#anyway the ec is linked in the post

[purpleshadow-star]

Here's a reminder that ANDREW DOES HEAL AND LEARN TO FEEL. Nora never said that Andrew never heals or that he doesn't get less apathetic. She said the opposite, actually. If you don't like the extra content, that's fine, but please actually read it before deciding to spread the incorrect assumptions people have made up about it. Just because Andrew never gets to the point where he smiles and laughs all the time doesn't mean he doesn't heal.

(Also, Nora never said Andrew never smiles, just that it's hard to imagine, and if he did, it'd be with only Neil around)

[mask131]

Another little post about the Sandman/Flat-Earth situation. I have seen this recent post relaying the idea that Gaiman's Sandman is an entire rip-off of Lee's Flat-Earth. I spoke about this idea before - pointing out that people seem to be overblowing it a bit and trying to turn a "strongly inspired by" into a "it's a plagiarim case" thing. You know how it goes with the Internet - as soon as someone turns out to be a bad person, every new "trivia" that pops up is spreading like wildfire without people checking their sources (again, to stay on a Gaiman adjacent thing, see how people were deeply convinced Rowling had plagiarized Gaiman's Books of Magic, despite her not doing it and Gaiman himself not feeling plagiarized at all - especially since a lot of the Books of Magic series wasn't his per se, he just created the original mini-series and the rest was grown out by other artists).

Anyway I want to specifically talk about one point made in the post I linked: that Destiny of the Endless (Sandman) is supposedly a plagiarism of Flat-Earth's Destiny. I guess the character they are referring to is Kheshmet, Master of Fortune, embodiment of fate. Now, I have to be fair: I have not reached the part of the Flat-Earth series where Kheshmet appears. So far I am about to finish "Death's Master", and without this post I would have never been aware of the existence of an embodiment of fate in the Flat Earth (since the Lords of Darkness are usually talked about in terms of the trinity of Azhrarn, Uhlume and Chuz).

However I have, again, to point out that despite the feeling maybe being right... to call Destiny of the Endless a "proof" of Gaiman's plagiarism of Lee falls flat (no pun intended). Because Gaiman did not create Destiny of the Endless. Again, this is something that most Sandman fans know about - unless they are fans of the show exclusively - but the very first issues of Sandman, the first arcs, were about creating a new series part of the DC Universe (it was only later that Sandman strayed away into its own thing, and the series adaptation removed most of the DC Universe references to avoid being too obscure to newcomers).

Sandman wasn't just about creating another part of the DC Universe (well, multiverse) but it was also entirely dedicated to bringing back under the light obscure, secondary or forgotten DC characters. That was Neil Gaiman's goal, and it was because these characters were unused and forgotten that he was allowed to go crazy with them.

The Dreaming's inhabitants, when we first see it, are all old EC Comics/ DC Comics horror hosts that were forgotten. Eve, Cain and Abel, Lucien, the gargoyles... They were all part of a shared universe before, the vast network of the old DC horror-universe. Gaiman took it back and simply decided that this universe would be the Dreaming's nightmare part in its ruined state.

The Three-in-One, the Three, the Triple Goddess, however you call them... start out as Neil Gaiman not just playing on the "Wyrd Sisters" like Pratchett himself did (Norns/Macbeth witches crossover), but actually reinventing the Three Witches that were old DC horror-hosts of the "Witching Hour" series.

Hence also why Constantine appears, why Dream fights Doctor Destiny, why Batman's Scarecrow appears, why one of the first "alternate Dreams" we see is the Martian god of Manhunter, why Dream has his Ruby (it was the Materioptkon), etc etc... In fact the first arc of Sandman lost MANY present many people trying to get in the series due to how heavy it was with old DC lore.

And Destiny of the Endless... he is not exception to the rule. Destiny is in fact the ONLY Endless that Gaiman did NOT create - when he started Sandman (again, we have his manuscripts, propositions and drafts in various companion books) he only had three Endless in mind, clearly designed, Dream, Death and Destiny - and the reason Destiny appears so early on in the series is precisely because he was pre-existing in the DC Universe.

He was another DC horror host, who had "canonically" interacted with characters like Lucien or Cain & Abel. Not only that, but he also appeared as a proper character in other DC titles before Sandman was created.

What did Gaiman do with the character? Give him a family and an exact position in the DC Universe. Change his purple robes to gray. Make him blind. And of course, let's not forget giving him a domain... The Garden of Forking Ways. Which Neil Gaiman has been very open (on his very Tumblr he said it two or three different times) about being a nod to Jorge Luis Borges' own Garden of Forking Paths.

As I said in my previous post, yes Gaiman is very derivative, borrows a lot, plays a lot of homages, makes a lot of Easter eggs and nods and winks to other works, resulting in his works being these sort of cultural Frankenstein Monsters... But when you want to point out where a character comes from, get it right please.

Yes, Gaiman was inspired by Tanith Lee when creating the Endless and Sandman. The Lords of Darkness are very similar to the Endless in many ways (personifications of abstract concepts tied to humanity ; top dogs of the supernatural hierarchy who play around with people's fates for their personal amusement ; have their personal world-domains, there's a certain D- motif recurring with Death, Delirium, Delusion...). But they are also very dissimilar in many ways (the Lords of Darkness are under the Gods, who are separate and stronger entities, while the Endless are "above and beyon gods" ; the Endless are a dysfunctional family whereas the Lords of Darkness laugh out loud when humanity imagines them as "cousins" or "brothers" ; and the D- motif is not recurring since among the Masters are the Master of Night and the Master of Fortune).

It is not because Sandman was influenced by Lee's Flat-Earth that EVERYTHING in it is a Flat-Earth rip-off. You have Ovid rip-off, Shakespeare rip-off, Zelazny rip-off, Brian Froud rip-off, The Golden Ass-rip-off, Eddas rip-off, Angela Carter rip-off and much, much more.

Maybe my point of view about the origins of Destiny will change once I get to read Lee's depiction of her Master of Fortune... But for now, if you want to accuse someone of plagiarizing Lee, accuse the artist who created Destiny for hosting EC Comics.

[ad-hawkeye]

ok so it's lit student again and im like, already lacking sleep but instead of sleeping i'm gonna go catch up on all of artem's cards Just Bc like i genuinely have no idea why it's always in the dead of night that i get hit with an overwhelming wave of adoration for artem?? i'm about to start YAPPING in your inbox again im so sorry DHAKDJKS *does it anyway*

continuing off my last ask they me think of the movie i watched recently called "past lives" that's fully centered around the concept of fate (it's so good 10/10 i really want to see artem review it),,, i won't spoil but it's like hshsjadhsjhdjshs "destined by fate" but fate doesn't tell you what it holds for you??

after watching it i looked up more about the term "inyeon" (korean term for fate or providence) which the movie heavily emphasizes on and found a reddit post talking about it (i'll paste the link below <3) where they quote a comment explaining its meaning and what it says is that inyeon isn't just about the person you're destined to end up with, but also the people you encounter in your life. basically, with inyeon, your string of fate isn't simply linear but also looped around every person you'll interact with. to reach the person at the end of your "string of fate," you're supposed to treat each interaction with respect or else you'll never find them AND LEARNING THIS MADE ME LOVE THE MOVIE EVEN MORE 🥹🥹🥹

a lot of destiny tropes give the characters an easy way to end up together kinda like the opposite of "doomed by the narrative" as in they could do simply nothing and still find their way to each other, but to reference the comment from earlier: your destiny doesn't end the moment your meet your "destined one." artemrosa learned so much and worked so hard before they became a couple a d still continue to grow both individually and together even after they started dating 🥹 they're still the same precious individuals that they were in their pre-dating arc, only wiser and stronger with combined forces 🫶 they aren't together just because fate wanted them to be, they Made it happen and they're still Making it happen‼️ something something every choice i made, every path i took (indirectly and directly) led me to you

like. i genuinely wanna know more about how they met/knew each other in college because it's SO fascinating to me that their paths have crossed so many times, and they don't just simply get together. a lot of things happen that they learn from that shapes them into their best versions that also complement each other. to me it's like,, no matter what happens, what they feel for each other or how the end up, their paths will always be destined to cross, whether it's by brushing past each other on the street and never meeting again or becoming each other's partners both in work and in life and as seen from the different universes that hoyo has shown us so far, we can see that they always end up becoming each other's most cherished person, despite the varying journies that led them to that point WUAWUAWUA

pls enjoy my rambling i might actually pass out from this 😭 good fucking NIGHT

p.s. this was not written with the proposal card in mind god bless 🙏 that's an example of "it happened bc the gods demanded it and they sent a lightning bolt down to everyone who opposed it"

https://www.reddit.com/r/redikomi/comments/16drqze/the_meaning_of_fate_in_yeon_%EC%9D%B8%EC%97%B0_in_korean/

omg shut up i literally read this AFTER replying to your last ask and we literally came to the exact same conclusion HAHAHAHA OMG NO WAY. SUFFICE TO SAY. YEAH. I ENTIRELY AGREE WITH ALL OF THIS.

THIS SPECIFIC SUBVERSION OF THE RED STRING TROPE is WHY i love it in artem's route!! ohhh it's so GOOOODDDD YOU HAVE TO WORK FOR IT!! YOU HAVE TO BECOME BETTER PEOPLE!! my ass in 2021 would not shut UP about this and dear god im not going to shut up about it right now.

i just want to say you not only took the words out of my mouth but you also made them more concise and well said and ooughhh. Artem Fans. read this. NOW. you will all look at this post. oh im dizzy. oh im going so insane.

[manonamora-if]

July Check-In

Welp... I'm late. Also it's already the half-year mark and I don't have my usual Mid-Year recap review, so we're doing this for now, and we'll see if I can squeeze a proper MYR later this month.

BUT YOU KNOW WHAT I FORGOT LAST MONTH????

Celebrating my 3-year anniversary of publishing Meeting the Parents, my first IF game ever. I wanted to do something special and then... I FORGORRRRRR ; _ ; I'm buuuuumbed about it :((((

Anyway... Onto the usual index:

Recap of last month’s progress

Plan for the next month

The mega to-do-list tm that hasn't really changed.

Still long post under the break. If you want a mini version, head on over to itch.io as usual!

May Progress

Pulling out THE LIST from last month and checking the progress:

Play more games ✅

Well, that's always a check, because there's no month without a @neointeractives jam lol. Anyway, June was Neo-Twiny Jam month, so was mainly that (unfinished thread). And of course, I finished the REALLY BAD IF jam (Review Thread and Ranking). But, I didn't manage to play more than that.... :(((

Almost 700 reviewwwwssssss. Dang.

Code Chapter 6/Endings❌

I've done another round of comment with MelS, but we're still missing a branch before I can code it. But I'm not too worried about that bit, since Chapter 6 will have pretty basic coding.

Fixing an older games. ❌

Lololol, listen... I tried, but only managed 1/3rd of the Tomato game to be done.

Write the next Chapter/Scene of a WIP❌

Lololol pt2 The writing of Exquisite Cadaver stalled this month. But I picked it up again.

What else happened this month????

Wayyyy too many distractions this month. First IRL (which is good). But also... events.

This months, we had the Neo-Twiny Jam (@neo-twiny-jam) which we are wrapping up, and I've been reviewing, and also participating in. There was also the Nouvim3000 (so I don't forget how to write in French), and a bunch of smaller jams which I jammed into some entries.

So, what does it look link in terms of releases:

The Lady with the Camellias (NTJ - Infrom 7 - prototype)

L’Incombustible 3000 (Nouvim/Marmelade - Twine -FR)

machina caerulea (4 jams - Twine)

Bon Dieu ! Et une lessive aussi ? (NTJ - Moiki - FR)

I've been looking back at previous releases of mine, feeling a bit nostalgic. Thinking of writing some stuff (post-mortem) about them. I don't know...

So... I didn't stick TO THE PLAN AT ALL. Which is a big bummer... because the stuff I wanted to do in July will need to get postponed again. I'm not happy with myself about that. Even if I think I made some killer tiny games this month and played some hella dope stuff... But, it's done. I can't change the past... So I'll try to do better in July instead.

Also, I did have some great relaxing days where I essentially napped or walked outside all day, and just... not being online. That was v nice!

The PLANtm for July

Obviously first is to wrap up the NTJ properly (admin), and start off the SingleChoice Jam and the SeedComp! again. The Anti-Romance Jam is ending soon as well, and the IFComp has just started. So, you'll probably see me on the IntFiction Forum more this month for all of that. And the next two weeks I still have some IRL obligations.

BUT, here's THE plan for the month:

Play more games: Which will be done v easily: 30+ NTJ entries left to review, the Anti-Romance Jam, Love/Violence Jam, the Nouvim, and the ParserComp also just ended. So that's a bunch!

Code Chapter 6/Endings: I don't think we'll be able to code that last chapter, because MelS's July is packed, but if we can manage another round of edits, it would be great!

Fixing an older games. I'm 1/3rd to 1/2 done with Tomato Tomato. I'm trying to finish fixing it for the FIX IT JAM. And if I can manage some proper progress for Exquisite Cadaver, I'll be ECSTATIC!

Write the next Chapter/Scene of a WIP. And if I could manage to write one more game round for EC, I'm buying myself some cake!

I may or may not have sent an intent for the IntroComp... So I might send something. Puzzly probably.

Progress... I can do that... I think... I hope... We'll see/

~

The 2024 To-Do List:

LOLOLOL June just decided to avoid all this.

The hopefully maybe easy to handle To-Do:

fix the bugs in EDOC (FR waiting for Adventuron)

fix the bugs of TRNT + find a way to add the missing pieces

fixing the interface of LPM and the popups + check animal interactions

figure out the One-Button JavaScrip/jQuery issue...

edit the loading screens of the completed tiny games to include the program/format logo at least.

The 'Need a Bunch of Content to update but it's planned!' To-Do:

Update my website (bunch new title - also I don't think the logo clicky thing work...) + redo my itch page (un-stricking cause I need to update it)

Finish TTATEH (MelS dependent)

Finish Exquisite Cadaver (half-way mark by this summer - manif)

Finish P-Rix - Space Trucker (main path at least)

Update CRWL (it's been almost two years... I'm ashamed)

The Unlikely But it Would be Dope To-Do

Finish The Dinner as it was planned (and translate)

Finish In the Blink of an Eye as it was planned (and retranslate)

Finish The Rye in the Dark City

Fixing TTTT (at least fixing, maybe try adding some storylets)

And finally The 'It's impossible, but one can wish' TO-DO:

Remaster SPS IH (if I managed to start this after completing the rest... I'm going to eat a whole sheet cake).

Start the IFComp project (I think ST 2025)

[etola]

aaah I’m really late!! BUT!! The color page I drew for 写占アンソロ!! Thank you so much for letting me participate! It was really fun! Will post the comic along with the pixiv link later ’w’)b

Anyway, the anthology is still available here: https://ec.toranoana.jp/joshi_r/ec/item/040031041377/

[silver-wield]

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Review Chapter 4!

Okay, this collection of posts will be filled with spoilers, including clips and screenshots, so if you don't wanna see things, then don't look. Some of the things I'm gonna highlight will include references to Remake and other sources to link with the overarching plot. This is a straight path playthrough with no sidequests or extra content.

Now you know, let's go!

Chapter four is a meaty fucker. Once you discount all the waffle you can do with sidequests and other random things, chapters 1-3 aren't actually that long and involved story content wise. Chapter four is really the start of the bulky content. And I'm gonna summarise most of it because I'll be here all day otherwise.

Okay, once we cross the plains and reach Under Junon, we're basically thrown into the fight with Bottomswell, although it's not called that anymore and icba to recall what its new name is.

The battle itself is pretty fun and makes full use of Tifa's flight capabilities if you know what you're doing.

The plot has been changed slightly. We don't rescue Priscilla, but instead it's Yuffie in trouble. Our buddy, Mr Dolphin, has his moment at the end with a combo and he comes back into play later when we climb the electrified tower, which I honestly thought wouldn't happen because it's pretty cringe originally, but they made it work so I can't complain.

Once we've dealt with Bottomswell and made it back to shore, we find the mayor giving Yuffie CPR. Now, I noticed Cloud scrutinising the procedure, so I'm suspicious about this coming back at some point in part three. There was originally a draft of Tifa giving Cloud CPR that didn't make it into the game, so it's possible they're planning on doing something with the idea.

Anyway, we save Yuffie and get a hilarious bit between her and Barret. I honestly love their dynamic. She's such a kid and he's got so little patience for older kids. I feel bad for future teenage Marlene 🤣

After we agree to meet Yuffie, it's back to the inn for some convos and rest. This one with Barret amused me. Cloud knows he likes the limelight and plays along with it. This detail also comes into play later the GS when Cloud's defending Barret to Dio.

On the way to his room, Cloud overheard a strange voice coming from Aerith's room. This is the first hint that Red isn't exactly what he seems to be. We also hear more about the whispers and what happened to them both. This is actually interesting. What exactly did Sephiroth need to steal from them?

This chat with Tifa is non-optional, unlike the others, and delves deeper into their relationship and her suspicions about what he remembers. They have a heart to heart, but aren't quite on the same page, which leaves them both a bit downcast.

Next morning, Yuffie intrudes to let the group know she's been hired to kill Rufus at his inauguration. She escapes and they're left to pursue her and hide in plain sight as troopers. But they also want to talk to Rufus about whether they're actually being hunted.

But before all that, Cloud has to go hopping off the back of a dolphin to climb the tower. And yes, he looks smug when he's done because he's a lil shit 🤣

Meanwhile, we get some snippets leading into part three's storyline in Wutai with EC's Glenn making an appearance. Rufus literally killed him, and going off what he spoke about, it's possible he's actually just Sephiroth in disguise and using Glenn to stoke war and gather more dead souls in the lifestream to corrupt it. But we won't know for sure until part three.

After the failed assassination, Cloud splits up with the others and finds himself stuck with some of the platoon he was directing in the parade. You have to keep them alive to succeed at this part.

At the end of the gauntlet is a rematch with Roche. And after you kick his ass, he helps you get to the dock to board the ferry.

Cloud reunites with his team and has picked up a few stragglers. And Yuffie. Who's in disguise as a robe. But that's for chapter 5.

A lot happens plot wise in this chapter, but most of it is set up for part three. Rufus mentions he's read Cloud's file, so that'll be interesting. There's also the plot with Glenn and stuff with Roche. And that's before we even get to Sephiroth.

[junk-thrillz]

hi again! i just read the comment you left on chapter 3 and uh, i think i might legally owe you my life now. that is genuinely the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me about any of my writing ever, and it's on the year-old fanfic i've had sitting in a doc since i wrote it bc i was too scared to post it anywhere. are we friends now? can we be friends? how are you this nice???

in unrelated news, i ABSOLUTELY want to join the EC community, but i definitely need to reread the series first bc i went through the elementia tag on your blog and couldn't remember like a third of the characters that were mentioned. once i do reread, i cannot wait to gush all my thoughts to you and anyone else who wants to hear them-even now i can remember that the lava spleef scene with cassandrix rewired my writing brain immensely, even though i can't remember exactly why? anyway, yeah, expect me to take a few months and then abruptly start churning out EC posts.

YES, WE ARE FRIENDS NOW. WE NEED TO BE AWESOME TOGETHER, IT’S LEGALLY MANDATED!!

Cassandrix’s lava spleef scene is a phenomenal scene, and I think I have a good idea of why it rewired your brain but I can’t articulate my thoughts at the moment because it’s very late at night. But I DO HAVE IDEAS and will probably be making a post about it later.

There’s a Discord server for Elementia Chronicles fans! You don’t have to finish rereading the series to join, we’d love to have you at any time! Feel free to ask for the link! (And if any other Elementia Chronicles fans see this post and also want the link, you are always free to message me as well.)

[deniisu-sims]

@rustys-cc For Audrey Heels - 4t3 conversion

Those ones... really acted up on TSRW, so I had to recalculate the vertices and the floatiness can be really visible, especially on the low heels - the recalculation messed up the "solidness" of the mesh (they're thicker), but it was that or the shoe strap would be all smudgy from messy normals x.x TSRW, why?

Anyway, no clipping, still on the 870 polys range, still full recolorable, in proper categories as always. Thank you @joojconverts for the help with the low heel, that seam was AWFUL and illogical to fix :P

If anything goes wrong with them, please drop a message! We both tested them and nothing else happened!

Original link: https://rustys-cc.tumblr.com/post/658322725712101376/shoes-for-audrey-30-color-%EB%AC%B4%EB%8B%A8%EC%88%98%EC%A0%95-2%EC%B0%A8%EB%B0%B0%ED%8F%AC-%EC%A0%88%EB%8C%80-%EA%B8%88%EC%A7%80-do

Download: SFS / Dropbox

LINKS EDITED 06/19/22 WITH FIXED VERSIONS

[rocksandmirrors]

alright director’s cut All That’s Left 😎

ma'am yes ma'am!! it's all under the cut <3

well first of all, here's the link to the fic

for this fic i've decided to use one of my favorite tropes, aka comforting a loved one after a bad dream. it's a classic, i EAT that shit up every morning, and after writing something heavy for Steve in the last fic, i wanted to see Matt more vulnerable and write some fluffier hurt/comfort (that can have a good ending depending on how you look at it)

i also wanted to expand more on two things: Steve and Matt's relationship, and the aftermath of *gestures vaguely* everything. i'm sure you can tell, but these two (and specifically Matt) are two of my favorite characters to write, and i'm trying to make it up for the fact THEY NEVER INTERACTED LIKE AT ALL. THEY ONLY SHARED SCREENTIME ONCE. AND I'M TOTALLY FINE ABOUT THIS AND NOT IN DENIAL. /s

but jokes aside, i tried to flesh them out a little more and write them post-canon, to see what kind of an effect Belos and the Collector got on them, what stuck to them after all this, etc. to me, despite his ups and downs, Steve would drop everything to make Matt feel safe since he didn't get the opportunity to care for him the way he wanted back in the EC (something something about guilt), and Matt is trying to act older than he is, taking on responsibilities that come back to bite him in the ass, hence the events of All That's Left. he's acting like an adult and gaslighting himself into thinking he can do it, but is constantly reminded he's a kid and needs a safe place, too

speaking of which, his nightmare is not only based on the fact he cares about Steve and loves him (duh), but also that, in my opinion, he felt kind of useless and relapsed into his self-depreciating habits between Belos' death and the time-skip. because of Boscha/Kikimora's strict rules of New Hexside, he couldn't do much and felt responsible for not saving Steve or anyone else from the Collector (plus the stress of like, thinking his only friend was probably dead for months), so i can only imagine nightmares like these could be a regular thing. helping on rebuilding the Isles gave him a confidence boost, however (this is my personal headcanon tho, feel free to disagree!!)

i wanted to write something longer at first, i had a much bigger conversation planned out at the beginning, but i felt like it didn't quite fit the vibe, and it went all over the place anyway. so i'm not too mad this fic is short, on the contrary!! i tend to write a lot more than i need, so it feels nice to be able to keep it short, for once. less is more, as they say

not so fun fact, Matt's dream is sort of based on a nightmare i've had myself where i stabbed my older brother and woke up in tears as well. but hey, at the end of the day it proved itself to be useful lol

unrelated but: Steve and Matt's relationship make me bananas. idk why, they're just peak brothers

[sabrinatvband]

A Simple and Incomplete History of Comic Rough Layouts Before Computers

I made a previous post here [Warning: NSFW] that briefly discussed doing rough layouts for comics. I mentioned that doing rough layouts has become increasingly common over time, and that it wasn't very common in the past.

[This picture has nothing to do with layouts; I just needed something before the page break.]

[Note: Apparently Ed Piskor is a massive creep. This was not public knowledge when I wrote this post, and so apologies for all the references to Cartoonist Kayfabe.]

I also included a link to a great Cartoonist Kayfabe video [embed below] on layouts which included a few examples. I believe the oldest example in the video was some roughs done by Harvey Kurtzman in the 50s.

Anyways, this introduction is getting a little gnarly and inelegant . . . but I'm basically going to repeat myself again, for everyone who isn't looking at the old post, but with a lot more detail and elaboration.

In the past, it was less common than it is today for artists to do rough versions of a page before making their final version. Most artists did everything "on the board" as they went along for a variety of reasons, the biggest one being a lack of time.

Back when residuals and sales bonuses didn't exist in the comics field [up until some point in the 80s], most professional artists were drawing at least two 20~ page comics a month. Prolific artists like Jack Kirby did even more than that, and most artists who worked for Marvel or DC couldn't make a living doing only one book.

Guys working at DC, and most other comic places, worked using "full scripts". Which is to say, basically a screenplay, but for making comics. Since most DC books used conventional and strict grids, and all of the pacing had already been worked out by the writer, there wasn't much reason for a confident journeyman to do any layouts.

The guys at Marvel, who worked using the "Marvel Method", basically had to plot the stories themselves off of a simple, often verbal synopsis of what the plot would be. [If it sounds like the comic artists also basically wrote the comics themselves, you'd be correct.]

Some comic artists were natural intuitive storytellers, like Jack Kirby. Others, like Gene Colan, had trouble pacing their work. The stories would flow just fine initially, and would then conclude with a few 12~ panel pages as the issue started to reach an end. Even Jack Kirby, when ending his Madbomb Captain America opus, had a few awkward overstuffed final pages to wrap things up.

[From Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics. Image source. Upscaled for readability by me.]

These Marvel artists probably wished that they could do rough layouts in advance, but the aforementioned time restrictions usually prevented that. John Romita Sr. produced the thumbnails above for Savage Tales #1, published in 1971. Romita Sr. was an artist with a notably clean look to his work; he eventually became the art director of Marvel. Just for fun, I've included a side-by-side layout/finished page comparison below.

Going into the 80s, some smaller independent publishers like Eclipse and Pacific started to emerge that let comic artists own all of their work, get the bulk of profits on their books, and receive residuals. In response, Marvel and DC started to give residuals to artists [but obviously not ownership over any new characters they created].

I believe it was at this point that it became a lot more common for comic artists to devote more time to roughs, because this is also when it became more common for an artist to only do one book a month. This is simple and reductive math, but basically, 30~ days to draw 20~ pages.

I mentioned Harvey Kurtzman as a guy who was doing layouts in the 50s, and it's not a coincidence he seems to have been a particularly early guy to do them. Kurtzman was very valued by EC Comics, and subsequently Playboy Magazine, and so he was paid a lot to write comics in layout form, mostly for other artists to do the final artwork on. Here are two examples of his layouts:

Scott McCloud was doing intense layouts back in the 80s with Zot!. He describes his layout process as being excessive, but it honestly doesn't look too far removed from what a lot of artists do these days.

[From Tips From Top Cartoonists by Eclipse Books. Photo credit TotalEclipse. Upscaled for readability by me.]

In the illustration below [from Understanding Comics, an essential text] we can see that Scott McCloud kept a two-page layout above his drafting table on a clipboard. I've seen other comic artists do this in a handful of old photographs; I imagine that somebody at the Marvel or DC offices came up with this and it spread throughout the industry, much like Wally Wood's 22 Panels That Always Work.

The 22 Panels were a tool that, for a time, was taped to an upper corner of every comic artist's drafting table in America. This allowed artists to draw by the seat of their pants with a little more style. The 22 Panels aren't super relevant here, but Wally Wood was doing layouts in the 60s for Daredevil. It's possible he started doing layouts because he worked from Kurtzman layouts back in his Entertaining Comics days. It's also possible that he hated doing revisions, and made these layouts to get an all-clear from Stan Lee before starting his work [Wood inked and pencilled].

[Image source]

I particularly like this rough / final comparison because there are some notable differences between them. Wood realized that having the final panel part of a three column row didn't give it enough space, and so he shifted around the preceding four compositions, one of which was discarded and replaced entirely.

May as well earn the "Mature: Sexual Themes" rating I've given this post. Here's a later rough / final comparison Wood did for a porno comic.

[Image source]

Don Simpson was doing layouts as far back as the early 90s, and presumably much earlier. As noted in the image below, the initial sketches were done on 8.5" x 11" sheets and enlarged to bristol board size [more on this momentarily.]

Don Simpson has a lot of great information about his working methods on King Kong on his blog; here are two especially relevant posts [warning: some NSFW stuff] Link 1 Link 2

Artists were able to enlarge their work back in the day using a photocopier, something that I had assumed wasn't possible to do with consumer equipment before computers existed.

[image source]

I assume that the percentage needed to enlarge a full 8.5" x 11" page to bristol board size was always the same, but for enlarging random isolated sketches for implementation in a comic a proportional scale could be used.. From what I've gathered, it was very common for comic artists to draw complex perspective stuff at a smaller size and then basically trace an enlarged version for the final comic. [For the unaware, it takes a lot of space to draw 2 or 3 point perspective stuff that doesn't look noticably distorted.]

As I've been watching Cartoonist Kayfabe and their "artist edition" videos lately, I've been discovering that artists had ways of working around the limitations of drawing without layers back in the day.

The relevant stuff in this video is the amount of alterations he did to his art as he went along [there were many creative differences with inker Klaus Janson], stuff he seems to have lightboxed or photocopied off of drawings done on scraps of paper, etc.

Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns had a creative process about as labor intensive and fastidious as you'd expect, considering the 4x4 grids used throughout the book. Miller claims that he illustrated about 100 pages of rough material for every 48 pages of TDKR, and that he cut out individual panels and presumably pasted them onto a page of "master rough bristol board", which he then possibly lightboxed or merely referred to while drawing [possibly using a setup similar to the one Scott McCloud had above his own drafting table].

[Text from Comics Interview #31. Image source, upscaled for readability as usual.]

The trade I own of TDKR says that the first two issues were full-scripted, and Miller did the last two issues using detailed synopses he wrote. When this is considered in conjunction with Miller's comments above, some questions are raised [he was in the middle of issue three when doing the interview above.]

It's possible that the full script included further refinements that weren't in the rough layouts, acting as a penultimate draft. It's also possible that the full script was created mostly for dialogue-related additions.

Below is the first page of a "Marvel Method" style text breakdown Miller used in some capacity for the last issue of TDKR. Unlike the Stan Lee Marvel method approach, which usually consisted of a brief verbal prompt or a few sentences of text, Miller provided himself with a very comprehensive document [I often wonder what guys like Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway gave their writers]. I do wonder if this was meant for editors moreso than Miller himself, and I wonder when he made this document during the creative process; he includes some sketches of Batman that look nothing like the Batman that would appear in the final book. [Certain elements of this document notably deviate from the finished story.]

You're probably wondering why I have such a fascination with this stuff. A big part of it is that I'm a comic artist myself, and so any kind of process stuff is very interesting to me. It's inspiring and frequently educational, because the solutions that old masters used often still have some relevance today. Any modern comic artist who doesn't know what creators did back in the day attempting to do everything "on the board" directly is going to have some trouble.

The other reason is that I think the iterative creative approach a lot of newer comics use is what makes them more enjoyable to read than a lot of manga, but that's a discussion for another time.

Anyways, to hopefully end things on an interesting note, here's a rough from an old comic I never finished. Every panel was drawn seperately on sketchbook paper, photographed, and the final layout was assembled in software.

[alwayschasingrainbows]

So many amazing points here! I love this post, even though I have different opinion about Aunt Elizabeth.

So let me start with the patronizing issue. I used to find it rather funny when I read the book as a child (even though I kept thinking to myself "they are all so harsh on her"). Because, come on... Emily never did anything wicked.

She was just a free-spirited child, used to gentle parenting techniques and deep understanding from her dad, Douglas. I truly adore him as a father; I know he might have been seen as a "failure" as far as making money goes, but I always thought it was extremely cruel of people (Aunt Ruth included!) to call him so. It was not his fault: he had became sick and had to choose between being there for his daughter for few years longer or keeping on working. Yet people disrespected him for what... being sick? Choosing Emily?

That being said, I wouldn't say I approve of all of Douglas's actions (especially his behaviour towards Ellen Greene and teaching Emily to disrespect her! Calling somebody fat and stupid is most definitely not okay, ever. No wonder she wouldn't want to clean the floors too often), but as far as parenting goes, Douglas was doing a good job.

Anyway, back to the subject: Emily didn't know that some of the things she had done were bad or unladylike. I agree with what you said - she was definitely a good kid.

It is so interesting what you said about Aunt Elizabeth! Please, don't think that what I am about to write is trying to convince you that Elizabeth was a good person - absolutely not! Your opinion is valid and I fully respect it. But here comes my opinion (in short: Elizabeth is complicated). I wrote it in a cursive, so feel free to skip it):

I think she and the rest of the Murrays were raised in a very strict way and there was so much pressure put on Elizabeth, especially. I made the post about Murray siblings' ages and it is almost certain Elizabeth was the oldest daughter (I am also 99% sure she was the oldest sibling). I suppose she was expected to take care of the younger ones (from my calculations it seems that there was at least 9 or 10 years of difference between Elizabeth and Laura and 25-27 between Elizabeth and Juliet). She had to live with a guilt over Jimmy's condition (even though it was not really her fault, judging from the book description) and people gossiping about her. Wasn't it Rhoda Stuart who said that Elizabeth pushed Jimmy into the well on purpose? It wasn't true, but rumours were impossible to stop and it must have been especially hard in such a small town. It seems to me that Elizabeth might have suffered from a childhood trauma. I agree that her actions towards Emily seem cruel, but I think that she grew to love her niece.

Agree about Aunt Ruth... I think she cared about Emily in her own, weird way, but we didn't really have a chance to see it (aside from the Long John's House accident and Ruth telling Emily she was going to miss her at the end of EC).

Now about Emily rejecting Miss Janet's offer to move into New York - a big fat YES from me! I agree whole-heartedly with what you said! She ought to have at least tried - I am pretty sure she would enjoy the big city life. Lucy Maud Montgomery loved her visits to Toronto, she loved giving speeches and meeting other writers. Why wouldn't Emily at least give it a try? If Maud didn't want to write about New York, she might have done a time lapse... For example, EQ might have started few years later: 23 year old Emily (a budding writer of short stories and articles), and her friends coming back home for a summer vacation and reflecting on the fact there was no place like home.

Besides, perhaps Emily wouldn't be able to write The Moral of The Rose in NYC... But maybe she'd be able to write (and publish!) A Seller of Dreams? This book doesn't seem to be linked to PEI the way Moral of The Rose was - it seems to be linked to the memory of Emily's first love...

Also... it is hinted that Emily and Teddy are not going to live on PEI after getting married. The Disappointed House was supposed to be their summer home (tbh, I wonder how Dean found out about the wedding if it was going to be a quiet affair? Perhaps the bridal was quiet but the gossips were loud! I rather doubt that Teddy would have wanted to have yet another engagement announced in the newspapers... about Teddy, I wonder how nervous he must have been... after his first fiasco of wedding). Anyway, if Emily was going to leave the Island anyways... why wouldn't Maud let her leave on her own? Why did she have to leave because of her husband, but not because of her work's prospects?

I remember reading about Miss Royal's offer for the first time and mentally singing: YAY!!!! EMILY'S GOING TO NEW YORK! SHE WILL SEE THE REAL WORLD! And then I got so disappointed.

It isn't that I dislike Emily's Quest - I really love this book. But I woulalso love to read an AU in which Emily decides to go to New York.

Thank you for the post - it was fantastic!!!! (And sorry for my essay-long reblogs).

Tell me why you dislike the Emily trilogy please because I'm rereading it!!

It's more of a difficult relationship, rather than disliking it; there are many parts that I like about Emily. Like, the majority of it is good. But it drives me CRAZY! It's the way LMM wrote, and the choices she made in the Emily series.

(Sorry if it's ranty and incoherent, it's the first time I've properly wrote down all my thoughts & feelings on Emily.)

So first of all, what the hell is it with all the preachy, patronising BS? This is not LMM's usual style, which is why it's so bewildering. The narrator frequently breaks the fourth wall to tell us how she's not there to defend Emily, but to merely chronicle her life and I want to say, I don't need you to defend Emily, Lucy Maud, I can make my own mind for myself, thank you! She doesn't do it in Anne (also a story of an orphan being taken in), and as far I can remember, she doesn't do it in any of her other writing. It reminds me of Little Women a lot. And from me that's not a compliment.

Then, I say it outright as it is: I loathe Aunt Elizabeth and Aunt Ruth and I think they're both child abusers. Aunt Ruth, especially, is a tyrant. She's a dictator. Her constantly calling Emily "sly" with no evidence and then after that incident with Perry and the kiss, when they hold a family court, she says "I would have believed you if you had told the truth", can you get any more textbook abuser? I have this thing when I cannot handle someone not being believed (also due to something that I went through), it triggers me, and a person (esp of authority) determined to disbelieve you and think the worst of you when it's just not true sends me to a rage. Aunt Elizabeth is a vile, cruel, narrow-minded woman, who should not be allowed near children. If the narrative ever condemned these women, it would be a much better reading experience. But it doesn't. Right to the very end, the last page, the second to last paragraph, when Emily and Teddy finally, FINALLY, find each other, Ruth still calls Emily sly. Worst of it is that Emily really doesn't do anything remotely wicked. She's essentially a good kid. What would these hags do if they saw today's teenagers?

"You are always writing yards of trash that nobody wants." Quote from Aunt Elizabeth. What a nice, loving aunt! Then they call Emily a Murray when it suits them--when she does something they disapprove of, it's "that Starr coming out in her". Or they say she's "half a Murray" and I'm like, everyone is unless both your parents were Murrays?

Abusive caregivers are no strangers to LMM works, ofc, but they're usually presented as villains and are not the "endgame" caregivers. (Take as an example, little Elizabeth from Windy Poplars.) That's why I like Jane of Lantern Hill, bc here LMM finally admits that an abusive narcissist is an abusive narcissist (the grandmother). And that was 1937, so you know, it took her time to realise that.

So, most of what I'm saying here relates to the second book. Emily of New Moon is not as infuriating and Quest I actually like, despite how it drags, bc it so perfectly depicts the consequences of Emily's choice at the end of Emily Climbs. And here I get to the crux of the matter--the ending of Emily Climbs.

So, Emily has graduated school, has some success with her writing, has had short stories published and at last meets someone who believes in her, who sees her talent as a writer. Janet Royal offers her a job and a place to stay in New York. An opportunity people would sell their literal souls for. And what does Emily do?

She refuses it bc she doesn't want to leave New Moon.

Once again, I repeat. Emily gets offered a job and free accommodation in fucking NEW YORK and she refuses it bc she doesn't want to leave New Moon, that fucking backwards, progress-denying, candle-burning, abuse-filled place in godsforsaken village on PEI.

How is this supposed to be a good storytelling choice??? And this is why I don't think the series will get adapted again. Not without some major changes. Bc I can't imagine how modern audience would react to a heroine rejecting an opportunity of a lifetime, an opportunity many young people today would commit literal CRIMES for--and for what? It's not even that she is doing it to get married and have kids (stupid choice still, but at least more understandable). The end of Climbs makes me so fucking mad, that story with the dog is so stupid and painful to read (YMMV). I want to cry, why, Lucy Maud, whyyyyyyyyyyy *cries unconsolably*

I think it's bc LMM wouldn't have been able to write--or at least she thought she wouldn't have been able to write--a story of a young upcoming female writer in NYC, bc that wasn't her type of story. But in that case, she should not have included that golden opportunity in Climbs at all. Bc why is it there? Emily could have just returned to New Moon after she finished her schooling.

The tragic, Watsonian interpretation is that Emily is merely experiencing effects of her childhood trauma. (If you want to look at it as a tragedy, then it makes it sort of more bearable, if only it was less patronising...)

When she informs Aunt Elizabeth of her decision, the woman's response is: "I thought a Murray would." I thought a Murray would. Not, I'm happy you're staying with us. That tells you everything you need to know.

And this is what's good about Emily's Quest. Bc here, Emily suffers the consequences of her moronic choice. Ilse, Teddy and Perry all leave to chase their fortunes. Imagine Emily left too. The NYC offer was a tad unrealistic, but, had LMM had better ideas, she could have made it a Toronto job instead. Or Halifax. Or just Charlottetown, ffs. Imagine her getting out of the New Moon environment, getting brand new experiences, seeing people not give a slightest fuck that she was a Murray of New Moon. Seeing how, out in the real world, little their majestic family clan matters. But she didn't. And that's why she had to go through what she went through in the last book. Bc she never meets any book/literary people, she puts so much stock in Dean and she believes everything he tells her. She believes him when he tells her that her book is no good, burns her manuscript and in anguish runs out of her room, trips over the sewing basket and----

So ummm, Dean. Of course he's a creep. But it makes sense to me that she's friends with him. She's a vulnerable child, he preys on her. I don't buy that he'd so happily to give her the deeds of the house as a wedding gift, but LMM wanted her happy ending and she never actually wrote Dean as the dangerous predator that he is.

When I read LMM biography The Gift of Wings by Mary Henley Rubio, I hoped I would find some answers to things that bother me about Emily--but there weren't any. So, *shrugs* I guess I never will know.

[aubreyysims]

Meet Kennedy Reyes! I feel like all my sims are starting to look the same. Anyways, I love this dress. This whole couture collection is amazing. I’m pretty sure that the gloves are base game, but everything else is cc. I will try to find the other links for hair, makeup, etc.  I’m posting the link for the dress collection below!! 

Link to dress: https://rustys-cc.tumblr.com/post/700599905705689088/black-couture-20-color-%EB%AC%B4%EB%8B%A8%EC%88%98%EC%A0%95-2%EC%B0%A8%EB%B0%B0%ED%8F%AC-%EC%A0%88%EB%8C%80-%EA%B8%88%EC%A7%80-do

[thousand-winters]

Hi quick question! Why isn’t Eberwolf part of the government in your fics? First I’m just going to thank you for giving me good uncle Eber fics but just why isn’t he also in charge? He was Head Witch like Raine and Darius. (Please don’t think I mean this is a negative way I am just extremely curious I love your writing)

Hi, there! 💕 Thank you for the nice words 😄

Okay, short answer is that I'm generally not basing the new integrants of the government on the Coven Heads, because while I do think covens can still be a thing post-Belos (just without the sigils and magic restrictions), I think the distribution of power will reasonably change given the reasons why it was like that in the first place.

Long answer is...

We don't really know a lot about the structure of power with Belos in charge, though we can speculate about how it worked and the role of the Coven Heads in it. In the hierarchy, we have the Emperor first of all, of course, then technically both Kikimora and whoever at the moment is Head Witch of the Emperor's Coven, then just a step below, the rest of the Coven Heads. Given how the EC works, it seems like the government was militaristic in nature, and so members of it with high ranks would also have a considerable amount of power (like Kikimora's captain and other high-ranking scouts).

It would help to know if this structure is based on some real-life equivalent. I haven't heard anything about that, but maybe it is? Anyway, I think this is important to consider to be able to get an idea of the kind of changes they would want to do in the future, but also the changes they would realistically be able to do. 

There’s no doubt in my mind that by the end of the third special, Belos will be gone. That obviously leaves a huge vacuum of power that only now they will have time to worry about (I imagine there’s no time to freak out over that with the Collector causing mayhem) and there are a lot of interesting possibilities on how this could go. Even knowing that Belos tried to kill them all, this is all everyone has known for 50 years, some people will undoubtedly want to cling to the pre-existent government structure, trying to appoint someone as the new Emperor, most likely Hunter if they find out about their “familiar” link... that, if Belos ever bothered to establish something like that as part of his new way to rule when he assumed power. Now, this is something I can see the CATTs shutting down REAL quick because the solution to the mess is not giving someone that amount of power again, let alone a very traumatized teenager. 

Truthfully, I don’t have a completely well-structured and coherent idea about how the government will actually work. In part because it’s a complicated matter (also politics are NOT my forte) and in part because in this kind of situation, I feel like it’s common for a long period of transition to exist between the old government and the new government.What I do have well established is that: this is a period of transition AND they need some provisional form of government because there will be a lot of rebuilding and changes to laws and stuff required right away. 

Now, let’s think of the ideal scenario I’m working with here: at the end, everyone has been told about what exactly happened on the Day of Unity and what led to it, aka, Belos’s plan to commit genocide, the rebellion trying to stop it, and the role of each Coven Head on this, along with their different levels of knowledge. Working with this assumption there’s still trouble: people who will prefer the old reign, who won’t believe this is the truth or will have their own reasons to despise this new attempt of forming a fair government. 

This is why I believe some of the people who were already in power under Belos’s rule will remain on it. Big, active participants on the disaster wouldn’t, of course, like Kikimora, Terra, etc, but I can see high-ranking officials keeping their power, since most of them probably had no idea of what was being planned and are technically “innocent”, plus they probably already took care of some more administrative matters and it would be a pain to replace them at the moment, and unless they want a very violent transition of government, the rebellion might have to accept this in order for the changes they desire to be smoother. 

All of this to say that I tend to think of a council of sorts, conformed by some of these government officials that might still share some of the values of Belos’s government, plus members of the rebellion and other people who might now get the chance to participate in this. But to the point of this long ramble... why wouldn’t Eber be part of it?

Belos’s reign in a sense was a meritocracy of sorts, at least when it comes to the Coven Heads it’s clear they had to prove they were exceptional at their kind of magic. I imagine this kind of “the powerful get ultimate say over others” situation won’t fly after everything that went down, so I don’t see the Coven Heads being automatically drafted into being part of the new government. So what is my criteria for deciding who gets to stay and who doesn’t?

The CATTs were all very committed to doing what’s right, there’s no doubt about that, but I do think there’s differences in the way in which they approached this. People like Darius and Raine seemed to me like the ones who made the plans and took care of a lot of logistic details for the rebellion, whereas people like Eber, Katya, Derwin, and Amber were more the action kind of rebels; still super committed to the cause and willing to give their all for it, but ultimately not that involved on the strategic and bureaucratic part of it. Sure, for Eber it might be that we don’t ever find out what he thinks about anything aside from his expressions and the sounds he makes, and to write Eber one must make a lot of assumptions and develop their own headcanons about him, but this is the impression I get from him. 

That is to say, I think Darius and Raine are so incredibly committed to doing what’s best for the Boiling Isles that I think they both would absolutely want to be part of the new council, while Eberwolf, even if he still wants what’s best, would not necessarily be interested in the administrative part of it. Plus, since he either doesn’t speak a lot or most people don’t understand his language, I feel like they could easily underestimate his value as a government official and think of him simply as someone powerful, but not particularly smart or worthy of having a place. That probably would absolutely infuriate people who care about him, like Darius, but since Eberwolf doesn’t really want to be part of it and doesn’t care a lot about what strangers think of him, he doesn’t really give a fuck. 

This was a very long ramble to say: Eber is not in my tentative version of the new government because he doesn’t have the vibes 🤣 That’s... the simplest way to put it askjfhkjdg 

Apologies for the long answer, but I do hope this satisfies your curiosity!

[manonamora-if]

Retrospective 2023

Like last year, long image below, with the text of the image under the Read More. You can find all the mentioned works or relevant links on my pinned post.

The format for this retrospective will be similar to last year, save for the image design (it's good to switch it up a bit). There will be a lot, so I'm making it digestible again :P

The goal for this year was to:

Get things off my desk and shelf it for good.

Because I had too many ongoing WIPs and games whose state I wasn't completely happy. I also wanted to avoid creating new projects (if I could stop myself) to focus on those projects.

As the infographic above shows... I didn't really manage either? I've shelved a couple more projects (Goncharov Escapes! mainly) but also added many more titles to my name through the comps and jams happening this year.

On the plus side: I've finished stuff!... by making tiny IF bites xD - I think I've achieved a new level of understanding of SugarCube through making the Guide, the templates, and experimenting with it. - I also tried a handful new IF programs (Adventuron, Ink, Binksi/Bitsy), which makes me want to try other programs - there are a lot of fun ones out there!

More importantly, I think I made last year one of my best game so far: DOL-OS. I was pretty happy with it when I submitted it to the Concours (and won first place!!), but this remastered version really made it into something I am incredibly proud of. I don't know if I'll ever make a game this good - I hope I do. Anyway, go play it, peeps.

This new year's expectations are fairly similar to last years: finish the WiPs, shelve remastered version, and update the large projects. Hopefully The Trials and Tribulations of Edward Harcourt is MelS gets back his free time. And if time/frustrated, make a few short bites. I'm also going to continue organising jams (@seedcomp-if currently, and with the @neointeractives) and review more IF games (esp covering jams) over at @manonamora-if-reviews.

Anyway, thank you for the continued support last year! Thanks to yall reviewers, commenters, raters, likers, and lurkers! <3

Transcript Image

Retrospective 2023

As you can see... I've barely followed my 2023 Resolutions. Although it has been a very busy year, I did not manage to finish or Update many older projects... But Here's What I've Done!

JANUARY

SeedComp! : End of Round 1, start of Round 2.

Release of Chapter 3 of The Trials and Tribulations of Edward Harcourt

Release of the Settings Template for SugarCube

Release of DOL-OS, for the French IF Comp

FEBRUARY

P-Rix - Space Trucker now available on mobile

Release of The Rye in the Dark City

Start of Code-Fix of CRWL

MARCH

Release of the Space/Tech Template for SugarCube

DOL-OS won the French IF Comp

SeedComp! : End of Round 2, Voting starts

APRIL

Release of The Roads not Taken, a parser made in Twine for the SpringThing

Announcement of the Results of the SeedComp!

Release of À la Campagne.

Interviewed for DOL-OS and AlC.

Released source code of old MtP versions.

MAY

Release of Chapter 4 of The Trials and Tribulations of Edward Harcourt.

À la Campagne ranked 2nd in the Twine Server Spring Jam.

Start of the Anti-Romance Jam.

Start of @manonamora-if-reviews.

Release of Entre-D'oeufs Coquilles + An Eggcellent Preparation (translation)

Release source code of SPS IH, EC, TRNT

JUNE

120+ entries submitted to the Neo Twiny Jam

Release of Mission: Anti-Romance (Prompt)

Release of Collision, Intersigne and Clarence Street, 14. for the Neo Twiny Jam.

Pre-release of The SugarCube Guide

JULY

Start of the Single Choice Jam

Release of the VN-lite RPG template

Update for the SugarCube Templates and the Tweego/CScript Guide

AUGUST

Update of Clarence Street, 14. (V French)

Release source code for Collision, Intersigne, and Clarence Street, 14.

Update forThe SugarCube Guide

Release of Goncharov Escapes! The Remaster.

Release of The Dinner.

SEPTEMBER

Release of the Remaster and Translation of DOL-OS (English translation + New content)

Start of the Bare-Bones Jam.

OCTOBER

Release of In the Blink of an Eye

Start of reviews of the IF-Comp

Release of La Petite Mort The Remaster

Start of the first Round of the SeedComp!

NOVEMBER

Release of Tower of Sleep

Reviews of the InkJam, EctoComp and BareBones

Start of the ShuffleComp

Release of Ode To Pissaladière [Zine]

Release of the Character Creator Template

DECEMBER

Release of multiple prompts for the SeedComp!

Start of the Second Round of the SeedComp!

Completed Release of The SugarCube Guide

Release of the Title Page Template

Release of Dévoiement

2024 EXPECTATIONS

Actual Completion of WiPs, namely Exquisite Cadaver, P-Rix and The Rye

Finished Remaster for The Roads not Taken, An Eggcellent Preparation (EN + FR), The Dinner

Update of other WiPs (CRWL + TTATEH) at least one chapter

Some Short Game/Content Release (for short jams)

Returning and NEW IF game jams (SeedComp! and Neo-Interactive Jams)

More Game Reviews (especially Comp/Jam coverage)

More Templates? Maybe another Guide?

[bbbqlays]

Hey hey! Part 2 for my Overhaul Soulmate AU is almost done. If you’re new here and you want to read part 1, here’s the link;

Anyways, It was brought to my attention that I should have a tag list. So I’m here to ask about that! If you have any interest on being on a taglist to know when I post this story again just say so in the comments! I’ll make sure to be the best I can to make your experience on this page a magnificent one!

[sepublic]

           Before what would’ve been our two-part season finale comes up… I’m just going to throw out some ideas and predictions for what might happen;

           As we’ve all discussed, Eda’s curse has been getting worse. We have yet to see any remedy for this situation, and the last time she transformed was in Episode 10… So like, quite a while ago by the show’s standards. A transformation is due, and given how we don’t see anymore clips or shots of her post-Wing it like Witches in any promo material (at least, as far as I can recall), well…

           I can see Eda transforming, and getting captured as a result by Lilith; Lilith, who by this point has no choice but to take in her sister. For a while, she’s been concerned about letting Eda have her autonomy… But as an Owl Monster, Eda can’t have autonomy to begin with! And if the elixir is no longer working, then there’s literally only one solution, and that’s to capture Eda forcefully and have Belos cure her. And honestly? Not only would this scenario be more morally justifiable to Lilith (assuming she isn’t understandably going to get more desperate), but… It might be the only thing she could’ve really done, in such a situation!

           That, or Belos never wanted to have Eda in his plans, he just wanted her imprisoned because she’s a rebel and a thorn in his side. So instead, he locks her up permanently in the Conformatorium, transformed… or he DOES cure her, but locks up Eda anyway, either for eternity or just so he can figure out a way to indoctrinate her. Or, it’s to save Eda for whatever plan he has… Maybe something involving her curse? Maybe this will happen at the very end of the season, being our cliffhanger…

           OR, it’ll happen in the beginning of Young Blood, Old Souls; And alongside a captured King, it’s why Luz is journeying into the Conformatorium to fight Lilith! We know that she’ll break into Belos’ treasury while on a field trip at his castle… Perhaps while she’s gone, the Emperor’s Coven captures Eda and King? Of course, we ALSO know that Lilith is at Belos’ castle, and will fight Luz, Willow, and Gus.

          Perhaps Belos decided he couldn’t trust her to capture Eda anymore, and went behind her back and had his Coven attack Eda without Lilith’s knowledge or participation; Which means that the scene we have of her and Belos talking, is him admitting that yeah- He captured Eda without her knowledge, what are you going to do about it? You SHOULD be happy, after all…

           Regardless, Luz and co. will get involved with some powerful artifacts, likely nine that each correspond to one of the major Covens, and are possibly directly linked to the Coven Bindings themselves! We see Luz trying to escape the treasury at some point, and we don’t see Willow and Gus past their appearance in the trailer… What if they get captured, fending off Lilith so Luz can escape? For all we know, Luz will REALLY mess things up with the Coven System if those artifacts are linked to them… Perhaps by having incriminating knowledge, or maybe even releasing all Coven Bindings in existence?

           Perhaps Luz’s actions in the treasury will lead to the Emperor’s Coven attacking the Owl House, because now she’s REALLY proven herself as a threat! Understandably, I can see Luz also being banned from Hexside, because now that the EC is paying attention, they’ll probably learn of Luz’s attendance at the school. Maybe Principal Bump will get banished, maybe even arrested and replaced with a stooge… That’d be a scary thought.

           Regardless; Luz attracts attention to herself and by consequence everyone else, and with Lilith knowing where she lives… You get the idea. Eda and King are captured and Luz has to go on a solo-mission to rescue them, and maybe even Willow and Gus! Amity may or may not make an appearance and react to what’s going on… We’ve also got a screenshot of Boscha outside somewhere, where it seems to be sunset; And I don’t think we’ve seen that shot of her before, so it’ll probably be within these two episodes. The same goes for that image of Skara doing a Bard spell for a yet-to-be-seen teacher.

           On the subject of other images and clips we haven’t seen yet… Correct me if I’m wrong, but in the first promo for Season 1B, there’s a brief snippet where Eda is seen escorting King and Luz away at the Covention, saying that ‘it’s their cue to go’ or whatever. I don’t think we’ve EVER seen this clip before… Which means it has to happen within these next two episodes, because I doubt a clip from Season 2 would be here! That, or it’s a deleted scene…

           Regardless, given how Luz is hanging out with them and not in her school uniform; This might be in the beginning of Young Blood, Old Souls! Perhaps after coming home from the incident at Belos’ castle, Luz goes out with Eda and King to the Covention center, only to see a BUNCH of guards and EC witches looking for her, with an even higher bounty on Eda! Hence, why the trio immediately decided to book it, now that Belos is increasing his hunt for the gang.

           As for some potential cliffhanger endings… Well, there’s what I already suggested earlier, about Eda. Perhaps Luz will save King (and Willow and Gus if they’re there), but be forced to leave… Promising to return to rescue Eda? We’ve seen promotional art of her wielding Eda’s staff… Maybe while Eda is subdued, Luz will use that staff to turn the tides against Lilith? She may not even win, but she’d at least escape, and perhaps inherit Owlbert from Eda for the timebeing, as a bittersweet symbolization of Luz ascending as Eda’s apprentice!

          I can also see Luz blowing into the whistle from Lost in Language and summoning the Bat Queen –and maybe even an army of Palismans- that will help! Regardless, Luz and King go into hiding as fugitives, and Luz can no longer visit Hexside. Maybe Luz DOES break out Eda, but Eda is still cursed and escapes into the wilderness… or Luz has her locked up in the Owl House.

           OR… maybe because Eda is already captured, Belos sees no reason to pursue Luz and King any further. Perhaps Lilith knows that Eda cares about them, so she negotiates with Belos; Saying that since she got Eda, the least he could do is let Luz and King go! And Belos, not caring, agrees- Which leaves our duo alone, but at least Luz can keep attending Hexside as she figures a plan to rescue Eda. Perhaps this will change the status quo so that her and Lilith interact more. Speaking of which…

           As others have suggested, what if Eda has to join the Emperor’s Coven- Not only to cure her curse, which is a liability to Luz and King, but to protect them from Belos’ wrath? Which again, would lead to an interesting change in the status quo for Season 2, as Eda is forced to play along with Belos’ orders, while navigating the Emperor’s Coven with Lilith… All while Luz and King do their own thing, but try to figure something out.

           I can also see Eda sending Luz back home as a means of protecting her; Possibly with King, I can’t say for sure! Either way, with Luz banished from the Demon Realm… This could end the season on a cliffhanger; Which then leads into the premiere of Season 2, which involves Luz finding a way back home while inevitably confronting Camilia over where she’s been! We’ll likely learn who’s been sending the letters by this point; Possibly Creepy Luz. Or, it’s the camp- And them forging letters serves as a way of helping Camilia realize that they only care about conformity, not individual wellbeing. It could be a moment that helps Camilia accept Luz for who she is by seeing how damaging and stifling the camp would’ve been…

           Which then leads to Camilia helping Luz find a way back, or Luz is able to reconcile with her mother while she’s at home, just in time for somebody else to rescue Luz! Maybe it’s Eda, maybe it’s someone else… We’ll have to see.