There’s a new vote incentive this week featuring some doodles from my sketchbook explaining Kenakobe armor. It’s not terribly complex stuff, but you work with what you’ve got when you’re out there trying to survive!

(Remember to Vote for Hive! Hive Votes now has a fancy Twitter widget so you can check up on what the latest updates are!)

On the forum, there’s a new thread for Chapter Nine stuff I might post while working. Right now there’s a preview for page 2. You need a forum account to view it, but it’s free and easy to join!

I think I’m going to continue the twice a week updates for now because I like the pace the comic is moving at, and it’s really not that much more challenging to do two updates a week. If I had tried this a few years back it never would have worked, but I’ve hit a point where it comes pretty easily now. I might reinstate the donations/shop option for extra pages on top of the regular two, but we’ll see how it goes.

Check back Friday for the next page! (Or check the forum and be spoiled.)

I am currently moving house and am having the busiest week of my life since my wedding in August, so I’d like to apologize for the lack of commentary to accompany the past couple of updates, along with the lack of new voting incentives. I’ve only just gotten access to some very basic internet for a while, but nothing super solid for at least a few weeks.

We are quickly approaching the end of the chapter! (I am so glad I drew up a buffer while I had the time…) Nekos is finally getting around to explaining himself, thankfully! When I originally wrote the story, I had wanted to play on the idea of the supernatural as if it were a more everyday happening. The Messengers are, of course, based on the concept of angels, but there’s more to it than that. I find the idea behind those ghost-hunting shows kind of interesting, if possibly misguided, and kind of wanted to play on that idea as well. A lot of it has to be faked, but sometimes people truly believe they’ve witnessed something from the other side. I’ve watched stuff like that since I was a kid (Unsolved Mysteries, anyone?) and always found it fascinating to note the ways that people believe the dead manifest themselves in our world, whether it’s through voices on a tape recorder or knocking over objects. Why would a ghost want to communicate that way? Maybe they have to communicate that way. Stories like these, along with ideas from various mythologies spawned the ideas behind the Messengers, and the rules for why they exist and what they do. There’s much more to it than Nekos is getting into here, as you’ll see eventually.

That’s all I’ve got for now. Stay warm, have a fantastic holiday, and come back for the double update during Christmas week! (There’s a normal update this Monday as well, but I just wanted to note the extra in case I don’t get back to the internet right away.)

There are new previews up in the members-only section of the forum for next week’s page.

The new incentive isn’t up because I’m just not ready. It’ll be up soon. I’ll twitter about it when it’s ready. In unrelated and pointless news, I drew some little link icons for the top of the right-side column so you can quickly link to stuff like Messenger at twitter and facebook. How useful!

Here’s hoping that everyone (who is an American) has a delicious Thanksgiving this week! I know I’m looking forward to it. :9