Oddjotts: the comic!

SORRY ABOUT THE WAIT but for now here’s a little bit to maybe satisfy some people. I decided to do the dumb thing and answer them in pictures instead of just words. Like everybody else.

Here we go~!

Spezzy asked multiple things of MULTIPLE CHARACTERS so here’s Harfang’s first.

spesiria asked you:

For Harfang, 58 and 73.

58. What are five ways to win your heart?

73. What’s something sweet you’d like someone to do for you?

[A/N: Skye is severely claustrophobic. Locked closets send her into panic attacks.]

Sorry if the second image is small! Right click and “View Image” if it’s not readable!

I have been experimenting. :U As much as I love my lineart sometimes, sometimes I really really like lineless. :C Trying to find some happy medium! And in the process maybe shorten my process from like 8-10 hours to maybe a couple hours—for quickies like this!Overall I like what I did here, though it certainly needs to be refined—especially the lines defining the face and eyes. They don’t feel quite like mine right now. Also I need to not get lazy the farther away from the face I get. :I

In the meantime, have another babbu Harfang. Sitting. In the air. Yes. Ugghhh I love his hair at this age too much. He’s actually somewhere in his early twenties here but he has kind of a babyface for most of his life. I’m sure I messed this up somewhere here.

Everybody was posting pictures of little kids yesterday so I thought I might join in the fun. Have a canon kid from Oddjotts! I’m sure some of you have seen her before, but for those who haven’t, this is little miss June Bugsley, or Junebug as Eddy calls her. She is actually the longest-standing (dead) resident of the Institute! She likes horses and dollies and being a princess and bugs and playing in the dirt and is SO happy she doesn’t have to eat peas or carrots or take baths anymore. She’s kind of spoiled and throws a fit when things don’t go her way. She REALLY wishes Misser Eddy would have more time to play with her but she gets by with playing with the other little ghost kids and the ghost caretaker of the children. She can’t really stand being under things and typically avoids being inside, or at least, on any floor but the top floor. Also hates tight spaces.

Eddy doodles.

Skye answers asks! And I reveal that Skye is actually Pinkie Pie.

And now, for the reason for these character placards! I am opening up character asks! That’s right, for the next few days, you guys can ask questions of characters, and I’ll reply either in character or not! Depending on the question!

Some questions I may not be able to answer fully because SPOILERS. But I will try! And I’ll try to include some sketch answer too!

LET’S HAVE SOME FUN, BROS.

It has been a while! As it usually is. To reconcile, here is a quick post on ghosts, and how they view mortals! As opposed to the last post, about mortals and how they view ghosts!

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As has been previously shown, the public has a fairly uniform perception of ghosts. On the flip-side, there’s a very complicated and varied perception of mortals to ghosts!

Of the ghosts who are sane and can hold their own opinion, reactions are mixed to mortals—as well as the place of ghosts in the world. Most reactions tend to fall into a few categories:

The Apathetic:

These ghosts view humanity and people as mere threads in the grand tapestry of time, doomed to wander aimlessly without any real grasp of how fleetingly precious their time is on this earth. They do not meddle in the affairs of mortals, and in some cases even expressly forbid it, to avoid the pain of attachment, or the complications of being alive. These ghosts have often been around centuries, to witness the very best—but often very worst—of humanity.

The Superior:

These rare cases view themselves as a rung above humanity: they have transcended the boundaries of mortality and become immortal, in a new form and shape, with new abilities. They have given up some senses to gain new ones, and in the end, will outlast humanity.

The Damned/The Inferior:

These poor souls see themselves and other spirits as living in hell. They committed sin, and so remain on this world to suffer for their misdeeds. They envy the mortals, who have yet to face “judgement,” who still have a chance to move on.

The Born-Agains/Second-chancers:

Seeing themselves as having been given a second-chance at… life, some goal, whatever, they generally consider themselves neither super or inferior to mortals, nor apathetic, as some of their “goals” they have been given these “second-chances” for often involve mortals.

The Hateful:

Some ghosts, often victims of violent crime, utterly despise mortals, not only blaming them for their involuntary transition to their “new form,” but for being ostracized and shunned from society, due to this new form. Mortals are pests and dreg of the world, and for some, should be done away with/made to feel what they feel.

The Undecided:

Likely making up a majority of ghosts, these ghosts hold no real particular view toward themselves or mortals. They do not wish to sever with humanity, nor actively participate in mortal shenanigans, nor consider themselves damned or of a clandestine people. These ghosts are most often simply normal people, coming to terms with the fact that their death didn’t exactly go as they expected it would.

The In-Denial:

Some argue this isn’t actually a category of perception so much as a mental state. Similar to the Cotard delusion, these ghosts do not actually believe they are ghosts! But still mortal and functioning like a mortal.

Hm! It’s been quite some time since this updated! We should fix that. P:

The world of Oddjotts is one much like our own. Cars and technology and pop culture and annoying hipsters and cool bros and Starbucks and especially Starbucks and all of that. But one of the most marked differences is the reality of ghosts, and the public perception of them.

Ghosts are, without a doubt, real in Oddjotts. Now, in the real world, as I will call our own reality, there are most definitely people who believe ghosts are real and there is literally nothing you can do to persuade them otherwise. But we have no verifiable proof of ghosts in the real world, and we may never. But in Oddjotts, ghosts are definitely there, and while an exceedingly small presence in the world, they are a presence.

Ghosts are not a universal thing. Not everyone becomes a ghost, nor are ghosts a part of public awareness, most times. Some people go their entire lives without ever meeting a ghost or experiencing anything paranormal. And that’s just how life goes sometimes. The somewhat morbid metaphor I tend to liken this to is experiencing a violent crime, be it assault, homcide, or suicide, in their home. Some people will never ever experience this. Some unfortunate people do. And for those who don’t experience these, they know on some intrinsic level that things like this happen, of course; they simply don’t even believe it will happen to them. And for the most part, they may be right.

The same applies with ghosts, but actually on an even rarer occasion than violent crimes in the home. As such, they’re known to exist, but outside of the Institute, not much is known about them. For much of the public, they’re still considered these otherworldly entities from other planes, sometimes demonic, sometimes lost, etc. etc. look at any real world Ghost Hunters forum website. There are hundreds of explanations for ghosts, and while I won’t divulge their exact origins, needless to say the Hadesian Institute has gone to great lengths to research ghosts and provide as much science about them as possible, in hopes that one day they can publish these findings, and perhaps help ghosts become more common knowledge to the general public.

Because of these otherworldly and sometimes demonic associations (not sometimes without justification! Ghosts are not always friendly), some have taken to fringe science and pseudoscience and New Age tactics to explain ghosts, and deal with ghosts. These so-called ghost hunters try to deal with ghosts on their own,help them to “the other side,” things of the sort, and no one is really quite sure how successful these lone wolves of ghost hunting are for ghosts. Needless to say, the Institute does not generally accept their theories, nor likes to involve these fringe theorists in any way whatsoever.

Needless to say though, these New Age, pseudoscience ghost hunters make for great television. As the paranormal is a bit of a hot spot for things like the Travel channel and SyFy channel, so too are they in Oddjotts. They are more akin to watching CSI or Bones, rather than Ghost Hunters though, in that they are generally thought to depict real vocations, while the reality may be that, yes, this is a real job, this is nothing like what the job is actually like, this is a romanticized, made-for-TV version for better drama, etc.. That would be the perception of ghost-hunting shows in Oddjotts, whereas in the real world, the general perception is a bunch of people doing silly things and finding silly reasons for perfectly explainable phenomenon.

These ghost hunting shows, much like medical or forensic dramas for people who actually work in those fields, has been both a boon and a downfall. These shows have increased awareness, but at the same time, have helped foster the idea that these regular people can go around looking for ghosts and helping them and catching them, which has inevitably led to confusion, law-breaking, and sometimes injury and death. They have also led to false ideas about actual ghost specialists and how they handle cases, and the fact that not every ghost is dealt with, removed from the property, or sent to some “other side”; these shows have helped foster the idea that if something bad happens to a loved one, they’ll just come back as a ghost and they can try again; these shows have helped foster the idea that these ghost hunters are cavalier adventurers stumbling into the unknown without any protocol or regard for the law, etc.

(Fair warning: don’t call Eddy a Ghostbuster as such.)

Outside of pop culture, the reality of ghosts has not really affected the general public. Because so few people become ghosts, the idea that you might come back and live forever is usually the last thing on anyone’s mind. In the real world, there are plenty of people who already believe that ghosts are real and are just spirits stuck in this world because they’re being punished or they have some goal to meet, or are demons, or whatever. And then there are those who simply do not believe in ghosts. In Oddjotts, there are those who believe they’re real and being punished/are lost/are demonic, etc. etc., and there are those who think they’re real, but that happens to everyone else. There’s no way in hell they’ll become a ghost or have a loved one become a ghost or deal with a ghost.

And then of course, within every religion that deals with ghosts, there are the extremists who will either want to become ghosts, or avoid ghosthood. Because immortality’s awesome/immortality’s a bitch. Fanaticism comes in all colors of the rainbow.

All in all though, ghosts are still fairly mysterious to people. Not even the Institute quite knows how they stay behind, or if they ascend to some other place of existence when they move on. If some higher power is involved, they have no idea. They’re not even entirely sure if ghosts are just… copies of these people who died, or the actual people who died. They choose to operate on the idea that these are the actual people. But no one’s really 100% certain.

As the creators of Oddjotts, obviously we have an idea of the reasons behind all of this. Whether or not this will be revealed or even partly revealed in Oddjotts, weeeeeell…

Primary Investigations:

A primary investigation is purely to establish if there is or is not a haunting taking place. Primary investigations are done free of charge.

Qualifications to perform a primary investigation:

Must have at least 1 year of reaping experience

Must be fully-trained in ghost equipment (EMF detectors, thermal/infrared cameras, laptops and accompanying programs, walkies/hand-transceivers, asbestos/dust masks, spectronets, FDUs, recording devices such as digital cameras, recorders and audio recorders, motion detectors, digital thermometers) and all investigation procedures

Must be up-to-date with all vaccinations and immunizations

Must be of general good health (no broken bones, fractures, sprains, debilitating illness, etc.)

Research to be done before and during a primary investigation:

What is this property like? How large is it? Is it recently renovated, is it falling apart; what is the surrounding area like, could one be exposed to asbestos or lead dust here; what environmental hazards are there?

Is the property currently owned and/or occupied? If so, will the owner grant an investigation?

Is the property un-owned? If so, what is the possible severity of haunting? Does it necessitate trespassing?

Is the area next to power lines? Is the area next to running water, mines, deposits in the ground, or anything else of natural or man-made significance?

What is the history of this property? What cultures and languages have been present?

What possible hauntings are being reported?

What kind of equipment should be brought?

How many people should be brought? (Min. 2)

During a primary investigation:

Try to establish a “base of operations” to house equipment and act as a rendez-vous point. Establish bases in the safest locations possible, as far from incidents of possible paranormal activity as possible, but still accessible from the rest of the property.

Interview potential haunting victims, if possible. Find who was involved, what happened, when did it happen, where did it happen.

Perform a once-over walkthrough of the site: note places where events occurred; note possible non-paranormal causes, such as shifting temperatures and air pressures to cause doors to move, or cold-spots; use EMF detectors to find possible sources of EMF fields caused by electrical wiring; note heavy machinery or openings to rooms with heavy machinery to find possible sources of infrasound, known to create physiological and psychological reactions in humans. Note possible sources of radon, ammonia, and/or other health hazards.

Note any possible victims and possible psychological states of said victims during possible paranormal events. Could victims be potential psychics?

Take audio and visual recordings, and EVP sessions, both during the day, and at night. Use provocation, trigger objects, etc..

Deliberate over evidence. If evidence seems inconclusive, consider a psychic.

Remember: Safety is of utmost priority. Dangers do not only come from the paranormal. Be wary of environmental hazards, as well as dangers from living people as well. Not every haunting victim is innocent, nor every property in Beaver Cleaver’s neighborhood.

Secondary Investigation:

If a primary investigation yields evidence to a real haunting, a secondary investigation may be called. Secondary investigations are not mandatory, if the client so wishes. Secondary investigations are far more thorough, in hopes of finding what exactly is haunting the property, be it thoughtform, ghost, or poltergeist, if a primary investigation was not conclusive enough. Secondary investigations are not strictly routine, due to the distinction between each case, and number of ghosts involved. (See “Phasmatisms” handbook for differences in hauntings.)

If Paranormal Activity Has Been Validated:

The Institute offers several different responses for a valid haunting. Each incur different fees, and payment plans are negotiable. To be part of a Haunt Response team—the team that handles a haunting (which may very well be the same investigative team)—one must have the following qualifications:

Must be a valid investigator (see: “Qualifications to perform a primary investigation)

Must be qualified in ghost removal technology (spectronets, FDUs, infrared goggles, etc.)

Cleansings:

If thoughtforms are suspected, investigators may suggest a cleansing, in which heavy, negative energy is removed from the property via rite of exorcism. Exorcisms may be performed by anyone of strong enough faith, though it is recommended that only trained professionals attempt it. In fact, anyone performing an exorcism involved with the Institute must be specifically trained and licensed to do so. Untrained personnel caught performing an exorcism may be receive discipline up to and including employment termination—assuming said person survives performing the exorcism. Investigators may recommend an exorcist from the Institute, but clients are also given recommendations for other prominent exorcists. Cleansings are charged, but payment plans may be arranged as per the individual financial circumstances. Certain thoughtforms may only be reduced in frequency or power, and may persist after cleansings. In some cases, burning of the property may be the only way to be rid of a thoughtform, depending on type of thoughtform.

Ghost Management:

In cases in which a ghost may be present but not intrusive, a ghost may be allowed to stay, under supervision and coaching between the two parties.  Reapers may be sent out occasionally to check on ghost and occupant, or settle disputes.

Ghost Retrievals:

In cases involving ghosts without significant mental illness or malevolence, but considered intrusive or disruptive to a current occupant, a ghost retrieval may take place. Quieter and more personalized per ghost, these do not generally involve nets, but bargaining to convince a ghost to leave the property, and—hopefully—enter the Institute.

Ghost Removals:

In cases involving mentally ill or malevolent ghosts, or poltergeists, a removal may be warranted. These involve specialized capture equipment to remove a ghost from the property, and move them to the Institute for containment, and psychological coaching. These are the most dangerous Haunt Responses, and carry the risk of injury or death.

Special Cases:

Some cases may involve multiple actions, such as both cleansings and ghost management, retrievals, and removals. In rare cases, all four options may be needed, and may still not be enough. Many hauntings must be worked on a case-by-case basis.

Encountered Scenarios and F.A.Q.s:

A potential investigation and subsequent Haunt Response lie on private property: to trespass or not?

Consider the facts: is this place privately owned and occupied, or privately owned and abandoned? If the former, no, do not trespass: continue to quietly ask for permission to do a hunt. If the latter, continue to ask for permission from the owner, and let the case go if no permission is granted. Only in cases in which a suspected poltergeist with the ability to not only roam, but harm people, is suspected, then consider unlawful entry. These are extremely rare, and carry significant risks, not only from poltergeists, but also from landowners with a penchant for shotguns.

If someone is hurt on the property?

Immediately call the medic or personnel carrying the med kit. If injury is grave, halt all investigations and Haunt Responses, if possible, and remove injured person(s) from the property.

If someone is hurt, and the team is unable to leave, due to a poltergeist or otherwise?

Perform necessary medical treatment. If injury is severe enough, attempt all possible removals of injured persons from property first. If unable to do so, attempt a removal of the poltergeist as quickly as possible, and remove injured persons as soon as possible afterward.

If someone dies in a Haunt Response?

Cease Haunt Response immediately, if possible. Do not attempt to move the body. If a poltergeist remains a threat to team members, and team members are unable to leave, or leaving might cause harm to others outside of the property by association, is it recommended to capture the poltergeist first, then leave the property, and call appropriate authorities.

If a dead body is found in an investigation or Haunt Response?

If possible, halt investigation, and call proper authorities. If unable to leave the premises, work as quickly as possible to find a way out, then call authorities.

An unrelated disaster strikes the property or area near the property; others may be injured or need help, unrelated to your investigation: to aid or not to aid?

This is a matter of personal obligation, and thus a team may decide for themselves to aid or not. The Institute would recommend remaining out of harm’s way, but there is no punishment for being a good Samaritan.

The property owner has food in their refrigerator and a team member is hungry: to take or not to take?

Please do not take homeowner’s food.

An Institute team is investigating or responding to a haunt at the same location as another unrelated ghost investigation team: should the location be shared, or should teams work out a schedule for each other, or someone back out entirely?

Depending on location, sharing may not be an option. The Institute generally recommends not investigating property at the same time as unaffiliated ghost investigators, but if a location is large enough, sharing the location is possible. Either changing investigation dates or creating a schedule to work around is generally preferred over sharing a location at the same time.

A separate non-spectral event of paranormal activity has occurred: how to handle it?

The Institute prefers not to involve its employees in matters of non-spectral importance. If said paranormal activity is interruptive of the investigation or Haunt Response, then appropriate action may be taken.

The client is involved in illegal activities: is my duty to report such illegal activities?

Please report anything you would report were you their neighbor.

The client is proving not only unstable, but potentially dangerous. Paranormal Activity has been validated.

Safety is the most important factor in such situations. Do not enter or remain on the property if the client seems hostile or aggressive. Report hostilities to the Institute (if aggressive enough, the police first).

Client is harassing employees.

Look! Ghost hunting tools!

The first is the infamous Spectronet, a special instrument used to catch ghosts. It is collapsible,and actually only really glows when in “flashlight mode” or when a ghost has been caught.

Being that this is a tumblr solely dedicated to Oddjotts, I thought it might be best to start off with some logos! The top is the logo for the actual comic. The second one below it is Professor Gabel’s logo for his personal company, Edwin Gabel Scientific Industries.