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this isn't a normal journal for me... (i even found a special journal skin just for it!!) i'll do a normal journal soon (you know, a journal like i often do with a list of updates and other stuff. i'll explain in detail why i'm always so late with messages) and, i know i had been absent from da for more than a week, and i was slowing down my activity for several days even before that -___-UUUU i'll explain that in my upcoming journal.

but right now, i wanted to announce to the public that... ***i have plans to create a group manga sometime in the future!!! ***

note: carefully read everything. don't read too quickly and don't skip parts. you'll end up looking silly if you ask a question about something that i already mentioned...

this isn't sudden. i first considered the idea in late january. then i made a poll about it, and a long comment. [link] i'm happy to see that a few people in the poll were interested ^__^ and then, i can't quite remember when i did this but i didn't want to put this idea out in public yet so... i sent some notes to people explaining my idea. most people didn't respond to the notes, but there are many notes that i take forever and ever to respond to so i can't criticize anyone else for doing the same thing to me ;___; anyway, i kept thinking about this idea several times over the past few months, and i kept seeing a few people here and there whom i might work with. as i tried to decide whether or not to note each of them, i realized that i couldn't decide who to send a note to and who not to. i didn't want to leave anyone out, so i just decided it's best to put this out in public.

this manga won't be started until a looooong time from now because there are existing art-related projects that i already have that i need to make a ton of progress on first. (and i will be vague about that for now!! ... ) right now, my plan is to have found my group members, and begin discussing the manga, sometime in march/april 2014. (i may still be working on other projects during this discussion/planning stage. but actual production of the manga will come weeks later and hopefully i'll be done with other things by then) so why am i making this journal so far in advance? because... i want this to be a **BIG** project.

unlike other projects i've tried to start with others, (and i will be vague about that too!! ) i want this manga to be much longer than a one-shot. i hope for at least eight or nine 35-40 page chapters- or, just think of two volumes of manga. this manga will be self-published and sold, through print books and/or ebooks. i want it to be a story where people can follow along closely and become fans of the characters. i even hope to sell some kind of merchandise, such as stickers or buttons. i want this story to be a real work of art, something carefully planned. so it would take a lot of time to talk and plan this out in advance. but hopefully it will generate a pretty good amount of money. not anything serious like hundreds of dollars or something XD but more than just a very few dollars in pocket change. and yes... there will be a da group

so now you know how big of a project this is. that's why i want to put it out there to the public now, so i can link to this journal again and again from time to time so that you all are comfortable with the idea and maybe some of you will consider it for yourselves. if i had just waited until much later and then suddenly announced it and tried to get people to sign up, people may not want to sign up for something this big, so suddenly. and me giving you such a long time gives you time for you to finish up other projects you may already have going on. so, read on and see if you may be interested...

the most important thing: sorry but i'm pretty picky about what i like and dislike in a manga and we will have a problem if someone really wants to include something in the manga that i'm just not a fan of. what i dislike: sexually explicit things, too much horror and gore, stories with an intense depressing mood, political themes, religious themes (unless everyone in the group happens to be Christian. XDDD) anything that goes against my morals, yaoi, yuri, and stories with a guy as the main character. those last three are there because they just aren't things i can relate to properly and write from my heart about. (yes, i would have an easier time writing a girl main character than a guy one!!) i may be a little flexible about the things i said here, though. still, if you don't like this, just create your own group.

i don't want this to be a partner manga, i want to work in a group of 3 or 4 people including me. preferably 3 because that is fewer people to split profits between. on the other hand, 4 people may be necessary to divide the workload.

if you're not sure about working in a group, read this comment on this poll i already mentioned, to see what i said about the pros and cons of group mangas. [link]

i need to find 2 or 3 people who can strongly connect with me and each other. if we all have similar artistic tastes and opinions, we will understand each other really well and get along. if we are too different, we will get annoyed with working with each other because there is too much disagreement and irritation.

i'm not looking for the fastest-working people in the world because i am not one. i'm just looking for people who are patient and willing to stick with something for a long time, so that it would take a lot for them to want to quit the project. i want group members to encourage each other.

people in the group can contribute as many or as few ideas as they like. some people (like me) have a lot of ideas and opinions. other people are not comfortable with having pressure on them to come up with ideas and suggestions or anything like that. i am open to working with both types of people!!

i don't want this to be a slice-of-life story. i want it to be fantasy, sci-fi, steampunk, or historical. maybe chinese theme?? if it does take place in the real world then it should still have fantasy elements.

rating: suitable for people as young as 13/14. i don't want to exclude the youngest members of da by having a higher rating than that. but that doesn't mean there won't be fanservice...

various responsibilities involved in making a manga are: ideas, writing skills, panel layouts, rough sketches, inking, screentoning, lettering, and sometimes coloring. hopefully you are able to do at least 2-3 of those things and not just one. tell me what you can do! though i'm best at ideas and writing, i can actually do all of these except screentoning. what i will do depends on what the other group members do. i have to find people who can do various tasks and covers everything that needs to be done.

the art style i would like this manga to have is shojo (but not super "loli"/"moe" such as madoka magica XD (i'm a fan of the manga/anime but honestly the faces/heads are too big and chubby for me, people look a litttle too childlike.) by "shojo" i mean that it should be a pretty style. i'm okay with big eyes or smaller eyes. some artists i like i like arina tanemura, matsuri hino, yuki kure, kairi yura. i like the look of traditional art, or a traditional-digital mix, more than 100% digital. but that's a preference and not a requirement.

being in a group means that each person has less work to do than if they were doing the entire manga by themselves!! BUT it also means you have to COMPROMISE. so you won't get everything you want. you are sharing the manga with others. i'll try to make it so that something isn't included in the manga if one group member really doesn't want it there.

but each member is welcome to do comic strips or bonus manga, all by themselves if they want after the manga is over!! then, you don't have to compromise XD

i am not concerned about the age or locations of the people in the group, but i am concerned about gender. i would have an easier time working with girls, unless you are a guy who is very comfortable with writing a story with a girl main characters and guy love interests and fanservice of guys, plus lots of emotional moments and lots of pretty outfits and screentones, haha. basically the typical traits of a shojo manga.

once the group is formed, communication will take place however group members want. it can be through da notes, admin forum of the group that will be made, email, facebook private messages, skype, google+ video chat, or another method.


that's it for now. i might add more bullet points later, or edit some things. if you have questions, you should ask!!

i'm looking for people who strongly want to do this. if you aren't sure if you're interested, fave or bookmark this journal and come back to it later, lol. or if you definitely are interested, just comment or note me now. (i prefer comments unless you are a really shy person.) but keep in mind that MAKING A MANGA THIS LONG IS A LOT OF WORK AND WILL TAKE A VERY LONG TIME. yes, even though it's with a group. know what you're getting into, before you say that you're interested.

when will i pick people? like i said, the latest i will possibly wait to pick people is march or april of next year. **but don't let that far-away date fool you. if i find the right people before then, i will pick earlier, even if it's months earlier!!** i need to find people who have a similar artistic mindset as me, who have some skill, who can work with me well, who can work with each other well, who are willing to work on a long-term project. because of all this, i won't be surprised if it takes me a long time to pick people. BUT, there is a possibility that i am wrong and the right people will show up quickly. so who knows when this will be closed!! but when it's closed, i'll update the status you will see below. (and i'll move it to the top of the journal later) sidenote: i'm not sure if i will pick all group members at once or decide on one person and then wait a while to decide on another one. it just depends on who shows up, and when.

STATUS: i have not picked anyone yet. i am looking for two or three people.

question and comment away!! (but no off-topic comments, spam, or rudeness.) for this big project, i'll actually make more of an effort to... not take forever to respond to people *sob*