689 | A Fool's Errand

689 | A Fool’s Errand

April 13, 2014 | 6:43 pm, by Pascalle Lepas

Come back Thursday for another page.



Comments

  • Canin Christell

    …I still enjoy the historic sci-fi appeal of your ships.

  • Psithief

    Luckily he never got to ‘F’.

    There are no good names starting with F.

  • Darkoneko Hellsing

    Andromeda, Bathsheba, Cassiopeia, Daedelus ? I see Zap has the same naming scheme I do :D

  • ShadeTail

    I am sure that Fae, Faida, Fallon, Farida, Farrah, Faviona, and Faye would beg to differ. And that’s just some of the Fa-s. ^_^

  • sunphoenix

    Fredrika, Flora, Francesca, Frida…

  • safyrejet

    Phhpth, are they party poopers. Friend searching for a dream girl, aren’t guys supposed to play wingman or something.

    I can’t help but see a Rupee in Daedelus’s ship there. When she needs to refuel, does she smash pots? ;P

    I just realized something, their psychic woosh colors match their eye colors, don’t they?

  • S’up!

    I guess by the time of this comic events good old Alice and Bob were long forgotten.

  • hkmaly

    … Fiona …

    … although, looking at Bathsheba, I’m not sure his taste matches ours.

  • hkmaly

    No. Their eye color matches their psychic woosh colors.

  • Lenat

    Is it just me, or does hair length have something to do with search range?

  • Speedy Marsh

    Zap didn’t watch Bathsheba clean her filesystem, did he? Bad things always happen after you watch Bathsheba bathe. Just ask
    Uriah the Hittite, King David, and David’s children.

  • Speedy Marsh

    After everything that’s happened, I bet Zap would name the next one FUBAR. XD

  • Speedy Marsh

    Funny thing happened when Zap was developing holographic highlighters for his holographic books. He got the color palette all set up the way he wanted it, and saved it with the name of his favorite pet from when he was a kid. Two seconds later, he realized that he had used the same filename for the color palette of his holographic AIs.

  • Psithief

    All of those are still terrible names!!

  • So if I understand Zap correctly, he’s saying that he was drawing a paycheck from the GEF to build nakey AI girls? He must have an interesting resume. :3

  • mirrim

    I do actually wonder how Zap was able to pull this off under the GEF’s watch.
    Theory 1: He earned their trust to the point where they just thought, “Meh, just give the kid whatever resources he asks for.”
    Theory 2: Psychic. ; )

  • porque no los dos. :)

  • thank you! A lot of people didn’t get the retro-styling and I was sad.

    So I appreciate that you get it! :)

  • safyrejet

    I don’t think I’ve ever said it, but I will now. I love the style you’re using for your sci-fi ships and technologies. Don’t be sad.

  • safyrejet

    I would probably go with Farore. With all the nerds who regularly comment here I’m surprised no one’s mentioned it yet.

  • Mike

    Dude, I am building sentient naughty magazines that can fly around, and you’re NOT wanting to help me?

  • oh…i didn’t get that at all…i have been wondering this entire time why the super special ships were so simple looking…

    now i want to scan a bunch of retro vids and see what their ships look like.

  • boxesofboxes

    If Zap’s the falcon, and Gunner’s the serpent, what’s Efrem?

  • Cy

    Look up the old Terran Trade Authority books by Stewart Cowley. They were my favorites growing up and the ships from Zap remind me of them.

  • Speedy Marsh

    Theory 3: He pitched it as a morale booster for pilots on long, lonely patrol missions. Beats a bobble-head any day.
    Theory 4: He pitched it as a morale booster for old, lonely generals. Beats old Matlock reruns any night.

  • Speedy Marsh

    The whipped puppy. Cowering, tail between its legs – his is a truly awe-inspiring tattoo.

  • Speedy Marsh

    They remind me of the old Flash Gordon reruns I used to watch as a kid. I think that was before we got a color TV, so I didn’t even know that the show was black and white. Yep, I’m that old. :)

  • Yes, Flash Gordon. It is that classic cheesy sci fi look that Zap! was modeled after.

    http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2HEjt3p9DrA/T2Ohd1yGyBI/AAAAAAAAAls/k-g1cAO0bec/s1600/RetroShip.jpg

    Should have gone more Star Wars maybe in hindsight (or been a better artist at the beginning when I was designing everything), but I just like the hokey stuff better.

  • safyrejet

    Goat, as in scapegoat? I feel like there was something about this at one point, I vaguely want to say tiger. But I don’t have time to crawl through the archive searching for something I may be remembering about something completely different.

  • Justrereadzapmakesmuchmoresenz

    Sneaky Pas… you snuck Oscar in on page 686 didn’t you

  • haha, no! not on purpose. Aside from his perfect Jewish nose, Oscar looks like generic bearded dude, though, so.

    ¯_(ツ)_/¯

  • Speedy Marsh

    No, I like the classic sci-fi look. Most new stuff of this quality is either modern or steampunk. It’s nice to see the style of ship I watched when I was really young, but with a well thought out, modern story and top quality art. I kinda hope you draw the wires holding up the ship in your pencil sketches, though. XD

    If you want to jazz things up a bit, you could study the detailing on some of the models used on classic shows. You could add pinstripes, weapons ports for retractable guns and such. You could even have Kasey add on some extra gizmos, if that would fit with the story.

  • haha, well it’s too late for any of that! I only have 31 pages left to draw. (You guys have about 70 left to read!)

  • Justrereadzapmakesmuchmoresenz

    Haha, delightful.

    …Also (・_・;) …

    I’ve always had a thing for Kasey and of course a bit for Naveed and Holly but… during my first and only reread I’ve felt a hitherto unappreciated crush for Reona.
    And like a brick wall the undeniable lack of Reona smut stands fixed upon the otherwise clear road of Zap! satisfaction.
    …and Excelsior doesn’t count.

    Moreover though, I haven’t really commented much over the years and after reading the archives again I really appreciate the effort you’ve put into this Pascalle. A big thumbs up to you.

  • boxesofboxes

    I just relized that hair length is related to search range.

  • Oh, so tricky! In my mind it related to the sophistication and advancement of the technology, but the hair length and complexity is definitely a visual cue to the progression of the AIs.

  • There is pretty much zero Zap! smut. I think there is one smutty fanfiction I came across years ago where Zap and Gunner psychically give each other Beejs and that’s about it!

    DISAPPOINTING.

    And I’m glad you relate with Reona on the second read-through! I always sort of thought of her as the main character. Zap’s emotional changes all happen before the start of the series, but you get to see Reona get stronger and step into a leadership role. I thought her arc was pretty rewarding.

  • Comments like this remind me that my attitude towards nudity may not be in line with the general public.

  • sunphoenix

    Renoa IS really hot.. especially when she’s drawn angry or with that shocked expression on her face! lol! She needs to be kissed more! :)

  • She and Zap make out so much, you will be sick of it!!!

  • Mike

    You have to admit they are a little… fan service-y. I’m sure Zap could’ve as easily made his avatars burly, fully clothed lumberjacks.

  • No, I don’t think they’re fan servicey at all. They’re nude-esque and not really doing anything sexual. There’s no nipples, no labia, no posing.

    This what confuse me about America! She get so excited about the naked-looking peoples.

  • Mike

    We confuse people. It’s what we do! Don’t mind me, I feel I made this way weirder then I intended XD

  • they look cool thanks!

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