Prequel: Let's All Make a Catgirl Cry

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > BSS: Bisexual Super Son > Prequel: Let's All Make a Catgirl Cry

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

EvilMuppet posted:

That was 3 hours ago and I can't stop reading, flipping hell.

Join the club: there I was, not too days ago, surfing the internet looking for anything miscellaneous to read, I notice a name that peaked my interest.
It turns out that the name was that of a german melodic death metal band. Interested in learning more since I never heard of that genre, I then click on a Youtube link provided to me by Google. I then discovered that it's indeed a genre I already heard, but never knew it was called like that.
My curiosity satisfied, I was about to browse something else, when something odd caught my eye: the comments were all referencing some Katia, a guy called Asotil and a lot of references to TESIV: Oblivion.
Admittedly, the music itself had a few sections that reminded me of Morrowind and Skyrim's themes, but it felt more like a coincidence than anything else; besides, no comment I read mentioned that, and the references were regularly being made by multiple users.
My interest picked once more, I did a quick search and stumbled upon Prequel, a MSPA-styled comic.
Cue me getting sucked into the comic, wake the next day with only a few hours of sleep (after having forced myself off the screen), and promptly finished my archive binge as soon as I got home.
And then in one of the comment by the author himself I see SA being mentioned, and then spent the last couple of hours going through this thread, with discussions ranging from "what makes it a comic", fan-base management, etc.
Things like this make me love the internet.

I hope this will spark some interesting replies, so I have to ask the thread: how did you end up here?

# ¿ Jan 27, 2012 18:06

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# ¿ May 14, 2024 14:49

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

Kazerad, I'm curious about a few things (btw thanks for the answers so far, guys), if you do not mind me asking:
-how much of the story have you already worked out (including possible outcomes depending on the players' actions)? Most of it, or only a few steps ahead?
-why did you create the character of Katia specifically?
-have you played Daggerfall and is it connected with her being from Hammerfell?
-what inspired you in turning Quill-Weave from a minor character in the actual game into a pretty important supporting character in the comic? Was the NPC schedule that gave you the idea, or something else?
-by the same token, how did you come up with Asotil? Was it due to some funny gameplay experience/bug or something else?
-as someone suggested, is Gharag gro-Upp supposed to be some sort of parody about most player characters?

I really hope you don't mind: it's just that I've always been fascinated by the thought process behind anything an artist (writer/movie director/musician/...) makes, be it a sudden inspiration, or something planned in detail over many years, and the subsequent implementation (basically I love "making-ofs").

radintorov fucked around with this message at 00:19 on Jan 28, 2012

# ¿ Jan 28, 2012 00:17

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

Kazerad posted:

Hopefully that answers everything adequately!

Indeed it does!
One thing that shocked me when I started reading was the amount of small details and all the various references, even though I completely missed a couple and misinterpreted a few others: for example, I forgot that Hammerfell is not High Rock and was convinced that the nightmares were initially caused by none other than the ghost of King Lysandus.
Of course the Amulet of the Kings in the nightmare scene made me realise my mistake.
By the way, that sequence? I know one of the titles is "Making A Cat Cry: The Adventure", but dear God! :gonk:

It shows that you both know how to write/draw and that you've studied psichology, because that sequence felt like it was a) incredibly well done (the shift in art style, the design of the Emperor) and b) seemed like it was deliberately made to pull on the strings of the audience.
Hell, it pulled mine. :sweatdrop:

# ¿ Jan 28, 2012 17:01

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

Good thing there's a perfectly normal human trained in triage and surgery on the scene, or I might be worried! And even better, in TES perfectly normal humans have no innate physical aversion to water. Psychological, maybe a few, but not physical. :keke:

# ¿ Jan 30, 2012 16:29

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

Pakled posted:

As if we needed any more hints

Between that, the cultist in the Flash minigame (incidentally, how long did that take Kaz?) and a few other hints, it's pretty obvious when the invasion will begin in the comic.

# ¿ Jan 31, 2012 16:52

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

Piedmon Sama posted:

(Could this be the moment where Katia crosses the threshold to Level 3?)

She was level 1 when the story started and leveled up after managing to survive the Imps in the Aelyd ruin.

# ¿ Jan 31, 2012 19:07

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

Gnome de plume posted:

We should try to keep in mind what happened the last time a character got given a name.

Hey now, as Kazerad pointed out that was the players' fault.
That and he was a necromancer who had a threesome with a drunken character and a skeleton. :keke:

# ¿ Feb 1, 2012 11:04

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

IronSaber posted:

Good lord, I hope she gets that eye looked at.

Luckily she (i.e: the dumbass players that got her into the well in the first place :rolleyes:

) just forgot that she already used her daily Eye of Fear. So she should be ok.
At least she's chipper.

Incidentally, Kazerad, given that you pointed out multiple times the idiocy of ~~jumpin~~abseiling down there: how much is the whole well fiasco your doing and how much is just going along with the readers' suggestions?
And have you ever played tabletop rpgs, because the way you described how you make the comic reminds me a lot of how game masters are supposed to handle their players?

radintorov fucked around with this message at 19:54 on Feb 4, 2012

# ¿ Feb 4, 2012 19:45

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

Kazerad posted:

As for tabletop RPGs, I've played a little bit but never really got into it. I've done a lot of research on them, though; much of the literature about pen and paper games is very applicable to other mediums as well.

I figured that you would have at least researched them if not played them: while for the most part RPGs are a bunch of friends dicking around a table (in my experience, at least), there is always a certain level of complexity underneath them.

Wrist Watch posted:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpArShC7RXk
Kaz you are definitely in the big boys club now. First Tumblr ragequit and now you've got people making fan music?

All that's missing now are a couple of (dead)Dimitri/gro-Upp/ASOTIL slashfics and some general Rule 34 pictures. :mmmhmm:

# ¿ Feb 7, 2012 14:47

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

Um Jammer 6096 posted:

I don't know how this happened.

Schadenfreude combined with an underdog you end up rooting for?

# ¿ Feb 12, 2012 15:39

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

idonotlikepeas posted:

In real life, the only people who get out of their addictions are people who realize that they will have to deal with them every day, for the rest of their lives. I wonder if this character will realize the same thing about her life?

It will be interesting to see how this ends, although that's up in part to Kaz and in part to the players.
As you said, being addicted to something means that you will have to struggle with it forever: it is like a deep well, and even if you climb out it takes little to fall back in again.

# ¿ Feb 13, 2012 19:17

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

Pakled posted:

No. You don't see much of Sigrid in the game.

Pretty much.
Sigrid, in Oblivion was, well, a simple merchant NPC, albeit one with a Mercantile skill of 100 (possibly one of the reason she is rich in Prequel).
Given what Kazerad already managed to do with other minor NPCs from the game, it's going to be very interesting seeing what he is going to do with her.

# ¿ Mar 5, 2012 00:06

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

Jervas Dudley posted:

Hey, played a lot of Oblivion, but obviously never saw everything. Can someone confirm Sigrid's presence in the actual game, Oblivion spoilers (not sure what's kosher to spoil) she just stands on the road to the ruins of Kvatch and is a merchant, right? Despite an embarrassing amount of time spent on Oblivion, I've never finished the main quest or a number of the major sidequests.

Which, as I mentioned previously, is what it makes this interesting: Kazerad has already managed to flesh out some incredibly minor NPCs, and given that the only Kvatch you see is post-incident, he has a lot of or room to maneuver when writing his story.

radintorov fucked around with this message at 13:44 on Mar 7, 2012

# ¿ Mar 6, 2012 14:46

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

rotinaj posted:

But why does Katia have everything constantly go wrong and dick her over so far?

Because we readers are, fundamentally, dicks. :v:

Also the set-up of the story is: she has a pretty hosed-up past and while she's running away from her previous life to make a new one, she still has some problems that will take a long time to solve (if ever), which leads to a very low self-esteem, thus making her more likely to take stupid decisions and screw up immensely.
Keep in mind that one of the inspirations was another MSPA-inspired comic that is supposedly pretty hosed up and waaaaaay more depressing that this has ever been. (I can't remember the name, nor have read it yet)

# ¿ Mar 25, 2012 22:41

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

I don't remember which one it was: it's pretty late and while I did a quick check in the thread before posting, I didn't find it and I'm just going to bed. But I'm pretty sure that it was cited somewhere in here. Sorry I can't be of more help. :shobon:

# ¿ Mar 26, 2012 02:03

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

This whole sequence had me laughing.

Both the confused look the Clannfear has once summoned, and how embarassed it looks in the other panel.
And, again, Oblivion in-joke.

# ¿ Mar 27, 2012 15:35

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

Liquid Dinosaur posted:

Sorry to only answer this 6 days later, but I'm pretty sure you're thinking about Weaver's Boxdog story. \I asked about it only a few pages back in this thread, and Kaz confirmed that he read it.

Yeah, that's the one! I have no idea how I missed that when I searched for the post. Thanks, man!

And now I'll probably have to find it and read it, too, given that I brought it up in that post. Is it really that depressing, though?

Edit:
and now that I searched for Ruby Quest, I learned where a good numbers of avatars that I saw over the years come from. Yay. :downs:

radintorov fucked around with this message at 13:52 on Mar 31, 2012

# ¿ Mar 31, 2012 13:03

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

Telvanni Bug Musk, for all your persuasion needs. ;-*

And yeah, I'm also getting fond of that little critter.

IronSaber posted:

So Kaz recently streamed a playthrough of Skyrim with mods for added difficulty. I didn't see it all the way through, but he did play as a Khajit with massive mutton chops.

Was the stream saved anywhere? I'm actually interested in watching it, now.

# ¿ Apr 9, 2012 13:55

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

I'm having trouble understanding this whole debacle: if you don't like how the story is going, why not just make an MSPA account and submit your commands and try to convince the other users? :confused:

Isn't that easier than complaining here?

# ¿ Apr 10, 2012 19:30

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

Xander77 posted:

It's been longer since it first appeared, unless that was a really short lizard-loving story.

Well, it is Oblivion, so it might be a longer-lasting summon, maybe even custom made.

# ¿ Apr 11, 2012 10:02

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

Fork And Knife posted:

Is there any Elder Scrolls game with alchemy where it's not at least a little broken?

Daggerfall, if I'm not mistaken. Of course, there you don't need to have a broken alchemy system when the character creation system allows you to already start with a broken PC. Then there's lycanthropy, which in itself is great, and with Hircine's Ring it gets broken.

# ¿ Apr 12, 2012 23:53

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

Kazy posted:

Those are some great decisions, Katia

(update)

That is so going to end up in tears. And maybe alcohol, although I hope not because it would be overused and there are plenty of other things that could happen.

# ¿ Apr 13, 2012 15:53

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

IronSaber posted:

Welp, we tried.

It could still be worse.
I wonder how long it will take for the players to throw her a shovel, though.

# ¿ Apr 25, 2012 12:05

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

IronSaber posted:

Knowing the way this is going, probably going to be rain.

Which will dissolve what's left of Katia's paint underpants. And dignity.

And she'll probably catch a cold.

That and if she is the future Hero of Kvatch, I doubt it can be the attack underway, since it took place after the Hero's escape from the Imperial Prison (whenever the player decides to go to Kvatch).
I can see it kinda working, but it would be clunky.

# ¿ Apr 25, 2012 17:43

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

Dolash posted:

Most stories can cut away from these darkest of moments and cleanse the pallet then come back when the character's ready to do something again, but we're going to have to watch the whole emotional grind of the thing.

I think we might end up getting something different to screw up with our expectations, since it's what I think a writer would do. At the same time, keep in mind that there's always that element represented by the suggestions/commands on the forums.
If it were me, I'd rush to recover the letter and then go to the chapel (as a safe haven, despite ~~Martin~~scary monk's presence) to think things through, but between the character and the players, that's probably not going to happen

Liquid Dinosaur posted:

http://www.webcastbeacon.com/category/webcomic-beacon/

That interview made me wonder how many people read Prequel because it's an MSPA-style Oblivion comic, how many because it's interesting and how many only because the protagonist is a cat-girl. :v:

# ¿ Apr 26, 2012 09:59

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

Kazerad posted:

It's an actual guy. He manages to remain remarkably thematic.

That is pretty cool, I have to say.
And thematically appropriate, given what you've told us about the character's own personality.

# ¿ May 2, 2012 08:44

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

Roger Explosion posted:

A bottle came out of the trash can. A bottle with a cork still in it. A bottle that still probably contains liquid or a particular variety.

Huh, I hadn't noticed that.
I do hope it's empty and/or it's not an alcoholic beverage, because there's chance and then there's contrived. :rolleyes:

Still, the rage-filled replies are pretty entertaining.

# ¿ May 2, 2012 09:35

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

Kazerad posted:

I think we can all be pretty certain this panel will be making a comeback soon.

I can't say I'm that excited about it, given that I think it might be just a tad bit too contrived.
But benefit of doubt and all that.

# ¿ May 3, 2012 21:26

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

Huh, I was actually surprised by the update. And I'm also interested in seeing where it goes.
Well done, sir.

# ¿ Jun 2, 2012 12:47

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

While I was hoping that we would not have a continuation of the cycle yet, I wasn't actually expecting it.
In fact, the whole sequence came as a bit of a shock: I had to go through it a few time for the implications to sink in.
We are entering uncharted territory, people. :munch:

# ¿ Jun 3, 2012 15:19

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

I wouldn't worry too much about the fire: if I remember my Oblivion correctly, the chapel has almost nothing flammable where Katia is, there's a large courtyard in front of it with nothing flammable within tossing distance and it's raining pretty heavily.
Worst case scenario is that she tries to stamp out the fire and further injures herself.
Best case scenario, she manages to toss the blanket in the rain-soaked street so that the flames are doused.
I'm guessing that she could also toss it inside one of the barrels and close the lid: those things should be pretty air-tight, so the what little oxygen there is inside would be consumed immediately, dousing the flame ages before the temperature reaches the level necessary to set fire to the barrell itself.
Plenty of possibilities.

Of course we are talking about a forum game where the character's personality is taken into account in addition to the users' submissions, so anything could happen.

Edit:

Kazerad posted:

Thanks! But no, those parts are actually very difficult for me to write, as I'm not an alcholic/addict with depression. I have pages and pages of unused rough drafts that just weren't irrational enough, didn't portray the emotions strongly enough, didn't feel in-character enough, didn't convey all the necessary information, etc. Sometimes it just comes down to trial and error; I rewrite a scene until I get an iteration that (hopefully) doesn't sound fake.

It's still pretty damned impressive: most people that have not had to deal with an addiction usually do extremely poorly when portraying it, even when it has been researched. Very incidentally, that's one of the many things done right in the tv show Babylon 5.

Kazerad posted:

A lot of people are misinterpreting those embers as gold. I'm hoping having them burn out in the next update will be enough to clear things up for the archival readers.

Speaking of that scene, that was one neat little touch having the flame start up blue.

radintorov fucked around with this message at 08:53 on Jun 4, 2012

# ¿ Jun 4, 2012 08:44

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

Meh, things could be going a lot worse, what with her being inside a cathedral still made primarily of stone and little else.
Unless the summoning of a massive demonic gate to hell can cause such a surge of magicka in the area around it to overload an amulet and those born under the sign of the Atronach.
Anyway, funny update. :3:

# ¿ Jun 14, 2012 12:37

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

Liquid Dinosaur posted:

I get that Katia passed out from smoke inhalation, but who put the fire out?

If it was magical fire fueled by her, it might have simply gone out when she passed out?
Besides, she's still breathing, so there's no way this could get any worse. :v:

# ¿ Jul 1, 2012 08:56

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

chiefnewo posted:

I liked her reaction to the ludicrously detailed essay on fear and how you should love it.

Katia's reactions to the viewers' commands/suggestions/analysis have always been fun to watch.

# ¿ Jul 14, 2012 08:33

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

OriginalPseudonym posted:

Every one of those stairs is a static image in an html element. They have individual functions to make them move from side to side, and a second function that moves them vertically inside their encompassing element based on the distance you've scrolled down the page.

Gotta say, that's pretty fuckin sweet.

A relatively simple gimmick that does look pretty loving sweet indeed.
It'll be interesting to see where all of this leads to.

# ¿ Jul 22, 2012 13:30

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

Hamiltonian Bicycle posted:

I really like the scrolling trick this page uses, but this part doesn't seem to work on any browser except Chrome. (Tried it in Firefox 14.0.1 and Opera 12.01.)

It works for me and I'm using Firefox.

Also, holy poo poo! (or should I say "by the Twin Moons!"?) :stare:

I'm really loving all the crazy stuff that you pull in these dream sequences.
Congratulations to both you and Ch'marr. :tipshat:

# ¿ Aug 8, 2012 10:22

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

Ignatius M. Meen posted:

This is an awesome sequence so far, all the techno-wizardry is great and well-used.

The design for the nightmare emperor was great in the previous dream sequence, and is getting better and better.
On one hand, I am curious to see how this develops. On the other hand, I don't know if I want to. :ohdear:

# ¿ Sep 1, 2012 18:47

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

Funkz posted:

No, the monster just wants to play!

Given how the monster itself is looking at the words, I also think someone might have found her unconscious body. That or it is some kind of Divines intervention.

# ¿ Sep 5, 2012 13:04

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

Volmarias posted:

It ends up getting a little frustrating not being able to control the narrative in this way. I'd recommend that you err on the side of leading your viewers around by the nose towards your main content, while still rewarding them for exploring a little.

A possible way could be by having some sort of subtle glow around what has to be clicked or direction one has to scroll, although in the latter case the characters' reaction can suffice.

# ¿ Sep 5, 2012 19:40

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# ¿ May 14, 2024 14:49

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

Well, looks like Katia is still alive. After having been woken up from the nightmare in the now-usual fashion.

# ¿ Sep 17, 2012 11:28

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