Rupph as Amy Rose (Sonic Riders)
Kat as Collete (Tales of Symphonia)
Periodic as Sanji (One Piece)

Happy Halloween, all!

... And I promised yesterday that I'd tell you about why I'm going on hiatus, right? Well... here we go. Be warned, as with these things, it could get long.

The thing is, I'd work on {MUTE} if I could. I really would. But time's an issue. College is more work than I thought - not that I can't handle it, but it's more time than I thought it'd be and I'm generally worn out without enough energy to work on {MUTE} afterwards. There's also the fact that I'm tired in the first place - Mondays and Wednesdays I have two and a half hour art classes, which would be fine and all if it didn't completely take the art out of me. By the time I'm done with them I haven't the inspiration to work.

So, I'm sorry. This is really no one's fault but my own. I signed up for more than I could handle, and I had a lot going on, so much that I could barely manage to make an update for this comic. I was busy with work (albeit midterms have just finished so I may have some more time now), and when I have had time I've used it for things more simple-minded like doodling or working on Perplexing Magnolia Disruption. I should be working on this, I really should. But... I dunno, I guess I've just been directing my focus to other things. Hopefully during this break - which I hope will be the last one I take before the end - I'll be able to churn out a bunch of comics and update peacefully until the end. But, until I've got enough that I'm comfortable updating regularly, I'm gonna have to take a break here. Sorry for dropping off the radar so frequently.

But hey, you get a pretty Halloween picture to look at while I'm gone. And that's good, right?

And Remember...

And Remember...

STATUS UPDATE
Well, it's been more than half a year, and yet people still remember this thing. Somehow. Myself included. I figure I'll tell you the situation as it stands right now.

Work on {MUTE} has resumed! Yes, you heard me right. I seem to have gotten my muse back and have managed to get another few comics done. However, I don't want to say anything else just yet since it's not that many and I don't know how long it'll last for. I also don't want to start updating again just yet. At current, my plan of action is as follows.

STEP 1: Get at least another 30 comics done. That would bring me to about... 285 or something? Somewhere around there.
STEP 2: Begin updating about once a week. 34 or so updates would give me 34 weeks to make the other 15 comics.
STEP 3: Hopefully complete 299 by the first... Let's say 10 weeks. Why 299? Because 300 will be LONG AS well not as long as 200 but it's drawn now so it'll take that much longer.
STEP 4: Finish 300, hopefully within 12 weeks? I dunno how long it'll take but I hope I'll be able to get it done in around or before that time.
STEP 5: Pick up the pace! Once 300 is done I'll pick up the pace to about twice or thrice a week updates to make up for, well, everything.
STEP 6: ????
STEP 7: Profit and completion!

So, that's my game plan. Of course, it's subject to change (especially since I'm writing this at like 12:30 am) but hopefully things will pan out something like that! It's just a matter of getting to about 285 so I can start updating for you all again.

I'm proud to say (never thought I'd type that) that I haven't given up! In fact, as a member of Team SMG, that's kind of a thing that I'm not allowed to do. And I haven't forgotten about all of you either! I'm hard at work getting things up and running again. Just you wait! We'll be back... Hopefully before the summer is over, but no promises since I'm probably going to be moving!

Thanks for your time (if you ever read this) and see you when I see you!

And Remember...

sanij FTW

Well, at least it isn't Amy's olympic swimsuit.
Seriously, have you ever seen a pink rabid rat being propelled through water by a pair of club-shaped flagella while wearing a ridiculous outfit?
That's probably why Amy wears long boots to hide her spaghetti-like monstrosities.

Oh wait, what did you say?
Oh, college. Terrible stuff. Hope you find enough time! The plot, she was a-thickening!

even thought he's just wearing a suit and smoking I recognized Periodic's costume immediately.^^

Nice pic and Happy Halloween^^

Sanji.

What.

@TwilightMasterX- Yes.
@Kirbysmith [DJ]- *makes note to do that next year*
@Jake E. Fisher- MAGIC
@Lady Darkrina- Thanks, you too.
@blitz5000- As I said on DA, the only connection is that they both smoke. That's why I picked Sanji. That's it.

Collete.... more like ditz.

What was everyones costume?

AMY IS ANNOYING

@Neociz- You're probably going for Klutz in that department.
@epicness- Here or in the WOORRLLD?
@TeamSonicPrez- Rupph doesn't like dressing up as her.

@Shard: I wouldn't like it either.

Please Don't stop (sad face)

So I've re-read the comic, twice. I wanted to make sure I comprehended everything I was reading before I made an educated opinion.


I'll try to keep it short. The characters are all two-dimensional and exist only to fill niches (Emo, Psycho, Cool Guy, Super Happy Girly Girl, etc) and look good. The main protagonist, Katai, is way overpowered dispite her basic abilities. The effect of her "supposed weakness," electricity is pretty weak and might as well thrown a big rock at it, you'd get the same result.

Story is pretty straight-forward, a machine built to be an assassin somehow holds the soul of a woman named Katrina. The memories of Kat confuse the robot's A.I. and it goes on a rampage because of that.

Beyond this basic idea, and the occasional bit of character development, most of what I've seen is about how the robot pretty much beat the shit out of the Smackjeeves Sonic Fan Community, killing over 5 characters in the process over the course of 80 comics. All I could think of while reading this is "Wow, what a god-modded character."

Sprites look good, quality varies between them but since they belong to individual people of the community, I really can't say much on them without talking to each one of them, and since I don't know them or their status, well, best if left alone.

The art on the other hand, leaves much to be desire. Effort was put into it, and I think it was drawn with a mouse, which I know from experience is hard as hell. However, your poses are all simplistic and un-dynamic, the expressions are basic, and there are some serious disproportions to the characters (Hands are too small, the eyes are huge, there are no distinctive differences between male and female bodies, except for breasts).

Special effects are a high point and improve quickly from comic to comic. Props.

The overall quality of the comic is well done, people could learn a thing or two from you when it comes to effort in panel sizes, grammar and spelling. I prefer the sprites over the drawing though.
What I suggest:

Story can be improved by decreasing the amount of characters and focusing more on character development away from Katai. Matt, Shard and Rupphy have the most potential thus far. Everyone else, meh.

Read some action-oriented graphic novels, study their fight scenes but not just the overall view, but the position of the characters and how they are angled. Also try to add more definition to your character's anatomy. Give your males some muscle, or atleast smaller eyes and bigger hands. Emphasize the curves on your females more, especially the older characters. Breasts alone doesn't define a woman, and yes, I understand this is Sonic-Anthro style, which is more or less broken down to noodle people. But, compare Rouge to Blaze and Sonic to Knuckles. Sonic's thin and lean while Knuckles is upper-body heavy. Blaze is much younger than Rouge, and it shows in her body, which is thin and under-developed while Rouge is curvy and more rounded out. Keep that in mind for further drawing.

One of the reasons I'm still a fan of this comic is because I see the effort and the potential for true greatness, but it's limited by your art style and over-abundance of characters which add nothing to the story (Yet).

If it can be better, it should be better. I'll keep reading, keep waiting, and hope for the best.

DAMNIT, I went on forever with that last post. No one's gonna read it now...

Most of those points have been made over time anyway, be it here or on deviant art.

Man, i hope this updates soon...

I missed nothing?
Shard, pls update...