again. Pick up HTML/CSS, get to know other people who know HTML/CSS if you can't grasp it (it's me, I can't grasp it LOL), be willing to take a chance on those "smaller sites" and don't write them off entirely as spaces that can be beneficial to you just because they don't have large numbers or because they don't offer rewards programs. And if you have a really polished piece of work in your hands, look into agencies and publishing houses that specialize in indie comics / graphic novels, don't settle for the first Originals contract that gets sent your way.

For the last decade corporations have been convincing us that our worth is tied to the eyes we can bring to them. Instead of serving ourselves, we've begun serving the big guys, insisting that it has to be worth something eventually and that it'll "payoff" simply by the virtue of gambler's fallacy. Ask yourself what site is right for you and your work rather than asking yourself if your work is good enough for them. Most of us are broke trying to make it work on these sites anyways, may as well be broke and fulfilled by posting in places that actually suit us and our work if we can. Don't define your success by what sites like Webtoons are enforcing - that definition only benefits them, not you.

[kabocha-chan]

I'm absolutely on board with learning some self-reliance in the webcomics arena. Remember when Tapas included a grab for the right of first refusal in their general terms of service? Yeah. I'm 100% on with you on trying to manage your stuff yourself.

ANYWAY.

@nattosoup, @respheal and I wrote an blog post about this years ago, when Project Wonderful still existed. It has been a long time, and the landscape has changed, so please bear with me as I provide some updated information.

(See also: the archive of the FreeJeeves page. There's a wealth of information here, including some ways to make your comic website more mobile friendly.)

Please visit these resources and see if any appeal to you. They're a mix of materials that are like textbooks, as well as free courses. Some links may require signing up.

I am not affiliated with any of these websites.

1. Learn HTML + CSS

HTML and CSS are the foundation of every page. You don't need internet access to build an HTML page -- you can do it all from your computer at home. But you do need some basic knowledge to get started. If you can format a tumblr post or ever feel adventurous enough to poke at tumblr's themes, you can learn HTML.

https://www.w3schools.com/

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web

https://www.codecademy.com/learn/learn-html

https://web.dev/learn/design

https://www.freecodecamp.org/learn/2022/responsive-web-design/

https://www.theodinproject.com/paths/foundations/courses/foundations

Once you learn how to build your website, and have a place you want to upload it? You might want to learn about FTP, which is the file transfer protocol. This lets you upload files to your webhost. If you need an FTP client, Filezilla is absolutely free and works Windows, Mac, and Debian flavors of Linux. (important note: Download the Filezilla client. Don't download Filezilla server unless you know what you're doing.)

2. Where to Post your Webcomic

Here, I'm focusing on places that let you customize your layout and allow for some freedom.

In that old blog post, I mention different types of hosting. We're going to focus on "shared" hosting, which is usually fairly inexpensive on a month-to-month basis and requires almost no knowledge of the server. For a webcomic, you do not need to use AWS, buy a VPS, or rent a dedicated server. That'll be overkill for most folks. If you're at that level, you should know what you're doing.

2.1 Existing Services

Existing services can change their rules or go offline at any time with no notice to the user. Please keep this in mind.

https://comicfury.com/ - Free, Requires HTML knowledge. Has Templates that you can customize when you build your site, but also some documentation on their forum.

https://www.tumblr.com/ - Free, might require HTML knowledge. Simple Webcomic Theme: https://www.tumblr.com/theme/39018 Baidi Webcomic Theme: https://www.tumblr.com/theme/40103 If you do this, I would recommend setting up a dedicated secondary blog for your comic.

https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/ - Also free. I have no idea where the theme documentation is without having to log in, so... I'm only linking this because it exists and people still use it.

https://neocities.org/ - Free hosting? Yay! When I was a kid, we had free websites through Geocities and Angelfire, and this is much like that. Rarebit template for comics: https://rarebit.neocities.org/

2.2 Self-Hosting with a Content Management System (CMS)

I cannot recommend any webhosts right now, but I can recommend software you can use for posting webcomics, if you feel like getting into the weeds way more than basic HTML/CSS will allow.

These will require the ability to read documentation and follow instructions, as well as basic knowledge in how to upload/edit files using FTP. Your webhost will have documentation if you need access to it.

At the end of the day, a webcomic is basically a blog, so most blogging software can be modified to make it work for this purpose.

If you require technical support for these options, please visit the websites for these tools.

Also, please remember support the developers if you can. Making tools for webcomics is largely a project of love (...sometimes spite), but many are discontinued because the devs become tired, burnt out, or simply lack the energy and finances to do so. It takes a lot of spoons and energy in general to provide technical support, especially when so much knowledge has been lost.

Wordpress + Toochecke - Great for webtoon-style comics, rather than graphic novel style comics. If you don't want the theme, the Toocheke companion tool can be used for making any theme a comic theme. Requires PHP and MySQL.

Wordpress + Manga+Press - Works with some of the default themes for Wordpress. Documentation is a little sparse right now.

Grawlix - A webcomic dedicated Content Management System, now maintained by folks who want the software to continue to exist. Requires PHP and MySQL.

ComicControl. - Created by Hiveworks' developer, available to download for free. Requires PHP and MySQL.

3. Promote your Webcomic

Let's assume you know about social media, and skip right to some other resources:

ComicAd Network - You can put ads on your website OR you can put out ads and get the word out on other webcomic sites.

Piperka - I'm not sure how much this is used anymore, but you used to be able to list your comics for people to find it.

Archive Binge - This functions as an aggregator tool, letting readers track comic updates and keep your place on one website.

TopWebComics - It's a toplist -- which basically, you get your readers to vote for your comic to boost your ranking. (They can vote for others, too!)

Link to your comics and make it possible for people to link back! A lot of people forget -- link exchanges and sharing content you like? Unequivocally a win-win for everyone, and it's good for SEO. I actually built a banner display script that you can look over and reuse, if you wanted to make a webring or something.

[lizkreates]

I have more info for section 2.2 CMSs:

Comic Control:

ComicControl is no longer maintained by the original dev.

There is an independent fork that is being updated, but I recommend testing this on a subdomain first for bugs beforehand. (This didn't run out-of-the-box for me.)

If you want to use the last official release of 4.2.9, the archive image rendering is broken, here's the fix.

Unlike WP, you will need to maintain your website. This means staying up to date with the current PHP to match your host. Some hosts will make you pay extra for running old PHP. Keeping it updated is essential for your host's security too.

If you're willing to put in some elbow grease, it's an incredibly fast and snappy CMS!

Wordpress:

Inkblot: is another comic theme, but also sparse updates and documentation.

WP uses PHP, but they maintain and push their updates to hosts, it's up to the theme and plugin developers to make sure they remain updated and compatible. Don't let that scare you though, there are some webcomic relics that still function today on WP.

Comic_git:

If you don't expect a lot of traffic, want to host for free, and are handy with code, this is a very promising option! Built for both vertical and traditional comics. This has excellent step-by-step documentation.

Each option has it's pros and cons. Best you can do is pick an option and stick to it as long as possible until you need to jump to the next thing~

[kabocha-chan]

Thank you for the additions and further information!

Just for ease of access, I'd like to link this version of the thread as well: If you want to use Neocities, take a look at this addition by bogleech

OK, I' going back to my servers now, thank you.

[genericpuff]

Tbh at this point you should just make your own webcomic app/website because it would probably be 100 times better than whatever going on with webtoon right now.

hahaha it wouldn't tho, sorry 💀

Here's the fundamental issue with webcomic platforms that a lot of people just don't realize (and why they're so difficult to run successfully):

Storage costs are incredibly expensive, it's why so many sites have limitations on file sizes / page sizes / etc. because all of those images and site info have to be stored somewhere, which costs $$$.

Maintenance costs are expensive and get more so as you grow, you need people who are capable of fixing bugs ASAP and managing the servers and site itself

Financially speaking, webcomics are in a state of high supply, low demand. Loads of artists are willing to create their passion projects, but getting people to read them and pay for them is a whole other issue. Demand is high in the general sense that once people get attached to a webtoon they'll demand more, but many people aren't actually willing to go looking for new stuff to read and depend more on what sites feed them (and what they already like). There are a lot of comics to go around and thus a lot of competition with a limited audience of people willing to actually pay for them.

Trying to build a new platform from the ground up is incredibly difficult and a majority of sites fail within their first year. Not only do you have to convince artists to take a chance on your platform, you have to convince readers to come. Readers won't come if there isn't work on the platform to read, but artists won't come if they don't think the site will be worth it due to low traffic numbers. This is why the artists with large followings who are willing to take chances on the smaller sites are crucial, but that's only if you can convince them to use the site in favor of (or alongside) whatever platform they're using already where the majority of their audience lies. For many creators it's just not worth the time, energy, or risk.

Even if you find short-term success, in the long-term there are always going to be profit margins to maintain. The more users you pull in, the more storage is used by incoming artists, the more you have to spend on storage and server maintenance costs, and that means either taking the risk at crowdfunding (ex. ComicFury) or having to resort to outsider investments (ex. Tapas). Look at SmackJeeves, it used to be a titan in the independent webcomic hosting community, until it folded over to a buyout by NHN and then was pretty much immediately shuttered due to NHN basically turning it into a manwha scanlation site and driving away its entire userbase. And if you don't get bought out and try your hand at crowdfunding, you may just wind up living on a lifeline that could cut out at any moment, like what happened to Inkblazers (fun fact, the death of Inkblazers was what kicked off the cultural shift in Tapas around 2015-16 when all of IB's users migrated over and brought their work with them which was more aimed towards the BL and romancee drama community, rather than the comedy / gag-a-day culture that Tapas had made itself known for... now you deadass can't tell Tapas apart from a lot of scanlation sites because it got bought out by Kakao and kept putting all of its eggs into the isekai/romance drama basket.)

Right now the mindset in which artists and readers are operating is that they're trying way, way too hard to find a "one size fits all" site. Readers want a place where they can find all their favorite webtoons without much effort, artists wants a place where they can post to an audience of thousands, and both sides want a community that will feel tight-knit. But the reality is that you can't really have all three of those things, not on one site. Something always winds up having to be sacrificed - if a site grows big enough, it'll have to start seeking more funding while also cutting costs which will result in features becoming paywall'd, intrusive ads, creators losing their freedom, and/or outsider support which often results in the platform losing its core identity and alienating its tight-knit community.

If I had to describe what I'm talking about in a "pick one" graphic, it would look something like this:

(*note: this is mostly based on my own observations from using all of these sites at some point or another, they're not necessarily entirely accurate to the statistical performance of each site, I can only glean so much from experience and traffic trackers LMAO that said I did ask some comic pals for input and they were very helpful in helping me adjust it with their own takes <3).

The homogenization of the Internet has really whipped people into submission for the "big sites" that offer "everything", but that's never been the Internet, it relies on being multi-faceted and offering different spaces for different purposes. And we're seeing that ideology falter through the enshittification of sites like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. where users are at odds with the platforms because the platforms are gutting features in an attempt to satisfy shareholders whom without the platforms would not exist. Like, most of us aren't paying money to use social media sites / comic platform sites, so where else are they gonna make the necessary funds to keep these sites running? Selling ad space and locking features behind paywalls.

And this is especially true for a lot of budding sites that don't have the audience to support them via crowdfunding but also don't have the leverage to ask for investments - so unless they get really REALLY lucky in EITHER of those departments, they're gonna be operating at a loss, and even once they do achieve either of those things there are gonna be issues in the site's longevity, whether it be dying from lack of growing crowdfunding support or dying from shareholder meddling.

So what can we do?

We can learn how to take our independence back. We don't have to stop using these big platforms altogether as they do have things to offer in their own way, particularly their large audience sizes and dipping into other demographics that might not be reachable from certain sites - but we gotta learn that no single site is going to satisfy every wish we have and we have to be willing to learn the skills necessary to running our own spaces again. Pick up HTML/CSS, get to know other people who know HTML/CSS if you can't grasp it (it's me, I can't grasp it LOL), be willing to take a chance on those "smaller sites" and don't write them off entirely as spaces that can be beneficial to you just because they don't have large numbers or because they don't offer rewards programs. And if you have a really polished piece of work in your hands, look into agencies and publishing houses that specialize in indie comics / graphic novels, don't settle for the first Originals contract that gets sent your way.

For the last decade corporations have been convincing us that our worth is tied to the eyes we can bring to them. Instead of serving ourselves, we've begun serving the big guys, insisting that it has to be worth something eventually and that it'll "payoff" simply by the virtue of gambler's fallacy. Ask yourself what site is right for you and your work rather than asking yourself if your work is good enough for them. Most of us are broke trying to make it work on these sites anyways, may as well be broke and fulfilled by posting in places that actually suit us and our work if we can. Don't define your success by what sites like Webtoons are enforcing - that definition only benefits them, not you.

[kabocha-chan]

I'm absolutely on board with learning some self-reliance in the webcomics arena. Remember when Tapas included a grab for the right of first refusal in their general terms of service? Yeah. I'm 100% on with you on trying to manage your stuff yourself.

ANYWAY.

@nattosoup, @respheal and I wrote an blog post about this years ago, when Project Wonderful still existed. It has been a long time, and the landscape has changed, so please bear with me as I provide some updated information.

(See also: the archive of the FreeJeeves page. There's a wealth of information here, including some ways to make your comic website more mobile friendly.)

Please visit these resources and see if any appeal to you. They're a mix of materials that are like textbooks, as well as free courses. Some links may require signing up.

I am not affiliated with any of these websites.

1. Learn HTML + CSS

HTML and CSS are the foundation of every page. You don't need internet access to build an HTML page -- you can do it all from your computer at home. But you do need some basic knowledge to get started. If you can format a tumblr post or ever feel adventurous enough to poke at tumblr's themes, you can learn HTML.

https://www.w3schools.com/

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web

https://www.codecademy.com/learn/learn-html

https://web.dev/learn/design

https://www.freecodecamp.org/learn/2022/responsive-web-design/

https://www.theodinproject.com/paths/foundations/courses/foundations

Once you learn how to build your website, and have a place you want to upload it? You might want to learn about FTP, which is the file transfer protocol. This lets you upload files to your webhost. If you need an FTP client, Filezilla is absolutely free and works Windows, Mac, and Debian flavors of Linux. (important note: Download the Filezilla client. Don't download Filezilla server unless you know what you're doing.)

2. Where to Post your Webcomic

Here, I'm focusing on places that let you customize your layout and allow for some freedom.

In that old blog post, I mention different types of hosting. We're going to focus on "shared" hosting, which is usually fairly inexpensive on a month-to-month basis and requires almost no knowledge of the server. For a webcomic, you do not need to use AWS, buy a VPS, or rent a dedicated server. That'll be overkill for most folks. If you're at that level, you should know what you're doing.

2.1 Existing Services

Existing services can change their rules or go offline at any time with no notice to the user. Please keep this in mind.

https://comicfury.com/ - Free, Requires HTML knowledge. Has Templates that you can customize when you build your site, but also some documentation on their forum.

https://www.tumblr.com/ - Free, might require HTML knowledge. Simple Webcomic Theme: https://www.tumblr.com/theme/39018 Baidi Webcomic Theme: https://www.tumblr.com/theme/40103 If you do this, I would recommend setting up a dedicated secondary blog for your comic.

https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/ - Also free. I have no idea where the theme documentation is without having to log in, so... I'm only linking this because it exists and people still use it.

https://neocities.org/ - Free hosting? Yay! When I was a kid, we had free websites through Geocities and Angelfire, and this is much like that. Rarebit template for comics: https://rarebit.neocities.org/

2.2 Self-Hosting with a Content Management System (CMS)

I cannot recommend any webhosts right now, but I can recommend software you can use for posting webcomics, if you feel like getting into the weeds way more than basic HTML/CSS will allow.

These will require the ability to read documentation and follow instructions, as well as basic knowledge in how to upload/edit files using FTP. Your webhost will have documentation if you need access to it.

At the end of the day, a webcomic is basically a blog, so most blogging software can be modified to make it work for this purpose.

If you require technical support for these options, please visit the websites for these tools.

Also, please remember support the developers if you can. Making tools for webcomics is largely a project of love (...sometimes spite), but many are discontinued because the devs become tired, burnt out, or simply lack the energy and finances to do so. It takes a lot of spoons and energy in general to provide technical support, especially when so much knowledge has been lost.

Wordpress + Toochecke - Great for webtoon-style comics, rather than graphic novel style comics. If you don't want the theme, the Toocheke companion tool can be used for making any theme a comic theme. Requires PHP and MySQL.

Wordpress + Manga+Press - Works with some of the default themes for Wordpress. Documentation is a little sparse right now.

Grawlix - A webcomic dedicated Content Management System, now maintained by folks who want the software to continue to exist. Requires PHP and MySQL.

ComicControl. - Created by Hiveworks' developer, available to download for free. Requires PHP and MySQL.

3. Promote your Webcomic

Let's assume you know about social media, and skip right to some other resources:

ComicAd Network - You can put ads on your website OR you can put out ads and get the word out on other webcomic sites.

Piperka - I'm not sure how much this is used anymore, but you used to be able to list your comics for people to find it.

Archive Binge - This functions as an aggregator tool, letting readers track comic updates and keep your place on one website.

TopWebComics - It's a toplist -- which basically, you get your readers to vote for your comic to boost your ranking. (They can vote for others, too!)

Link to your comics and make it possible for people to link back! A lot of people forget -- link exchanges and sharing content you like? Unequivocally a win-win for everyone, and it's good for SEO. I actually built a banner display script that you can look over and reuse, if you wanted to make a webring or something.

[kabocha-chan]

[kabocha-chan]

Pls boop

[tk-duveraun]

Wait… If you say… and he… then that means…

Actually, I have no idea.

Read Cold Future, the FFXIV Big Bang fic coming April 16th by TK & Kabo, with honorable mention to Al!

[kabocha-chan]

I did art for a thing that’ll be out on the 16th! Prepare yourselves, TK and I had a marvelous time working on this! >:3

[7inchkara]

This beautiful guest comic is by my friend Kabocha, the creator of Linked and maker of awesome Photoshop and Clip Studio Paint brush assets on Shooting-Stars  (many of which you can see in this comic!).  Kabocha’s a fellow member of Ink Drop Cafe as well!

[kabocha-chan]

A THING I DREW IS FINALLY LIVE Also, you should really give 7″ Kara a read - it’s super cute!

[darkhalo4321]

I got a bit carried away and drew a lot of Linked fanart/meme cross overs-  I mean- I feel like I’m pretty spot on-  @kabocha-chan seemed to enjoy them anyways- Ahahaha- Go read Linked! It’s sooooo good. 

[kabocha-chan]

I normally don’t reblog to my main, but................ These are freaking hilarious and I can’t stop laughing.

Also, these tags.

[kabocha-chan]

a doodle and some characters!

I don’t think I’ve ever drawn Val looking so... calm and collected.

Or Boha lookin’ so shifty.

[kabocha-chan]

BONG

If you’re wondering WTF I’ve been talking about with this whole clocktower thing, here’s the context.

I was sober while making this.

Moonsun (Whispers in the Wind) 8:53 PM

morning!

hades 8:53 PM

BONG morning xD

Superjustin (Aozora's Adventure) 8:53 PM

Good mornin

Kabocha 8:54 PM

mornin' moonsun :3

Superjustin (Aozora's Adventure) 8:54 PM

heehee~

Moonsun (Whispers in the Wind) 8:54 PM

bong? XD

Kabocha 8:55 PM

Hades found the big ben twitter account

Shoona (Ellie of the Stars) 8:55 PM

lmao

Kabocha 8:55 PM

https://twitter.com/big_ben_clock

Moonsun (Whispers in the Wind) 8:56 PM

Internet is so weird

Shoona (Ellie of the Stars) 8:56 PM

time to create a clocktowersona

hades 8:56 PM

hades is very easily fixated on things xD omg shoona

Shoona (Ellie of the Stars) 8:56 PM

<v<>v>

Moonsun (Whispers in the Wind) 8:57 PM

You think this person goes crazy when you're not on time to meet up?

hades  8:57 PM

omg

Shoona (Ellie of the Stars) 8:58 PM

if you are late to meet a clocktower you are in trouble

Kabocha 8:58 PM

I'm scrapping Linked and going to work on a scintillating comic about being a clocktower.

Shoona (Ellie of the Stars) 8:58 PM

OMG my favorite linked character * u*

hades 8:58 PM

kabo this is why we are friends

Shoona (Ellie of the Stars) 8:59 PM

im just kidding we all know who my favorite child is in linked

Kabocha 8:59 PM

ahahaha

Shoona (Ellie of the Stars) 9:00 PM

but....maybe

hades 9:00 PM

guys can i talk about this on twitter and @ you both

Shoona (Ellie of the Stars) 9:00 PM

go for it

hades 9:00 PM

ty

Moonsun (Whispers in the Wind) 9:01 PM

😂

Shoona (Ellie of the Stars) 9:01 PM

at least im ok with it. i cant make the choice for kabocha but~

Kabocha 9:01 PM

hades 9:01 PM

KABO

Shoona (Ellie of the Stars) 9:01 PM

OMG

hades 9:01 PM

omgggggg

Shoona (Ellie of the Stars) 9:01 PM

I HAVE ASCENDED

hades 9:01 PM

BONG

Shoona (Ellie of the Stars) 9:01 PM

BONG

Kabocha 9:01 PM

FEEL FREE TO @ ME

Shoona (Ellie of the Stars) 9:02 PM

CLOCK TOWER....IS LIFE

hades 9:02 PM

THANKSi keep losing it

Shoona (Ellie of the Stars) 9:03 PM

OMG...i love im.....actually thinking about clocktowersonas

hades 9:05 PM

omg

Kabocha 9:06 PM

hades 9:06 PM

KABO I CANT

Draco Plato (KhyatiX) 9:07 PM

loooooool

Shoona (Ellie of the Stars) 9:07 PM

SCREAMS I SHIP IT

hades-Yesterday 9:07 PM

NO SHOONA

Shoona (Ellie of the Stars) 9:08 PM

I SHIP ANYTHING THAT KEEPS ASTER FROM MARRYING DORAN OK

hades 9:08 PM

wait

Shoona (Ellie of the Stars) 9:08 PM

BUT ALSO

hades 9:08 PM

i misread

Shoona (Ellie of the Stars) 9:08 PM

I SHIP IT

hades 9:08 PM

YES

Shoona (Ellie of the Stars) 9:08 PM

oh would you rather i clocktower it

hades 9:08 PM

true majesty and love ok but what if or well what would the clock tower look like as a personification because all love creates delusions of man

Shoona (Ellie of the Stars) 9:09 PM

clocktower....dating sim....

hades 9:10 PM

exactly the next hit

Shoona (Ellie of the Stars) 9:10 PM

I MEAN DATING SIMS ABOUT DATING INANIMATE OBJECTS DO SEEM TO BE ALL THE RAGE

Kabocha 9:10 PM

hades 9:11 PM

YES omgggg

Shoona (Ellie of the Stars) 9:11 PM

SURPRISE TWIST NOW I SHIP IT EVEN MORE

hades 9:11 PM

PLOT TWIST

Draco Plato (KhyatiX) 9:12 PM

fox plz, calm yo self

Respheal (Galebound) 9:13 PM

............what in the heck did I just return to

Kabocha 9:14 PM

Shoona (Ellie of the Stars) 9:14 PM

clocktower is life NOOOOOOO NOOOOOO WHY SAD END!!!

Draco Plato (KhyatiX) 9:15 PM

5eeeeever

hades 9:15 PM

BONG NOOO

Shoona (Ellie of the Stars) 9:15 PM

NEEEEEAR FAAAAAAAR WHEREEEEEEVER YOU AAAAARE

hades 9:16 PM

@Respheal (Galebound) EMBRACE THE BONG

Respheal (Galebound) 9:16 PM

-goes back to drawing-

Kabocha 9:16 PM

hades 9:16 PM

OH

Shoona (Ellie of the Stars) 9:17 PM

bongs happily

Draco Plato (KhyatiX) 9:17 PM

so good best comic ever 101/10

Shoona (Ellie of the Stars) 9:17 PM

wheres your eisner

Kabocha 9:18 PM

it's a mango, silly, I don't get an eisner for that

Shoona (Ellie of the Stars) 9:18 PM

😂

hades 9:18 PM

i can't stop giggling

Draco Plato (KhyatiX) 9:18 PM

https://giphy.com/gifs/SgpSaVNdtcHQI

Kabocha 9:20 PM

Draco Plato (KhyatiX) 9:20 PM

saved by true love's kiss

Shoona (Ellie of the Stars) 9:20 PM

:'0

Draco Plato (KhyatiX) 9:20 PM

https://giphy.com/gifs/kiss-tangled-rapunzel-frHK797nhEUow

Shoona (Ellie of the Stars) 9:21 PM

WAIT JUST IN TIME DID YOU

Draco Plato (KhyatiX) 9:21 PM

she did she went there

Shoona (Ellie of the Stars) 9:21 PM

I CANT

hades 9:22 PM

omggfgfg

Shoona (Ellie of the Stars) 9:23 PM

i love this chat

hades 9:23 PM

same

Shoona (Ellie of the Stars) 9:24 PM

🙏

Kabocha 9:24 PM

there's an epilogue coming

hades 9:25 PM

omgggg

Shoona (Ellie of the Stars) 9:26 PM

IN DUE TIME THAT BETTER BE THE TITLE OF THE COMIC

hades 9:27 PM

i vote for that too

Kabocha 9:28 PM

Shoona (Ellie of the Stars 9:29 PM

is is her kid named pocketwatch

hades 9:29 PM

I SCREAMED

Shoona (Ellie of the Stars) 9:29 PM

im dead

Draco Plato (KhyatiX) 9:33 PM

loooooool

Kabocha 9:33 PM

Draco Plato (KhyatiX) 9:33 PM

mommy did you have sex with a clock

hades 9:33 PM

follow your dreams pocketwatch draco plz

Draco Plato (KhyatiX) 9:34 PM

did you use the big hand or the little hand aster

hades 9:34 PM

oh my god

Shoona (Ellie of the Stars) 9:34 PM

DRACO

hades 9:35 PM

draco is not child friendly

Draco Plato (KhyatiX) 9:38 PM

i'm sorry tear I need a PG-13 rating

Shoona (Ellie of the Stars) 9:38 PM

gives you a name tag that says "Rated R"

Draco Plato (KhyatiX) 9:39 PM

Kabocha 9:39 PM

Draco Plato (KhyatiX) 9:39 PM

R for really kid friendly how can he be late, he's a clock he's always on time

hades-Yesterday at 9:40 PM

@Draco Plato (KhyatiX)

Draco Plato (KhyatiX) 9:40 PM

loooooooooool oh dear

hades 9:40 PM

omg kabo

Draco Plato (KhyatiX) 9:40 PM

Lyall would be so proud of me

Kabocha 9:41 PM

I should have ended that with Pocketwatch saying "Don't tock to me"

Draco Plato (KhyatiX) 9:41 PM

she's just a little tick-ed off

hades 9:41 PM

omg

Draco Plato (KhyatiX) 9:42 PM

but mommy isn't that a grandfather clock and not a father clock

hades 9:42 PM

draco asking the real questions

Kabocha 9:43 PM

PFFF

Draco Plato (KhyatiX) 9:43 PM

did aster hide fox's dead body on in the inside and it's really just a glorified casket pocket watch opens it one day and his skeleton falls out aster says it wasn't time yet in a crazy delusional voice

Kabocha 9:45 PM

Draco Plato (KhyatiX) 9:45 PM

honey plz don't break your father

Masha! 9:45 PM

hello wht the fuck did I miss

[kabocha-chan]

So, uh.  I’m going to be at Galactic Con in Middletown, DE this weekend.  This’ll be a print I have.  (Well, a wider version of it anyway)

Drawn in MyPaint... Probably spent 6 hours or so on it?  I’m pleased with how it turned out, to be honest.  I really enjoy drawing Aria. :’D

Actually, one of these days, I really want to get to drawing this story -- but it DOES tie in to Linked... Eventually you’ll get to see Aria and her friends in Linked, so there’s that!

[kabocha-chan]

oh hey what am I working on lately?

my comic.  And some lace brushes.

and also another comic but I can’t really share that rn so I mean

[kabocha-chan]

Day 14.

[kabocha-chan]

Day 13 makeup. Beh.

[kabocha-chan]

Day 12. Starting to feel burnt

[kabocha-chan]

Day 11 Drawn while bored out of my mind