Love and Hex

If you missed the last episode you'll probably want to start there.

Or if you're really confused, you could go back to the very beginning of the changeling's story arc.

Or even the very start of the series if you want to binge read and maybe laugh a bit.

I struggled a lot with Kayra's reaction face in the last panel - trying to communicate shock without stretching into anger or fear. Here are a couple of the options I tried out (plus a silly one).

https://imgur.com/a/changeling-kayra-alternative-faces-jZxf6zg

Believe it or not, Love and Hex is a comedy, not a drama. It started out as a joke about my D&D campaign and turned into an ongoing rom-com/existential horror story. It's on Webtoon and other platforms. Also c!LoveAndHex@lemmy.ca. And you can find a version with a full transcript on my website.

(And Patreon if you want to skip the wait for the next part.)

There's also a book! You'll find it on Amazon (just use your country's site).

This episode was not supposed to have a cliffhanger ending, but given the gravity of what she's confessing, I couldn't fit it all into one page; it needed some room to breathe. >!Patrons have seen the second part already.!<

The last panel is a bit dramatic, but I was trying to do a thing with it. I think it worked out pretty OK.

What exactly is her secret?

• The bride, "Kayra", is secretly a changeling - a construct made of mud and sticks that was built to replace a stolen child over two decades ago.
  • (That stolen child is the real Kayra and one of this series's main characters; she was raised by hags, taught witchcraft, and grew up to become one herself.)
• Changelings are normally supposed to expire (or "die") after a few months, but this one not only survived... she grew up. And has spent her whole life masquerading as a human.
• Now she's about to get married... and despite multiple attempts, she still hasn't managed to confess her secret to her betrothed.
• The ceremony has already started. But before this goes any further, she needs to get it off her chest.

Believe it or not, Love and Hex is a comedy, not a drama. It started out as a joke about my D&D campaign and turned into an ongoing rom-com/existential horror story. It's on Webtoon and other platforms. Also r/LoveAndHex. And you can find a version with a full transcript on my website.

(And Patreon if you want to skip the wait for the next part.)

There's also a book! You'll find it on Amazon (just use your country's site).

A barbarian rage can express itself in more than one way.

I was camping all last week, so this comic's late. Sorry about that!

What's going on here?

• The bride, "Kayra", has been struggling to tell her betrothed that she's not actually a human woman, but a changeling made of mud and sticks enchanted to look like the human she had replaced as a baby. Her mother has been getting in the way.
• Now the ceremony has started, and she hasn't come out - not till she see's her betrothed, so they can finally talk.
• Meanwhile, Sassy, the Maid of Honour at this wedding, has been tasked with keeping things on schedule. She's a little afraid of the mother of the bride. She's also pretty lonely, and has not had much luck with dating.
• Her thwarted attempts at romance have been pretty frustrating; an offhand comment from the mother of the bride has pushed her over the edge.
• Charlie is a Singing Cricket's pet owlbear, turned into a human to attend the wedding. He is perhaps the perfect man for Sassy? Or if he's not Mr. Right, he's at least Mr. Right Now.

Love and Hex started out as a joke about my D&D campaign and turned into an ongoing rom-com/existential horror story. It's on Webtoon and other platforms. Also !LoveAndHex@lemmy.ca. ^(And Patreon if you like early releases and extra stuff.)

There's also a book! You'll find it on Amazon (just use your country's site).

A barbarian rage doesn't have to be triggered by combat. Emotional damage can do the job.

What's going on here?

• Sassy, the Maid of Honour at this wedding, is a little afraid of the mother of the bride. She's also pretty lonely, and has not had much luck with dating.
• This added pressure, on top of Sassy's thwarted attempts at romance, has pushed her over the edge.
• Meanwhile, the bride, "Kayra", has been struggling to tell her betrothed that she's not actually a human woman, but a changeling made of mud and sticks enchanted to look like the human she had replaced as a baby. Her mother has been getting in the way, and now it's pretty much too late...
• Many of those humans in the crowd are hags in disguise, including Granny Dismal, who created changeling-Kayra. They're there for... moral support, maybe? Or just to see what happens?

Love and Hex started out as a joke about my D&D campaign and turned into an ongoing rom-com/existential horror story. It's on Webtoon and other platforms. Also r/LoveAndHex. ^(And Patreon if you like early releases and extra stuff.)

There's also a book! You'll find it on Amazon (just use your country's site).

Hey, the changeling is still here! It's her wedding! Don't let the other characters' shenanigans distract you from her story. (This is more a message to myself than to you.)

What's going on?

• This girl is "Kayra", a changeling made of mud and sticks enchanted to look like the human she had replaced as a baby.
• Changelings are supposed to fade and die after a few weeks, but this one did not, and has been living the real Kayra's human life, and grew up hiding her true nature - even from her own parents.
• Now she's an adult, getting married, and has a complicated relationship with her mother.
• She still hasn't told her fiancé the truth about herself, though not for lack of trying.
• Now there are only a few minutes till she's supposed to walk down the aisle.

Love and Hex started out as a joke about my D&D campaign and turned into an ongoing rom-com/existential horror story. It's on Webtoon and other platforms.

There's also !LoveAndHex@lemmy.ca. ^(And Patreon if you like early releases and extra stuff.)

There's also a book! You'll find it on Amazon (just use your country's site).

He'll either have the time of his life, or end up a drained, soulless husk. Or both. Knowing Lester, he'd probably be OK with either result.

Big thanks to Kewkoh for working with me on this and agreeing to my insane comic pitch. (Dude is an amazing artist.) This was a natural follow-up after Lester and Nanny were featured on the cover of Sunday Comix; we thought it'd be fun to show them on an actual date.

More Love and Hex:

• Comics
• Patreon

More Feral Mills:

• Comics
• Patreon

• More comics
• Patreon
• Book

Of course the bard takes the credit for a successful social check. Our rogue doesn't seem to mind.

What's going on here?

• Tamilda is an orphan teen who was, for a time, part of Singing Cricket's adventuring party.
  • She and the rest of the cast are attending the wedding of a changeling, the strange creature that replaced Kayra as a baby, whom they recently discovered and befriended. (The poor changeling has her own problems, which will probably get addressed soon.)
  • Tamilda has had a few story arcs in the series, and has recently started discovering some things about herself.
• Tamilda had a very awkward introduction to Maki, but they quickly became friends.
• Tobias, the bartender, is not having a good day.
• The wedding day story starts a few episodes back. A lot of storylines have split off at this wedding and will eventually come together.

Love and Hex started out as a joke about my D&D campaign and turned into an ongoing rom-com/adventure/occasionally horror story. It's on Webtoon and other platforms. Also r/LoveAndHex. ^(And Patreon if you like early releases and extra stuff. Or get the book!)

Charlie may temporarily have the body and intelligence of a human, but a polymorphed owlbear still has no idea how to act in humanoid society. Singing Cricket is doing his best to keep Charlie out of trouble.

What’s going on here?

• Singing Cricket (retired adventurer), Kayra (young night hag) and the rest of the hag coven are attending the wedding of a changeling, the strange creature that replaced Kayra as a baby.
• Charlie is an owlbear that Singing Cricket adopted by accident while trying to protect a baby house. Taking a Discworld-inspired cue, the hags decided to polymorph him into a human and bring him along to join the party.
• The maid of honour, Sassy, has been unlucky in love - but she was quite taken by Charlie (almost literally) when they were introduced. Unfortunately, Singing Cricket’s efforts to keep him on his best behaviour are frustrating the poor half-orc lady.

Love and Hex started out as a joke about my D&D campaign and turned into an ongoing rom-com/horror story. It's on Webtoon and other platforms. Also !LoveAndHex@lemmy.ca.

If you want early comics and bonus stuff, there's also Patreon.

There's also a book! You'll find it on Amazon (just use your country's site), or Comcraft.

There's a big yuri event going on in comics right now, and it started just after I posted those comics about Tamilda and Maki. So for the yuri-hungry, I made this.

Includes bonus deep lore about Nanny Muk and Granny Dismal. Is it canon? Who can say?

• More comics
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Reddit seems to have introduced sitewide AI moderation bots that are sweeping up users and outright banning them, without warning or explanation, for crimes like including links in their posts. This has started to hit some pretty well-known artists in r/comics.

It's inconsistent and unpredictable - which makes it worse, since you don't know what the rules are. As companies like Reddit give up more and more control to unaccountable machines, this kind of thing is getting more common.

Reddit has always had kind of a strange relationship with contributors and what is often called "self-promotion". On one hand, it wants Content... But it can't seem to decide where it wants the content to come from.

It's nice that we've got alternative spaces like this.

Anyway, have some links:

• More comics:
  • Ongoing series
  • One-offs like this
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• More comics
• Patreon
• Books: on Amazon or Comcraft
• Charlie the Owlbear plushie

Tamilda has not spent much time processing her typically tragic and horrifying D&D backstory. This is probably not time or place.

What's going on here?

• Tamilda is an orphan teen who was, for a time, part of Singing Cricket's adventuring party.
  • She and the rest of the cast are attending the wedding of a changeling, the strange creature that replaced Kayra as a baby, whom they recently discovered and befriended. (The poor changeling has her own problems, which will probably get addressed soon.)
  • Tamilda has had a few story arcs in the series, and has recently started discovering some things about herself.
• Tamilda had a very awkward introduction to Maki last episode. Now it's Maki's turn to be awkward.
• The wedding day story starts a few episodes back. A lot of storylines have split off at this wedding and will eventually come together.

Love and Hex started out as a joke about my D&D campaign and turned into an ongoing rom-com/adventure/occasionally horror story. It's on Webtoon and other platforms. Also !LoveAndHex@lemmy.ca. (And Patreon if you like early releases and extra stuff. Or get the book!)

• More comics
• Patreon
• Books: on Amazon or Comcraft

What's going on here?

• Tamilda is an orphan teen who was, for a time, part of Singing Cricket's adventuring party.
• She and the rest of the cast are attending the wedding of a changeling, the strange creature that replaced Kayra as a baby, whom they recently discovered and befriended. (The poor changeling has her own problems, which will probably get addressed soon.)
• Tamilda has had a few story arcs in the series, and has recently started discovering some things about herself.
• The wedding day story starts a few episodes back. A lot of storylines have split off at this wedding and will eventually come together.

Love and Hex started out as a joke about my D&D campaign and turned into an ongoing rom-com/adventure/occasionally horror story. It's on Webtoon and other platforms. Also !LoveAndHex@lemmy.ca. ^(And Patreon if you like early releases and extra stuff. Or get the book!)

The fantasy trope that everyone of a given species shares the same language always seemed a bit funny to me.

Co-author credit on this comic to my daughter, who came up with the concept. (She makes a lot of comics about dragons, but she's too young to share them publicly.)

• More comics: Main series / One-offs
• Patreon
• Books

Granny Dismal doesn't joke, bartender.

What's going on here?

• It's the Changeling's wedding day! And no, she has not succeeded in coming out as a changeling to her future husband.
• Kayra and Granny Dismal do not normally look like this - they are in disguise as a human family. Hags are not usually welcome in society, but these ones are special to the changeling.
• This episode is a parody of u/bryankellydraws's excellent "True Tales From the Bar" comics, but it's still a thing that happened at the wedding.

Love and Hex started out as a joke about my D&D campaign and turned into an ongoing rom-com/horror story. It's on Webtoon and other platforms. Also r/LoveAndHex. And the first volume of strips is out as a book!

Your annual reminder how to properly hull your strawberries (and your gnomes).

• More comics
• Patreon
• Books
• Books and shirts and other stuff - including a limited run of Kayra's "Hug Your Hag" apron and a limited signed book... preorders start tonight at 6 PM Eastern.

• More comics
• Patreon
• Book (Amazon)
• Book + shirts and stuff (not Amazon)

True Polymorph can give an owlbear human shape and intelligence, but it can't give him understanding of humanoid cultural norms.

What's going on here?

• Kayra lives with her "husband", a retired adventurer named Singing Cricket, and her coven, who are her mothers and teachers.
• They are arriving at the wedding of the strange creature that replaced Kayra as a baby.
• Kayra and the rest of the coven are in disguise as a human family. Hags are not usually welcome in society, but these ones are special to the changeling.
• Charlie is an owlbear that Singing Cricket adopted by accident while trying to protect a baby house. Taking a Discworld-inspired cue, the hags decided to polymorph him into a human and bring him along.
• Sassy, a half-orc barbarian/bard, first appeared in the comic on a date with a goblin. It didn't work out. Now she's a bridesmaid at her best friend's wedding.

Love and Hex started out as a joke about my D&D campaign and turned into an ongoing rom-com/horror story. It's on Webtoon and other platforms. Also !loveandhex@lemmy.ca. (And Patreon if you like early releases and extra stuff. Some patrons have sent me their D&D characters or OCs, which are starting to show up as wedding guests!)

There's also a book! You'll find it on Amazon (just use your country's site), or Comcraft.

When you True Polymorph a creature, it gains the mental statistics (intelligence, wisdom, charisma) of the new form it takes, so is it technically OK for Nanny Muk to hit on Charlie? Or does it matter since she's a green hag and has probably done a lot worse?

I am aware that this episode will do nothing to quiet the people who think that Granny Dismal and Nanny Muk are alternate-universe Discworld witches. But when you've got powerful witches, a fancy event, and a feral monstrous pet, what other option do you have but to bring him into play?

What's going on here?

• Kayra lives with her "husband", Singing Cricket, a retired adventurer named Singing Cricket, and her coven, who are her mothers and teachers.
• They were invited to the wedding of the strange creature that replaced Kayra as a baby.
• They don't normally look like this -- Kayra and the rest of the coven are in disguise as a human family. Hags are not usually welcome in society, but these ones are special to the changeling.
• Charlie is an owlbear that Singing Cricket adopted by accident while trying to protect a baby house. Now they're all one big family.

Love and Hex started out as a joke about my D&D campaign and turned into an ongoing rom-com/horror story. It's on Webtoon and other platforms. Also r/LoveAndHex. ^(And Patreon if you like early releases and extra stuff.)

There's also a book! You'll find it on Amazon (just use your country's site), or you can get it and T-shirts on Comcraft.

• More comics
• Books and merch
• Patreon

What's going on here?

What's going on here?

• This girl is "Kayra", a changeling made of mud and sticks enchanted to look like the human she had replaced as a baby.
• Changelings are supposed to fade and die after a few weeks, but this one did not, and has been living the real Kayra's human life, and grew up hiding her true nature - even from her own parents.
• Now she's an adult, getting married, and has a complicated relationship with her mother.
• She still hasn't told her fiancé the truth about herself, though not for lack of trying.
• Attentive/longtime readers will recognize Sassy from a goofy one-off comic from a few years ago. I guess now it's canon.

Love and Hex started out as a joke about my D&D campaign and turned into an ongoing rom-com/horror story. It's on Webtoon and other platforms. Also !loveandhex@lemmy.ca. (And [Patreon)(https://patreon.com/love_and_hex) if you like early releases and extra stuff.)

There's also a book! You'll find it on Amazon (just use your country's site), or you can get it and T-shirts on Comcraft.

A Tiff & Eve guest strip by me (she's not on Lemmy, so I'm posting here on her behalf).

More Love and Hex: [Website](https://crookedgoat.ca/] | Webtoon | Patreon | Book on Amazon | Book for people who don't like Amazon

More Tiff & Eve: Website | Webtoon | Patreon | Book

True Seeing is a sixth-level spell for a reason... some things should remain unseen. Kayra's potions are so strong, her True Sight can see through the fourth wall. (At least, that's my interpretation of what's happening here.) Not a bad hook for a campaign.

• More comics
• Patreon
• It's also a book! (Or if you are anti-Amazon, there's another place to get it)

This is a Love and Hex guest strip by Fran Sundblad... you have probably seen her work before. I reciprocated with an insane Tiff & Eve comic of my own.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/62712029

I'm changing formats. Hags are out, frogs are in. Introducing the two new main characters of Love and Hex.

• More comics
• Patreon
• It's also a book! (Or if you are anti-Amazon, there's another place to get it)

And maybe I'll do something with the Love and Hex Lemmy community - join it if you like!

This is the official (?) Lemmy community for Love and Hex! I'll be posting comics here, but also welcome questions, fan art, commentary/discussion, or whatever y'all are interested in doing with this comic.

Love and Hex is about Singing Cricket, a retired adventurer, and Kayra, the young night hag who once tried to steal his soul. Instead, she stole his heart. It's basically The Addams Family meets Bewitched, in a Dungeons and Dragons world.

Where to read it:

• Webtoon
• crookedgoat.ca

Social media:

• Bluesky
• Instagram

Supporting the series:

• Patreon
• Ko-fi

Books and t-shirts:

• Amazon (book)
• Comcraft (book, shirts)
• Threadless (shirts)