This next update is likely to be the last one! If you have a question for me or the characters as the comic ends at last, now’s the time to ask! You can drop your question in the blog askbox or in the comments on this post!
You may ask as many questions as you like, or none at all! I won’t be fussed at all if it’s a small crop. ❤
Hi, guys! I’m revving up to start drawing again, and Chapter 9 will be kicking off soon. I hope you’re all excited for the end of the story!
Life is going okay for me overall, but I’ve got some big stuff going on artwise behind the scenes, so I’m opting back into the Every Other Monday schedule for now! At least now the banner will be accurate… >.>
We have one more guest artist to go, so I’ll save my effusive thanks on that front for the upcoming Monday!
One last thing: I’ve already plotted out my no-spoilers retrospective essay for when the comic’s done! I’ll make it available as a written piece and a video, and I want it to be the first thing people see before they read the comic in the future. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while, and it seems like the best way to reconcile my discomfort over some aspects of the comic with not wanting to immediately yank it out from under long-term readers.
Here’s the outline in Google Docs, as a treat:
//sits down, ostentatiously crosses legs
Hello friends, neighbors, and readers! Chapter 7 looks like it’s gonna be a short one–just a few more updates to go–so by all means, if there’s anything you’d like to ask me or the characters, go for it!
(That’s a link to the askbox of the WitS blog on Tumblr, but you can also leave comments on this post if you’re so inclined.) And if you want to look at the previous Q&A posts to see what I’ve already answered, you can check out the Archive page for links!
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Unrelated: I didn’t manage to make a lot of the changes to the site that I wanted, but I hope one day to get my rear in gear and email back the person who offered to do transcripts.
I went through a weird patch after Chapter 6 where I was feeling pretty gray about this comic, but with the rest of the story planned out and ready to go, and only two chapters and an epilogue to go after Chapter 7, I think I can make it happen. Especially if I can keep up this pace!
Thank you for all your support and comments, they mean the world to me. ❤
For a variety of reasons, I didn’t get any of the site fixes I was hoping for done. I still wanna do transcriptions, but WordPress ain’t gonna let me change the code unless I upgrade my subscription, and I can’t figure out if I really wanna spend more money just for a few tweaks.
The comic going forward:
The break after Chapter 6 has been kind of a weird limbo period for WitS. I never expected it to be a masterpiece, so I’m not fussed that it isn’t one, but I do kind of itch sometimes to start one of my better-planned higher-quality back burner projects. So the comic from here on out is a bit of a compromise–drawing faster and looser, less hatching, using a brush pen to fill in large black areas. Hopefully this’ll git ‘er done sooner rather than later.
Most importantly, a question for the readers:
The comic is coming back the week after next! I’m gonna try and go for weekly updates–that’s five pages a week. Would you guys prefer that in batches on Monday, or should I try it one page at a time, Monday through Friday?
Between Chapters 6 and 7 of WitS we have some truly excellent guest art lined up!! Seriously, I can’t wait to share it with you guys, I’m really blessed to have these artists helping me out. ❤
In the meantime, my main concern is making this site (and WitS as a whole) a better experience for y’all. I’d love some feedback on the following points of interest! Plus anything else you can think of!
-I’d like for people to be able to go to the next page just by clicking the one they’re on (I dunno if you guys care but I get mad when I can’t do that, lol)
-I’m interested in adding transcripts to each page! And/or publishing a version of it somewhere with typed text rather than hand-written, since some people have trouble with reading handwriting. This would be quite and undertaking and also it would be very tempting for me to fix some of my own dialogue, so if anyone is interested in assisting that’d be rad.
-Content warnings!!! Both on the pages themselves and in the About page and possibly on the Archive page, just to be like…hey, this comic contains emotional and sometimes physical abuse, and these are the specific pages that feature it.
-Related: if you receive news of the updates on this website via RSS or email, what would be the best way for me to include warnings? Would you see them in the title if I added them there?
-Also also: how would y’all feel about me posting updates in five page chunks? As in, you’d read five pages all in one go, click the next button, read five more in a chunk. I’m kinda tempted to do that with upcoming chapters so that there are no issues with having to go back to the beginning of the most recent update.
A few things, just some general housekeeping:
Thank you all so much for reading!! We’re leaving on a tense note…Cross has convinced Ada to double down on her bad decision, Khimaera’s stress levels are through the roof, and all Kaursson and Chazei’s progress seems to have been undone!
This is gonna be some party…
Now that the chapter is over, it’s time for another Q&A! Curious about a plot thing? Want some worldbuilding info? Got a pressing question for one of the characters? Leave your questions here, on the WitS Extras blog!
We’ll also be kicking off with one gorgeous piece of guest art that I’ve been waiting all chapter to share with y’all! It’s gonna be a real good time. ❤ WitS proper will return with its usual update schedule on 10/29/’18, or on the 22nd for my wonderful supporters on Patreon, who will be two updates ahead as usual.
There are now two War in the Shade art collections available to buy (for $5 each) on Gumroad! Overall that makes 100+ pages of extra content, from research to VERY early sketches to clothing/environment/character concepts to story doodles to teasers about the future… And just random sketches, because I love drawing my characters! So anyway, if you want to support War in the Shade, this is a great way to do it!
War in the Shade 