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imagine the ferryman

hooray

as a minor healing from c-ptsd, im really glad that there is a comic like laikas comet, and thank you so much for making it. it's kind of silly, but mars as a character means a lot to me. i don't have anyone like laika, so it's really comforting to see a story where i can imagine it was my life instead

im so glad!! and, if it makes you feel any better -

in real life, 'mars' and 'laika' are less separate characters to me. i wrote this comics concept years ago now for myself, because i did not have a 'laika' either.

the story of laikas comet, in a less literal sense than the actual lore of the comic, is about the adult part of me approaching and deliberately trying to re-parent and heal the child part of me.

i dont love the saying 'nobody comes to save you' because it seems very gloomy, but i do sometimes think i do my own healing process a disservice through this story in that the person who saved me was not a 'laika', but i became her myself.

but that was only possible because i was willing to believe i was worthy of being happy, and moving toward that light. and when i decided to communicate my feelings through a story, and tried imagining what 'good' in the world looked like, it was a person like laika.

so, i guess what im saying is - you have a laika! a person who wants to see the good in the world and wants to make it a better place. that's inside you right now.

I drew @k0r-kuarenticink0 's Oc:)

I really like the design of Lucifer, but maybe that's because i like star-like-head characters alot:)

Close ups under the cut vv

Plural Mars Analysis

This is just chapter 1 cause it's kind of late- let me know if you want more!! I have many thoughts on chapter 2 and 3 so far :]

I'll be posting pages of the comic for readability, but PLEASEEEE read it HERE!! I leave several pages out and it'd be really sad not to support the original.

It’s important to note here how the bunny plush very quickly switches from aggressive to hurt and scared. The aggression is a defense mechanism, but not one that Mars wants to use. It comes from fear of breaking their “normal”. Once it’s shown that Laika won’t be easily scared off, it stops and runs away. Akin to an opossum (which have a very weak bite strength) flashing its teeth. I believe that the bunny was never going to hit Laika, at least not very hard (especially when later it’s shown that Mars has extreme reactions to the idea of hurting people).

Ok very important 2 pages, cause SYMBOLISM!! Willow has mentioned before that they packed a lot of symbolism and hidden clues into Laika’s, especially involving Mars’ backstory in chapter 1. The motif of bunny, kitty, teddy is shown on these two pages, the second is the “intro” page for Mars. It’s not lost on me that these three plushies are in the debut shot. They’re a deep representation of them! This will be elaborated on later, but for now I’m going to break Mars down into 3 alters. Bunny (timid, flight response), Kitty (neutral/happy, protected from those emotions), and Teddy (serious, fight/fawn response). I’ll be referring to them by these names to keep the confusion to a minimum.

Here we see Teddy Mars holding the bunny plush (representing Bunny Mars) and once again trying to intimidate Laika into going away. This is a weaker attempt, and shows Teddy’s fawn response as well- they don’t want to offend Laika so they use polite language, but still ask a question that will help them understand how best to protect the system. They don’t drop their stars until Laika displays that she’s not a threat. Notice what Laika is saying and how Mars’ reaction shifts entirely…

This is because Bunny switches in! Teddy is still co-fronting (as they’re prone to do) to keep an eye on things, but generally lets Bunny lead the conversation. Right away you’ll notice that Mars’ claws go away. Teddy’s claws are often extended because they’re on edge and protective, but Bunny has softer paws (and a complex about hurting things). Teddy’s claws are out when they cast the magic because Bunny doesn’t use magic intentionally. Bunny seeks comfort from Laika as soon as they know she’s safe.

Arguably there’s a hint of Kitty Mars in here too, especially on the second page. Bunny’s body language is often very closed off and small, but when Mars offers to show Laika their room and toys, their posture opens up and their tone shifts!

During the first page Mars is very blended between Bunny and Kitty. This is to emotionally protect Mars as they walk past all the portraits of their past. I’ll explain more later, but Kitty Mars is walled off emotionally from (at least some of) their trauma, while Bunny bears the guilt for it. You can see them both emote during the conversation- up until Kitty blends in, Mars doesn’t really use any enthusiasm in their dialogue. Literally zero exclamation points. But between the two “oh!”s, Kitty peeks through in the conversation :]

Then there’s a bit of wind as Bunny talks more, subconsciously using their powers due to their melancholy. The mood gets more tense as they breach a painful topic.

Mars avoids the question, shutting down emotionally… Kitty is likely booted from the front due to the traumatic nature of the topic. This coincides with their arrival at Mars’ room, which is perhaps also a trigger for Kitty to leave. The lightheartedness from their headmate disappears and leaves Bunny feeling hurt.

This is the first time we see Bunny properly shut down. They try to confide in Laika about their guilt and seek comfort, but she doesn’t quite get it… Good effort though!! Bunny’s routine and mental state at this point is a form of self punishment. They can’t leave because they haven’t hurt enough to pay for it. But at the same time they desperately don’t want to be alone. They’d had fun meeting Laika, but since she can’t stay (that would be “selfish”) and Mars can’t leave (that would be “disobedient” and “too good for them”), they just get even more hurt when Laika gives them a non-solution that just reminds them of their loneliness. The reality dawning on them feels crushing.

Bunny’s subconscious magic spikes again. This provides a solution to their conundrum- it’s not their choice, but authority’s. They won’t have to tell Laika to leave, which would break their heart, playtime is simply over. Teddy comes back to help Bunny cope and not break down- their speech becomes more clipped and formal, and their expression neutralizes (except for when it cracks, showing Bunny’s feelings). Teddy’s fawn response also shows, asking Laika politely to do the same as them. BIG ol trauma response. Clearly this was the way that Mars survived every scary encounter before. It’s trained, and likely why Teddy split in the first place.

Teddy is polite again, and using their magic intentionally to make the encounter run smoothly. They keep giving Laika instructions so that nothing goes wrong. This behavior implies that they were punished over very small things, even hesitation.

More trauma responses!! Mars looks almost bored here, but it’s actually Teddy’s trained neutral expression. You can’t get yelled at for feeling things if you’re feeling nothing! Teddy is maintaining this to mask Bunny’s fear of being around their parents, but it’s a hard thing to do. As tension gets higher, Bunny’s expressions show through and they start shaking.

Bunny is resigned to riding out this encounter, but Laika can’t stand for it. She interrupts, which terrifies Teddy. She’s way out of line in their mind, and they don’t want anyone to get punished when they can simply take the hurt. Teddy snaps at Laika, using their powers on accident for once. When Laika gets hurt by this, Bunny gets scared for two reasons. 1. They hurt someone, a severe trigger for Bunny. 2. It wasn’t Bunny controlling the body in a situation where they were otherwise the main pilot. This is an objectively terrifying thing to happen, and there’s often a lot of emotional conflict about this in systems who don’t know what’s going on.

Bunny is triggered and shuts down once again. Teddy directs the magic to get Laika out of there and away from Bunny to help them calm down. The earrings doll tries to grab Laika, while the tie doll swipes at her; this implies that they were the more violent and impulsive of the two. Additionally, the tie doll hurting the earrings doll was likely an allusion to domestic abuse between Mars’ parents. However, both were abusive to Mars in their own ways.

Laika unintentionally invokes the royalty/fairy tale symbolism, which speaks to Bunny and cuts through their shutdown. Since their reality hurts so much for them, they find everything much easier to process in stories.

You could see this as Bunny breaking down, but I think it’s Teddy too. Throughout this chapter, Teddy has been nearby suppressing everyone’s emotional reactions to protect them. But now they give into the hurt and the guilt and the loneliness and finally let themself AND Bunny express how they feel. It’s only now that they accept that vulnerability that they can drop their intentional disguise of everything in town. They hid everything to keep Kitty and Bunny happy, to keep them safe. But now that there’s someone else to protect them, they let themself be a scared kid and all of their hard work crumbles under the stress of keeping everything together. (At the beginning of this chapter when Mars is introduced, Teddy was playing with Bunny to keep them happy and distracted. Bunny feels lonely despite their headmates company and is prone to spiraling when they feel bad, so part of Teddy’s job is to entertain them to keep the illusion of stability.) Anyways that's all for now :3 I'll probably do the rest of the comic later. Keep in mind that everything I say here is just my interpretation and I could definitely be wrong! Though it'd be fun to see how accurate I am hehe

obligatory @laikascomet tag <3 yes i'm the same guy who mentioned it on stream :]

hhh this isnt re any one specific person or fic, but I've gotta say, while I love the fact that V1 is nonverbal in canon, man, I wish people would think about the implications of their alternate forms of communication for it more (as well as what that means re characterization).

Like... if you're going to have it use sign, I am BEGGING you to do literally ANY research into sign languages. Also, the character choices some people make when it uses direct messaging are... sigh. I mean, if you're going to explore what communication looks like for V1, or what not having a voice module means vis-a-vis how it processes language, by all means play around with it!

But if you're going to have it be incapable of forming coherent sentences in writing while having V2 or other vocal machines capable of forming coherent sentences, I'm going to be really turned off unless you're willing to portray a really good reason for it. It just really rubs me the wrong way, like the implication that V1 is less intelligent due to not being able to speak. Idk. Again, not calling anyone out, just wish there were a bit more thought in general.

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And the universe said I love you because you are love.

woah wow pinned post..

Meowdy!! Call me Clover :3

໒꒱ ‧₊˚ About me!!

╰┈➤ˎˊ˗ They/them +Neos ,, Minor ,, Multifandom,, Artist ,, Cat & Sky enthusiast!!

✐ᝰ ‧₊˚ Interests!!

╰┈➤ˎˊ˗ My main ones right now are Ultrakill,, Several Roblox games,, Oneshot,, Laikas Comet,, ect :)

Other ᓚ₍ ^. .^₎

╰┈➤ˎˊ˗ Strawpage,, One day I'll post more art, but for now, have the #My art 🍀 tag for art:),, Pinned art made by mellowfrogg,,

Have an pawsome day!!

I think that nows a good time to say that I will GLADLY draw this if I ever get the motivation :)

🏳️‍⚧️ anon, do you want to make a snuggle pile with gabriel?? i feel like we should do that. sounds like a good idea.

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Gave up tryna draw ferryman with a realistic skull so now we have this…he’s so silly :3