Dear Insane Children, 

Oh boy. I just learned some big news. 

Can’t provide any details right now. 

But there is an announcement coming. 

Very exciting! 

From Shanghai with Glee, 

-American 

Dear Insane Children, 

Adam sent over a follow-up sketch to the previous post. This combines some of the elements from those images to present a surreal scene in which everything terrible Alice experienced in the Asylum is reflected back to her in one terrifying moment. 

There’s a question of which of these should be fully illustrated. But first, Adam says of these: 

I have two ideas that could tie all these visuals together into an artistic and elegant composition, namely a shattered mirror.

Idea one:
??So the entire poster is a broken mirror, each broken piece acting like a screen that’s showing a different traumatic memory. In the middle we would see the reflection of Alice screaming, her face broken apart by the cracks of the broken mirror, symbolizing her psyche breaking.

?Or she would be in front of the mirror , so that it only acts as a background

?Idea two: Alice is kneeling on the floor, screaming, entering hysteria, while the memories appear around her, in a form of multiple, round mirrors, made of tarry substance (similar to tentacles) that float and revolve around Alice so that she can’t break free from them.

?The first idea is much closer to what Alex proposed, though I wanted to share both my ideas as food for thought. What do you think?

So let him know in the comments below what YOU think!

Omri had an idea… 

And says…

B is great but i think This shows the MANY memories.
?a TON of mirrors.. what do you think?

And Alex said… 

Both of these are brilliant. Here are my thoughts.

?I think (B) communicates the ideas of memories and experiences of the Asylum clearer. I would prefer to see that one rendered.
?It might just be from the amount of physical space you have to communicate/render the abusive memories. You can see more of them.

?Showing the reverse of the mirrors ?in (A) I think limits that side of it also.

For me… I really like Omri’s idea. But I also said I love both of these sketches so much that I want to see BOTH of them rendered fully. 

Let us know in the comments below your thoughts! 

From Shanghai with Madness, 

-American

Dear Insane Children, 

Do you remember your childhood? I once heard that when adults can’t remember their childhood, it suggests the memories were not worth keeping – that perhaps there was pain, sadness, and/or abuse in the past. I have some happy memories. Also, some are painful. And lots of gaps in between.

Never knew my father and never knew the true circumstances of my conception. Depending on whose version of that event you believe, the truth of my coming into being lies somewhere between terrible and not-good. Regardless of the “how,” the result was I was raised by a single mother. One who sometimes failed to select appropriate partners. And so there were… events. Ranging from being locked outside on a patio overnight to being thrown from a boat into a patch of seagrass (scared to death, tangled up, and almost drowned). 

Yeah, there was physical violence. But mostly it was psychological. Even the worst kind of bullies know it’s difficult to make excuses for a kid with too many bruises. And, from the perspective of the abuser, psychological warfare is much more “fun.” Taunting, tricking, and torturing a child without hitting… is something that can go on for years without anyone ever knowing. And if the child tries to tell someone? 

Well, “He’s just making it up. Has an overactive imagination.” 

I’ll show you a fucking overactive imagination. 

All of this to say… Alice’s torture within the asylum is, for me, a topic akin to the fuel rods inside a nuclear power plant. It burns and pulses within, providing an angry power to all my creative efforts on this franchise. It doesn’t define the main character but it is a prime motivator for many of her actions and reactions. 

And as much as I hate to think about my own personal experience with all of this… I hate to imagine anyone else (even a fictional character) going through this kind of thing. But we must go there… we must dive into the deepest and darkest moments – if only for the brilliant contrast created when our hero finally breaks free from the pain of her past. The light at the end of the tunnel is only as bright as that tunnel is dark. 

And that’s what today’s illustrations are about… 

These are glimpses into moments of terror and torture experienced by Alice in the asylum. 

I’ve made it clear to our team that we can say a lot about what happened here without actually showing (too) much. And that it is not our goal to produce something akin to “torture porn” – we won’t go there. That is not and has never been the point of this journey nor of these scenes.

So the main emphasis in these images is the relationship between Alice and her White Rabbit Plush Doll. And shows that the orderlies (echoes of Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum) know the best way to inflict harm on Alice is to harm her furry companion. 

Once again, Adam and the art team are creating incredible images to illustrate these powerful scenes from within in Asylum Narrative. Really amazing (and difficult) work. 

There are some earlier versions of these illustrations. Ones that include elements I felt uncomfortable with… and which I believe will never see the light of day. These go far enough. 

Adam is now working on some concepts which pull together all of these images into one that represents the mental shattering that takes place within Alice’s psyche.

I appreciate you being along for this journey. And I hope that some of you will find comfort in seeing our hero endure and overcome these obstacles. Because that’s what this story is really about – showing that you can escape any abyss. I’ve done it. She’s doing it. And you can too. 

From Shanghai with Love, 

-American

Dear Insane Children, 

It’s here! The second revision of the Narrative Outline for Alice: Asylum. 

THANK YOU, to our Insane Children for making possible all the art, writing, design, and production that went into making this document possible. This is “Alice: Asylum” in script format – the document that will drive the production of the Design Bible. 

Alex will start work on the Design Bible NOW. And we expect he’ll deliver a semi-final draft around April of 2022. Lots of work going into that document… like a graphic novel play-through of the entire game. 

So, if you don’t mind MASSIVE SPOILERS, then grab the Narrative Outline PDF (link below), and join Alice on her latest adventure. 

Let us know in the comments below what you think – but keep in general. Please, do not post spoilers (elements of the story or design that would ruin any surprises for people who choose not to read this document). 

And please join me in expressing A HUGE *job well-done* to Alex. He’s done a tremendous amount of work in organizing, writing, and presenting everything you see here. Thanks, Alex. You’re full bottle, mate. 

From Shanghai with Outlines, 

-American

Dear Insane Children,

Adam finished the illustration in which we see the Shadow Self become Alice’s dominant personality. This is described in the Narrative Outline as a protective action by her psyche. And it explains how/why it is that the Alice we know (from the games) is actually Shadow Alice. The Child Self has been submerged, protected deep within the subconscious, for most of the time we see Alice in AMA and AMR. So this is an important moment – the birth of the Alice we all know and love.

And it’s important to note that The Shadow isn’t necessarily evil. But it is completely necessary. If you try to live life denying your shadow, you make yourself vulnerable to those who are completely consumed by theirs. We live in relatively “soft” times – speaking from a historical perspective – where a lot of people can get by without ever engaging their Shadow. But when chaos comes to them – and it always does – they are ill-prepared to defend themselves. 

My personal experience with this is deep and painful. I watched my sisters raised in a household where The Shadow was denied in full. An orthodox bubble where “worldly” influences were forbidden. Similar to the tale of Snow White – where her parents rejected the presence of Maleficent at her christening. Maleficent being the embodiment of nature, chaos, and shadow. 

My sisters were, as a result, completely unprepared for any interaction with reality. And what followed was, well, truly tragic. 

So… better embrace your shadow. 

Let us know in the comments below what you think. Have you embraced your Shadow? Or found yourself in situations where you wish you had (or were glad you had)? 

We’ll discuss this and more during the LIVE STREAM tomorrow. Usual time and place: 

Want to find links to my Twitch, YouTube, and other Social Media Platforms? 

https://linktr.ee/americanmcgee 

Everything together in one easy place there! 

Speaking of engaging your Inner Grrr…

Did you know we released a new Plushie Dreadful in the Mysterious Shop? 

Say “Hi!” to  Rage Rabbit! His head pops off! 

From Shanghai with Grrr, 

-American

Dear Insane Children, 

Well… kinda. Many of you have joked in the past that Alice’s dad looks a bit like Keanu Reeves. So Omri went ahead and pasted Keanu’s face into this Christening Scene. Of it he says: 

i hate the cartoonish proportions so i’m pushing everyone into a more realistic style
?we got Priss, Bumby, Radcliff (which all 3 have the same exact glasses!) Nan and i added a kid. the toddler will be Lizzy and i need to add some random people around.
just remember this is like “18 years ago” so i imagine them younger, thinner besides Priss because people like her usually look the same for 40 years straight.?

?having radcliff like Judas/looking AT bumby while looking away both work for me.

?When you guys will see this again- Does the priest have some kind of hat?

To which I replied: 

I ?think this is FANTASTIC. Wow. So much going on – and so much fun (including Keanu, etc). With regards to the HAT – I think it’s better to have NO HAT since the connection of this character is “Hatter” ?- the bald head draws attention to that aspect of the character.

A couple of ideas:

First, the Jesus face in the stained glass in the background… it’s distracting. I think there’s already so much going on in that area of the painting, better to remove that so our eye can more properly explore the face/head area of the priest.

Second, If you really want to do something with the stained glass as a background, I ?would recommend shifting it so that the priest ends up with a bit of halo around the priest’s head. If you select the elements correctly, it could be a halo that has Hatter-like properties (suggestive of gears, snow globe, teacup/tea pot, etc).

Third, try to hide a couple of “death notes” inside the image… Since this scene is the submersion – it’s a Little Death. It’s the dissolution/death at required at the start of the journey… from which she’ll later be reborn. So, his a couple of hints at “death” in the scene – I’ve done some lazy skull pasting as examples.

And attached this slightly edited variation: 

Meanwhile, Gareth is working on the other side of the portal so to speak… 

The scene where Alice escapes from The Snow Globe and emerges into Real Wonderland. She’s met by Hatter in a scene that echoes the elements we see in the Christening Scene. That’s because the two are connected – submersion (death) and emergence (rebirth). 

To which I replied: 

I love the visual symmetry going on here! And I don’t know that it needs to be flipped… it makes sense that Hatter is now on the other side… because they are on the other side of the Look Glass… the flip side of the submersion. I think he should stay where he is!

As I suggested in the edits for Omri’s scene, maybe consider including a couple of elements of “life” ?in this scene? ?Could be something growing (plants), could be alchemical symbols related to life and rebirth, etc. How about an ?Ouroboros in the stained glass behind them? ?Some crescent moon symbols in the glass.

Here in Shanghai, we survived Thanksgiving. I hope you did too! And we’re back to a Normal Week – where we will have a Live Stream at the usual time/place. More on that soon. 

From Shanghai with Hidden Skulls, 

-American