117 – Expansion
The party keeps getting bigger. And the time it takes to draw a strip follows suit.
It did feel kinda exciting to draw all of these girls in the same strip, it really doesn’t happen nearly often enough. But it’s a lot of work for sure. It’s probably my biggest strip so far considering there was only five of them the last time they all got together. I really hope they won’t meet new people next.
This is the last comic I wrote during my hiatus earlier this year. (I penned 15 of them after I was done with 101.)
I was really afraid it would be too hard to draw, having six character and a bus in it, but I’m glad I managed. Don’t worry though, I already wrote a lot more since then. This arc obviously isn’t over yet.
As always, if you like Frivolesque, don’t forget to comment, follow me on Twitter or like the Facebook page!
So now we have Flore who gets mistaken for being much younger while Chloe seem to think that she looks old enough to have a 10yo child, I wonder if there is a support group for people like them.
Misrepresented Ages Anonymous! Members include elves, Benjamin Button and that baby from Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
And a hundred of underage looking yet dark and immortal anime characters…
Now that sounds like an interesting plot for a webcomic. ^_^
I recon I’d read that.
I’d read the crap out of that.
Charby the Vampirate was a pretty fun read. Maybe I’ll catch up on it sometime, though it got kinda weird after a while.
Age is a constant source of worry for most people.
Did you mean CoNsEnT
And now Mimi meets the whole gang. I think I foresee her getting her own teacup in the near future.
I would most likely be pink with a ❤ symbol.
Yeah, I can see that. It’d probably have to be a lighter shade than Flore’s though.
Pastel Pink as opposed to Hot Pink.
Sounds about right. I found Flore’s profile page & Mimi’s profile too, as well as a pic of the core group’s tea cups. Different shades & symbols. It’s almost as if someone designed it that way… :P
Dez. Programmer. Cartoonist. Designer.
In the cast page you can see them all.
Yeah, well….I wanted to do it the hard way…
*Goes & sulks in corner…*
Cheer up!
It’s cool that you noticed! :)
Interesting insight.
Two people think Mimi’s her daughter! It’s basically canon now! Also hanging out with adults, getting free toys Mimi’s really having a great day so far.
Indeed, but is hard to top the arcades day at MacFly Bar :P
Probably, since Mimi didn’t even know what Arcades were.
Ah, but Chloe didn’t want Mimi meeting the others, then then she could find out they’re more interesting than her…
I guess Chloe wasn’t that serious. But it’s still happening.
Mimi finds everyone cool. She’s in dire need of role models.
No wonder she looks so happy!
She is carpe diem-ing! :P
Wow, what a wonderful wor… er… background, Autumn has arrived :)
Poor Chloé. Well, if it were for Ben (and Mimi too) she would be her niece, so close enough anyway :)
Nice clothing Gaia. What are those? Stockings, tights, yoga pants? Love the design.
Hey, your friend from Montreal is visiting again. Or has she been there all this time? :P
I just noticed that the redhead is there too :)
Yup! Remember, Red Girl and Thin girl are friends.
Glad you noticed. (and Thin Girl is not from Montreal, she’s just based on a Montreal girl I know. )
“Remember, Red Girl and Thin girl are friends.”
Yes, I guessed that much (*) but since Thin girl was alone in Networking it did’t surprise me here at first.
“(and Thin Girl is not from Montreal, she’s just based on a Montreal girl I know. )”
I know, I was playing on your comment in Networking :)
* BTW, you are a cheater :P you changed Invasion and Role ;)
Again, your detective skills amaze me.
And I did cheat. I’m the George Lucas of webcomic retcons.
Agggh, vade retro!
Not at all, you improved the universe instead.
I often do little fixes here and there in the older comics. Not gonna change big things, but I ended up giving those two background girls proper desings, and thought the way they looked in the old strips wasn’t satisfying enough. Sometimes, it’s tiny mistakes that annoy me. I had Saki’s skirt and hair colors mixed up in one of the strips, and seeing it would always drive me nuts. Or sometime’s it’s wonky dialogue that I just have to fix.
Design wise, I guess those two background girls and Mimi’s Mom’s dress color were the oldest things I changed.
That’s fine, improvement is a good thing :) Admitelly I could have a preference for some aspects of the old Red Girl, but Thin Girl looks better and to unify both characters increase the universe’s cohesion.
While on it and just for curiosity, is there a reason why you took off the highlights in the glasses in Invasion? Is a realistic detail that I like :)
Oh boy. Thank god I have you.
It’s fixed. I never noticed the highlights were gone. T_T
Never knew people noticed them highlights…
And those two girls will pop up more often, I’m sure.
Glad if helped :)
Of course people notice, even if not aware those details are processed subliminally and give a more realistic feeling.
Many artist draw reflections on the crystals, and others nothing at all. But the thickness causes highlights at the borders always and almost everybody totally miss that detail. You being aware and including it was one of the first things I appreciated :)
Yep! Autumn is now in full swing. (Chapter 3 took place at the end of summer, did you see the clothes progressively getting warmer?)
I did see the skin progressively disappearing from sight :P
Sad, I know.
It’ll come back.
i’m guessing tights. an the red goes really well with her green hair. guess she has good taste in fashion/active wear. or at least the comic author does : ). so Dez, her pants in anyway based on something you saw someone wearing irl?
They’re tights, I guess. Or leggings? It’s a throwback to her original character design.
Not the first time those appear in Frivolesque though. But it was easy to miss. :P
The Gaia 20 years post! I knew I saw them elsewhere than the heigh char! How my memory failed me.
And yup, I totally missed them in Harmlessness :)
Wow, those other two are amazing pictures, and they tell quite a history. They are the original Gaia and Saki, right? (I mean previous to Gail and Rain).
Damn!! You drew the fucking lawn, you fucking crazy freak! (in the good sense ;)
Thank goodness you used some patterns (almost undetectable, btw, excellently done) otherwise it would blow my mind :P
Yup! Those are the original versions of Gaia and Saki. Well, original Saki at least. Gaia was already in her second life back then.
The lawn was so crappy. I just used a photograby of grass, and just added more blades manually. It looks so terrible. But keep in mind I did that horrible thing back in 99…
It looks pretty good. And I was amazed that you did it manually :) artist usually avoid that kind of “chores” and rather use automatic tools of any kind, and I mean any kind :(
Six characters. And I have the strangest feeling that Frederic is nearby.
Not to mention that there’s so much cute here that it practically counts as a character itself.
Aw thank you man!
Chloe needs to find true love and get a child. And Marie-Neige needs to become a ”Marraine” to said child ;)
Godmother
I checked the webcomic rankings and Frivolesque has dropped down to #90th.
Gravity is a bitch.
I didn’t put a “vote!” link this week, maybe there’s a direct relation…
There’s gonna be one next week.
If you have more old works in store you can do a vote incentive. Just saying :)
Now it has dropped down to #97th.
Now it’d down to #101st.
i would have loved to have seen Gaia and Saki spar. would have been awesome.
Technically, it didn’t work too well after Saki had her glasses taken away.
But I’m really sorry about disappointing you.
I’m not too good at drawing action scenes. But I promise you’ll get one someday.
Chloe, give up and just adopt Mimi.
I bet she secretely wishes she could.
reading this comic gave me a urge to press Saki’s prominently displayed power button. then i realized where it was and that if i did press it, it might turn Saki on in a way i would probably regret.
Somebody tried it before.
Saki didn’t enjoy it. (Awesome sketch by Will Ruzicka)
I still think that it’s your turn to draw the aftermath :)
Damn right.
see! it’s purrfect!
I notice that, except for Gaia, all of the girls are wearing glasses. I approve! Glasses should not detract from Cute *or* Beauty.
Glasses are cute.
I’m surprised you just noticed it though.
I guess it’s one of Frivolesque’s many trademarks.
You just noticed?! o_O You… I… what in…? I’m giving you minus 10 Frivolesque points youngster! And you better step your game up from now on.
Kids these days, I tell you…
Sorry. I’ve only been reading this webcomic for about the past couple of months, so this is the first time that I’ve seen all of the main characters together.
P.S. I’m 54 years old, BTW…
I was just kidding! Sorry if it bother you :)
‘sokay. I read a *lot* of webcomics and I don’t always have time to archive dive, so it may take me a while to get up to speed on what’s going on.
I’m sure Fred was only fooling around with his comment. Please don’t be upset at him. I’m really glad you stuck around, by the way. I’m really happy to know that I have older readers enjoying Frivolesque too!
Not upset at all.
I’ve been a Comics/Animation/Anime fan since I was a kid (I started watching the original B&W Astroboy episodes when I was about 4 or 5) and I like this comic’s art-style.
ever heard of http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/ ? it’s sci-fi/fantasy and it’s loosely, very loosely, based off of ancient Nordic/Pagan myths and legends.
at 54, you might be able to appreciate the meaning of each story more than a younger person would.
you might even have the attentions span to enjoy this: http://mangasaurus.com/manga/2344/yokohama-kaidashi-kikou
I’m a GC fan from just after it started! (IIRC, I found it about halfway into it’s first chapter.)
Haha. Astro boy (or just Astro, as he was known in French-Canadia) was also a show I grew up with, although it was the 80s color version instead of the the 60s black and white original Americans are more familiar with. :)
But man. Knowing that a long-time fan of comics would care about my little awkward webcomic! This makes my day.
Except for Gaia, every other girl(even background characters depicted in Frivolesque wear glasses(guest characters from other webcomics notwithstanding).
And none male! :) (well aside the goons Saki beated, but that is just stereotype)
Actually make it “almost none” background characters, because there are at least two exceptions: the japanese girl in “Kindness”, and the boxer in “Neckbreaker” (the later can count as a “guest character”, though)
You really threw me for a loop there. I had completely forgotten about those two tourists in that one strip. Man, they are so poorly drawn… T_T
I don’t think they’re Japanese though, I tried to make them be, like… oddly foreign, yet not specifically any ethnicity…
But you are right. She is the only female without glasses in the entire comic so far. (like you said, boxer chick is mostly a reference) Early installment weirdness I guess?
Thinking about it I don’t really know why I take them as Japanese back at the day. Something in the eye shape and hairstyle I guess.
“She is the only female without glasses in the entire comic so far”
You still have your time machine, haven’t you? ;)
I think I’ll leave her be for now. :)
Damn, I missed that one in Kindness, but it does seem that in the Frivoverse, girls either suffer from eye-sight problems far more often or glasses have become the height of fashion.
Definitely not a fashion thing since they all need the to see. According to Word-of-God, at least. :)
So it’s the former.
There has to be a believeable reason for that somewhere.
I wonder what could cause mostly women in the Frivoverse to develop eye problems.
Candy Crush.
LOL (=◥◣_◢◤=)
six characters, is the party full already?
if this page is an mmorpg then my analysis is:
Saki : attack unit
Gaia : tank unit
Mimi : support unit
Marie-Neige: healer
Chloe : party leader
Flore : xp leecher
I wonder. Might the party get bigger?
But wow. You’re spot on with your roles. Especially Flore’s. XD
She really wouldn’t do anything useful to help the party.
i hope it’s getting bigger and bigger :D
Flore could be the rogue. she’s pretty good at not being noticed. with her imagination, she could be an illusionist? that’s it, Flore: Rogue 1/ Illusionist 4/ Unseen Seerer X.
i think with her imagination, Flore ends up sitting in the corner while the others grinding on mobs xD
Hope y’all like 3.5!
Saki: Warblade, to effortlessly outshine most other martials even with normal human stats.
Gaia: Fighter? We haven’t really seen her fight seriously, so a Barbarian variant might fit. Normally a Fighter would be outclassed easily, but a decent build helps, and so do absurd stats. Heck, she might be some flavor of werebeast in a fantasy setting.
Marie-Neige: Bard, full stop. Not necessarily musical, but the stereotype of the lustful Bard is too good to waste, especially since they seldom live up to the reputation, turning out to be relatively chaste. 4e Bards were the best healers in the edition, too.
Mimi: Scout! The skills of a Rogue, the wilderness aptitude of a Ranger, and better mobility than a Barbarian.
Chloe: I want to say Paladin, but she doesn’t seem physical enough. Cleric fits.
Flore: Illusionist, Beguiler, or a Cleric with the Madness domain. Better skip Cleric; Chloe has divine casting covered. She could probably take the Arcane Disciple domain to grab Madness’ unique spells.
based on my rpg-freaked mind,
Gaia is anything with large pool of HP and lots of raw damage.
Chloe is the all around type, master of none.
Nobody disagree about M-N being the healer since she wears the bandage all the time xD
Saki is the one with lots of agility and dexterity.
Mimi is the one who gave buffs to party member.
What about Flore? she’s the one with lots of MP but her normal class build won’t needed it, well since her own build is based on her imagination xD
Actually, I mostly figured M-N for a healer because she seems the most inclined to be touchy-feely and maybe tease others by withholding healing for minor injuries.
Totally agreed on Gaia, and the rest work well enough so long as whatever system it is has an exploit or ability that lets Saki do some absurd damage with her Dex and Ag; maybe an ability that allows for fitting more attacks into a short time than others can.
usually dex and agi ends up with dps-freak type character.
For some reason M-N’s grammar catched my attention. Since I’m not fluent in English and only to do not miss something relevant, is there any character speaking kinda in a special way or something?
Aside The Bear I mean :P
Her grammar? What about it?
I’m not really sure, I guess that it’s usually I saw other kind of constructions like “…buy her stuff”.
Many writers give their characters different ways to speak (grammar, vocabulary) to make them look something or other, like old fashioned, childish, educated, of certain origins, et cetera. Usually I’m unaware of most of that kind of things :(
It seems to me that the various Frivolesque characters speak all the same, despite the differences between them, but maybe I’m missing something.
“Buy stuff for her” sounds just a tad more formal than “buy her stuff”.
Should I change it?
Only if sounding formal goes against M-N’s nature.
I get misrepresented as my mom’s boyfriend (also my brother’s father at the same time) all the time, so don’t worry :P
LOL.
Well, I’m terrible at guessing people’s age. Especially if they’re tall bearded dudes.
aw, I wanted to see the fight.
I’m an asshole, I know.
Saki and Gaia must’ve had the most awesome fights ever… off-screen.
IKR :P
On a more serious note, if you cannot spend as much time on a strip maybe if you did like certain mangas and left out the background in one or two panels.
I do it sometimes. Or just repeat the same background ad nauseam.
Don’t worry. I know how to cut corners, or I wouldn’t have a life. ;)
6 characters, a bus, AND a background character :)
i never knew that M-N was as tall as Gaia [as seen in pannel 4]
Gais is taller. She is just bending her knees a little.
damn, im blind. i didnt even see that even after staring at pannel 4 for at least 5 minutes just to see why they were the same height. ( est-ce que le volume 3 de Frivolesque va sortir en livre?)
What is that avatar though? so weird… could it be Saki IRL?! :[] but withou glasses.