Why 'Inhuman'? What does 'Inhuman' relate to/mean?
The name relates to various things in the context of the comic. It's called a theme :3 People's reactions may be inhuman, their appearances may be inhuman, their thoughts may be inhuman... it's something that comes back again and again. Let's consult dictionary.com on the deffinition.

in·hu·man
adj.
Lacking kindness, pity, or compassion; cruel.
Deficient in emotional warmth; cold.
Not suited for human needs: an inhuman environment.
Not of ordinary human form; monstrous.

Keep these deffinitions in mind as you read and you will see them appear again and again.

Comic Creation Related

How do you draw your comic?
It is all real media, if that is what you mean, except the text. No, I do not use photoshop for colouring. Sorry to burst your bubble. The tools I use are a mechanical pencil (to sketch), a micron 2 pen (to outline), deleter markers (thick borders and character colour) and watercolours (background). The process i used in 2004 is still pretty close to the one I use now, and you can view it here. I used to use thicker pens and prismacolour markers in the older pages, though.

Do you use photoshop to make the comic?
no and yes. no, the art is not done (at all) in photoshop. see above. i use pens, markers and watercolours. however, the text is done in photoshop because nobody can read my handwriting. >P

Why is the text photoshopped in?
Because I have the world's worst handwriting, and everyone I know is just as bad as me. Trust me, you couldn't read it otherwise.

How do you draw so good/How can I draw so good?
Practice. I'm freaking serious here, just practice. You'll notice there's a lot of drawings on lined paper in the art galleries? Right, all practice. Draw every day, just even to doodle. It doesn't have to be good. Just PRACTICE. I know that's not the answer you're looking for, but that's the truth.

What inspires the comic?
The story itself is hodge-podged. Major influences come from different places. In terms of morals and messages, it's deffinitly taken from Neitzche and Sartre, as well as Clockwork Orange and other distopian novels. Setting-wise, HARDCORE Star Wars influence. Seriously, saying this seems like Star Wars is never taken as an insult. I am damn proud to hear that. A lot of concepts or moods I try to take from WWII stories and other historical military and political actions.

How did you start doing the comic? Why?
Originally this website was mostly just for writing, as ultimately I wanted to be a writer. Once I entered college, my time for writing dwindled so bad I couldn't ever get enough done to be worth an upload. I'd made a new year's resolution to update the site every single week, which meant mostly I was just uploading pencil doodles into the art sections. I was angry at myself for this, and wanted to encourage myself to write. I thought, I need to get back in contact with the characters. Then maybe it'll flow. So I started doodling the first few pencil pages. I would throw them up onto the site quickly on a 'manga.html' page as filler for when i had no writing. After a while, I started trying new tactics with them and the pages took longer and longer. When I went to Arborwin's house for a weekend and worked at it with a box of prismacolour markers, the result was so amazing to me I couldn't bring myself to go back. Every page was colour from that point onwards.

Your comic isn't really funny.
It's not supposed to be.

Who are the main characters?
This changes from arc to arc, really. Arc 1 was Soshika in the spotlight, arc 2 and 3 were Kyotoshi. Arc 4 is a mixture of four characters. Arc 5 is Grey.

When does the comic update?
Saturdays. Sometimes i go crazy and do extra updates, though.

Where can I submit fanart/fanfiction?
You can e-mail me fanfiction, at z@demon-sushi.com. You may post fanart on the message board, or e-mail it to me at the same address. I GUESS you can post fanfiction on the board, but you might get a harsh response. WE KEEED WE KEEED.

"Furry" or "Anthro" Questions

Is Inhuman a furry comic?
No. Please read this for much, much more detail.

Are Hekshanians anthro Neopets?
No. Inhuman is actually older than the particular neopet in question. They were created in 1996. Neopets didn't even open until 2000.

Why don't you want to be associated with furry fandoms?
Aside the fact that it really negates the point of the story (if you read the above link, you will understand why) I really find the furry fandom itself to be in general full of nut jobs. Like with anything, a few bad eggs make it hard to take them seriously. But with furries 'a few' seems to be on a 1:1 ratio, if you see what I mean. Too complicated? Okay, I don't wanna be associated with furries cause of stuff like this.

Is your comic anti-human?
No, it's pro-human nature. By proxy, it's pro-human. Regardless of character species, they are all considered to be 'human' in one way or another. Soshika is a very racist character, but every other character (I hope you notice) tells her how her behavior isn't acceptable. She also later begins to correct this behavior. The Humans who have appeared have, if anything, been more compassionate and less violent and volitile than the aliens. You can not villianize someone who has never done anything villianous. If you're doing that, you're projecting your own weird perceptions of humans onto the comic. It's not there, it never was, it's not my intent.

What is W-10 or Warriors 10? Who are the "Others"?
It's a very, very old name for what is now known as Inhuman.

Using material from this site Questions

Can I copy your writing/images to my own website for a project and pretend they're mine?
To quote Raizy...
What the...

Can I colour your lineart and submit it as fanart or to galleries if I give you credit?
Yes. If you want to colour something I never did, or clean something up and colour it, you're more than welcome to. If you'd like to post it to your art gallery, simply say 'the lineart is from this website' and link to me. You're also more than welcome to colour things and submit that as your fanart, I'll make a gallery for you just like all the others. :3 Consider this my written permission, if you require it.

Can I roleplay your characters/use your world names somewhere else online?
I would prefer if you didn't roleplay the actual *characters* but I can't really stop you. Character names I do not mind (with the exception of Kyotoshi, but there are hundreds of Kyos so a 'Kyo' wouldn't bother me.) at all. If you want to use names like 'Hekshano' and 'North Tek' and basic descriptions of stuff from Inhuman ('My character's race is a type of hexlimbed mustiloid called Nikitaks...') I really would like it if you did two things.
1- E-mailed me saying you were doing this (my email is ont he links page) and
2- provided a link back to the website when describing your character for the roleplay.
Honestly, whatever you do, I really would like you to just *tell* me you're doing it and ask for permission first.

Can I make a Hekshanian/Nikitak/Mite character?
Sure, you're welcome to. Just so long as you don't go around saying you invented Hekshanians/Nikitaks/Mites/whatever. If you make one, use the race/world name in your SN, have your internet persona be one...I don't mind at all. In fact, I'd love to see it. I really like people being creative :>

Are a lot of people you know turned into characters?
More than make people I know into characters, I had people I know design characters to add to the story. Those characters are so old they've completely departed from their original creators though, and I've fallen out of contact with many them.

Can I be in the comic?
No.

I've noticed a lot of names sound Japanese. Why?
Many were actually not intentionally 'Japanesey'. Soshika, for example, is derived of 'shoshanna' in hebrew (the nickname of which is 'shoshi' or the americanized 'soshi'). Some were, mainly because when I began working on my ideas for Inhuman I was very young and liked anime (Ro Koji, for example, is just Kojiro- a legendary japanese swordfighter). Some (Misuka, Ashido) were named by other people.

Who are you/Are you crazy?

Are you a boy or a girl?
Yes.

You talk about the characters a lot as if they are real people. Do you think they are real/hear them in your head/are a soulbonder?
No, god no. Seriously, no. I just think that as characters develop, they also develop their own will and way of thinking. If I tried to force characters to do things, it would show- They wouldn't seem like 'themselves' that way. It's hard to explain, but basicly it's a Taoist concept. The harder you try, the less you will accomplish- so let things flow naturally, and it will all be good. But no, I don't believe ANY of them are real or live in my head or any of that crap :P

Who is Z/H. Carlian/Soshi/Shimo/Clockwork/Icarus?
All me. All various names I use online. I'm the only one who does the comic and website.

Are you Zarla?
No. Zar is one of my best friends and we roomed together in college, but I am not her. Her site is Ashido.com and we originally became friends through pokemon.

Grey Questions

Is Grey human? Is he inhuman?
Hell if I know.

Does Grey have multiple personalities?
No. Grey does not have MPD (multiple personality disorder) or DID (dissociative identity disorder). Both of these are barely proven to exist at all, at best. Grey does deal with paranoid schizophrenia. Make sure you spell that correctly if you go googling it, it's schizophrenia, not skitzophrenia.

Why does Grey keep hearing people calling him Daran?
You'll see.

Why does Grey imagine a yellow cat with a silver patch? Is it Kyo?
No, it is not Kyo. It is just a type of hallucination he has frequently. I repeat- the cat is NOT Kyotoshi. It looks like him, though.

Is Grey French?
Yes.

Is Grey Native-American?
No.

Is Grey a goth?
No. Black does not equal goth nor is it exclusively owned by the goth community.

Does Grey have wings/had wings at some point?
No, despite what I draw sometimes. I just think wings are fun to draw. But no, he's never had wings and he never will.

Is Grey gay?
Grey's insane. That tends to mess with your sex drive. :P He's asexual. That means he doesn't feel sexual attraction to anyone or anything, despite what spinoff drawings and stories I may throw out to amuse myself. They aren't canon. I repeat. Grey is not gay. He is not straight or bi either. Thank you.

Has Grey ever dated (anyone)
This is a touchy subject. He was lusted after by an individual when he was younger, but never returned the emotions. That individual would still flirt with him on occassion but they had no relationship- sexual or otherwise. The reason I say this is touchy is because I really, really do not want someone to think that Grey (who was physically underage at the time) should be thought of as 'sexual'. He never has been and probably never will be.

Is Grey a former Shakespeareian actor?
No. Nothing that happens on this page is canon. It was just for silly. It didn't really happen in the story.

Kyotoshi Questions

Has Kyotoshi ever tried to quit drinking?
He was forced into it for the period of time in which he was in the hospital. Anyone who has ever known someone addicted to something knows that forcing them to give it up isn't the best approuch. Really, someone needs to be willing to give it up on their own. Even then, it becomes a very rough fight. Since Kyo had no urge to really give it up, there was about a snowball's chance in hell of him really doing it. So HE didn't try, but others MADE him try.

What is Kyotoshi's favourite alcohol?
He has answered many a time in 'Ask Kyo' with "any port in a storm." He doesn't really care, although he has standards for where/when you drink each kind. IE, beer is a summertime drink or a drink to be had with food. Vodka is to be had with casual conversation. Rum is for fun, screwdrivers are for far-too-early mornings...It goes on and on. If you absolutely MUST know his standards for a particular drink, feel free to ask him.

I see pictures of Kyotoshi with a kid (Mire). Is he Mire's father?
He doesn't know. I don't know. It's possiable, but he might not be. Mire does have a father who takes care of him (who is not Kyo), regardless of whether or not Kyotoshi is his biological parent. So this question is prettymuch irrelivent. Kyotoshi wouldn't know what to do with the kid if it was proven he was a father anyway. He likes to SEE Mire, but he likes to SEE any kids.

Is Kyotoshi gay?
No. He's bisexual with a slight female preference.

Has Kyo dated (anyone)?
Kyo has only had sex with two people in the comic: Chovek and Zara. He has gone on several small dates, but not with any characters you've met in the comic yet.

Does Kyo play any instruments?
He sometimes plays around with guitars, but he is not good at all. He doesn't own his own instrument or know how to take care of them. He can't read music either. So while he can make semi-music come out of a guitar, that is about it. He can't 'play' anything else.

Ro Koji Questions

Is the Jester X Koji's tenth Jester?
No. It's X like the letter.

Is Koji a 'taur'?
No. He's a Nikitak.

Ashido Questions

You keep mixing things up! First Ashido has brothers and then a brother and a sister!
o rly

Is Ashido's hair brown or white?
It is naturally white, cause Ash is an albino. Through most of the story, it stays dyed brown for the sake of appearing more 'normal'.

Ashido lied to Soshika about wanting revenge!
Actually, no, that didn't happen. You (and Soshi) jumped to conclusions. Ash avoided the accusation, but never denied or confirmed it.

THE Juu Question

Why did Juu die?
Sometimes life is not a fun or happy thing. Juu was a good kid, but sometimes bad things happen to good people. He died as a result of an overdose on experimental medication. Hospitals will occassionally guinea-pig willing subjects with things like this- they do it even today. Although, today, there is a much lower chance of you dying from fatal overdose. Hekshano after the massacres is hardly up to the standards of a industrialized nation's hospital and so Juu's doses were imprecice and given to him by poorly trained staff. It was an honest accident, but it wound up killing an innocent kid in the process.

When writing this arc many people threatened me saying that "You're the comic writer, Juu doesn't have to die! Don't kill him or I'll hate you/beat you up/find you/stop reading!" but they forget- This is a flashback. Juu's death is part of Kyotoshi's character. Juu had to die because he already died.

Are Kyo and Grey gay together?
No.

Who is...

Who are these guys? Bleak and Fix?
Bleak and Fix are characters me and a friend (Erin Garcia) created. They have no real home and are NOT part of Inhuman. They just showed up for shits and giggles.

Linguistic Questions

What does "Craika" mean?
It's a Hekshanian swear. It means something around 'shit' or 'Jesus'. (IE, "Aw, Craika." is correct but "What is this craika?" is not.) It is not often used, because they have other swear words that have actual translations. You will notice Hekshanians say hell, shit, damn and other swears. Craika just has no direct translation, so it is left as-is.

Why do the characters speak English to eachother?
Actually, they are speaking 'Uni' which is not English (it has a Latin base). But because I speak English as a first language and most of my readers speak English (70% of my hits are from the US.), the characters do too. When Hekshanians speak to eachother, normally they use their own language. I don't bother to indicate it because it isn't important. Kyotoshi speaks Uni to Grey and to Jet because neither of them speaks the Hekshanian native language (Yes, Jet can't speak his own language. He was born offworld and never learned it.) I really hate comics where half the thing is in a made-up langauge I'm supposed to magically learn in order to 'get' the comic. I'm not gonna do that to anyone.

Why does Kyotoshi call Soshika "Lyika"?
It's a Hekshanian way of making cutesy pet names usually used by family members for the youngest or between lovers. The last part of the first name and the first part of the last name are combined. Kyotoshi's for example would be Lyoshi. Zara Nikko's would be Nikra. Juu Dyrano would be Dyrau and so on... It indicates affection and closeness. Kyotoshi still feels close to his sister, even if she doesn't want to talk to him.

Where & When does this happen?

Where does Inhuman take place?
In our universe- the one you are in right now. Everything that exists now exists in Inhuman. Earth has taken an ecological beating, but she's still inhabitable. I like to keep this story as feasible as can be, since I believe it's not out of the realm of possibility :B So yeah, this universe.

When does Inhuman take place?
A long time ago in a- Wait no, wrong sci-fi. About 1000 years into the future. The clocks have been shifted in Inhuman to AC (as opposed to BC or AD) which stands for After Contact (with alien races). They are on about year 300 AC.

Ship/Plane Questions

Why is it too dangerous to have weapons on ships but they're strong enough to ram eachother?
Please just freaking read this cause I am so tired of the arguments people come up with on this :P

Why do ships sometimes have those weird frill-things and sometimes not?
Those are solar sails, the method of space travel used in Inhuman. The solar sails are actually under development on earth right now, in reality. I thought it'd make sense that they (being right now the most realistic option) would be widely used in the future. When you don't see them, they are folded down against the ship body. You can read more on solar sails here.

How is there gravity on ships?
It makes use of centrifugal force. Basicly the ship interior is three layers (there are actually more, but 3 important to this example). The exterior, or hull. The middle, or gravity ring and the interior. The gravity ring is free-floating between the two other layers. A gravity drive located on the interior uses magnets to force the ring to spin rapidly. The rotation causes a false gravity to affect the interior. Gravity can be increased or decreased to suit the crew's needs.

What does Akned mean when he talks to Soshika about eyes weakening?
It's a disease common to people who travel space a lot, called Star Blind. Being in space so long, you spend a lot of time looking at the light from stars that is not dimmed or filtered by a planet's atmosphere. Eventually the light damages the optical nerves and they begin to deteriorate. Pilots like Koji wear special goggles to keep the starlight off their eyes if they have to view the outside. Normally moniters are used, however. It is commonly the passengers which become star-blind, as they are near portal windows. To be completely star-blind means one must have spent a very, very long time being carted around space. Animarians and Mites do not go star-blind. Some races become affected faster than others- Hekshanians fall starblind relatively quickly, as do Nikitaks. Myches can, but it takes a long period of time and they have the technology to correct the damage with surgery.

Are Hekshanians/Nikitaks/Mites furries?
No. They are aliens. For more on this please read this page

Can Hekshanians have wings?
No. Hekshanians are not capable of flight in any way except by plane, helicoptor, or being thrown for short distances. For more about Hekshanians please go here

How does Kyotoshi affourd alcohol if he has no job?
This is a law put in place by the Rulerists after the massacres happened. Basicly, it says they are now responsable for anyone they left behind. They give a set sum of money per month to the children of the families who were killed. It is not by most standards enough to live off of- but some Hekshanians, like Kyotoshi, live with very few expenses. His main one being alcohol rather than telephone, television, internet, FOOD, entertainment etc he manages to actually save a good deal of money. It is kind of like being on disability or wellfare.

Why does the news report on Ashido's siblings' death say 13.00 at night? That would be day.
No, it wouldn't. Different planets have different time scheduals. On the planet in question, 13.00 is night. A unit of 1 there does not equal one hour.

Do any of the races in Inhuman have video games?
Chuians and Myches. However, Myches are workaholics. They make games, but they do not play them. Chuians play them, but only as children or a few rare adults. There are of course also humans and the rare exceptions with other species, but in general they are not that much of an interest to the other races and so not that profitable.

What in the hell is Grey quoting? That's not Shakespeare!
It sure isn't. That's Shel Silverstein's "Hamlet as Told on the Street". It was published in Playboy in 98. You can read all of it here.

What's the deal with this comic? Suddenly there's sex??!
In the country I am from we have a holiday called 'April Fools' on the first of April. This is where you play tricks on people, and if they fall for the trick you shout 'APRIL FOOLS!' Since I really don't think any other holiday is appropriate for the comic (too many religious/political undertones) I like to stick with April Fools. In other words, the comic is a joke. What happened in that comic never ACTUALLY happened.

Is that a smiley face on their dad's tie?
Yes. I have problems. :x