The King

King Asad Fatih, ruler of Al Fatih, stands in the halls of the palace, before a solid gold statue of himself as a much younger man.  A short bit of the statue's origins will be told in Part 2 of The Defiant Prince.  Part 2 is also where King Fatih makes his first appearance.

The king has been mentioned quite a bit -- even in the first version of Hassan I did way back when -- but (aside from his gold jewelry) he's never been seen or described until now.

I envisioned King Fatih to look quite a bit like his son, Hassan, except for somewhat-older facial features and a beard.  The king wears the same style of headpiece and loincloth that Hassan (and the other princes of the palace) wears, except for a diaphanous sash that drapes across his mighty muscular chest and back.

The king's favorite color is (obviously) red, which inspired the name of the Ruby Guard and the red loincloths that that select group of guards wear.

These images turned out a lot nicer than I was hoping for.  Although anything is subject to change, I don't expect much about it to differ from the finished story.

Part 2 of The Defiant Prince is being written now -- it's about... 65% done.  I'm working at it in between decorating and lighting the palace in the studio.  Barring any showstopping problems, I'm estimating I'll have part 2 ready to be posted sometime next week.

Have a great Friday and weekend, everyone!
-Lucky Stallion

The Palace Guards

The palace of King Asad Fatih is protected by The Ruby Guard, a fiercely-loyal and highly-trained group of men dedicated to the protection and sovereignty of the royal family and the people of the neighboring city.

In a sign of their fealty, each new member kneels before the king and allows him to shave their heads clean.  With their induction to the Guard complete, they're given official loincloths to wear with pride over their beefy hips.

Unfortunately for the new guys, Prince Hassan is always looming nearby... always watching and waiting for his chance to pounce.

The Defiant Prince: Part 1 of 3

The first part of The Defiant Prince is finally finished and ready for posting!  My apologies for taking so long with this one.  Both the graphics and the story caused me to stumble more than a few times and I had to delay the project for way longer than I intended.  Well, the hard part's over and now... comes the hard part!  Get it?  Heheheh...

This first part features Hassan, Lusala, and Sahib, with other characters such as King Fatih not appearing until next time.

Here it is!  I hope that you guys enjoy The Defiant Prince: Part One.

Lusala Animation Test

Hey, guys, how's it going?  I've been working on the Hassan story (which, weirdly, doesn't have a name yet... I'll come up with one soon), and I wanted to break the silence with a fun little animation loop I made on a whim.

I'll let you use your imagination as to what's going on here. *grin*

Also, I wanted to say that I've decided to split the Hassan story into three parts.  The time spent figuring out the lighting and other random, sudden annoyances put me way behind schedule.  There won't be any abrupt cutoffs that interrupt the flow of the story, so each piece can be enjoyed by itself.  I'll have more info on when the first part will be posted soon.

It's almost Friday.  Woo!
-Lucky Stallion

Progress!

Hey guys, I have a quick update on the Hassan story.  For the past few days I was struggling greatly with the lighting for the beginning part of this story.  The lighting I used in the On The Balcony image was redone, and even that wasn't able to be used for outside the palace.  I had to come up with something better.  This is my first time trying to simulate light during a sunrise, so it was kicking my ass pretty hard.

I finally got the lights adjusted to the point where I'm happy, so I was able to go full-steam ahead.  I've rendered 7 panels of the opening so far, with about a fifth of the story written.  I don't have an ETA on when it'll be done, but I'll be working at it every day until it's ready to be posted.

Have a great rest of the weekend,
-Lucky Stallion

Quick Note: Thank You

I just wanted to give my deepest thank yous to all of you guys who bought Olympian Knockout from my Lulu page.

I've been noticing, too, that many of you also picked up the Tuskar comic.  It means a great deal to me to not only have you visit this little, muscular slice of the Internet, but to have your support through my paid e-books is in a league of its own.

You absolutely rock.  Thank you so much.

-Lucky Stallion

On The Balcony

I put construction of the palace aside for the moment to focus on the place that begins the story: Hassan's bedroom!

This is Prince Hassan without his headgear or loincloth.  His hair is black, like his father (who I'll reveal later on).  He likes to keep it hidden and away from his skin in the harsh sunlight.

He's standing at the edge of the high balcony, gazing at the sand dunes of the vast, desert kingdom.  The sun has just risen, so the lighting in the scene is very muted.  And since it's morning, the prince is currently suffering from a certain hardness that many men frequently experience right after waking up...

What he spies from that balcony certainly won't help his erection to go down.  Well, not without a big, creamy mess, anyhow!

There's a bit more work to be done on this scene and anything might change by the time it's finally done, but I wanted to give you guys a peek at what I'm up to with the story.

Have a great rest of the weekend,
-Lucky Stallion