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janiedean · 7 years ago

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While i hate antis and their bullying everytime they shaming a fictional ship because i believe that "Fiction is not reality", I also agree that fiction can be a good role model for the real world for example : Diana's characterisation in Wonder Woman to show us more variety of strong woman character or Theon's PTSD scene to how us what REAL PSTD scene looks like (and we're mad when people keep saying that Theon just being coward in that scene). How should we balance the two, in your opinion?

okay, so, first thing, I think we need to make a basic distinction and state that fiction influences reality and people might be influenced by fiction do not mean the same thing whatsoever.

then we have to make another distinction ie there’s such a thing as massively consumed fiction and less consumed fiction/fandom and both are also different.

then we also have to state that one thing is emulating characters, one thing is finding them interesting or recognizing yourself in them.

last thing that instead is valid for everything, one thing is good things being represented in fiction, the other is bad things being represented in fiction.

let’s go from easier to hardest.

easier: massively consumed vs fandom. now, what people on tumblr fail to realize is that most of the planet doesn’t not give a fuck about fandom or engages with it. I mean, if you’re into it you would, but I know a bunch of people who are nerds/into fandom who don’t ship nor are into fanfic. fanfic/fanart/whatever influences people maybe on a fandom-level, but if you assume that people at large might start thinking incest is fine because thor/loki exists (which is a purely fanon thing) or because jaime/cersei exists (actual mainstream stuff but not as large as idk SW), you’re frankly deluding yourself because only thor/loki shippers give two fucks about thor/loki and not counting a few people I can think of, no one thinks jaime/cersei makes incest okay nor abusive relationships okay. thor/loki isn’t even represented in fiction, it’s fanfic, jaime/cersei is represented in fiction, but no one would think either thing makes banging your brother okay whether it’s dysfunctional (t/l) or just downright abusive (j/c). in that case assuming that if you’re into t/l or j/c you want to bang your brother is the bad case which assumes that whichever fiction in existence influences reality directly.

that said, no one is actually wanting to make a social justice point while having jc being a thing or t/l being dysfunctional. it’s dynamics that are interesting to explore.

wonder woman giving more variety to a strong female character instead is extremely mass-consumption media which would show a lot of people that different type (because a lot more people watch DC movies than GOT) then you show them differently and they might start thinking differently about strong female characters. or idk black kids seeing the new star wars and liking that there’s a black lead (same for the mcu and falcon/black panther) is also an extremely mass-consumption thing, because of course most people watch star wars and know what the hell star wars is. in that case you have fiction making a positive impact on reality (or maybe reflecting reality) but it’s also, like, reasonable. because sw-the-movies have impact and normalize that the leads in the story can also be not always white blonde men with blue eyes, but the star wars fandom - and I’m just talking about the part that produces fanfic/fanart and not about the people cosplaying stormtroopers and so on - influences shit. no one is going to make people think force-choking someone is going to be okay because k*ylux fic exists, same as no one thinks that killing a bunch of children is okay because anakin did it in the prequels and no one is ever gonna think you’re a psychopath because you stan k*ylo ren same as no one who watches star wars (IN GENERAL) sees kylo and thinks WOW HAVING SUCH A BAD VILLAIN WILL BE A BAD INFLUENCE TO CHILDREN, because a generation or two grew up thinking vader was cool but no one ever thought what vader did was right. I mean, people who don’t have issues distinguishing the two facts (and usually the people who do are radical SOMETHING, conservatives or antis or whatever) are entirely aware that reality lets itself being influenced by fiction to a certain degree when it’s about positive things, not for negative things at large.

now obviously you have exceptions like fifty shades of gray which is a bad fanfic that has turned mainstream (relatively) and so now there’s a bunch of people convinced that it’s real BDSM TM, but that’s because in society people don’t get educated about how abusive relationships work or toxic relationships work so they don’t recognize it in shitty fanfic turned mainstream, but that’s where you focus your efforts and educate people, you don’t say that since fifty shades is shit then you can’t write books or make movies about bdsm period, which is what the idiots seem to want.

now, moving on to point one: as stated above, *fiction* as a thing doesn’t influence reality or every kid who’s ever read HP would have committed suicide trying to fly off the window on a broom, which is a thing that we know doesn’t exist irl and cannot exist irl. and mainstream fiction can influence reality as much as we let it for positive things, because honest, who’s ever turned violent because of videogames? no one, but since we all have violent instincts buried somewhere maybe killing people in a videogame lets you blow off some steam and whatever because you know it’s fake. of course there’s the matter of age appropriate content, but if a parent lets a seven year old watch GOT or play GTA and then that kid is traumatized it’s their parents’ fault, not the fault of the media which was clearly labeled for adults. or I mean, I read/watched media that was above my age when I was ten but I was ready for it and my parents knew it, if I wasn’t they wouldn’t have let me.

also, on the ptsd angle: in the punisher there’s plenty of examples of realistic ptsd post-war, but I haven’t seen anyone yet say anything sensed on what was to me the most realistic and well done character in that sense (lewis wilson) because people kept on saying he was *white terrorist* and that the show didn’t excuse his action with *mental illness* without knowing that having ptsd post-combat is like, being mentally ill. that show was excellent rep in that sense, but have people in fandom caught up on it or understood it? meh. people outside it yes, and maybe some people on here, too, but not as many as I’d like. same goes for theon - WITHIN FANDOM because the ptsd thing was fairly understood OUTSIDE IT. which means that the real world is getting more sensitive to that narrative, tumblr isn’t. in that case, the real world is letting himself be influenced or touched by that narrative, tumblr isn’t. what do we know.

so, tldr for this part: fiction only influences X as far as you let it and people in general do know that if wrong thing is depicted in fiction it’s wrong. I mean, I never heard of anyone becoming a pedophile after watching or reading mysterious skin, which is a really fucking good movie which doesn’t romanticize the subject at all.

now, about the last part ie personal identification/emulation: now, never mind that emulating a character is usually done by the time you’re ten and before then you pretend to be batman while playing with your friends but you know you’re not batman, and past five you do know that if superman can fly, you a regular human being can’t. the point is that fictional people are written by real people, so if they’re realistic and the writers write them well, they’ll be relatable, and if they’re relatable they might influence you as a person or make you find shit out about yourself that might change you, and in that sense it does influence reality somehow, or if you use it to cope with trauma then it surely helps you, but who you relate to isn’t what others might. we can say that we have basic level, representation level, using-it-to-cope level.

now I’m gonna go use myself as a template since I’ve for good and for bad have used fiction to cope with shit for my entire life, so. under the cut because this is long and the next part is all personal shit so people should have the right to scroll past it xD

basic level: when I was fifteen I was having a shit time, I read the dark tower, I ran into my Favorite Character Ever, the guy used shitty humor to deal with crap all the time, it was a tendency I already had and I went like ‘okay if it worked for him why didn’t it work for me’ and today I’m someone who deals with about anything by using shitty humor or joking about it and it’s helped me tremendously honestly, if I took everything too seriously I’d be a terrible person. also, that helped me with self-confidence to a point and blah blah blah it made my life tangentially better. but that was just, like, about me. and I didn’t certainly try to emulate the guy’s worst flaws, because that wasn’t the point. anyway, I found the guy relatable but I didn’t see him as, like, representation or anything.

representation level/slightly coping level: I read asoiaf when I was twenty-two. I am sad I didn’t before because when I ran into brienne I was slammed with a brick in the face that was saying OH HEY THAT’S SOMEONE WHO’S ACTUALLY LIKE YOU/HAD YOUR EXPERIENCES. I don’t just relate to brienne, I identify with brienne to a fairly bad degree, and I’m really sad I didn’t run into her before because I might have gathered a great deal of self-confidence from seeing that there was a main character somewhere who was ugly/seen as ugly by anyone else and still was an a+++ person who could do worthwhile things and was a viable love interest for Hot Guy. (idk if it shows when I write jb fic but it’s there, so.) did brienne change my life? not as much as she could have if I had read acok when it was released, but she did give me some hope that with GOT becoming mainstream not-conventionally-pretty women would get some mainstream rep, because sure af there wasn’t much when I grew up. if that happens? fiction did influence reality, but in the wonder woman/good kind. again, no one (me or anyone else) would want to be like brienne by GRABBING A SWORD AND KILLING PEOPLE, we’d rather probably just get confidence/inspired by what she does. because she’s a well-written character that entirely gets it.

except that a lot of asoiaf fans think that she’s boring or useless or see nothing in her. which is fine - it’s not their target I guess, but again, a character who’s extremely important to me means nothing to other people and certainly doesn’t influence them.

coping/potentially badwrong coping level: so, as a person I’m really not into badwrong/dysfunctional dynamics that don’t make people better. as such, I tend to ship healthy couples/dynamics where the two people make each other better.

which is why I never was remotely interested in thor/loki as a thing in my entire life until two months ago - WAIT - and for all my time in the mcu I always felt a visceral dislike for loki I never really dwelt upon while at the same time whenever I saw thor bashing (ie he’s an idiot or he’s a bully or he doesn’t understand loki and the likes) I always felt a visceral distaste in my mouth like NO DON’T IT’S NOT LIKE THAT, but since it wasn’t even my favorite mcu franchise and thor isn’t my favorite mcu character I never, like, thought about it. I just went with the obvious ‘everyone likes loki because ANTAGONISTS which I don’t get and I get angry on thor’s behalf because he doesn’t deserve that shit’. all good until I watch ragnarok which is, like, COMPLETE CRACK ON A STICK AND NOT A SERIOUS MOVIE AT ALL and which probably did not mean to be a psychological textbook and at the end I’m like ‘fuck okay maybe I ship it a bit and now that loki’s done with the angst maybe I can tolerate him’, and then not long later or so I get hit with another ton of bricks in the face and realize that of course I always had that feeling, that was because thor and loki had the exact same dysfunctional dynamic I had with my former best friend of fourteen years that I haven’t talked to for at least seven years and which is like the root of 70% of the issues I have. all of them. and like, loki was like her except Much More Extra and on a larger scale, thor was me except Much More Extra and the more I think about it the more it just fits 100% and you don’t even wanna know how I’ve spent this last month, because I had no idea I spent six years with those feelings about that dynamic because of that, I had no idea I actually found thor that relatable on a visceral level and I still have Unresolved Issues with that person and I can’t solve them with them personally for reasons. if I actually end up writing them fanfic where I, uh, subtly address personal issues and it works, then that badwrong-ish fic has influenced me for the best (and says all that I realized it just when they reconciled, I didn’t let myself do it before). but like, that wouldn’t mean that I wanted to bang my ex-friend or that I suddenly approve of incest - because sure af I didn’t want to bang her and sure af I didn’t turn into PLEASE DO BANG YOUR SIBLINGS WHENEVER YOU WANT (ew no). that’s the damned difference. thor and loki banging in whatever fanfic won’t make anyone excuse incest and won’t influence anyone outside thor fandom on ao3 - hell, at most it’s going to influence me because if I do it I’m doing it to work through my issues. it doesn’t change reality at large.

like, fiction can be a model for something you want to see more of or you can find characters role models or relatable and it can present you a view of the world, but at the end of the day we all know that it’s not real and we only use it to filter reality and/or ourselves through it and it helps us doing it, which is why something that makes sense to me - ie that thor is extremely relatable - won’t make sense to someone who finds loki relatable for reasons I couldn’t even begin to imagine. maybe the same piece of fiction/media both influences us, but it influences us very differently because we see it through different lens. and the thing is that if you conflate the two things and start emulating characters past the age of four then you have a problem distinguishing the two things and you need to get over it/get help/whatever, because to everyone else it’s normal to see the world through fiction or part of it. if you do because I know people who think fiction is merely fiction and don’t understand the point of relating to a character in the first place.

so like tldr, fiction influences you as much as you let it and it’s something you use actively and that is there for everyone to interpret, but it can’t, just existing, influence anything especially because if no one reads it or watches it then it’s useless. and since most **problematic** stuff is consumed by people who actively look for it and know what they’re doing - again, no one reads tentacle porn on ao3 if they don’t like tentacle porn - you can’t say that by existing, incest fic or badwrong fic normalizes abuse, because it only does if you let it and if you don’t know what abuse is and you can’t recognize it for what it is. like, a piece of fiction doesn’t need to spell THIS IS WRONG for you to know that I dunno t/hramsay fanfic is not what you should want in a relationship, you have to know that, and that’s on you, not on something that’s not mass-consumption - because badwrong fic and stuff is usually written by badwrong fans for badwrong fans, not by hired disney writers for star wars movies that have to be good for children, adults, nerds and the mass audience at large.

you balance the two by knowing that badwrong stuff is wrong irl (and it’s not a stretch) and by looking at the world through the lenses of whatever not badwrong fiction you enjoy/like/relate to, which can also be badwrong of course (see the thor/loki rant above) but like the fact that it does it to us singularly doesn’t mean that all of a sudden THE ENTIRE WORLD IS INFLUENCED BY THE EXISTENCE OF FAKE THINGS.

nor that WE SHOULD PUT THAT MUCH IMPORTANCE on fake things, because one thing is all of the above, another is saying that a piece of media is trash because it doesn’t have the representation you want in it or thinking that since something exists in fiction then you won a social justice battle. again: fiction is a tool, it’s not the ending nor the beginning of anything. having more black people in media won’t be what stops black people go to jail in the US at a higher rate than white people for the same crimes, but it might help making people relate to someone who’s different and so normalize some stuff... if you watch/consume that media and choose to engage with it. (ie, brooklyn 99′s boss is a gay black man in a stable relationship with a white professor and it’s not what you usually see on tv and it will work for casual watchers, but I doubt someone who usually watches fox news then also watches b99 - you can’t win your wars through fiction, to convince the fox news watcher to not vote trump you have to talk to him and not show him a sitcom. and mind that this can be reversed ie all the anti-russian/islamic propaganda in the US which tends to normalize russians/muslims as The Bad Guy - it works along with other things, not just on its own) the key is in knowing that fiction is made by people and consumed by people and eventually begins and ends with the people who make it and consume it in whichever way, and not in thinking that it’s above us and is something divine that changes the world just by existing.

#long post for ts #long post #janie rants #the discourse TM #social justice calvinism #sorry I ranted #personal #i guess #randomlut #ask post

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comicteaparty · 7 years ago

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September 14th, 2017 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on September 14th, 2017, from 5PM - 7PM PDT. The chat focused on Nine Twilights by Andrea Rosales, Anne Mortensen-Agnew, and Chris Hansbrough.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

Good day everyone~! This week’s Comic Tea Party is now officially beginning. Today we are discussing Nine Twilights by Andrea Rosales, Anne Mortensen-Agnew, and Chris Hansbrough~! (http://www.ninetwilights.com/) For those new to CTP, discussions about the comic are freeform, so please feel free to bring up whatever you wish. However, every 30 minutes I will be dropping in a discussion question to help those who would like a prompt. These questions are totally OPTIONAL to answer so pay them no mind if you wish~! Remember, constructive criticism is allowed, but the primary focus here is to have fun and appreciate the amazing comics that the community makes~! Each chat a top comment will be picked and featured on an ad for this chat, so let’s have a great discussion~! With that said, let us begin with this first question~!

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

DracoPlato

I think I like the latest page the most because it was the happiest so far and she looks cute trying on the dress. RebelVampire

yeah i really liked seeing her embrace freedom there and get to enjoy herself.

especially since even before the big odin reveal her life was pretty crappy

was going to slap her teacher so hard O_O

DracoPlato

yeah her teacher was such a jerk >n<

I liked the transformation scene too because of the colors, but I thought it seemed really random with the rest of the tone of the story so maybe not my favorite since I wtfed a lot during it

MathTans

Hey-yay-yay-yayyay, hey-yay-yay... I said hey. What's goin' on. (re: latest page)

(That's totally He-Man meme in the background, right?)

RebelVampire

omg it is he-man

i didnt even notice

JudgementScythe

it migght be

RebelVampire

thats amazing

DracoPlato

oooomg that's awesome, lol

JudgementScythe

Andrea likes to have fun with the background elements

AndreaRosales

Hello! I'm Andrea! I'm the artist of Nine Twilights!

MathTans

As to fave scene, I'm gonna go right back to Page 13. The conversation while walking down the stairs on one side, with the rainbow on the other. That just looked so neat, like a juxtaposition of the normal with the fantastical, and I would have never thought of doing the layout that way.

AndreaRosales

I love backgrounds, but my favorite thing in making this comic is honestly just having fun with facial expressions. I love having characters emote and really act.

DracoPlato

your facial expressions are amazing, those were my favorite part of the comic

annemagnew

Anne, the writer here

DracoPlato

I really really liked the art in this

AndreaRosales

Aww garrrrsh thank you!

JudgementScythe

yeah the stairs page was one of my favorite things she sent me. It was just a really cool idea for the movement and storytelling of a page

AndreaRosales

Aw, yay! Thwe whole team is here!

MathTans

Though I also liked the transformation scene. I might have squeed.

I didn't expect it, but thought, that ups things.

DracoPlato

I thought visually it was gorgeous

altho wouldn't have minded more norse themes incorporated into the outfit

MathTans

Yay for team synergy! I'm impressed at how you work together.

DracoPlato

it reminded me more of greek designs

MathTans

I freely admit to my ignorance as far as norse goes.

AndreaRosales

The bare inks of stair page!

MathTans

Coolness! You keep all that on hand?

AndreaRosales

I do!

Actually, let me know if you guys wanna see any concept art!

I've got TONS on my compy that I'm more than happy to share.

I like talking comics process . I learned a LOT while working on 9T. It's kinda my first comic.

It is my first serious go at arting a comic

RebelVampire

i really like the composition for the panel on the right cause i find my eye auto drawn to the rainbow. which i assume is a ref to bifrost so i knew something was going down.

MathTans

Your enthusiasm is infectious. Yay for arting.

(Well, and writing and editing too!)

That whole "you knew my name thing" was well done. I picked up on it off Baltur's expression the first time she did it, but I can see how it might have been missed making for a nice callback when he hit her with the whammy.

annemagnew

@RebelVampire Definite. The Bifrost (or the current one at any rate) in our story is something of a fusion between a Boom Tube, the Thor movie's interpretation of the Bifrost, and auroras & rainbows

AndreaRosales

sketchy!

RebelVampire

i really liked the name thing cause for me i was like "wait when did he say his name maybe i missed some dialogue." but then whoops, surprise, this was an important tell

MathTans

Also friggin' impressed how a battle with the undead can have moments of levity in there. Well played. (The heavy sword, for instance.

JudgementScythe

I think, my favorite thing about this whole thing has been watching Andrea's art improve page after page.

MathTans

Cool, it's in different colours...

AndreaRosales

Those are the super rough pen and ink sketchies. I had to play with a lot of different page layouts to get it juuuust right.

DracoPlato

yeah it was good that the name was mentioned again cause i was confused if i'd missed a page

she looks like sailor saturn there XD

AndreaRosales

At one point, transformation page was gonna look like this!

MathTans

So is that by hand and scanned in?

AndreaRosales

Fun fact!

Wanda's design is actually based on Sailor Saturn!

annemagnew

@MathTans Wanda was originally going to have a sword -- Mythologically, Gungnir was a gift and not his original weapon, and one of the Viking weapons books I have mentioned swords as weapons of the nobility and spears weapons of laymen. Also, Gungnir still exists here, even if it's not currently usable. But I figured it would be better to stay "on-brand"

AndreaRosales

It was one of the first design references Anne gave me.

annemagnew

Yup. Her hair is directly lifted from Saturns

sad teenage girls with death powers

MathTans

I can see it now, right, with the glaive and everything.... clever.

AndreaRosales

I do all my layouts on paper in my sketchbook first.

I take pics on my phone, email them to myself and then I just insert them into my Manga Studio document and then I pencil and ink away.

DracoPlato

aaaaah that makes sense

AndreaRosales

Manga Studio is wonderful by the way. I really enjoy working with it.

MathTans

@annemagnew That's fair. As I say, I don't know the brand well myself, but it seemed to work for me.

DracoPlato

yeah i work in MS too, it's a great program

annemagnew

i am All About norse mythology

AndreaRosales

Sad teenage girls with death powers, but also, best friends!

MathTans

I can tell from the avatar.

AndreaRosales

I love horse mythology too.

MathTans

Pegasus?

AndreaRosales

I mean Norse mythology. Horses are cool too though.

Most def!

I didn't know that much/ anything about Norse mythos until this project.

DracoPlato

should've done Loki if you love horses, huhuhuhuhu

MathTans

That would be low key.

AndreaRosales

Neigh!

You're such a good neiiiigghbor for those puns.

I love it.

I love puns. Keep em' comin'!

MathTans

Hah. I'm mostly math puns, but I branch out. Not relevant to 9T though.

I like the idea of them going all over the world, wow! Have you travelled much? (The creators.)

JudgementScythe

I've lived in Oregon and Muskoka Ontario and spent a lot of time in Guanajuato Mexico and Costa Rica as well

You want to know about middle of nowhere Canada. I'm your guy

AndreaRosales

Woo! Concept art time! This was one of my first takes of Wanda in her magical girl form. We didn't go with this one since it wasn't Norse looking enough. So it was back to the drawing board for me!

MathTans

Heh, I'm a Canadian, so I'm good. As Indonesia, I have no idea if the city's right or not, but you seem the types to research such things.

DracoPlato

oh i really like that design

AndreaRosales

I have travelled a fair bit! Been to Italy, England, Mexico ( got lots of family there, I'm Mexican, btw, Canada, Japan, etc.)

annemagnew

I travelled a lot more when I was younger (and didn't have to pay for it, sobs). The idea of globe-hopping team actually sprung out of watching Sailor Moon as a kid. If they mentioned in the English dub why they had to stay in Crossroads (ie because they looked for the Silver Crystal everywhere else), I missed it, and wondered why the Negaverse didn't just go somewhere else. And then I thought if they did, then Sailor Moon would have to follow them! And she'd meet Sailor Scouts in cool places like China and Russia and [other countries?? in my memory those were the only other countries??]

AndreaRosales

I would looooove to travel more though.

I also wished for a more diverse sailor moon!

So when Anne approached me to work on this comic I was immediately like " YES!"

Initially with some hesitation though b/c I wasn't confident in my ability to consistently webcomic well at the time.

JudgementScythe

A lot of the indonesia scenes were taken from reference photos. As well as the fact that Anne and I have been part of the SUikoden fandom forever which has a huge indonesian contingent who I've run things past to see if we've gotten the score right

MathTans

Thumbs up for Sailor Moon, my gateway anime.

AndreaRosales

It's so, so good.

DracoPlato

yis

annemagnew

literally the thing i care about most

MathTans

I don't think anyone's confident to start out with. Or if they are, they probably need humility or whatever.

AndreaRosales

Wanda's magical girl design take 1 was based on Chris Lightfellow from Suikoden 3! I've never played a Suikoden game!

MathTans

Oh, huzzah for fandoms then.

annemagnew

look at that female videogame character with ACTUAL ARMOR

AndreaRosales

I love her design. That armor * kisses fingers*

JudgementScythe

We're going to fix that

AndreaRosales

20 CHEF KISSES FOREVER

Here's an old Wanda! I was inspired by FF games at the time so there ya go!

annemagnew

I still want to bring that pelt cloak back somehow!

AndreaRosales

another early wanda

RebelVampire

i really like the pelt cloak in that design

DracoPlato

same

AndreaRosales

Wanda's def. gonna bring pelts back in style!

MathTans

How long did you concept the comic before starting, if you don't mind the question?

Wanda's gonna pelt people?

annemagnew

@MathTans I came up with it during an internship I had in college, 2012 or 2013

I wanted to do a magical girl comic since forever, and I love Norse Mythology, so combined them. I had two ideas for the premise - the team either were reincarnated gods, a la Sailor Moon, or were just given the gifts of gods, a la Wedding Peach

MathTans

(I vaugely recall some of the bg from reading the between-volume-asides, but not well, and others reading the chat later might want to know.)

AndreaRosales

I was approached for the project in early 2014 if I recall correctly. I think Anne and Chris talked to some other artist friends of ours before they came to me.

We worked on designs and layouts for a good while.

Look at this sassy Sari. I love her attitude.

JudgementScythe

And the two of us talked about doing it for a bit but fell off until I felt the editing bug come back after time away from the industry. Then I was just like no we gotta really do this because you should be writing comics and I really am feeling making them again.

annemagnew

If I had gone with scenario B, the story would have taken place before Ragnarok, and Tyr would have been in the Baldur mentor role

AndreaRosales

OOOH BALDUR!

MathTans

Is Sari also a reincarnation, or is she just related to someone who is?

AndreaRosales

OUR FAVE TRASH BOI

I gotta throw up concept art of him

Original Baldur circa 2014!

He's vintage

annemagnew

It might have been better for the girls if Tyr was their mentor. He’s got far fewer issues about his dad than Baldur!

AndreaRosales

Baldur circa 2016!

annemagnew

Fun fact: Baldur’s entire outfit is lifted from the Balmain men’s catalogue, ca. 2014, when I wrote the first draft of chapter one.

MathTans

Tossing out the mention of Baldur's wife was clever. Helped to hint at his age and stop the shipping before it might've gotten rolling.

anne: that's awesome trivia.

RebelVampire

lol math you think thatll stop the shipping

annemagnew

please dont ship baldur with his dad/wanda with her son (also wanda's gay)

AndreaRosales

Fun fact! Rumiko Takahashi was a HUGE influence on the way that I ink Wanda's hair! I love her work!!

DracoPlato

rumiko is awesome~

annemagnew

i mean, like, do whatever you want, but also, Please Don't™

MathTans

RebelV: Eh, maybe not - I mostly ship yuri anyway though.

DracoPlato

loooooool

AndreaRosales

Look at these two dooooorks

MathTans

Was that an image of Shampoo?

DracoPlato

yis

AndreaRosales

Rumiko is the best!!

annemagnew

shampoo is the best ranma girl

RebelVampire

QUESTION 2. This comic is directly influenced by Norse mythology, with the plot being about reincarnated Norse gods (Wanda being an incarnation of Odin). Was there any allusion that particularly struck you? Or, if you’re not familiar with Norse mythology, is there anything you wish you had a better grasp of to understand the story? Lastly, what do you think happened in the past that caused so many of the gods to be reborn?

AndreaRosales

Fun fact! Sometimes I get sections of my sketches done well in my sketchbook. Those sketches aren't always right next to each other, so I just stitch them together in Photoshop to make the final page layout.

Sometimes I get lucky and manage to sketch it all out right on the first take.

MathTans

A Norse is a Norse, of course, of course... honestly, I don't really feel like my lack of myth knowledge (outside of Marvel cinema and Dirk Gently) is a hinderance to enjoyment, and I don't really feel impelled to look into it. Though I do feel like reading the comic heightened my awareness.

As to what happened in the past... Odin wanted to see how the other half lived, and others were on board with that? Dunno.

AndreaRosales

@MathTans , you are great with puns!

DracoPlato

For me I felt a disconnect between Wanda and Odin and would have liked it more if she seemed more similar to Odin in a way that made me go, oh yeah, she totally was him

MathTans

Aw, thank you. ^^

RebelVampire

man math you are missing out on so many allusions :"D

MathTans

I don't doubt it.

AndreaRosales

I didn't know much 'bout Norse mythos as I mentioned earlier, so Anne let me borrow the Prose Edda and I read it in a week. Riveting stuff.

MathTans

Andrea - the stitching's neat, I hadn't even really thought about that aspect.

AndreaRosales

Thanks!

MathTans

Draco: Like more of a fatherly figure, or which? Just curious, not knowing the mythos as well.

DracoPlato

Yeah, or even more of just a connection to anything norse at all

RebelVampire

i cant pick an allusion i like most because i like them all. i fangirled a lot and had to stop myself to remain focused

annemagnew

We actually have the reason why on our About The Comic page, ahaha. TL;DR: Odin didn't feel like being dead forever, roped his favorites (and not so favorites) into reincarnating. It was a bad move, cosmically speaking. Thanks, Odin! What a great guy!!!!!

AndreaRosales

Other times I get ultra mega lucky and all the pencil roughs next to each other work out just fine! Anyway, back to mythos chat!

DracoPlato

for me Wanda read very much as a typical protag, and the norse stuff was just sort of pasted on but not really part of her

RebelVampire

@AndreaRosales whatever works. sometimes just gotta work with what you got the stitching is definitely creative

AndreaRosales

Odin wanted to keep cracking out cool ones with the gang.

RebelVampire

odin please maybe the others just wanted to vacation

JudgementScythe

lol

AndreaRosales

@RebelVampire Thank you! I like to see how I can piece things together. Working on comic layouts is a lot like piecing together a puzzle.

MathTans

The gypsy take (uh, should I even use that word?) is interesting, I felt like it tied into the "travelling to other lands" aspect. But maybe that takes away a bit from Norse origins? I don't know.

annemagnew

Odin: We could be dead forever. Or, hear me out.... we could not

Please don't use that world, but thank you for asking

She is Romani, though.

AndreaRosales

Odin had some free pizza coupons he needed to use! Also, "Gypsy" isn't the word to use. Wanda is Romani!

MathTans

Wanda does seem more reticent than a "typical protag", but maybe that's just me in terms of what I read.

Romani, thank you. (Derp.)

AndreaRosales

All good!

MathTans

I knew there was a term out there. >.< Cleverly set up with the nasty girls using 'gyp', by the way.

annemagnew

Also, @DracoPlato -- I totally get you. Connecting Wanda to Odin was something I've worked with. Without getting into too many details/future reveals: her mother (and father, before he died) didn't raise a terrible person, but that took work. There's something in Wanda's core character that connects her more to Odin as well, and re-discovering that is a part of her arc.

DracoPlato

ah, that's good if it can circle back around to it at least

MathTans

Odin bought a time share but it's only good every other century.

AndreaRosales

First ever drawing of the "God Squad"! Our first 3 gals of the series. Got my ladies in formation! Circa 2015.

MathTans

WHOA. Two weaponing with one of them being that axe? Daaaamn.

Nice shadows.

JudgementScythe

yeah I'm really excited to get to Aish. She's going to be the tank of the party and is SO GOOD

annemagnew

Freyja on the left and and Ullr on the right. Ullr I chose because I thought it would be fun, but actually, writing a character connected to a god whose mythological presence has been mostly erased is Hard

MathTans

Tank you very much.

annemagnew

@JudgementScythe i love tank sailor venus

MathTans

Now I want to see her with a love-me chain.

AndreaRosales

Our precious badass daughter WADNA!

Aish's design is awesome. She's got a sword like Ivy from Soul Calibur. I love drawing that.

annemagnew

@MathTans she has an evolving weapon. @AndreaRosales , do you have the bookmark for her? She's got a link sword there.

Yup, there it is

AndreaRosales

Just posted it, Anne!

@annemagnew I think you mean " WHOOMP THERE IT IS"

MathTans

So here's a question that you don't have to answer, but... are all the gods reincarnated at about the same age? Or is there some kind of hierarchy thing?

annemagnew

also true

MathTans

That is indeed a link sword. Shades of Signum from Nanoha.

AndreaRosales

I can't wait to draw ULLR just doing a crazy cool ski-by on some draugar.

annemagnew

They're all in the same age group, at the most three years apart. I think Freyja's older than most of them. Wanda and Ullr are the same age.

MathTans

nods And I'm guessing Baltur's wife is a reference I don't get.

RebelVampire

ah thats probably good. dont need to have any old folks cramping their style.

annemagnew

@MathTans Nanna is Baldur's wife. She and their son Forseti are ruling Asgard in his absence.

AndreaRosales

We did a promotional mini comic sample thingy back when we debuted at Rose City Comic Con in 2015. You can see a bit more here of how weapons look, etc.

annemagnew

fun fact: forseti actually looks older than his dad does

DracoPlato

oh that's really cool~!

AndreaRosales

@annemagnew It's not the years, it's the mileage!

MathTans

Wow, you did a debut at a Con? Neat.

RebelVampire

ah that page makes me look forward to future action scenes

AndreaRosales

Well, the first time we were about to launch, we took a mini comic

DracoPlato

nice!

MathTans

I guess having a dad like Baldur ages you faster on the outside.

Also I cannot spell.

annemagnew

I see Baldur as a pretty good father, actually. Much better than Odin was.

AndreaRosales

Here's a rough pencil of the next page of that mini comic we did. I was super giddy that I got to do some super cool action stuff.

MathTans

He does seem like he's doing his best, that's for sure.

annemagnew

Of the Odinssons, Baldur and Tyr turned out the most normal and well-adjusted. Unfortunately, Baldur has tons of issues about his dad that Tyr never did.

MathTans

Oh, wait... those two people communicating through the tree, were they his wife and son?

AndreaRosales

Guys, Baldur is trying so hard man! Dad jokes are hard to do!

annemagnew

No, those were the Norns. Two of them, Verdandi and Urd.

DracoPlato

gorgeous action panels~!

MathTans

<-- is a neophyte, or something.

AndreaRosales

@DracoPlato Thank you!!

RebelVampire

i just wanna say i really like Baldur as a character. i especially like that scene where theyre in the restaurant and wanda hides. and then baldur comes in and is like "i know youre there." i totally expected him to just walk on by, but nope. he was a smart boy.

DracoPlato

I'm enjoying Baldur as well

JudgementScythe

He's dumb. but he's not dumb dumb.

MathTans

I liked when Wanda's mom was all "where do you know her from?" and Baldur's like "....School?"

DracoPlato

haha i liked that too

JudgementScythe

WAIT WADNA I JUST TOLD YOU YOU WERE MY REINCARNATED DAD WHY ARE YOU LOOKING AT ME FUNNY WHAT IT'S NOT CREEPY OR WEIRD AT ALL

DracoPlato

she should have embraced fatherhood

MathTans

"Go to your room."

RebelVampire

yeah i do have to wonder how baldur thought thatd go at all well XD like you dont just tell some teen theyre your dad.

annemagnew

he wants his dad to pay attention to him and tell him he's doing a good job (he is doing a good job right???? TELL HIM HE'S GOOD)

DracoPlato

poor baby

just wants some love

MathTans

Baldur needs head pats.

annemagnew

a decent amount of my favorite male characters remind me of this scene from IASIP https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBfnOtiJOWw

RebelVampire

wanda just needs to tell baldur shes going to the store to buy milk. then not come back. problem solved.

DracoPlato

oooh i really like the blue there

RebelVampire

ah im glad to see huginn and muninn in there too >v>

DracoPlato

yis

AndreaRosales

A Baldur from the character cards we give out at conventions!

MathTans

I wonder if Baldur has the stones for his task. Like, assuming all nine gods have stones.

AndreaRosales

Whoops, lol sorry for the double post

my computer is slow.

All the artwork on a 7 year old machine... ooooof

MathTans

Eh, my phone's older than that.

RebelVampire

(sppt math maybe get a new phone)

DracoPlato

is it a flip phone

MathTans

It has one of those little retractable antennas. Anyway. No prob if old computer.

DracoPlato

oooomg it has an antenna XD that is old

MathTans

I iz old. >.<

RebelVampire

QUESTION 3. At home, Wanda faces a lot of pressure from her mother to excel in her studies and pull herself out of their living situation. What do you think of this situation? Does the fact that they’re hinted to be discriminated against because they’re Romani affect your opinion? Do you think Wanda and her mother will be able to see eye to eye?

DracoPlato

wanda kicking ass

i had one too math, it's okay

I just don't use it now

MathTans

It's fair. As a teacher I'm not allowed to use a cell phone anyway, so haven't upgraded. (Btw, as a teacher, I also wanted to slap Wanda's teacher, but at the same time I could see where she was coming from.)

AndreaRosales

This has to be one of my absolutely FAVORITE goof images I've done while drawing this comic. I do a lot of em'. The relationship between Baldur and Wanda is one that I enjoy depicting a lot. I can't wait for all the fun shenanagins I'll get to draw them in later in the comic!

MathTans

"Baldur. I am your father."

DracoPlato

oh that's fair

and loooool

AndreaRosales

Oooh I like this question. They've all been super good so far!

DracoPlato

with the teacher, she should have known if the other girl's grades had drastically improved when wanda transferred there tho, perhaps

annemagnew

Wanda's time at school - and the teacher's dig at her - is a direct reference to how Romani students are discriminated against in Czech schooling.

MathTans

As to the living situation away from school, it felt genuine. (Painful, but genuine.) I'm not sure about the eye-to-eye thing, but they may both need some space for now.

AndreaRosales

Romani aren't treated well/respected in "mainstream" European society.

annemagnew

>> Roma children in the Czech Republic were segregated into “special schools” with poor curricula, lower teaching standards, and very few resources. “Testing” these children was a culturally biased process that resulted in the majority of them being pushed into the special education system. The system also segregated children with additional learning needs, unlike the inclusive education systems in the UK, Sweden, or other countries (https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/czech-republic-segregation-roma-children-continues)

MathTans

Draco - True, guess I felt like it was still start of the semester or something. Pretty sure her opinion was coloured by racism too, is the thing, so she didn't look for other explanations.

DracoPlato

yeah that could be

MathTans

Anne: That's kind of sad, but nice that it's authentic.

RebelVampire

yeah i really applaud the research into it

DracoPlato

my only issue with the bullying is I've read a ton of comics that start that way with the protag recently so I was a bit tired of the trope, so i have a bias there

MathTans

Friggin' "testing" mumble wumble argle wargle fargle.

I'm fine.

(I don't even teach in the US.)

AndreaRosales

I find myself being easily able to relate to Wanda.. my parents are Mexican and there was always that push growing up to be academically successful. That Romani are given such poor schooling is setting them up for failure and it's such a sad thing. It's something that's happened in a lot of places in the world. It's heartbreaking that Wanda is clearly very intelligent, but her brilliance can't be fully appreciated in such a biased school system.

JudgementScythe

the US testing system is so bad. I remember when they first really instituted it and it's like...take this multiple choice test to decide how much funding your school gets

AndreaRosales

That's so awful.

JudgementScythe

NO GIMME ESSAY QUESTIONS CAUSE THAT"S ALL I'M GOOD AT

MathTans

Somehow I made this talk about my job. Back to home life.

DracoPlato

teaching always relevant

MathTans

But it reminds me I have papers to mark.

I'm like Baldur. I want to do a good job.

Haha, steered it back.

AndreaRosales

You're doing a great job!

RebelVampire

i can understand both sides to the situation of their home life. cause i can understand why wanda's mom would want her to break the mold. but i side a bit more with wanda in that i think theres just way too much pressure

DracoPlato

oh cool inking~!

RebelVampire

as for seeing eye to eye, i could see them not being able to get over the odin thing.

AndreaRosales

Thanks! I really wanted to go for a high contrasty dramatic lighting thingy. Haha, I'm no good with words.. it's why I draw.

MathTans

I wonder how much Wanda's mom knows about the mythology thing. (Maybe the undead will make her read up.)

JudgementScythe

But yes... The home life was a really interesting thing to figure out. Wanda's home life, the pressure. The build. I want my life but because of my blood, I need to work 10x harder than anyone else for the same things and even then people will say I'm cheating for what I get

MathTans

Andrea - You do puns, that's good words.

annemagnew

(The bullying and constant pressure are part of why she's less like Odin than she used to be.)

AndreaRosales

I have a feeling we might get some insight into Wanda's childhood at some point... @annemagnew ?

MathTans

I would imagine Odin didn't get bullied much.

annemagnew

Wanda's mother wants her to break the mold, but in the mold she wants.

MathTans

Oooh, smol Wanda.

AndreaRosales

Hehe.. seeing eye to eye... Odin... good one, @RebelVampire !

annemagnew

@AndreaRosales no spoilers

MathTans

We saw a bit of that already, with the stargazing scene.

AndreaRosales

Gosh @annemagnew I just wanna share all the concept art and it's driving me crazy!

Uguuuu

MathTans

patpats

AndreaRosales

babbu Wanda is the most precious thing I've ever been fortunate to draw.

@annemagnew THANK YOU for writing babbu Wanda!

annemagnew

Yeah, part of the fun with her was, as I built the character, realizing her life circumstances are the exact opposite of her past life's. There's a core to her that's still Odin, but her circumstances and her context are so different.

AndreaRosales

A really great contrast of nature v. nurture!

MathTans

A bit of the nature versus .... Andrea wins.

annemagnew

That's true for a lot of them, actually. There are reincarnations who have contexts very similar to their previous lives', and others who have better (or worse) ones.

MathTans

It's nice that there's a mix that way.

Is it one volume per reincarnation for a total of nine? Or is that too far in the future to know?

AndreaRosales

Another goof!

annemagnew

Honestly the way I see this story going, it's going to run F O R E V E R

AndreaRosales

GOOD

I'm glad, @annemagnew because I seriously want to draw this forever.

MathTans

Hmmm.... and yet time passes in the real world. Like Indonesia might look different in ten years. Parallel Earth to the rescue maybe.

AndreaRosales

Here's a fun take on the toppling over due to sword weight page. Wanda's face in that last panel...

RebelVampire

poor wanda really needs to start working out. work on those sword wielding muscles

annemagnew

The way I see it right now - which I reserve the right to change! - the story starts in The Fall of whenever you started to read it, and ends in the following year's spring

@RebelVampire she gets a strength buff whenever she transforms

RebelVampire

lucky :"D

MathTans

So there might be a Christmas Episode.

annemagnew

Nanna thinks everything he wears is good. Which, you know. She's not wrong in this case, but that outfit is just... A Lot

RebelVampire

i really liked the art on the draugr. like when i saw them i definitely knew what they were and there's just something really appealing about them. in a theyre draugr kind of way.

DracoPlato

love the tails behind her~!

AndreaRosales

@annemagnew I'll have you know I'm animating the Christmas special.

annemagnew

Fun fact! Baldur's topwear is three layers: Leather jacket, blue sweater, full plate armor. (You get killed by mistletoe once...)

MathTans

"Zombies" "Draugr. And no."

AndreaRosales

OH NOESSSS!!!!

AndreaRosales

@annemagnew I don't think Baldur is quite fond of Christmas decor...

DracoPlato

Looooooool

RebelVampire

this is how wanda will escape him. trap him in a room of mistletoe then make a run for it

MathTans

Oooh, good point.

annemagnew

i'm not saying mistletoe is banned in new asgard, but i am saying it's considered in poor taste these days

AndreaRosales

Mistletoe is totally banned.

MathTans

I would imagine it tastes bad, yes.

annemagnew

baldur: you can hang it. it's fine. it's a traditional decoration gersemi: but you don't want us to hang it baldur: i didn't say that

MathTans

It's all in the cringe.

AndreaRosales

Fun fact! Anne had me reference Al Ewing's Mighty Avengers for the way that the Draugar lunge out. There's a fantastic panel of Ayala doing that in that comic.

RebelVampire

now im just picturing baldur glaring through a window, watching them to say with his eyes you better not actually hang that

AndreaRosales

Gods, I just love the image of Baldur death glaring the mistletoe away.

annemagnew

it's coming off as passive-aggressive, but he was trying to be polite and accommodating (and okay maybe a little passive-aggressive)

AndreaRosales

Mistletoe? More like mistle-don't!

MathTans

Miss-letoe.

annemagnew

baldur: i'm the god-king of the universe, not a tyrant

(some elf or whatever: can we establish a democracy then baldur: how did you get in my castle)

AndreaRosales

Fun fact! All 3 of us creators are in the most recent page of 9T! We're all in the dance club together!

MathTans

The two ravens, there's no connection to Sailor Mars, is there?

DracoPlato

awwww that's awesome

RebelVampire

ah thats cute. the more i look at that bg the more i can see how much fun stuff went into it

MathTans

Andrea: That's, like, the best easter egg. I was too focussed on He-man.

AndreaRosales

Teamwork makes the dream work!

Backgrounds can be super fun!

annemagnew

@MathTans the two ravens are Huginn and Munnin, Odin's ravens from the mythology

AndreaRosales

This isn't the first time Anne's been in the comic!

annemagnew

They're patterned here off of Pied Ravens, which were native to the Faroe Islands before they went extinct. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pied_raven

MathTans

@annemagnew Ok, cool, I suspected a mythology link was dominent but suddenly thought I'd check.

annemagnew

#DeadStuff

Fun Fact! Everything and everyone important in this story has been dead, is dead, or will be dead at some point

AndreaRosales

That's Anne in the front seat in front of Wanda on the bus!

@annemagnew true! my hand is dead from drawing so much!

MathTans

Wanda: "What are you writing?" Anne: "Uhhhh...."

AndreaRosales

it's also undead and keeps returning to life

MathTans

Also, that panel had the "she knows me" look that I caught and liked.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 4. Towards the end of the first chapter, Wanda and Baldur find themselves attacked by Draugr. It later becomes apparent that these Draugr are being controlled. Who do you think is controlling the Draugr to attack Wanda? What are their end goals and do they have anything to do with the current peril the world is supposedly in?

AndreaRosales

Wanda skips cardio day.. yet she runs a lot?

MathTans

Oh yeah, crystal ball person who's likely Norse that I don't know.

The goal is presumably not to perfect reviving the undead in order to restore a family back to life.

AndreaRosales

Fun fact! That's Chris and I getting dinner at the restaurant where Wanda and Sari are!

JudgementScythe

That's definitely a thing that we get into over the next chapters. Chapter 3 is currently pretty big. Anne and I are reworking parts of the script to really fine tune it but yeah. The end of chapter 2 and chapter 3 definitely hit on that front

MathTans

But yeah, here's the thing... if he's (gender guessing there) testing Wanda, is it possible that he'd end up killing her in the process? Would that just mean Odin revives again at some later date? Is it even possible that this did happen before, person was tested and failed and Wanda's the latest in a long line of reincarnations?

(I'm just spitballing here, no need to feel you have to answer.)

RebelVampire

@JudgementScythe looking forward to it being addressed soon then.

MathTans

And if it's not a matter of testing, what's the grudge?

RebelVampire

i feel like if there were a long line of reincarnations, thatd be sad. so many ppl whose worlds were rocked cause baldur hunted them down O_O

MathTans

(Maybe it's back to the mistletoe thing.)

Yeah, though maybe Baldur didn't find the others in time or something.

AndreaRosales

Fun fact! This page's color scheme was heavily inspired by the cinematography in John Wick.

MathTans

Oh, speaking of colours, is there a particular reason why some pages get coloured? Or simply a time thing?

JudgementScythe

We wanted to set apart magic from the real world. When the magic is on...sort of Wizard of Ozzy

annemagnew

It was born out of timing, but think of the color as akin to an FMV in an old video game as well.

AndreaRosales

Wizard of Ozzy sans the eating of Huginn and Muginn

MathTans

snaps fingers Gotcha. Interesting.

FMV?

annemagnew

Whe we meet a new character, something very important happens, or it's magic time, we switch to color.

Full Motion Video

AndreaRosales

Yep!

MathTans

Ahhhh. (Stop... Magic Time! Dun deedundundundun...)

RebelVampire

oh that makes sense for the color vs. B&W thing

AndreaRosales

Hehehehe.. nice! @MathTans

RebelVampire

i really admire the city sho4

the city shot

MathTans

^.^ Indeed. Apparently there's a lot going on in backgrounds too.

RebelVampire

my cat decided to jump on the keyboard in that moment

annemagnew

I love your cat

JudgementScythe

It's one of the things I love. Too many artists ignore the background

Like I can't name the amount of comics I've read or been pitched that had no detail. Comics need detail

annemagnew

Andrea never skimps on the details :)

AndreaRosales

Thanks! Detail drives me crazy, but once I start getting into it, I REALLY get into it.

JudgementScythe

And there are a lot of people who ignore that element

AndreaRosales

OH MY GOOOOOOOD DO I TRY

I TRYYY ALL THE TIME

MathTans

One thing I've noticed a couple times, placement of words balloons doesn't quite flow... like, I'll read one, and then the next one I read I'll realize for context should have come first. It doesn't happen that often, and it might just be me not deciphering heights properly, but thought I'd mention it on the side.

AndreaRosales

Here's an early concept painty of Wanda! March 2015!

MathTans

In your institution?

AndreaRosales

@MathTans Yes, in my institution

I'm so happy I got to throw He-man Hey YAYAYAYA in there

Originally, Anne and I had talked about having Wanda and Sari go to karaoke.

and I wanted Wanda to sing that

MathTans

Heh. I used that meme myself once, kinda. I can't do backgrounds though, I can barely draw characters. So, mad props.

AndreaRosales

Like the joke would be that that was the big Euro-pop jam

DracoPlato

Ah yeah Math I had that same issue

with the speech bubbles

a lot of times i felt like i'd missed a page or I was somehow reading it wrong, the dialogue was often really confusing

MathTans

It happened more in the early pages, I feel.

Celes, the Sun of the Universe

@AndreaRosales that looks amazing!! (both the painting and the comic)

DracoPlato

yeah definitely more earlier on

JudgementScythe

speech bubbles are hard. You can see it took a while to get used to. It's one of the reasons it drives me crazy that letterers are so underpaid

AndreaRosales

Sketchbooks on my desk at my old apt./studio space!

JudgementScythe

same with colorists

MathTans

Fair.

AndreaRosales

Ahhh!! Thank you, @Celes, the Sun of the Universe !! I'm barely figuring out digital painting!

I've never taken a painting class in my life!

I'm wingin' it.

DracoPlato

ah I guess, generally it's good just to find the line of eye movement with them when reading

AndreaRosales

I studied graphic design and minored in animation in college.

Graphic design is my passion.

(actually no, comics arting is)

DracoPlato

like you should have the bubble you want read first higher than the next one

AndreaRosales

Lettering is HARD.

MathTans

Yeah. Though sometimes it was higher and yet my brain still tracked right to left.

JudgementScythe

like colors and lettering are incredibly difficult. And yet industry standards are like under $30 a page for colors on an indy book.

AndreaRosales

@JudgementScythe was really on my case about it at first.

DracoPlato

yeah same

AndreaRosales

He helped me get so much better at it

Coloring is super hard too.

MathTans

It's all about improving.

AndreaRosales

I've got MAD respect for colorists too.

I thumbnail, pencil, ink, shade, color, letter and do all graphic design/social media art for Nine Twilights.

JudgementScythe

and that's one of the things I love about the book. Look at page 1 and the latest. You can tell it's the same artist, but it's so good to see the growth she's gone through since the start

AndreaRosales

It can be a lot. Luckily, @annemagnew and @JudgementScythe are super great to work with. They're always looking for ways for making things easier for me.

MathTans

Much like the protagonist? ^.-

AndreaRosales

Oooh

I'll post page 1 and the most recent page!

Celes, the Sun of the Universe

@AndreaRosales you're welcome <3

MathTans

The website, also, good job on that. It even sparkles over the links. O.o

Sometimes it's the little things.

JudgementScythe

Yeah there are some things I really want to do with it to make it a little easier to update. But I'm happy with how it came out.

DracoPlato

oh with the website I had a lot of difficulty reading on there. Your Archive isn't up to date, and the clicking the image to go to the next page stopped working around where the archive left off, and your next arrow is at the top of the page and not the bottom, which makes me have to scroll back up to go to the next page which is super annoying

and it'd be super helpful if clicking the arrow keys would go to the next page and previous

i think i have a code for it if you want

JudgementScythe

Those are exactly the updates I want to make

DracoPlato

yeah I think it super needs it cause it was almost unreadable

AndreaRosales

Hey thanks @DracoPlato ! That's our next big project. Making the site easier to navigate.

JudgementScythe

well. It's also set up to click on the page takes you to the next page. But yeah currently there are nice things but boy howdy do I want to fix a lot of that stuff

RebelVampire

@AndreaRosales yeah comparing the pages you can definitely see so much growth in the art, and that's just super great~!

DracoPlato

yeah we were clicking the pages but that stopped working after awhile

MathTans

Really? Huh. I guess I only clicked on 'Next', so I didn't see a problem.

Though the scrolling back up for the next is something that could be amended.

JudgementScythe

oh I'll have to go back through and make sure all that is fixed up this weekend.

DracoPlato

yeah would love a next arrow button on the bottom of the page or the side

http://www.smackjeeves.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=15038

Oh i think this is it for the keyboard arrows

AndreaRosales

Oh gosh... thank you so much @RebelVampire ! I'm melting! I really push myself a LOT to get better and better with each page. Do let me know if there's things that I can work on that improve the readability of action, backgrounds, etc.

AndreaRosales

Behind the scenes look! I ink my pages on my cintiq whilst jamming to Star Wars OST, or some other random video game OST...

MathTans

The amount of extra detail in those pages is crazy. Like night and day. Which... is almost a pun? Meh.

AndreaRosales

Awww.. I'm so proud! @MathTans

RebelVampire

@AndreaRosales i think math and draco both pointed out the most major issue already with the speech bubble flow. otherwise i think youre on the right track.

MathTans

Also, kudos/props for consistency in that first year and everything. That can be tricky.

Like, in terms of updates.

DracoPlato

yis~!

AndreaRosales

We have these super cute buttons of Baldur, pouty Wanda, Sari and Zora we sell at conventions! They're my fave.

MathTans

Those are cool.

AndreaRosales

Thanks so much for the advice, @RebelVampire !! That is so super helpful!

I was super worried about posting consistency

it's probably one of the biggest reasons why I was reluctant at first to join the team. I didn't feel confident that I could keep up.

MathTans

It'll be neat to see where things go!

AndreaRosales

I'm super glad that I was able to make it work, even when I got super sick this past winter/spring.

JudgementScythe

Yeah we didn't miss an update. Then illness and other things ate our backlog which is why we've switched to wednesdays and are taking a little time off to keep things from completely overwhelming her

AndreaRosales

I had to get surgery this past April. It was no bueno. I'm much better now though.

MathTans

It's all good. Make sure to stay healthy. Whoa, surgery even. O.o

All the best going forwards.

RebelVampire

glad to hear youre doing better~!

Unfortunately, the scheduled Comic Tea Party is now complete~! Thank you everyone so much for joining this week’s chat~! That being said, if you would like to continue discussing the comic, we encourage you to do so~! We want to give a big thank you to Andrea Rosales, Anne Mortensen-Agnew, and Chris Hansbrough, as well, for volunteering Nine Twilights for our reading queue. If you liked the comic, please be sure to support the team’s efforts. If you have questions, concerns, or suggestions about CTP, please feel free to PM me, or e-mail me at [email protected].

With that said, next week’s Comic Tea Party will focus on The Changeling’s Sister by yondoloki. Please use this week to read as much of the comic as you would like. Hope to see you next Thursday (September 21st) from 5PM to 7PM PDT~! Until then~! Comic: https://tapas.io/series/The-Changelings-Sister

#comics #webcomics #indiecomics #ctparchive #comic tea party #comicteaparty #ctp #start faire #startfaire #comic chat #comic discussion #bookclub #comic bookclub #nine twilights #andrea rosales #anne mortensen-agnew #chris hansbrough

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blaperile · 7 years ago

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Hiveswap Episode 1 Reaction Part 10: Battery combinations everywhere + Living room Exploration Part 2

Okay, day 10 of playing! Starting at 8:45 PM today. We were exploring the living room and then suddenly found these E-cell batteries in the universal remote. Let's see if this gives any unique item combinations in Joey's room or if it will be the same bits of narration like with the other type of batteries. If not, we'll go look at the item combinations in the other parts of the house!

So okay, it indeed gives the same bits of narration for the things in Joey's room. In that case, let's start with the item combinations just outside the attic and work our way down from there! Batteries && Slinky ==> Wait... do slinkies really need batteries to operate? I never knew that. E-Cell Batteries && Flashlight ==> Oh man, the struggle is real. I've had this issue lots of times in my life, where I think a particular type of battery fits and it turns out it doesn't. xD Batteries && Caterpillar ==> Uh... 6 pairs of eyes? Where are the other 5 pairs then? :mspa: Also, she mentions them sensing the light, so for a second I thought the caterpillar's eyes might have looked differently in the dark now than they were in the light, but I don't immediately notice a difference. Batteries && Golden globe thingy ==> Pfff, another combination that prompts her to spin it. This time no Joey animation though, sadly. :( Batteries && Sufferer doll ==> Oh boy, can we not? xD "He looks like he might enjoy it" ... ... LET'S CARRY ON. 0_0 Batteries && Statue ==> "voice modulator that makes you sound like a skeleton" If that actually exists, dear god, point me to it because now you've made me curious. xD Batteries && Lite Brite ==> Haha, so there's an outlet right behind it! Actually, have we even seen any other outlets in this house yet? ...Oh, plainWonder's right, there were outlets beneath Joey's gaming television, I forgot about those. Anyway, this reminds me of what I was wondering yesterday after the power went out, about whether or not the lite brite worked on electricity or on batteries and thus if it would still be on or not after the power went out, haha. Batteries && Jude's door ==> I highly doubt these batteries would even be small enough to slip them under the door in the first place. :P Batteries && Universal Remote ==> Eeeesh, some more frustration towards Grandpa there. Interestingly, this implies that Joey and Jude don't use the remote, and the tv for that matter, very often? Anyway, that's it! We've done all the possible item combinations so far featuring the batteries, so let's move on to examine some new items! Batteries && Beanbag chair ==> Yep, (un?)fortunately, the beanbag chair isn't a massage chair that runs on batteries. :mspa: Pogs && Beanbag chair ==> Can't possibly get more 1994 than this, am I right? :P Cherub Key && Beanbag chair ==> Shocking revelation! You decide not to have a mental breakdown about it though. :mspa: Ballet slippers && Beanbag chair ==> Beanbag chair rises up on their echeladder to the highly-touted rank of BALLET BLOCKER. xD Ooooh, so that's a cassette player over there, not a walkman! And this seems to be one of the few things in this house that Joey and Jude actually share with each other. Huh, we can "salvage" it. Oh god, are we getting another pair of batteries here? xD Cherub Key && Cassette player ==> Oh boy, insert spooky music here! Because of the key's presence, music comes out of a cassette player that isn't turned on and has dead batteries... Yikes! Just like how it seemed to have some mysterious effects on the slinky as well... Jeez, what the hell is that key even made of? xD I'm also suddenly getting Revolution (the tv series) vibes, what with a magical trinket that activates devices that have become powerless. Tap shoes && Cassette player ==> Pfff, when she started talking about tapes I first thought she was going to make a tape/tapping pun, haha. Also, I don't think I've ever heard of Enya before, but I just looked her up on Wikipedia and it seems she's pretty famous in any case! Ireland's most succesful solo artist, that is pretty impressive. And yes, it wouldn't work to listen to that music with those dead batteries... unless you've got a mysterious Cherub Key nearby, of course! :mspa: Ballet slippers && Cassette player ==> I assume a rose in an iceberg is a reference to Enya? xD Hahaha, okay, so scavenging the cassette player doesn't actually make Joey put those batteries in her inventory. Aww, but I wanted to see a battery + battery item combination! :P Hey look, there's a gameboy! Which we can apparently ALSO scrounge for batteries, haha. So, this confirms that Joey isn't the only gamer here, Jude does like playing videogames as well! Batteries && Gameboy ==> Pfffff, I hadn't even caught it until plainWonder pointed it out to me, but "lil' hombre" is probably meant to refer to "boy" as in Gameboy. xD Ahahaha, I just love the lengths to which they're going to avoid literal namedrops. Pet treats && Gameboy ==> A third option would be to press it against your screen and try to feed a virtual animal on it, like a Tamagotchi or something. :mspa: Ha, "the illusion of choice"! Oh man, that is giving me so many Homestuck character select screen flashbacks. Tap shoes && Gameboy ==> Wait, Tatanga? Who's that? *looks it up* Oh, it's a Super Mario villain! From a few really old games. I've played quite a few different Mario games, but none of those coincidentally. :P Alright, looks like we're finished in this part of the room! I thought there was only one way to progress further (by clicking somewhere further in the background to move there), but plainWonder spotted very nicely that we could also click near the piano! And oooooh, that makes us look at the room in an entirely different perspective!!!! So apparently the front door of the house is right there! I bet we probably can't/won't exit? I wonder what it looks like outside on that part of the house, though. And there's a coat rack over there! Some pretty colorful clothing over there! I wonder who it belongs to. Dear god that's one giant trophy hanging right above the front door. 0_0 And it looks like there's even a picture hanging on the wall of when Grandpa killed it. :/ Hehehe, "Pet Vet - The doctor is out"! That immediately reminds me of Aranea's "the sylph is out" silly business in Openbound. That stuffed wolf though... that doesn't look too good. One of Grandpa's earlier experiments with taxidermy? :/ I really like that we're now getting a much closer look at the universal remote. That is indeed a preposterous amount of buttons! :o Also, that stuffed bear right next to the door reminds me of the bear behind the clock on the other side of the room. (I am also conveniently going to ignore that deer bear monstrosity on the other side of the front door) What's with all that dirt right in front of the doors though? Examining the bear trophy now... Yeah, Grandpa sure does like leaving a lot of useless/terrifying crap around everywhere, doesn't he? :/ Of course, opening the door doesn't actually work. Wait, Joey's scared of running into weirdos both outside and inside her home. I wonder who she classifies as weirdo, considering other than the monster there's nobody else inside and only Jude outside. Are Jude and his pet the weirdos? :mspa: Oh yeah, almost forgot to do the item combinations here! Batteries && Bear trophy ==> ...It's indeed a good thing that this bear can't be activated to actually move around. 0_0 Pogs && Bear trophy ==> 10 points for coming up with amazing puns on the spot go to Joey! Pet treats && Bear trophy ==> ...I think it's the latter, Joey. xD Cherub Key && Bear trophy ==> THE PUNS. THEY DON'T STOP. Tap shoes && Bear trophy ==> JOEY. STOP. YOU'RE KILLING ME WITH YOUR PUNS. XD Pet treats && Front door ==> Hahaha, "guardians"! ...Actually, there's the deer trophy, which of course reminds me of Dammek. For a second I was entertaining the thought that these 3 were all refereencing actual Guardians, but eh, probably not because what would those other two even reference? And anyway, what is it even with all these deer motifs throughout the house? Is that just to get hilarious/sad reactions out of Dammek in Hauntswitch? xD Cherub Key && Front door ==> Wait, there's not even any lock on this door, like, at all??? That's really weird... and also unsafe. Maybe Grandpa just always loses his keys and decided it would be handier if none of his doors would need keys at all? Honestly, I wouldn't even be surprised if that was his reasoning. Batteries && Deer trophy ==> ...Yes, let's also file that idea under "can we not"? xD Ballet slippers && Deer trophy ==> Oh deer (yes) god, I hadn't even realized yet how Grandpa and Joey both have stuffed animals, though in a totally different way. Eeeeesh. Alright, that's enough for today. It's already 10 PM, and I'm kinda feeling the tiredness settling in. Tomorrow we sadly won't be continuing our playthrough, because of certain IRL stuff, but hopefully we should be capable of playing some more on Wednesday!

#Homestuck #Hiveswap #reaction #liveblog #Hiveswap liveblog #Joey #Grandpa #Jude

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blaperile · 7 years ago

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Hiveswap Episode 1 Reaction Part 9: Power goes out + Exploring the living room!

Day 9 of playing Hiveswap!

I'm very excited about today, now we should be arriving at the ground floor and find some very interesting new rooms to examine!

I'm really curious what we will find there.

The kitchen has been advertised enough in pre-launch material, and the basement too a few times. But I can't immediately recall having seen any of the other rooms on the ground floor? So this should be interesting! Surprises await (and monsters too!).

I wonder how many other rooms there are: we know that other than the kitchen and the basement there's also apparently the trophy room, but other than that? A living room, perhaps? Also, shouldn't there be at least one more bedroom in the house, one where Ms. Claire and Grandpa used to sleep?

Let's see!

Starting at 6:50 PM now.

Okay, so let's first examine that coat of arms, where we left off last time.

...

PFFFFFF, okay we can't even examine it. D'oh! >.<

Alright, let's move on the-

OH SHIT.

THE POWER IS OUT ALL OF A SUDDEN.

Welp, that came very suddenly. It's kind of like how Rose started out in her house without any power and had to navigate through it... only this giant manor is of course much scarier in the dark than their house was. :P

I wonder if there'll be a way to turn the power back on again? Maybe that's why we have to go to the basement?

Also, now her flashlight would definitely come in handy!

Oooooh, I like how the music has changed into a darker remix of the house theme.

D'aww, poor Joey. She's back to her scared pose from the beginning of the game. :(

Obviously this means Mom is nearby, only her presence could cause such a blackout! :mspa:

Oh man, after having talked to Jude I kinda want to go back to the previous rooms, to see how they look in the dark now! The zoom-ins should also look ver differently now that everything is dark, eeeeesh.

And this should also mean that now the light switch in her room no longer works!

Okay, let's see what Joey and Jude have to say to each other.

....Pffff, Jude's still remaining very calm about all this.

Also, I'm kinda surprised Joey describes this as late afternoon, isn't it more like early evening/night, what with how the sun has been setting and it's been getting pretty dark outside? That's at least how I'd describe it, personally. :mspa:

...Wow, even the family portraits on the stairs look so much creepier in the dark.

Huh, plainWonder has a good point that Joey's tv and pc shouldn't work anymore now, seeing as the power's out! So the computer, which we couldn't turn off ourselves, should now be shut down, and it should be impossible to start the Bubsy game on the tv again.

Oh wow, the lite brite doesn't work anymore either! So apparently that also works on electricity, I didn't expect that! I would have expected it to work on battery power, but apparently not.

I like how there's more light in this hallway than on the stairs, because of the light shining through the window over there.

Also, I bet the hallway where Joey's room is and especially the stairs to the attic should be REALLY dark now?

...Wait, I take my words back. The hallway of Joey's room looks pretty okay and... There's a big light shining down in the attic hallway? That's weird, I didn't notice there was a window there?

Also, I just noticed the jewelery chest is closed again! Even though it should have remained open after what we did earlier. And now it seems like we can't open it again! Looks like a small bug.

God, I really love the details of the shadows in the dark, even when you zoom in on items to look at them closer.

D'AWWWWW, poor Joey. It's pretty funny and sad at the same time how her animation looks happy when she reaches for the light switch in her room, and then it returns to being sad when the light doesn't turn on. :(

Oooooooh, I like how trying to "play" on the game console now gives a unique piece of narration because the power's off! That's really cool. Same thing with the computer, haha! I really like that What Pumpkin remembered to implement these unique things for when there's no longer power.

Hahaha, so there's a room in the attic stairway that's invisible from the perspective we're looking at it here, but shines down on us! That was really good thinking to provide a window here, to make sure we aren't in the complete dark here in these rooms.

The attic provides an even spookier aura through the window of the attic door now.

On a sidenote, I just had the funniest thought that it would be amazing if their family has a fireplace down there somewhere and all of a sudden it turns on, just like when Jade tried to sneak past Grandpa's stuffed corpse and suddenly the fireplace is lit.

Fortunately, this time there shouldn't be a stuffed corpse there to scare the hell out of Joey.

...

Or is there?

I just had the grim thought that we don't know yet what happened to Ms. Claire's corpse (if a corpse remained after whatever the hell happened to her). Did she get a funeral (like Jaspers)? Did she get cremated (like Nanna)? Or did she get stuffed (like Grandpa and Poppop)??

I highly doubt her corpse has been stuffed, what with how this game is also targeting some younger audiences, but you never know!

...I'd laugh if plainWonder's right and instead it's Colonel Sassacre's corpse! xD

On the other hand, on the off chance that Joey and Jude DO play Sburb at some later point post-Hiveswap/post-Hauntswitch, I kinda hope for Joey that they do have some sort of remains of Ms. Claire, so that she'd be capable of reviving her as a Sprite.

Anyway, enough of this silly business, let's move further downstairs! :mspa:

Ooooh, there's a piano down there! It doesn't look like someone's played it in a very long time though. Did Ms. Claire perhaps play the piano? That's pretty interesting, considering how playing the piano has so far mainly been associated with the Egbert/Crocker family, but now we've also got something tying it to a different family!

I wonder if Joey and Jude even play any instrument at all, like the B1 Kids and B2 Kids do. Maybe not, seeing as Joey's already got her dancing. I wonder if Jude's got anything?

There's also some weird African mask there apparently? A souvenir of one of Grandpa and/or Ms. Claire's travels?

Oh boy, let's move on to the next room now!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW. That is one GIANT hell of a living room!

Looks like there's a fair share of trophies here as well (and unlike the ones in Jade's house, these ones seem to be of real animals :P), so that means the trophy room is going to be one hell of a place.

Pfff, I like how there are some toy darts on the TV as well.

And just look at all those things lying around! Some headphones and a walkman, video cassettes, books, niiiiiiice!

There's also a bunch of stuff still on the table there, looks like they haven't cleaned up after they had a meal there.

Ha, and of course, some blue lady references in the background.

plainWonder just made the observation that that clock in the background is actually ticking! That's actually really cool, what with how far in the background it is.

There's a pretty filled bookcase in the background!

Also, goddamn those squirrels on top of the tv. I know it shouldn't really be that funny, but something about them wearing those Grandpa-like hats just cracks me up.

I just noticed those doors leading outside over there. I guess we probably can't/won't open them, what with the danger outside?

There's also some other doors in here, I wonder if we can enter/examine them all?

Oh man, I also only just noticed that chalk box beneath the piano! And it looks just like WV's and Terezi's boxes, that's really cool.

A very unrelated thought just occurred to me, that so far there haven't been any references to the Wizard of Oz yet in Hiveswap, unlike the abundance of references to it in Homestuck! :O

I wonder if there will be some references to it at some point.

Anyway, enough of that, let's see what we can examine here.

Alright, looks like for now we can just examine this corner of the room, everything up to the tv, and to examine the rest a new room will have to load.

Let's first walk a bit more to the right...

Another bookcase! With a bunch of stuff I would normally not expect to see on a bookcase. :P

Pfff, Joey's descriptions of Grandpa's books are pretty funny and sad at the same time.

Also, the first taxidermy reference in Hiveswap so far! Though I bet there probably won't be any implications about using taxidermy on humans, haha.

Pet treats && bookcase ==> Huh?! Does this suggest Jude's pet might be a cat? I can't immediately think of a different kind of animal that would also chase mice around.

Is that the cat we saw Baby Joey climb on in the picture, or the cat we saw Tesseract jump at in another picture, or another cat entirely?

But... why would Joey be so upset by a cat? Does she just really not like cats or...?

Oh man. Ohhhhhhhhhh man. I really like plainWonder's theory that perhaps Jude's pet is a MUTANT CAT!!!! That would make a lot of sense, considering Mom definitely owned a mutant cat as a child (Mutie), so it's actually kind of likely that she donated a mutant cat to Jude!!!!

Oh man, that's my favorite theory about Jude's pet right now.

Either it's a (mutant) cat, or a snake. Calling it!

Tap shoes && Bookcase ==> Well, that's a mystery I didn't think needed solving, but dang if it didn't just get solved, so nice job. :P

Ballet slippers && Bookcase ==> Looks like Joey's not much of a reader and rather prefers her videogames and TV shows!

Joey's actually got a surprisingly large TV, for being in the nineties. Did rich people (like Grandpa) often own such large tv screens in the nineties already (or eighties even, considering this tv might have been there already since Joey was a baby, before Ms. Claire died)?

Pogs && TV ==> Pfff, I highly doubt throwing a pog at the TV would cause an explosion, Joey. xD

Pet treats && TV ==> N'aww. I could imagine her trying to feed an animal that appears on the TV, just like how she pretends to feed her animal posters. :p

Tap shoes && TV ==> Ooooh, isn't this the first time Fred Astaire is actually mentioned? I remember that we already saw he did quite some stuff with Ginger Rogers when we looked her up on Wikipedia, but I don't think it had been mentioned in Hiveswap yet, right?

Ballet slippers && TV ==> Eesh, poor Joey. It's really sad how she has to spend so much time alone while growing up, because of the abnormal situation she is in and not having any friends at all. :(

Oh wow, so that's not an ordinary remote control! It has so many functions, it actually kind of sounds like more modern technology with the smart homes and all.

Also, apparently they've got a garage! I wonder if there's a car there? That would be the first time we see a car of anyone other than John and Jane's father.

And we can apparently "scavenge" the remote? ...For the batteries, perhaps? I highly doubt they'll be useful, but let's see.

Actually, let's first try out the item combinations, just in case "scavenging" the remote will make it useless for item combinations.

Pogs && Remote ==> ...That sounds like one hell of a weird pog. I can't blame her for not liking pogs, in that case. 0_0

Pet treats && Remote ==> Well, that confirms something we'd been wondering about a few days ago: Tesseract DOES enter the house normally, it's not that she always remains outside.

Tap shoes && Remote ==> Pffff, that would be pretty weird, to control the TV by tap dance. Good way to get some exercise though. xD

Ballet slippers && Remote ==> Hahaha, to hell with remotes, Joey says! Long live dancing everywhere and anytime.

OH SHIT, we CAN retrieve the batteries from the remote! E-cell batteries, apparently. Gosh, how many different types of batteries are there in this house?!

Also... dear god, that probably means new item combinations? Unless it gives the same information as the other type of battery, for most combinations?

Huh, apparently there is also an option to "heft the remote" now.

Ahahaha, yes wouldn't that be lovely if she could just take some magical remote with her that can help her on her quest. xD

On the other hand, considering this is Grandpa we're talking about, I actually wouldn't be surprised if he built some useful functions into it or something.

Alright, we're quitting here for the night at 8:15 PM. Next time we'll go try out the E-cell battery item combinations, to see if they're any different, and explore the rest of the living room!

#Homestuck #Hiveswap #reaction #liveblog #Hiveswap liveblog #Joey #Jude #Tesseract #Ms. Claire #Grandpa #Mom

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blaperile · 7 years ago

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Hiveswap Episode 1 Reaction Part 2: SO MUCH TO DO IN JOEY’S ROOM

Round 2, here we go!

Let's see if we can get out of Joey's room today. :P

I wonder if leaving her room will be as simple as... just opening the door, or if there will already be some kind of puzzle just to be capable of leaving it, hehe.

Starting at 8:50 PM here!

Wait a second. plainWonder's got a good point here. The title screen suddenly looks bigger than it did last time! Looks like after adjusting the resolution last time it didn't fully settle on the correct size and now it corrected itself automatically!

Anyway...

N'awww, apparently Joey's mom also did ballet! And also at the age Joey's at right now.

Come to think of it, I wonder if Joey already knows what she wants to do for a living later? I mean, I know she hasn't really settled on one type of dance yet, but does she want to become a professional dancer? Or does she just want to do it as a hobby?

...Oh yeah, I forgot that we already know she also wants to be veterinarian!

Hmm, okay, apparently clicking the books on the top shelf gives the same text as the books on the lower shelf.

Pfffff, that description for her bed. That's typical Homestuck/Andrew Hussie descriptions right there, haha. I love how it makes sleeping sound weird.

plainWonder's got a good point that her bed isn't messy, just like those of the Prospit dreamers in-comic. Joey confirmed for Prospit dreamer! :mspa:

Ahahaha, "Puppy Surprise". Is... that a real thing? Do I even want to know... :P

[url="https://www.google.be/search?q=puppy+surprise&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&dcr=0&ei=NiS8Wc2VC5LdwQKT9ISQAQ"]OH DEAR GOD IT ACTUALLY EXISTS[/url]

So... apparently she can also use it as some sort of porkhollow to keep stuff? Hahaha!

Okay, let's search it...

WHAT THE FUCK THE CHERUB KEY IS IN THERE.

That... was awfully easy. I honestly thought that was going to be really hard to find, pffffff.

Also dear god that artwork. I want to say it looks cute but... oh god that's creepy. xD

Also, the pink colour of that puppy surprise, the purple eyes and the pink bowtie reminds me of Rose and Maplehoof. Please don't tell me it's a gift of her babysitter. 0_0

I mean... what with Mom's/Roxy's fascination for such pink and weird stuff, hahaha!

So it originally came with 5 puppies but she gave 2 away! I wonder if they'll pop up in Hauntswitch somewhere, hehe. And another reference to her school! Iiiiinteresting.

Alright, so the gray key is of her diary! I wonder if we'll be capable of reading it at some point, or if that will be something Dammek will do. :P

Heh, I find it interesting that Jude wanted to have one of those puppies.

Also, what with the mentions of hiding things for her brother I'm suddenly reminded of Calliope and Caliborn, hehe.

Wait... the Cherub Key came from her MOTHER? What? It didn't come from Grandpa? That's strange.

Then the question is... where did Ms. Claire get that key? Did it use to belong to The Condesce and then it ended up with Ms. Claire somehow?

Also, I'm wondering if there's a corresponding key on Alternia (I honestly wouldn't be surprised if time shenanigans would make it the same key, if The Condesce got her hands on it somehow and brought it to Earth).

Alright, I was wondering if she'd only retrieve the Cherub key, but looks like she retrieved the diary key as well! The fact that she did makes me think we will indeed be capable of opening her diary at some point.

Heh, so she considers the Cherub Key an "heirloom". That instantly reminds me of the B1 and B2 Kids and their bunny heirlooms. Also, I'm now wondering if while Joey has an heirloom of Ms. Claire, perhaps Jude has one of Grandpa?

Oh... so she's inexplicably drawn to the key... kind of like how Jane was drawn to the Sucker? xD

Haha, Joey comparing her situation to this Clarissa figure on her poster reminds me of how John and Jane also liked comparing their situations to the situations the people on their posts were in.

Wait a second... "she had a cool friend who was a boy but NOT her boyfriend". Does... does that imply Joey has a boyfriend? :O

Now THAT'S an interesting and unexpected reveal! I'm very curious to see if we'll learn more about him in this game. Maybe a picture of him? But I could definitely see that boy appearing in Hauntswitch!

Somehow I doubt it's Bro. XD

N'awww, a junior veterinarian medkit present of the babysitter (not sure what I should be calling her here :p)! She's definitely got a lot more presents from her than I would have expected, it definitely means they got along really great!

...On the other hand, considering how Mom liked giving Rose so many presents, maybe that's just the way she is!

Now the wardrobe! I guess it'll probably have some clothes in there?

...I'd laugh if they're all just exactly the same clothes as she's wearing right now.

Oh boy, one of the options is to "change"! Now that would be REALLY unexpected and interesting if you could change the way she looks for the rest of the game! ...But probably not, especially in case they're all just the same type of clothes like she's wearing now. xD

...Pfff, I was expecting that "Look" would mean to look INSIDE the wardrobe, not just look at the outside of it and consider Clarissa, ahahahaha. xD

Let's see what "Change" does...

Ahahahaha, so that's the excuse for not changing clothes. There's nobody around to give that nod indeed, because sadly Jude isn't there. :(

But still, the way she describes she has more important things to do BEFORE it, I'm still wondering if it will be somehow possible to go and change clothes!

Hehe, yup, looking at those animal posters confirms that a veterinarian is indeed what she wants to be later! Dancing is probably just a hobby of hers then.

OH GOD YES, examining the Manthro Chap is simply the best. I love that it contains a reference to the iconic "what a daring dream" narration for Jade AND to Humanimals! Especially the Humanimals reference is very unexpected! Nice job there.

Hehe, some sneaky Troll dolls over there (not the Trolls you are thinking of :P).

Oh shit, going slightly more to the left loads a new part of the room!

I should mention that for now we skipped examining the computer and the walkie talkie, because we think those might be pretty special events.

Wow... so there's another door there! Is she going to exit her room that way? 'cause I wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't want to leave through the other door, what with the monster roaming around.

plainWonder's got a good point that there's no handle on the door! Are we going to find one somewhere and is that our first puzzle?

And hey, now we can see Jude's tree hut out there!

Also, yay, Homestuck sun on the ceiling! Nice.

Wow that's a preposterous amount of posters.

THE STORY KEEPS HAPPENING. ARE YOU SHITTING ME. XD

Oh hell fucking yes. I didn't expect to see a Neverending Story reference here so bonus points on that, but also SBAHJ reference!!!!!!! Oh hell yeah.

I wouldn't be surprised if they did it to avoid copyright issues or something, but in any case that's one hell of a great way to solve it. xD

...Second Mom. SECOND FUCKING MOM. MOTHER 2. WHAT PUMPKIN YOU BRILLIANT BASTARDS.

Another "no copyright was harmed" hilarious reference, and another great way to acknowledge how Earthbound served as inspiration for Homestuck, along with The Neverending Story!

Hot Steppin'... Dirty Dancing, maybe? xD

And yeah, Acorn's Shadow. I read about that on Tumblr a little while ago how it's a Pony Pals reference! Hell fucking yes.

Also, I just noticed how the perspective is a bit different here, those Troll dolls are slightly less visible here.

Oh hey there Jenga blocks! Reminds me of Jade's fetch modus!

Also, the preposterous amount of controllers there reminds me of all of Roxy's gaming consoles/controllers! I wouldn't be surprised if Joey's babysitters has played some video games together with her, hehe.

And Hungry Hungry Hippos, like plainWonder helpfully reminded, a Problem Sleuth reference! Niiiiiice.

N'awww, those are some cute photographs over there of Baby Joey with her mom and with Tesseract. I love how Baby Joey's riding Tesseract, reminding me of Baby Jade riding Bec and young Grandpa riding Halley!

...Do I want to know what Bubsy is?

*looks it up*

Heh, reminds me a bit of Tails of Sonic the Hedgehog, or Rayman or something.

PFFFFFFFFF, if we try to "play" a videogame... There's no way that isn't a Problem Sleuth reference, ahahaha! I mean, she saved just before the final boss, and is expecting to take several hours to defeat its various forms... Come on, can you think of anything else but Problem Sleuth? :D

Also, apparently she likes computer games most! That's interesting, I don't really think we've seen someone yet in the Homestuck universe who likes playing computer games (instead of console games), right?

Pfffff, examining the tv plays a short part of Bubsy, haha! I like that the music also changes for a little bit.

Hmm... the narration for the Second Mom poster reminds me of 3 different things at the same time: Nintendo (duh), Sburb (what with playing a game that isn't supposed to be out yet and all that), and Game Bro (I mean... this basically sounds like what I think someone of Game Bro is like. Joey's friend confirmed for Dennis? :mspa:)

...What could pawsibly go wrong indeed! xD

I bet there wasn't a copyright issue for Bubsy (or they had to pay a limited amount) and What Pumpkin is just using that as hard as they can, ahahaha.

Pfffff, Block Hustle. A cheap rip-off of Tetris (almost surprised it isn't a REAL cheap rip-off, haha) xD Oh, NOW I recognize the blocks in the background of the poster, hehe. The figure on the foreground kind of reminded me a bit of Problem Sleuth. And I love how his gun is covered up with a sticker.

...When Joey said Ginger Rogers "was still kickin'" I just had a feeling she'd have passed away not too long after 11/11/1994 and yuuuuup! She passed away on the 25th of April 1995.

I've never heard of her, but her surname and the "STAR avenue" kind of made me think of Steve Rogers (Captain America) and Peggy Carter, haha.

Is the Bounty Hunter a Metroid reference? :D

Oh god plainWonder's probably right that the white dragon is a stand-in for Ridley!

Pffff, so much attention drawn to that Childlike Empress on the Neverending Story poster. Oh no. Oh god no. plainWonder's right, that's a subtle stab at Trizza, isn't it? Oh hell yes. Hehe, "she only appears for like five minutes", haha yeah Trizza probably won't appear THAT much in this game either.... Not sure if that means just Episode 1 or Hiveswap in general though. :P

I bet Canadian Campfire Spook-ems is also a reference to something, but I'm not sure what! :P

Yup, Acorn's Shadow is definitely a reference to Pony Pals. I totally believe in plainWonder's theory that Bro (co-)created this. xD

Magical Animal Companion Heal Rescue... that's one hell of a title. I wonder that's also a reference to something real or just referencing Dammek's Deer Lusus on Alternia that we've seen in some concept-art before? Also gives me some Captain Planet vibes. :P

...Examining that poster closer, Shika kinda reminds me of Sailor Moon (the outfit) and Nepeta (the tail)! And that <> shape on the deer reminds me of Joey's own compass symbol.

So uh, I suddenly wondered if perhaps we'd get a different view of the ceiling from this other side of the room (perhaps something about the Homestuck sun), but no.

BUT, we hadn't noticed yet that we could also CLICK on the stars and the compass symbol here!!!

Wow... so Ms. Claire painted the compass symbol first, then Joey's babysitter turned it into a shirt for her!!!! Wow, Mom really DID have quite the influence on her it seems.

Oh hell yes, I was hoping we'd be capable of zooming in on those photographs on her desk.

N'aww....

So okay, apparently Joey was a bit older when riding Tesseract then it first seemed to me when we looked from afar.

Also, I like how she's got such a four colour ball pen!

...Oh, so first Ms. Claire died and then Grandpa left Joey and Jude. That's pretty sad. :(

Fuck... I just got hit with the sad thought that when Grandpa died, when he was having the tea party with the doll, perhaps he was imagining the doll to be Ms. Claire. That's really sad to think about and puts the scene into an entirely different light. D:

On a happier note, apparently she calls Grandpa Pa! Ha, makes sense!

Also, "moving on to greener pastures and bluer beauties"... well, I guess that's a way to describe the island in the Pacific Ocean and Jade.

....I thought clicking on the Joey/Tesseract picture would give a much happier feeling, but I was wrong. So wrong. Poor Joey. :(

Oh boy, now it's time to examine her diary! Let's see if she'll let us, unlike how Rose didn't want to let us read her journals. :P

I like how there are some dog footprints on it!

...Heh, okay, so we can't really "read" her diary, she's just expressing some (sad and at the same time funny) thoughts about it.

I wonder what she'll write in the diary!

But before we do that, let's first examine our inventory! I just realized we hadn't done that yet.

...Oh god, trying to combine the two keys together. THAT COMMENT. Ahahahaha, too bad you can't unlock keys like that. :P

Oh hell fricking yes, plainWonder had the best idea to try and use the Cherub key on the diary instead of the actual diary key. I'm just loving these narrations.

TAP-DANCE THE DIARY OFF THE TABLE. SENTENCES I NEVER THOUGHT I'D HEAR BUT HERE WE ARE. The sillyness of this reminds me so much of those early commands in the introductions of Homestuck characters where they are usually commanded to do something extraordinarly silly and they refuse to do it (unless their name is Jade of course).

WOW LOOK AT THAT DIARY.

That is so... detailed!

Look at all those sweet drawings!

Can I just say I love how her previous entry was on 10/25???? Because hell yes.

And those comments about Mom and Grandpa!!! Pffff, so she was also drinking when babysitting on them, figures. :p

And damn... so Grandpa's latest visit was only "weeks" ago! I kinda thought it would have been longer ago, but I guess it's good to hear that he still does come around (...though not very often).

I love the reference to his stupid collection of old globes and mummies and all that stuff.

But now that I'm thinking of him... I wonder what's going to make him actually STOP coming to visit Joey and Jude. Does he stop once Jade has landed? Does he stop before that? What even happens to Joey and Jude at the end of Hiveswap?

Also, I just want to say that Joey's art style is incredibly cute.

...Huh, the first part of the narration here is suggesting that she might find something from her past here that will be important to what's happening here. I wonder what that could be? Something about this Cherub key, perhaps?

FIRST ENTRY ON 4/13, OH HECK YEAH.

Aww... so Jude had actual friends while Joey didn't, despite being older than him. That's pretty sad. :(

Next entry 6/12 OH MY GOD.

And then the 10/25 entry, yuuuuup.

Hehehe, yeah that would a pretty weird/sad note to leave your diary on.

Yesssss, now an 11/11 entry! Pffff, oh Joey.

I just love how the different entries are all on Homestuck arc dates. Hahaha, I definitely didn't expect so many references to those dates!

Okay, so she's locking the diary again. Wait... hiding the key again? Does that mean she's putting it back in the Puppy Surprise? Can we just go and retrieve it again now, or can't we? Or did she put it somewhere else?

Oh wow, I can't believe you can also use the items/tap shoes on the pictures! Though that actually makes sense I guess.

...N'aww, poor Tesseract. I like how it isn't just some silly gag about tap-dancing the picture of the desk but actually some neat background information!

Maybe trying to use the tap shoes on the picture of the mother will make her think about what her mother thought of her tap dancing?

This actually just made us realize that we can probably use the Cherub key ON ALL THOSE ITEMS IN HER ROOM TOO, and of course also the diary key! ...In the past, before we used the diary key on the diary here.

We're gonna reload our game here to find out just that!

...Pfff, "your secrets are safe with you". "you" as in being Young Joey or Tesseract? xD

N'awww, more sad thoughts about her mother.

Hehe, I like how trying to use the Cherub Key on the Joey/Tesseract picture gives some information on the timeline of events! That's some pretty cool background info.

I wonder what we're going to learn when trying to use that Cherub Key on the Ms. Claire picture, knowing that she gave the key to her...

Huh! So apparently Ms. Claire didn't give the key to Joey herself but she simply found in her jewelrey box! That might be some pretty important information actually, because it might mean it DIDN'T actually belong to her! Perhaps it was Grandpa who put it in there (or god forbid, someone else entirely).

Anyway, let's see what trying to tap dance on the Ms. Claire picture does...

Awwww. That's all there really is to say on the matter.

Ahahaha, using the tap shoes on the keys gives some hilarious responses.

Anyway, we're gonna wait a while before we use the diary key on the diary again. It might be interesting to try and use the diary key on a lot more items here! Who knows what we could learn from that.

Alright, we're gonna call it a day here, it's already 11:10 PM here. We didn't make much progress tonight, but dang we learned a lot of new stuff!

This game is so fucking awesome and we've barely even scratched the surface after about 3-4 hours of playing this game, Holy CRAP.

#Homestuck #Hiveswap #reaction #Joey #Grandpa #Ms. Claire #Mom #Jude #Tesseract #liveblog #Hiveswap liveblog

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