SS6 13 Tea and cupcakes
skyangel on Jan. 21, 2017
The story so far: Since moving into the family home of her girlfriend Lucy, Sarah is convinced the house is haunted. At first she assumed it was Lucy's previous partner who died there in mysterious circumstances but now she is not so sure! An old lady Sarah met a short while ago said she had heard stories about the place and Sarah has now decided to visit her and find out what they are!
I find empathy a very interesting function of the brain as it's quite a vaguely defined area of study. We've all met ‘tactless’ people who seem to be unable to relate to anothers feelings or situation, however tragic or emotional that situation is and it's obviously easier to relate once you've experienced the same situation yourself. In the other direction though you do get people who either rightly or wrongly over-emphasise and say things like ‘I can imagine what you are going through’ even though they have no experience of it themselves.
An interesting aspect that I've heard about over the years, is that children who have grown up with domestic violence often have a more highly tuned sense of empathy than normal, no doubt from a need for self-protection.
I don't dismiss animals here either as there is much evidence around that pets etc are also very tuned in to an owners moods and thoughts!
So being a true ‘empath’is an interesting notion and I don't know how many people would claim to be, although I imagine there are many. As always though I'll leave it up to you to decide if you think Sarah really is in tune with the spirit world or just having her imagination fuelled by an eccentric old lady!
Have a nice week! :)
DarkVisor at 10:14AM, Jan. 26, 2017
Yeah, but that may just make things worse (ooo, we can directly reply now? neato-potato :D) Well, _sort of_ directly reply
DarkVisor at 8:58AM, Jan. 24, 2017
It's good that the old dear tried to tell Sarah that some of what she is experiencing may simply be 'in her head': sorta like a closed circuit of emotions feeding back on themselves, like what drove her out of Laura's room
skyangel at 2:37AM, Feb. 9, 2017
DV: It is quite possible it's all just been in Sarah's imagination from the start as she is the only witness to the weird events and she hasn't had much chance to discuss the details of her dreams with Lucy. At least now she has met a couple that do believe the house is haunted so she'll have even more to consider by the time she leaves.
nejnonein at 12:02PM, Jan. 23, 2017
Well, I think last week was possibly the first time I commented in these ten years (shame on me, though I did vote for this comic when it was nominated at least). Exciting things happening, can't wait to read more!
skyangel at 2:37AM, Feb. 9, 2017
nejnonein: Funnily enough I thought your username sounded familiar last week so I did wonder if you had commented here and there in the past. No matter though, it's still lovely to have heard from you now. I don't like anyone to feel pressured to comment either as I know from experience it can be hard sometimes, especially if somebody's already just said the very thing I intended to put!
skyangel at 1:43AM, Jan. 23, 2017
Infected: Hehe She's certainly going to get plenty of ideas get her mind going in the next few pages.;)
BearinOz at 7:02PM, Jan. 21, 2017
p.s. the "whites of his eyes" are a great example of "artistic licence"...I read somewhere, it's the fact that we as a species have large whites that allows such good communication, not just between ourselves, but with canines too. They always look us right in the eye, to suss us out, whereas with their own species, they don't .
skyangel at 2:38AM, Feb. 9, 2017
Bear: Originally, the truth about Laura's death was about 2 pages long but there were a couple of things about it I was uncomfortable with so I kept going over it and looking for a better option, which is where the idea of the haunted house first started to catch my imagination. The rewrite developed quickly from that point on as everything I wanted just fell in nicely with the already published pages. The crow itself started off as merely an atmospheric image but because of my love of Poe's work and the enthusiasm from the readers about it's repeated appearance it too has grown in importance. I'm committed to keeping the limit on my page count though otherwise I might get too engrossed in the legend and forget the real direction of this story!!
BearinOz at 6:57PM, Jan. 21, 2017
Ah! The Carlingford Crow...I knew old "Quoth" had to have a back story B-) ...I love the "gimme a bikkie" dog in that middle panel too !
moizmad at 1:54PM, Jan. 21, 2017
Love your background detail, the furnishings etc., I fail in that dept. Doggie is so cute! Ah, the crow...now you're talking, I've had my eye on that bird for awhile now. And the old girl, she's very perceptive I must say. Can't wait to hear what George has to say.
skyangel at 2:39AM, Feb. 9, 2017
Mo: Being as you love the crow you'll enjoy hearing the legend that's about to be unfolded by the old lady's husband. Your art always impresses me, for too many reasons to list here. As for detail though I've seen some spectacular architecture on your pages and the hand colouring always creates such a great atmosphere.
Phantomduck at 11:00AM, Jan. 21, 2017
And down the rabbit hole, we go.
skyangel at 2:40AM, Feb. 9, 2017
Phantom: Very soon! ;)
Infected Blood at 9:12AM, Jan. 21, 2017
I vote for her imagination to be fueled by a lot of stuff, but I'm enjoying this, anyway! :D Pretty dog, by the way, I love his/her expression in the third panel :D
KimLuster at 6:26AM, Jan. 21, 2017
Excellent page... Well I'm still waiting to see if you're to introduce the overtly paranormal into this story. So far it's been really grounded in 'reality', but if anyone were to be a real Empath (in the paranormal sense, being able to sense spirits...) - I think Sarah could be!! And now, the Carlingford Crow tales - can't wait!! and yeah, animals might be real empaths haha
skyangel at 2:40AM, Feb. 9, 2017
Kim: As Sarah gets more deeply involved in this mystery she will become more open to suggestion and feel more convinced there is something paranormal going on but from our point of view we may just see her as slipping into paranoia. The evidence the reader needs to make up their own minds though does get stronger as we reach the 'truth'.
DarkVisor at 5:33AM, Jan. 21, 2017
Heh heh, enjoying the doggie in panel three :D ... Being empathic is not as fun as people think it is, and the stronger they are the worse it is: how do you know the feelings you have are truly yours, or if you are picking up on someone around you? You also can not simply turn it off, the best you can do is tune it out
skyangel at 2:40AM, Feb. 9, 2017
DV: I think this is possibly the problem Sarah is having. She's a very logical person and would normally be very sceptical about such things so she's looking for more reasonable explanation, which no doubt is to assume most of it is just imagined.