Leaping Cat Comics

Bold, character-driven stories grounded in emotion, consequence, and a realism that carries through even the most fantastic worlds.

[Leaping Cat Comics @LeapingCatComix]

Added some free items to the store: in addition to a sample mini-issue of Free Feline Foundation, there are now three music albums of songs inspired by ongoing projects (Free Feline Foundation, Rabbits Rising, and Semi-Retired).

https://t.co/zfYFnpCsAy

[Leaping Cat Comics @LeapingCatComix]

Less communication breakdown (but there is some of that) and more being surprised by the world and how things really are. The main characters come from a society that has been sheltered and isolated for 250 years, and several beliefs and misinterpretations are just treated as fact.

[Leaping Cat Comics @LeapingCatComix]

@MadelynKnecht I would very much like my stories to be turned into anime series. If anyone can make that happen, call me.

[Leaping Cat Comics @LeapingCatComix]

Getting more specific... the first story I started writing was Free Feline Foundation. I was just noodling, and it was originally a simple romance between Lily and Michael, but at some point Lily decided she wanted to dedicate herself to helping other catgirls, and the entire project changed at that point, and new characters were needed.

Rabbits Rising is an odd case. My original story idea still lives on as drafts of a prequel, but I took the situation it created and "what if" thought myself into what that society would become after a dozen generations. I built that first, then had to give it a goal: rediscover the outside world and the truths of their own origins. For that, I needed characters, and I generally selected a representative of each faction or organization inside Rabbit society. And what they wanted and needed shaped the actual narrative.

Semi-Retired is very different. The concept was very specific and needed similarly specific characters. The surface story is really just a canvas to explore how these two characters interact and relate to each other.

[Leaping Cat Comics @LeapingCatComix]

@markemusgames Pretty much. Once I have my setting or story idea, I create shells of characters that I need for that story. Once I breathe life into them, then they kind of exist on their own, constantly telling me I'm writing them wrong and I have to change things. :)

[Leaping Cat Comics @LeapingCatComix]

I have three in development:

Rabbits Rising - epic fantasy. 250 years after "The Sickness" nearly destroyed the world, a group of young Rabbits explore beyond their borders to reconnect with what's left, discovering in the process that almost everything they that they knew is wrong.

Semi-Retired - modern crime noir. Stephen Green planned an almost-perfect crime. Almost. Now he has to pay off his debts, partnered with Jewel Kim, a woman who has no reason to trust him.

Free Feline Foundation - modern fantasy. When Lily, a stray catgirl, is rescued from (barely) living on the streets, she gets a new lease on life, and uses it to help other homeless catgirls. But when she turns to freeing those kept as "pets", she draws the ire of those in power who profit from and enjoy the system. Sample mini issue at https://t.co/DMkUx3tWF7

[Leaping Cat Comics @LeapingCatComix]

@Shrine_Kumi All the time. All the time.

[Leaping Cat Comics @LeapingCatComix]

Question to fantasy authors:

Is it normal to be writing something, you do your world building, and as a result you already have a "prologue prequel", a full prequel, and a sequel basically plotted out before you write the main story...

... and then you find yourself distracted from finishing the main story because you're filling in details or writing scenes for the prequel/sequel works?

Or is it just me?

[Leaping Cat Comics @LeapingCatComix]

@Medicenjosemelo The "frenemies" concept was the bit, though -- Coyote / Road Runner, Bugs / Elmer, Sylvester / Tweety.

You could even say that Kevin / Crane is a faint echo of that.

[Leaping Cat Comics @LeapingCatComix]

@sirbenjaminjr I have to say, my titles have all come easily and fairly early in the process. I have no idea how typical or atypical that is.

[Leaping Cat Comics @LeapingCatComix]

@AMERICANNERD76 What I love about his scene is how traditionally "comic" it is with the physical comedy... and NOBODY in the theater is laughing. It's a beautiful subversion of the Looney Tunes style in a dramatically appropriate moment.

In a movie about a cartoon coyote.

[Leaping Cat Comics @LeapingCatComix]

@CoyoteACMEMovie I tame, I taw, it conkwered.

[Leaping Cat Comics @LeapingCatComix]

@MaureenLangloss I use AI to stress test my ideas and act as a sounding board, but I can't even imagine letting it do any actual WRITING for me. Even its suggestions are so wrong, the best value I get out of it is in helping me clarify thought so I can explain WHY it's wrong.

[Leaping Cat Comics @LeapingCatComix]

@WillDil66166445 @justdobber Technically, rule 2 is more the culprit. Combined they absolutely are the premise.

[Leaping Cat Comics @LeapingCatComix]

@jui_cyapple Road Runner will run on a highway track in a desert. Sonic wins anywhere else.

[Leaping Cat Comics @LeapingCatComix]

@CoyoteACMEMovie That was hilarious. Mr. Wile E. Coyote, Genius, is a master at the AMA format.

[Leaping Cat Comics @LeapingCatComix]

@AlysssaHazel Spoiler: Eru doesn't make Dwarves. Aule does.

[Leaping Cat Comics @LeapingCatComix]

@rodeorosebud Under "elaborate dancing", I'll just leave this here:

[Leaping Cat Comics @LeapingCatComix]

@LennonheadNew I once did a play on that in a thread on "(nearly) useless magical items" for D&D:

Staff of Disintegration - Upon speaking the command word, the staff disintegrates. Single use.