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Deviousness `anmari has been spreading her infectious positivity throughout our community for over 6 years. Throughout this time Ana has been at the core of all things devious, passionately developing an eclectic gallery, helping organise devmeets, participating in chat events and also recently completed dedicating her time as a Community Volunteer. We are absolutely delighted to bestow the Deviousness Award for May 2013 to `anmari, congratulations! Read More
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Sta.sh
Thanks for the praise and commenting!
This is the wackiest world-domination scheme I'm familiar with… conquest by milk deprivation (though your famous lactation fixation keeps it from being a complete surprise)! Still, the deliberate, finely-detailed storytelling lends plenty of credibility! I'm most happy to see loads of characters with their individual agendas adding complexity and richness to the plot (Emma wants to rule; Emmi wants a family; Kelsey wants fine dining; Jen wants everyone to be happy; etc.). The switch from Kelsey to Emma as primary antagonist supplies emotional heft, since we've well invested in Emma's virtues as Jen's supporter. Gotta say, her DNA-instigated freak show was a ghoulish delight! I don't doubt that these unhappy victims are stuck as outcasts forever now… you sure don't shy from hard realities where luckless innocents are concerned (note the earlier extermination of Kelsey's food supply). Not just innocents, either… Jimmy's gang receives an appropriate thumping, to my smiling satisfaction! Felons as footwear… way to rub their faces in it!
The text is a pleasing balance of light and heavy incident: genuinely funny slapstick (scheming Kelsey being knocked ass-over-teakettle by joyous, newly-pregnant Emmi) and slow-burn irritation (Emma greeting Jimmy at the wear-house door) to leaven the awful heartbreak of Emma's life failure and ultimate self-destruction. While the negative aspects of the denouement may convey a feeling of unhappy ending, the elements taken in their totality deliver a impression of genuine, uncompromising reality, sweetness taken along with bitter, to detail a life actually lived rather than facile feel-good wish fulfillment. I infinitely prefer the presented approach… stories with heart and courage are the ones which persevere. Jen may rejoice in her decisions and so can you, Ilo! Job very well done!
I really wanted to get a character-appropriate ending for each of the characters, show where everything was going. The personal agendas of all characters kind of really played out themselves. The characters are designed with their own personalities, likes, dislikes and such in mind, so when a certain situation arises it's only a matter of "placing yourself in their shoes" and seeing what they would do. But of course for certain situations I may be looking at things from the opposite direction. Someone is going to trick Jen... who would it be most likely? The answer to that is then the person of choice.
One of the things I've been known for throughout the Jen chapters is unpredictability. Plot changes and sharp twists are a regularly returning aspect which I like to bring forth. This keeps things interesting for the readers. If you know from start to finish what's about to happen then I imagine it's more or less a boring ride. I like to keep things spicy. I liked the wording 'ghoulish delight'. We don't really know what happened to the women after this. Hm. You might be right with the 'outcast' comment. Obviously enough not everyone in the story had a very happy ending (e.g. Peggy, Emma). And about Jimmy's gang: It was a true pleasure to draw those scenes. ^_^ Indeed way to rub their faces in it.
Glad to hear you like the final result and approach. I know a lot of people are feeling sad and would have rather had a 'Disney ending' where everyone lived happily ever after. But while I don't always tend to take realism seriously (with all the alien technologies etc.) I do value that the story has a believable core and impression of reality. In the real world there's pain and unfairness, my comic is a reflection of this and while there are great nice things, there's also some dramatic elements.
Thanks again for your awesome review! And, if you're not tired of Jen... there's a little 'aftermath' revolving Emma in a 2-page mini-comic: [link]