PlatypusEnjoyer75: I noticed this site never had any Madness Combat crossover art. Well, now there is. I really enjoyed drawing this.

hexTerminator: what kinda magics would Deimos and Sanford pursue

Solus7: @hexTerminator: Lead

Auserr: :o I remember these guys. I love the ear twitch and expression, nice drawing!

TheGibusGuy: I wonder how Elder Scrolls and Madness afterlife mechanics could interweave.

BattedBook: Katia got lucky that it's them and not Hank. Deimos and Sanford are chill, but with Hank she might end as collateral.

AMKitsune: Well, I updated the version of Ruffle being used here on the site, and it still didn't seem to do anything.
Then after a little good old-fashioned 'what the hell is going on on this page' exploration, it appears that the flash is loading, just at a resolution of 0px by 0px for whatever reason.

Ruffle does claim to have trouble with actionscript3 files, so maybe that has something to do with it? Whatever the case, Ruffle evidently can't pull the intended resolution from the flash file itself.

AMKitsune: It's not a perfect fix by any means, but if you open the browser console (F12 on most computers, or CTRL+SHIFT+I if that doesn't work) and paste this in and press enter, that'll temporarily set the flash to a visible size so you can at least press play.

document.querySelector("ruffle-embed").style="min-height:500px;min-width:500px";

Sorry that this is so janky. I have no idea how the inner workings of neither Flash nor Ruffle operate, so until the Ruffle people figure out how to work with this kind of file, this is what we have to work with.

Alin_Alexandru: Ok, it works fine with AMKitsune's fix. Just note that you also need to type "allow pasting" in the console if it doesn't let you paste the code.

Auserr: @AMKitsune: Thanks for showing me how to listen the silly song.

TheGibusGuy: This is really cool! Is this a cover of another song or an original?

hexTerminator: flaca, no me claves, tus puñales, por la espalda

Zoltier: Beautiful.

hexTerminator: also can we get like lyrics of this cover

Sashimi: Quite a catchy little tune!

FunkyFreshFellow: The lyrics are in the Flash embed! Just paste what AMK posted and it'll scroll through the lyrics.
Also the compressed audio really completes the feel of this, it's great.

Radiocaster: "Yeah, but why is Katia happy? Is she stupid?"

NewFace: Yes

Radiocaster:

LucidUX99: Is this some sort of metaphor for our fruitless yet eternal endeavor of waiting for new updates

NotGodOkay: KuroNeko has returned it seems

Makkon: lol this is so good

TheGibusGuy: Such fine musculature!

kfpTigress_Simp: I love the shading on the rock

hexTerminator: buff kat

Sashimi: Eyy! Kuro is back! And with the back of a Kat!

PlatypusEnjoyer75: In the break between working on my prequel fan project(which I’m posting on the Prequel subreddit "Katia on Erid", Check it out if you're interested.), I decided to draw this lil comic. I hope you like it.

NewFace: Mark 12:44

hexTerminator: today is a good day, because i've been made aware of this project you're making.
i must say, you've got the style down pretty well.

Radiocaster: those damn fees always catching us off guard

TempIntel: @NewFace perfect verse

Auserr: @TempIntel: It really is!

@PlatypusEnjoyer75: Cute comic! I've been following your project and have been enjoying it.

Solus7: @NewFace: Very true

Auserr: @Azmeltosh: Ok I have organized some of my thoughts, hopefully they are not too rambly and tangential.

So I think that maybe Katia believes both of these things simultaneously. That is, she's proud of her accomplishments as well as thinking she's kind of worthless. And these thoughts are fighting each other in her head. From my experience, you can kind of build up a fragile "confidence" that you're on the right track and doing well. That maybe you can be something of value, but it can all fall apart at a moment's notice. Sometimes there is a cause, sometimes it just fucking happens. And then all the self loathing comes in and mopey bullshit ensues. Thoughts that previously helped like "Look at all these good things I did!" become "I could've done so much more if I wasn't such a fuck up. These things only look good when compared to how useless I've been in the past." stuff like that. You turn stuff around, and instead of looking at your past and thinking about how far you've come, you start to just see how much it has held you back. It's as if no matter what you do your past is this albatross around your neck holding you down. Making every accomplishment lesser. It's like starting life over again but from a negative score. So you feel you have to do a bunch of good things to come up to everyone else's baseline.

For example, her response to a command about self esteem in the update reposted yesterday:

"That just sounds like a very roundabout way of asking 'do you like being a talking animal that panics about everything'.
And no, you take more pride in the fact that you worked stuff out okay despite being a talking animal that panics about everything."

To me this basically says, "Yeah, I've been doing pretty good, despite being what I perceive as pretty worthless" Like she is acknowledging who she is and where she came from but not exactly in a good way. It's a similar line of thinking as what you described just used to the opposite effect.

Even knowing that it's objectively a way too harsh and reductive to view oneself, it still happens all the same. She might already be aware of the new perspective that you're talking about but not be able to truly believe it. When someone has such ingrained ideas of themselves it gets messy, and they can be pretty hard to get rid of.

That's my read on the situation anyway, but maybe I am unintentionally projecting my issues onto Katia or something. I don't really know.

Auserr: So I've been thinking about this EVEN MORE, and also reading the update today reminded me that Katia also has had a pretty big problem with over confidence! I think that may be an extension of the what I was talking about before, where she will go and try stuff even if she's not sure about it. Which is generally a good thing I think. But if she meets the task with anything other than success she is super hard on herself, which is the bad part.

I think it could also tie into what you were talking about, where she has two different images of herself that are separate, her past self and her current "Katia Fucking Managan" self. So when Katia fails to do well at something, it breaks that perceived reality. Reminding her that she is still the same Khajiit from Hammerfell, which makes her get all sad.

It's pretty interesting to me that she has both over confidence and low self esteem. (maybe something to do with the thousands of internet voices in her head?) Makes me wonder if she actually even has low self esteem? Maybe it's something totally different! There are so many possible answers!

I'll stop inundating you with my rambling now, sorry! I just can't stop thinking about it.

Radiocaster: Bravery isn't an absence of fear, it's the mastery of it. In other words, it's possible for Katia to have low self esteem and still do things that require confidence, and often that pushes her to come up with a plan instead of going in head-first. Likewise, regrouping her thoughts in a negative light is a core habit that she owns rather than decries, which is why telling her to be nice to herself doesn't work. It's not something solved by laying out her accomplishments either, because she isn't denying their existence, she just isn't ready to consider herself an achiever with confidence. In other words, I feel like her self image upgraded from "I'm a paranoid fool who does nothing right" to "I'm pretty sure I'm a paranoid fool who does nothing right, but this seems to be working, so I guess I'll do it anyway."

Auserr: @Radiocaster: :o I feel like you just said a lot of what I had been trying to say for like 6 paragraphs of stumbling over my thoughts and getting distracted. Then you also added to it and made it better, while still being concise. Amazing, thank you!

I wouldn't mind some further explanation on what you mean by "regrouping her thoughts in a negative light is a core habit that she owns rather than decries". As she does seem to have problems with that, like in the first few days where her being hypercritical of herself ended with her drinking. Or in the chapel after she got robbed. Obviously addiction was a major factor there, but I think she'd still rather avoid some of those thoughts if she could, I guess?

Only other minor thing would maybe be the planning part, often she doesn't plan much. And she seems to go into almost every situation head first, which I find admirable! She has definitely gotten better about planning though.

Radiocaster: I think I mostly meant it in the sense that a negative state of mind can feel like a concrete place to return to, and allowing yourself to feel more positive can be difficult. She acts more openly apologetic or deadpan about her problems rather than harshly emphasizing what she's doing to fix them. As for the planning, it ebbs and flows. Sometimes she doesn't plan and it comes back to bite her. Sometimes she elaborately plans when running towards or away from something is the only real option. But she does get better at that over time, and generally got more time to make plans that at least somewhat work.

Auserr: @Radiocaster: Okay, yeah. I get what you're saying, and I agree! I think we are on the same page when it comes to her planning as well. Thanks for your input, very well said.

Off topic side note: I hadn't told you that I quite enjoy the comics that you've posted here, so I'm rectifying that now. They're cool! I'm curious if you're planning on continuing either of them/making more? I actually made an account here originally to submit a command for Dragonbreak Protocol a couple years ago. Sorry about not interacting with them more, I really should have!

Radiocaster: @Auserr: My Prequel comics are on the backburner for right now so I can focus on other projects as well as my own comic, though I wouldn't be against coming back to them at some point. I also considered re-tooling the format AGAIN to be more like a light novel with illustrations so I can spend more time focusing on the story, but we'll see whether or not I go through with that.

Auserr: @Radiocaster: Alright, thanks for letting me know. I can see the appeal of a more text focused format from a story telling perspective. As drawing all of those panels has got to take a lot of effort! I really like pictures of Katia though, practicality notwithstanding.

Azmeltosh: @Auserr: sorry i took so long to reply. i couldnt find the right words, then i forgot, then i got embarrassed because what if you dont even care anymore. anyway i think you phrased it well, theres an overconfident and unrealistic facade which is easily broken that she uses to try to cope, then theres the reality of being the drunk from hammerfell that wasted years that could have been spent getting better. shes definitely not completely delusional, she does refer to her past, but she seems to like pretending something special happened that makes her a definitively new person even though she probably knows how ridiculous that is. its a coping mechanism and i think the fact that shes aware of the fact that shes using coping mechanisms (not unlike the dinner party) only makes her feel worse. katia will only start to feel better once she not only accepts herself as the person who fucked up for years but forgives that person because she fixed herself late rather than never. i mean i personally know how hard that is but its the truth
@Radiocaster: my point wasnt just "be nice to herself" i acknowledge that she needs to recognize all the bad shit she did. like even if "i need to make it up to my friend" is more positive than "oh my god they hate me i can never show my face here again" its still negative to be indebted to someone but at least here there is something she can do about it which makes her more responsible for her actions. i also agree that she has a lot of issues with not planning. i think her impulsive actions are the result of her not acknowledging her past failures that were caused by that. i also dont think that laying out her current successes is actually in opposition to acknowledging her past failures. it would not be fair to give yourself so much credit for your successes when you also dont take all the blame for your failures, pushing them onto a "different person" when they become to much to bear, and she probably knows this. Its more about taking it all in good and bad, making her more accountable for her mistakes as she has proven to herself that she can do something about it.
im explaining this very poorly

Auserr: @Azmeltosh: :D I appreciate the reply! And don't worry, I still care! (I'm always up for talking about Prequel)

I agree with you! I've been thinking more about how this could tie into her problem learning healing spells. It really seems this past self/current self separation could be it. As having to project an image of her past self onto her current "Katia" self while at the same time "believing in herself" all seems pretty incompatible with the way she views herself now.

It could be that's being hinted at here:

"You don’t… think that’s the issue? Sure, you’ve had plenty of times where you comforted yourself with lies, but you feel like your overall self-perception isn’t off base. It might seem like you’re hard on yourself sometimes, but really you just have a lot of problems and you’re extremely aware of them. And you’re not blind to the good things about yourself, either! Like, you did a cool thing last night and saved the day. Plus, you’ve been in Cyrodiil for less than a week and have already become a hundredaire. A high-end hundredaire too, over halfway to thousandaire. You’re okay.

And if your self-perception is screwed up in some weird way you don’t understand… well, that just makes you feel a little worse about yourself. Like, there’s something broken inside you that you can’t see, and it’s keeping you from learning the magic spell you want to learn. The thought is making you sad, which is pretty much the opposite of the snake’s advice to 'believe in yourself'."

(Sorry for the long quote! I couldn't figure out a good way to trim it, it all seems relevant.)

What I get from this is that she's conflicted over whether or not her self perception is the issue. She doesn't want it to be, because the coping mechanism is working well right now so she doesn't want to give it up. And after this she changes the topic to mess with her clothes. Which makes me think she doesn't want to think about it anymore, because she's afraid she knows the answer. (Not overly confident in this interpretation though, I could be reading too deep into it)

I'm really looking forward to seeing where this goes! It's fun to speculate about. It'll be interesting to see whether we're onto something or if this is just headcanon.

Micasa47: For user Mahyar

hexTerminator: i like this, my eyes appreciate every empty space between the lines

Mahyar: @Micasa47:
Awww... Thank youuu!!!

NotGodOkay: I don't get a lot of comments on my work (Possibly due to them being less related to the actual comic) but I don't think it matters anymore. I am gonna be free. :)

Auserr: You may be free, but not from my comments! I like the shading you did here, gives her a very sleek look.

NotGodOkay: @Auserr: Thank you :3

I wanted to remake her shield so it would be more realistic (Considering she got a tail) but haven't done that.

NotGodOkay: Next I will draw her new shield.

Dominik: Wha- How did she ended up in that situation???

Still looks cool

DarthVader: Don’t you just hate it when you get stuck in a fishbowl.

APayne1776: I'm not even going to question how she ending up in a bowl

APayne1776: Guess you could say that she is now a catfish

Cloud: Don't worry, I have experience with this sort of thing. Does any one have a hammer?

KuroNeko: @Cloud: Ah! The orcish way to solve a problem, works everytime. Here, take this https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Volendrung

Cloud: @KuroNeko: Hee hee, A fine weapon!
But actually that was a very obscure Farside reference.
I wonder if anyone got it...

kfpTigress_Simp: Has the signature been blocked out? I guess it’s to conceal Kuro’s real name. Also this is amazing.

NotGodOkay: I was meant to ask. What happened to KuroNeko's presence here?

HGShurtugal: This makes me uncomfortable

Micasa47: Just an abstract wallpaper with katia's silhouette taken from page 259(https://www.prequeladventure.com/2020/07/katia-try-a-few-more-things/)

Auserr: Hey, I remember the last one of these you posted. I like the aesthetic!

hexTerminator: your username is "myhouse47"

Mahyar: Could you make a Fedora wallpaper next time? :3

Micasa47: Fedora coming up

applesblast: hi this is a legal version now the colors are correct and also hi

Auserr: @applesblast: Hi! Nice to see another fanart button. I like the way you drew Katia!

hexTerminator: i wonder if this is still going on

applesblast: thanks!!! also I hope its going on since kaz said he'll add all of them! and all of them means all of them right?

Auserr: @applesblast: I bet he will add it! This reminded me that I'd like to make a button as well, ty for that.

Codlam: I know im not official or anything but making a button does sound fun anyways

Kazerad: @applesblast: I'll probably add them in a batch once I have everything else all fixed up and the new merch mailed out, there's at least one other one I haven't put in the cycle yet. This is a nice one!