Side Dishes: Chapter 2: Page 17 (Patreon)

I hope the digital painting background in the first panel looks okay with everything else. I always have trouble with complex backgrounds like that, but I'm gradually learning. I basically stuck very faithfully to my reference photo; I actually started it by simply doing a rough trace over the reference to get the position of everything right, then built it up from there. It's always tricky deciding when to stop on something like that... I could have worked on it for days, since there's always something that needs touching up or adjustment, but I kind of had to force myself to stop when I felt like it was good enough to convey the idea and not just look completely unfinished.

If you recognize the new girls they're actually cameos from the Babes of Dongaria, a sex-comedy post-apocalyptic fantasy adventure story. The author of Dongaria has always been a supporter of Banana Cream Cake, and he agreed to letting me use the Babes to help build up the futa population of Side Dishes. Obviously specific girls recommended by patrons get priority on who is going to appear in the comic, but odds are if a scene calls for a girl in the Foo-Tah tribe and no one requests a specific character I'll probably be using one of the Babes.

So hey, we finally got to one of the village! It just took us about 4 months. I'm kind of nervous about when we get to see the Nah-Ri village... I feel like it would be unfair if they're just in tents... maybe it would be better for them to live in the trees instead, and the tent flap Kat led the girls through is just a ground-level hidden entryway. Kat did seem fairly adept at tree climbing when she first appeared... although at the time I was just playing up her cat-like appearance and personality.

So what do you all think should happen next? Which chief do you want us to meet first? Or should we try to do a split page that shows both? Or do you just want to see the other crew entering the Nah-Ri village? Although there's still the question of the monster tribe on its way... But who knows? One of you probably has a great idea I haven't even considered. Even if you don't have a specific idea for the next panel, you can always post your thoughts on some world building. Do you have a specific character you want to see in the comic in a specific role?