#design is sorta a mix between the show and comics but

[solacebean]

Didn’t see you there…

@kibsss and I are doing another collab because we are mentally ill, I finished my side first so decided to post it while we wait for her to finish and we can merge ‘em lol

[gleefultogo]

Aira Character Talk

Since Aira was mentioned again in Saltyplaytoons (spongebob reference? Lol, funny either way) blog post I wanted to take a deep dive and talk about her. Plus at this point she’s the only pure character that deserves to be rescued from this shit comic and not written by a misogynist. She get’s shit on for no fucking reason. 

It is very well known now that kique has stated that she is his “least” favorite character. Why? Probably because she’s another female character he made and got bored of her. Honestly it saves her the injustice he would have given her if she had more screen time.  When we first met Aira, she was stuck in her creature form. I thought at first she was an evolved creature that was based on Aedra and her beast form was pretty cool in my opinion it looked like a mix between a cat and a dog. Which btw people was made and turned into by a Spirit, so that quickly leads my thoughts into rhov’s and feaf’s future kids. If a spirit can turn a dog into an evolved creature, then it’s very much possible because of the spirits for them to have hybrid kids. Will it be canon? I don’t know, like many have said; it’s obvious kique is bored of his own comic and shoved into our faces just to keep pages being pumped out with nothing really interesting. For me, I see the comic as a sitcom show that just goes nowhere and the characters do and say random stuff that doesn’t revolve around their world or plot. Besides, you can’t tell me half of the characters in this world wanna sit cooped up in one area based on “Tribes” Dog’s just don’t do that they would have way too much pent up energy and would need to run. Can you just imagine if this comic was realistic,  the dog's muscles and bone structure would become weaker because they aren’t doing anything really, they just sit in one place and that's it. Ok sorry, back to Aira :) 

   (Aira’s first appearance form)

You see what I mean though? She resembles a sorta dog and cat hybrid mix. The paws are a dead giveaway as they look like a feline and she has retractable claws. It’s a neat design in itself. I'll give kique that much of any positivity for his comic XD. 

Very Interesting design features if you ask me. Anyways, Aira gets killed by kargo and she wakes up a normal dog again and sets off into the woods to heal her wounds I guess? Probably also went to seek shelter maybe. We later on see her again on page 138. Heavily bleeding still and this when she meets keirr and you know how it goes. He ends up helping her and she’s taken aback from being surprised I guess, which is quite valid of her character, as we do eventually learn about her backstory and she was never treated kindly by others. Aira is a character who’s a really good example of someone who would have a “fixation” on someone, I don’t think it would personally be a bad thing and realistic to her character because she’s never been treated so kindly before and i don’t think she’d be able to help herself with that mindset. She obviously took comfort in keirr  as she hesitated to follow him at first, but also because he was offering to help her and wasn’t appearing a threat to her.

  (oh look when keirr was actually a nice guy, before becoming a dick to her) 

Moving forward. Keirr takes her back to her cave and was suspicious why she was living in such a large area for one individual. Aira remains mute and just eats the food she was given. Which I suppose was rude on her part, but her communication skills seemed to be lacking as she was trapped inside a body and couldn’t talk for a long time, ok at least that makes sense because there is a valid reason enough for her to be doing that. Eventually keirr leaves her behind as she is now safely placed back into her sheltered area. But she ends up following him and keirr ends up venting to her about why he couldn’t go back to his family, he was understandably grieving over zilas. I find these next few parts important to Aira’s character. She willingly sits there even if not knowing him for not a very long time. But she sits there and listens to him vent and doesn’t question him, that’s just an empathetic thing and it's wholesome to have seen that in the comic as they being the characters actually talked about things that troubled them, and it didn’t lead to sex confrontation. She may not have known him very long, but she’s a character that gives off a warm and comforting vibe, like a friend you can tell anything too without her judging because she obviously cares about others. 

Later keirr ends up following her and getting to know her more. Then we see a page with them together and keirr is giving her physical therapy? 

(hey keirr how do you know about PT?). They end up jumping over some logs to strengthen her legs or whatever. Kinda pointless in a way if she was born with a weak structure. It’s like saying you can just magically cure a dog with mobility issues with just some PT. Wellll nope, it’s much harder and time consuming. Plus it won't fully heal someone with a physical disability, it may help strengthen her a bit, but she wouldn’t be able to fully walk normally. Compare it to a dog who was born with swimmers syndrome or cerebellar hypoplasia. That’s a lot of PT work and also medication in order for them to walk to a degree. It’s not something that can fully be cured, so Aira’s 180 later on would be really stupid when the author wrote her this way. 

Now the next page (198) is important, keirr states he has to go back home cause he’s been gone for too long. Aira very clearly goes into panic mode and begs keirr to stay with her because she clearly states she doesn't wanna be “Alone” She’s told to basically just shut up and he’ll return soon whenever. Again Aira panics and kisses keirr forcefully. 

Now I find that quite sad and interesting for her. I’m not a therapist or a physician by any means. But this is my own take on this situation. Aira is using a tactic that almost feels like she is forcing her own affection onto keirr, not being in control of her own body due to her panicking. In a way, yes Aira did sexually assault keirr and he had every right to confront her about it because it was wrong of her. He leaves her behind anyway to go back to his family. Aira is then left with what looks like the expression of shock and most likely guilt because she’s being left behind again and most likely processing stuff in her head. I'd like to believe that her mind is very scattered due to her having issues of being left behind. 

We then proceed to see Aira again and most likely took keirr’s words to heart and goes back to the spirit of strength because she feels weak without and can’t survive. She practically feels hopeless without that spirit, keirr stops her and then asks was it because of him? Keep that in mind. Aira is obviously upset in this scene and then tells keirr her back story and the things she did. She basically claims that she went back to the spirit because of Keirr, she was upset. It’s like if someone told you as a person, that you weren’t good enough for them, nor did they want you around them because to them you felt like a burden. I wouldn’t be surprised if Aira was the first dog in the comic to commit suicide because she deems herself as a burden and was never accepted. If the spirits didn’t exist and the comic took more of a dark turn, I think she would have been a character to have that type of mindset. 

Eventually keirr takes Aira under his wing with a better understanding of her to a degree. She proceeds to then help him look for his family as she’s apparently traveled all over the map while being a beast at the time and saw many tribes fall and create new ones. We meet the deer rp tribe and then kique puts them there because he doesn’t know what to do with them at that moment. Aira is then very clearly seen to be hesitant and doesn’t wanna join them because they were just going to ask if they saw family members of keirr’s. But then the 180 happens and they join anyway. Keirr becomes a dick and then judges fucking Aira behind her back  because of the jarl confronting her leg structure. Yeah hey morons, maybe she's struggling because she got a giant ass heavy deer rack strapped to her head and has weak legs, antlers are not light things. Of fucking curse she’d be struggling. 

Honestly that’s when I started hating keirr the most, like why the fuck are you jugding her? She literally told you she was born with a mobility disability and was tossed aside for it. *sighs* She ends up stuck with Keirr as a Herbalist, like kique? The fuck man, how stupid can you be. You made a character with a physical disability who struggles with that and you give her a rank that requires to walk a lot? Like what? She’d be a terrible herbalist because she’d probably take much longer to even get to a location and back to the tribe. She has to carry her weight around. How frustrating, it’s like he literally forgets his own character traits they have. Like if you didn’t wanna deal with a character with a disability then why give her one if you're gonna 180 it.

Page 481. The page that did it all for me and hated this dude's guts. Ok so even if Aira did end up stuck in a tribe she didn’t wanna be, plus she looks absolutely miserable in the panel. She literally got excited when he returned with bootleg kargo after their little flirting session or whatever that was. 

    (look at the sweet baby… I love her)

Like damn keirr, you should be fucking honored that someone likes you for you and your company, plus she was even worried about you. He could have easily just told her he was being sent to scout, like keirr did you not forget that you joined the tribe when you didn’t have too? Like at all. Aira stated to you that she didn’t wanna be there and wanted to go back to looking for your family. But whatever, he gives her the cold shoulder and tells her to suck it up and build connections with a tribe of strangers. God I really want to just rewrite this page at times. Keirr should have welcomed her with open arms (or paws) and told her about his travels and that he didn’t find what he was looking for unfortunately. Like why did you diss the only character who showed remorse and care for you. She obviously likes having you around and because you took her under your wing, you have no right to be a moody dick to her. This is when I see abandonment issues come into play. As someone who has abandonment issues myself, Aira is so frikin relatable. It hurts a lot when you think about it and you're stuck in your head wondering what you did or if you're doing something wrong to have someone push you away like that. It’s the worst feeling ever and poor Aira here basically got rejected from someone she clearly cares about. 

    (She looks so lost and heartbroken in this page)  But like keirr, dude how the fuck did you forget that she told you earlier on before you joined the stupid tribe. That she literally went back to the spirit because of YOU. That’s basically her struggle, Rejection and being alone. I’m disappointed that some of the people were siding with keirr on this page. In reality if a friend asked about your mental health and you told them to fuck off in, just because your moody. Then be damned if they leave your ass. That's such a shitty thing to do to a person. Aira is no exception and didn’t deserve any of that. And sadly it only gets worse for her as even when he did do that, she still looked out for him and had to save his ass from a ghoul. 

(She cares about him still)

      (Fuck you keirr, you should have thanked her)

I’d also like to point something out. But in a certain page, Aira claims she lived with the meteor tribe. I’m unsure if she was referring to a beast or when she was a normal dog before cursing herself? 

If that’s true then could Aira quite possibly be a victim to rape as well? I didn’t think much of it at first because the wording confused me for a while. But going back it made me think. If she was used by MT before arenak rules then she’s very much understanding when it comes to her trauma and issues she has. In conclusion Aira seems like a complex character with her own trauma and if it was written better, it would have been interesting to see her overcome her said trauma. She’s a literal victim, a lot more than what kique claims rogio and his “mental chains” bullshit. Aira didn’t have a choice in her life,she didn’t ask to be born the way she was or have to deal with not feeling wanted by others. I feel if kique actually knew how people worked when it came to trauma and one’s mental health and emotions. Aira and keirr could have been a great duo for each other and helped support each other as friends and grew a good connection based on needing each other in a certain time because they were struggling. Sexual intercourse during trauma isn’t something that’ll help someone. It's only a distraction really at the moment. But again it shouldn't be a way out when you're in your feelings and all that. It’s quite unhealthy. I’ll say it again, Aira deserves better and needs out of this terrible comic. 

[sweetness-and-the-sour]

So, a couple things I wanted to say. 1. Would you like to be friends? Because I loved this reply! I absolutely adore when people go on tangents about things they find interesting, especially if it's a shared topic. I'm gonna try to touch on everything you said but fair warning I have ADHD so this might turn into a novel.

Five's DNA enhancement, one of the most interesting/horrifying parts of the comics. The idea of Five having the DNA of every killer in history (if I remember correctly) embedded into him and having to fight that strong of a bloodlust constantly is wild to me. However, I agree with you about Show!Five killing the board for his family. Mi amiga! My heart! The devotion! Comic!Five eating AJ did slightly scar me though. Glad they didn't keep that. Honestly with how gritty/graphic the comics are, I'm surprised they never approached the topic of Five....ending things on his own terms, if you will.

I give big props to Mr Aiden Gallagher because I honestly forget that this is actually a teenager and not a man almost in his sixties. Especially the scene of him singing during the wedding reception (the effect felt like a mix of Frankie Valli and Sinatra) The exploration of Delores as Five's companion was another wonderful thing in my opinion. (My little cousin found Aiden's nickelodeon show during covid and we watched it together. So being married to a mannequin might not be the weirdest thing the poor boy has ever had to film xD)

Allison....'sigh'. I really want to like her so much sometimes. But the GASLIGHTING. Sister, you've lost two marriages, a child, your throat got cut because of your actions andddd what do you choose to do the minute your "backup plan" shows interest in another girl? Full-on looses it. I can understand wanting to be wary of the Sparrows but she acted like Luthor is a toy that she didn't want until another kid asked to play with it. (I love Emmy, I'm well aware this is the writing. Just wanted to say that real quick) But Luthor deserves his own agency, not to be a contingency plan.

I'm not even gonna get started on everything between her and Vanya/Viktor. It would be too much. I ask to remain with the Salon dance scene and that's that. Comic her was just so angry, all the time. Also scary powerful, if you got to read the spinoff where she made a clone of herself. That was a messed up storyline.

When I mentioned Luthor and Five being Twins, I was going more for the Fraternal angle, so I don't think their appearances would have mattered much but that's just my opinion. I love the brothers being together. The roadtrip, the pub scene, Diego and Five talking about working at the Commission. Fantastic scenes. I have the Pilot script but I've not read it yet. Hopefully do that soon.

JAYME AND ALPHONSO. I loved them so much. Jayme, my Queen. "Are they all perverts?" Perfect, no notes. WHY DID SHE HAVE TO GO?! Alphonso's powers still confuse me but still a funny dude. They gained points by beating up racists at the pizza shop but lost some for the fight with Diego. (He was with Stan! Don't fight with the man's kid around. Basic etiquette people!) And Jayme, darling, yes, Grace is a robot but your brother is a CUBE. Do you really have room to talk?

Mr Pennycrumb....poor puppy. (Having Death from Supernatural play Chet made me so happy though)

I actually have a Hotel Oblivion keycard from the comics. But I did love the design of the hotel in the show. It felt almost like a meetup spot for time travelers if that makes sense. I didn't know they planned to go to Japan but that would have been really interesting. Art deco appeals to me some days, especially 70's style homes with the pit in living rooms. But Modern can be nice as well.

I feel like alot of fans agree that season 3 should have been fleshed out more. It's still a wonderful season! But so much was going on and the potential for storylines just fell sorta flat I suppose. (Also Lila lying about Stan....I really didn't like.) I get that the whole family really has no understanding of non-toxic relationships but I loved Lila before that. Now, Diego has lost someone he was growing to love as his child and I'm scared that Stan will be forgotten in favor of their new baby.

I'm probably forgetting half of what I wanted to say but seriously, thank you for your reply and I would love to talk more about TUA or anything related if you would be down for it. I hope you have a wonderful day! Its August 1st. 7 more days people! Whoo!

Hi! I just wanted to say I really like your blog and the ideas you have for TUA. I have a question if you don't mind? If you've read the comics (I just got to read You Look Like Death and....my head hurt alot after) is there anything you wished they had kept from the comics for the show or vice versa? Personally I wish they had kept Luther and Five being twins in the show. I get why they chose not to do so but come on.

Five doesn't get his dog and then he also doesn't get his biological brother? I love the Pub scene from season 2 and it would have fit really well for them to learn it (just my opinion)

Thank you and I hope you have a lovely day! :)

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoy my ideas!! I love asks lmao so no problem at all!

I have read the mainline comics and a few spin offs (the Diego & Vanya band AU one comes to mind??) but I'm a show main sadly. I like the comics as an informant to the show, so generally I prefer how the show depicted things.

I do want to briefly (edit: it was not brief... i am so sorry) talk about the Five DNA thing because that's one of the things I love in the show.

in the comics Five is genetically altered by the commission

this only works in the comics for me because every character is an asshole, Five especially (he literally prefaces this moment by bragging that he's fucked a lot of women). So for Five to have this excuse? to show horror at the very idea? that's a redeeming quality.

but in the show, they make every character likeable to an extent (recall that in the comics Allison rumours Luther into loving her), so this wouldn't have the same impact because it just makes Five less of his own person - removes the agency from his actions.

Five in the show is someone forced into a corner, and his actions in accepting and carrying out his job as an assassin, as well as his willingness to kill innocents and his own brother throughout s1 show how his experiences have made him desperate and ruthless in his pursuit of love and happiness.

it's a psychological exploration/study.

which to me, is infinitely more interesting. Five doesn't kill the board because his DNA dictates he will, he kills them because he chooses to. He is not cruel because his DNA dictates it, he is cruel because his experiences have made him that way.

and I think overall, this approach is adapted very nicely to fit the tone of the show, as all the same beats are hit. Five has been made into the Commission's killing machine against his will, and he is resentful of it,

but that doesn't mean he can undo the damage done, his psyche is forever attuned to this line of thinking no matter how much he hates it he doesn't know how to break the cycle of violence inflicted on him,

but because Five hasn't been genetically altered, he is fully responsible for his actions and he has to live with that.

the DNA altering in the show would feel like a cop out to me. and also the interesting aspect from the DNA altering is that he is essentially made into a psychopath (most famous serial killers are - Charles Manson, Ted Bundy, Jeffery Dahmer, etc.), which means removing his empathy.

because despite his dislike of the non-consenual genetic surgery, comics!five doesn't have empathy.

and show!Five is interesting because he has so much empathy, yet he remains a killer. he is never given the opportunity to use that for good.

without that empathy we wouldn't get scenes like this where he admits guilt,

and in all honesty, isn't it more interesting that the best and most prolific killer in the show possesses a large amount of empathy?

idk sorry I got sidetracked - I've seen a lot of people who say they prefer the DNA plot of the comics and I just feel like it's very contradictory to what a lot of people love about Five.

anyway, the only element of the DNA plotline that i'd want to see adapted further is the non-consenual surgery itself

largely because I love Five!whump and despite comics!Five claiming it was painless it's fairly obvious to see that it wasn't (and I love when this is expanded on in fics so much - no time, no time, dear brother o' mine is an amazing read because it deals with this)

but I also think it would do a good job at reinstating the commission as the villians they are rather than the weird, nebulous thing it currently sits as (Five would never entrust Herb or Dot to the Commission it's so ooc and it's canon??? Dot and Herb were both 100% in support of the commission's ethos, even if Herb was a bit shit at his job. Dot literally was in charge of the apocalypse and saw Five arrive & at no point thought that this was fucked actually).

plus, we already know they waited until Five was hopeless, alcoholic potentially passively suicidal, weak both physically and mentally, desperate. all likely to better control him.

what's to say they didn't also pick up him just in time to prevent his death? 45 years in a polluted wasteland can't be good on the body - and I don't about the general population, but most of the people I know in their 50s aren't fully grey. the stress was probably killing him all on its own.

they could have seen his death and gone back a few years/months/days to recruit him. but then that would mean they still have to fix whatever illness was killing him, and how do you do that? surgery.

perhaps that's how they recuit all of their agents. maybe that's how they get away with it not disturbing the timeline, take someone who was going to die anyway, and then force them into a debt of gratitude for saving their lives. idk.

I also think AJ was criminally underused. He's supposed to be the big bad of the commission, his character was originally adapted into the Handler but then they decided they wanted his design in the show or something.

I think his role in the comics is much more interesting, as a person who selected Five from a line up of assassins already in the commission and gave Five personal training, and assigned him to the JFK case,

I think he could have been adapted a lot better than he was, and like the surgery, he could have steered the commission back towards the villains they were always supposed to be - instead of The Handler (as amazing as Kate Walsh is to watch on screen I love her) we could have had AJ manipulating Five throughout s2.

as for Five & Luther, I don't mind them not being twins, because honestly their genetics are so different (Aidan is 20 something and he's probably going to stay at 5'5" while Tom is like 6'5", plus hair colour, skin tone, bone structure etc.) and we already know that they weren't planning on making them twins from the pilot script (Five is born a singleton to a polish teenager I believe).

I do think it would have been fun to repurpose this plotpoint for another pair. of the Umbrella's I actually think Five and Viktor pair quite well as they both have similar heights, hair colour, they both have that square jaw too. but I also think that this could have been an interesting way to give depth to the sparrows - Jayme and Alphonso could have been the twins.

Pennycrumb was... a let down? I don't think he should have been a big part of Five's character, but I also don't think he should have had 0 affect on it either.

otherwise??? honestly Hotel Oblivion was wayyy more interesting in the comics than in the show. I would have preferred something more in line with the comics but I think they were afraid of the classic horror elements and the classic superhero elements.

like the faceless bus boy guards

the hotel rooms, seemingly ordinary, being prison cells

the prisoners having enough freedom to move around the hotel and have relationships with each other but not enough to feel safe hanging around the hotel

i just.. i wish more of this had been incorporated into the show.

also.. art deco buildings.. my beloveds

this could have been the hotel Oblivion..

like ik they planned to go to japan to film s3 and that got fucked over by covid but like.. art deco is such a good aesthetic for a horror setting compared to the japanese style hotel we got (i've heard it called hotel orientalism as well so, theres that too).

if I had been in charge I would have had s3 focus on the mothers, develop their stories & why the umbrellas were given up for adoption & then linked this all to the 43 being the 16 instead. have the reveal be not that theyre dead but missing, non existant. because the children were taken by hargreeves to power Oblivion. if we somehow keep the kugelblitz then we use that as a distraction as to where and why all the sparrows keep going missing, and eventually the umbrella's numbers start to dwindle. until Oblivion is discovered and we find that every hotel room corresponds to a member of the 43 - maybe even have the brellies/sparrows numbers correspond to their door numbers somehow, or floor level.

idk I'm not a good writer but thats a bit of how i feel about the comics being adapted into the show..

sorry idk if i even answered your question? thank you again for the lovely ask!

[kolbisneat]

MONTHLY MEDIA: March 2021

Hey March was a weird month what with all the pandemic anniversaries and such but here we are. It’s March. Goodbye March.

……….FILM……….

Attack the Block (2011) After about 20 minutes my partner asked if this was basically a British episode of Goosebumps and....she’s not wrong? I liked it back when it came out but it’s aged really well. Tight script and casual class politics along with the very good space stuff.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) It turns out I’d remembered so little of this movie that it was essentially a fresh viewing. The artistry and ambition still holds up today plus a noir set in L.A. is always good time. But then you add cartoon hijinks and it’s all just that much better.

The New York Times Presents: Framing Britney Spears  (2021) So we watched the ep on Britney Spears and...it didn’t really seem to cover all that much. It kept feeling like it was about to start and then after an hour and a half of that it just sorta wraps with a small legal victory. I know this isn’t fiction so I’m not expecting a happy ending, but I don’t know what it wanted to say.

CBS presents Oprah with Meghan and Harry  (2021) I mean I don’t think anything said or shared was surprising anyone. Though I appreciate Oprah not letting either of them sidestep a question. Either answer or say you won’t; none of this fancy poetry.

……….TELEVISION……….

Great British Bake Off (Episode 9.01 to 9.04) This is our first season without Mary Berry, Sue, and Mel and it’s a real shift! But despite all the new faces, it still feels very much like the good-natured GBBO I’ve come to love. Great stuff.

City of Ghosts (Episode 1.01 to 1.06) I hope all that I’m seeing about this means that Netflix will greenlight another season and more television like this. The artistry is fantastic, the concept allows for both whimsy and poignancy, and it’s casually funny in a way that I can’t fully describe. Great stuff.

WandaVision (Episode 1.09) So this didn’t quite stick the landing for me. I figured there’d be some blasts and magic and zooming around in the sky, but I also assumed we’d get some resolution (maybe even consequences) for what Wanda did to the town. Sure, she’s not the villain and it wasn’t intentional, but the show appeared to be built around this theme of denial and acceptance yet abandoned that in the end. But I will give it this: it really has sold me on the relationship between Wanda and Vision.

The Night Manager (Episode 1.05 to 1.06) You know I think I’ve been so primed by Bond films and action set pieces that, while I won’t spoil the ending, I was pleasantly surprised by how it wrapped up. It was a nice change of pace. 

The Bachelor (Episode 25.09 to 25.12) What a season. It was a mess, sure, but I also think it was the uncomfortable mix of stagnation and progress. The show needs to evolve and I feel like the finale and aftershow really highlighted that the change has to happen. Maybe it’s starting to happen already or in future seasons it’ll change whether production likes it or not.

……….READING……….

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (Complete) Really fantastic read and such an effortless blend of science fiction and...necromantic fantasy! Dark and gross and light and funny all at the same time. 100% recommend and am very excited for the next entry despite this feeling whole and complete on its own.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (Complete) I want to work my way through the series (or at least the original 14 written by Baum) so we gotta start at the beginning! There’s such a light air about the book that everyone kinda just rolls with everything. Sentient objects and talking animals and lots of murder are just met with a “Great! on to the next adventure!” and I love it.

The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum (Complete) It’s really great that the second book has a lot of the same core components (human child meets a bunch of wacky sidekicks while on a very small adventure) yet casually expands the mythos and world. It even builds on the plot established by the first book (the main conflict revolving around Scarecrow being overthrown as leader of Oz ever since the Wizard disappeared). Great stuff.

Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum (Complete) Bringing back Dorothy and it’s really a merging of characters from book 1 and 2. If anything, this series is shaping up to be about making friends and the genial conflict resolution is really heartwarming. Now i’m keen to watch Return to Oz.

Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz by L. Frank Baum (Complete) This might just be me but I find a mostly human cast (outside of Jim the Cab Horse) to be far less interesting than the diverse adventuring parties of the first three books. Lots of fun stuff in here and playing fast and loose with the world-building works well; highlight the fun parts of a land made of wood and then continue on to the next location! Great stuff.

Delicious in Dungeon Vol. 9 by Ryoko Kui (Complete) It feels like everything is starting to come together and wrap up and I’m totally here for a story that knows what it wants to do. And while there doesn’t seem to be as much room cooking with the overarching plot that is driving the story, it never feels like it’s moved away from the heart of the characters and for that I can’t recommend it enough. Excellent world-building, excellent cast, and really great humor.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The IDW Collection Volume 9 by Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, Mateus Santolouco, Dave Wachter, Pablo Tunica, Sophie Campbell, and many more! (Complete) The human/secret agent stuff will always be boring to me (even if they’re hunting the turtles) cause that’s not what I want in a comic. I don’t want Batman hunting burglars, I want bright colourful villains for our bright and colorful heroes. Luckily we get into a pocket dimension for a toad god and his relatives during the second half of the volume. Overall, still my favourite ooze series.

……….AUDIO……….

Musicalsplaining (Podcast) Great host dynamics and hot dang I love a good musical.

……….GAMING……….

Neverland: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) The group has taken a break from the infected giant colony to sort out some Pirate drama! Further session breakdowns are over here on Reddit!

Dungeons & Designers (Podcast) I had the rare chance to play in a D&D campaign instead of run it and it’s even up online! They also air the sessions through their podcast!

And that’s it! As always, let me know anything you think I should check out and thanks for reading.

Happy Wednesday.

[peace-coast-island]

Diary of a Junebug

Rock and roll the night away!

What better way to escape than getting lost in music? Headphones on, thoughts off - nothing like some good bops to help get you through the day.

KK Slider's been looking into expanding his musical repertoire so he's been playing around with different genres in hopes of creating a brand new sound. And that's how rock and roll night came to be!

Joining us on this musical adventure are Sonja, with her siblings Robbie and Tiffy, and cousin Bubba. It's been ages since Daisy Jane and I have last hung out with Sonja so it's nice that she and her fam dropped by for a visit. I've hung out with Robbie and Bubba a handful of times while this is the first time I've met Tiffy.

Sonja's been meaning to stop by the camp for a while but life has gotten busy. She also wanted her dad and stepmom to come along too but then something came up so they were unable to make it at the last minute. Same thing for her grandma, though to be honest, camping isn't really her thing so it's probably for the best that she didn't come.

Old Thelma Lou may come across as a cantankerous old lady but she really is a nice person once you get to know her. Underneath that rough exterior is a protective, dedicated, and tough mother figure who wants what's best for you, even if she kinda has a hard time showing how much she cares about you. We video chatted with her before the concert and she's still the same old Thelma Lou, keeping an eye on her children, grandchildren, and their friends in her own unconventional ways.

We also chatted with Buzz and Skeeter, both who are doing well. The reason why they weren't able to join us at the camp is because Skeeter's pregnant again. She and Buzz were going to have a boy last fall but there were complications and the baby was stillborn. So far things are moving along smoothly, but to be safe, Skeeter's on strict bed rest. In about four months, Sonja, Robbie, and Tiffy will have a little sister!

Sonja has been busy working on her graphic novel, which she plans to release in the fall. She's a freelance graphic designer and illustrator, known for posting relatable and funny comics online. I love her art - it's got a sketchy and loose style that's sorta minimal yet super expressive. When I got into digital art, I took some inspiration from Sonja's work by using pencil brushes for line art and the gouache brush for coloring.

After working in the studio for hours on the book over the past several weeks, Sonja felt she could use a change of scenery - which was the main reason why she wanted to come to the camp. She also wants to get back into using traditional mediums like painting so she brought along some canvases and paints. The great outdoors is perfect for finding inspiration when you're in a rut!

Robbie runs a fix-it shop in Elmstown with two of his friends. His specialties are clocks and anything that has a lock thanks to his grandma and dad - Thelma Lou likes collecting clocks and Buzz's a locksmith. He's the reason why the family saves so much on repairs - Robbie and his friends can pretty much fix anything! Elmstown is pretty far but I'm keeping his business card in case I need something fixed like my computer since that'll be more cost effective than sending it to the store where I'll probably get overcharged.

It's a good thing we have Robbie here to help KK Slider with the equipment. He had some old amps and guitars that he'd been meaning to get fixed but since they were custom made, it's hard to find parts that need replacement. Thankfully, Robbie never leaves home without his toolbox and with his magic, we were able to improve the stage setup.

Bubba's still living with Thelma Lou, though he's in the process of moving out to his own place. He's not leaving Rayetown though, just moving to the other side of town so he can be closer to the post office. Along with delivering packages for the citizens of Rayetown, Bubba's also a drummer and occasional lead singer for The Cogwheels, a local band that regularly performs at the Chili Bowl.

Thelma Lou and Bubba have a sweet relationship. He's the oldest of the Harp grandchildren through Thelma Lou's daughter. His parents pretty dumped him on Thelma Lou's doorstep when they moved halfway across the country, which wasn't very nice of them. His mom and grandma have a stormy relationship so that explains why Thelma Lou's kinda overprotective of him, and in return he respects her a lot. Recently though, Bubba and his mom have been keeping in touch sporadically - thanks to Uncle Buzz and Aunt Skeeter. As for his dad though, since he walked out on his mom, he hasn't heard from him in years, which he feels is probably for the best.

And there's Tiffy, the youngest (so far) of the grandchildren. She's seven and a half years old and likes to sing and dance. This is her first time being away from home for a couple days so she's pretty excited about it. Plus, she gets to spend time with her siblings, something she always looks forward to since they live far from home. By the time she was born, Sonja and Robbie had already long moved out of Rayetown. Up until Tiffy came along, Sonja and Robbie rarely visited home, a deliberate choice that they both kinda regretted but at the same time felt it was necessary.

Tiffy's looking forward to the new baby - and she's absolutely certain that things will work out this time. She was really bummed about what happened with her brother, especially since she always wanted a little sibling. Buzz and Skeeter had been trying for years to have another kid - they didn't have Tiffy until about six years into their marriage - and that was after being told many times that they missed the boat. It's a good thing they didn't give up or else Tiffy wouldn't be here today!

While helping KK Slider set up for the concert, we also went sightseeing outside the camp. Now that the weather's warming up and the sun's staying out longer, we can venture further out. The first place we went was the mountains, where Sonja was inspired to pull out her canvases and paints. She's been working on landscapes and backgrounds so it was the perfect opportunity. Since she had a lot of fun doing that, I figured we could do the same in other places outside the camp like the woods or the meadows.

As they were testing out the equipment, KK and Bubba were jamming out while Tiffy danced. She definitely inherited Buzz and Skeeter's dance skills! Tap dancing and ballet are her favorites and she definitely wants to branch out to other forms of dance. Her parents are looking into more dance classes for Tiffy, which she's excited for. One of the reasons why she's looking forward to having another sibling is so she can have a dance partner in the future. Imagine, Tiffy and her little sister, dancing together!

Later, Robbie joined in on the jam session, playing the bass. Apollo, Static, and Cherry joined in as well, and before we knew it, all of them were writing new songs that eventually became the setlist for the concert! Sonja later got into the jam session after Daisy Jane showed her around the cabin and her studio. I sense a collaboration between the two in the near future...

Around 5 we finished setting up for the concert and began preparing for a barbecue dinner. By the time all the food was set up, it was time to rock and roll! I have to say, KK and the campers really outdid themselves with the stage setup. It was a mix of performances by KK Slider and jam sessions by us. The concert was an awesome experience!

In the span of one hour, Bubba and KK wrote Road Ode. KK came up with the intricate melody that's a perfect fusion of his signature sound along with elements of classic rock. Bubba came up with the lyrics, taking inspiration from his relationships with his mother and grandma. Easily one of the highlights of the night.

Apollo sang lead on a number he co-authored with KK Slider titled Old Man Blues. It's a bluesy rock and roll tune with a catchy guitar riff that's stuck in my head as I write this. The light show visuals really add to the vibe of this song, elevating it to another level.

Static and Cherry performed Heavy Metal Ballad as a trio with KK Slider - another song that was just finished today. The song was actually three different compositions that merged into one. Cherry has been playing around with a cool heavy metal beat for a while. She had a good thing going on but had trouble turning it into something, so she put it aside in hopes of finding the right spark to kick it off. Static came up with lyrics for the chorus, originally through a little ditty he called Lightning Muses. And like Cherry, he had something but couldn't figure out what direction he wanted to take it. Then along comes KK Slider, who saw the potential in these two wildly different compositions. Somehow, with his verses and additional melodies, he created an instant hit!

In an unexpected surprise, KK Slider got Daisy Jane and I on to perform a new KK original as well as a couple songs from Lilac and the Cadillacs. The new song, Sky Blue Twilight, is a collaboration between me, Daisy Jane, and KK Slider. It was something we came up with a while back, and I had almost forgotten about it until today. I'm pretty rusty from songwriting but working on this piece was pretty fun! I really should get back into writing music...

Sonja, Robbie, and Tiffy also joined Bubba on stage for another new song, titled All That Rock 'n' Roll. Tiffy sang lead vocals with Sonja on the keys and Robbie on bass. Along with being a fantastic dancer, Tiffy's a great singer! I filmed the whole thing for Bubba so he can send it to Thelma Lou, Buzz, and Skeeter. I have to say, KK Slider and Bubba make a great songwriting team!

Another fun song is Violet Blaze, an upbeat rock and roll tune by KK Slider, Candi, Kabuki, and Spike. KK Slider really outdid himself on that guitar solo! With riffs like that, there's no other song fitting to be titled Violet Blaze. What one can't put into words, music expresses it - one just has to listen and feel.

And of course, in between the new songs were KK Slider classics, but remixed. It's amazing how changing up the genre can give well known songs a fresh makeover! That's what I love about KK Slider's music - the versatility. In terms of reinventing his sound while staying true to himself, I'd say KK Slider succeeded with flying colors!

Aside from Tiffy and the early risers, the rest of us have been rocking and rolling way past midnight. I'm still a bit buzzed from the concert, which just ended less than an hour ago, so I'm gonna unwind for a bit before going to bed.

[comicteaparty]

December 28th, 2019-January 3rd, 2020 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble chat that occurred from December 28th, 2019 to January 3rd, 2020.  The chat focused on the following question: 

What’s a real-world experience you’ve had that you’ve written into your story?

carcarchu

There's one part in my comic where the main character's roommate uses food to console the main character when she is sad which is an actual thing that my roommate did for me when i was sad xD

kayotics

I’d say most of my main characters are based off of my own real world experience. The most notable thing that’s a real world experience would be Rosemary’s parentage. I also come from a single parent family, so that specific dynamic is directly pulled from my own life.

keii4ii

The themes and such in HoK are reflections of my own experiences and feelings. Feeling left out, betrayed, generally not cared about. Being socially/culturally clueless. But those are broad things. I don't think there's anything ultra specific that mirrors my experience exactly. There was one specific line that I've said (to myself), that the main character was going to say. That scene got heavily revised, though, and the line is no longer in the comic. I like to think of that as the result of my character(s) getting developed. i.e. They're their own persons; they're more than just projections of my own sadness.

Nutty (Court of Roses)

I agree about life experiences, but to be specific, the whole Bardic Festival in Court of Roses was based off my experiences of Warped Tour!

Cronaj

My comic(s) also heavily reference my real life. In WotP, the main similarities are in one of the protagonists' neglect and emotional abuse from his father, and then later, how another character essentially takes up the role of father for him. Also, two of my main characters, Agatha and Maret, are basically a combination of my two younger sisters and I. Mostly their relationship, but Maret (the little sister) actually looks a lot like my youngest sister. In Silent Nocturne, which I am working on scripting and designing characters for, the real-life references are a lot heavier. Part of it has to do with a similar setting, but the two main characters are also directly inspired by my experiences. On one hand, we have Mae, who is from a working-class family and struggles to get by with working multiple jobs, most of which are retail. And her brother's serious autoimmune disease that is really hard to treat, which results in insurance company battles to get his meds. And on the other hand, we have David, a violinist and composer struggling with the woes of having a creative mind. Depression, self-doubt, caffeine dependency, lack of motivation, etc. He also has a neglectful father, and his general outlook on the world is mirrored with my own.

sssfrs

I draw a lot of the emotional elements of my story (Joe Is Dead) from the sudden death of my grandfather a couple years back. Every character in the story processes the death of Joe in a slightly different way and are drawn from the different thoughts and feelings I have had around the topic of death.

All the scenes with sailing & discussion of sailing in the comic is also built on my own experience with sailing over many years and the maritime culture of Boston where I grew up.

khkddn

The high school my main characters go to is a direct rip off of the one I went to. The uniforms are exactly the same and so are the aesthetics and the silly rules :p

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

In a very broad sense, a lot of the strongest emotional bits of Phantomarine are directly drawn from emotions I felt during a health scare many years ago. Almost every main character is affected by similar circumstances, and each of them deals with that ensuing set of emotions very differently. The immediate and unexpected loss of power/control; the fear of permanent change; the possibility of disfigurement; potential societal stigma; a sudden, crippling awareness of mortality - but more than anything, the embracing of a “new normal” that can still be awesome and fulfilling. I never intended for the emotional beats to be drawn from my own experience, but heck, that’s that strongest set of emotions I’ve ever felt - it makes total sense. And for the surface level stuff, lots of memories of boats and ocean related stuff - paddleboarding, beaches, summer festivals, tropical vacations, seeing marine animals in the wild - just to name a few. That sort of imagery is still strong in my head. So colorful and mysterious!

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I’d say I draw quite a lot from my own experiences, especially because I use my comics as vessels to work through my PTSD. But most of of how I use my own experiences it isn’t very ‘visible’, because it’s usually through how characters are processing their traumas. The only instance where I can really draw a direct parallel from my own life to a scene in a comic would be during this segment in Children of Shadow (CW: blood and gore): https://www.flowerlarkstudios.com/comic/chapter-8-take-my-hand/page-08-08/ When faced with a giant monster roaring in his face, Anor has a deer-in-the-headlights moment where he’s completely frozen in shock. I once had a similar (though much less dire) incident where I was face to face with a very hungry, very angry wild bear who was roaring loudly at me from only a few feet away. I completely shut down and was unable to move until the bear decided my trash can looked much tastier than I did.

Tuyetnhi

I guess the same for me about having my characters as somewhat of a reflection or influenced from my life. Especially Cara and Richie, the main duo for my comic. Cara's is a culmination of my background being Mixed-Vietnamese and the struggle having to deal with that, and Richie is a mash up of my mother's likes in a man with amped up fantastical elements from my favorite shoujo mangas lmao. There's one scene particular between Cara and her friend that was basically a conversation I had about dating years back, though I didn't admit anything at the moment. Also when Cara's parents had set up a date for her was also something I witnessed between my sister and a guy we knew years ago. My mother and his mother were trying to get them wed but it failed lmao. Not sure why it stood out to me, but it's something I remember being....scared about. And added that element in the story lol.

the fear being arranged into a date when you're not full into it really hits home.

snuffysam

In terms the characters - most of them are either based off myself or people I know. Like, Taci is based off a friend of mine who is consistently confident about wrong information. In terms of the story events - no, but that would be wild, huh? Occasionally a line will be based off something one of my friends said though. For instance - a show we were watching once had a villain that we knew going in would have a redemption arc. And each time the villain got beaten, one of my friends would shout “oh, he’s good now!”. This was referenced on this page: http://sgkdr.webcomic.ws/comics/540, where King Zebugu claims that he’s already had his redemption arc.

Respheal

I always thought Galebound's plot and characters were pretty removed from my own life, but sometimes looking back I'm just like......yeeeeeaaaaaaaah Like one of my most vivid memories growing up was getting into a heated argument with my mom about how I didn't want to go to church and she yelled at me that it was the devil keeping me out, to which I yelled back "Why can't I make my own decisions?" So uh. That sort of experience is where the Obligation comes from. That and the anxiety growing up in a semi-religious household brings, particularly when that religion makes a big deal out of subservience :V And then more recently, it's hitting me that Conan's relationship with his dad mirrors my own in ways. I always thought I was closer to my mom growing up, but in truth, while I spent more time with my mom, the positive experiences were more often with my dad. A few years back, my dad said some thing that hurt, and for a couple years I thought I hated him when really it was just hurt and betrayal, and we're sorta just reconciling now. Which is kind of what Conan's dealing with, although he doesn't know it yet. His dad leaving hurt, and sometimes that hurt can feel a lot like hate.

[hopoo]

DEADBOLT Q&A

I tried to answer every question as honestly as I could, so I hope this is a good read. If your question isn’t there, it’s either identical to another one asked or joined together with another question. Cheers!

Q: In total, how much time does the campaign of Deadbolt span? It’s hard to tell, what with it being infinite nighttime and all.

A: I would imagine a month-ish. It is implied that the Candles are doing some sort of investigative work between missions, which would surely take some time. Q: Did you have any major inspirations for the visual design of DEADBOLT? A: John Wick is obviously the biggest one! Q: What would hopoo do if someone made a game completely based and inspired from Deadbolt and its… Concept? (with permission and not) A: There’s no way DEADBOLT is that unique in settings or thematics – ultimately, you know what’s right and what’s wrong when you’re inspired by a work, and so will everyone else! If you feel obligated to ask for permission, maybe you’re not exploring enough original ideas? Q: When will we get modding? if so could we get a simplified modding kit? Any plans for updating dedbort, even just the map editor? Feature for adding custom sprites, rotation tool, copypasta tool, just to name a few… A: So the thing with that is that the map editor is only half the equation – while the map editor may be writing stuff to files, it also has to be interpreted on the end by the DEADBOLT game itself. Therefore, adding features that aren’t supported in engine simply won’t work – it won’t know what youre talking about. While rotation is supported in the engine, it doesn’t know how to read that from the files, etc. I also am trying to avoid any legacy issues where old maps are required for old versions of DEADBOLT, or vice versa. Q: When is deadbolt 2 coming with werewolves and mummies A: Werewolves aren’t undead you dingus. But mummies could be cool.

Q: Will the stuff that came with the release of Deadbolt on Play Station, will be added on PC? A: Nope, that was sorta our deal-sweetener for getting on the Sony consoles. Q: Will we ever see expansion levels for Deadbolt or would we get Deadbolt 2 instead? A: DEADBOLT 2 maybe sometime

Q: Does Ibzan is gay? A: I haven’t really thought of the sexual orientation of any of the characters, and I definitely don’t want to pull a JK Rowling and retroactively assign them. So in terms of canon, that just hasn’t been explored.

Q: Would you prefer deadbolt 2 to be in 3d and 2d? Would you do a sequel? A: DEADBOLT is probably the narrowest design space I’ve worked with – there’s no dodging, insta death, insta travel attacks. By the end I felt very stretched out in terms of enemy design, and for that alone I’d think 3D. But hey, I may also just hate 3D by the end of RoR2 so who knows :^). I’d love to do a sequel one day, most likely from the perspective of Ibzan. But who knows! Q: Did Ibzan want to kill the Fire, or just try to reconcile with it? A: He just wanted to talk – but who knows what would’ve happened after the Fireplace rejected him? Q: Would you be interested in going back to the world of deadbolt sometime in the future? I remember hearing somewhere a 3D concept would be interesting to work on. A: I wish I was talented or driven enough to write comics for it – I think DEADBOLT is more about the stories of individuals, compared to RoR who is a story of the universe. I wrote the Cassette Tapes to reflect that. Q: Looking back, is there anything you’d change about Deadbolt? A: Hmmm… I just wish I somehow could expand more on the lore and gangs, and what their goals were. Gameplay-wise, it was a tad too short. I liked doing a few standard stages, and then a mix-up stage (sniper, trap, boss, etc) – maybe we could’ve fit in a few more rotations. Q: What’s your favourite loadout? A: Death/Taxes and Flashbang, like a scrub. Q: Would you ever be interested in restarting the asset suggestion thread A: I consider DEADBOLT to be done – as a 2 (now 3!) man team, we financially can’t do the games-as-a-service thing like most big companies can for smaller games like DEADBOLT. I also intended DEADBOLT to be a one-and-done thing as a contrast for Risk of Rain, which we updated for years after release.

=CONTROVERSIAL OPINION ALERT= I personally also think that EVERY game getting a bunch of DLCS and updates and patches for a long time is, in a way, exhausting as a player. I think it makes it hard to feel satisfied when you finished a game and it’s over and you feel completed in the journey, knowing it’s not ~technically~ over until the devs stop patching. I think it’s great for some games (mostly multiplayer-based ones), but some games you just gotta let… finish, on a good note. Semi-open ended endings are always unsatisfying, in my opinion, and so recently it just feels like you don’t ever complete a game. …On the flip side, we are planning on doing lots of post-launch support for RoR2 because it’s actually inline with our design goals, so don’t fret! Q: Will bugs like Scythe not having a cover sprite or some enemies not having a falling sprite (which causes the game to crash) be fixed? A: Which enemies have been missing a falling sprite? They should be resorting to idle, not crashing. Bosses? Q: Just wanted to say, you guys are my favorite games studio, hands down. Now for the question: Now that the Reaper has completed his task and is allowed to rest, what’s next? Is the Fireplace going to keep him resting for a while? Does our MC have another task to accomplish? A: The Fireplace has never let a reaper “rest” before - the reason he is allowed to rest is because Ibzan never got to, and the Fireplace is trying something different with you. This is unexplored territory for the both of them – presumably he just pets his cat and gets bored before getting back to work. Q: What happens to everyone else in the afterlife? A: People who aren’t in the Place? Who knows, and who cares about boring happy afterlife 😊 Q: I had a question about the lore. There’s mentions of places outside the city, across the river Styx. What are they and what are they like? A: The Styx connects the other realms together, including (presumably) wherever the demons came from. This is explored lightly in one of the demon cassette tapes. Q: Will you ever expand more on the world of deadbolt or are you 100% done with it at this point? A: Nope definitely not done, really wanna explore more one day Q: What’s your office address? For post and stuff, maybe I want to send you a box full of A4 sheets of paper with a thousand hoopters on each. A: Maybe this is the paranoia in me but I’m not comfortable posting my address online – you can just tweet it at me a thousand times instead Q: Did Ibzan think the flames would give warmth to the Dredged or was he just lying to them and using them for his own gain? A: He was lying to himself, but he did truly believe that this was going to work, because this (at the time, anyways) seemed like the only way out. Metaphor woawoawo Q: Could you add some sorta DEADBOLT reference into RoR2?  Will the Reaper be playable in Risk of Rain 2 as a bonus? A: Definitely references happening in some form, but playable might be stretchin’ it a bit, especially since it’d be taking up the slot of some more in-universe secret character. Q: How excited are for RoR2? A: Honestly very nervous for the reception, with very big shoes to fill as a sequel for RoR. I just hope people like it, and that we don’t get burnt on 3D because there’s so many possibilities in the future for our games in 3D. Q: How are the Demons born? We know they’re made in birthing chambers, but then is it just like humans or is there anything specific needed for a demon to be born f.e. skeletons>suicide, zombies>overdose, etc. A: Demons aren’t undead and don’t naturally exist in the Place, which is why they have to be smuggled over – they exist in whatever version of hell is in the DEADBOLT universe, and are natural denizens of the underworld. Q: was izban hot before he died? A: The hottest Q: do all the nightclubs canonically have chris c. as the dj A: Yes Q: I love Deadbolt very dearly and i’ve listened to its soundtrack (particularly “Now I Am Become Death”) more times than i can remember. What’s your favourite tune from Deadbolt ? A: Defunktorum or The Proverbial Dust Biters Q: In the Hardmode Cassette Tape it talked about a Reaper that wasn`t the current Reaper that we play as in the Game. Was this Reaper Izban? Since in the tape, he talked about the fireplace as his friend and that could be why he wanted to go back to the fireplace through the portal at the end of the game, to revisit his friend. A: Yes yes and yes. This was most heavily implied in Ibzan’s “home”, which parallel yours. Q: Will RoR2 still have opportunities to create silly messy builds like covering the screen in missiles or releasing an endless stream of Thqwibs? If so, how are you working to mitigate the performance impact of those crazy builds? A: Yep! Currently we have a system that detects the average particle count in a scene and slowly adds a chance non-important effects (like hitsparks or impacts) don’t ever spawn. This will at some point also involve turning off expensive effects and reducing particle LODs. Q: I really love the attention to detail to the characters, environment, aesthetics and gameplay mechanics. Its themes on the criminal underworld and the supernatural give a unique identity in a high-octane/stealth pixel action game I have not seen before. Additionally what prompted or inspired you to make DEADBOLT in the first place? A: DEADBOLT in its entirety was supposed to be not-Risk of Rain. It’s a gorey, violent, moody singleplayer puzzle-stealth game. We were just burnt out from the Risk of Rain experience, and we also wanted to flex our design muscles a bit and show that hey, we’re not just a one-trick pony of gamedevelopment :^) Q: I just played through this game on PS4/Vita over the weekend. Huge fan of Risk of Rain. Even bought it through Limited Run Games. So I had to pick up Deadbolt (Didn’t previously know you had made it either.) and I love it. Its a super solid experience. I’m not sure I have any questions about it. I guess I was curious if co-op multiplayer was ever considered in development? Keep up the great work. Can’t wait to see what you guys make next. A: Nope, because of the reasons above – we wanted a single player game, since RoR was a multiplayer one. Q: First of all, congratulations!! I really loved the game since came out, I bought it for my birthday, since risk of rain made me fell in love with all the pixel art in it, deadbolt didn’t disappointed me!! Everything in it I love it! Thanks for the game!! Now the question You already answered about how the skeletons or vampires came to be in that Place, how the vampires are killed by their lovers, but, how a reaper, becomes to be a reaper? I mean a candle said “I’ve never been so close to one” A: Originally, the reapers were actually supposed to be from suicides – if I remember right, the reaper when going down the stairs to the docks still has the hole in the back of his head in his sprite. Currently, it’s not explored how a reaper is made – I think a bit of mystery is always needed in making a believable universe J Q: Lorewise how many reapers are there total? Why are they incredibly fragile compared to the undead? What makes the reapers not undead? A: IIRC there were 4 fireplaces in the final stage, which was supposed to represent the way the fireplace was communicating to all reapers in the field. Q: Do you like turtles? How about corgis? A: Yes, and yes (although there’s way too many in Seattle now). Q: Did you have any idea Chris would break out a whole band’s worth of musicians for the soundtrack? His work was superb and the OST remains my absolute favorite to this day. A: DEADBOLT OST was actually done with many people – it must be in the credits somewhere! If I remember right, there is at least a drummer and a musician.

Thanks for all the questions, and happy hunting :)

hopoo

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #479

Top Ten Captain America Costumes in the MCU

Argh, it’s Sunday morning and I haven’t written anything! That doesn’t usually happen! Right, it’s time to just bang something out without any degree of care or attention just so I can get something up as soon as possible.

In truth, I’ve got quite a few ideas for the next few weeks, but they all require a bit more finessing and long-winded waffling than I have time for right now, so I’m going to scratch an itch that I’ve had for a week or two. I read a list online (yes, I read other lists) on the exact same topic that I’m covering today. Now, I normally don’t like doing that; if I see a list of, say, favourite Pop Tart flavours, I might start compiling my own mental list, but I don’t want to be seen as derivative or plagiarising (not that anyone would really care unless I lifted the list wholesale, of course, but I’m me and I’m weird), so I tend not actually write that list. I think it’s happened once or twice, because the topic has piqued my interest; but very often in those cases I sort of shelve the idea and work on it and make sure that my list is different. Anyway, long story short, that’s what’s happened today too, except that the process has been accelerated. Basically, I read a list online about the Top Ten Captain America costumes, and I disagreed with it so much I wanted to do my own, and so that’s what you’re getting this week. And they’re all illustrated via the medium of toys!

Hopefully next week I’ll actually get round to doing one of my other, more interesting, more time-consuming lists. We shall see!

Anyway, suit up, Avengers Assemble, on your left, etc, etc, etc.

Avengers: Endgame (2019): pretty much ticks all the boxes: suitably comics-accurate; good-looking helmet that shows off Chris Evans’ face to a flattering degree; cool fingerless gloves; straps and padding give it a utilitarian look without making it look super-armoured; maintains the stars-and-stripes motif without it looking like a fancy-dress outfit. Also, crucially, it has a really cool mesh-style effect across the breastplate, which echoes the mail/scales on his comic outfit.

Captain America: Civil War (2016): superficially close to the Endgame outfit, but there’s a bit too much going on in the chest department. They’re very close at this point, but some elements still come across as a bit too busy.

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015): very, very similar to what came later – it’s clear that they’d settled on a style at this point that worked well. But I’m not fond of the coloured segments coming out of the star emblem, and actually I feel the white stripes on the arms are a bit distracting. The simpler, more utilitarian look of the later costumes is better.  

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011): I guess the first three are all variations on a theme, and this is where the differences come in. here we have a suit that’s supposed to look like it was developed eighty years ago, so it’s a bulkier thing, with more overt padding and strapping. As a result, I think it looks a bit weighty and top-heavy, but the design is great, and as a “1940s Cap” outfit, it’s excellent. No wonder they pulled it out of storage for Winter Soldier.

Captain America: The First Avenger – modified USO outfit (2011): this is what Cap wears when he goes AWOL to rescue the POWs during the movie. He’s wearing his gaudy USO outfit, but pulls on some combat pants and a bitching leather jacket, and heads off into battle. There’s a really cool Indiana Jones/The Rocketeer vibe to this outfit, and it’s excellent. The only reason I don’t prefer it to the standard First Avenger duds is because it’s not really a Captain America costume, is it? It’s like when he’s fighting in his civvies in Winter Soldier. But it’s still cool.

Avengers: Infinity War (2018): basically the costume from Civil War but modified; he loses the helmet and the star from the chest, significantly darkening the whole uniform. He also roles up his sleeves and – in a crucial addition that really makes the whole thing sing – grows a sexy beard. Feels a bit too dark and moody to be proper Cap; and I guess you could make the argument that he isn’t Cap at all at this point. But still, solid look.

Sam Wilson, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021): this year saw the debut of a new Captain America in the form of Sam Wilson. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was a very good show that occasionally skirted genuine greatness, and spent most of its runtime teasing the inevitable debut of Sam as Cap. His suit, when it finally debuted, was cool enough, although there are various areas that annoy or detract; it’s fair to say its reception was a mixed as the show itself. On the plus side, well, it’s very comics-accurate, it definitely looks like Cap, he’s got cool wings, and the colours and design are mostly good. But for me it’s a bit too bulky, and there’s too much white on the top half. It’s more pronounced when seen in motion in the show itself, but it does detract from the overall look. I think Cap’s suits on film tend to work better without the segmented colours on the arms, and like I say I’m not keen on how white the top half is, so if they add a bit of blue to those areas next time round I think it’ll be genuinely excellent.

The Avengers (2012): when this suit first debuted, I thought it was excellent, but time has not been kind. I think the feeling was probably that Cap needed a “superhero suit”, something fairly sleek and modern to contrast with the bulky forties design. But it ends up making him smaller, and the form-fitting mask does him no favours. The colours are probably a bit too bright, we’re segmenting the arms again, and the thigh zips and those weird panels on the shoulders are very distracting. At least his arse looks good in it.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014): mixed bag this one. On the one hand, lots of design decisions made that there way into later, more refined, versions of the costume. The sleek-but-reinforced, padded look, that marks it as a modern interpretation of the First Avenger costume, is established here; as is the more practical helmet, and fingerless gloves. But it’s such a serious, sombre uniform; all dark blue, with no red and white tummy stripes. The pronounced silver stripes beside the star are doing a lot of lifting to make this seem like a bold, interesting outfit, but it’s not quite enough. The basic ideas were there, but it needed brightening up a bit. However, it did fit the film and tone perfectly.

John Walker, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021): I was torn here. There are, by my reckoning, eleven different Cap suits across the MCU (not counting when he was wearing the time travel suit in Endgame). So here I had to choose between John Walker or the gaudy costume Steve wears in his USO shows in First Avenger. Reluctantly, I chose Walker, as the USO suit really isn’t a good look for fighting crime (or Nazis) in; too skin-tight, not armoured, and the fit of the mask is terrible. Also I’ve sorta-kinda-half covered it when he straps on Indy’s jacket and rescues Bucky and co. Even so, Walker’s Cap outfit isn’t great; far too dark, with horizontal red stripes across the chest, a segmented “A” emblem on the breast that appears to be some sort of button or clasp, and the whole “A-within-a-star” on his helmet is a bit daft. However, it definitely works, because it’s just a little bit wrong; the colours too dark (even the red is more blood-red), the broken-up patterns of the clashing horizontal and vertical lines… even the fact that his helmet doesn’t seem to fit right, making his face pudgier and his ears stick out more. I think this is all deliberate, to discombobulate us, to make us know that this Cap isn’t right. In all these respects, I guess it’s a success. Unlike Walker himself.

Now let’s finish on a song.

[skelimagines]

Alright, here we go.

because some people wanted it, I’m going to ramble about at least 11 of my 12 AUs {one’s just the fell version of another so not a large ramble there} in order of which I thought of them. {I also would prefer any questions about them to be sent to @the-lightest-shadow} ~Mod Feral

{My} Amalgamitetale

Excluding Asriel dying, the story to pre-Frisk is very similar. Up until Alphys tests the Determination, that is. Y’see, in this universe, the effects of Determination take a lot longer. So much so that Alphys was able to feel confidant in both letting the original subjects go and got to be part of the brainstorming that led monster to believe if every monster has Determination, maybe they can slip through the barrier.

By the time they knew the consequences, every monster that could arrive got injected with Determination. {Really, the only upside to this outcome was that there’s not an overpopulation problem anymore}. There were only 3 humans to fall between Chara and Frisk, but since the monsters don’t want to leave anymore because of their condition, they let the humans go.

Our main cast of the underground is Poltergust {mostly The Blook family}, Toxic Fuzz {mainly Toriel, Asriel, and flowers}, Bone Mass {Mostly Sans, Papyrus, and Gaster}, Double Scale {Mainly Alphys and Undyne} and Final King {Mainly Asgore. Smallest Amalgamite in size}

The AU has a lot of unnecessary atmosphere in my mind. I have shared the prototype designs a while ago here

Feraltale

My namesake and the main one I focus on. All monsters are a little more ‘monstrous’ in appearance, and a lot more instinct-based in actions. There’s a lot of little personality differences to everyone too that I’ll get more into in the comic I’m making for it. One big thing, however, is that some, like Flowey, have unexplainable abilities that they don’t actually have in the canon game.

There also were a lot of negative thoughts that humans have that have branched from the stories that became popular on the surface. Think you usual stories about monsters from before the internet, double there amount, and make a few worse.

The majority of this AU’s facts can be found both at @feral-tale-au and in the feraltale tag here

Feralfell

The fell version of Feraltale. Not too much different in main description besides, well, just that. It’s a more violent and, surprisingly, more dangerous world. I’d need to draw the designs for the characters for me to properly describe what’s different.

Pyrotale

To start off the explanation of this one, it’ll start with that it’s influenced by this song right here. I also think I’d have an easier time describing it via a pre-game story of sorts.

“Long ago, two races ruled the Earth: Humans and Monsters.

One day, war broke out between the two races. In the midst of the battle, someone discovered that monsters were more flammable than a normal creature, and the humans used that to their advantage.

Fires roaring, they managed to chase the remaining monsters underground and seal them with a powerful spell.

Many years later, the fires on the surface still burn on occasion. The world monsters once knew and that humans fought to have had changed...

Mount Ebott

Those who climb it haven’t ever returned.”

All of the fallen humans, even Chara and Frisk, had some sort of mask on to filter out the smoke and ash. In fact, it’s required children where such items on the surface. The in-game story and the monster designs are no different than with the canon for the most part. The differences come in both how you kill monsters in a Genocide route {catching them on fire and making the underground burn} and the fact you have two choices at the end of the Pure Pacifist route.

Nameless

The creative reason for the name of this AU is that “the story we are covering remains... Nameless” but the real reason, tbqh, is that I just called it my ‘Nameless AU’ so much that it stuck.

This AU runs off of the thought of “What if, for one reason or another, Frisk wasn’t the last fallen human. What if they never climbed Mount Ebott and some other child did?”

I decided that what would happen in that, without a human to show the monsters that humans can be good and caring and helpful, without a human that reminds Flowey of his conscious, when the monsters are finally freed, the planned war gets going.

It’s now 5 years after the monsters got out. Every now and then they still fight with the humans on a full-scale war. The area around Ebott has been labeled as monster country and humans avoid it when they can. Papyrus is overly emotional because his dream job isn’t what he thought, Toriel is running dangerously low on hope, and many others seem to have lost themselves.

One young adult decides to revisit their old home, despite the warnings.

Originally, I was going to have this a semi-ask blog AU, similar to AFAC, but I don’t have the energy for that.

Memorytale

This is a very simple, straightforward one to describe: “What if the ones who remember resets and the ones who didn’t flipped?”

Basically, and because of the logic this AU uses, Flowey, Frisk, and Sans don’t remember past timelines, but everyone else does. The problem? The last timeline was a Genocide one, but Frisk doesn’t remember that and is going Pacifist.

Envytale

Like with Pyrotale, this one was influenced by a song. This time it’s this song right here.

Humans who fell previously weren’t killed and just live in areas of the capital you don’t visit. Chara lived for a long time and ultimately died about 3 years before Frisk fell. Everyone grew very attached and fond of Chara and can’t help but compare Frisk to Chara.

Frisk first gets jealous, which evolves into envy, which then becomes violent rage.

This is a Genocide route only story idea that has the final boss be Asriel and not Sans, but you still fight Sans and he’s still extremely hard {just not as hard as in canon}

RWBYtale

I nice mix/crossover AU of RoosterTeeth’s RWBY and Undertale. It focuses more on a team {Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, Toriel} than Frisk. Most of the main cast from Undertale that I have set to appear are Faunus, with the exceptions of Frisk, Sans, Papyrus, and Mettaton.

I mainly made this as a way to have fun thinking of weapons, outfits, and for Soriel reasons when it came to main focus, but Mod God kinda sorta started to co-own this one with me. ;;

Incomplete

This one’s title is this because “Incompletetale” just sounds weird to me and I don’t want to use a different word.

This is a Chara-focused AU based off of this song right here. After dying, Chara realizes no one can see them. They figure this has to do with the fact that their SOUL consists of two oddly sized shards. No one can see them, that is, until the second fallen child. The child saw Chara while dying and reached out. The second contact was made a strange pulse went through Chara and the child died, their Green SOUL leaving their body.

Except the SOUL was missing a shard, and the shard had been added to Chara’s.

Fast forward to Frisk falling, and Chara has forgotten who they are, because they hold the memories of the other fallen children. For Frisk and the monsters, nothing’s different for a Neutral Route. It’s the Pure Pacifist and Genocide Routes that are different. Including your final fight being a form of Chara.

For Pure Pacifist, you have The Ultimate Child Angel, a form of Chara as a result of all of the human SOUL shards reuniting with their SOULs, including the tiny, dust-sized ones of Charas that were found in the monsters. Frisk’s goal, remind Chara of who they are, allowing them to free the underground.

For Genocide, however, you have to deal with True Demon Chara, a Chara that’s the result of monster dust and SOUL fragments filling the last of their missing pieces. They remember who they are right as Frisk kills Sans, and they aren’t going to let them go through with their plan of annihilation.

Legend of Eclopp

What started out as a design only thing of me using this pony generator to make pony versions of Undertale characters became an AU.

I have a full outline in my head, but ultimately it’s just rewriting the official Undertale story to work with the MLP universe. I wish I could say more but there’s not a lot to say on this one unprovoked.

I do have the designs shared over here, though.

Stories After the Dust

This is the most WIP-y of the bunch, but it’s going to be a fanfic style AU where I take the concept of Ghost Whisperer and make it into a multi-AU story with Undertale.

Frisk is able to talk to the dead, and works very, very hard to help them. Being one of the only people who can see monster’s spirits, they get a lot of those instead of humans.

In my mind I only have the Fell one thought out completely. I’ll be able to do the other 3 {Swap, Classic, and Swapfell} after I decide who I want dead in them.

Undersight

When I first was working on this, I just wanted designs. Designs that came to me while I was listening to creepypasta or other horrors. It went from a design only one to a full AU.

Monsters have always had a rough time getting along with humans, but this is because, for some reason, monsters can only interact with humans normal if either A), they have enough humans that try to befriend them B), they have a human SOUL or C), they’re a child. The way they must interact may change with circumstance, but it’s rare when they can break that without filling the above requirements.

However, when the sealing underground happened, one of the wizards actually had a close connection with monster-kind, and, instead of using their power to put the final bit of strength to the barrier, they made a second barrier around the area of Mount Ebott. Monsters could now slip into the main area around Ebott, but not leave that. In fact, nothing could leave that area; only barrier A {the one sealing monsters in the underground for the most part} could be broken. When it breaks, so does barrier B.

Not any human SOUL can break the barrier, however. Only bright, powerful, single-colored SOULs can. These are rare. On top of that, the barriers make it to where monsters are even more limited in how to interact with humans.

When a human climbs Mount Ebott and falls underground, almost every monster goes rushing in and, depending on where the human is and what the monster’s interaction limits are, try to get the human to show their SOUL, and then decide what to do after. Some kill the humans, and some expose them to so much magic that, because they have the weaker SOUL type for humans, causes their SOUL to change shape and turn the human into a monster.

I have the designs for almost everyone made as well as a vague-a poem for this that I haven’t shared anywhere yet. Very Creepypasta-esque in atmosphere and storytelling hopefully.

There we go. That’s all of them for the time being. I hope you all enjoyed and, like I said before, please send any questions involving these AUs to @the-lightest-shadow or, if it’s Feraltale/Feralfell related, to @feral-tale-au. Thanks for reading! ~Mod Feral signing off again just in case

[insane-mane]

Be honest; what's one thing you didn't like about the Ben 10 franchise?

I have a few probs with the different sections of the series.

ORIGINAL SERIES:

 A lot of the dialogue is poorly written and is kinda filed with comic-book cheese. I mean I GET that it’s supposed to be like a comic-book, but that doesn’t mean the lines that a character says not cringe worthy. 

Some of the Ben and Gwen bickering gets so ham-fisted for conflict, and sometimes comes outta nowhere?

I gotta admit, the backgrounds and background characters are sorta bland, but I guess that’s what makes the aliens pop more when you have them against an uninteresting setting (mainly on Earth, the space stuff is really interesting like in Secret of the Omnitrix).

Besides Animo, Zs’Skayr , Zombozo (for the ONE TIME he showed up in this part of the franchise), and of course Vilgax,  lot of the villains are kinda lame. The Forever knights, while I can SEE why some like them, don’t stand out to me. Not entirely sure how Knights and aliens mix, but AF tried to explain that. Sublimino was by far their LAMEST villain. Showed up for one episode and one special and did PRACTICALLY nothing. 

ALIEN FORCE:

Tried a bit too hard to be “dark” and “gritty” in areas where it wasn’t needed.

Ben honestly regressed to being more irresponsible, and was slowly becoming even more cocky than he was when he was 10. 

While a lot of the night scenes were interesting, it got pretty annoying with the amount of times we had an episode set night. 

The color scheme was pretty bland. Like I said, it was pretty dark most of the time, so the alien didn’t really POP like they did in OS. This sorta also follows the whole “set at night thing cause even the DAYTIME colors came off bland and dark.  

While the main set of 10 were pretty well designed, a lot of the alien villains (besides the Highbreed) were pretty forgettable.

The transformation scenes were often reused, some alternating between aliens. Some not even trying or making sense. I’ll admit that the skeletal and internal transformation were intriguing, but nothing really beat the way OS made it look like Ben was REALLY transforming with external shots.

Literally everything is alien related. Mysterious things that have happened? Aliens did it. Dragons actually exist? Oh wait no it’s an ALIEN DRAGON!!!  Gwen’s magic powers we’ve established were based heavily in magic, nothing alien related? Oh hey guess what she’S PART ALIEN DIDN’T YOU KNOW????

A lot of the designs were kinda dulled down and honestly made me forget why I liked them in the first place.

ULTIMATE ALIEN:

MORE NIGHTTIME SETTING OH BOY

NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL EDGY 100X

A lot of the new aliens were just retreads on original ones some even having the EXACT SAME POWERS AND DOING NOTHING DIFFERENT (lookin’ at you, Fasttrack), and others had their designs look too robotic or just looked like guys in suits.

A LOT of the ultimate forms were really lame. Ultimate Wildmutt and Big Chill honestly BAFFLE me.

Practically EVERYTHING about Ben 10,000′s return. 

Ben’s character gets SO shitty to the point where he ACTUALLY TRIES TO KILL HIS BEST FRIEND. 

KEVIN’S AN ALIEN NOW, NOT A MUTANT HE’S 100% ALIEN

Azmuth made a sword....something involving a girlfriend? What???

Cthulhu. Just...Cthulhu is the villain. And Vilgax turns into a gross giant squid monster. Way Big is a bit bigger, blue, and shoots tron discs. What even. 

OMNIVERSE:

A major difference in tone and style was kinda jarring (but I do prefer it now). 

Some redesigns were very questionable, and some were sorta downright mind boggling. (Thumbskull was by far the most terrifying one for me).

Some of the jokes can go on for a bit long, some sorta fall flat and bring whatever’s going on to a complete stop (not all of them though). 

A lot of the female alien designs were unnecessarily over feminized (everyone remembers the dreaded yeti, diamond, and Dino tiddies).

Ben and Julies break up was beyond ridiculous to me. I mean they really coulda just had Ben say, “We weren’t working out, I was very conceited and didn’t take her feelings into consideration.” (Although Julie got really selfish at some points too). 

The Ben and Kai romance was so forced are you kidding me. Like, Ben REALLY leaves Ester in the dust until she’s basically forced to move on from him. 

Apparently The Secret Saturdays also exist in this world?? Even though there’s so much contradicting evidence here???

A lot of the retcons were just really...either unnecessary or really frustrating to deal with.

[trickstermelon]

Do the OCs asks you haven't already

A character you rarely talk about?

I’ve got multiple that I like to doodle but are still in development/don’t have names. I’m hoping to put myself on a schedule where I develop like one group of characters per week

If you could make only one of your OCs popular/known, who would it be?

Hmmmm that’s hard. Cinna is sorta the protag of the vague story I’m cooking up so I feel like the honor should go to her, but Liam, Dus or Avaral are some of the more complex characters i have developed. 

Are your OCs part of any story or stories?

I’ve been using almost all of them in my main DnD campaign, and I’d like to make them into their own narrative-- but idk in what form. A game or comic could be cool.  

Do you RP as any of your OCs? If you do, introduce one of your RP OCs here!

As much as @bass-fucker wants me to, not really cause a lot of them are defined by their reality 

Would you ever be willing to give any of your OCs to someone else?

I’d whore them out i’m on the fence there cause i get excited when others enjoy my ocs but at the same time, they become an au version of themselves. Overall I’d let someone borrow them

Introduce an OC with a complicated design?

Beliel and Haniel have complicated designs in some of their less humanistic forms, esp when they’re full on <+> and (o), which have extremely intricate moving parts

Do you like to talk about your OCs with other people?

Again yes and no because I’m super excited for others to know about them/enjoy them, but it’s a level of vulnerability that can be difficult to open, esp irl

Any OC OTPs?

Ahahhaha they’re all queer: Liam/Nerin, Nerin/Beliel, Brynhildyr/Jinn, Lukas/Dus, Belienda/a centaur I still gotta name, technically Haniel/Beliel tho that gets a bit weird-- I need to make Wyn and Cinna some gfs. 

Any OC crackships?

Nerin gets between Beliel ‘n Haniel and has a wild time. 

Do any of your OCs sing? If they sing, care to share more details (headcanon voice, what kind of songs they like etc)?

This could have it’s own post, but Liam and Kaly are fantastic singers, Avaral cant technically sing but has a great ear for mimicry; Belinda, On, Tanu, Beleil and Tyko aren’t too shabby. Most of the others are just okay but Cinna and Nerin are fuckin terrible

Your most artistic OC

Ni!! Likes landscapes n getting really creative w mixed media. On is actually great to but denies it cause he thinks he has no creativity 

Introduce OC that has changed from your first idea concerning what the character would be like?

A lot of characters have gone through various cycles of slight personality tweaks, but most haven’t gone through dramatic visual changes-- besides Cinna. I would actually like to play around with different variations to find the coolest

If you could meet one OC of yours, who would it be and why?

Liam because I would love to be his friend but also, I wanna kick his ass into being a better person

Any OCs that were inspired by a certain song?

No actually, though many of their story arcs or relationships have been inspired by songs. That could be a fun way to make new ones tho

Which one of your OCs would be the most suitable horror game protagonist and why?

Jinn fuckin loves solving puzzles and kicking ass send her in. Nerin would p be able to make it pretty far but as soon as he sees one (1) demon pretending to be a child he’s gone for cause he has to adopt it

Your shyest OC?

Dus, Ragdoll, and On have difficulty putting themselves out there

Do you have any twin characters?

I tend to refer to On and Ni as the Twins all the time but.. are they? Hmmmm

Any sibling characters?

So many. Wyn/Dus/Nerin/On/Ni are all sibs, plus Belinda/Lukas/Dyan, arguably Avaral/Ragdoll, King/Clay, and a few more I need to develop

Introduce an OC who is not quite human

Legit all of them. The magi are the closest things to humans I have and thats questionable

Which one of your OCs would be the best dancer?

Liam, Cinna, Brynhildyr, Ni and Twoth all have their own styles. Dus, Wyn and On are more professionally trained. Liam and Ni like to have dance offs but I think Cinna would win

Has anyone drawn fanart of your OCs? If yes, maybe show a picture or two here (remember sources & permissions!)

Nope, tho it might be fun to an art trade with them sometime/get a commission-- its just hard to pick who. (actually an ol DA friend drew me some ol 2P hetalia ocs that were cute)

Something you like about your OCs in general

I really really want them to be flawed and make thousands of mistakes, and utterly fall to their own vices-- but in the end, all come out of it better than they were before. Except Ni she’s mostly perfect.

A character you no longer use?

Lamo I have some fantrolls and hetlaia ocs that I might lowkey turn into tieflings and drow. 

Has anyone ever told you that you treat your OCs badly?

Hahahahahaha yeah at least 4 people have

Has anyone ever (friendly) claimed any of your OCs as their child?

Bassfucker is the biggest adopter, tho @tiffy-the-grizzly has p much taken in Dus and Ni

Which one of your OCs would most likely enjoy memes

Lukas and Avaral hands down. Cinna pretends she doesn’t get them so Avaral has to painstakingly try to explain them. Wyn also is extremely well versed in memery

[betterwaystotell]

SUICIDE SQUAD: CINEMATIC SEPPUKU

It’s an interesting time that we find ourselves in. Two giants are doing battle and the prize is the box office. Marvel Studios seems like it can do no wrong with it’s franchise characters, carefully weaving together a cinematic universe — which we’ve come to refer to as the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) — one that supports various combinations and appearances, across numerous films, of many of their most beloved characters. There have been definite misses, but mostly hits. Warner Bros on the other hand — has struggled to do as well as they scramble to establish their own cinematic universe equivalent — the DCEU — or the DC Extended Universe.

Batman V Superman was an out-and-out disaster. Man of Steel seemed similarly out of step. Batman has gone back into the shop for a reworking. The trailers for Justice League and Wonder Woman look more promising — and fun — but no one will no for certain until their respective releases.

And now we have Suicide Squad. Like Marvel’s Guardian’s of the Galaxy, it’s a lesser known property. Far fewer people are familiar with the comic book and the characters therein.

And perhaps it’s here that the roots of the problems with the storytelling inside Suicide Squad lie?

The premise is fantastic. A small section of the US defence department organises to make use of a rag-tag group of super villains, sending them on a highly dangerous, covert mission designed to save the day. Sign me up.

The trailers published as part of the films promotional campaign were stunning. Harley Quinn. The Joker. Deadshot. Killer Croc. Enchantress. To name but a few. An exciting cast including Viola Davis, Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman and Jared Leto. Each looking and sounding the part. The action underscored by Bohemian Rhapsody.

Many critics have been savage in their response to the film.

I read a few in the days before seeing it for myself. My heart sank. Another one bites the dust.

I sat down in the theatre ready for the worst. My critical brain already briefed on what to look for. And then something cool happened. I actually enjoyed the film. Well, the first forty five minutes or so. I kept looking for a place on the track that was going to lead to derailment but it never really appeared. The second half of the film is definitely not as pleasurable as the first. Not by a long shot. The second half of the film becomes a predictable, soppy, silly mess (and “mess” seemed to be a recurring theme in most of the reviews I read) and the storytelling fell away. Director David Ayers and his team kinda aced the front nine, but the back nine saw too many bogeys.

The film was far from shit. “The critics got it wrong”, I thought to myself. This was fun. Playful. Well made. Solid performances throughout. Why did it review poorly?

It’s The Joker.

The decision to include him in the story hurts the film.

Nothing against Jared Leto’s performance. He’s terrific. I don’t see any point in judging his version of the character against Heath Ledger’s. Ledger’s was undoubtedly special and has become a landmark characterisation. But it’d be a shame to discredit what Leto has done here. If Leto is handicapped in anyway, it’s due to his short, almost sporadic appearances throughout the film. He never hangs around long enough for us to really savour his performance.

I hope he has another opportunity to revisit the character but putting The Joker in Suicide Squad fucked the design of the story.

Let me explain.

The Suicide Squad is a collection of lesser known characters. They’re not household names. Even Harley Quinn, who is arguably the most famous of the bunch, needs introducing somewhat. And here is the problem.

In order to flesh out Harley Quinn’s character, the story as told makes use of flash-back sequences that show her origin story. This origin story involves The Joker. That’s her past. In order for the audience to understand her present, the story again turns to her relationship with The Joker. This story simply isn’t brave enough to seperate her from him. Whether it’s in flashback or action of the present, the story is desperate to feature them together. It’s as if Harley Quinn isn’t interesting enough without him. But if Margot Robbie, the stunning actress that brings Quinn to life has anything to say about it, it’s this: HA!

I would much have preferred to have seen Robbie mix with the lads without her man ever entering frame. No one is denying that Harley Quinn’s love for The Joker is an essential part of her character but surely Robbie could have been trusted to convey this on her own.

The effect on the film as a result of the need to cram a series of short scenes featuring The Joker — which effectively forms an unnecessary subplot —  take precious screen time away from the actual members of the Suicide Squad. Maybe if more time was spent showing how the team communicate or bond, lines such as “I’ve already lost one family, I’m not going to lose another one” — spoken by Diablo during the film’s climatic battle — would not have rung false. Or maybe there wouldn’t have been the need for a sorta-funny but mostly-clunky scene that involves the character’s walking off the battlefield into a bar and proceeding to talk to one another like members of the Big Brother house. It takes time to develop believable onscreen relationships between characters. Precious seconds.

If the studio and filmmakers had the balls to do this, then Suicide Squad may have become a masterful example. It’s a damn shame.

Perhaps it comes down to two things. Trust and respect. Trust that actor’s are good enough to convey complex relationships with off-screen characters. And respect for an audience that is smart enough to assume certain things about a character’s inner life.

Algernon Witham

[snippychicke]

Issues--Power Rangers 2017

This…is complete crack. I have no clue which odd corner of my mind it came from, but I might as well share it.

Fandom: Power Rangers 2017 Title: Issues (Aka I’m crap at titles) Pairing: Zordon/Reader. Yes, you read that right. Notes: CRACK. FREAKING CRACK. And Tommy/Tommi who? Sorta. Reader could be Tommy. That makes it even more weird.

“We have a saying on Earth: curiosity killed the cat…I’m pretty sure I’m the cat.” The green gold coin sparkled in the odd dusky light as you flipped it between your fingers. “I mean, who chases after a meteorite in the middle of the night? An idiot, that’s who.”

“It called you,” Zordon answered shortly from somewhere behind you. “Focus. You need to cleanse the power before the darkness claims you as well.”

You sighed as you looked away from the coin you were supposed to be purifying to your surroundings. Your body was back at the command center, resting in a trance. your mind… well, it was on the morphing grid, which was rather like an astral plane in your comic books. A very vague but peaceful landscape of floating rocky pillars surrounds by different colored clouds of energy. One for each ranger not only in earth, but the entire universe.

A green cloud swirled around the one you sat on, but unlike the others it looked tainted, like the cloud was somehow mixed with tar. The darkness, the evil, left over from Rita Repulsa. The same darkness that whispered in your ear twisted thoughts that you tried to ignore.

Zordon snapped your name again, making you look behind your spot on the edge to where he had been pacing behind you. When you first started these sessions, it was hard to reconcile the giant face in the wall with the tall muscular alien behind you. Until he snapped at you with that familiar look of unease and distrust in his eyes. Then it was all too easy. Even now there was that look which stirred something you, and not in a pleasant way. The little whisper cackling softly, reminding you how much he obviously disliked you.

“Well, maybe if you would stop pacing like a caged tiger it would be a bit easier. It’s hard to focus when I can virtually feel your anger and disappointment.” You snapped, trying but failing to ignore those dark thoughts. For a moment, you thought you saw something, maybe regret, flash across his face but you ignored it as you shook your head. “Look, I promise I won’t go bat-shit crazy like Rita did so you can go do whatever it is you do here. I know you don’t like being around me and I’m well use to being on my own.”

You focused your attention away from him and back to the coin. You tried to force the negativity out of your mind with a deep breath, and focus on the good things. The fierce devotion you felt towards your new teammates, how you would do anything to keep the safe, or to ensure their happiness. How nice it was to have a purpose in your life. People that cared for you.

Except your thoughts kept twisting, that little voice in your head reminding you that none of your teammates fully trusted you. Not even as you struggled to overcome the taint of the coin. They all expected you to wander down the path of your predecessor Rita. To turn and betray them. Even after all you did to try and prove you wouldn’t. “Stop.“ Zordon’s command broke through your thoughts. You felt him settle on the edge beside you, but stubbornly ignored him and kept your eyes closed. The damn alien couldn’t apparently make up his mind. Some days, he almost treated you with the same respect he gave the others, but then something would flip and you were an errant child meddling with forces beyond your grasp.

But you were the eldest of the six. More of an adult than a teen, and going to college rather than high school. And all of this Ranger stuff was far beyond anyone. There was a pause before his hand wrapped around your clenched fist as he spoke your name. Not harshly as he usually did, but softly. “Please, stop. You’re letting the darkness in.”

That made you open your eyes, and sure enough the green cloud was darker, with more tar-like stuff mixed in. “Shit,” you cursed. “Damn it, no.” You ran a hand through your hair as you sighed in defeat. Always one step forward and then two steps back. You weren’t going to win. “I-I can’t do this. And there is no way I will allow myself to be like her. I’ll kill myself before I hurt anyone.”

“The coin would not have called you if it wasn’t sure you could handle the task.” You looked over at him, a little surprised by his words as well as the decided lack of the usual harshness. Sure he would talk to the others that way, but… never you. especially during your training. “Your heart is still pure. You must not let the darkness change that.”

You felt your face flush and looked away with a laugh that was part embarassed and part self deprecating. “My heart is not pure. I-I’m not like the others. I mean we’ve been through hell, but they’re still innocent. I’m…I’m damaged goods.” Maybe that’s why the coin called you. Not because you could fix it, but because you already had that darkness in you, and it sensed it. Maybe this was just fate, to wind up heartbroken and destitute once more. “Let me show you something.” You looked back at Zordon. It was odd to see him this close. Usually he was pacing at a distance, snapping commands. Not close enough where you could study the swirls and other intricate designs against his grey skin, or notice his eyes were a faint grey-green.

Grey-green that was tinged with regret, which was very odd to say the least. Still, you took the silent offer and accepted his hand. It was shockingly warm; warmer than a humans, though the strength as he curled his fingers with yours didn’t surprise you. Not with the muscles displayed to see and caught your attention at the oddest times. Except there was little time to reflect on how…nice it felt before a green glow began to emanate from your chest. You looked down to see a green heart-shaped crystal appear, it’s soft glow beating in time with your pulse.

“That is your soul, and it is rare to see one so pure.” He answered your unasked question, still using that calm, patient tone. “If there had been any evil in it, I would not have taught you how to access the grid like this. You have unlimited access to the power of the Rangers. Not only those of our system, but all of them across time and space.”

Your eyes drifted from your soul back to Zordon. His eyes were trained on you, and the emotion in then made your gut twist. Complete opposite of before. For once the voice was quiet, leaving you alone in your mind. It took a while to swallow the lump in your throat and ask: “Then why is it you can barely stand me? Let alone trust me.”

“It’s not that I can’t stand you, or don’t trust you.” He paused, his hand tightening slightly before he sighed. “I’m…worried to lose another person dear to me to the darkness. That I will fail once more.”

Someone…dear? Surely you were misconstruing that. Dear as maybe a friend, surely. Or a teammate. Though, to at least be honest with yourself, there may be some attraction to him, in a very weird sense of ‘you may be legit alien and an ass most of the time, but I am rather enraptured by you and obviously I must have issues.’

“You won’t,” you found yourself assuring. “I-I mean, if that,” you gestured to the swirling green cloud still stained with tar, “gets worse, I completely meant it when I said that I would kill myself before I hurt anyone.”

That did not ease the look on his face, if anything it made it more grim. “I would still lose you.”

Oh.

Your soul was betraying you as it kept pace with your qucking heart as you desperately tried to remind yourself that there was no way in hell giant-face-in-the-wall drill-sergeant Zordon would like you in the same way your traitorous heart liked him. “I-it wouldn’t be much of a loss. I mean, what am I other than just the silly little human that chased a cursed meteorite?”

He shook his head, “No, you don’t realize how much of a loss it would be. Not only for the other Rangers, but for myself. Your simple presence makes this prison easier to deal with. I…am sorry if I made you believe anything else.”

You weren’t sure what overcame you, but you found yourself leaning in to press a chaste kiss to his cheek. The hand that had been twined with your squeezed tighter as the other cupped your face, guiding you to meet his lips for a kiss that wasn’t chaste.

[comicteaparty]

January 14th-January 20th, 2019 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from January 13th, 2019 to January 20th, 2019.  The chat focused on Sunstrike and Bluemist: An Origin Story by ShaRose49.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Week Long Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Sunstrike and Bluemist: An Origin Story by ShaRose49~! (http://sunstrikeandbluemist.thecomicseries.com/)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Remember, though, that while we allow constructive criticism, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic. Below you will find four questions to get you started on the discussion. However, a new question will be posted and pinned everyday (between 12:01AM and 6AM PST), so keep checking back for more! You have until January 20th to tell us all your wonderful thoughts! With that established, let’s get going on the reading and the chatting!

QUESTION 1. What has been your favorite scene in the comic so far? What specifically did you like about it?

QUESTION 2. At the moment, who is your favorite character? What about that character earns them this favor?

QUESTION 3. Who do you think Kairo being a double agent for and for what reason? What are the organization’s goals? How does Kat and Evan’s training factor into the organization’s goals to the point it’s an advantage?

QUESTION 4. Do you feel the secret police are a force for good or a force for evil? How might Kat’s dad’s return to investigations play a role in the story, especially considering he’s investigating super-human traffickers?

DeNay

Kat is definitely my favourite character. Hey what's not to love? She's fiery, driven, sweet, and wild. And she has green hair... I love that she doesn't let anything stop her. Not the prosthetic leg, not the challenges of being a mutant, not anyone else's fears. She courageously stands up for what she believes is right.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 5. Why do you think Evan wants to keep his true self hidden, even from Kat? Do you think Evan will open up more as time goes on? How might his work for the secret police help or hurt him where this is concerned?

ShaRose49

I’m encouraged that some people really like Kat. She’s a real outlet for me

These are really interesting questions, some of them I haven’t really thought of

Idk if I’m allowed to answer a question since I’m the author, but I think my favourite scene so far is the scene in the bedroom

DeNay

I think Evan has a lot of pain and scars and he's afraid to open up and create attachments because he might lose them. To me he seems equally scared of getting hurt and hurting others. That's a theory anyhow.

And I think he will open up more, especially with someone like Kat around.

As for secret police..I think it will force him out of his comfort zone, and that's probably in and of itself going to be very good for him...can't wait to see where it all goes.(edited)

snuffysam

Favorite scene was the fight with the mugger. It was a great showcase of the two's powers, and also the mugger was kind of funny.

my favorite is dad. he's not perfect, but he tries his hardest, and i love him for it

ShaRose49

Awwwwww! That is so cool @snuffysam!

Usually people like the teens best so it’s refreshing to hear a different perspective but you’re totally right

@DeNay well you’re not wrong, but hiding your true self is probably more fear of what others will think if they knew his true self

@DeNay And yeah, his comfort zone is like a cage

RebelVampire

QUESTION 6. Do you think working for the secret police will be everything Kat dreamed of? What unfortunate obstacles do you think might interrupt Kat’s dreams of living openly as herself?

RebelVampire

1) my favorite scene is probably the bedroom scenes. if only cause shallow-ly, i really loved evan just walking through the damn wall. hes so dang casual about it that i can help but admire how normalized the powers are to them in comparison to other ppls reactions. 2) the dad because he walks that fine line between looking out for the kids' safety and acknowledging that they are ppl who need room to grow and become their own ppl. that honestly a really rare depiction that i feel we dont get to see enough of in comics. 3) i want to assume its for an agency that is trying to disstablize the use of things like secret police. and the advantage comes in that if they can show the secret police are dangerous and have super powered ppl working for them, they can convince others to shut it down. 4) i have mixed feelings on the secret police. i assume its a bit of both. the little guys just want to do good things for the world. but the larger entity has probably slowly corrupted or something. become riddled with office politics. something like that. i feel the dad returning to investigations is significant to the story since hes probably gonna find leads the kiddos are gonna follow. 5) i think evan wants to keep his true self hidden cause he doesnt trust anyone and kind of hates everyone secretly cause he hates himself. i actually think working for the secret police is gonna hurt with him opening up. cause i feel hes always gonna get into trouble doing with kat wants instead of developing as his own person and its gonna get overwhelming. 6) i dont think the secret police will be everything kat dreamed of XD cause i think kat is gonna find when an organization doesnt have huge oversight, bad things tend to happen. not to mention, i feel like she has this delusion shell suddenly be accepted with open arms by the world when more likely theres gonna be some levels of discrimination.

ShaRose49

I love how in thought out these answers are

Thought out I meant

snuffysam

yeah i think the secret police aren't going to be as rosy as kat expects. there's levels of bureaucracy, or she isn't allowed to be open the way she wants, or something...

ShaRose49

Well I guess we’ll see. I do think @RebelVampire is the most accurate when describing Evan’s internal struggle so far. And I love how many people favour the dad, Derek. And it sounds kind of like you guys think the Secret Police is like S.H.I.E.L.D. or something lol

And yes, while Kat is a beautiful gem she is too accepting to the point where she is naive and even clueless. But what else would you expect from someone who’s grown up kind of in hiding with no or few friends? It’s actually amazing that Evan is more cautious and less trusting, but to be fair he’s had some traumatic experiences with people, much more so than Kat, but I won’t spoil it

I didn’t expect people to think so highly of Derek I thought I was better at writing younger characters so thanks you guys🥳

RebelVampire

QUESTION 7. In general, what tasks do you think Kat and Evan will be doing for the secret police? Do you think Kat and Evan will run into other people with abilities? Do you believe the two will be able to handle it, or will they be outmatched?

DeNay

Hmm that's an interesting question...

I'm not really sure what they'll all be up to, but I'm definitely curious to see. I'm guessing they will run into some other mutants down the road...although I can't really see them fighting one of their "kind."

ShaRose49

Oh reaaaally?

You can’t imagine the, fighting, say, a mutant SUPERVILLAIN??

I’m not saying that’s gonna happen this episode, but keep in mind this story has superhero themes

As for other mutants showing up this episode...let’s just say there may be a cameo

DeNay

Well, maybe I could imagine that... Sounds pretty awesome.

snuffysam

I'm not sure what the secret police will be willing to let Kat & Evan do at first. Because even though they are supermutants, they're also children. Maybe they'll be sent to deal with parking violations at first?

Delphina

Whoo, finally caught up with work, so I can read comics again! I'm really enjoying the family dynamic in this one and probably like Kat the most. She's very earnest and energetic about her goals, and I'm looking forward to seeing if the secret police will encourage that or just add layers of moral grey.

I'm assuming Evan's parents died in a tragic mutant-power-related accident that he blames himself for and he was trying to attempt suicide back there before Kat called out to help with her prosthetic leg. I would hope he learns how to overcome his feelings of guilt and shame, but that seems like a long road and I could also see him giving in to those dark feelings and becoming an antagonist. Too early in the story to really tell!

(The banner at the top with Kairo and Kat in the foreground and Evan's eyes menacingly in the background indicates the latter from a design choice standpoint though. )(edited)

ShaRose49

@snuffysam Parking violations XD I’m dying

@Delphina wow you are perceptive. Not 100% right but you’ve noticed a lot of subtle details

You’re really good at examining Evan

@Delphina and yeah, work’s been a little nuts for me too recently

RebelVampire

lol parking violations. XD somehow i dont think being children will make them go easy on them. cause they already didnt care about the children fact when they hired them. and if them being kids bugged them all that much thats probably when they wouldve decided it wasnt a good idea.

ShaRose49

I think you’re sorta right

ShaRose49

But technically they’re not hired yet they’re just in training

RebelVampire

QUESTION 8. How exactly do you believe Kairo ends up working with Kat and Evan, and what is the mess he supposedly gets them into? Do you believe they’ll manage to get out of it?

(the archive for the chat on MoonSlayer is now available~! https://comicteaparty.com/post/182104413735/january-7th-january-13th-2019-ctp-archive)

RebelVampire

7) i assume theyre going to be handling super powered ppl and perhaps other situations where the situation is easily solved with their powers. like evan's walk through wall ability could come in really handy for doing the sneaky sneaks. but i assume super villains cause this is why you get ppl with superpowers, to fight the super villains that regular civilians cant. as for their ability to handle it, they are 1000% going to be outmatched i think for a while. mostly because youth breeds arrogance and cavalier attitudes while their inexperience breeds clumsiness for lack of a better word. not the best combo. 8) i assume kairo specifically requested it, and im going to guess that the situation is them having to fight a super powered bad guy or something. cause for kids just starting out in the secret police, thats not a situation youd want to be involved in right off the bat. i assume theyll manage to get out of it though. just cause if they dont the comic ends cause everybody be dead.

ShaRose49

Yeah everyone dies XD

People who weren’t familiar with anime kept asking me why Kairo had no eyes on that one panel. It was a little hard to explain lol

RebelVampire

QUESTION 9. Overall, how do you think being “superheroes” will change Kat and Evan, both in regards to their own personalities and their views of the world?

Delphina

Kat's been strong-willed and taking risks and doing things she's not supposed to because she feels it's right, so I expect that'll get her into a fair bit of trouble when going after bad guys is her job. Evan is less risk-averse, but also prone to being pulled into trouble by Kat. I expect their problems are going to get a little more complex working with double agents and sides may become more difficult to choose, but I'm curious where becoming less sheltered and open to the world about their powers will take them, since we haven't seen many other examples of how people with powers are treated in society. Is it an X-Men "everyone knows they're around and hates them" thing or a Superman "superpowers are rare and letting people know my secret will be a huge hassle for me"?

ShaRose49

It’s probably more like X-Men

And yeah, Kay and Evan have a lot to learn, but I think they really balance each other out, or they will eventually

Kat stupid autocorrect

snuffysam

i think both good things and bad things will happen to kat & evan due to be more open with their powers. but it'll end up with kat seeing the good side of people being helped by them, and evan will focus on all the people who look at them funny.

ShaRose49

Haha!! That’s so sweet

@Delphina Were you the one who came up with the Evan turning evil theory? I spent a few seconds scribbling doodles based on this. I think I scared myself

ShaRose49

I think it’s the last day, so I just wanted to thank everyone who took the time to read this comic and for chatting about it (and listening to me geek out). I also wanna thank Comic Tea Party for hosting this!

snuffysam

'bout 26 hours left, yeah. Thanks for offering your comic up! Discussing stuff has been really fun so far!

ShaRose49

@snuffysam Aw, thanks!! Yeah I’ve had so much fun too

Also, as for whether or not Evan turns evil...that depends on what you define as evil

khkddn

welp i showed up to this discussion late but nevertheless i have things to say that are pretty similar to what others have said

first off my favorite character is kat. i decided this when she was like "by the way, you disgust me :)" to that criminal in the beginning of the story. great moment! i also like her design a lot, and the comic's use of bright colors in general

kat and evan view their role in the world v differently and i don't think they'll change easily. maybe evan will come around to accepting that it's okay to be in the spotlight, but i think it's more likely he'll keep wanting to hide away and that'll interfere with their work. even if he doesn't become a full on villain i think he'll at least want to do his own thing

as for kat, i'm worried for her, because i always worry about upbeat characters lol. what if being a Hero isn't what she expected huh, what if it sucks at first? i think evan would handle a reality shock better than kat since he isn't that enthusiastic about it to begin with. but kat might end up being really disappointed until she can adjust.

i really hope evan doesn't turn evil (or, like... evil adjacent?). then turn into a sibling vs sibling fight and ahhh oh no ;_;

Beef Liver

I hope being super heroes won't change Kat and Evan TO much... I really love who they are!

@ShaRose49 Thanks for writing the comic so we could discuss it!

RebelVampire

QUESTION 10. What are you most looking forward to in the comic? Also, do you have any final thoughts to share overall?

RebelVampire

9) i think for kat she's going to learn that doing the right thing is less black & white than she wants to believe. and that sometimes ppl do bad things with good intentions. so playing superhero is complicated and not just this 100% awesome thing. and i think shes really going to have to come to terms with the fact powers dont make her invincible and that ppl can get hurt as bystanders. as for her personality, i think overall itll mature her and make her more conscious of how her actions affect others at the end of the day. as for evan, i think hes gonna have an internal conflict about his personal feelings on his powers vs. the world showing him he can make a positive impact. and so while not evil, i think its gonna make him super angst for a while until eventually he chills out and learns to care about himself. i also think hell learn some independence and that he doesnt just have to follow kat everywhere. 10) im actually most looking forward to more world-building. seeing things like how the secret police are generally regarded, how powers are regarded, who kairo might be working for, etc. i think these are some elements thatll really set the stage for the future for kat and evan.

ShaRose49

@Beef Liver My pleasure!

@khkddn I’m so glad you like the bright colours!:

@RebelVampire You’ll See more world building soon! Kim looking forward to it as well. And as for Kat and Evan changing, @Beef Liver don’t worry, they won’t change drastically right away. However I think they both need to change, perhaps especially Evan. We’ll see why later on

EhNeli

Evan is my favorite. I'm sorry I'm not very good at elaborating (I did terrible in high school english class xl )

snuffysam

One thing I'm really looking forward to is Kat & Evan's first day at the secret police. Just seeing how various people there react to their powers and stuff.

ShaRose49

@EhNeli no worries mate.

I guess I’m looking forward to drawing more of the awesome sibling relationship and going into depth with Kairo. If he doesn’t seem like an important character yet get ready...

@snuffysam I’m really looking forward to that too. I don’t think it will be too long from now (I less it takes me ages to draw cause of work or something)

*unless

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Sunstrike and Bluemist: An Origin Story this week! Please also give a special thank you to ShaRose49 for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Sunstrike and Bluemist: An Origin Story, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: http://sunstrikeandbluemist.thecomicseries.com/

ShaRose49’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/KadachSharon

[comicteaparty]

June 7th, 2018 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on June 7th, 2018, from 5PM - 7PM PDT.  The chat focused on The Pale by Jay Fabares & Sanders Fabares.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

COMIC TEA PARTY START!

Good day everyone~! This week’s Comic Tea Party is now officially beginning~! Today we are discussing The Pale by Jay Fabares & Sanders Fabares~! (https://tapas.io/series/The-Pale) For those new or in need of a reminder, discussions about the comic are freeform, so please feel free to bring up whatever you wish. However, every 30 minutes I will be dropping in a discussion question to help those who would like a prompt. These questions are totally OPTIONAL to answer, and you can pay them no mind if you wish. If you miss out on any though, they’ll be pinned for the duration of the chat once they’re posted~! Remember, constructive criticism is allowed, but the primary focus here is to have fun and appreciate the amazing comics that the community makes~! As a bonus, each chat a top comment will be picked and featured in the archives and on an ad for CTP! All that being said, let’s get started and have a great discussion!

QUESTION 1. What is your favorite scene in the comic so far and why?

snuffysam

I won’t be able to be around much this week, but I’ll just say that I loved the speed dating scene. Really set up Fink’s personality, skill, and face blindness well.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah the speed dating scene was pretty interesting. i really like in general how the face blindness is portrayed with the comical same faces. like something about that makes face blindness both understandable but subtly horrifying

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I'll echo that. I liked when the different art style on the faces was revealed to be character related.

Also, Fink was all "this is not how I expected her to react... smokebomb!" vanishes

And he's had bad luck ever since.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Hi there!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

tbh i did not expect his speed date partner to react that way either XD

hey super

Agent Jay (The Pale)

Hello!

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Hey there Jay!

Great to see ya~(edited)

Agent Jay (The Pale)

haha likewise

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Gotta expect the unexpected.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yes

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Hi artist/author/writer (one or all of the preceding...)!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

glad you could make it jay~!

Agent Jay (The Pale)

I'm the artist and Co writer

totally! glad to see y'all like the speed dating part

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Very clever way to set up characters, don't think I've seen it before.

Agent Jay (The Pale)

when I read my husbands first draft of that scene-- I was all smiles

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

That's nice~

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I also kind of liked the knife throwing scene. I knew pretty much what was going to happen when I saw Fink out front, but it was still entertaining and set the tone of their interactions going forwards.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

You two make for a good team, I enjoy how realistic (for the most part) and lifelike the comic is.(edited)

Agent Jay (The Pale)

yeah, the knife scene was fun. The ending went through a lot of changes.

and thanks Super!

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

You're welcome.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Aiming for a different balloon? I noticed some of those slogans... speaking as someone over 40...

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i really liked how the knife scene kind of characterized the town. only in a small town would it not be considered a safety hazard to just throw knives at the wall

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Impressive background detail, actually. I caught myself trying to read the chalkboard in the sherriff's office right off the start.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

lol

And yeah the backgrounds have lots and I do mean lots of details(edited)

dylandrawsdraws

the comic is awesome - I still love the wolf with the hand as a great intro and tone setter

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Anything to help make it pop.

Agent Jay (The Pale)

haha, I'm 36. the ending was hard bc we didnt know who was going to say the last line for the longest time it was Fink.... but then suddenly we had the idea for Joseph Yazzie (Logan's friend) say something. and it worked out well we think.

little title drop-- sorta there--

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Right, yeah, well played there. Other ideas paled in comparison.

dylandrawsdraws

Am i allowed to ask questions?

Agent Jay (The Pale)

ah coyote scene you mean!

dylandrawsdraws

(yeah coyote!)

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Right, the wolf and the hand bit. Effectively creepy.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

#PraiseCoyote

dylandrawsdraws

I think @MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑 will always think it's a wolf

#teamwolf

Agent Jay (The Pale)

... so funny.

And um, I guess you can ask Q's

dylandrawsdraws

Can you tell us about your process

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Call the wolf Virginia. To go with Dawn Knotts.

dylandrawsdraws

script and thumbnails, etc - the collaboration between you and this mysterious writer you work with

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

(That was a clever name, by the way. I didn't catch on.)

Agent Jay (The Pale)

really? SHAME

Agent Jay (The Pale)

1. We start with a general outline of what we want to see happen 2. eventually that goes down to what is really needed and my husband Sanders writes a 1st draft 3. I then read the draft and make changes-- rewrite scenes, take away, change dialog 4. we argue 5. and repeat till we are happy with it! 6. I start rough layouts/lettering/edit some more 7. (see step 4) 8. eventually everything falls into place and then we have a final edit pass 9. BOOM done.(edited)

dylandrawsdraws

oh very cool

sounds like a mini pixar

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

That's nice.

Cool seeing what goes on behind the scenes

Agent Jay (The Pale)

and @MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑 Dawn Knotts was the only character that didnt go a name changes.

even Fink was Franklin INKS

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Oh? Were they all puns originally?

Ahhh.

Agent Jay (The Pale)

sorta... Logan originally was Sam Addams

then it went to Scott Logan (xmen joke)(edited)

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Yeah, it's an interesting name juxtaposition there. F. Ink. Whereas some people might call FBI types using slang.

Agent Jay (The Pale)

now it's Terrence Logan. I took the Terrence from a discarded character-- I loved the name too much to waste it.(edited)

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

ah yes always a good use of discarded characters. when in doubt steal their stuff O_O

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yea

Agent Jay (The Pale)

haha-- right?!

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I gather that the story takes place in... New Mexico? Texas? Nevada? That area...

Agent Jay (The Pale)

It's a made up town south of the Navajo Reservation, so it is Arizona (I hope I'm not derailing your chat)(edited)

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Gotcha. My US geography is poor. (Well, my geography in general is poor.)

Agent Jay (The Pale)

between Flagstaff and north of Winslow...

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

The bit of Navajo on the radio was clever.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

how much research did you put into the location out of curiosity?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Eh, we just chat about whatever anyway. Rebel will have a random question again in about 5 minutes.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i mean generalized location since its a made up town

Agent Jay (The Pale)

We spent a lot of time considering where the location would be in real terms

The inspiration of the town is a mix of our experiences of small towns in Arizona and on the Navajo Rez. But also-- bc we like small towns

I based the town layout off of Holbrook Arizona more or less.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Holy cats. That's impressive.

Agent Jay (The Pale)

haha

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I think the small town atmosphere is well captured. The deputy who hangs around the game instead of being on radio and all.

Agent Jay (The Pale)

Dewey! haha yes... I love him.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Actually they've got a pretty large police force.

Relatively speaking.

Agent Jay (The Pale)

there's 4 with badges and luca at the station, Logan, Dewey, Russ and Dawn

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

tbf to dewey it seemed like the whole town was at the game so like...who is actually gonna call

QUESTION 2. Not long after the mysterious body is found in the story, Agent Fink enters the scene and gets involved “off the books.” However, his motivations remain elusive. Why do you think Agent Fink is so intent on everything staying off the record? Is it personal or is this a professional risk? What do you think is the significance of the rock found with the body, and why does Agent Fink seemingly have more rocks? Do you think this mystery has something to do with Isaac? If so, how does Isaac factor in to both the mystery and Fink’s motivations? Lastly, what do you make of the dreams Fink has been having?

Agent Jay (The Pale)

haha, I guess this is when I don't talk... heh

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I'd lay dollars to donuts that it relates somehow to those dreams. And presumably to the dreams that the woman in the tapestry place had been having too.

(It being his involvement.)

The rocks, of course, is all a red herring. Fink just likes collecting rocks along with bird watching.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

he should pick better rocks to collect then

invest in geodes

and he can expand his horizons. go get some petrified wood since hes in az

snuffysam

He just showed up to get his hands on that rock

wishjacked

AHHH, good evening, guys!! I've been looking forward to this chat for a while, I'm glad I could make it (albeit late)

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Or just scare a bunch of normal wood...

Fink has plans to become a rock musician.

snuffysam

I don’t think that’s how they get petrified wood math

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

No?

dylandrawsdraws

can I ask about character design and how you do the settings and prep work

for settings?

snuffysam

It’s his DREAM to become a rock musician

That’s what the dreams mean!

wishjacked

Catching up: I love so very many of the scenes, but the one that really hooked me was the coyote scene-- such a classic, beautifully executed mystery setup. And I loooved all that wildlife

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

as someone who lives in az, no i confirm. thats how we get our petrified wood.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

That was Fink's drummer showing up at the end of Part 3.

Agent Jay (The Pale)

sure Dylan! which character do you wanna know about?

(and HI CHLOE)(edited)

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

More seriously, birds are definitely going to factor in too, methinks.

wishjacked

Still catching up: One thing I think really works with the comic is the balance between quiet, slow images and faster moving dialogue: I love when the comic slows down to linger on images. One part that I kinda liked for that reason was with Yazzie visiting Nathaniel's house and looking at the rug on the wall, the lingering look at the rug really slowed the scene in the best way. Also when Fink is wandering through empty Rocket Ridge. Such a good way to build tension, improve pacing, and draw attention to the art. So good

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Hey there Wish

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Related, I liked the bit in the plane where the pilot was all "I have binoculars somewhere" and Fink's like "I'm good". There's lots of little fun things in the comic too.

wishjacked

(and HI JAY!!! :D)

Agent Jay (The Pale)

y'all might get a kick outta this-- some early sketches of Fink and Logan

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

OMG those look nice

wishjacked

(And hi to SuperJustin, too!!)

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Neat! Hm, Fink was shorter.

Agent Jay (The Pale)

haha the thing was very cartoony and different in tone at first.

the THING=-- THE COMIC...

der

wishjacked

Ahhhh, that art is so good hahaha. Look at these good guys! XD

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Personally I think the final/current style fits the comic a lot more than something cartoony IMO

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

wishjacked: Agreed. One of those things that I didn't really notice, but to have it pointed out, yeah. And like the woman just turning at the bottom of the page during that rug scene. Vaguely ominous but you don't know why. Probably attribute some of that to pacing.

Agent Jay (The Pale)

funny bc they changed-- but also remained the same?

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

And yeah wishjacked made a good point about the slow and fast moments.

omg that hairstyle

Agent Jay (The Pale)

oh totally Super... we changed the look really bc the tones are much darker. The story helped determine the style

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Seems liek younger/older comparisons

Agent Jay (The Pale)

ha

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yus

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

You could include the early drawing of Fink as a picture on his desk. Or maybe as his ID badge.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

The art style can give you lots of insight on a comic's tone so you want to make sure it's just right

Agent Jay (The Pale)

We work hard on the pacing. glad that shows!

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

That would be a cute little nod IMO

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

We never look our best on IDs/driver's licenses.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

^^^

Amen

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I'm also vaguely waiting for someone to call Fink "Mulder".

wishjacked

and regarding question #2, I always get a feeling from this comic that things aren't quite what they seem in this story, so I'm very hesitant to barf up ideas about Fink's motives. Whatever they are, I think they'll be unexpected. I wonder if he has some inklings of the supernatural (???) elements of the story he's in

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

maybe they will someday. when theyre less busy putting him up in a hotel and more busy investigating things

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

but the hotels are super comfy

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

well given the dreams i think hed have to have an inkling

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Fink being good with dialects probably means he'll know if anyone he runs into is from out of town. Or... out of this world?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

unless he just thinks hes the weirdest dreamer in all the land

snuffysam

He acts on rock mysteries though. You wouldn't do that if you thought your dreams were just dreams

wishjacked

and yes, Math!! Ohh, going off on another tangent about that scene, it was so well lighted too. The lighting in this comic also really helps the tone. That was a very ominous scene.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Maybe he thinks everyone has those sorts of dreams. Could be normal for him.

"My face blindness thing is an unusual quirk, but at least I have nightmares like normal people!"

Agent Jay (The Pale)

lol

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

possible but i doubt it O_O

until proven otherwise im assuming that isaac was murdered while investigating something and fink is trying to solve the murder but no one can know cause supernatural stuff and everyone will think hes crazy

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Also I just wanna say the inn rooms look awesome for something out in the wilderness (from what vibe the comic is giving me)

How old is the inn anyways?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Actually, I wonder when Fink was diagnosed.

dylandrawsdraws

@Agent Jay (The Pale) hmmm which character? fink and logan -

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Crazy theory: Someone is killing people by dropping huge rocks on them, followed by shrinking the rocks down real small.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

dat crack theory(edited)

dylandrawsdraws

and the yazzie?

the native american?

Agent Jay (The Pale)

the inn... around the 1950's(edited)

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Oh wow

Agent Jay (The Pale)

I went through several sketches with Fink. I knew he was tall, slender, and had a dog... much like Tin Tin and that's sorta why he looks cartoony in the beginning I think... but as the story evolved, again, I just kept pushing he design to reflect that. He is supposed to resemble a bird with his hair a bit. Sort of like a crest.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Ahh, Tintin, that would explain the early hairstyle a bit. Though the bird connection is interesting too.

Agent Jay (The Pale)

when I drew the HAIR.. I knew I had something I think...

from 2013

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Oh christ

That's quite a prototype

Agent Jay (The Pale)

Logan was a typical big guy on campus type deal.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Clever not starting the story with Fink, in a sense. It makes it more about this particular mystery and the town itself rather than one FBI case among many.

Agent Jay (The Pale)

stoic, middle aged, seen stuff, understanding, father figure type(edited)

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

I see what you're sayin

Agent Jay (The Pale)

thanks Math!

snuffysam

and fink is a young, fresh face

but when they get together

the shipping begins

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Did someone say

ships

dylandrawsdraws

oh these early drawings are great

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

QUESTION 3. Despite Rocket Ridge being a small town, the discovery of a body jumpstarts a lot of strange things. Do you think someone in the town had something to do with the body that was found? If so, who do you suspect (or have we not met them yet)? If not, do you think it has to do with the town supposedly having run-ins with the supernatural? In the most recent page we do see the supernatural, so do you think it has something to do with the body? In the background there is also Sheriff Logan, the man who discovered the body. Do you think Sheriff Logan will help or hinder Fink’s investigation into the situation? At the very least, do you think Logan will discover the real reason Fink is there? Of a last note, how do you think the comic’s events will affect Logan in general?

dylandrawsdraws

can you talk about your inspirations - other media, comics, whatever?

Agent Jay (The Pale)

i watch a lot of crime dramas(edited)

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Any crime dramas in particular?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Things between Fink and Logan are definitely off to a "rocky" start. I think Logan will work out that this isn't an authorized case though, starting by looking into how Fink flew in in the first place.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

(This is a really interesting question to ask a creator IMO)

Agent Jay (The Pale)

Recent favs The Killing, MindHunter, DARK, Twin Peaks (haha), Longmire

snuffysam

i think fink having to walk into town will have piqued logan's interest, absolutely

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I get why Fink wouldn't want to come clean, suspecting supernatural elements (and wanting to avoid being labelled a Mulder) but Logan doesn't seem like the type who enjoys other people trying to barge in on his territory. I mean, he was stubborn about that coffee machine for how long?

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Ooh nice

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

well and nobody likes the fbi

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Pretty much

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

cause they throw their federal weight around

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

The dog does, apparently.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

the dog is a spirit guide clearly

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

And actually that counsellor seemed to get on well enough with him.

Agent Jay (The Pale)

Emma

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Yes. I'm abysmal with names.

Ask anyone.

Agent Jay (The Pale)

yeah her and Fink got off to a okay... start sorta

yknow.. hotdogs and stuff

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i do think its inevitable logan is gonna find out about fink tho. cause fink is gonna order him and logan is gonna be like "let me talk to your superior" and then fink is gonna be like "oh shit."

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

She musterded up the courage to speak to him.

Agent Jay (The Pale)

omg

slow clap well done

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

It's beautiful

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I wonder what Fink would get out of hearing me speak.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

I wonder that too

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Aside from an excuse to be elsewhere.

snuffysam

i wonder what fink's determined about the officers he's met from their voices

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Maybe he can exposit to the dog.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

hes probably determined that dang is he sure in a small town

although he probably learned that from the knife

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Or his tiny alien friend.

(It's actually Logan in a suit.)

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i hope fink's linguist thing comes up with logan. cause i feel like hes just gonna reveal all these personal things about logan at some point. and logan will be frowny face

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

That would be hilarious @MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

"You thought it was extra terrestrial, but it was I, Dewey!"

Agent Jay (The Pale)

or Russ...

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

So, back to crazy theories, do you think the Tapestry Woman is committing the crimes? Because she's possessed by her tapestry, it exited her dreams and into real life?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

if i had to pick someone who was magically involved with the body and mystery, itd be dewey. O_O his radio wasnt off cause lazy. it was off cause he was busy committing more murders.

snuffysam

nah i think she's forseeing them

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Ooooh, nice one Rebel.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yeah Rebel, good pick.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Also a nice take, snuffy. I wonder if she's trying to weave warnings into her work.

snuffysam

yeah that's what i think is going on. and at some point, fink will find out.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

By spying with his binoculars.

snuffysam

i was thinking by like... someone mentioning it

say someone who lives with her

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

maybe tapestry lady was abducted by aliens and thats why she had nightmares. and she makes tapestries cause she knows one of them is still out there.

snuffysam

or maybe she's just psychic for unrelated reasons

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Perhaps

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

She knows they'll want to buy a tapestry as a souvenir gift before returning to their home planet.

She's saving that dark one for them.

snuffysam

she's preparing to open a tourist trap for aliens?

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

That would be a clever way of capturing the aliens

Or not, if they're armed

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Gotta trap 'em somehow.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yes

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

wait what if by weaving the tapestry she set the creature from her nightmares free. and the reason she keeps it is out of guilt and the belief that one day she has to destroy it to destroy the creature.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Actually, what if Fink is psychic? Maybe that dream he had in the plane was prophetic.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

maybe. i tend to view his dreams as more symbolic. like im really interested in the fact he has faceblindness and isaac in his dreams had no face

snuffysam

maybe that's not isaac. how would fink know?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

that is also a good point

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

By the voice, possibly.

snuffysam

fair

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Only we don't know.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

to be fair it might not have been isaac for the fact "isaac" was wearing a shirt that says "This is you"

which lends credit to the dream being prophetic

cause theyre warning him

actually yeah even tho "isaac" is talking the text is written as intelligible. so we cant gurantee he recognized isaac by voice

snuffysam

so yeah i may be right then

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yea

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

So it was Fink himself!

snuffysam

the shirt did say as much

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

QUESTION 4. Besides the bigger mysteries, there is a lot of small town drama going on. At the game, we meet Emma Bloom who Dawn clearly doesn’t care for. What do you think the history is between them? Does it have something to do with Logan, or is it just between them? What significance might Emma have further along? Another noteworthy character when it comes to drama is Nathaniel. Why is Nathaniel trying to obtain a gun? Is it just for protection, due to his angst, or is something else going on? Do you think this will get him in trouble with Joseph who is keen on watching him? In respects to the larger plot, what does Nathaniel’s end of the story have to do with any of the other events going on? Are there any other dramas or characters you thought were intriguing?

snuffysam

i think emma v dawn is definitely something relationship related

not sure as to what though

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I'll ship Emma and Dawn.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

maybe emma was supposed to marry logan but then she noped out of there. and dawn knows and is like "how dare"

snuffysam

that's not entirely implausible, math. one dumped the other at some point, and there's been bad blood ever since

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I feel like it's more of a professional issue than a personal one. Based on their professions.

Snuffy: True 'nuff!

snuffysam

what could the professional issue be, then? because in a small town, dawn's probably had to yell at everybody at least once

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

maybe its nothing relationships wise and the two are just rivals. like dawn always feels like emma is one-upping her

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I figure maybe the counsellor gave bad advice to a kid, who maybe then had a run-in with the law or something.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

but only dawn feels this and emma is like "wait what"

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Or maybe it was just a very bad "take your kid to work" day.

Dawn seems reasonably laid back though.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Lol

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

maybe dawn just doesnt like other women in general usually

snuffysam

like she's just always catty? i guess we haven't seen her around that many other woman.

she seems friendly enough with luca though

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

it could be more...defensive shyness? like make dawn was bullied in school by other girls and thus takes a while to open up

alternatively, emma was the bully

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Maybe Emma was arrested once.

Also, yeah, I have no idea where that gun angle is going. Nowhere good, I presume.

Given the attitude of the guy with the bullets.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

im just curious how this is gonna tie into fink. unless they decide nathaniel will be their tapestry expert for some reason.

or maybe nathaniel is after that alien creature thing we see haunting fink

and thats why he wants a gun

snuffysam

i think he'll reveal the tapestries to fink, but i don't know how or why

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Maybe he has a bird interest too.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

maybe its just a casual thing that gets brought up. like logan and fink will catch nathaniel getting the gun and have him in the car. and hell just offhandedly mention something about the tapestries

snuffysam

maybe he has a bird "interest" and that's what the gun is for

but yeah i think rebel's right

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Perhaps

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

and then theyll get joseph yazzie involved and itll be ultimate cop trio

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Meanwhile the ladies solve everything back at the station.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

on a different note, i cant wait till fink is boiling in the az sun

snuffysam

ooh yeah, he hasn't seen the sun up yet

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

not to mention his suit is dark colored so its gonna absorb more heat.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yea looknig forward to all that sun

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

and then all the cops are gonna snicker at his unpreparedness

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

ye

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

He never seems to get the breaks to go his way.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

pretty much.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

on another different note, i like that fink just accepted the dog into his life

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I'm a cat person sooooooo.... sure. ^.^

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

lol

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

im also a cat person. but i can appreciate someone getting a pet after being followed, shrugging, and going i guess this my life now

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I get the feeling Fink has to do that a lot.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yea

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

One other thing I want to mention before we wrap, that "favourite panel" contest I saw partway through. I thought that was really clever, I don't think I've seen that anywhere before.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Before time's up, If you see this, Jay, keep it up, this comic is a really great read and I love every bit of it.

snuffysam

yeah the contest was cool

as was the rest of the comic. keep it up, agent!

Agent Jay (The Pale)

ty ty

glad you guys enjoyed it

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

My pleasure

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Ah, you're still here. Yes, very well done.

Agent Jay (The Pale)

i've been working on some touch ups to ch4 ... and reading in here.

very fun

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yea

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

In a final twist at the end... we learn that this was all about "The Pal, E".

snuffysam

maybe the real pale was all of us

Agent Jay (The Pale)

hahaha

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Lul

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Knife throwing can spark many emotions.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yus

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

well i am really pale so it works O_O

COMIC TEA PARTY END!

Unfortunately, the scheduled Comic Tea Party time is now up~! Thank you everyone so much for reading and joining this week’s chat~! We want to give a special thank you to Jay Fabares & Sanders Fabares, as well, for making The Pale and volunteering it for our reading queue. If you liked the comic, please be sure to support Jay Fabares & Sanders Fabares’ efforts however you’re able to. All that being said, if you would like to continue discussing this week’s comic, we highly encourage you to do so~!

For next week, Comic Tea Party will focus on Obelisk by Ashley McCammon. As always, please use the next several days to read as much of the comic as you would like. We hope to see you next Thursday on June 14th from 5PM to 7PM PDT for the chat~! Until then, happy reading~! Comic: http://www.obeliskcomic.com/