Bob Appavu

New DOTU Character Profiles! Plus other website upgrades...

The characters section of the DOTU website has been completely revamped with new (clickable) profiles for everyone!  New pics, info, and other fun stuff.  (Desktop version pictured above, but the mobile version has it all too.)

Check it out here!

https://www.demonoftheunderground.com/characters/

ALSO, I got the glossary up and running in the Extras section! (you might see a fe...

We met our goal!

Okay, here's the rundown again, since I know the numbers got complicated:

• Original goal: 350 patrons to bring back 6 months of DOTU pages
• Credit for Week 1 Water Date Sales: 10 (5 per $50)
• Direct Paypal Supporters: 2
• New Goal: 338 patrons

Thanks to everyone who's here and pledging right now, we're at 339 patrons!  So we'll have at least 6 months of weekly public updates, starting this month!

I'm finishing up some more website renov...

Chapter 4, Page 88

New page is here!

These faces are what I've been looking forward to since the last page:

Big thanks to all of September's patrons, whether you just signed up or have been here forever.  We have 8 days left to hit our goal to bring DOTU pages back!  We're currently 6 patrons away, with 9 declined payments.  Hopefully some of those 9 will clear, but our best bet is to also tr...

Noble Minicomic - Pages 1-3 (complete)

Here's August's Secret Gallery art!  It's the finished minicomic about Noble, one of the three South Sphere Queens.

It'll go up in the secret gallery in about an hour or so (because I'm running late and have to put my animals to bed), but it's probably an easier read here anyway!  I posted page 1 last month.

Let me know if you like the ongoing/multi-month minicomics.  I feel like they let me tell longer stories beyond just joke-type stories, but I don't know how peo...

August 2020 Sketch Tier Sketches 18-20

Here's sketches 18-20!  This is the last set.  If you're a Sketch Tier, Sketch+Secret Gallery Tier ($20), or Custom Card Tier ($50) patron, let me know your sketch of choice by Monday night/early Tuesday morning.  I plan to pack and send out monthly letters on Tuesday.

18. DOTU Last Supper 1

19. DOTU Last Supper 2

20. DOTU Last Supper 3

August 2020 Sketch Tier Sketches 13-17

Here's sketches 13-17!  If you're a Sketch Tier, Sketch+Secret Gallery Tier ($20), or Custom Card Tier ($50) patron, let me know your sketch of choice by Monday night/early Tuesday morning.  I plan to pack and send out monthly letters on Tuesday.

13. Sphere Swap - East Sphere Medic Archer

14. Sphere Swap - West Sphere hunter Merritt

15. Belmont and Archer's elevator ride (from the last Merritt's Story chapter)

16. Ellis bringing tea and reports

17. Jord...

August 2020 Sketch Tier Sketches 7-12

Here's sketches 7-12!  If you're a Sketch Tier, Sketch+Secret Gallery Tier ($20), or Custom Card Tier ($50) patron, let me know your sketch of choice by Monday night/early Tuesday morning.  I plan to pack and send out monthly letters on Tuesday.

7. Pratt and his narcissus flower

8. Firefighter Merritt

9. Higgins

10. Iris

11. East Sphere Zoom meeting

12. A hot dog race, with a mysterious levitating Actual Hot Dog in the lead

August 2020 Sketch Tier Sketches 1-6

August sketches are here!  Here are sketches 1-6 of 20.  It's usually a total of 18, but this month there's one extra for patron turnover and one to replace a past sketch lost in the mail. (So there will be one patron requesting two sketches - you know who you are!)  So, expect 4 posts this time instead of the usual 3.

If you're a Sketch Tier, Sketch+Secret Gallery Tier ($20), or Custom Card Tier ($50) patron, let me know your sketch of choice by Monday night/early Tuesda...

DOTU Scene Compilation - Ch4 P81-87

We've completed another scene, so that means all patrons get a scene compilation!

In other important news, we're now only 3 patrons away from 6 months of new public pages!  It's still going to be a challenge to hit that goal because the end of the month and beginning of the month are where there's the most patron turnover, but I hope you'll help us get there!  And thank you for getting us this far! *crosses fingers*

August is a Sketch month, so my next task is 20 origina...

Chapter 4, Page 87

New page!  This is the end of the scene, so a scene compilation is coming in just a moment!  Since that post will go to all patrons instead of just early access patrons, I'll post news update stuff there!

One thing I'll say here, however, is that I get a huge kick out of Samsid's face. XD

Devoted - Merritt's Story 2 - Chapter 26

New chapter, here at last!  There's now only one installment left of book 2!  The next installment will be a little longer and might be broken into a couple chapters, and it's a Big Deal since it's the end of book 2, so it might also take me a touch longer to turn it around.  But if I end up needing longer than the usual turnaround, I'll be sure to throw y'all some extras. :...

A Sketch+Secret Gallery Tier slot is open!

Hey guys!  A patron left my old discontinued sketch tier, so I opened a new slot in the $20 Sketch+Secret Gallery tier!   August is a sketch month, so if you join the tier now, you'll get a sketch this month. (The patron who left the tier will also get a sketch this month, so it's gonna be a busy month, haha.)  If no one claims the slot, I'll announce it publicly tomorrow.

This is the tier that gets both Secret Gallery access and a quarterly original sketch.  It...

DOTU Website, Feature requests, Interactive Ch.1, and more!

Here's what's going on in DOTU world! :D

1. Public Pages update

We're currently 7 patrons away from public pages - VERY CLOSE!  Merritt's Story p2ch26 goes up this Thursday, and we also have a new DOTU page next Monday!

As always, big thanks to every new and continuing patron for sticking with the comic!  Also, y'all have been *awesome* about sharing the comic with friends and getting new readers and patrons! <3

If we hit our goal by our 9/15 target, I d...

Chapter 4, Page 86

Sorry this page is so late in the day!  It was a day of many distractions and multiple emergencies (tornado warning and some pet drama - but everyone is all right!) >.>  I hope all of you are doing all right too!

Only one page left of the scene!  I was hoping to put these two up together, but drama and emergencies mean I have to rearrange my plans a bit.  Worst case scenario, the next page will come at its regularly scheduled time, but I'll get it up earlier if...

Merritt's Story P2Ch26 Excerpt!

The next chapter of Merritt's Story has been shipped off to my wonderful beta readers at last!  The chapter is scheduled for August 20.  After this, there will be only one more installment for book 2!  I haven't decided where to throw the chapter break yet, so there will either be 27 or 28 total chapters, but either way, everything after this chapter is coming in one chunk.

Since the chapter's going out a little later than I'd hoped, I wanted to give y'all an excerpt to h...

Merritt's Story Extra: ...At the Sheridan

The bonus short is here!  I had a couple chronic sick days the past two days, so I was a little behind on this, and I'm still working on the Secret Gallery illustration. (Aiming for tomorrow.)

I ended up taking the suggestion about Belmont messing with the board members.  So, this scene is the party from Merritt's Story book 1, chapter 15 for Belmont's promotion to right hand, but told from someone else's point of view.....  Enjoy!

[2020-08-02 22:10:14 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 4, Page 85

New page!

We're 3 pages away from the end of the current DOTU scene, but I plan to post pages 87 and 88 together, so I should be able to post an 8-page scene compilation for you guys in August!

Water Date sales have been going well!  With my "5 patrons per $50" promise, we were able to knock 10 off our 350-patron goal to bring DOTU pages back to the public.  So as of today, we need 13 more patrons to reach our goal of now 340 patrons.  The target date to meet the go...

The Water Date Ebook is OUT NOW!

IT'S HERE. 

The short story I shared back at the end of 2019 is out now as an official ebook WITH ILLUSTRATIONS!

One week after their first dinner date together, Merritt and Belmont  head out to sub-Forest Glen to try the water that Merritt claims is the  best in the underground. A Devoted: Merritt’s Story extra that takes  place after Book 2, Chapter 16.<...

Chapter 4, Page 84

New page!  Here we learn that Belmont's been keeping his "special skills" sharp....

I just got in two urgent freelance jobs for this week, so the Water Date ebook will need to shift a few days out, but I'm still nearly done!  The three major illustrations are finished, and I just have five spot illustrations left to color - probably 4-6 hours of work, then inserting them into the ebook.  I'm very excited! :D

Water Date illustration WIPs, Masks, Taxes, and more!

I hope you all are having a good July so far!  Here's what's going on:

The Water Date:

I decided to let The Water Date cut to the front of the line for all of you who need fluff therapy after the latest Merritt's Story chapters. :P  The dark version of the cover art won the poll by a landslide, so that's the version I'll use.  I plan to release the ebook next week in my shop!  The ebook will be available in PDF, epub, and mobi.  If any of you have experien...

Which Water Date cover version do you prefer?

Yep, I'm doing the thing!  I have two versions of the Water Date cover.  Which one do you like better?  It will be used as the official ebook cover for the short story, which I'm trying to get up in my shop over the next few days!  The poll will only run until end-of-day Wednesday.

Feel free to elaborate in the comments. :)

Card Deck Update!

I did three new cards for this month's secret gallery - the rightmost column, going down: Gray, Devon, and Rainey.  They're up in the Secret Gallery with a closer shot (and I'll send out the message in just a moment), but I decided to post the latest progress on the new set here.

Since I expect freelance to be light this month, I decided to try to make as much progress as I can on the card deck.  It's a big project, but it's also a project I feel I can finish, and I really wan...

Chapter 4, Page 83

New page!  Interesting that the timing of this one happened to be right after Merritt's Story p2ch25...

Now that freelance has slowed down, I'm going to try to drum up more support to see if we can hit that 350-patron goal and get the comic public again.  A lot of you have been doing a great job of introducing the comic to friends, and I appreciate it so much!  If you want to help, you can also keep an eye out on 2020-06-30 00:58:50 +0000 UTC View Post

May/June 2020 Sketch Tier Sketches 13-18

Here are sketches 13-18 of 18!  If you're a Sketch Tier, Sketch+Secret Gallery Tier ($20), or Custom Card Tier ($50) patron, let me know your choice of sketch by the end of the weekend.  These will go out on Monday with the May letters I held on to.  June letters will go out separately around Tuesday or Wednesday.

The sketches are as follows:

13. (Unnamed reaper story) - Reaper King concept

14. Merritt enjoying some Good Water

15. Charles in a North Sphe...

May/June 2020 Sketch Tier Sketches 7-12

Here are sketches 7-12 of 18!  If you're a Sketch Tier, Sketch+Secret Gallery Tier ($20), or Custom Card Tier ($50) patron, let me know your choice of sketch by the end of the weekend.  These will go out on Monday with the May letters I held on to.  June letters will go out separately around Tuesday or Wednesday.

The sketches are as follows:

7. Clothing Eras - Fresh King

8. Clothing Eras - Regency Jordana

9. Clothing Eras - 1920s swimwear Merritt and Pog...

May/June 2020 Sketch Tier Sketches 1-6

At long last, here are the sketches!  Here are sketches 1-6 of 18.  If you're a Sketch Tier, Sketch+Secret Gallery Tier ($20), or Custom Card Tier ($50) patron, let me know your choice of sketch by the end of the weekend.  These will go out on Monday with the May letters I held on to.  June letters will go out separately around Tuesday or Wednesday.

As always, I took some sketch suggestions on Discord, so this set has a pretty wide range of subjects.

The sketch...

Devoted - Merritt's Story 2 - Chapter 25

It's here. :O

FYI, freelance *finally* slowed down as it typically does in June, so I expect to wrap up the belated Sketch Tier sketches by the weekend.  The Redbubble stickers have all come in except for the one transparent sticker, which I'm expecting any day, so that means I'll be able to send out the stickers, May sketches, and May snail mail letters all together.  June email and snail mail letters are expected to be on time.

Only a few more chapters left of book 2! ...

Devoted - Merritt's Story 2 - Chapter 24 [nsfw]

New chapter!  Don't forget, we have back-to-back chapters, so ch25 will go up next Thursday!  NSFW warning for this one.

As always, you can read the chapter inline or download the attached PDF.  And here's the DOTU Discord if you want to chat with each other about the latest chapter!  Make sure to link your Discord account to...

Chapter 4, Page 82

*ahem*

New page!

Don't forget, we have back-to-back Merritt's Story chapters, this Thursday and next Thursday! :D

Sketch Update, Merch, and Freebies!

Update time!

Everything is fine and on track except for, obviously, May's Sketch Tier sketches.  A combination of overwork, freelance invoicing complications, and the chaos of the current state of the world mean that I've been having a little trouble with the most demanding creative portions of my work.  It looks like I might not be able to fit them in until later in the month, due to deadlines.

As always, everyone will get their sketch whether or not they stay a patron....