Q&A: August 2023

Hello again, dear readers! Time to ANSWER some QUESTIONS.

As always, thank you so much to all the patrons that took their time to ask a question. Let's get into it:

1) Under the assumption we'll never see it again, is there a reason Secily isn't present in the lineup of the alt!Murrit timeline?

AUSTIN: Is Secily dying a constant? Let's discuss.

MARCIE: Sometimes if you act a certain way there's only one logical conclusion waiting for you!

AUSTIN: Realistically, just in terms of how probabilities work I would think it'd be strange if that were true wholesale. The entire point of probabilities is that ANYTHING can happen, in theory. But to Marcie's point, I feel like the ones where this happens feature a Secily who is in some fashion radically out of character. Secily, as she is and going through what she does, is basically bound to get herself killed at some point.

MARCIE: Yeah, like, you'd have to either hit a point where she derails massively or she would just meet a similar fate in a different manner, I think.

AUSTIN: Even if Ahlina hadn't died and Operation: Snowbound Blood didn't exist (which it doesn't in the alt!probability we see), she probably still died. Perhaps under more noble circumstances, but dead is still dead.

KOHI: Secily dying is Sestro and Hamifi's canon event. Ahlina dying is Secily's canon event.

EDDIE: Okay, moving on.

2) What's your favorite part about coming up with diegetic applications of alchemy/aspects?

AUSTIN: I think the best thing about alchemy and the use of aspects in VE is how they're utilized with narrative function regarding the characters, and how they allow immediate extrapolation on not only concepts related to those characters but also how the universe works on the whole, it's extraordinarily malleable. You can use alchemy in various interesting ways as a shounen powerset just as much as you can get a read of how a character interacts with the world around them and the greater narrative.

3) What was the easiest / hardest character playlist to put songs on?

EDDIE: Oh man, as far as individual character playlists go? Hardest was DEFINITELY Jentha's. I don't know what it is about that one that made it so fucking elusive, but it's the playlist both me and Austin had the most trouble with for the loooongest time. Something about the combination of Jentha's general aesthetic, her personality and just the Themes of her story in general apparently made it impossible to find a good number of songs that felt just right. I still personally consider it to be a little under construction, but the current iteration of it for sure is MILES better than the version we initially launched. Give it a listen if you haven't in a while!

As for the easiest, I think Arcjec, Calder, Murrit, Ellsee and Taz were all pretty smooth sailing. I realize I just listed nearly half of the main cast, but it's the truth! I had a period of time when I was in the fucking throes of Vast Error obsession and making giant personal playlists for everyone (as I'm wont to do whenever the fancy strikes me), and these five all had very distinct soundscapes in my brain from the start. It also helps that they're, I think, some of the characters that have had the most solid groundwork in terms of detailed, set plot beats and themes for the longest time, and that really helps me with making good playlists. I like to weave in the Themes and Symbolism and whatnot. And it turns out that Austin also had a shitton of huge brained additions to make there that fit so snugly with what I'd already picked myself, and, well. The rest, as they say, is history.

4) What do the Harbingers wear on Casual Fridays?

AUSTIN: Casual Fridays with the Harbingers is wacky tacky tie day. They all eat twinkie weiner sandwiches and dunk them in freshly ground milk from the milk caverns.

5) If it's been written, What is Seinru and Edolons relationship like in the alt timeline? What’s Seinru like in the alt timeline in general?

HEATHER: Haven’t really put any real thought into the alt!Edolon and Seinru relationship currently, but I do think it’s interesting. All I really can imagine for now is obviously they’re both in a better position. No crazy cult stuff and both generally more stable, less manipulation and nasty bits to their relationship, but I think the general dynamic is pretty similar.

6) Does Valtel have any connection to the story of Pygmalion and Galatea?

HEATHER: No, at least not anything that was intentionally done. Valtel’s character idea came from a mix of a few horror video games, mostly Layers of Fear, Ib and Silent Hill.

7) What does your process of designing characters look like?

HEATHER: My personal design process really varies depending on what I’m making and what sort of vibe I’m trying to accomplish. But for the most part, I just try to come up with a unique idea or theme for a starting point. Might look at clothes, critters or other media for some rough inspiration then come up with shapes I like from there. I don’t really have a like solid method, I sort of just throw something at the wall and see if it sticks.

EDDIE: On my end, I've mostly done alternate outfit designs for pre-existing characters in VE, but the most important thing when you're designing ANYTHING at all is references, references, references, truly. Our imaginations have limited banks of information regarding what things look like, and I cannot stress enough how essential it is to Look At Some Cool Shit before you put pencil to paper/digital screen. Sometimes I'll wing some stuff if I'm in a rush, but the difference in quality whenever I actually bother to stop and gather proper reference material is HUGE. I like to use a program called PureRef for that purpose, it's super lightweight and very easy to use! Past that, like Heather said, it's a matter of laying out what themes/ideas you want to bring to the table, and then focusing on form -> colors when you're actually in the drawing stages.

8) Is it possible to find clean versions of the Secilys on White Noise’s TV at the start of i2s2 (pgs 1358/1359)?

EDDIE: Oh, sure thing! As it happens, Xam just sent me the non-distorted versions of that panel a little while ago when we were building some of our reference folders. I've attached the psd at the bottom of the post, have fun!

9) Hypothetically, if every single member of the Vast Error cast was a Muppet — like every single character that has ever appeared — but you had to pick one singular character to remain as they were, which character would you pick?

EDDIE: Going to tweak your question just a little bit: who has the most "wacky cartoon human in the middle of all the Muppets" energy in the cast, Austin? I'm sure we can come to a conclusion. I'm tempted to say Secily.

AUSTIN: Secily has had too much spotlight in these questions. No more. Gone.

EDDIE: Well who, then? Who else, Austin.

AUSTIN: My answer would be White Noise.

EDDIE: You know, I like that! Now, the obvious follow up would be: who plays White Noise in the Muppets Vast Error adaptation? Who would be able to bring the sort of melancholic-yet-funny grandpa energy to the table?

AUSTIN: I think it should be Ted Dansen, honestly.

EDDIE: Holy shit. I'm seeing it. I'm imagining it. It's perfect.

And that's all for this round! The commentary should be up at some point during the next weeks, where we'll cover the Calder and Albion updates, as well as the start of the scene selection segment. Stay tuned for that!

But, most important of all: stay cool, everyone.

- Eddie, Austin, Marcie, Kohi & Heather