
Thanks Ben! This has all been built up from a dream in 7th grade, and the dream itself was grounded in reality a lot, taking place in my town, places I knew intimately, etc. I've pulled bits and pieces from different things over the years, compiling it into what I'd like the story to be. Some time travel and paradox-avoidance from a book called Bunker 10, character growth and the soul from Fullmetal Alchemist, the exploration of regular emotions and their extremes from a book called Dark Angel, and very recently I got the buyout thing from a mixture of our economy and hearing about the manga Dance in the Vampire Bund, where a vampire princess is given a Japanese island since she used her family's wealth to pay off Japan's debt. I had been struggling for a while on how to have The Kingdom rise to power, and this seemed like the most reasonable way.
And Ben, whenever I get my studio up off the ground, even when it's just a few people, you have an open invitation to join it! I've seen your writing and artistry, and would be more than happy to have you assist! And I think you'd enjoy Central Illinois, haha!