Based on an original story and alternate future by Sonny & Ais called In the Company of Shadows.
Why Past Updates?
This page is for all older updates. Rather than clutter the main page you can just look here. But the newest update will always be on the main page. Clearly it had to be made this complicated...
PS: lolz I forgot to change the dates under Latest Updates and Newest Story Additions, so if you were confused by that, sorry... The correct dates are now on there.
whynotmi wrote a few more fanfics-- check them out at at the forum or get more details at the fanfic page.
I'm in the process of making the whole site validated W3C style. This main page had some changes due to the polls, mailing list, etc, that was someone else's design. If you can't use the forms, PLEASE let me (Ais) know! I'd rather live with some errors on the site than not allow interested people to sign up in the mailing list or vote in polls.
We also now have a blog, which is going to be linked to on all the main navigation pages. We're getting rid of the chatroom because it's never used. Feel free to check out the blog and comment! (No registration is needed for viewing/commenting) I'm posting this before I have the navigation changed on every page, though, just so people can read the chapter.
whynotmi wrote a fanfic of Andrew and Ryan's first meeting. Find it at the forum or check the fanfic page for more info.
I'm in the process of making the whole site validated W3C style. This main page had some changes due to the polls, mailing list, etc, that was someone else's design. If you can't use the forms, PLEASE let me (Ais) know! I'd rather live with some errors on the site than not allow interested people to sign up in the mailing list or vote in polls.
We have a schedule figured out for Afterimage/Book Two posting! Monday September 15, 2008 in the evening we'll post the prologue to Afterimage. Then that Saturday (Sept 20) we will post chapter 1. From then, each Saturday we'll post the next chapter. We're going to try really hard to keep to the weekly schedule this time. So keep the date in mind and we hope to see you! PS: if you want to keep up with our chapter/story status forum topic.
By the way, if you missed the 7/16/08 update you really need to check out the Past Updates page, because there were a lot. Seriously.
2 Stories, 4 Bios, New FAQs, New Poll, Song Mix
7/16/2008
Several updates so have fun!
First of all -- Book Two is under way. It's called Afterimage and we've written about 7 chapters so far. We're planning to write 10-15 chapters ahead and start to post. Hopefully in the next month or so we can start releasing chapters. (The reason we're doing this is to give ourselves enough leeway and give you readers a hopefully more consistent release schedule). Read more/keep up with progress at the forum's bk 2 topic.
Two new stories:
Vanilla ~ Emilio and Carhart backstory. The meeting that began the partnership
Around the Compound Incident #1: Rebecca ~ cameo: Sin, sidestory. Around the Compound is a new series of unrelated short stories through the POV of various otherwise-unseen civilian staff around the Agency compound. Many stories will include cameos from main characters. So far only the first incident is written but expect to see more of this type in the future.
We have a new FAQ page! Actually, two new FAQs are there:
General FAQ - This answers questions about the world, our writing process, the Agency, and us.
Editing FAQ - We've received several requests to publish the book(s). We're talking about self-publishing but if we do that, we want to fully re-edit book one from start to finish. We don't have the time ourselves and are looking for volunteers to edit for us. Read this FAQ for more details.
Site updates: I added an FAQ link on all the main navigation pages on the left. I also put the shoutbox on every page on the site. Previously it wasn't on the chapter/side story pages because I didn't want anyone to accidentally get spoiled by something written there. However, I decided that since Sonny and I use the shoutbox as a means to get updates/info to visitors, it's best if it's available on every page.
Also, I started making a mixwit tape of somewhat ICoS-related songs. Here's the first compilation. We may make more if people find it interesting. (Ignore that the URL says 'sort of boyd sin playlist'... although that's what it started out as, it's since changed to just be a random conglomeration of songs that have reminded us or others of the series. If you want us to add any, let us know!)
New poll! Scroll down on the main page to vote on whether you'd like us to include "soundtrack" songs to accompany chapters in our authors' notes. These would be songs we could imagine playing in the background of scenes in the chapter.
Reminder: If you want to use our story, world, characters, etc, in something you must ask us for permission and at the very least credit us. That means at least writing our names (Sonny & Ais) and linking back to this site. If you ask permission, it's pretty much 99% likely that we'll say yes, but that doesn't excuse just skipping that step. We provide this story free of charge on the internet because it's important to us to share it with everyone in an affordable manner that's also accessible to people in any country as long as they have internet access. If we start having problems with our story/world/etc consistently getting used without our permission or there are some major troubles that happen, we may have to reconsider the way the story will be available.
That being said... We're here! We're still alive! And, probably what you care about the most if you're checking this page, we're still writing! Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who continues to review even during our down times... It seriously means a lot to us. Please contact us with feedback, even if all you have to say is, "I like the story." We read all feedback and heart it immensely.
The results for the previous polls are as follows:
When asked "Which type of scenes do you enjoy most in general?" the results were: Sex 79% (63 votes), Violence 21% (17 votes)
When asked "What characters would you like to see biographies for? (check all that you want)", the results were: Thierry 19% (91 votes), Kassian 24% (115 votes), Kassian's team (Archer, Harriet, Blair, Michael) 9% (46 votes), Tayla / Liani 6% (30 votes), Luke Gerant 9% (42 votes), Lou 18% (89 votes), David Nakamura 9% (44 votes), Ann / Lydia 5% (26 votes), Other: 1% (3 votes)
Two Stories, Credit Us, Character Bios, and more
3/19/2008
Reminder: If you want to use our story, world, characters, etc, in something you must ask us for permission and at the very least credit us. That means at least writing our names (Sonny & Ais) and linking back to this site. If you ask permission, it's pretty much 99% likely that we'll say yes, but that doesn't excuse just skipping that step. We provide this story free of charge on the internet because it's important to us to share it with everyone in an affordable manner that's also accessible to people in any country as long as they have internet access. If we start having problems with our story/world/etc consistently getting used without our permission or there are some major troubles that happen, we may have to reconsider the way the story will be available.
That being said... We're here! We're still alive! And, probably what you care about the most if you're checking this page, we're still writing! Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who continues to review even during our down times... It seriously means a lot to us. Please contact us with feedback, even if all you have to say is, "I like the story." We read all feedback and heart it immensely.
Preface to Book Two - A disconcerting evening and an idea of what's to come in book two. NOTE: Book Two is unnamed and as of yet completely unwritten. We haven't even started it yet other than this preface, which is not even part of the book. There will be a prologue that will actually start book two; this is a preview of what's to come.
Character Biographies has updated information. Emilio's bio has been significantly updated. I changed some information in Owen's history (parents' and oldest sister's names) and fixed a few typos/etc. I added some minor stuff to Cedrick's background as well. There are several new bios that are in the works and hopefully can be added soon.
I'm working on a new site layout. If you have any suggestions, or you have troubles with the current site layout and want to make sure it's not included in future designs, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tell me! It's very important to me that this site is accessible and user-friendly to as many people as possible, from whatever country, browser, or computer you're using. (If you use the forum, there's a place where I asked for site layout suggestions...)
Remember: Now is a great time to tell us about what you want to see in the story (side stories, Book Two, etc)! Given the fact we're working on side and back stories, it's the best time to fit in random scenes or topics that you may be interested in, as long as it's something we think makes sense to do and we don't intend to address in future books. (Note that the forum has a place where we specifically asked this question...)
Minor Updates and Requests
2/18/2008
First -- I want to thank those of you who continue to review or contact us even though we haven't had updates recently. It seriously means a lot to us to hear from the readers and we both get really excited when we see there's a new review or comment from someone. So please keep it up! Even if we're quiet, we really, really appreciate feedback.
It's pretty minor but I updated the Character Biographies page. I changed some information in Owen's history (parents' and oldest sister's names) and fixed a few typos/etc. I added some minor stuff to Cedrick's background as well.
I'm working on a new site layout. If you have any suggestions, or you have troubles with the current site layout and want to make sure it's not included in future designs, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tell me! It's very important to me that this site is accessible and user-friendly to as many people as possible, from whatever country, browser, or computer you're using. (If you use the forum, there's a place where I asked for site layout suggestions...)
Despite the lack of activity recently, rest assured that we haven't given up on the idea of writing more in this world. We partially just needed the break after over a year of intense writing, and it's also partially been due to some craziness going down in real life for both of us. We're currently working on three side stories: one joint side story and then Sonny and I each have another we're working on individually. The joiny is mostly done but we have some issues we need to work out with it first.
Remember: Now is a great time to tell us about what you want to see in the story (side stories, Book Two, etc)! Given the fact we're working on side and back stories, it's the best time to fit in random scenes or topics that you may be interested in, as long as it's something we think makes sense to do and we don't intend to address in future books. (Note that the forum has a place where we specifically asked this question...)
We're still working on the other character biographies, etc...
Regarding side stories: We're taking a minor break from writing and are trying to get some background info/etc updated but we already have ideas for several other side stories, back stories, and oneshots.
If you have ideas for what you want to see in the story (side stories, Book Two, etc), tell us! This is a great time to alert us; with all the side and back stories we're working on, it's the best time to fit in random scenes or topics that you may be interested in, provided we think it's something we want to write and don't intend to address in future books. (Note that the forum has a place where we specifically asked this question...)
In the side story pages, I also added small notes about who wrote which of the stories. If you've spoken to us or read any of the background on how ICoS came to be/etc, you're probably aware that we each have certain characters we mostly write, which means individual characters' side stories will be written by the author that usually controls that character.
More updates at the Character Biographies page. Blair was added, the structure of the page was slightly redone to add more categories/make it clearer who's in which unit, and now you can click links to take you directly to the characters/categories you're interested in.
Two updates to the Story/World Info page: There's now a timeline of events (from pre-Book One and on) and information the Crop Riots/fallout between urban and rural America during the course of the war. This info was added primarily because it was pertinent to understand Blair's background.
We're still working on the other character biographies...
Got a lot of updates for you! Exciting ones, too...
Epilogue: Progression. This marks the official end of Book One. It's been a long road (though I guess it could've been longer than about 1+ years) and it's strange to see it end, but there will be more icos-related goodness in the future. Thank you to everyone who has been reading this, and we hope you continue to stay with us! We really want to know what you think about the story and the ending, as well.
We have a mailing list now! You can sign up by entering your info above. We'll send out an email at most once a week to let you know about updates to the site (like, if we've added character bios/whatever) and new stories that may be out.
Speaking of -- Check the Character Biographies page for a few updates. Kassian and Thierry are now on there (Kassian is listed third under Field Ops and Thierry is the first under Non-Agency Affiliates at the bottom). Also, Vivienne and Cedrick's pasts were expanded quite a bit. Now you can read more about Vivienne's early life and how she and Cedrick met.
I updated all the chapter side links.
Don't forget -- We're planning to work on some side and back stories now and then eventually we'll go into Book Two. So look forward to more icos-related stories despite the fact that we've officially reached the epilogue.
In the future, look forward to more site updates as well as we work on improving this site. If you have any suggestions/comments please let us know! Thanks everyone!
Chapter 44
12/1/07
Chapter 44: Smokescreen. This is the last chapter of the first book. Feedback is GREATLY appreciated! Hardcore appreciated. And send us questions if you have any so we can make sure all the things that can be wrapped up are in the epilogue that should be out soon.
As always I'm htmling at night when I'm falling asleep so ONCE AGAIN I'm not changing all the chapter side links on every chapter page because it's a pain in the ass and would take too long and I want to post the chapter for all of you. I just did it on the most recent 9 chapters because any earlier and you probably aren't skipping straight to the last chapter. I fully expect the epilogue to be out soon so I'll just update all the links at the same time.
Chapter 43
10/14/07
Chapter 43 - Heat was just released-- go read and tell us what you think! Feedback gives you awesome karma, you know. And we love to hear your thoughts!
I need to go to sleep (work tomorrow, yayy ._.) so I don't have time to update the side links on every chapter page. I just did on the most recent few to add the link for 43. Will fix the rest later.
Character Biographies Poll
10/5/07
New poll on the main page! As if, you know. You couldn't see it XD Check all the biographies you'd like to see us add on the site. If you don't see someone listed, add the name in the 'other' slot. I wanted to give multiple 'other' slots but I couldn't so if you want more than one not on there, tell us in the shoutbox to the left or in some other way let us know!
If for some reason you were unaware of it, there are already some Character Biographies available. By the way, we may end up extending some bios too... It's a thought still in the works.
The old poll is on the Past Updates page, but the question "What type of scene do you prefer most in general?" resulted ended with the stats of: 81% (51 votes) for sex and 19% (12 votes) for violence.
Chapter 42 - Disclosure is out-- go read and tell us what you think! Please? With, um. Cookies on top? We love reviews/feedback like whoa.
Chapter 42
9/30/07
Chapter 42 - Disclosure is now posted. We'd looove to hear what you think because we've both been having troubles writing lately and it means a lot to hear from readers. Seriously.
There's also a Lo más chingón side story available now! Go check out Minuet in the side stories page -- to be read at least after chapter 37.
Got a new poll up and figured out how to put old ones on the past updates page -- or at least, the most recent old one. So you can go check it if interested but Viv basically skooled the competition with 70% voting for her as winning a no-holds-barred fight with Samuel, Owen, Jeffrey and Thierry.
Not that I expect many people care, just wanted to note I'm also slowly starting to try to make the site W3C validated so it should work better in other browsers/countries.
New RK fanart, poll service replaced, font question
New fanart from RK! Go check out Pot Pan, and observe Boyd in his natural habitat as he prepares to take on the kitchen. WHO WILL WIN? No one knows... (Personally, I'm betting flour bag: 1, kitchen: 2, fridge: 1, Boyd: 1/3.)
Updated fanart stats page to reflect RK's new art.
Bravenet was causing annoying pop-ups on the site so the poll has been removed and replaced with a less serious one that's now through Polldaddy instead. YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO VOTE. I may try to recreate it to store on the past updates page but the end results of the poll for "Who should the next side story be about?" were: Lo Mas Chingon 30% 54 votes, Ryan 25% 44 votes, Kassian 14% 25 votes, Lou 11% 19 votes, Emilio 8% 15 votes, Thierry 6% 10 votes, Carhart 4% 7 votes, Vivienne 3% 5 votes. I know we said we'd keep it up till the end of the book but we already got a lot of votes and some of them were people voting several times, plus we got a pretty good idea of what stories readers wanted.
I've been thinking the font on the site is a little small so I tried to enlarge it but it basically makes a jump in size between this and another size larger. I know you can enlarge the font size on your own browser if it bothers you but I'm wondering if anyone has also thought the font is small. Any opinions on whether I should make the font size larger across the site?
Chapter 40, future stories update
7/29/07
Chapter 40 - Convalescence is now available! Sorry about the delay, everyone. If you haven't seen the forum or shoutbox, it basically took so long because we were both crazy busy and neither of us were online enough to get much editing or rewriting done. But now it's out! So you should enjoy and talk to us about what you think, baby~ *leers for no reason*
By the way, after we finish this book (currently guessing around... 4 more chapters to go? We keep changing the number since the chapters we write are longer than we intend and sometimes are split up) we are going to take a short "break" from writing novel-type stuff, HOWEVER, we will be writing side stories, one shots, and AU stories for the ICoS world during that point. Then we'll start on book 2. Check out Sonny's post for more info.
We're going to keep the poll going until the end of the book so you still have time to vote if you're interested!
Chapter 37, ooc/joke stories
7/13/07 by Ais
Chapter 37 - Inertia is now out. Go check it out! And, as always, we love to know what you think!
We're going to start putting up obsolete/older versions of the story and/or random ooc story bonuses over at the forums if you're interested in reading. I won't be making notes here every time we add anything; this will probably be the only announcement, in fact. Just letting people know in case they don't check the forum but wold be interested in seeing that ^^ By the way, check Story Origins if you haven't yet and are wondering how the story even started.
We're going to keep the poll going until the end of the book so you still have time to vote if you're interested! Note 7/14/07: By the way, I added Kassian and Lo más chingón to the poll because we've heard from a few people that they like them ^^
I updated the links on the sides of the chapter pages because I was told they're being used. (Thanks, shira_yuki!)
Note 7/14/07: Fixed a translation in ch 25 ~ Monterrey. Boyd's French, grumpy muttering didn't say what I wanted it to say, and thanks to Kira we were able to get that fixed. Thanks, Kira! Incidentally, if you notice there is a strange translation or we mistranslate something, feel free to let us know so we can fix it! And credit you, of course, unless you prefer we don't ^^ Thanks!
Chapter 36
7/7/07 by Ais
Chapter 36 - Eclipse is now out. Go check it out! And, as always, we love to know what you think!
Updating the links to all the chapters on the sides of the individual chapter pages is, to be honest, pretty annoying and I don't know if anyone even uses the feature. So I may stop doing that for a bit unless anyone tells me they actually like using them and then I'm totally happy to fix it. It just seems like a waste of time otherwise.
There's a new poll! See the main page -- who should the next side story be about. One vote per person, please, so we can make sure they're accurate statistics ^^ Thanks! For those curious, here were the final stats on the last one: Ryan - 30, Emilio - 9, Thierry - 6, Lou - 5, Vivienne - 4, Carhart - 3, Connors and Gerant - 2, and there were 3 votes for other but we don't know who people were voting for. If you were one of them, mind telling us? ^_^
I hate updating the links to all the chapters on the sides of the individual chapter pages and don't know if anyone even uses the feature. So I may stop doing that for a bit unless anyone tells me they actually like using them then I'm totally happy to fix it. It just seems like a waste of time otherwise.
Again, we want to thank everyone for reading and especially to those awesome people who also give feedback. You rock hardcore!
I am not updating the links on the sides of the individual chapters yet; don't have time.
Sonny put a post at the forum asking what your expectations were/are of the story. Please read it at sonnyais.6.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?t=39 if you haven't yet and, if you can, we'd love a reply. Ways to contact us can be found at the contact page. We appreciate the feedback.
Important- I don't often seem to say it at the site much but I do at AFFN -- I want to let everyone know we LOVE feedback, we REALLY appreciate any and all reviews we get, and we VERY MUCH want to thank everyone for reading! We read every review or response we receive so if you have anything you'd like to say, we'd love to hear! You're all awesome, thanks guys!
I updated the chapter links on the right side of each chapter page so now you can click through to Chapter 33. I forgot to update it last week so it was only listing through 31.
Check out the Chapter / Story Status topic in the forum to see the status. (link opens in a new window).
Also, sometimes I mention the status at my livejournal (look for ICoS in the tags or subject header). I can do it more if people would find it helpful, such as for anyone who maybe doesn't like using forums but has lj. Feel free to friend me if you want, by the way, and I'm always open to random replies. You can always contact us as well if you have questions/comments.
Important Chapter Posting Note
5/15/07
From now on, chapters will be posted on an as-we-write basis. The release times will not be as scheduled but keep checking back because we won't stop posting! More information can be found on the reason for this change at this post.
Otherwise, feel free to check announcement topic in the forum for any further information on future announcements. (Both links will open in the same new window).
Note 6/13/07 - CHAPTER STATUS...
Forum: I've added a chapter status topic to the forum. If you haven't heard from/seen us in awhile and are wondering what the status of the next chapter, check out the Chapter / Story Status part of the forum. (Link opens in the same new window as the two above).
Livejournal: If you're interested in seeing the status of the chapter but don't like the forum/don't ever use it, you can also check my livejournal (look for ICoS in the tags or subject header). It won't be as succinct as the forum because it is a journal so I'll be talking about non-ICoS-related things. But that's another option open to anyone interested. Feel free to friend me if you'd like and leave replies all you want.
Chapter 32
5/28/07 by Ais
Chapter 32 - Shadows was just released! Let us know what you think! By the way, I'm not bothering to update the chapter links on the right of every chapter page because it takes a lot of time. I'll do that in a future update when I have more time.
Chapter 30 - Confessions is out! The delay was just because it had to be rewritten. See the above announcement about future chapter posts! And, as always, we'd love to know what you think.
Chapter 30 Delay!
5/1/07 by Ais
I just want everyone to know that Chapter 30 will very likely NOT be ready by Saturday, May 5, 2007! Please see this post for more details (link will open in a new window). Check the announcements section for any future announcements like this, although we'll always at least give you a short notice like this over here. And thank you to everyone who reads and especially those who also review/let us know what you think!
New Fanart and Fanfic
4/30/07 by Ais
We have a new fan artist! Sururu drew three pictures--most of which are NOT work safe/are 18+, just so you know. Check out Boyd tango, Sin tango, and a tied-up sketch! (All links will open in the same new window)
I also updated the gallery stats on the fanart page to reflect this change.
In an attempt to make it easier to get back to the main Penumbra site from the forum, all forum links in the navigation to the left now open in a new window that is separate from the gallery window. I realize that is probably annoying for some people but due to the program we're using for the forum, I can't get a better link back to the site short of making you click all over the place. It's the same for the gallery program. If there are major issues with this, let us know. Thanks!
There will be new fanart by Sururu soon -- a few technical difficulties on this side. And I will also do a slight change in how the forum is reached through the navigation. More info soon -- I just wanted to update right now to get the chapter out for anyone interested in reading.
Chapter 28 - Temptation, Second Forum Announcement
4/21/07 by Ais
Chapter 28 - Temptation is out! We hope you go read and enjoy... And, as always, we love to know what you think!
By the way, if you didn't see the note on Thursday, we now have a forum. There were a few bugs with it already but I think they've been resolved. Otherwise, just let us know somehow if you see any (it's been really helpful when people leave notes in the shoutbox) and we'll try to fix it. Neither of us are forum-frequenters so we don't really know what we're doing with topics/etc. So if you want a new category posted that you're not seeing, please let us know or leave a note in the forum in the appropriate category. We'll look into it and if it makes sense we'll definitely add it. Thanks!
On a related note, a link to the forum is now in the navigation to the left, between the Guestbook and Chatroom. That navigation is on every page so you should always be able to access it.
Penumbra Forum is Live
4/19/07 by Ais
We now have a forum! Thanks to everyone who voted in the poll! You should all go check out the forum and post and tell us if there are any problems/you want other categories/whatever. Neither of us are forum-frequenters so we don't know what we're doing. I did put a welcome post about the forum though, hopefully to help.
I've added the forum link to the navigation to the left so you should be able to access it on every page. Currently it does not load into a new page even though currently it also does not have a direct link back to the main Penumbra site. If you would prefer that I code it to open in a new window like the gallery does so you can have the main site open at the same time, let me know.
Random note - we got over 1000 unique hits in just around a month since this site started! That's completely awesome, everyone! And our AFFN account is rising in hits every day. It's amazing... There are no words, except: We love you all <3
Chapter 27 - Provocations
4/14/07 by Ais
The new chapter's out - go see Chapter 27 - Provocations! If there are any mistakes on it we apologize; Sonny's been super sick and today is Ais' birthday so she's been distracted the last few days. Between the two of us, we may have missed something.
Vote in the poll below and please be honest! We are curious if we should make a forum and want to know the actual interest level. Thank you! NOTE: Actually, we already created the forum based on the results of the poll. See below.
The Forum/No Forum Poll
Proposed 4/12/07 || Decision made 4/16/07
Note that we've obviously already created the forum so the poll is no longer valid. I'm keeping the original spiel in Past Updates just for posterity's sake and to explain how the idea came about.
So we've run into the dilemma that our chatroom is difficult to coordinate times and the shoutbox is great but limited to smaller interaction. We thought of making a forum for questions, answers, thoughts, everyone to interact with each other and us, whatever. It's pretty versatile so basically people could do whatever they want with it but we don't know if it would be used.
This is where you come in! Please tell us honestly if you would prefer/use a forum! Vote in the poll below. We would love to provide a forum for everyone if they're interested but if they aren't then there's no reason to spend the time making it. But be honest! It won't hurt our feelings if you wouldn't use the forum, we just want to know. If you would, excellent and I'll get right on making one.
If for some reason the poll isn't working for you, please let us know your thoughts on a forum any other way you prefer -- AIM, lj, email, etc. We're wondering if you would: read and post in the forum, just read but not post, not use the forum at all, or if you might use it but it's not important to you. Thanks for any feedback!
The following is the poll we took, in case anyone is interested in the results.
Forum Poll, New Fanart by Ashley Hayes
4/10/07 by Ais
4/12/07 - Added a poll above. Please vote or let us know some other way what your honest interest level is! We're quite happy to create a forum for more dynamic interaction with everyone but if there is no interest then there's no reason to spend the time on it.
Added a new fanart by Ashley Hayes! Go see a wet Sin. (Note: The 'Ashley Hayes' and 'wet Sin', as well as the 'RK' link below, will all pop up in the same new window.)
If you didn't see yesterday, there are also four new pics by RK! See Past Updates for more details.
New Fanart By RK
4/9/07 by Ais
Added more fanart by RK! (NOTE: If you click the RK link it will pop up in a new window and take you directly to that album; the top four pictures are new.)
I also reordered the albums on the gallery main page (that link will also pop up in the same new window) and changed a few thumbnails just to keep things interesting.
And I added keywords to all the pictures so hopefully the search engine will work even better now. If you're searching for a keyword that isn't pulling anything up but you think a picture falls under that category, let me know and I'll add it in.
On the fanart page I added a small part that says Gallery Stats below the link to enter the gallery. I did this so people can know what to expect in the gallery and if they missed an update they know who recently had anything added. The gallery main page tells you that too but in the case of today when I changed information on every picture, it says that all the albums were updated when truly that was all behind the scenes and the only new pictures are in RK's album.
Chapter 26 - Prospects
4/7/07 by Ais
Chapter 26 - Prospects is released! Hope you all enjoy! As always, we love to hear what you think. Ohh, by the way. The comment about this being the second to last arc was probably confusing. Although we are slowly approaching the end of this "book" we already have in mind a sequel. So no worries! Still tons of story to go... We'll never leave you alone, haha.
Fanart Gallery Added
4/3/07 by Ais
Fanart is up now! Three awesome artists can be found at the gallery. (Note: 'the gallery' link will open in a new window. This is because I don't know yet how to link from the gallery back to Penumbra.)
Chapter 25 - Monterrey
4/1/07 by Ais
Added Chapter 25 - Monterrey. As promised, much longer than the last.
NOTE: Actually, there will another update later. I worked a few hours yesterday on something that was FOR NAUGHT. Eh, that'll teach me for putting in effort. Hopefully will get the other update done soon... It's fanart, yayyy!
Chapter 24, Shoutbox
3/24/07 by Ais
Added Chapter 24 - Preparations. This marks the beginning of the next arc, which is the second to last in the story. Don't worry, though. An 'arc' is several chapters each and there's still quite a bit to go. You won't get rid of us that quickly. By the way, the next chapter is a hell of a lot longer than this one is. Oh hoho! I just realized, it's chapter 24 which starts the 3rd arc of the story, and it was released 3/24. Yeah, that's right. We're amazing.
NOTE: Added about midnight Central time -- The shoutbox is now on all main pages. Feel free to write notes in it! So far Sonny and I have sucked at catching people in the chatroom so this is an alternative for anyone interested.
Nothing else significant to report, though of course everyone should feel free to contact us if they want to see something on the site that isn't here now.
Chat and Index Changes
From 3/22/07 by, you guessed it, Ais
So you probably didn't know, but I was having chat troubles due to accidentally getting banned a few days before the site opened. The support staff was really nice but it was only just now totally fixed. To avoid something similar happening to any of you, I've added IRCStorm's rules below the chat window on the chat page. Go check it out!
Made some minor changes to the main page; now the newest chapter will always be listed at the top before updates.
Site Opening
From 3/17/07 by Ais
Uh, pretty much the whole site is one big update since it was just created XD Even so, here are the new features that weren't at the old freewebs Penumbra site:
A new guestbook (you should go sign again *cough*)
A new side story based on Vivienne and Boyd around Cedrick's death
A shoutbox to the left under the navigation buttons. Uh, if things are wonky it's because I had to configure it all in German and I don't know German sooo.. XD