Really happy with the way it came out. Keep coming back to look at it.

I sent him a copy for feedback but lately he’s been as elusive as Aurora Giselle SanDiego, so I may not hear back for a while: you guys get to give the feedback.

I had the pose and a vague idea of the setting before I started. I only had to change it slightly so the scenery would make a little sense. You can’t make out much of the background in this scan but I think it may come out pretty well; someone who saw it at Sketch Nite said ‘that looks so peaceful; I wish I was there.’

So I think at least that part of it has the potential for success. Another thing I’m trying new here is the eye shape. Those of you who watch my stuff know that in general my eyes tend to suck. So last week I sat down with nine favorite artists—in alphabetical order, Blazingcheeks, Bravo, Captaingerbear, Greening, Kahmari, Khatoblepas, -Kronexfire-, Kuma, and Raccoondrew—and examined eye shapes in several of their pieces, copying out many. I have a whole sheet of eyes now, and I’ve learned a couple of things now for my own work: chief among which is that the visible part of the eye—or at least of the eye + lid complex in general—tends to be drawn with a shape leaning towards the triangular. This was entirely news to me. (I’ll probably post my eye sheet later.)

At any rate, I do like the eye I came up with on this piece, even if it does feel a bit toonier than my usual stuff.

I think Frank’s adorable. Haven’t finished striping his tail yet here.

Not happy with how Ralph’s head is coming out; I’ve redrawn it a few times already. Was joking at sketch night last night that maybe I could solve anatomy problems by putting a big fedora on his head. Or just wrapping him up in a burqa.

A few moments later, the man who’d first brought me in came back with a plate of crab rangoons.

I brightened up a bit and went to work myself.

What I’d written so far hadn’t really given Iñigo much of a personality. I think he definitely has one now…

Before becoming a pirate I guess his name would have been Aureo.

So many skinny characters! Argh! And his head looks too big. Hmm.

Yeah, this bit will definitely want rewriting…

How far into the future would we have to go? The estimates came back that it probably wouldn’t be very far—not more than a hundred years, and maybe less than fifty. It was surprising but a relief—surely a conservative hundred-year jump would be a lot better than a blind million-year jump into who-knows-what kind of future.

Now at this point I was really only looking. Even though I’d just seen myself a lot older and I didn’t seem to be in any immediate danger, and even though immortality was in the offing, a trip into a technological singularity was still a bit much for me. But I knew it’d have to be done—especially since Ralph had taken a break from the new movies Steve had brought and was looking over my shoulder.

“The singularity, eh? That’s what Steve was talking about, isn’t it?” he asked, reading over my screen. “A super-futuristic future—count me in!”

“Zed, why didn’t you proofread the ad before you sent it in?” He threw it down on my desk and pointed to it.

Now, I’d helped him out the other day—he’s a bit on the shy side and doesn’t like to go out, but I thought he needed to meet someone, so we put together a personal ad for him. We’d managed to come up with:

GWM, 25, 150#, loves to cook,…

It went on a bit like that, but it really wasn’t very interesting. You see why he’s single.

Anyway, the ad his finger was on was clearly the same ad I’d submitted, only instead giving his weight as 250#.

“Who’d answer an ad like that? I’d be a blimp!”

I was a little pudgier than Jay – kind of close to that number myself – but I didn’t answer that. (He likes to cook – I like to eat.)

“I’m sure someone wouldn’t mind,” I said. “And if you do get a call, you can get them straightened out right away. We’ll send in a correction after lunch—I’ll go by the paper myself.”

Just then the phone rang. Jay picked it up.

“Hello? … Yeah, I posted the ad … No, I’m not a ‘big boy’” – he started getting agitated again – “I weigh 150! … Yeah, I know you can’t print lies in the paper … No, I don’t want to get bigger, perv … Listen, just …” He slammed the receiver down.

I looked at him a bit surprised, which he misinterpreted. “Why did I do that?” he said. “I shouldn’t be picky… with anyone who’d be interested in me despite my weight…”

From the moment he’d hung up, his body had changed. The loose clothes he’d been wearing were filled out to a much more generous form. He didn’t seem to notice the change at all. “Dude, why am I even hanging out in here? I’ve got breakfast to make. Come down and help, would you?”

I spent rather more time than I’d like to admit determining the name ‘Somessa’ (Σωμεσσα), considering he’s not a major character or anything.

Luckily, he seemed to have been chosen more for his suspicious nature rather than any thaumaturgy on his part—I guessed if they had any soothsayers, they’d be reading people back at Tars. That was a blessing, at least.

But here I am interrupting him.

He came up to me, his beak very close to my face, and started immediately with “So where were you last night when the bridge was destroyed?”

“Asleep in bed, I hope!” I said. “Long trip ahead of me and all, you know.”

He moved on to his next question, and I could see he was plainly reading them from a tablet he was carrying. The ibis had no talent at all; I wagered that the guard was half there to keep him from going off-script and offending anyone.

“Have you ever,” he said, “been in the pay of the rulers of Iberie, Karkedon, Liboue, Gallie, Alamannie, Illourie, Skoutie, or Arabie?”

“No king ever gave me any money!” I said. “For most of us, you know, it’s the other way around.”

The priest looked down at his tablet, possibly trying to determine if having paid taxes was something he had questions about. The rat put a hand on the ibis’ shoulder. “Give it up, Somessa. He’s got nothing.” To me he said, “Go, catch your boat.”

Thank Artamid for small-town wholesomeness! I bid them farewell, headed for the port, sold my horse, and got on the boat for Karkedon. It was a massive relief when we finally got underway.

In her presence I felt a bit ashamed of my nickname, so I didn’t bring it up. “I’m Billy Taft. Miss…?”

“Lung Fofaa,” she said. “You think you can out-eat me, do you?”

I shook my head. “I didn’t—I had no idea what I was in for. They just offered me a free meal.”

“No such thing,” she said, “Trust me.”

“What are we even competing for?” I said.

She leaned in close and put her claws on my belly. “Fuel for the fire,” she said. My light flickered a bit at the feminine touch, but she didn’t react to it, if she noticed at all. “You can eat here for as long as you like—until a better eater comes along. And you must take on all challengers.”

I looked up into her eyes as her talons almost imperceptibly squeezed my gut. “Believe me, miss, I have no intention of threatening your meal ticket.”

She snorted, a puff of red smoke from her nostrils washing over me. “Nonsense,” she said. “The challenge has already begun. Go on,” she said, to the man who brought me in, “Let’s get me caught up.”

She took her place at a long low table beside me as he left for more food. “I beat a man for this position,” she said, “Over a year ago. He was just an ordinary human; no challenge whatever. No one since has even come close. But you’ve got fire in you too—you might just be able to compete.”

I grabbed his shoulders before he could go any further. “Rrrh… I’m… not quite ready for that, man.”

He pulled out with excruciating slowness and grinned at me, his head dripping with all the fluids one expects to find flowing from a penis. “No?”

He was so adorable, so eager… I only hoped he wouldn’t burn out like the others. Of course, none of the others had been very open-minded to begin with—Toby was something special.

“Hello?” he said, waving his hand in front of my face.

I snapped out of it. “Sorry, uh, was just…” He was still holding the last foot of my dick and looking up at me with hopeful expectation.

“I did kind of just finish, you know. Give me a bit before giving me another round.” I decided to press my luck. “Would you, ah, like to go out with me, Toby?”

He grinned. “Absolutely, tiger.” He looked a bit puzzled after a moment. “I thought you said humans couldn’t be seen in public in your world?”

I nodded. “You’ll need a disguise. Well, better than a disguise actually… you’d be surprised how many people are good at seeing through such things. I’m thinking you’ll have to go as part of me.”

“Part of you, eh? I remember you made part of me part of you before, but how would taking the whole of me work? Or are you just going to stick my head on your shoulders or something?”

I laughed. “That probably would be a bit too unusual to pass unnoticed. I rather had in mind that we could go out as a taur.” From his look I could tell he didn’t know the word in his world. “Come on, I’ll show you.”

I led him down to the basement.