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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.

Friendly faces…

Posted on June 22, 2016 by Clint

Visual Evil 101 is to never show the faces of your badguys. That’s why Stormtroopers had those helmets — it’s a dehumanizing effect. Not only is it more intimidating, you feel less of a twinge when the hero starts killing them off en masse. Hell even changing someone’s eyes has a distancing effect… remember in the animated movie Aladdin when the Genie comes under the control of the bad guy? His pupils disappear. When he breaks that control and becomes friendly again, his eyeballs once again become fully functional.

Anyhow I kind of went over this before when discussing the Huachucas. Yes, it’s easy and effective to keep your baddies in shadow and/or behind masks. Yes, we continue to do so with the mysterious Exec. But now in addition to the Huachucas, we’ve gone ahead and given some faces to the people operating the Cambots. Part of that was as a way to sneak in further fulfillment of high-level Kickstarter rewards, but I also felt it was about time to stop being so mysterious about at least some aspects of the company.

After all, one of our themes has always been the mundanity of the bizarre, of people becoming jaded to everyday occurrences that would seem insane to us. Visual Evil 101 keeps all the cambot operators away from the eyes of both characters and audience, but the advanced class is the one that shows the faces, and shows people who might not be so different than you and I — but their empathy still seems as deadened as one of those faceless servants of the Empire. They’re not gunning down the Jawas or unarmed moisture farmers, but they might very well film it happening and be thinking of nothing more than when their shift ends.