Comic for Monday, Jan 30, 2012
Commentary
Posted January 30, 2012 at 1:00 am
- Clak
The boar was THIS close to having its "dialogue" translated. I know you can only imagine what I mean by "THIS" given that this is just text, but picture the tips of an index finger and a thumb close together. No, not that close. There you go.
Generally speaking, it is my preference that the animals don't talk. Maybe if it's a super intelligent space shark or something, sure, but not the average animal. This wouldn't have literally been the boar talking, as it would have just been a translation of what the boar was communicating to Grace, but it'd be too close to the literal approach of the boar spontaneously speaking English for my liking.
I actually did write dialogue for the boar, which is ironically what made me realize that the dialogue wasn't necessary. Grace's responses and the boar's responses make it pretty clear in context. At least, I hope they do.
*cough*
Clak about tusks
There's a darn good chance I've mentioned it in an earlier commentary, but boars sharpen their tusks every time they open and close their mouths. This is a piece of information that I keep trying to shove into the dialogue, but never really fits. This comic was the closest I've gotten to getting it to fit, but it just seemed more natural for Raven to focus on the sound and not the biology lesson of boar tusk sharpening.
The whole "clak" thing isn't based on anything specific I've read or been told, but on observed behavior. I've never been boar hunting (shocking!), but I have seen footage of people hunting and capturing live boar, and that appears to be a genuine behavior of threatened boars. I believe two valid translations for "clak", depending on the context, are "back off before I make you back off" and "I am going to gore the hell out of you the second I get free of these ropes."
As for why I spell it "clak" and not "clack"? I don't really know. I'm doing it that way now for the sake of consistency, but I honestly don't know why past me left out the second "c". I have a tendency to treat proper spelling as little more than a suggestion when it comes to sound effects, but I'm not sure what my issue was with the "c". I'll have to ask past me the next time I see him what's up with that.
The boar was THIS close to having its "dialogue" translated. I know you can only imagine what I mean by "THIS" given that this is just text, but picture the tips of an index finger and a thumb close together. No, not that close. There you go.
Generally speaking, it is my preference that the animals don't talk. Maybe if it's a super intelligent space shark or something, sure, but not the average animal. This wouldn't have literally been the boar talking, as it would have just been a translation of what the boar was communicating to Grace, but it'd be too close to the literal approach of the boar spontaneously speaking English for my liking.
I actually did write dialogue for the boar, which is ironically what made me realize that the dialogue wasn't necessary. Grace's responses and the boar's responses make it pretty clear in context. At least, I hope they do.
*cough*
Clak about tusks
There's a darn good chance I've mentioned it in an earlier commentary, but boars sharpen their tusks every time they open and close their mouths. This is a piece of information that I keep trying to shove into the dialogue, but never really fits. This comic was the closest I've gotten to getting it to fit, but it just seemed more natural for Raven to focus on the sound and not the biology lesson of boar tusk sharpening.
The whole "clak" thing isn't based on anything specific I've read or been told, but on observed behavior. I've never been boar hunting (shocking!), but I have seen footage of people hunting and capturing live boar, and that appears to be a genuine behavior of threatened boars. I believe two valid translations for "clak", depending on the context, are "back off before I make you back off" and "I am going to gore the hell out of you the second I get free of these ropes."
As for why I spell it "clak" and not "clack"? I don't really know. I'm doing it that way now for the sake of consistency, but I honestly don't know why past me left out the second "c". I have a tendency to treat proper spelling as little more than a suggestion when it comes to sound effects, but I'm not sure what my issue was with the "c". I'll have to ask past me the next time I see him what's up with that.
