Q&A with Midnight (April 2023) (Patreon)

—Any luck we’ll see a Pallad City Stories physical edition when there’s enough chapters? 

Unfortunately, no plans for a Pallad City Stories print edition. That may change in the future—for now, at least, they’re exclusive to Patreon.

—I freaking adore Irene’s design and witty personality. Tell me she isn’t getting killed in the current storyarc. I want her to become a recurring character.

Sumter Academy can be a very dangerous place…though Irene’s pretty resourceful! So we’ll see… :) 

I’m glad to hear there are readers who like Irene. She was an unusually difficult character to get “just right” appearance wise. She looks different in some of the earlier concept art (same with Mari—interestingly, both were developed around the same time for a DZO visual novel). In my opinion, Salaiix really brought her to life and she’s so much fun to write dialogue for. 

—Will a White Wraith or GunRiot crossover happen with Danger Zone One? 

No immediate plans for a crossover, but I wouldn’t rule it out. After all, we did see the Fit for Fight gym at the start of The White Wraith (which previously appeared in DZO, Chapter 15). And though it’s down the road, there are plans for a future DZO chapter in Kurtow—the earthquake ravaged district where GunRiot takes place!

—I’m hyped for the Miss Bliss story. Any clues to what we’ll see, how long is it going to be, is it going to be in color? How NSFW is it? It’s canon right?

The next Pallad City Stories chapter, “Pleasure Pursuit”, covers what Miss Bliss has been up to since we last seen her in DZO Chapter 18. We’ll see more of Officer L’Ceal, the Combustion Crew, and finally get to meet Officer Mari Vetra. It'll also dig into Miss Bliss’s backstory. As for length, expect it to be a longer storyline, comparable to recent DZO chapters. With regards to NSFW content, we can expect far more than what we’ve seen in previous DZO chapters (it is Miss Bliss, after all!). And, just like all Pallad City Stories, this is 100% canon. 

Sadly, Pleasure Pursuit won’t be in color. Salaiix and I discussed doing the some scenes in color and the flashbacks in black and white—but we’re just not reaching the Patreon goals necessary to make that possible. Believe me, no one is more disappointed about it than I am—but it’s still going to be an awesome storyline. The production art has been wonderful and we really get to go all-out showing just how merciless Miss Bliss is—and her backstory has been a thrill to write. 

I’m also excited for readers to meet Mari. Her personality is quite different from Madison/Reena. She’s with the Criminal Investigation Division—so her job is closer to that of a detective. 

—I loved the recent call back in this chapter when Reena uses the ear slapping move Madison taught her. Do you plan stuff like that in advance?

My goal is to make sure nearly everything in the comic has a purpose—even if we don’t find out what it is until many, many chapters later! :D 

Writing DZO Chapter 15, when Madison gives Reena some training, I fully intended Reena to use that attack later on.

I think, for some, a few of the fanservice scenes might seem overindulgent—but even they’re there for a purpose. The subplot with Siyo secretly drugging Reena with Aphrosia wasn’t just fanservice for fanservice’s sake, but helped illustrate just how far Siyo & Mora are both willing to push things—and that, for individuals of their wealth/power, they freely act without ever considering consequences. There’s much more to it than that, but you’ll just have to wait and see…

Another example is the vibrator scene with Reena/Emaly in the dorm room (Chapter 20). During that scene, it seemed like a chance to show Reena blushing/embarrassed and add a bit of fanservice. But it was actually a genuine set-up to show that Reena would, in fact, put Emaly’s vibrator to use later on, when attacked by Zoe.

There’s many little things in Horror High we’ve already seen that will play major roles later. But I’m not going to spoil any reveals :)  

—Do you take inspirations from movies/games/anime when writing?

Definitely! One of the inspirations for the Nightmare Island story arc was survival horror games. I think some hints of the early Resident Evil games were especially evident, with Dr. Hastings using an experimental serum to transform herself and Subject 37 hunting down Madison through a desolate base. Dino Crisis was another inspiration for that. 

For the Horror High story arc, the inspiration is definitely 80s-era slasher films—but also 70s/80s Italian giallo films. The way Gaston meets his end in Chapter 19 is my tribute to the opening scene of Lucio Fulci’s House by the Cemetery. 

—Will there ever be more Welcome To The Machine?

I’m forever hopeful that I can return to it one day. Right now we're stretching the budget as far as it can go with DZO, GunRiot, etc. but I really enjoyed writing Welcome to the Machine, along with the characters. The same goes for Mechanica. One of the exciting things about Welcome to the Machine, in particular, were all the twists I had in mind—it was going to be a pretty wild ride, especially with the question of Saylee being guilty or innocent, and what the purpose of The Machine was. 

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That wraps up this month's Q&A! Thanks for all the great questions!! If you have any questions you want answered in a future Q&A, you can do so by sending me a private message through Patreon or an email via MidnightPublishing@yahoo.com (just make sure to put Q&A in the subject heading).