There was a black-out for over two days this past weekend that completely messed with my groove, so I've hardly got anything finished. x_x Come back on Sunday for the update! I'm sorry D:
EDIT SUNDAY: Aaunggghh no update yet because I really really gotta finish these pre-order sketches and ship out all the books and stuff before I leave for Otakon since I'm going to Taiwan for a month right after that. D;
Time for class, children!
As mentioned last week, starting from this update up through the next few updates, I'll be posting several pages worth of written articles explaining the World of the Alatus Insitute for the weekly installments. These are not necessary for you to read because all of these aspects of Alatus will be explained in the pages themselves when they become relevant to the plot, but if you're really anxious to know how things work, then I guess here's your chance to educate yourself? ;D
This week is a brief overview of the Alatus Institute as well as the four main teachings offered in the high school. Next week you'll get to read about how exactly the Student Council members apply these teachings in practice. :D
Umm no vote incentives yet because I've been working on the sketch requests for the pre-orders. I know I said I'd start sending them out on the 5th, but here I am two weeks past the date, still working on these sketches. >_o I'm terribly sorry about the inconvenience, and I'll try to get these done as soon as possible to send out!
This is it! Unit 1 has officially concluded! And no plans of completely restarting the comic in the near and distant future to boot! In terms of page count, this revisions of the comic has officially surpassed all previous revisions; one more chapter and surpass the last major predirection in plot content as well! This isn't the last you'll see of Unit 1 though. Make sure to come back on Sunday, August 6th to see what I'm talking about; it is the fifth anniversary of Directions of Destiny! :>
...And yes. The site layout has been revamped. It's not all that different from the previous layout though; basically I just wanted the site to look less cluttered and have a more streamlined look. Hopefully it makes browsing a little more enjoyable!
Since I'll be going to Otakon, it'll probably be a good idea to have more illustrations to sell as prints and posters. So this week for the vote incentives, there's a sketch I did back in April which I plan to colour in time for Otakon, and a work-in-progress of a revised illustration.
(Don't worry, I WILL go back to working on vote incentive requests!)
Note to people who ordered the book: the final shipment of books JUST arrived on Tuesday >_o! I still need to finish a lot of pre-order bonus sketches though, but hopefully I'll be able to ship them all out over the next few days into following week.
I originally planned on putting up all my fan art, but at the moment I'm kind of sick of looking at HTML code. XD() That and scanning all the ones I got from Anime Expo will take another hour probably, and uh. I'm sleepy. Aheheh.
For the next few weeks (while I take time to get Unit 2 scripted properly >_>) I'll be updating the site content as well as having sketches and blurbs about the Alatus Institute; what goes on in a day at Alatus, how things such as summoning and magic work, etc. It's stuff that will be explained in the story eventually anyway when it becomes relevant, but I guess if you're really curious to know about it NOW, well, maybe the next few updates will answer some of your questions. :>
Well, time for me to do more sketches @_@!
Does anybody going to Otakon this year have space in their hotel room for Rachel and me?
Anime Expo was amazing this year! Not only was my table partner, Dina, one of the most awesome girls ever, I was also able to meet so many of my readers, as well as gain new readers! In addition, I'm actually making enough money so that I will be able to travel to Otakon this year!
Dina already said that she'll share her table with me again, however because of the short notice, there are no hotel rooms available! D: I really want to be able to meet my east coast readers though, and I still have many books available to sell! So as I had mentioned earlier, anybody who would be willing to share their hotel room with my friend Rachel and me will have my eternal gratitude (and maybe some sexual favors free drawings/books/other Directions of Destiny paraphernalia? :D()). Of course we'll pay for our share of the hotel room cost as well--as long as you've got a couch or a floor for us to crash for the night near the convention center (and as long as you're not a psychopath XD), we're happy! @_@
Anyway. WELCOME TO MY NEW READERS WHO HAPPEN TO BE BROWSING THE SITE. :D And to my existing readers who pre-ordered, I-I still need to get my next shipment books (I had the printer rush out the first 200 copies to make it to Anime Expo, and the remaining copies sent via ground to save on expenses), so I won't be able send those out until they get here. >_o Should be soon though; they were sent out last Friday so they'll get here by this weekend?
And no new vote incentives this week--my apologies D:()
...Well. Time to relax for a bit! <3