The Newsblade ~ Judgement

[6 new Swords episodes]

The Tipping episode was originally going to be something like "Capitalism vs. Communism" but it didn't make sense in the Swords setting without really scrutinizing what system each Kingdom is running on. Orcs have clearly decided on techno-bro capitalism, but Hiltshire has it's third King! In any case, the tipping one made a lot of people angry but it's the most engagement I've had in ages, which just goes to show what a trainwreck the internet really is.

The Iron Judge is something I designed like... 20 years ago? for a previous comic setting. It was a fantasy world where 13 Immortals shaped the fate of things over many centuries, and the Black Judge was the mecha suit for one of them. The Iron Judge now joins the Neverwarden and the Blade Maiden as "stuff I stole from myself".

I'm taking a little break from Choplet episodes because someone donated a bunch of money to me, said "Bring Choplet back!" and now they are disputing the charges, which costs me a return fee. I don't need that kind of chaos in my life, so I'm gonna let the fans calm down a little.

What a great time to see how Xiphos is doing! This storyline has been quietly waiting to happen for years now - I hope you like catching up with Baltad for a change.

Other stuff:

It is Kiwi RPG week- check out what other kiwi creators are up to!

I will be attending Wellycon, starting next Friday - see you there, I hope! Let me know if I should expect to see you so I can prepare a little something. Anyone who beats me at a match can have some stickers.

A large number of Swords: Cut the Deck orders are being packed and shipped by the American team today - we're almost all done! Then it's just a simple matter of finding homes for the last 100+ Kargob Editions.

Swords is now the 18th most popular webcomic on Patreon (safe for work category), right behind Gunnerkrig Court which started all the way back in 2005!! I know this won't last, but I'm really grateful you're all here!
I'm going to drink a glass of water every time I get a new patron now. Because I can go a whole week without a single glass if left to my own devices. Habit stacking seems to work for me and I'm trying to be more aware of it. One glass today! Thanks Luke!

You can now participate in Swords From A Hat, where ideas go in and maybe I use them on a rainy day. To be explicitly clear that I am following Patreon's terms of use, this is not a raffle, it's just there as a resource for me to pick and choose from. You can put in as many as you'd like.

I submitted all my important business admin (late) so I can unclench a bit now.

I watched some Pokemon Johto this week. I keep falling asleep halfway through so it's all becoming a blur. I've also been watching the Late Bloomers podcast. I do own too many notebooks.

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I'm changing tactics with Reddit. I'd like to encourage you all to join r/SwordsComic to help it grow. I'm going to stop posting to r/comics and then cross-posting to r/swordscomic, but instead post each episode separately to both. r/comics have made it very clear that they support AI comics and that they will ban readers just for pointing it out. The exact people who wanted to read my work.
8 of the top 15 comics of all time are about Elon Musk and the rhetoric has recently become "if you don't make political comics you are sitting on the sidelines in a way that is intolerable".
I've had some misgivings about how many times Quest Sprout has been used as the punchline in some ultra-violent joke where he cutely murders a real person too.
I've also been accused of getting people doxxed for pointing some of these things out in the past, which I think is unverified nonsense.
I don't think I have a loud voice in that community anymore and posting there isn't really helping me achieve my goals. With all of that said, I have a good relationship with the staff at Reddit HQ and it's a huge website so I think it's time I tend my own garden more.

If you are staunchly anti-AI, apparently Fables have recently decided that that is their stance too. I asked them about that before their site launched a year ago and they weren't sure yet, so I don't know what has changed internally. I'm not currently sure where Webtoon or Tapas stand on the issue.

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I think that's it! More Xiphos soon!

Newsblade Out