Dear Insane Children, 

I’ve begun the return trip to the kickoff point at Yacht Haven Marina on Phuket for the start of Pirate Jam 2020. My days leading up to the event have been spent in quiet anchorages off the beaten path where I’ve done prep work for the event while keeping a close eye on the global coronavirus situation. These are Strange Days indeed. 

If you’d like a sobering overview of where the world currently is in relation to the virus, I highly recommend THIS ARTICLE over at The Atlantic. The basic message is that containment has thus far helped to slow the spread but that a global pandemic is now pretty much guaranteed. And that the negative effects of that spread are now mostly a function of how prepared a particular country (and individuals) might be for the inevitable arrival. It’s no longer just a “China problem.” 

For my part… I don’t think this is an end-of-the-world scenario but it will most certainly have a global impact on everything – manufacturing, shipping, finance, and more. The world’s on-demand supply chain just isn’t built for this sort of event. 

I’m curious to hear from you – what’s the situation where you live? Are people talking about this? Or does it still seem like some distant non-issue? 

In The Land Madness – The Insane Child is King

Our team have recently re-worked the concept for The Knave (servant of The Queen of Hearts). 

I sent the following directions to Omri: 

An Insane Child is just a representation of one of the children from the Asylum… but in Wonderland.

Imagine that the Asylum contains a boy bigger than the others. He’s broken. He’s a bully. Everyone avoids him.

Now he finds his way into Alice imagination (Wonderland) and represents a figure from The Queen’s Court.

So take an Insane Child (use the original game style of them – Ken’s “bobble head” children are dumb). Dress him as a member of the Queen’s Court. Keep the scars and maybe a bit of the head gear (clamps, etc) that define him as someone from the Asylum.

And the result is the Insane Child Knave from Norm (picture above). I really like this character! 

What do you think?

Note: Sorry, Ken, for calling your Insane Children bobbleheads “dumb” – to expand on that in a more mature language: I felt like that was a stylistic choice (borrowed from Mark Ryden, etc) which wouldn’t age well. There was a period in time when “put big heads on everything” was original and fun… but that time has passed. Am I the only one who thinks this? 

There are tons of new bits of art I’d like to share with you but these files are so huge that it’s taking 30+ minutes to download even one. I’m hoping that someone on the team will create a collection of these images in a smaller format (keep them less than 1mb!) and link me to those. 

A lot of new art from Dario in there and based on the thumbnails everything is looking really amazing. Here’s one that I did manage to download and resize… 

This is Hatter’s laboratory and observatory from the Bargaining Stage. Really impressive!

Arg, Mateys!

Expect to see a few more updates related to Pirate Jam as I switch gears to focus on that event. It runs from March 2nd to the 12th. And I then (hopefully) head back to Shanghai on the 14th. 

Once back home I have tons to catch up on. Yan is busy getting everything ready for Mysterious Makeup and I need to give her some support. Lots of Business Development to catch up on. And, of course, getting back into the grove with work on pre-production for Asylum. 

I hope all of you are happy and healthy. And I want to thank everyone for sticking around during this strange time. We’ll get through this. And the world will get through this. And I hope… well…

Life has taught me that everything comes in cycles. The best experiences, projects, and periods of time are always proceeded by “tests.” We set our sights on a goal and put effort into achieving it. But just before we’re able to grab the prize, The Universe says, “Are you sure you’ve earned this?” And it throws one final boss battle into the arena. 

I’m trying to view all the turmoil we’re seeing right now as the Big Test prior to the start of the next positive phase. 

So I hope that we all manage to keep our heads down, our goals in focus and that we weather this storm to come out the other side into a world of blue skies, white puffy clouds, and sunshine. Who’s on board? 

As pirates are fond of saying: Hold Fast!

From Chaos with Love, 

-American

Dear Insane Children, 

It’s been a strange couple of weeks. In exile from my home in China. Floating around the Andaman Sea. Waking each morning to read news of what might be a global pandemic… only to come back to a place somewhere between resignation that it’s the End of the World vs. the comfort of intentional ignorance in which I think everything’s going to be fine. 

There’s another option: Maybe it’s the end of the world AND everything’s going to be fine!

As an example, consider two recent headlines from the epicenter of the outbreak in China: 

“Hubei reports steadily decreasing new cases of COVID-19” – Yay!

“Hubei takes delivery of mobile incinerators” (the conspiracy theory subtext being that these are for the disposal of bodies) – Not Yay!

Between headlines like these and the general “fog of war” surrounding the situation, it’s hard to know what the future has in store for us. Then again, maybe that knowledge has always been an illusion? 

Back home, Yan and Lucky report that they are doing well. Yan’s resumed work on her makeup line project and the factory says they’re prepping to resume work again soon. Font Lord says “everything’s fine” but then he rarely goes outside anyway… so what would he know?! Lulu says, “arrrrg” which means she misses her daddy and wishes winter would go away.

Several people who plan to attend Pirate Jam 2020 in 12 days have voiced concerns. One attendee has, under pressure from her family, decided to drop out. This has put me in the uncomfortable position of needing to make an executive decision as to whether or not we continue with the event as scheduled. So I spent several days consulting with sponsors, crew, and experts… before decided that, yes, we should go ahead. Pirate Jam is meant to be an adventure. Albeit one in which we’ve made solid plans and properly equipped ourselves for the journey. 

Thailand is eerily quiet since all the Chinese tourists went home. The beaches are empty, there are almost no longtails and speedboats zipping around, and all the usual tourist spots are deserted. A silver lining I suppose. 

So, despite the chaos and uncertainty, we carry on. Which also happens to be what our art team are doing… 

Norm continues to explore various ideas for Card Guards. I feel this latest revision is closer to the final version I can imagine we’d see in-game. These manage to capture necessary elements of the AMA and AMR Card Guards. 

Omri also delivered some new ideas. The main image above “How Fine You Look When Dressed In Rage” will eventually be an Art Print. He says of this: 

i’m going to go a bit anime with it. i’m wondering where it will “land” style-wise.

I asked my followers on Instagram if they think it’s OK to make a revision of the red dress or keep it as it “will be” in the actual game. they said mostly that it’s cool.

this will be more avant garde than the regular  “alice” cannon style.

Sounds good to me! Look forward to seeing the final version. 

Omri also sent over an idea for the presentation of the Chaos Coin collectibles in-game. Of this he says: 

 thought to make the chaos coin in parts, still looking like a coin but “alive” i think looking at a floating coin is looks like Mario and not Wonder. having the parts swirl and move should make it look magical enough to detach it from the concept of a regular coin.

What do you think of this idea for the in-game representation of the Chaos Coin?

Notes

Our logistics partners in China say that they are starting to resume shipments. That means if you ordered something from Mysterious or are owed a Chaos Coin (from your Patreon Pledge) that those things will start moving again soon.  There are significant delays in the shipping systems – so expect to wait until April for all this to go back to normal. 

Font Lord is busy working with Backerkit on web functionality to enable super-easy Pledging for the Enamal Pin Goal. And he’ll post an update with more news and dates soon. 

That’s it for now! More updates coming soon!

From Thailand with Love,

-American

Dear Insane Children,

Happy Valentine’s Day! I hope everyone is getting all the love and roses they deserve. 

I thought I should share a situation update along with some new Asylum artwork. 

First up is the “Rage” sketch Omri just started work on (pictured above) which he titled “How Fine You Look When Dressed In Rage” and will eventually be one of our poster art prints. Look forward to seeing the Final version of this illustration soon.

Meanwhile the team continue to work on other concepts and designs. Alex sends along a re-design of the Boojum enemy we met in AMA. This illustration also goes towards the work we’re (slowly) doing on a Tarot Deck based on the Alice characters. 

In Jail

The snow globe metaphor works well for the current situation in China. My wife (Yan) describes her situation (shared by millions around the country) as being “in jail.” 

That means she’s staying indoors along with her mom and Lucky. Only one person is allowed to leave the house every two days. And that’s only to go outside for groceries. Everything else in the area is shut down and deserted. The “bao an” who normally guard all the housing compounds around the city – and who are normally seen as guarding a place against strangers trying to get in – are now also controlling who goes out. When Yan tries to go outside they want to know where she’s going, how far away, and how long she’ll be gone. If she’s going anywhere other than the local market for groceries then they tell her she’ll have to fill in a travel report. 

I wake up every day in Thailand and read the news. None of it’s great. Certainly, none of it is the sort of “Scientists Solve The Coronavirus Problem” that I keep hoping to see. So I find myself in my own sort of “snow globe” of uncertainty. How long will I have to stay in Thailand? When will it be safe to return to China? What is “safe” in this situation? Are Yan and the family prepared to weather the storm if the situation gets worse – food shortages, utility outages, etc? 

One of the biggest problems revealed by this situation relates to “The News.” We are all painfully aware that “news” these days is 99% clickbait nonsense and maybe 1% unvarnished truth. The concept of news reporters going out into the danger zones of the world and capturing The Truth of a situation seems like something from old-timey movies. And this is made worse when dealing with a traditionally opaque country like China. 

And who can blame China? If the situation is as bad as their actions seem to imply then to release the real story could mass hysteria and panic in a population of 1.3 billion people. The panic would then kill 1000x whatever the virus might have done on its own. Same goes for extending the quarantine period vs. allowing everyone to go back to work. The quarantine is killing the Chinese economy. But lifting it too soon could kill millions of people. 

So I imagine that we’re only hearing a fraction of the truth. And whatever is being hidden from us… well, being unable to see it only makes it larger and more terrible in the imagination. 

At least Hare is wearing his mask… 

Back in The Asylum

There are some glimmers of Good News – at least as far as Asylum goes. I had a Very Good Call with a group of execs and producers from a Media Company (who must remain unnamed). We discussed the idea of Alice as a TV Drama and Game. Everyone on the call was enthusiastic. (It’s always good to hear that the people you’re pitching have shelves full of Alice merch!) 

I’d rate the call (and post-call email notes) as being 10/10 in terms of quality and excitement. Does that mean it’s 100% certain we can make the project go forward with this group? No. But… it’s a positive event during a period of darkness. And it’s giving me hope for the future. 

Please join me in crossing fingers (and toes) that we soon hear back from said Media Company and that they green-light Asylum. That would be excellent! 

And the sun is shining here in Thailand. Trying my best to stay positive! 

From Thailand with Love, 

-American 

Dear Insane Children

Phew… almost forgot to do this with all that’s been going on.

As you might know, each month we’re going to use a random number generator and pick 5 patrons to send some goodies out to.
Wheeee !!!

This month, The Lucky 5 will each be getting an Omega Necklace, but please bear in mind the shipping delays due to that pesky Coronavirus, so the winners are likely not to see the prizes for at least another month or 2   🙁

Ok, here we go…. *opens Google RNG*

* Stephanie Brejla
* Samantha Gebbie
* Erin Flores
* Nina Rief
* Allison Meraz

Huge congratulations and look forwards to getting your goodies…soon….ish….

Like last month, we can’t have a post with no pics in, so have another Lulu from my collection  😉

– Cheers

Dear Insane Children

Font Lord here. How you all doing?

Just a quick message to let you all know that although the Coronavirus is messing some things up, such as keeping American trapped in Thailand and also having the shipping/warehouse companies over here shut down, that everything else is proceeding as normal from my end.

So this means that even though shipping of prints and other physical items has slowed/stopped for now, all your data from Patreon is still being collected and readied in the relevant excel sheets and online databases for when shipping can resume.
This is for both Patreon and Mysterious.
In a nutshell, if you bought something or are expecting something, it hasn’t been forgotten about and it WILL come eventually   🙂

In other news, progress is still moving along with the new Backerkit Feature we’re working on which means that for future Patreon goals, you won’t have to mess around with changing your tiers to get what you’re wanting and indeed EVERYONE who’s a patron in the relevant month is eligible for the goals if they make up the difference on Backerkit.  Woot !!
Hopefully this new way of doing things will be less confusing for everyone when we write our “how to get this goal” instruction posts.

And speaking of goals.
You all probably know that we’re doing the Enamel Pins next.
We hope that this will be VERY soon.
But hey, in the meantime, have some Enamel Pin pics of the final product, and yes, they’ll also come with 5x locking back clasps, and they’re all about 2.5cms on their long side.

VERY cool    🙂

Ok, let’s all stay safe out there and avoid the lurg !

– Cheers

Dear Insane Children, 

First off massive apologies for the delay since the last update. Things around here have been rather hectic as I’ve tried to sort out plans and strategies for how we might deal with this coronavirus outbreak both with regards to my family and our various projects.

After much consultation with family, friends and experts it was decided that I should stay in Thailand until this situation resolved itself a bit more. And that I should not try to return to China for fear that I might be thrown into quarantine or be unable to return to Thailand for the start of pirate Jam in March. After making that decision I needed to rush around to extend my Visa and make other plans and preparations for an extended stay. Hence the delay in updates.

Given that the virus seems to be spreading also here in Thailand and that there are a lot of Chinese tourists that come into contact with the marina where I keep my sailboat I decided to evacuate from the marina and head out onto the water where I feel I’ll be a little bit safer.

I’m currently on my way to a remote Northern Island where I think I’ll be able to settle down, get access to fast internet, and hopefully get some work done. 

For those that are unaware this virus outbreak seems to be quite severe and possibly even growing in severity. Across China literally the entire country is on quarantine which means that families are locked within their homes and avoiding any sort of contact with the outside world. My family, Yan and Lucky and her mom are, like everyone else, hiding indoors until the government gives the okay to emerge again. The current official schedule is that people will resume work on the 10th of February. And that schools will reopen on the 17th of February. So you might imagine that in a country of 1.3 billion people the entire population being told they are not allowed to go outside or return to work until the 10th of February is pretty serious. And we’re now hearing rumors that that date may be extended by another 7 to 10 days in an effort to contain what appears to be a virus that spreads from person to person without any visible sign of the person who spreading it even being infected.

I won’t go into further detail here suffice to say I am very worried about my family and about my friends and about everyone back in China. I am uncertain if staying in Thailand is indeed the correct decision here but that decision has been made and there are no more flights for me to get on to go back home anyway. So I will be keeping an eye on the situation and updating everyone here as time allows. I expect to arrive at my destination in about two days time at which point I should be able to download new artwork from the team and provide you with some updates on Alice Asylum and our other projects.

One positive side effect of the situation is that I’ve had plenty of time out here on my own to ponder the story that were working on and the game design that we’re building. And so I’ll be collecting together notes and integrating that into the design and work that we’ve been doing so far. Just trying to find a little silver lining in the midst of all of this apocalyptic Doom.

And I don’t know whether it is a sign or what but I find it darkly amusing that the logo I chose to put on my boat looks very much similar to the shape of the coronavirus itself. I guess that’s what Carl Jung would have called synchronicity. 

From Chaos with Love, 

American