FA+
Shop
862
Views
Views
7
Favorites
Favorites
Category
Story / All
Species Alien (Other)
Size 116 x 120
File Size 3.04 MB
Report this content
More from Ramul
Listed in Folders
Next episode, in which the protagonists get captured by space pirates and have to leave with all body parts still attached. Arqeez gets to play with fun toys and Zekra puts instruments into other people's orifices without their consent. Meanwhile, we also find out what happens when boltcutters get too close to important body parts.
Yes, this chapter took forever. Previous job sapped out all energy and the plot wasn't that easy to pull off, as I wanted to avoid plot armour and have a decent story in it which led to multiple revisions. Well, I hope the chapter was worth the wait; I'm not really pleased with the result. Next one should be better, it's one of the plot ideas I had before I started writing it down.
Yes, this chapter took forever. Previous job sapped out all energy and the plot wasn't that easy to pull off, as I wanted to avoid plot armour and have a decent story in it which led to multiple revisions. Well, I hope the chapter was worth the wait; I'm not really pleased with the result. Next one should be better, it's one of the plot ideas I had before I started writing it down.
Category Story / All
Species Alien (Other)
Size 116 x 120px
File Size 3.04 MB
Listed in Folders
Can't believe it's been almost a year! Anyway, it's always nice to get a new A to Z episode, late or not.
This one was indeed more violent than usual, but it totally suits the conditions the protagonists have found themselves in. It also feels rather detailed and well thought-out, the multiple edition process clearly reflected in the quality.
The pirates are quite piratey, their leader gives definite Hondo Ohnaka vibes. The everyday life on the pirate base and relationships are well fleshed out and believable.
In terms of plot armour or ex machina moments, there wasn't much, save for the obligatory condition that the duo must survive in order for the plot to continue (duh!). Nothing ever goes smoothly and the plans have to be adjusted, to the point of using those chompers.
Zekra seemed a bit too cool and knowledgeable given the circumstances (probably comes with the seasoned space vagabond's experience), and Arq didn't give a damn most of the time. The latter would, however, make a decent gunsmith, thanks to his intelligence being tuned towards survival (and the big guns may increase one's chances of survival significantly). Bonus points for an interesting description of said big gun's operation.
One thing I didn't get was the fuel rod side story, the impact of which on the main plot remained rather vague up to the end (did the explosion help the protagonists flee? was it there just as an internal affairs detail?). This was the only part of the episode which made me frown a bit.
As usual, the background technical details are top-notch. Zekra is now canonically wearing a wrist(ankle?)watch, aliens smelling like acetate (hope it's butyl acetate, which smells like apples), (I believe?) the first descriptions of entering and exiting FTL space, and many more.
The illustrations have gotten even better and bigger, would have never thought it would come to this by just looking at the first episodes.
Glad to hear that you've got further ideas for the next episodes, looking forward to reading those as usual!
This one was indeed more violent than usual, but it totally suits the conditions the protagonists have found themselves in. It also feels rather detailed and well thought-out, the multiple edition process clearly reflected in the quality.
The pirates are quite piratey, their leader gives definite Hondo Ohnaka vibes. The everyday life on the pirate base and relationships are well fleshed out and believable.
In terms of plot armour or ex machina moments, there wasn't much, save for the obligatory condition that the duo must survive in order for the plot to continue (duh!). Nothing ever goes smoothly and the plans have to be adjusted, to the point of using those chompers.
Zekra seemed a bit too cool and knowledgeable given the circumstances (probably comes with the seasoned space vagabond's experience), and Arq didn't give a damn most of the time. The latter would, however, make a decent gunsmith, thanks to his intelligence being tuned towards survival (and the big guns may increase one's chances of survival significantly). Bonus points for an interesting description of said big gun's operation.
One thing I didn't get was the fuel rod side story, the impact of which on the main plot remained rather vague up to the end (did the explosion help the protagonists flee? was it there just as an internal affairs detail?). This was the only part of the episode which made me frown a bit.
As usual, the background technical details are top-notch. Zekra is now canonically wearing a wrist(ankle?)watch, aliens smelling like acetate (hope it's butyl acetate, which smells like apples), (I believe?) the first descriptions of entering and exiting FTL space, and many more.
The illustrations have gotten even better and bigger, would have never thought it would come to this by just looking at the first episodes.
Glad to hear that you've got further ideas for the next episodes, looking forward to reading those as usual!
It took embarrassingly long
Heh, thanks. To me, it looked kind of incoherent due to the long timespans involved, so it's good to see that part not being an issue.
Amusing, as I wasn't thinking of Hondo at all; the idea was him to be ridiculously flamboyant while no less threatening. Guess all pirates are somewhat alike.
Well, there's still a lot I want to write and them either dying or being stuck in the pirate base wouldn't really be a satisfying ending. Hence, the goal was to make the success feel earned.
Yeh, Zekra had learned ger lessons early on and medical training probably had its influence as well, and Arq is Arq. His prowess in handling the pulse cannon has less to do with him being tuned for survival and more with him being a good observer and quick learner. It's how he successfully managed to start the Sciara in Ep. 10 as well.
The fuel rod side story was indeed helping them flee. If the hall hadn't been blown up, they would have several ships on their arses, which aren't just faster, but might also carry gravity ammunition and the pirates wouldn't be too keen on anyone fleeing like that, considering they might snitch on the base's location (a scrapped part had Zekra activate an emergency beacon in a different ship to alert of the base). Aside from that, it's another case of 'actions have consequences', giving the protagonists a time limit and having them go from plan A to plan B; the rough escape plot was 'form plan A, finding out about the fuel rod requires them to adjust it to plan B, which fails, upon which they scratch together plan C'.
At least in this episode, considering ge usually has a wrist computer for that
Yeh, they also took longer. Well, maybe they will speed up with enough practice.
There's still two major subplots to get through, interspersed with episodes not connected to them. Aside from that, the episodic style allows to add new stuff in pretty easily. I estimate this wasn't even half of the whole story so far.
Heh, thanks. To me, it looked kind of incoherent due to the long timespans involved, so it's good to see that part not being an issue.
Amusing, as I wasn't thinking of Hondo at all; the idea was him to be ridiculously flamboyant while no less threatening. Guess all pirates are somewhat alike.
Well, there's still a lot I want to write and them either dying or being stuck in the pirate base wouldn't really be a satisfying ending. Hence, the goal was to make the success feel earned.
Yeh, Zekra had learned ger lessons early on and medical training probably had its influence as well, and Arq is Arq. His prowess in handling the pulse cannon has less to do with him being tuned for survival and more with him being a good observer and quick learner. It's how he successfully managed to start the Sciara in Ep. 10 as well.
The fuel rod side story was indeed helping them flee. If the hall hadn't been blown up, they would have several ships on their arses, which aren't just faster, but might also carry gravity ammunition and the pirates wouldn't be too keen on anyone fleeing like that, considering they might snitch on the base's location (a scrapped part had Zekra activate an emergency beacon in a different ship to alert of the base). Aside from that, it's another case of 'actions have consequences', giving the protagonists a time limit and having them go from plan A to plan B; the rough escape plot was 'form plan A, finding out about the fuel rod requires them to adjust it to plan B, which fails, upon which they scratch together plan C'.
At least in this episode, considering ge usually has a wrist computer for that
Yeh, they also took longer. Well, maybe they will speed up with enough practice.
There's still two major subplots to get through, interspersed with episodes not connected to them. Aside from that, the episodic style allows to add new stuff in pretty easily. I estimate this wasn't even half of the whole story so far.
Comments