page 674 – No OSHA Compliance
No joke, I googled “worst Star Trek technobabble” and filled in the blanks in this comic’s script with the results.
So… I’m annoyed a bit by the way this page looks. As originally conceived, this “gap” between the normal sections of the station was going to be a lot bigger. Well, taller and deeper, anyway. It was going to be a narrow ledge along the middle of a sort of metal canyon (if you’re into the Star Wars expanded universe, then think the sort of thing you’d see in Nar Shaddaa) Buuuuuuut, if the past 600+ pages demonstrate anything, it’s that I’m better at drawing characters than exotic locations, so I just couldn’t get the effect right. As a result, we get just another hall that’s slightly more cluttered with glowy things than most. It serves the purpose of the story, and that’s what really matters, but I still with I could have pulled off the original idea.
Also, is it clear that Avatar’s in the Glowing Tube of Fatal Glowing Stuff because she knows Trigger wouldn’t appreciate her spying on his alone time with Skye? (Skye probably wouldn’t want anyone watching her work either, but it’s not like Avatar doesn’t already know what she does) It seemed obvious enough to me when I drew it, but just now I’m struck with the fear that others might not get it right away. Honestly, the only reason she’s following THIS way instead of just quietly walking down the hall a few steps behind like a normal person is ‘cos she hasn’t done anything “indestructible” lately. Gotta keep these plot points fresh or they’ll go bad and you can’t use ’em any more.
(Historical Notes: Readers picked up on an additional interpretation for Avatar spying on Trigger on is “date” with Skye… one that flagrantly disregarded the fact that she’s permanently prepubescent and not interested in boys whatsoever.)
It’s a girl, following a guy on what the guy considers/hopes to be a “date”. Of COURSE us readers assumed the stalking girl was interested in the guy, it’s storytelling guesswork 101. They could be toddlers and we’d make the same guess.
In fiction, all it takes is for two characters to be on the same page, period.
Like I said, storytelling guesswork 101. Storytelling guesswork 201+ is where the people start writing fan fictions, and 301+ is where they actually start trying to accurately guess the plot.
What level do they have to be at to start making their own new works inspired by the original but going in the directions they WISH the original had?
Depends on what you mean by “new works”. Poor Fan-fictions that change something and pretend that it makes everything better is part of 201+. Well written Fan-fictions can be a part of 301+, but is usually left out for smug condensation when you’ve predicted correctly, or obnoxious boredom stemming from understanding story trends of the chosen area but refusing to follow more complicated stories.
Writing a genuinely original story, however, is outside the realm of the “Storytelling Guesswork” field, and requires one to diversify their studies. Publishing is a further level beyond that, and earning money from their works is yet another further level.
There are no original stories.
Or so they say.