Well, that did not go according to plan. Looks like old Curly just went from the ashes into the fire, rushing towards the very danger that he tried to avoid.
I also want to wish everybody a Happy Halloween! We had a blast, getting the family together and dressing up as monsters, scaring our kids. I got to play the role of narrator and took the little hellions out on a witchhunt for tasty candy and other sweets. I might also have startled a neighbor or two since the tradition of Halloween is a relatively new custom over here.
In Sweden, the old custom is called All Hallows Eve (or All Saints Eve) and is a night when we go to the graves of loved ones to lit candles and remember those no longer among us. A pretty somber experience far from sexy costumes, trick or treat, and debauchery.
I guess you wondered when this comic would take the turn for the darker, not that it has not been a bit emotional already? And yes, Pascal is using his pegleg as a binocular!
I have finally gotten wifey to take a shot at the Korean medieval zombie series Kingdom and I think she enjoys it. We binged Squid Game this week and thought it was fantastic but also utterly tragic. So now we watch something else utterly tragic, but with zombies!
No matter how old we become, we all can need a mother’s love from time to time. I do not say that it has to be our biological mothers, some might not be with us any longer, are unfit, or just not in the picture anymore. But we all can need the comfort and love of someone looking after us, and lucky enough to find at least one in our lifetime.
In other news, the remaster of Alan Wake has dropped and I am looking to get myself a copy later this week. I had the original on the 360 but only got about halfway through then took a break from it. If memory serves correctly, I thought it was a bit repetitive at times and I was probably itching to play another big title too. I have a lot of only half-finished games from that era. But Alan Wake was one of those games that I regretted never finishing, so I am going to take this second chance and do it properly. That it now allegedly also contains some clues and references to both Quantum Break and Control makes it even cooler. Control was one of those weird, almost Lynchian games that I really enjoyed is a huge plus and it reawakened my interest in Alan Wake once again.
Curly was handed his stuff from different sources. His hip flask, the cantina of courage, was a gift from his grandparents. He “borrowed” his pocketknife from his brother years ago. Lil’ Boomer and The Hex Journal was gifted to him from the strange and mysterious Henslow way back in chapter two. But Khazal has never been so lucky, she has no grimoire to guide her through stuff like this, nor a connection with the supernatural side of the world. For now.
Making a deal with the devil lends itself to a monkey paw kinda situation in Pascal’s world. There is always a cost and debt will always be collected.
We have finally reached October, my favorite month! Halloween, monsters and the arrival of autumn, also my wife has her birthday in the middle of all that so we get cake! My appreciation for all things Halloween has started to rub off on the kids too. We already have a couple of pumpkins at the doorstep and they have been hard at work with their scissors, glue, and crayons creating a fine selection of scary decorations! A chip of the old block and all that.
One thing I had in mind from the beginning when planning out this story, was Pascal’s multipurpose pegleg. Some of the weirder ideas had to be cut due to not making sense nor adding anything to the story. But having Curly and Pascal share a bottle of fancy french moonshine in the middle of the wilds while talking about the Devil just felt right. At least in my mind. My wife’s response was more in the lines of “What the [explicit language] is this [even more nasty vernacular]?” when I showed her my sketches.
Working hard behind the scenes right now, trying to keep the buffer up and not slip behind schedule. The weeks seem to fly past me faster for every year. I have no clue where the rest of 2021 went but finally, our lovely Swedish autumn is here!
Another thing that flew right by my radar and surprised me was F.I.S.T: Forged In Shadow Torch which looks ridiculously fun and cool. Dieselpunk and furries, what could be a better combination than that? Well, except a cool bunny boy with a gigantic robotic arm? I have not yet tested the game, but it looks interesting and has some gorgeous graphics to boot.
There is a nasty cold making its rounds at the kid’s daycare, which in turn means that I have now caught a deadly man cold. My efforts to quarantine the kids were foiled by my nemesis and wife as she unlocked the front door and let the biohazard riddled critters inside. Pray for me to any holy and/or unholy divine creature that you believe in.
Black Billy Phil was inspired by the early designs of Peg Leg Pete, most noticeably from the wonderful short Steamboat Willie. It was the first cartoon to actually sync music, sound effects, and animated movement. The reason he is a goat is that I wanted to reference the use of Baphomet in demonology in a fun way, and the name is a mix between Black Phillip (the demonic goat from The Witch) and Billy Goat from the story of the Billy Goat Tavern.
Black Billy Phil is very concerned with the safety and wellbeing of his train while wearing both a belt and suspenders. Not the cleverest goat around, he is often outwitted by Pascal the Rascal.
