01/30/08 [DMFA #872] - To the death

[Caswin]

i are serious poster

this is serious talkback

third panel is awesum

[Darkmoon]

She really does make that face, too. I've seen her make it.

[Pagan]

Has she ever made that face while wrapped in a green blanket/sleeping bag with antena on her head?

I'm thinking that drama crane will win. Because she is serious about the fight and comedy will take it too lightly.

[e_voyager]

does this mean you're her inspiration for fluffy? but seriously loved the strip. now all she needs is and announcer crane

[thegayhare]

Honestly I loved this comic

Amber is just so cute in the last panel.


But when is Amber taking her trip?

I've got cream soda fudge for her and now I'm not sure where to send it.

[techmaster-glitch]

Wow. While I didn't laugh out loud, I am smiling very much. This is probably one of the best comics I've seen in a while. You rock, Amber.

[pyrohamster]

Welcome to America, Amber!

[WhiteFox]

Dear Amber:

Most of the people who send you mail must be fifteen. Or less.

kthxbai,
-WhiteFox

Thing is, the drama wouldn't be dramatic if there weren't some humor in there to lighten things up for a minute. Otherwise it'd be like this all the time. Which might be fun. For 5 strips. If that.

On the other hand, outright silliness gets kind of tiresome. Quickly. I actually prefer the "Smile on your face" humor DMFA employs.

[Kayriel]

i are serious archseraph

Dear Amber:

DON'T CHANGE A THING!

Signed, Cookie-lover.

There we go. The rest of you stop complaining, she's got the right mix of humour and intrigue running through her story so far. It's hard to find someone who's a good artist and a good writer at the same time. >\ Be blessed, children.

[rabid_fox]

Change everything. Kill off all the character and start a comic featuring only inanimate objects. I tell you, the post-modernists will love it.

Jeez, I have a real grudge against the characters lately. It used to just be Lorenda.

[Snap]

Heres me hoping the nostalgic funny "back to the roots" idea rips at least some junks out of the dramaqueen. Abel is my favourite character, and im still reading over his first arc with dan (a great example how a combination of great humor and storytelling along with character development can work/should be done) every two weeks, but his story has left me frustrated more than once (and while that maybe Ambers aim, i dont really feel entertained) and i stopped anticipating it.

So i guess keep everything like it is, and please dont mix abels story "epic lord of the rings timeline drama"-storytelling and dmfas "puts a big grin on my face and brightens my day"-humor. 

[Stig Hemmer]

Just goes to show, you can't please everybody.

I have seen some artists go nuts trying to please everybody... it is not a pretty sight.

In the end, your most important audience is yourself.  Make the comic what you want it to be.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Just goes to show, you can't please everybody.

I have seen some artists go nuts trying to please everybody... it is not a pretty sight.

In the end, your most important audience is yourself.  Make the comic what you want it to be.

QFT.

[Goatmon]

See, this is why I dislike forwarding my thoughts to a comic creator unless I think there's a genuine problem with the series; Just because you don't like the direction it's been going on that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with it.  Asking the creator to change the flow of the story to suit what you want is selfish; Just because you want it that way that doesn't mean it will please everyone else. 

Just goes to show, you can't please everybody.

I have seen some artists go nuts trying to please everybody... it is not a pretty sight.

In the end, your most important audience is yourself.  Make the comic what you want it to be.

Bam!  You get a cookie!

[Tapewolf]

Asking the creator to change the flow of the story to suit what you want is selfish; Just because you want it that way that doesn't mean it will please everyone else.

Indeed.  Personally, I think the balance is about right.

Bam!  You get a cookie!

You know, I don't think I've ever seen one of those come out properly before.  Usually they're grotesquely disfigured in some way, where the white filling for the eyes sort of splurges everywhere or drools out of its mouth or something.

[rt]

Eek that is one seriosly creepily happy cookie!

Now to stand by and watch the cranes fight .. hmm needs more fire i think to liven things up 

[Alondro]

The cookie looks kinda like the face from the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. 

Congrats to Amber on reaching the level of fan warfare that only the most popular comics attain!   

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

... Staypuft warfare? Yeah, I could go for a snack...

[Kenji]

Stop Origami Pit Fights. Every month, thousands of Origami animals are killed by vicious paper cuts. Please. Think of the origami animals.

[Tapewolf]

Stop Origami Pit Fights. Every month, thousands of Origami animals are killed by vicious paper cuts. Please. Think of the origami animals.

Full-contact Origami?

[Amber Williams]

This particular QfR is a unique one in that I had to paraphrase more than use any direct quotes from actual emails.  It's very rare that people email me these two particular complaints directly.  However, I tend to find these two sentiments in places where I doubt the people typing them are actually expecting me to read them. Other forums, discussion boards, chans, and various other places.

I usually get hese two schools of thought, along with the one where the person says the comic is bad due to its use of either furries/anime style/pg rating. Or the comment about how they couldn't get into the comic because they couldn't last through the first couple of storyarchs.  It's not really distressing to me, and I can definately see their reasonings.  But I also realize I will never make everyone happy and no matter where I go there will be someone who thinks my comic is terrible...or it was once good but now is terrible...or etc.

I never really hold any pretense in that I view DMFA as a comedy-first/story-second strip.  Though I do realize that there are going to be times when the comedy is going to end up stepping on the toes of the story. And that some people are going to be focusing on the story aspect and thus not be able to tell when I'm doing something simply because I find it funny.  I've always held that my reason for this is because I find it sometimes very depressing to go to my favorite comics and be hit with a major wall of depressing seriousness.  I've seen more comics than I'd like take the plunge from a comedy-centered strip into a more dramatic and story-centered focus.  And while they still try to keep the funny...it's off and not quite the same.

It's also a trend in anime, and one of the main reasons I stopped watching anime.  You have a 20 episode season of wacky antics then are suddenly trampled by dramatic plot in the last two.

In the end, I try for the most part to keep a decent balance. And really while I don't always show it, I do try to keep criticisms and the general feel of my audience in mind when I'm doing the comic.  There are some points where it is unfortunately a case where everyone has to hang on for a few strips and ride it out...but if I was getting the implication multiple people were genuinely concerned or displeased with a trend...I try to step back and consider my current course of actions.

And truthfully, I do it because I realize I might not see the storm on the wind since I'm the one doing the comic.  As a reader of other comics, I have seen a couple where I can't help but feel they really. should. have. stopped months to years ago.  And I do worry that if I was to ever fall into a spiral like that, I wouldn't see it coming since I was the one doing it.  So I try to keep alert.

I dont think DMFA is going to last forever. And I dont doubt I will gain and lose readers as their and my own tastes and preferences evolve and differ.  However, I like to think that I'm not beyond reproach and that if I was able to see an overall dissatisfaction amongst readers and people commenting...that I would be able to note that and if it is a problem, fix it.

[Alondro]

I dont think DMFA is going to last forever. And I dont doubt I will gain and lose readers as their and my own tastes and preferences evolve and differ.  However, I like to think that I'm not beyond reproach and that if I was able to see an overall dissatisfaction amongst readers and people commenting...that I would be able to note that and if it is a problem, fix it.

Dear Amber,

I think DMFA is bad because it's not going to last forever.  You should become immortal so you can make DMFA until the universe experiences heat death, or a new universe explodes in to fill the void, in which case you should then become the god of the new universe and make Furrae fur-real and then the comic can have real life! 

PS:  I have a lot of patience when reading/watching stories I like... I watched DBZ.. the whole thing... twice...

I can withstand anything.   

[Amber Williams]

Dear Amber,

I think DMFA is bad because it's not going to last forever.  You should become immortal so you can make DMFA until the universe experiences heat death, or a new universe explodes in to fill the void, in which case you should then become the god of the new universe and make Furrae fur-real and then the comic can have real life! 

PS:  I have a lot of patience when reading/watching stories I like... I watched DBZ.. the whole thing... twice...

I can withstand anything.   

...I'm totally making Charline a super-nice and friendly Cubi who feeds off comfort in DMFA now.

[Alondro]

Dear Amber,

I think DMFA is bad because it's not going to last forever.  You should become immortal so you can make DMFA until the universe experiences heat death, or a new universe explodes in to fill the void, in which case you should then become the god of the new universe and make Furrae fur-real and then the comic can have real life! 

PS:  I have a lot of patience when reading/watching stories I like... I watched DBZ.. the whole thing... twice...

I can withstand anything.   

...I'm totally making Charline a super-nice and friendly Cubi who feeds off comfort in DMFA now.

*Charline nuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!*  Why did Charles have to be so stupid? Why!?!  WHY!!!!?  How could a little fool like him destroy all my beautiful wickedness!?   

*sobs and resigns herself to knitting doilies for recliners*   

[Aleolus]

Dear Amber,

I think DMFA is bad because it's not going to last forever.  You should become immortal so you can make DMFA until the universe experiences heat death, or a new universe explodes in to fill the void, in which case you should then become the god of the new universe and make Furrae fur-real and then the comic can have real life! 

PS:  I have a lot of patience when reading/watching stories I like... I watched DBZ.. the whole thing... twice...

I can withstand anything.   

...I'm totally making Charline a super-nice and friendly Cubi who feeds off comfort in DMFA now.

*Charline nuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!*  Why did Charles have to be so stupid? Why!?!  WHY!!!!?  How could a little fool like him destroy all my beautiful wickedness!?   

*sobs and resigns herself to knitting doilies for recliners*   

There, there, Charline, you can be nice and still have fun with people.  It's called pranks!   

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

...I'm totally making Charline a super-nice and friendly Cubi who feeds off comfort in DMFA now.

Bwahahahahahahahaha! Go on, dooo eeet! You know you want to! ;-]

[Wanderer]

It's also a trend in anime, and one of the main reasons I stopped watching anime.  You have a 20 episode season of wacky antics then are suddenly trampled by dramatic plot in the last two.

I believe my response to that is that you need to watch some better anime.

No really, there's good stuff that doesn't play bait-and-switch with you like that. Anime contains some of everything, so you've just got to look for the right stuff.

...I'm totally making Charline a super-nice and friendly Cubi who feeds off comfort in DMFA now.

*chokes laughing* Good Heavens, that's the funniest thing I've heard in a long time. I have got to see that.

[TheDeere]

Hi Amber! I had to weigh in on this one. I love the balance you're maintaining right now, the comic's been a great pleasure to read since the beginning.

I also look forward with great anticipation to a real adventurous showdown between Dan and Dark Pegasus! That's something I've been waiting for since the introduction of their conflict. >

I know what you mean about great comics "going bad" ... Even when it happens though, you know what the author is capable of and can hope they'll recover their stride. So as long as the strip continues to run you have hope. Look what happened with Sluggy Freelance (if you follow Sluggy). <I know I'm gonna take some heat for this but hey I can take it>

Sluggy got bogged down into a year-long slog of Vampire plotline a couple years ago that became a morass of misery for me. I got so I'd only check it every few weeks. I have nothing against vampires but I think the author Pete simply ran low on inspiriation for that dreadful time.

Now? I'd say it's right back up to it's original level of niftyness or even beyond! (Though naturally due to Murphy's Law their site's temporarily down as I type this, hehe)

With DMFA, there's been nothing but a steady improvement in your art and plotlines, and now I've got a Dark Pegasus arc to look forward to, too.

Also impressive to me is how you use audience voting, like how it was decided to run Abel's back-story (I was rooting for Abel too). What better way to see what we want than to ask! I'd like to see more authors try that, hehe

I like the way you incorporate jokes into plot just fine and had to say "No Adjustment Necessary".
-jd

PS: Oh yeah that's one creepy cookie alright.

[Zedd]

THE EYES

[pyrohamster]

THE MOUTH