From Rags To Riches - Revised and completed + PDF (Patreon)

And here we go with the final release of From Rags To Riches 😄

Once again I have to thank you all for being patient and for supporting me throughout this amazing comic experience. Despite anything I might say to the contrary, Rags has been a really rewarding comic for me to work on. Sure, it became very tiresome at certain points but in the end I still loved working on it.

With the preamble over, I'd like to offer some of my creative commentary because I think this comic in particular deserves it. When this suggestion won the poll last July, I was actually a little bit surprised. I try not to talk about my personal opinions on anyone's suggestion because I don't want to single out anyone's entry as better or worse than the other. Even if I'm only ever positive about them, I feel very self-conscious over saying anything like "Wow, that's a surprising victory for From Rags To Riches! I did not expect that!" Because that does actually imply that my personal opinion is kinda like "Wow, really guys? You chose that one?"

Bear in mind that any suggestion I put into a poll is a suggestion I like. So when I say I was actually surprised that Rags won, my surprise came from that it was the only suggestion in that poll that seemed like it was very much out of style from what I feel like I usually draw. After all, most of my comics have been about people escaping wealth, like Josie the Goblin or Aubrianne the Orc. Exceptions exist of course, Countess Siobhan comes to mind 😅

But you can see what I mean, right?

And this felt a little like a challenge. How was I gonna make a comic about a poor beggar turning into a fancy rich lady and still have it feel like it carried on the spirit of what I usually make? 

It took me a few days to come up with the solution. And when I did, I was really hyped! Of course you all know what happened. Gabe inherited all his wealth from a family that he barely knew and he was at a loss for what to do with it all. And on pages 6-7, Lilith comes up with that wonderful idea of using the Holdtz family wealth to turn all of the estate's land into farmland.

Much of the comic's script was unchanged from that original concept. One or two pages were cut for brevity though. Between page 7 and 8, there would have been a small montage of Lilith, Gabe and the Holdtz Estate servants going around the City to give the poor people a chance to live and work on the newly established farming community. There was in fact going to be this whole thing that detailed how unkind and unfair the City was. But I cut it because I felt like it was unnecessary for the story and it would only be worldbuilding for a setting I wasn't interested in developing beyond that there are elves, orcs and catgirl meidos there.

There was however two subsequent changes that would follow, the first was the ending thesis. But I would like to talk a little about the second one first.

I was initially not going to end the comic with Lilith being pregnant. I've been pretty cagey about drawing pregnant characters and especially MtF characters who get pregnant since probably 2016 or so when I first did it on dA. And the specific reason was because I noticed very, very early that if you start doing that, you're just gonna get bombarded with requests for more. It's under-served kink in some respects, and I sympathize with that 100%. But it also is just a little bit much for me 😅

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy that kink too on occasion, so there's no shade coming from over here, but still, I wanna keep things a little cool on that front 🙂 

I changed my mind on Lilith being pregnant in the end because I thought it would actually fit in quite well with how the comic ended. 

But once I had uploaded the last two pages I got a few very nice comments on the ending from some people in the Discord Server. One of which did also point out that seeing Lilith pregnant was a bit dysphoria-inducing since pregnancy is pretty far away from what is realistic for us trans women. And I thought that was a very important and valuable comment because it made me reconsider what a touchy subject pregnancy+MtF transformations is. 

And this is not really intended to be any kind of mission statement on my part, like I'm saying this to proclaim that "I'll never do another pregnancy TF because it induces dysphoria in some people." That's not it at all. But I just want you all to know that I try to create these comics with you in mind. I've said it before, but in this context of pregnancy TFs I just want you all to once again know that one of the reasons I draw these comics is because I want you to know that you are seen.

I want anyone and everyone who's browsing the web for TFTG erotica to know that regardless of whether you're cis, trans or exploring, that I am creating because I am here browsing for it too. That even if I never meet anyone of you in person or none of you meet each other either, that we're all here. We're here being confused, curious and of course horny, but most importantly, we're here, sharing an experience that can sometimes feel lonesome and unique to ourselves and only ourselves. But regardless of how alone and how dysphoric we feel sometimes, we're all here and we're all feeling it. And that means we're not alone at all ❤️

And while that's definitely heavy, there's still the first change I made to the script 😅

Over the last few years, I've been cultivating an interest in Taoism, an ancient philosophy originating from China that's often summed up as "going with the flow," though I would say it's a lot more complex than that. I've never been religious personally and even now I hesitate to call myself a Taoist because I don't really see myself as choosing to be Taoist more than I think Taoism and I just match each other. I would probably be the same person and have the same beliefs that I do even if Taoism didn't exist at all. But since it does, I have been able to read up on its concepts and values and they've become pretty meaningful to me.

I have no interest in preaching and teaching any religion to anyone because I believe religion is a personal thing. And as such I think it's more important to seek out what you personally get strength from over what you think will strengthen others. Despite that, there is a fundamental moral value in the Tao Te Ching that is summed up in Chapter/Verse 8:

The supreme good is like water
Which nourishes all things without trying to
It flows to the lowest of valleys where humans loathe to dwell
Thus it is like the Way

To be charitable and kind without second thought... What a concept to think about while also being on Patreon and getting all this amazing support from all of you ❤️

While working on this comic and also reading the Tao Te Ching from time to time, it's no wonder that the ending and the themes of both began intersecting. Obviously I don't think Lilith would have been wrong in keeping the coinpurse for herself at the beginning and I'm not going to say that returning it was the only moral action. But an instigating event was needed and yes, in a way you can say that Lilith gained something by giving it back. But Lilith truly proved herself to be a moral person by telling Gabe her opinion on all the unused land he owned. And Gabe proved himself to be moral as well by embracing that idea. And over time, their choices to give enriched the lives of other people.

And in the end, that's what Lilith and I mean when we say "Wealth comes from what you give."

I create because it means something to me. When I create, I feel like I am sharing some part of myself to the world and all you wonderful people in it. That's why From Rags To Riches became the story that it is. I genuinely believe that giving to others is worth more than getting from them. 

You all are paying me monthly for what I create and I will always be thankful for that. It's the physical reality of the money itself, but more than the dollar amount, your choice to support me is in many ways personal. It makes me feel seen and honored that you like the part of myself that I am sharing with you. It's humbling and it always makes me happy to see that people like what I make because it means I'm making you happy too.

It's not up to me to decide if I'm successful in acting on the philosophy of "wealth coming from what you give," that's up to the people who have to endure my presence. But I really, really want to create art that is valuable to other people regardless of the monetary investment. It's also not up to me to decide if I'm any good at it. 

But if my art and I are at least able to make you feel good, I'll feel plenty rich 🙂