Enter Estrogen

When we last left Lyndsay she was sitting in the middle of her floor (having hung up the phone with James) with naught but a mere “lame” working title, pondering how to make five guys with physical, emotional, and relational issues an enjoyable cast….

To be perfectly frank, my only thought as I got off the telephone was, “That’s a WHOLE lot of testosterone….” And after maybe two or three issues of masculine, macho-filled drama the characters would have already killed one another and there you reach the end of the story. So as I considered the comedic possibilities these characters presented, I came to the almost immediate conclusion that in a story comprised mainly of men (each with their own personal vendettas and issues) you must have the obligatory, unsuspecting female who has her life so upended and her worldview completely skewed that she is left nearly on the verge of a nervous breakdown…

Meet Avrey Bridgestone. She’s the little touch of boring that brings sanity into our otherwise chaotic party- however unwilling…. We’ve all known an “Avrey” at some point or another. Generally uptight, self-motivated, and not just a little tunnel-visioned, she’s “that person” that is going to do something monumental with their lives. You know, the overachieving little brownnoser that sits in the front of the classroom and always raises their hand with the right answer? Works four part-time jobs and yet somehow still manages to pull straight A’s and run a club or two on the side? Yea, that person!

(If the above sounds frighteningly familiar- fear not- you are in good company as I most undoubtedly exhibit Avrey tendencies- just ask James)

Avrey represents that person in our lives we either love to hate for their accomplishments, or just feel plain sorry for because of what we know they are missing. And while Avrey Bridgstone’s flaws are taken to an extreme, (because otherwise where’s the comedy?) she provides just the right dose of practical energy to keep our cast from spinning into oblivion. And oh the oblivion into which they could spin….

Gathering up her strength of character and wit, Lyndsay at last stood from where she sat and strode to her computer with confidence to begin to immortalize the tale of six unlikely companions as they ventured out across the world of: Ecclasia.

Muse Confidently,

Lyndsay

Coming soon to a blog near you… “A Unique Universe.”

Tenacity...

DreamClash is a company comprised of individuals with dreams and the will to make there dreams a reality. At times, when it seems like the universe is against you, it may be hard to keep your sights on the horizon; pursuing the big picture. Today was one of those times. However, no matter how dim it may seem, you always have to press on and be as tenacious as you can. Only through perseverance and hard work can we achieve our goals!

Coming home from work today, I had intended to begin working on my blog post and researching more game development topics so our current project will be the awesome experience we are all working toward. The following is a little play-by-play of my first hour after returning home:

Nothing good to eat so I make pasta (accidentally making 5 servings worth – thanks gravity)

Go to get a couple Sodas from the vending machine and only have enough money for 1 (5 cents short)

Walk toward my office to begin work when my cat attack causing me to drop my single drink on the floor causing several bad things to happen:
Stain carpet
Splatter laptop
Literally scare the crap out of my cat by screaming

Begin to clean carpet as my cat tracks crap everywhere

…you get the idea. Several more things happened that I will not mention here due to personal pride and legal concerns…

HOWEVER, this just goes to show you all what we are up against! But have no fear, we shall press onward toward our goals of game-making in order to make your world a more entertaining place.

-Jon

Artist Introduction or How Being Covered in Fake Blood and Sand Got Me Involved With Dreamclash

I'm not very good at introductions (I typically jump in and hope people can figure me out as we go along), but I hear the formula begins with a name and brief descriptor.  So I'm Amanda Carman, known more typically as Carman or Carmanda, and I've signed on to do the art for Re:medy.  The story of how this happened is marked, like a lot of weird happenings in my life, by an uncanny amount of serendipity.

Not like this.

The short version of the story is that I was performing in a play I'd never auditioned for because one of the actors had to take medical leave from school, and I was the only person vaguely associated with the theatre who could step in last minute and creep around a stage covered in blood.  Lyndsay came to see the show one day, and as we were hanging out backstage she overheard me talking to a friend about my graphic novel course.  She jumped in and our conversation progressed something like this:

Lyndsay: Hey, did you say graphic novel?  I'm writing a graphic novel!  We need an artist though.

Carman: Really?  An artist?  I'm one of those!  I art... things!

And then we bounced around for a while and spoke really rapidly about how much fun it would be to work together.  She sent me the story, I bounced around and conveyed my excitement to her, we both talked excitedly, I did sketches for James, and then I joined the team in official capacity.

So here I am, still bouncing excitedly as I work with Lyndsay to develop a font and lay out the pages and draw the pictures.  Eventually we may even post some, so watch for that.

Working Title

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet." – Juliet Capulet [Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)]

I’m sure some of you readers are writers as well, and if you’re anything like me you will be disinclined to agree with Juliet’s statement. Because let’s be honest, names change the way we perceive others and perceive ourselves. Now, I understand that Juliet was simply saying that names do not quantify who we are, but then again...everyone did end up dying just because of a bunch of names…just saying.

Naturally the naming of our project was of extreme importance. So our very first working title for our project -compliments of James- was: “The Cursed Boys.”

Ok…so at that point I had visions of a horribly malformed Peter Pan and his misshapen posse hobbling across the universe to find a cure for their ailments. Not very reader-friendly but certainly amusing within its own rights. This title was of course promptly dismissed as even a working title because I just couldn’t get this vision of Captain Hook as a mad scientist out of my head.

Promptly following the dismissal of this title, James and I discussed that perhaps the title could revolve around this perfect potion that our men were fearlessly seeking. Periodic table of elements here we come…. Did you know that molecularly creating a potion that does not exist within the real world is pretty much impossible? This inevitably nixed that potential title and it was just me and the thesaurus left to duke it out.

After days filled with many hours of groaning and brainstorming the title fell into our laps. It came to me in an epiphany…or rather fell into my lap with it’s simplicity. And now we come to the climax of why you are even bothering to read this particular blog post…the title. In keeping with the theme for our story (which I will expound more on later,) what is it that we need most when we face complications or ailments with no solution? We need a remedy.

So now, formally introducing DreamClash Sight’s graphic novel to come…

RE:medy

Musingly yours,

Lyndsay

More sneak peeks to come….Coming to you next week: “Enter Estrogen.”