Dear Insane Children, 

Feast your eyes on the final form of the 2022 calendar print we have been talking about recently.

A pretty good image for the calendar I’m sure you’ll agree, as all the action takes place at the top of the image.

First an important note for all the coming options you need to keep in mind…
THE CALENDAR WILL NOT BE SIGNED!

Now here are the instructions on how it can be obtained.

1) If you’re a $75 Tier Patron before December hits, then you will simply get the calendar print AND the normal print of the month (essentially think of it as another ‘double print’ month)
By the way, the normal print for November Patrons charged in December will be this one…
VOPRAL GLASS

And of course, the usual rule also applies that if this is your first ever time at $75, you will also get the Hysteria Rabbit+Tote Bag combo too.  WOW!

2) If you’re a 3x$35 Tier Patron, we’re also going to treat you as if this is a double month, but ONLY for those of you who complete your Backerkit survey between Dec 1st and Dec 31st. So simply choose a print as normal from our huge selection and we will bundle the calendar print in with it. And yes, the above Vorpal Glass print will be a choice in December.

3) We will also be putting the calendar for sale in the Mysterious Shop, but due to the ‘unsigned’ nature of the item, it will be cheaper than most other prints we sell there.
Likely to be at $35

As ever, any questions about what you just read, pop ’em into the comments and we’ll take a look.

– Cheers

Dear Insane Children,

Joey and Omri finished “Turkey in the Oven” (kidding, kidding… I think the official title is “Fire House”) and it turned out great. And just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday!

Speaking of that holiday… while we don’t exactly celebrate it here in China, it is a tradition to cook lots of food and invite over some of our friends. And, yes, Yan will cook a turkey. Yay!

That being the case, this week will NOT have a live stream. But I will continue to send updates related to art, design, and story.

Speaking of STORY… sad news! Alex’s computer died. It’s in the shop now (it’s a Mac) and should be back in service within a week. Apparently, it needs a new control board. Don’t know about you… but every Mac I’ve owned since 2000 has died at least once from this issue. Crazy. Anyway, that puts the typesetting work for the latest version of the narrative outline on hold.

I told Alex he might as well enjoy some time off. Maybe he can have an Australian Thanksgiving? (I almost made a joke about their indigenous people in relation to the same in the US, etc… Dark humor. I’m sure you can guess).

These are reference images I attached to a response I sent Omri in relation to a christening scene that takes place in the game…

the section we’re discussing reads:

“At the pulpit, the priest holds a screaming newborn baby in the air, then lowers it into a bath of water. This is a memory of Alice’s christening. She is reborn, as the baby touches the water its screaming stops and the scene goes black.”

First, I ?want to suggest a change: ?The christening does ?NOT have to happen at “the pulpit” – a location where we normally see the priest addressing the congregation. See the attached images for reference – create a new space similar to these… dedicated to the christening. It can be a room or an alcove… I like the room scene.

Second, the christening process… can involve pouring water over the head OR the complete submerging of a child/person into the water. I ?want to see this as a complete submersion.

This usually happens with the priest standing in a large pool of water with the person, supporting them as they are lowered on their back into the water until their head is submerged.

https://youtu.be/9_dr9njVzKM?t=121

And why this scene matters…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVVPtoAE0kk

This is a rebirth scene. A doing away with of “old life” ?and start of something new.

I ?think we could see baby Alice in a gown (reference below) ?float down from “above” ?in the scene, land in the arms of the priest, and then be submerged all in one smooth action.

We should NOT see her brought out of the water. Because she must still travel the road ahead in order to be reborn. This is the submersion. The lifting out of the water happens (metaphorically) ?later in the game.

In-game we’ll probably have the water turn black (to represent Chaos) but I do not think you need to worry about trying to capture that detail in this illustration.

Will be interesting to see the final illustration that comes out of this.

And it links to…

Which is the start of a new illustration from Gareth. In response to this image, I wrote:

Looks good to me… Couple of things: ?The tea being poured looks odd. Hard to distinguish if that’s coming out of his face or what is going on. Maybe it’ll resolve with color… but the framing is a bit odd.

The snow globe is meant to crash to the floor… so we should see broken bits of it on the floor (along with water) ?around Alice on the floor.

(Note related to the Christening Scene I ?just sent comments on: ?This is one of those places where Alice is being born out of water… the other side of the christening. We should think about linking this scene with the christening scene in some way… could be lighting, framing, the way Hatter touches/holds Alice, Alice’s clothing, etc. Something to think about).

Tying all those threads together… fun stuff.

I hope everyone is has a wonderful week wherever you are. And stay out of the oven!

From Shanghai with Cranberry Sauce,

-American

Dear Insane Children, 

Answer: You do. You need a new Desktop Background!

And Omri’s delivered a final version of “The Funeral” just for you! 

This scene is taken from the Narrative Outline in a section where Alice imagines the scene of her parent’s funeral… an event that she wasn’t allowed to attend. The narrative reads: 

Narrative Excerpt:

?The walls of the Liddell Household dissolve into ash, and reform into the arched heights of a Church Cathedral (modeled on St. Augustine’s, London). Row after row of pews are filled with black-clad mourners. Sounds of crying and wailing fill the air alongside an Organ Dirge. This is the funeral of her family.

We PLAY as Alice floats down the center aisle towards the pulpit – Caterpillar’s mushroom fills the space where the choir would normally sit. Whispers of; “It’s your fault!” “Where were you?” “They say she’s got the devil in her!” rise to a fever pitch as Alice glides towards the caskets at the front of the church.

The caskets burst into flames, and we hear the screams of Lizzie, and Alice’s Parents. The screams and accusations reach a cacophony. The walls, ceilings, and fixtures of the church burst apart like pieces of a puzzle, leaving Alice floating before The Caterpillar on his mushroom.

Alice

I could have saved them. I just saved my friend, but I could never save them. Everyone else I love was… lost.

Caterpillar

You still have yourself. And, that is more than enough to begin with. Start there, Alice.

The Church flies back together, the air filled with sunbeams, parishioners dressed in white.

At the pulpit, the priest holds a screaming newborn baby in the air, then lowers it into a bath of water. This is a memory of Alice’s christening. She is reborn, as the baby touches the water its screaming stops and the scene goes black.

?<Chapter Ends>

And the resulting image is one of my favorites produced by the pre-production process so far. Such a great mix of London reality, Wonderland, imagination, and dread. Perfect!

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

From Shanghai with Accusitory Finger,

-American

Dear Insane Children, 

Font Lord here with a simple question.
Transparent or not?

As some of you may know, we are going to do a 2022 Calendar Print, and as you can see from the above image, we’re wondering if the date box at the bottom should be solid as shown on the left, or should you be able to see through it as you can on the right?

Sound off in the comments with what you think is most visually appealing to you.

Also the actual print we will use is not set in stone yet either, so do any of you have a favorite print in mind we could use?
It could be one we already released or maybe a print we did not use yet but you’ve seen posted here on Patreon.
Let us know!

Sound off in the comments with your thoughts and suggestions.

Once we know all the information around the calendar, we will post here again before the end of the month to let you all know the details of how it will be obtainable.

Big hugs from sunny Shanghai.

– Cheers

Dear Insane Children, 

A quick one this morning. Just sharing these two images to show how our artists go back and forth to sketch out an action sequence and the relevant static illustrations. Norm is really good at this – as you’d expect from someone who works professionally on comics and graphic novels. 

These images are based on some critical scenes in the Narrative Outline where Alice encounters Carpenter and ends up in an epic Boss Battle with him and Walrus. 

C) Closing Scene / Resolution: ?Show the Shadow versions of Carpenter & Walrus drifting into the Void. Alice will mourn them, knowing this Carpenter was someone trying to help her, only to be corrupted and forced to be killed for her own survival. This is all a result of pieces of Alice’s mind being consumed by the Shadow. Communicate the loss of this in the image.

?——–

?This encounter takes place immediately after “Slumber Encounter #8 – He Knew”.
Narrative Excerpt below;?

?Narrative Excerpt:  

??The scene dissolves back into Wonderland…

Alice returns to The Carpenter to report her success. But it’s too late. The Walrus and The Carpenter are there – both consumed by Chaos and made super-large. What follows is an epic Boss Battle in which Alice must defeat the crafty duo while hopping between the flooded-burning ruins of East London. As the buildings are destroyed, there’s nothing left for anyone to stand on; and the Walrus and Carpenter are left drifting in empty space.

We PLAY as Alice hops and floats back to the Hall of Doors…

In the final image (above) you can see Norm’s added a few details to make clear that Carpenter is falling into the Chaos, being consumed for eternity. 

Hope You’re Avoiding Chaos Today,

-American 

Dear Insane Children, 

Joey’s working on an illustration from the Alice: Asylum script in which we see child Alice fleeing her family’s burning home. The idea is that she’s supposed to make it out alive – otherwise, there would be no first game, no second game… hell, we wouldn’t be here talking about all of this today! 

But the way Joey’s rendered this scene… I don’t think Alice is getting out of there alive. And if she is alive… she’s going to be melted, cooked, burnt, etc. Not fine.

Omri jumped in and suggested some edits that might help improve Alice’s chances of getting out alive (and not burnt to a crisp): 

We’ll see if things look better for poor Alice in the next revision from Joey. 

Fingers crossed! 

Gareth has started work on a critical scene – the moment where Alice escape the Snow Globe and first meets (real) Hatter. That scene reads like this (spoilers): 

LEVEL 8 – ACT 1

UMBRA LAND

[Sonata No. 14 “Moonlight” in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 27 No. 2 III. Presto agitato]

Silence. Darkness.

Then the haphazard rattles of a precariously balancing porcelain tea set.

THE MAD Hatter watches as a Snow Globe shakes itself from his table, and crashes to the floor. Alice emerges quickly from within the shattered glass clutching her white rabbit.

Her eyes are closed, like she is sleeping. Tears are salted dry on her cheeks.

THE MAD Hatter

Oh, there you are. Finally, I’ve been expecting you two. TEA?

His familiar, jittery voice awakens Alice. The Hatter shoves a filthy overflowing cup of Darjeeling into the Child’s face. He is no longer his calm, measured self. This Hatter is very clearly, quite mad.

Alice and her Rabbit find themselves on the floor in Hatter’s Workshop, but it is grimier and filthier. Where there was once pristine equipment, now sit jagged edges, rusted springs and derelict machinery. Chaos is seeping into this workshop everywhere. Shards of the shattered snowglobe are strewn about on the floor besides Alice.

Endless vortexes swirl in the air through the windows outside. Darkness reigns.

Speaking of scripts and spoilers… 

We finished our back-and-forth editing on the Narrative Outline yesterday. 

Alex is now typesetting the document so we can share another PDF Outline here on Patreon. Lots of improvements, changes, and additions (many at your request) are included. Excited to share that with everyone soon!

We’ll also have news about an interesting year-end idea… a Calendar Poster! Woo.

From Shanghai with Love,

-American