Correspondence 1/19/12 19:15 - 19:30

   From our discussion of Silver Bullet, we move on to a minor character Cailin had mentioned she had an idea fro a superhero of: the man who can escape any trap you put him in through the subconscious planning and execution of escape routes. I think I saw that in an anime once, but, hey, he's just a minor character.

Re: Story Idea
From POMegranate POMegranate to Persomem Persomem   Jan 19, 2012 7:15 pm
So, the government is breeding dudes now? Explains that escape artist guy.

Re: Story Idea
From Persomem to POMegranate   Jan 19, 2012 7:15 pm
Escape artist guy? I don't recall.

Re: Story Idea
From POMegranate to Persomem   Jan 19, 2012 7:16 pm
Your dude who was able to plot out escape routes from any situation, subconsciously? Ah, well, I think it's been done before anyway.

Re: Story Idea
From Persomem to POMegranate   Jan 19, 2012 7:18 pm
Yeah, probably. Maybe work him in at some point, with a long description about those children in African tribes who could be dropped in the middle of the ocean blind, and would still know where north is, subconsciously.

Re: Story Idea
From POMegranate to Persomem   Jan 19, 2012 7:19 pm
And parasites.

Re: Story Idea
From Persomem to POMegranate   Jan 19, 2012 7:21 pm
And parasites?

Re: Story Idea
From POMegranate to Persomem   Jan 19, 2012 7:21 pm
Who talk to you. I figure that they use the same technology.

Re: Story Idea
From Persomem to POMegranate   Jan 19, 2012 7:27 pm
Oh, yeah, that works.

Re: Story Idea
From POMegranate to Persomem   Jan 19, 2012 7:28 pm
...But he's a pretty minor guy, right? How would he fit into the story?

Re: Story Idea
From Persomem to POMegranate   Jan 19, 2012 7:30 pm
He probably wouldn't. Maybe as a side thing, if it were to be done in a more episodic fashion, but that's probably it.

Correspondence 1/19/12 19:04 - 19:14

   We discuss the characterization of Silver Bullet/Black Arrow.

Re: Story Idea
From POMegranate to Persomem   Jan 19, 2012 7:04 pm
And, so, what, the organization does terrible things, so the Silver Bullet begins taking out these guys who happen to be members of a top secret society?
Kind of takes away from the idea of the power corrupting him so he becomes Black Arrow as well, but...

Re: Story Idea
From Persomem to POMegranate   Jan 19, 2012 7:07 pm
Actually, I'm kind of feeling the Silver Bullet romance thing a little more. Maybe he's some sort of raised from birth super-soldier type, that way the ages ought to be congruent. Maybe he's paranoid about aging, because he thinks he'll be replaced as he gets older.

Re: Story Idea
From POMegranate to Persomem   Jan 19, 2012 7:10 pm
Ah, so he's pretty much a foster child of the government, raised from day 1 (and before, even: day-- hold on- nine times thirty-- negative two hundred-seventy) to do his job. I never really thought about him as an actual person outside of his actions, but now he's starting to become delicious.

Re: Story Idea
From Persomem Persomem to POMegranate POMegranate   Jan 19, 2012 7:14 pm
I know, right? Plus, teens will eat that stuff up.
And maybe he always goes on about how he's been raised from day -270 as well.

Correspondence 1/19/12 9:06 - 19:01

   We continue our discussion of the parasite girl story. This is a really good illustration of how story ideas come together, so pay attention.

Re: Story Idea
From Persomem to POMegranate   Jan 19, 2012 9:06 am
Should probably start with a clear list and outline, yeah. Seems like you remember more than I do.

Re: Story Idea
From POMegranate to Persomem   Jan 19, 2012 9:14 am
Let's start with the biological stuff, work our way further into the future from there. TIMELINE:
1. Little Catholic girl almost killed in (car crash?), is offered new experimental surgery
2. Congress passes law allowing government to send out assassins, serving as judge, juror, and executioner, and using a bullet with holographic technology with evidences of their crimes to explain to government later.
3. Corporation modifies wheat with human brain stem DNA.
And, then... the main characters step in and solve why everybody is dying of Kuru? There's something about bird flu from cysteine in there as well.

Re: Story Idea
From Persomem to POMegranate   Jan 19, 2012 9:57 am
Sounds good to me, but how far apart are these events?

Re: Story Idea
From POMegranate to Persomem   Jan 19, 2012 10:01 am
Um, the superhero government assassin is just a current-events character; it doesn't really matter when he was authorized, and, um...
Parasite Girl can be one of the detectives investigating the rash of laughing deaths?

Re: Story Idea
From POMegranate to Persomem   Jan 19, 2012 2:53 pm
The thing with the Cysteine causing the Avian influenza outbreak should take place a few years before Parasite Organ girl is born. Her (Catholic headmaster?) should know about it, realize that the current Kuru outbreak is operating on the same principle, and tell Parasite Organ Girl about it, only she confuses "Cysteine" with "Sistine," following a dead end red herring. Maybe this leads her down the path of her past and why she has parasites for organs in the first place. I'm not sure how her adventures with the (DEA? FBI? Who's investigating these deaths, anyway?) intersect with the Silver Bullet/Black Arrow, though. As a (member?) of (some investigative agency?) she should be well aware of his exploits. Maybe they get romantically involved together?

Re: Story Idea
From Persomem to POMegranate   Jan 19, 2012 5:55 pm
I actually really like that flow of events, but the romantically involved bit may be a bit much.

Re: Story Idea
From POMegranate to Persomem   Jan 19, 2012 6:24 pm
Right, yeah, I didn't really plan on them knowing each other that well either, but it was the only way I could think to tie him into the rest of the plot. She's with the FBI, right? Right? So, sometimes guys are found dead, with a silver bullet between their eyes, and I'd imagine then the FBI would take over jurisdiction. But that still seems so tangential to the rest of it as a whole...

Re: Story Idea
From Persomem to POMegranate   Jan 19, 2012 6:25 pm
I figured one of her Parasites would cause her to hear voices, which would actually be connected to a secret society super computer or something.

Re: Story Idea
From POMegranate to Persomem   Jan 19, 2012 6:31 pm
See? That's good.

Re: Story Idea
From Persomem to POMegranate   Jan 19, 2012 6:34 pm
Maybe she thinks she's schizophrenic half the time because of the fact that she's got a voice in her head that tells her that she's some sort of transhuman demigod.

Re: Story Idea
From POMegranate to Persomem   Jan 19, 2012 6:35 pm
Yes, yes, keep it coming...how does this work?

Re: Story Idea
From Persomem to POMegranate   Jan 19, 2012 6:44 pm
The talking parasite? I figure they all have a hive mind, which the girl will initially think is only linked to her, but is also linked to the headquarters. At first they just let her adjust, and live her life as normal, and then the messages begin, and they subtly push her this way and that, hoping that she'll join willingly.

Re: Story Idea
From POMegranate to Persomem   Jan 19, 2012 6:47 pm
So she could always hear them?

Re: Story Idea
From Persomem to POMegranate   Jan 19, 2012 6:51 pm
And they could potentially take control of her body, but maybe they fear that she could, being directly connected, override their control, or cause her body to reject the things from an averse psychological reactions.
Maybe one of the lesser directors is her (twist) father, or something, who got her mother pregnant when they were both young, and left her. He hears about his daughter's accident around the time when they're about to begin practical tests, and he pulls some strings. Maybe follow both sides.

Re: Story Idea
From POMegranate to Persomem   Jan 19, 2012 6:55 pm
Oh, right. That would explain a lot.
And he was Catholic or something? The secret society is Catholicism? No wait, that's stupid. Her mother was Catholic. All right. That's better.

Re: Story Idea
From Persomem to POMegranate   Jan 19, 2012 6:56 pm
Yeah, the Catholicism is incidental. Maybe it's just her step-dad that's Catholic.

Re: Story Idea
From POMegranate to Persomem   Jan 19, 2012 6:58 pm
No, it's her mother-- and the pastor's use of the word "Cysteine/Sistine" causes her to look further into her past via her mother, and discover her father's secret!

Re: Story Idea
From Persomem to POMegranate   Jan 19, 2012 7:01 pm
Not bad, not bad. We have something altogether more coherent than when we began.

Thespis Strip Dated Sunday, September 26, 2010

Click to embiggen.

TRANSCRIPT:
Collin: Yes... The knowledge... The information!
The how! The why! The when and where!
All the past! All the present! The histories ancient & modern! The reasons! Who we are, where we've been, how we came to be!
Listen and I will tell you how the drama masks came to be!
In the start, all players wore drama masks. Among them ...
Two brothers- Two balancing forces of drama- the comedy and the tragedy. (Sort of like in LOST.)
Which I totally understood, 'cos I'm smart now.
And they had bodies, with which to act! Work, and play...
SFX: SPLAT KRAK
Collin: And that's why we don't got no legs!

Style/Substance/Message/Messager

   In post, The Sweep of August 19 2012,  I made a comparative of all three of my 24 hour comics to date-- I there mentioned the skill gauged against the style. "Cleaner," was the word I used, reflecting the gauge of my usage of subsurface art techniques. Read that link. Alright.

   A lot of perceived "talent" is just decent execution upon a good style. How can you tell if it itself is good if it's decent execution upon a mediocre-to-terrible style? Here I seem to be using "style" in the way I previously have used "substance" in this series, and oh look here's a link to a post that talks all about that, the style versus substance thing I did a whole thing on. Now I'm using words to mean the opposite, which is maybe a bit confusing, but this is execution upon a style, or perhaps a method, of doing something, I mean to say. That makes more sense. Right?

   For example, a lot of criticism is levied against Christopher Paolini for his Eragon series, specifically the amount of cliches allegedly therein. But the writing itself- isn't all that bad. I've had a lot of time to think about this, so I'm glad I wasn't professionally published when I was fifteen. Link. As good as some of my ideas might have been (I don't think I'm still holding up any projects starting at that age or before, so maybe not- no, wait, there's still project "Artefact," but it's gone through so many reformations and maturations since then that a vast vast majority of the backstory and plot and everything is just- pardon me- an artifact) I realize now that I lacked the ability to execute upon any ideas.

   My daily blogging has inspired- well, no, I shouldn't get into that, but... I'm focused, anyway, and, daily, and, adjective, and...

   Let's just say I'm motivated, that's a good way of putting what I couldn't. Put out a post every day, motivated. Get things done. Some days are better than others, both quality- and productivity-wise. It's all a strengthening learning experience, though, even with the absolute crap that I display unapologetically to the world. Having that behind me, good, but in the public... It's nice to see evolution and all, but embarrassment caused by things you said when you were young and stupid, remaining there forever-- I don't know, man; it's tough.

Personalities

   There's a difference between shyness and introversion. Also, depression is a mental illness; it doesn't simply mean "sad." It involves feelings of guilt and lack of interest in daily life. Sadness may or may not be a part of that.

   Honestly.

Da Vinci Code, Verb

   William Blake's gonna be the next guy they "Da Vinci Code." He invented his own set of mythology, just so he could make cryptic allusions to obscure bits of it in his poetry, as if it were Greek mythology instead of made-up bullcrap. Also, he drew stuff like this:

   Like I said.

One Face... No... Two-Face! No... Five-Face?

   There was a fifty percent change of Harvey Dent's transformation into Two-Face, right? Kind of the entire gist of it. When they first introduced the character as Harvey Kent, (yeah, Kent, probably Superman's long-lost cousin or something,) there was if I remember correctly a bit with a trick Batcoin that landed on its side instead of on either of its faces, so he agreed to have plastic surgery (and presumably plenty of psychotherapy) to help him become an upstanding citizen again. Not wanting to let such a compelling character go to waste (and really, what an awesome high concept idea ohmigosh) the DC team went through four different non-Harvey Dent Two-Faces.

   There was the Two-Face copycat criminal who tried to frame Dent for his own crimes, but was foiled when the World's Greatest Detective realized that the Two-Face wounds were on the wrong side of his face. Two Two-Faces were actors recreating the iconic courtroom scene that led to his scarring (which of goes inevitably wrong with real acid,) both blissfully unaware of each other. One of those was itself rewritten and redrawn slightly with an exploding spotlight instead of a face full of acid in order to get published in a code-approved reprint comics collection. (It makes you wonder how many other actors went insane after trying to recreate the rise of Two-Face for television only to have it go wrong (is that role curse or something?) but then not go evil because their coins came up good side up when they decided whether to go through with it or not.) And finally (but chronologically the second of these four examples,) then there was one more time where the Two-Face was just a Two-Face impersonator. Who could have done it this time? Oh, yeah, it was the butler. The butler did it. (The Cape Crusader figured this one out when the impostor Two-Face used a coin with both sides scarred, which the real Two-Face would never do.)

   So, that's four non-Harvey Two-Faces. It's kind of poetic and fitting of the character, though. Two different methods each of becoming two different copycat versions of Two-Face. Dent himself would have approved. Speaking of Dent, the role settled back to him. Of course it would return to him. You kidding? It was just meant to be. Take a gander yourself:

(Via http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2009/08/27/comic-book-legends-revealed-222/) That link has a whole bunch of other good info on the alternate Two-Faces, so check it out.

   I really like this. An explosion when he's doing good causes him to permanently revert to being a villain. I guess the acid-free origin in Dark Knight still pay homage to this, with explosion. Still, aside from the kudos I must give them for correctly using the word "coincidence" instead of "irony" in the second panel, I've still got a few niggling doubts on this. Harvey Dent thinks to himself that he would have passed safe crackers right on by were he still Two-Face, but I think that there'd only be a 50% chance of that. Also, how did he get all the way home in that taxi with half of his face melted off like that? I guess it was a not uncommon seeing Two-Face around after so many recreations gone wrong. I sure hope that's the reason. Because that'd be pretty awesome.

Correspondence 9/7/11 12:18 - 20:03

   We discuss an admittedly kind of mediocre fantasy mystery premise. It's not much of a conversation, even, as we can't penetrate it, but, if I just say the idea here, I figure I won't actually have to write it.

Re: Nycaster Quote
From POMegranate to Persomem   Sep 7, 2011 12:18 pm
How about a short story about alchemy, in which they find the unidentifiable remains of someone who managed to transmute lead into gold, but also takes away three protons (thus transforming the elements) from every single atom in the surrounding radius, including from the alchemist himself! (I'm not sure what would happen to any element under Beryllium, nor am I sure that this idea is even all that original; it depends on how it's handled, I guess.) Thoughts?

Re: Nycaster Quote
From Persomem to POMegranate   Sep 7, 2011 12:41 pm
We'd have to get pretty into the science to find out, but it has potential.

Re: Nycaster Quote
From POMegranate to Persomem   Sep 7, 2011 12:54 pm
Yeah, the chemical bonds and stuff. We'd have to find out the composition of the human body, (mostly carbon, so it'd become lithium) and suchn'such. Also, ever realize the first three letters of Nycaster are NYC?

Re: Nycaster Quote
From Persomem to POMegranate   Sep 7, 2011 1:36 pm
I guess I didn't? I'm sure someone will weave significance into it.

Re: Nycaster Quote
From POMegranate to Persomem   Sep 7, 2011 8:03 pm
Well, there's a new book about the periodic table that's supposed to be pretty good (The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean.)

Thespis Strip Dated Sunday, September 19, 2010

Click to embiggen.

TRANSCRIPT:
Marvin: Wait, I don't get it. Is there any subtext I might have missed?
Collin: About what?
Marvin: Well, you know... Why are you suddenly, you know...
Collin: Not dumb no more?
Marvin: Yeah, um.. Something like that.
You don't seem to rely on the Editor's notes, anymore. It's almost as if you actually know this stuff.
Collin: Death chages [sic] a man.
Marvin: No, but really.
Alright, kid. You're smart, kid, you're smart.
Don't let it go to your head.

Yeah, You Knew It Was Inevitable

   ...Beuller? Beuller? Beuller? Beuller?

   Man, Ben Stein's voice is hard to replicate in a written medium. That's more or less the only way it can be pulled off. For some reason, repeating Beuller's name will do that to you. It's just... naturally pronounced in his voice.

   Uh- for those of you not in the know (...Beuller?) Talk Like a Pirate Day is now no longer Talk Like a Pirate Day but Talk Like Ben Stein Day. At least around here it is. And that means... Well, it doesn't mean much.

...& Pay

   Both the characters and actors are getting killed off. When a character gets killed, he is dead, and when an actor gets killed the show must go on and the character he played gets his actor replaced.

   A character says, I am afraid.

   Another character asks, Are you speaking as your character, or as your actor?

   I'm speaking as... myself. I am afraid. Even if these are just lines I'm repeating that I read from a script, I am speaking honestly, because I honestly can't say that I'm not afraid. I don't think anyone can say that they're entirely fearless.

Play

   Let's say you write a story. Let's say you write that story about yourself. And let's say that you write this story about how awesome you are at writing stories. So you write a story about you writing that story, and doing so brilliantly. As a twist ending, because you're so brilliant and all brilliant stories --especially stories written by you about how awesome you are at writing stories-- need a twist ending, it turns out all along that the story sucks.

   You pretentious twit.

   But, no, that's exactly the central dilemma (well, it's not really a dilemma, but it still takes characters a while to get over it) at the core of a play I'm working on. It's a murder mystery, but the murder isn't the mystery. It's not even the plot. The entire thing gets derailed by the fact that the entire thing is getting derailed, and so the question arises: is it better to stick to the premise, when the premise undoes itself like that?

   The characters, you see, realize that they are in a play, for they are also playing their actors. They realize that the play isn't that good, but that it would be flawed to say "exactly, it's not supposed to be good!"

   It is settled upon that just because you make yourself right doesn't mean you make yourself good, especially with that as the premise.

Literary Fiction

   David Lubar says you can tell the difference between literary fiction because your eyebrows are closer together when you get done reading it. While I do enjoy keeping s/f as hard as possible within its own system of science, making the experience as true to what could happen as possible, I am also fascinated by the boundary between fiction and reality, and I sometimes like playing with it. So I dig both.

   It's not like those literary fictionists who do mostly literary fiction and then sojourn into science fiction, only with a disdain for it, just using the tropes of science fiction and then discarding the empty shells, not even bothering to check if they're saying anything new at all or if their idea is unoriginal, which is almost invariably is. I try to make it not, like so many lit-fic writers, about how clever it is that I'm saying whatever it is I'm saying, (which generally works only in satire.)

   But I'm focused on how we say the things we say, which makes that line confusing. You know, style and substance. If I came straight out and discussed that, though, it would be missing the point of itself, since it's a rejection of writers who bring up clever ideas just to point out how clever they are (I'd insert a dig about Mamet here, but it's just too darn impossible to stay mad at the guy.) So they have to be incorporated and disguised into the storyline itself. Which is even more clever, you know. Once again, I'm still working on getting that implemented 100%, beginning with a clear goal in mind is good.

"There is Nothing New in Art Except Talent."

   Why try to be original? Rhetorically. I've gotten deep enough into the internet by now to know that (something something) originality, so it's more important to be good than to be strictly original. This is why things like Twilight, Eragon, and Avatar are so popular, I guess. Decried for being clichéd. Execution is the important thing.

   There are a million excellent artists on the internet, and all of them are good, and the goodness of any artist doesn't displace that of another. They're all awesome, and they all deserve our attention, but we can't give them all our attention. So which ones, then? This is where originality comes in. Your skills can't set you apart, as much as I've hocked the values of professionalism in the past. That's only the half of it. The other half? Well, I've just told you, so...

   (Note that I refer specifically to the excellent artists on the internet, more narrowly the amateur ones.  Obviously professional artists have already proven themselves... professional.)

   Garr see what I mean? Chekhov already beat me to the punch.

Post THE NINE HUNDRED THIRTY-SEVENTH, In Which I am Relentlessly Clever

   Vocab fun: insular means relating to island. Use it in a sentence, eh? Okay, then.To apply this to an old phrase: "No man is insular." Get it? No man is an island.

   It would be funny, that sentence weren't actually true. Insular also means removed physically or emotionally from others, or limited in outlook. Which actually describes a lot of men. In fact, yep, sums up the very idea of masculinity.

   To apply this to a different old phrase, then, I guess. Many are insular, but few are an island.

Correspondence 4/9/11 10:57 - 4/15/11 1:05

   Cailin reveals that though she has been established as "the bass guy," she has an utter lack of musical abilities, coupled with an "abysmal" rhythm. I sort of pioneer a way around that (on Wikipedia.) I offer to buy her an instrument, but Cailin would rather pay for her own, as her honor system prevents her from being made a charity case. Makes sense.

Re: Comrade Helicopter
From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 9, 2011 10:57 am
I really should try and learn an instrument. I just don't have any to learn.

Re: Comrade Helicopter
From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 9, 2011 5:03 pm
Besides the bass guitar?

Re: Comrade Helicopter
From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 10, 2011 10:41 am
Depending on what I can get my hands on, I suppose so.

Re: Comrade Helicopter
From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 11, 2011 6:36 pm
Once said instrument is obtained, (I just realized,) (as well as the glass chord-formy thing, which I hear also produces interesting sound,) all you really need is to know which frets to use to produce which chords. Also, how's your rhythm?

Re: Comrade Helicopter
From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 11, 2011 7:29 pm
And if you want, you can write the tune for "Deliriance" if you want, because at the time I wrote it, I was afraid it sounded too much like one song but now I think it sounds exactly like another but I won't say which songs lest they taint your tune writing if you decide to do it. If you do that, I suppose you'd have to write the tune for one of your own songs on Felinity Femininity, which would really take priority over you writing the tune for one of my songs anyway, so I suppose you don't have to if you don't want or anything.

Re: Comrade Helicopter
From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 12, 2011 6:52 pm
Abysmal?

Re: Comrade Helicopter
From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 12, 2011 9:30 pm
Well, even better, then, I s'pose.

Re: Comrade Helicopter
From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 14, 2011 2:01 pm
Doing the research (on Wikipedia) it looks like using the technique described is really easy. The thing with the bottleneck is called "sliding," and, while I can't find any mention of actually using drumsticks on the bass, it appears similar to the technique known as "slapping." When using the "sliding" technique, pressing against the frets just produces a buzzy noise, so it looks like you could just go with a fretless bass if you wanted. Bass Guitars are usually tuned to (from highest to lowest) G-D-A-E, but with open tuning, which means tuning the strings so you don't have to do anything fancy to make a chord, I'm thinking you should go with D-G-B-D.
What I'm getting at here is that it would take like literally like zero effort (other than the tuning, which should be fairly simple) to sould like the most amazing bassist in the world. Also, sticking the phrase (on Wikipedia) into a sentence is fun, and should be done more often.

Re: Comrade Helicopter
From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 14, 2011 3:13 pm
Interesting! That certainly makes me want to try. The issue is, I don't have a base, and I can't imagine any are in my current price range of zero dollars. I need a job, but I think I'd pay for other things before I bought a bass, so there's that.

Re: Comrade Helicopter
From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 14, 2011 3:41 pm
I has monies.

Re: Comrade Helicopter
From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 15, 2011 1:05 am
I'd rather pay for it on my own. Always feel guilty otherwise.

Thespis Strip Dated Sunday, September 5, 2010

Click to embiggen.

TRANSCRIPT:

Collin: Education! It's so great! So much great knowledge! 

In fact, the "boy" in the name El Niño refers to baby Jesus, as the phenomenon was first reported around Christmastime by Peruvian fisherman in the late 1800s.

La Niña, El Niño's counterpart,  (associated with colder-than-normal sea surface levels rather than warmer-than-normal ones) was discovered and named as recently as 1985.

ENSO, (El Niño-Southern Ocillation [sic]), while called simply "El Niño" in popular usage, actually refers to not only the El Niño-La Niña cycle, but also the cycle of Southern Ocillation, [sic] an ocillation [sic] in air pressure between the tropical Eastern & the Western Pacific Ocean waters.

Low atmospheric pressure tends to occur over warm and high pressure occurs over cold water, in part because deep convection over the warm water acts to transport air.

Also, Comrade Helicopter is the coolest band name ever. 

NOTES:
   Still misspelled "oscillation." In case anyone doesn't get it, the implication here is that the parallel universe from before, almost exactly one year ahead of "our" timeline. Remember, the first Sunday strip I drew was the night Adam drew his "Comrade Helicopter." How will this revelation fit into the future? We shall see (maybe.) Probably not though.

My Own Stylishness

   My own art style, character design versus actual style. There's something, I'm not sure what, in my STYLE that makes you able to tell it's by me. Could it be in what I put in or leave out? I think it's more in my shapes and lines. Line pressure or something. Maybe. This is even doing someone else's character, you know? With my own brand of character design, there's certain traits as well.

   My eyes tend to be very small. I've noticed that, and it's been pointed out to me, as well. I'm not sure if it's normal to draw eyes larger. Could it be the autism that's responsible for that? Lack of eye contact, lack of placing any special significance into eyes. A lot of cartoon characters have eyes that take up almost half of their faces. The Loony Tunes, for instance. Big old oval things. (It kind of helps with eye contact if I imagine the other person as a Friendship is Magic pony, with the eyes all big and pretty and sparkly. I don't always do that, so there's not much of a chance that I'm imagining you as say, Derpy, while I speak with you- but the chance is there.)

   But, yeah, even when I'm doing someone else's character design style, there's still something there that's recognizable as my own style. It's unique, I guess, to me, so it could still be a strength instead of a weakness, but I'm not sure if it could be keeping me back from any new techniques.

   I was reviewing old stuff, which isn't even recognizable as my style very much. But with more recent stuff- I was originally not a big fan of my style, but, hey, that's not bad. Do I think I'm very good? Cailin doesn't think she's that good, but everyone else thinks she is. Can all you see are your own mistakes? A wise man thinks himself to be a fool. Does that tie into it? I think I'm getting better but I can still tell that I drew it.

   But some things are just inescapable.

Stylishness

   Even in things like paintings, where the emphasis is less on line work, you can see the artist's own drawing style coming through in the composition. Even with the old masters, personal style is impossible to overcome. The perceived talent comes from the layouts, and the use of light and color. There's a lot of techniques to be learned in those fields, so even for a good artist it would take some work to become a master craftsman. Even if it's clearly in their style.

   Style is not bad. I'm not saying chase after it. I'm saying ignore it. But, don't ignore it. But, ignore it.

   I'm saying, you've already got your own style, so you don't need to chase after it. Unless you like wasting time. If you don't like your own style, don't think it's bad. Learn what you do well in it. You're not a big fan of your own voice or style, but you learn to accept it. Recognize your style as being uniquely you so it hopefully adds to your brilliance (brilliance sold separately, your results may vary.) See beyond it, if you pay enough attention to it, so you can see which parts are your mistakes and which parts aren't. Instead of ignoring it to see past it, you should pay attention to it. Study it carefully.

    You see your own mistakes, sure. But if others see your style and think that it's pretty groovy, it won't be bad for you as long as you're good. They'll try to emulate it, some of your techniques or the style itself. It's your style and it may come off as bad to you but then it would be something that they couldn't do so it would be good. There must be some way to look beyond style. Handwriting is to drawing skills and how your voice sounds is to your singing voice. If that makes sense.

WHEN THE SUN HITS IT JUST RIGHT…

…

She says he’s the Sun,

Around which revolve her world and moon and stars

She says he’s the one

She says it’s been a while, but she’s happy for the first time

But I see her, in the mirror I see her

She makes up all those bruises and hides those scars

You know she’s lying when she says she’s fine

There’s a scent on the east wind

Carried over the mountains

She puts down her hair, lets it take flight

Learn to love what was once despised

Golden ringlets, diamond eyes

Buried treasure’s no treasure at all

Till the sun hits it just right.

She steps out onto the deck

In her slinky summer dress

Chiffon at its height

Lemon-yellow bright

Ultra-clingy, yet oh! so opaque

But when the sun hits it just right…

Step into the light.

Baby, baby.

Step into the light.

Uh-huh.

You know that I want it

Step into the, into the light, sugar…

In between the sunlight

And when it hits you

There’s eight minutes in which

Anything can go wrong

In between the sunlight

And when it hits you

There’s eight minutes in which

Anything can derail

When I had her

She was just a little girl

She asked why the sky is blue,

Turns black at night.

Say, there’s an atmosphere

And it surrounds the world

You know the air is clear

Till the sun hits it just right

Now I see her, a hater or a lover

Can she tell the difference anymore?

But you can’t get her to recognize

When you step into a dark room, you turn on the light

She orbits around him, doesn’t want another

’Cause when the Sun hits her, he hits it just right.

Correspondence 4/5/11 14:32 - 4/8/11 11:54

   I give Cailin carte blanche on the idea for our next album, and we discuss the idea of whether Comrade Helicopter is a "concept" band and whether or not Felinity Femininity was a total Sophomore slump (it just might not be.)

Re: Comrade Helicopter
From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 5, 2011 2:32 pm
I was thinking, for the next album, you should do what I did for False Prophets of Greensboro.

Re: Comrade Helicopter
From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 6, 2011 11:39 am
Which is?

Re: Comrade Helicopter
From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 6, 2011 12:03 pm
Made it up.

Re: Comrade Helicopter
From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 6, 2011 2:40 pm
Oh. Um, how do you feel about a "concept album"?

Re: Comrade Helicopter
From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 6, 2011 3:01 pm
Awesome-lish.
(Remember, you can put songs you've already written on it, (if you feel they fit the concept, I suppose.))

Re: Comrade Helicopter
From Persomem to POMegranate  Apr 6, 2011 3:42 pm
Though I don't know what concept we could do.

Re: Comrade Helicopter
From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 6, 2011 7:31 pm
Yeah, I just think that all of our albums are more or less "concept"

Re: Comrade Helicopter
From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 6, 2011 8:18 pm
You know, in a sense,

Re: Comrade Helicopter
From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 7, 2011 12:07 am
Nothing terribly consistent, though.

Re: Comrade Helicopter
From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 7, 2011 12:12 pm
Well, False Prophets of Greensboro has many lyrical resonances in it, from mentions to crime scenes and other subtle references like that, and Birds Cracking Foxy is sortly of talkier, more philosophical (and possibly even political) than we usually are.
I also think I would like to write the tune for Tell Me About Your Day. Because, if you look at it, Felinity Femininity is about us as a band, you know? It starts of with songs by you, then it goes into songs by me, some of which had tunes by the feed which I don't usually do, and then it goes into our first co-written song, and two more songs by you. While as the first was more isolated, you know?

Re: Comrade Helicopter
From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 7, 2011 3:49 pm
Analyzing it that way, I have to agree. But I'd describe that and a "concept" album to be two different things. More like our growth as a band.

Re: Comrade Helicopter
From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 7, 2011 5:40 pm
Well, loosely, but I just mean it's got a more or less of a theme.

Re: Comrade Helicopter
From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 8, 2011 11:54 am
I don't really care when the next album gets done, as long as we're, like, legit.