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_

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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.

Parallel processing…

Posted on December 20, 2017 by Clint

WARNING: Very, very minor spoilers for The Last Jedi referenced below. In fact so minor I wouldn’t even bother with this warning except people have been threatening to flay each other alive over revelation of any content and I like having my skin where it is.

So there’s this biological concept known as parallel evolution, which basically boils down to the idea that similar characteristics can develop among species that have no common ancestors, or at least no recent ones. Bats, for example, evolved wings to fly in much the same way birds do. When the ancestors of modern cetaceans gave up on this whole “walking on land” schtick and returned to the ocean, they went back right back to fins. Certain configurations just seem to be gravitated towards as the best solution without any conscious imitation going on.

Similarly, I like to think variations on this happen in fictional circles. I mean nowadays it’s hard to imagine anyone being ignorant enough of Superman to come up with a super-strong flying dude and truthfully maintain they did so without any influence of previous archetypes, but we’re often all too quick to cry “rip off!” even in cases where it’s entirely possible that two similar characters or stories could be created by people who had no knowledge of the other work. Ideas blooming in parallel. After all, even if a bat resembles a bird and a dolphin resembles a shark, there are clear differences when you take a closer look.

So case in point, The Last Jedi debuts a new character named “Rose” who is a non-skinny lady in green utilitarian garb with a toolbelt, a medallion that’s important to her, and technical know-how. Whoa, right?

Except okay, she’s Asian. And more importantly, not particularly sneaky in manner. And…

I mean if you took Rose and combined her with the attitude, ethnicity and mannerisms of Sombra from Overwatch, that’d be getting a lot closer to Zombie Ranch‘s Rosa, but still there’s that idea of parallel evolution. Legally speaking, copyright law says that ideas cannot be copyrighted, only the expressions of those ideas… which is why you can publish comics featuring nigh-invulnerable super-strong guys that fly so long as they don’t stray too close to the Big S. How close is too close? Well, that’s why lawyers and courts exist, and people tend to have much stronger cases if they can prove, for example, that Big Studio A had Script B in their possession for an amount of time before passing on it but then producing Movie C which was suspiciously similar. It’s all very messy and usually ends in the Studio paying the aggrieved party a “shut up and go away” settlement which they might or might not deserve.

But anyhow, although shady rip-offs do happen, I feel that in most cases when someone comes up with a character or concept similar to yours, it’s best to give them the benefit of the doubt, especially when the differences are enough it’s a real stretch to say you would have even inspired them. At a certain point it borders on hubris. And hell, I long ago admitted that Rosa’s character was inspired by Tuco from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, but she’s come quite a ways since then, enough that I’d hesitate to describe her just in that configuration. She’s evolved, in parallel or otherwise.