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SPRING SEASONAL UPDATE!
🕑 Added 2025-03-20 13:40:32 +0000 UTCHappy Spring! I'll be honest the equinox really snuck up on me this year, but that means it's time for another seasonal update!
Right off the bat – Patreon's billing change will happen any day now, hopefully? We've posted various updates about patreon's switch from per-video billing to per-month. It was supposed to click over weeks ago, but didn't, and even communicating with Patreon directly hasn't helped us get a sense of when. They promised it'll happen before April arrives, but ehhhhhhhh, I don't quite believe that. Bottom line: We'll be quick on the draw to sort everything out when the billing switch happens, but until then, it'll be business as usual with per-video billing. Sorry gang.
Better news: BOOKS!!! Aurora Volume 1 will release July 29th, and you can pre-order it here: https://comicaurora.com/books/ You can get it from Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Bookshop dot org, books a million, or your local independent bookstore. Pre-ordering helps sellers know people are interested in Aurora, and helps them get enough stock for the shelves, so if you know you'll want a copy, pre-ordering is your best bet. I speak for Red in saying that she cannot freaking wait for you all to get your hands on it.
Meanwhile, The Veneziad is still on track for a late-summer release, but not set date yet. Wraithmarked gave an update on a disruption with their printer, but it's looking to be minimal at the moment. If you backed the project, you'll get updates from them as soon as they have anything. I can say from my end that I've signed and sent back all of the map prints and character portrait sheets, so the next thing for me will be signing the several thousand book tip-ins that go in the front of each copy. Luckily, I've gotten a pretty good technique for signing my name A Bunch without annihilating my wrist – brace up the wrist, move from the shoulder, and take frequent breaks.
As for how this will intersect with the channel, I'll be posting two Veneziad related videos. First will be a "How I Wrote The Veneziad" dev-log recounting how it happened from concept to completion (posted around when the book ships). Second, a couple months after, I'll post the Audiobook of the Veneziad (narrated by me!) on the channel, that way everyone can enjoy it, but the people who backed and bought the book still get their hands on the story first.
As for what we've been up to and what's coming next, this winter was rather hectic IRL between travel and getting sick – we had a great time at CapriCon in February, albeit at the cost of me getting fiercely sick with Flu and laid out for an entire week after. Red was also out and about for a bit (catch the New York short she posted) – so as much fun as we had streaming Skyrim at the beginning of the year, we haven't followed up on it yet. But we're hoping to get back to that in the not too distant future!
As for upcoming videos, Red's got a mythological Deep Dive on the Muses coming up in early April, I've got a Hijinks video where Liutprand of Cremona from two Pope Fights ago Gets What He Deserves, Red's cooking up a DD on Castlevania Nocturne, and if I organize my workflow correctly, I'll have a big History Re-Summarized combining all my videos about the British Isles and Ireland. I'm aiming to do that as a "Director's Commentary" like how Red structured the Heroes of Greece megavideo.
This week specifically, we're still selling our zodiac batch of Capricorn, Sagittarius, and Aquarius. You can get them here and get 10% off if you get all 3. Next month we're aiming to finish out the set with Pisces and Aries, and then (per the results of the last seasonal update poll) we're going to look at other pantheons for pin designs, maybe try for the Journey to the West gang...
We've still got some IRL stuff and travel on the docket for spring, but we're looking forward to having more time to put towards videos (and, gasp, rest???).
But speaking of videos, instead of a poll this time for you all, we'll ask you to drop some ideas for Trope Talk episodes. Red's in between batches of TT scripts, so hit us with some suggestions!
Happy Spring!
-Blue
Comments
Sosei
Daniel Greene was a guest on that one. So thats my guess.
Rowan Walters
Might have to be a bit broader about eye/power up tropes because i imagine there not actually being that much to say
Jordan
This is unrelated but is there some reason that episode 19 of the podcast seems to be missing?
Jordan
Odo from DS9, Nimona, Xanu from fools gold, so many more
J. MacGillivray
How about how masks are often used in story telling? The smiple TV Tropes calls it "Cool Mask". It's something that get used either by heroes, villains or neutral characters. There's also 'Magician are Wizards', which is basically when stage magicians are using real magic. Zatanna is the first to come to mine, or Ace Cooper for the Magician cartoon series from foxkids back in the day, etc.
Kura
I'm just so excited for Aurora Vol. 1, I want to buy as many copies as I can and just give them to family and friends. Unfortunately, i only know three other people besides me who would actually want to read it, so I'm only buying four. Anyway, Trope Talk ideas! [I'm only listing 10 this time, seven favourites that I love and three least favourites that I'm curious to see what Red's thoughts are.] Favourites: Those Two Guys, A Form You Are Comfortable With, Blue and Orange Morality, Anthropomorphic Personifications, Broken Angels, Eldritch Abominations [plus all the variations thereof], and Cloudcuckoolanders. Least favourites: Always Chaotic Evil, Medieval Stasis, and Love Redeems.
Deion Whitmore
How about personifications of the Seven Deadly Sins?
Ebony Voigt
Has Red done a Trope Talk on the origin of her colour name? "Red Eyes Take Warning"
Susaga
Inspired by the specific yet common and somehow foundational "Train Fights" trope, I'll suggest the Locked Room Mystery trope.
Andrew Zammit
I think a trope I’d like to see Red talk about the idea of ‘light is not good’ and similar vain. A bit on the extremes of order with those who claim to be ‘angels’ striving for order and lack of individualism (see Person, SMT, Deadendia/Dead End Paranormal Park)
InkMaster
Also, not sure if this one has a name, but I've noticed a trend of shows having a logical/book smart girl and emotional/instinctual guy as dual protagonists. Think Mulder and Scully from The X Files. Not sure if there's enough here for a video, but I think it could be interesting for Red to explore where this one comes from.
ouro-bore-os
A trope I would like discussed more but would totally understand if it's a bit too much is the "sentient race of totally evil monsters"- like the Orcs from Lord of the Rings or the Trollocs from the Wheel of time. Basically any "race" of evil bad guys that supposedly are all 100% evil, even though in reality no sentient group could have a 100% evil ratio. The tropes around Why It's Ok To Murder *These Guys* I Promise are super interesting to me, especially when they have to get super convoluted lore wise to justify mass slaughter.
InkMaster
I think a "Sixth Ranger" Trope Talk would be an interesting compliment to the Five Man Band videos.
Jason Veevaert
Oh! She could revisit and expand that chart she used for Evil Empires!
Jason Veevaert
Deity of Human Origin could be interesting! There are many different examples of ascending to godhood that could be broken up into categories like born of gods (Heracles, Dionysus) through eastern reincarnation (Vishnu and Krishna, The Avatar) inheriting the position of a previous dirty (various DND gods, Kratos, Grace from Stray Gods) and even scientific means (Dr. Manhattan, Galactus). You could also get into what counts as godhood, like Po in Kung Fu Panda 3 achieves Enlightenment and is able to freely move in between the living and spirit worlds, is he now a god?
gingerapocalypse
"Raised in a Lab"? :)
Benjamin Rawls
I was going to let this drop but you’re being rude to people seconding my suggestion now. You’re only correct if you are willing to ignore around a century of common usage of the word “sentient.” “Sapience”, only means wise or learned if defined as strictly as you want to define “sentience” and by the way caries a connotation of something being human like specifically, which is why I didn’t use it in the original comment.
Anthony Wilson
A TT on Space Feudalism could be interesting. The two major instances I think of there - BattleTech and Traveller - mainly having it stick around as a result of FTL communications tech either still being slow or just nonexistent, respectively.
Avery and their 80 HDs
Ooo! Trope Talks! One of I’ve noticed a lot of contention over is “The Liar Revealed,” and I’m really interested in a dissection of that. Perhaps twist villains too, or evil parents/guardians
Carl Harries
How about a TT about "No One Sees the Boss!"
Mini_Mumbles
After going through the list, I'd like to see otherworldly observer, characters like "The Gman" from HL2 and "The Outsider" from Dishonored. Viktor from Arcane might be on this list since he gains omnipotence and gives Jayce the magic ruin that kicks off the story
Wolflover1997
The Sacred Darkness trope or basically the dark is not inherently evil
SoManyDragons
Thanks for the update, and good luck with the final touches on the Veneziad! For Trope Talks... Hmmn hmmn. How about 'The Boy and His X'? I've always been tickled by the sheer variety in ways that basic concept shakes out, and the plethora of subversions.
Nerisaga1791
What about getting into the bad guy ecosystem? The Dragon, Quirky-Miniboss Squad, and other villainous stock characters.
og.monstr
Has Red talked about Awesomeness Withdrawal or Hype Backlash on previous occasions? Provided those topics present any substantial material.
Alestra Glassman
Is there any way to get a trope talk out of Trope Subversion? You've talked plot twists, and how specific character archetypes get subverted, but I think a broad explanation of how it's supposed to work, when it doesn't, and what it's purpose is could be helpful for a lot of people.
John Bate
I feel like Medieval Stasis - with the classic example being Westeros being trapped in ‘Late Middle Ages But No Guns Allowed’ for about as long as it took humans IRL to get from ‘What if we put a wall around all of our other buildings’ to today - could be an interesting topic from both a Red and Blue perspective
John Bate
Non-human sentients is just a nature documentary, which I suppose does have its own conventions that could be discussed
John Bate
‘Sentient’ means that you can sense your surroundings; the line for being a being is sapience
Willow River
Maybe a trope talk on the child character that inevitably brings out the softer side of the normally gruff/grumpy/stoic main character? I absolutely adore characters that have a secret soft side and just go full Dad Mode (TM) the second there’s a child in danger. Great excuse to talk about Leverage some more~~
Legotron123
I’m throwing out suggestions for “Light is Not Good” and “Good is Not Nice” Trope Talks.
Rambles
I second the prophet one!
j
ive been praying for a prophet character trope talk foreverrrr
- Indra -
Seconding the suggestions about non-human sentients and food!
Simon Mc
Leitmotif/ & Triumphant/Dark Reprise could be fun if not for YT's trigger-happiness on copyright The Fire-Ice-Lightning trio could have some depth worth plumbing also
boatsyourfloat
How about a TT on prequels?
Benjamin Rawls
In honor of Red finally watching Frieren, people that aren’t human. As in characters that are defiantly sentient being that can think and feel. But are not homo sapians and how those differences can work in a story.
Anthony_Turk
Howabout a TT on Food? I didn’t expect a TT on phones because I never thought of them that way, and after Dungeon Meshi I saw food itself in a whole new light. TALK ABOUT FOOD!!! 🥘 🍱
Szöllősi-Cira Gellért G.
The misunderstanding/miscommunication trope. I think there are overlaps with the idiot plot and the dang phones trope talks but i think there are interesting ways it can work. For example how in the locked tomb books harrow and gideon miss each other's meanings.
Sadie is trans gemder
More queer trope talks! MORE QUEER TROPE TALKS!
