The end of Pepper&Carrot and my next project.
edit: published on 30 March: NOT an April Fool.
Hey, I feel like I'm at a big crossroads and this is an important blog post, but you probably already guessed that from the title.
It took me a long time to think about it. It still takes up all my brain bandwidth at the moment. But now that I have a clearer picture, I think it's time to share it with you.
The end of Pepper&Carrot
I am planning to finish the Pepper & Carrot series relatively soon. But this change will not happen tomorrow or next month, I still have four more episodes to release before I get to my planned "~The End~". And as you know, it may take a while, especially since the episodes will be difficult to write and draw.
So why tell you about it now? Because it may affect many of my decisions about the project, and I wanted every contributor, supporter, and reader to be informed about this new goal. It might give a more understandable perspective to actions I'll take and things I'll write. Also, I can't keep this project to myself forever. :-)
I never liked it when a series 'goes on forever' and Pepper&Carrot will be 10 years old in May. It made me think a lot. I also always had a special admiration for authors who knew when to end their series.
I also want to write an ending while the project is still alive. I don't want to end this project when it starts to decline or is on the verge of being forgotten. The numbers are still good: more and more readers, supporters and all metrics are still progressing on all channels. Thank you for that. I can't tell you how grateful I am for the success you've made out of Pepper&Carrot, with all its spin-offs, the community, the contributors and everything else.
I'm counting on you to stick around until I finish the series, because I want to finish it well, and I'm already putting a lot of energy into writing an ending that I hope you'll like.
For this massive new quest, I am asking for your support. Most of my donation platforms (especially Patreon, Tippee) are set to trigger a payment "when the episode is released" and not "monthly". An extra budget to help me release the next four episodes will be welcome (I plan to end with episode 42 and finish with an ultimate 'book 5'). You can find the multiple ways to patron me on this page.
Thanks if you can take part in this ending, and of course thanks if you took part in the previous episodes!
Also, I wanted to tell you that I'm going to keep drawing Pepper and Carrot in a way, because...
π₯ (... drum roll)
Introducing: Mini Fantasy Theater
I couldn't talk about the end of Pepper&Carrot without telling you what comes next. And that's been the hardest part of the last month for me: re-evaluating everything I've done over the last 10 years, learning about it, and building a confident vision of where I'm going next.
I'm planning a webcomic project called "Mini Fantasy Theater" (MFT for short).
This project will have a lot in common with Pepper&Carrot and will be built on the same basic core values:
- Made only with Free Libre and Open Source Software
- Released under a Libre Culture license
- Open Source: layered source files available
- No paywalls, no advertising
- Made for the web first
- Supported by the community.
- Share knowledge and tools: Making of, tutorials, scripts and brushes.
You already know two characters from the MFT lore: a young witch and her cat. Because the MFT project was simply the project at the root of Pepper&Carrot. But by the time I drew the first pilot, the first two characters of my first strip had become a success, and I just decided to carry on with them. I wrote a few lines about it in the first pages of the Pepper&Carrot artbook.
The format for the MFT project: short comic strips, humorous, fantasy, following a small (possibly recurring) cast of characters in the world of Hereva (the same world as Pepper&Carrot). It will evolve depending on how the strip works, with your feedback. Of course, Pepper the young witch and her cat Carrot will be part of the characters.
So don't be surprised if you see more experiments, worldbuilding, character designs and tests coming as I write the end of Pepper&Carrot. I already reserved the domain https://www.minifantasytheater.com .
It's also a challenge to start a new art project in this era of unethical AI art, pay to win social media, algorithms with cryptic rules that serve the interests of their platforms, search engines that only return commercial partnerships and AI pollution. But now I'm confident that I will find a way and bring interesting answers to the table.
That's it, and I'm very curious to see how you react to this. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!
118 comments
lanodan@queer.hacktivis.me
MFT described as short humorous comic strips reminds me a bit of the ComicBattle you did with Gee, which was pretty fun.
davidrevoy
@lanodan Yes, on my brainstorming, I have a lot of connections pointing into the direction of posting short scenes directly on social media (like this type of experiments: https://www.peppercarrot.com/0_sources/0ther/misc/hi-res/2022-01-20_Pepper-and-Carrot_mini-comic_02_Imagination_by-David-Revoy.jpg ). And maybe also test to port directly the proofreading on social media thanks to a mix of new technology: the "edit" feature here, 'follower only' type of post, and CW for beta/alpha material. A good mix to open the project more, more than just user who know Git and Gitlab. Many new things to explore!
3 βziphi@meow.social
Good luck with new endeavors! And with finishing up a long running series - that must be quite the mix of feelings.
davidrevoy
@ziphi Thank you Ren! It's a real continuous brainstorm and emotionstorm. π Not recommended, 1/10.
4 βapalu@furry.engineer
@ziphi looking forward to salt and beet
βdavidrevoy
@apalu @ziphi "Beet" π€£ It reminds me the April Fool of 2019: https://www.davidrevoy.com/article711/production-report-pepperbeetroot-the-dog-refactor
3 βErikUden@mastodon.de
exciting!! I'm sure your new project will be as lovely as the last one :ablobcatheartsqueeze:
βdavidrevoy
@ErikUden Thank you Erik!
2 βKonstrukto@mastodon.social
wow, after a long period of hesitation I decided to make an account on mastodon, just in time to see you blogging about ending pepper & carrot...
It has been a great run and I have learned so much from your approach during it, and downloaded every brush etc.
Bonne chance avec ton projet nouveau! MFT FTW!
βdavidrevoy
@Konstrukto Oh no, just when I post this blog! π Thank you very much.
And welcome here!
3 βDonSerrot@gamepad.club
I'm excited to see more of this magical world! At first I was sad to see it'd be going away, but MFT seems more like an expansion on Pepper&Carrot so it sounds like the world will become fuller and richer with the broadened focus.
leah@chaos.social
I would lie if I said that hearing that Pepper&Carrot will find an end doesn't make me sad. But I wish you all luck for new adventures and projects in your life.
βdavidrevoy
@leah Thank you Leah!
2 βhacknorris@mstdn.social
:(
dwardoric@chaos.social
Have fun on your next journey and many thanks for Pepper and Carrot! π€
βthomy2000@fosstodon.org
I love all your work. Can't wait to see how Pepper & Carrot ends and what the next thing will be.
βslothrop@chaos.social
Thank you for all the wonders youβre bringing into the world! πππ
Life is all about change, good to hear that your projects are evolving.
I look forward to what youβre going to do next! π
βdavidrevoy
@slothrop
βwintercoziness@mathstodon.xyz
I believe it is a wise decision, especially considering that there won't be an abrupt end. I'm a relatively new reader (since 2022), but I think that P&C has been, in many ways, an incredible comic.
I'm eager to read what's to come and I hope MFT will be as good as P&C.
βdavidrevoy
@wintercoziness Thank you!
βilzo@oulipo.social
Good luck with MFT!
βdgouttegattat@social.incenp.org
A part of me is hoping that this is an Aprilβs fool, as it saddens me that Pepper & Carrot should end. But if it is not, then thank you for what you did so far and best wishes for your next project (that Iβll follow closely for sure). π β
davidrevoy
@dgouttegattat Thank you so much! I only hope I'm up to the task of writing a good ending and be as similar quality as all the effort I've put into this series over its last ten years.
βRLetot@mamot.fr
oook, long live P&C, and welcome MFT π
βlascapi@mastodon.zaclys.com
Wow !! Bon courage pour cette fin de projet et pour rebondir pour la suite !
βsaveriobran@mastodon.uno
Wow, it will be an interesting story to come! All the best!
βgub
FREE CARROT !
davidrevoy
@gub π€£
2 βcodemichael@mastodon.social
Congrats on making the difficult and scary decision to try something new. I wish you all the best.
βdavidrevoy
@codemichael Thank you! Oh yes, scary. I started to think about it in October. It took me until now with all the stage of griefs to be able to formulate it, officialize it, and start to know where I'm going next.
βjcolag@mastodon.social
Sad in one sense, of course, but it seems like you've always at least hinted about seeing a "closed form" story, here, and I'm excited to see where things grow from here.
βt3rr0rz0n3@xarxa.cloud
thanks for all the stories π
βtheCamelCaseBandit@mastodon.art
Sad to see Pepper and Carrot winding down, but MFT sounds fantastic! Can't wait!
βdavidrevoy
@theCamelCaseBandit Thank you!
βjigmedatse@social.jigmedatse.com
Look forward to seeing what comes next (not read your post yet). Hope you are well.
βdavidrevoy
@jigmedatse Hey, thank you! I'm fine, I was just a bit brain exhausted yesterday evening after writing this post and condensing all my brainstorming and notes into a single blog post I wanted as short as possible. Fortunately it's a long week-end here at home, and I spent my day cleaning the gutter around the house, cooking and gardening. A super efficient method to get back energy, especially spending time away from my phone, outside.
jigmedatse@social.jigmedatse.com
Here it's basically a 4 day weekend. Sometimes figuring out how to get things the way you want is tricky. I've *tried* to step a bit further away from, "get it absolutely right," and more to, "get it done good enough..."
crAshBanzai@universeodon.com
Looking fwd to the new thing :)
βMadmonkey@mastodon.uno
π±
AAMfP@fosstodon.org
Even though my wife is Japanese, I've never liked Japanese mangas since they always go on forever and you must start from the beginning if you like them.
Still, since I first read it, I wanted Pepper&Carrot to go on forever, also thanks to your #FreeSoftware philosophy and choices.
Anyway, I perfectly understand and respect your choice and I'll continue follow you and your nice projects.
Thank you for entertaining us with your art. ππ»
davidrevoy
@AAMfP Thank you!
βbreadbin@bitbang.social
I think you are right. Going on forever isnβt a good idea, and a good story has a good ending. Itβs not like you canβt revisit the characters in the future for a new story. I think you made the sane choice here. Both for yourself and for us, your audience.
(Also I still want an animated Pepper&Carrot:))
βdavidrevoy
@breadbin Thank you. I really hope I'll finish Pepper&Carrot correctly and with the same quality until the last page. This new perspective give me extra motivation to reach this milestone and get the '5 books' done. "Finishing a series" feels like a big trophy from my POV right now. π
4 βyon@sakurajima.moe
@breadbin Good luck! Looking forward to the new stuff too!
βbreadbin@bitbang.social
Canβt sell a complete series collection otherwise:) Iβd say itβs a platinum sized one for sure.
βaturff@mastodonapp.uk
it's two days early for April the 1st!
The pace of your episodes has been slowing down, so I imagine a lot of us could see that coming. Please end it well π
βdavidrevoy
@aturff Haha, right! I added a small "edit" disclaimer on the article. Right now, for all timezone already +8 or +9 (in Asia) it's already April Fool, better to disambiguate the post.
Oh yes, the slow-down was caused by me getting new ideas, new formats, wanting to get free of some constrains and not being able to reform the project from the inside. For the next project, I'll study carefully all the bottleneck and simplify simplify simplify and put gatekeepers rules to not recomplexify π
2 βyoyunix@mastodon.social
thank you for what youβve done for the open source community so far, and good luck with your next projects. π«‘
βdavidrevoy
@yoyunix Thank you!
raghukamath@raghukamath.com
bon voyage π . I am excited to see the new series.
βdavidrevoy
@raghukamath Thank you!
fuchsi@chaos.social
I love how there is not even a hint of a sign and roads as well as stones look similar in size.
βdavidrevoy
@fuchsi Thank you, it's a preparatory pencil drawing I made for a panel of the episode 17: A Fresh Start. https://www.peppercarrot.com/en/webcomic/ep17_A-Fresh-Start.html π
βfuchsi@chaos.social
"Stare them down! Dominate them!"
Dammit. Now I am hooked.
βYou have a new reader ππ₯°
davidrevoy
@fuchsi πΊ Thank you!
βfuchsi@chaos.social
Thank you for making it all free.
βAnd I am intrigued by your new project.
whitecold@mstdn.social
got a bit scared when I saw the title of the blog post pop-up in my RSS feed, not going to lie π But I'm really looking forward to getting to know more about the world and characters of the Pepper&Carrot universe!
βdavidrevoy
@whitecold Thank you!
βglutfuchs@digitalcourage.social
Pepper&Carrot is and will always be a brilliant piece of art. Great stories and wonderful drawings. π
βI am looking forward what comes next and wish you all the best, success and a lot of fun with the MFT project.
davidrevoy
@glutfuchs Thank you
βoliviersaraja@mamot.fr
Je craignais que cela n'arrive Γ un moment ou l'autre.
βJe te soutiendrai bien sΓ»r sans rΓ©serve sur ce nouveau projet (mΓͺme si le mΓ©cΓ©nat passe de "par publication" Γ "mensuel", en ce qui me concerne)
davidrevoy
@oliviersaraja π π Merci !
βMindiell@mamot.fr
NFT ? How can you think... oh, ok, MFT ! Sure it will be at least as great as P&C were.
βGood luck, and nice work <3
davidrevoy
@Mindiell π€£ π€£ π€£
Oh yes, the similar shapes of the acronym with NFTs felt weird. Fortunately, I also found MFT is a short form of My Favorite Thing, and I like this π
JadedNorthman@mstdn.social
Here's to more adventures! π₯
βdavidrevoy
@JadedNorthman π₯ Yes! Thank you.
βframasky
framasky
Est-ce qu'il y aura des camΓ©o de P&C ? Et de SuperfluΒΉ ?
ΒΉ :troll:
3 βdavidrevoy
@framasky TrΓ¨s probable que oui π (sΓ©rieux) ainsi que Morevna, Sintel, etc... Un des nouveaux fondamentaux de ce projet risque d'Γͺtre l'adoption de la CC-By-Sa Γ son origine.
2 βCe n'est pas encore officialisΓ©, mais trΓ¨s soulignΓ© dans mon brainstorming et pas motivΓ© uniquement pour une histoire de compatibilitΓ© de licences pour camΓ©os. Trop de dΓ©rivΓ©s de P&C (jeux de rΓ΄les/plateaux/vidΓ©os) m'ont promis l'ouverture de licence et ne l'ont pas fait. Impossible de rΓ©tro bΓ©nΓ©ficier de leurs avancΓ©s...
jaldmic@mastodon.social
Is like a spin off of the main comic?
davidrevoy
@jaldmic In a way, yes: the Wiki will stay, the creatures and the universe will be the same. But an opportunity to see more aspect about it. (eg. seeing the guild of Druids, the bank office for the Ko in Komona, the politic of the Mayor, the comission received by a blacksmith, a young archer, etc...).
badri@snipetteville.in
Pepper & Carrot is my favourite comic series and I would have been sad to see them go...
...which is why it's good to know they'll still be around! It makes sense, to roll back and give yourself a clean slate without constraints. I know from running Snipette that even if you have something going for 10 years (or 6 in our case) it can get constraining to have to stick to your earlier conventions π§Ή
Hope the MFT project sets you free, and looking forward to seeing Pepper and Carrot there as well as all the new characters! I didn't know MFT was the original project; it's an interesting story π§ββοΈ
Also looking forward to the final few episodes, and I'm glad I know in advance rather than suddenly running up against it when the last one drops! π₯ β
davidrevoy
@badri Thank you! yes, that's exactly about getting a new chance at changing conventions set into stone on the previous projects. The format, the release, the style, the publishing approach, etc... It's a big chance to recalibrate and reevaluate everything and simplify it to what's more important.
aperezdc@oldbytes.space
best of lucks! I have enjoyed Pepper & Carrot so I'm very curious to see where their βcinematic universeβ goes :neocat_book_owo:
βdavidrevoy
@aperezdc Thank you!
Neotheta@finfur.net
No project is forever, I'm excited to see what you do with the next one!
βdavidrevoy
@Neotheta Thank you Neotheta !
andresbravo2003@mastodon.social
That's Fine. I was sad that that after 10 Years it has concluded, but the legacy lives on.
βdavidrevoy
@andresbravo2003 Thank you, I'll also continue to maintain the website even after the 42th episode will be published and provide support for the translation years after the ending. We plan to move our chat and dev forge to a more generic name, maybe "Hereva" for the common world at the root of Pepper&Carrot and Mini Fantasy Theater.
2 βme_the_fl00f@cybre.club
@davidrevoy@framapiaf.org Hereva.world ;-)
β@andresbravo2003@mastodon.social
davidrevoy
@me_the_fl00f @andresbravo2003 That's a good idea for a domain name. π I'll bookmark.
βme_the_fl00f@cybre.club
@davidrevoy@framapiaf.org @andresbravo2003@mastodon.social It is still available.
davidrevoy
@me_the_fl00f @andresbravo2003 Argh, unfortunately for me I had a check: very pricey on Gandi (not the first year but then, 60β¬ per year!) I prefer to skip the idea; too bad π .
2 βme_the_fl00f@cybre.club
@davidrevoy@framapiaf.org At my registrar 26,24 USD
lanodan@queer.hacktivis.me
@me_the_fl00f @andresbravo2003 Wow, it's at 27,53 β¬/year on BookMyName.
That said it's often better to avoid gTLDs outside of the original ones (org/net/com/β¦) as on the vanity ones the corporations holding them seem like they're free to do what they want. β
me_the_fl00f@cybre.club
@lanodan@queer.hacktivis.me @davidrevoy@framapiaf.org @andresbravo2003@mastodon.social Yep, the prices are between 20-30 β¬ also for .studio and so on.
linebyline@bytetower.social
*checks calendar* Hmm...
Well, good luck! I'll still be reading regardless.
βdavidrevoy
@linebyline Hey, yes, I should probably edit the toot and add:
"edit: NOT a April Fool joke" or write it in the header of the blog post because if I edit the toot it will pollute all the notifications for those who already saw it.
I should have probably kept that for at least a big week away from the 1st April. But I couldn't keep this for me more: I started thinking about it in October...
And thank you!
3 βAlgot@mastodon.art
Thanks for planting the milestone.
May another amazing string of them grow as your project expands.
βa1ba@suya.place
I guess it's time to read it then... β
f4grx@chaos.social
oh no
Lioh@social.anoxinon.de
thanks for the great stuff so far. Looking forward to your new project!
βlebout2canap@mastodon.tedomum.net
Whaaa, Γ§a va faire bizarre quand Γ§a sera le dernier pour de bon, mais au moins Pepper&Carrot aura droit Γ une vraie fin. Et bravo pour le nouveau projet.
βdavidrevoy
@lebout2canap Merciβ―! Oui, je suis super curieux de ce que Γ§a fera quand j'aurai publiΓ© l'ultime Γ©pisode. Bon, j'imagine que ce sera le dΓ©but du travail sur l'auto-Γ©dition avec Scribus du Livre 5 et aussi le travail avec les Γ©diteurs autour de Pepper&Carrot. Mais Γ§a doit Γͺtre vertigineux aprΓ¨s tout ce temps sur la sΓ©rie.
βbookwar@fosstodon.org
As a proud owner of printed books 1-4 I am looking forward to have a complete collection :)
I liked all the characters, but I believe that a good story needs a good ending, and if you feel like it - then it is time.
βdavidrevoy
@bookwar A big thank you for owning all the books! I can't wait to also have the final book 5 in my bookshelf and see the series as "complete".
sylvia_ritter@mastodon.social
Whatever you do, it will be amazing! π
2 βdavidrevoy
@sylvia_ritter Thank you Sylvia! π
6 βherrthees@wue.social
Thank you for (almost) 10 years of Pepper & Carrot. And thank you for giving it a real ending and for not let it die in silence.
βAnd now I'm looking forward to what's to come. π
davidrevoy
@herrthees Thank you. Oh yes about "let it die in silence." : I saw this pattern way too often on other webcomics and I can't even blame their authors. It's a real challenge to reach the end on so many points.
2 βRussSharek@mastodon.art
Congratulations!
I had the experience of finishing a long term project rather than letting it end, and that difference was really good for me. I hope it gives you the same combination of closure and motivation to move forward.
βdavidrevoy
@RussSharek Thank you!
βthewackerly@mas.to
Huge respect for this decision. I like it when stories can conclude gracefully rather than in a mad panic or worse, just stuck in limbo. Pepper&Carrot has been a wonderful read so far, and I'm glad we aren't saying goodbye forever to this world. I look forward to MFT and what shenanigans it will bring!
βdavidrevoy
@thewackerly Thank you!
ntoyohito@comicscamp.club
Nothing, nothing is more fulfilling than a story reaching and end. It actually stays in one's heart and brain for a looong time in a great way. Especially if the ending comes when it should according to the creator. I'm pretty certain you'll deliver great!!
And knowing that Pepper & Carrot is "only" part a larger world is great!!! Have lots and lots of fun and exciting times with your new endeavor :D
isagalaev@mastodon.social
this feels like the right time and a good decision overall. Good luck finishing the book!
romanumbral@mast.lat
Best wishes for MFT! :D
βtxels@mastodont.cat
we've so much enjoyed the series, the characters, and the open nature of the project! Merci bien!
βandre@fedi.jaenis.ch
Good luck!
Do you have a repository for the new domain already?
A little bit of CSS would make it mobile friendlier.
Being able to subscribe would be splendid!
davidrevoy
@andre Thank you! I don't have a repository, it's just a single HTML right now temporary hosted in https://www.davidrevoy.com/minifantasytheater/ and it might stay like that until I finish Pepper&Carrot. π I only took it to avoid trolls who would reserve
- https://www.minifantasytheater.com
- https://www.minifantasytheatre.com
(I took both US and UK variant π )
Thanks if you want to improve this single html temporary file! You'll get the source with Ctrl+U on your browser and you can send me back a link with https://pastebin.com/
andre@fedi.jaenis.ch
Nah.
Why Pastebin when I can have git?
https://code.jaenis.ch/gists/minifantasytheater/commit/5e3f8e58924850d06a4f540c9586cb23d74893b9
I stated in the README that I assign my copyright on this to you. No attribution required. Do how you please.
The commit message contains some additional resources you might want to get back later to.
admin@philos.fkn-systems.de
Thank you, for all the fun in a worry Time. β
chengdulittlea@mastodon.art
I wonder if MFT could become a community project where everyone could do their take within the story setting
βdavidrevoy
@chengdulittlea True, that's an idea I put in my brainstorming: opening the official website and stream of episode to guest comic posts with various styles. The harder part for me will be to find a format and stick to it, then making it a standard for the series, something I can document and open a sandbox for other to experiment as well in it.
βRight now, the 4 panels square format (2x2), all in one image, attracts me a lot. I also like the 4 x 16:9 independant pictures.
chengdulittlea@mastodon.art
both these sounds quite nice! I'm looking forward to participate in this too :O Be sure to announce it when you are ready to do that :D
βvalentin_petzel@aut.social
I can understand this decision. I can imagine PnC is hard to shape. It has a slow paced approach, focussing more on little wholesome units rather than telling a story, though it has started to pick up more structure over the time.
I would still love to see maybe not more of PnC, but a new take on PnC. Starting on the story, not on the drawing board, and telling a nice story. I can imagine there are some writers and stuff around who'd love to take part in something like that.
βodysseywestra@linuxrocks.online
I'm honestly happy that the project is evolving and changing. I'm actually quite fascinated by the world you've created. Honestly whatever project you take on, I will still support you cuz you're an inspiration to the Artists in Open Source Community.
βdavidrevoy
@odysseywestra Thank you so much for your words, and also for supporting my work since the start of Pepper&Carrot, 10 years ago. 10 years soon! I can't believe it myself.
βRight now it looks my brain wants to start Mini Fantasy Theater and ending Pepper&Carrot simultaneously. I jump on one when I block on the other, and ideas rejected for one feed the other. An interesting period of overlap. π
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