#well the latter is more Space Opera Sci Fi but it counts

[not-poignant]

Hi Pia. I've been a fan of your work for a long time now and was wondering if you'd ever write an original sci-fi story or an original contemporary

Altho I know FFS probably classifies as contemporary 🤔 But I just saw that as a human au loosely based off Fae Tales

Fae Tales is an original series with my own original characters, and Falling Falling Stars is an entirely original contemporary story that features only some of those original characters, so technically, it is an original contemporary story. I'm not using someone else's IP, so it's not really fanfic. Something being an AU doesn't make it fanfic, for example, if an artist who draws a superhero character decides to draw them as a merman for Mermay, they're not doing 'fanfiction' of someone else's character - they're doing original art of one of their original characters, y'know? It's just another way of looking at them. Plenty of authors have re-used their characters in other things, this is especially common in comics, but it also happens in fantasy writing a lot too. Also doesn't mean those things become fanfic! Still all original, just has an AU component. :D

But AUs aside...

Otherwise, like, sure I'd consider it! My next works are likely to both be original fantasy worlds, but I like science fiction and I like writing contemporary. I've written original omegaverse in a contemporary setting with the Perth Shifters series, but straight up contemporary is definitely something I've thought up scenarios for.

Science fiction generally doesn't interest me quite as much as fantasy does, but all speculative fiction is interesting/enjoyable to me. That being said, all the next original worlds I've thought up - Daemonos, Glamour Gods, Vexteria, Mallory & Mount etc. are all respectively medieval-style science fiction (but really more like a fantasy, it's just interplanetary), paranormal science-fiction romance, high/epic/secondary world fantasy, high/epic/secondary world fantasy/psychological thriller.

It's more fun for me to sandbox in specfic, because like... I don't get to write characters who have naturally violet eyes, or shapeshifting demons, or fairy-human hybrids who are used by criminals and governments for their glamour as enslaved propaganda machines, or characters who are actually just pretty human but where magic is illegal and serial killers are super common actually.

Contemporary is easy for me to write, but it's not as appealing overall unless it's in situations like Falling Falling Stars, or Smoke in Autumn, or As Green as the Ragged Grass, or Spoils of the Spoiled, or...

Actually you know I've written a fair bit of original contemporary!

I've actually finished a contemporary novel in the past, which a few folks have read bits of through the Patreon over time, called Every Day Awake. The playlists for the characters (Allie, Brad and Jacob) are still on Spotify, as character playlists. I still plan on rewriting that book one day, but it's definitely not high on my priority list.

[buzzdixonwriter]

Writing Horror Comics

(An artist friend interested in doing some horror stories asked me for any insights I might have on the gerne and format.  I’m expanding slightly on my reply to him here for those who may not be familiar with writing for comics.)

While I have written some horror comics in the past (as well as a few horror short stories), I think of myself as a writer who does various genres, not a genre writer per se.  I don’t think I have any special insights to share on horror comics but I will pass along what I’ve gleaned to date.

Horror stories tend to fall into two main categories: The Senseless Tragedy, and The Biter Gets Bit.  In the former bad things happen to the characters at random or for reasons they can’t fathom, in the latter they did something that invites retribution on them.

Comic book horror stories also tend to have twist or O. Henry style endings where something unexpected but logical happens.  A classic prose example of this is the “The Monkey’s Paw” where a wish for money results in a son being killed in an accident that garners a big insurance settlement, then a wish for the son to be brought back to life raises him from the grave in not very good condition.

When I write short stories I often (but not always) work backwards from my climax: How do I want it to end and then what would be a logical path to get there?  The advantage of doing it this way is that you can more easily lay track in a non-obvious manner so the reader goes “My, how clever!” when they realize you dropped a few subtle clues pointing to how it would end.

(This works with all sorts of stories, of course, not just horror.)

The most important part of any story but especially a short story is getting the reader emotionally involved as quickly as possible.  Any emotion will do; they don’t have to like or admire the character, just be curious about what’s going to happen to them next.  

That’s why The Biter Gets Bit works so well in horror stories: We dislike the central character because they’re a creep and can’t wait to see them get their comeuppance.

Past that it’s a matter of personal preference and taste.  Write about what frightens you in actuality or metaphorically.  I’m an arachnophobe, I’ve written and sold three horror short stories about spiders plus a poem based on the topic (“Spider In A Space Helmet”).  I also fear being trapped in situations I can’t control and have written stories (less horror, more satirical fantasy) about characters who find themselves overwhelmed by surreal or magical events.

Speaking of emotion and logic, there’s a saying in classical music that opera doesn’t have to make logical sense so long as it makes emotional sense.  Get the readers invested in the characters and their predicament, and they will accept any resolution that feels right even if it doesn’t make 100% logical sense.

Now, as for the actual writing, most comics scripts are done in either the DC style (full panel by panel descriptions and dialog like a movie script) or the Marvel style (writer does a 3-page story outline, the artist breaks it down and draws it, the art is sent to the writer to add dialog).  There are other methods, including doing the whole story as thumbnail sketches but I’m focusing on just the two most prevalent written styles.

Except for the handful of Marvel comics I wrote, I’ve always worked in the full script method.

Comics scripts are actually my favorite format for writing because you can play the stories like an accordion.  If they’re running too long you can drop a couple of pages and replace them with a caption (“Returning to town, the sheriff rounded up a posse and rode out to track the outlaws down…”), if they’re too short you can extend an action scene by a page or two or add some character business.

Not counting the Nightmare On Elm Street comic I wrote for Marvel (which they never published, but that’s another story for another time…), all my horror & sci-fi comics scripts were for stories 6-8 pages long (I also did a couple of short-shorts, one a single page long, the other a 2-pager).  As mentioned above, I typically figured out the snapper then worked backwards.

As a rough rule of thumb, the following are helpful basic guidelines:

Try not to have more than four things happen on a page; for example:

Dr. Frankenstein sends Igor to the roof

Igor launches the kites into the storm

A lightning bolt strikes the kite and the copper wire attached to it

The electricity courses into the monster in the lab.  

This can be broken down into any number of panels / angles / details and the artist might use two or three panels to illustrate one particular action, but try not to have too many different things happening on a single page.

American style comics typically have 4 – 9 panels per page, manga often has 3 – 6.  There are no hard and fast rules; do what works best for you.  (Personally, I favor 4 - 5 panels per page on average.)

Be careful with dialog and tex: Golden and silver age comics tended to have up to 35 words per panel, modern American comics run closer to 25 words per panel max, while manga tends to hold it down to 12 words.  “Words” includes anything to be read as part of the story, such as dialog, narration, captions, sound effects, footnotes, etc.  A sign in the background that’s not conveying any story information is not considered part of the word count.

If you’re not the artist, use words and phrases with emotional weight: A jolly husky librarian.  A spooky old house.  A sterile looking laboratory.  A weary looking businessman, etc.  It helps artists to know what feelings they should be conveying, and a few well chosen words typically get a much better result than detailed analytical descriptions.

The full script method looks similar to a screenplay:

=PAGE ONE= [this designates the art page, not the script page]

 PANEL 1:  INT. CREAKY OLD MANSION – NIGHT [set the scene]

Very short description of what we see in the panel.

1  CAPTION     It was a dark and stormy night…

2  TITLE   “Spooky House Story”

3  HERO     Say, this is a spooky old house!

4  HEROINE     Do you always state the obvious?*

5  FOOTNOTE     * He does!

 PANEL2:  HERO AND HEROINE OPEN THE DOOR

Describe how they act.  [is it difficult to open?  Does it swing open easily?  Etc.]

6  HERO     Let’s open the door!

7  SFX (door)     Creak!

  =END PAGE ONE=   [let the artist know where to stop drawing a particular page]

 You’ll note each panel is numbered, likewise every line of dialog.  This helps the artist and the letterer know where they are in a story.  Each art page in the script should start with Panel 1 and 1 Dialog.

It makes life so much easier.

I suggest reading Scott McCloud’s excellent trilogy of books:

Understanding Comics

Reinventing Comics

Making Comics

Scott won’t steer you wrong and provides far more details than I can in this short post.

Past that, I don’t know what to tell you.  I’ve always guided my topic selection by the philosophy of “hit ‘em where they ain’t” meaning if everybody’s doing vampires or zombies, try something entirely different (unless, of course, you have the greatest idea for such stories that’s ever been done, in which case go for it; just make sure it is the greatest idea ever…).

 © Buzz Dixon

[firebirdtransam68]

What I Want To See More On Tumblr

Tumblr is a sharing/social networking blog site that has a variety of content.  However, there is content that also needs more recognition, and I see little to none of that content; probably because it is underrated and not very many users talk about or mention it.  Of course, there will be plenty of opportunities to add more content, and I still have more information that must be voiced, but it would be nice if others take action and start expanding the site with extra and unlimited content (whether it be pictures, videos, audio, photographs, artwork, fan media, quotes, chats, weblinks, entertainment and media reviews, recaps of different works, memes, tutorials, self-help, GIFs, messages, etc.) as well.

Here are the following content that needs more recognition (it is a long list, so please pace yourselves):

General:

- Skills and techniques with Microsoft PowerPoint (this may include picture making with the shape tool)

- Fictional landscapes created by users

- Synthwave, Vaporwave, and Retrowave (and other retro forms like these)

- OC and fan character bases and illustrations

- Microsoft Windows (1.0, 3.1, 95, NT, 98, ME, 2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8, etc.)

   * Desktop images (tiled pictures included)

   * Screensavers

   * Logos

   * Screenshots

   * Tutorials

   * Video clips

- Extraterrestrial content

   * Planets

   * Star systems

   * Phenomenon (including black holes, quasars, pulsars, supernovae, etc.)

   * Plants/flora

   * Animals/fauna

   * Fungi

   * Single-celled organisms

   * Landscapes

   * Skies

   * Terrains

   * Montane areas

   * Oceans

   * Habitats

   * Climate phenomenon (rain, snow, wind, sandstorms, thunderstorms, blizzards, sleet, hail, auroras, etc.)

   * Moons and natural satellites

   * Technologies

   * Rocks and minerals

   * Intelligent life

   * Alien languages

   * Science fiction

   * Fantasy

   * Geography

   * Field guides

- Alien/space dragons

- Fictional rocks, minerals, and gemstones

- Real-life landscapes

- Firearms

- Psalms

- Vintage material

- Web-developing/web-designing ideas and blueprints

- Mesozoic Era (including dinosaurs, mammals, early birds, and flora)

- Hybrid/crossbreed animals

- Werebeasts

- Alien skunks

- Alien birds

   * Owls

   * Peafowl

   * Hawks

   * Falcons

   * Birds of paradise

   * Parrots and macaws

   * Sparrows

   * Corvids

   * Shrikes

   * Archaeopteryx (dinosaurs are included)

   * Crossbreeds

- Kitsunes (including alien kitsunes)

- Alien wolves

- Alien hedgehogs

- Exotic birds

- G1 MLP (we have enough G4/FIM already)

- Retro

- Fighter jets

- Cars from 1967-1988

- Quotes and scenes from movies, TV shows, videogames/computer games, anime, books, comics, music videos, radio, podcasts, direct-to-video movies and series, plays, scripts, and websites

- Any LGBTQ+ content that encourages diversity of thought, creativity, and staying true to yourself regardless of sexual orientation

Original Stories:

- Science fantasy

- Alien fantastical creatures

   * Dragons

   * Unicorns

   * Pegasi (flying horses)

   * Hippocampus

   * Cerberus

   * Roc (giant eagle)

   * Griffons

   * Hippogriff

   * Kitsune

   * Minotaurs

   * Ent

   * Basilisk

   * Gorgon

   * Harpy

   * Merfolk

   * Fauns

   * Orcs, ogres, goblins, and ghouls

- Action/thrillers

- Influences from sci-fi authors and writers (including Robert Heinlein)

- Female villains and complex characters

- Influences from Atlantis

- Mpreg and fempreg (hermaphrodites, transgender, reverse reproduction, magic, alternate dimension, etc.)

- Allegories (Christian, Jewish, Hindi, Buddhist, Sikh, Taoist, Shinto, Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Sumerian, Mayan, Muslim, Scientologist, Judeo-Christian, Norse, Jainist, Gothic, any other ideology you can think of)

- Alternate dimensions

- Historical fiction

- Time travel

- Giant robots

- Original anime and manga styles

- Dystopian futures/dimensions

- Conflicts regarding the LGBTQ+ community (gay conservatives, march vs. morality, discrimination based on political party, heroes and villains regardless of sexual orientation, asexuality, intersex couples, coexisting with the majority, etc.)

- Space operas

- Travel and vacationing

- Crossovers (even with official media)

- Even memoirs

Statements and opinions:

- 1980's

- 1990′s

- Anti-identity politics

- Individuality

- Anti-misandry, anti-misogyny, and double standards

- Knight Rider (1980's)

- Sonic X (Japanese, English, or both)

- Transformers Micron Legend

- Transformers Superlink

- Transformers Galaxy Force

- Transformers Unicron Trilogy (sub vs. dub, pro or anti, characters, pairings, etc.)

- Voltron: Defender Of The Universe

- Bumblebee (2018)

- Mpreg and fempreg (pro or anti)

- "Hate is a strong word"

- "Original is better"

- Synthwave

- Bayformers (pro or anti)

- Sub vs. dub

- Anti-trolling

- Equal opportunity vs. equal outcomes

- "I'm gay and conservative; I make my own choice on who to vote, and to tell me otherwise makes you more homophobic than the ones you claim to be"

- Pro-individuality

- Variations of certain pairings (like Sonadow and Megascream)

- Anti-Shradow

- Anti-Sondash

- Sonic x Transformers crossover

- "Fandom abuse kills interest" or similar statements

- "You can be a patriot of your country and support another country at the same time"

- "'Not My President!'  Then move to some other country where he is not your president"

- "This Blog Is A No Threat Zone"

- Supporting underrated characters

- Supporting underrated pairings

- Supporting rarer material that is not mainstream

- Seiyuu and other foreign voice acting

- "Fanboys and fangirls are both annoying" or similar statements

- "Hate a work?  That's your problem" or similar statements

- “Not all Christians are hateful towards gays; not all gays are hateful towards Christians”

- Current news unreported by mainstream media

Sonic The Hedgehog:

- Sonic X (styles and retroactive design is welcome)

   * Bilingual Sonic

   * Fake screenshots

   * Sonic and Shadow

   * Maria Robotnik

   * Adventure 1 and 2

   * Original vs. 4Kids

   * Metarex

   * Molly

   * Scourge The Hedgehog

   * Black Arms

   * AOSTH characters (including Catty Carlisle, Breezie, and Katella The Huntress)

   * Sonic Forces characters (including Infinite The Jackal)

   * Fan characters

   * Transformers in Sonic X style

- Shadow The Hedgehog (2005)

   * Firearms

   * Vehicles

   * Lyrics to theme songs

   * Karma meter

   * Japanese version

   * Screenshots

- Fan character Eggman badniks

- Chaos Emeralds (more colors besides the SEVEN)

- Seiyuu and English-speaking voice actor comparisons

- Sonic OVA

   * Sara (Sera)

   * Old Man Owl

   * Planet Freedom

   * Sonic vs. Metal Sonic

   * Sonic X characters in OVA style

   * Shadow The Hedgehog

- Green Hill Zone in many variations

- Other zones such as Spring Yard Zone and Lava Reef Zone

- Babylon Rogues

   * Jet The Hawk

   * Wave The Swallow

   * Storm The Albatross

   * Sonic X style

- Silver as a Sonadow fan child

- Archie vs. Fleetway vs. IDW

- Controversy memes

- Shadow mpreg (usually in regards to Sonadow or even Mephadow (though I don't ship the latter))

- Fan character creators

- Katella The Huntress

- Female villains and badniks

- Classic style of characters

- Planet Mobius

- Shadow, Silver, and Scourge as werehogs

- Cosmo The Seedrian

Transformers:

- The Transformers: The Movie (1986)

- Super Robot Lifeform Transformers Legends Of The Microns (Transformers: Micron Legend)

- Transformers: Superlink

- Transformers: Galaxy Force

- Transformers G1 Japanese canon

   * Transformers Scramble City (1986)

   * Transformers Headmasters (1987-1988)

   * Transformers Super-God Masterforce (1988-1989)

   * Transformers Victory (1989)

   * Transformers Zone (1990)

- Armada characters with Micron Legend names

- Energon characters with Superlink names

- Cybertron characters with Galaxy Force names

- Armada Demolishor

- Armada Thrust

- Armada Tidal Wave

- Armada Hot Shot (in new coloration)

- Energon Prime Force

- Energon Wing Saber

- Energon Mirage

- Energon Shockblast (should be Shockwave, because he pays homage to G1 Shockwave)

- Cybertron Soundwave

- Cybertron Thunderblast

- Cybertron Landmine

- Cybertron Thundercracker

- Ironhide

   * G1

   * Micron Legend/Armada (the only incarnation of Ironhide that is a Decepticon)

   * Prime

   * Bumblebee (2018)

- Springer

   * G1

   * Superlink/Energon (although he pays homage to his G1 counterpart, he is not a Triple Changer)

   * Live-action versions

- Chromia

   * G1

   * Galaxy Force/Cybertron (the only incarnation of Chromia that is a Decepticon)

- Laserbeak (G1)

- Armada characters in G1 style

- Armada characters in Bumblebee (2018) style, and vice versa

- G1 show fake screenshots

- Armada fake screenshots

- Stunticons and Menosaur

- Aerialbots and Superion

- Omega Supreme

  * G1

  * Superlink/Galaxy Force

- Controversy memes

- Fan character creators

- Sam Witwicky and Mikaela Banes

- Alice (ROTF)

- Charlie Watson

- Shatter and Dropkick

- Tina Lark (2018 Bumblebee film)

- Female Decepticons and villains

- Blackout (Transformers 2007 film)

- Barricade (Transformers 2007 film)

- G1 meets Armada

- Blitzwing (G1)

- Predaking (G1)

- Seiyuu and English-speaking voice actor comparisons (especially the Unicron Trilogy)

- More combiner robots

- Crossovers or stand-alone fan media with humongous Mecha piloted by humans

- Talaria (G1 episode: The God Gambit)

- Transformers with Pontiac Firebird Trans Am alt-modes

Mecha Anime:

- Beast King Golion

- Armoured Fleet Dairugger XV

- Lightspeed Electroid Albegas

- Gatchaman

- Raideen

   * Yusha Raideen (Raideen The Brave)

   * Chouja Raideen (Raideen The Superior)

- Galaxy Express 999

- Space Battleship Yamato

- Star Musketeer Bismarck (Saber Rider And The Star Sheriffs)

- Zoids

- Mighty Orbots

- GaoGaiGar

- Macross/Mospeda

- Space Runaway Ideon

- Queen Millenia (does it count as a Mecha anime?)

- Ergo Proxy (Autoreivs may count as mecha, since they are robots)

- Starship Troopers (OAV)

- Crossovers (including with Transformers)

- Original Mecha artwork as well as stories

Spore:

- Creatures

   * Paleozoic Era creatures

   * Mesozoic Era creatures

   * Cenozoic Era creatures

   * Megafauna

   * Passenger pigeon

   * Echidna

   * Skunk

   * Peafowl

   * Kitsune

   * Owl

   * Falcon

   * Sonic The Hedgehog characters

   * Star Trek style characters

   * Animal crossbreeds

   * Creepy And Cute parts pack

   * Underwater creatures

   * SporeMaster (extra parts for creatures including extra wings, movable tails, whiskers, and tentacles)

- Flora

   * Pine tree

   * Plants with black trunks and green or blue leaves

   * Berry bush

   * Palm tree-like plants

   * Cherry blossom

   * Eyeball plants

   * Succulent plants

   * Groundcover

   * Fluffy plants

   * Water plants

   * Fungi

- Planets, moons, and stars

- Cells and microbes

- Early creatures

- Land, Air, and Water vehicles

- UFO's that look like fighter jets

- Realistic-looking wildlife and planets

- Asteroids and meteors

- Robots and Mecha

- Comets

- Galaxies

- Fonts

- Humanoid creatures

- Planetary landscapes

- Screenshots

Ships And Pairings:

- Sonic The Hedgehog

   * Sonadow (Sonic seme x Shadow uke)

   * Sonourge/Scouronic (Scourge seme x Sonic uke)

   * Manamy (Manic x Amy)

   * Salamy (Sally Acorn x Amy Rose)

   * Wavouge (Wave x Rouge)

   * Chriselen (Chris Thorndyke x Helen)

   * Metandroid (Metal Sonic x Shadow Android)

   * Jetave (Jet x Wave)

   * Infiniles/Mephinite (Infinite x Mephiles)

   * Geoffershey (Geoffrey x Hershey)

   * Scourgiona (Scourge x Fiona)

   * Juladette (Jules x Bernadette)

   * Soneezie (Sonic x Breezie)

   * Eggella (Eggman x Katella)

   * Robotara/Eggera (Dr. Robotnik x Sara)

   * Knuxikal (Knuckles x Tikal)

- Transformers

   * Ironromia (Ironhide x Chromia)

   * Infernalert (Inferno x Red Alert)

   * Ironratch (Ironhide x Ratchet)

   * Optilita-1 (Optimus Prime x Elita-1)

   * Hotarcee (Hot Rod x Arcee)

   * Springarcee (Springer x Arcee)

   * Shocksound (Shockwave x Soundwave)

   * Optihide (Optimus Prime x Ironhide)

   * Bumblecliff (Bumblebee x Cliffjumper)

   * Megabird (Megatron x Nightbird)

   * Blitztrain (Blitzwing x Astrotrain)

   * Wreckancy (Wreck-Gar x Nancy)

   * Cyclonourge (Cyclonus x Scourge)

   * Hotolishor (Hot Shot x Demolishor); Ironrod/Hothide (Hot Rod x Ironhide)

   * Starclonus (Starscream x Cyclonus); Starsand/Sandscream (Starscream x Sandstorm)

   * Starshot (Starscream x Hot Shot); Starrod (Starscream x Hot Rod)

   * Hotjack (Hot Shot x Wheeljack); Hotpage (Hot Rod x Rampage)

   * Democlonus (Cyclonus x Demolishor); Sandhide (Sandstorm x Ironhide)

   * Radexis (Rad x Alexis); Radexa (Rad x Alexa)

   * Siderust (Sideways x Thrust); Doublerust (Doubleface x Thrust)

   * Blurshot (Blurr x Hot Shot); Silverrod (Silverbolt x Hot Rod)

   * Demolihide/Ironmolishor (Demolishor x Ironhide); Ironbuster/Roadhide (Ironhide x Roadbuster)

   * Ironwing (Ironhide x Wing Saber); Roadsaber (Roadbuster x Wing Saber)

   * Winglock (Wing Dagger x Padlock)

   * Galvarage (Galvatron x Mirage); Galvafleet (Galvatron x Shockfleet)

   * Tidaldagger/Saberage (Tidal Wave/Mirage x Wing Dagger/Wing Saber); Shockwing (Shockwave/Shockfleet x Wing Dagger/Wing Saber)

   * Starwave/Starrage (Starscream x Tidal Wave/Mirage); Starshock (Starscream x Shockwave/Shockfleet)

   * Demolisaber (Demolishor x Wing Saber); Ironwing (Ironhide x Wing Saber)

   * Bulkclonus (Bulkhead x Cyclonus); Springstorm (Springer x Sandstorm)

   * Starblast (Starscream x Thunderblast); Starromia (Starscream x Chromia)

   * Charemo/Memarlie (Charlie x Memo)

   * Shattopkick (Shatter x Dropkick)

   * Wheelarcee (Wheeljack x Arcee)

- Whoever you think need more recognition; there is too many to count.

Crossovers:

- Sonic The Hedgehog x Transformers

   * Sonic games x G1

   * AOSTH x G1

   * SatAM x G1

   * Sonic OVA x Headmasters

   * Underground x RID (Car Robots)

   * Sonic X x G1

   * Sonic X x Armada (Micron Legend)

   * Sonic X x Energon (Superlink)

   * Sonic X x Cybertron (Galaxy Force)

   * Sonic games x Unicron Trilogy

   * Archie Comics x IDW

   * Fleetway x Shattered Glass

   * Sonic games x Shattered Glass

   * Archie Comics x Animated

   * Sonic Boom x Prime

   * Sonic Boom x War For Cybertron/Fall Of Cybertron

   * Sonic Mania x Bumblebee (2018)

   * Sonic Forces x Cyberverse

   * Sonic Forces x Bumblebee (2018)

   * Team Sonic Racing x RID (2015)

   * IDW crossover

   * Sonic live-action (2019- ) x Bayformers (2007-2017)

- Transformers x Voltron

   * G1 x Voltron: Defender Of The Universe

   * Armada x Voltron Force

   * Unicron Trilogy x Voltron (1984-1986)

   * Headmasters x Voltron (1984-1986)

   * Victory x Voltron (1984-1986)

   * Cyberverse x Voltron: Legendary Defender

- Alien (1979-2017) x Avatar (2009 film)

- 24 x Transformers (2007)

- Top Gun (1986) x Stealth (2005)

- The Final Countdown (1980) x Top Gun (1986)

- Transformers G1 x Armada

- Transformers G1 x Energon

- Transformers G1 x Bumblebee (2018)

- Transformers IDW x Dreamwave

- Transformers Armada x War For Cybertron

- Sonic OVA x Sonic X

- AOSTH x Sonic X

- AOSTH x SatAM

- AOSTH x Underground

- SatAM x Underground

- SatAM x Sonic X

- Underground x Sonic X

- Sonic Universe crossovers

- Transformers Universe crossovers

Aliens And Extraterrestrial Life:

- Plants

- Fungi

- Bacteria

- Mammals

- Birds

- Reptiles

- Dinosaur-like animals

- Amphibians

- Fish

- Insects

- Arrachnids

- Worms

- Mollusks

- Crustaceans

- Autotrophs (plant animals)

- Humanoids

- Xenomorphs

- Algae

- Hybrids and crossbreeds

- Technology

1980's:

- Advertisements

- Fonts

- Chrome

- Movie posters

- Art

- Stock footage

- Computer graphics (early CGI)

- Music and soundtracks

- Cars

- Aircraft

- MTV

- Merchandises

- J-Pop and J-Rock

- 78 RPM and LP vinyl records

- Walkman

- Hairstyles

- Musical instruments (such as synthesizers and drum machines)

Patterns And Textures:

- Memphis-style

- Terrain

- Ocean and sea

- Flowers

- Space

- Faceted

- Planet texture maps

- Sand

- Snow

- Dirt

- Ice

- Sonic patterns

- Transformers patterns

- Geometric

- Grid

- Feathers

Media Reviews:

- Transformers Unicron Trilogy (both Japanese and English)

- Plane and fighter jet films

- 1980's TV shows

- Bumblebee (2018)

- Sonic X (original Japanese version with English subtitles is preferable)

- Voltron: Defender Of The Universe

- G1 MLP TV specials, movie, and series

- Any anime and manga review

- Software and hardware

- Regarding fan media

- Memes in general

- TV Tropes

- Wikipedia

- Conservapedia and RationalWiki (not just negative reviews for Conservapedia, and not just positive reviews for RationalWiki, either; balance them out, see if they have any good points; what are they both right or wrong on?)

- DeviantArt

- Tumblr (the website you are in)

Movies:

- Top Gun (1986)

- The Final Countdown (1980)

- Avatar (2009)

- Alien vs. Predator media (1979-2017)

- 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

- 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984)

- Terminator (1984-2019)

- Stealth (2005)

- Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls Of Ga'hoole (2010)

- Cobra (1986)

- Judge Dredd (1995)

- Total Recall (1990)

- Demolition Man (1993)

- Any Garfield TV specials (1982-1991)

- The Land Before Time films (1988-2016)

- Animal Farm (any film or TV show)

- Dragonheart (1996)

- Dirty Dancing (1987)

- Strictly Ballroom (1992)

- Die Hard films (1988-2013)

- Iron Eagle (1986-1994)

- Young Guns (1988-1990)

- The Lost Boys (1987)

- Flatliners (1990, 2017)

- Any direct-to-video film

TV Shows:

- 24 (2001-2010, 2014)

- La Femme Nikita (1997-2001)

- The X Files (1993-2002)

- The Dukes Of Hazard (1979-1985)

- Mr. Ed (1961-1966)

- Any Lucille Ball show

- Stranger Things (2016- )

- The 100 (2014- )

- Knight Rider franchise (1982-2000)

- G.I Joe (1985-1987)

- Hercules: The Legendary Journeys

- Xena: Warrior Princess

- Star Trek franchise

- Star Blazers (1979-1984)

- Voltron (1984-1986)

- Buck Rogers In The 25th Century (1979-1981)

- Battle Of The Planets (1978-1985)

Videogames And Computer Games:

- Halo (1999-2014)

- Sins Of A Solar Empire (2008)

- E.V.O.: Search For Eden (1992)

- Darkspore (2011)

- Unreal (1998-2014)

- Half-Life (1998-2003)

- Age Of Empires (1997- )

- SimCity (2013- )

- Crazy Taxi (1999-2007)

- Nier series (2010-2017)

- Flow (2006)

- Diablo (1996-2017)

- Flicky (1984)

- Ecco The Dolphin (1992)

- Classic Pac-man games (1980-1984)

- Let’s-plays for videogames lesser known in mainstream

- Any fan game

Books And Novels:

- Dragonriders Of Pern

- The Space Trilogy (1938-1945)

- Dune series

- Red Mars Trilogy (Kim Stanley Robinson)

- The Dark Tower (1977)

- The Maze Runner series

- The Chronicles Of Narnia

- Any book and short story by Robert Heinlein

- Bright Lights, Big City

- Space Odyssey (Arthur C. Clarke)

- Guardians Of Ga'hoole

- Watership Down

- The Plague Dogs

- The Rescuers series (Margery Sharp)

- A Brother's Price (Wen Spencer)

- Diary Of A Wimpy Kid

- Any book by Isaac Asimov

Comics:

- Any webcomic you consider underrated

- Older Garfield comic strips before 2006

- Hyperbole And A Half

- Your own comics

Music And Soundtrack:

- Rush

- Kenny Loggins

- Karen Guys

- Laura Brannigan

- Pat Benetar

- Bon Jovi

- A-Ha

- Rick Astley

- Anime songs

- Off Course

- Brian Eno and Roxy Music

- Collective Soul

- Owl City

- Dead Can Dance

- Cheap Trick

- The Cars

- Cyndi Lauper

- Heart

- Hailee Steinfeld

Fandom:

- Any Sonic shipping fandom

- Transformers Armada (Micron Legend)

- Transformers Energon (Superlink)

- Transformers Cybertron (Galaxy Force)

- AI (artificial intelligence and computers)

- Female villain fandoms

- Seiyuu

- Fighter jets and military helicopters

- Classic cars

- Mecha anime

- Any religious fandom (not that I am religious myself)

(Please note that I may also do some of these, myself, but I encourage others to do so, as well; there are plenty of users who are more skilled and knowledgeable than I am.)

When it comes to content, I leave overrated stuff alone, and yearn to increase underrated stuff, even content that may be overrated in many areas, but underrated in others.  I also encourage differing opinions of such content; people can like a certain content that others hate, and vice versa; I have no problem with that; just as long as no one harasses, bullies, trolls, denigrates, or threatens others who do not think the same way they do.

I also encourage alternative sites for content, as well as many more websites solely for entertainment purposes.

For everyone else in Tumblr, as well as many others in other websites, be creative, bring up new ideas and opinions, teach people something interesting, make what you like, encourage other people to do the same, and be cordial and respectful to one another.  I wish you the best of luck.

This is FirebirdTransAm68 signing out.

[timeisacephalopod]

Optioned

Um, random Peter/ Bucky AU in which they both work a shitty job at a movie theater. I don’t know what this is but its definitely crack lmao. I just wanted to write the pairing tbh.

Ok so Peter had aspirations- once upon a time that was a thing but now all his dreams are dead and he stuffs bags full of pop corn for a living. Its not exactly that he hates his job at the local movie theater, its just that he’d rather kill himself than speak to an actual live human being at a till. People are assholes for one, and also he’s discovered that the ‘ice vs no ice’ controversy is real and people are passionate about it. His preference? He doesn’t have one because he can’t be assed to care about trivial shit like that.

The only good thing to come out of his shitty job making surprisingly good popcorn is that he met Bucky. Sure he’s like ninety percent sure Bucky never actually does any work mostly because he’s way too fucking anxious to handle being on till but he’s funny and that’s all Peter cares about. Plus he’s awesome enough that no one else seems to notice that he doesn’t do much. Either that or everyone likes him too much to care.

“I hate closing shifts,” Kamala mumbles and Peter snorts.

“That makes two of us but fuck getting up in the morning,” he says, shaking his head. Morning shifts are slow as shit too so not only would he be up early but he’d have nothing to do. Fuck morning shifts. Actually no, fuck working in general, he misses stealing shit to get by but Bucky thinks its immoral to steal or whatever. Personally Peter likes to think of himself as Robin Hood except he’s only taking money for himself- if the public wants more of it they can steal their own shit.

“I already have school so you know, I’m used to it,” Kamala says.

Peter wrinkles his nose, “I’d say drop out but then I’d be a bad influence.”

Kamala laughs, “I’m pretty sure my parents would skin you if you told me to drop out and I listened.”

“Has anyone done the butter yet?” Bucky asks and Peter turns.

“No, not that I- why are you in the vat of pop corn?” he asks, frowning at Bucky sitting in the pop corn machine. Its not even empty either, he’s sitting in a giant ass vat of popcorn with food surrounding him.

“Monkey brain,” he says like that’s some kind of explanation.

Peter sighs. “When I was nine my mother died, I got kidnapped shortly thereafter, became a fucking conspiracy theory-” which he hadn’t even known about until he met Bucky. The guy reads way too many conspiracies. “-Ended up leading a life of crime so I could accumulate enough money to go to film school and also assimilate into the group of criminals I was kidnapped by. Went to film school with big dreams of being a director and writer that got sucked out by this shit place, and all for it to end with my boyfriend in a vat of popcorn explained away by ‘monkey brain’. I can’t even write that shit.” But then most of Bucky’s life is such a level of bizarre that he couldn’t write it. If he did he’d deem it unrealistic because Bucky attracts weird like nobody’s business. “Kamala, can you do the butter?” he asks her.

She sighs grumpily but agrees until Bucky interrupts, “I asked because I was gunna do it,” he says.

“You can clean out the popcorn vat,” Peter tells him and Bucky sulks, eating some of the popcorn that surrounds him. Kalama laughs as she pulls the butter from its warmer. Knowing how long those things sit there makes Peter feel almost bad for feeding it to people. But then he remembers half the customers shriek at him if he puts ice in their drinks and feels less bad.

“Can I go home? I hate it here,” Bucky says and Peter snorts.

“If I have to suffer so do you. Kamala, you go home, you have school tomorrow,” he says.

Kamala frowns, “I mean I’m leaving but we don’t have school on Saturdays, Peter.”

Bucky lets out a long whine, “how come she gets to go home? I’m the one dating you, give me special treatment.”

“Yeah, I also happen to know you pay half the rent and need the hours, Kamala’s only here to save money for college so she’s not missing out on much,” he says. “Now clean the vat.” Bucky sighs and mumbles something about Peter sucking the fun out of everything but he doesn’t care. He doesn’t like rent either but Bucky’s the one who insists they work shitty jobs for a living instead of just selling meth or robbing homes in rich areas.

“You’re the best,” Kamala tells him before she takes off. Man Peter wishes he could follow and leave this stupid job behind. Why couldn’t he have dated someone with no moral compass so he could avoid this hellhole?

“Do I still have to clean the vat?” Bucky asks and Peter nods.

“I’m not cleaning that shit,” he says.

“I thought you wanted weird experiences for your writing or whatever,” Bucky says and Peter frowns.

“I hope you know finding my boyfriend in a vat of popcorn is far weirder than cleaning it out,” he says. “Also I don’t feel like cleaning it out when I have to count literally everything in this damn place. Save me some of that popcorn,” he adds, earning a look from Clint like he has the right to issue out looks given his eating habits. Peter watched him eat an Oreo off the lobby floor once.

“His ass as been in there,” he says.

“Clint, I’ve ate is ass, why do you think that matters to me?” he asks, earning a gag from America across the room. “Oh hush, I’m sure you and Kate get up to worse,” he says to her. She gives him a doubtful look but he damn well knows Kate is probably into weird shit, she hangs out with Clint.

“Please don’t tell our coworkers about our sex life, I have to look them in the eye,” Bucky says, climbing out of the popcorn.

“Does he actually do anything around here or does he mostly just talk to you?” Clint asks.

Peter shrugs, “probably the latter but I mean are you complaining? Could you imagine this guy at a till? Dude is a human chihuahua.” He shakes at everything and sometimes has a lot of anger in unexpected places though Peter has to admit if he were Jewish and spotted a Nazi near him he’d punch the Nazi too. Except Bucky acted totally on instinct and went Full Human Chihuahua right after so it was a weird situation to be in and if Peter ever writes a comedy that is so going in it.

Clint snorts, “one time when he was on floor I watched this guy try to walk up to him and he basically ran away and left Loki to deal with it. I’m sure it went horribly wrong.”

“Actually I think Loki solved his problem and that reaffirms that I’m not fit to deal with people,” Bucky says, dumping popcorn into the trash.

“How do you date him?” Clint asks and Peter shrugs.

“Dude is so weird he inspires a crap ton of stories that no one will ever option,” he says and Bucky snorts.

“I’m sure it’ll happen eventually,” he says and yeah, maybe, but Peter is bored of writing for no audience. And also of serving ungrateful dipshits who scream about ice. Once he found a cockroach in the ice and he hopes some jackass customer has eaten one.

“Well when you hit it big remember that time I took your shift,” Clint tells him.

Peter squints, “you’ve never taken anyone’s shift ever. I know this because I help make the schedule.” Its a horrible job and he hates it.

“What I’m saying is that I want your money,” Clint tells him bluntly.

“Uh, I get his money first, you get it later,” Bucky says. “Also you want to scoop the rest of this popcorn?”

*

Peter considers the last year and a half of his life. “Do you ever think about the fact that Tony Stark basically paid you five million dollars to make him a drink?” Bucky asks.

“All the time because literally what the fuck.” He’d been closing, as usual, and then out of nowhere actual Tony fucking Stark walks up and practically begs for a drink. Peter had made a joke that he’d make it if Tony gave him the money to make a movie and the guy must have been some desperate for coke because he agreed. Peter is ninety percent sure the only reason people even went to see it is because Tony was the one who funded it but what the fuck ever man, he’s got a whole new project in the works and his last movie went over surprisingly well.

“I can’t believe real people are funding your space opera about your daddy issues,” Bucky says, shaking his head.

Peter snorts, “you get all the benefits so shush.”

Bucky grins, “well yeah, but a space opera about your daddy issues? That’s also a musical? That’s got to be a niche market.”

Not if Tony Stark is funding it but Peter has long known the guy was genius at marketing. Dude makes a shit ton of money, as evidenced by his paying a stupid amount of dollars over a joke Peter made. But like hell he was backing down from that. “It’ll sell. I mean people loved my weird sci-fi comedy that had a really odd sense of Millennial humor with an absurd amount of conspiracy theories in it,” he points out.

“Yeah, you’re officially in the Illuminati now. Tony invited you and now you’re trying to control the masses,” Bucky says, dead ass serious because he’s probably read whole Reddit threads on it or something. 

He considers that for a moment before looking back to Bucky. “First, please stop reading weird conspiracies about me. Two, do you have any idea how tempted I am to steal all of Tony’s shit always? You should be lucky I love you because he has some nice stuff and I could probably sell it for a lot of money.” He stared at that stupid expensive Rolex for so long Tony probably got suspicious at some point but Peter let him fuck around on set so he didn’t seem to care too much. Turns out Pepper Potts is terrifying though and for a hot second she took everything over to shoo Tony out.

“Actually I don’t really care if you steal from the rich but maybe not the rich guy who’s funding your shit. Steal from all his friends,” Bucky says and Peter blinks.

“Wait, what? I thought you had a thing against stealing!”

Buck shrugs, “I don’t count it if its from rich people who can replace it right away. Its like Robin Hood but selfish,” he says.

Peter stares at him for a long few moments before letting out a long string of swear words. “I’ve been avoiding stealing shit for three damn years and you didn’t even care the whole time? I’m robbing Betsy DeVos so blind she’s going to have to get laser eye surgery to correct it!” he says. He’s got plans.

Bucky throws his head back and laughs, “save that line, its funny.”

[woohooligancomics]

Webcomic Whimsy: Nextuus!

Welcome to the Woohooligan Weekly Webcomic Whimsy! If you're a webcomic author and would like a review, you can see my announcement and review rules here.

Title: Nextuus: the Search for the Ocean Shard

Author: "Undoubting" Thomas Hotka • Facebook • Twitter • DeviantArt • YouTube

Site: Nextuus.com

Genres: Action, Adventure, SciFi, Space Opera, Cyberpunk, Espionage, Illuminati, Treasure Hunting, Psychic, Square-eyed minecraft people

Rating: PG13, T for Teen(?) - some language and violence

Updates: Tues, Thurs, Sat

My Starting Point (requested by artist): Chapter 8.

Synopsis: Space opera treasure hunters in a world with aliens and psychics. (I couldn't find an official synopsis on the site.)

Nextuus is the name of an Earth-like planet in some other part of our galaxy that's been settled by humans (the Confederation), and subsequently conquered by another alien race called Donts. (Rhymes with font.) According to geologist Alec Dougan, the crew of the hoverplane (not starship) the Truemark are treasure hunters. Their green-haired boss and pilot, Randall Lockheed, prefers "entrepreneur". Once famous for his exploits, Randall will find anything for the right price, although he's fallen on hard times and disbanded his crew for many months. The story opens on a new job and Randall getting the band crew back together. Add in an illuminati-like cabal of psychics and it makes for an interesting setting.

I see a lot of influences in this work: Star Wars, cyberpunk, a little Star Trek, etc. but what it reminds me of most (despite the inclusion of Aliens), is Joss Whedon's sci-fi TV series, Firefly. To be fair, Tom Hotka and I have been friends for several years, though I never got around to reading his comic work until now. He actually waited in queue like everyone else for this review and has been real patient with me while I've been struggling with some health issues in recent months. In any event, when I say it reminds me of Firefly more than of Star Wars or anything else, I mean that what I've read of the story focuses a lot on the personal relationships of the crew, who resemble the Firefly crew quite a bit. The crew's hoverplane is described as an "ancient" junker (Serenity), their mechanic is a wide-eyed girl named Elle (Kaylee), who came aboard to escape the utter boredom of her one-horse town and who doesn't seem to notice that Aareck (Simon) has a massive crush on her. Randall (Mal+Wash) claims to be all-business, but it's implied that it's all really about getting back together with his ex, Liz (Inara).

Admittedly, I'm playing a bit loose here, since Aareck isn't a doctor, he's not looking after a psychic sibling with a tragic history, the psychics are an illuminati-like cabal called the Waywachrie, and I assume Liz' profession is not companion. The major players in the political climate do however include the Confederation (probably more like Firefly's Alliance than Star Trek's Federation), and while weapons look to me like conventional firearms (Firefly) and there are no Star-Wars style lightsabers (that I can tell), swords appear to still be common (okay, Mr Universe made the point that the sword was weird in the movie, so maybe this isn't a Firefly thing).

As an aside, I have to give Tom props for some decent disguise humor. ;)

Also, my first impression while looking for some kind of synopsis was that it seemed a little Seussical when I started reading about Ways and Donts on the About page. You see, there was a Dont War, but not with Ways, because Ways don't war, Dont's war. Let's all be grateful where aren't any Whos... yet. It's a bit less comical once you realize Dont rhymes with font, but you'd have to read their description for the pronunciation guide. It occurs to me also that there's no page to describe the Confederation, which is described as the human government in the descriptions for the Nix (think CIA) and the Nextuus Planetary Defense Force (NPDF), and I'd like to see the crew of the Truemark separated from non-crew characters on the About page. And in general, I think a synopsis of the story would be helpful on that About page as well.

Tom asked me to start reading at the beginning of Chapter 8.

I dunno... is it normal to go through all that procedure when your engine is belching thick black smoke and you're crashing or damn near? "This is your captain speaking, at this time we're going to initiate crash-landing procedures, but first we're going to let the flight attendants finish taking your drink orders."

Two comments on the art here. First, although it's a bit hard to look at, that double-vision effect does a really nice job of simulating the shaking camera effect. Nice job, Tom. Second, and I'll expand on this a little more later, but I think this page could have had two of these panels, and possibly a panel or two from the following page could have been included here. The dialogue from the tower could have been presented in the same panel with Randall's dialogue, and in general, I don't see the visuals in the middle two panels adding any information to the scene.

No, we're not screwed! We're option-challenged!

To be honest, I think "you're coming in a little too steep" would have been a great punchline at the end of that first page.

Wait... is she fixing her hair during a plane crash?! <looks back> Oh, her hair was on fire, she's putting it out. I thought you were supposed to stop drop and barrel roll...

Also... you're allowed to just hang-up on air-traffic?!

I think I would have made the latter 3 panels here a single panel and daisy-chained the dialogue balloons together, using just the art from panel 3, or possibly a profile shot like panel 2 from the first page.

I think this is the moment where I really started thinking about Firefly. That line from Elle about parts falling off the plane just feels so close to the opening of the Serenity movie.

This is also the point at which I start feeling like there's a pacing issue. I realize I'm sounding like a broken record, and maybe people will just write it off when I say this from now on, I'm certainly not any kind of authority, but most of the comics I've reviewed so far seem to me to be slow getting important info to the reader. It's not always the same kind of info, for example, when I read Modest Medusa I interpreted it as primarily being a slice-of-life comedy (surreal though it was), and there the missing info seemed to be details about the main character's life (family, job, etc). In Next Town Over, which is a steampunk action/adventure, there's obviously a backstory that Erin was trying to keep in the dark and let readers piece together, although I felt like the brief glimpses of backstory were infrequent and often too short to be meaningful for me as a reader.

Nextuus gives me a wholly different kind of "sluggishness" for lack of a better term. I feel like the story is moving and things are being revealed, but that Tom is giving me too many visuals, which bumps the page count up. It's not too noticeable at first, I'm just reading along, but then over time, those creeping page counts seem to add up and I end up feeling like a whole chapter went by without revealing much information. At present, Nextuus is 34 chapters and a total of 1053 pages, and while I'm sure there are fans out there who enjoyed every page, for my part, I'm thinking about the printed volumes. What's that? At least 10 trade paperbacks? I know Tom's had four successful Kickstarters for volumes of Nextuus so far, and in his video for the last one he said the first three volumes were fifteen chapters, so if a chapter averages around 20-25 pages, you're looking at five chapters per volume being 100-125 pages? That can't be right... not with over 1k pages so far...

Okay, I'm getting into the weeds here, I apologize. What I'm getting at is that any extra panels or extra pages are going to drive up the price of the books. You could still get Volume 4 for $25 on his last Kickstarter, which is a reasonable price for a trade paperback, but I wonder if the size didn't eat into Tom's margin and make it harder for him to make ends meet in the long run. So... long story short, Tom, I think if you could cut a few of those panels in future chapters, it might help you bring costs down and may even help bring sales up if the readers feel like it's more "action packed" that way.

And that's where we get the two page landing sequence that I feel like really could have been one page.

That picture of Elle at the top grabbing the co-pilot seat, I feel like really would have worked better as the last panel on the previous page, also because then you get to see her standing behind the chair and then grabbing it without the page-break as an interruption.

So if you put the first panel from the previous page onto this page with these three panels, I think that would have worked out nicely.

The big dude on the right is One-15, who joined the crew in response to an ad. He's said to be from the planet Carthe and while the details of his anatomy are left ambiguous (I think intentionally), he certainly feels to me like a robot with an air of Star Wars (you can't say "droid", or the big silly mouse will sue your ass into the last century).

While I'm on the subject of pacing, it feels to me like Tom is kind of married to individual pages being 3 or 4 panels. This page in particular, although it is four panels, certainly feels like it has plenty of empty space that could have been used for another panel or two. Shift the first panel over to the left, slide panel 2 up on its right side, repeat with panels 3+4 and you've got a whole third row that could be the top two panels from the following page.

Aww, Elle, don't you want a puppy?!

I think that second panel is meant to be a joke? I dunno... it feels either like it needed a little more work as a joke or it's sort of unnecessary in the page.

Fine, I'll get him, just stop looking at me like that! Seriously, what is that look in the first panel?

No place that's described as "south central" has ever been a good thing. It could be south-central Candy Land and you'd still take a gun just in case of a peppermint stickup... shoot them in the candy heart, wrap them in a trash-bag and drop their body in the ice-cream floats.

Also, dude! You totally had room for the first panel of the next page up there. Look at all that empty space!

Randall, look out! There's a zombie behind you!

Aww, One-15, don't you want a puppy?!

Mustn't... look... at... empty space!

Auuugh! The empty space! It was right there at the end of the previous page! Begging for this first silent panel.

I don't think I've read enough to know for sure, but I do feel like Tom is emphasizing Aareck's interest in Elle here while writing Elle as oblivious. That's not exactly the relationship between Kaylee and Simon in Firefly, as Kaylee always showed interest in Simon, she just wasn't sure if he felt the same way until they made the movie.

Following this, I don't feel like a whole page of Aareck's commute was really needed. Maybe just the last panel where he checks the address in front of the building.

Aareck and Alec... what are they Hobbits? Biffer, Boffer, Bofer, Ron, Don, John, Kurt, Burt, Bart, Evan, Devin, Kevin...

The "ding!" sound effect at the top I think could use a little more contrast, maybe a wider white border around the text and maybe lay it on top of the company logo, becuase when I first saw it, I saw "6 Ding!"

Man, I've heard of hostile work environments, but this is ridiculous! Dude quits and the boss thinks the best way to get him to come back is to berate him as he's walking out the door? That's like domestic abuse. Chill out. Try some meditation, or Xanax, or maybe Hair Club would help take the edge off.

Randall needs to lighten up? Your last boss is apoplectic, looks like his head's gonna explode and shower the room in bald-juice.

I really need more contrast on those dialogue balloons. Several of the tails for balloons in these office pages are virtually invisible, like the middle two panels on this page. I know you're not putting borders on your dialogue balloons in general, but I think you probably should have broke with tradition for these pages.

Cynthia doesn't know what she's lost, man... a guy like you, who can appreciate the finer things in life. Like the rush of addrenaline when you see a high PH balance in a soil sample!

In retrospect, I would be fine with this entire scene starting on this page (above). You could cut Aareck's commute, walking into the building, asking for Alec and all that stuff with him quitting his job. I get that there's a bit of comic relief with the boss, I'm just not convinced it's worth three whole pages for that one joke about the bald guy who desperately needs to switch to decaf.

And then in other places I feel like the dialogue could be an easy way to shave some pages. At the end of the page where Alex says "I've always been a little jealous of you", there's plenty of room to add "because you got to stay with Randall when he disbanded the crew." It would have saved you a panel and it wouldn't have changed the meaning of the dialogue in any significant way. I'm also iffy on the need for this whole page to point out that Tim is the kind of guy who holds grudges -- that's better explained via the character interaction in the subsequent pages where Randall talks to Tim (a good case of show, don't tell). Speaking of which, this whole page where Randall presses a doorbell also seems unnecessary. I could maybe use the opening shot of the side of the building, although I honestly think the next page (below) is fine on its own.

Yes, hatred has a hard use-by date. After two years it immediately molds and that's when you start doing crazy shit like scrap-booking newspaper clippings and writing cryptic letters in haiku under assumed names.

Anyway, Tim lets Randall in and they dispense with the small talk. (I really think those could have been one page.)

Ack! A minute ago when I called those newspaper clippings and haiku letters crazy... you know I was kidding, right? Tim? Buddy?

Man, I'd have thought they'd have much better reconstructive surgery this far in the future!

On the other hand, it's nice to see Baron Underbheit is keeping busy.

I said no small talk!

Anyway, Randall says he's all business, but Tim's convinced it's still about Liz.

One Way or the other, I can never really tell them apart... Are you sure it wasn't One Direction?

Now this is getting interesting though, because I'm like 24 pages into the chapter and so far I've mostly heard talk of broken hearts, broken airplanes, and soil samples. Now we're talking about psychics and anti-psychic devices, that's cool!

Oh, uh, hi Liz. Oh me? Emotionally scarring children with my horryfing visage, but let's not talk about me. How have you been?

Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly repurpose the cheapest random objects we can find as props. It's the best we could do with the budget the network gave us.

It looks like Randall's gonna keep psychics out of his head with a giant slinky. :P

Fashionating!

Anyway, that being the end of Chapter 8, I think this fairly makes my point about the pacing of the story. Yes, there was some information in this chapter about the character relationships, but the only movements in the plot were that Alec returned to the team and Randall replaced his slinky-helmet.

Chapter 9.

The bags under your eyes alone should be a dead giveaway!

Also, it's the elusive comb! The rarest relic in all the galaxy! All these characters seem to have that Dragonball-hair syndrome.

Oh, I forgot to mention, the continents on Nextuus are named Primaris, Secundus and Tertiann. I suppose it could be worse, they could be A-ko, B-ko and C-ko.

Is it common for war orphans to enlist? Oh wait... there was that one guy...

Trust me kid, the Clone Wars were overrated.

Oh, for Pete's sake!

Your uncle sounds like A. Square.

Not sure his reaction to the haircut needed a whole page, but they did need to make him unrecognizable.

Wait... didn't she have a comb a minute ago? Maybe she was distracted by all his impure thoughts. But what's a little non-consensual probing between friends? Incidentally, Katja felt the probe was necessary because Jon was given adrenaline-activated powers by a corporate experiment...

On our world, robot technology has only reached three feet. We could only dream of having robots like you, tall enough to dunk! We have to settle for robots that are tall enough to reach the kitchen counter... with help.

The text balloon in panel 2 is a good example of why I'm not a big fan of the square dialogue balloons. Here it's created a parallel and/or bump-up tangent, and possibly a "fake panel". If you're not familiar with tangents, Chris Schweizer has a good article about them that's tailored for cartoonists like us. On the whole though, the square dialogue balloons in Nextuus seem to create these kinds of issues quite often.

A good handshake involves bone fractures, check.

That was really two panels worth of content, max.

Aww, Elle, don't you want a puppy?!

Elle twerks the engines and Randall returns without Tim. (Maybe this page isn't unnecessary, but it feels like a lot of room to say "it's good to see you again, Tim's not coming.")

Challenge Accepted!

The last panel there wasn't really necessary -- One-15 is carrying a bag at the top of the following page, where Aareck stays to help Elle. Oh wait! That page had five panels. :P I'm not sure it needed a second page though to show Aareck getting ... rejected? Dude, if you ask to stay and help the mechanic, she's going to put you to work... whether you're hitting on her or not.

I'm dying to know!

Oooh, psychics 101! You'll never have to ask anyone to pass the salt again. Does it work on pepper? What about buffets?

Okay, but if you're going to teach me, maybe you should wash that oil off your face first. I smoke a lot, I don't want to catch your face on fire.

Luke, you can destroy the Emperor. He has forseen this. It is your destiny.

Oh, for Pete's sake!

Why do villains always put spotlights over their valuables? Why?!

Oh, that's not makeup, it's a scar. Anyway, that's the end of Katja's backstory for the moment and they rinse Jon's hair.

Given the context and the fact that Katja laughs, I'm thinking gray hair is supposed to be a joke? But without knowing why Jon is unhappy about it, I'm not sure I get the full effect. Have people joked about him being "old", like Aareck's objection to "pup"? Does it make him look like something or someone he wants to avoid? Even if it's just not liking looking old (eye-bags and all), I think it would make a snappier joke with a little additional response from Jon. Maybe, "Great, now if I can just remember where I left my cane/walker/Geritol/dentures."

Overall, I think all the elements of a really cool scifi story are here, I just think the script and page layouts could be a little tighter. In particular, I love the visual design of One-15, his ambiguous physiology (robot or armored organism?), and the use of him for comic effect. I also love the Waywachrie's Illuminati-like structure and I think their masks are pretty cool. They're described as "skull masks", but they look to me more like grinning ghosts because of their round shape. That's totally fine by me, if anything I think they would be a lot less cool if they looked like more realistic skulls. So a+ on design there, at least from me.

So there's my pitch. If you enjoy scifi stories with intrigue, psychic cabals, and a lot of personal relationships, check out Nextuus!

If you are a webcomic author and are interested in a review from me, you can check out my announcement and my review-request rules here.

If you enjoyed this and want to help me make more reviews, you can contribute on our Patreon or if you're short on funds you can also help by checking out and sharing my own comedy and laughtivist webcomic, Woohooligan!

Thanks to Tom, and to all of you reading, for sharing yourselves with us! Sam

[juushika]

This is my list of the best media that I consumed for the first time (but was probably not published) in 2016.

Books

I read 128 books in 2016 and, unusually for me, almost all of them were new. It was also, independently, a great reading year. As such, this list is particularly long.

Imperial Radch series by Ann Leckie. This was as good as the hype, but not always for the reasons I was lead to expect; the genre and setting is far-future space opera, but plot and investment are character-driven, and it was the ancillary experience and Lieutenant Tisarwat's violet eyes that really kept me engaged. This series is satisfying on the levels I value most.

Steerswoman series by Rosemary Kirstein. This isn't the first fantasy-which-is-actually-sci-fi genre crossover I've encountered, but it's by far the best. The genre-bending is fundamental to the narrative, but also to the protagonist’s PoV, as she uses and creates the scientific method, applying it to a reality which exceeds her comprehension--and which bleeds over into plot twists which exceed the reader’s expectations. I haven’t been this impressed by a book series in a long time.

Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre. Something like a sibling to the Steerswoman books, with a similar worldbuilding premise but a smaller focus--it's less about redefining knowledge of the world, and more about fostering knowledge in order to improve life on the local, private scale. It’s soothing and valuable.

Witcher series by Andrzej Sapkowski. In particular, Blood of Elves--but this series entire lives on this list because of Ciri. The Witcher franchise is problematic, from its sexism-as-worldbuilding to its flawed balance of politics to plot. But while I rarely become attached to book characters, I am inordinately attached to Ciri, and to her family and those motivated by her. She's central. The books forget, sometimes, that that’s all I care about (and the games sometimes forget it entirely), but when the pieces align to star her I am in love.

The complete works of Octavia Butler. This isn’t the year that I began reading Butler, but is the year that I read most of and finished her work. I rarely find myself in such active conversation with an author, and as much as I’ve critiqued her for her style and occasional limitations, I’m blown away by what she achieved, and by the fact that her work is so compelling and complicated, so ambitious and successful in precisely the ways that matter.

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison (Sarah Monette). This is the most feel-good that a novel has been while still leaving an impression on me--because it’s not frivolous or simplistic, but rather is about the stubborn effort to do good creating real good in the world: a particularly cathartic, empowering variety of wish-fulfillment

Hild by Nicola Griffith. This is half a story, and a laboriously intimate one at that--a gradual coming of age, dealing with issues of gender and faith and identity, the private and political; it took me a little to warm into it, but having done so I loved it--Hild’s PoV is incredibly immersive.

The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps by Kai Ashante Wilson. What an experience! This is yet another SF/F mashup (it was a good year for those), but this is a particularly tropey one brought alive by the vivid and powerful use of dialect. This is a novella that feels bigger than that, that feels more distinct and dynamic than its page count.

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire. I don't think the plot in this was entirely successful--but I love the premise so unreservedly as to recommend it on that basis alone. This is portal fantasy meta, looking at the afters and in-betweens of those who visit other worlds (and paralleling the reader experience of existing within/without fantasy), conjuring a bittersweet longing unlike anything I've experienced. I've always loved this genre, but didn't have a framework for my feelings about it until reading this book and:

Fairyland series by Catherynne M. Valente. I am of mixed opinions of this work, too. I love the first book beyond reason, but I don't know what the series as a whole lives up to it--the travelogue aspects grow stylistically repetitive, and on a technical level these come to feel rushed. But all the books have something charming to offer, and there's something sincerely valuable about the relationship between September, Halloween, Maud, Mallow, and the Marquess. Their dynamic is subtextual and complicated, and in ongoing conversation about portal fantasy, identity, and self-determination.

Silently and Very Fast by Catherynne M. Valente. My favorite of Valente's novella so far. I'm surprised by how well her mythological and fairy tale imagery builds upon an AI premise, and by how concrete the AI is. There's a lot of depth in this little space, and it's particularly evocative, even for Valente.

Honorable mentions in books

Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia A. McKillip. This isn't the best or most important McKillip, but I love its tropes to pieces (especially the way that the interpersonal dramas resolve) and it’s probably my favorite of the McKillip novels I've read so far.

The Pattern Scars by Caitlin Sweet. I was sincerely impressed by this book, by its intimately-integrated magic system and the unforgiving, unsettling complexity of the interpersonal dynamics.

Multiple novels by CJ Cherryh. I'm continuing to read a lot of Cherryh, and I've yet to be disappointed by any of her work; her combination of deceptively terse writing style, intimate relationship dynamics, and worldbuilding concepts consistently hits on tropes that I adore.

Black Iris by Leah Raeder (Elliot Wake). New Adult isn't a genre I thought I would ever care about, but I care a lot about Wake's contributions to it, and Black Iris is the novel which has spoken to me strongest so far because its angry, intimate depiction of mental illness is cathartic and sincere while meshing well with the heightened passions which are a marker of the genre.

Video Games

Neko Atsume. I came late to this bandwagon, but it was worth the wait; what a charming, pure experience, and somehow even cuter than I expected. There's not really a lot to say about Neko Atsume, but I love it.

Deemo. Far and above the best rhythm game I've ever played, in song quality, aesthetic, narrative, and gameplay--the latter in particular is so natural, genuinely like playing a piano. I love this game to pieces and listen to the soundtrack all the time, yet I've never heard anyone talk about it. Please give it a try.

Overwatch. Is this art, no; but I have been playing 90min/day since launch, so that's something. I appreciate the changes Overwatch has brought to the genre and the active role Blizzard has taken in expanding and balancing it. It wouldn't be my pick for game of the year, but it’s important enough to earn that.

Pokémon Moon. This, frankly, would be my pick for game of the year. It benefits from the engine development of Gen VI, while continuing the narrative trends from Gen V--it looks fantastic, the UI and battle mechanics are great, but most importantly I cried three (three!) times while playing SuMo. The narrative has leveled up, the character development is phenomenal, and I treasure it.

Stardew Valley. This is a love letter to the farming and life simulator games that it draws from, and it almost exceeds them--I admire the depth and refinement of this game, and it's such a satisfying, soothing experience, exactly as it's meant to be.

Dark Souls III. The micro-level of this release, the cinder construct, isn't my series favorite, although I love the characters in this game; but on the macro-level, drawing the cycles of each installment together and to a close, Dark Souls III is incredibly fulfilling. I also appreciate the reintroduction of more varied enemy types and refinements to the combat system.

Honorable mentions in video games

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. This is as beautiful as I wanted it to be, but not quite as weird as it needed to be--I miss the push-pull of the body horror in Human Revolution. But what a fantastic graphic engine, and the characters and plotting live up to series standard.

Visual Media

Critical Role. This monster of a show has without exaggeration been a life-changer. It's a huge investment of time and such an unassuming medium, but the payoff is intense. The live creative process has an innate energy, and the cast's obvious investment in character and narrative is contagious. It ate me alive this year, and I regret nothing.

Stranger Things. I wanted Stranger Things to be a smidge less neat (plotwise, especially the ending), but in all other ways adore it, from the conversation between genres to the unexpected but indulgent aesthetic to the character acting. I've rarely been so utterly consumed by a show, to the point where coming up for air between episodes made the real world feel surreal.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. I expected to like this, but was surprised by how sincerely I enjoyed it; the character archetypes combining to develop complexity and depth translates well to a miniseries, and despite TV-quality effects this is an aesthetic and speculative delight.

Black Mirror "San Junipero". I can give or take Black Mirror on the whole, but I treasure this particular episode, both because I think it's one of the better realized of the series in terms of plot delivery and because victorious WLW was balm to my soul, especially in the face of so many dead queer women in television.

Penny Dreadful. The series takes a definite downturn by the third season, but the overall experience was worth it, in part of the surprisingly robust gothic retelling, delightful aesthetic, and found family tropes, but mostly because of Vanessa Ives and Eva Green, without which this would be half a show. The intimate depiction of her vulnerability, intelligence, competency, and honesty was particularly valuable to me; this is one of the few supernatural metaphors for mental illness which I've found successful.

Star Trek: The Original Series, and movies 1-5. I grew up with every Star Trek except this one, and had a cultural impression that TOS was corny and misogynistic--and it is, a little, but it holds up much better than I was expecting and has fundamental charm and value, both as franchise starter and in its own right.

Red vs Blue. I never believed I could be so consumed by a machinima comedy series, but the humor works and the eventual scale of Red vs Blue--its convoluted plot, surprisingly well-developed characters, strong pacing, and fantastic animation--is incredible.

Honorable mentions in visual media

Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. I had never watched the original Cosmos; this remake has some redundancy/direction issues in the middle but is on the whole all I wanted, vast and terrifying and beautiful, but also accessible, even personable.

Ravenous. The gayest narrative about cannibals that isn't Hannibal-related, and so delightful--and it only improves on repeat viewing, where the tonal shifts can be anticipated. Great imagery, fun acting, and such explicit cannibalism-as-metaphor violence-as-romance; it's become one of my favorite films.

The Falling. I love quiet little movies about gender, female experience, coming of age, and illness; this was my favorite of those that I watched this year (but see also: The Silenced), perhaps because it's the most convincing: an intimate, vaguely idealized, unsettling portrait of British girls's schools and  female adolescence.