Welcome to the Monday Blog…on Wednesday, written on Tuesday!
Tuesday’s strip inspired this blog and since it wouldn’t have been posted on Monday when my blog usually goes up, I decided to hold off on the blog until Wednesday. That’s how I roll. It’s my website, so I can do that.
But what was it about yesterday’s strip that I wanted to write about, you ask? The throw-away gag I included in it. Did you notice it? Go ahead and look again, I’ll wait.
*humming*
You saw it? Good, then you won’t mind sharing with the class. No? Okay fine, this little bit has gone on long enough.
It’s the book Nektara is reading, A Game of Scones, which is obviously a play on George R.R. Martin’s epic work, A Game of Thrones.
That’s it, you ask? Yeah, simple huh? I did say it was a throwaway gag, didn’t I? *reads back what was written earlier* Yes, I did.
Sometimes these throwaway gags are the hardest to come up with. They’re not integral to the plot, and some may not even notice they’re there. Why do it then?
To amuse myself. Drawing a strip is a lot of work (even if mine doesn’t always look it) and when you don’t get any reader feedback, then it can sometimes be hard to motivate yourself to continue. I think I touched on motivation in last week’s blog. Well, it’s just as true this week. Adding these little throwaways is an added challenge and if they get people talking, so much the better.
But why this gag? Well, Nektara was created specially for my friend, Carolyn. She’s a mega A Game of Thrones fan and I thought it would be nice to have Nektara be a fan as well, but of the Animus equivalent of that series.
But the gag didn’t stop there. I got to thinking about the world of A Game of Scones and came up with stuff that I don’t see that I’ll ever use in a strip, so I decided to share it here (you lucky folks).
- A Game of Scones follows the Main Houses in Peloros (Westeros) and their machinations to be the king’s baker.
- The Main Houses are Starch, Bannister, Marteau, Carafeon and Breyjoy (I couldn’t think of anything for Targaeryon).
- House Starch (Stark) is in the North, their cookies are always cold.
- House Bannister (Lannister) are the king’s carpenters. Their pastries taste like sawdust.
- House Marteau (Martel) are masons. Their muffins are as hard as rocks.
- House Carafeons (Baratheon) have the finest vineyards in Peleros (Robert Baratheon is a notorious drunkard). Naturally, their danishes are strong enough to make a fur drunk.
- House Breyjoy (Greyjoy) are the masters of donkey riding (navigating the sea). Their biscuits look like donkey droppings.
- One of the major protagonists is Jon Dough (Jon Snow), the illegitimate son of Ned Starch. (Illegitimate children are given the surname Dough (Snow) in the north.)
Way more work went into this throwaway gag than it should, but at least I had fun!