Transcript

(Aya and Rose in Aya's car, from behind, as they leave Aya's neighborhood)
Aya: So the train was about to enter the tunnel and he just... stops?
Rose: Yep. It's all good though.
Aya: How?

Rose: I think... I made a friend.
Aya: Uh, a friend with benefits?

Rose: No, like, a FRIEND friend. With shared interests and goals and stuff.

Rose: Well, I dunno. Maybe benefits too? We'll see.

Aya: You've never wanted to get to KNOW one of your paramours. They're more like... appliances.

Rose: Eh, sometimes people can surprise you.
Aya: I'm not holding my breath.
 

Chapter 2 | Page 9: Benefits
Posted on January 15, 2026 by Nick Wright

Are they the plug-in type, or do they take batteries?

4 thoughts on “Chapter 2 | Page 9: Benefits”

  1. Ray Radlein

    Ah, yes. Are Friends Electric?

    1. Nick Wright

      Aya appreciates the Tubeway Army reference!

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[FANART] Rose by Stuart Gipp

Posted on January 8, 2026 by Nick Wright

I started out 2026 by getting knocked on my ass by the flu. I’m starting to feel better now, but not enough to get a comic done, so I wanted to share some fanart.

I recently received this great Rose from Stuart Gipp. He’s the British one off of Retronauts, the creator of Merry Hell, and overall a quality individual. Thanks Stu!!

We’ll be back next week with a new comic, unless I cough too hard and break my lung.

[NSFW-ish] Merriment will now commence

Posted on December 25, 2025 by Nick Wright

Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, I think we can all enjoy skimpy Santa suits. Rose certainly does!

If you want to get rid of the suit so you can focus on that great Santa hat alone, you know where to go.

This is actually a remake of a much older Christmas post I did way back in 2003, when Keenspace was a thing.

I may have improved a little since then. I do love that strategic foot placement, though.

And Rose has certainly gotten thiccer and less sickly over time! Good for her, I’m glad to see she’s eating.

Anyway, I hope you have a great holiday and a fantastic new year! We’ll be back to regularly scheduled programming next week.

Non-Thanksgiving-Related Fanart

Posted on November 27, 2025 by Nick Wright

Happy Thanksgiving! It’s totally in deference to that sacred holiday that I am taking this week off.

It’s definitely not because my tablet stylus broke and it’s really expensive to replace because it’s super old, why do you ask?

Anyway, here’s some art of Rose and Aya from my friend Mea. I love her interpretation of these characters!

You can get your own commission like this by reaching Mea on her Bluesky.

Anyway, I hope you have fun getting high with your cousins or however you choose to celebrate the day.

Sorry for not drawing Rose in, like, a sexy turkey costume, but maybe next year!

Treading Ground REBOOTS on March 20th!

Posted on March 13, 2025 by Nick Wright

We’re Going Back To The Start!

If you’re a TG Patron, you’ve been reading a never-released project I called Treading Ground Season 2, a followup to the original webcomic featuring Miranda as the main character.

That’s not even Tracy’s final form

It was a fun project, but eventually I realized that before I could move forward in the TG universe, I needed to take a fresh look at its origins.

TG Has Been Around A LONG Time

I started work on Treading Ground 22 years ago, with the comic debuting on Keenspace on October 13, 2003. There was no Facebook, no Twitter, no YouTube. Even MySpace was only a few months old!

The original “First Comic,” before later restructures removed it from the archive. Nothing like wacky roommate antics that were already tired in 2003!
The original “First Comic,” before later restructures removed it from the archive. Nothing like wacky roommate antics that were already tired in 2003!

While I’m still happy overall with my work on the comic, it is, uh, of its time. There’s a lot of early-2000s edgelord humor and questionable narrative decisions, especially in those first few years. I always knew I’d do things differently from the start if I had the chance.

Well, now I have the chance.

I’m 22 years older and wiser since TG debuted. I’m a better artist and writer, I’ve worked on many more creative projects, and I’ve learned a lot about the craft of writing and just life in general.

And instead of just trying to fix old stuff, I can really expand this story and fully explore these characters in a way I couldn’t before. It’s time to put all that experience to good use!

New character designs!

What To Expect From The Reboot

  • Familiar Characters, New Story – You’ll see a lot of characters you know from the original comic, but their backgrounds, interactions, appearances, and personalities will take some different turns.
  • Bigger and Better – The original TG comic was around 250 strips total. I already have more pages than that written for the Reboot, and I’m not even halfway done. We’re in it for the long haul, and we’ll have a lot more time with these characters!
  • The Face to Face Prequel Is Still Canon – I’ve been planning this Reboot for a long time. When I wrote Face to Face, I wanted it to bridge the gap. The story of how Nate and Tracy got together fits nicely into the original narrative, but it also sets the stage for the Reboot. As for what happened between them after that, well, we’ll see!
  • Older Cast – If you did the math in the Prequel, you know at least that in [Current Year], Nate is 27 and Tracy is 29. The other characters will be aged up to roughly match. It’s not as much as the rest of us have aged in these last 22 years, but it will certainly add some more dimension to the characters.

It All Starts Next Week!

If you follow me elsewhere, you may know that I haven’t exactly been great about keeping this a secret, but it’s fantastic to finally be able to announce it officially.

As always, Patrons get the comic one week early, so they’re already reading the new stuff! If you don’t want to wait, why not jump on in?

I’m excited to bring you more Treading Ground, and I think you’re going to love what I’m cooking up!