Merry Christmas, Selkie fans! 😀
Today’s guest strip comes from Kilyle, who drew a very seasonally appropriate comic for us.
Thank you, Kilyle! I hope Selkie and Amanda have much fun butting heads against tentacle physics. 😀
Today's edition of the Secret Commentary is empty, because Dave failed to come up with something for it.
Ahh co-operative games. The single best way to encourage friendships, or destroy them. Well, aside from Twilight Imperium 3.
Amazing idea and great comic, Kilyle! 😀
Now I really REALLY want to see them play a video game – any video game! – in co-op mode! 😀
Merry Seasonally Appropriate Holiday to All!
Bonus points for anyone who can point out which DVDs, books, and graphic novels are shown in the first panel there 😀
I’ll point out that the sole CD is Tim Noah’s “Supertunes,” because it definitely looks hard to figure out at this resolution. Also, I didn’t have any specific reference for Amanda’s handheld game device and games, or for Selkie’s new camera, so they’re not based on anything real. Nor did I spent too much time figuring out a realistic appearance for the controllers, though they are definitely hooked up to a computer because Octodad: Dadliest Catch is not a console game.
And, I debated about sticking with the original colors of the room, but concluded that Selkie probably got to repaint her room sometime prior to Christmas. The walls are covered in fishy imagery and the bed frame got repainted too 🙂
Looks like Spirited Away under the tree. Amanda is holding Anastasia. Finding Nemo on the floor between them. Looks like maybe Brother Bear against Amanda and possibly Tangled. The rest I can’t really fathom a guess at.
Right on all but one: What’s leaning against Amanda is not Brother Bear, but a book, and for that matter a classic that was originally written in a language that isn’t English.
That leaves the other Miyazaki, the book behind Amanda, the DVD on the coffee table (probably obvious), and two graphic novels.
Also, two plushies have been identified (Serendipity and Cera), but there’s a third. (Suko’s airplane and shark aren’t references to anything in particular.)
I think I see a Courageous Princess book, by Rod Espinoza, at the lower right corner of the first panel!
You got it! Oh, I’m so glad someone did! That was the one I thought was the most obscured, but pretty recognizable if you knew it 😀
Lol they’re playing octoDad
Amazing. I remember playing co-op in Octodad… it’s so hard to do. I gotta say, the first frame with Amanda in it, she looks absolutely stunning. They seem older here, Selkie seems to only plurality crap.
They came out older than I meant them to be, visually, especially Amanda. But I ran a bit overtime (and Dave was gracious enough to extend the deadline a bit so I could finish), because it turns out I’m terrible at predicting how long a particular step is going to take. So I really didn’t have time to go back and fix up some parts I would have liked to, including their visual ages.
Selkie’s speech was meant to be current!Selkie. Again, I didn’t end up with enough time to have a second pass at language. Although I expect Selkie has learned a bit about choosing not to add S’s, especially when questioning a term (she wouldn’t say “Steams key” or “Steam keys” here). I recall debating whether she’d say “I’m the legs agains” or “I’s the legs agains.”
…I frequently talk to my cat, and to myself, in a modified Selkie speech. It’s become a regular speech pattern for me, a register I can switch into and out of as desired. It pleases me. “You wants foods? I gives you foods.”
I just assumed they were older and Selkie grew out of pluralizing things. Especially since Amanda caught herself and didn’t say fish face. I feel like it’d take time for Amanda to call her sis, even if it’s forced. Plus, Andi isn’t there and I feel like at this current juncture in time Amanda would NOT hang out with Todd, Selkie and the other crazy fish people. At least she’d be way less comfortable about it.
Andi’s there, she’s just not in the frame. I can only fit so many people!
I do feel it would take more time for Amanda to stop herself that easily, but I figured she might at this point be doing it to avoid getting in trouble, and the term “sis” is being used practically as an insult at this point (hence the extra emphasis).
When I was putting together a scenario that included Pohl’s family, I figured they’d met a couple times other than just the octopus trip, and that at this gathering they were invited over as practically family, and that Amanda is doing the introvert thing (even if she’s not an introvert) of trying to ignore them and focus on objects. Similar to the way a new kid in the family might act during a family get-together with a bunch of people she doesn’t know or care about.
You’ll note she’s disconnected in the first panel — reading the back of Anastasia — and only perks up when the challenge occurs. In the last panel she’s focused on the game and can ignore the kid, much like she’d ignore a kid of similar age who didn’t have sharp teeth and webbed hands.
I think the only questionable thing is whether she’d be that quick to accept a challenge from Sai Fen. But then again, that’s kind of the whole conceit of this page: Amanda’s not going to avoid a dare that involves Selkie, because doing so makes it seem like she’s less worthy, so it hardly matters if another fish-face made the dare or not, she’s in.
Oh I didn’t mean you made them out of character. I meant if Andi wasn’t present somewhere then I doubt Amanda would even make an appearance. If Andi is just off screen then yeah I can totally see this happening.
Oh god the theme song is stuck in my head again!
I think Amanda would FLIP her SHIT if she had to meet Pohl’s family.
…that most definately needs to happen in the future.
She’s already met them, you know — at the aquarium.
OMG, their son is playing with plushies of Serendipity and Cera!!! Ahhh! Talk about nostalgia!:) Thanks, Kilyle! I’d like to catch all the small things but the pic is too small to see them. Great job, though!
Actually, I think the resolution is such that if you’re familiar with the reference, you’ll catch it even in small form (assuming regular vision and all). The only one I really question is one of the Miyazaki films I added, and one of the graphic novels (the other graphic novel is obscure, but if you know it the cover is pretty obvious). But 100% of the choices were made with a view to things the kids would like — water stuff for Selkie, dinosaurs and airplanes for Suko (and a shark, ‘cuz water predator), and for Amanda, not only princesses but girls who were forced away from their families, and in one case, was a real “screaming monkey” until the kindness of the family smoothed over her rough edges 🙂
Think Serendipity is a good choice for Selkie? Because a water creature who doesn’t know who or what she is, and has to learn that she has a special place in the world in part BECAUSE she is different.
And Cera, because when I started thinking dinosaurs I obviously thought of The Land Before Time, and then I realized that there was one character who clearly resonated with Amanda’s characterization. So the final panel actually ended up with last-minute symbolism — the two specific toys Suko is enjoying.
Also, I love that Theo is the one playing with Suko on the couch — totally seems like the type who would bond with Suko.
And, I didn’t have to invent any of the wrapping paper for those presents. Those are 100% wrapping papers I made for sale in my Zazzle store, including the girls’ blankets (which are my “Shimmershine” star design). They’re really shrunk so not a lot of detail but to me they still look pretty awesome.
I really learned a lot of GIMP tricks while creating this page.
On further review, Tim Noah’s album is also too low-res to really make out. That’s Supertunes.
Also, the colors look darker here than they were on my side before I sent them in. No idea if that’s a resolution change problem or just that I’m viewing it from a different computer. It changes the amount of detail on, for example, the people sitting on the couch, and the text in the final panel (which I hope is still clear).
It’s always a pleasant surprise to run into anyone else who remembers the Serendipity books. 🙂
re: colors, can affirm that it is most likely due to a different monitor. I had a devil of a time getting the color balance on my screens to match each other ‘well enough’, let alone precisely, and that’s with both units sitting side by side to compare to each other. One is incurably brighter than the other, so far as I can tell.
Sometimes, the best you can hope for is that green basically stays green and so on.
For what it’s worth, the comic looks fine on both here.
Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda!
(The traditional Welsh Seasonal Greeting, usually translated as “Polysyllables and Consonants for Everyone”, but actually meaning “Joyful Christmas and a Happy New Year”)
Don’t recall if I’ve studied Welsh more than glanced at it (I’ve studied over two dozen languages and have lost track of which ones I put more time into), but the one word I spent a lot of time on is… Llanfairpwlgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, and even that I had to refresh my memory of the spelling just now.
I love the song that helped me know how to pronounce it. Very fun. Was an ear worm for days.
I love the fact that it’s stretched out of the frame!
Head cannon accepted.
Merry Christmas, all…
Kilyle, dang, that must be scary for Dave, I thought it was Dave’s comic, only done with him trying a different style. Dang, you fooled me, until I read Dave’s note underneath. Well done!!
If it helps, it took me the better part of several days to put that together. Were it not for Dave’s generosity, I wouldn’t even be up, because I went over deadline by a couple *days* (it didn’t help that I had writer’s block until about two days before deadline).
If Dave were doing this quality of comic on a regular basis, he’d probably be updating weekly instead of three times a week.
That’s the trade-off, really. There are a few people who manage to get really awesome artwork done in a timely manner regularly, but there aren’t many. It’s much easier with a team, while most webcomics are done solo or at most with two people.
The two ends of the spectrum are Schlock Mercenary, done daily with no lapses for a decade and a half, but with fairly simplistic art (getting better all the time, but still), and Lackadaisy, with show-stoppingly gorgeous art done by a woman incredibly skilled in observation and human postures, gestures, and expressions, but where the updates happen maybe once a month, if that, even after her Patreon shot up to almost $6000/month (so it’s not because she needs to focus on her day job).
You may notice that Dave didn’t put up a link to a webcomic I’m doing. That’s because despite all the ideas I’ve had for comics, most of them exist in my head and scattered notes, not in actual comic form. I have yet to convince my brain that the simple-but-consistent output of a webcomic is preferable to the gorgeous-but-blue-moon output that will never work as a webcomic. This fact irritates me, and I hope eventually it changes, because I’ve clearly got the skill to MAKE a webcomic if I can push past my inner critic enough to do it.
Have you thought about getting a writer to collaborate with? Might help with the focusing on the storyline… Your art is fabulous, and your attention to detail is great. As Ed Catmull says, you’ve gotta have a storyline under it all.
Late reply, but I appreciate the encouragement 🙂
My YouTube channel is up and running, with over a hundred videos by now. I’ve been so focused on that that most other pursuits have fallen by the wayside for a while. But I’ve got a lot of gaming videos with the kids in my life, along with some random animals, vlogs, and a smattering of other stuff.
It’s been my privilege to also use my channel to participate in three charity efforts: Establishing June 28th as “Tiny Box Tim Day, a holiday for helping others”; joining the Extra Life effort to raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network of Hospitals (in my case, Seattle Children’s); and plugging Water.org and other fresh-water-access charities as part of Project for Awesome.
The link should be in my name here; I hope if you see this, you’ll drop by and check out my channel 🙂
Oh, and Guru, I don’t want for storylines. If I were to team up with someone, I would probably team up with an artist. I have way more in my head than I can get out in a timely manner using my art, and I’m very perfectionistic.
But I’ve been a storyteller far longer than I’ve been an artist. And creating plots and characters and twists and ideas is kinda my lifeblood, when I’m not crippled by self-doubt.
So while I can certainly push my art to some fine results on occasion, it takes a long time and doesn’t have the steady output I’d need for a regular project like a comic. However, my writing gets more done in a shorter amount of time, and I think it’s pretty good.
Incidentally, here’s my Deviant Art collection: http://arkylie.deviantart.com/gallery/
My writing’s in three folders: Poetry, Short Stories, and Nightmares. The short stories can be disturbing (I write creepy horror pretty handily), but the nightmares can delve into some REALLY dark stuff. Also, most of these examples were written at least five years ago, so expect them to have noticeable flaws.
I’ve got examples of digital art, digital manipulation (mostly World of Warcraft stuff), and photography. At some point I expect I’ll get my freehand art scanned in and up there, but probably not soon.
More examples of my photography (and some digital art) are on my Zazzle store. I happen to love making jigsaw puzzles 😀
zazzle.com/ZeyovianPathways
Seasons greetings y’all
And applause for Kilyle on a job well done
What… are they freaking PLAYING?
The Mop made me think of that clean up game with all the blood and dead elves and such… but then they are each controlling opposite parts of one body??? What STEAM game are they on?
That would be Octodad: Dadliest Catch. There are four limbs, and on co-op you can specify which player gets which limbs, or do a roulette thing where each time you complete an objective the computer randomizes who controls what.
The girls have made it to the downloadable content, specifically the date between Octodad and his future wife, and are mopping the kitchen floor when the stove catches on fire. If you want to see it in action, here’s Markiplier’s playthrough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA7EmS9crjg
LOL! Thank you! Markiplier is awesome! I like JackSepticEye better though, but Marki is cooler.
I’m currently obsessed enough with Markiplier to be attempting to plan out a fan game. It’s big enough that I’m wondering if any of it will actually get finished, but the overall concept is working out nicely. I’ve even got someone who’s made some of the sprites for me and with any luck will be making more of them soon.
Right now I’m trying to get a handle on some of Mark’s friends that I haven’t spent much time learning about. Jack is one I’ve enjoyed for a while, but tonight I was working my way through some key points of Yamimash (since I hadn’t even watched a single collaboration between the two until tonight), and soon enough I’ll be wrapping my head around Bob and Wade, and then Matt, Ryan, and eventually Daniel (leaving him out would be disrespectful to his memory, but I’ll have to be careful how I play his part in the tale).
There are so many little details that fall right into place where I need them… regardless of whether I actually end up with a playable game to give Mark, I’m having a lot of fun planning this out.
Also, I started a movement to turn Mark’s birthday into Tiny Box Tim Day, a holiday celebrating charitable giving. You donate time, money, or creativity to charity — an effort I think will touch Mark’s heart far better than any physical gifts sent directly to him, and should be the perfect kind of overwhelming, just like his fanmade subscriber milestone videos.
I worked out a whole concept for it, but basically:
If you can donate Time, help out with a volunteer or charitable effort, and get Tiny Box Time somewhere in the photo.
If you can donate Money, make the donation in the name of Tiny Box Tim.
If you can donate Creativity, create a TBT- or Markiplier-themed item that’s useful and family-friendly, and give it to someone in need.
Do any of that just prior to Mark’s birthday, and then on his birthday (June 28th), post pictures of your contribution on Twitter or similar sites, under the hashtag #TinyBoxTimDay
If even 1% of the fanbase gets on board this movement, that’s 110,000 acts of personal charity, and I rather expect Twitter to melt down :3
I hope this comic is canon.
BWAHAHAhahahahaha I love this
I am in a hotel room and cannot laugh or I will summon the Cranky Awakened Mother, but MAN I wish I could laugh out loud here!
First i thought it was Portal 2… That ones had some nice challenge. And a lot of point, where you can mess willingly your partner! 😀