#then post graduation you get this??? Maybe some sort of grad party hook up?

[berezina]

THE FOLLOWING DAY, SATURDAY, JANUARY 12th, I also didn't tweet, and my iCal reminds me why. I had an invite to a glammish Manhattan party. Cocktails at 7pm before guests moved on to dinner. That's the kind of true but implausible detail you cut from a novel.

Not that I'd been invited, exactly. I'd scored a plus-one from the college friend I've called 'Sarah.' For those new around here, Sarah is a type-A daylight creature of the tech-finance woods. Which isn't my main problem with her, though it makes small-talking around our periodic hostilities hard. She's short, blonde, and works out enough to be fit without becoming slender, a frustration she'll only reference in passing because direct conversation about it would make her feel like the wrong sort of woman. She lives on the Williamsburg waterfront in one of those glassy towers that are easy to despise until you're inside a high-floor apartment. The East River Ferry cuts its engine and glides into the dock below… a glass-muted helicopter beats by at eye-level between you and the Midtown skyline. In her apartment I question my life choices, decide it's too late, then think, Is it, though?

It was true that not having Sarah in my life was unthinkable, and also that we were overdue for a breakup. Our friendship endured because a break would be awkward for the mutual friends we both actually liked. She'd done the same math, I was sure. For girls we're both good at math.

The other thing keeping us together I doubt she noticed: her epic drive to avenge her sub-Alice status in college by proving that I was sub-Sarah, now. Which I was on her scale, and sometimes on mine. When I remember that I'm a vocational wreck I want to be Sarah and can imagine doing her job. At a party of strangers, never mind: no Sarah. The plus-one was another demonstration.

So I couldn't tweet that day, obviously. Too busy in the long mirror negging my mild Sarah-friendly dress and shoes and hair, working up the courage to piss Sarah off by putting on a slut show. I did this while preparing answers for Sarah's colleagues, who think it's only polite to ask someone like me, 'What do you do?'

'FBI.'

'FBI in training.'

'Influencer.'

'Like…nothing? I'm just rich.'

*Russian accent* 'I am model.'

(I did the Russian with Sarah in earshot once and she bombed in with 'Alice is an amazing writer,' which flattered me until I realized she just didn't want anyone to think she had a dunce loser friend.)

I remember thinking—maybe it was that day or the next, on the other side of the party—that the root trouble with us is we'd each scripted ourselves into a different buddy comedy. Mine was absurdist in not-good way: two women, neither of whom understand a word the other says, pretending they do so the other won't think she's off the up and up.

Sarah's, like most buddy comedies, had a moral. I'm the amusing flighty spontaneous looks-obsessed one, whose job is to teach my sober hard-working friend to take it easy, bae, have a drink, worry not about her boss's true opinion…because other minds or truth at all are never knowable. (In her movie I'm a philosopher, too.)

In return, Sarah schools me in the happiness that comes from hard work and adult restraint.

Of Sarah's four examples of my looks obsession, three were hookups, not boyfriends, but fine, there was truth to it. The untruthful part, which she must have recognized, was her pretense that our hook-up styles reflect deliberate choices only, not in any way different (however temporary) meat-market values. Sarah, as she'll tell you, is 'buttony' cute. But that's a risky play when you're five-foot-one with a firm thickness everywhere that, sorry, you do kind of deserve for listening to doctors and your Westchester mom, and exercising an hour each day like she does, while ignoring my advice to stop eating like her.

The party was not my worst. As a reward for dressing with cowardly 'taste,' I harvested a bushel of corporate male regard, including the older-male regard I sometimes crave because Daddy blah blah. Wise Sarah would have told me the good news: the harvest meant I could be choosy. I could go on a proper date with the most promising one. But I don't know: the dialectic of desire I inherited was busted, waiting for a spare part that never arrived. When most men at a party or on a scene don't pay court I become indignant and drive off the noble exceptions. Where I'm popular I become less choosy, likelier to run off somewhere to disinhibit with the room's most persistent Regarder. Sarah loves to replay the times my unchoosiness persisted even after the Regarder had showed his hand as a player, mild psycho, or (not defending it) married.

That night Sarah kept me under surveillance. If I wasn't willing to start with a proper date, I would need to submit any potential hookup to the Sarah Test: is this a dude I could remotely imagine dating sometime in the near future, when we were done with our sad business? The answers in this case were nooooooo. Also, the leading contestants were friends, which is gross, somehow. I was pretty sure I said no.

The next morning I woke hungover, confused by a strange bed, and thought, Uh oh. But it was too comfortable to be a man's. I found Sarah in her apartment's kitchen district, in sports spandex. She'd finished in her building's gym, or the micro gym she belonged to as well because it had the better whatever and her employer paid half. One of her little hands dawdled on the island's marble top, enjoying some downtime, while she thumb-scrolled her phone with the other. She made a gesture of 'finishing up' before the needling arrived.

'She wakes! She rises!'

Something like that. I'm not going to pretend I remember exact words in this scene. The point is that my habit of sleeping late fit with my caricature from her movie.

'I smell Venture Capital coffee,' I said.

She poured me a mug's worth, and it was fucken amazing until she ruined it with, 'Did we like the bed?'

'Your sheets are intense.'

'Pillow-wise?'

'I'm not just saying this. You run like the best boutique hotel.' Which was true.

'I'm putting the customer first,' she said.

'It's true.'

It was Sarah's turn to rejoin but she put on a transitional smile instead. 'Remember when you said that to me?'

Yeah, yeah. As I explained at the time, which was college, I was being self-deprecating, not condescending to her business aspirations. 'I could never be good at business' was set up. 'To me, the customer's always wrong.' Pow!

Her memory had done light renovations, updating the quip from a play on the classically servile 'customer's always right' to the equally servile but more Obama-era proactive, 'putting the customer first.' When I pointed out her mistake she said, 'I can't believe you remember that.'

Classic: suggesting I was obsessed with an ancient incident I never would have recalled if she hadn't two seconds ago brought it up.

A cease-fire held as we walked our coffees over to her living room district. We shared the instinct to grab winter sun from her wall of noise-cancelling glass. Even in communion, I thought, we were so different. Her she was caffeinated and high on exercise, her spandex with the sour damp smell of achievement. She took the sun, checking it off her daily list of things to do in January, for Vitamin D. I was dry-mouthed and skullachey in undies and a v-neck, scrounging sun for the same reason I overflirt. I need handfuls of anti-depressant.

We weren't done.

Sarah reminded me that (in college) I'd been defensive at first, accusing her of paranoia before retreating to like, 'I totally get how you'd hear it as condescending, but honestly…'

My college apology had expired. Was I aware that my old tone of condescension persisted? Toward her and, yes, others? She brought a lightly embellished example from the party I couldn't believe she'd overheard. It was with one of the Regarders and she was misunderstanding ironic banter. We'd had that conversation before, too. Anything I say in an old-movie-star voice, as a rule, I told her, is not serious. But no one hears anything. I re-apologized.

'I'm not saying be a different person inside,' Sarah said, in her wise-one conclusion-voice. 'It would be too weird if you weren't arrogant. Seriously, you'd be unrecognizable. [laugh laugh laugh] But you're getting too old to like, radiate arrogance.'

'While living in Queens, you mean.'

'I mean anywhere.'

'Arrogance is not a great look for a nobody is what you're saying.'

'No for anyone.'

Yeah, right.

Having lost my will to exist outside Sarah's judgments, I spent the rest of that Sunday with her and her parents. They showed up at her place exactly at noon, which led me to picture them inside their car in a parking garage, killing time listening to WNYC. Her mother, Jill, greeted me with began sincerely warm on its way to suspiciously long. Sniffing for alcohol? Infusing me with 'support.' Jill used to act testy and competitive toward me in sympathy with her daughter but since the post-college status-reversal I was a poor thing having a rough time and what a pity to throw such a promising life away, a fate pretty much sealed and we could stop discussing now that she's age almost-26. Sarah's kindly, invisible father came over with WNYC still in his ears like the perfume of another woman and told us to sit, sit, while his wife took over the kitchen, to poison us with bagels and cake.

'I will need an update,' Jill warned me, as if she had any intention of giving me time to prepare. 'What's the grad school story?'

'I'mmmm still deciding. Pretty sure I'll apply.'

'Great!' She pointed a cake knife at me. 'But do it this time. Really do it. Yeah?'

'That's always the idea, except—'

'Great.'

It was at a rent-the-back-room dinner she'd treated Sarah and ten of her friends to during our college-graduation week, that I'd told Jill my grad school plans. She'd said, 'Don't waste your time in the Ivory Tower. It's much ado about nothing.' Now I was a good fit.

When Jill wasn't looking, I yanked a strip of lox out from between the overfull bagel buttocks, and ate it like a piece of sashimi. I thought about stuffing the toxic bread product into my bag like after I stayed overnight at their Chappaqua place but decided it would be more fun to feed Jill's condescending concern by leaving them my carb refuse right there on the island. This way she could whisper to Sarah when I stepped into the bathroom, 'Is she eating? She doesn't look great,' and Sarah would tell me the next day, 'My mom asked if you were eating and I told her it was none of her business. But just between us, I hope you're eating.'

~Alice from Queens [source]

[comicteaparty]

December 21st, 2017 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on December 21st, 2017, from 5PM - 7PM PST.  The chat focused on Legendary Beings Ara & Celi by NAAN.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

Good day everyone~! This week’s Comic Tea Party is now officially beginning. Today we are discussing Legendary Beings Ara & Celi by NAAN~! (https://tapas.io/series/AraandCeli) For those new to CTP, discussions about the comic are freeform, so please feel free to bring up whatever you wish. However, every 30 minutes I will be dropping in a discussion question to help those who would like a prompt. These questions are totally OPTIONAL to answer so pay them no mind if you wish~! Remember, constructive criticism is allowed, but the primary focus here is to have fun and appreciate the amazing comics that the community makes~! Each chat a top comment will be picked and featured on an ad for this chat, so let’s have a great discussion~!

With that said, let us begin with this first question~!

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

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

I thought the opening was pretty strong since it started with a lot of tension

made me excited to see where that was going to lead up to

snuffysam

The opening scene was a really strong hook, agreed.

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

hook! yeah that's the word for it

NAAN

slips in here, nobody notice me vibrating

✨Tenor✨

-Flops on NAAN!- :D

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

OLLEH

snuffysam

NAAN alert!

hey everyone!

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

hai

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

hiiiii NAAN~!

✨Tenor✨

UUUGH I don't have a fav sceeeeene. I've pretty much enjoyed the whole trip so far x3

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah the opening scene was definitely very interesting. especially in terms of scale because when looking back in retrospect you can see the difference in terms of epicness? i cant think of a good word

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yeah, the art style is really something

NAAN

Hello, hello!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

*notices no vibrating lives in blissful ignorance *

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Hi there!

Kabocha

I'm gonna agree with Draco! The opening scene was my favorite so far -- mostly because Angels vs Demons is often pretty cool

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Great to see ya @NAAN(edited)

And yeah, that opening was spectaculat

Kabocha

also, I really got very curious about the nature of Ara and Celi themselves, so I'm looking forward to finding out more about them. (They're both intriguing and a little scary...)

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

That scene of everyone doing battle in outer space

NAAN

screams on all these thoughts so far

snuffysam

I think the opening scene also helps bring the other scenes up- because while you're reading through the comic, the thought that this sort of scene may happen again in the future is always in the background.

NAAN

"Intriguing and scary" - this made me laugh so hard

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

is this character's art style intentional

MathTans the Pun Prince

Hello. ^^ I think my fave was actually when Ara said that Miyara wasn't a chosen one, this is just the way things happened to turn out.

NAAN

MY FAVE PANEL

snuffysam

I love when the art style changes like that. really shows that sort of emotion

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

yes

snuffysam

@MathTans the Pun Prince that was an incredible line, yeah

MathTans the Pun Prince

I like how the art style stays that way until Miyara comes to terms with her emotion.

NAAN

I do that on purpose @snuffysam, so that makes me happy to hear(edited)

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

@math yes definitely i have to say that is my fave scene actually. i really like how the toning was used and it had a spectacular atmosphere

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

\

snuffysam

the most recent scene, where ara is explaining miyara's role, is also a strong contender for the best

Kabocha

I am extremely curious to find out what exactly Miyara did in the past to Ara, though. "Surely you don't expect me to forget what she did then!" Gyaaaaaaaaaaaah, I'm expecting something sordid

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

I wish I had found out about this comic sooner

Do you plan on returnnig to it someday, NAAN?

I'd love to share live updates of the comic as new pages are rolled out

NAAN

@MathTans the Pun Prince one of my favorite lines to write. And it was a new edit too. I'd written something else previously.

MathTans the Pun Prince

Oh, cool. Interesting how these edits can play into things.

Maybe it happened during one of her supposed blackouts?

(The thing that was done in the past I mean.)

NAAN

Oh yes, I will be returning to it once I graduate in May! It's on hiatus bc of grad school, and that + insanity of graphic design makes for no comics.

Kabocha

aaaaaaaaaaaaaa grad school. D: D: D:

snuffysam

real life always finds a way to butt its head into comics (edited)

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

yis :<

sorry if i get distracted, i'm lining a page atm too

MathTans the Pun Prince

Related to the blackouts, the dad's a cool character.

NAAN

@Kabocha and @MathTans the Pun Prince your questions are related -- no spoilers but a hint: the blackouts are related, but it didn't happen during

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

yeah, i liked her dad a lot too

he was different than i expected, in a good way

MathTans the Pun Prince

He had stealth skillz.

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

and i liked that she cared about his well being

Kabocha

oh, also, this page amused me too:

NAAN

also @Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨ the screenshots you posted, I find it enlightening and heartwarming (for me) -- because I'd submitted the comic to a collective once, and most people HATED those XD

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i liked how he just shrugged to the fact she stayed home from school XD

NAAN

also, fujiro is a lot of fun to write ad you will definitely see more of him ; ))))

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

lol

XD

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

yaaaay~!

MathTans the Pun Prince

I'm guessing when he has his somewhat scary wife to deal with, he takes things in stride.

NAAN

also yes @Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨ those panels were intentional. (sorry I missed this question, so many comments brEEZING)

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

XD

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

thats mean math. that is clearly best wife. O_O how can you not like the waifu?

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

we need more sudden/funny art shifts

cause I feel like they work when done right

NAAN

the panel that Kabocha posted, can you all read the tiny text? I've always worried you can't see that

Kabocha

yeah, it's readable on my computer

MathTans the Pun Prince

Heh. I dunno. She has strange vibes, even the friend picked up on that.

snuffysam

not at the scale discord shows for thumbnails, but if I click it I can read it yes

MathTans the Pun Prince

What snuffy said, aye.

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

lo

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

yeah I can read it~!

NAAN

oh good! it's meant to be small, hehe. i've been going through the pages today for future lettering edits and that was one of them

especially for print

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah the tiny text is readable even on my tiny screen

NAAN

i'm a huge believer in shifting the art between humorous / dramatic, just because it lightens the tension. like a small break before continuing

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yes i agree it can definitely be used to lighten the tension for sure

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

hahah, it reminds me of old school clamp

that technique

NAAN

old school clamp was a huge influence on wee bab NAAN (edited)

MathTans the Pun Prince

I'm kind of bad for noticing techniques. ^.^

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

heehee

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

yeah, i love old school clamp~

snuffysam

oh yeah, i guess it is kind of clamp-y

NAAN

I got something related to the waifu~ exclusive, 2nd chapter back cover for the printed edition

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

OMG

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

lol omg XD

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Cute!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

thats is adorable~!

NAAN

may be quiet now, feels like she's derailing the entire discussion(edited)

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

nah dont worry about it. sometimes it happens cause i think most ppl are multitasking at the same time.

i wanna say i really like how wyda(sp?) looks. like of all the things in the comic that struck me as the most clamp like

but in the good way of course

where i got all nostalgic

MathTans the Pun Prince

I'm so bad with names too. ^.^

NAAN

;w; sniffs

wyda is an extremely new character to the cast, compared to the others. I created her recently when I realized some parts of the story needed reworking

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

lol

I'm kind abad with names as well

NAAN

she ended up being a good foil for ara imo, when I wrote her voice separately

snuffysam

Did you redo old pages at some point, or are you just referring to scripting things?

NAAN

so she stay wyda, u stay

re: wyda, I mean script. HOWEVER, save for the last...3 pages of the first chapter, that was entirely redone

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

gonna go afk for a bit to respond to some friends in pm

Kabocha

So, how is her name pronounced? for some reason I was imagining Wyda's name to be pronounced as "Vida"(edited)

NAAN

originally hosted it on comic genesis, and when I moved to comicdish, I just decded to redo them.

some of the pages even then, were redone for the print edition

let me show you

snuffysam

and I think you're working on a new site too, iirc?

NAAN

some of the old ones on comicdish before I edited/redid them for the print version (later the actual official thing, christ so many edits)

Yep! I am, hosted at ac.jadinerhinestudios.com (I goofed up in domain registrations, so it's a subdomain for now) @snuffysam People are helping me with the code for it, haha(edited)

snuffysam

cool! yeah, whatever works, ha ha.

NAAN

@Kabocha Her name comes from a part of a classmate's name, so Wee-dah. (Or Wí-dah)

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

QUESTION 2. Though reluctant and rather unwilling, Miyara accepts her destiny and chooses to become one of Ara’s “bodies.” How do you think these new powers will affect Miyara’s life? Will everything go back to the way it was (relatively speaking) or will she, as was ominously mention, lose things she once had? What about her “episodes” that cause her to violently punch her father? Will she be over them or will they continue? What are her episodes anyway and do they relate to her status as one of Ara’s chosen?

NAAN

oh snap, it's a goodie

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

you know what's hard about this is that we didn't really see much of her life before

so we don't have much to compare it to

so we'd have to mostly make assumptions based on the little bit we do know that what comes from here after is new

MathTans the Pun Prince

Well, she seems to have lost her ability to dream with this, that's an interesting side effect. I feel like Miyara will TRY to have everything the way it was, even though she can't, which will cause issues.

snuffysam

It was an interesting choice that the "episodes" weren't even mentioned until after the museum scene...

MathTans the Pun Prince

As to the episodes thing, I feel like that's not linked to the chosen thing directly. Might play a role in having her somewhere she doesn't remember going.

Her dad could also have been joking? Like, it's a bit of an odd time to bring that up. Or maybe dad can sense what's going on, that's why he said it?

Kabocha

I think Miyara's screwed. (lol) I think it was mentioned in Ch3/World 3 that Miyara's episodes are related to how her powers aren't like, fully bound to her quite yet? So she's not in a good position as a human, magical girl, or incarnation of an angel's power. SUCKS TO BE YOU MIYARA.

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

lolol

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i wonder if her episodes are actually dreams tho? cause what if they arent full dreams so keep happening

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

I was thinking maybe they were memories of her past life or something

MathTans the Pun Prince

Oy, what if she has dreams but they're not really dreams. o.O

Kabocha

The impression I got is that Miyara's human life will basically be subsumed by her life as Ara's servant -- but interestingly, the key that she was given in ch 3 seems to have both an angel and a demon wing...? o_o Is Miyara the link between Ara and Celi somehow?

MathTans the Pun Prince

Why wouldn't Celi want there to be a link then? What with the killing and all.

snuffysam

So far, it seems this magical girl stuff has only made Miyara's life worse. Will it eventually get better when she fully fills that role?

Kabocha

Because if there's a link between her and Ara, that means something's going to be pulled into balance, maybe?

or at least, that's what I would assume. Things seem to be off kilter between Ara and Celi themselves. And Celi's kind of nuts.

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Indeed

MathTans the Pun Prince

I feel like Miyara's life was a little off the wall in the first place. Perversely, this might calm her down, giving her an outlet for her more crazy side.

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

yeah~

true~!

MathTans the Pun Prince

Celi needs a hug.

(I don't think Miyara will be in the mood to give her one.)

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Relievant

Kabocha

Miyara will probably try to kill Celi as payback lol But Celi will then be like "Nope, listen, you can't pay attention to Ara, she's not as good as you think she is. Either you go along with me (since you're no longer easy to kill), or I'll basically make sure your life ends horribly right here."

...also maybe I'm starting down the path to crack theories.

MathTans the Pun Prince

That's a bit of a contradiction though, if she's not easy to kill and ending her life.

Maybe someone should take out a new life insurance policy.

Kabocha

Nah, it'd be an empty threat.

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

lol Math

Kabocha

'cause if Miyara still is in the dark about a lot of stuff, Celi would then have that on her side.

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Have comics ever delt with insurance before?

MathTans the Pun Prince

Does Celi need bodies too, maybe? Or did she at some time in the past, and it went badly, so she's jealous...?

snuffysam

Maybe she's trying to get by without them

NAAN

(bad cell camera, but couldn't resist)

snuffysam

lol NICE

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

nah celi is evil. evil sustains you O_O

MathTans the Pun Prince

Heh, nice.

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

I love it @NAAN XD

MathTans the Pun Prince

Ara respects Celi still though. Why respect evil...?

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

cause there has to be balance in the force

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

maybe its also sort of villain respect. you know when like arch rivals are like "ah yes this is a worthy opponent"

Kabocha

Celi tried to rebel against the creator in the beginning. So it's easy enough to say that Celi is EXTREMELY powerful. Maybe that's part of what makes Celi crazy though.

Ara had to split herself into different bodies, while Celi kept it all in.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

oh thats definitely an interesting theory

that they started the same but couldnt handle all dat power

snuffysam

maybe keeping all your power inside you makes you stronger, but it's a riskier move somehow

Kabocha

That could also be why Ara has some level of respect for Celi -- they were once the same.

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

i like that theory

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Me too

Kabocha

OR you shouldn't disrespect something that powerful, because that means you're gonna get cocky and THEY WILL KILL YOU FOR SURE

MathTans the Pun Prince

Hmm! I like that theory. Celi just needs to let it all out... maybe she can't? Maybe that's why she doesn't like Ara, she got the shorter end of the stick?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

or maybe ara is just nice and is fond of respect, politeness, and good manners

which is why miyara is clearly her mortal enemy in that respect

MathTans the Pun Prince

Heh. Gotta teach Miyara table manners in Book 4.

The loss of temper felt realistic. Also shows that Ara has flaws and a breaking point.

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

yeah~

NAAN

so many theories, so many good ones

MathTans the Pun Prince

(All of them wrong, but good theories. )

snuffysam

just because a theory is completely bonkers doesn't mean it isn't good

Kabocha

Indeed. :'3

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

they said allah at one point, i was wondering if there's an islam backing to the story or if that was them capturing several religions in one invocation

Kabocha

Well, Celi did ask "Which creator" at the start, didn't she?

snuffysam

I think there were multiple religions referenced on that page

Kabocha

(sorry I've now decided CELI IS MY FAVORITE)

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

i'm gonna do some stuff AFK, if I don't make it back in time thanks for having me!

snuffysam

see ya!

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

bye super~!

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Bye-Bye!

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

yeah, it seemed to be a mixture of religions~ they mentioned jinns too

in one of the invocations

NAAN

@Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨ thank you for coming and for all your feedback!

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

You're welcome! It was great checking out your comic @NAAN

Cute illustration too X3

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i actually enjoyed that is referenced a mixture of religions. it made it a lot more interesting to me and made me want to know how everything works together. like whats the worlds explanation for tying them all together

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

yeah I enjoy the mixture feeling as well

MathTans the Pun Prince

OMG, NAAN, you drew something that fast? O.o

NAAN

I can sketch stuff like this pretty quickly XD

MathTans the Pun Prince

I's impressed.

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

was curious what the inspiration behind the religious portions of the story were~

NAAN

so long as I don't pay attention to proportions, though lmao

oh! this I can answer, it's not necessarily a huge spoiler i've said it to some people, but I'd really like to try to interpret/show how different religions interpret the idea of an angel + devil (or other beings like the jinn)

like how angels in Buddhism are called dakini -- skydancers

cue the show opening for skydancers the toy(edited)

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

oooh~ that's really neat

NAAN

i want to try showing diff religions through that too, but that's a slight back seat haha. too epic for me

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

hahah that'll keep me reading to see how you incorporate the different ideologies

Kabocha

bwahahahahaha

MathTans the Pun Prince

Mmm, that's interesting. Ambitious.

snuffysam

so essentially these characters are beings that were interpreted by different religions and cultures throughout history?

NAAN

most of them are my own take/understanding, some may be the literal interpretation by diff religions and cultures, yes ^^ (the latter because sometimes you just have to, especially when it's a religion that has had bare representation)

like

water angels are going to be punk aesthetics

and they won't subscribe to one religion, it's p "whatever mang"

snuffysam

oh ok, cool

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

religious mythos is pretty untapped beyond christianity in western stories so it'll be nice to see something that uses a broader scale(edited)

NAAN

@Kabocha good celi go౦ԁ cEli thats some goodceli rightthere rightthere if i do ƽaү so my self i say so thats what im talking about right there right there (chorus: ʳᶦᵍʰᵗ ᵗʰᵉʳᵉ) mMMMMᎷМ НO0ОଠOOOOOОଠଠOoooᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒ Good shiz

snuffysam

lol next question time

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

QUESTION 3. Ara mentions that she needs 11 bodies to survive. Will we meet these other bodies in some form (whether flashback, astral projection, etc.)? If so, what do you think they’re like? If you don’t think they’ll meet, why not? Speaking of bodies, who is Samsa? Is it Miyara? Somehow Miyara and not Miyara? Is it someone else entirely?

the question was summoned

NAAN

@🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄 yep! that's what I'd like to do, since even I get bored XD;;

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

spooky finger wave

MathTans the Pun Prince

Were the other bodies even human, necessarily?

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

w

snuffysam

@MathTans the Pun Prince you mean, like, one's a dog?

NAAN

an example of some of the water punk angels, sans wings

snuffysam

cute!

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

oooooh, they look bad ass~!

MathTans the Pun Prince

Yeah, or a dolphin or something. Like, we're not the only intelligence on the planet.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

those are some awesome designs

snuffysam

i mean that's a possibility. i feel like most of the other bodies are probably human though.

Kabocha

Also ooh, I like the punk angels!

MathTans the Pun Prince

Extending a little less then, would they be female?

snuffysam

hmm that's a trickier one to answer

the prototypical magical girl leagues are typically filled with... like... girls

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

im curious about the fact that when wyda came ara mentioned something about having trouble "with the one here ." so does that mean that theyre in different cities? different times? other planets

snuffysam

but I suppose there's nothing saying a boy can't be one of them

MathTans the Pun Prince

And would they also be as young as Miyara? Like, maybe one was an 80 year old woman. And she's passed away, hence why we might not be meeting her.

bends all the rules

NAAN

nyuck nyuck

@snuffysam there's a hint in my DA gallery

MathTans the Pun Prince

It might be fun to meet some ghosts.

snuffysam

the story's themes are pretty multicultural as far as the mystical beings go, yet so far we've stuck to Japan for the human side. so I'm thinking the other bodies will be from other countries.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i would be really interested in seeing an 80 year old magical angel girl XD

MathTans the Pun Prince

Miyara did have that one panel where she was old and missing her juice.

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

me too XD

80yr old magical girl for the win

snuffysam

I suppose if the magical girls get old and die eventually, that explains why Ara needed a new one right now?

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

but do we know for sure they age

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

idk if they get old. im unclear but it kind of sounds like theyre giving up their physical bodies for a higher purpose

Kabocha

They might not live long enough

snuffysam

true true. that could be one of the things Miyara loses

MathTans the Pun Prince

They live long enough to get new threads.

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

they're really just energy dolls that get eaten

you are my eleven energy pod meals

Kabocha

See, this is why we should deal with celi instead

MathTans the Pun Prince

At least with her, you know where you stand?

(In front of a firing squad?)

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

im getting suspicious that Kabocha is trying to bring us to the dark side

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

kabo must like the dark side

as long as it's not an angels vs. demon where the demons are right story

MathTans the Pun Prince

Hah! NAAN, you're hilarious.

Also, so fast.

Kabocha

Hey, I don't trust Ara very much. I'll trust Celi, who wants to kill everyone instead. At least we know where she stands

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

to be fair i dont trust ara that much either. i feel ara is very much a use them and lose them sort of person cause omg higher purpose yadda yadda yadda

not to say i think celi is right, just i imagine theres a little bit of ara sucks as motivation

MathTans the Pun Prince

Ara is, I think, not used to pushback.

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

yeah i don't trust ara either

ara seems too high strung and emotional to be logically rational

snuffysam

But Miyara could be the one to change her ways

MathTans the Pun Prince

(Maybe that's why she picked Miyara on some level. She needs someone to challenge her.)

snuffysam

exactly

MathTans the Pun Prince

wavelengths

As far as Samsa goes, I think that's a type of fried food. Or possibly the person Miyara turns into when she has episodes.

(Episodes when she craves fried foods.)

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

the impression i get is samsa was a past life or something

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

i was confused by the samsa thing

snuffysam

maybe she

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

but my assumption is that i'm meant to be at this point

snuffysam

's the 80yr old who died

that Miyara is replacing

Kabocha

I feel like Celi's been slowly destroying Ara's spare bodies.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

if thats the case why cant celi touch miyara now as ara stated?

Kabocha

but if Ara is the Universe. And she has multiple bodies... does that make each body a parallel universe?

MathTans the Pun Prince

Hm, maybe Samsa is a past life, and that's what Miyara's reliving when she has episodes.

NAAN

whispers into the wind 'there's a hint in chapter three ~re: samsa~

tiny

MathTans the Pun Prince

Haaha, now I want to see all the characters in short shorts.

NAAN

they can be more comfortable than a short dress, that's for sure 8'D

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

samsa is the beetle?(edited)

Kabocha

"I am the obscure object of desire, that which gods eye; my unkown origin I am she of transcendence I am she of dirt I contain the knowledge of Good and Evil but she has allowed the Living God ---"

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

"The Egyptian god Khepri, Ra as the rising sun, was often depicted as a scarab beetle"

is it related to that, lol

MathTans the Pun Prince

(When I do an image search on "samsa", I still just get fried food. Maybe it thinks I typed "samosa".)

Kabocha

I actually thought "Samsa" was short for "Samsara"

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

oh good

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

oh noice~!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i thought i was the only one who thought samsara XD

NAAN

@🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄 no beetles involved, sadly

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

when i saw samsa

NAAN

cockroaches though

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

I kept thinking of samson

shot

Kabocha

:'3

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

tear for no beetles

NAAN

dedication in reading and transcribing what it says on page 3, Kabocha XD

Kabocha

You hide stuff in little details

>:3 so it's a good hunt

MathTans the Pun Prince

Check behind the fridge.

NAAN

nah, that's where fujiro's hiding from nonka

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

lolol

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i dont think theres a lot of space behind the fridge for that O_O

MathTans the Pun Prince

You're not thinking 5th dimensionally. (That's where all the other bodies are, in the 5th dimension.)

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

ah i see my mistake XD

so i wonder what this promise samsa made was O_O that miyara cant escape

like the slavery promise

the i hate celi too promise

MathTans the Pun Prince

The you can have my first born child promise.

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

looooooooool

make them babies

MathTans the Pun Prince

smol Celi?

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

thinking teen preg is highly improbable in this XD

MathTans the Pun Prince

Art Gallery is not the best place to pick up guys.

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

d'aaaaaw

Kabocha

The art gallery is a good way to pick up incarnations of oneself though

and targets for murder.

MathTans the Pun Prince

"Oh look, I'm in that painting of 50 years ago. ... ... Waaaaait."

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

it's like that episode of yugioh

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

ah these are super cute pics~!

QUESTION 4. The comic opens showing a war between Celi and Ara. While it’s implied that Ara won the battle, what exactly happened is unclear. What do you think the spell that stopped Celi was? What was the war about/what exactly are Celi’s goal? Who is Celi to Ara? Why has Celi returned only now?(edited)

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

yus ;3;

i assumed it was a good vs. evil battle

MathTans the Pun Prince

Could be chaos vs order. Maybe Celi wants to sow chaos.

Kabocha

At first, yeah, I was like, "ooh, Lucifer analogue"

but if it's chaos vs order, then Celi and Ara are inextricably linked :3

ONE CANNOT EXIST WITHOUT THE OTHER

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

maybe

it's inside someone's head

the inner battle of the mind

MathTans the Pun Prince

Maybe the goal is to devour the other and have one being for both then.

(I make up weird theories a lot.)

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

tbh i was leaning towards celi is trying to destory the system and isnt a fan of the ara angel thing and the servant stuff. and celi just mad cause she somehow feels used.

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

aaaaah yeah that's my leaning as well

because that's generally what i assume with angels vs demons

NAAN

(aw man, they're inversed. oh wELL)

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

lol omg XDXD

MathTans the Pun Prince

I want to believe. ^.^

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i wonder where celi has been this whole time

cause i wouldve assumed imprisoned but ara seemed surprised

well not surprised

but definitely didnt have a concrete when

MathTans the Pun Prince

That's a good question. Why not attack Miyara when she was younger and less able to defend herself? I don't think they exist out of time...

Kabocha

Celi shows up when she wants.

But tbh I think she's more likely to show up where/when Ara exists

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

great now all i can picture is celi sitting back and talking about how everyone needs to chill out and how time is a construct of man to control ppl and how the sheeple need to wake up

Kabocha

see, I was imagining something more... Cartman like

"Screw you guys, I do what I want!"

MathTans the Pun Prince

Celi's been on the talk show circuit.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

hmm but back more on track, is it possible that by ara scoping out miyara that somehow summoned celi in and of itself. cause they both get a fair shot at the bodies.

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

i don't think celi actually wants her dead

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

and so it goes like Ara: Ah man you killed the body this time. Celi: I know right. Well see you next century. Good luck~!

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

but to use her

MathTans the Pun Prince

Could be. Actually, does Celi have minions? Why take action when you can send underlings?

Maybe the underlings failed? (All they did was make her eat lots of buns.)

Kabocha

Celi prefers to do things herself. ;3

besides, why share the power. It's so much better in one body

MathTans the Pun Prince

Celi originally wanted her dead. Unless that was all an act to get her in Ara's clutches. O.o

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

idk tho cause in that opening scene it kind of seemed multiple ppl were fighting each other vs. attacking just celi

MathTans the Pun Prince

(The big twist is they've been working together the whole time...)

"So the plan is I attack, you save her, you get the body, I get the soul?"

NAAN

( having too much fun with these, let me know if it gets annoying though )

reads and still vibrates in the meantime

MathTans the Pun Prince

OMG, not annoying at all. You're so good.

Also, I know my theory doesn't really hold water because of the whole transformation thing. ^.^

NAAN

I like everyone's theories for celi's purpose especially. She does have a good reason....( of course i think it's good, i wrote it lmao )

MathTans the Pun Prince

'Tis better to die as the girl you were, than to become a slave to my sister...

Kabocha

of course Miyara would enjoy Kafka lol

is she slowly gonna become a bug

is that how people will see her from now on?

slowly, Miyara becomes a creature beyond her ken -- but yet pitiable somehow.

MathTans the Pun Prince

I think that'd bug her.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

XD

Kabocha

Come now, let's not ANTagonize with bad puns

NAAN

tis better to roach her than to rooster her(edited)

i tried

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

someone better tell her that shes truly looking like the pest she is if she starts looking like a bug

mostly ara

MathTans the Pun Prince

Puns is, like, actually my name though. ^.^ Flea now.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

so on a different note im curious what wyda's relationship to ara is

like how do they know each other

did they meet at starbucks

MathTans the Pun Prince

Good point. There's fire deities and water deities, maybe they all have parties?

Oh, maybe Wyda was an old body of hers?

Or maybe she simply officiates at the weddings.

Kabocha

"Yo, I heard you like Caramel Macchiatos -- wanna fight your evil twin sister together?"

Wydanno the answers

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

loooool

MathTans the Pun Prince

There was that interesting parallel conversation too, like Wyda wasn't going to stick around for the heavy stuff.

Kabocha

Well, I'm pretty sure she's seen what happens when people are Celi-ng their soul to Ara.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

well it does sound like wyda just mostly came to "witness," whatever that means in this context

but why would there need to be a witness

is it like getting married for real XD

MathTans the Pun Prince

They exchange magic rings. There's many tears.

Kabocha

Hey, wait

is... Is Ara wearing two rings on one hand

DAMMIT IT ALL COMES BACK TO ZENCHAV

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

looooool omg noooooo

MathTans the Pun Prince

Familiar ring to it?

Kabocha

but serious question -- is it "Celi" pronounced "Seli" -- or is it "Celi" pronounced "Sealy"

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

i keep reading it as sealy

MathTans the Pun Prince

Miyara climbs out of a well "I have seen the cursed video tape!"

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

so before we close out does anyone have any final thoughts they want to share?

MathTans the Pun Prince

Huh, I read it as Seli.

Kabocha

I kept reading it "seli" ahaha

(hence the "Selling" pun)

MathTans the Pun Prince

Falling sequences were well done, I'll toss that out there.

NAAN

I would pronounce it "seli" -- however, I usually tell people to pronounce it as ce-lai, because my understanding has been that Americans don't know how to pronounce spanish sounding words right. and then it turns out, everyone's pronouncing it correctly anyway! XD for real though, the pronounciations of the names isn't so much a big thing? unless it's like wyda, where it's there haha (I did like the vida idea though)

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

i thought the falling sequence was done really well as well

Kabocha

Ahahaha, well, with Wyda, I went all german on it so I mean

'cause I keep seeing german pop up in comic

NAAN

That would be a good presumption though! And probably if the comic were translated into German, that'd happen XD(edited)

I keep saying the f sound anytime I see someone with a germanic sounding last name though (like Justin Verlander, pfft)

Kabocha

Ahahaha

Kabocha

Well, in any case, I do look forward to seeing how the comic progresses once you're done with grad school

MathTans the Pun Prince

Well, here's hoping Miyara comes to terms with whatever she needs to come to terms with.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

Unfortunately, the scheduled Comic Tea Party is now complete~! Thank you everyone so much for joining this week’s chat~! That being said, if you would like to continue discussing the comic, we encourage you to do so~! We want to give a big thank you to NAAN, as well, for volunteering Legendary Beings Ara & Celi for our reading queue. If you liked the comic, please be sure to support NAAN’s efforts. If you have questions, concerns, or suggestions about CTP, please feel free to PM me, or e-mail me at rebelvampire@startfaire.com.

With that said, next week’s Comic Tea Party will focus on Cosmic Fish by Cosmographia. Please use this week to read as much of the comic as you would like. Hope to see you next Thursday (December 28th) from 5PM to 7PM PST~! Until then~! Comic: http://cosmicfishes.com/