From there one of our members thought, "Well, I'm not happy merely drawing myself into exhaustion. I think I'll make a second comic!"  So she did.

The rest is pretty unimportant in the Grande scheme of things.

SUMMARIES

Akashik is about making (or accepting) your destiny.  It also reflects how your destiny can influence the paths of other people.  Set with an epic arc, it's your typical space opera comedy with AWOL soldier elites, drunkenness, and the occasional rebellion. 

In the tale, Taus is on the run - but nobody is quite sure if she's running away from something or towards it. She picks up a stowaway, Ganji, and carries him to the doomable Spacestation XXX (pronounced Spacestation Thirty) despite his occasional attempts to escape her clutches.  When Taus successfully manages to take over the entire spacestation (with a little help from her friends), she gets more than she bargained for and events are pushed into motion.

Akashik is a team effort by the Writers of the Apocalypse and, occasionally, a little help from outside sources.

Heavenly Bride is set in the same universe as Akashik, but you may never know it unless you read little pages like this or ask the author herself. It is an OEL josei manga romance and one of the first OEL josei in existence.

Lhung is a celestial dragon who, while passing a miserable planet three spots from a sun, hears an elusive melody. Curious, he descends only to reincarnate as a citizen of the planet.  As if by destiny he then meets a very young and gentle Taus, who may hold the key to the music that brought him there in the first place.

HINT: Although very boring, Heavenly Bride is actually about the main event that spurs Akashik's events into motion on the behalf of Taus.  But you don't have to read it to enjoy Akashik. I promise.

Heavenly Bride is created by our team member, Death, with only occasional input by the other team members. 

The Creators

Hello, my name is Katrina and I'm the person composing this page.  I also am Death of the Writers of the Apocalypse and the founder of this troupe. I live with my cats, youngest daughter, and occasionally my husband in a big scary house by a golf course. When I'm not being creative, I'm studying alternative history, UFOs and abductions. I also was raised to believe in reincarnation, ghosts, and how to use one's psychic powers for fun and not profit. Akashik, Heavenly Bride, and this website reflect my background, foreground and current state of being. 

I have a small resume of past accomplishments starting from 1989 which is still growing today. Take a look around. I'm not hard to find - which is probably why my stalker simply won't sane up and go away. I'm an easy target. 

Rebecca "War" Pinder - No one is sure just how she came into being, they only know she's there to frighten people with her trusty machete and Mac laptop.  She is our wit machine and probably the most sarcastic team member we have.  She joined the military after taking on the title of War and is doing quite well for herself there.

She insists that she wants to be a visual artist, but Death is convinced that her true talent lies in her natural affinity for prose and word association. Death has tried many times to explain that prose is the very fine art of painting with language, but War is a stubborn soldier. Surprise surprise.

Akashik is her publication debut.

Akashik is the second web publication in her resume, but she swears she's having fun so I won't worry if you won't.

Stacia Bryant - Spreading Akashik and Heavenly Bride like diseases well-loved, Stacia Bryant works under the name of Pestilence.  She has been doing the best job out of everyone we've ever placed in this position.  (Actually she's simply been doing her job.)  She is the person you direct your marketing and advertising inquiries too. Just email pestilence @ apocalypsewriters.com

Team helpers include the following people:

THAT DICKHEAD OVER THERE - This unknown factor gives us militant information and helps Taus plot the take-over of the universe. But mostly he just hangs around to keep Death happy.

SARAEN - This lovely lady has dreams and knows ancient history seashells are afraid to speak of. But we tap her mind for beer, not information.

RED HERON - The Red Heron was instrumental in helping to plot out a very fun scene in the comic before he disappeared. We are unsure of where he went or even what he looks like.

RICK SILVA - Occasionally working under the guise of Pollution, Silva is our dialogue genius. All hail the great Pollution.  At other times he works as the co-owner of Dandelion Studios.

FAQ, FYI and READ THIS AND YOU MAY NOT LOOK LIKE AN IDIOT LATER.

1. What are the update schedules?

Akashik updates on Wednesday and Heavenly Bride on Friday. Sometimes I miss a day because I have to work or real life explodes dramatically.  Bills are bills and comics are comics: sometimes there is no inbetween.

2. When did you start (insert project here)?

Well, Akashik itself was first drawn at the turn of the last century through a little one shot manga entitled Battle of Angels.  It was published in some places and set aside until I knew I had to expand on the story. In 1997 Akashik was first started on the web and the rest is history.

Heavenly Bride was always just in my head from even when I was a child, but I told it to myself from the point of view of Taus and not the main character Lhung. One fateful day I felt a noncorporeal presence telling  me the story, and so the original script was written through me by a gentle narrator.  I started to put it on the web sometime in late 2008 to early 2009. And if you think that sounds crazy, keep reading.

3. How do you make these comics?

I sprinkle pixie dust onto random glue scribbles and watch the images align themselves into something meaningful?

Akashik is drawn by hand and colored on the computer.  Heavenly Bride is completely drawn and grey-scaled by hand. Then, on pages that require color, I cut holes into the paper and insert origami paper behind the page.

4. I'm more inclined to believe you use pixie dust. Your artwork sucks!

I'm glad you feel that way. Pixies were meant to be shaken roughly and flung at unwanted suitors. You might be next.

5.  Can my kids read these comics?

How old are your children again? Akashik is read by my fourteen year old daughter, who frequently makes fan-art that I should post more often.  She hasn't become a raving slut maniac yet. Heavenly Bride, on the other hand, is rated for mature audiences.  This means if you're fifty years old and still acting like an infantile pile of poop you shouldn't read my manga.

6. You make a lot of outlandish claims in your video blogs and sometimes on this website about these comics being based on past life experience and other metaphysical origins. Do you honestly think you can continue with this insanity and not be incarcerated?

I thought about answering this diplomatically, but after six hours of intense thought I realize that I can only be blunt - and long-winded - in order to be effective here.

The Writers of the Apocalypse is composed of a very diverse team. I am American Indian (read: Native American for you overly-correct people), was raised discussing past lives, UFOs and psychic phenomenon by my parents, and am the only child of my sibling group that has had the fortitude to continue the path.  I have a scientific outlook on matters because I would rather know the actual cause of something before screaming, "GHOST!" like an idiot.  I attend meetings organized by MUFON and hold a BA in anthropology with a minor in history. I also used to be a devout Southern Baptist, but later I had to come to terms with the fact that I was not following the path meant for me.

War was raised Catholic and ultimately decided that lifestyle was not for her. She also has strong past life memories, was in touch with many of the same forces I am in touch with long before I met her, and religiously dislikes idiots.  She is intensely interested in Reptiloids as a people for whatever reasons she has. I have never thought to ask.

Conquest is a devout Presbyterian Christian. She loves Jesus, and she is one of the few Christians I have ever met who actually makes an attempt to follow the teachings despite what her carnal instincts say. In fact I think I only know of two other people like that in the world, and they are my children's godparents. I know a lot of people.

Pestilence was raised Christian and converted to Wicca. She tends to scream "Ghost!" at everything and is a contactee.  She also has had psychic training through both personal and professional means.

Similar stories apply to the team helpers on this page.

If others can talk about a man they were only told rose from the dead, turned out to be the son of their one true god, and then ascended into a celestial part of "the Heavens" with utter confidence that their outlandish-sounding story is perfectly true then I am just fine with sharing my outlandish first-person-experienced story with whomever has the patience to listen. There is a difference between spiritual belief, first-hand experience, and outright self-delusion. It has taken me a lifetime to come to the right balance between belief and experience to avoid delusion.

7. Well, your comic offends me. You should take it down.

No, I spent my entire life preparing for this aspect of "why I am here". I will not be taking it down anytime soon.  You, on the other hand, are welcome to stop reading and find something more constructive to do with your time.

8. I also am a reincarnated (insert being type here). I'm pretty sure I was there.  You're getting the story all wrong, especially with Akashik!

No. I'm not getting the story all wrong. I'm getting it all right.

First, there's this beautiful thing called perspective. Look it up in the dictionary. It's fun. It colors your memories, dictates why two different people describe the exact same event in two completely different ways, and influences your eating habits.  Akashik, being written by several people with their own perspectives, is also colored by it - even though we have done extensive research into ancient texts in order to confirm certain details.

Also, Akashik is a comedy. It's a comic, and we are artists.  Newsflash: it's a story BASED on events that we believe may have been true.  We took a lot of creative license for the sake of keeping the story interesting. Does anyone remember the disaster of the Dune movie? Anybody? Yeah. We want to avoid that disaster. Very much.

If you were really there, you'll recognize the parts I stuck with and say to yourself, "Oh YEAH!" Which is the entire point of the thing.

Heavenly Bride is a special case. It's a lot closer to how things used to be way back when because it was narrated to me by a being that remembered a lot better than I do.  But even with that I have taken creative license and had to translate some of the more "alien" elements into something more understandable for the reader. 

And by the way, I do not believe in alternate time lines. Alternate realities I grok, but the idea that there's another me out there whose life split at a key point in time and followed a different path can only be the flight of fancy. I've astral traveled all over and spoken to a lot of things, and never have I found the me I wanted to switch with. Trust me. I hated this planet when I was younger. I was willing to go. There was nowhere to go. So please don't tell me that I'm mixing realities in these stories. I know what I'm doing.
 

9. I am the representative of (insert alien space nation here), and we are concerned with how you are going to represent us when the time comes.  Could we impose upon you to present such-and-such person/place/event just in the way we would like you to?

No, definitely not.

First of all, the bulk of you are vain and self-serving and I do not cater to that sort of attitude.  I realize that a lot of you have come forward to me by various means since the chapter with the naga space pirates in fear that you, too, will be portrayed in a silly manner. You've come to me by direct contact with hovering UFO's and mental telepathy, you've sent other confused contactees to pass the message (while asking me WHY they had to be the one and WHAT were they talking about), and you've even tried telling me what to do. The more you do that, the more silly you appear to me in my perspective. The more silly you appear, the more that perspective will color my pages.

Here's a thought: if you want to be shown as dignified and as mature as you tell your followers you are then you could act like it when I'm around. Or even when I'm not around. That is what I am presenting to the world.

And if I'm not doing it, War intends to.

One thing I would like to ask YOU: if this comic is so unimportant and keeps getting so overlooked (and is so unsuccessful) then why are you guys making such a fuss over it? Please tell me why the fuss and I will consider your requests very seriously. I may even ask for details and advice.

10. So you don't believe in God?

Did I say I didn't? Please don't put words into my mouth.

11. Okay, enough with the insanity. Let's ask a normal question.

Thank you, omfg.

12.  Why do you call yourselves the Writers of the Apocalypse?

When I first formed the team, there were a lot more of us onboard. We were going to tell the story of Akashik and turn it into an anime as soon as possible. You need a large team for that.

Unfortunately a lot of the chosen ones weren't mature nor serious enough to keep going, so they either dropped us or were flat out fired. Soon there was only four of us left. One of us made a joke that we were the four horse-women of the Apocalypse and the idea stuck. And now here we are.

13. So, why a space opera?

It's how I see things. When I was younger I ignored the spaceships in my head and concentrated on the wings. Ah - yet another example of perspective.

14. Is Taus crazy?

Yes. No. Maybe.

15. Why does the spaceship look like a turnip?

It didn't look like a turnip to you?