Page 13 - Bad Doggy! Also SOG RPG!

It's finally here! I am VERY excited to announce that work on the SoG Forum RPG is complete enough for people to start building their characters. I have some exciting story-lines ready to go once there are enough participants (5 - 8). As an added incentive, I will give free character sketches to the first 5 people to get me their character stats! If you've ever wanted to get a closer look into the SoG world, NOW IS YOUR CHANCE! Roleplayers must be enrolled in the SoG forum in order to participate. Just visit the Forum, look at the Roleplaying section, and click on "Shades of Grey RPG" to get started. OR Just Click HERE.. I can't wait to see what you come up with!

The new year steadily approaches. For my part on this Winter Holiday, I am getting antsy. My family and I live on the side of a mountain, you see, and for the past...oh...week and half we've been snowed in. Soooooo yeah. Going slightly mad. I guess it's given me time to work on the RP, tho, which was something I've been wanting to do for the past 6 months but never had the time for. UNfortunately, the iMac I ordered STILL hasn't arrived. No computer means no scanner means progress on book Two remains at a stand-still. I HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN IT! Nor have I forgotten my contest winners and their requests. I am sorry for the delay. When I started the contest in the Summer I had NO idea how difficult my senior year in college was going to be. "Easiest Year" they said. HA. Well, it might prove to be an easy second semester, although even that isn't certain. At least I have non-Engineering courses this time. It'll be nice to use my brain for things other than "what size valve does this system require?" or "How much power can this silicon chip produce without destroying itself if it is subjected to convection, has a cooling block, experiences contact resistance with the board, and radiation cannot be ignored?" Yeah. Words that are not science/math words are good. I like them. They make Robin happy.

ANNNNNNNNNND scene. If you missed the Christmas Gift, check the post previous to this or look at the Gallery. They'll be there. Waiting for you. With kisses. Especially Bells. That smarmy blighter.

Happy Holidays! Also, Kill You Page 12

And what better way to celebrate the Holidays than with Gaudy Half-Naked Men and Women? Lovers of men in ridiculously tight bright outfits should have a look at the Jingle Bells and Bows WP (just click on the Bells and Bows icon above) and lovers of ladies in lingerie are recommended to choose the Pain and Despair WP. Hope you enjoy them! (Also, Cody, I hope they meet with your approval. It was your idea, after all!)

Page 11 - The Meeting

The pages following this one are different than the ones I originally made. I drew pages 12 and 13 and promptly fell into a creative funk until I threw out what I had made and re-worked it. You will see the re-works, but I might make the original pages available as vote incentives.

In other news, I'm home for the Holidays! Huzzah! While I'm here, I'll be working on two Winter Sexy Specials for you, as per a reader request. To you, Cody, my hat is tipped.

Page 10 - Light Switch

Originally I was going to do pages and pages with the dramatic light source from page 9. However, it got really tedious really fast (as in, after a page) so I added in the light-switch as an after-thought so I could go back to the easy lighting. Lazy? Damn Skippy I am.

Return of our favorite Cheshire molester!

And Beast is BACK! It's funny that Beast is returning, actually. I originally meant only for him to be a Mist creation of all the people Brand associated with fear; namely Hans, Grey, and himself (Id). However, Beast took on a much more aggressive and assertive personality once I started writing him/her/it. A personality too casually evil to leave alone once I'd found it.

As for the last page, based on comments it seems that most of you were getting the plot stuff fine and the emotion stuff fine. I particularly wanted the "I love you too" response to be bittersweet. That pause seemed to have the desired effect, so I'm pleased that those feelings came across to most of you. Great catch on details in prior pages, too. I was impressed that someone made the connection between events in page 8 and the events that occurred in previous pages. Well done!!

PANTS! And other odiments

Update's a little late today, but I have a good reason! I made PANTS! They're awesome. I took some photos so you could see why the update is late. Is my fashion sense in real life as odd as in my comic? You decide!

ALSO updated the podcast with a new RWR. Khan and I sit down and discuss the true nature of villainy. What defines a villain? What sets a quality villain apart from a poor villain? How could the bounds of villain definition be pushed? What do we conclude (or not)? Listen to the most recent RWR to find out!

Finally, regarding this page, I'm not sure that it says exactly what I wanted to say. I don't want to SAY what I wanted it to say, because it might ACTUALLY say what I thought it would. Or it could make people completely miss the point. So I'll wait and see what it says to YOU before I say what I meant it to say from ME.

Hans' Head

There was discussion in tha forum about Hans = Bullshitter. I proposed, instead, the following state of mind, and thought I would share it with the rest of you here.:

Let's say you have a person who is emotionally unstable. Let's say that person continually attempts to commit suicide. Do you hand that person a gun, a bottle of aspirin, and a bunch of sharp pointy objects? No. Do you just walk away and leave them alone? If you care, still no. Do you do your best to prevent them from hurting themselves, even if that's against their wishes? Probably yes.

The fact that you might be CAUSING the problem wouldn't occur to a lot of people. You're the "Good Guy" here. You're "Rescuing" the unstable person. Without you, this unwell person would be dead by now.

And of COURSE this unwell person loves you. He loved you before, so he loves you now. This suicide thing is something new. So you try to be supportive, and maintain your routine. Do nice things for him, take him to dinner, go on walks in the park and, yes, have a little horizontal tango time.

Why can't people see what a nice guy you are?

Glory unto Nothingness

Today I did NOTHING. And it was GLORIOUS. Well, most of the day. I got up at 6 and gave a presentation at 7 that lasted until 8, but after that? NOTHING. I played Starcraft for hours, visited with friends, and watched Boon dock Saints for the first time. Which was a very thought provoking film for me. Then I updated. That's it. No homework, no studying, no labs. Do you know how long it has been since I did that? NEITHER DO I! BWHAHAHAHA!

Eeeeeyeeah. So it'll be back to the grind tomorrow, but today? Today has been glorious.

Page 6

I don't know why, but this is one of my favorite pages of this set. I guess I just like Hans' "Oh, not ah-GEN!" outlook. And in case you're wondering, yes, Brand has attempted to kill himself many times before this. Also, if you have no heart, you have no need to breathe. Thus drowning yourself face-up becomes a little easier.

ALSO if you left a comment this week and didn't see it appear under comments, that's because I had something set wrong. It's fixed (I hope) and I will reply to any comments/questions that were left in the last post if need be. Sorry for the delay.

AND: To answer the "What's up with the style question" (and this is the LAST time I am answering it):

Each part in this chapter will have a different style. The SoG reason is to create different moods for different people. The personal reason is to expand my range. I felt that I was getting stagnant. This part of the story gives me a chance to expand my current skill set by using different styles that have different strengths and weaknesses. Otherwise, I'll get frustrated and bored. Generally, frustrated and bored creators stop creating. Therefore, I'm challenging myself artistically so I can grow, and you can still get comics. Ka-peesh?

And comments are GO!

Huzzah! RekKa, the most awesomely awesome person EVARH, helped me set up an imbedded SoG BloG with comments feature! So now I can post announcements, you can post comments, and everybody goes home happy. Except for those that don't, because you can't ever please EVERYONE. Such is the way of the world, le sigh.

ANNNND as a big thank you to RekKa, go VISIT HER COMIC! The art is fantastic, particularly for those of you who like a manga style, and she's on the cusp of flinging one character into moral peril. So go check it.