Update for anyone wondering what happened with my dog: the surgery was only partially successful. It didn't restore her mobility or ability to feel her hindquarters, but it did stop things from getting worse. Fortunately, dogs can learn to walk using some sort of reflexes, and she's able to get around surprisingly quickly using a combination of putting most of her weight on her front legs and kicking her hind legs using those reflexes. It remains to be seen what complications or side effects this will all have on her in the future, but for now she's living a happy life as a wobbly pupper who's just a little higher maintenance than she used to be :D

TheCydork

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All-Rounder

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5 years ago

Oof, I have put off reading these because even half a year later, I’m so ashamed to have defaulted and let Batty and the rest of you down. But I gotta suck it up, cos you all did great and deserve comments!! So here I am. No crits though, since I’m sure you’ve all already improved since now! Shen and Sean - Oh ouch. You two really went for it with this one. I LOVE the first person POV (and am a little annoyed tbh bc I planned to use it in one of my future comics.. you guys beat me to it XP). Especially liked the blurring as the father is either getting too drunk to see straight or beginning to cry, or both. Snowy and Flytee - Man, your styles go so well together! I loved the colours, character designs and world. I feel like you somehow got the vibe spot on for something that reads as cosy and familiar but also somewhat alien with the marketplace and the creatures. This was just such a cute and vibrant comic. Until the end that is ;; damn. At first I didn’t realise... but then I saw the altar. Ugh, damn. Loved it though. My favourite entry here ;w; Orion and Joe - Seen this rat man in art show and other servers, finally get to see him in action! I liked the twist on the theme where “for the love of-“ was him on the verge of swearing XD This was a fun little adventure too, really enjoyed that he was still rat sized and venturing through this dangerous world of giant carrots and owls (and cute slugs). It was cool to follow his path so directly, felt almost like a kid’s book in the best way. I also love the framing of the owl at the top of the last page! Cab and Buggy - Really unexpected and horrifying take on the theme and video games. That montage on page 3 made the fear and desperation really visceral. The contrast of cheerful, saturated colours and the real photo of a Switch with the brutality the characters face, and the monotone palette later on was great. Greg and Cro - I gotta be honest, I read this several times and still didn’t get what was happening. I know the character is signing a contract with some kind of eldritch being, but that’s it. Great colours though! Bobo and Fearn - I’m sorry for all the shit that happened for both of you ;; I like how you spun the theme to work in this alternative comic though! It was strangely cute, despite chronicling suffering. Camel and Don - I’m not totally sure what’s going on, but damn, the colours and general vibes were amazing. Your styles blend together very well, and Camel, there’s this depth and quality to your colouring I noticed in both the vibrant scenes on page 1 and the desolate hospital ones on the following page that I absolutely love. Flutter and Footini - The story was a little confusing, but the concept was super cute. The buff warrior being like “what if they kissed though” haha, love it. Also I loved the faeries’ designs, especially the owl, god I’m such a sucker for owl fey (I have one myself). Energy and Platinum - This looked like it was going in an interesting direction. I would have liked to see how you worked the theme in had you been able to finish.

welp it deleted the wip comment i had before so i will lighting round these. I will just say great job for everyone who was able to turn in and seeing collab comics is always nice. ShAn: I relaly enjoyed this story as it touches something very real for a lot of people. The transition of color palettes is also really good. SnTee: You both blended your styles great and worked very well together. I also really enjoyed this setting and the world building in this. The ended was very bitter sweet and good. OrJoe: I love how you two played around with the layouts for this comic. It was a pleasure to read and this type of experimentation is fun and made the simple story that much more fun. Great job. CabKin: This was a very nice idea and cool take on the subject. I do think hiding the grusome deaths would have given a better impact, just having the panel of tango's shocked expression without the flashbacks would have worked for this. but regardless this was a good comic. GreEcer: You two work well and the quality of this comic was very good. Story wise i was a bit confused by it and don't fully understand what happened, a bigger establishing shot panel may help as I don't know why all those four characters are together and who is dating who in this situation. BoRn: I'm sorry with all the life stuff that happened between the two of you I wish the best with everything and it's great you were still able to turn something in. CaLe: this is fantastic quality. My favorite part is how you two switch styles to perfectly reflect the change of scenes, I absolutely love that. I am confused though about the friend, are they supposed to be the monster and the mom? Because the cryptic stuff they say makes it sound like they are. However the designs between them and the monster have no link which makes me think they aren't. If they aren't I'm confused as to why they said that stuff. The easiest way to connect them would be with colors. It's just the dialogue in the first part and the fact they don't show up in the final shot makes me think they're supposed to be connected. Regardless this is a fantastic spooky comic. FlNi: This was the funnies and silly comic in this group in the best way. You two also work really well together. Only thing I could say is that the lettering in the first couple pages looks like it wasn't using a comic font and I would highly recommend getting one of the free fonts of sites like 1001fonts or blambot. Platniumenergy: I heard a bit about what happened and sorry it did but what you got in regardless of that is great. Just gotta keep moving forward and keep making stuff.

For the love of comics! Look at all this team work, makes dream work, am I right? Everyone had greatly varied aspects for this prompt. Shen and SeanSuper depressing. Unfortunate for the daughter she can't really understand why her mother and father act the way they do. This entry definitely tugged the heart strings, mainly, because I'm sure everyone has had a similar real life experience with alcoholic tendencies. Good job Shen and Sean! Snowymoth and FlyteeThis world was well established in the first page if not the first panel. I enjoyed the ghost feel at the end and their path to self reflection. Just sad that they had focused on their need for self gratification in space exploration instead of love exploration. Lol Congrats on completion! Orion and ArtofjoeImmanent owl incoming! I really liked this critters journey of family support. Even with all their complaints they held out and made it back home in one piece. The page layout was interesting but probably not necessary. All in all a great short and sweet! Nice work you two. Cab and BuggypumpkinVideo game comics are always a treat and your portrayal of this duo was great! If it could have included a few more detailed panels of booby trapping panned out enough to see their whole platforming glory and the removal of a nearly whole blank black page I wouldn't have anything to critique on. Amazing collaboration Cab and Buggypumpkin! [spoiler=Gregly and (please vote on short and sweet)Reecer6]That darn dating scene can be a rough one right? Especially when dealing with an interdimensional entity. Whew, glad it wasn't me. This comic was slightly overwhelming for the eyes but when dealing with tentacled monsters it sure can get that way. Solid performance none the less. Bro love![/spoiler] Bobo and FearnYour health and wellbeing of your life is more important than submitting anything other than your bum into a bed or hospital. But this comic was delightful none the less! Circumstances be damned, good show. Camel and AstrodileVirtual dislocation from the world is an extremely real problem. I'm glad you short and sweetened it up! Fantastic colors and line work, loved the scenery, but was this for the love of VR or Reality? The world may never know. Great comic Camel and Astrodile. Flutterbyes and FootiniGood old Bards spinning their tales of love and heroism. Bards usually exaggerate the stories, am I wrong? The Fair-folk seemed to think so. You two seem to work great together and this piece was very entertaining! Make some more? Energy and PlatinumartistA good adventure always starts in a swill drenched pub. Just stay away from those awkward panels that seem to creep away from the others. Overall this was good work! Keep it up Energy and Platinumartist! Congrats to all of you for entering and an extra congrats to those who finished! But please, try not to put your health or real world responsibilities aside for some comics. I understand it may be a love and passion for many but take care of yourselves. Ok? Ok! *hugs for everyone*

Pita (Slowly getting back into it)

SHEN AND SEAN: Birthday Blowup [spoiler]It's the transition of palette and the wibbling lines that make this short story effective. While it could be uncomfortable to view this from the perspective of an alcoholic father, isn't that the point of this story? To feel helpless to the situation and see the consequences that unfurl because of a single hit that, in hindsight, is actually an addition to a terrible past of hits? I've consumed media where I don't identify with the character and just observe the situation, and that's fine for me. This comic is effective in conveying the drama and tragedy of this man's story in just four pages, and that's a big WOW from me.[/spoiler] MOTH AND FLY: Long Distance [spoiler]I liked the painterly approach to the shading and the red/green complementary scheme that was going on. The problem with this approach of painting your values and hand-lettering is that it takes up more time. I would say to re-work your process when making pages on a shorter deadline and try to download (or make!) a font to cut time if you haven't already.[/spoiler] ORION AND JOE: Cheesy Cravings [spoiler]Aww yeah I fucking love sequentials in my comics. They keep the action going within a single space, kind of like the breakdown of an animated sequence. They require a lot of work, but when they're done well, they're done well. The main thing I would bring notice to would be the second page--the width of the sequence works well in a printed format, but scrolling is a challenge when page toggling is activated by the directional keys. One way to improve this kind of page next time would be to change the angle of the sequence to keep the direction diagonal and in motion.[/spoiler] CAB AND BUG: Coin Carnage [spoiler]This is another kind of theme I like in stories--metafiction. But, the kind I tend to enjoy are characters who are aware of their situation and try to break the cycle. This one didn't do that, and that's fine. I can appreciate a story without personally enjoying it. Objectively, the story is fine. I will say that Dash's design reads like an earless bear, and the fault is mainly with the nose. Sloths have big 'ol nostrils, and to omit that from his design gives him a nose that matches Tango's, and that doesn't read "sloth" to me. And please re-size your pages. They were too big for my regular computer screen.[/spoiler] GREG AND CRO: Eldritch Negotiations [spoiler]This was the silliest entry in this round. I liked it a lot. The people have stiff torsos when they interact with one another, and I would have liked more variety in the body shapes, but that floating green goopy monster drew me in immediately and wouldn't let me go. An excellent element of surprise for this theme![/spoiler] BOBO AND FEARN: We're Sorry [spoiler]As per Void guidelines, users cannot submit a page explaining why they didn't make a comic. And sometimes, rules get bent if you have a really good reason. This was a whole-ass comic apologizing for not submitting the intended comic, and it was charming. I'm so sorry you two went through your struggles during these two weeks, and the way that pain was conveyed evoked a strong sympathy from me. I hope you're going better in the weeks to come.[/spoiler] CAMEL AND ASTRO: Connect/Neglect [spoiler]This ties with Shen and Sean's comic for being the darkest comic in tone--relying on artificial life to escape from the responsibilities of the grounded life. It's one spooky comic the more you dig into the symbolism of what's going on. Astro, idk where you get your inspiration for monster designs but I'm living for them. Both of you are great with colors, like goddamn. Good job.[/spoiler] FLUTTER AND FOOTINI: Frenching Fairies [spoiler]This was my favorite one from a storytelling perspective. You got lore, you got fairies kissing, what more could you ask for? The poem/song at the beginning reads off meter, I found that to be a clumsy beginning. Polish that up, and you'd be good to go, I think![/spoiler] PLATINUM AND ENERGY: Questionable Quest [spoiler]This is a fine set-up, and the pages submitted are at a point in the process where I could read them with no trouble. Now that you have an established hook, the next step will be to flesh out the comic. Give it some personality! If I were to introduce Sir Antonio, I would definitely push the debonaire attitude through the angle of the shot and body language. And that's one of the big things I recommend working on for your next projects--angles of shots and body language. Overall, good set-up, would love to see what you can do outside of a first act.[/spoiler]

whoops, my comments definitely tended to veer on the critical side <.< hopefully they're not disheartening, at least! shean: the first person perspective is cute, and you've got a lot of cool fov and dutch angle tricks going on here! but the story's a little trite. i mean, i get it, this guy's a slag, i feel uncomfortable being surgically implanted into his eyes. i guess my mind's too firmly set in stone about the subject matter because i'm just not getting any emotion from this, feels just like what ought to happen. flymoth: oh no!!! ;_; i really like this comic, this is exactly the sort of thing i expected from this battle. you've introduced us to this little world really quick and already gotten me invested in the characters. other than the fact that you obviously couldn't finish it, i guess the one thing missing from it is that, as much as you've definitely tried with all the little details you've added, the environment just doesn't have the pizzazz i want to be this super remarkable, gorgeous little corner of the world. maybe i just have an unreasonable bar <.< but other than that i loved this little story! EDIT: just read camel's comment and man i didn't notice that possible interpretation at all, that's so neat, it makes this comic like 70% better i would call you jorion but that's already also orion: this is super cute! superimposing every frame of time on this one panel works very well and is very clever. even/especially with that slug, reading this feels like second nature. the plot isn't very complex, and the attachment to the theme is farcically transparent, but i think it works, because it's just a fun comic to look at! buggycabbage: heheh, i love how rapidly this descends into melodrama. when played straight, this kinda schtick is a little cliche (i read too many video game creepypastas in middle school), but i found this particular execution pretty funny (so uh, i hope that was the intention <.<). the theme is kind of hackneyed, though? like you'd just say "the pursuit of money," and it's not something that really communicates any sort of love or passion, unless you're straight up a numismatist, it's more of a physiological urge. there's a lot of interesting ways to explore that in separation of a traditional want. so, here it's a little dissatisfying. the way you've imitated sprite art by just drawing very small and blowing it up looks very wrong but i kind of like it, in how different it looks. it emphasizes how parodical this game and its characters end up being. fun comic! gregly: what else can i say but that your linework is EXCELLENT, man? fearnfearn: agghhh, my commiserations!!! ;_; what an awful week for you guys, life can bite. still, you did end up making a comic that fit the theme, which is a positive ¯_(ツ)_/¯ castro: okay i get it i love BOTH of your paints and your colors and your lines and your composition, they're all PHENOMENAL and together you are a TERRIFYING DUO. however, as much as i love things that make me think and do not hand me all the puzzle pieces on a silver platter, i'm really having a hard time figuring out what's supposed to be going on here, and more importantly how it fits the theme? so the hospital setting really makes my first guess that this monster is a symbol for the baby. we know absolutely nothing else hospital related about this protagonist, so that seems like an obvious connection to make, and no one would ever just put a hospital in a scary thing because hospitals are scary, right? but then, it's got the glowing red eye, so it symbolizes the vr equipment/escapism in general? that feels like the more intentional thing, so i'd want to side with that, but then, with the immediate juxtaposition with the phone, the message is just like, "escapism can be scary because you avoid responsibility," which feels too simple and unsatisfying to me, because like, the point of escapism is that it isn't scary, responsibility is. i guess you mean that it gets more scary as it is avoided, but then that's a nuance that you definitely could've conveyed and didn't. also who is the blue person? why is the monster suddenly in the real world and not the vr world, specifically positioned outside? that might be to solve the problem i just pointed out and be like "the real horror is in the real world" but it feels arbitrary and vacuous and i think it should just pick a side, it has no business being in the vr to begin with. and why is the monster in a hospital!! i critique this because i love you both and i care a lot about the art of metaphor <3 flutini: not gonna lie, this one isn't grabbing me. first, there's a clear split in the middle of the comic where the workload you guys did totally changed and it's very distracting because it almost lines up with a perspective switch but not quite. also, the story feels real odd and arbitrary. a person is like "let me tell you something that really happened in our very real mythology, it's maybe two quatrains long" and then the singular audience member is like "okay here's my constructive criticism: romance" and i hate them. and then also it just so happens that the immortal souls mentioned in the mythology are watching, and this is treated as no big deal, and then they just go "they're right we should romance" and then they romance. the comic feels like it's treating love as this no-consequence thing that doesn't need any precedence or justification, just astroturf over old relationships with kissing, and i'm really not a fan. platinrg: this comic is a bit of a nonstarter. it feels incomplete, but even if it weren't incomplete, i don't know what you could possibly do in the next two pages to fix that. i can take it as a cheeky joke of, "heheh they don't actually have a love for adventuring at all like they should" but it feels really anorexic outside of that, since we only see the adventurers in this very last page. and to that end, the first page isn't necessary at all. just generally leaves me wondering what your intent was here.

Shen and Sean: you two penned quite a somber, grounded tale here, and I admire that quite a bit. The palette shift from warm tones to cold tones suits the story very well. Sean, your figures look really nice here. Personally, I would have stretched the POV field of view a bit more to see more of the main characters body. Alcoholism sucks! Snowy and Flytee: This comic is just delightful. The palette is so lush and vibrant, the backgrounds are really pleasant and the story, man it’s great. So wistful and melancholy! The storytelling mechanism is really clever as well, how the entire time we think we’re learning about the traveller when we’re actually learning about Esta. I'm gettin emotional just thinking about it. Love it! Orion and Joe: What a fun romp! Gotta first mention the panel layout, these kind of comics are always a blast to read, but on top of that the expressive character of our main character really makes the comic flow. Great illustrations as well. I would maybe make the pages a tad bit smaller, there were certain visual elements i missed the first time due to how huge the page was, but that’s all. Cab and Buggy: Ooh, this one’s quite macabre! The palette here is really great, the stylistic shifts from the 8bit representation to the video game world flow nicely as well. I love the look in the last panels as well, backlit by fire. The idea here is interesting, and i like the idea of obsessive coin collectors being inadvertently evil, but i have a question: The reality of their situation is horrific, but it’s not very clear to me WHY they don’t disobey. If there was something in the script that hinted at an even darker, more disturbing consequence for disobeying, it might make that make a little more sense. Gregly and Reecer: I’d say Bros before Hoes, but that term is dated and offensive, so instead i’ll say Platonic before Demonic. The rendering in this comic is exceptionally neat and the colors delineate everything quite nicely. I love the design of the cosmic horror. After a couple re-reads, i think i figured out what exactly is happening in this transaction, but there’s very little context given, and it is a bit confusing. Still though, a fantastic concept here, and the gags are really funny. Bobo and Fearn: Life comes at ya fast sometimes, but i still really respect you guys for pulling through with this meta comic, despite everything, this is a really charming comic. Good luck to your pupper Bobo, and i hope your neck feels better Fearn. Flutter and Footini: D&D meets Huey Lewis! What a great concept this was. Who knew gods could learn so much from mere mortals. Really cute writing here, and some fantastic colors throughout. The rendering on the second half of pages is amazing, but the first two could’ve used a bit more ink. I generally advocate for collabs divvying up the work evenly among all pages, rather than having a stylistic break, but take that with a grain of salt cus i did the latter this tournament. Regardless, great job! Energy and PlatinumArtist: I heard about your situation, but regardless, I commend you for getting a comic done. Hope to see more comics from you soon!

SSEHAENN: oof, sad! the change of color is nice and i like how the lineart gets doubled up Snowy + Flytee: I want to know more about this world.. the colors are nice and i liked that alien pupp. I wasn't sure what was going on with the shrine(?) on the counter at the end. should she have gone back? Orion + ArtofJoe: I was a bit discombobulated at first but i liked this. I read on the phone so I felt the plight of the mouse as I read the second page. Reading along close and tight at the bottom with him but seeing the shape of the owl above made for a fun read Cab + Buggy: I've been thinking about Banjo Kazooie a lot lately so I was excited to read this one. The horror twist is good, but I think it happened too early.. there should have been more pure cutesy stuff for a bit so it had more impact. Reecer: You're a pro, the colors on this are great! Bobo + Fearn: These pages are tight and readable even with everything that happened to yinz. The only place i slipped up reading was with the vertical comics on page two where i read across instead of down... they needed to be a bit more separate Camel + Astro: This looks great and it's pretty interesting- it seems like the virtual reality knows it's being abused and trying to get him off of it. For the love of slacking off and just chilling... Flutterbyes + Footini: This is my fave I think- The fantasy bard and the shipper... and they were listening and it HAPPENED AND WAS THE BEST FOREVER. It just escalated so fast but still felt triumphant. Imma fan. Energy + Platinumartist: I love a good band of adventurers... That main character seems like a funny egotistical kinda protagonist. I wish we could have seen them adventuring more than the initial meeting though...

Bobo: except I thumbed/scripted my half of page 2 and did the work mentioned on page 1 that didn't end up getting used at all XD Excuse me? I used every single bit that you did do!! It’s right there on them pages xD

These comics are all fantastic! I'll write out detailed comments/critiques later, but for now i just want to commend ya'll for your creative interpretations of the theme. I also want to thank Astro for being an incredible partner for this comic, I think we really pulled together and made something special here. Story: Camel Character Design: Astro Page 1-3 Layout/Lineart: Astro Paints: Camel Page 4-5 Layout/Lineart: Camel Paints: Astro

For reference, on Fearns' and my comic, Fearn did pretty much everything except I thumbed/scripted my half of page 2 and did the work mentioned on page 1 that didn't end up getting used at all XD Fearn, you are the best for being patient with me and coming up with the perfect backup plan! I owe you one!

Boy HOWDY! these are some good shorts! All stellar variations on this years theme! So glad Cab set me up with a partner I can safely say I lucked out with my partner ArtofJoe. We really jammed well on this and I couldn't have asked for a better co-brain to flesh this out with and bring it to life. He trusted me on playing around with the scrolling layout and we worked well together to get the effect with traditional (used like 12 pages of 11x8.5 printer paper all tapped together. He even inks with my favorite brand of ball point pen!) and gave me the confidence to make it through the whole thing without getting gummed up like I always do. Guy can design, can ink, can act he even has my name and we both worked at Taco Bell apparently. I think we both learned a lot from this one and I for one can't wait to see what you do next pal! Story/ Colors: Orion/ArtofJoe Layout/ Rat Design: Orion Inks/Owl Design: Art of Joe

This is a tribute to the time on void where every comic submission (almost) had the first page contain an essay with reasons why the comic was not finished :P and profuse apologies. Lol.

Page submitted, Thanks for agreeing to Collab snowy! It was a pleasure~ SnowyMoth = Inks and character designs Flytee = Colours and script Just a heads up, I didn't have enough time to properly colour the last two pages, so I've just *attempted* to make them presentable and do Snowy's lovely inks some justice. I'm so gutted I didn't get a chance to finish this fully, but it just wasn't possible wit hthe time frame I had.