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is probably one of the most satisfying parts of it when you see people reacting to your story,” said Caelem Sky. “I really enjoy the process and being able to share a story and having something out there that I think I would be interested in if I were the audience that I’m targeting,” said Chelsea Goerzen. “Posting something, having people react to it, and creating essentially a fandom of your own writing it’s very surprising. It feels good, it’s very shocking you know, you never really expect yourself to make something, and then people are like “Wow I really liked what you made,” said Mei Rothschild. The motivation that comes from fans can be very helpful at times, but it also can have its own inconveniences. When people expect so much from the creators, it sometimes causes pressure to be put on the creator. “It’s a really magical feeling but it’s very stressful too,” said Mei Rothschild. Not only motivation comes from fans, but creators also get ideas and change certain things in their stories based on fans’ feedback. Sometimes this feedback can affect the story in an adverse way. When Mei Rothschild was beginning her Webtoon at first, many of the fans weren’t picking up on subtle details. She said that this caused her to change things a bit and that it made things a little repetitive. Now that she has grown as a creator and learned from the past, she says her work isn’t as affected as it was before. “Nowadays not so much because I’m older and I understand, but quite frankly there’s a lot of people who just don’t have reading comprehension and cannot make inferences because sometimes they get distracted with the images rather than processing the story itself, which whatever you know it is what it is. That being said, I used to when I first got started, but nowadays whatever. Someone will explain it to them in the comments,” she said. Every creator’s Webtoon is special but many have been influenced by other works of art. Whether it be artwork, a movie, a show, other creators, or a video game, many creators use outside resources to help them continue their stories. Caelem Sky created their Webtoon based on a novel they wrote before beginning work on the Webtoon. During the time the novel was being written they used anime as an inspiration for their character’s designs. “When I first started writing the novel it was like eight years ago or more, it was a very long time ago and I was influenced by media, watching anime, and stuff like that to design the characters, but they’re not based on any particular person,” said Caelem Sky. “It’s hard to pinpoint anything in particular but I’ve been influenced by other characters here and there,” said Caelem Sky. A large part of Chelsea Goerzen’s inspiration for her Webtoon came from the video game To the Moon. Some characters’ backgrounds in her story were even made from small pieces of the game’s preview. “Growing up there were a few games that were in Asterion style I think To the Moon was an RBG major game that I fell in love with when I was a kid and I am enamored with the idea that I could make something that becomes what To the Moon was to me,” said Chelsea

Photo courtesy of Caelem Sky

Goerzen. Inspirations aren’t everything Webtoons are built on. The creators themselves still add parts to their stories that aren’t inspired by anything else. Finding inspiration in something else is simply just the first step in beginning a completely new piece of art. “As the stories go on I think they get less and less inspired from other things and more pieces of things I kind of want to explore, I really liked Jordan’s arc, the one about the musician because it’s about him moving on from memories. That was just a concept I wanted to explore, not so much based on anything in particular,” said Chelsea Goerzen. Some creators often look to their colleagues for inspiration and help on their projects. “We’re friends, so sometimes we’ll just chat about characters and whatnot. It can help a lot, it’s also the same with them we all talk to each other so we get some good general ideas from each other whether it be intentional guidance from us asking for help or just random inspirations while we’re just talking to each other,” said Mei Rothschild. Even with inspiration from multiple people and places, creators still manage to make everything unique to themselves. Whether it be the art style or the storyline itself, no two Webtoons are the same. Though they may be similar in some aspects, every creator makes a special piece that cannot be replicated.

Photo courtesy of Caelem Sky