Everything is so loud
music blasting
eardrums bursting
fingers buzzing
a jackhammer
to the brain
chanting someone’s name
its indiscernible–huh?
indiscernible shrieking
for joy
for cheer
for love
for hate
because you feel like it
all the talking
lips moving
shifting at the gumline
saying nothing
I can’t hear you
speak louder
say it again
shout it if you have to
drown it out if you have to
Please
I’m afraid I’ll l o s e you
between the ringing
in my head
and the cracks
in the skyline
He had to have known Lord — had enemies. Everyone in this place does, yeah? The King and advisors running about with no one watching, not like. Ever seen them? Now Lord Azhan, he’s a type. A real quiet man he is. Always writing. Or Lord Grasz. The one with the old family name? Lost the Ceremony to the current King, may a thousand hawks guide Him to eternal warmth. Ever alive is the King, may He have a long and prosperous reign.
Yes, yes, the point. My language is not rude, this is how I talk. Mean I no disrespect. My Lord, well, he has a strange gift, you see. He knows when something bad is to come. Not what it is or how but that it is. Like magic if such a thing were given to mortals. Lord Eskyil is no ordinary mortal, now, he is a very important man. So even if he did not know what the event was, he in a way knew that it was. So I said this to another or two, yeah. No negative rumors would I spread to people. I only said it to those who knew. Don’t come after me like frosthounds with winterbite, yeah? And may I not be from around here, but I was selected from my village by Lord Eskyil, before that a roofer I was. I am not fully nothing.
Fae-Dragon court of bird people? Why not!
Meet the Court of the Whistling Winds! They inhabit the mountains, and are the only court with majority flight-capable wings. Their concept is birds plus biblically accurate angeIs with eyes on their wings. They are the ‘older sibling’ court to the Glorious Cacophony. I imagine their dragon forms to be more griffon-like.
The fellow with the five bird heads is the Court Herald. I’m thinking of reducing the heads to three for ease of drawing. They have a ruff and three pairs of wings, all with a lot of eyes. Their chest is filled with holes that are inhabited by birds. The birds act as the herald’s scouts.
My Motor City Comic Con Fall 2023 table
Welcome back to another week of Industrious Illustrating! Last weekend I was selling at Motor City Comic Con Fall 2023 in the Artist Alley, which ended up being a lot slower sales-wise and traffic-wise than Youmacon was the previous weekend but still an okay profit. I think that my stuff just isn’t as popular with the comic con crowd, which makes sense since almost everything I draw fanart of is a Japanese or East Asian media property (even including Armored Core). Weirdly enough my Pacific Rim print sold way better at Youmacon than at Motor City, but I think that can also be attributed to Motor City Comic Con’s fall show having lower attendance and buying interest overall than either Youmacon the weekend before. I still hope that I can try spring MC3 in May next year since I’ve heard it’s much better attended than the fall show, but I don’t plan on doing the fall show again since it didn’t really feel worth my time or the table cost.
Something I’ve definitely noticed is that selling big-ticket items (large prints, specialty prints, deskmats) has helped increase my revenue and profits at conventions. My profits at MC3 were salvaged by several people making large purchases of multiple prints or items, and a significant chunk of my far better than expected profits at Youmacon was also people making large purchases of deskmats or multiple items at once. There’s only so many days in a convention weekend, which means that making more money means making more sales or making larger sales. Because my products are mostly for a specific niche (mecha art) rather than a broadly appealing mass market, I can’t count on making more sales at every event. However, I can count on making my art and offerings good enough to encourage larger purchases per interested customer that are worth as much as or more than several smaller purchases. That’s just my personal business strategy, though — other artists may find greater success selling lots of small cheap items that add up into good profits.
In terms of future conventions, I received acceptances for two early 2024 cons within the last few days — Anime Milwaukee and Katsucon (Washington D.C. area) — which means I will finally be branching out from Michigan/Ohio cons and traveling further away to get my work in front of more people who haven’t seen it before. This also means that a bunch of the money I just earned at Youmacon and MC3 is immediately getting reinvested back into the business since I have to book hotel rooms and transportation to get to these cons, which goes to show the importance of making a profit rather than merely breaking even. Without making a profit off of these past few cons and my online sales, I wouldn’t have enough money to both pay off personal expenses and grow my business at the same time.
Anyway, I won’t have any more cons until January, so I probably won’t be talking much more about conventions until then and I’ll focus on other art and art business-related topics. Next week I’ll discuss different ways to make prints (at-home printing, outsourcing, etc.) including a few on-campus or local options for UMich students!
Link to Part II
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Selene was trapped.
Or at least it felt that way, with how this strange deity lingered in her home. Admittedly, he had become quieter since their first encounter. She had expressed a need for time before they got on with making her a baby, and so far he was respecting her request . . . supposedly. For, while he never verbally asked for it, his presence certainly did.
Whenever she awoke, she’d find iridescent eyes peering at her through a crack in the door. While she cooked, there would be light but intent brushes against her waist. And whenever she went to take a shower, thinking he had taken a step out, she’d find him standing outside her bathroom door once she was done. His gaze would caress her damp hair, and she’d shiver uncomfortably.
Yes, he talked less, but his presence was ominous enough. Selene got the sense that she was running out of time. She didn’t even feel like having a baby anymore. Yet soon, she would have to give in and make good on her promise to offer her body and soul. She was pretty sure of how he wanted her body, but her soul . . . she feared to consider what that would entail.
One day, while Selene was at work, she overheard one of her fellow new hires saying:
“Is it crazy that I want to be a mother now? I’m only twenty-two, and men my age can never commit . . .”
Those words were familiar to Selene, as she had once said them before. They were words that had gotten her into her current predicament.
And they were words that may get her out of it.
Selene stood up with newly gained determination. She walked to her co-worker who just spoke of her desires. The other woman had soft and lovely brown waves that cascaded down her back. Her eyes were big, round, and innocent, and they gleamed a sparkling blue. She was tall with long legs. Most importantly, she was far more beautiful than Selene, and that would be Selene’s saving grace.
The next day, she went up to her personal nuisance— the Sun.
He eyed her up and down and gave her a salacious grin. “So are you finally ready?”
Selene tempered herself, putting on the mask that she had become accustomed to these past few days. Demurity.
“Oh actually, I’ve come to a realization.”
He raised his eyebrows.
“I don’t really think you would like me very much as a . . .” she struggled to find a fitting word and settled for “ . . . lover.” And she continues, “I’m pretty boring— plain even.”
“But you’ve promised yourself.” He said in a low, dangerous voice.
Selene ignored the thinning ice she was treading and pushed on. “Yes, which is why, I’ve found someone else to fulfill it for me. I’d be very sad if you were displeased with me, so I think this other woman would be much better. She’s much prettier than me, and she also wants a child and yearns for a committed man. Really she’s a far better prospect!”
She then opened her front door where her co-worker was already waiting. She smiled gracefully at the Sun as if she was delighted by his handsome appearance.
She walked forward and held her hand out, “Hello, I’m—”
And she disintegrated into ashes.
Selene screeched in horror. “Why would you do that?!”
“Do you think I’m a fool?” As the Sun spoke, the sky darkened outside. “I know what you were trying. You’re not as cunning as you think you are.”
The Sun grabbed her by her shoulders and seethed. “You’ll have to pay me tenfold now that you’ve tried to break our contract.”
He began to drag her toward her window. “You wanted a child so you will get one, and I will get you. But now, instead of just your lifetime, I will have you serving me for eternity.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Epilogue next . . .
I’m not a cat mother, I’m a cat aunt. I love my nephew dearly. We spend quality time together often, but it seems he’s been getting more and more attached lately. When my roommate (the actual cat mother) leaves for class, he will come running into my room desperate for attention. A lot of times he’ll crawl up on my lap, purring loud while I work, occasionally pawing at my typing hands as if I’ve made up a game for him to play. But my new favorite maneuver is his talent of jumping to the top of my chair; he bounces with the ferocity of a cartoon pogo stick. Afterwards, he’ll sit on the backside of the chair and stare at the back of my head. Sometimes he sets his hands on my shoulders, too, as if he’s giving me a massage and encouraging my hard work. Most of the time it hinders my work more than it helps me, but I’ll never complain about a cute cat disrupting my day. Have a great week and a great upcoming break!
