Fuck fuck fuck the drawing was so good and then I fucked up her torso and butt dimensions and I had to erase the best feet I've ever drawn. Do you know how hard it is to draw good foot? Feet are fucking stupid. I hate feet. Fuck you.
Okay! Halloween is coming up, and that means we gotta get scary. In the immortal words of Olan Rogers, I’mma tell you guys a story.
WARNING: LONGPOST AHEAD.
———
As a few of you know, my little brother Peloc and I voice-act Homestuck on our free time, for our own amusement. We always meant to record stuff, but didn’t find the time all summer. So when CoLabHQ held auditions, we were eager to try out, but because we were noobs, we knew exactly jack-shit about voice-acting software and microphones and the like.
(Spoiler alert: we found the right software and mike and auditioned, but we did not get in. But congrats to all who did! :3)
We got the software and mike easily enough, and were testing them out to see how the recordings sounded. I was using the test phrase we use at my workplace to test a phone line: "Testing: One two three four five six seven eight nine ten."
I tested the line out as Calliope, because she’s one of my favorites to voice. Then after checking as a few more characters to make sure the volume was okay for characters like Caliborn (who yells a lot) or Aranea (who has to talk A LOT), we went downstairs to get some water.
When we got down there, we drank our water and relaxed a bit. I leaned against the counter, he leaned against the stove. We discussed our character tests. I joked that voicing the test-line as a character like Gamzee would be a lot harder than Calliope, and teasingly did a fast volume-changing count as a shitty-voiced version of Gamzee: “testing ONE two THREE four FIVE six - “
It was at this point Peloc pointed out that I was doing it all wrong.
"It’s too fast," he said.
And then he began counting, in character, as Gamzee.
Now, I feel the need to point out here that we don’t just voice-act by talking. We incorporate physical movement when needed, for the sake of drama or atmosphere. For example, as Roxy I tend to drape myself over whoever I’m next to (usually Peloc) and sway a bit. As Dave, Peloc becomes completely expression-less and slouches his shoulders. And when voicing Gamzee…
Well. Peloc is completely fucking terrifying when he voices Gamzee.
"testin’…" Peloc’s voice got gravelly, low, dangerously quiet. He dropped his chin, frowning a bit.
"ONE." He got loud all of a sudden. His eye began to twitch a little, and his body relaxed into a calculated slouch.
"two." Back to quiet. He tilted his head, watching me. I could feel the hair on the back of my neck pricking.
"THREE." Right about here, Peloc began to pick up on my fear. It wasn’t hard to tell; I think my eyes had gone wide. His mouth turned up in a sadistic grin.
"four." He began to inch closer to me, ever so slowly. His grin grew wider.
"FIVE." It was at this point I realized that I was no longer in the kitchen with my little brother. I was in the same room as Gamzee.
"six." ”Okay Page, you’re in the same room as Gamzee. Oh god oh god I’m so fucked okay think, what would I do if I were in the same room as - I’d scream and run. Don’t do that.”
"SEVEN…" I felt my leg muscles tense and bend. My body was thinking faster than my brain. "Keep thinking keep thinking, who in Homestuck was brave enough to face Gamzee - ohhhh…"
"eight…" I looked Peloc/Gamzee in the eyes, glaring. My fingers bent into claws. He was mere inches away from me now, but I was much less scared, turning the fear into adrenaline.
"NINE…" He glanced at my hands and grinned wider, before looking right back up at my eyes. If he came anywhere closer, I knew exactly what to do: I would spring at his face and scratch it. It was all I could do. All I HAD to do to stop him.
"……..ten."
At this point, Gamzee reached over, and made a gesture like he was holding a club. Then, Peloc lightly tapped my head and said:
As some of you may know, my little brother and I voice-act new Homestuck updates out loud for our own amusement, putting careful thought into each voice and letting each other know when we're messing up or not getting the voice quite right. Today's update was one my brother had looked forward to immensely, but he didn't tell me why until we'd read it.
Once he'd finished voicing Dave for several pages and we reached the BIG MOMENT in this update, I hugged him very hard since he'd done a really good job and it was a great scene. Once I let him go, I asked him, "How hard was it to voice Dave laughing?"
He told me:
"It was the easiest thing ever."
Somehow, this made the update all the more heartwarming.
