Slow Your Roll (Patreon)

I get emails sometimes from people expressing concern that a current storyarc I'm writing is a bit too dark. This one was no exception. I did receive a good amount of praise for this story as well. The praise was probably 2 to 1, really.

I take a lot of concepts from real life when creating the stories. Sometimes my own experience. Sometimes firsthand stories from others. Most of the time, the story I present for the comics is less dark than the real life occurrence. About 50% of this story really happened. The other 50% is artistic license. Conforming and altering certain aspects of a real life event to fit the characters personalities, and what I need for this current arc to flow into the future arcs.

Write what you know. The rest is writing what you can reasonably conclude, if it's not your own experience. Remember that truth is stranger than fiction, and sometimes, you may have to pull back on the truth just to make it sound like reasonable fiction. In this case, there was really a Pumpkin/Katrina dynamic. There was also a mother of real life Pumpkin who wasn't so concerned/worried over her daughter's personal affairs.

In short, real life Pumpkin was also 15, and real life Katrina was 22. Mom as told by her daughter at 14 she was gay, and mom was supportive. Unfortunately mom was more inclined to be a best friend than, say, a cautiously optimistic parent. "Katrina" cried poverty, and her own homelife being in shambles, and eventually got real life Rosemary to let her live with them. "Rosemary" full well knowing her 15 year old was in a relationship with a 22 year old, and keeping it from their father. Everyone kept this from the father. Father assumed, hey, just another friend.

Would this scenario jive if "Katrina" were a male? Of course not. Not typically, I hope. There was a narrative created by "Katrina" around the father, and maintained by mother and daughter, that a female friend is just that. Female: no ill intentions There is no information he's privy to that would suggest otherwise. This was a key point in the story when Damien talks to Katrina about giving Pumpkin a ride home from convention.

Whether you yourself think it's appropriate for a 15 year old to hang around, or room with, adults that could already be out of college... that's up to you. Personally, I'd say no. When you're an adult, you can do whatever you want. Unfortunately, adults tend to do whatever they want, so I'm not leaving them around my children unsupervised. And even when supervised, verify their intentions. Regardless of gender. This was a key point in the story when Rosemary checks Katrina's online profiles.

Character Rosemary doesn't adapt well to real life "Rosemary" (as she's not based on her anyway.) If I'm going to be blatantly honest here, everything is geared towards raising a daughter to be a best friend and maintain youth through osmosis, than it is to instill morals or values. I've seen this in a few parent-child relationships over the years. "Please think I'm hip!" and "What can I do to appease my kid?" Turns out it's leaving her to be sexually educated by a 22 year old with the sentiment no one can possibly get pregnant, as a mental reassurance nothing can go "THAT wrong." This was a key point when Rosemary kicks out Katrina in the comic.

So we're left to ponder in this story, as even I do in real life, what's Katrina's M.O. in this? Is she grooming Pumpkin? Could we classify her as a pedophile? Or is she a lesbian who can't help being attracted to Pumpkin who happens to be 15? Do we say "love is love" in this scenario, or do we allow for red flags based on age? Do we vet our children's friends disproportionately based on their gender, or do we subconsciously give a pass in some cases? What is real equality in terms of the safeguards and treatment of minors?

If you can walk away asking yourself any of those questions I'm glad I chose to do this story. I don't think it's really been covered much in media. I can trope as well as anyone with the plots or characters, but I love touching on small aspects of life I don't find used often in other comics, shows or movies.

Such as Pumpkin's cosplaying. There is a huge, huge cosplayer base out there. Do you ever see it used in shows? I don't. I mean, truthfully, I don't watch tv at all anymore.. but when I do.. cosplayers are usually lumped in with furries and mocked all the same. It's never seen as a legitimate, full time hobby/occupation/enterprise. It's typically seen as a fleeting activity being solely contained within [insert example] event. Like it's just another Halloween. The interest in cosplaying by the cosplayer begins and ends at a, say...convention. You only see cosplayers cosplaying at appropriate times, at appropriate events. This interest never weaves in and out of other aspects of their lives.

That's my impression from media, anyway. And it's certainly not the case. Cosplayers I know are constantly perfecting their craft. Which is what it is. A talent. One that's generally underrated and typically ridiculed when there's any adult participation, and.

Another concept I had for Pumpkin's character was for her to be asexual. Now, this isn't entirely confirmed in the comic, but I was surprised at the positive feedback I got from the comics covering the matter. I read loads of forums about the subject just to accumulate enough perspective to view it from Pumpkin's would-be perspective. One misnomer is that asexuals aren't interest in love. I think most of can take a step back and conclude that wouldn't be true, but it's still a perception among many. You don't need love for sex, and you don't need sex for love. We'll see more of this explained in the comic when the main site comic does Pumpkin's birthday.

So yes, this is the conclusion of the first part of the Quinn-Pumpkin character arc. The next series is on Quinn-Eagan. It won't be as long, and it will start with showing Quinn immediately after she gets her new Volkswagon. So as we saw Ellie take Caleb to the airport, we'll what Quinn did during the same events. After that I'll do a full Juniper arc, which may equal the length of this one. When I did the site vote, and that story idea won, I kinda went "oh shit, now I have to come up with something." I had a few scattered ideas on Juniper, but nothing coherent or fleshed out. Within the last month it all really came together to form a story I'm ridiculously happy with.

So as always, I know I don't always break down the story, or say an awful lot, but I really want to tell you all how much you're appreciated. Thank you for the support and the patience. I really mean it. I always feel like I'm not doing enough for you guys, or that I'm not relaying how blessed and fortunate I am to have you all along for the ride. So thanks again. :)

Chris