page 6.1: Rationalizing.

Chapter 6 - Twisting Fate

So I'm on to a new chapter in Wicked Alchemy, which means I'll be changing up the style a bit (I really enjoy the messy look, like the cover art, rather than trying to make everything cartoonish). Let's see how well I can stick to the script for this chapter. I always seem to change things up as I go... But hopefully it's at least interesting.

And reference the poem, it's been awhile since I've waxed poetic. Don't mind if I sound a little rusty. ^^;

"Enoch's wish" is up, and there's a new incentive sketch on Top Webcomics.

Just got back from vacation this morning (stepped into my house about half an hour ago). ;D Nice to be back.

... Now I have to pack and leave again tomorrow. x_X

"The Offer" is up. Also, new incentive work in progress on Top Web Comics if you vote.

I'll be on vacation starting tomorrow, until Friday or Saturday, so next week's page might be a bit delayed. :)

I forgot to mention the comic page for last week was up. >_> And Enoch is this week's incentive on TWC.

Well, it seems like I have a plethora of places to announce updates to WA, so I'd like to know what would be best for everyone. These are the places I announce it at the moment:

On livejournal ( http://labile.livejournal.com ) - no real bonus to this, except that I have a bunch of friends there (who I'm probably annoying with all these updates :D ), and you can post replies.

On Twitter ( http://twitter.com/wickedalchemy) - this has an RSS feed, so if you subscribe to @wickedalchemy you can get the updates directly on your browser toolbar (or however else you look at RSS feeds). You can also reply to posts ( using @wickedalchemy ), but I'm unsure about replying to replies, since I don't want to clutter up the feed.

On onlinecomics.net ( http://www.onlinecomics.net/pages/support.php?comicID=1813&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwickedalchemy.net%2F ) - Not really sure this is a valid option, as it doesn't seem anyone ever visits it, nor do I ever seem to get any traffic from it (even way back before the hiatus).

On the google group ( http://groups.google.com/group/refugee-alchemists/ ) - just started this, don't know how it'll work out, but it DOES have the RSS feed option like Twitter.

On the new free forums ( http://alchemists.phpbbsite.com/ ) - Not sure how much people visit this, either.

On the website itself ( http://wickedalchemy.net ) - But this requires people to visit the site, which they'd see the updates anyway. Also, I haven't gotten the comments working yet, so really no way for people to leave feedback. And no feed.

On deviantART ( http://inqy.deviantart.com ) - I dislike updating my journal every time I update a page, since it doesn't often correlate with what I'm doing on there... so the updates are usually a little late here.


Sooo... what's easiest/best? Or if there's something I haven't mentioned, let me know.

New page up! :) I'm a bit early this week, just because.

Watching.

Be sure to vote on TWC to see more of the 'watcher' from the new page.

Wicked Alchemy now has its own Twitter account (and consequently an RSS feed). If you want to follow the comic that way, go here: http://twitter.com/wickedalchemy

http://wickedalchemy.net/

New page is up today. I've also started my 'incentives' on Top Comics again. This week, if you vote (use the icon on the main page there), you'll get to see a preview of what the new Wicked Alchemy layout will look like. Hope you enjoy. :)

The gist of Wicked Alchemy.

I'd written some weeks ago about my conundrum with web comics -- giving a vague idea of why I'd stopped them, hinting at reasons other than what I'd been telling the world. Well, I'm going to shed a bit of light on everything, including my future plans (so if you don't like my rambling, go away now).

Back in 2002, I was pretty addicted to role-playing. WA was a product of the world I had created for such role-playing, and over the years it has evolved in ways I couldn't possibly have imagined when I began it. Roland (my husband) was my co-creator in this world, though he gave me executive power over it -- I was, more often than not, the Storyteller, while his characters were the main ones around which the stories were centered. In our first few months, we had developed a story for Linao, Dominick, and Aniel (my characters), and Jack and Garret (his characters). There were also a few notable friends who made it into the mix -- Tamur (belonging to my beloved friend Tamur), Manuel (who belonged to my friend Rob, and who I mercilessly killed), and Jim (belonging to the one and only Jim).

I will be the first to admit I'm a merciless Storyteller. I like to torture characters (my own and others) -- sadistically push them to their limits, and beyond. My stories are often very Lovecraftian, in that they were never meant to end well -- they were meant, in fact, to end violently, terribly, shockingly, or in ways that made it impossible for the characters to ever be the same afterward. And after awhile, it wore on Roland how much I tended to put his characters through the wringer, despite the fact that I would concede small victories to them, just to keep him interested. I'm twisted like that.

I've since changed a bit. My stories still end rather shockingly, but I've gotten better at taming them, and keeping them somewhat easy to digest. But that's neither here or there, since you're looking for reasons and conclusions.

Things happened between Roland and I, a few years ago, that changed our relationship drastically. I'm not going to place blame, because it's not important. But suffice to say, feelings were hurt all around, and I ended up losing a best friend, and nearly losing my marriage. It took a long year after that to rebuild my life, and regain any sort of relationship with my husband.

We're still together, and I'm happy enough now to be able to admit all that. But because of my personal life falling to pieces, and the fact that our mutual world is what created Wicked Alchemy, I found it difficult, almost impossible, to continue drawing it. It petered on for awhile, and when I ran out of script, I didn't have the heart to bring it up to him again to hash out some more. So I just let it die, and gave the world the premise of 'school' and 'work' as the reason.

Not that they weren't valid reasons. I've poured my heart into school and commissions instead, and I don't think I've lost too much for the sake of WA's near-death.

But a few weeks ago I finally decided it had gone on long enough, and I needed to make a decision about Wicked Alchemy, if I was ever going to be able to move on.

We talked. We re-invented Wicked Alchemy in our own minds. We hashed out new script, and new ideas. And I can say now that I am feeling very enthusiastic about breathing new life into my once-cherished artistic experiment. I have big plans for the future -- I know it's going to be a bit slow at first (due to school and a line of commissions/contract work), but now I'm back on track, I have plenty of script, and I've rekindled some of that love that I was missing.

A few of those plans (I feel happy enough to reveal) include re-designing a few of the characters. It's been a long year since I drew them, and they seem very stale to me -- so I'm going to give them a bit of my new experience. I have about 5 more pages with the current chapter, and I'll keep the characters similar until it's over, at least for coherency's sake. Then things are getting a bit of an overhaul.

The site will be slightly re-designed in the next few weeks, while I finish up with this chapter. I'll keep the rest a secret for now, but suffice to say, Wicked Alchemy is no longer near-death, nor will it be dying anytime soon. ;) Thanks to my die-hard fans that have stuck through the bad times with me -- I promise you'll be rewarded with plenty of good times to come.