Page Commentary No. 299

Psu: Wow we're already here?

Gunwild: So yeah, in a setting where it's a known quantity that sometimes contact with other dimensions is made, well, sometimes there are going to be dimensions that are close enough to heck to make no nevermind.

Psu: I'm just kinda caught on how far we've gotten into the commentaries on this comic. But I guess we have been running this patreon for a few years now. And the webcomic for even longer. If I may be serious, this page has a lot of stuff going into it and I really thought a lot about making the kids story progress. It's very much parallel to the main Cassiopeia Quinn plot but I think once we had these kids on board, we really wanted them to be their own characters to. To that end, I think they have very complex feelings and histories.

Gunwild: And at least one of them can afford an entire costume suit of armor!

Psu: Well, we don't quite know where Otis gets his resources. Anyway... there's also a little too subtle a thing I wanted revealed in this story. Not a lot of people picked up on it, and I suppose if I did it again I'd make it more clear. But I wanted to point out that Ashley was a "Prince" of a Heck like dimension with an emphasis on "prince" part. And she's identifying as a girl now, and that's okay.

Gunwild: I'm cool with that interpretation, I was just like, "Psu, I don't know enough about gender and child-rearing to make that a major feature of the story!" and here we are.

Psu: Yeah, to be sure our story isn't quite ABOUT that or relationships and things especially of a couple of side characters. But the fact that it exists in universe and with one of the favorite characters of the series was pretty important to me. And again, I think if we told this story now I'd probably have insisted we make it more clear. Like... in the time between writing this story and now my brother's kid has grown up and is identifying as non binary and I want them to be like, that's totally okay. Kids go on journeys as they get older.

Gunwild: I don't think I noticed that Nizka is the only one with multiple physical reference books for her character and game info, while the others have data tablets. That girl likes paper!

Psu: She also has the best single shirt in the entire comic book and we should probably have it as part of a Cassiopeia Quinn branded merchandise line that doesn't require people to have read our comic to get it. She always has the best shirts...

Gunwild: Well, as they're your shirt designs and they don't rely on the setting, so I think you have the right to release them as non-Cassiopeia things if you like. But on the other hand, people have told us good stuff about the quality of Hiveworks merch...

Psu: It'd be better than doing the dreaded "print on demand" route. People say shirts printed like that smell funny. Which is something Maks wouldn't approve of.

Gunwild: Bad smells hurt the appetite!

Psu: Truth. Anyway, before we call it on this page. Some page notes! One, I played a LOT of dnd when I was younger, this was before we could have character sheets on tablets! Two, Ken and Christa are characters we don't know a lot about but I just wanted to draw some hip parents that would be easily recognize-able even if we don't see them for another hundred some odd pages. So they have like... hipster alternative lifestyle vibes. And well... if I didn't lose a lot of fans for earlier comments in this commentary I'm sure I'm gonna lose some cool points for saying Ken is kinda based on Travis McElroy. The weirdest of the middle brothers of the McElroys. Who I think Gunwild doesn't like... But he still let me get away with drawing Ken like that anyway.

Gunwild: Psu likes to tell people I "don't like" the McElroys when in fact I'm just not a listener to their stuff, but in nerd circles it elicits some gasps to hear. I find that hilarious! But mostly I just feel like... sure, these parents look kinda hipstery to us modern cynics, and it's hard to know their backstories. But if they want to foster or adopt a kid in need, they're already in my good books.

Psu: I don't say it enough, kids in orphanages deserve to get adopted by nice people! I'll stand by that controversial statement any day of the week.

Gunwild: Cassiopeia Quinn: We Go There!