#the thought of having to do trad storytelling? a job.
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and if i start posting unfinished story parts ?
#[ ⃕ 𝒔𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐤𝐞 .. › text posts. ❜ ℗ ]#stfumuny.#i need something new something exciting. something engaging. i have someone i wanna use for a muse but#the thought of having to do trad storytelling? a job.
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I have also made... other games. Games that are not about vampires. Yes, I have other interests. I was surprised too!
In another life I was part of the Far Horizons Co-Op: explicitly, one might say aggressively leftist game devs who collected around the prickly point of freelancer pay and contract honour in the TTRPG industry. It's not good, folks. Rates are hilariously low - at the time I approached {redacted mid tier RPG publisher} they expected me to take an 80% pay cut from my copywriting gigs - and wage theft is a thing that happens.
While I was there I worked on some things. I was a development editor, mainly, but I did make some creative contributions...
I have an essay in here about post-heist storytelling. It was about all I felt qualified to do since this is a book I personally needed, and use. I am terrible at the kind of "design a puzzle environment" stuff it takes to make a heist session sing, which is why I was so glad m'comrades made a whole book of it that I could shamelessly rip off for basically ever.
In our first anthology of short games, you'll find All Your Houses, which was the first set of (viable) TTRPG rules I ever made. Born out of my youthful arrogance and insistence that trad games have more rules than they need and all an RPG really is is a "bang bang you're dead nuh uh you missed" resolver, I made a card based resolution system that you could play in the pub without being laughed at. Now people play D&D in the pub, full on actual D&D. How times change...
I was lead editor on Volume 6, the "building better worlds" edition, and also contributed a game, The Hitchhiker's Guide to Elfland. This was when "decolonising D&D" was everywhere and I was in a bad, bad mood about the manifest-destiny-with-swords-and-sorcery roots of D&D, so I tried to create a version that was about respectfully exploring other cultures instead of beating them up and taking their stuff. Hence tourism. Hence H2G2. It made sense at the time!
That was the last time I worked with Far Horizons. Life stuff happened, I dropped out of my creative and scholarly "careers" and took a job in a bookshop instead, and then I left that job because crippling anxiety attacks only went away when I thought about going back to Big School.
Also: I am a DriveThru affiliate, so if you were going to buy any RPG stuff anyway, pls to use my link? It also works on the Storytellers Vault. Just sayin'.
... OK, I can do this.
The thing about working freelance is... sometimes you just don't have work for a week. Or two. And your partner's in the same boat. And your National Insurance record is a bit... patchy, so the state won't help. And you were turned down for disability benefits. And rent's due in nine days. And you're having the nightmares again...
IF you enjoy any of my notions and IF you want to help your friendly neighbourhood nonbinary narrator out of a Critical Situation, there's a way or two to do that.
If you want some bite for your buck, I understand. Did I mention I made a TTRPG? A little vampire heartbreaker based off Epidiah Ravachol's Wolfspell and inspired by Only Lovers Left Alive and La Morte Amoureuse and listening to The Division Bell on repeat? Well, I did, and here it is. It's PWYW.
I'll talk more about this, and other mini games I've made, as the nine days progress. Keep coming back.
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oh wait, fanfic anon again. you do a really good job of analyzing the things you like/don't like in writing and whenever you talk about craft on twitter it's super interesting and i was curious what things helped you get so good at that and if you have any suggestions for someone trying to improve their craft and, like, general ability to think and express thoughts about writing/storytelling (if that makes sense? obvs this is something i'm NOT good at lmao)
HI ANON I’m so sorry it’s taken me so long to get to this but I’ve been swamped with school & i wanted to give you a proper answer because I think this is a really good question!!
The number one thing i always say is just to read more, so I’m def going to drop some recs at you in the other ask! But the crux of the reading more advice is that the more you read the more you pick up on the rhythm of good prose, and also the more you figure out what you like about prose?
Find stuff that pings the part of your brain and makes you really excited and study it! Do you ever get that feeling when you’re reading a sentence just JUMPS out at you? I like to make a note whenever that happens be it from a book or a fic or whatever, and I do close readings of them on a really minute sentence level. Like just as an example, there’s this line from a Mountain Goats song (I think it’s The Mess Inside) that comes to mind right now that goes
and I wanted you /
to love me like you used to do
And I LOVE it because that line break is doing so much for the meaning—off the cuff of my head it reads as reluctance, not wanting to admit that really vulnerable want, but also it so cleanly separates out the thought of “i wanted you” to draw more attention to it. etc. etc.
For me when I think about craft & writing, so much of it is structural, and I pay attention to these little things like spaces in poetry/lyrics or the equivalence in prose things like where commas are placed to introduce pauses in the lines, where a full stop is used instead, etc. I basically have this exact same mindset when it comes to any sort of media, be it trad. published books or fanfics or songs or whatever my brain is stuck on.
The point of all is this is to say: read a lot, and carefully examine the things you read. Whenever a line kind of snags on something in your brain, separate that out and look at it closely to figure out why is it that you loved it so much.
All the writing I have ever learned is by example. I basically read stuff I liked, really desperately wanted to write stuff that feels similar, and copied other people until I could approximate it myself.
As for talking about craft/storytelling/what have you, I try to focus hard in on explaining that rationale of why I liked the things I did. Being specific helps? So on twitter I might talk about specifically how characters being awkward with each other helps to endear them and make a romance more believable in fanfics, rather than just saying fanfic romances are better. Does that make sense?
TO SUM UP I read a lot and have a lot of loud Opinions on what is good when I read, but also I like to be right, so I like to dig to the root of why I think something is good, and that process I think has helped me a lot when I write and also when I’m trying to communicate to other people why they should listen to me. LOL. I hope this helps!! Feel free to hit me up with more questions (or honestly just @ me on twitter) if you wanna chat I am literally always ready to talk craft
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February 14th, 2019 CTP Archive
The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on February 14th, 2019, from 5PM - 7PM PST. The chat focused on Earth in a Pocket by Jabbage.
Featured Comment:
Chat:
RebelVampire
COMIC TEA PARTY- THURSDAY BOOK CLUB START!
Good evening, everyone~! This week’s Thursday Book Club is officially beginning! Today we are discussing Earth in a Pocket by Jabbage~! (http://earthinapocket.spiderforest.com/)
Remember that Thursday discussions are completely freeform! However, every 30 minutes I will drop in OPTIONAL discussion questions in case you’d like a bit of a prompt. If you miss out on one of these prompts, you can find them pinned for the chat’s duration. Additionally, remember that while constructive criticism is allowed, our focus is fun and respectfully appreciating the comic. All that said, let’s begin!
QUESTION 1. What is your favorite scene in the comic so far and why?
perhaps not a full scene, but im really fond of this page in general http://earthinapocket.spiderforest.com/comic/2019/01/22 where the socio economic development stuff is broken down. theres just something so elegantly simple about how its shown. not to mention i appreciate the injection of humor, because i think it makes everything really grounded.
Delphina
The badger page is perennially endearing (http://earthinapocket.spiderforest.com/comic/2018/08/11), but I also like the most recent one where Little One is encouraging Halisi to be proactive and set up some long-term solutions for herself: http://earthinapocket.spiderforest.com/comic/2019/02/05
RebelVampire
im really curious why she thought of badgers at all. unless she had the badgers badgers mushroom song stuck in her head. XD
Delphina
@Jabbage please make that canon
Jabbage
makes it so
(Hi! I'm going to be here for a little while! :D)
RebelVampire
thanks for coming, Jabbage!
Jabbage
I figure that if you're on a road trip with a small child who is prone to ask a billion questions, eventually you're going to end up talking about badgers
Delphina
I just really appreciate how even after all she's been through, Halisi still has so much love and passion for her studies, and it's what she reaches to when she's looking for ways to console Little One and solutions for herself.
Kabocha
Hmmm, my favorite scene probably was the Witch bottle explanation http://earthinapocket.spiderforest.com/comic/2018/08/15 It was a good bit of information I hadn't really been aware of :D I also just... enjoy her interactions with the little jellyfish - even though she's in a bad spot, she's still taking time to tell him stories.
RebelVampire
i like the element of logic there is to it too. like she's not panicking, but using what she loves to calm herself down in a way. and i think thats a really great showcase of her character without needing to be told shes like that.
its a characterization via the action versus the telling
mathtans
Here for now, the little one seems extra fussy tonight. Yes, I call my baby daughter the little one. So comic was a bit surreal.
RebelVampire
hi math!
at least your little one isnt old enough to ask yet "are we there yet?"
Kabocha
Right? I mean, she could have just given in, accepted that she might die here... But nah. And she's still kind, even though this entire situation is awful
mathtans
The Witch bottle thing reminds me, I liked the way the art moved through the centuries on that one page, but with people who looked kinda similar. I thought that was clever.
True. Little one could save us some time by specifying what her issues are though. ^.^
RebelVampire
ironically though another of my favorite scenes is the one where halisi sets up the signal and kind of ditches her new jellyfish child to just go despairingly collapse in front of it. i like this brief moment of her giving into despair cause theres something really raw about it. like at first she doesnt say anything even, and i think it makes it really powerful because the silence just adds this immense weight to the sorrow. you know shes super suffering for that moment and feeling the weight of everything finally hit her.
Delphina
Yeah, the comic does a good job of showing a lot of conflicting emotions(edited)
mathtans
Yeah, honestly the very opening was a heck of a kick in the pants. Like, I have no idea what I'd do in that sort of situation. It's very problematic.
RebelVampire
yeah theres def a lot of stressful situations. but i kind of appreciate the lighter moments. like her trying to start a fire but ultimately failing. i mean its kind of scary and sad for her survival, but the way its handled is still pretty funny
also that moment where shes trying to fix the machine at the beginning and it just flat out basically bursts into flames XD
Jabbage
I'm pleased to hear that! I'm always aware that it could be quite a bleak story, but I want it to ultimately feel hopeful and positive, so the silly moments are important for that!
kayotics
I also liked the badger scene, but I think the scene that had the most prominence for me is when she finds out that someone else landed on the planet 80 years ago
i think that scene really set in how dire her situation is
khkddn
the portrayal of emotions really is great. it's really interesting to see someone going through such a crisis and only surrounded by beings who can't relate at all
Delphina
Oh god yeah, and the aliens just going "Something happened to the human we don't know what cause death isn't a thing that happens here???" was scary.
kayotics
"it's hibernating!"
G (Title Unrelated)
I felt something in the scene right after where they tell her dad "we haven't heard from her yet"
Delphina
collective tentacle shrug
kayotics
yeah i really feel for her dad
this isn't a scene, but I appreciate that all of the characters are middle-aged or older
RebelVampire
agreed. but i appreciated the realism of the ppl on the other line being like "meh its probably fine my dude" to the dad. cause that really uses reader knowledge to an advantage to create sympathy for him. because we know its not fine, and that he is right to worry. and that makes it sad hes the only one worried in that moment.
G (Title Unrelated)
Yes I agree
kayotics
Also agreed. It's a good example of dramatic irony
RebelVampire
although i like the most recent page with the followup where hes basically enlisted an army of students to find her. abuse of power, probably. but makes him the sweetest dad? yes.
QUESTION 2. Much of the comic revolves around Halisi telling stories based on things in her pocket. Which of Halisi’s stories impacted you the most and/or taught you something new? What do you think is to be gained from Halisi telling these stories to an alien race with no real connection to humanity? How do you believe the stories and knowledge she has might help contextualize her current situation for her? What, to you, does it mean to have “Earth in a Pocket?” Further, if you were in Halisi’s position, what objects would you pick in 10 seconds to represent the sum of human existence? Lastly, what other cultural or past history aspects do you think Halisi might bring up? How might they be contextualized to add a new viewpoint to Halisi’s situation?
Delphina
I liked the Dancing Plague story a lot http://earthinapocket.spiderforest.com/comic/2018/08/06
RebelVampire
this is the point where i say the witch bottle scene. I think it was beautifully illustrated, and as a story it was not a cultural thing i was aware of. but i like how suitable and unsuitable it was for the situation. but overall it just made me think about humans are weird and can make fear out of nothing at all if the minds decide it to be so.
unless the plot twist is there really was a witch in that bottle
ive always found the dancing plague fascinating because again, humans be weird. minds play tricks.
khkddn
the witch bottle scene is kind of like a story about the power of storytelling, pretty fitting i think
the idea of a witch meant so much to people, like how halisi's stories mean so much to the jellies
G (Title Unrelated)
so she's got a single seed, too, which is also super symbolic
kayotics
I really like the agriculture story, because, like it was mentioned before, it was very concise, but also it shows a lot about Halsi's personality and what she thinks is important about understanding humans on a basic level
mathtans
Back. Know what you can't do when you have a little one? Have a life sometimes. >.<(edited)
G (Title Unrelated)
I wonder what kind of seed it is
RebelVampire
oh man what if the seed wasnt even food. like she winds up growing a rose bush or something XD
mathtans
I was going to say, one of my fave moments was actually comedy, when Halisi first goes off with the inhabitants, thinking about ditching them, and they're all "we can see the thoughts".
RebelVampire
i appreciate the jellyfish didnt just ditch her at that point. cause i would not be as forgiving as them XD
mathtans
And yeah, the hope and sudden crash of the human who was there before was powerful too.
Delphina
I hope it's like... a nice fruit tree. She seems like she could use a nice fruit tree.
mathtans
The framing of the witch bottle scene was cool too. With the whole "not helping me be less afraid" thing (and asking for that term).
kayotics
i just really like the little jellyfish aliens, because they're written in a way that's much less human-centric. I like aliens that are just kind of weird for being weird and don't follow human conventions.
mathtans
Though props for the "pot-reon" in the agriculture bit too.
RebelVampire
yeah im really appreciating the jellyfish for that reason. theyre a nice blend between humanistic traits while still being super alien. its always nice to see when theres kind of a basic gap of understanding where the way each species thinks is quite different
anyway, for me personally though, while she does literally have some of earth in her pocket, i think earth is more about the stories that have traveled with her. because oral traditions reach immensely far back and is the main platform by which we teach and learn about ourselves as a species. so imo they are more representative of humanity than the objects. thus how she can fit earth in a pocket, even though she doesnt need the pocket.(edited)
G (Title Unrelated)
Yeah, I think you nailed it!
mathtans
Also, random question/thought. Halisi didn't have to dig too deep to get "well" water (I liked that one too)... yet was able to bury a guy? The water must be specific to locations or something?
Agreed on the alien-ness people have been speaking about.
G (Title Unrelated)
I mean it's an alien planet
mathtans
Good point about the traditions, Rebel. She's her own pocket.
It helps that she mostly just has to think things rather than even speak them aloud too.
Jabbage
AHAHA yeah, I realised that after drawing it. It's on a list of things i might tweak one day, although I do also like the idea that it is just an alien planet and it's strange and unpredictable like that. So much of our own planet would seem strange and random if we didn't understand a little bit about it's geology, the water cycle etc.
kayotics
on that note i like the idea of halsi going around trying to find ground that doesn't immediately fill up with well water
"okay let's try this spot. Hm, nope, that filled up. can't bury him here"
G (Title Unrelated)
haha!
RebelVampire
yeah it didnt particularly stick out to me just cause i wrote it off as like a change in elevation or something like that. but basically alien planet does alien things XD
mathtans
Fair point.
Could just drag dirt over from another place too, though I guess it would be raised more then.
kayotics
I think if it needs to be tweaked in the future, Jabbage, you could always just change it to a mound rather than a hole. same concept but it avoids going below the dirt
mathtans
Fixes the w"hole" thing.
G (Title Unrelated)
also digging a hole IS hard work
Jabbage
Yeah, or using rocks
kayotics
digging is a lot of work
mathtans
Also whistling while you use rocks, to get rock music.
I'll stop.
kayotics
if she plants that seed she may have to make a mound for that too, it would probably get too waterlogged otherwise
mathtans
I wonder if the soil has the right nutrients.
RebelVampire
yeah i was thinking that too
that her next challenge is finding a not well spot for that seed
cause unless its a crop that specifically needs to be waterlogged, shes gonna have a bad time
mathtans
The jellyfish said the mushrooms could talk, right? Maybe they know a place.
Does rice have seeds?
G (Title Unrelated)
I think if the planet has breathable air it might have a similar balance of elements and whatnot to earth?
kayotics
i think most rice is planted from splitting an existing plant, but i'm sure there's a seed that starts it all
Delphina
What do the jelly aliens taste like
kayotics
DELPHIE NO
Delphina
MAYBE THEY GROW BACK OR SOMETHING
Jabbage
Whether or not the mushrooms can talk is a fun thing that's not really ever going to get expanded on, but which I had in mind for how the jellies work. I figure that they don't have many ways of getting external sensory information about the world - no eyes, ears, sense of smell etc. They are psychic though, they share thoughts and ideas and information about the world. I figure that the mushrooms have some kind of consciousness and run through the planet, and the jellies can draw from that somehow to orientate themselves and know what's going on
G (Title Unrelated)
that's what I kinda assumed!
I mean, that is basically how forests work on earth. XD
RebelVampire
so basically the mushrooms can function as gps
Jabbage
@Delphina ~ I mean I'm sure Big One has some spare limbs... ~(edited)
mathtans
Oh, wow. Cannibalism-like issue didn't occur to me.
Jabbage
Me neither honestly
mathtans
I think the jelly was a bit broken and said she'd regenerate over time...?
RebelVampire
QUESTION 3. Story wise, the comic deals with Halisi crash landing on an alien planet and all but being stranded. Do you believe Halisi will learn to farm with the little she managed to salvage and find a way to survive? What obstacles might prevent such an excursion on the planet? How will Halisi deal with the obstacles? Further, how do you think Halisi will deal with managing her mysterious illness, and what is she sick with for that matter? How might her actions be hindered or helped by the native alien life? In what ways do you think her actions will change how the alien life lives their own lives? Finally, do you believe that Halisi will be rescued at some point? If so, how will this come about?
mathtans
I like the mushroom consciousness idea.
RebelVampire
i do think the jelly child said as such.
G (Title Unrelated)
Q3: These are... all questions I have, myself. XD
mathtans
That illness thing is probably the immediate concern. Withdrawal itself is an issue, whether the pills were life saving or not
G (Title Unrelated)
I was wondering if they were antidepressants or something
RebelVampire
yeah for all the optimism in this plan, the pills are gonna be problematic. but i did wonder if they were antidepressants
khkddn
the flashback scene after she takes her last pill makes it seem to me like she was waiting for medical test results
kayotics
it's also a future time, so it could be a pill that prevents a life threatening disease from spreading.
mathtans
That's a good thought. The whole not accomplishing anything in her life is pretty bleak. Maybe that's a symptom.
G (Title Unrelated)
oh I didn't realize that scene was about her somehow
kayotics
my hope is that she's rescued well before she even needs to worry about this single plant producing any viable food options, since even if the plant grows, it's not likely going to sustain her
G (Title Unrelated)
yeah exactly
RebelVampire
not to mention depending on what plant it is it could take forever to grow. plant growth really varies a lot from crop to crop
kayotics
as for the pills, it seems like her illness has a vague timeline. Like a degenerative disease or something cancerous.
G (Title Unrelated)
P.s., I want some rainbow space maize.
RebelVampire
yes i second this
rainbow space maize for everyone
mathtans
It's a maize-ing.
khkddn
a few pages after she takes the pill she wonders "why are red pills better stimulants" and the pill she took was red. but then again if it were antidepressants i would expect a flashback that looked more like a therapists office than a doctor with results
Jabbage
Oh gosh I don't want to interrupt all the amazing discussion about Halisi's mysterious malady but I was so pleased to find out that there's actually multicoloured corn like that
I thought I made it up for a gag but it's reaaaaaal
kayotics
i have the link, if you'd like it
khkddn
oh i love the corn page
kayotics
https://www.sciencealert.com/this-rainbow-corn-is-the-coolest-way-to-eat-your-veggies (rainbow corn)
mathtans
It wasn't too corny.
kayotics
Honestly? corn, rice, and wheat would all be things I'd say should be brought to an earth colony.
G (Title Unrelated)
yeassssst. XD
unless there's naturally occurring yeast.
Man, we don't even know what it would be like to visit another living planet
RebelVampire
if we have rainbow corn, clearly were meant to go into space right now.
thats a good catch with the red pill, @khkddn
i actually hadnt paid attention to the pill color
mathtans
As to the question of Halisi being rescued, I foresee two possible outcomes. First, that she's found still alive, and she's learned enough about the planet natives to further space research or something, or second, that she's found dead, but the natives were so taken by her stories that her name will live on forever in the history books of first contact.
G (Title Unrelated)
I didn't associate the pill color musing with her situation but maybe it IS related!
RebelVampire
though i leave it open shes on some sort of mental health related medicine, i do feel its more likely its a degenrative disease of some sort. cause it makes her wanting to go to space make more sense. cause i feel its one of those things where youd be more willing to do it if you knew that you had a shorter time than most to live
math no, that second one is too dark
XD
although not implausible
khkddn
if halisi is not reunited with her dad at some point i'll be so sad
or at least they speak to each other
Delphina
Yeah, I'm just gonna say I don't think Halisi's gonna make it back to Earth. I think we're probably looking at a "she finds peace and purpose with the remaining time she has" situation.
RebelVampire
im gonna believe in the rescue efforts cause her dad seems to be a determined dude. and tbf they probably know her flight path so unless she was super duper off course they can probably guess a reasonable area she might be.
mathtans
I don't know that it's necessarily dark... it's kind of a happy end, just not for Halisi.
Also, maybe the pills help her speak. But that's a thing she won't need with the jellys.
I do think that receiving a message from an 80 year old spacecraft is probably something worth investigating.
RebelVampire
thatd be mighty convenient. tho in some au shed get so used to the psychic stuff shed go back to live among humans and be like "oh shit thats right they cant just see my mind pictures"
mathtans
That's an interesting point, about readapating to civilization.
Crazy theory time: Eating the mushrooms constantly ends up turning her into a jelly-creature. When the humans arrive, they won't recognize her.
RebelVampire
i do think shell have some affect on the jellies though. cause i think at the very least shes gonna teach them the important of oral traditions and theyll start telling their own stories and collectively grow as a species. i think shes really setting the jellies on the path for this.
LOL
i was thinking earlier about what if the mushrooms are semi psychic cause thats what happens to the jellies when they die
they dont die and just come back as the mushrooms
mathtans
Ooooh, that'd be an interesting twist.
Like maybe Halisi gains some psychic powers too.
(Though we may have ended up back at cannibalism...)
G (Title Unrelated)
not to shoot down anyone's fun speculation, but it doesn't seem like that kind of story, tbh. XD
kayotics
haha
we don't even know if the jellies can die i mean, I'd think they would, since they apparently come into existence somehow
mathtans
Also they haven't overrun the world.
kayotics
maybe theyre very slow at growing
or they just become the water
G (Title Unrelated)
slow-growing seems very likely
mathtans
I figure before they die they just kind of stop transmitting. Maybe run off somewhere. So no one is aware.
(Maybe they're like lemmings?)
G (Title Unrelated)
(that is not how lemmings work, sorry. XD)
mathtans
(I would worry if lemmings could read my thoughts.)
G (Title Unrelated)
(the suicidal lemmings myth was created by disney)
mathtans
shakes fist at mouse
G (Title Unrelated)
(or did you mean something else lol)
mathtans
I free associate. I mean what you want me to mean.
RebelVampire
yeah ive been wondering if the jellies are immortal. although ya know what, we have immortal jellyfish on earth so thats not that ridiculous to imagine.
kayotics
man, jellyfish are messed up
mathtans
There can be only one! hands out swords
kayotics
i can only imagine that the Jellies in earth in a pocket feel the same too. I was able to touch the bell of a couple at an aquarium once and man, that was a weird feeling
G (Title Unrelated)
I've been watching PBS Eons on youtube, I wonder if they've done one about the origins of cnidarians yet...
RebelVampire
honestly im putting money on immortal just cause they didnt even know what death was. unless they do die and just dont understand the hibernating jellies are never coming back
QUESTION 4. One topic resounding throughout the comic is humanity connecting to the past while also embracing the future and expanding. In what ways do you think reconnecting with humanity’s origins have changed Halisi on a personal level? How might they continue to change her? Why do you think Halisi so strongly believes in bringing the past to humans as humanity expands into space? In what ways do you think she’ll think it will help humanity as a whole? How might Halisi’s experiences on this new alien planet change the way she thinks about humanity’s past? How might it change how she conveys humanity’s past to other humans? Overall, what do you believe the story has to show us in regards to balancing the past, the future, and why both are needed?
G (Title Unrelated)
immortal jellies make for a good contrast to Halisi's fears of her own mortality
mathtans
They can be injured though, like the one who had a thing fall on it. It'd suck to be immortal that way.
RebelVampire
that is true. and contrasts like that are good.
Jabbage
(imma point out, Little One also notes that they're going to get better one day, although Halisi is a bit incredulous about that)
mathtans
The connecting to the past thing makes me think of that society. Which didn't seem to have a lot of members. Also, it took them, what, ten years to decide on things? (I was amused by "say that to my face" because, um, I think that's what the person is doing.)
Delphina
Totally saying, if I had a bunch of tentacle arms that would grow back and my weird human buddy was dying, I'd let her eat a couple to survive.
G (Title Unrelated)
I assume their tentacles don't have stingers. XD
RebelVampire
for me itd depend on how fast theyd grow back. cause if i had to spend like 500 years waiting for tentacle arms to grow back, that doesnt sound pleasant
mathtans
If so, they must have turned the stingers off to crawl around on her.
RebelVampire
they probably wouldnt have stingers cause their planet seems peaceful. like none of the jellies are like "oh no predators who will destroy us" so theres no need for their evolutionary track to lead to stingers in so far as i can see
kayotics
in response to the question: There's a lot of parallels to humans expanding to other planets and our own planet's history of colonization. There's a lot of cultural pain that comes with leaving your home and leaving your country (whether by force or by choice), and reconnecting to that cultural heritage is something that decedents often go through to feel like they belong in the world. I can see that being a driving point for delivering some of these artifacts to other planets.
G (Title Unrelated)
IRL Jellies mostly use their stings for catching prey?(edited)
Delphina
Do we even know if they feel pain?
mathtans
Wait, do they eat?
khkddn
they seem to have difficulty understanding when a human is unhappy or feels pain
kayotics
they might not need to eat in the same way
they might just kind of absorb what they need
Jabbage
I'm not sure it's going to come up specifically, but I think they probably dont' feel pain like we feel it? Just because i don't think they have the same sensory capabilities. Little One is frustrated that they can't move around as fast as the others, but I don't think they're in pain as such
G (Title Unrelated)
yeah. I was thinking about the Question and I think... it's interesting how it's framed as this thing where they've decided the colonists NEED this, but like, they can't agree on what's actually important
mathtans
Maybe Halisi will make a tiny scooter for Little One.
G (Title Unrelated)
I think it's the stories, not the objects, that are important.
And like... All stories are important???
RebelVampire
i think that is true, that all stories are important. cause stories are subjective and whats personally important to one person isnt important to someone else
kayotics
i think a few cultural trinkets to go with the stories can help, like... like I remember being a kid and my family having a christmas wooden carousel from germany or something, which is where my family emigrated from, so it was like "oh that's my people" I think having something to connect to some of the stories is important.
RebelVampire
thus why its worth preserving them all and no agreeance is needed really. because any single story can have an affect on someone
Jabbage
@kayotics I really like your point about our history of colonization, and it's something that I've tried to be careful with and approach thoughtfully, because I think that IS a driving factor in Halisi wanting to share people's cultural heritage with them. One of the things that sparked this story is thinkign about how current issues with repatriating cultural objects and deciding who has control over them would translate into a world where we don't even all live on the same planet any more
Delphina
The beginning showed that humanity has VR technology to "experience Earth", but it's several very comfortable degrees apart. I like that normally, being so advanced would make the hardships of the very distant past feel less real (just vaguely amusing/educational) But having Halisi have to figure out how humans lived and survived kind of brings that back and grounds her in a way that establishing Cookie Cutter Terraform Colony Number 14792 wouldn't.(edited)
So in that sense, the physicality of it is important
RebelVampire
i do think @kayotics has a point. especially in this story because of that vr scene where they were touring the roman thing. cause its not like they dont already have stories and ways to view historical things. and the actual objects can really tie that together. but i also think the stories are just as important via the scene where theyre shown to be able to print 3d objects. in essence the object means nothing without the story, but the story is made more powerful by the object. its a symbiotic relationship in a way.
kayotics
I'm glad it's something you've thought about!
I can't help but think about how colonization has affected the planets that the humans have landed on, and how it'll effect the planet that Halisi has landed on as well, no matter how small.
G (Title Unrelated)
I was thinking about that, too!
mathtans
Maybe she'll want it purged from the records to preserve it. And since Dad was just using grad students, he can oblige.
Jabbage
I thought long and hard about what race to make my astronaut because when they were a random white academic, the whole thing had a very different feel. Landing on some planet and educating the rather silly native denizens. I also wanted someone who grew up around the earliest archaeology created by anatomically modern humans so it made sense to make her black and from South Africa anyway
but then I'm white and British and so... yeah, I've basically had a lot to think about and juggle on that one
mathtans
Jabbage: Well, damn. I hadn't considered that, but you make a good point.
At least she's not building churches and asking the jellys to worship.
Incidentally, speaking of growing up, I liked the flashback image with her and dad looking youthful.(edited)
RebelVampire
im interested in the idea of who has control over the cultural objects we deem important, especially in regards to technology. because the comic touched on it a bit with the 3d printing and it really starts getting into the ship of Theseus issues of identity for those objects
mathtans
"Fax me your statue. No, I'm not paying you for it, I'll display it on Planet X for the Xposure."
Jabbage
And is seeing a reproduction ever 'the same?;
Even if it's identical in every way?
mathtans
Probably not, which is why they haven't figured out teleporters.
kayotics
if it's identical in every way i feel like maybe it is the same
but... wait maybe not
mathtans
Just to sum, pretty grand scale for this one, and a powerful beginning. Here's to Halisi and the Jellies.
Sounds like a strange band name.
RebelVampire
see its a really interesting philosophical question to explore. is whether cultural significance relies on the exact object or if we can transfer that as humanity spreads into the stars
mathtans
(I wonder if we'll learn more about jelly civilization.)
G (Title Unrelated)
Also, what stories do we remember or forget...
kayotics
I feel like there's something to be said about the energy that we as humans put into things. Like there's something there in the reverence we give something. like when you see a giant statue that's been prayed to vs a huge statue to commemorate someone, those have different feelings.
RebelVampire
COMIC TEA PARTY- THURSDAY BOOK CLUB END!
Sadly, this wraps up this week’s Thursday Book Club chat for now. Thank you so much to everyone for reading and joining us! We want to give a special thank you to Jabbage, as well, for making Earth in a Pocket. If you liked the comic, make sure to support Jabbage’s efforts however you’re able to~!
Read and Comment: http://earthinapocket.spiderforest.com/
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Addendum: Woke up this morning determined not to feel sorry for myself anymore. I think I've gotten it out of my system for now. So - lemme look forwards. My first task, I think, needs to be to figure out how not to be a complete leach on my family. Not that I haven't been trying.
That's why I worked my ass off in '20 on that UX Designer bootcamp - but after a year of applying to 5 jobs a day after that, with no luck, I decided if I was gonna fail at a thing it'd be something I actually give a shit about - my creative work. Besides, every time I've worked in an office for longer than 5 minutes it literally makes me want to off myself. & I think a job working from home suit my abilities better anyway - not to mention the pandemic that'll never stop raging during our lifetimes due to incompetence & idiocy.
So. I need a steady monthly income & I'd still like it to come from my creative work. I just need to find an audience. My strengths are in writing/storytelling - with a dash of art (images). I don't think I want to create comics - as I'm more adept/interested in building worlds primarily with words, not images. Although I still do want to compliment those words with images. (One of the many reasons I don't want to get into traditional book publishing anymore - where covers are chosen by corporate robots for your work due to marketability or w/e)
Also, much more importantly, in traditional book publishing - a steady monthly income is a bit of a pipe dream, & I see even most trad. published authors these days maintain a Patreon or something similar anyway. So honestly what is the point of trad. publishing lmao?
(& that's not even getting into the current supply chain issues with the book making industry rn (& I suspect will compound going forward) - Ding dong, the witch is dead. Let's live in the future, not the past. - so I feel far more comfortable following down the digital route.
Self-publishing through Amazon (which I've tried before) - I'd rather not do either. First of all, it's Amazon, so Fuck Bezos on principal, & secondly the interface is such utter GARBAGE (hideous & impossible to find anything) - that I'm just not going to be putting my work there
so this is why I've been searching for a platform on which to put my work, & have a Patreon for my [hypothetical lol) audience to support me monthly. Somewhere to grow my audience - somewhere an audience is already - looking for fiction/w/e I can provide.
Back in '20, I thought this might be Wattpad - I could (& did) even put up individual illustrations for each chapter in a work there - but while I became friends with like 3 other writers on there, even after posting episodes (chapters) every week for nine months, I didn't really find any kind of audience at all. Besides, Wattpad already has a pretty established reputation as a place for teenagers to post salacious fan fiction - & no shame to them, but I don't think that's quite the right audience for what I was putting up there.
(The YA stuff I'd written previously rejected by trad. publishing agents.) Since then, I've kind of wanted to move away from Young Adult anyway - branch out into other stories. So that Wattpad experiment had run its course - & I moved on...
I discovered newsletter platforms like Substack - & was working hard on developing a fictional series for that - but then I discovered Substack directly funds a lot of vehemently Anti-Trans "writers"/thought - which I will not ever be party to, so I scrapped that idea.
Any platform is run by evil bastard corpo overlords, I get that, but directly funding Hate? GTFO. So I moved on from that idea. As you kids saw, I then experimented for a while with creating a webcomic on Webtoon (which is the site where kids all get their comics these days) - which is specifically a scrolling webcomic format designed primarily with mobile devices in mind - & it's huge - with a huge audience - which is partly why I was interested in giving it a go. But of course there are MANY comics on there now, so everything is a drop in the bucket.
& besides, I think I really am more interested in painting pictures via words mostly (& the wonderful labyrinthine narrative detours only fiction can provide) - with images as addendums.
(Though I still do want to create occasional images - just not the grueling every angle bull crap comics demand) So this is why I landed on podcasts. It's audio - so it's primarily word-based - but I could illustrate each episode/chapter. Problem is, my voice is not usable (due to my condition) as a clear narrator - so I've been using text to speech bots. They're OK, but - especially when it comes to different characters' dialog - they really fail at tone/intonation. & competing against fiction podcasts all fully voice acted, with composers, & audio peeps who've been doing sound mixing for forty years or w/e - I just can't compete. My work would not stand out favorably in such a market. Not with a budget of exactly zero dollars lol. These are the cold hard facts.
So I'm basically back to square one. I know I want to earn $, on a monthly basis, from a small (I really don't need much on Patreon - I just need to pay my stupid fuckin rent lmao - I don't go anywhere or do anything or spend any money cuz I spend my whole life stressing about art & marketability & capitalism & the decline of Empire and whether art can even mean anything in such times & not being able to do Anything about ANYTHING!) with my creative work (mostly writing, some images) - I know I want it to be fiction people can read online. I just don't know what platform to use - with an already inbuilt audience looking for the sort of work I create. Does such a thing even exist anymore?
Or must I await the inevitable total collapse of international civilization - for when we're all back living in caves & I can finally take up my true calling as the tribe's shaman - casting stories over the crackling fire? (This is a JOKE, probably!)
_
I'm not doing that podcast anymore. I'm racking my brain here trying to figure out how to build an audience/make $ creatively rn. Every conventional avenue is cut off to me, as I've explained before. I don't really want to write books anymore (due to restricted creative control/sadly losing faith entirely in the medium/business of the novel as an effective art form in these horrendous times) - but trying to build an audience online has just been one failure after another. I really don't know what to do. These days, I catch myself daydreaming about dropping off the grid entirely & farming or some shit but I think realistically my disability precludes me (for multiple reasons) from such foolishness. & I think I'm always going to need to create art of some description. I just wish...like...anyone would care... & this isn't a call out post or anything - like - I get it. Shit is falling apart everywhere (more rapidly than I think many abled folk may realize) so reading/listening to my creative output is nobody's top priority (nor should it be) - especially in such oversaturated markets I don't really know what I'm trying to say here. Like. I'm unemployed - I have no prospects - & even if I had any - the government would cut funding for medical necessities b/c secretly (but not so secretly) policy is set up for people like me to die quietly in the background I'm far more privileged than most in my position, due to my family. At least for now. But if I can't find a steady source of income soon, I'm going to have to move back in with my folks which I really do not want to have to do. Like - I did everything right. I went all the way through a hellish school system. I graduated (with honors) from college. I jumped through all their hoops, I played all the stupid fucking games. & because of my condition I am almost completely cut off from society - b/c no one has given me a chance at the things I actually give a shit about. (This is a rant now oh well lol) & I know I'm a damn good writer. I'm a good artist. But finding an audience is just. I don't even know. I don't even know who I am anymore half the time. I feel thoroughly rejected from society at large. Not that I'd wanna join it right now lmao but like...it'd be nice to be asked. I'm not the only one hanging on by a fuckin thimble right now. I know that. But as a disabled person, I feel the strain before many of you. I feel it when there's not enough people to help me get up in the morning so I get left lying in bed for four hours after my usual times. Sorry, I'm rambling now. I'm also kind of exhausted trying to come up with creative endeavors and putting them up with nobody giving a shit. I put my heart & soul into these things - and I have for years. 32 years of my life, where instead of going out enjoying myself or trying to form friendships (which is already really fucking difficult when I have to get back home every day at 9pm cuz my aides are working 100 hr wks & I don't want to overtax their schedules anymore than I already do) - I chose to forego all that, laying myself on the great altar of art or whatever...all for what? Nobody caring? It's. Fuckin soul crushing. I spend like 95% of my time alone. & I don't think I'm the only one. All I really do is work on creative endeavors, research, and then finally turn off my brain watching football or w/e I don't have energy for any of this anymore. This hyper capitalist mode of....I just. I'm not even making sense & I'm all over the place & I usually outline/plan this sort of shit & probably nobody will read this anyway so I don't know why I'm bothering lmao Shot in the dark, I guess? I dunno. I know I have people who love me. & for that I'm grateful. I hope you all do too. These are dark times & I don't see them brightening in our lifetimes I'm afraid. Hold on to the ones you got I suppose. We all just have to play the cards we're dealt, even if they're all jokers, right? While I do have people who love me, I'm also sick of Utah & the US as a whole tbh, but I honestly doubt anywhere would be much
better if I'm being realistic. Even Mars will be conquered by Musk... Anyway. Just trying to express how it feels to be disabled in these times of societal collapse unheard of since the end of the Bronze Age. Perhaps it's for the best. Wish I could inhabit a different body for a while. But "if wishes were horses, we'd all be eatin' steak," to quote the bard. Like. for just one day, I'd love to experience a day that didn't feel like going to war with myself. With the world. With...like, ok, this is kind of a stupid fuckin example, but on the other hand it shows you the power of art (for w/e that's worth these days) but I was watching the most recent season (series) of Sex Education on Netflix (great frikken show btw) - and for the first time EVER - a disabled character (played by a disabled actor) has an intimate scene with another character where she's not a sex worker (no shame to sex workers but the connotation is always we can only ever have sex if we pay for it) & nobody died lmao - & it was this sacred scene where consent was central & it was playful & sweet & it literally made me cry b/c like - (& I don't cry AT ALL anymore - it's just not me) but I did - I fuckin cried, because like. You can't understand. I'm sorry. But you can't. To never see yourself reflected in such a manner. & then suddenly. You see yourself being tenderly kissed on the nose - & for a touch starved cripple - to see that - like. I know in this life I'm never gonna get that. I've accepted that. I'm too old & too much of a fuckup. But for the youth to see that? For the disabled youth of the world? Fuck. I hope it fills them with the brighter future they deserve. Maybe art can move mountains after all. Just wish I could build a door to get myself out of *here.* It's so fucking hard to see the light right now for me. I hold my head up high. I smile. I'm the strongest person I know. But I just wish I could peel off my shit & be the real me & be loved & I'm terrified none of that will ever be in store for me. But I roll on, as always. Love & strength & sorry to be...this...lmao....
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