💌 Comments

I can't tell which one I like more. The expressions in the original are more striking, but the new version makes it sweeter. It's almost a totally new picture. I do love seeing "alt" versions of your art. You rarely do them, but they're always interesting.
-tbj

That is amazing... It's even a (comparatively) normal look for Lichard to accompany a really intriguing song. I love how it almost breaks down at "...some say it's diet..." before getting super mellow at the end.
-tbj

Again, maybe I woke up weird this morning, but Leslie looks extra fuckable here. It's not the pose, there's just something in his eyes... I love how well you show weight and mass because it really helps sell a picture when there's a sense of realism in the fantasy. Sorry, feeling under the weather so my comments might be crap.
-tbj

Jesus!! I couldn't finish... that voice was making my spine crawl. So, congratulations! Hahaha... I did listen into the music, and it's technically excellent, but that voice is too much because I'm a wimp.

Same with the picture, because it's amazing, but it's more creepy than your usual pictures of him for some reason. I think it's his face. You tend to draw characters, irrespective of the rest of the picture, with happy or lusty faces. This is... way too realistic so it almost comes off the screen. The slight furl of his brow, the way his face almost looks blank, but there's menace in his eyes...

Maybe I woke up weird, but this might be the best Lichard yet. -tbj

I didn't mean your backgrounds were bad or minimal by any means. I meant the matte comment more figuratively - in that a lot of writers tell a story a very specific way because they think it helps cover inadequate writing. They use a lot of adjectives because they think that's "atmosphere"... But if you take out adjectives, if you take out dialogue, is there still a compelling story being told? Not can a story be told from what's left, but did the writer build enough story to survive having those things removed? Even without a stitch of dialogue, the original Jurassic Park is still a nail-biter. Your stories are the same way, in that the reader can pick it apart, pull out huge chunks of it, and it still tells a story I want to hear. So it's like moving the camera during a matte shot - bad writing can't survive the slightest poking or moving.

You do characters, and everything is in service to them. The world, the environments, the politics... all in service of framing compelling characters. That's awesome because they're amazing characters. If you did stories about global politics, your priorities would be different. Speaking for myself, I almost don't care what you do with the characters because I love watching them in new contexts. Martin will always be Martin, no matter the story, because you know your characters and can always be true to them. It's... A writer being able to pull off a multiverse story where all the alternates are also fully realised characters instead of "Spider-Man, but with a funny hat or goatee". A good craftsman knows their tools well enough to use them in unconventional ways - like, hypothetically, training an AI on your own art, to expedite the parts of creation that are less interesting, instead of using it to generate images (and all with the exact same art style for some reason), creating a Patreon, and making $2.15 from gooners while pretending to be an artist. I think a lot of stupid people would see your use of AI as "cheating", and those people simply have zero understanding or appreciation of actual art. Fucking Worhol used a photocopier to literally create an art "Factory". And he didn't even draw one naked boi on a teddy bear.

I think it's a disease of artists who didn't just come up aping manga artist, they never grew past that to create their own thing... And they never stopped to examine what they were copying. A good artist can make a picture with a couple brush strokes. Economy of media tends to create better art - the whole nothing left to add vs nothing left to take away argument. It's constantly like a magic trick where I'll see an artist create a piece I already saw, and a detailed building exterior is a couple lines or a few strokes. They're not painting a building because rivets are boring. They're showing you the "soul" or "impression" of a building, and letting your brain fill in details, which is what separates an artist from a draftsman. Bad artists don't see how to make something complicated into something easy. Anyone can build a birdhouse, a craftsman does it with a minimum of materials and waste.

The other side is someone like Masamune, his backgrounds are painstakingly hyper detailed - down to spokes in discarded bike wheels - but that's the story he's telling. The world Deunan lives in has impact on the characters and story, so he puts detail into them. He's also an insane person who watches German SWAT training videos to get a single panel perfect... But I'm convinced Masamune is an android built only to make the best manga.

All of this is because I'm not a craftsman with language - in fact I suck at it - so it takes me this long to explain a compliment I made because I'm worried it was mistaken for a critique.

All to say that I come to you for your art, the way you do it. I don't come to you for Patric Nagel art and I won't summon his spirit to write illustrated stories about flexible fembois - and one is no more or less good than the other in any respect.

I'm going to shut up now and stop rambling. -tbj

One of your big strengths in your writing is atmosphe. It's not something a lot of writers can or will do. There's a lot of "...this person said this, that person said that, and they're in a bar, by the way" or way too many adjectives used for everything. You'd think they would sense a problem when every noun also comes with a minimum of three descriptors - "...and then a tired, haggard, exhausted Jim climbed exhaustedly into his messy, unkempt, bed and ran strong, calloused, firm, fingers through his unwashed, oily, matted, hair...".

They have environments that are just backgrounds in a cheap movie - not good or substantial enough to tolerate the characters interacting in any way. The camera can't move or you'll notice it's a cheap matte. It completely puts the reader outside of the story because it forces a third-person perspective no matter how it's written.

You set a stage in a given environment, then notice how your characters would interact in that environment. The sun and the rocks are just as much characters as Remy is because they have impact on the story. And you do it without a thesaurus and a crippling need to prove how smart you are to the reader.

I loved and ill shut up now. -tbj

I'm practically salivating. I love this for a lot of reasons: 1. You do amazing worldbuilding. I love when you depict things in your universe because it gives context to your world that simple text or a pin-up can't. At least it's hard to do it well.

2. That pose with that face and that pouch are good enough to make up for no cock. This is one of the rare instances where you transcend contortion... I'm going to try my best to explain myself... your art is all about celebrating the human form. Contortion, wasping, all aspects of accentuating the biology. This picture is past past all that in a way because it's not focused just on the bend. This is a pin-up from your world where it's expected to the point where that's just another cover photo. It's also a cheat because you're hiding exposition in something your audience is familiar with in this world. You're really good at "You know about X? It's a lot like that" without it being trite or condescending.

3. I really want to suck on those toes before moving up to that pouch.
-tbj

Two words: god damnit! That story is intense. So unbelievably erotic without a bit of porn. You're so good at hinting at things and withholding others because you trust your reader doesn't need to be spoon-fed.

It's weird how many writers stick to character archetypes, or don't even bother giving their characters different personalities. You give personality to a throwaway character. Two of them, actually. You made Chen and Li feel like distinct characters even though they'll never come up again...

I suck at words, so I struggle with ways to describe you and your work, and one that's coming to mind right now is "craftsman". You really care deeply about your work. You say you blew through pictures all the time, but it just means you've gotten really good and nobody's told you that modesty is just socially acceptable lying.

I think it's the cocked hip that pulls the whole picture together. I've been trying to figure it out and it just hit me. It's a sultry and sexy pose that's distorted a bit through his natural flexibility. It's beautifully grotesque like Lichard, it's a bit past the "normal" version of the pose would be, and it makes it all the hotter - for whatever reason. I don't know.

This was all so good.

Also, is this a reboot, prequel, or did he find a way to make himself one piece again?
-tbj

I stumbled on this one again, and now I want a Yuni version of Sweet Tooth. -tbj

How the fuck did I miss this...?!? This is one of your best pictures ever. I'm not kidding. My eyes can't stop going back and forth from her eye to her lips... so beautiful... -tbj

I've got a fever, and the only cure is... more Basil. -tbj

Dr. Why ask why? Just suck the boy dry. -tbj

I thought I'd commented on this one. I've listened to this several times and I love it. You don't get enough credit for your writing, but it's at least as good at your art. You're not just an amazing storyteller, but a really strong writer. The audio was an extra fun treat. -tbj

Another one I missed somehow... Am I crazy, or is her mage boi secretly Dariush being a Worm Tongue? I loved this story.
-tbj

I think I hope you draw and write more of her. I'm serious. She seems a little more salty than your usual characters and a femdom wouldn't be a bad addition to keep all these bois in line. Or she's the last survivor of her tribe on the island Nab and his friends end up on...
-tbj

Damn... that's some Lovecraft right there. That's horrifying and really impressive.
-tbj

How did I miss this one?! He's so beautiful, but the cinching, but that face, but those cords look super uncomfortable, but that pouch... -tbj

One thing that might help is, you know those games that release as chapters? The developers can't make a whole game at once, but they can progressively make a lot of smaller games that tell a larger story. Like I said, get one tiny quest (just an example) done, then reassess. Do you want to flush it out more? Change the ending? It's good? Move on to the next chapter.

You can even write it as a serial so each level ends on a little cliffhanger. The most important part of any game is the story. The game has to serve the story and be an appropriate vehicle. Most games aren't really innovative (Portal is like half an FPS) - except in the storytelling, which you do exceptionally well.

Write a small story you want to tell. Where is hot little Helmut trying to go here? You've got something started here, maybe see if you can salvage it? Helmut is Red Riding Leotard who's trying to get to Martin's studio to take pictures. The Big Bad Wolf(ie) is stalking him. There's three little quests - one is getting a bottle of booze so you learn a shortcut out of the cave, one rewards you with a new leotard, and one gets you a bottle of lube. A few extra NPCs for fun dialogue, and you're done. The three items affect a couple of completion states - no shortcut means you're hot and bitchy when you finally get to Martin's (so nobody wants to fuck you), no new leo means you have to use the one you've been traveling in (so Martin and the Wolf don't find you as attractive, meaning only solo naughtiness), and no lube means no porn or a BJ at most. If you get all three, Martin photographs an amazing sex scene that makes Helmut rich and funds his magic studies.

I have the exact same problem I *think* you are, and fighter pilots call it "target confusion". There's so many targets that you freeze up from indecision. Don't let yourself think you're going to make Skyrim. You're telling a short story with a simple game. The main reason to play is the art and the story, two things you excel at which can elevate a simple game. Hell, imagine the different artwork for each ending to unlock? Also, if you can figure out a slut gauge, that gives you a super secret ending because each encounter makes Helmut more slutty so the final scene can be even hotter. Maybe Martin joins in. Then, later, you can use the little leotard fetch quest to pick multiple outfits, which means more pictures to unlock. Maybe add an extra quest between the first two for pacing... get the frame of something you can build on.

I'll stop talking about it now and go back to watching Helmut's sexy walk animation. -tbj

This is going to be long and I'm sorry. I don't know how to get paragraph breaks in this comment system, so I extra apologise for the length.

Don't worry about characters, and it might be hard for a lot of people to express what's good about an unfinished game because they don't understand what does into making one. Like walk speed, for example. That's something no players ever think of with game design, but they always notice when it's bad, even if they don't know quite why it sucks. Or the walk animation in general. It's seriously hot. I'd play a game that's just making him walk to places. My suggestion, and feel free to tell me to shove it up my ass, is to figure out what kind of story you want to tell, first and foremost. The type of story dictates the type of game. Portal wouldn't work as a side-scrolling platformer. Then plot out a simple story that can be added onto. Not just later content, but also adding an extra fetch to a good quest story that deserves to be fleshed out more, or would work as foreshadowing later. But that all comes way after. Then make just a "vertical slice".

Plot out a simple quest - Go inside what looked like a cave outside but is an abandoned temple inside, talk to the dude at the end of the cave who has an interesting story but says he's sobering up but still too drunk to get to the tavern, go to the exit of the cave, uh-oh and earthquake has caused decorative statues to fall, cave is blocked by small statues that are falling down from above of naked big-dicked and/or big titted contortionists that look suspiciously like tetrominos (I'm just putting it here as an example). Clear the naked statues then proceed through the opening outside to see a sign saying X is to the left, tavern (or town) to the right. Go down the path to the tavern. Beefcake bara tavern owner says he'll part with a bottle if you can make it worth his while, but you have no money. Pick between "erotic contortion display", "vanilla contortion display because you're not that kind of boi", or "let the bartender empty his balls in you". One gives a bit of money and a pricer bottle, one gives a couple dollars and a less good bottle of hooch, and the last one gets you no money but the best bottle in the joint... and then you maybe add in a hidden slutty meter so that, if it's high enough, you have the unlocked option of servicing the whole bar which gets you all the money and several good bottles. Also, maybe the slut meter is a good idea, but a pain to integrate right now, so just put a note in the dialogue tree "Hidden Option:" and claim it's just to give people a taste of that feature - then do or don't implement down the road. You can represent it in a VN style to make it easy, just having different static images changing to scripted dialogue with button presses to continue. Then, go back and give the guy his booze and learn a hint... that doesn't have to mean anything because you end it there. It's enough to put on a shareware disk and get people interested. I can't remember if I've talked about it before, but there's a game series I'm obsessed with called "Corruption Of Champions" and it's a text-based, click options, adventure games full of all kinds of delightful porn. If it was me, I'd start with a game like that, that does still have static graphic action shots, or a VN style blended with a side-scroller. It doesn't have to be complicated because the point is to tell the story. COC has a couple dialogue puzzles and gem puzzles that are really fun that they worked them into a text adventure.

The important part is telling the story YOU want to tell so you stick with it. You want to tell X story, and you know you want a couple of mini games that you like. Guys like Henry Darger and James Hampton are two of the most fascinating artists in history, and rightly lauded, who basically didn't show anyone what they were doing and were totally (voluntarily) unknown in their life. They just had a passion they had to express. Patrick Nagel was about as commerical as you get, and he certainly worked for pay, but you can tell he just liked the challenge of design so he was always making what he wanted. You are no less an artist, so be as decadent as you want. We're here not to treat you like a vending machine, rather your artistic vision is one we all love. We just want to see what have to show us next.

You can then take it and start fleshing it out when the muse strikes you - I would start with an actual outline of a short story you want to tell. And, like we all learned from Will Eisner's "Comics And Sequential Art", don't erase or try to make something work. If it's weird, focus on something else because editing and creating are two different mindsets and you can't accomplish anything while trying to accomplish both.

Also, not for nothing, but I read the other comments here, especially Shifty, so I know I'm not the only one who genuinely loves what you do. Just make the little quest that lets you express the idea of what you're doing, with a little beginning, middle, and end. I really hope I'm not being an asshole. I'm encouraging you because I think this is something you really want to do. Maybe you finish the vertical slice and decide you don't like making games. That's cool, too. Just get that one bit done and worry about the rest later.
-tbj

I can't tell if it's intentional, but is his stance supposed to resemble Mowgli during the elephant march? The knees are a bit much, but that's so hot. I also really like "Cummingbird" for that pose... and the song sounds like an underrated Primus B-side. I think it came out great! -tbj