#new normal

Source: pinterest.com/ullie-kaye

Reality Check

Most of the dynamics with the cast are figured out as well as four endings including The Golden Obol where is needed to save a narratively doomed character. Rn it’s two bad endings, a joke ending, and Golden Obol.

The cast is fully designed though the monster needs to be fully drawn out in his 8ish forms.

Working on opening scenes. A few in between scenes are roughly written.

Trying to get a move on with this one and might start writing alongside the other work I’m doing this weekend (I’ll focus on commissions on the weekdays and aim to finish Friday (optimistic) or by next Wednesday (aiming to be my latest.)

The production beyond scripting and designs won’t fall as much into my own lap.

New Normal

I have the epilogue figured out and the beginning is being fine-tuned.

Trying to decide on what events to connect to make charters cohesive while bot getting the scope too small by only focusing on the issues of a few characters at once.

There’s a lot of relationship focus (not all of which is romantic by any means but I won’t deny what a chunk of time will go into that given I wanted a study where Matt and Ashley wins but—), but I also don’t want that to take away from the recovery post-monsters. A lot of it is characters in a large circle wondering aloud about how things have happened and connecting over that shared impact but also, and I can’t stress this enough,

How isolating it is to have a trauma so unique and strange you can’t even discuss it with most therapists lest you get labeled as delusional.

The dating pool shrinks, your friends who aren’t in The Know can’t relate to you anymore so you grow apart, your family wants to know what’s wrong but most of you don’t have the ok to tell them so you need to live a lie for the people who raised you and connections outside of that circle start to feel like they do not exist anymore.

Worse if you, in fact, ARE A MONSTER and/or spent a large portion of your life as non-human!

But… yeah. I’m thinking of designing and customizing some locations on Sims 4 if u can get my desktop to work, I’ve been struggling to get family trees done, I have a chapter worked out but it’s no longer the opening chapter and I need to figure out where to put it, which leads me to the timelines which

Thank god we finally found a timeline tool that doesn’t cost money.

I’m deciding which crossover characters should connect and I’m developing a visual language to convey info that’ll be unique to the comic and hopefully keep it visually interesting.

Hoping to start some studies too because I want a thinner line style than I’m used to for the artwork and a more aesthetically pleasing coloring style…

Plus I need to learn shading after way too long of not learning it.

I have some references being worked on too to customize as the story progresses and wardrobes for every character.

Music too.

An in addition to Mars I have at least three people I’m able to show progress to.

So I didn’t watch all of Directive 8020. I dint like the pacing and how it gives you a bare bones understanding of two (imho generic and lacking) characters and then abruptly things are happening. I do wanna buckle down eventually because I love The Thing and that seems to be where things are going and in all about that life.

That out of the way the Second I was told there was a secret cutscene I slipped and scramble over [REDACTED] to watch it and “I want that cookie so bad” aside I realized that he’s probably going to play a more focal part of the future games. Which is exciting! … except I’m on a personal deadline to be done with my project before I hit the age of 40.

And there’s a theory with evidence now about recycled souls and a new form of reincarnation in reference to the reused face models.

Which if this is the angle being taken with the series I’m locked in and interested… in seeing in happen.

But it’s not going to matter much if at all in New Normal (do you ever say the title of your project so often you start tinker if it’s stupid and annoying?) I’m excited for any and all future Curator content because in working on NN I became obsessed with him. And he wasn’t supposed to BE in that story either originally until I got the idea to do with him what the games do and use him as a framing device and also explore an underlying plot with him. One that’s still being fleshed out and a lot of that was riding on an appearance from Directive 8020 to further his storyline and give more info. And there is some info I am going to incorporate with the help of my partner and co-writer.

But in regards to how that storyline wgichll probably be titled as Interlude I, II, III, IV and so on I’m just fully admitting I can’t reflect canon. For a lot of reasons but mostly because I can’t afford to wait on Supermassive so I have to manufacture my own answers and those answers I am preemptively accepting will be off putting and hated. The Curator’s characterization will probably be a different character from what he ends up being in future installments. I fully just expected him to keep being a background thing until perhaps a finale or some sort where he’d be maybe 30-50% of the screen time. But I thought maybe we’d get a big idea as to who management exactly is, what are the rules, what is the player to The Curator (I wonder how I’m gonna ruin that and isolate my audience and try to keel it buried).

Point being that’s not what happened so I’m fully going rogue. I might as well given some of the lore in my story.

"New Normal" manga series vol.9 cover by Aihara Akito

The Washingtons are obviously well off. Probably had a good chunk of change even before Robert’s big break into the film industry. I’ve always seen Robert Washington as being of a similar vein as Eli Roth (Hostel, Cabin Fever, etc.)

The Hartleys I feel like are the closest to the average family. Lower middle class. Their home is rather small but nice, they’re well stocked on food, his mom’s a coupon queen, they only buy what’s on sale that week buy hit multiple stores. Chris probably has a part time that partially contributes. They have savings to help Chris go to college and have plans to keep him from having too much in the way of loans (this part in particular is inspired by a former friend).

The Giddings are doing better than the Hartleys. Their house while not a mansion is a little on the larger side. They have a back and front yard with gorgeous greenery and a pool in the back (above ground). Sam isn’t spoiled but they can almost always afford to splurge a little if there’s something she wants. If anything happens to one of their pets a few vet bills will not devastate them. Sam’s probably getting a cat for her birthday but she also hasn’t been actively trying to get her listened anyway (she knows she’ll get stuck being the sober friend — kindly screw that). That being said Sam’s parents are separated and even though Sam is okay with both of them she actually lives with her Uncle Jason (Kölchek) so Sam isn’t actually living there proper but she visits and sleeps over often enough…

The Browns (/Wlders in my case) straddle the line between upper middle class and fully being able to claim they’re rich. House is bigger than they need. Property is bigger than they need. Mr. Brown’s come into money over the course of the past 5+ years with his writing career finally taking off in a major way, enough so that he’s been able to quit his day job. Ashley is a tiny bit spoiled, especially with pets and anything she wants in her room. House covered in ivy.

The Taylors (/Tiergans in my case) are in between Chris and Sam’s families. The pool and AC run them up something awful during the hot months, their kids never need to miss a school trip but the parents are a little more irritable after expenses like that for a time. They like the look of being more well cared gf than they actually are is the thing. The Taylor side of the family specifically lives in a large house with an in-ground pool in the back, they have 2-3 nice cars, Matt can throw parties because they’re never around (if the two youngest also aren’t there), but also how well stocked the kitchen is is a case by case thing.

The Rileys are fucking loaded. Miss Jessica that does not mean you are getting a fifth phone this year! (It may have more to do with you being the not voted on middle child, but nevertheless.) Large modern mansion, each bedroom feels like its own luxurious suite, heated in-ground pool, high end security system, big garage with multiple cars, personal drivers, guard dogs, Jess does not need to work hard in school and so she usually doesn’t. Have enough money to throw out the window on a whim. Mother was a micro celebrity in the form of a former champion figure skater and her father has his own clinic (this second part I might correct later when I’m not sleepy).

The Munroes are struggling and always have. A surviving Mike will not be the first through college (having a few older brothers and at least one who exceeded expectations), but he will have easily ended up the most successful if his life had stayed on track and not been upended by ravenous mountain monsters. Budget meals, struggle meals, his part time job is him supporting himself and doing what he has to do to get out on his own asap, he keeps his money close between it very well may get stolen by his dad or one of his brothers if he’s not careful. Not a lot of people actually know how lousy his living situation is, he’s very deliberate about each thing he tells others about himself. Even in the friend group the ones who know about his home life are the girls he’s dated and Matt. His place is cramped, his parents are avoiding each other, and all but one brother are all living at home still. Emily finds Mike’s rags to riches ambitions hot.

The Davises aren’t as well off as the Rileys, but based on Emily’s clothes, makeup, and home there’s no one among them who would even bat an eye at that. The Rileys and Davises both donate to the school, Emily’s future was always secure whether she had a good GPA or not (but God himself could not save Emily from the scorn of her family is it were anything less than what it is), she can use anyone’s credit card exploitively and it’s not even a problem, and she can crazy overdo it on events like prom and homecoming. The photos the crew got that night were professional (though tbf it might’ve been the combined want of Emily, Jess and Hannah).

Shark buddy, I gotta be so real, I had to ask my partner and guy friend.

So @levibulletbrain says

2015 forest green chevy silverado

“i think this maybe is good it's pretty durable for weather and rough roads”

I see him as one of a handful from the UD cast who aren’t rich. Like all his influence and charisma is just hard-earned.

Mike’s is used, pretty weathered but well cared for. Like it’s personal to him and he thinks it looks cool, but he did go for cheap and practical. But he loves this thing.