Shorthand Magic

His life gets turned on its head when Solomon Weber trips and stumbles right into a world of magic that he, well, admittedly sort of kind of knew existed, but really didn't try thinking about too much. In a society where magic is outlawed, wizards are evil, and anything outside the status quo is met with serious questioning, he's about to learn just how much can hide beyond the public eye in this 70s-era fantasy noir.

[shorthand-magic]

oh, looks like solomon's got an admirer.

ID: A three panel comic page, in which Trill the magpie talks with the fruit seller using sign language; he asks if the fruit is contaminated, and the seller responds "With what? My produce is plenty clean." As this conversation is going on, we see Solomon entering the scene, staring at a torn out notebook page as he walks and paying little attention when Trill suddenly locks onto him, noticing him from across the market. As he's grabbing his purchase of fruits, Trill stares at Solomon, who seems to have an aura coming off of him.

[shorthand-magic]

page 2 with the new guy and welcome to his neurosis.

ID: A comic page following Trill the magpie as he inspects a weird looking strawberry and gets just way too into inspecting the rest of the berries at a fruit stand. The fruit seller clears his throat and asks, "You plannin' to grope my berries all day, Blue?" while looking down at Trill, who has now rearranged the boxes of berries, still holding the first one.

[shorthand-magic]

ID: A comic page. Solomon grips his notebook, reading over the note he'd written earlier that day with Silence's phone number, 217-7494, and a note to meet near the farmer's market at 10AM and bring his notebook.

The scene ends with an abrupt transition and now we meet Trill, a magpie man with a bandaged beak who is out shopping at the market. He picks up a messed up looking fasciated strawberry and considers it with some irritation. [end ID]

well, i guess here's more of my gay little webcomic in spite of everything. today we finally start to meet Trill.

[shorthand-magic]

I'm thinking of leaning more towards a novelization style of alt text, which would result in me having to redo what i've done thus far--but which I think might be more enjoyable. any thoughts?

ID: A comic page in red with dark blue lines. Kneeling on the floor, Solomon the cardinal rips his oversized suit jacket off and throws it at the bed, shaking in frustration. He looks over at the comics box where he's been hiding his secret notes.

[shorthand-magic]

ID: 3 panel comic page of a scene transition. The first panel shows Solomon the cardinal and his mother Tova standing up and walking back towards the chapel together in a simple line-only drawing, the red color of those lines then bleeding into the next scene. The bottom panels show Solomon returning to his bedroom, slamming the door behind himself and immediately collapsing to the floor with a fwump.

unbelievably, a 2nd page within 2 weeks, i'm truly on fire now.

[shorthand-magic]

the rare and exciting update! grad school is kicking my ass.

ID: Three panel comic page showing Solomon the cardinal in a mental progression from a moment of panic to resigned acceptance. The first panel shows him being gripped by imaginary tentacles while his mother Tova's words are overlaid as white text that reads: "I don't know where you got the idea to accuse your grandmother of doing magic." The tentacles wrapping Solomon's shoulders answer her question: he got the idea from having been kidnapped. The next two panels snap back into reality and Tova adjusts his tie again and then stands up, offering a hand to help him up as he tucks his tie back in. She speaks: "…But I don't want to hear it again. Your father needs us both by his side. Let's get you cleaned up."

[shorthand-magic]

whoa, two weeks in a row of updates, impressive.

ID: Three panel comic page in which Solomon the cardinal talks with his mother Tova in front of the church. He is visibly troubled and uncomfortable during the conversation. Solomon: "So you know? You know about the magic." Tova: "…Magic? Honey, what do you mean? Ginny was a little complicated. Maybe she wasn't always the best. But she certainly never did any magic." Solomon: "But you said…" Tova: "I thought you were talking about the fight, hon." Solomon: "Fight?" Tova: "With your father."

[shorthand-magic]

well now i'm morally obligated not to miss updates again, since this would be a *terrible* cliffhanger, would it not?

ID: Two panel comic page in limited colors of red, navy, and white. In it, Tova the cardinal hugs her husband at the doors of the church and then turns from him, walking over to crouch by her son Solomon. Tova speaks: "Solomon, I'm really not sure what you've heard about Ginny. Or where. But I suggest you let it go and move on. Trust me." Her expression is stern and severe, and his is one of shock.

[shorthand-magic]

hey so--sorry for the hiatus! some pretty serious shit came up in my personal life and taking some time to try and ensure my safety quickly turned into losing track of time and anyway, now it's May. with the worsening of my POTS, I've figured out how to swap to my ipad and still keep the familiar Shorthand Magic style going, so I should hopefully be able to pick back up and get this rolling again!

thanks for your patience!

ID: Two panel comic page in a limited palette. In the top panel, the cardinal Marshall and his son Solomon speak in the church parking lot. Marshall: "Are you okay with talking later, Sol?" Solomon: "Yeah, sure. Fine." Marshall: "Are you sure? You sound a bit--" Solomon: "I'm fine. Just go back. You don't have to babysit me." In the second panel, Marshall and his wife Tova talk near the door but their words can't be seen. Solomon sits in the foreground with his knees pulled to his chest, closed off with an apparent chasm appearing in the ground between himself and his parents and shadowing him in darkness.

[shorthand-magic]

so, I think given what I'm seeing with my grad school schedule--it's going to work best to switch the update schedule for Shorthand Magic to be on Tuesdays… so starting now, it'll be updated every Tuesday, no more Monday updates!

another fun update: if you're into watching timelapses, I will now be posting them to my patreon, starting with this page--all tiers have access to the timelapses so you can join cheap and view 'em if you want. here's this page: https://www.patreon.com/posts/wengos-creamery-96634817

ID: Three panel comic page, showing Solomon the cardinal and his father Marshall sitting on the ground outside the church they are attending Gin's funeral at. Tova, Marshall's wife, walks out as the boys are bickering.

Marshall: "Know what?" Solomon: "Know about grandma Gin. About all the stuff she did." Marshall: "Solomon, I have no clue what stuff you're talking about." Solomon: "Quit lying!" Marshall: "I'm not!" Solomon: "Stop it!"

Tova finally interrupts them both loudly, "Boys. Can we finish this scene later? Like at home?"

[shorthand-magic]

oh solomon, now you're making a scene.

back into comicking for the new year,

ID: Four panel comic of Solomon the cardinal reacting with horror and shoving his father Marshall away, with a series of close-ups focusing on their hands as he slaps Marshall's hand off and pushes him back. In the final panel, they're both sitting on the pavement and Solomon is holding his arm out to gesture for his father to stay back, while Marshall looks somewhat surprised and hurt. Over the action, they talk.

Marshall: Come on, Sol--

Solomon: Stop.

Marshall: Solomon?

Solomon: You need to stop. Stop touching me. Stop acting worried. Stop acting like you don't know.

[shorthand-magic]

what do you mean panic attack?

ID: Comic splash page featuring Solomon the cardinal in the bottom right corner curled up in a ball, with his face in his hands, while his father Marshall comforts him. The background fades into black with random hash marks of black all over, obscuring Marshall's words as he tries to ask Solomon if he's alright; a few speech bubbles are roughly readable, with "Solomon? Can you hear me? Hello? Solomon?" and the final speech bubble finally coalesces into a normal looking bubble, without sloppy and barely readable text.

[shorthand-magic]

Shorthand Magic is taking a break this week due to some life stuff (and last week was due to thanksgiving LOL sorry i didn't say anything oops)

will resume when able! thank u for your patience

[shorthand-magic]

i'm sure this is perfectly fine and his mental health is better than ever

ID: Experimental comic page with 5 panels getting progressively more crooked and cramped, vanishing towards the bottom of the page. The panel at the right shows Gin in her casket, while the left side shows a progression of Solomon crying, laughing, and in general freaking out as he talks at her casket. His words, spread across the page, read: "It's uh, been a big, hasn't it? 15 years? maybe 16? Haha, not that I grew much. Doctor said--well. I guess that doesn't matter. I'm not a kid anyway. Why am I even saying this? You're dead. Not like you can hear me. As if you'd care."

[shorthand-magic]

well i think this is going splendidly.

ID: Two page experimental comic spread following Solomon the cardinal and his parents as they leave their house and make their way to a chapel for his grandmother's funeral. Solomon remains disconnected as they eat breakfast, get dressed, drive to the chapel, and head inside. The second page starts to become more surreal, with the images getting darker and harder to make out, and strange effects starting like the background seeming to break apart. The final panel is broken up with multiple overlaid panels, but shows Solomon standing in front of his grandmother's casket, with a skull overlaid over his face. He says, "…hey grandma Gin, it's me. Solomon."

[shorthand-magic]

in comes Tova with the steel chair! (ignoring anything solomon tries to ask and totally steamrolling him with critique of how he's tied his tie)

ID: Three panel comic page featuring Solomon the cardinal and his mother. In the first panel, she opens his door and he looks nervously up at her as she speaks, "Well come on out if you're dressed. We have to leave soon." Solomon tries to get a word in edgewise as she grabs at the lapels of his jacket, he starts to ask "But what about--" and she interrupts him. "Oh, no. Is this Marshall's coat? It's way too big, hon. At least let me fix your tie. We'll get you a coat later." Solomon anxiously lets her redo his tie, unsure how else to respond.

[shorthand-magic]

actually i gotta agree with solomon, he would suck at playing detective with silence.

ID: Three panel comic page showing Solomon's parents as viewed through a cracked open door; Marshall is seated on the kitchen chair and Tova is kneeling next to him, trying to reassure him. Marshall answers from the prior page, "I don't know." She replies, "Okay. So let's stay cool. Realistically, it's probably just a grief response. He's upset." Marshall replies, "I don't even know what to tell him." Tova begins, "So don't--" and is interrupted when Solomon opens the door a little further and it creaks. She pauses, says "Hold on. I see you, Solomon." and in the final panel, Solomon quickly slams the door shut.