I probably won’t post something new tomorrow.
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page 30 (scroll down) of this.
Superfluous data:
The inking went better on the letters this time, but the actual drawings were still a mess and needed just as much post-scan mending as on past occasions. I at least seem to understand curtains better than I used to, but it’s still not enough.
People who have remarked have a few times done so to the amount that they don’t know what the characters’ names are. One thing that I find wacky about comics and indeed most fictional media is the manner in which plot details, including names, are compulsively stated even in situations where all parties (frequently just one person speaking to itself) should know everything and not need to say so. Still, somehow or another the reader ought to be informed, in most cases. I inserted a couple of names in here and it looked quite weird (apart from the the usual unusualness, naturally). It seemed like somebody else wrote it. I changed one of them to a “you.”
I drew the creature without ears, and then I saw some other picture where it had ears, so I drew ears on the next one, and they seemed unnecessary. If you’re bothered by the inconsistency you may imagine the fool has retractable ears.
No such excuse exists for the various background elements which are not totally consistent with prior depictions. Which is odd, because I knew all along what my intent was, so I should have been able to work something out. Maybe the room has more than one door and that control panel thing behind the bed is a stage prop.
I am not sure what the difference between a doctor and a doctrel is. Maybe this just regards the collar style of the laboratory coat worn, when applicable. Or perhaps doctrel is how they are addressed but doctor is what they are, even though this contradicts what I have already established. Maybe one kind is mean and the other kind is incompetent.
Between the page halves I lost my remaining point-three millimeter tip Techliner pen. It was certainly not the ideal drawing instrument and I only paid two dollars for it, but it was the best I had. I had to substitute… some other pen. It says “Pilot G2 07” but I think that can’t mean 0.7 millimeters because the “big” pen I use, for most of the outlines and the frame edges, is only 0.5 millimeters at the edge.
I thought we were friends.
Caesar Oil-Waste sez:
I’ve forgotten what Nemitz’s name is. Any chance you could remind me?
Who was supposed to be the ear-ed one? Inchwelm? I can’t say I quite remember that trait (nor do earlier comics seem to confirm it). That said, there does seem to hae been a notable shift in Inchwelm’s design–beyond the drastically evolved artistic style, that is. Above all, biv looks smaller and far less threatening, the first presumably owing to the baggy lab coat and lack of physical elevation via a couch, the latter to the smaller, less antler-like protrusions, far less piercing eyes and the lack of a (visable) powerful upper body. On the other hand, Inchwelm seems wittier and more dynamic in personality than in the earlier comics. Are these changes meant to highlight the differences between Muffineater’s rememberances (in which Inchwelm is an imposing snake monster straight out of Greek Mythology) and reality (in which biv is really just some snarky, wormy fellow who likes to bully people with anxiety issues), or did you simply decide to take the character in a new direction?
On a related note, have you made any more progress redrawing the older episodes?
Also, it was only on a second glance that I noticed that Muffineater rings a Jopean bell marked with an “I” before Inchwel, appears (albeit presumably via the door). At least this did not have a negative effect on the sound quality.
Finally, t’would seem Im being yelled at yet again to slow down. It scarcely seems fair that WordPress should punish everyone for the sins of a few rampaging robots.
Finkeldey Fabrax sez:
I don’t even see a new invasive robot this time. Perhaps the old ones are still getting attention even though they don’t seem to be able to access anything. The situation is peculiar.
The user interface, also, does not give me the option to not scold people. I found the file that handles the situation, though. I was alarmed to see that it included both an insincere apology and the word “cowboy.” I doubled the time interval, which was ten seconds.
And then I saw that there was a different thing generating a “slow down” message which did not include “cowboy,” which was probably what you were seeing. I found the origin of that, also, and it did not allow me to control the time interval. Or it did, I just would have had to write/insert different code rather than modifying what was already there, which I lack the skill to do.
Now it just checks, as far as I can tell (and I’m not good at this), if the clock time is the same.
It determines the difference between users like so:
“SELECT comment_date_gmt FROM $wpdb->comments WHERE comment_author_IP = ‘$comment_author_IP’ OR comment_author_email = ‘$comment_author_email’
It was nice of the authors to emphasize that OR there.
Since I allow people to post without supplying e-mail addresses, my guess is that anybody who leaves the field blank is considered to have the same one, and therefore be the same person. By default, wordpress requires all “guest” commentators to provide e-mail addresses, and so this is not a problem, usually.
I changed the machine to only look for IP addresses. I think. You will see if that changes anything, I hope.
regarding the comic:
As usual, you possibly attribute to me more forethought than I ever had. I don’t recall making Inchwelm deliberately monstrous, nor deliberately, specifically undoing the monstrosity, although there is much I do not recall.
I just put a coat on the thing for consistency with the other depicted personnel (excluding the receptionists) and simply utilized the same body-type that I use for just about everything else. The weird muscles on the old inchwelm I thought of, whenever I looked at it, as a regrettable, embarrassing indicator of the online artwork I was being influenced by at the time when I drew that. Not quite perverted proto-nemitz, but still ugly and without a great deal of understanding of anatomical concepts. I don’t know much more now but I’m less likely to try to get away with drawing something I don’t understand.
Through the years there was a definite shift toward more neutral, less masculine physiques all across the sandwich board. Although comparing the two versions now I see also that the lower body has changed, which was not a conscious modification at all. I was just thinking balance and support, but it has the additional effect of making the creature look fat and less in what is popularly regarded as “shape.” I will consider the matter further.
Eyes: Once again, I didn’t even notice.
Antler-like-protrusions: I’m not sure why I changed them. I had a reason but it couldn’t have been important. It would have been worse if I used the inchwelm in that doughnut picture as a reference, which has something totally different going on up there.
Ears:
I think what happened is that at one point there was another regularly occurring (in the sketch-books) impy creature with three prongs on its head and those ears, and I always imagined it was red or purple. The next time I drew inchwelm, which was likely quite a bit of time afterward, it seemed like that’s who had the ears.
As different as inchwelm seems, the “Treco” I imagined back then is totally dissimilar to the one I will eventually show in full if this continues.
I have redrawn nothing else. If it seems like I’m updating too slowly to not be simultaneously working on multiple projects, that is unfortunate.
Pigbuster sez:
Now that I think of it, the mysterious red-word-bubbled bully in the comic(s) page previous to this one is most likely inchwelm. I think at the time I believed it was the Hat, given its tendency for assertive dialogue. Normally Hat isn’t as insulting as seen in the red word bubbles, but I figured Elpse has a knack for inviting such abuse by way of his easily provoked over-dramatized confidence. Or something. Elpse’s use of “snake” is something which could apply to Muffineater, I figured, as he (or biv or whatever) is vaguely snakelike. The hat could also possess the ability to change the color of its wearer’s bubble color, I figured.
Finkeldey Fabrax sez:
I know that The Hat can speak, hop around and exert a variable level of influence or control over the minds it rests on, but I don’t believe it likes to let too many people become aware of these facts. Right now it will only talk to the muffineater, and not in view of others. That has not stopped the dumb lizard from directly addressing the hat itself in such circumstances, however.
I have not made ultimate decisions regarding the hat’s abilities and goals. Word-space color change might be a helpful thing to consider when preparing future episode(s).
On page 23b you can sort of see that Inchwelm is present, but I intentionally kept it vague, and it is additionally possible that the problematic ear sowed confusion. Also, the old inchwelm was not colored.
Or maybe I uploaded this so long ago, almost ten months, that nobody remembers. I haven’t even succeeded in producing one unit per month since then. It is upsetting.
And I should not expect anybody to consider that a reliable source of clues, as the bed looks totally different than it does later, the partially visible object in the lower left of the frame is never seen in full / again (much like the design on the hospital garment) and there’s no logical reason inchwelm should be approaching from that direction. Whatever the situation is, I’m glad that you’re trying to make sense of my slow-progressing, planless mess. You even found consistency in elpse’s temperament. It almost validates my existence.
Don’t worry about hes, shes, bivz, zuhs and such. Use whichever you think works best. I call everything “it.”
Mxy sez:
“* SEE ASTONISHING TALES FROM BEYOND THE MUFFIN #2”
No. I have no interest in anything beyond muffins.
Finkeldey Fabrax sez:
Don’t you like being astonished?
Mxy sez:
No, I have poor bladder control.
Finkeldey Fabrax sez:
My bladder control is astonishing.
Mxy sez:
*gasp!*
Curse you.
Pigbuster sez:
What I want to know is whatever happened to Muffineater’s executive career.
Finkeldey Fabrax sez:
Now you know the real reason AIG failed. Realizing I enabled that thing is my curse.