…and happy new year, all! It’s another year passing, and on the 5th Lovefeast will be 4 years old!

It’s been awfully quiet here these last couple of years. Not without reason, especially this year. I actually had to get through quite a bit of crud! Lots and lots of unstable ground, cropping up right after I’ve dealt with past difficulties! But I honestly do believe I’m better for it now.

I’ve got some more things to take care of (priorities have become pressingly more important since a few months ago). After that, updates! For this comic! And a format change that I think will be better both for the life of this comic and for anyone who reads it. I had reasons for writing it a certain way before (not necessarily good ones), but I realized just what I want to do (and, really, what I SHOULD do) with the comic now, so I’m going to do it. No more doing things the way I “think” they should. Just…getting it done. And enjoying it. You like that, right?

2012 will be a year of reconnecting with comics. I love comics these days. They excite me. I submitted to Aftershock earlier this year, which is a beautiful book with impact. I’ve still got to wrap up a short story I did originally for an anthology, as well as guest pages for Union of Heroes. I’ve gotta do what’s priority, as always — job-hunting in the quiet times was keeping me as busy as if I had a job — but I’m going back to the time where my comics were retreats and pleasures. And it’s reason to be excited.

Much love to you this coming year!

This is a WIP clipping from the next page. It’s been in the works for like a year. Crazy, huh? But it IS coming.

See, some things have been going on, and life’s not exactly going as planned. The last few years I’ve battled general fatigue, bad hardware, and a lack of discipline with regards to working from home, but right now I’m countering things that are mostly out of my control. Wish me luck, and I’ll continue to do my best!

The tides keep turning. Up until recently, I was drawing for Mysteries of the Arcana (which I reviewed here a while back). As of yet some of my pages there are still incomplete (without shading), but I am finishing them and a few other projects (freelance and otherwise) alongside working on my comics. Meanwhile, I learned some things about my capacity for drawing comics and got a much better drawing tablet to make the experience less painful. Yay!

Right now I have big priorities, which is why some of my plans for comics haven’t moved forward as quickly as I’d hoped. But my vision is clearing, so I think things should come together in the next couple of months.

Also, Fan Feature: I recently commissioned this picture from a friend as well as a fan!

Hushicho drew this! Chains is a classic action Super Hero! His power is being sexy! I fiddled around with coloring it, too. Also, fun facts: a while back, I redesigned his website. You can see it by clicking the link there! I felt like he needed a website that complements the sexy art. Nothing says “sex” like art nouveau, right?

Addendum: I changed the poll and partially rebuilt the fake OSTs using Grooveshark. If you start memorizing the songs now, you’ll be able to hear them on my next updates!

Also, this month was the first time since last year I’ve drawn any new Lovefeast pages. Yay! I would show them to you, except showing previews sometimes affects my productivity. I can’t describe it better, but there you go. You’ll see them finished when they’re ready!

A lot has been going on lately. With me, and with the world. It makes my head spin. Sometimes, I’m really not sure what to do. I’ve got people trying to influence the way I think, and I’ve got a pretty good chill going naturally, you know? I don’t need any extra or manufactured stress or worry, but sometimes, I have it. It’s strange to deal with. It’s very against my nature. What I’m talking about is drama, essentially; sometimes it surrounds me, but doesn’t actually have anything to do with me.

Sometimes it’s easier to deal with things that we know aren’t in our control, and never can be. At least, as people, we can be united that way — by realizing our human limitations, that we are human. Realizing that we all have hardships, and we don’t have to suffer them alone.

I’m making this post right now to inform you of something! Two original art pieces of mine are being sold to benefit charity. You might be interested in them! Each image links to their Etsy listing. Note: you don’t have to be signed up on Etsy to buy. I think.

Hey! Eustace’s covered in oil! I haven’t decided what specific project the sale of this piece will benefit yet — obviously I originally made it to benefit the Gulf of Mexico relief, but that was a year ago and I kind of dropped the ball timing-wise with this particular work — but I’ve narrowed it down to GlobalGiving.

I created this in response to the situation in Japan. Funds will go to the Tennessee Tomodachi Fund.  Quite a few art projects have cropped up in response to the whole situation, and it’s all pretty moving. Usually I feel as though I can’t make an impact at all anywhere, but I’ve just got to keep trying. I just want to do my little bit. Maybe along the way, I can stop being scared and learn how to really convey love.

If you think anyone besides yourself would be interested in buying these pieces, please do send them this way. I hope to sell both of these within the next week.

EDIT: …Aaand if you haven’t figured it out by now, April Fools! Just so you know, this whole thing was actually somehow spurred on by me. I sure am amused by Gods of Poo… I guess it isn’t unlikely, though, in a world such as Lovefeast’s! A big thanks to Hushi-baachan, who puts up with me for God-knows-why. <3 You may actually be seeing more from him soon. STAY TOONED!

I’m sure if you’ve actually followed this comic for any length of time, you realize that the last time I added a new page was…exactly a year ago. I apologize truly for the lack of pages, though I HAVE been working on them (actually got another sketched, yay) and OTHER EXCITING THINGS. I at least had participated in a crossover since then, and have been actively working on aspects of Lovefeast (notably, the aspects I should have worked on before launching it, lol) — see my personal Tumblr for occasional progress. I’ve shelved a couple other projects that I may not be able to keep up with and somehow acquired more (only to my benefit, and importantly to others’) but my Game Plan as far as updating this comic is concerned remains. Even if it does pan out slowly. I’m learning that anything is better than nothing and chipping away at whatever mental deficiency is keeping me from drawing more often — and hence keeping me from improving.

Here’s the deal: unfortunately, cash is important right now, and jobs are always going to take precedent over this comic. But I’m learning. I’m managing my time. Things have grown unstable and taken turns I hoped they never would have, but I can deal with it now. I pretty much have to. Please bear with me.

I’ll throw it out there that if you toss me a bit of cash, I’ll sketch you a headshot or something. My commissions page details what I can do, but you can also negotiate if you’re on a budget!

Anyway, I’m going to leave up this silly page until I feel like taking it down (it will always be in Fanstuff, under doujinshi), probably next week. Thanks for visiting. Baachan thanks you, too. <3

End note 1: here’s a new comic that just started, by the same author of Shades of Grey, a comic I adored. It’s LeyLines!

End note 2: a slightly NWS new page’s sketch. Compare to page 1 and determine which is more interesting!

It’s been a while since I’ve featured fanart! It’s about time I did. Hushicho, author of Incubus Tales (nsfw), is a great artist and a wonderfully sweet guy; I requested that he draw me a few things, because I was feeling brazen, and he drew me four! Since he and I have been talking, we have been plotting some wonderfully silly, fun things to put out soon, and hope you look forward to it! What we have planned is destined for infamy.

Fun fact: the current vote incentive is actually something else he drew!

As a note, apart from the big pic I posted, the other three links there are sort of not-work-safe. Unless you work at a place where there are naked people all the time, in which case give me your job.

This is something I sketched a long time ago for one of my projects, the Webcomics Tarot Project. It’s Hibiku as the Star, for some reason. I’m starting this card over now because my new idea makes more sense, and also because I wasn’t too thrilled with this one to begin with (anatomy, o lawd). But I spent a lot of time on it anyway, so I’m posting it. It’s cute, right?

The aforementioned project recently had a semi-reboot in which a lot of slots re-opened and has had great activity since then! I probably should have mentioned that here sooner, but nonetheless, all the slots refilled in 3 days and I anticipate a lot more great contributions. I’m seriously glad I started it. :D

Happy Valentine’s Day! Enjoy this picture, inspired by a classic pinup! (It’s not completely finished yet because I’m not feeling well. But the final version will soon be available to download high-resolution! Don’t forget about last year’s valentine, too!)

I should mention that Lovefeast can now be found at www.lovefeast-comic.com. The WordPress-based archives still default to lovefeast.senshuu.com because it’s a pain in the ass to change it (actually, I just found out that it’s very simple, so I changed that, too; but the following is still true), so the old URL will still work for some time. If you link, I would still recommend that you do update the url! Because that URL is pretty much forever. :D

To accompany this lovely Valentine’s post, here is another highly amusing story made by a Smut Generator I plugged my characters into. I say it’s highly amusing because it’s ALMOST like something that could really happen. ALMOST. Just click “read more”.

“The Lotion Bottle Incident”

Late one evening, Chains was walking upstairs, tired from a long day spent playing dodgeball with Sana. Chains sighed, exhausted but unwilling to sleep. Recently his nights had been filled with vivid dreams of spooning Eustace, stroking his gorgeous bellybutton with his testes. Mmm, thinking about Eustace was having an immediate effect on Chains’s anatomy. He loosened his clothes to stroke lightly at his testes, and was just starting to enjoy it when Sana came suddenly into sight. Thinking fast, Chains ducked silently in the refridgerator.

As Sana went on his way, Chains paused to look around and realised that he wasn’t alone. Eustace was there beside him. He was about to speak, when he realised that Eustace hadn’t noticed his arrival. For good reason! Eustace was sprawled half naked at Chains’s feet, groaning as though engaged in a bout of grinding and rubbing his bellybutton vigorously. Chains blushed and waited for Eustace to finish, not quite resisting the urge to touch his own bellybutton in sympathy. Finally Eustace’s back arched and he climaxed loudly, crying out ‘Chains!’ Chains coughed.

‘What are you doing here?’ Eustace said.

‘I was just passing,’ Chains replied with an unconvincing smile.

‘Oh well, I suppose you had to find out eventually.’

‘Find out what?’

‘That ever since we met I’ve been dashing in here to play with my bellybutton and pretend you were doing it.’ Eustace sighed, but didn’t look too upset, perhaps because he’d spotted Chains plucking thoughtfully at his own bellybutton. Chains felt suddenly bold.

‘Touching your own bellybutton is nice,’ he said, ‘but wouldn’t you rather rub it against my testes?’ Eustace’s eyes grew huge.

‘Of course, but I thought you wouldn’t be interested.’

‘What made you think that?’

‘I’ve seen the nude photomanips of Donna that you keep your cabin.’

‘Oh, that. No, I made them for Sana so he’d have something to do other than playing dodgeball with me.’

‘What’s wrong with playing dodgeball?’

‘Nothing, I’d just rather have a night of spooning with you.’

Meanwhile . . .

. . . Hibiku was hanging around secret dungeon when she heard a sudden cry from upstairs. Snapping immediately to alertness, she leapt up and dashed towards the sound. It sounded as though Eustace was in serious danger! Within seconds, she’d almost reached the source of the cries. She dashed forward only to reel back at the sight of Chains and Eustace naked in front of her. Chains was sprawled over Eustace, trying to pull some sort of lotion bottle out of his peehole!

‘What’s going on?’ she said, shocked.

Chains looked worried.

‘This was spooning Eustace,’ he said, ‘when he asked me to use the lotion bottle on him. I did, but then it got stuck.’

‘I didn’t mean stick it into my peehole,’ Eustace complained, ‘it’s supposed to be used on your nostril.’ Chains tried to pull the lotion bottle out again, and Eustace groaned and kicked him.

Hibiku looked down at the struggling men. She felt slightly jealous. After all, she’d often wanted to try a little spooning with Chains herself. Still, Eustace looked so helpless with the abused lotion bottle sticking out of his peehole that she couldn’t remain angry for long.

‘Perhaps I should help,’ she offered. ‘After all, it can’t stay there forever.’ Chains looked up at her with a combination of embarrassment and gratitude.

‘I’ll hold Eustace by the elbow while you grab hold of the lotion bottle.’

Nodding, Hibiku knelt and took hold of the lotion bottle. It was slightly warm, as though Chains had been using it on his testes.

‘Pull!’ Chains shouted.

‘Ouch!’ Eustace cried as the lotion bottle came out with a loud BLAZZAMMM!!!

‘Thank you Hibiku,’ Chains and Eustace both said at once.

‘No problem,’ Hibiku said with a grin. ‘Would you mind if I kept the lotion bottle as a souvenir?’

‘Yes, I would,’ Eustace said. ‘I’m using it on Chains tomorrow.’

‘Ah well,’ Hibiku said, regretfully. She gave a last saucy wink to Chains and headed off in the direction of secret dungeon. She’d be thinking about Chains and the warm lotion bottle for a long time to come.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
-Margaret Mead

Monday, January 11th is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. To participate, we formed the Comic Creator’s Alliance–a group of over eighty comic book creators (both web and print) who volunteered our artistic talents to raise money and awareness for this cause. You may not know it, but there are currently 27 million enslaved people worldwide- more than double the number of enslaved Africans during the trans-Atlantic slave trade. UNICEF estimates that 1.2 million children every year are sold into slavery, most of it sexual. The US Department of Justice estimates 16,000 victims of human trafficking are brought into the United States every year. Unlike slavery in the 19th century, what is happening today is happening in secret. So it won’t end until awareness is raised, and people like you and me take a stand.

So here’s what we did: each creator contributed a Brady Bunch-style bust of one of our own female characters and combined them into a single wallpaper image. The wallpaper features characters from lots and lots of online comics of many sorts! Donate today to download this unique, once-in-a-lifetime wallpaper! This year you can even buy a print! The Donations Drive will last for two weeks, from January 11th – 24th. All proceeds will be split evenly between Love146 and Gracehaven House – two organizations working on rehabilitation of victims and prevention of this crime.

To learn more about the Comic Creator’s Alliance visit comicalliance.weebly.com. To learn more about the problem, visit love146.org/slavery. (Note: contains adult themes and actual accounts of sex slavery.)

It’s Eustace as Ebeneezer Scrooge and Chains as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. But by the looks of things, he’ll be coming soon… Right? Am I Right?? …I’m horrible.

Chains and Ronou (from my other comic) wish you a very happy holiday!

What? The holidays are pretty much over? Pssh, that won’t stop me from posting this message! I hope you felt great this month!

I was waylaid by a great many things in December, and it almost feels as if the better part of this year didn’t even happen now. Some of it was bad (I can rarely say that about my life, and hesitate to even now), and I didn’t even get to work on any new comic pages this month (except slightly). The new year approaches, however — and I want to start it off on a good foot. Wish me luck! I’m keeping to my Game Plan!

I did kind of get you guys a gift, though in ways it’s really for me, too. I could write a big explanation for this, but to keep it (kinda) short, the majority of pages in the archives had a problem with them — a whole bunch of them were unproportional to the way I intended to draw them because of the way I configured my old monitor. Everything I viewed was stretched, but with most things you wouldn’t be able to tell until you compared the screen to another screen, or a printout! Imagine SD TV output on an HDTV… except the opposite, because everything was stretched vertically.

Anyway, this means some rushed or less-than-stellar pages were even worse than I thought, and those little differences I noticed between seeing my comic as it was drawn on my main monitor and how pages looked on my laptop were actually there; I was NOT crazy. After that, I vowed not to skew monitor proportions anymore.

I’m mentioning this because I fixed all the pages in Chapter 1 now, as well as the Cast page pics. It bothered me too much NOT to fix. And some of the pages that were incomplete that I never wrapped up the shading on are also more or less fixed now, too, except for page 1-20! Sorry for leaving pages incomplete for so long.

Here’s a subtle example of that stretching thing I mentioned:

Page 1-14. I was gonna save a better subtle example, but I saved over all my other old files before I thought of it. Here’s a less subtle example, in which I fixed other things:

See, I don’t want to leave pages looking bad. Some things in some pages had been bothering me for a long time, but I needed time to fix them. And now I have — tweaking even more than just the proportion issue. Torsos too long, heads too misshapen, uncolored pages, etc. I need to re-typeset some of the pages, too, because the font I have been using has too many limitations (I think I’ve finally settled on a new one).

I’ll be going at new pages with my best (and try not to post really incomplete pages, even if it means being a bit late). I hope you like.

Speaking of “like”, I added Facebook Like buttons on all the pages in the archive, right next to that little orange share button beneath the comic. Like away!

Thanks for sticking around! I heart you all!

You may know that I have two webcomics. One webcomic is time-consuming, and two are utterly so. But I don’t want to quit one or put the other on a hiatus, even after so much deliberation on it.

So, I plan on alternating months spent working on pages for them. Starting January, I will only work on pages for one comic. February, I will work on the other comic exclusively. And so on. (Side art and other things for either comic can be at any time; I don’t think I could manage limiting that.) Updates will still come once weekly, with however many comics I finish/am close to finishing determining how many pages are added per update. I think this is the best way to keep any consistency, and I hope it goes well. I plan to work fervently. In February, I start with this comic. (But I will be working on some of it December as well. Hopefully there will be an update of some form before Christmas.)

And, put simply, if I don’t finish very many comics in one month, there may be fewer updates. If that happens, I still won’t break the routine. I’ve just got to go with it.

For both my comics, planning is way ahead of the game, but execution is a big hang-up. I want to get over that.

Thanks for still visiting/reading. :D

While you’re here, a plug! Shishinkontan is Rekka’s next big comic project, and you should check it out. It’s got Japanese mythology and great character design. I’m all over it. You should definitely add it to your list of things to read.