Comic Sketches: Feburary - April 2021

Been a while since we've done one of these! In case you haven't caught the last post on the subject, comic sketches will now be a more or less bi-monthly occurrence from here on. Mostly because this year is going to be busy and it makes it easier to schedule!

That being said, the comic has gone through a lot since we last left it! We ended the second intermission after exactly a year, had some heavy focus on one of the lesser developed main characters from Act 2, a complete style and story shift, getting our main 12 fully reconnected with one another and seeing some insight into the fraught past of our protagonists.

We've got a lot to go through and a lot to talk about, so let's dive in!

The Enthal psyOP is an interesting case in how regular trolls caste abilities can connect to alchemic ones. As Cognitive Executive explains here, the information retained utilizing the psyOP on its own is stored in his memory akin to an archive, while the use of Mind allows him to actively visualize it in a comprehensive state. It can be assumed Clarud was able to do this as well.

Difference being that with Cognitive Executive, he's completely removed from Sestro's will. Though Sestro could conjure a variation of The Executive utilizing his knowledge of him on his own before now, it wouldn't be fully formed. With Clarud's memories implanted into him, however, this cognition is bolstered to the point of separation. 

Though, he is still a merger of Sestro's own ideas, thoughts and memories of him. Cognitive Executive and Clarud Enthal are not one in the same. This would be why Cognitive Executive has an easier time saying things that Clarud would never be willing to so bluntly admit.

Funny how the "sprawling cityscape" mentioned is still Stronghold 21, and how it still collapses when it's done being mentioned. Must still be fresh on the brain.

Cognitions of other important people in Sestro's life. Hamifi, Edolon, The Principal, Rodere and of course, Secily. All of whom are probably heavily beefed up and enhanced due to the memory transfer, and will be important to Sestro's development of Mind alchemy.

It can be said that Sestro himself didn't make these, and in this display, Cognitive Executive is showing that he now has an excessive amount of influence over Sestro's memories, all of which will weigh on his skull until he's dead.

It seems to me that this man may have problems and or issues, I can't decide which one.

Cognitive Executive's lines here are the exact lines he tells Secily during Snowbound Blood Vol. 9 after he rebukes her confrontation about what happened to Ahlina. Lot's of Volume 9 references in I2S2, because it's kind of a very important volume.

It seems that throughout all of his living off of borrowed time, that the one lesson he was able to retain is that pain rules your personal development. There is no way to overcome it, only submit to its whims.

Which, you know, is wrong and toxic as fuck but hey- if it works for you! (It didn't.)

This is a funny visual callback to that one line in I2S1 about grilled cheese cross-sections. Mmmm, Cognitive Executive sandwich....

Sestro was knocked out after the battle with Edolon, and has sustained some pretty heavy damage from the corrupted technique that was thrown back at him.

However, given how the rest of the SBB cast look in here; it's pretty clear there was a lot more to the battle than what Sestro took part in. More on that in a second.

Thank Xam for the addition of Glomer point, it is very funny.

In this panel, there's a lot of things explained about the rest of the battle which the audience did not get to see directly. Most notably that all of the other background characters are dead, and that the cults weren't just doing it for the fun of it. Other than some of the alchemy squad and the secondary cast, there were no survivors of the inauguration event.

Going off of this, it's also noted that Edolon and company HAD the secondary cast cornered, and they let them leave. I'd like to explore what happened post-Incursion in a later update, as there is a specific reason for this move being made. Other than it leaving our secondary cast alive, for now.

These two panels have also been speculated on, more specifically why Cadlys is looking to Sestro's corpora with such a vested interest.

Let's just say they'll have more of a role to play later on. He didn't even get a speaking line in I2S2, after all!

A lot of fans also question why Valtel is cursing "The Mora" here, aside from him being an ex-leader of their service.

This connection will make more sense upon Snowbound Blood's completion, but utilizing the context clues in the SBB recap- you can probably make a few assessments as to why he's lamenting his lack of action. 

Of course, it would have been preferable to have SBB completed before I2S2 even happened. While that was the plan initially, uhhh game development takes time. Even visual novels, but especially visual novels with so much added effort attached to it.

Seems like the Voorat shrine has been expanded since SBB Volume 3! There was probably a reason for that.

Also the panel is not here but the gif used in the final I2S2 page shows the television itself flashing between different styles now, further showing narrative decay. It's not necessarily in White Noise's hands, and unfortunately, it never was.

Into Act 3 Act 1!

Caged bird symbolism with Sova is very loaded in ways that span beyond the simple veil of turmoil that plagues her younger life. I think it's also a potent metaphor about just how closed off she is in actuality, how she suffers in silence until a melody that sings of escape is forced to pass her lips. The caged bird sings because she is trapped with nowhere to run. Locked away in her own heart as it cannibalizes her everything and leaves her unable to be removed from herself.

And Gaiaeon is screaming. Not because he resents or mocks her, but because he understands that pain more than anything else. It's rare he gets the chance to communicate so effectively, and this moment only occurs because in actuality: within this dream, the two of them are close.

More about dreams when discussing the final update down below. It's kind of a huge thing in this comic, if you haven't noticed.

This particular sketch of Cooperi brings me great joy. No meaning past that, it's just really funny.

The idea of having the players move between Repiton and their planets was conceived pretty early on into development.  It also takes the place of "The Battlefield" in this particular session.

Some fans believed that Repiton was within Skaia the entire time and the jump between the Solitary Universe and The Medium was purposefully overblown. This was not the case, as The Cell was actually what was within the shields confines. The Cell IS Skaia within the VE game mythos.

LODAL was always meant to have a sort of "Silent Hill" type aesthetic to it. Rusted grates, dreary color palette, lots of dark and desaturated colors merged with an abundance of reds.

I feel like a part of the reason why Metatron is important to this scene besides giving us some insight as to why some of the discrepancies in the last two acts happened is that Sova has a far easier time speaking her mind and showing herself with a third party.

Around those she knows, she's swamped with mental baggage that weighs her down so much that she practically becomes a pushover. We see this Albion, in memos, and even with Jentha during her entry. Metatron is a construct, and one that doesn't know who Sova is on a personal level- therefore, Sova can detach herself and act without much unnecessary remorse. Call it "stage fright", if you will.

I wrote a whole analysis on Sova's connection to her classpect and how the Page class is defined in VE. You can read it on my Twitter here if you missed it.

Very dignified portrayal of how the ever rare sprite page turns out.

And now we're into the "Upon The Twelfth Hour" segment, the big 3/22 update for this year.

Sova's play writing has been a piece of her character since her initial introduction, and it's a very cathartic measure of letting loose those aforementioned pieces of baggage she has stuffed into her carry-on compartment. 

Me and Heather created the premise on the basis that Sova's vision would not only give further insight on her, but also the rest of the cast from her view. I can't say too much about the thought process of it or our idea of its events because I wouldn't want to spoil the second half.

Truthfully, I'm not sure how much I'll be able to note that the text itself doesn't already insinuate, especially because I didn't write this section directly. But I'll try to add further insight where I can. Go bother Julia if you need some even deeper revelations.

One thing I WILL talk about for a bit are the art style choices.

"Upon The Twelfth Hour" takes place in the Reconstruction Era, first introduced at the start of I2S2. Sova being a history buff would toss everything aside at the chance to tell a story taking place in a time long since forgotten by the public, and she really takes it here with the portrayals of all of her friends.

Naturally also, given her penchant for the ancestral from the many tales she's read, the cast are all given ancestral-like titles and their inky black silhouette. It's meant to continue off of their ethereal feeling when you aren't seeing them as they are within the comic. Vague portrayals of someone real.

These first few pages are meant to really accentuate that this is a production from the outside. Cardboard textures, hanging fixtures in the background and a space that doesn't entirely look three-dimensional.

It's only when The Forthright actually helps them aboard that perspective changes, and we are formally dragged into the confines of this narrative. 

We were really inspired by the "Bad End Night" series of Vocaloid songs when it came to plotting, costume designs and prop looks. Specifically the third song of the series, "Twilight Night".

Say hi to The Invoker, you won't really get much chance to do so later.

The Pundit is probably one of the first true visualizations of Jentha in the entire comic. I will not explain this further, just know that Sova has some solid intuition sometimes. This also includes intuition about herself, because Songbird very much displays traits that Sova would like to show herself with but often can't.

Also Pundit went through like, three different name changes in the writing process? It's hard coming up with good names for critics.

Claims to be The Lonely, is friends with The Songbird and takes up a leadership position in the end anyways.

I think one of my favorite things that Julia was able to do in this update is integrate the character's personalities with the facets of the setting so seamlessly. You're connected to these characters by proxy, but you know them because their dialogue is just laced with implication. There are implications all over the place, even when Sova herself doesn't fully recognize them.

Sova loves a good narrative, but sometimes that Calder stand-in just talks too damn much. Even she has her limits.

Did you notice that the horns of the audience members and the colors lining the laughter text in the final panels belong to Sova's captor, Dexous? I wouldn't blame you for forgetting him, he's dead and only appeared in a couple panels during Sova's introduction- but a guy like that with absolutely no real meaning to the audience has a very real impact on Sova. 

It bleeds deep into her work. Same with the recurring nightmares that are brought up at the beginning of the act itself.

The narration of this page says that Songbird soothes her voice with Vanilla Coke, and this was something me and Julia decided on since y'know, they don't drink water. A sort of relaxant would be its in-universe function.

Even more talk of dreams here. Are you noticing some kind of pattern with this act? It really does not let up. More specifically, as Enlightened puts it: "dreams within dreams".

This is a callback to the opening quote of the comic's title page all the way back in Act 1, from the titular poem by Edgar Allen Poe- who's work has heavy influence over the comic, its writing and its direction. The use of this quote in both instances carries a very deep significance to the plot and events of each story.

Love at first sight is a little taboo on Repiton past kismesissitude due to the soulmate system being in play. Black romances are notably a little quick to get revved up due to all the heightened emotion, but red romance tends to be slow burners. This is why Laivan and Serpaz's relationship is a little weird, and this is also why Songbird and Enlightened's relationship has an equally weird undertone to it. "A tread towards folly", as the next page puts it.

Enlightened knows things about Songbird that she doesn't know about herself, and Songbird feels as though she's known Enlightened her whole life despite them just now meeting during rehearsal. She is an alchemist, she is otherworldly in presence and she believes that if Sova fails in what she needs to accomplish that they will never meet again. 

Remember this detail.

I don't have anything to say about the actual meaning of this panel, but goddamn Ciro draws some absolutely killer hands. I can't remember the last time I saw such tender hands, outside of when I put mine on a burning stovetop the other day. Don't worry! I burned off all the nerve endings; didn't feel a thing.

Aaaaaaand she's gone.

In all seriousness, the murder of The Enlightened has so much imperative Sova juice within it that it could take up an entire essay regarding their actual relationship. Her death signs not only everything gone awry in the plot, but also tears at the foundations of Songbird herself. 

Sova knew what Albion's ultimate fate was supposed to be, and though it didn't come to pass, what this shows is how she would have processed it when it did. Time itself stops, everything is frozen in place, and though she isn't alone; she has no recourse and no idea what to do with herself.

Makes you wonder why Albion didn't even want to say goodbye to her in the first place before she went off to become The Pure Oneself. Was it a manner of protecting her? Who's benefit was that action for?

Enter The Stranger, the only character besides The Invoker who hasn't had a proper role in the story up until now.

He's actually a stowaway on the ship, he wasn't properly invited by The Nobleman and instead seeks out knowledge and justice for the crimes of him and The Watcher.

Dismas is all about that as a character, about righting wrongs and bringing down those that poorly effect the world around him. This is just the souped up version of that mentality without any of the extra concessions. 

And some people say this guy doesn't fit the role of a Mind player, pfft.

I could go into the meaning of being in an endless black expanse with stopped time, but these creatures are just far too cool. I love Black Depths crab, he's my favorite.

"Quiet down small man."

Where IS the bartender? Where IS The Nobleman? What will happen to The Enlightened's corpse? Why is everything happening at once and is there an escape for the only remaining passengers of the Angel's-Tears? 

Find out next time on "Upon The Twelfth Hour: Act II"!

Back into The Game we go.

A lot of the lines during this bit right after the play are sort of me taking potshots at Julia and myself. I really DO think that the middle is the hardest part of any story to plan and tell properly. 

Your story hinges on the ending, sure- but if your middle isn't satisfactory, who knows if your audience will want to read that far? It's a bit of a conundrum, especially since our middle is probably the least planned out of any section in VE.

I really think these opening two pages of the memo are Peak Arcjec, writing-wise. You're really getting the whole enchilada with his personality on display, and what an opener he decides to give you to that. 

I'd love to have a hyperspecific insult descriptor from this guy, because that's how you know he loves you.

I was visiting Heather's apartment while writing the majority of this memo and it took me around 12 hours of non-stop writing on my shitty 2012 Toshiba laptop with a partially busted screen from ~10pm-10am the next morning for me to squeeze it out on time. 

It's probably some of the most grueling effort I've put into the comic at this stage, and that's saying a lot.

Shots of everybodies lands, many of them for the first time. Don't worry, we'll see all of them throughout the course of this act.

During writing, I actually intended to have the cast go on social media themselves to check out what happened to Repiton in the meantime since their departure. However, I do think that tying the whole situation back to a throwaway narration gag during '[S] Turnin: Check Social Media' was the far better way to handle that wraparound. 

I mean, we already had an entire game about Repitonian social media! Why not just give it the spotlight and have Calder's clout and Turnin's lackadaisical attitude get some common ground?

Also, I wonder what those hommunculi are doing with that compecado...

Initially, Talald said Edolon should use Pozzol's prize hand as his replacement, but Pozzol refused. And Edolon has mental illness, so he also refused.

He had a much better idea for what to do about that anyways.

The return of the Doncomamticomp! Along with a bunch of Murrit's other Act 1 items, probably for some big crafting that will get them started on his major land quest. Also the first appearance of Tee Hanos, the platypus.

Most major consorts in The Game will meet and greet the player sometime soon after their land is formed and they leave their denizen platform, and their name will be ascribed by the creator accordingly. The Game then sorts this out with itself and gives all other consorts similarly themed names. 

So like how all of Arcjec's consorts are casual generalizations, expect all of Murrit's to be pop culture references.

And another change in style to boot! This is Murrit 3.0, people, better get used to her.

Something that a lot of fans didn't pick up on is the slight change in style here on this page. There's a glitch effect and outlines around Murrit, similar to older Homestuck/Vast Error panels. 

Most probably wouldn't bat an eye at this, there's an expectation of fluidity in most MSPA-type works- but shifting art styles in VE are important, and it doesn't seem like this one was due to any sort of major function. It just sort of... happens.

Tiord.................. Sweepy....................

A lot of people don't know what this animal is supposed to be! It's an okapi! 

They're kind of like weird giraffe, zebra, deer hybrids. They are super silly and very cute, and they get weirder the longer you look at them. Seriously, Google it.

Ellsee is now dreaming, or rather in a memory. Though, within Vast Error, these ideas are interchangeable. Memories influence dreams and all dreams are- are compressed memories and feelings.

This applies to dreamselves as well. They're ideal and intangible manifestations of characters desires and inputs through their memories.

Joint sigil of Vivifier/Forgiven inscribed on the tree here. They've had this mapped out for a long time.

HUGE REVEAL! Except, not quite. Everybody knows that Arcjec and Ellsee are related, but what wasn't known is just how far that familial familiarity went. Well, try "living in the same hive up until your teenage sweeps".

This is Arcjec's respiteblock too, same posters and everything. You can see items from seen from both his and Ellsee's hives scattered around the block, along with the same posters Arcjec still has up to this day! 

Except the Soul Eater one, that eventually got taken down. Probably because it made them think of his estranged buff clown wife.

Full-on kid friendly version of 'Dance out your frustrations' without the 'Blood Right'! Down to the alternate given command.

At the time of writing this, that animation has almost 1 MILLION views on Youtube. It will probably hit it within this year, and it's as exciting as it is terrifying.

I love the way that MSPA-type characters mess with syntax, in a page like this you can really get a character's details down. 

When you read a laugh, it's a distinct laugh with a distinct tone. Young Arcjec's (not to be confused with Kidjec) laugh is notably different from Current Arcjec's laugh, even if they do it in a similar fashion. Ellsee's is consistent.

The first time we've ever seen the Vooraines kitchen! It's probably much more of a mess now than it was then, but still, you can really tell these kids got a sweet deal.

For the most part, anyways. At least compared to so many other Repitonian kids around their age.

Yet another return of the Lunchables, one of Arcjec's lesser brought up but still integral character traits. It got its place on his dartboard in the same way Soul Eater got taken down, he just associates it too much with his stupid younger self that he resents and at the same time longs for.

Oh, and Ellsee confirmed transfem! Though that's been true for ages now, just the direct confirmation. I was looking forward to finally have a spot where that gets dropped.

My man's can eat and draw at the same time when they're like 12. That's innate talent right there.

I think this page really explores Young Arcjec's naive optimism and a lot of Ellsee's loneliness and doubts in a way that's reassuring, but ultimately kind of tragic given what we know happens. 

It's clear even from the beginning of Act 2 that Arcjec still feels in a similar way to how he does here even when he's just about six years older, but at the same time it's still very passive despite how much he obviously believes in what they're saying.

Ellsee saying that Arcjec's friends are HIS friends and not entirely hers isn't true, but there's a genuine reason why she's made to feel that way. She's unable to fully articulate herself and who she is most of the time because she's placed under circumstances that leave her vulnerable. 

Ellsee really did suffer older sibling syndrome, she's the one who had to grow up first.

"i won't forget about you ever!" [studio audience laugh track plays]

Finally, they said the f-word. And for once, it WASN'T fuck.

I know this will solve absolutely nothing when it comes to internet weirdos being rancid online, this isn't going to solve any shipping dilemmas in the long run. But at the very least now there is a tangible point that you can go to and say: "Hey, idiot! They're literally siblings!"

Thank you staff for further clarifying the point.

Some might wonder why Ellsee's staff is actually in the dream with her as a tangible object. Well, Ellsee DID say it has a mind of it's own...

I really like the transition here and the way the entire memory breaks down to reveal The Static, really great stuff from the art team.

The Static makes for some great pieces, because though it's just a giant blob of pixelated noise; it's ENDLESS pixelated noise. There's a real depth into just how far reaching it all goes, and it allows us to really play with how shots within it are presented.

The return of Bonehilda and Boner after 1479 pages of absence! Really the highlight of this last update, if you ask me. Jury is now currently out on if they're just props or not. But even if that's the case, Bonehilda is still the wife of a millennium, even if their kid is a real piece of work. White Noise is a lucky, lucky man.

Well, not really. Things have been kind of bad for him, actually.

I'm sure he'll have to tell Ellsee all about it.

And that's going to do it for this round of sketches and commentary! There are some pros and cons to this new system. The pros are that I don't have to force in a spot to do this every month and have some time to really think about the material! The cons are that it takes far longer to write out than normal because it's double the usual size and I'm one wordy bitch.

We'll find an equilibrium somewhere in the between, I just know it.

Thanks for all of your patience! I hope you guys are excited for the rest of this act! From here on out, shits going to get REAL.

Later!

- Austin