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Getting to Know You

Tell us a bit about yourself: who are you, where are you from, and what should readers know about you?

Hi! I’m Daki, an EU-based illustrator, bookworm, gamer, and butterfly enthusiast. I recently launched my debut WEBTOON Originals, The Imperial Court of Internal Affairs: a fantasy romance about a disgraced prince forced to fake a scandalous affair to stop a civil war. But in a world where truth is enforced by magic, keeping the peace means learning how to lie… without technically lying.

What do you do when you’re not working or creating art?

I like taking breaks from drawing by doing more drawing, as illustrators often do! I’m also a lifelong martial artist since I was a child. That love for eastern cultures, philosophy and discipline eventually led me into gaming, anime, and manga too.

You share artwork from D&D, Genshin Impact, and other games on your Instagram. Which characters or pieces are your absolute favorites, and which game have you sunk the most time into?

Games and anime are what first pulled me into writing, drawing, and even D&D, but Fire Emblem has been that one big game saga for me, with its tales of princes, princesses, and epic adventures to save the world. Funnily enough, some of my Fire Emblem fan art helped me land my first illustration internship back in the day, and eventually my first job too. “Follow your passions” really does work in the weirdest ways!

What part about making comics is the hardest for you?

I’m still new to making comics, so the hardest part has definitely been scheduling, especially with weekly serialization deadlines. Managing my time, workload, assistants, musician, and coordination with WEBTOON and my editors has been a very “learning on the job” kind of pain. Thankfully, everyone has been very understanding while I’m still finding my footing, though.

Is creating comics your full-time job?

Yes! I’ve worked across several creative fields, from animation and games to book illustration, commissions, and convention stalls. But no creative journey has made me fall in love quite like this one. I hope I get to keep making comics for a very long time!

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Quick Fire

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About The Imperial Court of Internal Affairs

The Imperial Court of Internal Affairs (TICIA) looks extremely professional. Is it your first Webtoon?

It is! I was lucky to have great editors and other creators advising me through production. I’ve always loved creating characters and studying human psychology for fun, but building a full story from scratch, especially one I can keep drawing under strict deadlines, has been a whole new challenge.

On your creator profile you mentioned there’s been confusion about the genre of TICIA. Why were readers confused, and who actually chooses the tags on Webtoon?

Although TICIA was a bisexual love triangle from the start, I always wanted it to be fantasy escapism, not an LGBTQ+ struggles or coming out story. Those stories are incredibly important, especially in a heteronormative society, but I wanted to create a grand adventure where anyone, queer or not, could escape for some fun, comfort and hopefully some mental stimulation too, and where queerness is broadly as accepted as heterosexuality.

Because stories like that aren’t always primarily tagged as LGBTQ+, TICIA was initially tagged as “Underdog Story,” “High Stakes Game,” and “Slow Burn Romance.” But since the romance is so deeply tied to the politics and main plot, the male and female love interests and love-triangle cover left some readers unsure whether TICIA was straight romance, BL, or poly.

The LGBTQ+ tag was already there, but hidden behind the first three visible tags. Since this is an Originals, WEBTOON chose the tags, though I still get creator input, so after launch I asked for LGBTQ+ to be bumped up alongside “High Stakes Game” and “Slow Burn Romance” to set expectations better. It was very much trial and error, and learning on the job haha! Thankfully, this tag doesn’t spoil the love triangle’s endgame either!

The relationship between Kasumin, Nuo, and Aiender starts very rough. How long does it take for them to start trusting each other?

I’m so glad you asked! The Imperial Court of Internal Affairs is ultimately a story about trust and loyalty, so just like the slow-burn romance, trust has to be built gradually. I’m fascinated by how people decide who to trust, what loyalty means to them, and where their boundaries are. There’s a lot I want to explore with readers before Kasumin, Nuo, and Aien can move beyond surface-level teamwork into real trust. Because real trust and loyalty take a long time to build… and even longer to rebuild once broken.

Without spoiling anything you’d rather keep secret – is TICIA heading toward a true love triangle where everyone falls for each other, or is one direction stronger than the others?

I’m thrilled this question has come up so often since launch! It means readers are thinking beyond the “classic” love triangle many of us grew up with. Personally, I love it when a true love triangle has all three sides to connect in some way, not just a clear endgame couple, or two people pining after the same person or hating each other. But what kind of connection, relationship, or emotional bond ties Kasumin, Nuo, and Aien together? That’s something you’ll have to keep reading to find out!

Do you already know who is going to end up together?

I do! My favourite stories have always been the ones with a clear theme and intention despite its twists. Of course, some details may still be polished or fine-tuned along the way, but The Imperial Court of Internal Affairs is already written out from beginning to end. I love stories that invite a re-read once they’re over too, especially when the second read is even better because the charm is in the details, and you realize, “Oh. The author knew exactly where this was going from chapter one.”

The idea of wisps that flare when you lie is unique, especially in Webtoon. What inspired you?

Honestly, the chance to work with WEBTOON Originals kind of fell out of the sky for me, so I had to pick a concept almost on the spot. I ended up returning to a world I’d created as a teenager, originally as a novel idea I discussed with my best friend after playing Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance.

Back then, it was a simple story about discrimination, mistrust, and prejudice leading to a world-shattering war. The magic system used to be much more complicated however, with spirits, summons, possession, and all kinds of teenage fantasy fanfic-level stuff. But WEBTOON is such a visual format, and you don’t get the same space for exposition as you do in novels, so I simplified it into color-coded wisps and the core idea of a world built on distrust: the exile of liars. How deep this world and its truth system really go though, will take a few more episodes to fully sink in!

Your chapters are impressively long. Do you plan to keep them at that length, or do you expect them to get shorter?

Oh gods, I hope they get shorter! Since TICIA originally started as a novel concept, my writing naturally leaned longer and more text-heavy, especially while introducing the world and characters.

My editors and I trimmed as much as we could while still keeping the story’s vision intact, but we allowed the starter chapters to be a little longer so readers could properly get a feel for the world. We wanted the full premise clearly set up by episode 3, in classic WEBTOON fashion. Turns out, that was an extremely arduous process! Huge thanks to my editors for their infinite patience and for teaching me the ropes.

Why did you choose the court setting?

I grew up surrounded by martial arts and history: my father is a martial arts enthusiast and black belt just like me, and my mother loves history, so historical dramas and East Asian cinema were always part of my life. But the court setting really hit me after I visited China and travelled around the country for a month with my brother, who was studying there. I was so intrigued by the history, politics, architecture, palaces, clothing, legends, and the complexity of it all, both the beautiful and the darker sides of it. It just seemed like the perfect setting for a fictional nest of schemes, lies, and a story about honor & morals.

Do you have a favorite character?

I enjoy drawing Nuo the most, with his whimsy and cynical expressions. But when it comes to writing, Aien’s older brother, Emperor Dien, is my favourite. He has the most complex and challenging role I’ve had to create so far, so I have to be very careful with everything he says and does. It’s a thrilling challenge, and I love seeing readers grow intrigued by him as this mysterious figure they can’t quite place as ally or villain yet. He even seems to have his own fan club now, too!

What do you want your readers to feel when reading TICIA?

First and foremost, I want readers to have fun! TICIA can absolutely be enjoyed as a light-hearted court drama, but for the readers who love overanalysing, details, character psychology, and choices: this one is for you!

Aien’s journey is about leaving a sheltered bubble and realizing that trust and loyalty are not as straightforward as they seem. People can do wonderful and terrible things in their name… and so can he. And in a world that has written him off as either an untrustworthy liar or a privileged case of nepotism, learning to build trust from the ground up with a lover, a friend, and even an entire nation while hiding behind a huge lie himself, is a massive undertaking.

And in a world where we’re constantly surrounded by the internet, AI fakes, wars, discriminatory discourse, and endless information and misinformation, I think critical thinking is more important than ever. So, if readers are questioning who to trust, who to distrust, whether Aien is a reliable narrator, and whether the regime itself is right or wrong, then fantastic! It means I’m doing my job right, even as a rookie author!

Is there a reader reaction or comment that has really stuck with you?

A bunch of them, actually! And weirdly enough, it was the ones criticising my writing. I’m not used to working under the public internet eye on this scale, so harsh comments from strangers are still new to me. But sometimes, people tried to criticise the story by pointing out a character’s hypocrisy or the cruelty of an action, and I’d completely ignore the tone and just mentally go, “Yes! That’s it! You got it!”

My delivery can be clumsy, especially in the starter episodes, where I was running on hopes and dreams and caffeine and zero comic-making experience. But if even one reader notices a cruel detail that was meant to feel normal, or questions a character’s hypocrisy, I’m genuinely thrilled! It means I might be learning how to write after all!

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Your Art Journey

How did you get noticed by Webtoon?

I was scouted by a WEBTOON editor after being recommended by another industry pro. My colourful, cel-shaded art caught their eye, and I got the chance to pitch a story of my own. They liked my concept enough to sign it, which still feels surreal! And funnily enough, while TICIA was already in development, another WEBTOON editor scouted me at an anime convention, so I had to awkwardly explain that I was already working with them too. (Thanks WEBTOON for the ego boost!)

What changed for you when you started as a creator for Webtoon Originals?

I’m fuelled almost entirely by curiosity, so becoming a WEBTOON Originals creator felt like a shiny new toy… until I immediately fell face-first into how hard and time-consuming comics are. And despite having been a WEBTOON reader for years, I had to learn that it worked as its own medium, separate from mangas, novels, movies, or standalone illustration. For a while, I was studying writing, anatomy, and comic techniques almost every night just to keep up. But honestly, I still love that part: I now get to learn from fellow creators too, who have very kindly adopted me and helped me along the way!

Do you have a passion project you still wish to complete, or a dream where you want your creative journey to go?

I’m very lucky to have reached my two biggest recent dreams already. The first was making a living from my art, which I managed after finishing college. The second was publishing my first original project, which happened two weeks ago with TICIA! The wonderful thing about dreams, though, is that once one comes true, you get to start searching for the next one. For now, I want to enjoy this WEBTOON adventure with my readers and bring TICIA to its intended ending. After that, who knows!

Anything else you’d like to share with your readers?

Keep being curious, question everything, and roast my writing to the sky if that’s what it takes! TICIA may be a silly concept I built with a friend at 16 in my parents’ basement, but if you’re enjoying the politics, twists, comedy, or romantic intrigue, you’ve made me very happy. Thank you for giving this rookie creator a chance. I hope my story makes you laugh, think, overanalyse, lose sleep over it, and enter ship discourse for weeks to come.

And now, to finally properly answer my most frequently asked question: is TICIA actually Straight, Poly or BL?

Yes! It’s a straight romance! It’s a BL! It’s poly! It’s not poly! It’s whatever you want it to be! Who knows! Ship whatever makes you happy and enjoy the adventure!