The Clan Leader Calendar (Suggestions Welcome!)

[Amber Williams]

Alrighty.  One of the things I'll be drawing up hopefully in time for next year's Anthrocon will be a 2013 Calendar.  Which means I have a bit under one year to get 12 nicely done pictures featuring the various living clan leaders.  (Before anyone asks, the number ending up that amount is pure coincidence.)

As I'm getting started, I figured one thing I would do is actually open a thread so folks could give recommendations or ideas or just general suggestions.  Each month will feature a particular clan leader, possibly some with some teaser/spoiler type things, maybe each of them with a quote.   If people have a particular month they would like a particular clan leader on, they can make recommendations as well.  Or if they have a particular clan leader they'd like to see being serene or badass or just overall eye-candy...this is the thread for that.

The main thing to keep in mind though when it comes to designs is they are probably going to need to be tasteful (they are potentially going on walls after all) and something that a person will hopefully not mind spending a month looking at.  So while it could be fun to have Kish'Ta be full creepy...keep in mind some folks may not want something really gruesome staring at them for a month.

So yeah, suggest away, or just ask questions.  And in case anyone needs a refresher about the clan leaders, they can find the Demo 101 article: http://www.missmab.com/Demo/Leader03.php

[justacritic]

(Before anyone asks, the number ending up that amount is pure coincidence.)

Sure pure coincidence
Certain clan leader affinities seem to match certain months and holidays. Why not try theming the pictures on that tedious relationship or even better use the picture as a snapshot of what they might be doing on that particular month

Edit: Fixed your quoting. HTH.
  -- llearch

[TacticalError]

For the sake of consistency, it may be best to have an abstract background for each one. While a background could be easily thought of for some (Taun could have a burning battlefield with stormy skies for example), others may be less obvious (seeing as Jin, seeing as she's hiding out in a mountain somewhere and not doing much). Or maybe I'm just being unimaginative. Anyway, this will be awesome when it comes out. Looking forward to it!

[Brunhidden]

So while it could be fun to have Kish'Ta be full creepy...keep in mind some folks may not want something really gruesome staring at them for a month.

add bunny suit, BAM- April calender entry

[TacticalError]

So while it could be fun to have Kish'Ta be full creepy...keep in mind some folks may not want something really gruesome staring at them for a month.

add bunny suit, BAM- April calender entry

Best. Idea. Ever.

[Tapewolf]

I can't think of any concrete suggestions, but I thought I should just chip in and say that it's a good idea for a calendar and I want one

[joshofspam]

If themes just have to be well thought out and not necessarily cheery.

For Cyra, I could see her surrounded in the after math of the failed attempt to claim Hishaan. Laying at the feet or in the shadow of the fallen glassed dragon M'Chek.

[Grey Wolf]

Kish'Ta for October? She seems like the sort of person that kids would dare each other to Trick-or-Treat from.

No idea about a month for him, but I'd love to see Quoar trolling a renfair as a bard...

[Tapewolf]

No idea about a month for him, but I'd love to see Quoar trolling a renfair as a bard...

I think Quoar would probably have to coincide with Valentine's Day, so February.

[Ryy Lazurus]

This was my idea. I honestly don't know if it's any good.



Jan - Fa'Lina
Hope and optimism for the new year

Feb - Jin
Joy of spring and happiness

March - Taun
The season of war comes

April - Dimanika
This is a silly month, isn't it?

May - Quoar
Love, fun and games!

June - Zezzuva
Build your strength and poison your foes

July - Piflak
Now do what you do, and do it well!

August - Nact'Larn
Taste the life around you and give yourself freely to it!

September - Owona
Think clearly, and banish mercy

October -  Kish'Ta
The nights are getting longer. . . darker. . colder. . .

November - Seme
You see the coming death of the year, and you know yourself mortal

December - Cyra
The wind blows cold, and cuts your flesh and heart like thorns.

[Lying Foo]

My initial thought was that Nact'larn should probably be in October... fertility and all that.  Quoar, February, because Valentine's Day.  Cyra seemed quite November.  But then something occurred to me...

What are the gods of the months?

Janus, Faun, Mars, Venus, Bona Dea, Juno, Caesar, Augustus, (numbers)

Mars/Taun and Venus/Nact'larn seem like no-brainers.  (Although maybe Venus/Cyra, given Fi's observation on their symbol.)

Fa'lina and Bona Dea I can kind of see, and Cyra and Juno.  Or maybe Piflak and Juno.  Yeah, Piflak, since "the clan of winter's touch" really doesn't belong in late spring.  Although Piflak might better fit Augustus...

I can't decide whether Quoar would best fit Janus (duality), Caesar, or Augustus, though.  Zezzuva might also work for Caesar.  And no friggin' idea what to do with the numbers.

Yeah... this one's not gonna work.  Maybe just go with free association.

[Ravenscroft]

Zezzuza - January - New year taking the place of the old year (Zezzuza on the throne celebrating her sister's death)
Jin - February - What greater joy then that of a loved one? (Joy hugging Mink! lots of hearts )
Piflak - March - Time of Growth (Piflak surrounded by art with an instrument on her arm)
Dimanika - April - April Fools! (Planning this picture would be wrong lol)
Nact'Larn - May - the beauty of spring and the lust commonly associated (... Nact'Larn in a fountain, ohyeah )
Taun - June - the heat of battle (Mid strike on unseen enemy off screen appearing to attack Owana if the two are put side by side)
Owana - July - Heat of Rage (Midstrike on unseen enemy off screen appearing to attack Taun if the two are put side by side)
Seme - August - The harvest Begins (Seme weeping at Graveside with shadows of cubi coming from the distance)
Fa'Lina - September - A time of Reaping (Fa'Lina playing with Warp-Aci and clan symbols with semiseriousness and cookies)
Kish'ta - October - hands down. (.... do what you can)
Quoar - November - Time of the recluse (It would be funny to not see him at all but rather a random scene he could be found in lol, but I would think he would look good looking down on a cityscape with a smirk)
Cyra - December - The threat of winter, (Cyra in a sexy elf suit, .... and whips ...  )

Seme and Fa'Lina can both be exchanged since harvest happens during both months, and lets face it, some harvests are better than others.

I would pay to have it be able to send out at the new year lol I know it's a lot to ask but having it for half the year will be less cool than having it and appreciating the work of the first six months.  Unless of course you turn it into a 2013-2014 calender, where by you have the months we'd miss for the year after, which would still be cool

How much will they be? I want to start saving now!

[Gabi]

If the calendar is based on the seasons, I'll have it the other way around. >.>

[Nino]

Cyra for December seems like an obvious choice, since she's not only the leader of the clan of winter's touch, but she is also the last Cubi to attain tri-wing status, which goes with the last month of the year thing.

Flipping through them, I realize how monochromatic they all seem (Zuzzuva, Nact'Larn, Jin, Cyra, Fa'lina, and Quora in particular). I think for a picture you want on your wall the whole month, maybe some variation in color (like what they're wearing, for instance) might be nice. I think it'd be neat to see a wardrobe change anyway, but that might be just me talking since I've probably read over the clan leaders at least 10 times now (Cyra's dress is gorgeous though so no complaints from me if they don't get a change of attire).

It might be cool to see the clan symbols somewhere on there too, or match the text with the leader's personality. But I know I'll be getting one either way.

[edit] you know, I just realized.... except for neutrals like black, white, and gray, they're all pretty monochromatic, in the sense that only one color tends to define them (aside from eye color and clan mark). This seems contrasting with many cubi in SAIA, which tend to be more colorful... a clan leader trait perhaps?

[Darkmoon]

I would pay to have it be able to send out at the new year lol I know it's a lot to ask but having it for half the year will be less cool than having it and appreciating the work of the first six months.  Unless of course you turn it into a 2013-2014 calender, where by you have the months we'd miss for the year after, which would still be cool

How much will they be? I want to start saving now!

If it's going to be released during the con-season, 2013, we'll make sure it's a 2014 calendar (maybe a 16-month with the condensed 4 months at the end of 2013 included -- although no guarantee there would be extra art for those four months).

No word on price yet, since I need to see some of the art first to get specs down and start looking at printing costs.

[AeonsShadow]

Okay, we're ALL agreed on a few things at least. Here are my thoughts for a few of them at least:

Dimanika shall rule the fools of the april month, maybe something with pies.... EVERYONE LOVES PIES!!!

Cyra herself was practically MADE to be the final member as The Queen of the Clan of Winters Touch.

I think Fa'Lina should be sometime in fall, as the prelude to winter. After all, losing one's clan does make one as sad as the coming winter I would think...

Quoar should be June, in my opinion, as month-based astrology depicts people born in this month as dual natured, both creative and quiet, while being outgoing.

The clan of Jin should be May or sometime in spring, as they are the clan of joy.

As for Nact'Larn, the clan of first kiss should be good on any month with a love-based holiday.


And now I run to go eat. 

[Attic Rat]

Just a thought here. How about Fa'Lina for September? At least here in the US, September is the month one ends summer vacation and goes back to school.
Since Fa'Lina's "summer" ended with her clan, and she founded Saia to teach Cubi, it seems fitting.

[lycaonpictus77]

Personally I'd like to see Quoar as November, because the idea of him taking a walk in autumn leaves is very appealing for some reason.
He would also look pretty snazzy in a scarf. Just sayin'.

[TacticalError]

He would also look pretty snazzy in a scarf. Just sayin'.

He must also be wearing the same hat as in his Demo. 101 page. That's a good hat.

[Amber Williams]

He must also be wearing the same hat as in his Demo. 101 page. That's a good hat.

FUN FACT Due to Quoar and his reputation, it became kind of a symbolism thing and top hats in Furrae usually equal "love". So along with the usual valentine hearts, you can sometimes buy little chocolate top hats (Sort of like the chocolate rabbits of easter where they are more flat and decorative with a white chocolate strip to indicate the ribbon) for your loved one.



Anywho, thank you guys for the suggestions so far. There has been some really good ideas. I'll most likely be using a few. I'm going to try to diversify the themes a bit, so some will be more amusing and some will be more serious. Overall my hopeful goal is that every month will be interesting enough and no one gets stuck with a mediocre picture on their birthday month.

[Sofox]

Due to Quoar and his reputation, it became kind of a symbolism thing and top hats in Furrae usually equal "love".

Ah, that gives another level to that bit in Dan's date with Matilda.

[TacticalError]

Due to Quoar and his reputation, it became kind of a symbolism thing and top hats in Furrae usually equal "love".

Ah, that gives another level to that bit in Dan's date with Matilda.

And with Kria wearing the hat when talking to Dan the next morning.

[ChaosMageX]

I don't have any suggestions yet of which clan leaders should correspond to each month, but I do agree with others that...

Zezzuva should be January, given how her ascension occurred,
Quoar should be February for St. Valentine's Day and
Cyra should be either November or December, since her clan is "The Clan of Winter's Touch"

Also, I personally like calendars that not only have artwork above the calendar denominations, but also artwork in the actual day entries.  Honestly, I hardly ever use a physical calendar over a digital one for actually planning and keeping track of things, so it doesn't matter to me if some of the day entries are filled with additional artwork.

For instance, Amber could draw a little top hat icon to go on St. Valentine's Day, a little bunny in her style for Easter (or maybe a tiny picture of Bedlam ), etc.  Like with the top hat, perhaps Amber could draw the major or unique symbol for the most similar holiday in Furrae.  Little icons like these wouldn't take nearly as much time as the clan leader images and it would be a nice touch.

[Tapewolf]

Zezzuva should be January, given how her ascension occurred,

Given that she seems to have led the workers in a glorious revolution against her czarist sister, I have to wonder whether May might be appropriate.

[Brunhidden]

Quoar has a point, the world needs more dapper. and if the meaning of life has taught us anything, the world also needs more hats.

thus dapper hats, making love a classy affair. propogation of those snappy vests can happen next

perhaps we are looking at this at the wrong angle, in this situation take Quoar- instead of attaching him to a holiday based on his affinity could we instead attach him to something based on a characteristic? in this case, perhaps a time of year such as prom where people dress up in semi-formal attire to have fun and just feel like they are the snazzy man with the top hat, well tailored vest, and the black cane whilst casually doing a little dance?

thus, by matching characteristics we come to different conclusions. perhaps the physically powerful clan leaders could be associated with a time of year associated with combat or physical sports? perhaps instead of associating Kish'ta with scary and thus Halloween we could associate her with acting, and thus perhaps summer blockbusters or some other time of year known for theater?

its a pitty none of them are particularly associated with greed or wealth, otherwise we could just say 'well, april is done, what next?'

[killpurakat]

I don't think this has been suggested yet, so I'll throw in my two cents worth. Because the ideas kept coming.

I'd like to see Fa'Lina happy, and for some reason I keep picturing a Thanksgiving scene with her, Abel, and Pyroduck because that is her family (and yes, Abel would be doing the cooking). Like the picture is mostly her in the foreground with a soft, motherly smile on her face, but in the back we can see into the kitchen and Abel is working his butt off with a slightly frustrated face and Pyro is cleaning up something he spilt with a sheepish grin.

I dunno. It just occurred to me and I figured I'd share it. Guess that would make Fa'Lina November.

I agree with most everyone else that Cyra would be a good December candidate. As for a picture maybe Destania and Dan can be seen through a window at the Lost Lake Inn, looking outside at the pretty snow, and Cyra is being all super gigantic outside and making it a perfect Christmas-y winter wonderland (only she's just out of view of anyone looking out the window).

May and June are usually considered musical months, so perhaps one of those could feature Quoar, playing an instrument or composing (or whatever wlse he, as a bard, is qualified to do) and surrounded by lots of color, like flowers and nature.

I like the idea of April being Dimanika's month, but I also like the idea of her attending a Ren Faire as a fool and making an enjoyable nuisance of herself, which would be more June/July/August territory.

If Kish'Ta is put for October (because of Halloween), then, to avoid too scary of a scene (since we all want to be able to have a pic of Kish'Ta for a month without getting nightmares), maybe we could be shown the aftermath of an encounter with some trick-or-treaters, aka, Kish'Ta pigging out on abandoned bags of candy.

Guess that's all I have for now. Whatever helps and/or gives you the creative spark, Amber. I can just imagine one of us dropping a word that sudden gives Amber the perfect idea, even if it has nothing to do with what anyone said.

[berkinix]

First off, I wanna say I think the calender idea is awesome, and I can't wait to see the finished product next year. Though when it comes to suggestions, all I could come up with was this: I think it would be nice if there could be some kind of art contest where forum members can submit fanart of the clan leaders to be made into the calender, instead of having Amber slaving away over all the images (she can do the calender cover, though). I'm not saying I don't like Amber's work; quite the contrary. But this way Amber could get a break, and fans could have something really hands-on to get involved in and show their love for DMFA. I know there's a lot of talented people on these forums!

Amber could narrow down the images and them people can vote for which ones they'd want on the calender. I understand Amber probably already has the calender thing planned out, but even if my suggestion isn't taken into consideration for next year's Anthrocon calender, maybe it could still be something that could be taken into consideration for some other future time? Just a thought.

[Nino]

First off, I wanna say I think the calender idea is awesome, and I can't wait to see the finished product next year. Though when it comes to suggestions, all I could come up with was this: I think it would be nice if there could be some kind of art contest where forum members can submit fanart of the clan leaders to be made into the calender, instead of having Amber slaving away over all the images (she can do the calender cover, though). I'm not saying I don't like Amber's work; quite the contrary. But this way Amber could get a break, and fans could have something really hands-on to get involved in and show their love for DMFA. I know there's a lot of talented people on these forums!

Amber could narrow down the images and them people can vote for which ones they'd want on the calender. I understand Amber probably already has the calender thing planned out, but even if my suggestion isn't taken into consideration for next year's Anthrocon calender, maybe it could still be something that could be taken into consideration for some other future time? Just a thought.

I actually think this would be a really fun suggestion as a forum project - I've done a Calendar for a Neopets forum once - but not as something that would replace Amber's calendar. For one, I don't think she'd be able to realistically take other people's art and sell it as a calendar - too many possible issues - but for another, I just would imagine an official DMFA calendar would generate a lot more revenue. I mean, I'm a way, way over-the-top fan of this comic, so I'd still totally buy one, but without Amber's polished, amazing art, I don't know that it would do as well.

[FairWage22]

Someone else did witty one-liners so I'm inspired to put forth my own suggestion, with some twists.  Art suggestions are just that, little idea-lets to try and help out with conceptualization, etc.

Jan - Fa'Lina
Maybe this year.  Perhaps this will be the year.  One can always hope.
(Art suggestion:  Fa'lina looking in on a child in a crib or such.)

Feb - Quoar
The light of romance begins in the warmth of companionship as the chill of winter fades.
(Art suggestion:  The Bardic one cuddled next to someone in front of a fireplace)

March - Nact'larn
Spring is the utmost seasonal expression of the primal forces that drive all sentients to mate.
(Art suggestion: Bunnies!  Lots of bunnies!  And maybe squirrels, too!)

April - Dimanika
This is really January.  The best joke ever was getting beings to believe that there were three other months before it.
(Art suggestion:  A blank-eyed authority figure drooling as he tries to understand what he's being told.)

May - Jin
The flowers are growing, the air is clean, the snow is gone, the birds sing!
(Art suggestion:  A traditional 'green' landscape shot, with Jin barely visible in the scenery.)

June - Owona
The shadows dance and rise as they fight for one last grip on the year before cedeing it to the longest day of the year... but soon are rising once more.
(Art suggestion:  Sneaking up on some unaware sentry, with foreshadowing of how things are about to go down without actually showing the deed)

July - Taun
The heat of summer spurs the unready mind to combat while the prepared heart relishes the reward of hard work.
(Art suggestion:  Taun as General/Leader, watching over a school of training warriors)

August - Zezzuva
Now, after the heat has largely passed and the air starts to cool, the time to nudge things to the way they should be is nigh.
(Art suggestion:  Corporate Boardroom, with the shadows reaching out to each of the members like puppet strings as Zezzuva stands in the background, apparently disinterested at whatever topic of discussion is in place)

September - Piflak
Time to go back to school in earnest, for even if you are the best at what you do, there is *always* room for improvement.
(Art suggestion:  School-teacher (or tutor) outfit, with almost maternal pride beaming at her family)

October -  Seme
The first chill is settling in as the leaves are turning brown and everything is dying, dying.  And no one can stop it.
(Art suggestion:  Can't think of one directly, can only think of the songs 'Hazy Shade of Winter' by Simon and Garfunkel as well as 'California Dreamin' ' by the Mamas & The Papas)

November - Kish'Ta
Those who stride into the darkness of the year should have a ready guide, and who better?
(Art suggestion:  Kish'Ta wearing a skull-head and a well-tailored suit ushering the viewer to a dark path lit by gaslight)

December - Cyra
The most beautiful time of year for those who have no sense of temperature, yet the most numb.
(Art suggestion:  Someone beat me to this one.  That *moment* after Cyra ascends... and it *hits* her.)

[Prroul]

To be honest, I picture Fa'Lina in February, because Valentine's Day is more about the hope of love than love itself. Besides, Pink.

As far as where to put Quoar... June. A Midsumer's Night, and all that

I'd also put Nact'Larn in May. Why? Well, it's MAAAAY, the... ahem... sorry, almost broke out into song there. If you don't understand, go see the musical Camelot.

This would slide Jin in at January "Happy New Years!"

Leaving Owona in March. The shadows of winter melting away to spring. Perhaps Owona trying to scare the Groundhog back into the hole?