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.

The tragedy of consistency…

Posted on November 8, 2017 by Clint

I don’t honestly see myself as a writer who takes pleasure in cruelty to readers, and yet here we are with Darlene dying and Eustace revealed as accomplice to her murder.

I mean, for some of you this may well invoke joy. For many others, ambivalence. But at least a few of you have admitted to finding it gut-wrenching.

And honestly, I share that pain.

“Well in that case,” one might ask, “why don’t you not write this nasty fate for these characters? Why you gotta go all darkest-timeline-George-R.-R.-Martin on us?”

Well. That’s a damn fine question, and one I’ve pondered myself when a story I’ve been enjoying takes a dark turn. I find myself quite short-tempered if I feel like it’s unjustified, even with a creative property widely hailed as a classic such as the movie Chinatown.

Oh yes, I’m quite miffed at the ending of Chinatown, even with the movie telling me to “forget it.” That final line is based in the theme that bad things happen and bad people succeed and there’s nothing you can really do to stop them, but it’s all based on the main character, who has been portrayed all film long as a smart, cynical, experienced professional, surrendering himself and his only piece of hard evidence into the clutches of the antagonists for… well, no reason I’ve ever been able fathom really, excepting that the director wanted his tragic ending. Then again knowing what we do about Roman Polanski these days, maybe he didn’t consider that ending a tragedy…

Anyhow, I desperately hope my own fiction feels a little more justified on analysis, and I’m heartened whenever I see someone in the comments puzzle things out — like for instance that Eustace, for all that he seems like a nice guy, is unfortunately rather spineless when it comes to standing up to a forceful personality ordering him around.

It’s a tragic weakness, but a consistent one.