Page 900…
Wow. What a powerful statement at the last panel.
A good one for our 900TH PAGE!
Don’t you think?
Thank you all for reading along. For your support in all things. For coming back each day.
I’d say I wouldn’t be doing this without you…but I’d be lying.
I’d still be doing Dreamland…all alone and miserable…but I’d still be doing it…ha ha.
But it’s SO much better with you all here. So thank you again.
Here’s to another 900 pages. RIGHT?
🙂
See you guys all tomorrow for the start of a new month…and we’ll start some vote incentives.
In the meantime. Feel free to spread the word of our 900th page. It’s kind of a big deal.
Not as big of a deal as 1000 will be. But that’s another 100 updates away. See you in 4 months for THAT one!
Scott
Wow. Powerful speech by Nastajia, indeed! It’s awe-inspiring. It almost makes me want to stand up and make some serious direction with MY life!
Speaking of voting… Here’s the URL!
http://www.topwebcomics.com/vote/4274/default.aspx
🙂
Oh, and it really is a fantastic 900th page… 🙂
Woot! Congrats on 900! Only 100 more ’til you reach the big 1000!
On a story-related note, I believe that the reason Alex is just stumbling through life is that he just hasn’t found the one thing he’s good at, yet. However, if he’s hoping to just stumble into that, he’s not going to get very far in life. I agree with Staj… Alex needs to take a more active role in his own life.
Oh Snap! Someone got told!
A realy good 900th page! Edifying, i could say!
I’m feeling a bit like both right now… I might have a world of possibilities (only in one world, though! =P), but some have bem thrusted and i can’t just let abbandon… not that i want, but i do miss the time when i had free time!
Wow. That’s a really epic speech, Nastajia. Definetely one to spring him into action, or at least intense reconsideration of himself and his life goals. Thanks for making these pages well worth the wait to stay up for, Scott. I rather dislike a 1 AM bedtime, but as I have a hard time sleeping lately unless I check the page, it seems I have no choice. Vacation next week will be painful, but I still will fight for extra days down there. Being the Jersey Shore, wouldn’t many?
I wasn’t done yet, Fiorye. *pushes cat aside* Nastajia’s got to be the first to have faith him to do great things. Nicole and Dan could only point out his short-comings, but Nastajia points out his great potential. Coming from her, that’s got to have an impact on him.
I just have to say, as a 3D artist, that I do NOT envy whoever had to rig Nastajia’s hair for this scene. @_@. Ouch. They did a fantastic job with it, though.
This page is in all of my favourite colours, and I love it. I must say I can kind of relate to Alex at this point. I feel a bit as if I got told, too. Which is definitely quality storytelling.
We love you Staj!
🙂
It’s such an awesome statement. I’ll have to wait until next Wednesday to catch up. I’ll be on vacation with no internet access. Dreamland Chronicles are always the first webcomic I check when I come home from vacation.
I think you’d have to work pretty darn hard to stay unmotivated with a gorgeous girl you’re crazy about talking you up like that!
Not that I think we’ll see a new Alex immediately, but if there’s a better reason to get his butt in gear, I can’t think of it!
Great 900th page, Scott! Here’s to the next 900! 🙂
strongly disagree with her reasoning. at his age, alex is a typical american college student. this is one of the reasons i love the israeli draft – what does an 18 year old know about who he is or wants to be? after serving in the army, they know more about the real world, make better choices on what they choose to study. as an american ex-pat in israel, i am 100% certain this is a better system. alex needs to know about everything that’s out there…so he can make an INFORMED decision. her criticism is out of line.
How many young, male comicbook heroes go through the first part of their tale being reactive and only later become proactive? Could it be that Alex is about to take that step? He certainly has a fan in Nastajia cheering him on!
It will be interesting to see how much his character changes from here on out.
I always had a suspicion that when Alex was torn away from Dreamland by the sword, part of him stayed there. Maybe the assertive, confident part that needs to be reunited with him. That would mean that Nastajia is talking to “half a loaf” right now!
I agree with Michelle/Spas that Staj is out of line.
Sure she sounds all reasonable and whatever, but really she is just trying to remake Alex into something he isn’t yet.
What she’s saying may sound good, but just what does she want him to do?
He’s already spending all his time in dreamland trying to help her recover the tablets, & maybe find her parents. How many goals does she need him to have?
Anyway, he’s learning as he goes (don’t we all), so he may well find what he’s good at. And you really can’t push someone into motivation in any case. You can inspire ’em sometimes, but pushing just results in unhappiness. Witness Alex right now!
Finally, Alex made it into college – not everybody gets THAT far – so he has a good chance to learn stuff there. It won’t matter much what his long-term goals are if he’s put in so much stress he can’t learn to fly and they are stuck in this village the rest of the story…
Man, I really care about this stuff, don’t I?
I think that Staj has a point. Even at 18 I had at least SOME direction in my life. Not neccessarily “I want to do this for the rest of my life” But I had some goals (Get married, have kids, etc).
This is the most awesome 900th comic ever!
Nastajia’s really made a good point here, one that speaks beyond internal dialogue between the characters.
1)I haven’t been able to sympathize with Alex’s character very much, but there is a distinct revelation in the way others care about him that suddenly makes him feel more valuable.
2)I want to put my goals into words, now(but elsewhere). There’s a lot to be said for being intelligent and capable but lacking direction, and the motivation to change something about yourself so that you become who you want is very hard to gather. We don’t all have a pretty elf in love with us to tell us how much it’s worth doing. 😉
Wow…I almost feel as if she’s talking to ME! ^,^; (I’ve been leaving a LOT to chance. Despite the fact that some people keep telling me I need to start making decisions and stuff.)
…Well, chance seems to be working well for me so far! (But perhaps Alex oughtta listen to her–he’s got the makings for greatness.) ^_~
Nastajia looks sooooo pretty in panel 4!
Very nice milestone page! *claps* ^.^
Thank you, thank you.
Characters we can actually like, a great tale.
Great speech Nastajia, and cheers to 900 pages! 🙂 I’m getting the feeling that Nastajia is a little jealous of all the choices that Alexander possibly has? It’s sweet that she wants Alexander to have the life that she’ll never have, a boundless, “I can do anything!” Life. But she needs to be a bit more patient with Alex, I mean, no one can mature overnight.
Alexander Carter, if you disappoint that girl, you’ll regret it; maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon, and for the rest of your life. On a brighter note, congrats Scott on making 900 pages(I saw an interview you did on youtube… I never knew you did some covers for Spider-Man… sweet!)
900! Wowza! Congratulations to you, Scott and to all of us also for GETTING to come back to read everday. Thank gondess for the invention of the internet and for your creative skills!
Woo! *tosses confetti*
Thank you all. And good morning.
I wont’ get into arguments with anyone…but I do think that even at a young age (my boys are 6) people have desires. Things that they excel in. Sports, hobbies, and such.
If parents encouraged these…and teachers encouraged them as well. As they did with my art. Then I think more students would enter college with a clearer direction.
EVERYONE has a talent. EVERYONE has something they love to do.
I was blessed to grow up with parents who fostered my art talent and encouraged me to pursue it…at a young age.
Anyways. I’m so glad you guys liked the page. I better get working on more.
🙂
HAPPY NINEHUNDRED!
I think it’s simply a matter of some people taking longer than others to find themselves.
I have no issues with the storyline. I’m sure it’s all part of the ongoing arc and we’ll see some interesting changes in Alex, including, possibly, ones we don’t like.
But, in real life, he’s happy, if aimless. He’s never needed to step up. And, frankly, as others have stated, he’s stepping up now, to help everyone. He doesn’t shy away from battle. He tries to do what he needs to.
He’s been thrust from a aimless life back into his childhood fantasy and suddenly a new world has opened up to him. Of course he has no clue what he’s going to do about it.
So, again, I love where the story’s going, but from a real-life perspective, I think Nastajia is frustrated, impatient, and out of line. She’s been forced into this life. He’s never needed to be responsible. He’s never learned to be. It’s not natural or automatic for him.
Congratulations^^
Actually he has not one, but *two* worlds of possibilities open to him. 🙂
I have to admit I was kind of like Alex. I went to college, because it was “the right thing to do”. I looked through the major descriptions and picked psychology because it looked ‘easy’. I enjoyed it, and got my bachelors even. But now? I am a Computer Programmer…. Yeah, unless you are a person who found their calling early in life, it can be hard to figure out what you want to do with it.
Well done, Scott. Thank you for sharing your art, your gift, not only with the world, but also sharing moments with my family. 900 incredible works of art and hoping for 9,000 more!
Michelle, my 9 year old daughter says you are wrong, that boys are such jerks. That teaching them to march and shoot guns doesn’t fix that. She says that they either know what they want to do or they are little boys forever. She says Alex doing things for others is a good thing, but not the same as maturity, that’s just being nice. He’s not doing it for himself yet.
Somehow, I believe if Nastajia would abdicate, Nancy would be right at the front of the line to assume the throne.
Congrats on 900!!! (Only 100 more to the big 1,000 😉 ) Thanks for continuing to write and create such a great story, Scott!
Nancy sounds like a real pistol. 😉
hey congrats Scott and the Dreamland team – pretty amazing stuff!!
Wow, I cant beleive it has been 900 pages. It seems like only yesterday I found out about this wonderfull comic. Congrats on page 900 and heres to at least 900 more!
Wow, the archive has almost doubled since I first read it.
You all may think Nastajia is demanding, but Alex is the first 20-year-old human that anyone in Dreamland can remember. She couldn’t know the norm for his demographic. Male elves her age must have a clearer sense of direction.
GREAT PAGE !!!
And a nice commentary on the post-teen immaturity that is RAMPANT in our culture today.
IT IS ABOUT TIME HE STEPPED IT UP!
can’t wait for the next 100 pages .. congrats!
(and It’s ok to use the pics we sent of Emilee at Hereos Con)
I’m sorry. I do really enjoy this comic, but I’ve got an immature mood on today.
THRUST
*gigglesnort*
Great dialogue on page 900, Scott! Well done!
Thanks all!
TedRx…I’m still wading through the hundreds of emails. Please tell Emilee I haven’t forgotten about her.
NINE HUNDRED PAGES!!! CONGRATULATIONS NASTDROVIA SALUD PROST!!! *insert Arsenio Hall barking noise here*
Wow! Nastajia is given Alex what for. Well, we know who wears the pants in THAT relationship XD
wow Scott congrats on 900. i full heartily agree with your statement about talents and parents and teachers nurturing them. has Alex even decided on a major?
“I’d still be doing Dreamland…all alone and miserable…but I’d still be doing it….”
Does this remind anyone else of Top Gun?
YESSS!!! 900!!!! 😀 Awesomeness!! 900 more fo SHO. 😀
Huzzah! An excellent 900th strip! Now, to 1800… and beyond! 😀
Quick show of hands! How many of you have teenage friends/relatives that show a frustrating lack of ambition/desire to improve themselves/passion/etc.?
I have some nephews that were never encouraged to work on their interests and now they’re working at grocery stores rathrer than going to college. They’re smart enough, they just don’t want to work for anything.
As someone who has taught/worked with High Schoolers for about 4 yrs now, I know that most don’t have the drive or determination that Naj is looking for in Alex. College students seem to have even less than High Schoolers, maybe that is just the reverse maturity that happens when they leave home. While I think it is unfortunately normal for Alex not to have a ton of ambition (way too common these days), I think with the opportunities he now has he should step up and take a commanding role in his life. He has the opportunity to get the hot girl, and possibly the Throne as well, what other motivation does he need!
Hot girl = all the motivation a young boy needs?
Interesting theory.
🙂
I know I’m late with this, but can I beg you to leave Nastaja’s hair down (you said it wasn’t permanent …)? She’s absolutely stunning this way 🙂
Wonderful page!
You know, it’s funny Scott. If I recall correctly you had been apologizing in advance for this part of the story because it would be long on words and not so much on action. Sure, the action stuff is good – but scenes like this are wonderful too. Learning more about who these characters are, what they hope and dream, what they struggle with – all of that adds so much more depth when they do get caught up again by the need for action.
Plus, it can take days for an action sequence to unfold one page at a time (remember the ship crashing into the mountain?), but words can place it all into a greater context that changes everything – and do it in a single well-chosen panel. Let me give a well known example from the movies:
“No Luke. I am your father.”
Sometimes words are worth a thousand pictures – but in either case, you’re doing great at both. Here’s to 900 more pages!
Mister Rik…Sorry. But I’ll consider letting her hair down in the future again.
Xaxnar…
Thanks man.
I knew I was enjoying this chapter (writing it) but was afraid all the talking and feelings would turn people off.
Good to know (so far at least) I haven’t pushed anyone away.
Oh…and thanks for ruining Star Wars for me!
😛
900 pages, and an excellent page for the milestone!
And remember, the voting begins anew tomorrow, let’s get in the top 10 early! 😉
http://www.topwebcomics.com/vote/4274/default.aspx
I have to admit, you’ve struck a nerve with me on this page.
Your fictional characters, which I love and have been following for a long time now, have now paralleled my current situation in life.
I just don’t know what to do with myself. The thing of it is, I don’t just want to do merely what *I* want to do with my time here on Earth, I want to do what God wants me to do. I do not want to choose a path that delights me, only to later find out that God would rather I have chosen something else. For me, it’s not about whether The Lord will accept me or not… I know that He will never forsake me or abandon me.
No, for me, it’s about whether or not I make Him PROUD. I don’t want to be mediocre. He’s blessed me with all of these wonderful talents and abilities… I just don’t know what He wants me to do with them.
I’ve been struggling with this for years now… and I just seem stuck. I don’t think that I have enough time on this earth to just start “trying things out” on a trial and error basis. I don’t want to be 35 before I figure out which direction I’m supposed to be headed in.
I know that you are a tenderhearted person, it comes through in your words to us your readers, and in your role as creator of this fictional world… your “fingerprints” that are there for all to see. That is the only reason I’ve submitted this to you. I don’t necessarily expect that you will be moved by my situation, but I do think that you will notice that I posted this, and perhaps, if you’re not overwhelmed, you might be willing to throw some advice my way, if you have any. If not, believe me, I understand. I haven’t found anyone with advice that has helped me solve this problem yet. Most people seem content to do what *they* think that they want to do, until they die of old age.
If you’ve got any advice, I’m all ears, Mr. Sava. If not, thank you for listening to me pour my heart out in the comments section of your webcomic here on the Internet. God bless, and thank you so much for your creations and for continuing to share them with us all.
~Brandon
Also, just in case you are unable to see my email address, it is AngelicLionheart_at_gmail_dot_com.
And it’ll be in a blink of an eye that you will be at 1000 PAGES!! WOOOOOOO!
(teehee…”thrust” :P)
yes, 6 year olds may have dreams and high school grads may know they want to get married and have kids. but alex is already in university, as has been pointed out, and is CURRENTLY investigating his options. it’s not something I think should be rushed…and I do think the American system forces young people to choose faster than MOST people are ready and while they still have zero discipline. Scott, you’re the exception to the rule, the top 10% who are ready at age 18. Some of my friends started out in the pharmacy or engineering programs – 90% have no idea. this is reality! ask a career counselor, they’ll tell you. but i see tom flapwell’s point, regarding nastajia’s pushiness on the issue.
This has been a great scene, and this page so far takes the cake! Congrats on the 900!
It’s certainly not an easy thing for Alex to work towards a direction in his life, but I believe it’s definitely a worthwhile goal, whether he’s “ready” for it or not. Who’s ever really “ready”, anyway? The best way to learn is sometimes by doing, or “trying to do” at least. That said, I see a lot of myself in Alex…and yeah, it’s not an easy thing to tackle.
Also, one thing to keep in mind is Nastajia’s upbringing vs. Alex’s: very different. From the way it seems, Nastajia’s world requires her to act like a grown-up and make tough decisions a lot sooner than our world (and Alex’s, of course) asks us to do, so with that in mind, I’d say her argument is very valid.
Here’s my 2 cents’ worth, which I’ll split into three comments, so as to not be too burdensome in a single post…
About Alex:
Regardless of a system that pushes people before they’re ready, regardless of the “typical” college boy who has no clue what he wants, there is more at play, here, with Alex. He not only has no clue, he’s been a loafer for much of his life: just doing the strict minimum to get by. Sure, he’s in college. Does that mean he knows what he wants? I don’t think so. I get the feeling that since conventional wisdom says “to get a good job, you need education”, that was the logical thing to do, but he’s still loafing… In fact, we know he’s been doing _less_ than the strict minimum, since he now has to go to extra lengths to get extra credits, just so he doesn’t fail his school year. He’s still as aimless as ever. In a manner of speaking, one might see his brother Dan as Alex’ security blanket, being in the background, and making sure Alex does not fall too far behind… Until now, Alex has merely been a goofball, having fun whenever possible, and not looking nearly enough to what would come later.
So far, while he enjoyed Dreamland, he did not truly believe it was real (as per his own words). So to him, it was just a nice escape from reality, a fun vacation of sort. Only now, it’s starting to dawn on him that it’s more real than he thought, that the people he cared about in there are indeed in danger, and that he has a role to play in making things better. Discussing things with Nastajia is starting to make it dawn on him that he’s not just there to have fun, but that things may go really wrong if he doesn’t shape up. Up ‘til now, it was more of a “I get a nifty armor? Cool!”, rather than “I got the sword, which may mean I end up King of Dreamland, with all its responsibilities and stuff? Woah!” Alex never had to be mature in his life, so this will take some time, although it does look like it’s starting to happen, some.
My 2 cents’ worth, continued…
About Nastajia:
I don’t think she’s pushing too far. She is having an honest discussion, pointing out facts, speaking the truth in love. She may sound like she’s criticizing Alex and, to a point, she is. But, she is doing it to shake him up and out of his current complacency. She, having lived with a royal upbringing, truly understands what is at stake here, and is trying to convey this to Alex. What’s more, she not only wants him to understand the level of responsibilities that will be thrust upon him (as was thrust upon her, when her parents disappeared), but she also mentions the other side of the medal: What does Alex want to do with his life? What are his aspirations, his deepest desires? What will he do in order to achieve those? He can’t simply let life toss him about, and hope to accomplish something, somehow… More than just shoving responsibilities upon him, she wants him to consider the question “Who/what do you want to be when you grow up?” (Seeing as technically, he has not done much growing up emotionally, as opposed to her.) While it may be quite acceptable, in our world, to be at the level/stage that Alex is, it simply won’t cut it in Dreamland. In the end, from what I see from this current comic (which is, BTW, as far as I have reached through the archives… I tend to read the comments, too, so it takes me longer to go through the story…) she doesn’t want Alex to merely be someone who has a lot of stuff to do in order for things to go right, but someone who has goals, dreams, aspirations, and who will strive to achieve them. That way, she can share in those dreams, and therefore share a closer part of his life and be more closely knit to him than she is currently. She already loves him, and is (as far as I can tell) willing to spend the rest of her life with him, but to get closer, she wants to be able to share in his dreams and aspirations, so that they can take that lifelong journey together as full partners. I like the fact that she has known him enough to see through the goofball façade, and can perceive that there is more to Alex than what’s on the surface, and she is now trying to encourage him to dig deeper and find out just what is below that surface.
My 2 cents’ worth, final chapter…
About the Kingship:
I am not certain Alex has fully grasped that he may just be the one who will be the King of Dreamland. He understands he has a role to play in freeing Dreamland from the tyranny of Nicodemus, but has it fully dawned on him? Even Nastajia did not believe it, originally (which is why Arvamas has to specify: “They did not specify who would be the recipient of this armor, nor if they would be king, they simply stated that if a human came to us with the sword… he was to be given this armor.”) I do believe she is starting to believe it, though. It would have less to do with Alex’ lineage and more to do with his heart, his inherent goodness, his bravery when called upon to be brave, and so on… But, as stated above, she doesn’t want him to be king just because he’s “supposed” to be, but that he would want this to be part of who he is.
One thing that I find interesting is this: she is saying he can do anything he desires _in two worlds_ … To me, this seems to imply that they (the Dreamlanders) are prepared to have a human king who disappears every time he wakes up in our world… Given that Dreamland does not seem to be merely part of REM sleep, but a real place people go to, and that yet, they do not suffer fatigue upon waking up, it is quite possible that those who would be king of Dreamland end up living two distinct lives, one in our worlds, one in Dreamland… Of course, that is not the only possibility, and it has been so long since a human king was in Dreamland that they forgot the specifics of it… it may be that somehow Alex will eventually go through some sort of portal to end up in Dreamland permanently. I don’t know. But this comic just provided that it may be possible to live the rest of his life in both worlds. Of course, this could bring about another set of difficulties, as time goes on, such as being already married in Dreamland, and suddenly falling in love in our world as well, and so on… but for now, he could very well use this time to learn in our world stuff that would be useful for him in Dreamland (like was mentioned in previous comments, like “Monarchy 101”…) Things like diplomacy, astronomy, dealing with intercultural differences, and so on…
Having said all that (see previous three comments), I have to say I truly admire this comic, Scott. Not only is the art great, but the story has enough to catch people, with different levels of actions, so that while kids will read the adventure and enjoy it, older people, like myself (42 at this time), can enjoy the subtleties as well.
Of course, don’t take my word for it: you merely need to see all the speculation that has been generated by your comic to see that this is true…
Congrats on a fine comic!
Wow..I love her expression in the 5th panel…God I love your comic and the characters Scott. Their development, personalities, relationship and the artwork of the books…I love it. I’m a new fan.
Err 4th panel 😀
She is teaching him bad habits.
I don’t approve.
A person who has hopes and dreams is free to follow them, but one shouldn’t be thought less of for not having such things. It bespeaks of the freedom to take satisfaction from the many things as they are. With no plans, how can one be thwarted by them?
The wise man frets not over the future and the past, but thinks of the present. He does not bury himself with the troubles and complications of life, and instead focuses on the simple, vital things. In keeping his future empty, he carries the potential in it for all things.
Besides, nothing good ever came of taking things seriously. ^_^
… I can just hear Alex thinking “Okay, MOTHER”
Ah now we’re getting to the root! You can be free in your choices, I can’t is what Nastajia’s saying. She’s being honest with her emotion’s, I like that.
Not to mention the fact that it also doesn’t encourage you to find something you love. The school is designed so you do a little bit of everything instead of investing your efforts in something you’re interested in. At an age such as twelve, interests could be harvested into something big but it’s squelched by the fact that you have to spend hours attending other classes that just don’t interest you; boredom is inevitable and you don’t learn when you’re bored.