UPDATING OCCASIONALLY (FOR NOW)

9 thoughts on “558 – Cotton Clad Calamity”

  1. Raznaak

    Yup, he’s a bastard XD

  2. Dr. Norman (not a real doctor)

    Are those pajamas available in XXXL in the gift shop?

  3. Otaku

    It’s been a while, so let me ask: Did we get a reason for him to WANT Susie dead? Not to backseat, but if we didn’t, I’m worried were about to move into “Stupid Evil” territory. Now, stupid happens, don’t get me wrong. It’s not bad storytelling for that to be the case here.

    You’ve just done a good job NOT having that be a driving factor, so the “Kill off the stars of my successful reality TV show.” seems shortsighted, otherwise. Oh, I guess I could be mistaken about the in-story reality TV show’s success. Like, if the company behind them is losing money, or they think a change in management at the ranch would make the whole thing more popular/profitable, then I can see the above scenario happening as well.

    I REALLY think I’m just forgetting something important, but that I don’t have time to deep dive to remind me of, hence the comment. >_<

    1. Deoxy

      It certainly has been stretched out over quite a while, but there have definitely been hints from quite near the beginning that whoever is running the reality TV show definitely wants her dead.

      But I certainly don’t recall any reason why.

      1. Clint

        Yeah it’s fair to not remember since it’s been a hot minute (many, many minutes) but if you feel like a refresher the most relevant bits would be the beginning of Episode 8 and the end of Episode 15. We haven’t explicitly spelled out exactly what The Exec means by his “side hustle” or who was on the other end of that phone call, though.

        I’m hoping that when the whole thing is eventually available it will make sense, or at least enough sense to have hung this narrative on.

        1. Otaku

          Thanks for the replies, Deoxy and Clint. Yeah, I’d totally forgotten about those things. Good to know!

  4. Evervigilant

    Seems about time for the two people who aren’t there to make a surprise entrance as the ace Susie didn’t even know she had.

  5. Scarsdale

    There’s still 3-5 people on her side that might be planning something. This guy is a megalomaniac with a god complex, so letting him think he’s the sharpest tool in the shed sets him up for a fall. Everything depends on those cameras, and I suspect their little stop over by the charging coffins had something to do with her actual plan, not the one the a-hole thinks it is.

  6. lyra

    Really enjoyed the opening of Zombie Ranch. I like the combination of the western setting with the zombie concept, it gives the story a really distinctive atmosphere. I’m a freelance illustrator and animator, and I’d be interested in seeing how some of these scenes could translate into motion, especially as a short animated teaser or character scene.

    If you’re ever interested in something like that, you can reach me here:

    IG: eve_verse_
    Email: [contact.lilaclines@gmail.com](mailto:contact.lilaclines@gmail.com)
    Discord: Lyralilac_

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*


 

558 – Cotton Clad Calamity
Posted on August 26, 2026 by Dawn

What would you call this? Armchair assassination? Merk-from-home?

Well, Suzie ain't dead (or undead) quite yet, so we'll just have to see if his gloating is justifiable.

L’appel du Vide

Posted on April 4, 2018 by Clint

I take you where you want to go 
I give you all you need to know 
I drag you down, I use you up 
Mr. Self Destruct

— Nine Inch Nails

Have you ever had a strange thought in your head, an inner voice suggesting actions that at best would be counterproductive (“jump in that pool with your clothes on!”) but often go straight to the outright fatal (“jump over the guardrail of this hundred foot high cliff!”)?

I by no means consider myself a suicide risk and have never seriously contemplated taking my own life, much less tried to do so. Hell, I don’t even like rollercoasters and have no idea why people would subject themselves to dangerous hobbies like skydiving and rock climbing. But that voice can still come up. I think no one likes to talk about it out of fear it will be misinterpreted as a cry for help, but it turns out the phenomenon is common enough the French even gave it a name: L’appel du Vide. “The Call of the Void.”

More scholarly studies use the less poetic term HPP, or “High Place Phenomenon”, but as the article I linked above points out that term can be misleading since L’appel du Vide can just as easily manifest as that thought while driving that just one swift tug of the steering wheel could send you against a retaining wall or into oncoming traffic. Or the flash vision you get of jumping in front of a subway train as it pulls into the station — visions I’ve at times had so potently I wonder if somewhere out in the theoretical multiverse there’s a Clint who did just that and so had his particular storyline come to an (assumed) abrupt end.

But it doesn’t even have to be a life-or-death situation. I remember one time being in a port-a-potty absolutely filthy from a long weekend of festival attendees, staring into that malodorous hole and pondering that just one slip and the iPhone I was holding would go tumbling right in, and then what would I do? And does the fact I’m even envisioning that mean there’s a destructive (and disgusting) part of me wanting to see what happens?

Well, it’s a comfort to know I’m not alone. And in fact that studies of the phenomenon suggest that what seem on the surface to be destructive and suicidal thoughts may in fact be the opposite, that the “Call of the Void” is in fact a wake-up call, a manifestation of survival instinct reminding us to pay very close attention when the line separating safety and disaster has gotten perilously thin. You envision yourself plummeting off that bridge or driving into the railroad crossing precisely because it would be so easy to do it, and nothing could stop you except your own awareness. And for that matter you’ll hold your cellphone just that much tighter as you lean over that port-a-potty hole or cruise ship railing, keenly aware of the consequences that being less mindful could bring.

And while this blog might not specifically relate to Zombie Ranch at first glance… it sure could give a new perspective on Repops, couldn’t it?