In case it’s been awhile since you’ve read Orientations, this page should help you get caught up on what Michelle’s deal is.
Also I’m involved with another Kickstarter!
Kel McDonald is putting together a comic anthology of fairy tales, and I’m in it! You should consider backing it!
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You know, I don’t doubt for a minute that I’d be panicking in the exact same way Michelle is right now. Except I probably would’ve fainted at the Inferno part instead of just hyperventilating.
Having my own slightly-similar shapeshifter stories, I can see so many potential outcomes for this little adventure. Poor Michelle… With any luck her mom already KNOWS all of this, but… equally unlucky could she be. :( I did, however, guiltily laugh at SUPER DEAD. :D
Michelle’s freak out reminds me of freaked out reasoning an old roommate of mine used to have when it came to our rent. “If we don’t pay this rent then we’ll loose the house and then my grandfather who helped us get the house is gonna have a heart attack and die and it’ll be all your fault because we’re short $40 this month!” I’m anxious to see just how her mother is going to react to all this. A part of me thinking she may know more than Michelle knows. >.>
You can do it Michelle! We believe in you! And if that doesn’t work, Greg has permission to use headbutt.
*Greg uses headbutt*
It’s very effective. :3
Just curious, the short story you’re doing for the anthology isn’t the same Nixie comic you just did right?
Hah hah, no! The Nixie of the Mill-Pond is an old Brothers Grimm German fable that I am making into a comic. Totally divorced from Skin Deep!
Cool beans, I thought it was the SD story at first and I was sad since it looked so nice in color and didn’t want to have it only in black and white.
I would wish I had more money for buying awesome stuff like that.. But i only got what translates to around 40 dollars for food this month… It would be awesome to have an awesome comic anthology drawn by awesome people and have awesome KB to sign the front D:
Big ‘Ol CAT MONSTER
my face is a lol
Panel 3 is my favorite.
I get excited every week when the new page comes up, then I become depressed because it’ll be a WHOLE ANOTHER SEVEN DAYS till we find out what happens next T_T.
Keep up the great work!
Oh Michelle, are you sure it was called Inferno? Maybe you misheard. Maybe they actually said… ummm… Internmo? No that doesn’t sound so nice either ^^;;
Is… is that where you go to work as an unpaid intern at a prison camp? *fail-rimshot.wav*
didn’t they say limbo, though? like where they decide how much punishment sould should have, if any, before they go to heaven?
It depends on just how closely you stick to Dante. The Inferno just means “the place beneath” so, yeah, basically Italian for underworld and not something to feel bad about in and of itself. In Dante’s work, Limbo is one of the highest, least severe rungs of Hell, set aside for the virtuous dead who, when they were living, had no chance to hear the word of the One True God and attain salvation through the love of Christ. Because God denying souls eternal bliss because he never bothered to get word about him to them makes total sense.
In the comic Underling, Hell and Limbo are defined as everywhere that isn’t Heaven, so technically *all the other religions’ heavens* are part of hell, and the souls there are “denied God’s eternal bliss” mostly because they go to competing firms for that.
Ok, let’s not have a conversation here about ‘God’ and religious beliefs, because if I get started I will leave everyone confused, panting and gibbering and questioning their entire paradigm. *wicked grin* [And not Atheism, for those of you whose minds went there.]
Michelle does seem to like turning mole-hills into mountains, doesn’t she?
But don’t worry, your freak-out faces are amazing so we forgive you, Michelle.
I think a Powerpoint presentation or “my time as a sphinx” scrapbook would do Michelle a world of good here.
Mom: So you’ve become a sphinx, like he said you could? Really? Well, can you go fullform and give me a heal? I think I pulled a tendon a few days back, and it really hurts when I move.
Now, if Michelle had looked up “inferno”, she’d know it just means “the place beneath”. Of course, she’d also know that many of the mythological places beneath weren’t that nice, and since we know that this one’s got demons and a Dis in, it might not be even vaguely nice. Based on the demons that we’ve met so far, the whole place might resemble a metaphysical trailer park, only with no exits or services.
Azreal: No exits?! I wish! (grumbles)
I have a sneaking suspicion that Mom has an idea, after all Moms know EVERYTHING!!!
feel free to delete or modify this post if you consider it spoiler-ish, I’m crap at BBcode right now
That’s my running theory.
(I’m of the “speculation != spoilage” thought, unless maybe you managed to get a sneak peak at Kory’s notes?)
You mean you haven’t?
Ummm no?
I always loved Greg’s car – the detail of the taped-over tear in the upholstery is perfect.
I just went back to reread Orientations, and WOW! Your art, which was god to begin with, has gotten SO MUCH better! It’s amazing! Congratulations on your improvement! ;D
Oh, silly Michelle. It’s not that bad, well, except for…and..well..no, actually, it pretty much is that bad. Uh. Good luck?
…and Michelle lifts her head and sees her mother, who had come down to investigate this strange car parked in her driveway, standing outside her window.
For goodness sake, Michelle, pull yourself together. She’s your MOTHER! She isn’t going to bite–unless she is a sphynx too…which could prove interesting. ^_^
I think her mom is fully human. Her dad was an ‘undiscovered’ sphinx.
Actually I think her dad was hiding as a human knowingly. I think the random guy who gave her the medallion way back in Orientations was her pa, judging by her reaction. I dunno. Just spewing.
Michelle’s freak out is reminding me a LOT of Anthony’s freak out. Facial expressions and everything.
I’m still for the theory that her mom is a Sphinx, too. Michelle’s dad was an Egyptian Sphinx and Michelle is a Grecian Sphinx, right? So maybe her mom is a Grecian Sphinx? ;D
Hello,
To start off this is my first time commenting. I have been reading you comic for about 4 months or so and I really love the story. I actually noticed a small continuity issue when I went back to look through the last few pages of Orientations just to refresh myself. When Michelle first received the charm from Eustace and Marshall, both of the feathers were black. Did she dye one?
Anyways the ways she is acting right now is probably how I would be acting if I found out I was some creature of myth and was about to confront my mother about it. I would probably also be hyperventilating at that point xD.
In spite of Michelle’s dream sequence towards the end of Orientations, my bet is that Michelle’s mom is the sphinx and her dad just really *wished* he was. Her mom never told her because of the war, the near-extinction, and just wanted her to have something resembling a ‘normal’ life.
And yes her father is, at least as we last were told, in Limbo.
I actually liked the splotchy artwork of Orientations. Not that the improvement is bad, but I bet you could do a 90’s style April fool’s comic swap with Looking for Group and no one would even notice.
Speaking of art shifts, does Michelle’s illusion not quite match her former apperance, or did it just take a while to nail her model down?
Good. Was sick of the socilization, random new characters, and lack of interesting things in general. I liked Michelle and her original set of friends. It’s good to see her again.
And, I didn’t recognize her. You changed her appearance in a comic about shapeshifters. Different hair color, different hair style, and 4 new pieces of jewelry. Call me dumb, but I was convinced it was yet another new character until I reread the comic twice and began to remember why I stared reading this comic in the first place: the original storyline was GOOD.
Sorry for being a critic, but I had to get that off my chest. I bet you can take it, otherwise you wouldn’t be allowing comments.
Well, about her jewellry, I’m willing to bet they’re all protective charms. Anyone else notice the double feathers? Marshall’s is still there but whos is the second? Is it Jim’s?
And meanwhile,Jim and Merial are swappin’ spit!
How did Michelle find out about Gabe handing the shade back to the Grimms? That was after Bloodcarver gave her back, wasn’t it?
Oh wait. Duh. Eustace and Marshall went back to spy on Bloodcarver, they must have seen it and told her.
Considering the fact that people in real life get disowned by their parents for coming out as gay/bi/transgender, sometimes even when they thought their family would be supportive, I think she has legitimate cause to be afraid. Add the stuff about demons taking her father and she has another reason to fear her mother might freak out, or worse, blame her for it. That may sound unreasonable, but again, Greg’s family thinks he’s Satan. I’m honestly kind of surprised that he, of all people, asked her what is the worst that could happen.