Archive: Apr 2011

1. Fantasy Comic – Races overview

   April 28, 2011 4:50 pm Leave a Comment

   All right, I know I’ve been neglecting the superhero comic a lot but I’ve been getting carried away in the world-building of a fantasy setting. I will revisit superheroes in time.

   Meanwhile, I’ve been coming up with ideas for the djinnborn races and a couple other more alien creatures. Here’s a run-down of what I’ve got. Pictures and sketches will come soon.

   I don’t have names for these races yet, so…Bear with me, I suppose!

   Osoron’s Race

   Slightly shorter than average with softer, rounder features. Their builds tend to be a little slighter, but not much. They have blue skin and white hair and their eyes tend to be dark grey, though shades of blue and gold are not completely uncommon.

   Aremshah is currently a feudal monarchy ruled by the caliph, an office that Osoron quickly finds himself thrust into. It is one of the largest nations in the world, and most of the fertile land in the world lies within Aremshah’s borders. Traditionally, it has been the largest source of food throughout the world. Its cities flourish and are more cosmopolitan than most, though the rural areas are less modern. However, the age of Aremshah’s system is beginning to show as other nations begin to outmatch its technology level. The recent coup attempt may be the first of many expressions of discontent with Aremshah’s slow development.

   Lilac’s Race

   Lilac’s race is a representation of sexual dimorphism. Women are tall and willowy, with vibrant purple skin, shining golden hair, and glowing eyes. A faint nimbus clings to their forms at all times. Men are shorter, with goatlike hooves and a slightly satyr-like appearance.

   This race is a mercantile parliamentary oligarchy. In the past, they were an aggressively expansionist society and once had an empire that spanned much of the world. In those days, the men spent most of their lives fighting and keeping peace while women ran the household, managed properties and businesses, and kept the rest of the empire running smoothly. These cultural norms continued after the empire collapsed. Now, most businesses and government bureaucratic functions are run by women, while the military, law enforcement, and security are managed by men. The lines have been blurring more and more recently, but the culture remains mostly segregated.

   Three More Djinnborn Races

   Three more races exist, but I haven’t given much thought to what direction I want to take their governments and cultures — yet. I’ve been educating myself on the basics of different government systems and will select three more system ideas to work with. So without further ado, the races:

   • A race of hairless, golden-skinned people with dark brown eyes, pointed ears, elongated canines, and taloned fingers. Sorcerers of this race see their skin turn dark once their magic manifests and golden runes glow on their skin when they cast spells. I am considering making these people live in a meritocracy vaguely based on Confucian Chinese government.
   • A race of dragon-like humanoids with large wings, sharp teeth, and carnivorous mien. These people cannot actually fly, but their wings are powerful enough to allow them glide on updrafts and powerful thermal currents. Because their overall demeanor currently comes across as more predatory, I think they may have a militaristic past (and possibly present!). Possibly, they are ancient of Lilac’s race — they could have played a major part in the shattering the Empire of Purple Amazons, or vice versa.
   • A race of green-skinned humanoids with red eyes, forked tongues, and long, thin tails. These are the most recent addition to the list of djinnborn. So far I don’t have much for them. With their descriptions, it’s easy to make them have a more sinister culture, but I am going to consider this at some length.

   Two Odd Men Out

   Two more races exist outside the djinni legacy. They are more alien and most of the djinnborn have difficulty relating to them. Some live in places like Aremshah’s capital, but these are usually outcasts from their own societies. Official representation such as diplomatic envoys are rare and always attract attention.

   The first is a race of bat-winged, gnoll-like humanoids. Like the draconic race, they can’t properly fly but they can glide on updrafts and thermals. They are extremely xenophobic and live in a communist-like society. Members of this race are either part of the greater whole or cut off like tumors. They have some cannibalistic and necromantic rituals that are the focus of their religion. They are not as savage as the “jungle pygmy” concept. Their civilization does have a certain culture, but their appearance, attitude, and practices make them viewed as fiends and savages by most djinnborn.

   The second is a race of feathered naga-like creatures. These beings are not nearly as fleshed out, but as far as the djinnborn are concerned, they are also reclusive xenophobes.

   So that’s it!

   That’s an overview of the sentient races that live on this world. Over the next little bit, I’ll doodle up a few sketches to try and visually develop these folks.

   Meanwhile, I’m gonna try and update this a little more regularly. It’ll benefit me to have a reason to draw regularly. The past couple months have been a serious slump and I’ll be glad to get back into the swing of some kind of regular updates. Once I figure out a good schedule, I’ll let you know!

2. Comic Musing – Episodic Storytelling

   April 22, 2011 6:50 pm Leave a Comment

   I’ve been thinking on the format of my story the past couple days. Individual, episodic adventures or one major, overarching story arc that ties it all together? Both formats work well, so which one do I want to use?

   Metamorphosis was mostly story arc, with some episodic events. Every page was going to tie into Qul’s story. Certain chapters had a more episodic feel. The latest chapter where K’zink got in trouble had almost nothing to do with Qul’s story directly. The story that was intended to follow it had Lasc getting into trouble, but the events also had almost nothing to do with the main story.

   These episodes depicted a single period of Qul’s story, though. They may not have impacted his quest directly. That is, they might not have provided clues or leads. However, they were each relevant because they were things happening while Qul pursued his quest.

   Each format has pros and cons, which makes it difficult to decide where I’d go.

   Episodic Storytelling in Television

   To me, episodic storytelling is where each episode is mostly a standalone story. The setting and the main characters are usually constants, but a reader or viewer can jump into the middle of the story without feeling like they missed much. The overarching arc is not as important.

   A lot of mystery and crime shows like Bones and Castle follow this format. Some other shows like most of the Star Trek series (except for Deep Space Nine), Sanctuary, and Stargate also use this. Each episode stands mostly on its own feet, so I could pick up almost any episode and watch it without getting lost because I missed some kind of major story event.

   Some of these have story arcs that carry through the episodes. For example, in Bones, we see several character relationships form, disband, and reform throughout the series. There are also the background arcs surrounding Brennan’s family, Booth’s past, even some of the other characters. None of these story arcs are the main theme of the show, though. Their purpose is to augment the characters, but the show’s main focus is the crime solving aspect.

   Sometimes the shows create a larger episode that takes two, three, even four episodes to resolve. Many mid-season and season premiere/finale episodes in Star Trek are two-part episodes. In Sanctuary, the end of season 1 and the beginning of season 2 were one bigger “episode” that spanned about four or five regular episodes. The Stargate SG-1 series used this frequently, especially in the earlier seasons when the Goa’uld were a threat but when the end-goal was still to explore the gate network.

   In Comics

   A lot of longer-running Western comics have this format. X-Men, Avengers, Fantastic Four, and so on all feel very episodic to me. They do have story arcs that span several issues at a time, but there isn’t really one major, overarching point that drives the plot. The ultimate goal shifts depending on the current baddie and as soon as the current baddie is defeated, a new goal arises. Like Bones or Star Trek, the comics have certain themes that are a continuous presence. Sometimes earlier “episodes” are referenced. But there’s not a single identifiable quest that continues from one episode to the next.

   I realize not all Western comics are like this. However, the big names and longest-running series definitely jump right into the next episode as soon as the current one’s resolved.

   Advantages of the Episode

   With the episodic format, there’s not really an “end.” When one story stops, you just pick up the next one and keep going. You can bring closure and open a new story without any awkwardness. Your readers (or viewers) can jump in at the latest episode and won’t get lost because they missed important plot points from previous episodes.

   That is probably the biggest draw for using episodic style in webcomics. A webcomic that updates daily doesn’t have this problem, but when your comic updates only two or three times (or sometimes once!) a week, it takes a long time for a single story arc to resolve. That means it’s easy for your reader to get bored or lose track of your main story completely. I’ve read several webcomics that have great art, but I forgot what the story was because the comics were slowly paced or the story just wasn’t clear. Combined with a twice-weekly update schedule, I don’t always remember exactly what happened from one page to the next, let alone one chapter to the next.

   Metamorphosis’s first chapter took me about four months to complete on a twice-weekly schedule. That’s about thirty pages, and that’s a long time to go through a single story arc. I strove to make the main point, Qul’s quest, clear and relevant throughout. But if I’d gotten all the way to the end, would all of my readers have remembered what happened at the beginning?

   Perhaps, perhaps not. That’s why I tried to create some self-contained stories within the greater story arc.

   Another major advantage is the lack of an end. When you establish one overarching goal that dominates the story, what do you do when you’ve concluded that story? In most cases, it’s best to retire the story gracefully. A sequel is always possible, but they are hit-or-miss. Plenty of novelists write sequels for their own books. But at the same time, a person can read an entire novel in a day. That same person can’t read an entire ongoing webcomic in a day because it’s not finished yet! The episodic style helps satisfy the need for a sequel. I once explained webcomic chapters as “episodes in a TV show.” However, a friend of mine later likened them to “books in a series,” and in many ways I think the books metaphor is much more accurate.

   I definitely see the value in the episodic format. I’ve seen a lot of webcomics, especially fantasy adventure webcomics, try to use the straight overarching plot format without divvying up chapters or episodes. They just trundle on through without pausing to breathe. I don’t think it works so well because you have to know what’s going on all the time. Otherwise you can get very lost. It’s important to break up the action.

   Disadvantages

   Stagnation is the biggest disadvantage I can think of. How many different ways can you tell a story using the same characters?

   Obviously it’s not as big a deal as I make it seem. Dozens of episodic TV shows have gone on for seasons telling the same basic story over and over. N.C.I.S. just got renewed for a 9th season and has a spinoff title. CSI has been going on for 11 seasons and has two spinoffs that have been going for 9 and 7 seasons, respectively. These shows are both completely episodic. Any overarching stories take a back seat to the current episode’s events. And perhaps that’s part of the appeal.

   On the other hand, I don’t feel like it leaves much room for growth. Unless you’re very adept at weaving new, but believable plot points into your characters, or unless your characters create a solid dynamic, your cast can grow old quickly. One example for me is Wolverine. I feel that the character lost a large part of his appeal once his past was revealed. There just wasn’t anything else all that interesting about him anymore.

   I believe a large part of the reason that N.C.I.S. has such a lasting appeal lies in the characters. You have a cast of very lively, quirky characters that are all distinct from each other. They interact remarkably well and they have a lot of personality.

   Another major disadvantage, which ties into stagnation, is running out of things to do. I think that ongoing comics series suffer from this problem a lot. I’ve found that titles like X-Men have pushed my ability to suspend disbelief more and more in the past decade. Part of that is just my growing up, but part of it is that a lot of their stories just come out of left field for me. I find Hope Summers a horribly designed concept, I wasn’t fond of the aftermath of M-Day, and I just feel that overall the writers are being like Lady Gaga: They keep trying to one-up their last story but end up creating something even more “wtf”-inducing.

   In Short!

   I definitely see appeals toward the episodic style. It might make new readers more comfortable and it lets me continue writing new stories without reaching a real end.

   On the other hand, how long is too long? How many “seasons” can I go on before my show needs to just wrap up? How much character development can I actually do before I run out of stories and my characters lose their appeal?

   It’s something I’ll definitely have to consider.

   Stay tuned next week for a post on the other end of the spectrum: The Big Storyline.

    

3. Site changes

   April 21, 2011 9:41 am Leave a Comment

   I have a few site changes in the works.

   Domain Name Changes

   Until recently, this site has been accessible by the kaitoukage.net, psmetamorphosis.com, and metamorphosis-comic.com. I am dropping metamorphosis-comic.com since I don’t think it was very widely used. psmetamorphosis.com will remain active at least one more year, as will kaitoukage.net. The last will be phased out over the next year or so as I make sure everything can survive without it.

   I’ve also purchased frostykzink.com to re-establish the site. K’zink as a character goes back from before Metamorphosis, and I am fond of him, so I plan to re-imagine my online presence with him in mind. Keep a lookout for his new faux business, Sigilian Shave Ice, over the next few months. It’s a personal project I want to work on since I don’t have as much professional art training as I’d like.

   So the three domain names you can use to get to this site are:

   www.frostykzink.com
   www.psmetamorphosis.com
   www.kaitoukage.net (to be phased out within a year or two)

   Design Changes

   I’m working on revamping the site design. This may involve a fresh install of WordPress using the frostykzink.com as the base URL. The comic will still be available, but it will no longer be front-and-center. The purpose of this site has changed and I need to redo the design to reflect that. I’m not 100% sure what the new site will look like, but expect blue tones in line with K’zink.

   The comic will be moved off the front page, but will still be easily accessible. I may end up having to re-upload it but I can get that done easily enough. I’ve done it before. It’s tedious but I can get it posted.

   This change won’t happen until I make myself comfortable with a new design. You can expect some cooler colors, mostly blues to keep in line with the K’zink color scheme. I have a mockup on my local server that’s not even close to finished so it’ll be a while before I get this done.

   Projected Timeline?

   Not sure at the moment. I need to sit down and see what I want to accomplish with the site change and then I can produce an accurate timeline for myself. Hopefully within a month, tops. The site structure won’t be hard to make. It’s mostly the graphics I’ll have trouble with. I am not well-trained as a graphic designer and coloring takes me a while. Let’s see how it goes, eh?

   So that’s that! Keep an eye out for postings related to the transfer, and keep an eye out for a djinn-born post soon!

4. Djinn-born Visual Ideas

   April 18, 2011 3:14 pm Leave a Comment

   I took a little bit of time to sketch out some visuals for a few djinn-born races. They’re not incredibly inspired — yet. However, I hope to finesse the designs and make them more interesting over the next while.

   

   A few face sketches

   I’ve settled on five as a good number for the amount of djinn-born in this world. The picture on the left gives an idea of my first few facial designs. Osoron’s people have rounder, softer features. The draconic-looking race has much sharper features, pointed ears, and elongated fangs. The third race so far, Lilac’s race, is not markedly different in pencil. However, their eyes glow and their skin color may keep the vibrant purple that made Lilac so unique in her original designs.

   Enhancing the Design

   A LOT of fantasy/sci-fi races look mostly human or have little more than pointed ears and slender builds to visually distinguish them from humanity. There’s nothing wrong with that. You see different variations depending on where you look. Traditionally, most player races in  Dungeons & Dragons have been very humanlike. It was really only recently that you saw more variety in core supplements. Back in the days of 2nd Edition AD&D, it was unlikely that you’d see anyone outside of Planescape playing a half-dragon or dragonborn or any of the more unusual and monstrous races.

   A lot of other fictional settings run the gamut between “mostly human” and “much more unique.” Most aliens in the Star Trek series look remarkably human. In fact, the main visual difference between humans and many other races is usually a simple cosmetic cue. Bajorans have a ridge on their nose. Trills have spots running down their bodies. Betazoids look exactly like humans except for their black eyes. Even in Vulcans, the only significant difference is their pointed ears (and maybe their eyebrows).

   On the other hand, you have a series like Mass Effect, where the most humanlike race is the asari, and even the asari would never be mistaken for humans. Then you have the turians, drell, salarians, krogans, volus, even the hanar. And nobody really knows what the quarians look like. The only common thread between most of the sentient races is their rough body shape: two arms, two legs, one head, all positioned about the same way. Yet people seem to love this. To a lot of folks, the alien, inhuman characters are far more popular than the human characters.

   The grab-bag in Aremshah

   I’ve considered where I want to stand in the Star Trek vs. Mass Effect scale of differences. I’ve had some folks say that I should focus less on major cosmetic changes and make the different races vary more like humans than fantasy races. However, I want to keep that fantastic feel. I believe there is an allure to using more unique visual designs. I think it makes the characters stand out more. Besides, none of my characters in Metamorphosis were actually human and my readers seemed perfectly able to associate with them.

   So on the visual scale, I want something more than Star Trek, but considerably less than Mass Effect. My goal is to make the djinn-born races distinct enough that a person won’t be able to mistake one for another.

   The idea of drawing remarkably different races to the level of Mass Effect is definitely appealing. However, I think it is more troublesome for a webcomic. I need to design with practical considerations in mind. These are people and creations I’m going to draw over and over and over and over. I need to make sure it’s something I can work with repeatedly. I am sure I can learn to draw the variety of Mass Effect more efficiently over time. However, since this is a webcomic with shorter deadlines, I’d prefer to do something I’m a little more practiced with.

   The Variety Show

   

   The image above is a first draft. It shows a first idea of three djinn-born races in comparison to each other. From left to right you have Osoron’s race, the draconic-styled people, and Lilac’s race.

   Osoron’s race right now is the standard that the others are compared against. The only distinctly non-human features his people have is the blue skin. This is subject to change, but that’s the gist at this moment. Their hair color tends to be light, usually white but sometimes faintly gold or blue. Their eyes are usually grey, but are sometimes come in blue, purple, or gold. They tend toward rounder, softer features and more slender physiques than, say, the draconic race.

   Speaking of the draconic race, they’re next. They have much sharper, more angular features. My intention is to translate that into their body lines, too. Because they have wings, their chests tend to be deeper than the other races, and their musculature is usually more pronounced. I tried making their torsos a little longer than normal and I am debating if I want to give them claws.

   Then there’s Lilac’s race. After some discussion, I have a good direction for them to go. Women in that race are significantly taller than men. Beyond that, they don’t show much difference other than off-color skin (tentatively purple in women, maybe different in men) and a glow in their eyes and their bodies.

   Diverging from the Norm

   I’ve been considering how to implement the other two races and what other features I want to use on these characters’ races. Part of the problem is I’m a little stumped on what features to use. I’ve been looking for some kind of list of features or some kind of generator or table of traits. The tiefling traits table in Planewalker’s Handbook is the kind of thing I’m looking for. It is pretty limited, though. I’d like to have a variety of tables to draw from so I can get some inspiration for some fantasy character designs. If anyone knows where I can find interesting tables (in books or online), let me know.

   On a similar note, I’ve found the generators at Chaotic Shiny to be remarkably helpful for all sorts of cultural and material items. I was playing with the Tarot generator lately and it’s given me some great ideas for a fortune-telling system in this world.

   I better stop before I get too far ahead of myself! Hope you enjoy this foray into visual character design and stay tuned for more of my work with it. It’s coming, I promise!

5. The Djinn-born

   April 11, 2011 8:19 am Leave a Comment

   Long ago the djinn ruled the world. But for some reason the djinn vanished. Traces of their existence are left all across the world. Ruins of ancient palaces, dilapidated fortresses, magical lore, and powerful artifacts are scattered across the floating islands. But the of all the djinn legacies, the djinn-born races are the most prominent.

   Many races, one heritage

   The djinn-born races represent over three-quarters of the world’s population.  All of these races claim descent from the ancient djinn, and believe their heritage gives them dominion over the world. But the djinn-born races are varied in looks, mannerisms, and cultures.

   The legends say that all the djinn-born were once one race. Because of this, all djinn-born races appear mostly human. Two legs, two arms, two eyes, and so forth. The physical differences between the races are far more pronounced than the differences between human races in our world.  For example, one of the djinn-born races has dragon-like wings and other reptilian features. Others, such as the dominant race of Aremshah, have blue skin, white or grey hair, and an innate ability to levitate on winds.

   Keeping a variety

   The plan is to have about four or five different djinn-born races in this world. The one readers will see the most is the dominant race of Aremshah. As mentioned, this race has blue skin, light hair, and tends toward blue, purple, or grey eyes. Their bodies brim with a subconscious magic that allows them to hover and glide on air currents.  Osoron, Naxan, Irlix, and Mevar, among others, will represent this race in the story.

   The other races will make appearances, of course. Two of the characters currently slated for the “View from the Top” story are from the reptilian race.  Lilac and the twins in the “View from the Bottom” will be from a different race.  I’d like to work in at least one or two more. I have a couple ideas how they might fit in with the overall story.

   Making lots of people

   I’m limiting it to about four or five because I’m going to create a couple races that are not djinn-born. Drachmir will be from one of these races. But a healthy variety keeps the world interesting and (hopefully) makes people interested in it.

   “Races” instead of “species”

   The use of “races” instead of “species” to describe the different djinn-born races is a deliberate choice. Many fantasy worlds and settings use “race” to describe different types but sometimes they really mean “species.” Scientifically speaking, if two creatures can crossbreed and produce fertile offspring, they’re the same species. That means scientifically speaking, elves and humans are (barring any magical influences and justifications) the same species.

   The djinn-born are all the same species. They are capable of cross-breeding and their offspring are fertile.  The magic alters the way the offspring are birthed, though.

   On Earth, multiracial children typically exhibit physical traits of both parents.  This holds true for fantasy creatures like half-elves and half-orcs, too. Djinn-born with parents of different races are always born into the race of one parent or the other.  So a child of the draconic/reptilian race and the Aremshah race will look like one or the other, but not both.

   Children may exhibit a few features of both parents, but these are just cosmetic features. The child’s physiology is fully part of one race or the other. So you won’t have an Aremshah native with draconic wings.

   Characters before setting before characters

   In trying to design Naxan, I hit a number of walls. The old Naxan was reliant on a number of conventions that existed in the Planescape setting. This created a lot of holes that needed to be filled before the new Naxan could function as a character.  Fleshing out the culture and people Naxan (and Osoron and Mevar and Irlix, etc.) comes from will help me fill in those holes.

   So I’m going to spend a little time working with ideas for the djinn-born races, especially the Aremshah race, so I have the material I need to fill in some of these holes.

   What’s coming

   I’m planning to work with the djinn-born concept a little more, both as a whole and with each race individually. So keep an eye out as I work with this idea over the next little bit. I’m looking forward to hearing comments and ideas.

   Also, visual picture concepts are coming so stay tuned!

6. Fantasy Comic – Naxan

   April 6, 2011 4:14 pm Leave a Comment

   I will work with the View from the Bottom characters soon enough. I have a little settling in my head that I have to do before I am confident writing about some of them, even for discussion. So I’ll go on to Naxan!

   The Original Lord Naskos

   Lord Naskos was the Caliph’s personal assistant, right-hand-man, chamberlain, etc., etc. However, Lord Naskos was always the cover identity for Naxan, a cuprilach rilmani. A skilled spy and assassin, Naxan was assigned to keep an eye on rilmani interests in Aremshah and eventually became one of Osoron’s closest friends and advisors. Since Aremshah was mostly a neutral town, the rilmani wanted to keep their foothold, and Naxan had a vested interest in keeping Aremshah safe and intact. Thus, his desires almost always coincided with Aremshah’s greater good. It was a useful hook for keeping him relevant to the story, and provided an opening for a storyline down the road where his interests might not align so neatly.

   Where’s he go now?

   Naxan’s alignment with and closeness to the caliph can work very well still. He can continue to be Osoron’s personal agent while maintaining a cover identity as the caliph’s aide.

   I could reasonably make him the same race as the caliph. I could also do something different. Naxan was a consummate shapeshifter, so maybe I can create a rare race of shapeshifter on this world, and this particular one works for the caliph for some reason or other? I envision Naxan having a little bit of an Odo streak.

   Where he deviates from Odo is his cockiness and loose cannon attitude. He’s great at playing the part of loyal retainer, but he’s also got an ego the size of Aremshah and surrounding regions. He’s good at his job but he gets overconfident and it has gotten him into trouble. Big trouble.

   What else? I should figure out how to flesh him more. Some of that will come when I identify his race. That will help me determine where he comes from and why he has some of the attitudes he has. I like the idea of a rare shapeshifter race (maybe linked to the ancient djinn?). I could see him being able to skulk around a lot under assumed identities. Sometimes he also goes behind the caliph’s back and does things without authorization or permission, negotiates deals, etc. It would help make things interesting if he had a second allegiance that wasn’t to the caliph.

   Where to go from here? I have his profession,  his duty. Now I need to figure out how he got there. That means figuring out where he’s from. What makes him cocky, aside from just being good? Is there some kind of adrenaline rush he gets from his job? Maybe it’s because he has difficulty reconciling his failures, so he tries to bury them? Hmm, what to work with…

   I am open to anyone’s suggestions and ideas!