Page 998…
And there we have it.
The last of the Montage sequence.
I hope you’ve enjoyed them.
I put Orion’s page up for you all to read.
For those of you early birds who catch the comic as it turns…it’ll be 2 hours until you Top Webcomics starts a new day. So if you click the vote and you see Daniel’s letter…come back in 2 hours.
As for all of you who missed Nicole and Felicity’s letters. I’ll try to post one for Saturday and another for Sunday.
But after that…they’re gone.
OK?
These letters were ENTIRELY for YOU all. I hope you’ve enjoyed them. They were fun to do…but never intended to be read.
Had it not been for you…they would have been gibberish in the background.
🙂
Have a wonderful weekend.
And don’t forget…next week is page 1000!
Scott
Fantastic comic as usual
I think that yours is one of the best comics online
Really stands out from the rest
Serriously it is unique in not only art but writting
Thank you for your continued excellence
it’s superman
Enjoyed the letter, especially the hint of possibilities regarding Arthurian legend. It is a nice treat to be a current reader and get these inside scoop bonuses, so I feel sorry for those who will read these pages later. I hope you will include these letters in the books as yet another incentive for buyers.
I’m grateful for the chance to read the letters, personally… they offer little glimpses into the personalities of some of the characters we’ve all come to care for in one way or another. A good story guides you emotionally – this is definitely one of my favorites, Scott. I’m looking forward to enjoying the rest of the ride.
Terrific montage there, and seriously, I really do enjoy reading the letters. 🙂 Although probably not really into the Dreamland pages overall, it does give more life to the characters overall and a bit more insight on how they feel and react or think of things both of the past and present. And possible futures. 🙂
:thumbsup: Keep up the most excellent work, dude!
Agreed… please at least consider that as an option. Regardless of whether they were intended to be read or not, they’d be nice to have in a fully legible form in the print version.
wonderful! i had to read them and yes i do vote everyday, i think knowing what they are doing helps us come closer to the characters, scott please do keep doing this when its important to know whats going on not all stories are pictures but actual letters to people in dreamland like you are doing i think this is wonderful and shows how they are keeping connected to the ones that cant come to dreamland.
my only question… what happens to alex when he finishes what he has to do. does he have to make the choice to stay in dreamland or will he loose the connection i.e the necklace due he did what was needed to be done or will he loose the necklace.
I’d like to mention that the actual letter for today isn’t up on the voting page – it’s still Daniel’s letter to Orion.
Other than that, I’m really enjoying it. I was wondering along with Alex what Daniel and Orion’s secret messages were, and what Felicity and Daniel’s correspondences were as well. I’m glad to get this little window into their interactions.
Another big thumbs up for the letters. Backstory and exposition like that really fills out these characters and draws us all more into the story. Here’s hoping future incentives and little touches like these will continue into the future 😀
I would also like to put forth my thanks for the letters. I believe these letters are as important to the story as the montage taking place in the comic. To think they might be lost fevery is actually kind of sad. Hopefully we’ll get to see them again once these comics make it into a print version. I’d even like to see similar letters again in the future. I for one am very curious what Felicity and Nicole might continue to chat about as long lost friends seperated by such a strange void expecially as Nicole begins to accept Dreamland further and further.
Check the blog, it’s going to be a little bit yet til TWC updates their servers. Just check back in *looks at watch* an hour, and it’ll be up.
And just think, all of a sudden, Dreamland jumps from in the teens, all the way up to 4th place, and plenty more room to jump in the next 24 hours.
Just think what’d happen if there were awesome incentives like this all the time. 😀
lol, Orion’s letter today is pretty funny. nice work
“…just one of his new dreamland abilities.”? This keeps getting interesting!
If you didn’t see my last comment, I would like to re-iterate my support for publishing the letters in the book that these pages are put in – they are an invaluable addition to the character development, and fun to boot!
– Fr. Maurer
oh man now I want Dreamland abilities XD
yay! trust alex to find boulder-lifting cool. must appeal to the manly man inside of him. 😉
no, seriously that last “panel” made me giggle for a while. 😀
and wow, dan is evil. now I know the “hair horns” are there for a reason. (jk) 😀
such a blackmailer…
this is the first time in a while that i hv read ur comic…and it is still holding strong…cant wait to c wat happens nxt…keep up the good work…^_^
Alex does not have the proper stance for that lift.
As my crazy litterature teacher would say, “willing suspension of disbelief”. They probably don’t need a stance in dreamworld, not if it weighs like a paper ball to him. Anyway, how can someone have a correct stance with a rock like THAT?
At least let’s be happy that Alex can finally stand unashamed in front of kids in Dreamland. He’s probably thinking “mwahaha, who’s the boss now, you little squirts” (where the hell did that denomination come from ?).
I so so so agree with janey, Dan is really evil (although the hair horns have been already officially said to be a rendering accident, if memory serves). I mean, poor Alex must be getting paranoid at length.
You’re out of date, David! As of 6:47 AM EST, TDC is in 3rd place on TWC with less than 900 votes keeping it from 2nd!
I will try to make my next forum post contain even more abbreviations!
When you said you were going to do a montague sequence I didn’t think I would like it, but I really enjoyed yours you did a great job. Keep up the good work.
thank you for doing the letters for us. it has been a joy to read them. And thanks for the repost of the first two. Great page as always. You rock.
After seeing him lift that rock i have only one thing to say: There is no spoon 😉
Yesh! Alex lifitng the boulder. ftw! The montages have been a lot of fun & thanks for doing them. 😀
Thanks also & again for writing the letters for us. We very much appreciate it. They’ve been such a fun insight into the characters 😀
haha, I know they horns are not there for THAT reason. but I do think they’re so very fitting in that context. 😉
and I guess making your brother paranoid is a part of sibling love. 😀
Oh no!!! BEAST MODE!!!!!
LOVE the look on Nicole’s face! And all here have really enjoyed the letters. Thanks Scott! You make this so much more than just another comic.
It is more than just a comic! Hehe… and to think I found the ad for it on a website that said something like “He met the girl of his dreams…. literally.” I almost didn’t click because I wasn’t sure if I liked the kinda cartoony look… I’m so glad I did. And the look grew on me. I couldn’t imagine Dreamland any other way.
Though I wonder (probably too much) about the phrase in the ad… he met the girl of his dreams… literally. Would that mean she’d ever visit his world? That would be very interesting.
Thank you, Scott! I can’t believe I missed Nicole’s letter, but I’m so glad you’ll be posting them tomorrow.
natsija looks really helpfull on these last few pages…. i think she looks a bit like Nicole Kidman in Australia… but well, that’s just me…!
thanks for these last great pages Scott!!!!!
the netherlands…
Alex, you’ll never change. 🙂 So when they *finally* leave Aethos, do they take the bag with them so Nicole and Felicity can have a continous offscreen conversation? Somehow I see many comments of her appreciation for Alex sneaking in. *evil grin* Best friend but still a love rival, Nastajia.
I hope Alex lern how to use the falcon punch xD
um, just a thought….why cant orion just send a miniature painting through the medicine bag? with a skilled enough painter it can be just as effective as a photo, or even more so.
I stand corrected. The Dreamland Chronicles is now in sole possession of the second most popular web comic on TWC!
See, Scott? Wasn’t that easy? You just have to give your readers the right candy! 🙂
Physics works way differently in Dreamland. From dragons flying to humungous stone castles to falls without a scratch.
“If you can do it in a dream, you can do it in Dreamland” — from the “Vacation in Dreamland in 2009” travel brochure.
Yeah….EVERY DAY?
What’s crazy is…only 10% of my readers really wanted to read what was on the note.
I’m really surprised. I thought more would be interested.
Absolutely. Drawings would be fine.
But Dan wants more.
I love that kinda sad/stressed look orion has. it really goes with the comment about haveing two pupils.
I wonder…. We know that even a baby can fly in Dreamland. But just how many human children discover strength far beyond that in their waking state?
Let’s hope Alex doesn’t get x-ray vision. Not only would it be too derivative, but I wouldn’t trust him not to abuse it.
Said it before and have to say it again. Love the montages as well as the letters!
Ol’ Nicodemus aint gonna know what hit him…
Maybe a majority of your readers only read the main comic, and don’t bother to read the blog?
Even so, shooting all the way up to 2nd place on 10% of your readership in 4 days or so isn’t too shabby.
Actually I understand it. When you made the rather major restructuring of the site, I wasn’t aware for the longest time that you still had a forum. The link vanished and it’s substitute gave a strong impression of a link that would simply send an email to the author instead of a forum where you could see comments from other viewers. And due to this, if you don’t know a forum exists, you don’t know that the letters exist on the voting site.
Gah, I cannot see the letter! TWC just throws errors at me 🙁
That’s odd. I just checked. It’s fine.
Can you try a different browser?
I wanna know what’s been happening elsewhere in Dreamland while Alex was getting trained. I mean what was Nicodemus doing the entire time? He obviously wasn’t just sitting around doing nothing while our hero was getting stronger.
Weird, Chrome worked. Wonder what it didn’t like about firefox that it was fine with yesterday.
Nothin’ like blackmail to get Alex motivated XD! I also love Orion’s full name, ” Orion Alo Qaletaga.”
Does it mean anything? Aww.. the last of the montages :(. I really liked it! I also wonder what other powers Alex will discover…
Just want to say how much I’ve enjoyed reading the letters, and seeing the montage!
For those who want the letters republished, just keep in mind that he didn’t HAVE to make them available at all! Personally, I’m just thankful that I am a current reader who got this peek at the various personalities; it’s a very special touch to the comic!
Thank you for these four montages! Love them! The parts of the letters we can actually read and even those we have to imagine are very touching!
Keep up the brilliant work!
Okay, since I don’t have any other option right now but Firefox as a browser.. Anyone have any ideas for dealing with TWC’s error? This will be the second letter I will miss thanks to TWC’s errors. >.<
*Is part of that 10% that really wants to read the letters*
Thanks!
(And please don’t send me links on how to download free browsers like Chrome… I know how to do that, but the computer I have access to right now does not allow me to install a new browser, and I wont be back to MY computer until sometime next week.)
Thanks!
I’m interested! I’m interested! I’m just sorry I was out of touch the very week the letters are revealed… 🙁
Which version do you have, 3 or 3.5? Because I use Firefox 3.5 and it’s fine on my computer.
So are the letters going to be posted here on this site? If not can you throw the link up on FB for those of us old farts with bad memories who will forget to look here over the weekend?
Thanks for the excellent and ever entertaining wonderful work you do.
Here’s an idea. Daniel could put the parchment into an inkjet printer and use that to send pictures of Earth to Orion. Of course, it won’t help Daniel since Orion lacks an inkjet printer.. or anything to connect to one for that matter.
You’ll find out soon enough.
Promise.
It does. The names are Native American.
Seriously, I am getting a bit worked up reading this webcomic. I can’t get enough of it and the excitement builds up each day. I sooo wish it was an animated series. I would be all over it. =D
Scott, an excellent job, as usual! Thank you for taking the extra time to do this. I know that time could have been spent hanging out with your boys or spending some quality time on a date with your wife, so I appreciate that you (and your family, vicariously) took the time to add this for us.
Question: How do they not read the blog? It’s posted right underneath the comic book page on the home page for each day. Granted, maybe they don’t take the time to read the comments, but they can see that Scott said “I posted ‘such-and-such’- if they took the time to read past the buttons on the bottom, that is. Hmmm, now I need to go back and read Scott’s “Tutorial” on how to read this thing and see if he mentioned anything about leaving comments. Of course, even if he did, that would require someone reading that, since it’s not part of the main storyline….
But, at any rate, way to get second place, right below Phoenix Requiem (if you had to get beat by a comic, at least that’s a decent one to get beat by- unlike The Noob- which, no offense to the author, but it’s only been updated once in like a month or so and it was still beating this one all because people were too lazy to vote)!!! There is still time this month to get first, though- if people keep voting like they have. It appears your comic does get more traffic than Phoenix based on the number of votes that popped up in the last couple of days. Personal opinion- this comic is better. It’s definitely more family friendly, for sure- I can tell you that!!
NICE REFERENCE
That is odd, since Chrome and Firefox are both open source, Unix based browsers. Oh well- at least you got to see them (and to vote for Scott)!
What does it mean, out of curitosity? I know who Orion is (yay for Greek myth reference), but what’s the rest of it actually mean if the names were translated into English?
I for one, seriously appreciate you giving us the letters. Thanks!!
Click the vote incentive in the post above.
Aw, i missed Dan and Orion’s letters. Oh well! 😀
Doing a great job Scott!
Cant wait to get back into the comic.
“just one of his new dreamland abilities.”
That line worries me. It’s the perfect justification to pull any duex ex machina ability needed out of thin air. Someone made a Matrix reference below, but I think the ‘reality’ of Dreamland will end up much easier for Alex to manipulate than for Neo in the Matrix.
I hope Scott hasn’t accidently killed the story’s drama potential with this. (And why do I suddenly get this feeling that Nicodemus is another dreamer instead of a Dreamland native?)
Shame, missed Dan’s and orion’s correspondence too….nah..no biggie. I always viewed the letters as “the topping on an already exquisite cake..”
Felicity’s render looks really weakened by her ordeal .The “shaky” balance of her is conveyed very well in her stance. Nice bit of digital “puppeteering” .
Aww..and Nicole is soo cute when smiling. She really looks as if she has this “butterfly stomach” one gets when hearing or reading from a very dear person after a long time. That faint smile that just won’t go away…
Yup, been looking intensly at the pics and picking them apart for lighting, balance, characterization etc…can’t help myself, once an art-student, always an art-student
Ah’ forgot: Ah’m also one of them 10% likin’ them letters!
I’m sure that Alex’s abilities will be revealed in the upcoming days. Also, I expect we’ll find out about his limitations. If he is able to do anything he wants, such as part the sea with a sneeze Chuck-Norris-style, then the comic will lose it’s appeal.
I don’t think Scott will be giving Alex omnipotent power.
I expect that 50% of your “readers” may have the last name “Spider,” like “Web Spider,” “Search Spider,” “Bing Spider,” etc.
Actually, web site tracking filters those into a different category, so that’s unlikely. I wonder if it’s just lazyness, not caring, or if there really is something messed up with the numbers.
Scott,
Here’s your weekly reminder to put a request for a full-time sponsor/advertiser plus finder’s fee reward into your Dreamland News.
Just to be clear, the parchment (with ink on it) is the only thing that the bag will take back and forth to Dreamland, correct? I think you said that before. You implied here that a separate painting–not on the parchment–could be placed in the bag.
And also to remind everyone, NICOLE’S LETTER IS UP.
So those of you that missed it before have another chance to see it!
Hi all! I have an avatar now!
True, but it is less about physics than angle. He’s holding up the boulder in what appears to be the front half of the stone’s mass and leaning backwards. Since things can fall in dreamland, the boulder should roll back and drop behind him as he falls over backwards. That said, I looked at it with my glasses on, and his fingers are gripping the boulder, so he should be able to hold it up – but still fall over. 😀
Cool!
Who’s the hunk with you in the photo? And what hair product did you use to get that color?
Your skin looks great, BTW.
Nooo!! I missed Orion’s letter.
On my first attempt I logged on too early to read it, and saw Daniel’s instead.
Now I have logged on too late, and have Nicole’s again. I’ve been loving the letters, but I so hate missing a punchline.
I guess that’s what I get for doing my websurfing once the house is asleep.
I don’t think his position is that unreasonable.
First of all, the “camera angle” appears to be a shot from near the ground at his feet, several feet in front of him, which is exaggerating the apparent angle of his stance. If you take that into consideration, he could easily be under the center of mass on the boulder (and even if he’s not geometrically centered, the boulders mass is not really likely to be perfectly distributed anyway … ).
Second, the position of his feet, with one right foot slightly forward and more weight on the left (rear) foot, would give him a fair amount of leverage and balance to keep him from falling over.
Third, and arguably most important, is that he is probably either moving or just completing a move at that point. Consider how you would have to move to lift a rock that size (assuming the strength to do so). You would have to squat very near to the ground, get your hands as far forward and around the base as you could manage, then lift – mostly with your back at first (ouch!) because of your extended position – while quickly walking your stance under the boulder while rotating your grip to get under it and balanced. A half step to far would leave you with the weight of the boulder slightly off balance to your rear, which is where I see Alex in this picture. (A small step back with his right foot will restore near perfect balance in the next moment.)
(And for the record, a good bit of physics is about angles … )
Wow, I think everyone’s avatar changed or something. I used to have a Nastajia one all the time, and now it’s showing up as Alex. interesting…
Why do I have to be a troll?!!
You can be whatever you’d like. Just set up your own gravatar avatar.
Otherwise…you’re randomly given a Dreamland character.
And for the record…
you’re a cyclops.
🙂
I missed it what did chiron’s letter say?
I’ve loved these pages -and isn’t it amazing? You’re almost at page 1000!
My goodness, you’ve come a long way. And I’m happy to have been a reader (and so one tiny part of the process). It’s been so cool to watch this comic come along!
Thank you for an excellent story Scott. 🙂
woohoo 2 more pages
ooooo new avatar weee
I was away for a few days, and so missed seeing Friday’s page until now, and when I clicked on the voting button to see the letter from Orion, all I got was Felicity’s letter to Nicole.
Does this mean I missed reading the final letter, forever? 🙁
You can see Orion’s letter at this link:
http://thedreamlandchronicles.com/pics/OrionLetter.jpg
Thanks to Scott for not removing it from the internet ^^ I’d love to see more letters but that’s the only filename I could guess 🙁
Oh wait I just changed the filenames into whoever wrote the letters and I read them all! Yay 8D
Thank you!!!
Thanks to Jac for the link, and to Scott for throwing us fans a treat and (as Jac said) for leaving it up. I’m a tad OCD, and reading only 3 of 4 was really starting to get to me.
Oh! Thank you so much! 😀
If this was kind of against the rules, my sincerest apologies to you, Scott, but I’m extremely thankful that I got to read the final letter 🙂
I’m never going away during an exclusive release without the internet again 😛
Ditto!!!
😉
“Dear Daniel,
sorry, only parchment may go through the medicine bag, as DreamEx won’t insure anything more than a few rubles. On the other hand, Alex passed a stone today…”
Noooo! Stupid Nor-easeter came thrug and i wasnt able to read the last 2 letters :(:( ah well, enojy the story very much, keep up the good work:)
Rumor has it that you could use the link Jac posted a little ways up, and substitute the appropriate name for each of the four letters, and still see each letter.
You know how rumors are; but it couldn’t hurt to try …
😉
Perhaps Nicodamus is a dragon hibernating in some cave somewhere, for in many stories dragons lie dormant for long periods, sometimes centuries.
Nic may still be in a cave, but he’s probably not hibernating. You might recall that when last we saw him, he was in a cave, but it was swarming with dwarves bent on turning Nicodemus’ hide into boots, belts, and purses.
😉
The four last pages… simply beautiful
I’m so sad I missed all the letters. :'(
Yet another thank you! As a new reader, I was a bit disappointed. Thanks for posting the links.
Ah yes.Alex took the next to become a MAN! (with the caps and stuff).Lift rocks 30 times big as yourself.
uff.
P.S.:100th :).
COOL is totally right!!!!!!!!
Good montage, overall. I approve. However, I would be interested to learn a bit more about each of the conversations. What other kinds of things has Alex been learning from Orion? What have Orion and Dan been discussing? (Dan’s not the only one interested in centaur culture now…) What else is Nicole learning about Dreamlands from her conversations with Felicity? And given Nastajia’s initial mistrust of Felicity, it’d be hard to image that their discussions did not cover what Felicity did while working for Nicodemus, or what she learned during that time that could be useful for fighting him.
Sadly, only the letter from Orion is accessible that way. subbing in the other names does not go anywhere. Which really stinks because I didn’t start reading this comic until last year. Oh, well.
*Epic montage*
Cue the dubstep
*WUBWUB WUB WUBWUB WUBWUBWUBWUBWUB*