Haunted 1-40
Let’s clear something up. Do I hate Sergio? Quite the opposite. Growing up, I always identified with the party poopers above the risk-taking idiots without whom there wouldn’t be a narrative. Name a time Chuckie from Rugrats wasn’t justified in saying “guys, I don’t think this is such a good idea.” I spent most of elementary, middle, and high school playing the clarinet and asking my friends to please not move the dirty pigeon dying of West Nile Disease, so when Spongebob came out and that misanthropic octopus hit screens for the first time, I was like, finally, some real fucking representation.
When Xiyuan comes back, remember who gamified violating his privacy without giving any thought to repercussions, and who vocally opposed that at every turn.
Yeah, OK. But sitting under an office desk is so cool and fun! My office mate and I used to take naps under ours! So forbidden, so fun!
Napping under a desk for non-espionage reasons—as a former grad student, I can’t say I have a problem with that!
I nearly choked on my drink at “let us know if you have anything to add.” LOLOLOLOL. And then they were under the desk? PERFECTION.
I try to walk a very delicate line between “everyone stop doing this thing that is so obviously risky and stupid” and “sometimes eff these rules, my dudes.” I feel like I start the night out very spongebob and then like 45 minutes in, I transform in Squidward.
God the facial expressions in this comic are EVERYTHING.
There’s gotta be an essay somewhere linking Spongebob, Squidward, and Patrick to the ego, superego, and id. 45 minutes is also an okay maximum time to spend at a party if there’s no karaoke and no one’s talking about math.
Oh man, I don’t even deserve credit for the expressions. Sergio and Ari in particular are magic. They do that on their own.
One day, my nemesis will build the perfect trap for me: an invitation to a 45 minute party with karaoke but then I get there and they cuff me to the microphone and shout: SURPRISE THE ONLY SONGS ARE FROM LA LA LAND.
lol – how you feel about sergio/ari’s expressions is how I feel about Vlad’s. Its always hilarious to see him smiling like a jack ‘o lantern at everyone else’s misery)
Speaking of which, I am returning! I’m updating my site now. For reasons that are long and boring (and detailed in post that you prolly can’t read because my site is being updated), I’m stepping back and doing an AU adventure with the gang. I just wanted something lighter and more fun to write and less of a nightmare to edit and shoot. I’m actually pretty pumped! There are ghosts! Bella Goth being a detective (which has made all my hours of watching procedural TV worth it so TAKE THAT PANDEMIC)! Vlad and Miss Hell are a divorced vampire couple and they handle it as well as you would think! Alice is a…oh damn it, ferosh, no spoilers.
Anyways, I was super burnt out on BBD Book 2 and took me longer than it should have to realize I could just write fan fiction of my own fan fiction lol.
In other news, I would really love to make that infamous yuan/bernard/vlad/alice dinner party happen because it would be so fun and also I need bernard to bring up his spirit guide being a honey badger.
YES. Give me the AU stuff. I feel you on the burnout, and have been wanting to veer off my main storyline and draw one-offs where 14-y.-o. Yuan is throwing individual beans at a boy he has a crush on, or where they’re running around San Myshuno in 2003 & EVERY SINGLE CAR is blasting “In Da Club,” for the past year. But this way there’s something to look forward to. Also, this conversation is on a fan comic of my own fanfic so you’re not getting any stones lobbed at you from this glass house. (And I forgot that Vlad and Miss Hellistasia Barrister were once a couple… oh no.)
I love the progression from prior Dolly deciding that Bernard being obsessed with La La Land was the funniest thing ever, to an off-the-cuff roast from Yuan, to it turning into A WHOLE THING.
I’m on a do-stuff-and-don’t-tell-the-readers kick, so maybe we could allude to Bernard’s animal guide indirectly? Maybe have a picture of a honey badger in the background, or have him stick his face in a beehive while Alice screams “Oh, that’s nasty!” Or something that won’t ruin his nails.
The drama cave is under Champei’s desk.
Love the last panel as a visual punchline.