Since I used to do a weekly comic... sometimes monthly, ranting every day is becoming difficult. I now see why Fred only updates when he has something to say in the rant box. Always thought that was odd. That's a site I stare at and wonder how it all works. As a web developer by day (for now) site structure always intrigues me. There's one hell of a backend there.

Speaking of the day job. Like I said in the last rant... Kids, Friends, Guys... We gotta talk.

When I was working on this comic in the beginning I was a student. It crimped my time to work but not severely. By the time I was doing Chapter 4 I was doing this comic full-time, that was until all hell broke loose with my ex. That went on for months before the comic went on hiatus. I ended up taking this job part-time in hopes that I would still have time to work on SCD. I very quickly moved to full-time and head of my group. That is still in effect.

I want you to do know that I'm not doing this because I want to and actually you can blame the forumites for convincing me it was okay to talk to you guys about the future of comic. If you're an old reader you'll know that I never asked for donations for this comic except once - when it first started and I was in school. But now, we have a whole new can of worms. The numbers are growing everyday which means the bandwidth is growing. I owe a lot of money to hosting. Money I don't have. And if we want a Book 2, I'm going to have to start thinking realistically that it canNOT happen while I'm working here with my health the way it is. I did this full-time once with your help. I believe I can do it again.

How can you help? If you don't believe that you can support SCD, you're wrong. Something as simple as a $2 donation by everyone who wants to see it continue will get it back on its feet. You can also vote which brings more people into the site but that will be a double-edged sword, coming soon. There's of course the store which I will be updating in two weeks with all the new merch. And I hope you all know how much this is killing me and going against my morals. If you want to see SCD continue, please support it. Donations are awesome. They will help give me something to eat besides ramen. I will do this comic full-time regardless of whether you give or not but if you don't, it can't last online and probably not in print either. If anyone donates $25 or more, you'll get a signed (something I don't do anymore) Volume 1, giving you provide your address. You already got that? Then just let me know what out of that store you want if it's still in stock. But as much as it sucks, it's a reality. I had no problem doing this for free until I had to get a job that totally disabled that ability. In the end, this comic's future depends completely on YOU.

I will be setting up what the forumites have helped me determine to be the Vault. There I will post the gag strip series of SCD (betcha didn't know about that one) along with a ton of wallpapers, access to download the soundtrack (completely), and a ton of bonus updating all the time. You will be able to subscribe to this little cove sometime next month or in early January.

So that's my little speech. Off my soapbox I go. I now leave it in your hands.

[ORIGINAL RANT] - apparently right after Christmas
Well, I hope everyone had a great holiday. Ours was pretty good here. Though I really wish Keitarou could have been with us but you can't have everything. ^_^ Got lots of neat things and got to see my brother, which only seems to happen once a year. -_-"

As you can probably tell, I've been messing around with Shades' character design. I like this one much better. He's a lot older looking than his actual age of 19. Shades is a very interesting character. I'm sure you can see his care for Juno in that third panel, his worry. Hence the next panel of him trying to break the ice with his random comments. They have a very interesting relationship as you'll really start to see as time goes along.

Big thanks to all of you who helped out by purchasing merchandise! *hugs!* Ya'll are too awesome. There's a new poster out and it's a special deal. See the forum for details. ^_^