Q&A: May 2023

Hello again, dear readers! Time to ANSWER some QUESTIONS.

Whew, cutting it close to the end of the month. Sorry about that, everyone's been a little busy! But we made it. As always, thank you so much to all the patrons that took their time to ask a question.

Let's get into it:

1. Did Calder ever have a typing quirk that he just stopped using, or was he always quirkless?

AUSTIN: This is actually something I've had trouble thinking of, just from a writing perspective. Logically, yes, it only makes sense that in his younger sweeps Calder had a quirk and a troll tag that were more befitting of his then-current personality, much like all of his other friends except Arcjec (even though we've only seen a few of them). But in my brain, I can only ever associate Calder with who he is at present - even when writing him younger, it all just pours back into the essence of what he becomes and who we know him as. Maybe I'll figure that out at some point in the future! I'm sure we'll see a younger Calder speak at some point, but for now, the specifics vex me.

2. Were there any specific inspirations for Edolon's whole "antagonist who was abandoned for not being good enough and then replaced by someone who was able to be (someone who they now despise)"?

EDDIE: Rejoice, for there is actually a whole google doc about that very subject.

3. Does Seinru have any characters she was inspired by? I've always wondered what her funion would look like.

HEATHER: Ah! Well, the answer is no. My only basis for Seinru originally was just "when spooky vines in video game", but as a character.

EDDIE: They literally just sprung up fully formed. Fascinating.

HEATHER: Some influences might have slipped in somewhere along the line, but idk what those might be off the top of my head. Sorry, that's probably not an exciting answer either! But what can you do.

EDDIE: Well, here at Vast Error we care about delivering only the COLD HARD FACTS. Who knows, maybe we'll make a retroactive funion for him one day!

4. When was the last time Calder smiled? All I can think about is that "nothing to smile about in my life" Facebook post. It's like his expressions range from disgust to extreme disgust.

EDDIE: You are completely right, there IS nothing to smile about in Calder's life. We'll get a bitter, evil little smirk or two somewhere along the way, perhaps? Only time can tell. I think his facial muscles are permanently frozen in that expression range you mentioned.

5. Does homophobia exist on Repition?

EDDIE: Short answer is not really! Long answer is that it wasn't ever the goal with Vast Error to be set in a social context where our characters facing explicit homophobia or transphobia was a high possibility. Instead, the track we wanted to explore was more along the lines of "that's kind of a thing of the past in the current day and age". That said, those experiences are a part of many of our lives here in the real world, and we don't want to completely wall ourselves off from engaging with them - it's just likely to take a more metaphorical shape instead, tied to the overall story structure and some specific character arcs.

Which is to say, DO put your interpretative lenses on! Obviously, everyone is more than encouraged to read into those themes, especially if it feels like the story itself is leaning in that direction.

6. Do any of the characters in VE match up with any HNK characters?

EDDIE: I am so sorry to the question asker but I don't think any of us have ever watched the gem anime. You're going to have to rely on your gut instinct alone. Good luck.

7. Will we be learning more about the nature of Seinru and Edolon's relationship in the future and what their dynamic was really like?

EDDIE: Oh, those two are far from done being relevant to the story, even in death.

Don't worry, there's still a lot of shit to get into involving the murder cult lovebirds.

8. Will Aumtzi have a playlist? If not, what would you think the general vibe would be and are there any specific songs that you associate with him?

EDDIE: Maybe! We do have a few songs set aside for him, but at the moment it's not really enough for a full official release.

Hm. I'll give you a freebie and link one song from the potential-future-Aumtzi-playlist. Enjoy!

9. If the Fortmistress was alive during the Forgiven's original lifespan, are Pozzol and the mirthies acting upon her scripture/left behind commands? Or did she live long enough for Pozzol to met her in person?

EDDIE: Deadlock definitely didn't live long enough to be able to meet Pozzol or any the current cast, the Vivifier and the Forgiven are very much exceptions on that front. She did leave behind her "creed", which I guess could be considered a sort of scripture, and that's what the mirthies look to in order to guide their behavior and beliefs.

10. Will Calder + Occeus eventually get a playlist when the time comes? If that's a tad bit too spoiler-y, how fun was it to write the Calder and Edolon log?

EDDIE: That's definitely a possibility! It was a very important relationship to both of them, for good or ill. No explicit time frame on when that might happen, but it's very likely.

And I think I can speak for Austin when I say that it was EXTREMELY fun - this plot point in general is something that we'd all been itching to reveal for a long time, and it was super satisfying to watch everyone's reactions to it. I think Edolon and Calder play off of each other in a very interesting way, and their relationship is going to illuminate certain things about Calder specifically that have been mostly lurking under the surface so far. There's a lot there to continue to explore as time goes on.

And that's all for this round! Once again, sorry this took longer than expected. Since we're already so close to the end of the month, I think we're just going to stick to the order of Q&A > comic commentary > sketch requests for the rewards instead of trying to reset everything again. Look forward to the rest of the REW/FFD post in the next couple of weeks or so!

Stay cool, everyone.

- Eddie, Austin and Heather