Apology

Dirk impresses us with character growth and then gives us some more of the bad boy we all know and love. Hey, at least he’s consistent.

Fun fact: Loyal readers of this comic have probably noticed that Dirk’s lineart has changed. This is because I realized that I will be drawing him in his more complicated and time-consuming form more often than not, and therefore wanted to make my life a little bit easier.

Also, you don’t know how much I wanted to have Dirk curse in the last panel. I was tempted to replace “jerks” with a creative grawlix.

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“This one’s actually a true story, actually…”

It’s spooky month, which means the blog will be taking a break from its regularly scheduled programming to bring you an appropriately spooky story. For those of you who are dying to know how Dirk’s current arc continues, shudder in fright, for that will have to wait until November.

Fun facts: As you can see, I decided to take the opportunity to throw some of my favorite things into this week’s comic. As Softboy mentions in panel 3, the residents of Chrisville have decided to dress up as characters from the video game Deltarune, which released its second chapter only a couple of weeks ago. Chris is dressed as Ralsei, Softboy is Lancer, Leo is Kris, Madame Croc is Susie, the Butterfly Bear is Noelle, and Dirk is the King. These costumes were largely distributed based on personality and not on character dynamics/relationships. The biggest exception to this, though, is how Madame and BB are clearly doing a couples costume.

The “ghost stories” that Leo told Softboy are, of course, the stories of the BBC television series Ghosts.

Finally, the “plant musical” that Dirk mentioned is Little Shop of Horrors. Its original musical ending is somber and dark, with character death and the end of the world depicted in song. Softboy, of course, much prefers the movie adaptation’s ending, where Seymour saves the day and marries the love of his life.

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Wow, Dirk gave a great performance! Or that could be the Chrisville Theater Society’s talent principle, which allows all of its members to have the amount of talent that is appropriate for both their role and the enthusiasm they put into their acting. Either way, things seem to be going very well!

Fun facts: The musical notes drawn in panels one and eight are based on the actual musical notes that precede and follow the number “Deh, vieni alla finestra,” which Dirk is singing here. If you want to hear a good example of how this song sounds, then you can check out this video here. It isn’t from the production that inspired the design of the Chrisville Theater Society’s production of Don Giovanni, but it’s still very good.

In case anyone was curious, the translation of this song is mainly a literal one. I read quite a few poetic translations before deciding to go with this one (which, while resembling a Google translate search, did not depend entirely on Google translate. I did my own research.)

Also, as you might’ve noticed, Madame Croc and Wagon Wheels (long time, no see) are also in costume. Madame Croc is cast as Donna Elvira and Wagon Wheels is cast as Donna Anna.

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Welcome back, everybody! Our most recent hiatus is now over, and I shall finally resolve the aftermath of Dirk’s crimes in the Wild Wooders arc of this series.

Just in case you need a refresher for our ongoing story: The Chrisville Theater Society had started holding dress rehearsals for their production of the musical adaptation of The Wind in the Willows. However, while rehearsing the number “The Wild Wooders,” Dirk suddenly performed some threatening choreography towards Softboy, and did things that made our protagonist feel very unsafe. When confronted about his actions, Dirk refused to apologize, and even began to physically threaten the other inhabitants of Chrisville. Softboy had to step in and put Dirk in a timeout. Finally, he banned Dirk from playtime altogether.

Now, the dress rehearsals have started once again, albeit in a somewhat limited state. Dirk, after all, played the role of Chief Weasel, the main antagonist. But is a villain all he’ll ever be?

Fun fact: The Chrisville Theater Society is rehearsing the “Messing About in a Boat” number in this comic.

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Happy Pride Month everybody! To celebrate, I’m gonna share art every
week in which members of Chrisville show off their beautiful and unique
identities. These characters are toys, so all sexualities depicted here
are more akin to romantic attraction. Also, trans identities mean that
the toys are trans-coded, and have backstories that are similar to
social transition. 

Madame Croc: sapphic transwoman

The Butterfly Bear: sapphic/queer and genderfluid

Note: Originally, Madame Croc was a lesbian. However, once she fell in love with the Butterfly Bear, whose gender can change from masc to femme to nonbinary day by day, she wanted to find a term that felt more inclusive to their relationship. Eventually, they settled on “sapphic” to emphasize Madame’s WLW attraction while also acknowledging attraction to other genders. The Butterfly Bear also identifies as sapphic when they’re a woman, but when they’re other genders, they simply use the word “queer.”

(I’m aware that there’s discourse around the word queer and if it’s been reclaimed or not. Personally, I believe it has been reclaimed and that it functions much better as an umbrella term for LGBT people. I do not want to fight about this, so if reading the word upsets you, take solace in the fact that as of now, I don’t have plans to use it in the dialogue of upcoming comics)

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Softboy says that it’s important to set boundaries, especially if you’re at risk of being hurt.

Fun fact: We have reached the end of what I’ve been calling the “Confrontation” chapter of this theater society story arc. The final chapter shall begin… in a while. I’ll be posting an update on future plans sometime next week.

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