Greetings!

[Zergplex]

Heya everyone, t's great to be a member of the forum! I ran across Unicorn Jelly for the first time today... and now about 5 hours later I finished marathoning it. Amazing story, with a well thought out world, history, and physics (as a longtime roleplayer I respect a well-developed world a lot, since I know how hard it is to make one -_-). I loved the entire story, though I got way too involved at times and, though appropriate, the ending was a real downer for me.

Some random thoughts I had while reading the comic.

The style improved drastically throughout the comic, and from what I've read improved even more through the next two. I can't wait till I get another free weekend so I can marathon them as well. The characters were what drew me and kept me interested in the comic. I was drawn to Chou immediately, and the comics where she lost her intelligence were very poignant, seeing her relationship with Lupiko progress was heartwarming. I think that's why what happened towards the end of the comic hit me so hard, since I always believed (and still do on some level) that Chou still had a piece of that innocent girl inside of her. She just couldn't express it, trapped in the logic of her higher mind she rarely (and with difficulty) expresses the emotions and innocence inside.

Lupiko and Uni to me developed the least out of the cast, but they didn't need to be developed as much. Lupiko's caring nature influenced everyone in the story on some level, and Uni's very existence shows that there is more between heaven and earth then is dreamt of in either alchemist's or witch's philosophies. Some things are best left unexplained, for in that explanation they lose their power, their uniqueness. Some things simply need to be experienced, not explained. Like Uni. Lupiko's later adoption of Lili was very fortuitious, helping her through the period where Chou seemed to grow more distant. Her partnership with Thilia gave her the closeness she always deserved throughout the story, and though unexpected when it popped up I was very happy to see it. I'm a sap for happy ending (I'm unabashedly a hopeless romantic), and both Lupiko and Thilia deserved some measure of happiness before the end.

*sigh* I never really connected to Kaywai to be honest. She was necessary for parts of the story (and the alternative universe comics were cute) but I just never really got into the character. Her end still bothered me a lot, but we'll get to that later.

...Firefox has turned against me, when it spell checked necessary (which I misspelled) it came up with dissection first. That did not help with the topic at hand, lol.

Out of the minor characters the ones I really felt for the most were Thilia, Sisu, and Makineri. Thilia was one of the few truly good people we ran across in the comic (outside of the main cast). She was forced to do things she hated, but kept a strong feeling of decency inside of her. I routed for her quite a bit in the second half of the comic. Sisu was just the ultimate badass, and every comic needs one of those. While the first two I connected with immediately, Makineri on the other hand I hated until we started to see his side of things. Once we saw his perspective I felt very strongly for him, and his intentional sacrifice at the end was definitely the most striking character death to me other then Kaywai and Chou. Which leads me to Kaywai and Chou..

What Chou did to Kaywai turned my stomach and actually made me physically nauseous. Chou was my favorite character, and Kaywai was my least favorite of the 'good guys', and that scene really changed my outlook towards the characters and bothered me a whole lot. Which is not a complaint, you were able to invoke that reaction from your comic and writing and getting an honest, genuine reaction like that is something thing to be praised. I started to doubt Chou and her motives, at least until the end.

At the very end seeing earlier parts of the comic from Chou's perspective, and seeing her doubts really brought her human aspects to the forefront. She was truly trying to do the right thing, and sometimes her intelligence makes it too easy to assume she doesn't doubt her actions just like everyone else. Was it all truly worth it? There is no one to judge that; the worth of your life is in your relationships with people, your actions, and your intentions. And only you can judge those.

I understand fully leaving Uni's fate a mystery, allowing people to choose between sciences interpretation (Chou used him to make the kays), magick's interpretation (Magick when not believed in disappears), or their own interpretation (such as Uni dwells where he is needed, and the need for him had ended when he disappeared) is very much a comparison to his very creation (do you believe in the holy unicorn, or in freak chemical biology? I believe the unicorn, but then again as already stated I am a dreamer and romantic). It does still suck we'll never know what happened to him though ^_~

...wow that was long, drawn out, and very stream-of-conciousness. And it still is only the iceberg of all the thoughts going through my head about the comic as this point. I think I'm gonna go eat something to stave off the thoughts of kaywai's end. Amazing comic and I can't wait to see more!

-Ronny

[Ashes]

Welcome to the community!


Jennifer is still recovering from the flu, but when she gets better the next comic she draws will be The Legend Of Takozushi. It's a strange tale of a samurai squid!



After that will be The Strange Pets Of Neville Poe (gosh I hope I remembered the title right). It will be a tale set in a fantasy world like out of D&D, a town where dungeon-delving was the big industry until the dungeon dried up, and a strange little boy and his strange pets.



Unicorn Jelly was very moving for me too. I cried more than a couple times while reading it! The ending in particular had me sobbing. It was carthatic though. My grandfather had just died around that time.

[draque]

Hey, welcome to the forums ^^. Reading your review of UJ has kind of made me want to go back and poke through the story again... some time when I'm not at work I'll have to take an hour or two to do that.

[Plasman]

Welcome!

You'll probably find yourself returning to the "Unicorn Jelly" story a few times. It's complicated enough for you to find all sorts of new things you missed the first time. (like the unicorns hidden in the textures of the page whenever something magick is happening)

If you want to, you could always buy the book! (end shameless plug on behalf of the author)

[Zergplex]

Thanks to everyone for the warm reception! This forum definitely has a welcoming atmosphere, which is a welcome change from some webcomic forums I've frequented.

Welcome!

You'll probably find yourself returning to the "Unicorn Jelly" story a few times. It's complicated enough for you to find all sorts of new things you missed the first time. (like the unicorns hidden in the textures of the page whenever something magick is happening)

If you want to, you could always buy the book! (end shameless plug on behalf of the author)

I intend to actually, I have a small collection of webcomic collections right alongside my regular comics/manga. There is nothing like reading a hardcopy during a nice rainy sunday. I also always try to support the artists who's work I love so much, whether it's by donating or buying their merchandise.

-Ronny

[Plasman]

I don't know if Jennifer gets any profit from people buying the hard copies; if memory serves me, I think she only did that because her audience requested it. But if you want, you could send her something through PayPal.

Thanks to everyone for the warm reception! This forum definitely has a welcoming atmosphere, which is a welcome change from some webcomic forums I've frequented.

Heh heh. This was actually the first forum I ever signed up for; I've seen a few others, and it amazes me how some people can act while hiding behind an avatar.

[Zergplex]

I don't know if Jennifer gets any profit from people buying the hard copies; if memory serves me, I think she only did that because her audience requested it. But if you want, you could send her something through PayPal.

Thanks to everyone for the warm reception! This forum definitely has a welcoming atmosphere, which is a welcome change from some webcomic forums I've frequented.

Heh heh. This was actually the first forum I ever signed up for; I've seen a few others, and it amazes me how some people can act while hiding behind an avatar.

I'm glad you mentioned she doesn't get much from the hardcopy, now I'll know to add her to my short list of webcomics I support through paypal (currently Misfile, Dominic Deegan, Girl Genius, and Tales of MU). I can never give much, but 5$ to each only costs me 25$ and helps keep my favorite comics afloat.

And if you want to see how terrible people can act take a look at the Dominic Deegan forums, I love the comic but the forum is a cesspool of hatred... and they pride themselves on it. Blech.

-Ronny