^ 38 Comments...

1. JE Draft
   April 27th, 2010 at 9:54 pm

   So, okay. Something a little different. I have seen other artists break the fourth wall, which I try never to do, but here we have an unreality ready-made so that I can have something a bit silly and answer a couple of questions in a fun manner. Here, also, is the rest of the interview:
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

   ZONA: It’s … just what it is. If you want to put a label on it, if that makes it something you can understand, okay. It’s just what it is. I don’t think words are things that can always tell you what feelings mean or how important they are. Even Tula says so.

   RAY: Your sister, Princess Tula.

   ZONA: No, my cousin, Tula The Gong Farmer from Upper Shebolia. Yes, Tula, my sister. she’s a thousand times smarter than anyone I know. Karna says it’s because she carried more wisdom than usual from her prior lives. Makes sense to me. She always acts like the big sister, even though I’m four years older. And almost all the time, she’s right. That’s like … for her, what not ever losing a fight is to me.

   RAY: You’ve never lost a fight?

   ZONA: I’ve been knocked out, or taken a beating from getting piled on by a few dozen enemies, or else hit from behind. That’s not losing a fair fight. That’s just life and war. Nobody can win every time in every situation. Anybody who really thinks that or believes that always gets killed by something small and stupid that they were sure didn’t matter.

   RAY: As a matter of fact, this latest duel with Yatta-ta …

   ZONA: Oh, right! What a loon!

   RAY: You said he nearly beat you, though.

   ZONA: Absolutely. Shocked everyone. I’m still not convinced he couldn’t beat me on the right day. He’s amazing. But I don’t know what’s up with him. There’s something in his head that’s just not right. Nice guy, all in all, don’t get me wrong. He’s actually got a good heart, and seems sweet when he isn’t blathering like a stage player. But , well … I guess when we get to know him we’ll find out. What I really want to know is who he studied with. Sometimes the way he moves, especially when he’s being aggressive, it reminds me of something I can’t quite remember, can’t put my finger on. Then he goes back into some of that silly Kivalian dance fighting that they teach in Normos or Gost. Very flashy, but it’s a good job he’s as fast as he is, otherwise it would have been the end right there.

   RAY: What else can you … princess? Okay. She woke up.

2. Moox
   April 27th, 2010 at 9:59 pm

   Fun times. Not all of the lines feel like Zona to me…In my personal image of her, I can’t see her making the “Gong Farmer” joke. And a couple other lines.

   Anyways, it’s a nice break from the dancing…

   Moox

3. warnie
   April 27th, 2010 at 10:32 pm

   I like it JED!
   Its different, but it just adds so much more depth to the character. Its the little things that make it that much more real. Great job.

   p

4. Joe
   April 27th, 2010 at 10:54 pm

   LOL. No centerfold?

5. TTK
   April 27th, 2010 at 11:37 pm

   I really like her hair and postures in each picture, mainly the first. Something about it that makes her seem more real.
   Nice interview too, I rarely actually read long walls of text when I’m bored and just looking for pictures with minimal text.

6. hans
   April 28th, 2010 at 1:22 am

   LOVE IT!

   Proper balancing.. heh.

   Nice break to the storytelling, usually those are annoying at best.
   Looks like this Dance and the night after are a bit of a break in the overall tale, gathering your wits and hopefully some more time to return to weekly double postings?
   One can hope.

7. Jean
   April 28th, 2010 at 2:18 am

   Thank you for sharing the interview, Jed!

   *…prods you gently back to work, but slips you a bowl of your fav ice cream as a thank you and an incentive while you work…*

8. Gremalkin
   April 28th, 2010 at 2:58 am

   As you said “Something a little different”! But you know what? I like it! Keep it upp. Also here is a possible twist: Yatta-ta’s trainer is Zonn ! That would spin things into the next stratosphere !

9. Doc Alaska
   April 28th, 2010 at 4:23 am

   “Good interview. But PLEASE GET BACK TO THE STORY?! AAAAGGGHHHH!
   Thank you very much. May I please have some more?” says blue-eyed kitten fur waif as he holds out his bowel.

10. Kern
    April 28th, 2010 at 5:12 am

    Now, there’s an outfit we’ve not sen for a while…

11. Kern
    April 28th, 2010 at 5:25 am

    …or seen, even.

12. Acipenser
    April 28th, 2010 at 5:36 am

    Now THAT would have been an awesome vote incentive. Not that I mind getting it without the trouble - I’ll just vote anyway.

    More like this as incentives, please?

13. Fred
    April 28th, 2010 at 5:43 am

    Enjoyed the break. Thanks!

14. Lora
    April 28th, 2010 at 5:57 am

    Nice interview. I like the idea of someone interviewing Zona while she is in the Otherwhen. Wonder what she’ll think of that dream, when she wakes up?

    But really what kind of magazine is it that splits an interview like that? First half on page 43, but the rest on 47? Tsch.

15. Sockpuppet
    April 28th, 2010 at 6:59 am

    haha, the tone and everything fit right in with plenty of the Playboy interviews too! good read

16. Kamatu
    April 28th, 2010 at 8:36 am

    That was funny. Good way to slip in a bit of backstory or get us over some “slow” bits without having to grind through them. Just think, the interview with Mentl about his magic training.

17. Black Ethel
    April 28th, 2010 at 8:45 am

    Um…
    Nothing personal, but I never liked Playboy style interviews. They always come off like a shrink analyzing a patient…badly. So their parodies of them are not funny.
    Nice try, though.

18. Tendrick
    April 28th, 2010 at 8:50 am

    Very interesting! Didn’t seem out of character at all from my point of view. It brings questions about what happenned to her father and who trained yatata. Maybe both questions are related…

19. Dragonson
    April 28th, 2010 at 9:28 am

    I like this page alot.
    And that is why i won’t say more about it than that.

20. Phelan
    April 28th, 2010 at 9:32 am

    Interesting theories about Zonn teaching Yatta-ta how to fight, but I think that’s very far off the mark. It’s a good thought, but if you think about it, had his style been taught to him by Zona’s father, Ipola would have recognized it immediately, and probably interrogated him later on where he learned that fighting style.

    That’s just my two cents, anyway…

21. Ed
    April 28th, 2010 at 12:17 pm

    Please, no Yatta-ta is her younger brother from Zonn and some woman he met while he was wounded and crippled from battle, whom he showed some things to but was limited by his wounds, so it isn’t EXACTLY the same. Please, no.

    (Funny, it’s the GUY we could be calling Ta-Ta…)

22. Ed
    April 28th, 2010 at 12:18 pm

    half brother, that is….

23. Jason
    April 28th, 2010 at 1:00 pm

    Hm. It’s always been Zona’s expressions, for me, that showed a lot of who she is- it’s interesting to read something like this.

    I second (or third? Forth?) the request for more like this! This makes for a good Tuesday page. A very interesting read indeed!

24. Bear72
    April 28th, 2010 at 3:44 pm

    Love that. A great page thanka

25. Joey
    April 28th, 2010 at 4:08 pm

    I don’t think I would see Zonn being Yatta-ta’s father, but, isn’t it possible that the reason that Zonn went missing is, he got amnesia? I know, a cliche if ever there was one, but why not? He was fighting, got smashed on the head, doesn’t remember who he is, but can still remember his fighting style. He ends up teaching people, including Yatta-ta, to fight.

    I would say the reasons that Ipola may not have recognized it is, one, she was too impressed that he was holding his own against Zona, two, she wasn’t fighting him, so wasn’t paying that close attention to his fighting style, or three, there was enough Kivalian mixed in that it wasn’t readily recognizable. I’m sure he didn’t go from one fighting style directly into another, but a combo of both the entire time.

26. ICEKAT
    April 28th, 2010 at 8:36 pm

    i like this, muchly JE, thank you.

27. Lebbrin
    April 28th, 2010 at 11:32 pm

    Thanks JED for a great mid-week page. I like this. I read it and was going to say “GIVE US PAGE 47!” and you did. I also like the ‘mystery’ about Yatta-Ta’s trainer. I see that being a story point in the future. Voting as fast as I can…

28. Sleepinin
    April 28th, 2010 at 11:43 pm

    *passes out rioting equipment* Don’t worry, if JED’s late, we’ll be quite prepared. Torches and pitchforks over here!

29. Ice Raven
    April 29th, 2010 at 1:59 am

    Nifty !!!!! ,,,,, {*v*}

30. Aust
    April 29th, 2010 at 8:57 am

    *blink* Huh? Amnesia? If I remember the ‘Erogenian Tribes’ page right, he’s the head of the Sun Tribe right now, just nobody but him and the Sun Tribe knows it yet, because none of the others know where they are, and the Sun God dude is telling them to chill out and stay a while. ’cause, you know, when a god tells you, in person, ‘Stay put’, you generally stay put.

    I’m just wondering how she’ll react when she finds out Zonn’s NOT dead. Because I think we all know that that’s not an if, it’s a when.

31. dalewake
    April 30th, 2010 at 10:23 am

    What I wouldn’t mind knowing, is where is the rest of the “How I met your father” subseries

32. JE Draft
    April 30th, 2010 at 2:29 pm

    Well, I know I haven’t been nearly as communicative as formerly. Chalk it up to a wee bout of depression, but we’re getting out of that now. And so, Starting next Tuesday, we’ll be seeing our regular Zona updates twice a week again. Yay!

    Moox - Point taken, but you rarely ever see her in a case like this, so maybe she’s just unveiling her inner smartass? Or not.

    warnie - I’m gratified. Thought I’d take a shortcut and add a little BG, stir the pot on the cheap, as it were.

    hans - Yes, weekly double postings, starting Tuesday. And the dance has a very significant purpose, even besides challenging me with different poses, lighting, etc. Wait and see.

    Jean - My favorite ice cream is vanilla. Go ahead, make fun all you want!

    Gremalkin - Certainly would spin it, eh? Well, perhaps we’ll have a new interview from the Otherwhen for a different character as an incentive sometime. I doubt I’ll put it up as a regular page again.

    Doc Alaska - I hear you. And it will happen tonight.

    Kern - Well, granted it’s only partly there to begin with.

    Acipenser - Yes, as I said, this was easy enough and fun. Could definitely make a nice incentive.

    Fred - Thanksyerwelcome!

    Lora - It’s a fictional magazine, with an unreal writer, is what it is. I only put the “pg47″ thing on there to let you know that there was more.

    Sockpuppet - You know I signed up for one of their sites years ago, and they gave me a free subscription. And then they forgot that I cancelled after only a couple of months, and kept sending me Playboys. For YEARS. Only in January `10 did they finally stop sending the things.

    Kamatu - Well, what other questions should we ask Mentl while he’s under?

    Black Ethel - Well, as the song goes, “you can’t please everyone,” Hope you enjoy what I’m putting up tonight, anyway.

    Tendrick - Maybe they are. Maaaaaybe they’re not. Will we ever find out????? Only if I can get my ass in gear and start producing a bit faster …

    Dragonson - Wise is the man of few words …

    Phelan - Zonn’s style was very direct and relied heavily on his physical power and size in a way that not even Zona does. It wouldn’t necessarily fit with Yatta-ta, at least not directly. So, if he had, it would look different, regardless.

    Ed - Um … let me get back to you on that.

    Jason - So, what should Ray Candlemaker ask Mentl? Or Ipola, or Tethik or Vito?

    Bear72 - You’re very kind, thanks!

    Joey - Aust is quite correct. That is canon, based on The Vacationer’s Guide To Erogenia. Now, there are a lot of other details that I intend to flesh out that particular rather cliched story point, but that’s basically the emmis.

    ICEKAT - Well, thank you right back.

    Lebbrin - Well, next midweek will be a page. As impatient as you guys are, I’m even moreso.

    Sleepinin - Put that pitchfork down, dagnabbit! I’ll get you your page!

    Ice Raven - Ten-Q!

    Aust - Correct. And yes, that is a - ah - WILL BE a fun scene.

    dalewake - I want to give more than one page at a time, so I’ve been holding back. It, too, will continue soon.

33. Jason
    April 30th, 2010 at 3:44 pm

    JE- Jeez, I dunno. I mean, I can’t perch inside your characters’ heads and know what would get an interesting reaction, yaknow? And as much as I find this interesting there’s no questions I really want to ask the characters, because I know you’ll answer things in your own time, and that’s the best way for it in my opinion.

    As to the depression thing- I was wondering why we switched to one-a-week updates, and that’s sort of one of the worst reason possible. Depression’s a nasty thing to experience, and I’m glad you’re feeling better. Take your time (and ignore the pitchfork-wielding mob, they don’t mean it. I think.)

34. Black Etheol
    April 30th, 2010 at 5:03 pm

    Ah geez…now I feel bad. I haven’t commented in weeks, but when I do, I’m critical.

    I made a donation…hope that erases any bad feelings.

35. Black Ethel
    April 30th, 2010 at 5:03 pm

    …and I spelled my own name wrong.

36. Jean
    April 30th, 2010 at 10:50 pm

    *scoops out two large scoops of yummy high-quality vanilla, shpritzes a dollop of whipped cream on top of each scoop, adds a cherry to each dollop, nice and firm and red and nibbly…*

    Nonsense. Vanilla is a perfectly lovely treat. You don’t have to have kink…er, chocolate all the time, ya know. Or even strawberry. I’ve been known to lick up a bowlful of yummy vanilla a time or two, myself, too.

37. calisto
    May 1st, 2010 at 5:18 am

    @Jean I agree it’s not the flavor, it’s how you use it…

38. Abeo
    May 1st, 2010 at 3:48 pm

    I know exactly what she’s talking about with the lecturing. When I was young and had misbehaved, my mother would give me that look and the “disappointed with you” speech and I’d turn my self inside-out with guilt and her disapproval. In the end, I’d be thankful to take whatever punishment she gave out because at least it would mean I wouldn’t have to dwell on what I’d done anymore.

    Occasionally of course, she would punish me first and then discuss with me why what I did was wrong, which was even worse.

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