Decorating

Having a low day? Just hang around Laura~

We’ll be out of this depressing bunker next week! But I hope it answers your question from the beginning of the chapter, about why they aren’t living inside the structures they found on the map previously. Well, they are old, partially submerged and have no ventilation so the only choice was to draw a circle right where they were standing and unpack the tents ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I’ll show you how the circle is done later on too.

I was at Wonder Festival yesterday and made more than 800 photos of various figurines! If you want to see them you should follow me on Instagram, I’ll be posting them there throughout the week: NotImportant on Instagram. I’m not updating my Tumblr photo-blog anymore so if you want to see what I see here in Japan you should follow me on Instagram instead.

And I have some exciting news! Nothing is formalized yet but we’ve already started figuring out my work visa so I guess it’s safe to announce that I got accepted into Amazon’s Comixology team! ＼(＾O＾)／ Being able to work on something related to comics already makes me very excited! I’m supposed to start in September so brace yourselves haha~ August will probably be very busy as well since I’ll most likely need to travel back to Poland to get a different visa. My boyfriend got unlucky, the company he counted on really wanted to hire him but the vacancy got filled while he was still in the middle of the process. So they want to stay friends but the timing was off and he needs to try somewhere else. But we’re plenty excited since a job for me means we’re staying in Japan! Woohooo! ლ(o◡oლ)

If you have an opinion about Amazon please keep it to yourself for the time being. I’m already plenty stressed about the new job so I want to stay as optimistic and excited as possible, without thinking about the possible dark side or whatever else they say about the company ;D I hope you guys understand. I’ll just wait and see it for myself!

Ah! New incentive starts on the 1st! So please vote for poor Filip in a skirt! And if you can’t wait or want a print resolution I have already posted him on Patreon. Thanks! (‘∀’●)♡

65 comments on “Decorating”

  1. NiWo21k Reply

    Congrats that it worked for you and you have some kind of related job 🙂 Its sad to hear that it didnt work for your boyfriend – but when you were able to find something i think he will also 😉

    And again – you have no idea how much i am jelous jealous i am at the part with Wonder Festival – but i am looking forward to the pictures 😀

    About the comic:
    I just love Laura, its always fun seeing her and beeing so active in every way 🙂

    • NotImportant Reply

      Thank you! It’s always nice when your job has something to do with your hobbies, I’m looking forward to it! And I also believe he’ll find something, his interviews went really well but he somehow got unlucky. But looking at the visa process… maybe it was for the best that the small company wasn’t able to hire him? I doubt they’d be that willing to pay for a trip back to Poland and figure out the whole work visa process.

    • Archer Reply

      Wow, i’ve reached this point of the novel in few than two hours!
      Dude! I cannot express the admiration i feel for you at this point!
      I ‘ve started drawing few ago and your art just stuns me !
      I am into the story 100% and completly in love with your creativity
      Sorry i am fangirling a lot but i feel like you are (at least for me ) a great inspiration.
      How did ypu managed to achieve such a level? It just blows my mind to try to figure out
      How many work and effort you put in drawing and i hope one day i can be just like you.
      I am looking forward for improoving my drawing skills and finding my art style
      In order to reach one the dreams i’ve had since young which is developing
      My own graphic novel just like you did !
      Dude let me say you are awesome and PLEASE KEEP IT UP!
      This is awesome!

      • NotImportant Reply

        Omg thank you! Glad you like it! And it just kind of happened on it’s own, I looked at art that I liked, tried to make mine similar or better and improved over time. Drawing a comic is a lot of practice haha xD Good luck with your own projects, be stubborn and I’m sure you can do just fine!
        Thanks again for reading Replay (‘∀’●)♡

  2. xthorgoldx Reply

    Wait a sec, how do pets work in a world of animal-esque people? Are cats/dogs/whathaveyou just considered particularly “human”-like, like how we consider apes and monkeys to look like humans?

    These are the questions that haunt me.

    • NotImportant Reply

      Ah those ears and tail are just here as a design-thing, they all think they are just regular human beings. I kind of regret adding those in the first place heh. So cats and dogs are just regular cats and dogs and are treated as (potential) pets.

      • Refugnic Reply

        I know they’re just there for design purposes, but without them there’d be something missing from the comic and your ad ‘cute foxgirl and all the awesome’ would be false too…so yeah, good call to put them in, even if they don’t have mag…wait a second…:P

        Now, regarding the job…personally, I didn’t know Amazon was making comics…but then again, they’re also selling books from indie writers quite successfully, dabble in movies and, of course, in online shopping, so sure, why not comics too.

        On that account: Congratulations on landing a job.
        I hope you will enjoy your work there…and for no selfish reason at all I also hope that it won’t keep you from updating Replay in the future. 😀

        Tough luck for your boyfriend, but I’m sure it’ll work out.
        He’s not going to let that little setback keep him away from you, I’m sure of it. 😀

        Now, regarding the comic:
        Poor Kaspar, his little sister completely lost him.
        I have a question though…in the middle panel, it looks like Laura is turning off the headlight…she might also be taking it off, I can’t tell, but where did she put it?
        She’s not wearing it any more in the final panel, so I guess it’s in her left hand?

        A fat striped cat, huh?
        With a constant hunger for Italian pastry, huh? 😀

        But I’m glad to see that Laura keeps managing to lift the spirits of those around her.
        The world would be an even darker place without her.

        As for why they aren’t staying in these structures…well, as I said: Demons materialized in the middle of their camp the other day.
        Who’s to say they cannot do the same in any given structure?
        And, unlike in the camp, there’s only very little ways to flee from a fortified structure.
        Just one demon would need to block the entrance and they’d be trapped like rats.

        • NotImportant Reply

          I imagined she left it somewhere on the table. I didn’t draw it since I felt like I already wasted a lot of panels for this bunker, sorry if it’s confusing xD

          And thanks! I hope I’ll find the time for Replay too! And I’m also pretty sure my bf will find something, he’s a better programmer than I am so it’s really all bad luck and maybe wrong choices regarding the companies he wanted to work for. We’ll see how it goes.

      • thebombzen Reply

        Don’t regret making everyone a Nekomimi, everyone loves it! I love how everyone just has cat ears, it’s so cute 🙂

        In a more serious tone, the fact that everyone is this world like that provides a bit of relief to the dark environment. I mean imagine a bunch of humans trying to not die to a demon invasion – and now imagine a bunch of catpeople trying to not die to the demon invasion. It reflects the sort of optimism you’re going for.

        • NotImportant Reply

          Yep, that was my original intention – to make it a bit cuter in order to brighten the dark setting. I’m not going to remove them now but I sometimes feel like many people are not treating Replay seriously or not even giving it a chance because most furry comics (or almost furry) are there just to cater to someone’s fetishes.

          I even had one lady posting absurd comments about huge boobs and how I’m just waiting to molest her daughter or something. I removed them because she cursed a lot but it was pretty funny how she could say things like that without even looking at the comic itself. Replay is not trying to sell itself with anyone’s boobs and I don’t molest little girls as a hobby lol. But the stigma is there!

          • antrik

            Wait, so you *did* remove some non-spam comments after all? You lied to us! 😉

          • NotImportant

            Only two, and only because they had curse-words in them. If that lady was more polite while offending me I’d let them be 😀

      • Refugnic Reply

        …how in the world did she get off on ‘big boobs’ and molesting and everything…?

        I’ve been around a bit and read a few webcomics, some of which really do feature supersized woman…now, correct me if I’m wrong, but as of right now, Nina is the ‘biggest’ of the (main) cast, isn’t she?

        Quite honestly, compared to some of the things I saw (personally I’m not a friend of the supersize myself, I think it just looks plain ridiculous), Nina would probably sell as a teenager before her growth spurt in those worlds.

        And as for molesting…I’m just gonna bet that she sends her daughter to Sunday school, where the ‘good people who have never had a dirty thought in their entire lives’ are living in celibacy…mind you, I am fully aware that it’s just a minuscule percentage who are actually molesting children, but in my opinion it’s those who hide their nature, who will eventually succumb to it the soonest…often in the most horrible ways.

        *Ahem*, so yeah, that woman clearly had no idea whom she was talking to, nor did she have any idea about the work you are doing here.

        • JW Reply

          The pizza-guy that accidentally shot Robert was a pretty big boob 😛

          @NI

          because most furry comics (or almost furry) are there just to cater to someone’s fetishes.

          That sentence is pretty much equally true when you drop the “furry” part, though. For instance, heroines in super-hero comics aren’t particularly known for their practical and modest wardrobe or average body type. And manga in general has a certain reputation.

          @Refugnic

          how in the world did she get off on [..]

          Maybe “get off” wasn’t the best choice of words given the context 😛
          Or maybe it was.

      • Doom Reply

        I feel sorry for that woman’s daughter. The mother’s apparent belief that cute animal people are always for sexualized purposes would cause her mom to object to many perfectly acceptable children’s movies.

      • NotImportant Reply

        I love reading your comments hahah~ Yes, that woman also struck me as an unfortunate individual, convinced that the comic makers are out there to violate her daughter. She was so invested she even wrote several comments and an email to me. I hope she found some peace of mind.

        I know that other comics are often about fetishes too but when you can single out furry comics and see that 90% is about huge boobs… that makes you think. While fantasy, sci-fi, romance or whatever genre you pick the percentage of “who cares about the plot, let’s do boobs” isn’t that high. And my opinion is obviously biased here, as I don’t read too many furry comics and my basis is simply what I stumbled upon over the years.

        @Refugnic: Replay was never meant to boob-sell itself so I have no idea whose boobs are the biggest. At least not conscious idea haha~ I always imagine Sofia as rather flat (and forever worried about it), Nina has a bit more meat on her (although I can’t yet draw it quite right) so she’s naturally more inclined to have a bigger chest. Julia is the only one I’ve decided to make overly feminine because I want other girls to be jealous of her looks.

        I don’t know what’s sexy about big boobs. I mean… I can just think about how they’re going to sag below the navel once the girl/character gets old. But maybe only girls think long-term like that haha, we’re stuck with those boobs till the end after all!

        • JW Reply

          I don’t know what’s sexy about big boobs.

          I think it’s a case of supernormal stimulus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1pOZbytOhE . (At least wrt the unrealistic exaggeration you see in some comics)
          Some people drop all pretense of being a higher order species. 😛

          I mean… I can just think about how they’re going to sag below the navel once the girl/character gets old. But maybe only girls think long-term like that haha

          Practicality was one of the considerations why my preferences changed in my early teens. Not just how it’d look in 30 years, but also the burden to carry around and the physics of running.
          In general I’d say to each their own, but as far as comics/anime are concerned, it would be nice to have more female characters between big-chested and lollicon bait.

      • Klorix Camp dweller Reply

        I totally agree here. (Also, boob talk ;P It was about time after three years of drawing beatiful women.)

        I also rather like smaller boobs. Sofia (and any real girls) should not worry, though I know you cannot stop them much. There are many guys out there who like that. What I never understood is why almost every boy/man always seems to at least pretend that boobs are better the bigger they are.

        They don’t seem to grasp the concept of gravity… Or that breast size to a great extend depends on the woman’s size, boobs being made of fat tissue mostly.

        I acknowledge that there are exceptions, like slender women with proportionally big boobs and the other way around, but generally speaking…

        Although I like anime, I don’t know what to think of those huge balloons tucked to the girls’ chests. It would really be nice to see some normal proportions sometimes (some that are not lolis…).

        This reads like a rant… But don’t misunderstand me. I’m ok with anyone who likes whatever shape they like. And it’s also good that there naturally is variance. I’m just sort of fed up with all that big-boobs-machismo and bored with the strongly one-sided depiction in anime, manga … everywhere.

        • JW Reply

          What I never understood is why almost every boy/man always seems to at least pretend that boobs are better the bigger they are.

          Probably the same reason they pretend not to have feelings. Because they’ll have their masculinity questioned if they don’t act like a Neanderthal.
          Course the solution is to just do what you want anyway, and punch’m in the face if they question it. 😛 A real Neanderthal don’t need to pretend for no one, rarw!

      • Tzaphqiel Reply

        Honestly, I’m glad that you included those features. A big part of why I started following this comic was the fact that you not only had characters with those features, but a large number of such characters. I appreciate characters like this because it is even easier to read their expressions than it normally is with this art style, but I’ve generally been disappointed with the relative lack of series with sizeable casts of animal-earred characters (or, about as bad, the number of series that have a single token character like that). There are other stories with casts like this, to be fair, but not a lot, and I generally appreciate the ones that do.

        As for the original comment about pets (even though you didn’t say it yourself), I’ve always found such questions to be a bit mistaken in the same sense of people who think “There are still monkeys on Earth, so clearly evolution is wrong” are mistaken. It also misses the MST3K Mantra: “I should keep in mind that it’s just a show. I should really just relax.”, but that’s just another thought.

        • NotImportant Reply

          Thank you! It’s true that animal traits help with making characters more expressive. Glad that you find Replay enjoyable. When you guys defend it like this (and the eras and tails haha) I feel much better about drawing it just the way it is~

          And I agree! Even if I had a thought-out history of evolution for this world I wouldn’t make regular cats and dogs as their ancestors. It’s a bit like saying that obese characters would be related to hippos. Those are still just ears and tails. But I didn’t bother, the plot pretends those don’t exist.

  3. JW Reply

    What I don’t get, if the Japanese can make figurines that looking that good, why does CGI anime still look so bad. They could do “claymation” with figurines and it’d look better.

    • xthorgoldx Reply

      Because maybe it’s a matter of your personal opinion, or not recognizing good CGI when it’s there? I mean, off the top of my head, Fate/Stay Night and Zero are considered to be fantastically animated, and a considerable portion of their animation is done with computer imagery.

      • JW Reply

        Yeah, but I’m talking about all CGI-animated. When they hand-animate all the parts that need it that’s gonna be fine, of course.
        Course maybe you’re right, and I just notice it when it’s bad all-CGI. I mean, I don’t notice those aliens that look exactly like human either.. 😛

  4. JW Reply

    “And here’s where we’ll put Sofia”
    I didn’t really misread it, but my mind did immediately try to make the substitution.

    • Refugnic Reply

      Hah, that’s a fun thought. 😀

      ‘Ah yeah Sofia, you go over there. And don’t move.’
      ‘Okay…but why?’
      ‘Cause you’re cute and we need some cute to brighten that corner over there. Ah yeah, don’t mind the pet rat.’

      😀

    • Klorix Camp dweller Reply

      Before reading the speech bubbles I thought she was playing zombie or ghost or something like that.

  7. Klorix Camp dweller Reply

    Hey congrats! So glad you get to stay in Japan and to work on comics stuff (no idea what Comixology do)!

    So as not to jinx anything, I’ll leave it at that. Just add good luck to your boyfriend,

    • NotImportant Reply

      Thank you! Comixology, from what I was told, does everything related to comics and manga in Amazon. I’m not sure what I’ll be doing yet but they take care of the comics/manga part of the Amazon’s website, the comixology.com website and manga/comics on Kindle. I won’t be working on comics per se, but people there are all manga fans so it should be an awesome working environment! xD

  9. Dragon Master Reply

    Oh also early congratulations for ranking #1 popularity in TopWebcomics for the xth month in a row (I lost track of how many months its been :P) You’re in the lead by nearly 1 thousand votes (give or take a hundred or so xD)

      • Refugnic Reply

        Heh…he at least could’ve had the decency to shave his legs before putting that outfit on. 😀

        Though considering his background and everything, I think the librarian type would’ve been a better fit…there is a ‘librarian type’ in that series, isn’t there?

        Gotta love that ‘Laugh and I’ll cut you!’-expression though. 😀

        • JW Reply

          there is a ‘librarian type’ in that series, isn’t there?

          Not that I can recall. Not among the 5 magical girls at least.

      • Klorix Camp dweller Reply

        Aw my god!

        I really need to continue watching. Only made it through the first and maybe second episode yet.

      • Refugnic Reply

        Well, shows what I know.
        No really, I have no idea about the series, I was just assuming from the typical stereotypes this ‘kind of anime’ would propagate.

        Typical examples:
        – Bashful and straightforward
        – Clumsy
        – Quiet and shy (the librarian type I talked about)
        – Tsundere

        Just to name a few of the common types you would find in animes.

        • NotImportant Reply

          Ahh no, that’s not the case with Madoka, they don’t really go into stereotypes in that series. But I assigned the costumes by the rule of elimination and colors, mostly xD I really wanted Stefen as Mami (cause she uses guns), Adam as Homura (for various reasons), Robert as Madoka (cause she’s the main heroine and he mentions Kyubei frequently). Filip and Kasper got the leftovers based on colors (Filip looks better in blue!).

      • Dragon Master Reply

        Well to me it makes sense for Adam/Faust to be Homura. I mean I can totally see him fucking with the timeline just to get what he wants, plus he looked disturbingly hot in that outfit. xD

      • Dragon Master Reply

        Yeah I was taking a closer look at Filip as Sayaka and I noticed it looked like you gave him a slight bit of cleavage, or is that just his pecs?

  10. bitflipper Camp dweller Reply

    Congratulations!! My sympathies for your boyfriend, but something will break his way as long as he keeps trying; effort and patience beat luck, every time.

    • NotImportant Reply

      Thank you! And he’s trying, next interview tomorrow. He’s very tired but as long as there’s something he can do he’ll keep working towards that goal.

      Worst case scenario he’ll become my manservant and I’ll force him to learn how to draw and we’ll have 5 updates a week! Win / win! Mwahahahaha~

      • Klorix Camp dweller Reply

        Writing in programming language exclusively? Ah well, I’m sure you understand what he’s writing, as long as he still uses programming stuff and does not level up to use only 1 and 0… 😉

      • JW Reply

        My handwriting is pretty ugly too, but I think it’s somewhat legible, if I make an effort.
        Computers have made it very common that people have horrible handwriting. If you need to write something legible (like a paper), you just use a word-processor and print it. Exams are often multiple choice. And after school and university, when do you ever need to write anything by hand anymore?

        • NotImportant Reply

          That’s very true, but on the other hand… his handwriting has always been very bad hah. Practice doesn’t make it any worse/better.

          My diary is written by hand. But that’s about the only thing. And that’s great because it means I’m fine wihtout learning how to write kanji’s hehe, reading is much easier than writing.

      • Klorix Camp dweller Reply

        Bad handwriting competition, yay!

        I am very sure that my handwriting has not suffered from the use of computers. It’s been bad since about third grade, when I challenged myself to write in the smallest possible, readayble way. Wasn’t helpful to my grades either…

        I’ve never used an electronic device in class (university included) to make notes. I’ve been wondering how people can type fast enough. I for one can wr– scrawl faster than I type, I think. My problem always has been that I cannot listen while doing so.

        • NotImportant Reply

          Oh definitely, there are too many maid cafes in Akihabara not to think about that hahaha~

  11. Boom Reply

    I just found this and I just want to say it’s one of the best we comics I’ve ever read keep up the good work!

    • NotImportant Reply

      At least 10 years hahaha 😀 I also make b&w side-stories with character’s past and upload those as vote incentives and on Patreon. The first one (in production right now) is about Ada & Robert’s first meetings. It will be added to the side once it’s done 🙂

  13. Dragon Master Reply

    Say will you be adding these Madoka crossover pics to the gallery once we’ve seen them all and moved back to the sidestory? I think that would be really cool.

  15. Refugnic Reply

    And here, we’ll put the Sofa cat.
    a fat and striped one please!
    Some cushions too! I would like that,
    and then, we’ll wait for peace.

    Actually, do make that two,
    for extra coziness.
    One might not work, no one won’t do,
    I won’t settle for less.

    Lack of windows? No big deal,
    we’ll just go and paint some!
    Add some curtains, for the feel,
    and wait for peace to come.

    Laura, sister, there you are!
    A voice cuts through the laughter.
    Come with me, we won’t go far,
    and then we’ll have tea after.

    Kasper, brother, don’t you know,
    we’re decorating here!
    This better be important though,
    or you will learn true fear!

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