Darnit, my electronic cutter -- which has become the de facto backbone of my entire Pigux Paper Plushies & Prints operation -- has decided to malfunction during a very critical period in time for me.  

Thankfully I have enough Changeling Challenge boxes to hold me over for a while, but this definitely couldn't have occurred at a worse time.  And of course I didn't buy a backup unit since I was presumably moving in November (it's now January that I'll be moving).  ^^

So yeah... this probably will have to go to the shop for a few days.

Thankfully, I already ordered that backup unit... it's too important to be without a spare... and if I have both of them working properly, then the Fun will be DOUBLED!  >v<

Hey hey, another Sun-Dried Cherries comic got posted, please check it out!  You may have noticed a bit of a slowing down in publishing... that's due in dual-part because I've been taking care of several things as my move date gets closer + I've also been adding a little more detail to these comics as well.  I knew the latter would happen eventually, I'm a wannabe perfectionist at heart.  

In other news, thanks to all you lovely people who've purchased Changeling Challenge from my Etsy site, you're awesome!  If anyone else is interested, please check out the site listing:


Changeling Challenge A Pony Tabletop Game

...Or just note me.  ^^

In yet other news, I've having the incredible work on another guest comic before the end of the month, as I will want to take some time off to celebrate Dia De Los Muertos.  So definitely look forward to it -- and in fact, I think each month I'll fund a guest comic like that for extra pizzazz (plus seriously... time off!).  

And lastly, many thanks to for her offer to sell some of my Changeling Challenge sets and SDC merchandise at Equestria LA!  That will definitely be some welcome exposure, if all goes according to plan (it didn't quite go so at Canterlot Gardens)!  

Look for some adorable postcards of 's SDC chibis and chubbies there.  

Yep, finally took the plunge and decided to open my own Etsy account.  ^^

[link]

It's the first start to my little web expansionism -- next is to actually overhaul my Pigux website, and finish that darn SunDriedCherries one.  

Note that I only have Changeling Challenge available for sale now, but over the next few days I'll add in all my SDC merch, as well as my MLP paper plushies. ^__^

Hey hey!  My first SDC comic since my birthday/Changeling Challenge hiatus has now been released!  It's great to be back in full swing!  ^.^

I'm not expecting TOO much interruptions, so we should see Luffa Farm 4 relatively shortly (especially since it's not nearly as complicated to draw).  

Not much else to report in other news, other than that I'm making more Changeling Challenge sets, am in talks in making a variant of the game based on a fairly popular OC pony series, and am also laying the groundwork for my next true board game.  ^^

Also, I guess I'll post box content pictures of Changeling Challenge soon.  ^^

Hey hey, quick note here cause I'm tired and I'll drop dead if I don't finish this in the next five minutes.... XD

So some of you may be realizing why I haven't posted an SDC comics in a little over two weeks now.  Just as a recap of what's been going on:

• I went to Chicago as a birthday vacation/scouting mission, so promised myself little computer exposure during that time (that's where Fadri filled in for me.

• Following my trip, I switched to high gear to finish my Changeling Challenge game, and with good reason cause I love how it turned out.  ^^

• Then I proceeded to rush-make three retail copies, including two originally meant for my friend going to Canterlot Gardens.  One is already finished and mailed, the other two almost finished if not for my dying thing.... >v>

• And lastly, I have an RL friend in town I need to show around, plus another I haven't seen in a long time who I'll be hanging out with.

• Oh, and I discovered Tekkit (nervous snicker).

So all in all it's been a crazy few weeks, and about the only thing I've done with SDC is concept sketches on my tablet, plus the new booklets that will be included in each Changeling Challenge set.  So I feel bad, but well it's for a good cause... ^____^

In any event, I'll be back on track soon with Luffa Farm 3... in the meantime, I hired my good friend to make yet another guest comic to fill the void.  There is no set theme or plot in SDC other than zaniness, so just about anything can be considered canon.  

At long last, after weeks of R&D, drawing, writing development, accumulating weird art materials I've never used before (such as chipboard), and all around plain work, I FINALLY have my first game toy ready!  Well okay, it's just the prototype.... but with the process documented and the templates all set, mass production of this game should go a heck of a lot faster.  ^^

Feel free to preview the front and back box art until better quality pictures are available after its official debut....



It's clearly still rough around the edges -- for example, this particular box uses a much heavier and thicker chipboard, so future ones will use a much thinner one that isn't as prone to bulging.  And the box art won't be auto-cut to prevent the kind of tearing, blemishs, lack of overlapping folds and other eyes soars seen here.

There's tons of neat things inside, but for the time being that's a secret to the general public.

Suffice to say, I'm very excited and proud about this!  ^^

(Not the least of which because of the obligatory SDC shoutout!)  

And I'm back from my little vacation/scouting mission -- again, special thanks to for filling in for me while I'm gone.  ^___^

We will resume the regularly scheduled SDC comics shortly, but in case anyone like Fadri's style, rest assured he'll be back, and likely a lot more regularly.  

UPDATE:  And also, many thanks to for completing these most adorable chibis of CC and DD!  They look positively adorable in that cute, quirky syle she's known for!  ^___^

Quick one, Since I'm tired beyond belief and on the verge of collapse, XC

For  situations like these, l am now enlisting the help of my friend and famous comic book artist,
..

Please enjoy what he has created to continue the biweekly SDC releases, , while I'm here on half business, half pleasure (aka, vacation).  ^^

Well now, I think i can't say enough how happy and proud I am of the warm reception that SDC has received.  I thank all my fans and viewers for making this thought experiment an outstanding success in so little time -- heck, the ink isn't even dry on the digital paper, and here we are making fanart left and right, and totally digging the exploits of only two crazy little evil ponies.  ^____^

So thus far we have beautiful 2d drawings, anthro art, animated GIFs, beanie blushies and felt plushies.  And I suspect someone out there MIGHT be working on plastic custom blindbag versions as well, that would certainly be totally awesome.  Oh, and we have my paper plushie versions and physical booklets too.  ^^

So what more can we do with SDC?  How about an actual alternate comic?!  
Thanks to my good friend who single-handedly came up with new comic strip ideas independent of all the ones I have reserved, we now have a totally different perspective on the CC and DD, and in a non-4koma comic style to boot!



Further proof that SDC is about flexibility, is about letting you're creativity flourish freely with no impediments, and is absolutely NOT about having me control every means of expression and greedily horde my IP like some wannabe George Lucas.   And for that, I welcome Fadri to make more of these if he wants to, and I encourage anyone else who'd like to use CC and DD for their own works to do the same!  Let them run wild and free in your imaginations!  

[just be careful not to let them take over your imagination, and turn you into their personal slave]  XD

Welp, it's finally happened...

Another plushie artist has turned CC and DD into tangible and utterly adorable merchandise!  And best of all, I get a copy, not far from my birthday no less!  

Behold the work of the talented plushie artist :



And likewise, here's ALL my beloved SDC plushies I have in my possession thus far:



I say "thus far" cause I don't want this to stop, of course.  And neither should anybody.  ^v^

Please check out 's deviantart page, and ask for your CC and DD plushie today!  

Well not really "weekly", since these are still done sporadically, but I already have two really good ones that I feel are worth a mention.  

Last week came this cute and unique piece by , which sets CC and DD in a bit more of an anthropomorphized pose.  Their expressions are simply golden.  ^.^




And hot off the press comes yet another awesome illustration by who rightfully plays around with CC and DD's abilities to conjure up ideas that even I hadn't thought of (like using cowlicks for a swing).  



In other news, I'm on the verge of completing Changeling Challenge, so soon you'll see something quite unexpected being posted here.  ^^

It might strike everyone as odd, but up until now and despite my constant seeding of artists (especially at meetups where I buy up tons of stuff), I've never actually owned a true minky-based MLP pony plushie before!  All plushie artists that I've seen and known have either been too busy to take my Violet request or charge a ridiculous sum that simply doesn't make it worth it.

And to this date, that dry spell has never been broken.

But MLP is soooooooo yesterday anyway, these days it's ALL about SDC!

And incredibly enough, my plushie-less SDC dry spell was only broken in four weeks, a new record!  

Many thanks to who today went out of her way to hand-deliver these adorable pocket plushies in person, near where I work.   Thanks to that, I can now have my very first minky plushies in my personal possession.  ^___^

Pictures below:







What else can I say? They are very adorable, and I appreciate that Sarah has the same efficiency philosophy as I do, in that she makes every effort to keep costs down in consideration of many of our fellow bronies' limited budgets.  CC and DD were actually the debut of her new pocket plushie line, which is very much in line with the spirit of SDC... making things smaller, cheaper and cuter to ensure they're accessible to as many people as possible.  ^^

There's almost nothing really I can say as a con really, other than that the necks are a little too thin so they have a tendency to flop around too much -- but they're not the first plushies I've seen do that, plus it is oddly cute.  ^.^
In reality, it's a win all over, from the comic-accurate tail and mane shapes to the adorably stubby legs, to the pipe cleaner-based poseable cowlick, to DD being accompanied by her own favourite plushie, Popo the Parsnip.

(a plushie for a plushie?  Plushieception?)

In any event, I definitely want to thank Sarah once more for having enough faith in SDC to invest some time into making plushies for them on her own volition.  She's confident that SDC will be a success in offering our bronydom a new grassroots creative venue in which to freely express our love for all things pony, and I'll be darned if I won't work hard to make that reality happen!  If she has the foresight to offer some SDC merchandise at her tables going forward, I'll be sure we get to the point where they fly off the shelves just like any other MLP pony.  ^^

TO A BRIGHT AND GLORIOUS FEEEEEEEEEAST!!!! ...er, I mean "FUTURE!!!!!!!!!"  

===========

Although if you want a head start, inquire about your own plushies here... ^.^

Well now, not even 24 hours have passed and already we're graced with the presence of another CC plushie, this time made by the talented !  

Please also pay her a visit, she's adorable and DD is on her way too!  ^_____^



Still very excited to see CC and DD really starting to take shape as merchandisable characters!  ^.^

In case you missed yesterday's journal... [link] ...and the two cute SDC plushies that made their debut there too....





====================

Oh, and in other news, please check out my new thumbnails!  ^.^

Now note I said "merchandise", as opposed to first fan money-making endeavour,... in which case THAT title goes to the venerable for his awesome Sun-Dried Cherries cover art:



He was the first to put his amazing SDC fanart on sale as a high-res purchasable download, and rather than go the typical route I've seen of storming over there and beating-my-chest-all-indignant-about-art-theft-and-profiteering-off-all-my-hard-work-and-how-dare-you-and-all-that-jazz,... instead, I actually became his first customer.  

(and hopefully not the last... if you haven't purchased your copy, do so now cause the high-res is to die for!)  ^.^

After all, please remember that Sun-Dried Cherries is zero-copyrighted (or practically public domain), and as such it's free of many of the copyright restrictions that we usually work with in our art creations, even with liberally-licensed models such as Creative Commons licenses.  Attribution is not required (although gladly appreciated), and of course commercial use is not only allowed, but actually celebrated!  

Now why would I intentionally lose control of my own IP?  Am I crazy or just insanely generous?

Well I am a little bit of both -- and to be honest, I am partially inspired by Hasbro's laissez-faire approach to its own MLP-FiM IP, and how that liberty has done so much to expand and enrich the fandom with the amazing speed that it has.  I'd like to see if we can jumpstart the same thing but with a truly free, homebrewed franchise -- and for that to happen, I have to let it run wild and free!

The main reason, though, is that I have BIG plans in store in case my little thought experiment is a success -- plans of such magnitude, that greedily hoarding over the SDC IP strikes me as petty and short-sighted.  In short, I'm an artist so brazenly confident in my long-term abilities and creativity, that I'm perfectly willing to share at least one of those ideas with the world... cause ultimately there's plenty more where that came from!  ^^

=============

So precedent being established, now it's time to celebrate this next wonderful milestone in the 4 weeks that SDC has been around!

Today is a historic day... the first time ever an artist has created SDC-based merchandise to sell!  AND IT'S FREAKIN' CUUUUUUUUUUUUUTE!!!!!



My friend and legendary pony crafter made a plushie of DD,... and not just any plushie, but (in the spirit of SDC), an ultra-low-cost "pocket plushie" that's cheap and quick to manufacture, but full of wonderous joy and love!  It is impossibly cute, and as such it's a great advertising medium for SDC as people will undoubtedly ask who that adorable micro plushie pony is and where she comes from!  

I hope Sarah continues to make more of these cuties and is able to sell lots of them too -- for SDC ponies to be commercially viable (without the risk of getting shut down a la WhiteDove) would be, in my opinion, a sign of success for this mini franchise I'm hoping to create!  

And yes, CC is in the works, and from what I gather is going to completely blow your mind in the cute department!  

===============

UPDATE:
And WOW, that was FAST!
CC is ready to grace your eyes with her epic adorableness!  And yes, you can pose her cowlick, w00t!  

I originally posted this on EQD, but thought I'd repost here because it sounds long and "journaly"...  ^^
Note that this is in reference to this livestream thing... [link] ...so you might want to check that out first before reading the below.

==============

Yep, very short and abruptly cut off, especially considering the energy segment ate into a good amount of time. Will give them props for raising some important issues, and also for referencing some nice/interesting user comments, but agreed with those that say the title was misleading and suspiciously like an attempt to attract more viewers. ("My Little Gender Neutral Quadruped" might have been better).

The gaffe not only did us a small disservice, but also made it harder to attract people who could have provided expert commentary on the issue of gender-neutral child-rearing, but were put off by misconceptions of the "brony" label.

IMHO, the best gender neutral toy is the one that doesn't have to try hard to be gender neutral. For that to happen, the toy not only has to be (or be based on something) interesting and imaginative, but it also has to have a supportive ecosystem that encourages the child to engage in it (or the parent to allow it). I don't think a parent would raise a storm if a girl decided to play with City Legos, or a boy suddenly took an interest to Winnie the Pooh -- they're both based on really good franchises that make the notion of gender completely irrelevant (unless someone artificially created a problem of gender for it).

Had they focused more on the show and the brony community, I think this point would have become self-evident. MLP the show is fantastic enough to inspire MLP the community, which serves as a support network not only to adult male fans of the show (<=the one's most commonly identified as "bronies"), but also adult female fans, children, parents, elderly, disabled, etc.,,

It's thanks to that support network, I feel, that we have the chance to withstand a lot of the societal roles that try to force us back into strict gender divisions (strength in numbers, people!). And yes, that percolates down into other facets of our lives, INCLUDING toys.

It's true that the MLP toys are actually (and ironically) one of the lowest common denominators of the fandom (or at least they were until the latest wave, woo!). But thanks to the community, I feel we've actually been able to turn that weakness into a strength -- and some of us will brave the pink aisles (with pride, or at least indifference!) because we love the characters, or we want something to represent our fascination, or we want to genuinely help Hasbro sales, or because we want to customize them into better-quality toys.

Lest we forget our boundless talent, which has no gender after all.

MLP the Community has been wonderful in uncapping the imaginative talent of so many of our participants. IMHO, inspiring a young girl to draw her own creations is more important than trying to find a "safe" enough toy for her to play with -- in much the same vein as teaching a man to fish (rather than giving one to him) will feed him for life.

All that being said, there were lots of missed opportunities in this segment, and I hope there will be a follow-up segment at some point to better address the "brony thing" to some HuffPost viewers.

Lesse... I have Best Present Ever 3 drafted and sketched on Sunday, meaning it should be a cakewalk to release at this point (save for some weird special effects required in the first 2 panels).  So why in the world hasn't it been released yet?!  >v<

Well, aside from some moving-related delays,... no particular reason....

Nope... it's not like I've been making some SDC merch or anything, who would ever think of such a silly thing, hehe.... ^____^'

For those wondering why my last Sun-Dried Cherries strip was a tad late, blame this petulent little hunk of multiscreen, active digitizer-wielding, Android goodness:



I'll write a whole ton about it next week after I've wiped all the drool off the screen.  But suffice to say, praise Samsung for FINALLY making use of widget fragments and for FINALLY making a tablet that seconds as a much lighter, more useful and much cheaper Wacom Cintiq!    

With the exception of Asus (which makes some pretty clever Android hardware), all other manufacturers should immediately BOW their heads in shame.  

And so we finally had another glorious meetup here in my local brony group.   and I agreed that we'd bring along the Spider Toss board from Bronycon, this time reinforced with a proper stand, and with a more streamlined rule set that... in accordance with modern gaming norms... now includes a Free to Play option.  

So you can still win a sticker if you gain a certain high number of points in the Free play, but in the Paid play you START OFF with a sticker and play to win some nicer prizes.  Suffice to say, we had a nice little following for a while, including some awesome bronies who really got into it and managed to use the Free play to hone their skills.  Here's a rare pic when it was actually quiet... ^^



It was fun, as well as a steady, reliable revenue stream too.  ^^

Speaking of prizes, I will be posting pictures of my latest stickers in a few days.  In addition to the original set... [link] ..., I also created new ones featuring Luna, Celestia, Big Mac, Mayor Mare, the CMC, Zecora and Spike.  ^^

But I'm getting ahead of myself, I ALSO used the meetup as an opportunity to experiment with a new approach:  mobile vending!



Yes, I actually walked around with a strapped tray full of adorable paper plushies for sale, plus the SDC button and Lending Library (more on that later), and the prototype Mini Twilight Gun (also more on that in a bit).  Despite being popular in the food industry, this is allegedly the first time anyone in the brony community has done this for ponies, so I feel extra special.  More than a gimmick, I actually found it as a great opportunity to sell my wares AND visit all my other friends and artist alley tables... I actually managed to buy something from every table and even do a few merch trades too.  It was definitely liberating not having to remain behind a stuffy table.  ^^

And yeah, I had plenty of people wanting a hands-on demo with this cutie:



They were sad to know that it was only a prototype and not on sale, but happy to know that it WILL be on sale in a few weeks now, and as part of a cheap retail box set.  ^^
A lot of fun was had with that gun, although more than once I managed to see just how astonishingly powerful this gun is (I'll hand it to Hasbro, they know how to make quality toy guns).  ^___^

Lastly, I did have some quaint success with my Sun-Dried Cherries line, setting the stage for a slow and gradual recognition of them across all walks of brony life.  



Remarkably, there seems to be a very consistent love and admiration for CC's cowlick, I simply can't explain it, hehe....

Last but not least, the meetup was also , and I'm happy to report her OC Pumpkin Spice managed to make it to the party...!



I'll post more pictures in a few days, but for now I'm happy that she's happy!  

Quick update today since I'm sleep-deprived (as per usual), and am in serious need of some Zzz's.  The Wednesday comic might be delayed a bit due to more realty stuff... that's why I kinda figure I should promise only "two strips per week", but not necessarily on two specific dates as I stated before.

Either way it's gotta get done, as I need one more strip to complete the booklets I need for my meetup, and that's DEFINITELY gonna happen any which way.  ^__^

In other news, I also removed that Donation widget finally -- in its place, in case you want to support my work with SDC, please consider purchasing a high-res version of the comic strips.  They're only 20 points each, and will give you access to a PNG variant that's 4 times the size.  ^^



In any event, some more great Sun-Dried Cherries fanart:





And as a sudden return back to MLP, here is a chubby chub chub Lady Violet to reaffirm the truth that Violet is best [MLP] pony!  

Hey hey,

Sun-Dried Cherries fanart continues to roll in from all directions.  Already here's the latest batch since the last journal entry:











Thank you all for making the debut week so memorable!  

In other news, my next local meetup is this Saturday, and although it's still fairly new, I'd like to offer a mini booklet of SDC to distribute there, serving as a kind of prototype for the professional-bound booklet I'd like to make in the future.  It would contain panels printed on double-sided paper, plus a thick cover with unique artwork -- and in keeping with the long 4koma format, it would be printed on 2.75" x 8.5" paper.  

On top of that I might make buttons and cute cut-outs of CC and DD and the like.  ^___^