This is the dithered version of my manga (see previous post). Has anyone else had trouble saving a bitmap-mode image as a JPEG? I eventually got it saved as a PNG to upload it, but...
This is the first piece I've ever tried this on. Hope you like! ;)

It may not be much, but this page of manga took me close to 5 hours to complete. My original sketch/planning took me thirty minutes, plus an hour and a half or so of inking (which was kind of a scary process for something this important! XD). Then it took me a LOONG time to color. It is in the Japanese reading style (which pretty much means that you read from right to left: but you probably already knew that).

Characters:
Indigo (if you follow me on Hatena you know him), Flip (the bigger orange one, the name based off of Olivia's sister's cat toy) and Chip (the little yellow one: I just thought rhyming names would be cute). You probably won't see Flip and Chip much in my future manga-style comics; I've decided they're just kind of background characters.

Actually, my idea for this came forth when I was sorting through a bit of a disaster zone of paper. I came across a bunch of old comics Krysten and I made when we were really into Kirby (in like third grade). They brought back memories, so I read them all and got an idea when my characters from Wowza (don't ask about the name) got sucked into the world of Kirby's Epic Yarn and they couldn't understand Kirby until he put on magical translator boots (yes, probably ripped from Phineas and Ferb: I guess I couldn't come up with my own ideas very well back then...). I also discovered that my character Violet could turn into a kangaroo with a giant bottle of spray paint...? XD (A lot of my characters end up being named Violet for some reason...) Anyway, don't forget to give me feedback! :)

Second new character! Her name is Katsu (she may be renamed) and she has been in my character workshop for a few weeks now, but I finally decided to put her into action. She is a pirate of strong spirit and pantaloons (for those of you who know me: Yes, I know, she's my second character who wears pantaloons.). Katsu is a close friend of Shizuka, although their personalities are polar opposites. A shipwreck separated Katsu from the rest of her family, so for the last five years she has been trying to find them.

This picture is from the time I went to Hawaii. I don't really remember much about where or when this was, but I do remember that a follow-up photo to this one was me holding a coconut.

Soon I should have up on the wall of fame a few things that Lillian sent me in an email. It's called Trip to Trains. I hope you all like it!

This is my new character Shizuka (SHEE-zoo-kah). I don't want to reveal too much about her (in case some internet weirdo wants to steal her XD), but she's a former princess of the moon. When everyone found out that she wasn't really a purebred, they stripped her of her title and banished her from her own kingdom. She's quiet and calm, but if you blow her temper she'll attack you with the force of an army. Even she doesn't know what she is, but will she find her mysterious origins through her journey?

The background is a photo my family took when we were in Canada. (For those of you who know me, this was the day my dad insisted that it was "beautiful hiking weather" even though dark clouds were gathering and I could hear thunder. So we hiked for like twenty minutes until I convinced my mom to go back with me to catch the boat back to the hotel. Halfway down, we realized that my dad had the tickets to the boat. We made it down just in time for the boat's arrival and the rain's start. My dad was sprinting down the hill after us with the tickets. And it's a good thing, too, because the next boat was scheduled to come in two hours.) Yes, I tinted the picture a bit (have you ever seen clouds this color?) to match Shizuka's color scheme. Hope you like her!

Flipnote Hatena recently published an announcement that said that on May 31, 2013, Hatena will close. Forever. After everyone worked hard to build a wonderful community for 5 years, I guess Nintendo somehow decided it was for the better...
Because the DSi's Flipnote Studio is being replaced by the 3DS' Flipnote 3D. (I understand this is exciting for you, though, Krysten. I still think Flipnote 3D would be a cool addition to what we have now.)

What do you think? Is it really fair to destroy some people's only way of showing off their work? A lot of people say that Hatena is where they got inspired to do artwork. And even more of them say that they can't afford the 3DS or their parents won't let them have one. PLUS, on top of all this, the new Hatena for Flipnote 3D has a monthly fee to post your animations. Unless you're a popular creator (like Fleesveon or Epic). How the heck is that supposed to work?!

PLUS, it's impossible to transfer your account and Flipnotes to your new Hatena (well, I can transfer my Flipnotes because of my SD card). And my guess is you're gonna have to go through the registration process ALL OVER AGAIN (and it's not just a 'Name, Username, Password, Repeat Password, Email:' You have to do all of that and then have Hatena send you a permission form for you to print out, have your parents sign, and then email back. I tried doing this for a month and I finally got an account. Anyway, my beef isn't with the signup system.)!

Please give me feedback. Is this REALLY right?