I worked on I Was Kidnapped By Lesbian Pirates From Outer Space!!! for 7 years, and now it’s done. And with the end of such a thing, there comes the introspection, the retrospection, and all other kinds of ‘spections. In this case, taking a look back to see just how far the art advanced in that time. I was so proud of the first page when I made it, and while I’m not ashamed of it now, I’ve certainly come a long long long way! So even if your art is shaky now, or at least not looking how you pictured it in your head, remember that with practice, you get better every day. Realize artistic talent is a learned skill that gets better with time. And then USE EVERY FIBER OF WILLPOWER TO NOT GO BACK AND REDRAW THE WHOLE FIRST HALF OF THE STORY!!!

duessadraws:

Well while I’m on space babes..

I threw my arms up and cheered when I saw this, for real. I love this!

Someone dies in today’s Lesbian Pirates From Outer Space, fulfilling the promise on the cover of this issue.

You may have noticed how Alice and Betty never did get together before the comic ended and how Alice is kind of COMPLETELY in love with an actual ship instead.

I think audiences become accustomed to the idea that if they identify with a certain character, and that character spends enough time trying to romantically win over another character, they will be rewarded with that character’s love. This is such a pervasive thing in so much of our media, it’s rare to see a character we like end up alone at the end of a story.

Which to me is 1: boring as hell and 2: plays into real life ideas that real life people are entitled to real life other people just because they like them and are nice to them.  We’re all the heroes of our own stories, and being told over and over that the hero “gets the girl” so to speak, it’s no wonder people get downright angry when their affections are not returned. I know it’s not caused by media alone, and is more of an entire cultural system that’s been going for centuries and the media is merely a feedback loop/ method of perpetuation.

I know one small webcomic doesn’t really change that. But it just didn’t feel right to me to play into it without subverting it. As I was writing it, while I originally intended it to be a lot of comedic teasing before they eventually got together, the idea became less and less appealing to me. Alice was headed towards becoming a Nice Guy TM. Pining for this girl she’d put on a pedestal, never actually making a move, getting upset when Betty dated other women. And Betty just wasn’t interested in Alice, even though it “made sense” for them to get together. Betty might not have had good luck with the other girls she fell for, but that’s who she was attracted to. It didn’t really go completely over into Nice Guy territory, but I felt kind of weird when I realized that’s where things were headed, to where the audience is expecting it because we’ve all been taught that being nice to someone means you’re entitled to them.

When I decided not to have them get together, I wondered what then was the point of all the back and forth teasing that it would happen. I’m part of this culture, too, that says X + Y = Z, so if I don’t do Z, what was the point of mentioning X + Y at all? So many writerly advice essays I’ve read talk about not including a subplot if it doesn’t go anywhere. But I also like science, and if a theory says X + Y = Z, and you find a way in which X + Y = Q, you absolutely need to mention it. And writing advice is never set in stone.

It’s no secret that I’m not personally a fan of shipping. To me, I feel like a Nice Guy thinking that my own ideas of who belongs together are more important than the characters’ desires, or at least more important than the writers’. I know that’s not why everyone ships, but that’s what it makes me feel like when I think about shipping. I like characters to feel autonomous, I like characters with agency. I can wonder what it would be like if two characters got together, but demanding that they do, getting upset that they don’t, ignoring all the parts where the characters express who they do and don’t like because I think I know better than them makes me feel personally icky, makes me feel like I’m taking away their agency.

This is in no way meant to say that anyone who wanted Alice and Betty to get together was in any way bad. Of course you aren’t. I know it’s how many others choose to enjoy a story, and I did tease it rather heavily. But I think we take so much for granted in our stories, and I wanted to examine a piece of it.

~~~personal opinions on a story I wrote~~~

I like your character designs, they are fun to draw!

I… I’ll be in my bunk.

This is amazing.

a fan art for you

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

I’m having a bit of a panic today about Lesbian Pirates From Outer Space. I have 7 pages left in this arc, and then… the comic is probably done. For the most part. I thought about doing a 4th arc, but I’m kind of exhausted and want to work on other stuff. I always write the LPFOS arcs so that I could end the series after any one of them, or continue if I want. Unlike YU+ME, which had a planned ending that I knew about for a year before it happened and could plan for, this ending is kind of taking me by surprise. It’s kind of like when you’re awake for three days straight and you’re running on pure adrenaline, but the moment you pause, suddenly all that tiredness hits you all at once and you collapse into bed with your shoes still on.

I think, after some time off from it, I might have at least a couple more short stories left in me for these characters. Or maybe not. I don’t know where things are gonna go. I know I’m going to work on Meaty Yogurt a lot more. I’ve got ideas for several other comics, because I can’t exist without working on four comics at once.

January 18th will probably be the last page of LPFOS. Thanks so much for all the support throughout the 7 years it’s been around. I’ll try to get some book versions for you someday.

This is so beautiful to me.

Lesbian Pirates From Outer Space Homestucks

I paused legitimate work to make these.

No. It’s because the comic originally started as a musical I was writing and Janet rhymed with planet. But then I remembered I can’t write music so I made a comic instead and had no reason to change the name so I kept her as Janet.