First off, thanks so much for your support, guys! Thank you for the plugs, thank you for the pledges, thank you THANK YOU for reading Stupid Fortune Cookie!!

So now that the comic is officially started, I wanted to put out feelers for the vignettes! Basically SFC is split into two parts. There's the main storyline w/ the central plot & characters called the Feature Presentations.. think of 'em like arcs! But what I'd also like to do are short side stories called vignettes, spaced inbetween the Feature Presentations.

The first Vignette will feature the characters from the Feature Presentations so as to help introduce the main cast, but the goal for the rest are to focus on characters that either do not appear in FPs or are backgrounders/bit players otherwise. I'd like for them to be different visually from the FPs, so I'm hoping to have Vignettes drawn by guest artists. If anyone's interested in becoming a Vignette artist, please contact me! I have some stories already either being scripted or outlined.

Another thing I'd like to do with the Vignettes, though, is to feature other peoples' stories and ideas, especially if you are an up and coming artist who is looking to break into webcomics. As long as it fits in with the main theme of the comic (slice of life, relationships, challenging adversity, etc) and is relatively short (no larger than a single issue comic/24 pg or less) They don't necessarily have to take place in Ballpointe, PA either, depending. :)

When I first started Vinci & Arty in 2003, I was blessed to have a network of supportive artists who helped me get started, gave me advice, and encouraged me to stick with it. Since then, the fandom has grown and the amount of awesome, creative people has skyrocketed. But I know what it's like to be a beginner artist with no experience making comics but wanting desperately to tell a story, and I'd love to pay it forward, as it were. Hence why I would like to open the Vignettes out to any folks who'd love to get their sequential art feet wet.

So, if you're interested, please drop me a note with a pitch! Or if you're an artist who doesn't have a pitch but would be interested in being one of the Vignette artists for something that's already planned/scripted, let me know!


Another thing we will be doing are Casting Calls, in which we will send out a request for cameos.. these can range from a walk-on in the background, to a bit part in a Feature Presentation, to a supporting role in a Vignette (one of the non-guest written ones, unless the guest artist personally requests a casting call!) Casting Call Plus is a feature specifically for Patrons; they will receive priority for casting calls plus the ability to submit multiple characters. If you're not a Patron, you will still be able to enter Casting Calls, but with one character only per casting call. Wanna work at Dolphin Tech, or be part of the crew at the PEN studio? You just might get your chance!

Finally, I wanted to go over a couple of the additional content features. I've already mentioned the diaries, which will function as side stories for the Feature Presentations. Ask Arty will return; readers will be able to send in their questions to Arty and he will respond in a short fully-voiced animatic. There's also a character (Oakley) who runs a podcast that provides advice and support, mostly to queer teens but he doesn't turn down anyone who needs help. We'll be creating fake snippets of Oakley's podcast out of questions submitted by readers. So if you'd like a grumpy answer, Ask Arty. If you want actual advice, stick with the Beef instead. :) (PS: we may be needing a VA for Beef.. if you've got a deep male voice, enjoy VAing, and are reliable, send me a note!)

V&A's world isn't very fantastical or magical, but it does have its surprises! I am hoping that these new features will bring some more interactiveness to the world, and that it becomes a friendly, safe and welcoming place for folks to let their characters come play. :)

Look for a song lyric contest within the next few days (through FA and Twitter). The winner will receive a free chibi illustration of their character. :)


Also until the forum is running, feel free to use this journal as a thread for Arc 0 and let me know your thoughts so far! Thanks so much everyone!!