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idletry: end of april update
🕑 Added 2023-04-30 22:59:32 +0000 UTCi definitely did NOT finish the script by the end of april, lol. the problem that's been plaguing me for years is that the part of my brain that usually writes (and has ideas for the most part) will just disappear for sometimes months at a time, broken up by bursts of activity that generally last ~2-3 weeks. it's what the FaD strip "stay" was about! some people (like many a psychiatrist) may view the periods of activity as hypomanic episodes, but...
they're not, lol. not unsurprising when the disappearance happens, but not really predictable, either -- there's not really "warning signs." still, it's suffocating and depressing to just constantly remind myself that when i'm feeling good and inspired i'll eventually hit a wall, so i just don't, lest i never feel inspired at all. it's pretty much a waiting game i play with my brain.
still, i wanna talk more about what i've been up to because i know not everyone is on tumblr.
the comic i've been working on is called idletry (idle-etree, can just be pronounced like idolatry). it's about a contentious and impulsive honey badger-tasmanian devil hybrid with a delusion that the story IS a story being written by someone -- except, it's not a delusion. she's correct. she takes it upon herself to start writing the story with access to Word of God powers that allow her to alter reality in any way she can imagine. you'll see her snapping a lot in drawings of her -- that's how she activates the power for most of the story.
her goals and powers conflict with the whims of the world's god, the original writer, so she also takes it upon herself to kill them by the end of the first chapter. the story is mostly about what she does with the absolute power to direct her (and anyone else's) destiny in any way she wants.
jessie is 29-30 years old, her parents are in their 50s, and her sister is 2 years older than her. shiloh is a love interest in the story, and she's 34.
the setting itself is a different continuity from drop-out or the trouple. i've been on the fence about if i'll draw characters with 5 fingers to differentiate them, but i think i just have to suck it up and start adding that last fingy. far shots will still have the usual amount of fingers.
there are 3 chapters planned: chapter 1, jessie kills god; chapter 2, tempting fate; and chapter 3, jessie kills god. the first chapter is outlined, and like 35% written, at 21 scenes total. for a frame of reference, catharsis is like 34 scenes iirc. like most writers, i will write scenes out of order if inspiration strikes, so some of chapters 2 and 3 is already written. chapter 2 needs the most work.
i want to give the first draft at least a month or two before i edit as a second draft, and i would really like at least a second draft. in the meantime i'll fuss with the printing aspect... the comic not done in binary lines there was a first go at trying out clip studio paint, but i've honestly really not enjoyed trying to draw jessie comics in it like i've enjoyed the worm comic. i'll need to test how far i can push comics i draw at my normal web resolution.
i also planned on drawing this comic in infinite page format, which feels more natural to me, with guidelines to show me where print pages end superimposed over the longer canvas to hopefully let me know if i can make slight adjustments to avoid cutting off panels.
i was originally thinking i'd print it in black and white, but in practice, it irritates me more than a little. the story is fantastical and ostentatious and passionate and the black-and-white seems to undercut it a lot. even black and white with a single accent color would help, but that would cost just as much to print as a full color page... so why wouldn't i just do full color? the worm comic is subtler and calmer, and the black-and-white palette suits what it's going for. the half-colored portion of the comic sketch done in CSP was a shot at what the coloring style will look like, but it needs work. i have a lot of ideas, but none of them scream "THIS is idletry's style." i'll probably test at the resolution i usually draw for color direction in the future.
anyway that's all i've got for now, i am trying so hard to not spoil some things, sorry if you've seen all this hogwash already!
