#oh should probably note the caption is /s this game is not easy and i spent 2hr trying to record this :3

[too-many-paper-cranes]

this game is literally so easy

[mydarlingvioletine]

Just a Puppy Crush - Chapter Fourteen Ship(s): Violet/Clementine, Louis/Aasim, Ruby/Brody Media: The Walking Dead Game (Season 4)

When they pulled into the parking lot, Louis’ demeanor changed immediately. He craned his head to look inside the diner cautiously, then let his eyes dart between the stained glass windows of the diner and a red, beat-up car in the employees parking section.

      “Earth to Louis,” Violet leaned forward and shook her hand in front of Louis’ eyes, and frowned at his silence. “What’s up?”

“Huh?” Louis blinked absently, then took the key out and gave a weary smile to Violet through the rear view mirror. “Sorry, this heat is too much. It’s fucking October, when is it gonna start acting like it?”

     Unconvinced, Marlon pressed his face up against the passenger seat window and looked at the car. His eyes lit up, and he flashed Louis a goofy smile as he made the connection.

“Flame decals. That’s Aasim’s car.” Marlon happily noted, brushing his shoulder against the flustered Louis’. “That why you wanted to go to the diner?”

       “Purely a coincidence!” Louis stammered, gripping the steering wheel so tight his knuckles were white.

Violet and Clementine exchanged a look, and rolled their eyes as Louis went down his list of excuses.

       “Shame I don��t believe in those,” Marlon sang out, slamming the car door behind him as he marched into the diner. Still stuttering to explain, Louis followed close behind him.

“That’s.. kind of adorable.” Clementine giggled, unbuckling her seat belt and jumping out of the car. “Idiot probably has his work schedule memorized.”

        Violet snorted, and swallowed her laughter as Clem wrapped herself around the taller girl’s arm. “C’mon, let’s catch up with them.”

‘80s rock hit their ears as soon as they opened the swinging doors, and Marlon and Louis had already sat down in a booth near the jukebox.

      Louis was using one of those cartoonishly gigantic menus to cover his face, and Violet rolled her eyes as she snatched it when she sat down across from him.

“Dude, you okay?” Violet pressed, concern clouding her eyes as she frowned. Louis sighed and let a weary smile form on his face.

        “I’m all sweaty and gross after the game. I didn’t really factor that in.” Louis admitted wearily, taking the menu back from her and creating a barrier. “I.. uh.. feel kinda weird.”

Violet clasped her hands together and scanned the restaurant. A couple kids from school, but none she was really close to. Aasim was nowhere to be seen.

      “Don’t worry, Lou,” Violet pressed the menu down and offered the pouting Louis a smile. “I don’t see him anywhere. He’s probably on dish washing duty.”

After a couple tentative seconds, Louis nodded and let himself relax, fiddling with a sugar packet. “Yeah, okay. You’re right.”

        Clementine giggled, softly kicking his knee under the table. “Who would’ve thought you, of all people, would be such a wimp about your feelings?”

Louis glared, arching his brow as he glanced between Clem and Violet. “Oh, I’m a wimp about my feelings?”

         Before the girls could protest, the big red employee’s only door opened, and Aasim was practically shoved out of the kitchen. Clem turned to Louis and waggled her eyebrows, and snatched the menu before he could retreat.

“Aasim, buddy!” Marlon ushered him over to their table. “Did they kick you out again?”

       Sheepishly, Aasim nodded and rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, fuckers keep calling me bossy just because I have standards of what I’d eat off of.”

Louis had leaned heavily against the table, cradling his cheek as he wracked his brain for literally anything to say.

      “You’re just decisive,” Louis landed on a compliment, and fanned himself with a menu. “I like that in a wo- Man.. person.”

Aasim absently blinked a couple times before grabbing a notebook and pretending nothing had happened. “So, what can I get you guys?”

       “A fuckton of pancakes!” Violet jumped in with an answer before Louis could embarrass himself any further. Marlon and Clementine nodded in agreement, and the flustered Aasim turned on his heel and went back into the kitchen all too happily.

Louis immediately cradled his head as if in pain, elbows against the counter. “What the fuck was that?”

    Violet rolled her eyes and tipped his chin up, before shaking his shoulders to snap him out of it. “You are an absolute mess, Lou. Just treat him like you treat us. Like a friend!”

Louis pursed his lips and shook his head. “I’m not going to make fun of him and call him a scrub.”

      Clementine snorted as Violet sighed and leaned back in her seat, chewing on her straw. “Vi’s got a point there, you know. Just try and take it easy, okay? Be normal Louis.”

“The day I take romantic advice from you two pining nerds is the day Marlon shaves the pubes that he dare calls a mustache.” Louis clenched his dreads in his fist, as Marlon shot him a glare and checked himself on the napkin container. “Sorry man, the truth comes out when I’m panicking.”

         Clementine and Violet were too busy blushing furiously and looking at anything other than each other to notice Aasim approach their table. Struggling to hold a couple plates, he set down a stack of pancakes in front of Clem and Marlon.

He held the whipped cream bottle in his hands, and recoiled when Clem went to reach for it. “Just don’t use up the entire thing this time, okay?”

      She quickly snatched it from his hands and turned it upside down, letting it pour all over her pancakes. “No promises.”

Aasim rolled his eyes and turned towards Louis and Violet. “Yours will take a little bit longer. Chocolate chip’s your favorite, right?”

       Violet went to answer but recoiled at the realization that Aasim was staring down Louis, and that she was the last thing on his mind.

“Aw, you remembered!” Louis cooed, cupping the sides of his face to give a charmingly dorkish smile. “And my favorite drink is...”

       “Sprite.” Aasim snorted, before his cheeks reddened and he started stammering for excuses. “I only remember that because you said Marlon thinks it’s ‘too spicy’.”

“Oh, fuck you. Sprite is harsh, man.” Marlon muttered through a mouthful of pancakes, glaring at the laughing Louis across from him. Clementine and Violet giggled, letting their knees softly rest against each other under the table.

    A lady from behind the counter pushed two plates of steaming chocolate chip pancakes towards Aasim, who gingerly planted them in front of Violet and Louis.

Aasim lingered around the table for a while longer, anxiously looking over his shoulder back at the kitchen before his name was called and he scurried back to the counter.

     “Aw, look!” Clementine smiled down at her phone before tilting it towards Violet and Louis. “They’re so cute.”

It was a new post on Brody’s Instagram of her and Ruby in a costume shop dressing room, Brody’s arm slung around Ruby as she stuck out her tongue and gave a peace sign to the camera.

        Violet’s eyes almost bulged out of her head at the sight of Ruby with her hair not in it’s signature messy ponytail. She looked so nice with it down, bouncy red curls spilling over her shoulder.

Brody also looked super different. Her hair was up in pigtails, and the end of each were blue and red. She was holding a cartoonish plastic hammer over her shoulder, and wearing a red and blue bomber jacket over a plain white T-shirt.

      [The caption: “There are sweeter things to do in the moonlight.” along with party streamers and flower emojis.]

“Rubes makes a killer Poison Ivy,” Louis guffawed, taking the phone from Clem’s hands. “Brody is a really good Harley Quinn too! Those dorks are adorable.”

        Violet nodded, cupping her Coca Cola in her hands as she observed the picture. “Think they’ll get together before Halloween?”

Louis snorted, and passed the phone back to Clementine before shoveling a load of pancakes back into his mouth. “Puh-lease, they’re even more clueless than y-“

         Clem ‘accidentally’ kicked Louis’ shin under the table, and he pulled it to his chest, silently glaring.

“So, what are you guys being for Halloween?” Marlon eagerly changed the subject, swirling the straw around in his drink.

       “Sexy cat, probably.” Louis beamed, causing Marlon to choke on his straw. “Nah, I’m not really that sure. Was thinking about jumping onto the clown bus.”

“Perfect, you don’t even need to change!” Clem giggled, holding onto her sides as Louis threw a crumpled up straw wrapper at her. “What about you, Vi?”

        Violet wiped the syrup off of her lips. “I have this old pirate costume that my mom made for me. I might wear that out.”

Clementine’s eyes lit up and she grabbed Violet’s hand that was laying on the table. “We should go together! I was a pirate last year and I could totally reuse it.”

       “Uh, yeah. Definitely.” Violet’s eyes were pinned on Clem’s hands over hers, and hoped her face wasn’t as red as she felt it was. “What about AJ?”

“He’s gonna be Disco Broccoli.” Clementine giggled, tapping her free hand on the table. “He might tag along with us if Carley and Lee can’t take him out. Is that okay?”

       “Oh, abso-tutley.” Violet quickly responded, a smile on her face as she tried to imagine the little hothead of a kid playing the chill, collected Disco Broccoli. He did have killer dance moves though, so she didn’t doubt he could pull it off.

It took a couple more minutes for everyone to finish and for Louis to start scraping the plate with his fork, trying desperately to scoop up any pancake remains.

       Aasim came up and placed the bill on the table, raising his eyebrow at Louis’ odd behavior. “Is he okay?”

Marlon took the fork from his hand and put his hand on his shoulder in an attempt to console him. “Lou’s always inconsolable after a really good meal. He’ll be alright.”

        “Well, you can come back tomorrow...” Aasim wearily suggested, Louis’ head snapping up at the statement. “Only if you want to! I’ll be working tomorrow after school and I could probably sneak some extra pancakes for you.”

Louis clasped his hands together happily, and took the bill from the end of the table. “I’ll be here. You’d have to barricade the doors to keep me from coming.”

      “I’m pretty sure that’s against customer policy, but I’ll keep a stool free for you.” Assim rebuked wittily, his thumbs tucked nervously into his front pocket. Louis passed the bill back to him, and did that one charming smile that could make someone faint if they looked too close.

“Uh, cool.” Aasim stammered, just noticing the other three’s presence when Clementine cleared her throat. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

      Louis was unable to control how giddy he was when they all got into his car, humming happily and tapping the steering wheel. Marlon and Violet exchanged a knowing glance, and for the first time in all the years she’d known him, she felt a ping of solidarity.

She didn’t know why things were the way they were with Marlon. Hell, she couldn’t remember the last time they’d been alone together. As much as she didn’t want to care about what he thought, she cared about Louis too much to just create more tension between the group.

          Looking back on it, Marlon and Minnie were actually pretty close before she got expelled. The thought crossed her mind for the first time that maybe Marlon blamed her for what happened, and she instinctively tugged her knees to her chest. Shit.

The static of Clementine’s hand brushing against her ear surged panic throughout her senses. Clem was pursing her lips, and adjusting the flower behind her ear.

            “You know, I could probably make a whole flower crown for you.” Clementine pondered, a warm smile on her face as Violet let her eyes meet hers. “It wouldn’t be that hard. You’d look really cute.”

Violet’s cheeks were flushed with pink, and the murmuring of Louis and Marlon talking seemed so distant. Like nothing else on earth existed other than Clementine, who’s radiant smile was almost too much to bear. “I don’t know..”

     “See?” Clementine pointed at the blush on her cheeks, quietly snickering. “Red looks good on you. I’ll make it happen.”

Noticing Violet’s silence, she recoiled back to her seat and anxiously glanced from her to the window. “Sorry. I think I’m drunk on maple syrup or something. I’m not usually that forward.”

       Violet pursed her lips, nodding before she gently placed her hand on top of Clem’s clenched fist. Clementine relaxed at the touch, and wearily smiled up at the taller blonde.

“Don’t... be sorry.” Violet whispered, her eyes glinted with a mix of cheeriness and astonishment. “I, um-“

     The car swerved to the left frantically, and Clem smacked the back of her head against the seat. Louis quickly pulled over, and turned around to check on everybody. “Shit, there were some dumbass squirrels playing chicken. Are you guys okay?”

“Peachy.” Clementine winced, rubbing the back of her head with a scowl. “At least I didn’t lose another leg.” She joked lightheartedly.

      “My god, Lou.” Marlon groaned, tapping his fingers against the dashboard. “And you say I’m a bad driver.”

The two playfully bickered in the front while Violet worriedly kept glancing at Clem. “You sure you’re good?”

        “I’m okay, Vi.” Clementine snorted, eyes dancing back and forth between Violet and Louis. “Just a little bump.”

“First stop, casa a la Clementine,” Louis sang as he pulled into Clem’s driveway. All the lights were on, and they could see Carley and James on the back porch talking.

      Clementine paused, eyes flickering over to Violet nervously. “You want to come and say hi to AJ? And maybe play some Wii? I know it’s a school night, but..”

“Inviting me over after the first date? I’d love to, Clementine.” Louis mockingly cooed, earning a glare from Clem that made him squeak and cower in the front seat. “I’m kidding.”

      “Yeah, sure.” Violet felt herself saying impulsively, brain wiping out all of her concerns about how she’d get home and if her father would be there when she did get home. “I got laundry to do, right?”

Clem let the anxiousness wash away from her features and beamed, nodding. They both said goodbye to Louis and Marlon, thanked him for the near-death experience and dinner, and she followed a bouncy Clementine through the front door.

[tessatechaitea]

Teen Titans Spotlight #9: Changeling

I feel like this is the first appearance of the Changeling logo.

It's as if General Immortus knew that one day Niles Caulder would be just a head! Or, more probably, Grant Morrison fucking remembered this one panel and thought, "I'll turn The Chief into a disembodied head!" Unless it was Rachel Pollack who did that. What am I? The Doom Patrol wiki?

Cliff Steele has just been on another adventure where his body was torn apart. At least I'm assuming it was because whenever he or Red Tornado are in a super hero battle, they usually get torn to pieces. Somebody's got to be and you can't do it to Batman. But Cliff is tired of it and he's ready to retire to a ranch in California. I wonder why Grant Morrison's run didn't take place there? Cliff and Garfield wind up at the New York Zoo because Garfield wants to fuck the lioness and Cliff wants to buy hot dogs that he can't eat.

Based on the repartee between Robotman and Changeling, I don't think the crowd are the only people to mistake Cliff for Cyborg.

The previous caption was a criticism of the writer, Paul Kupperberg. Was it too subtle? I know it wasn't on the level of Ann Nocenti criticism where I once questioned how she survived the surgery that replaced her brain with Jello pudding but sometimes you need a little subtlety in your life. Like when you want to masturbate but all you have on hand are your sandpaper masturbation gloves. I don't know if that final sentence had anything to do with subtlety. I think it had more to do with me introducing the public to my new invention! It, um, needs some work.

I first read Changeling's line as "You're obviously a fat." Not because I often misread the fuzzy text of old comic books but because I saw the kid in the first panel and my brain began thinking, "How do I make a hilarious and inoffensive fat joke about this kid?"

I just realized I should mention the writers and artists of these old issues since they're not on the cover. The artist is Dan Jurgens and I already mentioned the writer. I don't know what inkers do so I don't remember who the inker was. And the one thing I've always refused to do in my comic book reviews over the last eight years is to mention the letterer! Mostly because I always hated reading letters from fans who praise the writing and drawing and then offer a throw away line about how easy the typeface was to read thanks to Costanza or whoever! Oh, and I actually really forgot about the colorist until just now! That was Adrienne Roy! Who better to color some kid green than good old Adrienne! Cliff walks off in a huff when people begin to actually recognize him. He should have thrown in a few "Booyahs" and offered to show off his white noise cannon. Um, wink, wink! I'm not proficient at flirting. Before Robotman can find a quiet bathroom stall to wish he could cry in, Mister 104 attacks! I know. You're thinking the same thing I'm thinking, right? What happened to Misters 1-103? Oh, and probably, who the fuck is Mister 104?! But then I'd be disappointed if a Doom Patrol villain showed up and I recognized that villain. Their villains should get a "What the fuck?!" reaction at least ninety percent of the time. That's another thing the television show got right! How many scenes have Crazy Jane shouting "What the fuck?" and then Cliff responds with "What the fuck?" and then Crazy Jane is all "No, fucking seriously! What the fuck?" and then Cliff is all "What the fucking fuck fuck fucking fuck?!" The show uses the F-word a lot! Luckily Changeling remembers who Mister 104 is and thinks through Mister 104's entire origin for us. It turns out Mister 104 can turn into every known element on the periodic table. He's only Mister 104 because that's how many elements were on the periodic table in 1965 when he first appeared in Doom Patrol #98. Except when he appeared in that issue, he was Mister 103. So either he hadn't looked at a periodic table since 1961 when he first attacked the Doom Patrol in 1965 or Arnold Drake, the original Doom Patrol writer and co-creator, fucked up. Or maybe there was a plot reason for it in the story, like Mister 103 just despised Helium or maybe Superman paid him to never turn into krypton(ite)? Still, this is 1987! He should be Mister 109! I didn't learn all of that from Changeling's thought bubbles! Some of it I learned because Mister 104 mentions that when he last encountered the Doom Patrol, he was left as "a mass of free floating destabilized atoms" and the editor helpfully noted that took place in Doom Patrol #106. In 1987, I would have just thought, "Oh, okay. Whatever." But in 2019, I can use the Internet to find out all about that issue! Suck it, me in 1987 who didn't learn anything new or helpful in any way and who couldn't pretend like you were super smart and knew all about the periodic table because you didn't have Wikipedia like a stupid idiot! Ha ha! Apparently Mister 104 appeared in other comic books I've read (like The Doom Patrol vs. Suicide Squad Special) but it's understandable that I don't remember him. Partly because he may have been going by Atomic Man or Atomic Master and also because he's just kind of stupid. But stupid in just the right way that Doom Patrol villains should be stupid!

Don't read this text if you're trying to avoid spoilers for Teen Titans Spotlight #9: Changeling!

It looks like Mister 103 first takes on the name Mister 104 here. But what's odd is that he tells Cliff, "You might remember me: Mister 104!" And Changeling thinks, "That's Mister 104!" I guess Paul Kupperberg couldn't abide the fact that Arnold Drake fucked up and he had to correct him. I bet he was fuming for over twenty years! He probably got a job as a comic book writer simply to fix this mistake from his childhood! But then, I suppose everything can be explained away by simply invoking Crisis on Infinite Earths. That probably changed things somehow.

That's your argument for why you'r going to win this fight?

During the battle, Mister 104 turns into a lot of different chemical compounds, proving that he was indeed a molecular engineer. But Robotman manages to thwart each of his different shapes with punches, proving that nerds just can't win in physical combat. Eventually, Mister 104 sets a fire that traps the fat kid from earlier who didn't have enough sense to get the fuck out of the way. Interrupting the battle is a scene where Mento plots the downfall of the Teen Titans with the help of his captive, the star of the next issue of Spotlight, Aqualad! Back to the fight, Changeling saves the kid and drops him off by the hot dog stand. He sees some canisters and the fat kid says, "Those? But that's just soda gas!" Who the fuck calls it soda gas? I lived through 1987 and I don't remember ever saying, "The soda gas in this soda really hits the spot!" Maybe calling it carbonated water or carbon dioxide or carbonation would have given the game away too early! Changeling appears as a giant ape wielding cans of carbon dioxide to smother Mister 104's flaming fury. And this time instead of transforming into some other element, he's knocked out cold! Way to go, soda gas! Teen Titans Spotlight #9: Changeling Rating: C+. The entire point of the story was to show that Robotman's estimation of Garfield Logan has grown and that he now sees him as a real hero. I guess the reader is suppose to think, "Yeah! If Robotman can admit that Garfield is now a real hero and not some jerk off jokester who causes more problems than he solves, I should probably think that too!" And since I'm a totally average comic book reader, I'm totally a Garfield Logan fan now! He isn't obnoxious and annoying at all in the way I thought! He's a real hero! Not as big a hero as soda gas but still pretty great!

[kierongillen]

Writer Notes: The Wicked + the Divine 25

Spoilers, obv.

Let's just dive in, eh?

Jamie's Cover

One of the interesting things about comics is the solicitation process. As such, a sub-section of the fandom will be aware of a cover before it comes out (or the month before it comes out if it's a comic which puts a NEXT MONTH cover in the back). So for the hardcore readers, this will actually be the first image they see of Minerva's new look.

So yeah, good debut, Mini.

This arc we're clearly not doing quite what we did on previous ones – the link from the cover star to the interior one is much more tangential than the first two years. Let's not make it too easy.

Emi Lenox's Cover

Emi is one of our favourite people in the whole world, let alone comics. Her co-written with Jeff Lemire (and drawn by her) of Plutona was one of our favourite minis of last year too. I believe Emi wanted to do another god, and then read the latest issues and I WANT TO DO PERSEPHONE!

Which has been a running theme this arc, actually. We've had to encourage other gods for the B-sides later on. Persephone, you're more than a superstar, but you're not our only coverstyle.

Very much a continuation of our Wide Variety Of Styles On Cover theme. This is about art.

Page 1

Compared to many of the issues this arc, this is a less demanding one for the artist than usual. I don't do it unless I have to, and I knew there's horrible stuff ahead. That said, the world fell apart during the production of this issue, and we lost a week. So it was hard anyway. Comics!

Anyway – we start slow. Three panels. Establish location, establish situation, establish key character. This is aimed towards being reserved, clear and efficient.

First swearing of Cass in the issue. And not the last.

The cliffhanger last time is an unusual one for us, as I believe I said (I totally don't re-read these notes after writing them. When we come to edit them for the hardback, it's always a thrill. Hey C! Sorry about all the typos.) It's a mid-action cliff-hanger. Normally we're in a “reveal of important new information” or “completion of surprising action” place when we cliffhanger, and half the time we don't even do that. This is a “half way through action” cliffhanger.  As such, it's about “How does this action complete?”

Structurally speaking, I tend to think that these tend to risk creating false drama. If you don't go through with an action in any meaningful way, that's what it is – a raising of expectations and a quashing of them, which – to use the technical writing term – is total bullshit. If you do go through with it... well, why didn't you do it to end the previous issue? Then you have a “completion of surprising action” cliffhanger, which is much more honest.

So the main way to resolve them, for me, is that what DOES happen has to be at least as interesting as what didn't happen.

So that's where we try to go, as Persephone is totally going to torture Woden.

(In my original synopsis the previous episode ended with Woden's reveal, with Persephone raising her fingers at the start of this. I made this call when writing both issues.)

That was a lot of words.

In other notes: I would really like Persephone's trousers here.

Page 2

Anyway – this whole sequence is about Jamie again. The push and pull of Persephone's reactions here is key.

Obviously the most important expression closes the page – we lose the skull eyes and have a push and pull of responses which caused me to pretty much instantly tear up. There's lots of ways to read this, and none of them good.

Page 3

Cassandra, voice of reason once more. “Go on a bender” makes me smile too.

Steady angle on the hands puts an unusual pressure on things – steady shots, in profile are something which tend to be most used in comedy. But it's all about the hands and the emotion. Also compare and contrast to the one over the page...

Page 4

Oh no, Persephone!

And this is very much about the scene as comedy. Breaking a scene into individual moments – decompressing, to use a much maligned and mis-used term – is all about increasing the effect. It is paramount in comedy.

Page 5 From the Hobbit. Bilbo and Smeagol. You can probably guess who's Smeagol in this metaphor, except not.

Page 6-7

The first page was written in a standard format – once more, using the very basic structure of establish/scene/character beat set up of the first page – and then moved into Marvel Method for the rest of the sequence. It's the first “real” performance sequence since issue 20s, so has been a while.

This sequence brought to mind the movie adaptation of UNDER THE SKIN when I was writing it, and that's not an inaccurate comparison, I suspect.

What's to look at here is Matt's purples, which are just lovely.

And black.

All that black.

And...

Page 8-11

EVEN MORE BLACK! Doing try printing scans of our pages at home, as your printer will hate us.

Obviously reminiscent of issue 3's performance sequence, and I love what they did with the tumbling sequence. Persephone's voice, caption-box less, dropped on the backdrop too.

At script, there was originally a couple of lines on the second spread. It was questioned by C, in terms of “He's a long way away – I don't think we can hear two beats like that” which is right, but also got me thinking about time operating in comics. The second you add dialogue to a page, it becomes a period of time. When you remove all dialogue, it gets a timeless quality. As in, you have no idea how long it's been like this. Seconds? Hours? Years? We don't know.

And that certainly adds to the effect of the sequence.

Page 12

Heh. I'm reading this as we put issue 26 to bed, having just passed Jamie the script for 27 earlier today. They are... somewhat denser. It's going to be a while until we have a three panel sequence like this.

Page 13-16

Oh, hello again, eight-panel grid structure, old friend. We'll be seeing you again soon.

The dumbest “I should have realised this in the script” mistake was that Cass didn't have a line in the first panel of this. That adds time to the sequence, and a repsonse to the appearance of Cass.

I remember the thinking on this for me. Okay, Persephone has dragged Woden away. What does Cass do? Try and free the Valkyries. Like, obviously.

Anyway – what we get instead of Woden being killed is this. Giving up the Valkyries. Dragged to be essentially Cass' helper. Working the level of reluctance and ego back and forth is key.

The Harry Potter line was probably the most closely debated line in the issue. C and I basically had a bunch of conversations trying to unpack the meaning, what Woden was trying to say about it exactly, what Woden thought he was saying, etc.

Whole sequence clearly important as it's stating a selection of the various mysteries in the book, signalling to the reader than them not knowing answers is not accidental, and making the characte's direction clear. “Direction” is tricky in Imperial Phase, which is kind of the point. Showing that we do have an idea what we're doing is probably a necessary tell.

The steady angle on the last two panels – once more, for comedy – makes me smile. The “Enigmatic Wankery” made think of a friend. I asked C who she thought would most likely actually say “Enigmatic Wankery.” She answered the same friend. So let's conclusively say “Enigmatic Wankery” is the line most likely to be said by author and punmeister supreme, Si Spurrier.

Page 15 – which, without saying it, where Cass implicitly agrees to working with Woden – is where I realised how good Woden and Cass are to have in the same room, in terms of pushing information around.

(Perhaps too much – Persephone is definitely an observer in these four pages)

Page 17

Text conversations are fun, just as how much you can get into it, as a piece of character work. That Cass hasn't updated her phone to change Laura's name ever since meeting her is certainly one thing, but also says a lot about various other bits and pieces.

Three golden expressions on the page., You can trust Jamie McKelvie to deliver on such thing – the specific annoyance and the somewhat enigmatic sadness of Persephone. And the... peevishly frustrated nature of Cass.

Also, easy panels! See, I'm not just a monster.

(Says the man who's just sent Jamie a script with a whole middle section sub-titled “ FUCKING HORRIBLE BEYOND ALL HUMAN BELIEF”)

Page 18

The quote's from Anna Karenina by Tolstoy. “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

Page 19

Ananke's speech from issue 5 of WicDiv, being broadcast. Fun juxtaposition. And god, that's a hard mask to draw.

And honestly, this page – which you should recognise in its structure – so upset me when I thought of it, I knew it had to go in. The more I think about it, the worse it gets.

The copy of Pantheon  monthly on the table especially makes me grin. I think that was Jamie's idea. Or maybe Katie?

Page 20-21

Persephone and Baal have been going out for three issues now. This sequence is the first time we've seen them in the same panel. Plus first time to see Baal in his guardian role. As such, wanting to live with them, albeit briefly, felt necessary. For a book that's often about death, we have to show life.

(The lightning-to-make-toast is the apex of that. The Mundane + The Divine may be an alternate title for WicDiv, or at least our aesthetic and interests.)

Also, let Minerva – ahem – continue to stretch her wings. Last time we got the human intelligence side of it. Now we get a more analytical mind.

And yes, Baal self-correcting himself is cute. You're trying, Baal.

Everyone's hair game is on point here. Minerva's fringe (aka Bangs, but we're in the UK, guys) is wonderful, but the winner is Persephone's braids.

On a really minor craft note? It's standard to say you end the page on a cliffhanger – an unanswered question, an reason to turn the page. The “Was Ananke right?” is a pretty good example of that, I think. Even mentioning Ananke changes the tone. The question is pointed, both in story and not. And, most of all, who's saying it?

Page 22

Oh, it's Amaterasu. Hi, Amaterasu.

This is very much catching balls we threw into the air, earlier. In terms of Amaterasu's actions, this is how the cast see it. Or at least, this part of the cast.

The third panel of this page makes me optimistic we're going to get away with an issue down the line. That's a lot of wonderful acting inside a tiny panel from Jamie.

I wasn't sure if “Li'l flower” was too much, but decided, no, it was the right amount of much.

Page 23-24

Yeah, this is a swing back to action-mode comics earlier than I suspect people were expecting it.

Kept really basic, leaving room for Jamie and Matt to do their thing. The tendrils whirling around, use of space, etc. Also, let's nod towards Matt's hot pink in the last panel.

Page 25

And hello what we can only presume is the Darkness, Great, which I probably better not say more about until next month. It was certainly a design conversation, but probably best to work in there. Clearly we wanted something interesting.

Yeah, that's enough for now, I think. We'll talk the nature of Cliffhangers again next time.

Page 26

I had a string of names for this one, before ending up here. I liked most of them enough to make me suspect they'll end up being used elsewhere.

Right – issue has just headed off to Image, so we'll see you in a month.

Thanks for reading.

[areswriting]

a x e : iv

I look over at Elise and grin. “Oh, so now you change your tune,” I say, and I give her hand a guilt-riddled squeeze. I know I shouldn’t be holding it, but it feels too good to let go. “Because I remember a sweet comment about how some people don’t need to take a class to learn a language.”

She looks at me sheepishly and I laugh. “I know French so well because of my mom,” I say. “Don’t get too excited—she was, how would your mother say it? The bastard version of French.” The words might be funny but they burn as they come out.

Elise’s eyebrows knit together.

“She was French Canadian,” I say. “From Quebec. So I grew up speaking English and French. I also know some Russian and Swedish.”

“Then why on earth are you wasting time in a class for a langue you already know?” she asks.

“Why on earth aren’t you?” I say, mimicking her. “It’s an easy A. Plus, it will look good on college applications.”

“Touche,” she responds. “You know, Abram, this is nice.”

I look at her as she stares at the stars.

“Thank you for coming to get me.”

“De rein, mon amour,” I say, then bring her knuckles to my lips and give them a kiss.

***

“So, you and Elise, huh?”

I look up from my breakfast to see Sophie helping herself to the empty seat in front of me. I want to let out an exasperated sigh and tell her that I don’t talk to people until after 9am, but I don’t want to be rude to a fellow bastard, so instead I say nothing and continue eating my toast.

“I saw your pictures together on Instagram,” she goes on, gently peeling back a banana. “First a fancy date, then star-gazing after curfew. It’s quite cute, I’ll admit that, but,” she shrugs. “I can’t imagine how your…well rounded girlfriend might feel about it.”

“Good morning,” I hear Elise before I see her standing behind Sophie with her breakfast tray in hand. I notice that she only has a cup of yogurt and the smallest serving of fruit that the school offers, along with a large bottle of water. “Are we talking about Abram’s girlfriend?” she says, settling into the seat beside Sophie.

“See, that’s where I’m confused,” Sophie says, glancing between us. “Because Abram told us he has a long distance girlfriend, yet you posted a picture of him and yourself captioned: mon date chaude. Thank God for the translation option. Your hot date?” Sophie laughs flatly. “Then he posts a similar picture and a few from your late night rendezvous. So, are you through with the chubby bunny, Abe? Hmm? Moved onto thinner pastures?”

I look at Elise, expecting a smirk, or a laugh, but instead her face has fallen, as if she’s seen a ghost. For some reason, it calms me and keeps me from hitting the table with my balled up fist, or throwing my tray across the cafeteria.

“You know, Sophie, she’s no fatter than your mouth,” I say.

Sophie scoffs and looks at Elise like she’s looking for backup, but Elise doesn’t come to her rescue. After taking a generous gulp of water, she looks at Sophie. “We’re not dating,” she says, motioning toward me. “We hung out. Get over yourself.”

“So, he’s some sort of community service,” Sophie laughs and throws her half eaten banana onto her tray.

“Ca servirait la communaute sit u partais,” I say.

Water sprays out of Elise’s mouth as her body shakes with laughter.

That’s enough to send Sophie stomping away.

“Was that rude?” I say, still laughing.

Elise wipes the table with her napkin. “No. Maybe for you, but not for Middlebury. Besides, it’s not like she understood what you said.”

“True,” I say.

“She’s not the first person to ask if we’re dating,” Elise tells me after taking a bite of her yogurt. “I even had to explain to your dear brother that we’re just friends.”

“What about your mother?” I say, raising an eyebrow.

“What’s the fun in telling her the truth?” she says, raising an eyebrow back at me. She takes another bite of yogurt and tilts her head. “So, what’s up with your girlfriend, anyway? Was she angry over the pictures?”

I take in a deep breath and shrug. “I wouldn’t know. She hasn’t really talked to me in a few days.”

“Is that normal?”

“Probably not, but it is for us,” I say. “She’s always been this way. She comes and goes. I don’t even know if we’re together at this point.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

“No, I’m not actually,” I shake my head “I want something stable, you know? The distance I can handle, but damn, I haven’t kissed anyone in…” I trail off, suddenly embarrassed by how long it has been. “A while.”

“Then break up with her?” Elise offers.

I laugh. “It’s not that easy, Els. Trust me.”

***

K: S, I miss you.

K: You promised you wouldn’t do this to me again.

My phone chimes—New message: Sylvia

S: Are you cheating on me?

K: What?????? NO?

S: There’s no need to lie, Kai. Remember when I said I know people at Middlebury? I asked about you and I was told you were dating someone there. Elise?

K: Who told you that? Elise is my friend. Nothing more, Syl. You have to believe me.

I click on her name to call her, but she ignores me.

K: Sylvia please, let me explain.

S: IMAGE DOWNLOADING

I wait, eyebrows pulled together in confusion until two pictures pop up—screen shots from both mine and Elise’s Instagram accounts. Staring back at me are the pictures from the night before, and two from this morning, when Elise and I went for a walk through the woods together.

S: This is all the proof I need. You were with her this morning. I’m done.

K: Sylvia, that doesn’t mean that I’m cheating on you. We’re just friends. You can ask her yourself!

Message read.

I throw my phone to the end of my bed—because nothing annoys me more than being left on read.

***

There are two loud knocks on my dorm door before it opens. Elise hesitates on the threshold.

“Are you decent?” she asks, but lets herself in before I can answer.

“What—What are you doing?” I say.

“Um, bringing you food,” she says, holding up a large brown bag. “I messaged you, but you didn’t reply. Dinner tonight sounded disgusting so I ordered in Chinese.”

I look at my phone, still sitting where I had thrown it. “I was asleep,” I lie. I sit up and reach for a t-shirt to put on, but Elise plops down on my bed, effectively stopping me.

“What’s wrong with you,” she says. “Something seems…off.”

“Maybe my shirt?” I say, trying not to sound as sad and upset as I really am.

She laughs. “I got you your favorite, sesame chicken.”

“Thanks,” I say, watching as she unloads the food from the bag. “Wait, how did you know that’s my favorite?”

She hesitates, “Um, because you told me it was.”

We get settled on my bed, eating in silence for a few minutes before I can’t contain myself.

“Sylvia broke up with me,” I tell her.

“What? Why?” she asks, looking shocked.

I consider telling her the truth, but I don’t want to drag her into it.

“Just, bullsh*t drama,” I say. “I don’t want to talk about it, but, I don’t know, I just felt like I should tell you.”

She smiles. “Then we won’t talk about it, but thanks for confiding in me.”

“Thanks for the food,” I say. “I don’t think you’ll want to stay long, though. The Kings are playing the Bruins tonight and I know how much you hate hockey.”

“Well, I’ll endure it to keep you company,” she replies. She looks around my room and her eyes stay focused on a small, framed jersey hanging beside my door.

“You like O’Hair?”

I laugh as I pick up a piece of chicken with my chopsticks. “Try, love O’Hair. He’s my favorite hockey player. He’s the reason I’m a Kings fan instead of a Bruins fan. You can’t imagine the amount of sh*t I got from my friends because of that. But that jersey is from when I was like 9? I met him after a Bruins/Kings game in Boston.”

“Your mom took you, as a Kings fan, to see them play in Boston?” she says. “Hell of a woman she must have been. Bruins fans are insane.”

“And you claim not to like hockey,” I say, then reach out to tickle her side. All I feel is bone. “I want to show you something.”

I get out of bed and move over to my desk, picking up a picture frame. “This is me and my mom from a few months ago. Last one of us we got to take together,” I say, offering it to her.

I don’t know why I do what I do next, but I pick a book up from my desk and set it on Elise’s lap. I watch her carefully as she puts the picture down and replaces it with the book.

“Abram, you know how much I love this woman, and I can tell that this is a first edition,” Elise begins. “I’ve never stolen anything before, but I don’t think it’s below me when it comes to her.”

“Open it,” I say. “Just the cover.”

I lean my head onto Elise’s shoulder so I can read the note my mother wrote in the corner of the book that was published when I was barely three years old.

To my darling son Abram. You are my north star. I hope this book can guide you the way you’ve guided me.

Love, Mom.

I clear my throat. “My mom is E. Monroe,” I say, my head still on her shoulder. “Well, her name was Emilia Monroe Dyer. But, that’s her.”

[lewiskdavid90]

95% off #Learn to Code by Making Games – The Complete Unity Developer – $10

Game development & design made fun. Learn C# using Unity 4.6 & Unity 5. Your first 7 2D & 3D games for web & mobile.

All Levels,  – 52 hours,  303 lectures 

Average rating 4.6/5 (4.6 (15,688 ratings) Instead of using a simple lifetime average, Udemy calculates a course’s star rating by considering a number of different factors such as the number of ratings, the age of ratings, and the likelihood of fraudulent ratings.)

Course requirements:

Mac or PC capable of running Unity 3D. A copy of Unity 4.6.3 for early content, free from Unity. A copy of Unity 5 for later content, also free. A copy of Blender, free from www.Blender.org Either some experience of coding, or the will to do self-study.

Course description:

The course is continually updated, a major improvement was made in Glitch Garden in March 2016, and over 30 new quiz questions were added in June 2016.

This is the online game development school that was a runaway success on Kickstarter. As a result there are English closed-captions throughout.

Learn how to create video games using Unity 3D, the free-to-use game development tool. We start super simple so you need no prior experience or Unity of coding! With our online tutorials, you’ll be amazed what you can achieve.

Benefit from our world-class support from both other students, and Ben is on the forums regularly. Go on to build several games including a full 3D version of Pong with an online multiplayer scoreboard, and more.

You will have access to a course forum where you can discuss topics on a course-wide basis, or down to the individual video. Our thriving discussion forum will help you learn and share ideas with other students. Check out our reviews to see how people love this feature.

Unity 5: The first part of the course is taught in Unity 4. 6, as this is well established and stable. When you get to Bowlmaster we upgrade to Unity 5, and start using it’s great new features. You can use Unity 5 from the start if you wish, with only minor code differences.

The course is project-based, so you will not just be learning dry programming concepts, but applying them immediately to real indie games as you go. All the project files will be included, as well as additional references and resources – you’ll never get stuck. There are talking-head videos, powerful diagrams, quality screencasts and more.

Oh, and it’s just bigger and better than the competition. See the length and the reviews.

For each demo game you build you will follow this process…

Be challenged to build the entire game yourself. Be shown step-by step how to build it. Be challenged to apply, and re-apply your knowledge regularly.

You will get full lifetime access for a single one-off fee. The creators are qualified and experienced coders and avid gamers, so are able to explain complex concepts clearly, as well as entertain along the way. Most courses teach scripting using only C#.

You will learn C#, including Test Driven Development, a highly valuable skill. By the end of the course you’ll be very confident in the basics of coding and game development, and hungry to learn more.

What this course DOESN’T cover…

Whereas this course is already huge, we can’t possibly cover everything in that time. Here are some things we will not be covering…

Performance optimization. Editor plugins or modifications. Physics engine modification*

* Separate mini-course to cover these this now available.

Anyone who wants to learn to create games: Unity 3D is a fantastic platform which enables you to make production-quality games. Furthermore these games can be created for Windows, MacOS, iOS (even iOS 9), Android and Web from a single source!

If you’re a complete beginner, we’ll teach you all the coding and game design principles you’ll need. If you’re an artist, we’ll teach you to bring your assets to life. If you’re a coder, we’ll teach you game design principles.

Note: access to this course comes with an optional, free community site where you can share games and 3D models, as well as connect with other students.

Dive in now, you won’t be disappointed!

Full details Learn C#, a powerful modern language. Develop a positive attitude to problem solving. Gain an excellent general knowledge of game creation. Learn how object oriented programming works in practice. Transfer your knowledge to .NET, other languages, and more.

Full details Competent and confident with using a computer. Artists who want to learn to bring their assets into games. Some programming experience helpful, but not required. Complete beginners who are willing to work hard. Developers who want to re-skill across to game development.

Full

Reviews:

“Thorough, well laid out and easy to follow. This offers a wealth of information on Unity, C#, game development techniques and other related tools. Plus its pretty easy to gear your game toward any platform (iOS, Android, web, etc.). All without overwhelming me as I can come back to any area and move at my own pace. I would note it’s important to use the Unity version stated, unless you have some experience in this, as I began using a more recent version about halfway through the course and it does require me to convert some of the original course code (I’m not through the last course sections so it’s possible those are using a newer version, not sure yet). Regardless of version changes this is worth it for how much is covered and by the end you should know enough that a new version of Unity/converting some code will not be too difficult. Side note: I got my 16 yr old to follow along for portions covering games he found interesting…great opportunity to learn coding in a fun way. Although I was able to help him through problems before getting stuck too long and giving up. (As most teens are not patient!)” (Polly)

“Course is awesome under any point of view, it leaves out some more advanced and fundamental concepts like multiplayer and networking though. It’s totally worth it anyway especially if you are a beginner, and also pretty useful for intermediate students as well. I am at a pretty advanced level and I just wanted to get a grasp of unity which I had never used before and I gotta say that this was awesome for learning how to master it. Only negative point is that the course should go more in depth on advanced stuff because I believe people will be capable of getting stuff like networking towards the end of this, it’s overall good though.” (Daniel Grieco)

“Thanks for awesome course! I found this course really engaging, it even encouraged me to go and get my Computer Science degree! The course starts with basics of C# and unity, from really simple projects (at first they were too trivial to me, but only then I have realised that they just cement the basics of C#’s language), and then throws at you some chunky other projects which teach you various aspects of Unity and C#. What i felt in the end was a slight regret that we did not cover everything Unity Engine has to offer, but that is for us to explore and probably even monetize! Knowledge gained here totally has usage in for example Unreal Engine. When you combine it with other courses you get extreme flexibility in terms of creating your totally own games! TL;DR: This course is meant for all begginers and game-maker wannabee’s like me and probably a lot of other people! Thanks again guys and keep on with the good work! Jakub” (Jakub Duchniewicz)

  About Instructor:

Ben Tristem Sam Pattuzzi

Hi, I’m Ben. I have a degree in computing from Imperial College London, and a physics diploma from the Open University. I started working for myself at the age of 15, and never looked back. I explored careers as varied as being a commercial pilot, stunt-man, rock climbing instructor, and more. None of these provided a continued challenge, and stable income in the same way technology does. After building and selling a home computer support business, I became an angel investor and business mentor here in Cambridge UK. I fell in love with teaching game development through one of my investments, and I now spend all of my time sharing my passion with people like you. I can’t wait to help you experience the fulfilment, and financial freedom, that having a deep understanding of technology brings. So why not start learning to make games with me and my team now? See you soon! Ben

I wrote my first game when I was 14 and ever since, programming has been a key part of both work and play in my life. I studied Computer Science at the University of Cambridge where I still teach undergraduates. When I’m not teaching, I’m a freelance software engineer and enjoy my work with tech start-ups and social businesses. For me, Udemy is the opportunity to combine my passions for teaching and programming.

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