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raveyrai:

On the eve of leaving home to step out into her future, seventeen year old Vielle finds herself torn between the fear of “out there” and the “comfort” of everything she’s always known. Her mom, video games, comic books, friends, the stories of the fae, myths, and magic that her mom always told her… Leaving means letting go of all of the things she holds dear. Reality is just too deep to handle sometimes… Overwhelmed, Vielle takes a moment to relax and daydream… Just dream… She quickly discovers that fantasy is much more complicated than reality…

Fungus Grotto is a fantasy-based comic with faeries, man-eating plants, and references from the RPG’s a number of fans can point out and appreciate. That and the main character is a woman of color who is witty, sarcastic, driven, charming, and just so happens to be into video games and comics. How she responds to the situations she finds herself in reflects that and is as refreshing as it is exciting to be able to relate to that as a woman of color myself.

The artist who is single-handedly writing this out and of course drawing, inking, and coloring these pages is a woman of color herself who is influenced by RPG games, anime, manga, etc. with Kingdom Hearts being one of the more recognizable influences in her artwork. Ms, Shatia Hamilton is my favorite artist and quite a success on the internet. She’s been in Mangaka, won competitions for her art, and is well-known on deviantart.

With Fungus Grotto just now getting off a very long hiatus, Ms,Shatia Hamilton has decided to only upload her webcomic in monochromatic colors and linework instead of coloring them full-out like she used to. I think it’s a good idea, as an aspiring animator/comic-book artist myself. Online she just shares the story and linework and if you want to see the pages fleshed out in color and ink you can support her work and buy the chapters or the entire volume once her shop is up.

You all need to get into this comic, like seriously, GET INTO IT. Blow it up. This is the kind of thing we need to signal boost. We need more stories like hers in all sorts of mediums. They’re out there. We’re just having trouble finding them.