#welcome to a long ass critical appreciation for my favourite show in the world

[regulusrules]

Ranking the best 10 Merlin episodes + a fic rec based on each one:

(absolutely not based on how gay they were) ((no order for the eps; they're all chef's kiss)) (((last two fics have a hold on me that levels the show itself; worth scrolling for)))

1. The Poisoned Chalice

Look. There is something just absolutely entrancing about introducing this episode in the first five of the entire show. Like, this hands-on was the sole reason everyone fell for those two idiots. It beautifully captured how the saving each other thing is reciprocal, because the first three episodes you just have to watch Merlin run around saving Arthur, never the reverse. Producing it early on in the show was the decision that, in my opinion, held everyone in their chokehold for eternity.

Fic rec: you are my favorite mistake (it can only be fate) by @multifandom-jess.

2. The Death Song of Uther Pendragon

I could go on and on for how this episode singlehandedly carried s5 on its shoulder. Like, okay I unfortunately love s5 with all my fucking heart, but this episode was perfect. Ghosts? Check. Banter? Check. POETRY?? Check check. A slap to Uther's face? Oh how beautifully checked.

It's so easy to recall how Arthur truly loved his father, but in this episode, the turmoil you see in his eyes from the actions of his father and how he resorts to saving the ones he loves (Merlin) over his father, is just too beautiful to be overlooked. Ever since Arthur became king, we see him struggle from his father's legacy. But in this episode, he begins to detach both consciously and subconsciously from him. Whether it's in his decision to save the old sorceress in the beginning, or to shun Uther's ghost, both the literal and the figurative, from his life any longer. This was one of the episodes that captured the true essence of King Arthur.

+1: the innuendos of this episode were 🤌. They knew what they were doing, you can't convince me otherwise. (are you threatening me with a spoon? / I'm teaching him some poetry.. he can't get enough of it! / what was that? h-horseplay. why don't I show you?)

Fic rec: My heart is readily yours by @regulusrules. (absolutely love how after all this introspection, i decided to throw it all away and made uther stab merlin in the fucking heart instead. but still it was my honourable attempt to shit on the finale and give them the happy ending everyone deserved).

3. The Sword in the Stone pt. 2

OKAY. This episode! Aside from how badass Merlin was in both pt.1&2, but here, especially in the part where us audience were impatiently waiting for the revival of the sword in the stone, there could've been nothing more perfect. Just like their adaptation of the round table scene, this was perfect in its own way for how different it was. They didn't make it so that people will finally find a king; they made it so that the people believe in their king. And more than that, for Arthur to believe in himself. With the estrangement and losing his crown, the writers gave him the best way to re-establish his inner glory. And Merlin being this guide; what more perfect culmination to their relationship?

You have to believe, Arthur.

Iconic.

Fic rec: Couldn't choose between Only Friend by @captain-ozone, and Fathom Me Out by @supercalvin. Brilliance ahead in both of them, I tell you.

4. The Eye of the Phoenix

Magic. Gwaine. Quests. Need I say more to explain that this was the show's holy trinity?

Fic rec: From Past to Present by flowersheep. (Prince Merlin. Archer Merlin. Perfection my friends).

5. A Servant of Two Masters

Look look; if there's an honourary wall of opinions for all the people who've watched Merlin, I DARE you to find just one who disliked this episode. Like, the series was so full of BS sometimes, but this episode was above all. The level of brilliance in this episode; showing Dark!Merlin, who's at the same time hilariously funny, and seeing him BAMF his way with Morgana, even when he's chained and tortured.. oh dear holy Lord. His "do me a favour, could you? let Arthur know." was able to steal all breath from my lungs the first time I saw it (and until now).

And don't get me started on the Protective!Arthur we got. Caring for Merlin, screaming for him when the rocks fell between them, silencing Agravaine immediately when he told him he's sorry for losing such a loyal servant because bullshit if he doesn't reign down hell before he loses Merlin. And ofc, Courage and Strength on their way to find Magic, which just filled my heart with an 'aaahhh!' moment, because we didn't get enough Gwaine-Arthur-Merlin shenanigans. And at last, the Hug™. Fucking screamed let me tell you.

It is an episode that truly showed everything; from comic elements to fluff and angst and everything. The only thing it lacked was, as always, giving Arthur the space to know. Because ffs what would they have lost if they made Arthur understand that Merlin's under Morgana's control? It wouldn't have exposed shit. It would've just been a plus to us to see Arthur caring for Merlin even more. They tried so hard that it completely backfired sometimes.

Fic rec: Still I Surface in Morning Light by @queerofthedagger. (I swear to you, anything written by this author, I readily throw whatever in hand to read it).

6. The Dragon's Call

Let thy gif caption speak.

No but really, that first episode was the stuff of legends. I could list down tens of tropes they did in just that episode alone. Honestly, no "family" show I've ever seen had started this powerfully. Just the music alone, the beauty of beginnings, not the CGI, was truly so gripping. Also bonus points for just Colin Morgan's sass abilities. None can compare.

Fic rec: This Time Around... series (incomplete) by Oneiric (lkdaswani). (this is a time travel AU, but the way the writer rewrote this episode was one of the best deviations I've read for an episode I already find near faultless).

7. The Sins of the Father

I might be subjecting myself to true wrath with my upcoming statement, but here we go:

S2 sucked.

From the beginning of the season, Arthur's shift in characterization from the honourable lovable prat of s1 to a letting Merlin act as a horse stool got me going wtf? It was like they deliberately ruined everything in their relationship and started out fresh just to force the Arthurian narrative of Arwen. And it's fine by me, truly, even if I'll never ship them, but they could've developed Arthur's character SO MUCH in that season beyond comic relief and romantic rendezvous.

Anyway so that I don't stray so much from the topic; this episode was, by fair comparison, the best in the entire season. By now it's pretty obvious that I gravitate towards all the episodes that give Arthur a semblance of agency. Him going against Uther and his maniac murderous agenda was the start of actually seeing King Arthur in front of us. Also, him listening to Merlin when he was on the verge of committing patricide was one of the things that gave me hope in how there's still hope in them. Even if they ruined it with making Merlin lie to Arthur, but the writers practically ruined every good episode with this.

+1: Morgause's intro was badass.

Fic rec: The Sins of the Father (and how to right them) by @cupcakezys. (what we deserved. to see arthur with agency, with an ability to decide for his future without being lied and deceived to).

8. Diamond of the Fucking Day

No matter how much I hate this episode, I can't, in good conscience, deny its hold on my heart. As I wrote before, there could've been no better magic reveal than this. And for all of my bitterness over their decision to kill Arthur, I sanely admit how it was a decision that insured the immortality of this fandom. It's been ten years since that episode aired, and I bet my ass off that it will still feel the same even after countless more decades.

Fic rec: literally the entirety of the fandom's fix-it fics. We all started from there, didn't we? Choosing only one would be so undervaluing to all the brilliance I've seen. However, my tags filter for it usually include: fix-it, angst with a happy ending, court sorcerer merlin, shitting on bbc writers 101, canon era, not canon compliant, everybody lives especially king arthur you mfs.

9. The Wicked Day

Throw me from the highest tower there is because every time I remember this scene, I just want to fade into the light. The sheer level of love and understanding shimmering between those two. Sometimes I marvel at the choice of bringing Colin and Bradley together, because no two could have achieved such chemistry, platonic or not, as those two did. This whole episode of showing Arthur's grief, and Merlin's desperation to heal it, was truly unforgettable. I try not to linger on its ending, Arthur denouncing magic for the millionth of time, but other than that it was a gem served to us on a silver platter.

Also seeing Uther finally die was a plus.

Fic rec: As much as I'd love to recommend my own fic for this, but honestly, whenever I get the chance, I will always take it to scream and wail about one of my absolute favourite fics of all time, which really isn't given ANY of the goddamn credit or attention or kudos it deserves. Beauty in the Ashes of Our Lives by Fulgance. I swear to you, you will never read something as beautifully heartbreaking as this. This fic resides in my mind rent-free. Basically any work by Fulgance is amazing, but this fic— oh God, my heart cannot take it sometimes.

10. Arthur's Bane pt. 1

Fuck, that episode was a masterpiece. You know, if it was all in my hands, I would've magic revealed at this particular episode. It was just.. the perfect opportunity. King Arthur in his glory, beginning of the season, enough time for Arthur to fully understand the depth of what Merlin did for him. Also, the range Arthur was given starting from here; God it's what we deserved. I always blame the writers for being inconsistent with his characterization (s2 and all), but they beautifully crafted it in the end, and it was their perfect chance to even explore the whole extent if only they made the magic reveal earlier.

Fic rec: Our broken pieces by @aramblingjay. Okay so this fic rec isn't necessarily linked at all to the episode, but I can't, in good conscience, recommend fics and not include it. Technically context wise it fits s5, for in it you see Arthur in his grandeur as king. This shall be my only exception because it's the only fic that was able to make me cry. Truly, I never shed tears, but in this, my heart stuttered. The fact that it is so unnoticed makes my blood boil because of how much praise it deserves. I can never recommend it enough.

To conclude, BBC Merlin has a powerful hold on everyone because of the fact that they knew how to eternalise it. It is significantly unique in its interpretation of legendary figures. I think I watched nearly all adaptations of King Arthur throughout the years, but even with how great some really are, to me none compare with this sword-swishing, banter-driven, CGI-messing, emotionally-killing 2008 show.

Honorary mentions:

| The Labyrinth of Gedref | Gwaine | Le Morte D'Arthur | Lancelot | The Coming of Arthur | The Moment of Truth | The Hunter's Heart | His Father's Son | The Darkest Hour |

[Short fic recs]

[Long fic recs]

[illgiveyouahint]

I don't go into the Druck tag. I always read that it's too negative in there.

Like I follow my blogs. I follow blogs who are critical and who create beautiful art/gifsets/stories but who also speak up.

None of the people I follow ever said something bad about Ava, but they also never insulted Mailin for being a bit (iam sorry) tone-deaf.

I am white. And I know that I have a white privilege. I know that it is not my voice that counts about how Druck is handling it currently, but I am allowed to reblog posts from my lovely mutuals who experienced racism and stuff.

I don't even know what I am telling you. I am just so so so sad that apparently there are such cruel people who are ruining experiences right now.

When Matteo's season aired I blocked some transohobes. I never blocked someone on here before. If I would see such a negative and cruel opinion I think I would block them. I don't need such cruel negativty. Like you can be critical of Druck, but I like this season a lot currently (but it's not my voice that counts here). I don't create myself a bubble, because I also appreciate people who are constructive criticisen something! But like this whole hate against Ava? It's racist. And I feel terrible reading about it. And I am sorry for this meaningless rant, ramble in your Inbox.

I just love talking to you. And it always feels safe to talk to you. You are my safe space on Tumblr.

Hello anon,

and I love your long asks that are separated into paragraphs and make me feel like I'm actually reading a letter.

Honestly that is the best thing to do. Find your people. Create your own little world and have fun. Don't be blind to other people's opinions. Be willing to educate yourself if need be. But also this time on tumblr should be fun for your. watching a show should be fun for you. I've basically done it with many other shows. Found few people in that fandom I like and stick with them.

But the Druck fandom used to be different was what I tried to say. Druck and early Skam fandoms were the only two fandoms that I've ever seen that were actually discussing and analysing the show and that felt welcoming. One of my favourite blogs here was someone who came up with this whole-ass post about the importance of Isak's blue pillow. Siiri rarely blogs about Skam but I still love her blog so much and she is such warm presence to me. The fandom used to be great. It's not anymore. 

Also please learn to block people. It's so good for your health.  I feel like I need to end this as a proper letter now

        with love

                                  sincerely yours

                                                                        Hana

[comicteaparty]

July 13th-July 19th, 2020 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from July 13th, 2020 to July 19th, 2020.  The chat focused on Super Galaxy Knights Deluxe R by snuffysam.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

Comic Tea Party

BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Super Galaxy Knights Deluxe R by snuffysam~! (http://sgkdr.thecomicseries.com/comics/)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace until July 19th, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Discussions are freeform, but we do offer discussion prompts in the pins for those who’d like to have them. Additionally, remember that while constructive criticism is allowed, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic! Whether you finish the comic or can only read a few pages, everyone is welcome to join and chat with us!

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 1

1. What did you like about the beginning of the comic?

2. What has been your favorite moment in the comic (so far)?

3. Who is your favorite character?

4. Which characters do like seeing interact the most?

5. What is something you like about the art? If you have a favorite illustration, please share it!

6. What is a theme you like that the comic explores?

7. What do you like about the comic’s story or overall related content?

8. Overall, what do you think the comic’s strengths are?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

carcarchu

I'm only 5 pages in so far, but this comic has a great sense of humour i've already laughed out loud at some of the jokes

Deo101 [Millennium]

god yes the jokes all hit so well

carcarchu

i noticed an error on tapas, page 42 and page 45 are identical

Deo101 [Millennium]

oh no

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

@carcarchu fixed, thank you for pointing that out!

carcarchu

i'm 63 pages in now and i'm really enjoying this comic so far. it's solidly paced with an interesting cast of characters. the banter is really fun to read and i'm loving how the world building expands with each new character introduced

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

glad to hear it!!!

shadowhood {SunnyxRain}

Damn I feel bad for only reading this now

I love the comedic pauses in between the jokes, and it makes the situation more awkward and hilarious for me!

Also fourth wall breaking and lampshades

Feather J. Fern

I really like the line "I can't hear you from over there." Lampshading why people monologue but they are stepping away from the listener

I really enjoy these types of jokes, this comic has really good comedic timing.

Also It is long, but easy to digest, so I'm speeding through quite easily.

Also Sir Pokes a Lot!! My favourite character, and you killed them! (I love the animated parts of the comic too)

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

thank u!!!

and yeah, sorry about sir pokes-a-lot

Deo101 [Millennium]

Can not wait for y'all to meet my fave

shadowhood {SunnyxRain}

Wait WHAT SIR POKES A LOT DIES WHAT THE HELL

Oh yes, the animated parts always get me by surprise and I love them too

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

imo, there's an even sadder death in book 2...

RebelVampire

I like that the beginning just has a lot of comedy even while establishing the exposition parts. So you don't really even notice you're learning about characters, the world, and so forth, because the jokes just really make the entire experience vastly entertaining. My favorite moment in the comic is probably now when all the governors show up and Electric Zebra to fight the demon. Cause it was like a party of badasses, had lots of great comedy, lots of great fighting, and just all around it was nice to see everyone else embrace Mizuki's strengths too. My favorite character is a tie between Electric Zebra and Sword Warrior/Taci. Electric Zebra because I love that he works for the gov but also hates the gov while also moonlighting as a musician. He just all around is a fun character for me who could do no wrong. Taci I like because he's simultaneously arrogant, smart, caring, and selfish. I also like that he just blatantly announces his plans to become dictator. As for the art, I really love the colors. The entire comic is just a really colorful experience without being over-saturated, and I really think that makes it stand out, regardless of the other 3D aspects and such that make it stand out as well, of course. I like in the current book it explores the nature of making friends. Since Mizuki is trying hard to make friends with Stella, and Stella isn't having that. So I enjoy this exploration in terms of kind of what do you even do in those situations and how can you peacefully co-exist and overcome that grump gap.

As for the overall related content and the comic's strength, these are one in the same for me: the comedy. This is by far one of the few comic's that clicks for me in terms of comedy. Not only does it have fantastic timing, but a lot of it is really smart with lots of callbacks to things that happened - and damn do I love that sort of continuity. It's not even just the one-liner jokes though. Sometimes it's just the stories overall way of solving problems in comedic ways that is the best, so all in all, just a great entertaining comic.

Krispy §[Ghost Junk Sickness]§

The dialogue is so funny to go through, I love the way Snuffy characterises and just has fun!

also the cell shaded rendering is so cool! I love the aesthetic and design !

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

@RebelVampire regarding continuity stuff, this is basically the ending of book 2 lmao(edited)

mathtans

Hm, so this is somehow a trickier one for me to analyze since I've been reading it since the first CTP. Admittedly I fell behind after Book2 (busy months) but I just got caught back up (SpaceMySpace...) so I guess I'll do some further pondering and check back in later. ^^

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

ok so i finished re-reading my comic the only joke that made me legit laugh out loud this re-read was the dancing in panel 3 of this page: http://sgkdr.thecomicseries.com/comics/255 just because i completely forgot i put that gag in there lol

tbh my favorite character in the comic is taci. like, before his introduction, the comic was incomplete, in a sense. but with him in the picture, all the writing just fits together. (even past the fact that books 3-5 wouldn't happen without taci being a total weirdo who mailed hundreds of letters to the galaxy knights under fake names, lol)

Deo101 [Millennium]

taci is also my favorite,,, as you know, aha

Comic Tea Party

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 2

9. Given the comic’s emphasis on comedy, what was your favorite joke insofar? What made it stand out to you compared to the others? In what ways does the comic’s comedy stand apart from other comics?

10. What do you think of Mizuki’s tactics for using magic? Is she crazy as many characters imply, or do you think she’ll continue to make it work far into the future? How will this decision affect her skills as a strategist?

11. What do you think King Zebugu is doing participating in Galaxy Knights trials? Do you think he’s finally changed his ways, or is he up to something? Also, will this help Taci achieve his own goals?

12. Do you think Mizuki will be able to become a Galaxy Knight? If so, what other trials will she have to work through? Additionally, what will become of some of the other characters such as Stella, Taci, and Pejiba in the trials?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

Deo101 [Millennium]

Okay my favorite joke so far was DEFINITELY this one, it's the first one I think that really made me like, fully laugh out loud. I dont know why it got to me so much. Also it made me love cahe very much as well.

SPOILER

Also I think Mizuki's magic probably IS something to do with her abillity to copy other's magic really easily, and probably more efficiently.

and kinda combo of 11 and 12 but I hope they all become galaxy knights and be friends :)

(including king zebugu)

back about the magic thing I KNOW weve been told anyone can do any magic, it's just very draining and hard, so they use their own magics always... but People have also commented on her ability to actually utilize other's magics SO i feel like theres more to it than just her being incredibly stubborn.

RebelVampire

I'm sorry Cahe. You used to be my #2 fave character, but then Taci.

Deo101 [Millennium]

LITERALLY SAME

RebelVampire

My favorite joke changes each reading, but right now I'm gonna go with Book 2 when Mizuki is remarking about forgetting something important and then we see Enetoro still stalling for the talent show. It was such great timing since it was long enough most readers probably forgot about it in the front of their mind but still recent enough you're like oh yeah. And I just like that long ass joke setup for the entire book. As for how the comic's comedy in general stands apart, just superior timing. A lot of comedy is about timing, and this comic is just spot on everytime. As for how Mizuki uses magic, it's probably a bit of both. She is crazy, but she will probably make it work for a long time to come just out of sheer force of will and stubbornness. But I think her having to learn so many abilities and find ways to utilize them together can only increase her skills as a strategist, since it allows her to assess the full potential of every ability and command others to reach that potential. King Zebugu is probably up to something again. I don't think he's as evil in the first books, but I def think there's something going on that he isn't telling anyone that he'll reveal towards the end and say, "Well good luck Mizuki peace out." I don't think it'll help Taci though. I think Taci will just wind up getting roped in and never get even one step closer to becoming the dictator he always wants to be. I do think Mizuki will become a Galaxy Knight. As for other trials, I'm not entirely sure. I imagine there's gonna be some sort of tournament arc though cause otherwise how is Stella supposed to say something about how this is a true contest for warriors. I think Stella will befriend Mizuki, and Taci will at least win something he can brag about. I think Pejiba won't win though, but I also think Pejiba would be content to try again and just go back to skipping around with Cahe.

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

There's... somewhat of a tournament arc coming up? The structure is gonna be weird compared to other tournament arcs, but it's definitely one of the more interesting chapters I've written lol. So... have fun speculating on that for the next three years lmao

Regarding some of the other questions - there's currently enough information in the comic to figure out all the 11th-hour plot twists for Book 3. I won't say there's enough information to easily figure the plot out, lol, but you could figure it out. Though - there is absolutely something going on that King Zebugu isn't telling anyone about (it's kind of a habit at this point, lol).

mathtans

1. You know something I like about the beginning? The links to the original artwork. It's just a subtle thing down at the bottom, but it simultaneously shows the progress made by the artist, and allows anyone thinking 'wow I could never do anything like that' to realize that it didn't happen overnight.

Also the gradual world building is really well done. You don't get too much at once.

2. I think my favourite moment remains how Mizuki defeated Zebugu near the end of Book 1. It was just really clever in terms of reincorporating something subtle (the comic's good at that in general) to turn the tables, and played off his personality more than his magic, which was also clever. There's lots of other great moments too, but that one stands out over time, I think because we were looking at a climax there.

3. Favorite character is probably Zaxaty. Yeah, yeah, mathtans going for the major lesbian, big surprise, but hear me out. She's connected to the King, a major antagonist, but has her own personality and I don't think she's afraid to slap him down if needed. She might even end up connected to the major protagonist (because of reader ships). She's into art, there's that whole bizarre roller skating thing just to point out she's not normal. I possibly enjoy hairstyles like hers. And she sustained major injuries in the big Book 2 battle but sucked it up and still did what she could. So there.

(Before Zaxaty it was probably Pejiba. She seemed smart and capable.)

4. Character interaction... possibly Mizuki and Taci, simply because I tend to enjoy their interactions with everyone else in the cast. So when they get together, whew... possibly related, Mizuki has a tendency to be oblivious due to inexperience or failing her perception checks, while Taci can be oblivious because he's so full of himself. Their battle and the Sword Warrior revelation was another good moment overall.

5. Again, I'm hardly a person to be commenting on art. But the rendering effects and the occasional animated panels kind of blow me away.

(Not the first person to remark on that, admittedly.)

6. I'm not great with themes either. Perseverance is probably one, based on what/who Mizuki has to put up with. Also friendship, which Rebel referenced, and can even be seen in the earlier bits with the group coming together (Cahe and Pejiba taking it to the next level). And how those in power aren't necessarily the best at decision making (is that a theme)?

Then there's mystery, like what are peoples' goals. Is that a theme? I don't know what I'm talking about, let's face it.

7. Something about the story and content is how much development's gone into it. I don't know if the side stories were started in part due to StArt Faire, or if it provided some perpetual motion, but for example Gynu and Suzigu have this entire childhood backstory in there, and we never saw that much of them in Book 1. (Maybe that one was to highlight more Galaxy Knight stuff? But there's others that expand on otherwise minor characters.)

Then there's the cast page, which seems to be constantly updating, and includes extra random trivia and even what seem like really really minor characters (like the Ferryman).

I have no clue how snuffysam manages to do all that stuff and yet continue to update multiple times in a week. With, as Rebel pointed out, very good comedy too, both situational and connected to character personalities.

8. Comic strength is I think at times doing the unexpected. Like throwing in animation, or referencing someone new or something that adds new pieces to the magic dynamic. Like you want to keep reading to know what comes next because even if it's what you think it might be, there's probably some new aspect you didn't expect that will be there too.

Anyway, there's some thoughts, and for all I know it's similar to stuff I already said in a previous chat. If so, whoops. More tomorrow. I type slow.

(Incidentally, related to the stories, the "wingwomanicon" story won't load for me... it's a blank pdf. And the link in the story proper for when it first went up seems to link to the wrong story.)

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

@mathtans I really should test my links lol... the story should be fixed now

Comic Tea Party

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 3

13. What are you most looking forward to seeing in regards to the comic?

14. Any final words of encouragement for the comic?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

mathtans

9. I'm not sure I could pick a favourite joke. Mizuki's habit of breaking the fourth wall tends to be cleverly done. Coruby's wit matches well with his character. I'll echo what Rebel said about the timing too; there's effective use of beat panels and the like too.

10. Mizuki's probably crazy, or perhaps it's more her obliviousness, but she's very good at working with what she has to minimize the drain. She also must have a really good memory. I think the main problem with her ability to strategize is she's not great at long term planning, everything seems to be more "in the moment".

(I figure you've got a lot going on as is there. ) Sorry, must scamper again, back later. Should we comment on ships too here, or is that mostly covered by the comic itself?

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

Hey, you can comment on ships as much as you want!

mathtans

Zebugu and Taci might be a ship. Can't be that much animosity without deeper feelings somewhere, right?

RebelVampire

I can't decide how I feel about Zebugu/Taci. That is a ship that makes sense as much as it doesn't make sense. I am stuck in a loop.

I am looking forward to more Taci because Taci. There can never be enough Taci in the comic, and I think I just really enjoy how he works off Mizuki because it offers lots of beautiful comedic potential. My final words are just amazing comedy comic that everyone should check out.

mathtans

11. I think King Zebugu is in the trials in part because he doesn't like that his wizard and his accountant were former Galaxy Knights. Maybe it's the ace they play to get him under control at times, maybe they don't need to, but I think he's trying to gain more power over his underlings, and by extension the planet. He's always got an angle. As to Taci, for him it's probably more ego driven, but he does have two abilities so maybe he wants to see how he compares off planet. I don't see either of them winning, I see them potentially cancelling each other out so the other guy doesn't win.

12. I think Mizuki could become a Galaxy Knight, but I don't think it'll happen in Book 3. In particular Bily is being set up as an antagonist against her (she has a similar ability to duplicate the spells of someone else, though she does need to touch them AND she has a beef with Mizuki over being the one to knock her brother out of contention). Other trials, I'm not sure... there might be one where they have to team up with someone else. Mizuki and Stella would be an interesting situation, as would Taci and anybody. I don't think Motorcycle Man or Willpower-Copy Lady will get far since the cast page only gives them minor character status. But then that could be part of the joke in the end.

Rebel's analysis regarding the others looks pretty good, actually. I'm not sure how hammer guy fits in, is one thing.

Fun that Stella's officially out now, incidentally. I don't see her going for shorter women though. Also, I wonder what constellations she might have that are in no way tied to the stars as we know them? And for that matter, she made a "Frozen" reference, which is usually Mizuki's domain. Perhaps she's also aware of the 4th wall (or "Frozen" went international there on 'SpaceMySpace' or something). Anyway.

13. Well, that last Starstuff Story is only one page long, so potentially looking forward to reading the rest of that. Seeing how the tournament plays out will be interesting... I'm more hyped about it than the gatherings plot of Book 2, maybe it's the extra title drop, dunno. Also vaguely curious about what's happening with everyone back on the planet during this time... like, if the King's away, who's running the place? (Zaxaty?)

Incidentally, the Galaxy Knights must be pretty well off financially. They set up housing and roommates for EVERYONE, then almost right away had a challenge and eliminated most of the people. Like, a lot of those rooms they didn't need.

Random question too, how DID the Starstuff stories get their start?

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

@mathtans I dunno how I keep screwing this up... anyway, I checked, and the newest story is now 100% fixed.

The original reason for Starstuff Stories was to flesh out characters' move pools for potential video game adaptations. Like, that's why Green Archer uses explosive arrows and chain arrows in her story, and why Chill Bro has ice armor in his. Though it evolved over time to just being interesting stories that I wanted to tell that wouldn't necessarily focus on Mizuki.

mathtans

Sorry, was needed elsewhere. Then read the story. I didn't expect ears to be a thing, and that poor woman is cursed. ^.^ That's a neat origin idea, I hadn't thought along those lines. Looks like the story has evolved too, there's been some scenes without Mizuki too (though I guess they were in some way related).

14. For final words, just keep at it I guess, you've got a very interesting world set up and do well at engaging your audience too, from what I can tell.

Deo101 [Millennium]

Zebugu/taci huh...? I can see them being exes or something

mathtans

Maybe that's the real reason Taci wants to kill Zebugu.

Deo101 [Millennium]

Zebugu forgot to tell taci they broke up, and stood him up!

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

That does sound like something Zebugu would do...

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

also, regarding something @mathtans said - Looks like the story has evolved too, there's been some scenes without Mizuki too (though I guess they were in some way related). yeah i had to rewrite book 3 like two times before I realized the story worked better if it didn't focus on mizuki all the time. like, book 3 introduces the most new characters out of any book so far, and i was completely neutering it by forcing all their arcs to relate to mizuki in some way. thanks to breaking that mentality, i'm able to include stuff like characters having rivalries with each other in ways that mizuki wouldn't even find out about, which helps keep the book from getting bogged down imo.

mathtans

It's cool that you draft everything out to that extent. And it's not out of the blue, she wasn't there for some of the big battle ending Book 2 either.

(Or at the talent show for most of the story. )

Comic Tea Party

BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Super Galaxy Knights Deluxe R this week! Please also give a special thank you to snuffysam for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Super Galaxy Knights Deluxe R, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: http://sgkdr.thecomicseries.com/comics/

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[mint-kook]

Overnight || Short Story

AN: To everyone who was interested in reading the short story I had mentioned earlier, I got the go ahead from my teacher to post it. Down below you will be able to read my first actual work that isn’t fanfiction-related. I’m somewhat proud of this (not really) and just like always, criticism is very much appreciated and welcomed! 

The school bell droned on in the ears of the teenagers as they marched from one class to the next. The dreary weather outside seemed to lower the moods of everyone who witnessed it, commanding the way they felt for the next two hours. Evie seemed to be the only one in a good mood as she walked, trying to navigate between the several bodies that blocked her path in the hall.

She took a deep breath, letting the stale air fill her lungs and drag her towards her next class. It was the sound of the rain pattering on the windows that seemed to be the cause of silence, the youth wanting to listen to the sound rather than the drawl of their teachers. Evie sat down at the desk reserved for her and let out the breath she had been holding, pulling out her binder and notebook from her bag.

Bodies flooded into the room, students arriving and taking their places in the once empty classroom and filling it up quickly. She stayed silent as she noticed the all black body enter the room. Evie had never seen her before, knowing that if she had, she would have remembered the striking black hair and silver-like eyes. The body moved gracefully, a difference between the others who seemed to drag themselves around the room.

Evie found herself enticed by the other, letting her eyes follow the other as she moved into one of the empty desks in front of her, not bothering to pull out her belongings. The stranger’s neck craned as she stretched and directed her attention out the window and continued to stare at the clouds that seemed to block any trace of the sunlight that once existed. Exquisite, she thought to herself. That was the only way she seemed to be able to describe the other girl, the only word in her head that seemed to stand out and hold itself at the forefront of her mind like a billboard on display.

The sound of the teacher entering the room attracted her attention and she tore her eyes away from the black haired girl with disdain. The period begun, Shakespeare’s Hamlet being the first subject to cover. The students sat quietly as the teacher begun to talk about the despair and insanity that Ophelia suffered from, driving her to eventually drown herself. The talk quickly bored Evie and she found her attention shifting back to the raven-coloured haired girl sitting a few seats in front of her.

It was the way she seemed to not notice her surroundings, to forget about where she was and disappear into thought without a worry that attracted Evie. She found herself obsessing over the girl during the period and missing the lesson due to her distracted gaze. It wasn’t until the bell rang and the other kids started moving that Evie realized she had missed the entire class. She blinked her eyes frantically to regain some of her thoughts and found herself standing before she could stop herself.

Letting her feet take her wherever they wanted to go, she arrived in front of the girl that had managed to captivate her the entire period. She inhaled sharply as the silver eyes seemed to lock onto her, piercing through her very being. There was something about being in front of the girl that made Evie feel incredibly exposed in that moment, as if the other was able to see everything about her without even asking a single question.

“Is there a reason you made your way over here?” The voice startled her, but she found herself quickly regaining her confidence and she smiled happily.

“My name’s Evie, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before,” she outstretched her hand, not expecting the cold reaction she received. The girl looked at her hand with disgust before she sighed and responded.

“Amara, and I just transferred into this class.”

“Well Amara, I think you and I should get to know each other a little bit better, how about...you come over to my house tonight and we can hang out,” Evie watched in satisfaction as a small smirk found its way onto Amara’s face. It was as if she had just cracked into stone and found diamond lying underneath in the form of the others amusement.

“You’re very forward, aren’t you?” Evie nodded quickly, not letting the words affect her in the slightest. “I’ll meet you there.”

It was so sudden, Evie almost couldn’t believe her ears but she didn’t show the surprise on her face. She gave the stranger her address and left with the promise that she would see her around six that afternoon. The smile that made its way across Evie’s face seemed to remain a constant despite the dreary weather that encased the rest of the students.

The sound of knocking reverberated throughout the entire home, bouncing off of the walls and eventually finding its way into Evie’s ears where she sat in her bedroom. She listened to the knocking continue, once, twice, three times, before she moved from where she was sitting and decided to answer the door herself.

Confusion flooded through her as she wondered why her parents hadn’t bothered to open the door, both of them in perfectly capable areas of the house. Evie shook the thoughts from her head as she made her way downstairs and into the front hall, taking the last few steps to the door and pulling it open to reveal the girl she had met at school earlier that day.

“Your eyes,” Evie paused taking in the now black coloured eyes that stared at her, but still belonged to Amara.

“What about them?” The question seemed so innocent, so different from the tone that she had used in school and Evie knew immediately that it was a sensitive topic. It was the vulnerability in her voice that made her stop and not press the matter anymore than needed.

“Nothing, come on in,” Evie stepped aside, letting the other girl into the home and leading her up the stairs to her bedroom where the two of them could hang out in peace. Her parents had already been alerted of the other girl’s presence and that she would be heading up to the bedroom immediately. Her parents were glad to see that she had finally invited a friend over and promised not to disturb the two unless something important came up.

The two walked into the bedroom that had been occupied moments ago and sat on the bed, both crossing their legs in the process and deciding to play a simple game of twenty questions.

“So what class did you have before English?” Evie asked, finally gaining the courage to talk about something.

“I had art, but I was told I would have to transfer out because the teacher thought my artwork was a little too ‘dark’,” Amara explained, not hesitating to let a smile breach her lips. “What are you parents like?”

“Boring, not fun, surprisingly lenient. I’ve never given them a reason not to trust me so they’re kind of cool with me doing whatever I like as long as I give them updates,” she answered the question easily, letting the other know about her life. Evie watched as Amara’s smile seemed to falter a little bit, the smile slipping just the slightest and showing a hint of sadness on her face.

“I wish my parents were like that, they’re always on my ass about something no matter what I do,” it was an admission that Evie wasn’t expecting but was grateful for nonetheless. “Even when I try my hardest to make them happy, they always seem to find something wrong and yell at me or get me in trouble for it.”

Evie watched as Amara’s shoulders slumped and she could see that the girl who had been so cold and collected in class was now letting herself open up in her small home. She took a deep breath and reached out for the other, trying to pull her into a hug before she could say anything else. As her fingers brushed the bare skin of her arms she found her hand wrenching back and hissing at the cold that seeped under her skin.

“You’re freezing, how come you didn’t say anything?” The question came out as an almost half scream as she stared at the black haired girl in disbelief. She reached over on her bed to grab and blanket and wrapped it around the other.

“I didn’t even notice,” she answered. Evie looked into the others eyes and tried to find something, anything that resembled the girl she had talked to earlier that day. She was here, physically, but it seemed as if she was lacking the part of herself that had drawn Evie in earlier that day. She knew something must have happened, but she didn’t know if it was her place yet to ask the other about it.

The two of them talked for a while more, learning more and more about them as time passed on. As the light disappeared outside the window, darkness seemed to encase the world and hold it within its grasp. Evie invited the girl to spend the night and received an affirmation in reply.

As the two of them laid down in bed, Evie could feel a place in her heart opening up, feeling the swell in her chest that had started earlier when Amara had talked about her parents. She remembered the smile the other had on her face when they talked about simple things, like their favourite hobbies and she decided that she would rather see that look in her eyes over anything else.

It was quiet in the room, and Evie could see that Amara had already drifted off, her body unconsciously moving towards the other girl. Her arms reached out in her sleep and she managed to grasp onto Evie’s shirt, holding on and pulling closer. Evie’s heart beat fast in her chest and she sighed, letting her own arms wrap around the surprisingly smaller body and pulling her into a tight hold. She would hold her for tonight, if only to provide the other with a little bit of comfort.

Sunlight filtered through the blinds of Evie’s window, coating the empty side of the bed she had awoken too. Her hand ran across the soft sheet, wondering what had happened to the other girl and why the bed was so cold now. A chill ran down her spine as she thought about where the other might have gone.

There was a nagging sense pulling at the back of Evie’s brain and she couldn’t quite place what was wrong. She could feel bile rising in the pit of her stomach, causing her to sit up quickly. She sat for a moment before deciding to get up and finally get ready for school.

Memories of the night before emerged from where Evie had hidden them down. The look on Amara’s face seemed to stain the back of her eyelids, coating her vision everytime she closed her eyes. She let the thoughts continue to plague her, trying to figure out what had been wrong with the other while she left her bedroom and home, heading to the school where she hoped to see the other girl.

It was the nagging feeling that something was wrong, this lurking feeling pulling at Evie’s chest as she approached the school. She hated it, wished it would go away, but the more she thought about Amara the worse the feeling got. It wasn’t until she got to the school that she was dragged out of her own thoughts about the other girl.

Yellow tape coated the entryway and was the first thing that caught her attention first. It was the loud ‘POLICE’ painted in bold that alarmed her and made her heart race in her chest. All of the feelings that had been building up that moment finally cracked and Evie could feel the panic racing through every single vein in her entire body. Students gathered around the entire front entry, whispers flooding through every person and coating them all in a film of impatience. The need for knowledge and gossip seemed to fill each teenager standing there and they waited.

“What happened?” Evie asked, turning to one of the other students congregated around the front. They turned quickly and looked ar Evie, taking in her confusion and worry before finally speaking up.

“They say somebody died, apparently they committed suicide in the girls bathroom. Another girl found her this morning,” the girl answered, her voice stumbled on the last words and Evie felt her heart sink for the unknown girl.

A teacher made their way out, stepping to the front of the school and taking position in front of the giant crowd. The attention of the students turned towards the teacher, taking in her demure expression and quieting down in order to allow her to speak.

“A student unfortunately took their own life last night in our female washroom. We ask that all of you make your ways home and take the day off of school. We will be sending emails to all of you parents and will hope to see you return in a couple of days.”

Students seemed to peddle away quickly, some excited about the prospect of having the next few days off of school, and others sorrowful at the end of their classmates life. Evie stood for a few more moments, catching glimpse of the paramedics finally coming out of the school, the body on a stretcher covered.

It was only a moment, but it was the face that stared at her nonetheless that she recognized. She could feel her heart shatter in her chest, the unmistakable silver eyes staring at her. Her knees seemed to buckle under her and within seconds she was on the ground, tears streaming down her face. There was no way it was true. She had to have been hallucinating.

Evie stayed on the ground for a few moments before the teacher who had spoken minutes earlier seemed to appear at her side and help her away from the scene. It didn’t have to be said but they knew she had seen who it had been.

Amara’s body on the stretcher flashed across her eyes again but she refused to believe it. They had been together just the night before, there was no way that she could have been dead. There was no way she was gone.

Evie refused to believe it.

[artificialqueens]

Hey (Trixya) - JJ

AN: Hi hello there this is my first-ever fic and I am freaking the fuck out but hey it’s 3:30AM and I have the rest of the night to regret every decision I’ve ever made.

Short lil’ Trixya thing I’ve had in my mind for a while now (even tho there’s barely any Trixie in it LOL). A lil' angsty. Mostly Katya-centric and Katya/Violet friendship-centric. Drag names are used but with male pronouns (except Violet, of course, has gender-neutral pronouns).

If people are interested I’ll do a follow-up.

I welcome (and would actually really appreciate) any and all constructive criticism, please!

Thank-you so much for reading!

XOXOXO,

~ JJ

“Okay… so… how long, EXACTLY, has it been since you last spoke to him…?”

  Katya sighed and refused to look at the computer screen where Violet’s no-doubt judgemental face could be seen.

  “I dunno. Little while. Not that long.” He dared sneak a glance and immediately regretted it as he was met with one of Violet’s admittedly perfect eye rolls.

  “Bitch you didn’t even wish him a happy birthday. The entirety of the Internet freaked the fuck out. I was surprised some dumbass hashtag wasn’t trending because of it. #RIPTrixya or something. #KatyaKilledTrixya. Endless possibilities.”

  “Hey!” Katya gasped indignantly, “Just because I didn’t wish him a public happy birthday on social media does not mean I didn’t wish him a happy birthday at all! I sent him a lovely text right at midnight.

  “And besides!” he continued, “Fans are so over-dramatic. We have a show coming out soon. How can anyone think we had a falling out. Jesus.”

  “You done yet?” Violet asked. Katya shot them an annoyed look.

  “I am just saying,” Violet continued, “that it’s a little suspish. And I mean, really? A text? Not even FaceTime or a phone call? Seriously, Katya, what’s wrong?” Violet’s voice betrayed their stone-cold bitch persona, genuinely concerned for their friend.

  Katya started to deny any reason for concern but stopped himself. Shoulders slumped and looking totally defeated, he looked away from Violet’s prying eyes and focused on picking a hangnail.

  “It’s hard now.” He whispered.

  “What’s hard?” Violet prompted.

  “My dick,” Katya replies instantaneously, always turning to humour when the things get a little too serious for his liking.

  “Katya I swear to God…” Violet sighs impatiently.

  “Okay okay sorry.” Katya giggles nervously, eyes darting all over the place.

  Silence.

  “Katya if you don’t start talking soon I swear to God I will—”

  “Okay!” Katya snaps, cutting Violet off. He takes a deep breath.

  “It’s hard now—”

  “You already said that.”

  “If you don’t let me finish I am ending this call right now.” Katya threatened.

  “By all means, continue.” Violet says, smirking.

  “It's… like… ugh! I don’t know!” Katya growls, frustrated.

  “Just do what you always do and let the word vomit happen. I’m sure I’ll catch the gist.” Violet suggests.

  “Okay. So. Like. You know how part of our whole dynamic is that ongoing joke about me wanting to fuck him and him always denying me? It’s fun, right? I always thought so. Going off on those tangents was always such a gas and one of my favourite parts of all my sets. But like. Lately I don’t find it so much fun. It’s like I feel sick every time I start and then I end up going off of my usual script and saying stupid shit like ‘I wish he were my boyfriend’ or something and JESUS. I don’t know. It makes me upset now. Like we’ve gone from ‘ha ha he’ll never fuck me but I’ll sure die trying!’ to ‘wow this is really never gonna happen huh I wonder why I’m not good enough.’” He finishes with a deep sigh and waits for Violet to respond. He fully expects for them to laugh and comment on how silly this was and tell him to just get over it and move on.

  What he’s not expecting is for Violet to remain quiet and stare intensely at what he assumes is his face on their screen. There’s a bit of something (excitement? hope?) in their eyes and Katya doesn’t know what’s happening. If it weren’t for Violet’s chest moving as they breathed he would have thought the connection had been frozen.

  “Vi? You gonna say something?”

  “You’re not done. I’m waiting for you to finish.” Violet replies quickly.

  “Um. What?” Katya asks lamely.

  “Your word vomit. You’re not done. There’s more. I’m waiting.”

  “No? There’s not?” Katya is desperately trying to figure out what’s happening but comes up blank.

  “Jesus Christ do not make me spell it out for y—” before they could continue, someone calls out Violet’s name and they look over their computer at whoever it is.

  “Listen, I gotta go. I’m up soon. Call me back when you figure your fucking shit out.”

  Before Katya can even begin to formulate a response, the call is disconnected.

  ***************

  Katya tries his best to go to sleep, but it turns out to be impossible. He keeps going over his conversation with Violet in his head, trying to make sense of it all.

  He sighs deeply and turns over in his bed, reaching for his phone. Normally, when he couldn’t sleep, he’d text Trixie a multitude of weird facts and random thoughts. The other man would usually be sound asleep but would always reply as soon as he woke up, usually with a simple “Katya what the fuck” before individually commenting on every text he received.

  Normally.

  But try as he might, Katya can’t bring himself to text Trixie. Hasn’t been able to for weeks now. It’s weird. He’s used to texting back and forth every day, even when they’re on opposite sides of the world. Sure, replies may be hours apart, but they still make it work.

  He wonders if Trixie realizes they haven’t texted about anything other than the necessary reasons (such as their upcoming show) for going on three weeks now.

  Probably not.

  Katya opens up their conversation thread and types a simple you awake?

  He quickly deletes it, sounding too much like a booty call.

  hey Tracy it’s your mom

  Delete.

  you would not believe what I saw this afternoon walking down my neighbourhood

Delete.

  are you still being a good person and honouring your NDA or can we talk about AS3 now

  Delete.

  I miss you.

  Delete.

  do you miss me?

  Delete.

  you know it’s weird it’s like I can’t breathe lately and I wonder if it has anything to do with us not talking ha ha ha

  Delete.

  do you realize how long it’s been since we’ve spoken

  I don’t really know how to live my everyday life when you’re not a part of it

  Jesus Christ do you even care

  fuck you

  I hate you

  Delete.

  Delete.

  Delete.

  Delete.

  DELETE.

  He turns his phone off and shoves it underneath his comforter, deep at the bottom of the bed.

  And suddenly breathing is very hard.

  He tries to catch a breath but finds it impossible. He realizes he’s shaking and tries even harder to calm down. It’s been a while since he had a panic attack. He’s not sure he even knows how to deal with a panic attack any more.

  Because he always calls Trixie whenever he thinks he can feel one coming on.

  But that’s not really an option at the moment.

  “Come on, Katya, put that fucking yoga training to use.” He tells himself, trying to take deep breaths.

  It takes a while, definitely much longer than in the past, but he finally manages to calm down. Well. His breathing is still shaky and his hands still tremble slightly, but at least it no longer feels as if he’s about to die.

  He turns his computer on, opens Skype, and hopes Violet is available.

  Violet Chachki is offline.

  Damn.

  He types a quick 911 in the chat box and, almost immediately after hitting “SEND,” hears the familiar tone of an incoming call.

  “What’s up, slut?” Violet greets him, a light teasing tone to their voice.

  “Figured it out.” He replies numbly.

  “Mmm figured what out?”

  Okay now they’re just being a little cruel.

  “That um. That. That I…”

  “…are stupidly in love with one Trixie Mattel and want to father his biologically impossible babies?” Violet offers helpfully.

  “Yeah that’d be it.” Katya whispers.

  “And what are you gonna do about it.”

  Katya snaps his head up so quickly it’s a miracle he doesn’t cause whiplash.

  “Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I am going to bury this deep deep DEEP down and never mention it ever.”

  Violet rolls their eyes.

  “So you came to this grand conclusion for what, exactly?”

  “Well now I know. So I can hide it.”

  Violet is about to reply when Katya cuts them off.

  “We have a show coming up, Violet. We’ve built this little niche together. We are a business. I can’t let anything get in the way of that. I can’t do that to him.” Tears prick at his eyes and he can feel his breathing becoming elevated once again.

  “Don’t you fucking dare freak out on me.”

  Well. That’s certainly a different approach from Trixie’s gentle comfort. But if it works it works.

  “Listen to me, Katya, because I am only going to say this once. You’d have to be fucking blind to not see the way Trixie looks at you. Like you hang the fucking moon. And yes I am aware of the fact that platonic love is very real and platonic soulmates are a thing but TRUST me when I say you two are so much more than that. It might’ve started out platonic, sure, but it has definitely grown into something so much bigger. You just weren’t ready. And now you are. So I am going to ask you one more time. What. are. you. going. to. do. about. it.”

  Katya takes a deep breath and lets it out, slowly and shakily.

  “Something really stupid,“ he replies.

  Violet grins.

  “That’s my fucking girl.”

  ***************

  Okay so in retrospect hauling ass to Trixie’s place at four o’clock in the morning probably wasn’t the best idea.

  But here he is.

  He’s been ringing the doorbell and knocking for the past seven minutes and is seriously considering just hunkering down against the door and sleeping until Trixie finds him later on in the morning when he hears his angry voice from the other side of the door, closer with every word.

  “I swear to God this better be a fucking emergency or if you’re here to murder me you better get it right on the first try because I am pissed the fuck off right now and could probably kill a man!”

  The door is swung open angrily.

  Trixie’s angry face quickly turns to one of shock.

  Katya smiles shyly.

  They stare at each other.

  “Hey.”

  “Hey.”

[drippeddaily]

Album of the Year #23: Smino - blkswn

Album of the Year #23: Smino - blkswn

ARTIST: SMINO

PROJECT: blkswn

LISTEN

SPOTIFY

SOUNDCLOUD

APPLE MUSIC

BACKGROUND

Christopher Smith Jr., from St. Louis, Missouri, first made his way into the local music scene in 2012 under the name C. Smi, which he later changed to Smino in 2015 with the release of his debut EP, ‘S!Ck S!Ck S!Ck’. This EP was produced exclusively by Monte Booker, a member of Smino’s collective ‘Zero Fatigue’. Only two months after its release, Smino then went on to put out a second EP, also produced by Monte Booker, titled blkjuptr. Blkjuptr was met with generally positive feedback, propelling Smino’s musical career forwards and helping him find himself in the eyes of critics and bloggers.

After this second EP, it would be a little over a year before the world heard from Smino again, however, needless to say, it wasn’t prepared in the least for what was to come.

REVIEW

Blkswn.

In this full length debut album, with 18 songs spread over an hour and three minutes, Smino puts on display a sonic spectacle as he effortlessly weaves through musical genres, fusing hip hop with elements of funk, soul, and RnB.

The project kicks off with what is probably its smoothest track. Entitled ‘Wild Irish Roses’, Monte Booker instantly sets a funky tone for the track with a bubbly synth accompanied by some hi hats. This tone is carried through the rest of the album as well and plays a huge role in binding the album together. Smino is quick to jump in with a catchy, yet calm flow which helps convey a relaxed atmosphere as he tells a story of himself inviting a girl to ride around town with him in search of ‘Wild Irish Roses’ (a brand of wine) - a thinly-veiled sexual proposition. All in all, ‘Wild Irish Roses’, perhaps my favourite track off the album, is a very strong opener that sets both the sonic and thematic tone for the rest of the project.

With the way they seamlessly blend into each other, the next two tracks ‘Maraca’ and ‘Glass Flows’ could easily have been passed off as one long song. Smino’s versatility is blatantly apparent here as he surprises the listeners with a switch from an experimental intro verse to a very funky chorus on ‘Glass Flows’. His verses have a playful vibe to them, as he isn’t afraid to switch from singing lines to rapping lines to going into falsetto and then doing it over and over, all while somehow making the entire thing sound cohesive and well thought out. While the subject matter of the songs on the album revolves almost exclusively around Smino’s relationships with women, he keeps the content fresh by addressing various aspects of the relationships, each with varying levels of seriousness. This can be seen as he switches from dabbling in playful lyrics with sexual connotations in ‘Maraca’ to highlighting the precarious nature of his relationship with a woman in ‘Glass Flows’.

The song “Glass Flows” also marks the appearance of Ravyn Lenae, the first of six female features on blkswn. In this remarkably well executed track, her and Smino exchange bars, providing both Smino, and his female companion’s perspective on their relationship.

The next track, Flea Flicka switches the vibe up to a funkier and happier tone. And while it plays its role in the progression of the album, I personally didn’t welcome this departure from the atmosphere Smino had created thus far. This track didn’t feel as if it was put together all that well, comprising only two verses - a guest feature from Bari, and a second verse from Smino - with no hook or bridge to seperate them. A filler track for me, however, that is to be expected in any full length album.

After ‘Flea Flicka’, the album really starts to take shape and define itself. Spitshine takes its place as the grooviest track on the album for me, with a simple yet catchy melody and Smino doing what he does best with his innovative vocal delivery

Netflix and Dusse takes its place as one of the more playful tracks on the album. As its name would suggest, it’s about Smino trying to get acquainted with a girl. The lyrics on this track definitely stand out as Smino finds three different ways to describe that ass, two of them in the same verse.

1

That ass a creature

2

That ass on Sunset Hill, a beautiful view

3

That ass look like a fuckin' grapefruit

His creative way with words is also very much visible on this track with bars like

Pink Caddy, Pepto Bismol-bile

Suggesting that the colour of his caddy is similar to that of Pepto Bismol, going as far as to call it his Pepto Bismol-bile (like Batmobile).

Been on my brain, Miss Serotonin

In this line, he calls this track’s girl his Miss Serotonin - Serotonin being a chemical which contributes to feelings of joy and happiness in the brain.

The next track on the album, Anita, is one of the album’s defining/iconic tracks. Released as one of two singles prior to the album’s release, Anita is a track involving Smino showing appreciation for all the women who’ve had an impact on him, using the name ‘Anita’ as a general name for all of them. He uses the verses on this track to talk about his city, St. Louis, his family, and his crew, tying it up at the end with a beautiful outro where he spells out the words to the sentence, “Anita, I need her” over and over.

Lobby Kall is a fun track and not much more than that. It lets the album breathe after Anita and doesn’t say too much. With barely any Genius annotations to help me on this track, I’m quite lost as to what the verse was actually about. However, the track does end with a small skit which is presumably Smino turning up at his house drunk in the late of the night, with his girl who’s inside refusing to open the door. This is a set up for the progression of the album as Smino addresses his problems with drinking and smoking.

Edgar Allan Poe’d Up starts with what sounds like Smino bragging about smoking, drinking, and having sex, however he is quick to admit that he’s stuck in a cycle which has left him feeling mundane. Furthermore, he recounts his plans to break this cycle which unfortunately end up being ruined by a meddling shawty who sends him nudes, which then sent him spiralling back. He reverts to rapping about the girl’s body and manages to find yet another way to describe a girl’s head game before ending the verse. This track has a feature from TheMIND which I didn’t find memorable at all, however it does add to the track as TheMIND talks about his struggles with expressing his emotions and instead choosing to get over them by drinking.

Father Son Holy Smoke was the first song I listened to on the album because I thought the name was cool, before going to the start of the album and listening to the whole thing over and over. As is tradition, Smino throws in a bar about getting head, this time getting over with it at the very start. He has wide array of flows for this song which he weaves together beautifully. What Edgar Allan Poe’d was to Smino’s drinking, Father Son Holy Smoke is to Smino’s smoking, however, the latter is far better executed in my opinion. Through the track, Smino speaks of how smoking weed helps cool his mind, yet still manages to acknowledge it as an addiction which he indulges in to avoid his problems.

On B Role, Smino goes off with a flow that you can’t help but bob your head to. That being said though, this is a song which I don’t feel belongs on the album, despite liking it outside the album’s context quite a bit. The track starts off with an edgy crushed guitar riff which instantly deviates from the atmosphere that had been set up till now in too abrupt a fashion. With a better intro transition, it could have found its place, especially keeping in mind that the following track has a similar style of production too, alas imperfections are bound to be found on an 18 track project.

Blkoscars is another song on this project which I’m not fond of. It feels like the production is venturing into areas of experimental music which just leave you slightly confused after listening, or maybe it’s just me. Anyways tho, Jay2 starts off the song with a feature verse and he seems to be rapping like he’s trying to prove something. A good verse, yet once again, out of place for me. Smino comes in towards the second half to rescue the track with his funky singing. This is one of those songs which I only listen to when I’m going through the whole project - didn’t even remember what it sounded like when I started writing this.

The title track’s finally upon us at this point and it does amazingly well to bring the album back to its roots. The production’s free of its edginess and has reverted back to its laidback style. Smino goes Boom Boom Boom Sminoshima (as in Hiroshima) just as the kick kicks in with the bass and everything feels fine again. The singing on this song is snappy. Another interesting aspect is that Smino’s devoted the track to talking about his grind and shifted the focus from girls, drinking, and smoking. He also manages to throw in the line Smi-no, more like Smi-yeah, which is nice, I guess.

Long Run’s got an intro which reminds of the one on Maraca. It sets a vibe and that vibe completely changes soon as the verse starts. Once again he’s talking about a topic which although he has brought up, he hasn’t devoted a lot of time to on a track. Smino reflects on his childhood, where he grew up, and his community. Via Rose features on the chorus and delivers her vocals beautifully - probably my favourite feature on the album alongside Ravyn Lenae.

I feel like Innamission is one of those songs you sleep on for a long time until it comes up on shuffle one day and suddenly you open your eyes. Smino starts off by shouting out his crew, followed by a verse, which is solid. And then a prechorus, which is kind of exciting. But then the chorus comes on and without doubt, it’s the dopest thing you’ve heard in a good minute. I played that on the bus one time, and it was a bit disappointing when no one lit up when the chorus came on. I think it takes a couple of listens before it hits you. Or maybe it was just me.

Silk Pillows sounds like it’s rehashing a couple of ideas we’ve already heard on the album. Akenya brings a decent verse to the song, but for the most part this song felt like something I’d already heard over the last 20 minutes of listening to the album. However, we do see Smino go back to making sexual references in the track after a severe drought over the course of the last three songs. He says "D go deeper than an 808, boom boom boom". He also says "You a vet? I'm a dog", which makes me wonder what Smino thinks a vet does, but good music’s meant to raise questions so in its own way, this is getting the job done.

The production on Ricky Millions is very very nice. It’s something about the chords which makes it stand out. Smino’s got some catchy bars and Drea Smith captures the vibe of this track perfectly. The mixing on her vocals is done really well. All in all, I rate this track. It shows that Smino still has some tricks left up his sleeves, even towards the end of this 18 track long journey.

Amphetamine. What a way to close out an album. The track starts off with a somber tone, and Smino projects his emotions beautifully through his delivery. You can hear slight breaks in his voice in the chorus which really add to the effect. He talks about his struggles with addiction, and how he realises the negative impact it has on him. Yet, he’s still optimistic that he’ll be alright. If he makes it through the night, that is. Part 2 of this song is titled Krash Kourse, and could easily be its own song, however, it makes sense for it to be one long track, combine with Amphetamine, because you see Smino address everything he’s been talking about over the album. We see a verse from Jean Deaux, a chorus from Bari, and finally a verse from Noname to close the album. Thankyou Jesus, whoever you are are the last words you hear. It’s beautiful.

Favourite Lyrics

All the lyrics about getting/giving head

1

Woo, my bad, don't gag

Although it's cute that you choosin' me over breathin'

2

Shawty sucked me, I was 9

3

Head game crackin'

She a cluck with the fuck

4

She just wanna suck somethin'

Toppy, that's the topic of discussion

5

Shawty sling head like a Greek sword

6

My dick a cheat code, I stick for the joy

She sayin' it's sweet, callin' me chico

7

But if you real then I extract my grill

And I snack on that 'til that blood sugar build

8

That clean me up, I pick you up

I pick you, gimme that spitshine

9

Shawty she be comin off the top

Like some good writtens

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

What do you think is next for Smino?

Do you think mainstream glory lies in Smino’s future?

Who would you like to see Smino collab with?

What do you think the weak points of this album were?

Is Smino taking rap in a whole new direction?

Which head bar is your favourite?

How do you feel about the variety of lyrical content in this album?

ARTIST: SMINOPROJECT: blkswnLISTENSPOTIFYSOUNDCLOUDAPPLE MUSICBACKGROUNDChristopher Smith Jr., from St. Louis, Missouri, first made his way into the local music scene in 2012 under the name C. Smi, which he later changed to Smino in 2015 with the release of his debut EP, ‘S!Ck S!Ck S!Ck’. This EP was produced exclusively by Monte Booker, a member of Smino’s collective ‘Zero Fatigue’. Only two months after its release, Smino then went on to put out a second EP, also produced by Monte Booker, titled blkjuptr. Blkjuptr was met with generally positive feedback, propelling Smino’s musical career forwards and helping him find himself in the eyes of critics and bloggers.After this second EP, it would be a little over a year before the world heard from Smino again, however, needless to say, it wasn’t prepared in the least for what was to come.REVIEWBlkswn.In this full length debut album, with 18 songs spread over an hour and three minutes, Smino puts on display a sonic spectacle as he effortlessly weaves through musical genres, fusing hip hop with elements of funk, soul, and RnB.The project kicks off with what is probably its smoothest track. Entitled ‘Wild Irish Roses’, Monte Booker instantly sets a funky tone for the track with a bubbly synth accompanied by some hi hats. This tone is carried through the rest of the album as well and plays a huge role in binding the album together. Smino is quick to jump in with a catchy, yet calm flow which helps convey a relaxed atmosphere as he tells a story of himself inviting a girl to ride around town with him in search of ‘Wild Irish Roses’ (a brand of wine) - a thinly-veiled sexual proposition. All in all, ‘Wild Irish Roses’, perhaps my favourite track off the album, is a very strong opener that sets both the sonic and thematic tone for the rest of the project.With the way they seamlessly blend into each other, the next two tracks ‘Maraca’ and ‘Glass Flows’ could easily have been passed off as one long song. Smino’s versatility is blatantly apparent here as he surprises the listeners with a switch from an experimental intro verse to a very funky chorus on ‘Glass Flows’. His verses have a playful vibe to them, as he isn’t afraid to switch from singing lines to rapping lines to going into falsetto and then doing it over and over, all while somehow making the entire thing sound cohesive and well thought out. While the subject matter of the songs on the album revolves almost exclusively around Smino’s relationships with women, he keeps the content fresh by addressing various aspects of the relationships, each with varying levels of seriousness. This can be seen as he switches from dabbling in playful lyrics with sexual connotations in ‘Maraca’ to highlighting the precarious nature of his relationship with a woman in ‘Glass Flows’.The song “Glass Flows” also marks the appearance of Ravyn Lenae, the first of six female features on blkswn. In this remarkably well executed track, her and Smino exchange bars, providing both Smino, and his female companion’s perspective on their relationship.The next track, Flea Flicka switches the vibe up to a funkier and happier tone. And while it plays its role in the progression of the album, I personally didn’t welcome this departure from the atmosphere Smino had created thus far. This track didn’t feel as if it was put together all that well, comprising only two verses - a guest feature from Bari, and a second verse from Smino - with no hook or bridge to seperate them. A filler track for me, however, that is to be expected in any full length album.After ‘Flea Flicka’, the album really starts to take shape and define itself. Spitshine takes its place as the grooviest track on the album for me, with a simple yet catchy melody and Smino doing what he does best with his innovative vocal deliveryNetflix and Dusse takes its place as one of the more playful tracks on the album. As its name would suggest, it’s about Smino trying to get acquainted with a girl. The lyrics on this track definitely stand out as Smino finds three different ways to describe that ass, two of them in the same verse.1That ass a creature2That ass on Sunset Hill, a beautiful view3That ass look like a fuckin' grapefruitHis creative way with words is also very much visible on this track with bars likePink Caddy, Pepto Bismol-bileSuggesting that the colour of his caddy is similar to that of Pepto Bismol, going as far as to call it his Pepto Bismol-bile (like Batmobile).Been on my brain, Miss SerotoninIn this line, he calls this track’s girl his Miss Serotonin - Serotonin being a chemical which contributes to feelings of joy and happiness in the brain.The next track on the album, Anita, is one of the album’s defining/iconic tracks. Released as one of two singles prior to the album’s release, Anita is a track involving Smino showing appreciation for all the women who’ve had an impact on him, using the name ‘Anita’ as a general name for all of them. He uses the verses on this track to talk about his city, St. Louis, his family, and his crew, tying it up at the end with a beautiful outro where he spells out the words to the sentence, “Anita, I need her” over and over.Lobby Kall is a fun track and not much more than that. It lets the album breathe after Anita and doesn’t say too much. With barely any Genius annotations to help me on this track, I’m quite lost as to what the verse was actually about. However, the track does end with a small skit which is presumably Smino turning up at his house drunk in the late of the night, with his girl who’s inside refusing to open the door. This is a set up for the progression of the album as Smino addresses his problems with drinking and smoking.Edgar Allan Poe’d Up starts with what sounds like Smino bragging about smoking, drinking, and having sex, however he is quick to admit that he’s stuck in a cycle which has left him feeling mundane. Furthermore, he recounts his plans to break this cycle which unfortunately end up being ruined by a meddling shawty who sends him nudes, which then sent him spiralling back. He reverts to rapping about the girl’s body and manages to find yet another way to describe a girl’s head game before ending the verse. This track has a feature from TheMIND which I didn’t find memorable at all, however it does add to the track as TheMIND talks about his struggles with expressing his emotions and instead choosing to get over them by drinking.Father Son Holy Smoke was the first song I listened to on the album because I thought the name was cool, before going to the start of the album and listening to the whole thing over and over. As is tradition, Smino throws in a bar about getting head, this time getting over with it at the very start. He has wide array of flows for this song which he weaves together beautifully. What Edgar Allan Poe’d was to Smino’s drinking, Father Son Holy Smoke is to Smino’s smoking, however, the latter is far better executed in my opinion. Through the track, Smino speaks of how smoking weed helps cool his mind, yet still manages to acknowledge it as an addiction which he indulges in to avoid his problems.On B Role, Smino goes off with a flow that you can’t help but bob your head to. That being said though, this is a song which I don’t feel belongs on the album, despite liking it outside the album’s context quite a bit. The track starts off with an edgy crushed guitar riff which instantly deviates from the atmosphere that had been set up till now in too abrupt a fashion. With a better intro transition, it could have found its place, especially keeping in mind that the following track has a similar style of production too, alas imperfections are bound to be found on an 18 track project.Blkoscars is another song on this project which I’m not fond of. It feels like the production is venturing into areas of experimental music which just leave you slightly confused after listening, or maybe it’s just me. Anyways tho, Jay2 starts off the song with a feature verse and he seems to be rapping like he’s trying to prove something. A good verse, yet once again, out of place for me. Smino comes in towards the second half to rescue the track with his funky singing. This is one of those songs which I only listen to when I’m going through the whole project - didn’t even remember what it sounded like when I started writing this.The title track’s finally upon us at this point and it does amazingly well to bring the album back to its roots. The production’s free of its edginess and has reverted back to its laidback style. Smino goes Boom Boom Boom Sminoshima (as in Hiroshima) just as the kick kicks in with the bass and everything feels fine again. The singing on this song is snappy. Another interesting aspect is that Smino’s devoted the track to talking about his grind and shifted the focus from girls, drinking, and smoking. He also manages to throw in the line Smi-no, more like Smi-yeah, which is nice, I guess.Long Run’s got an intro which reminds of the one on Maraca. It sets a vibe and that vibe completely changes soon as the verse starts. Once again he’s talking about a topic which although he has brought up, he hasn’t devoted a lot of time to on a track. Smino reflects on his childhood, where he grew up, and his community. Via Rose features on the chorus and delivers her vocals beautifully - probably my favourite feature on the album alongside Ravyn Lenae.I feel like Innamission is one of those songs you sleep on for a long time until it comes up on shuffle one day and suddenly you open your eyes. Smino starts off by shouting out his crew, followed by a verse, which is solid. And then a prechorus, which is kind of exciting. But then the chorus comes on and without doubt, it’s the dopest thing you’ve heard in a good minute. I played that on the bus one time, and it was a bit disappointing when no one lit up when the chorus came on. I think it takes a couple of listens before it hits you. Or maybe it was just me.Silk Pillows sounds like it’s rehashing a couple of ideas we’ve already heard on the album. Akenya brings a decent verse to the song, but for the most part this song felt like something I’d already heard over the last 20 minutes of listening to the album. However, we do see Smino go back to making sexual references in the track after a severe drought over the course of the last three songs. He says "D go deeper than an 808, boom boom boom". He also says "You a vet? I'm a dog", which makes me wonder what Smino thinks a vet does, but good music’s meant to raise questions so in its own way, this is getting the job done.The production on Ricky Millions is very very nice. It’s something about the chords which makes it stand out. Smino’s got some catchy bars and Drea Smith captures the vibe of this track perfectly. The mixing on her vocals is done really well. All in all, I rate this track. It shows that Smino still has some tricks left up his sleeves, even towards the end of this 18 track long journey.Amphetamine. What a way to close out an album. The track starts off with a somber tone, and Smino projects his emotions beautifully through his delivery. You can hear slight breaks in his voice in the chorus which really add to the effect. He talks about his struggles with addiction, and how he realises the negative impact it has on him. Yet, he’s still optimistic that he’ll be alright. If he makes it through the night, that is. Part 2 of this song is titled Krash Kourse, and could easily be its own song, however, it makes sense for it to be one long track, combine with Amphetamine, because you see Smino address everything he’s been talking about over the album. We see a verse from Jean Deaux, a chorus from Bari, and finally a verse from Noname to close the album. Thankyou Jesus, whoever you are are the last words you hear. It’s beautiful.Favourite LyricsAll the lyrics about getting/giving head1Woo, my bad, don't gagAlthough it's cute that you choosin' me over breathin'2Shawty sucked me, I was 93Head game crackin'She a cluck with the fuck4She just wanna suck somethin'Toppy, that's the topic of discussion5Shawty sling head like a Greek sword6My dick a cheat code, I stick for the joyShe sayin' it's sweet, callin' me chico7But if you real then I extract my grillAnd I snack on that 'til that blood sugar build8That clean me up, I pick you upI pick you, gimme that spitshine9Shawty she be comin off the topLike some good writtensDISCUSSION QUESTIONSWhat do you think is next for Smino?Do you think mainstream glory lies in Smino’s future?Who would you like to see Smino collab with?What do you think the weak points of this album were?Is Smino taking rap in a whole new direction?Which head bar is your favourite?How do you feel about the variety of lyrical content in this album?

[comicteaparty]

March 23rd-March 29th, 2020 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from March 23rd, 2020 to March 29th, 2020.  The chat focused on Puppeteer by Eightfish.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

Comic Tea Party

BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Puppeteer by Eightfish~! (https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/puppeteer/list?title_no=290620)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace until March 29th, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Discussions are freeform, but we do offer discussion prompts in the pins for those who’d like to have them. Additionally, remember that while constructive criticism is allowed, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic! Whether you finish the comic or can only read a few pages, everyone is welcome to join and chat with us!

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 1

1. What did you like about the beginning of the comic?

2. What has been your favorite moment in the comic (so far)?

3. Who is your favorite character?

4. Which characters do like seeing interact the most?

5. What is something you like about the art? If you have a favorite illustration, please share it!

6. What is a theme you like that the comic explores?

7. What do you like about the comic’s story or overall related content?

8. Overall, what do you think the comic’s strengths are?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

eli [a winged tale]

Ooh exciting! I’ll try and get to this soon!

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Yes yes, I had started reading this last week, want to continue and get in on this convo!!

Joichi / Sarah

Oh I'll take a look at reading Puppeteer!

shadowhood

Ditto. Time for another art binge

eli [a winged tale]

1) I love the colours and lighting! As for the story, the banter really drew me in and when J offered freedom, that was my hook 2) My favourite moment was when J tore Eli out of his body! That was a very striking moment. 3) I really like J and Sam They’re both characters with a strong voice and motivation. 4) I enjoy the friendship chat between Sam and Eli. They really ground the whole college experience and the comic world for me. 5) Let me find it! 6) I think the themes of feeling lost in life or directionless after regimented high school are very relatable. It’s one thing to know where you wanna go and want to be but often we feel we’re just floating in reality. 7) I love the aesthetics! Very unique style yet also clear in storytelling! 8) I would say the strengths tie into the fast pace and great characters. I’m not sure where we’re headed in the comic but I’m sure we will get to know why beings like J and the Ocean lady exist and what roles Eli/Sam would play in the story great work Eightfish!

Love this shot! Great paneling!

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

The artwork is so beautiful!

shadowhood

Yeah, the flow of motion is amazing here that's really good gesture drawing

Feather J. Fern

I have to say I love the way you do the limited palette for the first few pages, it's really cool!

mathtans

Oh! From setup to where some f/f romance is implied. I shall read more. (Nice when the ships are verging on canon, if not there...)

Wonder if J is going to set things up such that Eli has to possess one of them.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Aaa, thank you all for the compliments about my art, eli, sssfrs, shadow, feather. I'm really trying to make this thing look good and I'm glad you guys like it.

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

It looks really good!!

eli [a winged tale]

Love it Eightfish! Can’t wait for more!

RebelVampire

What I liked about the beginning is just kind of how jarring it is (in a good way). You get thrown right into a semi-tense/suspicious interaction, and it really kind of sets that tone for the rest of the comic. Which is actually what I like about the story all together. There's always this kind of laid back atmosphere to it where you're never really sure if you should be concerned or not. So it's got this right beat where you aren't always screaming but also aren't ever able to fully relax cause it feels like danger is around the corner. Coincidentally, the beginning is also probably my favorite moment in the comic as well, just cause again, I really love the tone here. My favorite character at the moment is probably J cause I can't figure J out and would like to know more about J. Cause J is just like this chaotic entity who I can't decide is good or evil and it's a complicated mess that I love. As for favorite interactions, definitely Eli and J. I like they're kind of friends, kind or enemies, kind of maybe sort of abusive relationship, maybe kind of sort of cut from the same fabric. There's a lot of levels to their relationship, so I do like seeing where it's going to go.

What I like about the art is just the overall style combined with the color experimentation. I think this in of itself really helps with the tone I keep mentioning, because it'll go from normal colors to suddenly very jarring, dark contrasts. So again, there's always this hint that something just isn't ever right in the world. I also think these features are the comic's strength, since it's a very interesting style that draws the eye.

Lastly for today, themes. I really like that the comic kind of explores ambition vs. lack of ambition. As someone who is more similar to Eli and would be kind of happy to just be people watching mush sometimes, I really relate. However, there are deep questions about whether this is good, whether ambition is better or whether ambition can go too far. So it's kind of good to see this explored and just kind of show that inevitably, people are different and not everyone has the same sorts of drives (or drives at all).

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Oh my god, you have no idea how happy I am to read that. Everything you said was exactly what I was going for and this is very validating

(also, can we just appreciate Rebel for a moment. They take the time to write these in depth analyses of every comic here and I always enjoy reading them. Even if I knew rebel was going to be the only one in this book club I would still be jumping to sign up.) (Not that I don't appreciate everyone else, those comments were lovely as well haha. So interesting to to read eli's thoughts on the characters and what will happen next)(edited)

BriDanann

Also!! Eightfish!! Your comic is so freaking gorgeous! I absolutely love the color scheme and the surrealist feel the art gives off. It really feels like it's otherworldly, but also familiar. Kind of how old Noir movies felt! I've only read the beginning so far and I am loving the tone.

Comic Tea Party

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 2

9. Will Eli actually be satisfied with his decision to just float around away from responsibility in the long term, or do you think that will change? Additionally, what do you think caused Eli to run away from life so much?

10. Do you think Sam will ever come to accept Eli’s decisions, and how will the situation change the two’s relationship? What will Eli teach Sam about trying to fix everything, and how will the two change each other through their interactions?

11. What do you think J ultimately wants in life, and what does that have to do with giving Eli powers? Why is Sam so convinced that J is a demon? In general, do you think Eli, Sam, and Lily can put a stop to J’s mayhem?

12. How do you interpret the story’s title in terms of its significance to the events of the comic? Also, what significance do you think it has towards the theme of beliefs and how beliefs go stronger the more people believe in them?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

mathtans

(This week is kinda kicking my ass but I have finished the read and will find time for some comments in the next day or two. Just putting that out there.)

Okay, just a couple quick thoughts in case anyone else wants to react to them... I think Eli felt like there wasn't much of anything left to him. Didn't seem like he had family checking up on him, and major events like breaking your arm are the sorts of times you learn who's rallying around you. Sam distancing herself was probably the last straw.

I wonder a bit whether Vanessa (the one massively possessed by J, only name dropped in the author notes if memory serves) had a similar path. Or whether she's just off the deep end (maybe she pushed J into the arm breaking on some level).

Also think that Lily's pleased to have someone who can finally do something about the visions she's presumably been having all her life (unless it's a puberty awakening thing), though it does seem like her romance with Sam goes deeper than that. I wonder about her romantic history (but then I wonder about that with all f/f ships). And could Sam be bi? Or is she not straight, and part of that is what pulled her from Eli?

As I say, couple quick thoughts.

RebelVampire

@mathtans Those are some good points about Eli's family. I have to say I did kind of where they were at, cause at the very least I do get the impression Eli doesn't feel like they can be relied on. But I do think isolation is playing a big role in Eli's decision making right now.

Do I think Eli will actually be satisfied with his decision? Yes and no. I kind of feel like Eli would be fine with it overall but that inevitably extenuating circumstances will ruin the whole thing. Otherwise I honestly think Eli might be content if people around would accept it. As for why Eli is causing to run away from life, probably social pressure and isolation. It's hard to deal with life if you have no one around you, and also hard to deal with society when you really just don't have ambitions, cause society is very much about ambition. As for Sam, I think this is also a yes and a no. I think Sam will blame herself for Eli's choices as she comes to understand them more, but at the same time learn to let Eli live as Eli sees fit. I do think Sam will learn a valuable lesson though that not everything she thinks is broken is, and even if it is, sometimes people have to learn for themselves. So I think it'll bring Eli and Sam closer.

As for what J wants, I think it's probably friends. I think J fell in with Eli because they're both just kind of lonely souls. And while Eli expresses this in further isolation, J acts out and does everything possible to get attention. I do think the group will put a stop to J's shenanigans though, but I'm also feeling that it won't be a defeating of the villain (but this may be wishful thinking cause I do sympathize with J). I kind of get the feeling the title is meant to reflect both literally that J is turning people into puppets but also the complicated relationship people have with the concept of control. Like Sam for example. Sam clearly wants to fix and "control" things to suit them to how she wants. Also, in the Eli/J relationship, there's a question of who controls who to a degree. As for its connection to belief, I think I'd argue the strong our beliefs are in something, the more those beliefs have control of our lives. And I think that's something we once again see with J a lot in that J is literally controlling people while people seem convinced they control themselves.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Oh Rebel, mathtans, your comments make me just want to just spoil the entire story and blurt out everything right here. It's been so good seeing that so much of my intent was coming through.

@mathtans Sam is indeed not straight. I wonder what made you see her as bisexual specifically?(edited)

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

I don’t think Sam had any malicious intent in keeping her distance from Eli, nor was it a case of “I’ve got a girlfriend now so I don’t need to talk to my other friends”. To me, Sam very much sees herself as the only one with the power to protect people, and because of that she feels it’s her duty to control what people get involved, where everyone goes, etc. Sam can keep this city under control, and thus she must. And, yeah, I agree with @RebelVampire that control is one of the main themes of the comic in general. Like J is constantly egging Eli on to control others, and one of their main points is that ordinary people often are looking to delegate control to someone else. And this current segment is the perfect lesson on how it doesn’t have to be one person in control - Eli and Sam can both be in control at once.(edited)

One thing I feel like should be mentioned though - the factor of Eli potentially being nb factoring into his decision? Like, when he first becomes a puppetmaster, one of the first things Eli says is “how come I still look like me” (i.e., rather than androgynous like J?), and one of the things Eli does to practice out shape shifting is try on dresses.

mathtans

@Eightfish (Puppeteer) Oh, nothing specifically made me see Sam as bisexual, but nothing made me see her as exclusively lesbian either. I've learned not to take that stuff for granted and wait for it be be spelled out (I'm also not the most observant though). In fact I have a f/f relationship in my writing where one of them is stated bisexual.

Also, good point snuffy on the androgynous aspect, never occurred to me there.

Comic Tea Party

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 3

13. What are you most looking forward to seeing in regards to the comic?

14. Any final words of encouragement for the comic?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

mathtans

Okay, let's address some questions to the best of my abilities. ^.^ Regarding the start, as was mentioned, the muted colours and dark character seemed to fit the tone. I thought the cutaway was a time skip but it made sense when we came back later.

My favourite moment was actually when Sam and Lily spent the night in Eli's apartment. Aside from helping to confirm the f/f relation (a personal taste), it was subtle (like, just a friend wouldn't necessarily go along with things for that time) versus making out or something (which wouldn't fit the tone). And at the same time, it showed that Eli was separating himself from his past life, not even going back to check in... Sam honestly seems to be his only tie. (And I kinda wonder where his original body is, if it even exists?)

Favourite character is tough. Honestly, maybe Lily because she seems so innocent, having been drawn into things... and I wonder if J ever approached her to get to Sam? Or has the focus always been on Eli? It's not that I dislike the other characters, it's more that one of their flaws seems to be a lack of communication. The sort of thing that makes me sigh, even though it fits with what we've seen and is helping motivate the plot.

That said, yeah the Sam and Eli interactions are really good, right from the moment of "don't touch me" and Sam totally respected that as they got caught up. They obviously do care for each other in the friend way. (I wonder if Eli wanted more? Could that be why he shifted female, to be closer to Sam?)

I'm not good with art or themes. -.- The way the being in the harbour was drawn was good though from what I recall, helped to show the scope of the supernatural too. I guess a theme of belonging? Or friendship?

I haven't said much about J yet, but I think that is a something I like and a strength, the plotting... trying to guess the next move. And maybe they want to become as popular as the larger demon? Definitely drives the other characters forwards. And reminds me of Rebel's comment about ambition being a theme... makes sense in retrospect. (And yes, much appreciation to Rebel. ^.- )

9. I think Eli will eventually be satisfied, though I think he's realizing that he's becoming a bit of a pawn in a larger game, not having considered the scope of his transformation. And I already mentioned about his family. And Rebel made good points there too.

I think Sam's starting to accept the change, though not necessarily the reason for it (and I'm not sure she or we truly know what that is). What with her trusting him to possess. In fact, another reason why Eli might have done this was to be of more use to Sam, though that may not have been a conscious decision. The dynamic will be interesting.

Here I'm diverging from Rebel in that I think J wants to be recognized as a more important demon (though that's similar to having friends, it doesn't need to be). Maybe others have tried to take over beings like Sam without success? Or like Ocean Lady are so far above that they don't care? Maybe there's a clue somewhere in why Vanessa isn't enough for J lately.

That's a really interesting point in terms of the title... at first I figured it was the idea of Eli jumping into bodies. But of course, he's not really into that, and it's more J... who is perhaps puppeteering even beyond that, pulling the strings of people that aren't possessed. (There was mention of squid too, I wonder if the tentacles of a squid could be like the strings on a puppet?) Anyhue.

Will be interesting to see Lily's reaction to what's going on, as I have a suspicion that she'll show up... and perhaps blame herself for not being there when Eli was (even though Eli was brought in later). Or she could misinterpret the situation and think Eli's gone evil! Who knows. (How long has she been going out with Lily again?)

I think that's all for now. Best with it!

shadowhood

Yoooo sorry for the late response. Alright I'll try to answer the prompts as succinctly as I can. 1. The art style is very aesthetically pleasing! I love how you use mainly black against a lot of other bright colours like tan/light blue/gold; it gives it almost a Grecian vase vibe!

2. I have two actually!

The first one because it hit a really close hit to home. I loved seeing a real, down to earth conversation between friends and it felt...real. Seeing concerned friends talking about an abusive relationship and not....exploding is very refreshing.

The second one because I absolutely love that last panel, where J plays around with her words and follows through with a similar action. It felt like she was toying with Sam and it reminded me of the scene in Aladdin, where Jafar was toying with Aladdin with his words. Probably my favourite villain scene of J.

3. Funnily enough, I really like Sam. She's that one friend who's shown to be concerned for Eli, but she knows that she can't force him out of the abusive relationship. She respects his boundaries and is overall a good friend. That's rare and usually underappreciated in real life.

4. The interactions between Sam and Eli were the best for me, because they were very heartwarming and the care they show for each other resonates with me

5. The two moments I mentioned were my top favourites, actually!

6. The idea that you can't save everyone is one I really like. Sometimes you have to let the person you love make difficult and maybe even foolhardy decisions in life, but that's to let them grow up and mature.

7. Like I said earlier, it reminded me of Grecian vase paintings, which I love! Another thing I love about it is how free the gesture drawings are; drawings such as the hand drawings are testament to that

8. I think the strongest part of Puppeteer is its use of motion; my eye is always drawn to the line of action and it almost felt like a film at some parts. The story is heavily action oriented, which I like

shadowhood

9. Honestly, I don't know. Like @mathtans said, he doesn't seem to have family who check up on him, but he DOES have friends who do! Maybe someday he'll want to change, he'll see that he stayed stagnant while his friends keep on progressing in life. Either he'll go deeper into his isolation or he ultimately decides that this isn't for him. 10. I think it's a sad case where she's going to have to learn to let Eli make his mistakes and grow up. If she's constantly there to fix or solve everything for him, both characters suffer in that no one will learn everything. But hopefully, like other people have said, it brings them closer. 11. From what she's said, I think she wants control and power. But if you want a more indepth answer, I think she wants absolute control and worship from individuals. She wants to be put on a pedestal (wanting to be higher than other people?) and she wants that rush of feeling, that feeling of being dedicated to. But seeing @RebelVampire 's answer, maybe it's a twisted form of trying to keep people from leaving her, similar to how abusers try to keep their victims close. Heck, she could even develop a form of Lima syndrome and sympathize with the victim. I think Sam's and co. can put a stop to it, but ultimately, it's up to ELI himself to do so. 12. I agree with @RebelVampire on this one; Puppeteer can be a reference to how much we let others and their beliefs control us, and how the characters each covet control in some shape or form. Maybe Eli feels like he's lost control of his life and is trying to escape responsibility in a desperate effort to regain it?

13. I'm really looking forward to how this whole Eli/J relationship will affect Eli and his relationship with his friends. I'm also wondering what J's character development would be, if any; would she start sympathizing more with Eli? Learn something new from Eli? Or even become increasingly antagonistic towards Eli? 14. @Eightfish (Puppeteer) I really look forward to reading more from your webcomic, your art and conversation exchanges between your characters are top notch! Keep up the good work

RebelVampire

What I'm most looking forward to in regards to the comic is finding out more about J I think. I'm interested to learn more about the driving force behind J's actions and how those might cause the characters to rethink what J is. As for final words, I really just still enjoyed the atmosphere. So few comics can nail it, but this one really managed to capture that feeling of dread that really keeps you reading. So I can wait to see that be used more throughout the comic.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Thanks @mathtans , @shadowhood , @snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights) for the recent long comments you've posted! It was wonderful reading what you thought about character motivations and themes. And I'm glad so many people said they were looking forward to learning more about J, because that's what I'm most looking forward to writing as well.

Comic Tea Party

BOOK CLUB END!

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

Read and Comment: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/puppeteer/list?title_no=290620

Eightfish’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/eightfish

[comicteaparty]

February 11th-February 17th, 2019 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from February 11th, 2019 to February 17th, 2019.  The chat focused on Sombulus by Christina Major.

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 Sombulus by Christina Major~! (http://www.sombulus.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 February 17th 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. What do you think caused Rana, Astyr, and Sydney to wind up bound all together since Astyr didn’t do it on purpose? Do you believe the trio will be able to become unbounded? How might this affect their relationships?

QUESTION 4. Who exactly are Hannah and Vuudo working for? Why are the two so intent in spying on Astyr? Further, what about Kazar? What spying activity is Kazar doing and why was Yanell’s presence of interest to her? How will these spying activities affect the main trio?

Delphina

It's my comic! I'm so excited!

khkddn

I have not started reading yet but I wanted to say the website looks really nice. The archive is so neat looking!!

Delphina

Thanks! I know the archive is long, so having a nice-looking archive page that would be helpful for seeing where you left off was important to me. XD

varethane

I think Sydney is my favourite, but that is liable to change at any minute cuz I like Astyr and Rana and Tenge a lot too lol

kayotics

1. I think I like lot of the more recent scenes the best. I really like the emotional depth that's happening between the main characters, specifically Astyr and Sydney. The scenes where Sydney was actively working with Astyr are some of my favorite, just because it shows a lot of character growth. 2. I like Tenge a lot (I'm a sucker for nerds), but I think I like Astyr and Sydney the best! Mostly I like their dynamic and the emotional development that has started between them. Overall, the cast is really fun because they all have something unique about them. 3. I don't really have much speculation on how they became bound together, but I do think that they're going to eventually become unbound from each other, but I think that at least Rana will choose to stay with Astyr after becoming unbound. 4. Again, I haven't speculated too much on who they work for, but my guess on why they're intent on following around Astyr is he's caused some sort of significant disruption in magic before (it seems that he does that frequently enough), or he's important in some sort of larger plot that he's not aware of.

keii4ii

Can I just say I love the main trio a lot + Tenge? Also, I'm entertaining a vague AU idea about half-ascended Astyr with one blue eye.

kayotics

Oooh I like that AU

Delphina

He looks like that guy from My Hero Academia XDDD

kayotics

huh, you're right

RebelVampire

QUESTION 5. Do you believe that Tenge will destroy his own Morphid father? If not, what do you think he’ll do alternatively? Whether he does it or not, how do you think further contact with his father will affect him? What about his relationship with Astyr?

RebelVampire

1) its hard to pick so im picking two. the first one is the scene where sydney is confronted with the fact not all demshull can do magic. i felt at that point in the comic thered been a lot of build up for sydney being confronted with her own racism, and i felt that moment was a great pay off. especially cause sydney's facial expressions in the moment are just fantastic and like she got hit with a ton of bricks. for the second fave scene though, the one where astyr and sydney first meet rana and rana discovers that basically her life is a lie. there was something fantastic in the pacing and atmosphere that really drove home the fact that this was a life changing moment for rana. 2) Astyr. I like how Astyr is sort of this gray character where he's not terrible yet he causes lots of property damage that makes you think Sydney is kind of right about him. And I really just like this complicated dynamic cause it makes you feel unsure about whether to trust him or not. I also love though that deep down hes willing to risk a lot of people he cares about. 3) i actually think it was rana who bound them all, not astyr. theres one moment where rana is looking off into the distance getting internally emotional and then suddenly the alarm about essence going off triggers. and rana is shown to basically be kind of weird where thats concerned, so i think she inadvertantly bound them so she could leave with them. Regardless, I consider it inevitable that they'll become unbounded. While Rana and Astyr will probably be fine, Sydney I think is gonna be most affected. Cause at that point she's either going have to destroy the friendship or admit that Astyr isn't so bad. I assume she'll choose the latter after all the build up, but itll certainly strengthen the relationships since the relationships will have to become by choice and not force.

4) i actually think hannah and vuudo are working for whoever organized the experiments all the half-bred children were part of. cause hannah seems like the type whod do that. so obviously if that's the case, that's why theyre watching astyr. hes their favorite experiment kid and maybe someday hell do something useful. as for kazar, idk. at the moment it just feels like kazar is just doing generic spying, possibly charged with making sure there's no peace to be made (hence why yanell is of interest to her). As for the effect of hte main trio, I think theyre just gonna become public enemy number one for both groups for various reasons, cause theyre clearly super powered weirdos who know too much and should be stopped. 5) I don't think Tenge will go through with it. He'll certainly try, but I think Astyr's pleas are gonna haunt him and he'll hesitate wondering if there is some merit to his father. However, I kind of think Tenge will banish him and still not talk to him. Overall, I think Tenge is gonna start questioning his place in life more. Wonder why he continues when he has to hide out avoiding everyone. As for his relationship with Astyr, eh, it'll probably continue to just be strained cause Astyr has bigger fish to fry right now I think.

Stefan G

@Delphina I have to take additional time to read more comics ... but the first impression is [beautiful cartoons/drawing] ... and the website looks really nice [like how you added a store, archive and how to support your art - good job ... I might steal that ] ... did you code that website yourself or do you hire somebody to do that?

Delphina

Thanks so much! My coder buddy Kemayo built me a very simple webcomic CMS, and the store functionality is powered by Gumroad, but all the HTML/CSS was done by me!

lomcia (princess_lom)

1. DETAILS! It's the best detailed page, colors are nice for eye

2. I don't have yet fav character.... but for now Brendolyn looks ok

And I read it and I need to say, that seeing how your style changed make me impress. I got a question actually, everyone got move to do comic because of some event, movie, game etc. a] Who/what inspired you to do that comic? (I'm asking everyone that question, I just want and need to know!) b] What you feel now, when you look on your comic, how characters develop and how your style improved?

Delphina

Thanks so much! I really had a lot of fun with the colors in this whole scene, so I'm happy you like them! For me: a) Sombulus was a NaNoMango project (like a NaNoWriMo community except for comics) that I started when I was putting off what I thought was going to be my bigger, better story. The main trio of characters and the idea of world-hopping to lots of weird magical places just wouldn't leave me alone. The shape of it has changed a lot, but I'm really happy with where it's gone and it's exciting to be dropping some of the big big spoilers I've had in my head for years! b) I'm going through a lot of Act 3 right now preparing things for print, so I've been staring at pages I did 5 years ago a lot recently. Part of how I designed Sombulus was because I knew it would take a long time, I wanted to incorporate the idea of each world being in a different style. When I didn't have a lot of practice, it was much easier to get the story going in black/white until I got faster at art, but it's also nice to have a built in reason to try different software and brushes. Of course, there's a lot of loose and sloppy anatomy in the past, but I'm the kind of person who really values seeing that as a sign of growth so I'm trying not to update that much and just focus on making parts of the story clearer and more supportive of where it eventually went.

(I know this chat is specifically focused on the comic of the week, so if you want answers from people who aren't me, you might want to ask in #general maybe!)

lomcia (princess_lom)

Yeah, I asked, not everyone is answering, so I'm using week and thirsday bookclub to ask

rae

Nanomango is super good at giving people a kick in the ass for projects. You've done really good with getting it off the ground

Delphina

Thanks, Rae, it's been... whew... a while! Nanomango is a good little group project, though now that I've been at this comic for 9 years, I really think trying to do 30 pages in 30 days (even as sketches) was never going to work for me, and it's never fun to feel like you've failed to meet a goal. But one thing that I think was really good for me was participating year after year gave me sort of a drafting process? Letting what I had done stew and simmer for a few months let me see everything with fresh eyes when I came back, so I could come back the next time and focus on the parts I wanted and cut the parts that didn't seem like good directions anymore.

rae

i feel like it was easier to do 30 comics with the community we had

and yeah, editing is def a thing I wish I could do more for webcomics. >_>

RebelVampire

QUESTION 6. Who or what do you think Rana is? Why was Rana locked away in the Library? What does all this potentially have to do with Rana’s strange abilities that seem to have some ill affects on magic? How will Rana’s abilities affect the group further?

keii4ii

I don't have theories because I'm the type of the reader who just wants to see the answers as they come, but I wanna say I am super curious about this #6.

kayotics

I read the same way, but yeah I’ve been curious about Rana too. Considering some of the recent pages have shown that Sydney has a very strange origin story, it might be safe to assume that Rana is the same. I like that Rana seems to often get the group out of trouble too. Rana has a lot of mystery around her that makes me intrigued to see what the full extent of her abilities are, since I think there’s a lot more to her

Delphina

Rana is so problematic because I love coming up with ideas for her, but it also means I gotta find a million references for gadgets and machines to draw scenes where she does cool things.

kayotics

Rana, the problematic fav

Kezhound - What it Takes

Considering we just found out that Sydney is the daughter of a spear and a magic spring, I'm guessing whatever Rana is, it's a kind of spontaneous creation too. Maybe she's the result of a computer dropped into a magic volcano

it's always possible she IS a machine from another world, one so advanced no one can figure her out

but...have we ever seen her bleed? Or injured?

https://tenor.com/view/arnold-schwarzenegger-blood-leaf-flannel-shirt-gif-3519051

Delphina

I am so here for the Compucano ship

varethane

omg

RebelVampire

QUESTION 7. What do you think happened in the past that ruined Yanell’s peace talk progress? Do you believe that the Kanites and Demshul will continue their fear-mongering ways, or will Yanell advance peace again? What is your reasoning?

RebelVampire

@Kezhound - What it Takes I love this Rana is a machine theory. That is so far from something I would guess, yet would love to see be true to a degree. It fits with all the symptoms.

RebelVampire

6) I think Rana is some mega essence container or something. Like connected to the origin of it all or something like that. It adds up to me why Morphids are so super affected by her presence and why she'd be locked up in the library. You don't just leave your essence power house unattended. You lock them away where they can be "safe." As for future affects, I mean I figure at some point someone somewhere is gonna be like "Hey wait a second weird magic stuff? Isn't that the person we locked in the library?" And then more manhunts ensue. 7) I'm taking a stab in the dark and saying I think it's direct sabotage. Like Yanell's disappearance and entrapement wasn't just happen stance. There is a shadow puppet somewhere making sure that no peace will ever be had. I do think they'll get to peace though. Mostly because I'm an optimist and assume peace will prevail. And also because their entire conflict seems to be based more around fear mongering than actual things they should be that mad about.

Cheshire777

I think that Hannah and Vuudo are working for whoever is messing up Yannell's peace treatys; they're pretty much the only wild cards at this point besides the morphids.

RebelVampire

(the archive for Offshore Comic is now up! https://comicteaparty.com/post/182818407550/february-4th-february-10th-2019-ctp-archive @Stefan G )

so basically its all a giant conspiracy because ppl be hating on peace? O_O @Cheshire777

Stefan G

@RebelVampire Thanks for everything, RebelVampire ... 1) really enjoyed everyone’s comments and suggestions for Offshore. Thanks y’all 2) I also rewrote/fixed the js-code on my website [www.offshorecomic.com] ... now the strips flow smoother and I added a counter in order to better follow your progression. Check it out

Cheshire777

@RebelVampire I'm guessing that the "Big Bad Boss" has some ulterior motive/motives besides just indefinitely extending the war, whether the war is a side effect or that they will profit directly from it (I've just been reading back through the old Akatsuki storyline of Naruto) I have no guess.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 8. Given what’s shown of Astyr’s past, what do you think the experimenters were attempting to do? Why were they targeting half-breed children like Astyr, Cioara, and Tenge? What was their ultimate goal having Astyr explore the Weave?

RebelVampire

8) I feel like theres some power source theyre searching for in the Weave. Maybe a person, maybe just a thing, but they need someone super good at exploring the Weave to find it. I cant fathom why though, albeit i doubt it's anything good. As for why half-breeds, I think it's because they have a different sort of connection with essence and the Weave. Like we've already seen how Rana's strange relationship with essence affects Cioara, and i dont think that's entirely on Rana. I think it's just who Cioara's own strange relationship with it too since plenty of others interact with Rana fine. Either way, I think the experimenters are just trying to figure out if their atypical nature has practical uses for stuff like that.

Cheshire777

8. I think that they were probably recruiting/kidnapping anyone with odd powers, and those three just happened to be half breeds. I think that they briefly refered to other compounds? As for what they are looking for, at this point it could be a whole lot of different things, but a magic/essence/mana/etc store is quite likely.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 9. Do you believe that Astyr and Sydney will be able to successfully restore Sydney’s physical form? How might the ordeal change their relationship? How might it also change Sydney’s views on Demshul in general?

Cheshire777

They probably will, it has been established that Sydney is dissolving: a) Sydney is one of the main characters. b) we're right in the middle of finding out her backstory. She is finding reality at odds with her brainwashing (mosty through experiencing Astyr's memorys) and will have to come to terms with that.

snuffysam

1) act 3. acts 1 & 2 I was like "essence? jumping between worlds? currency? what the heck is going on?". act 3 was like "ohhhh i get what this comic is. it's a bread comic." and i love it.(edited)

2) the combo of vuudo and hannah. something about the way our heroes just keep falling for their lies, the pairing of hannah's planning and vuudo's acting... i just love them.

snuffysam

3) my interpretation is that binding is just something that happens when a demshul tries to bring someone world-hopping. since astyr is inexperienced, he goofed up and brought sydney along for the ride.

snuffysam

4) hannah's doing a truman show starring astyr. no further explanation needed. for kazar, I'm guessing she's just working for the government as a spy in general.

looking at #5, i'm wondering... is tenge & ciora's father a morphid, or the morphid? morphids seem to endlessly divide, and neither tenge nor the morphids seem to have a "hive mind". is it possible that there's just one morphid, and it happens to be in a lot of places at once?

Cheshire777

@snuffysam From what I've observed so far, the Morphid (and Tenge's) multiplication works vaguely like Naruto's shadow clones- when they split all of them have the same base memorys, they have separate experiences and basically act like different people (that are clones of each other ), and when they "regroup" the single has all the experiences of the doubles.(edited)

snuffysam

which would explain why astyr could say something along the lines of "oh, you're one of the ones that recognizes me"

RebelVampire

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

RebelVampire

i assume theyre a single being, but tbf i dont discount the possibility theres multiple morphid originals. in the sense that there were multiple "original" people who split into morphids. just cause it still fits with astyr saying one of the ones that recognize me. cause i highly doubt if theres multiple originals they know whose morphid is whos. again tho, just not discounting the possibility. i do get more of the sense that they were once a single entity.

9) yes because narratively i cant forsee the comic semi-killing off a main character quite yet. and sydney has unresolved matters as well, like her meeting with her old mentor and such. idk if the experience will change her view on demshul, but i think shell come to terms that astyr has some inner demons, is a weirdo, but also has a good heart. and that he isnt out to see sydney's demise. 10) im looking forward to more of everything. i wanna see all the inner turmoils, and i especially want to find more hints as to what the deal with rana is. cause astyr and sydney dont seem to care much rana is a weirdo outside of when she doesnt eat, so i will care enough for the both of them.

Delphina

I just want to thank you all for reading Sombulus! I know it's got... several pages, so I really appreciate folks who make it through everything, and such amazing thoughtful questions and responses!

keii4ii

My brain is a mush right now and I can't articulate my feels thoughtfully, but I really want to say Sombulus updates really help brighten my day, every time. I always look forward new pages and am glad it updates twice a week

Delphina

(Also this discussion made me draw Tenge as Naruto. Poor guy, I torture him so.)

snuffysam

before the chat ends, I just wanted to say that I really love sombulus, and I can't wait to see where it goes next!

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Sombulus this week! Please also give a special thank you to Christina Major for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Sombulus, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: http://www.sombulus.com/

Christina Major’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Delphina

Christina Major’s Store: http://www.sombulus.com/store

Christina Major’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/Delphina2k

[comicteaparty]

May 6th-May 12th, 2019 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from May 6th, 2019 to May 12th, 2019.  The chat focused on Chirault by Ally Rom Colthoff (Varethane).

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 Chirault by Ally Rom Colthoff (Varethane)~! (http://chirault.sevensmith.net/)

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 PDT), so keep checking back for more! You have until May 12th 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. What moment of discrimination featured in the story really caught your eye in its portrayal? How do you feel about the Mage Guild’s reason about disallowing Kyrion like Teeko and Trillia from using magic in the face of these themes of discrimination?

Kabocha

Aaaah, it's been a bit since I read Chirault, but... Basically any scene where Teeko's being awesome... Bonus points if she's using magic, like on this page! http://chirault.sevensmith.net/?comic_id=642 As far as discrimination... Hm. I think the fact that Ridriel was willing to go through so much to become a mage was pretty striking. While the mage's guild really doesn't like Kyrion using magic... Hmmm. That attitude doesn't seem to be a completely firm rule, especially as they learn more...~ http://chirault.sevensmith.net/?comic_id=1095 I need to re-read my copies of the books when I get back home, though.

Delphina

Yeah, I'm re-reading mine now too!

I had forgotten about the page where Astrid steals the car but I love it: http://chirault.sevensmith.net/?comic_id=780

Kabocha

Ahaha, Astrid's honestly one of my favorites in the mage guild. "I see no problems here!"

Delphina

Astrid is so great. Just like "yeah, I'm just gonna do what I want kthxbai"

RebelVampire

i mean tbf hes not wrong

about the car one at least

Kabocha

I'm also partial to Ridriel -- she worked so hard to fit in and become a mage.

Delphina

I'd say the most blatant scene of demon discrimination was early on where Jim used the spice that made Teeko go rabid so he could justify killing Kiran (http://chirault.sevensmith.net/?comic_id=142) and then later when Kiran deduces he killed her parents this way. (http://chirault.sevensmith.net/?comic_id=152) Everything else stays on the "I'm sorry, we can't actually welcome you into this part of society" brand of discrimination, but it showed that some people were definitely willing to get violent over demons and humans mixing in society.

RebelVampire

ridriel is such an interesting character because of that. i think largely because she doesnt seem to regret it all that much and accepts the sacrifices she had to make to achieve her dreams. and that just goes so against the grain of what youd expect to see

Delphina

Another classic Astrid page: http://chirault.sevensmith.net/?comic_id=813

varethane

I enjoy every Astrid-troll scene XD (there's a picture floating around out there of Astrid and Kiran facing down, with the troll-face shopped over Astrid's)

also: hi!!!

Kabocha

Hiii! I almost wonder if there's a list of all the time Astrid trolled people in the comic-- But I feel like, not counting the mini comic (and the last couple chapters), that'd be nearly every page Astrid shows up in.

RebelVampire

no no

theres those pages at the end where astrid is passed out for a bit(edited)

you cant be a troll when youre passed out probably

its very sad

varethane

I'm sure if there were a way, he would find it

duskglass

(1) i can't choose a single favourite scene but the part where teeko falls through bethan is really cool visually, and i love the eventual sibling bond between kiran & teeko (and also every scene with kiran & vivian)

duskglass

(2) a lot of the early scenes with kiran also come to mind, how he's clearly resigned to not being trusted by average villagers, and constantly has to verify his identity & prove he's not a threat. and the contrast between ridriel and trillia shows how limited their options were as kyrion who wanted to also be mages (ridriel giving up her kyrion nature vs trillia going rogue)

Desnik

ohh already digging the cool character design, I'm only one page in too

varethane

Woo!

duskglass

(also i found that trollface pic!!)

RebelVampire

QUESTION 3. At the moment, who is your favorite character? What about that character earns them this favor?

QUESTION 4. What moment of magic use in the story did you like the most? What about how it was used or illustrated did you like specifically?

€heshire777

Astrid, for being Astrid

Delphina

I do love Astrid, but all said and done, I think Bethan edges him out a little in the end. I love the fact that she was just a guard in a backwoods town, compared to almost every other big super-magical character who was trained by the Hunters or Mages Guild, but she's still like "well I can hold a spear now 60% of the time so heck yeah I wanna mess stuff up with y'all!"

Teeko's got a bit of that too and of course she's ADORABLE, but since her perspective is more childlike, she literally doesn't have context to know what she's walking into when she's like "YEAH LEMME SET IT ON FIRE" and it's more about not wanting to leave her found family than going toe to toe with corrupt mages.

varethane

fun story, both Bethan and Astrid are Ascended Extras (I'm pretty sure that's the name of the trope)

I needed faces to fill a space in the plot, and then decided I liked them too much to just leave them behind-- and, oh, look at that, coincidentally there's a new-character-shaped hole in the upcoming plot....

RebelVampire

gotta love those convenient and totally coincidental character shaped holes

RebelVampire

1) my fave scene is the one towards the end where Ridriel and Trillia are fighting John has to come and break their asses up. http://chirault.sevensmith.net/?comic_id=1230 i always remember just feeling such utter tension from this scene because of their relationship. like the stake of the world is at hand and yet a sibling rivalry is what stands between the world being fine and the world exploding into a thousands bits. and i frankly wasnt sure if trillia could convince ridriel that nah she was there to help. and i love that even after they agree to work together, ridriel and trillia are still basically like "i hate you" to each other. and then john is there to be stuck in the middle like the poor sap. 2) i have to go back to what i already mentioned with ridriel. she is a fascinating character because she didnt let discrimination stand in the way of her dreams. and while you could argue the path she takes is horrible, the nuance to her feelings regarding it really gets the mind thinking about the nature of sacrifice and what elements of ourselves we choose to define ourselves by. As for the Mage Guild's reasons, I mean...I get where they're coming from. But I think Rune sums it up correctly at the end when he says "my dudes its magic magic in general is dangerous"

3) Heryan. Heryan is the character I wish I could be because she is calm, collected, and knows how to play political games like a master. And she's also legitimately working towards a better future and kind of putting her money where he mouth is. She is also a badass mage. And these are all things i can get behind and I would read an entire spinoff about Heryan. A close second is Astrid our resident troll mage because he's just a nice dude and I like his broship with Kiran. He adds an element of silly yet mage skill that the main party needed in their life. Plus, I just really love Astrid's design. 4) I really liked that moment when Teeko was going to cast the fire spell but then had her mouth covered to stop her. Cause it really showed that in her childishness she doesn't always think her magic through and, like a child, will ignore the wise sentiments of her elders. And I just think overall it's use, or non-use in this case, really hammered in just how much of a child Teeko still is because her comprehension for the situations around her are not necessarily the highest.

Delphina

Yessss I would also read an entire spinoff about Heryan, she's so excellent

Delphina

And yeah, Bethan does have the feel of an Ascended Extra, and I think what appeals to me about that kind of protagonist in a high-stakes story is they have much more freedom and agency. Kiran had Specific Things He Had To Do, Teeko had nowhere else to go, so they have to advance the plot by default. But when characters aren't so directly involved and get to CHOOSE to advance the plot, they get to have personal reasons for doing so and can embody all those cool "what if"s that are closed off to the core cast.

In a situation where you have an easy out, why do you choose to do the hard thing? That kind of character is so interesting to me!

varethane

That's a neat way to look at it! I enjoyed writing Bethan a lot, though if there were one thing I could change, it'd be to explore her anger a bit more in the lategame parts of the story (because boy has she got some haha)

(also, Heryan has always been my favourite character to draw XD THAT HAIR)

Delphina

Having just finished rereading my print volumes, I think my favorite magic is when Rupa helps Teeko cast the silence spell on Trillia and Ridriel to get them to stop fighting. http://chirault.sevensmith.net/?comic_id=1358

varethane

the first truly useful spell.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 5. What has been your favorite illustration in the comic so far? What specifically about it do you like?

QUESTION 6. What was a moment where a character was confused about themselves or life situation that you enjoyed? What about it was relatable, and what are your thoughts on how the character overcame that obstacle?

RebelVampire

5) http://chirault.sevensmith.net/?comic_id=1118 probably this page cause thats not only some beautiful magic, but i love the shot choices. i also love how jagged the magic kind of is and the amount of ill call them tendrils. cause it really makes the process look horribly painful and its an illustration that really made me go "oh shit" cause rather than kiran's shoes, i could put myself in teeko's shoes and understand exactly the horrifying crap shes seeing right now. 6) This one I have to give to Kiran for the whole Viraigo debacle. I actually am not sure I'd call it relatable, because ppl dont generally find out the truth as Kiran did. Yet, its the fact that its not that relatable that I enjoy. Because that just makes it horrible and it also puts you in Kiran's shoes. Cause like Kiran, you're asking who is he, how responsible is he for this mess, etc. And so even if you can't imagine it happening ot you, it's still a complicated and really thought provoking situation to be in. As for how he overcame the obstacle, I really loved the subtlety and kind of nonchalant way he handled it, for lack of a better word. Like theres no definitive him declaring "yeah I'm not Viraigo or this other person I am Kiran." It's just him kind of wordlessly accepting who he is/choosing who he is. Cause it kind of also gives the impression hes still gonna have things to work out over the years to come. But that's very true to life cause rarely do people just snap their fingers and come to a full grasp of who they are.

varethane

Re: Kiran/Viraigo, I'm really glad that impression came through! I wanted to avoid giving a definitive answer to the question of WHO he truly is, because.... identity doesn't really work that way, in real life you don't get an easy one-and-done answer. So I didn't want to wrap up that particular issue with a neat little bow-- the important thing isn't the answer itself, but his acceptance of himself.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 7. Which characters do you enjoy seeing interact the most? What about their dynamic interests you?

QUESTION 8. Who do you feel went too far and why: the Mage Guild for creating their destructive items or Viraigo’s group for trying to restore the natural order? What do you think the story says about the balance between progression and the natural order?

Delphina

I really can't put much blame on anyone except the Mage Guild here (and Jenneth in particular for murderfying people and setting fire to the library when he couldn't get his way). It really seems like if Viraigo's group got what they asked for from the beginning, they would have been happy to just release the big ol' katamari of spirits and end the spell on Arya that was keeping her a creepy crumbly living corpse. Now releasing the spirits didn't WORK and that was pretty ugly, but they realized it right away and wanted to fix it.

Tree Lady/Ria was unnecessarily extra, though.

varethane

spirit katamari!!!!

RebelVampire

“murderfying”

i approve of this word usage

RebelVampire

7) too many. too many Ridriel and Trillia because they have i think the most interesting and contentious relationship in the comic. That you want them to overcome their past issues and get along cause both have good points on where theyre coming from. Heryan and Rune because theyre like a dynamic duo to me and really compliment each others personalities nicely. Rupa and Teeko cause Rupa is the nice older brother type who just wants everybody to be happy and is willing to show Teeko how to make ppl stfu. Astrid and Kiran cause its troll vs. grump man which makes for hilarious shenanigans and interesting dynamics since they have to work together but also approach life very differently. Yet, they can come together when it matters. Bethan and Vivian cause I like how Vivian is like "Bethan probably should wear a mask" and Bethan is like "meh" and its like this weird pseudo mom daughter relationship that i can get behind and find truly endearing.

8) Uh, the answer imo is both. They both went too far. This story is literally a series of ppl saying, "What's the worst that could happen?" and then through their lack for foresight the worst was really end the world bad shit. In regards to progression and natural order, I think the story has a lot to say just in general that extremisim is bad. You go too far in anyone direction and you wind up hurting something that's going to be missed. Thus why neither side really won, because they both tried too hard for the thing they wanted. Additionally, i think the story says a lot about how our ideas of what's best for the world may actually not be the best. Thus why we need rules, regulations, codes of ethics, and so forth. Because there's a point we just go too far and blow up the world.

varethane

(Vivian will be everyone's mom if they let her.)

re: 8, it's funny because I didn't set out to make that a major theme of the story, but it is something I definitely believe in-- the importance of checks and balances. So I find it really cool that it comes through!

RebelVampire

QUESTION 9. What sorts of art or story details have you noticed in the way the comic is crafted that you think deserves attention?

QUESTION 10. Do you feel the others were right to forgive Kiran for Viraigo’s actions? Do you think Ridriel and Trillia will forgive each other? Will Trillia forgive the Mage Guild? Overall, what insight can you gleam about the theme of forgiveness from the comic?

RebelVampire

9) All them landscape shots. Have you seen them? They are amazing and like...nature looks like nature. And nature stuff is hard to do and yet i always felt very immersed within each space. Plus, there were so many just like...far back shots where you get to take in the scenery, and i feel like so many moments do these really just set a tone and the atmosphere for stuff thats about to go down. 10) Yes I think the others were fine to forgive Kiran. Cause at the end of the day what's the point of punishing something they don't even remember doing? Especially when said person did their best to help and make the world a better place. Plus Kiran feels more like...not Viraigo anyway. Like imo Viraigo is dead and all thats left are aspects of himself. And these aspects, while part of Viraigo, just arent him. I think Ridriel and Trillia will forgive each other, but i think itd be a while before Trillia would forgive the mage guild. And even if Trillia did I'm not sure she'd ever consider joining just given the long history of animosity. In general, the insight I gleam is that forgiveness is difficult and that even if you forgive, this doesn't always fix everything.

Delphina

Yeah, I think sometimes grudging acceptance and moving on with your life with what you got is about all they can do. I really want to see how Teeko's presence affects Trillia and Ridriel moving forward, because I think them having her future to focus on gives them the chance that they never had to affect demons' place in the world. I'm just envisioning both taking on Mentor Aunt roles and trying to show Teeko cooler spells than the other in escalating hilarity.

varethane

Those would be some fun little shorts! If I get some time maybe I'll look into putting something like that together

Mentor aunts hehe

RebelVampire

QUESTION 11. What do you think are this particular comic’s strengths? What do you think makes this comic unique? Please elaborate.

QUESTION 12. Which character’s growth/progression in the story is your favorite? How would you describe how they changed as a person, and what do you like about how they changed? What do you think we can learn from it for our own lives?

Delphina

I like how Bethan grew from a cool quiet fighter in a village to a cool slightly louder fighter who can fly and dissolve through walls. I too would like to be able to fly and dissolve through walls.

AshAngelV

Responding to 11, It's one of the few stories I've read that has a male and female mc that don't end up in a romantic relationship. I love their brother sister bond.

varethane

I three wish I could fly and dissolve through walls

And yeah, friendship stories that arent romancea are very important to me

duskglass

teeko is a child so one would really hope not xD;;;

tho the same could be said about all of the main cast! (we also have rune & heryan, kiran or astrid & bethan, etc) i really appreciated the lack of forced romance sideplots in chirault; it's really refreshing to see stories that focus on platonic relationships

RebelVampire

QUESTION 13. What are you most looking forward to in the comic? Also, do you have any final thoughts to share overall?

QUESTION 14. Overall, how hopeful are you for the world at the end? Do you believe the changes regarding non-humans using magic will affect the world positively? Will relations with the tree spirits be mended? How do you believe the characters’ lives wound up being?

Delphina

On a macro-societal level, I think the world's gonna be okay. With Heryan at the helm, I think the Mages' Council is definitely going to be trying harder to be more inclusive and less awful toward non-humans and the planet; she definitely seems to have hit it off with the tree spirits diplomatically so I see a lot of potential for progress there. The issues I see in the non-humans' future is that they didn't seem to have much societal organization or structure that we saw (though it was established that Kyrion lived and worked in the cities, so maybe some ambitious leaders would rise to the surface that way and advocate for more rights).

I'm really curious what Rupa would want to do now, because he wasn't a demon, right? The problem they had with him was that he was a multi-caster and could tap The Big Magic that others couldn't. How many other multi-casters existed, and how would their role change in society if Rupa decided to advocate for them? Maybe the tree spirits could teach them how to use magic more responsibly?

RebelVampire

11) i think the comic's strengths are its endearing characters who have just a lot of gray to them. nobody is just evil or good. ppl had their reasons for doing everything in the comic, and that makes for more dynamic and realistic portrayals. i think another strength is the character designs themselves as well. its just so easy to tell everyone apart, and a lot of everyone's personalities is within their design. 12) I have to go with Bethan on this one. She went from silly small town girl to victim to bitter and angry about her friend to forgiving to wanting to do more for the world. It was an emotionally rollercoaster watching her goes through all these things. Plus, its an interesting mix of choice and no choice. Cause while Bethan did make a lot of choices in regard to her path, the whole becoming incorporeal was more accident. She just learned to make the most of it. And I think that is something we can learn from it. That sometimes life says "I hate you," and is really mean. And sometimes the only way to get through it is to roll with the punches.

13) I still vote for Heryan side story. Or another epilogue montage just showing how everyone is getting along. Especially Astrid cause I support the Astrid, Heryan, Rune family unit. 14) I think the world will be fine for at least a time. Heryan seems to be reasonable and regretful of all the mages' past actions. And I think shell usher in a new era of peace with the tree spirits. that being said, everything is finite so it wont last forever. Especially if Heryan cant find a suitable replacement to her. But overally, all the changes will probably be positive, even if the amount of progress achieved in a single lifetime isnt as great as everyone would want. I'm just gonna pretend all the characters lived happily ever after for my sanity. Teeko probably became a great mage. Although I am kind of on the same page with Delphina where I'm really curious what became of Rupa. Rupa was always an interesting chara to me since he was always kind of mellow and was way less intense than Trillia. So Rupa especially should live happily ever after

varethane

The note about Kyrion society is something that I do wish I'd gone into more depth about in the story! I had a lot of ideas about it but could only show it in tiny peeks and hints because the plot was taking place outside of the cities

I hope the ending leaves people on a positive note, I wanted to show that people are working towards a better future (even if theres a lot of work to be done)

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Chirault this week! Please also give a special thank you to Ally Rom Colthoff (Varethane) for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Chirault, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: http://chirault.sevensmith.net/

Ally’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/varethane

Ally’s Store: http://chirault.sevensmith.net/store.php

Ally’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/varethane

Ally’s New Comic Wychwood: http://wychwood.sevensmith.net/

[comicteaparty]

March 18th-March 24th, 2019 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from March 18th, 2019 to March 24th, 2019.  The chat focused on My Hero! by Alli & Jim Perry.

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 My Hero! by Alli & Jim Perry~! (http://www.myherocomic.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 PDT), so keep checking back for more! You have until March 24th 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. Do you believe that Lark and Hasera will eventually solve their differences and learn to work together? If so, what will it take to do it? Alternatively, what might be the last straw that drives them apart?

Natara (My Hero!)

Hi I'm Alli the artist for My Hero! I'm excited to see what people think :)

Evil_Chippy (My Hero!)

1: My favourite scene was where Hasera meets The Lark for the first time. I really liked this because everyone thought he was going to be some kind of creep ( he still is in his own way) and it turns out he's trying to steer her off a course that has killed so many others

2. I certainly hope so, but that would require both of them to change. In order for them to work together, they would have to let go if their preconceptions of each other. The last straw would probably have to be Lark doing something overtly bad, like throwing an old man down the stairs or something moustache twirling evil style(edited)

snuffysam

Oh man the introduction of The Lark was so good. He's a creep, but he's been through a lot, and his experience shows immediately. One thing I wonder... were the other guardians assigned to him by the council's decision, or because they too believed the stories?(edited)

RebelVampire

QUESTION 3. At the moment, who is your favorite character? What about that character earns them this favor?

QUESTION 4. What do you think is the full story with Hasera’s ice powers (besides the shape)? Additionally, why does Lark seemingly get saved even when Hasera knows no healing like spells? Lastly, what might this have to do with her father Keenar?

Evil_Chippy (My Hero!)

I cannot answer #4. So much delicious spoilers contained within!

snuffysam

I think Lark getting saved is as simple as "the best defense is a good offense". Especially since Lark seems to be naturally way tougher than you'd expect.

My favorite character is probably Hasera. I just love how she tries so hard, only to get her hopes shattered over and over.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 5. What has been your favorite illustration in the comic so far? What specifically about it do you like?

QUESTION 6. How might Hasera’s journeys with Lark further disillusion her from all the things she believed in and was taught at the academy? How might this affect how she conducts herself as a guardian or her choice to be one in the first place?

RebelVampire

1) my favorite scene is probably when we get to meet some of the other heros and guardians. That's a moment where i really felt Lark's attitude was vindicated since it wasnt really just him who was disillusioned with everything. all of them were. so it was a great piece of world building with just having the characters exist. i also like it in the retrospect contrast between when all the guardians get offed cause i also morbidly enjoy that their attitudes about things might have played a bit of a role in them getting killed. 2) I think eventually they'll work things out between them, but not in the near future. In the near future I expect something more along the lines of tolerance. Hasera tolerates Lark cause she has a job to do and maybe his experience does mean something. Meanwhile, Lark tolerates her cause shes persistent and if he doesn't, theyll just send him a new guardian to get killed in a never ending cycle of death.

3) Ok. I really can't pick between Hasera and Lark. I love how innocent and inexperienced Hasera is. It's an endearing trait, but one that also bits her in the butt sometimes. And I think it's a really good mix in how it's handled. But I also really love Lark. He really walks that fine line between being vulgar just cause and being vulgar cause he's seen some shit. And that to me makes him very interesting. I really want to know all of his life experiences becaause of how he portrays himself. 4) I have no evidence for this theory, but I'm just gonna go with this headcanon for now anyway. While Hasera's father has been mentioned, we never hear much about her mother. And we know there are different planes. So maybe Hasera's mother was from some other plane and not someone Keenar was supposed to get with. But Keenar was like "I do what I want" and thus a magic baby named Hasera was born.

RebelVampire

5) my fave illustration is probably this one http://www.myherocomic.com/comic/ch3-15 where Hasera summons the ice weapon. I love the shot choices for this, because it allows us to see all the little effect details that went into the summon. It truely captures that magical and mystical feel while also having a sort of bad ass gonna beat you over with the ice feels. 6) I actually think her journey with Lark will strengthen her desire to be a guardian in the long. At first, probably because stubborness and its what she worked towards for so long. But down the line, I think she'll just try to become the guardian she thinks the world needs when the system has degraded to such an extent. However, I definitely think she's going to play less by the book as time goes on. I really think she's going to mature and come into her own as she realizes that books and classrooms can't cover all the scenarios that are possible in life. At the very least, books and classrooms dont teach you how to deal with people, which seems essential for the job. I also think through Lark shes going to rethink how she views the current system and see its not the glitz and glamour she made it out to be. Also, she'll learn trash romance novels are called trash romance novels for a reason.

Natara (My Hero!)

This is one of my favorite scenes because it shows Hass letting her fangirling of Lark get the better of her.(edited)

RebelVampire

QUESTION 7. Which characters do you enjoy seeing interact the most? What about their dynamic interests you?

QUESTION 8. How and/or why is Lark cursed to live a dangerous life? Do you believe it really is a curse, or is Hasera right that he’s faking it? What might it have to do with Lark supposedly having died according to Sasskra?

RebelVampire

7) Lark and Hasera, which makes me feel predictable to say. Their just such opposites it leads to some really great banter. Equally so, though, I like seeing the world built up through them because they both have such different ideas on how the world functions in a way. and i like how they both challenge how each other lives. 8) I feel pretty confident the curse is real. There seems to be plenty of evidence for that. And I 100% feel like him having died had to do with it, though not necessarily in a direct sense. More like Lark died but someone was super pissed at him and made him a cursed zombie. Or more I guess I kind of feel like the world is trying to correct the mistake. Like it knows hes supposed to be dead so it keeps throwing danger his way trying ardently to rekill him and return balance. Thus why hes always in a poor spot as the world tries to correct this clerical death error. As for the why though, I'm a 50/50. Either he pissed someone off like a god or something, or someone powerful thought the world still needed him.

Evil_Chippy (My Hero!)

the real answer to number 7 is pretty close and it has to do with everything going on in the background of the comic.(edited)

There's actually a point in the future where 7 is addressed indirectly. A lot of My Hero!'s background lore is done through hints, asides or Delvers (specifically our favourite Delver couple, Morridan and Gurtie)

One of the biggest things for the background of the world are the short side comics that are going to be made. They are not integral to the plot of the main story, but they are super important at revealing what is going on in the world of Alteria(edited)

The titles are as follows: Hasera's garden Melinda x Magnus The Death of Lark Rise (the story of Sasskra) The tomb of Quel'Lan

RebelVampire

QUESTION 9. What sorts of art or story details have you noticed in the way the comic is crafted that you think deserves attention?

QUESTION 10. How might the other guardians like Calen or Lu play into the story in the future? Do you believe their experiences are similar to Hasera? Is there some way they might help Hasera?

RebelVampire

9) I want to say I really love the accents on some of the characters. So few people are willing to risk accents but i think when done correctly they can add a lot of personality to the character. And I think the ones in the comic strike a good balance between being readable while having that flavor in their manner of speech. <3 10) I feel like if Hasera talks to Lu again she'll gain some new perspective on her situation with Lark. Like I could see Lu kind of opening the metaphorical door and pointing out ways Hasera could gain a new partner or something. which in turn will make Hasera stick to her guns and be like, "no i have a job to do gotta uphold the guardians." as for calen, idk what role but i hope he appears again. especially if in the practical application of the academy hes doing a lot worse than Hasera but has to try and maintain that pompous nah im great attitude.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 11. What do you think are this particular comic’s strengths? What do you think makes this comic unique? Please elaborate.

QUESTION 12. What do you think the Abyssals are up to given they’re going around killing champions and guardians? What do you think they did in the past that got them kicked out of the High Council? How are Lark and Hasera going to be affected?

RebelVampire

QUESTION 13. What are you most looking forward to in the comic? Also, do you have any final thoughts to share overall?

QUESTION 14. In what ways do you think the world will have changed for champions and guardians by the end of the story? How will the role and the methods of the Order of the Nine have changed as well?

RebelVampire

11) I think the comic's strength is having a great balance between stuff happening in the foreground and the background. Like there's definitely this deep world behind the scenes that you see presented to you into small, manageable sizes. However, it's never presented in a way that's distracting to the characters or immediate things going on in the foreground. Rather, it enhances it and leaves lots of little lingering questions that slowly build up and keep you hooked in. 12) I assume its something to do with the gods. Cause reading about the world theres a lot of shenanigans with the gods and the current state of the planes. and generally people always want more than they have so in the vacuum of power, now would be prime time to start setting up situations to get some of that more. alternatively, they could just also want to restore their plane more and damned be all the others. 13) right now im most looking forward to just seeing more of lark and hasera interact. cause it has now been the 2nd time lark has been saved despite hasera not helping and hasera's ice powers seem to be getting more in your face. plus a bunch of guardians just died so that has to have an affect on hasera to some extent. so im interested to see more of what they make of the situation and how they can get through it together.

14) I feel like things may go back a bit more to the old ways. In the sense that the world needs heros to actually fight monsters again. However, I think guardians will be desired for more than just healing abilities. as they always say, the best defense is a good offense.

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about My Hero! this week! Please also give a special thank you to Alli & Jim Perry for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked My Hero!, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: http://www.myherocomic.com/

Alli & Jim Perry’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/alliperry

Alli Perry’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/alli_perry

Jim Perry’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jimininstrovich