An ex pornstar. You seem to be shifting a bit into a new comfort zone. Not that that I am surprised, you have always been pro woman and what is a stronger person than someone that uas worked in a profession that alot of ignorant people and fake femenists have been shitting on over the years. I can’t wait to see what she will be like.
A TWENTY_TWO year old “ex-pornstar”.
It’s a good thing this is fantasy, because the issues that these choices would cause her in the real world would be endless. A four-year career would be just long enough to make some real money and get serious face recognition… and develop a huge stack of overly-entitled stalkerish “fans” right before she left the field. This rarely goes well. Ashley Erickson, Jessie Rogers, there are plenty of stalker horror stories out there… and then there is the massive rate of suicide in the porn industry for the last three years (https://nypost(.)com/2018/01/23/why-porn-stars-are-dying-at-an-alarming-rate/
If you ever wanted to introduce a stone-hearted character who has lost all sense of faith, trust and romance and thinks of sex as a combination performance art and business transaction, you picked a winner here.
Yep, no doubt about it, it’s time. We seriously need a cartoon apologist for this industry.
Yes I know all too well. I have known several people in the industry and have seen the horror stories develop. In this case we have a person that could have used a glamour when she was working so her face will not be easily recognized. But in the real world I have known some that were so good with makeup during the filmings that they were not easily noticed in everyday life. Vocal changes are also helpful. a cute accent in character can really throw people off. When these tricks can be used they are lucky enough to just blend into the crowd and live a normal life.
What does the porn industry have to apologise for?
Did you even read her description? Cereally doubt someone who is all sunshine and loves playing at the pool is jaded and stone-hearted (unless that’s who you are hoping for)
Admittedly, my genuine, personal experience with any of this is through only two people in the industry, but both of them told me basically the same handful of craptastic stories with different players. It didn’t take me long to realize that every single story I’ve ever heard from either of the girls – even the funniest, sexiest one – is all pretty much somewhere between ‘jaded’ and ‘soul crushing’ in the end.
You can have an artist draw little miss sunshine, but good luck finding someone like her hanging out on a porn shoot.
That’s why it’s called “acting”.
Let’s be perfectly honest here; much like those who buy blood diamonds and amazon gold, the consumers of porn go out of their way to not think too deeply about how the sausage gets made.
Yeah, the pun was intentional.
At the same time, remember the paranormal aspect of the strip: She IS a succubus (I’m assuming the sister of a succubus would also be a succubus, but anything’s possible in the Wapsiverse). She’s NOT your average human woman; she’s not even human. Remembering what a succubus is, and what they do; she probably did it for easy sustenence. If you could get paid for what would be basically feeding yourself and enjoying the crap out of it, why not do exactly that?
A lotta guys online seemed to go quiet…must’a been a common phenomenon. I would have thought being under lockdown would’a given some people time to do a little more, but, instead, it’s all been a little less. (On the other hand, “White Noise” put up a new page after about two years.)
Interesting new characters, and I hope for more. Any chance of a new _male_ character or two? M/F Couples dynamics (M and Kevin, Justin and Shelly, eventually Timothy and Scarlet, etc.) have been one of the fun things here for years, and I feel that has flagged recently.
Most likely Briar went into the business with a plan of being in the industry for a certain amount of time and now she is moving on to her next career.
I have many questions, mostly centered around whether she worked exclusively with paras, given that performing with humans – especially males – would have some rather unfortunate side effects for her co-stars.
B! I’m surprised you don’t recognize what’s happening here. Starving for material to comment on, everyone is heaping Real-World Concerns onto a Fictional, Fantasy Framework that was never intended too support them. Over at Napalm Luck this is basically What-We-Do. I’m astonished the conversation hasn’t turned to Para Age-of-Consent and Statutory Rape laws. It’s all great Fun until someone gets a Herniated Disk, or blows out a Knee. Why So Serious? Ultimately,it’s not fair too the Author or the Characters.
buzzsaw raises an obvious reason why human Standards, and Law shouldn’t be applicable, and it’s an open question exactly what constitutes “Porn” to Succubi and other Para [especially since Brier appears to have less Control over her appearance then her older Sister.]
Take as long as you need. I’m astounded at the volume of work you’ve created for us all, day in, day out. (Yes, I did go back to the very beginning, after a few weeks leaping in a few years ago just left me confused. That was one hell of a ride)
Possibly a FAQ, but, did you originally intend Wapsi Square to be what it is, given its origins as what seemed to be a slice-of-life strip? (Whiiiich, one could argue it still is)
Two instantly likeable characters who will invoke many great story lines. Even the (consults generic expression list) sterile adhesive compress is back. [How many of you besotted goofballs missed that?]
Will it be difficult to maintain the texture in those gorgeous wings? Did you get a (consults non-triggering thesaurus) fairly-compensated but sustainable assistant who achieves personal enrichment engraving micro-detail?
Well the smaller busted gals in this comic include Amanda, Shelly, Bud, Daylla, Nadette, Alexis, Abbie, Luci, Georgette, Maya, Jacqui, Barbara, Lakshmi, Vickie. Those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head that have had recurring roles. But yeah, writing men does not come easy to me and I find them boring most of the time.
Paul you jumped in and rattled off a list much like I was planning.
Great to see you back and I will not repeat the same basic comments on the new characters except to point out the three common replies:
1. Fantastic that you will be adding more story.
2. Wait, a 22-year-old, “ex-porn star” ? That just does not compute, either age her a bit or modify the profession a little. Like she worked on the sets, was in make-up, or such. However, she is already 6 years older than her sister Briar, so Briar could be an oops kid. Oh, the story possibilities.
3. Briar character design is nice – however two more female characters? You’ve shown just about every physical and emotion variation on the female side and was wondering if you might expand on the male. At the moment I believe you’ve shown about 12 speaking male characters in the strip and around 83 female. Just saying.
Well, you may have let the cat out of the bag. =) You know how I like to use “don’t judge a book by its cover” and when Dale tells everyone that she worked in porn, looking at her, guess where their minds go. I was inspired to create Dale based on my friend Devin https://www.facebook.com/devin.alexis.794 Dale is a makeup artist and in addition to enjoying special effects makeup, she’s proficient in stage and screen makeup. Dale was the makeup artist for a paranormal porn company, and I wanted her to be able to talk about the human side and work side of porn as well as addressing the down sides.
Briar does not HAVE TO BE an ‘oops’ but the age difference suggests it. The most common separation between siblings is 24-29 months. A separation of 48 months is about half that, 60 month difference make up about only 10%. Approaching 6+ years is even more uncommon, moving to 5%. This is true for most developed countries and the rates are even faster (tighter) in developing countries. From a casual review of pregnancy advice sites strongly suggests that the average age difference for an oops child is 7 years. Again, 6 years for Briar hints at oops.
But such a gap is common enough when remarriage occurs. New couple may want a child of their unique genetic pairing for their own reasons. Large groups may obey statistics, but individuals seldom are “average”.
Nor can we be certain there are no intermediate siblings. Discussing “the gap” assumes facts not in evidence. The audience is cautioned not to leave before the final curtain.
“oops”?
Hmmm… I can tell you from experience that the age span does not ‘require’ a certain number of years.
My youngest sister (now deceased) gave birth to a son (who went on to become a state/national karate champion).
The next year, (13 months) she gave birth to twin sons (who became high school football/basketball stars before joining the USAF).
Ten months later, she gave birth to a daughter (who became a ‘track and field’ star and top cheerleader before joining the USAF).
The twins and daughter had a different father from the firstborn.
Don’t even get me started on their high school years (when the girl complained no boys would ask her out).
Seven years later, she gave birth to another daughter by yet a third husband.
THIS one already qualified (at 11 years old) to go to Harvard on a scholarship.
All she has to do is maintain her grades for a full scholarship.
Her mom died not 4 months after she qualified.
Now, she’s 15 and still rates a 3.87 GPA.
Briar loves a quiet library? Sorry, but the Library we have is not exactly quiet. Looking forward to how that could play out.
Never even considered the possibility of a restorative, creative break. Not the first artist to take time off from frequent updates to do an epic project; a graphic novel or an animated short. We eagerly await the return to our regularly scheduled program.
Have seen plenty of porn stars who started around 18, so having Dale be an ‘ex-pornstar’ at 22 would not be that far fetched, even if she wasn’t the makeup artist (yes, some of the high-quality porn movies require makeup and are just as high-budgeted as some Hollywood movies, they are not all simple pizza delivery guy shows up, ‘teen’ answers the door wearing less than a swimsuit with no cash to pay five-minute wank-fest ‘movies’)
Brier, I think, can lay claim to more trauma then her sister. Something, beyond her control, marked her appearance, in a way that is not “Normal ” by the ONLY standards important to a young child. I suspect, like Porsupah, everyone who knows her is fiercely Protective of her, to the point THAT is becoming an issue! In many ways, Brier is the Opposite-Side-of-the-Coin to Castela who desperately doesn’t want to be Feared.
While there is some question what Dale has been eating, it’s pretty clear what part of her Diet is highest in Saturated Fats.
Good to see new stories coming. I very much like the complicated thing from the beginning. Not so much the children thing. I hope that ex-pornstar thing will not be around the center of things. Thats not what i really want to see. A bit jokes about bra with rebras and such is ok for me. A bit more god of alkohol and sphinxes and more myth from the archaeological museum or library and stuff, thats what i am waiting for. Maybe some of the childs or some adults fill some people with terror, willingly or just because the people are a bit dense, but it should be long lasting and not an easy fixable thing. Maybe a kind of ghostbuster team or a demonhunter society or maybe the MIB of America or whatever.
Greetings from germany.
“Porn star” says to me she was in front of the camera.
While you don’t have to be in front of the camera to ‘in’ the industry, “PORN STAR” basically requires it.
Maybe not ‘in front’ exclusively, but some of your experience will be ‘in front’ even if you worked ‘behind’ or ‘beside’ most of the time.
I think what’s causing confusion, and will continue to do so for some time I’m sure, is the use of the word “star.” When one refers to “movie stars” or “the stars of the show”, it almost universally means the actors on camera or the performers on stage, specifically the particularly famous ones. I personally have yet to ever see “star” refer to the backstage staff or tech crews (of which I myself was for some time).
It is interesting to me that the younger of the two is 4 inches taller that the older.
As someone who generally towers over whomever I meet (6’4″), I tend to notice a woman’s height before most other things.
To me, even 5’6″ is short.
Thankfully, I have a nice little gal who fulfills the need for “TALL” at 6’1″
As for Dale’s former occupation… she has the right heritage for it.
Another reader wondered about any tendency to gather ‘stalkers’.
I’d say her abilities would tend to discourage/remove stalkers.
“I got a gal, six foot four, sleeps in the kitchen with her feet out the door, but… / My gal is red hot (Your gal ain’t doodly-squat) / She ain’t got no money but, man, she’s really got a lot…”
Looking forward to your new creations! Glad you’re feeling better these days.
Dale Callegari?
Why do I get the feeling that she’s very good at winning friends and influencing people?
*snerk*
Dale has an excellent superstructure.
An ex pornstar. You seem to be shifting a bit into a new comfort zone. Not that that I am surprised, you have always been pro woman and what is a stronger person than someone that uas worked in a profession that alot of ignorant people and fake femenists have been shitting on over the years. I can’t wait to see what she will be like.
A TWENTY_TWO year old “ex-pornstar”.
It’s a good thing this is fantasy, because the issues that these choices would cause her in the real world would be endless. A four-year career would be just long enough to make some real money and get serious face recognition… and develop a huge stack of overly-entitled stalkerish “fans” right before she left the field. This rarely goes well. Ashley Erickson, Jessie Rogers, there are plenty of stalker horror stories out there… and then there is the massive rate of suicide in the porn industry for the last three years (https://nypost(.)com/2018/01/23/why-porn-stars-are-dying-at-an-alarming-rate/
If you ever wanted to introduce a stone-hearted character who has lost all sense of faith, trust and romance and thinks of sex as a combination performance art and business transaction, you picked a winner here.
Yep, no doubt about it, it’s time. We seriously need a cartoon apologist for this industry.
Yes I know all too well. I have known several people in the industry and have seen the horror stories develop. In this case we have a person that could have used a glamour when she was working so her face will not be easily recognized. But in the real world I have known some that were so good with makeup during the filmings that they were not easily noticed in everyday life. Vocal changes are also helpful. a cute accent in character can really throw people off. When these tricks can be used they are lucky enough to just blend into the crowd and live a normal life.
What does the porn industry have to apologise for?
Did you even read her description? Cereally doubt someone who is all sunshine and loves playing at the pool is jaded and stone-hearted (unless that’s who you are hoping for)
Admittedly, my genuine, personal experience with any of this is through only two people in the industry, but both of them told me basically the same handful of craptastic stories with different players. It didn’t take me long to realize that every single story I’ve ever heard from either of the girls – even the funniest, sexiest one – is all pretty much somewhere between ‘jaded’ and ‘soul crushing’ in the end.
You can have an artist draw little miss sunshine, but good luck finding someone like her hanging out on a porn shoot.
That’s why it’s called “acting”.
Let’s be perfectly honest here; much like those who buy blood diamonds and amazon gold, the consumers of porn go out of their way to not think too deeply about how the sausage gets made.
Yeah, the pun was intentional.
At the same time, remember the paranormal aspect of the strip: She IS a succubus (I’m assuming the sister of a succubus would also be a succubus, but anything’s possible in the Wapsiverse). She’s NOT your average human woman; she’s not even human. Remembering what a succubus is, and what they do; she probably did it for easy sustenence. If you could get paid for what would be basically feeding yourself and enjoying the crap out of it, why not do exactly that?
A lotta guys online seemed to go quiet…must’a been a common phenomenon. I would have thought being under lockdown would’a given some people time to do a little more, but, instead, it’s all been a little less. (On the other hand, “White Noise” put up a new page after about two years.)
Kewl.
Interesting new characters, and I hope for more. Any chance of a new _male_ character or two? M/F Couples dynamics (M and Kevin, Justin and Shelly, eventually Timothy and Scarlet, etc.) have been one of the fun things here for years, and I feel that has flagged recently.
22 and an *Ex* porn star? I heard there was ageism in the film industry….
Well, you KNOW what they say; ‘Get In & Get Out..’
Most likely Briar went into the business with a plan of being in the industry for a certain amount of time and now she is moving on to her next career.
Boredom can set in fast in the industry.
I have many questions, mostly centered around whether she worked exclusively with paras, given that performing with humans – especially males – would have some rather unfortunate side effects for her co-stars.
B! I’m surprised you don’t recognize what’s happening here. Starving for material to comment on, everyone is heaping Real-World Concerns onto a Fictional, Fantasy Framework that was never intended too support them. Over at Napalm Luck this is basically What-We-Do. I’m astonished the conversation hasn’t turned to Para Age-of-Consent and Statutory Rape laws. It’s all great Fun until someone gets a Herniated Disk, or blows out a Knee. Why So Serious? Ultimately,it’s not fair too the Author or the Characters.
buzzsaw raises an obvious reason why human Standards, and Law shouldn’t be applicable, and it’s an open question exactly what constitutes “Porn” to Succubi and other Para [especially since Brier appears to have less Control over her appearance then her older Sister.]
I WILL DIE PROTECTING BRIAR
*ahem*
Take as long as you need. I’m astounded at the volume of work you’ve created for us all, day in, day out. (Yes, I did go back to the very beginning, after a few weeks leaping in a few years ago just left me confused. That was one hell of a ride)
Possibly a FAQ, but, did you originally intend Wapsi Square to be what it is, given its origins as what seemed to be a slice-of-life strip? (Whiiiich, one could argue it still is)
as i sed… take your time..
glad you are better..
Not gonna lie, I considered taking this page off my regular updates – we’ve all seen webcomics die off before.
Happy to see this update!
5’2″ and those curves, though? Worth the wait.
I do believe she would qualify as a “short stack” 😳
About the same proportions as Mon?
Hope they at least are cordial to each other, and not see the other as a rival
Two instantly likeable characters who will invoke many great story lines. Even the (consults generic expression list) sterile adhesive compress is back. [How many of you besotted goofballs missed that?]
Will it be difficult to maintain the texture in those gorgeous wings? Did you get a (consults non-triggering thesaurus) fairly-compensated but sustainable assistant who achieves personal enrichment engraving micro-detail?
AWESOME Chars.! I cant wait to meet ’em
Oh, yeah. We *are* going to see some of the *old* cast somewhere in there, aren’t we?
Considering where Dale is going to be working… no, no we won’t, we are never going to see the original cast ever again
Welllll! … There was that unfortunate Tapioca Incident, but He’s MUCH Better Now!
I do like these new characters, but it would be nice to get some more male characters, or some females with more reasonable bust sizes.
Well the smaller busted gals in this comic include Amanda, Shelly, Bud, Daylla, Nadette, Alexis, Abbie, Luci, Georgette, Maya, Jacqui, Barbara, Lakshmi, Vickie. Those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head that have had recurring roles. But yeah, writing men does not come easy to me and I find them boring most of the time.
Paul you jumped in and rattled off a list much like I was planning.
Great to see you back and I will not repeat the same basic comments on the new characters except to point out the three common replies:
1. Fantastic that you will be adding more story.
2. Wait, a 22-year-old, “ex-porn star” ? That just does not compute, either age her a bit or modify the profession a little. Like she worked on the sets, was in make-up, or such. However, she is already 6 years older than her sister Briar, so Briar could be an oops kid. Oh, the story possibilities.
3. Briar character design is nice – however two more female characters? You’ve shown just about every physical and emotion variation on the female side and was wondering if you might expand on the male. At the moment I believe you’ve shown about 12 speaking male characters in the strip and around 83 female. Just saying.
Well, you may have let the cat out of the bag. =) You know how I like to use “don’t judge a book by its cover” and when Dale tells everyone that she worked in porn, looking at her, guess where their minds go. I was inspired to create Dale based on my friend Devin https://www.facebook.com/devin.alexis.794 Dale is a makeup artist and in addition to enjoying special effects makeup, she’s proficient in stage and screen makeup. Dale was the makeup artist for a paranormal porn company, and I wanted her to be able to talk about the human side and work side of porn as well as addressing the down sides.
Why does Briar have to be an ‘oops’ baby just because Dale is six years older? o_O
Briar does not HAVE TO BE an ‘oops’ but the age difference suggests it. The most common separation between siblings is 24-29 months. A separation of 48 months is about half that, 60 month difference make up about only 10%. Approaching 6+ years is even more uncommon, moving to 5%. This is true for most developed countries and the rates are even faster (tighter) in developing countries. From a casual review of pregnancy advice sites strongly suggests that the average age difference for an oops child is 7 years. Again, 6 years for Briar hints at oops.
But such a gap is common enough when remarriage occurs. New couple may want a child of their unique genetic pairing for their own reasons. Large groups may obey statistics, but individuals seldom are “average”.
Nor can we be certain there are no intermediate siblings. Discussing “the gap” assumes facts not in evidence. The audience is cautioned not to leave before the final curtain.
The age difference between me and oldest sibling is 12 years (with three other siblings in between)
“oops”?
Hmmm… I can tell you from experience that the age span does not ‘require’ a certain number of years.
My youngest sister (now deceased) gave birth to a son (who went on to become a state/national karate champion).
The next year, (13 months) she gave birth to twin sons (who became high school football/basketball stars before joining the USAF).
Ten months later, she gave birth to a daughter (who became a ‘track and field’ star and top cheerleader before joining the USAF).
The twins and daughter had a different father from the firstborn.
Don’t even get me started on their high school years (when the girl complained no boys would ask her out).
Seven years later, she gave birth to another daughter by yet a third husband.
THIS one already qualified (at 11 years old) to go to Harvard on a scholarship.
All she has to do is maintain her grades for a full scholarship.
Her mom died not 4 months after she qualified.
Now, she’s 15 and still rates a 3.87 GPA.
Briar loves a quiet library? Sorry, but the Library we have is not exactly quiet. Looking forward to how that could play out.
Never even considered the possibility of a restorative, creative break. Not the first artist to take time off from frequent updates to do an epic project; a graphic novel or an animated short. We eagerly await the return to our regularly scheduled program.
Have seen plenty of porn stars who started around 18, so having Dale be an ‘ex-pornstar’ at 22 would not be that far fetched, even if she wasn’t the makeup artist (yes, some of the high-quality porn movies require makeup and are just as high-budgeted as some Hollywood movies, they are not all simple pizza delivery guy shows up, ‘teen’ answers the door wearing less than a swimsuit with no cash to pay five-minute wank-fest ‘movies’)
Hey, that stuff does happen IRL. I just didn’t let her have the pizza because I had something better waiting at home.
Did Briar get hit in the head by a boomerang? Or are those horns?
NOT a criticism, just curious
Briar had an infection when she was younger that caused the asymmetry of her horns.
Thank you, they look good, was just curious (and didn’t want to do the usual response and accuse you of being a bad artist, which you are not)
I got to speculating about the succubus horn equivalent of orthodontists and braces. Took a few days, though, for it to percolate in my brain…
Brier, I think, can lay claim to more trauma then her sister. Something, beyond her control, marked her appearance, in a way that is not “Normal ” by the ONLY standards important to a young child. I suspect, like Porsupah, everyone who knows her is fiercely Protective of her, to the point THAT is becoming an issue! In many ways, Brier is the Opposite-Side-of-the-Coin to Castela who desperately doesn’t want to be Feared.
While there is some question what Dale has been eating, it’s pretty clear what part of her Diet is highest in Saturated Fats.
Good to see new stories coming. I very much like the complicated thing from the beginning. Not so much the children thing. I hope that ex-pornstar thing will not be around the center of things. Thats not what i really want to see. A bit jokes about bra with rebras and such is ok for me. A bit more god of alkohol and sphinxes and more myth from the archaeological museum or library and stuff, thats what i am waiting for. Maybe some of the childs or some adults fill some people with terror, willingly or just because the people are a bit dense, but it should be long lasting and not an easy fixable thing. Maybe a kind of ghostbuster team or a demonhunter society or maybe the MIB of America or whatever.
Greetings from germany.
Read what Paul Taylor said above: she was in the porn industry, just not in front of the camera
“Porn star” says to me she was in front of the camera.
While you don’t have to be in front of the camera to ‘in’ the industry, “PORN STAR” basically requires it.
Maybe not ‘in front’ exclusively, but some of your experience will be ‘in front’ even if you worked ‘behind’ or ‘beside’ most of the time.
If you don’t believe me, read what the author Himself said about it
I think what’s causing confusion, and will continue to do so for some time I’m sure, is the use of the word “star.” When one refers to “movie stars” or “the stars of the show”, it almost universally means the actors on camera or the performers on stage, specifically the particularly famous ones. I personally have yet to ever see “star” refer to the backstage staff or tech crews (of which I myself was for some time).
Some make-up artists become just as big as the ‘stars’ they make up, look at Max Factor
It is interesting to me that the younger of the two is 4 inches taller that the older.
As someone who generally towers over whomever I meet (6’4″), I tend to notice a woman’s height before most other things.
To me, even 5’6″ is short.
Thankfully, I have a nice little gal who fulfills the need for “TALL” at 6’1″
As for Dale’s former occupation… she has the right heritage for it.
Another reader wondered about any tendency to gather ‘stalkers’.
I’d say her abilities would tend to discourage/remove stalkers.
“I got a gal, six foot four, sleeps in the kitchen with her feet out the door, but… / My gal is red hot (Your gal ain’t doodly-squat) / She ain’t got no money but, man, she’s really got a lot…”
I feel like Capt. America; “Hey! I get that reference!”