The Flower and the Nose (ad XD)

Hi guys, I post it here too. This is the blog for my next upcoming series: The Flower and The Nose.

It's very different from The Pirate Balthasar.

If all goes well it should start in July.

The Pirate's Wife

The Pirate's Wife will be the first one of the new series to start.
Here's a color test for the banner (I still have to work on my typography).

Name Rose's Baby - Finals

I picked all the names that received more than 10 votes (from 11 up).


It's time to vote for the very best.

Chapter 20 - final curiosities

Okay, sorry for the delay. It took me a while to actually sit down and write the final curiosities. Today was nothing short of... surreal!

I don't know about you but I've waited for two years to hear Kane say these words.

Kane has witnessed two big events in very little time: Castalia being poisoned and Pifo willing to give his life for him.
Two people making powerful choices because he gave them the freedom to choose.

This affected him immensely and made him realize that because he supports others, the others support him... so maybe he can risk a little more and dare to be free.

Choices always have consequences. Choices are what move the story forward and a character is determined by the choices he makes. As he chooses, he is.

"True CHARACTER is revealed in the choices a human being makes under pressure - the greater the pressure, the deeper the revelation, the truer the choice to the character's essential nature." Rob McGee.

Okay, so yes, the girls are pretty recognizable as babies. I had used the same joke in the previous exposition.
Can you tell who is who?
Of course you can, just as some of you guessed correctly the first time this image appeared.

And talking about the previous appearance.

Spot the differences. Ahahaha, sorry I played another little prank on you.
Why is Villy Kane dark in the exposition and not blond like in the flashback?
Well, the first time, as Kane tells the story the one imagining the stuff in gray is the listener, that is Castalia. It is not really a flashback, it's a simple exposition of facts.
Now, Castalia had never seen her dad. She just assumed he looked a bit like Callimaco but then she thought he would have brown hair. If you noticed, in this same exposition, we never see Kane's face either. Okay, so I cannot spoil his face before time but the truth is... she cannot imagine it.

The flashback, instead, belongs to Villy Kane himself and he clearly remembers what he looked like when he was young.

So Josh and Kane's mother was called Eve.

To clarify one thing: I used English names here but actually the boys are Italian, and before they were given their pirate name, had Italian names. So to tell you the truth in that balloon I should have written: Caino and Abele.

Just so you know... Italians would never call a child Juda or Cain or Herod because these dudes are super duper super-villains from the Bible.
In fact these names are used to offend people: you are such a Juda (traitor). You are such a Cain (a very bad person with murderous intention).
Poor Kane was charged with such a burden.

"That not truuuuue, that's impossibleeee!"
Sorry May the 4th still too close... but I always wanted to crack the most famous line a supreme ordeal could ever deliver in a movie!
Oh, Luke! Luke! LOL

Except he is not her father! XD
I'm easily amused, I know.

Some of you thought that Castalia was going to gamble.
Do you remember how the comic started? Kane cheated.

She is using Kane's dice... that's why Kane says that it's no "if" it's "when".

The key to the ending of The Pirate Balthasar is all in one page, one simple key page I placed at the beginning of the story.

This one page established a lot of things.
Also if you re-read the comic you realize that many things that appear to be one way actually do mean something different instead... including Kane's midsummer night's dream.

Il Pirata Baldassarre - Capitolo 20 FINE

Fine del capitolo e del fumetto MA... ricordatevi di tornare per un ultimo update con Intermezzo ed Epilogo.

Open publication - Free publishing - More commedia

The Pirate Balthasar - Chapter 20 END

End of chapter 20, remember to stick around for the intermezzo and the epilogue! :D

Open publication - Free publishing - More comedy

Lettori Italiani: avviso!

Pare che il vecchio sito di Shockdom sia stato disattivato del tutto.
La versione Open non esiste più,
ma già da tempo siamo online anche su Webcomics, per cui per leggere le avventure del pirata Baldassarre venite a trovarci sul nuovo portale: clicca qui.

This is it.

This is the end.

One more intermezzo page, sure and then wrapping things up in the Epilogue and after this what will it happen?

We have 15 days more or less to think about it.

First will come all scenes that were cut from the comic: The Balthasar that never was.

Then it's time to start the new series.
They'll be all done in different styles and they will be in color.

I will post the banners soon then I will ask the question: which one should go first?

2 more pages to go

Sorry, the quality of the photo is not that great, I wonder where my camera went, I cannot find it.
Anyways, 2 more pages to go before The Pirate Balthasar ends.

I am starting on the epilogue and I am way behind schedule with so many things!
Sorry if I am not very present anymore. I don't know if I will be able to be this present in the future, especially after the new series start.

So anything you need to ask me come and ask here.

Name Rose's Baby

I had to create more than one poll for space limitation on the possible answers.

It means you get to cast more than one vote and then we'll go to finals:


I left out the boys' names because it's a girl! :D

I'm crazy about patterns...

I am going crazy over patterns these days... expect to see them more in the comic... *_*
Tomorrow we poll, ok?

Let's poll during the week end.

I received more names for the baby cow.
Elmera Ella Kinsley Kita Emme Mikka Milla Miriam Issa Isme

So many, it will take me for ever to make the polls... so let's poll this coming weekend, ok?

Rose's baby!

Thank you all for your submission.
This would be final call for entries.

I received a lot of names with nice explanations, let's make a list like Santa (if I forgot somebody remind me so I can update the post).


List of Names: 

Kanta
Trishna
Drea
Amira
Ilaria
Alura
Edelina
(explanations here)

Dahlia
Lily
Daisy
Amaranth
Charlotte
Carmine
Flora

Loraine
Clara
Lilac
Orchid
Mary
Fara


Raini
Asiva
Lily
Terra
Jinx
Amy
Bane
Robin
Wilson
Jin
Cornelia
Patsy
Tobi
Bret
Boomer
Moo
Chiri
Chuck Norris
Nemo
Nashi
Len
George
Bean
Rexy
Eva
Aden
Fiala ( Vioelt flower)
Tama (means jewel)
Llima (flower)
Clea (famous flower)
Iolanda (famous pirate girl name)

Violetta
Lillà
Bluebell
Blossom
Angelica
Marigold (Goldie)
Hortense
Iris

Fabia Wichita (or just Fabia)

Peaches
Violet
Heather
Bluebell
Holly
Daffodil
Honey
Petunia
Buttercup
Hazel
Periwinkle
Marigold
Dumpling

Did I forget anybody?

Chapter 20 E curiosities.

So Cassandra will be vomit-zilla for a while.
I think you noticed... poor girl is in the third month and that's when you get the annoying nausea and vomit stuff happening.
Now she cannot eat anything... but do not fear, fourth month is around the corner and she'll start to feed... even on you, if she has to.

In case you were wondering these are catholic vows.
As we know Martin is a catholic but everywhere we went we met catholic priests, friars and monks.

So if you go back to Father Guido marrying Castalia and Kane you can see why he is so unusual and Kane was in a hurry to have Castalia say yes... before the friar changed his mind.

Ah, here's is something curios. A few months ago, when we were playing "whose hands are these?" somebody said that Cat cannot get married.
I was quite surprised by the comment, not because it was true, but because I though it was mentioned in the comic before... while I was leaving this for last.
So I was trying to figure out why people were saying that - actually it's a friend of mine who said that hahahaha - but anyways: yes, poor Cat cannot be registered because he does not really have a name and doesn't truly exist.
He was a possession, not a person, most of his life.

So even if, let's say, Kane wanted to do a speed marriage like he did for himself and Castalia... there would still be the question that the marriage cannot be registered.

So Callista would rather not go even through a ceremony because she think it would make Cat feel uncomfortable.

The doctor of the plague actually existed. You can google them and see that they had stuff inside the long nose of the mask to avoid getting the plague.

I thought it would be cool if they were the messenger of the Pirate King since they are sent to remove... a plague.
In my head they should also be assassins.

I have a feeling we'll see more of them in the future stories.

The epic entrance... and Cat is too short.
Hahaha sorry. I was noticing these days that whenever you watch action movies, like the Avengers, or even movie posters... they all have epic pose and slow motion walk into the scene in a very epic manner and so I wondered... what if one of them is super short?
There goes Cat out of the frame so you cannot see how truly scary his face is... hahahaha.

As you remember.... Kane's grandpa died when he was away - the two years he spent in University.

Now he is piecing everything together and finally realizes that Gilber Sullivan was behind everything, including his grandfather's death.

The thought clearly hurts him: first of all Gilbert Sullivan is the King; second of all... to manage to kill the Duke Cosimo - who never trusted anyone - he must have employed such a trick; his grandfather might have died not knowing even suspecting his own son; if he did know Sullivan was behind it he might have been even more broken hearted since they had known each others for years.

Another little prank here.
Gilbert Sullivan attacks in slow motion and he is very very old.

If you notice even though there is a quick reaction from everybody it takes them a while to actually do something because he is old.
And even though, up until that moment, Kane had pushed him around and bruised him a little... I mean, an old man staggering with a dagger (lol) how to stop that?

A young one is one thing but an old, very very slow one...
Castalia might jump on him without thinking on it twice but Kane wants for her to stay back.
As weak and slow as he looks... he still is the very same man who killed his grandfather and therefore cannot be trusted.

Il Pirata Baldassarre - Capitolo 20 E

Con ben 12 succose pagine... e siamo oramai a circa una settimana dalla fine. Buona lettura.

Open publication - Free publishing - More commedia

The Pirate Balthasar - Chapter 20E

Actually there are 12 pages instead of 10 in this update hahahaha.
Some juicy extra.

We are but one week or so away from the ending:

Open publication - Free publishing - More comedy

Happy Mother's Day.

Just a quick sketch done with markers and ink.
Happy Mother's Day the pirate way! Hahahaha

Thank you all for submitting a huuuuuge amount of names for Rose's baby.
We shall list them and start voting for them after update and curiosities are out of our way.

Wilson Kane Fanart/reward

Venlian painted this very nicely rendered portrait of Wilson Kane (as a reward for winning the Moment of Beauty Contest).

She is a very good draft-man and has a peculiar way of rendering, doesn't she? Please visit her on Deviant Art and leave her a nice comment under the picture.

Happy MaMa Day

Okay peeps, another one of our themed quick sketches! Now it's Callista's turn and her little Pearl.

So let's start one game at the time: give a name to Rose's baby! :D

Springtime for Balthasar

First of all Lio and Foxy as Robin Hood and Lady Marian won the Springlove contest in the Moment of Beauty Group.

I think participation was pretty low though (which is unusual for such a great group) U_U.
But we get a free drawing in return so all is well that ends well! :D

----------------------------------------------------------------

But let's get down to our own little games.

 This time with we're proposing two kinds of activities.

 1) A naming contest 

Rose is having a baby. Baby needs a name. A female one.
Unleash your imagination and help us pick a cool name for her! We'll make a poll for all the proposed names and it'll be decided by popular vote. Pirates vote to decide such things ;D .

2) A Pirate Balthasar Firefox browser skin contest

 Firefox, in case you're not familiar with it, is a free browser software, and one of the most popular and used browsers worlwide.

Firefox works both in Windows, MAC and Linux OS, it's highly customizable and an all-around cool tool to have. A lot of plugins and custom options for Firefox are made by the users themselves and put up on the Mozilla mother site for other Firefox users to dl and cutomize their browser with.

It's a good way to both hone your skills, get recognized and make other people happy XD.

 To make a skin (aka 'Persona') for Firefox you only need a standard graphics program to work on images, like Photoshop, GimP, Paint tool SAI or whatever software you have available, and use a picture... in our case it could be either an official Pirate Balthasar illustration from the comic, or a fanart.

In case you didn't make the fanart, just ask the author permission to use the pic ;D.

In any case, credit the author. It's both netiquette and what professionals do. All you need to know on Firefox skins (from step by step tutorials to examples and catalogue of finished skins) is here :[link]
 and here: [link] 

There's not really a deadline planned for this skin contest... also because after the main TPB story is over there will be the sequels and spinoffs, hence your picks of source images and inspiration for browser skin are endless XD.

 Just go wild and submit and /or link your Firefox 'Persona' to us, somehow, when you are done! :D

Reward an Original Drawing.

Happy Meow Meow Day

"For Mama!"
The little lizard squirmed in fear: "Why, cruel fate, was I to be captured by a gigantic, furless cat?"

Cats have the tendency to show how they feel about you by leaving little presents outside your door: dead birds, lizards still squirming, splattered mice and so on.

I often thing Castalia would be like a mother cat and her children like little kitten and poor Kane would be overwhelmed and taken over. Hahahahahaha.

Anyways... Happy Meow Meow Day.

Happy Moomoo day.

Since mother's day is coming why not have fun with the theme?

La scommessa

Su richiesta la versione italiana de "La Scommessa".


La Scommessa

Less than 20 pages left.

There are no curiosities this week as I did not receive any particular question concerning anything.

I apologize to those who disliked my mocker of a fanservice/yaoi.

I don't know if they disliked it because they thought I was serious or because they are hard core fujoshi and don't like for certain things to made fun of.

I wonder if it's just the Italian sense of humor that does not sit will with everybody.

Personally... I just wanted to make Pifo happy.

I hope you guys enjoyed "May the 4th be with you" - aka International Star Wars Day.

I spent 4 hours baking Stormtroopers' cookies and then yesterday I spent 3 hours drawings on t-shirt.

I made 6 and sold 4.

The Yoda eating light saber icicles was the most requested :D

I hope I get pictures of them soon as I ask the buyers to send me photo of them wearing the shirt!

I made plenty of cross over drawings too with Shalalas and evil Cassandra's eyes (I forgot to draw the pinky up one I had in mind LOL).

I managed to watch about 20 minutes of Empire Strikes back.
Han Solo is made of awesome!

When I wanted to draw this t-shirt here I asked my students if they had any photo of him... they had all the ugly monsters from the new series and barely any picture of Luke, Leia and Han.

So I tragically stated: whyyyyyy????? Han Solo is made of awesome!

Then, all of a sudden, people started requesting picture of Han Solo like crazy... and that's when I went: seeeee? Told you!

LOL anyway it was fun and all the money went to charity!

NOW since we are less than 20 pages away from Balthasar's ending.... I better sit down and draw all day long!

Il Pirata Baldassarre - Capitolo 20 D

Altre 7 pagine, per voi oggi. Oggi è il giorno di Guerre Stellari... che la forza sia con voi.

Open publication - Free publishing - More commedia

The Pirate Balthasar - Chapter 20 D

7 new pages for you guys to enjoy today! May the 4th be with you! :D

Open publication - Free publishing - More comedy

The Bet

My friend wrote a short story and asked me to illustrate it. Here's the final result! :D

Happy Labour Day

So today I enjoy my labour day by doing two things: shopping for Lego and baking.

My coming out: my trilogy is not Pirate of the Caribbean... it's Star Wars. So in my school (Nanyang Poly, Ang Mo Kio, Ave. 5 - next to Yo Chu Kang MRT station) we have decided to organize a big May the 4th be with you day... this coming Friday.

If you are in Singapore feel free to join the dark side of the force. 

That's where you'll find me, my stall is called: the dark side! - reason being... we have cookies. XDD
Yes, so... I cannot bake and I will be making cookies.

So, sorry, no labour day drawing since on labour day there is no work! Muahr ahr ahr....
(but truth be told I am drawing like crazy since I took my parents on vacation - seen that my dad is still able to walk - and both the Bali and the Thailand trip deprived me of precious drawing time! So, honestly, I'm a bit behind ;_;).