But I'm A Cat Person - Discussion thread

[Xuanwu]

Jeez, Xuanwu, how many questions you got?

I'm asking them now so they won't have to be asked later. I'm trying to think of what a person interested in the broader world would want to know.

Also:

Only the ones with nothing better to do.

Are there Mad Scientists in this world? Or just the normal disgruntled kind?

[SailorPtah]

Answered! (On the regular FAQ page.)

Although I would appreciate it if you stuck to things that you personally were interested in knowing. A lot of general background information is going to be given over the next couple of chapters anyway, so trying to ask everything at this point will likely clutter up the page with details that will seem obvious in hindsight.

[Xuanwu]

Although I would appreciate it if you stuck to things that you personally were interested in knowing. A lot of general background information is going to be given over the next couple of chapters anyway, so trying to ask everything at this point will likely clutter up the page with details that will seem obvious in hindsight.

Oh, I am. I wouldn't ask it if I wasn't curious. I'm holding back on questions I know would be too spoilery, since if I asked those there'd be a lot more here. I'm also only trying to ask the best questions I can think of that get to the general feel of the world.

How many chapters do you have outlined/planned for in total? Does the story have a definite end point in mind or will this be a series that keeps going until you run out of ideas?

What do you use to make the comic? What's your creation process like from idea to finished page? [A standard question. You can probably link to this Shine strip http://hellsing.comicgenesis.com/d/20050410.html or update it for this comic.]

[SailorPtah]

I'm holding back on questions I know would be too spoilery, since if I asked those there'd be a lot more here.

Well-intentioned but unnecessary. Dude, seriously, think about it: if you ask a potentially spoilery question (which you've already done a couple of times, in spite of your holding back), it's not like I'm compelled to answer.

I'm also only trying to ask the best questions I can think of that get to the general feel of the world.

And the best way to get the general feel of the world? Is reading about the world. Especially while it's still being introduced. For the next couple of chapters I'll be doing plenty of infodumping on my own; you don't need to prompt me for it.

What do you use to make the comic? What's your creation process like from idea to finished page?

See, now, this is a perfect example of a question that you're not asking because you want to know. You already know perfectly well.

[flyboy254]

Oh! More related to the social and governmental status of beings!

Are beings categorized as weapons or as biological materials?

Can beings be bought and sold legally, or is there a black market?

Are there conspiracies about or involving beings?

What is a beings real form?

Are there rogue beings?

Can a being kill animals?

Do governments regulate beings like alcohol or drugs?

[Xuanwu]

If Sparrow and Bianca wanted to travel overseas with Patrick in tow, would there be any regulatory complications beyond the normal "bringing a pet along" variety?

Are there devices that can tell the difference between a Being and a normal animal/human?

[flyboy254]

Who is the president in BIACP?

Is the political landscape as ours, or in a completely different direction?

Did 9/11 still happen?

EDIT: Just realized something very obvious. Can human weapons kill a being? (And by human, I mean anything from a .22 pistol to a cruise missile)

[Xuanwu]

How old are Sparrow and Bianca?

Did Sparrow and/or Bianca go to the Rally to Restore Sanity or the March to Keep Fear Alive?

What are some films and TV shows Sparrow and Bianca like?

If Patrick thinks Sparrow smells nice, how does he think Bianca smells?

[SailorPtah]

The questions about Sparrow and Bianca will show up in their extended profiles eventually. In short, they're 22 and 23, and have similar geeky tastes in TV and media. The story opens in May 2010, so the Rally (or its in-universe equivalent) hasn't even been announced yet.

The others have now been answered on the Being Q&A ^_^

[Mrrout]

does the gender mean something for Beings? are they male, female, or something else?

can Beings breed with animals?

do dog-like Beings dislike cat-like Beings? do cat-like Beings eat mouse-like Beings?

are Paris Hilton's dogs Beings?

can Beings have personnal feelings and opinions, or have them the same than their master?

do they speak a secret language, that only other Beings understand?

can a Master prostitute his Being? (is it legal? is it morally wrong in this society, or not wrong, because Beings are not human?)

is Jim Carrey a Being???

[Chaos Priest]

Yeah, collars are a bit conspicuous at a library. Though on that subject, while I know I shouldn't assume that Bianca just so happens to know a few places around town where it wouldn't be so conspicuous...

[Xuanwu]

Is the title, "But I'm a Cat Person" at all related to, "But I'm a Cheerleader?"

Bianca's book mandate is interesting. I wonder how long Being's can retain knowledge. Assuming they can live a really long time, I imagine they could have several library's worth of knowledge in their heads if they studied hard.

[SailorPtah]

Is the title, "But I'm a Cat Person" at all related to, "But I'm a Cheerleader?"

Yep, that's where I got it from ^_^

[Xuanwu]

Yay! Meganekko! Now I have a favorite character.

Ah, attack ads. They can be fun. I imagine Sparrow is looking forward to pointing out how their opponents spending plan will raise the national debt, how they voted in favor of war that they later tried to denounce, or maybe trot out their 2.0 GPA in college. All classics.

[Xuanwu]

Ha! A good summary of New England Republicans/RINO's - as conservative as suits their electoral needs, but never when it comes down to the real matter (Romney, Brown, Giuliani, etc.). It's a product of the general aura of hypocrisy that surrounds New England, which exemplifies the "Do as we say, not as we do" credo.

(It's why "commitment to diversity" is such a good punchline - as I know from personal experience, MA liberals are only committed to diversity up to the point where they have to do it, at which point it's slander and ostracize anyone who doesn't conform.)

[SailorPtah]

Dude, Xuan, not every political joke is an invitation for you to rant about non-Libertarians.

[Xuanwu]

Dude, Xuan, not every political joke is an invitation for you to rant about non-Libertarians.

I was ranting about New England politics, hardly the set of all "non-Libertarians." There's a lot of hypocrisy to make fun of there on both sides of the political spectrum and I'm glad to see you create a setup that can tackle it. I mean, this is the region that gave us some of the biggest bozos in politics today: Frank, Romney, Brown, Dodd, Lieberman, etc. with Chuck Schumer and Bloomberg right next door! I hope to see many of them lampooned through Sparrow's subplot. There are primaries, after all, where the opponents might not be as upstanding a representative of your respective party as you might like.

On a more serious note, now that we know the setting is MA, do you plan to explore some of the issues with race relations there? Again, from personal experience, I know minorities are often treated as second class citizens in that part of the country. Will we be seeing any of that from Bianca's perspective or personal history? This is another facet to New England that doesn't get enough of a spotlight, such as the gentleman's agreement "Whites only" areas in RI and CT.

Also: were Sparrow and Bianca born in MA or did they move there?

[flyboy254]

Do you often get like this when politics are mentioned?

[Xuanwu]

Do you often get like this when politics are mentioned?

Not all politics, just mainly ones related to that region of the country. MA is one messed up little state and has been since its founding (Puritans). On the funny side it has tons of hypocrites to mock. On the less funny side is the high prevalence of racism. (The two, of course, are related.)

[SailorPtah]

Along with Shine, BICP also has its very own Facebook page. Let's get a few +likes here!