Chapter 8 of Part IV of Paper Doll Veronika continues on Arkhaven!
You can also read it on my own website. (I recommend my site for PC and Arkhaven for mobile.)
Sunday, August 9, 2026
Friday, August 7, 2026
Paper Doll Veronika update
Paper Doll Veronika has updated; Chapter 10 of Part IV, "Under the false floor", continues!
It updates on Fridays/Saturdays on my site, Sundays on Arktoons,
Mondays on Substack, and
Saturdays on Deviantart.
(Substack and Deviantart are at much earlier points in the comic). I recommend
using bookmarking or the "Save your place" gadget on my site, even
once you catch up, because the site starts at the beginning and updates are
several pages.
Veronika Bosch, who's never left her father's estate, has to go on a journey
when envious animals kick her out. Half collage, half puppetry, a fairy tale
adventure made with hand-drawn paper dolls.
Thursday, August 6, 2026
Plain Girl Summer
A couple weeks ago, a quantifiable genius, who, among other accomplishments, mathematically disproved the theory of evolution by natural selection and codified the most useful tool for understanding male behavior, one Vox Day, declared that I had "swiftly and comprehensively defeated" him in the following discussion:
Clockworkpaperdoll: I don’t think I understand the minds of men (tho I do better since I learned SSH), but as plain woman, I think I understand the minds of pretty women even less. Yet I endeavor to write fiction about both. Oh well! I am yet confident that by consciously eschewing Feminism, my portrayal of the sexes will be better than that in much current Western fiction.
VD: Why not write about plain women? Don’t they deserve attention too? The danger inherent about being a plain woman writing about pretty women is that it’s going to be Mary Sue wish-fulfillment.
Clockworkpaperdoll: Because I’m writing comics, so my readers have to look at them.
A salient point indeed. It’s not often that I am so swiftly and comprehensively defeated. In any visual art form, the people have to be pretty, because people like to look at pretty people. That’s just reality.
That's quite the victory! Especially since he seemed to be laying a clever trap with that "don't they deserve attention too?" bit. And he framed this gracious concession with a post that called me "a talented woman" and featured Paper Doll Veronika alongside a classic French novel, Sans Beauty by Zenaide Fleuriot, second in a series that his publishing company has newly translated, putting me in very good company indeed!
The funny thing is that all this praise was in the context of my self-declared position as plain, and so it would be considered insulting by many.
Calling any woman not pretty is pretty much forbidden in our society. There is an unwritten law against even acknowledging that any woman exists who is not pretty. But it's manifestly true. Another reason I was so chuffed with Mr. Day's post is that he allowed me to state that I was not pretty without arguing that point. The impulse most people have to contradict any woman who says she's not pretty is so reliable that none could be blamed for the assumption that any woman who does say this is really fishing for compliments. But Mr. Day is not most people, and that's great as far as I'm concerned. I've always found it infuriating when I acknowledge I'm not pretty and people emphatically insist that I mustn't think that.
 |
| Lest you argue |
And that's a key point. At the heart of it, it's not that we're not allowed to believe in the existence of plain women. It's that's women are not supposed to be allowed to believe themselves plain. Even the Feminists don't say, "We eschew beauty as part of the oppressive structure of patriarchy. We're not beautiful and that's okay." No, they say, "We're redefining beauty. And thus we are beautiful."
Again, this always infuriated me. At the stage of life where I was most unconsciously feministic, I protested, "Why do we insist every woman has to believe she's beautiful? Does every man have to believe he's handsome? No!" I was here making a false equivalence, because in matters of attraction, women's appearance is more significant to men than men's is to women. And that's just a fact of nature. A more accurate analogy would have been, "Does every man have to believe he's strong?"
That leads to a greater point however. Maybe not every man should believe that he's strong, but every man should strive to be strong. And there are different forms of strength. A grand step in my journey away from feministic thinking was acceptance that though not every woman is beautiful, every woman should strive to be as beautiful as she can be, or at least pleasant in appearance. Because while only objectively, physically pretty women are beautiful in isolation, every woman can be beautiful in context. A plain little girl is beautiful in a puff-sleeved dress, picking wildflowers. A plain fat woman is beautiful in a dress and apron, setting a homemade pie on a Thanksgiving table for her family. A plain wrinkled old woman is beautiful in a blouse and sweater dress, in a rocking chair reading a bedtime story to her toddler grandsons. A plain nun is beautiful in full habit singing Matins in choir in a traditionally-appointed chapel. The beauty of a beautiful whole will crystallize upon the woman within it. Of course if the women in these contexts are also beautiful in isolation, the whole is even more beautiful.
What is truly ugly is willful distortion. A little girl is ugly dressed in Celine Dion's kids clothing line, playing with an L.O.L. Surprise doll. A fat woman is ugly in leggings and a crop top, riding a scooter at Walmart. A wrinkled old woman is ugly in a minidress, drinking on a cruise ship. A nun is ugly in a pants suit and a perm, lecturing people. And things get really twisted when women who are beautiful in isolation place themselves in and/or create contexts of ugliness. Then we get a unique aspect of corruption.
As a final note, there was someone in the comments on Day's post who thought my reason given for making Veronika pretty was the only reason I had, and that it showed a lack of faith in my readers. That's not it at all. It's not a matter of marketing, that only pretty gets views, but of wanting the experience of reading the comic to be highly pleasant and enjoyable in multiple ways. There are reasons within the story for Veronika to be pretty, as well. But I admit, I am an artist first, writer second, so beauty in lots of forms is high priority.
Sunday, August 2, 2026
Above it all
Bonus art for Chapter 8 of Part IV of Paper Doll Veronika, which is now being posted on Arktoons!
Caran d'Ache Neocolors, dry on the land and wet on the water. I was eager to do a map-like picture of the island, inspired by shots from the Puffin Rock cartoon. You can see it unobscured by a seagull wing if you join my Subscribestar supporters, as I post works-in-progress for patrons regularly.
You can also read it on my own website. (I recommend my site for PC and Arktoons for mobile.)
Friday, July 31, 2026
Paper Doll Veronika update
Paper Doll Veronika has updated; Chapter 10 of Part IV, "Under the false floor", continues!
It updates on Fridays/Saturdays on my site, Sundays on Arktoons,
Mondays on Substack, and
Saturdays on Deviantart.
(Substack and Deviantart are at much earlier points in the comic). I recommend
using bookmarking or the "Save your place" gadget on my site, even
once you catch up, because the site starts at the beginning and updates are
several pages.
Veronika Bosch, who's never left her father's estate, has to go on a journey
when envious animals kick her out. Half collage, half puppetry, a fairy tale
adventure made with hand-drawn paper dolls.
Sunday, July 26, 2026
Community thriving concludes on Arktoons
Not really! But the chapter is done. And this makes 200 episodes on Arktoons!
You can also read it on my own website. (I recommend my site for PC and Arktoons for mobile.)
Friday, July 24, 2026
Paper Doll Veronika update
Paper Doll Veronika has updated; Chapter 10 of Part IV, "Under the false floor", has begun!
It updates on Fridays/Saturdays on my site, Sundays on Arktoons,
Mondays on Substack, and
Saturdays on Deviantart.
(Substack and Deviantart are at much earlier points in the comic). I recommend
using bookmarking or the "Save your place" gadget on my site, even
once you catch up, because the site starts at the beginning and updates are
several pages.
Veronika Bosch, who's never left her father's estate, has to go on a journey
when envious animals kick her out. Half collage, half puppetry, a fairy tale
adventure made with hand-drawn paper dolls.
Sunday, July 19, 2026
Continuing to thrive on Arktoons
Chapter 7 of Part IV of Paper Doll Veronika continues on Arktoons!
You can also read it on my own website. (I recommend my site for PC and Arktoons for mobile.)
Friday, July 17, 2026
Paper Doll Veronika update
Birds holding guns will never not be funny to me.
Paper Doll Veronika has updated; Chapter 9 of Part IV, "Starving Artists", is complete!
It updates on Fridays/Saturdays on my site, Sundays on Arktoons,
Mondays on Substack, and
Saturdays on Deviantart.
(Substack and Deviantart are at much earlier points in the comic). I recommend
using bookmarking or the "Save your place" gadget on my site, even
once you catch up, because the site starts at the beginning and updates are
several pages.
Veronika Bosch, who's never left her father's estate, has to go on a journey
when envious animals kick her out. Half collage, half puppetry, a fairy tale
adventure made with hand-drawn paper dolls.
Sunday, July 12, 2026
It is a thriving community on Arktoons!
It really is. And Chapter 7 of Part IV of Paper Doll Veronika continues thereon!
I'm amazed and humbled how these chapters are falling on these dates. Today's gospel is the one about those "who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves." And something else.
And the part--which hasn't been posted yet--which I was working on on July 1, the Feast of the Precious Blood, is very appropriate especially with what happened this year's Feast of the Precious Blood, and then I check my timeline for the story. Within Paper Doll Veronika, (and this can be inferred from the comic via the "Ides of March" chapter) the present day is July 1. Feast of the Precious Blood.
You can also read it on my own website. (I recommend my site for PC and Arktoons for mobile.)
Friday, July 10, 2026
Paper Doll Veronika update
And we're back! With... quite a downer. But stick with it, we're going somewhere special. Chapter 9 of Part IV, "Starving Artists", has begun!
It updates on Fridays/Saturdays on my site, Sundays on Arktoons,
Mondays on Substack, and
Saturdays on Deviantart.
(Substack and Deviantart are at much earlier points in the comic). I recommend
using bookmarking or the "Save your place" gadget on my site, even
once you catch up, because the site starts at the beginning and updates are
several pages.
Veronika Bosch, who's never left her father's estate, has to go on a journey
when envious animals kick her out. Half collage, half puppetry, a fairy tale
adventure made with hand-drawn paper dolls.
Monday, July 6, 2026
"A thriving community" on Arktoons
It went up late because I'm still figuring out the Early-Access-for-Subscribers feature, but Chapter 7 of Part IV of Paper Doll Veronika continues on Arktoons!
You can also read it on my own website. (I recommend my site for PC and Arktoons for mobile.)
Wednesday, July 1, 2026
Priests of the Blood
Here are some photos of St. John's Abbey, Collegeville, Minnesota. All but one were taken by me.
My father in what used to be the chapel.
Inside the current chapel.
A horrifying statue that is supposedly St. John.
And an ordination photo (the one not taken by me). I don't know when it's from; my father found it left as a bookmark in a book of the library when he was there getting his undergraduate degree. But you can see it was in that same old chapel.
After Vatican II, St. John's was the epicenter of the liturgical revolution in America. And later it was revealed to be a center of homosexual predation. It still is.
I wonder with sorrow what became of these priests.
But at the same time as we sorrow, let us hope. It's the Feast of the Precious Blood, and there are more ordinations.
A red bouquet for the Precious Blood.
Sunday, June 28, 2026
Gatehouse morn
Bonus art for Chapter 7 of Part IV of Paper Doll Veronika, which is now being posted on Arktoons!
As Phlox Field was a companion piece to Daisy Field, this is a companion to Red Glass Candle. Both of black ink lines on colored paper cut to be light and shadow; that a night vigil, this a dawn.
You can also read it on my own website. (I recommend my site for PC and Arktoons for mobile.)
Friday, June 26, 2026
A two-week break
There will be a two-week break from updates to make dolls, scenery, and objects for the remaining chapters of Part IV – Island. Believe it or not, the climax is approaching– Island is the shortest part of Book One but it is crucial. In the meantime, I will post several bonuses for the Doll Club members, who support the comic through Subscribestar, Substack, or Paypal. Thank you for reading!
Tuesday, June 23, 2026
Paper Doll Veronika update
Paper Doll Veronika has updated; Chapter 8 of Part IV, "Fred has no feelings", is complete!
It updates on Fridays/Saturdays on my site, Sundays on Arktoons,
Mondays on Substack, and
Saturdays on Deviantart.
(Deviantart is currently on hiatus, a boycott for June). I recommend
using bookmarking or the "Save your place" gadget on my site, even
once you catch up, because the site starts at the beginning and updates are
several pages.
Veronika Bosch, who's never left her father's estate, has to go on a journey
when envious animals kick her out. Half collage, half puppetry, a fairy tale
adventure made with hand-drawn paper dolls.
Sunday, June 21, 2026
Gatehouse Rock ends
Chapter 6 of Part IV of Paper Doll Veronika concludes on Arktoons!
You can also read it on my own website. (I recommend my site for PC and Arktoons for mobile.)
Sunday, June 14, 2026
Gatehouse Rock, rock on!
Chapter 6 of Part IV of Paper Doll Veronika continues on Arktoons!
You can also read it on my own website. (I recommend my site for PC and Arktoons for mobile.)
Saturday, June 13, 2026
Paper Doll Veronika update
Paper Doll Veronika has updated; Chapter 8 of Part IV, "Fred has no feelings", has begun!
It updates on Fridays/Saturdays on my site, Sundays on Arktoons, Mondays on Substack, and Saturdays on Deviantart--Deviantart is currently on hiatus as I boycott the site for the duration of its June sodomy-promotion.
Veronika Bosch, who's never left her father's estate, has to go on a journey when envious animals kick her out. Half collage, half puppetry, a fairy tale adventure made with hand-drawn paper dolls.
Sunday, June 7, 2026
Gatehouse Rocks on on Arktoons
Chapter 6 of Part IV of Paper Doll Veronika continues on Arktoons!
You can also read it on my own website. (I recommend my site for PC and Arktoons for mobile.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)