Some of you may already have noticed we've currently got an ad running. (Hell, some of you may well have joined us through that ad.) This is in celebration of the comic's second birthday, and the ad was intended to start tomorrow, on the big day, but apparently there was a snafu in communication somewhere.

It's been a fun couple of years, and we're looking forward to continuing work on the comic as we head into Year 3. Because this is a pretty special occasion, we're also going to be giving you a whole slew of extra updates this week! Barring disaster, we'll be updating daily through Sunday, and then next week we'll be back to the usual update schedule. During this week we should also be seeing the second of our poll cameo winners, so keep an eye open for that.

There may or may not also be some other bonuses coming, depending on how well the artist manages her time. We already broke 400 watchers on FA and have a scantily-clad Sarah to show for it as I'm sure most of you have noticed.

Thank you all for reading and enjoying our work! It wouldn't be the same without you.

We're back to regular updates now; only one this week but next weekend the plan is to post at least two pages on the website (they're inked, just need some colors on them), to show up here next week as usual. Thank you for your patience, and we hope you'll enjoy the next few pages.

Since  Veritas is not 100% done with the scripting we can't say exactly how long it'll be, but this in-comic day is going to wind down over I'd say approximately the next 2-3 weeks, and after that it'll be a hop skip and a jump until we get started on the cameos from the poll contest. If you're a winner reading this and haven't replied to/received a request for further character information for your cameo, please do so ASAP or we may not be able to fit you in this round. (We'll try to still give you your cameo, but we have no idea what the timeframe may end up being in that case.)

If the 1-3 comic pages a week aren't enough I.C.Q. for you (and let's face it, you can never have too much of a good thing, right?), there's still a few days to get in story prompts for Veritas's now-extended free flashfic session. The theme for this session is "Relationships" and he's perfectly willing to work in I.C.Q.-verse if that's what you want to see. As a bonus,  quoting_mungo will be doing the usual title illustrations for any standalone I.C.Q. fiction.

Older flashfic pieces should start showing up on this account soon, hopefully in a week or two.

This has been mentioned in comic descriptions both here and on the website, but for those of you who might've missed it... What's going on with the comic updates is that quoting_mungo is going through a bit of a rough time, and in an attempt to reduce stress until she gets her bearings, had to cut down on the pressure with comic work, only doing it when she genuinely feels up to it.

The plan is for this to last another two weeks, now, and for updates to resume as normal on the website the weekend of June 8-10, putting the first regular update after this breather on FA on June 12. Sorry about the mess, you guys; we never wanted for this break to happen, but things have been, well, rough.

Yes, there's been some non-comic art going up, and that time could probably have been spent on making another page, but the problem has not been primarily time so much as pressure. No-pressure work has acted as an outlet to stave off stress and wind down.

We're also only just over two months from our 2-year anniversary, here, and we're getting closer and closer to a couple of big events we've been looking forward to doing since the start, including our big trip to All Stripes! After two years, what do you want to see more of? Who do you want to see more of? What are you most excited about?

Glad to see people commenting on the pages, asking questions, and replying to each other! It's always more fun to create when it gets people's brains going, whether it's in comments here on FA or on our forums.

First, the 2011 Recommended Reading list closed, and the Ursa Major Awards are now taking nominations proper for 2011 year's awards. I sincerely recommend you go register and nominate some works that you felt stood out last year - whether they're ours or someone else's. A list of qualifying I.C.Q.-related works can be found in the comments to page 85 on the external website, for your convenience.

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Secondly, well... gone are (apparently) the days where just posting a new page would get new watchers trickling in. We're quite happy with you lot, make no mistake, but the more the merrier, and it's been a while since Sarah lost any clothing. Honestly didn't expect things to slow down that much when I started the event.

In the interest of visibility, I raise for you, our cherished readers, a proposition! If over the next two weeks (ie before the end of January) someone sets up an I.C.Q. page on TV Tropes (note that it's already listed on list of furry webcomics, but redlinked), I.C.Q. will update with 2-4 pages/week rather than the current 1-3.

Also, stay tuned for some possible cameo opportunities, likely to be coming up in a weekend or two.

Still a few days left to make wishes in our December Holiday Wish-a-palooza, so if you've got one, throw it out there like you just don't care right now!

I have updated the Cast page on the website, so it should be up to date with all the permanent characters who've shown up so far. Not featured on the cast page are Max and Trevor since I've no idea how permanent  Veritas intended for them to be. But other than that we're all up to date.

The Ursa Major Awards are currently still compiling their Recommended Reading list for 2011. I encourage you all to go there and nominate some works. If you wish to nominate I.C.Q. the comic, the pages that will have been posted during 2011 are page 31 through 85. (Because someone wished for an extra update and I'm the Good Fairy of Holiday Spirit.) If you do not wish to nominate I.C.Q., that's perfectly alright. Go nominate something you do want to recommend!

The new year will be interesting in many ways - we'll see what it has in store for the comic!

From the proverbial pen of  quoting_mungo...

So, a little bird tells me that December is coming up. Actually, it's more like my calendar tells me that. For the hell of it, I figured we could run a casual little event here up until Christmas.

Let's call it Fill a Wish, Make a Wish.

We will at least be offering up a Christmas illustration of some stripe, regardless of how much or little happens with this, but for the fun of it, let's see what we can get.

The rules are simple:
You may post to fulfill someone else's wish.
You may post an I.C.Q.-related wish of your own.
You may post to second a wish someone else already made.
You may make more than one wish, but please keep it to one wish per comment and a maximum of one wish per day.

Wishes should not be for physical items, just stuff that can be fulfilled here. So you might wish to see Caesar and Brooke under the mistletoe (trust me, it would not end well for that poor puppy), or for an extra update, or for a heartwarming story. Wishes do not have to be Christmas- or winter-related, and I'll be doing what I can to fulfill wishes here and there where I can.

(If you fulfill a wish, whether it's ours or one someone else made, chances are greater that I'll step in and try to fulfill yours.)

Our wishes are as follows:
Fan art of the I.C.Q. characters (which of course will be faved by this account if posted to FA)
Fan fics set in the I.C.Q. universe (see above about faving)
For someone to start/work on an article about the comic over on TV Tropes or in general do some of the stuff listed on our Grapevine page

Have a happy holiday season, everyone!

From the pen of  quoting_mungo...

That time of the year has snuck upon us again! And since I have a final to procrastinate studying for, I think I'll probably do at least something up for it. (And hopefully also get to building a bit of a buffer and/or illustrating a couple of stories for posting, but, you know...)

Answer these two questions, and we'll either pick a crowd favorite or something that makes us giggle...

1. Who should dress up this year?
You can pick any non-cameo character that's shown up in the comic or the side art posted to this account. Including the story characters, if you really want.

2. What costume do you want to see?
Please list no more than three picks, and be aware that we may or may not decide to mix and match answers from the first and the second question.

Have fun with it!

From the proverbial pen of  quoting_mungo

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Just a quick note to let y'all know that rumors of our demise have been greatly exaggerated.

Also the comic will update AUTOMAGICALLY on Friday and Saturday on its website. Hopefully. Unless I really fail worse than I thought at PHP. I did just finish coloring and uploading them. So provided everything works as it ought, it'll be up 12 noon server time on Friday and 12 midnight Fri/Saturday.

FA updates will, as usual, follow the coming Tuesday and Thursday.

We're hoping to get a bit more on top of things soon. This page being late was honestly mostly my fault, as it took me several weeks to realize we'd agreed that I'd be writing them alone.

From the proverbial pen of  quoting_mungo

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So, this Monday the comic hit a year online. It wasn't with quite the bang we'd originally intended, unfortunately, and I have to apologize profusely both for falling off the wagon and for not getting around to saying anything about it. My belief has always been that there are very few good excuses for not at least letting people know you'll be gone for a while, and there's honestly no good excuse for why it happened now. Most of the reason was the fact that for me to get started on actually working on stuff lately it takes hours of me sitting in the chair staring at it, and with that kind of time waste going on I had to prioritize the big Flash development project that's been paying my bills.

The comic may or may not be sporadic for some time, though at least I managed to get two pages up this past weekend - this is because of RL kicking  Veritas's butt, and I don't know if/when he'll be able to get me more scripts until the buttkicking situation has been resolved.

I'm hoping I'll be able to produce more reliably, but with how things have been lately I know better than to promise. It's not that the time isn't there, so much as it's me having time management issues. And time management issues are a shitty excuse any day of the week.

Again, I'm very sorry. It's all my fault, and I take full responsibility.

From the proverbial pen of  quoting_mungo...

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So I meant to post this around when I posted the Chinese New Year art, but as those of you who read the comic on the website already know, I caught a nasty (though brief!) flu-or-something and it was all I could do to get the updates done without extras like, well, this entry.

We finished last month in TWC a bit better than the month before, and we're doing even better now. Still, it's all dependent on your vote! If you can click that link there in the journal header once a day, or even once in a while, every little bit helps!

We've been getting some reader feedback on the forum in regards to what kind of incentives you guys would like to see, but we could always use more input. Go here to make your voice heard! I'm hoping to get that set up at some point soon.

This past weekend (on the website) or this coming week (on FA) saw/will see the end of the first day in comic. It's only taken us just over six months to get here! From here on we're hoping to pick up the pace a mite, not in the least considering we were limping along for much of our first few months.

I'd also like to remind you all that nominations for the 2010 Ursa Major Awards are now open. You should head on over there, register, and nominate works in as many or as few categories as you feel comfortable with. I'm not asking you to nominate I.C.Q., though of course you may (pages 1-30 are the ones that were published in 2010), so much as I'm asking you to participate. I read somewhere the UMA typically gets a voter turnout of less than 300, or something like that. Considering the size of the furry fandom, that could be much better. Go on. Register. Nominate. I'll wait.

Upcoming in February:
More stories!  Veritas has at least four shorts he's waiting for me to illustrate so they can be posted, and I've got the two first installments of a seven-story suite featuring Judas done.
More bonus art! Aside from the illustrations mentioned above, I've got 2+ pieces on my "to color" list that I'm going to try very hard to get to.
And of course, more comic!

Thank you all for reading!

From the proverbial pen of  quoting_mungo

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So... We managed to officially close the old year with 30 pages under our belt, even if the last three of those only get on FA in 2011, what with the usual update delay. The last few weeks have been high-volume weekends compared to our early track record.

The aim for the new year is to maintain at least a two-per-week average.

Glad to have all of you guys, of course, and we hope you have a happy new year! Please remember to vote over on Top WebComics. Last I saw we finished last month in spot 287. Let's see if we can do one better in January!

Got some bonus art coming up soon, as well, I just need to do some coloring before it's ready.

From the proverbial pen of  quoting_mungo...

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First of all, a shoutout to our watcher #200:  QBTeazerkitt! You win the honor, and this shoutout.

On to more things; as we reached 200 watchers, there's a new incentive image up, and we've decided to let you know what Sarah takes off next. This won't be the case for every step of the way, but right now, this is how we're running it. Please stop by and leave your vote on the image soon; we're not far off 100 subscribers on Belfry.

As some of you already know, last weekend was our first three-update weekend. No promises, but we're aiming to make next weekend one, as well, and then have at least two updates over New Year's. Which means I'm about to sit down to get pencils and inks done for 2-3 pages right about now.

Aside from comic updates, I'm trying to get 1-2 story submissions illustrated for upload, and of course Sunday or early next week we'll be uploading the Christmas special image that the readers who received Christmas cards have already gotten a sneak peek at. I promise, it's well worth the wait!

Activity in the forum is picking up. Please stop by and chat with other readers!

Less than a week left before sign-ups for Christmas/holiday cards close! I need to mail those cards by December 10 to make sure you get them on time. Head over to the forums to read all about the event and sign up. There's original sketches in it for a lucky few.

Also, new month means a fresh start over on TopWebComics. You can support I.C.Q. by voting here.

Unless something goes horribly wrong between now and then, this weekend will see at least two new pages on the site. So keep your eyes peeled for more of that.

From the proverbial pen of  quoting_mungo...

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There's a pretty good chance to win a sketch of your favorite I.C.Q. character in time for Christmas. The full details are here, but in short you have about two weeks from now to sign up for a forum account, introduce yourself, and answer three simple questions.

About 3-5 winners will be drawn, who will receive a sketch and a seasonal greeting from me on the back of a Christmas card.

And if you decide to stick around the forum and discuss after entering, you're perfectly welcome to, of course.

From the proverbial pen of  quoting_mungo...

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First of all, the comic updated on the main site shortly after noon my time. If you're impatient to see what happens, head over there. If you'd rather go for conveniently reading it on your FA feed, it'll be up Tuesday as usual. I might as well say already that there will (almost) definitely not be any double-update weekends in November, as both  Veritas and I are doing NaNoWriMo. I'm hoping for December, though.

Speaking of update frequency, I put up a thread to let you guys have some input on donation (and other) incentives on the forum, and increased update volume for a limited time is one of the suggestions. You can check the thread out here, and know that we'd love to get your input. I can also reveal that there will likely be another event-of-sorts coming up pretty soon, and you'll need a forum account for that.

I threw together a banner for our TWC listing and fixed some of the issues with the RSS feed, since last week. I finally managed to fix the last lingering issues just now.

If you find yourself itching for more content, the main characters are currently taking turns answering writing prompts here, at a rate of about one per week. You can use those posts simply as a source for bonus material, or you can ask the character writing the entry questions in the comments. But then, you probably already knew that, since I've been posting my entry illustrations here.

From the proverbial pen of  quoting_mungo...

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It seems like  Hoofer has come in as watcher #100 here. There is no special prize, I'm afraid, except for the honor. But hey, the honor and a shoutout isn't too shabby!

Page 15 should go up on the main site later today, with any luck; I have some schoolwork I have to finish before I can sit down with art, but once that's done I'll be diving into coloring and I don't foresee any major delays. If all goes according to plan there will also be some more work uploaded here over the course of the weekend, including Halloween-themed art and something to celebrate 100 watchers, and possibly some more writing depending on how much time I have. The writing illustration is kind of low on my priority list, after other art obligations.

Without saying too much (I'll go into more detail when I actually post the piece), what I've planned is an incremental reward for each 100 watchers we get either on this account or the Belfry (where more watchers/readers get us a better ranking and thus higher exposure). When I can steal the time I'll also likely make up some sort of incentive images for TopWebComics votes; the vote button was added to the website in a minor update yesterday.

Suggestions will be listened to, though I don't guarantee I'll heed them.

Also, I would like to take this opportunity to encourage those of you who might wish to discuss the comic to head over to our forum. It's not very active right now, but with your help, it could be!

From the proverbial pen of  quoting_mungo

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It's alive!!!

I am pleased to announce that my new computer is now functional, and updates will resume as usual this coming weekend, with at least two pages to make up for the missing update last week. That's also most likely when I'll redo the lettering on page 11, so it can all be uploaded in bulk (or close to it).

We've posted a pair of short stories, one of mine and one of  Veritas's, to celebrate that I can once again color without tearing my hair out in frustration.

Every dark cloud has a silver lining, too: Photoshop is right snappy with this new hardware, and didn't crash once as I colored both the story illustrations!

So: New comics on ICQ-comic.com this weekend, and here on FA October 19th. There may also be more stories showing up on here in the meantime.

(Also, give the man a hand for managing to update the comic on the website in my absence despite my instructions being confused at best.)

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If I can make the time for it, I'm also intending to put together some kind of Halloween image. Not promising anything (because I'm sure if I do life will happen), but if you got to see the cast in costumes, what would you like to see? Themes or individual costumes are all good!

From the proverbial pen of  quoting_mungo

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The website's had some updates over the last couple of days, so if you haven't been checking in there in a while, now might be a good time! Still have a cast page to go; for now what we do have is linking banners, and from the last couple of weeks, also an 'About' page and an 'Artwork' page (nothing on there that hasn't been posted here already, though).

I'll be trying to fix up the CSS in Firefox over the next week or two, as there's a couple of weird layout quirks present, along with trying to get that cast page up and working at least for the main characters.

What do you want to see on the webpage (other than more comic pages)? What information do you want included on a cast page? Any suggestions for review sites that should be linked in the Grapevine section?

Don't forget to drop by the website and vote in the poll if you haven't already! It could be you that wins a night out at All Stripes! (And you wouldn't want to miss that chance, would you?)

From the proverbial pen of  quoting_mungo

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Just the other day I realized with some horror that after all the effort I put into giving Toni's family plausible color/fur length genetics (what can I say, I geek about cats), I still drew up Rita with green eyes. I should know better. I should seriously know better. I'm way too into pointed cats to not know better.

So, from now on, Rita officially has blue eyes. Her parents might have the same green eyes Toni does, seeing as points are recessive, though.

(And please remember, it's never too late to fill out the poll on the website for the chance to win a free cameo. Or... it will eventually be too late, but not for a while yet. At least two months to go on that event.)

From the proverbial pen of  quoting_mungo

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First, I want to apologize for the slow pace. I've intended to have multiple-update weekends a couple of times already, and things have just not fallen into place for that. I'd much rather have one good page up every week than two half-assed ones, and I hope you're all with me on that!

Secondly, I'd just like to mention that with the posting of  FrostDemn's prize for the Afternoon With Toni contest, we're currently down to one outstanding reader event, and in a way the biggest one yet.

When we get to a point in the plot where each of Blake's, Toni's and Sarah's romantic preferences are revealed, the oldest correct guess in the poll we're running on the website will be rewarded with a cameo. The prize will be rewarded for each individual character, so start looking for hints for each of them today! You can change your guesses over the course of the event by resubmitting the form with the same email address.

Since the prize is a speaking cameo at All Stripes (you know, the club where Last Call is set), your character is guaranteed to appear in at least one comic page. Some restrictions apply; please visit the website for more information. If you win, we will (of course!) work with you to make sure you're happy with the situation your character is put in, within reason.

To discuss the comic with other readers, I warmly recommend checking out our forum.

From the proverbial pen of  quoting_mungo

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So, it's now August 3rd and the comic has been up for two days already. I'm quite pleased with the response we've gotten so far, even if it's only in numbers; we're a Readers' Favorite over on The Belfry with a respectable number of subscribers, and the visitor count is nothing to scoff at.

For those of you who might have missed it, the update schedule on the comic's own domain is 1-3 pages every weekend; I'll try to space them out so the RSS feed will pick them all up, but I don't always have time to fiddle with my home-built updating script that much. After some consideration we've also decided to upload the comic pages to this account, with a slight delay; there will be an update every Tuesday, and if there are pages for it, the other two update days are Thursdays and Saturdays. (This also means that if you note, comment or shout to this account, don't expect a response until the next update day. We might log in more often, but we might not.)

Another thing that might be of interest is that we're running a poll on the main site. If you fill out the poll and are lucky enough to be the first person to make a correct guess about the main characters' sexuality and stick with it, you're eligible to win nice artsy prizes, such as a night out at All Stripes (a cameo appearance of a character of yours in Toni's favorite club). Participation is totally free, though of course we hope that you'll tell your friends how much you like the comic.

Finally, I'd like to point you to our forum, where you can, for instance, discuss the latest developments with other fans. Come on over; we don't bite!

From the (proverbial) pen of  quoting_mungo

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I'm working on the last preparations right now; the archive is finished in all its half-automated glory, and as soon as  Veritas gets out of bed in that ridiculous time zone of his so we can toss ideas at one another I should get to work on pages. Most likely this first update will be two pages, but like everything else in life that depends.

A day and a half left until the big day. I can't believe we've been working towards this for almost a year already. Nostalgia!

As a bonus, I got bored enough with my to-do list that I caved and doodled up a heftier version of Sarah's mother to go with the current FA banner.

From the (proverbial) pen of  quoting_mungo

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As followers of the LJ community already know, I've now finalized a design for the comic. I'll be putting together the archive and finalizing other fiddly details in the next almost-two-weeks. For a sneak peek, you can check out this entry in the LJ community (you may need to click through a click-through page if you're not logged in to LiveJournal, but there's nothing actually NSFW in that particular entry).

We've now passed the two-weeks-left mark. There's 13 days, 14 hours and 12 minutes left until launch. Next week's extra material will probably be either scans of my sketchbook or some writing, and if I were you I'd make sure to enter the Afternoon With Toni event before it's too late. This week the winner was selected only a day or two ahead, but there's no guarantee the next winner won't be selected a week ahead like we'd originally intended.

From the (proverbial) pen of  quoting_mungo

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So thanks to that hoopy frood  dragoneer, that some of you have no doubt heard about, I.C.Q. now has a presence on FA, as well. I've been uploading standalone art in batches (respecting the flood limit of 10 pieces per batch), and may have some not-previously-posted material coming up soon. Beyond housing all this extra material art, we're still working out what else we may want to do with this account.

Less than a month left until launch now. Are you excited? I know I am!

We're in the process of hashing out more definite scripts for the first few updates, and we've still got a couple more updates' worth of extra material for the LiveJournal community. Check over there to win art of your character hanging out with Toni! This Sunday we'll have more ACEOs for you, and once that's posted over on LJ I'll be uploading another batch of art cards to this account.

Other things that're being worked on are short fiction, web design (a very general idea of what will probably be our initial color scheme is currently available on our splash page), some general standalone art and an ad banner. By "worked on" I may or may not mean "being thought about but nothing's really happened yet."

What do you want to see here? What do you not want to see here? Who's your favorite character so far?

29 days, 18 hours, and 32 minutes left now!