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Showing posts with the label Ashley Cope

“Things Every Southern Woman Should Know How to Make”

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Alice clicked on the headline, mildly curious about what yet another stranger thought should be in her kitchen repertoire. Pictures of China plates mounded with crispy fried chicken, greens, cobbler, and a pile of biscuits a mile high flooded the screen, all set off with a pitcher of sweet tea beaded with condensation. The table was set; an apron draped off to the side next to a box labeled “Gramma’s Recipes” in fine calligraphy. She closed the browser and put away her tablet. She was born a Georgia peach, but she couldn’t make a cobbler to save her life. Did that mean she wasn’t southern? Or maybe just not “Southern.” For Alice, there was no recipe box full of family traditions. Her younger years were filled with rental homes in different states and her father’s voice coaxing her toward a text book rather than a cookbook. Metalworking and fabrication held more interest than learning to flambé or sauté. Did it make her less of a woman that her cooking skills consisted of fresh salads...
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Comic Rec: UNSOUNDED by Ashley Cope

I may sound like a broken record, but if you haven't read UNSOUNDED by Ashley Cope, and you like twisted tales of undead wizards and cocky sneak-thieves with tails, you really should. This is an ongoing comic, and the author is 66 pages into chapter 14. It's beautifully drawn and intricately woven for a tight storyline that never fails to surprise you. The characters are wonderfully flawed, messy, and true to character throughout the story, and it's amazing to watch them grow as they face their prejudices and fears. The magic system is well-grounded and the world's history tied to it. Ashley Cope has successfully Kickstarted three volumes of UNSOUNDED at the demands of her fans, and she offers them for sale on her website with a few other items. BUT! You can read the story and enjoy the artwork for free right here!  http://www.casualvillain.com/Unsounded/comic/ch01/ch01_01.html So, check out UNSOUNDED and follow along as Duane, the formerly alive scribe, travels w...
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UNSOUNDED Volume 2 Kickstarter Wrap-Up

The Kickstarter drive for the second print volume of Ashley Cope's amazing webcomic, UNSOUNDED, has come to a close. The $25,000 goal was met... In less than 24 hours. All stretch goals were crushed with time to spare. (Yay! Because stickers!) With backing from 1678 lovely people, UNSOUNDED Volume 2 nearly tripled it's goal, showing how hard work really does get the recognition it deserves and that fans are badass. I can't wait to see the final product! For anyone who hasn't and wants to check out a great fantasy comic with intriguing characters and mind-blowing world building, I leave this link here for you:   unsoundedcomic.com
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UNSOUNDED Kickstarter Volume Two is a GO!

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A little while back, my blog was full of fangirling over a certain fantastic online graphic novel called UNSOUNDED. The author and artist, Ashley Cope, supplies her devoted fans with new material three times a week free of charge. But that wasn’t enough. Her followers demanded that they be able to throw money at her. They begged for donate buttons and pleaded for a print version. After much weeping and wailing, Ashley at last caved to her readers and put up a Kickstarter page to print the first volume of her beloved graphic novel. It was overwhelmingly successful, and in turn, she supplied us with a beautiful, full color version of the first three chapters of UNSOUNDED. (You can also order it from the UNSOUNDED website.)   My copy of Volume One Well, my friends, it’s time for more fangirling! Ashley just launched the Kickstarter for Volume Two! I highly encourage you to check out UNSOUNDED here . Within lies a rich story, a diverse world, and a cast of excel...
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2014: Skyrim, Rocksmith, and Words

Hello, all! First off, I hope the new year is going well for everyone. I sort of fell into a blog black hole toward the end of 2013. I’m back now, and I hope to keep a better schedule, but no promises. Last year, I mourned the death of my old PS3 and, thanks to my lack of home internet, the loss of my save data. I bought a new PS3 and piddled around with some games, but I just couldn’t get back in the groove. Well, I’m once again traversing Skyrim with my bow, sneaking up on bandits and shooting down dragons. The nonlinear play of Skyrim and the vast number of missions has kept it from being too repetitive. Not to mention, I now have the Legendary version, complete with all the download expansions. (I’m ridiculously excited to build my own house.) I’m also starting Rocksmith 2014. I’ve always wanted to play guitar. Once I’m done cursing the tuning section, I think it’ll be a fun way to learn. Assassin’s Creed 4 is on my to-do list…after I finish AC3. Not all my free...
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Casual Webcomic Roundup

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The badass Ashley Cope just finished another chapter on Unsounded . Now that my horror of having to wait an entire month for the new chapter to begin has abated, I thought I’d introduce a few other comics that have caught my fancy. First up is Ever Blue.    A fascinating story of a genius girl mechanic named Luna, a free-spirited sailor named Ten, and their adventure across a world of endless ocean. The artist/author, Michael Sexton, has created an intriguing world where diving for old technologies is forbidden, and his wonderful artwork really brings it to life. Updates tend to be slower, but the pages are worth the wait. I recommend a monthly/bi-monthly check for new updates on this one.   You can check it out yourself here .   Strays is another excellent fantasy.     Meela is a young Lupian out on her own. Orphaned, she teams up with the mute Lupian mercenary Feral, who’s somewhat reluctant about his new charge. Beautif...
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Unsounded: All the FEELS

I’m gonna keep this as spoiler-free as I can, but if you haven’t read Ashley Cope’s Unsounded, then be warned. (And then go read it because it’s awesome. I’ll even link it for you here .)   If you want to know a little about Unsounded before you click that above link, then settle in. Unsounded takes place on a continent called Kasslyne. It’s filled with political intrigue, various well-developed cultures, and a mind-blowing magic system that hold the whole thing together. And in this world of thief-kings, dog-riding soldiers, and wrights lives a girl with a tail named Sette. Ferocious and sticky-fingered, Sette is on a quest to collect a debt from her cousin. She’s accompanied by Duane Adelier, a zombie wright whose patience is as great as his skills. Which is a boon because Sette would try the patience of the most zen person in the world. Sette has a knack for finding trouble and dragging her zombie bodyguard into the fray. Things get even stickier when Sette and Duan...
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Unsounded in Print is a GO!

About a month ago, I posted with all sorts of fangirl glee that amazing artist and world-building extraordinaire, Ashley Cope, had succumbed to the desperate pleas of her readers and had at last set up a Kickstarter page to print the first volume of Unsounded. Shortly after that, I posted about the amazing turnout of the fans, and how, in their eagerness to get grabby hands on physical copies, they’d nearly doubled the drive goal. Well, time is up, Kickstarter is closed, and with an astounding $43,383 pitched in by 1275 ravenous fans, Unsounded volume 1 is funded! Funded times four, and then some! Wow! Ashley will have her hands full in the coming weeks fulfilling drive rewards and readying those lovely copies of Unsounded, but no doubt, they’ll be worth the wait.   Meanwhile, I’ll be watching for the progress updates, and waiting to get my grabby hands on my very own copy!
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Fan Love, Ain't it Grand? Unsounded Kickstarter Update

Last week, I posted about the Kickstarter page for Ashley Cope’s Unsounded web-comic. And in the last week, I’ve had the chance to witness fan love at work. (You can check out my post and links to the comic and the Kickstarter page here .) Ashley set her goal at $9,800. In a week’s time, that goal has been nearly tripled. There’s 24 days to go! I can’t help but read the comments on most things, and reading the ones on the Unsounded Kickstarter makes me hope I have fans like hers one day. They love her work, they realize and respect the time and effort she puts into making Unsounded such a great graphic novel, and they want to support her. From my comment lurking on the comic’s site, I’ve noticed it’s been the fans that have urged access to Donate buttons and pushed for the Kickstarter page. As far as I know, Ashley has never asked her fans for a thing, but to read the latest page. Even now, there are a few wishing the top tiers weren’t all sold out just so they could gi...
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Unsounded in Print? Hell Yes!

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The artwork of Unsounded. The entire comic's like this! I’ve mentioned my love for the Unsounded web-comic once before. It’s a perfect blend of great art, excellent storytelling, and hard work that brings Ashley Cope’s characters to life. And like any great novel, I’m left thinking about the fates of her characters every time I leave the page. Unsounded has a loyal following of readers, and gathers new ones all the time. I always take the time to read the comments section at the end of the latest page where often amongst the witty and intelligent discussions of Unsounded’s world, I will see a new comment from someone who did the same thing I did. They started at the first page and couldn’t stop. Yeah, it’s that good. You can check it out here . Daughter of the Sharteshane thief-king Nary-A-Care Frummagem, fearless and loud-mouthed Sette sets out to make her pa proud. With Duane Adelier—according to Sette, the worst attack-zombie ever—she takes off to collect a ...
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From the Casual Webcomic Reader: The Awesomeness that is Unsounded

A girl with a lion’s tail and an attitude to match it. An eloquent, somewhat outdated, badass zombie spell caster. Smugglers. And the local authorities chasing them all. Welcome to Unsounded . I tumbled into this world because I was lurking around the website of author and outstanding artist, Ashley Cope. I’d found her artwork some time ago while feeding my Final Fantasy art jones, and when I saw her gallery , I was overwhelmed. A mixture of game art and her own characters, the level of badassery is beyond my comprehension. Each piece has a depth to it, especially those of her characters like Murkoph. Maybe because they have backstories (a lot of them are RPG characters), they feel deeper to me. I don’t know all the stories, didn’t know any of them before I read the little explanations underneath each one, but it was like I could feel a story behind them. I knew Murkoph wasn’t scarred just to be scarred. I knew there was a story behind each one. And behind that grin.   E...
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