#just adding small details and secrets to stuff i make thats my favorite thing in the world

[devondespresso]

1, 25, 81, 94 for the fanfic ask game! <3

KOKO HELLOOOOOOO ad thank you so much for the ask 💕💗💖💞💝 i went a little wild and had to reign it back in a bit and its still pretty long so apologies in advance

(ask game we're talking about is here but i also have questions next to the answers)

1. do you know how you want the story to end when you start, or are you just stumbling through the figurative wilderness hoping to find a road?

for the vast majorty of my fics i think i have a pretty good idea of where its going to go, i think because i get the ideas of these cool scenes usually set in act 2 or 3 or i at least the vibe i want from the start and The Point is usually clear the second i put thought into it. currently the only exceptions are 1) this super secret (woooo~~~) ficlet im working on that came from a prompt so i had to spend like 3 or 4 days writing it to properly understand the direction i wanted to take it, and 2) the steve henderson au, which is fucking massive already and it's even bigger in my head stnzgns. that one you obviously know how it ends y'know, it aint the steve henderson au if steve doesnt become a Henderson, but for all the arcs i have along the way it took a while to properly figure out what i doing and how to do that and im just now figuring out what that looks like for the first major arc.

so tldr: usually i know, sometimes i gotta figure it out, but i do need to have it figured out before it can really take shape

25. what’s your revision or rewriting process like?

oof ok so i tried writing this and good fucking god explaining everything i do in editing took up so much space. so this is the short answer for convenience but if anyone wants a long answer im foaming at the mouth to talk about writing stjsnystn (the rest under the cut)

the majority of my process is editing and sometimes first drafts are literally unrecognizable from the final. a lot of how i edit line by line is intuitive/vibes based, and whole scenes/arcs/pacing/flow/theme etc etc is based on a really deconstructed thought process for storytelling, to put it as briefly as i can (because this is one of the parts that got really long) its about The Why of everything going into the story. Picking details or making decisions not based rigidly on formula or trends but instead whats best for the kind of story you want to tell (and then making sure to implement it in a way that actually does that in the story).

for small works i prefer to just change shit as i see it and not worry about doing focused passes through the work, but in the steve Henderson au i literally cannot its too fucking big smhdmyxyn so in that case i do passes that span like whole writing sessions just hyperfocused on this one thing. one of my favorite passes is in-character passes where i pick one person (often dustin bc hes a main character), rewatch them a ton to get in their headspace, and go back and make sure everything they say or do fits them as if they were the sole focus if the story. I'll also do passes to focus just on medical accuracy, passes for a specific character duos to keep their story progressing and consistent, passes for ideas that stay between the lines making sure they stay consistent and understanding how much information im conveying, character's specific mindsets that their arc is about and making sure they dont have any unintentional exceptions, literally if its a thing in the text i probably need to do a pass for it so i know its consistent

also more lighthearted stuff tends to need wayyyy less editing time and its a more balanced half solo half beta process. the easiest was the claudia henderson drabble because it was really just a backstory with an active scene or two all rooted in her outside persective.

also sometimes i just start from scratch halfway through, like mr crayola henderson has one previous half-complete version in my doc fhdlas tho i guess thats how drafts are supposed to work

and this is the tldr im sorry i dont want to cut it down any more just read this one its my favourite fdhaskl

81. if you could go back in time and give your younger self a piece of writing advice specific to you, what would it be?

honestly i wouldn't have much to tell them. i didn't start writing fanfic until july of last year?? something like that and i started with the steve henderson au. maybe don't write that one about the triggering thing lol.

actually wait no. id tell them its okay to abandon projects (and maybe tell them not to make some purchases dgnxngsyn) but ye i spent a while mourning projects because they felt like they ceased to exist, but i had several screenplay outlines that probably helped me a ton. in my writing and those experiences never leave me so their existence still had a purpose and value

tldr: dont write your very recent triggers silly goose, dont cry over abandoned art

94. do you prefer dialogue or description?

i definitely prefer dialogue, and with it action descriptions because i still think in movie-medium (tho i am getting better at understanding how the FUCK prose works and especially prose pacing oh my god why can't i just hold on an actors face for several seconds of silence gAAH!!). i like saying things without saying them, i like subtly building towards something body language until a snap, i looooove making blocking relevant in a medium where you're not even seeing the movement with your eyes, and i love getting into a characters head so far that each person has a different way to word something or a different detail they focus on or a certain tick that tells the other character whats in their head.

but i struggle with internal monologue sooooooo hard, its a practiced skill im actively working on to write a characters internal logic about something but still keeping it from being too on the nose about whats really going on. like i can do it but i struggle to fill page time with it because exploring ideas at least for me usually leads to the source and thats decidedly not where the characters going! its a tuesday afternoon! they're not unpacking shit they're trying to have a third coffee!! i also struggle finding the best words for the reader to feel the text, like idk man maybe im using the onelook dictionary wrong but it just does not get me what im looking for in under three looks zgnshnsyn

tldr: dialogue and blocking, good description is witchcraft

_

but yee thank you again for the ask dude!! this was so much fucking fun i fucking love talking about writing and the logic process behind everything. thanks anyone seeing this for actually reading this far 💕

[skenpiel]

i wish animal crossing had just wooden signs with entered text that you inspect and read like in minecraft

[verytiredowl]

A character analysation of IdV’s Bloody Queen

Bloody Queen AKA Mary is a hunter in the mobile/PC game Identity V. She is personally my favorite hunter because she is easy to learn but hard to master. Her backstory is something that has always interested me though, so i decided to compile my thoughts onto this one post.

Something i appreciate about IdV’s character roster is that some of them are based off of historical characters, and interesting ones at that. So expect a lot of history lessons and references that should be explained in order to understand a character fully (especially with Mary considering how there isn’t a lot shown about her backstory through promotional content, and im talking about stuff like the official website here).

With that in mind, let’s just get into it.

There is not a lot we know about Mary other than the fact that she is inspired from a mix of stories, those being about a French queen named Marie Antoinette and Bloody Mary. These two are used in seperate ways, Marie Antoinette’s story being used as heavy inspiration for Mary’s backstory and lore, while Bloody Mary is a visual/gameplay inspiration.

Mary’s description on her info page and on the official idv website is 

This is strange because it really tells little to nothing about Mary besides her being aware that the position of a queen means a lot of vulnerability. It also strikes me as weird because every other hunter has a fleshed out backstory being written under this tab. (With the exception of Guard 26)

So overall, the ground to work on is pretty small, we dont have a lot of info revealed to us, and therefore leaves her to be a character who loses a lot of potential on a writing stance.

Intro Video

Mary does have an introduction video, though, which explains the base of what happened to her Pre-manor. 

The video explains how Mary was the queen of a country that had a bad financial crisis which was so bad people couldn’t afford food (if we are sticking fully to the Marie Antoinette inspo, this was in the 1790′s) and the public felt as if Mary didn’t care enough to help her people, the citizens voted her to be beheaded under a guillotine. Truth be told, Mary was actually trying to help her citizens by giving them cake.

We have probably the most lore information about Mary from her deduction descriptions, which explain her career as a queen more in detail, about struggles she had and her situation in general.

Deductions

(Credits to u/mawile94 on Reddit for the images)

The first conclusion is clearly telling us that the king Mary married had a problematic family, and the king’s family probably only looked at Mary as someone who will keep the family’s name up, someone who will have a child with the king. (Also, dont get confused: Maria Theresia is Mary’s mother’s name, not her actual name.)

Mary used to spend a lot of time away from the palace in Petit Trianon, which is a manor located in Versailles. The secret letter tells us that Mary was egoistic, naive, and was kind of a glutton. The letter mentions how rumors are powerful, and are going to spread really fast once word comes out about the “incompetence” and lacking abilities witihin the royal family, which will eventually be Mary’s demise.

Princess Lamballe is once again a historical recreation of actual Priness Lamballe, a part of the Savoy House (Western EU country). In real life, Lamballe was actually the confidante (someone who you would discuss private matters with as a royal) of Marie Antoinette after her 1 year old marriage came to an end. IRL, Princess Lambelle dies along Marie Antoinette’s side as she gets killed in the French Revolution. 

The shameful secret can really only be assumed to mean that Lamballe was actually Mary’s secret affair, especially looking at how all evidence suggests that the actual royal family Mary is connected to seems to be a mess. Mary is kind of confirmed to be wlw from this deduction which is fucking cool, but this rumor mightve been what also caused Mary to be beheaded. (But, IRL, the king Artois considered Marie to be physicially unattractive or even smart enough for him, in contrary to him, where he apparently was attractive. He did end up making up with quite a number of mistresses. But let’s not get into a conversation about how unhealthy or toxic royal relationships were in the 1700′s)

this is obviously saying Lamballe is being replaced by the Yolande (Countess of Polignac) as her confidante. IRL, this happens because the Countess of Pilognac and Lamballe start having quarrels against each other, in which they try to win over the queen’s heart, and over time Marie ends up preferring Yolande’s company. But Lamballe feels as if Yolande was a bad influence on the queen, yet she could do nothing about it. The friendship between Lamballe and Marie remained regardless, and she constantly admired Lamballe’s loyalty toward her.  "She is the only woman I know who never bears a grudge; neither hatred nor jealousy is to be found in her." 

Mary finally has a child, and it is a girl. Here we see the reinforcement of Lamballe’s loyalty, but with this conclusion also being titled as a rumor, it is also telling that this is one of many reasons people will start getting suspicious of Mary’s possible affairs.  

This conclusion only leads me to believe that one of the several reasons why Mary was treated the way she was by the public was because of jealousy towards her life and the things she achieved at a young age. The description of the people who are spreading the rumors are bitter, sour people who take joy out of seeing the bad in successful people. Here is where it all goes downhill (as evident by the subtitle under the deduction title.)

We will once again need a little bit of a history lesson for this one:

Koblenz, first of all is a city in Germany. The reason why the French would ever think of even setting up anything in Germany was because of the French Immigrants, and the reason why the Germans were cool about this was because the archbishop-elector (one of the chiep bishop electors) was the uncle of Louis XVI-a persecuted king of France. Along with the refugees that entered the city, two of them was Louis XVI’s brothers: The Count of Provence and the Count of Artois. them, along with Louis XVI’s cousin, Prince Louis Joseph formed an army of aristocrats who would seek to fight for the Ancien Regimé (The name of the political and social system that was popular in France at the time.) In the meantime back in France, the Royal Family gave in and decided to adopt the  Constitutional Monarchy, which was very modern at the time. This deduction description just basically explains that this is where Mary and the royal family fucks up, i just thought it would be interesting to know what they actually meant by what they wrote.

Yolande has left behind the Royal Family and made a run to escape the country. If you’re wondering, at the start of the revolution Princess Lamballe was actually in Switzerland, but as soon as she got notified of the situation she revisited the royal family to aid them, and reassumed her position.

This letter in particular is pretty cut-and-clear: the intention of the revolutionists was to smudge the royal family’s name in the dirt once and for all. What real-life anti-monarchist propaganda would consist of at the time was promiscuous imagery of Lamballe and the queen as lovers to further “besmirch” the queen’s reputation.

This is just obviously hinting at the aftermath of the French Revolutions and also telling us the present (at the time the letter was written). Mary gets executed by the Guillotine, and-well we all know how the rest of the story goes.

Overall, Mary’s deduction story is just a short summarization of what actually happened before and during the French Revolution: it even added the details of how actually sketchy and corrupt the royal family within was, not just the dissatisfaction of the public. As a summary of what this meant for Mary, as the Hunter, she feels pure bitterness, and anger towards the citizens for the way they treated her and the people around her. And as we can see, there was no reference towards Bloody Mary what-so-ever, and the reason why that is is because according to the Chinese version of IdV (which is what the original game’s region/language is) Her name actually would translate to “Madame Red”, not Bloody Queen. I think it was just the translators having fun with words, and since her design is very similar to that of what a person would think Bloody Mary looks like, i guess it made sense to them lol

But regardless, we’ll still take a look at Mary’s design.

Mary’s design is simple compared to other hunter designs in IdV. A simple, ball gown which was originally white, but turned red due to Mary’s beheading, pools of blood dropped all over her body. Mary also used to have long hair, but assumed by the very broken looking locks of hair, her hair probably was cut down by the guillotine. Eagle-eyed people will also take notice to her neck, which is stitched back onto the rest of her body, which the designers wanted to include really bad since its prevalent even in concept sketches as well:

Mary’s gameplay design is based solely on mythologies about Bloody Mary, however, which makes things kind of confusing, but i guess thats what idv excels at the most lol

anyway, you’ve reached the end! if you have read this far, thank you so much, i put so much effort and research into this and i hope people will make good use of it. I also hope i made you more interested in playing mary and/or the French Revolution, lol  but thank you for reading this!!

references:

The Count of Artois and the Coming of the French Revolution by Vincent W. Beach 

The Princesse de Lamballe; a biography by Hardy, B. C. (Blanche Christabel)

My history textbooks

And wikipedia lol

[comicteaparty]

September 28th, 2017 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on September 28th, 2017, from 5PM - 7PM PDT.  The chat focused on Radio Silence by Vanessa Stefaniuk.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

Good day everyone~! This week’s Comic Tea Party is now officially beginning. Today we are discussing Radio Silence by Vanessa Stefaniuk~! (http://www.radiosilencecomic.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?

wishjacked

YAYYYY, the Radio Silence chat!! Full disclosure I didn't get the chance to read it this week, so I'm a little rusty on the early chapters, but it's been one of my favorites for a good while and I'm so excited to talk about it!!!

This comic has such a good sense of pacing-- it feels a little weird to say ALL the scenes are my favorite, but honestly the entire comic is fantastic scene after fantastic scene, so it's really hard to choose!!

RebelVampire

im glad you enjoy it. i personally find the pacing harder to get into. not that i think its bad or anything persay, cause its a really well-made comic. i find it really borderlines between being paced as if its a story and paced if its a documentary. so for me its a bit hard at times cause i cant decide what its trying to be. but thats one of the few critical things id have to say about it

MathTans

Hellooooo. Favourite scene is tricky, but I'm going to go with the one where Wren insists she's staying in the same room with the band, rather than going with Liz. Feels like it shows the group dynamic, while also hinting at Wren having some sort of relationship (even abandonment?) issues.

wishjacked

That makes sense!! Especially with the video narration of the prologue, I agree that the narrative framing does feel a liiiiil disjointed at times.

MathTans

One thing I'll say I'm impressed with is how, while some characters do seem to be a bit more central, there's time devoted to all of the band members. That's a balancing act that I don't think I'd be able to pull off.

wishjacked

And hello, MathTans!! That's a good favorite scene, I wouldn't have thought of that

RebelVampire

@math ah yeah that was a nice scene. it kind of resonated with me a bit cause ive been in wren's position of having mostly male friends. and sometimes you just want to hang with the bros and forget about the teensy tiny detail youre female

MathTans

I thought the prologue was clever, but I can see where you're coming from. Like, Shy was having issues dealing with graduating and the band... and then there's a bit of a time skip and they're celebrating the fact that he's finished. Which is fine, guess I just thought more might happen with that. I'm not sure what more, but it felt bigger somehow.

My mind works different sometimes. ^.^ That's cool, Rebel, seeing it from that perspective.

RebelVampire

yeah i do like how the prologue was. it may give me mixed feelings on how the story is paced and framed, but i thought it was an ingenius way to throw out exposition stuff about the band's history without it seeming weird(edited)

wishjacked

I really really love "how the team met" prologues so honestly whatever the narrative dissonance it might cause it is so worth it to me as a reader. I love all its little backstory hints, and I think it gives a lovely introduction to each of the characters!!

MathTans

Starting with Brent's hair being cut too is kind of clever, when they flash back his hair is longer again so you can tell when that's a thing. ^.^

wishjacked

And YEAH, REBEL, SAME HERE. if all my bros are hanging out I want to be included too!!!!!!!!

RebelVampire

one thing i also like about the prologue is you can get some quick sense of all the characters. for a lot of comics that start with a sizeable cast like that, you either usually gotta take a long time for intros or you get bombarded and have to work at it to keep all the characters straight. but i never really felt overwhelmed in this comic. like the prologue was just long enough for me to get a sense of each character and their role without it feeling it dragged. so when it starts jumping into the rest of the story, i felt like i had a good grasp on at least why each person was there. so even if i didnt remember a name at first, i could be like "oh yeah thats the bassist, and thats the etc."

MathTans

That's true. Seeing them in the order they appeared helped with that also, clever that Shy (the last one) was used as narrator as well. Something else that I found interesting... I don't really have a favourite. Like, with a band there's the tendency to say "that's my favourite member" but for me they all have their points, going both ways.

wishjacked

Yes, I agree!! I think it also really helps that the character designs and artist's style make it easy to visually differentiate between folks

MathTans

I probably relate closest to Shy, but then there's the piercings, and no. I get Wren's tendency to have difficulty letting go of the past, but she's also high energy, which is not me. Matt's cool in standing up for people and looking out for the group dynamic, but he's also doing that in a leadership role, and so forth. It's interesting. No real fave. All just well rounded.

RebelVampire

yeah i do like that, that every person in the comic is visually very distinct. like even all the guys have different hair styles which is a boon to me cause when it comes to male characters i tend to find its easy to make the hairstyles too similar and thus all the guys blend.

MathTans

Matt's beard took a few strips for me to get used to.

RebelVampire

i really like the contrast between shy being, well, shy yet being bold enough to get non standard piercings. like i really like this comic went out of its way to portray an introvert as something other than a dorky, shutin

MathTans

Good point, nice that they're not just trotting out stereotypes.

Wren seems bisexual. That's an interesting angle too.

It was done really clever, kind of in the background of the prologue with her and that female member of the Sirens. Then we have the more "traditional" m-f relationship being teased at, but that history was still there, able to come forwards without being out of left field.(edited)

In my opinion anyway.

RebelVampire

yeah. in the case of wren in particular i like how smartly her past is incorporated with how her character is portrayed. so even though she is who she is, theres small details like the insomnia that you can really tell are caused by stuff that happened in the past and shaped who she is today

QUESTION 2. While a lot of the focus is given to Shy, the other characters aren’t without their mysteries or pasts. Wren has hints of a life filled with abuse, Matt has a mysterious video call with someone, etc. Which character’s past are you most interested in uncovering? Do you think it’ll be uncovered or will it forever be a secret? Do you have theories on their pasts or how they’ll affect the story later on?

MathTans

I think Wren's is going to come out, probably sooner rather than later, what with her visualizing Sirens Girl (I suck at names) and it morphing into someone from her past (which was a neat effect). I'm of two minds about that, I'm interested, but I wonder how much it will change her character dynamic with the others for them to know about it, and I kind of like the dynamic how it is. I think they'll do a good job with it though.

RebelVampire

i do think wren's past is gonna come out to at least shy. idk if i think itll be soon though. i think shell continue to avoid it for a while longer.

MathTans

I think some of the Brent and Willow past stuff has been referenced, but might come more to the forefront later, now that she's around them more. Colbie seems to have family issues, including his mother passing, though I'll admit I'm less interested there - in part because I find myself shaking my head sometimes at his character (dude, pay attention to time, and it's not all about Wren-dating). Matt somehow makes things interesting no matter what he's doing.

Yeah, in particular because Shy's kind of oblivious. "Wren's crying? Oh, here, I just gotta take this call."

So I shake my head at more than Colbie. Like, don't get me wrong, it's great and makes them human, and it's probably good that it gets me invested. I've even shaken my head at Wren (the piercing). Just, oy, priorities Shy.

wishjacked

Ahaha, I was actually going to say I was most interested in Colbie!!

RebelVampire

the only time i felt myself truly shaking my head is when brent pulled the "im disappoint in you" thing with shy. cause i just felt for someone so close to shy, he still doesnt quite get what an introvert means when they talk about a relationship being draining.

MathTans

To each our own. I can see Colbie being set up for later plot, with the money chats too.

wishjacked

I felt like both Brent and Shy were understanding that conversation completely differently.

RebelVampire

yeah i have to say colbie is one of the characters im a bit more intrigued by cause hes the one who has the least past hints. like brent has willow, wren has these abusive things, shy has the sammy stuff. but colbie (and matt too to a degree), have slight hints but then its just left sitting as plot threads to focus on shy and/or wren

wishjacked

Yeah! I just like Colbie to be fair, he's a goof

MathTans

I can see that, Rebel. At the same time, it needs to be someone close to Shy who pushes him. But I wasn't really sure about Brent's shipping. (I'm still not. I think Colbie might have a thing for Wren, and the only reason he's not putting it out there is because of how they're in the band together. Which might be a problem if Wren and Shy do get together.)

Colbie needs to be more self aware, in my opinion. Whereas Shy's the reverse, he doesn't get other people too well.

RebelVampire

yeah the wren/shy shipping thing im not sure where its going. like wren did get sort of jealous about sammy, but why? does she like shy? does she just want shy to only be close to her as a friend cause she needs that? or is this gonna develop into some sort of toxic, co-dependent thing because of wren's past abuse where she clings to shy cause she feels hes safe

so many ways it could go

yeah i agree colbie's character flaw is hes not really that aware.

which i really liked that scene where him and matt were talking about money

and it just didnt click with colbie that ppl would feel indebted to him despite him saying "nah bro its cool"

MathTans

I'm not sure if it was jealousy? Like, Shy showed her a picture and said Sammy was somewhere that Wren knew she wasn't, so was it all, 'Is Shy playing me? Is Sammy playing Shy? Why am I even doing this to myself?' Like, I don't think she's in a good place where relationships are (boundaries need to be clear, though I don't think she's the type) but yeah, could go a few ways.

Truth. Money, much like politics, is the way to start arguments without trying.

RebelVampire

yeah. which in this case its sad cause its not even like colbie wants to be vindictive about it. just wants them to have some cool band stuff.

tbh of all the characters i want to know wtf is going on is matt

cause of that video call

cause he clearly has something secret

and i feel like its one thats gonna tear the band apart

like whoops surprise hes dying or something

MathTans

I thought maybe that was just another call to his relative in the US? Could be I'm misremembering.

RebelVampire

it could be. i was unsure what their relationship was

but either where there are secrets to be had cause she did ask him if hed said anything or something like that

MathTans

Gotcha. Guess I wasn't focussed closely on it. I mean, I have a suspicion that there will be some sort of falling out, after that which might be when Matt brings up some secret - though maybe that will help to pull them together?(edited)

RebelVampire

okay description says she's matt's cousin and apparently its a crossover with another comic of some sort?

http://www.radiosilencecomic.com/comic/104

ah yeah its the page after that

where she asks if matt told them and hes like "you crazy of course i ahvent"

RebelVampire

QUESTION 3. The comic puts a lot of emphasis on navigating relationships. Given that the main characters are in a band together, this puts extra pressure on them to have harmonious relationships while practically living on top of each other. Do you think the group will be able to maintain cordial relationships and succeed as a band? Will the band’s success affect their relationships positively or negatively? Are there other ways you think their work as a band will be affected by their relationships or changes in them?

MathTans

Riiiight. Now I follow.

RebelVampire

idk. i mean i could see the secret being nothing too. it was just the one mystery that gave me pause

MathTans

Heh, "harmonious" relationships. I see what you did there.

We all read different things into it, that's what makes it good!

I do feel like something's going to drive a wedge. Whether it's the characters' pasts, Shy-When-Colbie, or something external, I'm not sure, but something, and Matt will have his hands full as Brent is sad about it. But maybe they'll pull together after that?

RebelVampire

right now im considering that maybe ego gets to someone. cause even tho they all seem down to earth to a degree, a lot of bands break up cause someone gets too big of a head once their fame starts taking off.

or something could happen

like say for instance someone is like "we wanna sign matt for a record deal but just matt"

and matt is like no but the others are like no matt you should do it, its a great opportunity

cue all dem tensions

MathTans

Yeah, that's possible, if a bit cliche. Pretty sure Matt wouldn't go for it though.

Unless he's got that terminal disease or something. ^.^

Speaking of the band though - OMG. Actual written music in the comic during concerts? Audio tracks to listen to on the side? Thematic music as well? Daaaamn, that can't be easy. (Can it?) Like, whoa, talk about extra workload.

RebelVampire

nah i was honestly just mentally comparing radio silence to nana which is also about a band and as much as i love nana, it does not portray written music that well. even in the anime they kind of cheat it which is sad.

this comic went all out with the music

http://www.radiosilencecomic.com/cast

i appreciate that the cast page even has little playlists for each character

MathTans

Gotcha. Yeah, I'm not as well read in terms of other things out there. ^.^ But I do have a music minor so I have a sense of things. Also, yeah, noticed that on the cast page. Lots of extra thought there that I wouldn't have even considered. Much kudos.

I wonder if the characters came first, inspiring the writing of music, or if it was the other way around. Or some combination.

RebelVampire

id assume some combination.

hard to say tho

MathTans

Probable.

Like, there was even a guitar riff recording at one point.

RebelVampire

it really depends on how the development for the story played about. but usually its a symbiotic thing. so theyll usually tangle up where say the characters coming first influences the music which influences the characters which influences the music and so on

MathTans

Well, points for authenticity or whatnot.

Also, mouse rollovers. These things take time to think of, I know. ^.^

RebelVampire

yeah. it a really detailed comic. although i think the music aspects i think its good they took the time for that.

since thats pretty integral to the story

that the band part of it feels legit

MathTans

yis. Adds credibility too, towards knowing the genre you're writing in.

I wonder if anyone doing the writing/drawing were in a band, or know someone who is?

RebelVampire

ah according to the about page a family member composes the music for the comic

so they know someone who at least knows about music

MathTans

I think I rememer reading in the below-comic remarks that it was original music. Impressive.

Also, the languages! (I keep tangenting here, but...) I don't know from German or Scottish but it's cool that the characters speak it, and that it's translated in the below-comic remarks.

RebelVampire

yeah i like that they kept the theme of diff languages considering theyre in europe and closer to where ppl speak those languages

i took german in college so shy was kind of nostalgic to a degree when he spoke it

MathTans

More of that authenticity angle.

RebelVampire

i have to say i really liked that touch that the barista or w/e at the counter replied to shy in english instead of german. cause this is actually a discerning cultural phenomenon in germany atm where english is becoming super widely used in business instead of german

MathTans

Really? I didn't know that. I thought maybe the counter person was just used to speaking to tourists or something. Neat.

(I was in Germany years ago for a relative's wedding. I let my wife do all the talking and just smiled hopefully.)

RebelVampire

it might have just been a tourist thing. i cant say for sure the comic knew this culture thing. but even if it was unintentional i thought it was a nice touch. not to say for sure i know how widespread it is either. i just know from taking german that its a concern thats going on.

which to be fair its easy to mix the languages cause german and english both have the same germanic roots

MathTans

That's fair. Also, truth.

Maybe if they get Sammy to say something to show she's not German that'll cause her house of cards to fall.

RebelVampire

QUESTIONS 4. In the most recent events of the comic, Shy is rekindling a relationship with an old friend named Sammy. However, the rest of the band is clearly suspicious of Sammy’s intentions, which the comic shows is a well-founded suspicion. What do you think Sammy’s end game is by getting close to the band? Do you think Shy will eventually see the light? Or, is this going to be an issue that causes a rift in the band for a while?

MathTans

makes marks on his segue sheet

Seems like she wants to get close to Matt, for some reason, since he's the leader. Maybe she hopes to take his money or get free meals? Real tough to say. She doesn't seem the brightest bulb, but she can think on her feet, which makes her dangerous.(edited)

I think Shy will be forced to see the light, meaning confronting the fact that his childhood actually sucked because the one person he thought he could count on was horrible, and he'll withdraw, and that's what will force Wren's childhood issues into the light, and they might either bond over it, or it'll be a huge wrench between them. Possibly Brent gets them to heal each other.

RebelVampire

it could be sammy just thinks matt is hot and wants to date him. is just a matt fangirl in disguise. she definitely isnt the brightest bulb cause i think to anyone with eyes its clear what shes up to by flirting with matt. unless youre shy. then its just a friend being a friend

personally i dont think wren will be able to do much for shy cause i just dont think shes emotionally fit at the moment to handle it. but i dont think shy is gonna be that crushed and if anything, i think the rest of the band will remind him that theyre his friends now

his really cool friends

wishjacked

Ahaha, sorry, had to head out for a bit.

MathTans

I suppose that's possible, yes. And yeah, Wren wouldn't really make a good psychologist, I was thinking more in terms of levels. Like, it's bad for Shy, but bad in a different way (or worse?) for her.

Yay for friends. ^.^ wb, wj.

wishjacked

Sammy has been a very strange addition the the story, her intensions are still so... Vague?? Like it seems like she's lying about a lot of things that aren't necessary for any kind of plot... why would it matter that she lives in Germany, for example? Why would she need to specify that false detail? It's just... what? Sammy, whY?????????

MathTans

Because Sammy wants to be someone she's not.

Heh, maybe she's been playing some guitar? And wants to make music with Matt?

RebelVampire

yeah i have to admit if shes just trying to get close to the band, theres no reason to lie about being in germany

LOL omg

this is some elaborate plot so she can give them her demo tape XD

/crack theory

MathTans

Maybe not so crazy. She read up on all the members.

wishjacked

And I feel really bad for when Shy inevitably uncovers the truth about her, but it's a relief to me that the majority of the rest of the team easily sees through her act. I think that'll make it much easier for them to all bounce back-- you can already tell that a lot of the band is already protecting anyone from being more hurt by her than necessary.

I love that crack theory and I accept it

MathTans

Yeah, that's true. Matt definitely stands up for the others, he's good people. Awkward that it's happening the same time as Wren's issues.

RebelVampire

tbh tho i think that trait of matt's will create conflict. if not now, then later. cause while its nice he wants to protect his friends, he may be a bit overly aggressive about it. which for wren is okay, but for someone like shy i think thats gonna come off in a bad way

MathTans

I can see that.

Also, quick aside about Liz? What was the deal with her and that woman with the Sirens?

She may have things going on too.

RebelVampire

oh man, that moment really bugged me. wanted to slap that woman (i think here name was pandora?) so hard. cause the business person in me was like "this is so unprofessional what are you doing @_@"

yeah its pandora

MathTans

Yeah, like wtf. I wasn't sure, was she implying she and Liz were an item? Or was she being flirty just to prove a point somehow.

Like, to get even more under Liz's nerves.

RebelVampire

i got the feeling they were an item but just guessing. they clearly had a past relationship of sorts

wishjacked

I read it as a power play-- Liz seemed disgusted by Pandora, and Pandora seemed to both know and relish the effect she was having on her.

MathTans

Hm. I also wonder a bit about having Wren be bisexual and Liz be either lesbian or bisexual too. Though I suppose there's Willow. Maybe I'm just worried because there's lots of guys in the cast who seem straight.

Could've been a power thing too.

wishjacked

oh, I do know that the author has said Liz is aro/ace.

MathTans

Poor Liz though. Has to deal with all the bookings and venues, and then the interpersonal things on top of that.

RebelVampire

maybe they were business rivals in the past

MathTans

OH! Gotcha. That's interesting then, and different from Wren (I gather). Still wonder about it being the females who go against the norm, but aro is good for representation that you don't see a lot of.

Maybe. There's that past coming up again.

Also, I hate myself for saying "the norm". Like, I'm too into mainstream or something. Blah. Must be tired.

The tourism stuff coming up could be interesting. I won't know if Sammy's lying, I know so little about the area. ^_^

RebelVampire

to be honest i dont know how sammy being a bad tourist guide proves much XD if someone said "hey rebel, show me the landmarks around town" id be like "there are landmarks here?"

MathTans

Maybe she does too good a job, that's how they know. No person who lives here knows about that stuff.

Matt's cunning though, I like that. Also, his fondness for symmetry.

RebelVampire

theyre like "wow its like you read wikipedia"

MathTans

(Shy's asymmetry could bother me too. ^.^ )

RebelVampire

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 Vanessa Stefaniuk, as well, for volunteering Radio Silence for our reading queue. If you liked the comic, please be sure to support Vanessa Stefaniuk’s efforts. If you have questions, concerns, or suggestions about CTP, please feel free to PM me, or e-mail me at RebelVampire@startfaire.com.

With that said, next week’s Comic Tea Party will focus on Galebound by Respheal. Please use this week to read as much of the comic as you would like. Hope to see you next Thursday (October 5th) from 5PM to 7PM PDT~! Until then~! Comic: http://www.galebound.com/