#serpentsong.com

[slithergaunt]

A blast from the past. An old post by my good friend @psshaw that has stayed with me through the years. Comics are tremendously hard work and offer very little reward, but when people ask me why I spend so much time and effort making them when there's so little to gain, I can only say "This is what it feels like to be a God."

[thelaughingserpent]

Serious Serpent Song question:

Is it too much for a straight man to have the only 2 romance plots in his graphic novel series be lesbian ones?

To clarify, so far only 1 of the romances is integral to its character's storylines. The other is underlying, subplot at best.

Despite being a straight man, my biggest problem is that I barely know diddly shit about heterosexual relationships. I've never had one, and a majority of my friends are LGBT+. At this point i've spent more time among the LGBT+ community than anything else, and I'm noticing a trend where I default to it in my fiction.

I've found the big secret of LGBT+ romance has always been that it's essentially the same as hetero romance, (Gasp! Who knew?!) with all the same complexities and nuances.

But from the reader's point of view, what business do I have making it such a huge part of my fiction? While LGBT+ representation is sorely needed in comics, I feel like its often problematic when its constantly through a Straight White Male lens. Not to say there aren't creators who've pulled it off, but oftentimes it'll have an exploitative or fetishistic intent behind it.

If I do it right, ideally the results will speak for themselves, but on the surface it doesn't look quite right. I don't think I have any hetero characters yet, and the only romance that'll receive real attention in the plot so far is a lesbian one. And I know how it looks to have a straight dude write a story with a prominent lesbian couple, let alone two.

I think that as far as romance plots go, it isn't what the overall story is 'about', and at the end of the day, Serpent Song won't suffer from having zero romance plots (the main lesbian plot in question is not the main character's). I actually appreciate stories that have the guts to get rid of romance plots entirely, and part of me wants to see that.

But I'm at the point in writing two characters who either are or aren't going to derive a lot of their development from this plot, and I feel like that decision needs to be made before I bulldoze ahead.

Should I eliminate all these plots altogether, or should I just stick with what I'm familiar with and not worry about how it'll look?

Honestly, this story's romance plots are gonna be either solely LGBT+ , or nothing at all. I'm not interested in heterosexual plot lines in my fiction, largely because they've been ubiquitous since the dawn of time, but also because I'm so woefully unfamiliar with them. As weird as it is, writing about heterosexual relationships always feels like I'm bullshitting quite a bit of it. 'Traditional' ideals of masculinity and femininity are so incredibly absent from the lives of myself and basically everyone I know.

I realize that this isn't so much me worrying about whether I'll pull it off, but rather how it'll LOOK to the average reader. I know ideally I should just go with what comes naturally to me, but this is something that I desperately don't want to fuck up...

And boy howdy, this is something that A LOT of straight male creators have fucked up.

The graphic novel in question, seen here.

[slithergaunt]

Serpent Song: ch3 pages 16-18

Chuz reveals his scheme.

Casting call for bandits (members of the Bloody Braid Sisters or otherwise) is still open for all Patreon donors.

If you wanna have your own character added to future scenes, consider becoming a 1$ donor and get access to the character creator kits. There are 9 races to choose from currently, each kit also contains lots of juicy lore about the races that hasn’t been shown in the story yet.

I’m enjoying drawing new Serpent Song pages more than ever before, and I’d love nothing better than to be able to do it full-time again. Every buck makes a difference, and I appreciate you guys bearing with me as I get back into the swing of things.

<3

[slithergaunt]

Serpent Song: ch3 pg13

A villain arrives. Stheno might be a monster by nature, but Darumi’s a professional.

Added these new pages to SerpentSong.com, and after getting a more stable financial situation, I think I can start doing them regularly again.

If you wanna see these early, and get your own character added to the story, consider donating to the ol’ Patreon.

<3

[slithergaunt]

Serpent Song ch3 new pages 4/27/18

Like a stubborn itch.

Serpentsong.com

Support the ongoing series on Patreon

[slithergaunt]

Serpent Song: Patron character Timur

A Patreon character created by @darklordreasonable, a Luhabra named Timur who lives in House Kazacht. He’s one of the Rot-eaters, a sub-breed of Luhabra often shunned and reviled for their diet of carrion. Their eating habits are much more accepted in House Kazacht, whose desert-dwelling citizens have a respect for such a survival tactic. Timur uses his natural gift of flight to help map even the most remote corners of the vast Mahhatad desert.

If you’d like to support the series AND get a character of your own included in the continuity of the story (with monthly updates), consider joining the ol’ Patreon.

More info on the character kits HERE!

Check out the comic so far HERE!

[slithergaunt]

Serpent Song 2nd edition

Hi folks! Quick announcement: I’m selling a limited run of 25 signed copies of Serpent Song 2nd edition, which collects all of chapters 1, 2, and the first four pages of 3 in a nice 68 page 8x10 paperback (as opposed to the 1st edition’s 38 pages). It includes a new prologue and a few pages previously only available to Patreon folks.

Each one comes signed and includes a personal unique character sketch, as well as some extra goodies.

They’re $30, PayPal only, and can be shipped anywhere in the U.S. (I’ll hopefully be able to ship internationally in the future.)

If you’re interested in one, send an email to [email protected] with your shipping address and I’ll send a PayPal invoice and receipt.

At the moment I only have 25 of these set aside, so get ‘em while they’re hot! The regular book will be available online (probably Amazon) in the near future, but these are for anyone who’s interested in owning signed copies with a little extra personalized artwork included.

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Thanks so much to everyone who has supported and spread the word about this wacky passion project of mine. Hopefully the series will continue on and give me more excuses to draw the really crazy weird monstrous shit that I love. Thanks so much for your support!

<3

Serpentsong.com

Patreon

Commissions

[slithergaunt]

Serpent Song: new pages 7/21/17

Latest heist: so far so good.

The whole comic is up on Serpentsong.com

Any way you can help share and spread the word will be greatly appreciated. While Serpent Song is my passion project, it also has functioned as my portfolio for the past couple of years. I wanna get it in front of as many people, possible publishers, agents, and other artists as possible.

You can help support the series on Patreon!