Hot stuff

My first pin-up for Multivers’d! Awww yeah!

…What? You thought that with my ratio of 4 ladies to 2 gentlemen, I’d focus on a woman first? Ha ha! You’re funny.

Truthfully, I was going to start with a picture of Ian and Bea making out or post-coital or just being adorable together. They’re the MAIN main characters, after all, and I’d rather show them being sexy with each other than separately. But yesterday, while going through stock art on DeviantArt, I was inspired to go with Damien first. The urge to draw a half-naked man was just too strong. XD

The AT4W fancomic is on course. The script turned out to be 18 pages long, but it’s done now. Once I’m confident I can consistently draw Linkara, Iron Liz, and Doctor Insano, I’ll be able to start comicking. I expect the comicking process to be time-consuming (being a proto-webcomic), so I’ll probably be posting a page at a time on DA, two or three times a week. It may take the rest of the summer to complete.

Speaking of That Guy With the Glasses, next week the TGWTG 3rd Anniversary mini-series “Suburban Knights” begins. “Kickassia” (the 2nd anniversary event) was just so utterly hilarious and random and fantastic, that it became an instant comfort movie. I had to buy the DVD because I watched it so much, I was getting sick of loading times. “Suburban Knights” looks like it’ll be just as good, if not better. I have a feeling I’ll be sketching a lot of fanart next week. And I can’t wait. 83

Project descriptions and teasers!

It feels like I’ve a ton of projects open at the moment, and it’s been long enough since I’ve blogged regularly that I might as well explain them. Not shown: looking for a graduate assistantship, my Project Management final paper, and all the conceptual ideas that haven’t made it to paper yet.

A nerdy recipe

It involves meatloaf. And that’s all I will say for now.

Green Lantern masquerade dress

early progress photo

The only way I’ll ever be able to cosplay Green Lantern Kyle Rayner is if I do it rule 63 style! I decided on a masquerade costume, so this isn’t quite cosplay, but rather me in a dress that will be reminiscent of Kyle’s old costume. I’m really excited for this. The pic above is an old progress shot – I have since acquired white cloth and a black choker, and soon I’ll make the mask and ring too.

Multivers’d

Ian McLoring

Yes, work on Multivers’d continues, mostly in character sheets, height comparisons and chapter descriptions. Expect some pin-ups and one-shots while I get used to the characters interacting with each other on the page. Progress will be slow for a bit, though, because I’ll primarily be working on…

“Day In, Day Out of Character,” an AT4W fancomic

panel from thumbnailed script

During Spring finals, I managed to get addicted to Linkara’s Atop the Fourth Wall comic reviews (found here and here). After finals were over, I was free to binge and plow through the entire archive. I may just be a bigger fangirl for Linkara than Doug Walker now, and – ahem. Right. I decided to make a fancomic.

Yeah, a fancomic. A long time ago I swore I’d never go down the dark, addictive path of writing fanfiction. Ah well. The odds were against me keeping that promise anyway. I can justify creating this fancomic because it’s a longer comic than I’ve worked on thus far (current estimate is 15 pages), but not nearly so long as Multivers’d will be. In other words – this is great practice for the comic-creation process. I already feel a lot more confident about being able to pull a script together for Multivers’d (although I may have to script an entire chapter before starting on art duty, so keeping a buffer will be key).

This is also the likeliest project to see fruition before the others, so keep an eye out! More pictures and comics will be up here soon.

Twelve characters, three stories, one kick-ass month

NaNoWriMo goes well so far.  I had a very stressful time last week, and I’m still recovering from that.  So I’m behind in my word count, but the last two days I’ve managed to pull off 2,000+ words.

This NaNo seems to be oddly easier, even with the setbacks.  It helps having established stories to work off of, I suppose, and the fact that I can switch between stories once my steam runs out.  I’ve written 5,744 words so far, about half in Spyder, Spyder, and half in Areopagus.

I found this awesome 12 Characters meme on the NaNo forums, but they’re down at the moment, so I thought I’d post mine here.  It’s crossover-tastic, as one might expect.  Later in the month I’ll probably be writing crossover-fic due to NaNo desperation, but for now, this scratches the itch pretty well.

Multiversing Strength of the Fallen

NaNo’s coming up quick, and to celebrate I thought I’d do a post a day on the projects I’ve got to look forward to. First up, Strength of the Fallen.

The plot: the S’riellan (translated as “the Fallen”) are the super-powered soldiers of the elves. But one morning, a S’riellan war hero named Minrei wakes up to find her strength, speed, and senses are those of a regular elf.

SotF is probably my favorite of the three NaNo projects.  It’s got a lot more going on than the stories I usually write, in that Minrei is not a predestined hero, nor a powerful rookie. Rather, Minrei is a physically-strong woman turned weak, an experienced fighter now reliant on smarts and creativity, and a fugitive from a government founded on conspiracies.

I reread the initial draft as prep for NaNo. Predictably, the writing became less well-thought-out as I went through it. I could tell when I started getting desperate for higher word counts, since I stopped using contractions and started adding notes about which swear words to use. (SotF was apparently written after watching Firefly, because I had decided to swear in Fijian. I now regret that decision. It’s too obvious.)

Basically, in the 88 page document, anything after page 40 might get cut. I’ve made a few plot-altering decisions for the coming NaNo already. A big one is that I’m cutting the romance bit that occurs in the last half. It doesn’t fit, and makes Minrei seem emotionally-weaker than I want her to be.

The other big change is that I’m making SotF part of 3PF canon – and by extension, Multiversed. When I first thought up Minrei, I used a similar worldbuilding premise to the one I used in 3PF. If you’re interested in an explanation, you can find it below the cut.

Tossing and turning the page

I’ve been having trouble sleeping recently. I go to bed and I toss and I turn, and I think about Multiversed. As a result, I’ve made a lot of progress in figuring out the chapter storylines. The prologue and chapter 1 still need some work, but chapters 2, 3, n-1, and n are more-or-less planned out in my head (where n is the magical chapter when shit goes down, yo). I even have chapter titles for some of them. It’s an exhilarating feeling, having solid plot to work with.

And, if you check my Multiversed references page, you’ll see that I’ve posted an update with Damien’s character sheet. I’d hoped to have Valerie’s revised character sheet done by today as well, but… see for yourself :

Heh heh. To misquote “Bend It Like Beckham,” when drawing, I tend to make even mosquito bites look like juicy juicy mangoes. ^^;;

Sleeplessness led to another awesome turn of events besides Multiversed progress. One night I stumbled back out of bed, and went back to my computer. I was looking for a couple of documents in which I keep spare ideas (for incorporating into a Multiversed storyline, say). But instead I ended up reading the beginning of Strength of the Fallen. Then, amazed, I read bits of Areopagus. Then Spyder, Spyder.

They were actually good.

It’s been long enough since I wrote these projects that I don’t remember anything but the barest details of them. It was as though someone else had written them, some writer who knew what she was doing.

For the first time in my life, I agree with my mother that I should try to get these things published. …Which means I should probably finish writing them.

Therefore I’m proud to announce that I will be doing National Novel Writing Month again this year. This time, I will be writing the ends to the drafts from my previous three NaNo’s. This month, my prep reading will be the drafts; my homework to brainstorm endings. I’m incredibly excited for this. NaNo is the most hectic but brilliant time. I feel so alive (if tired) during it, and I’m sure this time won’t be an exception.

(And look at those pep talk guests! Holly Black, Dave Eggers and Lemony Snicket. SQUEE. :3 )

Last but not least, I’m including an excerpt of Strength of the Fallen. There are a few things I’ll change in a later draft, of course, but it reminded me of all the intrigue that’s at the heart of this story. Click to read the excerpt.

jehgufseijncioas

The page of Multiversed reference art has been updated to include the newest character sheets: http://probablefutures.wordpress.com/projects/multiversed/references/

I’m panicking a bit. After I do my CS capstone presentation on Friday, things should be okay again. There’ll be an update then.

Fake it ’til you make it

Since last I wrote, I have:

• made a 6.5-hour drive by myself – after 4 hours of sleep and a busy day;
• attended a counter-protest against the Westboro Baptist Church;
• decided on a graduate school to attend for Library and Information Science (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, woo woo);
• given my 30-day notice for my apartment lease;
• received word that I’ll definitely be working for the U.S. Census Bureau this summer;
• designed and painted a Drake Relays street square for Anime Club;
• attended my second comics convention, C2E2
• (and consequently managed not to dissolve while telling Danielle Corsetto, Erica Henderson, and most especially Kris Straub how much I enjoy their works);
• and listened to Neil Gaiman give a reading (also at C2E2).

Overall, though, I’ve been struggling against apathy. Senioritis has hit, and I’ve stopped caring about most of my classes. The homework, the projects… Little seems relevant anymore, and truth be told, the apathy is preferable to my previous panic. I can do this, I know I can. But I’m so very ready for undergrad to be over.

Regarding the capstones, I’m ready to talk about Dread Summons a bit. The premise is that a novice from a supernatural control agency gets sent to a haunted apartment, where she must summon a spirit and return the apartment’s inhabitants to normal. It is a third-person adventure game, in 2-D and with my own artwork. Dread Summons will not be completed in time for my capstone presentation, but I hope to have the interface, controls, and a puzzle ready by then. I’m using C++ with OpenGL for the code. Even though I’d hoped to use Squeak Smalltalk, it would take way too much time to learn. And I don’t have a lot of time right now.

The prologue of Multiversed has been rewritten. I decided it would be better to leave out all the fancy foreshadowing and flashbacks, focusing instead on what happens after Ian and Bea start world-traveling. They’re perfect for asking, “What the hell is going on?!” and demanding answers.  The sooner we get the explanations out of the way and into the narrative proper, the better.

Nearly all the character sheets are done too.  Only Damien’s and Cecelia’s are left.  Unfortunately, even if I finish them today, I won’t have the time to draw roughs of the revised introduction to show my classmates.  I’m a little disappointed about that, considering how greatly it could help them understand how the script would be translated into comics, but at the same time… I dunno. It’s a lot of work I just don’t want to do right now. Ah, apathy strikes again. :/

In ur script, killin’ ur babies

A lot of people know this about me by now, but in case you didn’t… Once upon a time there was this story I wrote. It had a couple names, but it ended up being called “Past, Present, and Probable Future,” aka 3PF. Best I can tell, I wrote it on and off again for nine years before I finally had a rough but completed first draft. Nine years of thinking about this behemoth. On long car rides, in the shower, during class, before falling asleep at night I went over this story in my head, building on the worlds and the characters, trying to get them exactly right. 3PF was my epic. Its writing defined me. And then the rough draft was done, and I set it aside. My epic could wait for me to mature enough to edit it down.

But… I’ve been thinking about this a lot over the last couple weeks, and I think – I think 3PF is dead.

It’s tough to say. I don’t usually kill projects, after all, I just stop working on them and leave them in suspended animation. Those that are ‘killed’ are usually stillborn – embryonic projects that never made it to paper. 3PF was none of those. I fully intended to return to it; and god help me, it followed me for a little less than half of my life. The world of 3PF has stories left to tell, as do the characters. I could tell you so much about that world… about the people in it and their customs and quirks and histories…

Multiversed killed it.

Or rather, Multiversed absorbed that world. It goes like this: Multiversed was a crossover fanfiction I wrote in my head to help me go to sleep at night. When I realized that the story could be a good one if it weren’t fanfiction, I set about changing characters so that they became my own. Multiversed’s characters are all decidedly different from their base counterparts. (Maybe one day I’ll post a comparison, but that won’t be until the comic is established.) And fool that I was, I decided to save time by using my own pre-existing characters. Why not add the Three from 3PF? Their backstory and personalities fit so well into the new project, I was amazed.

So what’s the problem? That’s not enough to kill a project. Well, the problem was ‘Ashley’ who was renamed ‘Laura,’ and who just a few days ago was renamed again ‘Cecelia.’ Her backstory is a major plot point maybe halfway through Multiversed, and that backstory means massive spoilers for 3PF. Even though I love it so, 3PF will have to remain a private endeavor, a once-favored project with too much history to simply stay out of mind.

I don’t think anyone else will care. I didn’t share the draft with anyone; I just talked about it to anyone who seemed interested. With the completion of draft 1 a couple years behind me, I do believe most have forgotten about Ashley’s good ol’ 3PF. But I tip my hat to the project, for it will not have died in vain.

In other news, the semester already feels like it’s ending, and April’s going to be a bitch, especially since I signed up for Script Frenzy (what for churning out the Multiversed script). More on all that later.

A dilemma of perception

Ladies and gentlemen, we are officially at the point in the semester when I start losing control of my schedule, and stop taking care of the long-term commitments, like this blog. I haven’t worked on any one of my long-term goals since my English capstone class workshopped my first few pages of the Multiversed script. NOT ONE. And it feels like forever ago since I made any progress, instead of, what? A week?

To be fair, I’ve had a couple of last-minute commitments. Liz in a bad mood and needing company… Megan’s birthday sushi… Danny and Vince getting sick… Me getting sick from taking care of Danny… Yeah, it’s been rough.

On the other hand, the workshop has been weighing heavily on my mind. For the purposes of the capstone, I’m going to have to make some changes. Too many don’t understand the format, the terms, how the page will look. I wish I could assign homework. I’d give them Understanding Comics for the basics, and The Sandman: Dream Country, which includes a script of “Calliope” (and which I admit I used to figure out how a comic script might look).

Okay. Step back a bit from this, Ashley. What I’m dealing with is a dilemma of perception, and that perception is mine.

Multiversed is going to be a webcomic. For now, I am only scripting the story, for a class in which I have to share my work. Whereas the script is usually a dialogue between writer and artist (even if both are the same person), within a workshop it becomes… something else. Public instead of private. I know I shouldn’t, but I resent having the format and the panel descriptions be such a big deal. In the finished product, they won’t be.

I guess I wanted to workshop the idea of Multiversed, rather than the script itself. This workshop has shown me that’s way too idealistic. Actually, Anne put it best, in her comments:

I worry about your audience. I know the majority of people won’t be able to visualize from this like you can which will effect their reading. Is there another way to help them out/reach a broader audience?

I think it would help to include more art – character sheets, world designs, rough sketches of panels/pages. As I brought up before, though, the art takes a lot more time than the writing. Only Ian’s character sheet was finished for the workshop, for example.

…I don’t know. It’ll take some more thought.

Other issues raised in the workshop:

• Ian & Bea seemed younger than they actually are (and Wendell seems old). Easily dealt with through their designs. Granted, Ian looks kinda on the young side, and acts like a big goof too at times. He should still look older than Damien, Laura, and Val when their designs are done. Robin’ll be the youngest, and she kinda already looks it. Wendell is old.
• Ian & Bea seemed like siblings instead of a married couple. Difficult. There’s something very unsubtle about having them flash their wedding rings around. Or pausing in the middle of the chase scene for some hawt lovin’. Maybe just ‘knowing’ their age will take care of the sibling issue? Not sure about getting across the marriage part, though. That really might require some hawt lovin’.
• Wendell’s and Ian’s relationship – what is it? Uh. Damn, we need a flashback for that too, probably.
• Whose point of view are we following? Ian and Bea’s… but also Damien, Laura, Val, Robin, Qinzolquani… I think this will become clearer as the plot gets going and the other MCs are introduced. Unfortunately, at least one person assumed Wendell’s POV, so I think the ‘Epic Cheeseburger’ scene will become flashback.
• Try weaving the history between the characters in with the rest of the story. Yes. Will do.
• Is the name “Beatrice” a deliberate Dante reference? Yes. Make of that what you will. (Okay, okay, I can’t just be flippant – I was hoping someone would catch that!)
• Flashbacks are confusing! Flashbacks are my bad habit. It’s hard to fix here, because I feel like I need to start in the middle of some action in order to get reader attention… but then the set-up and background is confined to flashback and dialogue. My fault entirely, I’ll see what I can do to keep everything clear and (mostly) linear.
• Flashbacks are creative! …Hrm. They are a spice to be used only a pinch at a time, perhaps?
• With all this foreshadowing, this narrative could get confusing, fast. -_- Yep. The foreshadowing is going to be cut. I don’t like it. Too heavy-handed.
• I’m not sure what the conflict is yet. That’s what I was afraid of. I’m going to rearrange the order in which events are shown, try to make it clearer.
• Is anything autobiographical about this story? No. ‘Laura’ used to be ‘Ashley’ once upon a time, but she hasn’t been me for a long time. I prefer it that way. Ian and Bea were in their saccharine relationship before I was in mine with Dan. (Admittedly, now I have more reference for this ‘making out’ thing, but really now guys that’s not autobiography that’s learning where your tongue goes.)
• Maybe some characters are based off people in your life? Not personality-wise. But… if you wanna know a secret… I’m mining you all for design ideas. The clothes you wear, your hairstyles, your smiles and odd expressions, the way Prof. Brown likes to drape herself over desks… Oh yes, I’m filing those details away for later. *grins evilly* (I really am doing this to everyone I see, but it’s not really that big an influence on the character designs. Yet, anyway. I just like giving evil monologues.)
• Who’s Qinzolquani? BWAHAHAHA – *cough* Hem. Just this person. Goddess, actually. Quite – *cough* – unremarkable. Yes.

The problem with inking

I have a feeling that every post from now ’til the end of the semester will be in the “Multiversed” category as well as the “Spring 2010 Semester” category. It makes sense – I’ve been daydreaming about Multiversed for over a year. I know what needs to be done for this project. Hopefully it doesn’t turn out to be a bad thing, that I spend all my time working on Multiversed and ignore the semester’s other obligations. *sighs*

Speaking of my other projects, I have a plot for my CS capstone game! And a main character design (no name yet, unfortunately)! The game will be called “Dread Summons,” but I’m going to keep the plot to myself for a bit. Implementation-wise, I’ve been learning Squeak Smalltalk and it seems perfect for my purposes except for one thing… Squeak doesn’t convert animated .gifs very well if they use transparency. This could mean that animation is out of the question. It could also mean that I need to tell Squeak to animate stills, or that I need to mess with some code to make the Morph class do what I want. Either way, I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me.

As for Multiversed… I accidentally did a bad thing. Last post I reported I was “too tired” to redesign Bea, but perfectly okay to ink Qinzolquani. I neglected to mention that I’d inked an old sketch of Bea as well.

Until yesterday, I assumed that the process of inking was a necessary evil, a way to get from point A (penciled sketch) to point B (clean artwork). Inking requires some creativity… but not a lot of thought. For me, it’s a relief to ink. Inking’s just going over the lines again, right? Get the drawing finalized, get it ready to scan. Easy-peasy.

Except that inking also finalizes the drawing in my mind. I can’t remember penciled sketches for beans, but as I work over each line with ink, I commit it to memory – and the inked drawing sticks there. When I started writing the Multiversed script, I was imagining Bea’s old design, all because I made the mistake of inking it.

So I tried again to recreate that old design, but I can’t do it. Her hair design alludes me still. Though it frustrates me to no end, Bea has to be redesigned. My ability to draw just can’t accommodate my imagination this time.