Teras Terrace

This blog is about a project I'm working on called Teras Terrace.  Originally I'd planned for it to be an animated short, which I then intended to use when I was finished to pitch it as a TV series; I still do hope to do that eventually, but in the meantime I now have more immediate plans, including a comic that I hope to launch very soon.  The project's website is at terasterrace.com; my main tumblr is at alunclewe.tumblr.com. 

[terasterrace]

Character Introduction: Millicene Rutelmeier

Millicene Rutelmeier, or "Millie" as she likes to be known, runs the Teras Terrace daycare. She dotes on her charges, whom she refers to by nonsense words like "my little boggerlogs" and "my dear little goomegongs".

Millie has a deep respect for the wisdom of her Great Twiceaunt Huberty, and frequently quotes what Great Twiceaunt Huberty used to say even if it has little apparent bearing on the current situation. From the way that Millie refers to her, it's unclear whether her Great Twiceaunt Huberty is still alive, or just what a Great Twiceaunt is in the first place.

[terasterrace]

Character Introduction: Eslagar the Wise

Eslagar the Wise is a tiny creature that lives in a distant part of the plumbing of the Mongleys' house.  The other creatures that live within the pipes often consult her for her counsel.  This is not so much because she gives useful advice, which she absolutely does not, but just to humor her; she seems so much to want to feel needed.

On important matters, Eslagar will give those who come to her a mysterious object that looks like a tiny eye, telling them that they will know when to use it.  Nobody has ever known when to use it, or indeed had any idea what it could possibly be used for.

[alunclewe]

Arghblargh there are so many Art Fight attacks I want to make but I have been working long hours on set all week and it’s not like I can really draw on my computer here because even though I do have my Wacom Intuos with me (which isn’t as good as my Cintiq, but will do if necessary), there’s not anywhere I can plug my laptop in.

Still, I have managed to do some more pencil sketches for designs of new Teras Terrace characters.  From top to bottom, we have an entrepreneurial child, the community tailor, and the electrician.  (I’m pretty sure I didn’t already have an electrician.  The community probably doesn’t need more than one.  If it turns out I did already have one, I guess this character will be… something else.)

Speaking of Teras Terrace, I’d said I planned to start a Teras Terrace comic soon.  One of the biggest things standing in my way was… I wasn’t sure what it would be about.  Teras Terrace, the ultimately planned TV series, is mostly about the adventures of an ordinary human family, the Mongleys, who are moved into this gated community full of monsters by mistake.  I have concepts in mind for a number of episodes.  But I didn’t want to just, well, draw out those series in comic form.  I don’t want to repeat stories between the comic and the series (even if it is a bit of a pie-in-the-sky hope that that series will ever happen).  So should the comic involve other stories that happen in between the series episodes?  That’s doable, but could be a headache for continuity.  Or should it be a sort of a prequel—in which case it wouldn’t involve the Mongleys at all, but would focus on the community’s other residents.  But in that case, how to establish the backstory and explain the nature of the community?  I didn’t want to just have a big infodump at the beginning.

For that matter, even if it did focus on the Mongleys like the series, how would I establish the backstory?  I didn’t want to cover the Mongley’s arrival in Teras Terrace because, well, that’s what the short is about, and like I said I don’t want to repeat stories.  I had a few other ideas for how I could weave in an explanation of the backstory, but nothing that really clicked.

As so often happens, when I did come up with an answer, it seemed so obvious that I felt kind of stupid for not having thought of it sooner.  I’d focus at least the initial stories in the comic on a different new resident (or group of residents?).  The Mongleys are the only ordinary humans in the Terrace (probably), but I could go through the arrival of someone who was accidentally mutated into a monster and then moved into the community (which is… how a large proportion of the Terrace’s residents got there).

Now, I still have to work out who that resident is going to be.  I’m not sure if it’s going to be one of the characters I’ve already designed, or if I’ll come up with a new one.  But at least I feel like I’ve overcome one big hurdle and I’m making progress…

Art Fight attack hopefully coming later today, finally.  Hopefully.

[terasterrace]

Posted this to my main blog, but since it's Teras-Terrace-related I figured I'd reblog it here.

[terasterrace]

Okay.  So this blog has been pretty dormant... and, uh, so has the blog on the main Teras Terrace website.  Actually, the site has been in need of some major updates for a while now; my plans for the project have changed, and a lot of what was in the About page was now seriously out of date.  So... I just finally got around to making the changes I should have made some time ago.  The About page has been updated—and so has the description of this tumblr blog—and there’s a new post on the blog, linked above.

I hope to have more frequent updates in the future.  Maybe the biggest piece of news, though, mentioned in the blog post but worth repeating here, is that I plan to launch a Teras Terrace comic soon.  How soon?  ...I’m not sure, but hopefully before the end of the summer.  In the meantime, though, there are definitely other things I’ll be posting here—including getting back to my posting a new character a week—so, uh, keep an eye out, I guess.

[terasterrace]

Character Introduction: Fginniman Gmort

Fginniman Gmort is Teras Terrace's resident dermatologist, though he will be quick to remind those he's speaking with that given the variable integuments and coverings of the Terrace's residents he often finds himself dealing with materials that aren't technically skin, and so "dermatologist" isn't a wholly accurate title. In any case, despite his specialization and the Terrace's somewhat low population, at least one of the Terrace's inhabitants experiences some skin condition (or exoskeleton condition, or bark condition, or...) that he seldom hurts for work. One operation he frequently offers (but is seldom taken up on) is to heighten his patients' tactile sensitivity—the sense of touch, he says, is one that is far too often underestimated.

Regarding the pronunciation of his name, what Fginniman usually says is that either the F or the G is silent, but it's your choice which. He does insist that both the G and the M be pronounced in his surname, however.

[terasterrace]

So, years ago I said that I was going to put up a new character for Teras Terrace every Monday, and, uh, I haven't been doing that on a consistent basis.  I've been putting up new characters every once in a while, but not every Monday.  Well, this year that's going to change.  I'm going to try to get back to doing that—a new character every Monday.

You may note that I'm saying this when the first Monday of the year has already passed.  Oops.  So yeah, this week's character is going to be a bit late, but should be up Thursday.  But starting next week, I'll shoot for a new character every week.

Of course, this still leaves open the question, what about the animated short that this was all suppose to be for?  Well... yeah, haven't made much progress on that front, I'm afraid, but this year I will... make some progress.  I don't expect to finish this year, but I will get started.  Although maybe not till this summer.

But hey, in the meanwhile I can start building up the cast and characters, anyway.

And there may be some other surprises coming up this year regarding Teras Terrace... but we'll see...

[terasterrace]

Character Introduction: Marquessa Wildebrandt

Marquessa Wildebrandt is a resident of Teras Terrace who works as a dance instructor.  While her own unusual anatomy may place constraints on the dance moves that she can do herself, she can coach others to perform whatever maneuvers are appropriate to their own forms, and has a keen sense of kinematic aesthetics.

While Marquessa has two "heads", each of which she can extrude through one of four apertures, these "heads" do not think independently; they bear mouths and sensory organs, but Marquessa's brain is in her body's center.  The four lenses that protrude above the corners of her body often throw bright patterns of light as she moves, but their purpose, if they have one, is unclear, apparently even to Marquessa herself.

[terasterrace]

Character Introduction: Renona Borke

Renona Borke is a Teras Terrace resident who is co-hosts a podcast about the paranormal, which she records from her living room.  Her podcast, "Strange and Stranger", has enough views that she manages to make a comfortable if not lavish living with it through advertising and merchandising.

Pretorius Technologies is not worried about her podcast exposing their activities, for the simple reason that Renona doesn't broadcast anything about Teras Terrace or the company behind it.  In fact, although she lives in a place surrounded by bizarre monsters drawn from mysterious locales—and is of course herself one of such bizarre monsters—her podcast focuses entirely on paranormal accounts drawn from elsewhere, all of which are almost certainly entirely false.  What does concern Pretorius Technologies a little is Renona's cohosts, who, as far as they know, are just ordinary humans from outside the Terrace.   Renona has assured company officials that they don't know what she really is, but not all of them are fully convinced.

[terasterrace]

Character Introduction: Metonymy

Metonymy is a resident of Teras Terrace who has three bodies, which are physically separate but still part of the same entity with a single consciousness and awareness.  Only one of these three bodies is in the Terrace, which means perhaps that technically one third of Metonymy is a resident of Teras Terrace.  Another is usually accompanying agents of Prometheus Technologies on some mission or another; as to the location of the third, as Metonymy says, "it's a secret".

Metonymy is an aficionado of coloring books, which ve considers "an unappreciated artistic medium".  Ve especially enjoys coloring them with scented markers, but is unable to get the full experience verself because, as ve explains, vis sense of smell pertains to one of vis other bodies.

[terasterrace]

Character Introduction: Portento the Great

Portento the Great is a resident of Teras Terrace who makes his living as a magician, entertaining audiences with feats of prestidigitation. Of course, there's not enough demand for a magician in the Terrace for him to support himself performing only there, so he also (and more frequently) works outside the Terrace, at birthday parties and similar gatherings. Portento is one of a handful of Terrace residents—along with Z, Xandra Blair and a few others—who can pass for human well enough to go among people outside the Terrace and work there. In Porento's case, his ability to disguise himself as a human is tenuous; he doesn't actually look remotely human, being mostly a mass of tentacles and snouts. But when he performs, he goes about in a mask and costume that hide his true form just well enough to get by, if he keeps his tentacles arranged just right, and he never takes off the mask and costume when he's outside Terrace grounds. It also helps that if something does go wrong, he can spray a liquid that makes humans forget the events of the last few minutes... he hasn't had to use it often, but there have been a few occasions.

If Portento the Great has another name, he doesn't commonly use it; even in the Terrace when he's not on the job he insists on being addressed as "Portento the Great". If someone just calls him "Portento", he'll mutter "the Great" under his breath. He also always talks in the same bombastic showman's voice, although it's not entirely impossible that that's not a performance and that's just his normal voice.

[terasterrace]

Character Introduction: Nivloch the Denier

Nivloch the Denier gets his name from the fact that he answers every question in the negative and contradicts others constantly.  This does not amount to a complete inability to communicate; Nivloch finds ways to technically deny everything while still providing necessary information or leaving paths open to what needs to be done.

Although Nivloch doesn't have a long-term career, he takes any short-term jobs that are available.  When a seasonal Halloween store opens in Teras Terrace, or a temporary pop-up restaurant, Nivloch will be one of the first to apply for a position there.

For some reason, Nivloch has a strong rivalry with Vorbulox the All-Powerful, even though the two of them aren't really in competition for anything and rarely even meet.

[terasterrace]

Character Introduction: Hildegard Gardener

Although it's not necessarily clear how many of the residents of Teras Terrace got their names, Hildegard Gardener chose her surname herself.  She may have chosen it in part because she likes the fact that its first syllable is the same as the last syllable of her first name ("Or you can call me 'Hildegardener'!", she sometimes says), but it's an occupational name, as Hildegard considers herself something of a gardener, though what she "gardens" isn't plants but some kind of substance resembling (but definitely not) coral that grows all of her home.  She often employs some of the local youth to help her keep it trimmed away... after all, she says, you know what would happen if it got out of hand!  (The Mongleys, at least, do not know what would happen if it got out of hand.)  While Hildegard may not have intentionally planted her "garden", she does get some benefit from it, as she grates the trimmed pieces of the growths and sells them to markets outside the Terrace as protein powder.

Hildegard has no defined top or bottom, and often switches which end she considers up just because she feels like it.

[terasterrace]

Character Introduction: Salydia Lahar

Salydia Lahar works as an accountant at the Teras Terrace branch of Pretorius Technologies.  She loves working with numbers, and assigns each number a particular personality.  Eleven is one of her favorites; she tends to think of that number as a mischievous but good-hearted scamp.

Salydia's body consists of a hard sphere with two appendages, one ending in a cluster of eyes and one in a mouth.  She has no appendages suitable for manipulation, so rather than typing on her computer she interfaces with it directly via a port that Pretorius Technologies has implanted on her side.  She also uses the computer to talk via a text-to-speech program.  She can talk with her actual mouth if necessary, but her voice is a bit muddy and hard to understand; she can also manipulate thinsg roughly with her mouth if she has to, which is how she plugs the wire into her side when she arrives at work in the morning.

[terasterrace]

Character Introduction: Egremia Plumm

Egremia Plumm is a resident of Teras Terrace who makes a living by selling aromatic bath beads.  She produces the beads from a tube coming out of the left side of her body.  Exactly what organ that tube represents, and what particular kind of secretion the "bath beads" represents, nobody—or at least none of the Mongleys—has any idea.

Egremia really loves flowers, so much so that she has flowers planted all over her house, and removed the roof of the house to allow sunlight and water to reach them.  The fact that this allows rain and birds and insects into her house doesn't seem to bother her, and she's outfitted the house with waterproof carpets and furnishings that won't be damaged by their exposure to the weather.

[terasterrace]

Character Introduction: Milgreg Borgleson

Milgreg Borgleson is a little girl of Teras Terrace who’s always going door to door selling something.  Cookies, chocolates, magazine subscriptions, on at least one occasion beetle shells… Milgreg has a variety of wares she’s peddled, on behalf of different youth groups and other organizations.  Curiously, Milgreg seems to be the only member in the Terrace of any of the groups she’s selling for, or indeed the only person who’s even heard of those groups.

On rare occasions Milgreg’s little brother accompanies her on her rounds.  She often says she’ll throw him in with a sale for a suitable extra charge.  She may or may not be joking.

Though Milgreg’s earnings do somehow seem to legitimately go toward the mysterious organizations she represents, she does sometimes get tips that she keeps for herself.  She uses those tips mostly to buy dolls, which she enjoys dismantling and reassembling into one larger doll made up of the parts of the individual dolls.  Currently, her mega-doll takes up most of a room.

[terasterrace]

Character Introduction: Yntonio Phrogg

Yntonio Phrogg is a Teras Terrace resident who has chosen the career of a used car salesman.  That isn't to say he sells used cars—rather, he sells a used car, or he has a used car to sell that no one has bought just yet.  He is asking a high enough price, however, that he figures that if he ever gets a buyer, he'll be set for life.  Which isn't to say the car isn't worth it—it's an absolute wonder of a car, with many incredible properties, and seems to be going to waste just sitting in Yntonio's used car lot (a.k.a. his driveway).  Among other perks, the car is self-repairing, which is how Yntonio manages to make a living while he's still looking for a buyer—he just tears off pieces of the car and sells them as scrap metal, and by the next day the car is miraculously good as new.

Nobody knows just where Yntonio got his marvelous car, and Yntonio isn't telling—though he has promised that if anyone ever buys the car, he'll give them the full account of how he acquired it.  This may have been intended to sweeten the pot for potential buyers, but if so it hasn't sweetened it enough yet—as of right now, Yntonio's used car remains unsold.

[terasterrace]

Character Introduction: Peregrine

Peregrine is the founder and commander of a crack mercenary group called Peregrine's Pirregulars. (He really wanted it to alliterate.) That is, while they call themselves mercenaries, and technically they fit the definition in that they do things for money, what they do is not what most people think of when they hear the word "mercenary"—Peregrine's Pirregulars are usually hired for light yardwork, moving, and other like tasks. Nevertheless, whatever it is that they're doing, they always work with military structure and efficiency, Peregrine barking orders at his men like they were in a combat situation.

"Peregrine" is not actually the commander's legal name—if it makes sense to say he has a legal name, given that, like many of the Terrace's residents, his origins are unclear. As Peregrine himself says, "Peregrine's a code name. I never tell anyone my real name, which is Markolly Purnue."