[7/21/2008] Moar panel-breaking with 518! Breaking panel 4, 6, and the corner of 7! Heck, even her speech bubbles are breaking stuff! It’s a complete break-fast!
Crap, I totally ran straight into that pun without thinking about it. No, really, I mean it!
So, I’ve been waiting to do the joke in today’s comic for a long time. Basically, it was initially supposed to run something like this:
Unit 518: Let’s work together!
Sam: Bite me!
Unit 518: *chomp*
I thought this way was pretty awesome, though. However, it brought up one problem which I hadn’t really addressed: How much taller than is Unit 518 than Sam?
Taller?
That’s right, taller. See, because of her wolf-feet, Unit 518 is digitigrade, meaning she walks on her toes. So, after some sketching, I determined that Unit 518 is about half a head taller than Sam. Of course, she’s bending her knees and ankles, so she could probably be quite a bit taller if she stood up straight.
Anyway, in an IM conversation with the real-world Sam, I articulated the thought that my half of Nonsense Wars fundamentally only has 2 types of characters, then blew up part of my observation so I could feel better about my characterization skills. Make what you will of that. The conversation (formatted for the web) appears below. As usual, kenocolin is me, and SmallestInfinity is Sam.
kenocolin: hmm
kenocolin: I think I like character-driven sturff
kenocolin: *stuff
kenocolin: like
SmallestInfinity: I enjoy it
kenocolin: if you can do an entire plot
kenocolin: with
SmallestInfinity: but
kenocolin: okay
kenocolin: yeah
kenocolin: I underrstand
SmallestInfinity: I can’t create it real well
kenocolin: I don’t think I’m too good at it either
kenocolin: see
kenocolin: for example
kenocolin: Nonsense Wars
kenocolin: effectively hinges on two character types
kenocolin: one is the J type: crazy and active
kenocolin: and the other is the D type
kenocolin: which is
kenocolin: the “straight man”
kenocolin: in the J group, we have: J (obviously), Chris, Lesser Demon’s Co-Worker, Unit 518, and to an extent Grav
kenocolin: in the D groupp we have: D (obviously), the Lesser Demon, and Sam
kenocolin: Cachiera doesn’t fit anywhere
kenocolin: but that’s because
kenocolin: I’m kind of characterizing her robotically
kenocolin: as in
kenocolin: she’s bascially had no lines
kenocolin: the few lines she’s had are in
kenocolin: Store Defense Mode
kenocolin: and those are recorded messages
kenocolin: so basically
kenocolin: writing dialogue for Sam and 518
kenocolin: is essentially the same as writing dialogue for J and D
kenocolin: I don’t know why I do this
kenocolin: but
kenocolin: my characters tend to fall into these molds
kenocolin: come to think of it, that happens a lot with two-character interactions
kenocolin: probably because
kenocolin: with 2 crazy people, the plot is uncontrollable
kenocolin: and with 2 “straight man” characters, nothing happens
kenocolin: okay, you can comment now
SmallestInfinity: I have absorbed the rant
SmallestInfinity: I feel spongy
kenocolin: hmm
kenocolin: I should just post this today
kenocolin: nothing to say in response?
kenocolin: or do you feel that the observations are accurate?
SmallestInfinity: the latter
kenocolin: well, it’s time to play around with the characterizations then
kenocolin: I think 518 is less
kenocolin: completely crazy
kenocolin: and more
kenocolin: “likes teasing a lot”
kenocolin: contrary to what I said earlier
kenocolin: I think
kenocolin: he dialogue between Sam and 518
kenocolin: is not the same
kenocolin: as the dialogue between D and J
kenocolin: see
kenocolin: a J and D conversation would go like
kenocolin:
J: <random crap>
D: You’re stupid.
kenocolin: and
kenocolin: between Sam and 518 would be more like
kenocolin:
Sam: <something> (with conviction)
518: Oh, really~?
Sam: (uncomfortable) um….
kenocolin: I don’t know if that makes any sense
SmallestInfinity: a little
SmallestInfinity: well
SmallestInfinity: very little
SmallestInfinity: but i get the idea
Anyway, I leave Thursday on a trip to Europe, but fear not! I have drawn updates in advance for the next two weeks!
MEANWHILE IN HELL:
What‽ (Interrobang‽) You don’t think I’m capable of that?
Tsk, tsk. Unbelievers.
