Artistic License (IC)

[Dariusprime]

23 January 2012, 3:30 pm

1223 West Lilac

Archimedia Headquarters

Down an unassuming lane sits an equally common building. The street is historic Riverside paved in cobblestones. The buildings are brick, old, and largely refurbished to new, trendy uses. Among the tightly packed shops this particularly business only sticks out for the lack of a sign. In fact only an "Open" sign reveals that the space is occupied.

Ask the locals and they will tell you an amazing story. About how earlier this month, the beloved heroine Fulcrum leased the property and set up a business. What sort of business? Well, none of them were entirely sure until Luann who runs the flower shop worked up the courage to visit. Apparently, Fulcrum, or Mona as she prefers, is starting up an independent publishing house! Named after her cat no less.

At the moment, Mona sits behind a too-small desk surrounded by boxes and bags full of supplies. She is scanning through her iPhone and noting down potentials. Potential employees, potential artists, potential partners in the business. One name has already been called: Louis Ross.

She remembered him from Castle Comics. They collaborated heavily on Freedom League Adventures. Nice guy, very creative. And possibly looking for a new outlet since recent, disastrous events. Not to mention talented. Not to pat herself on the back, but their run on FLA was one of the highest selling ever. At the very least testing the waters was in order!

Which is why she set up this visit with him. She offered to visit him, but after here-and-there, the offices were considered the best choice for a meeting/interview/chat/portfolio review.

[Cube]

Castle Comics just wasn't working out.

It's not that he didn't like his boss. They had been supportive. It's just... well...

Drawing yourself getting beaten up week after week was tedious.

Mona's call was an opportunity, one he was more than willing to take. It had been year since they had spoken, but Mona was a hard person to forget. Not many artists were eight feet tall.

He had many fond memories of their work together, but that was years ago...

He was a bit nervous as he approached the unassuming brick building. Ideally, this would be the beginning of a beautiful working relationship.

...Worst case scenario, he'd experience a super powerful punch in the face.

Fair trade, he supposed.

[Dariusprime]

Before he could enter or knock on the door, Mona called from inside, "Come in, Louis."

Mona stood next to a very high table, slowly stirring together a coffee from the supplies nearby. She smiled when he entered, "Hi, Lou. It's been forever. How has life been treating you?"

She of course knew life that been...interesting...for him of late. But for the sake of politeness, asking directly about the transformation was out of the question. He was still her old coworker, and she hoped he was adapting as well as could be expected.

The inside of the building was surprisingly roomy. In fact the ceilings were near to eleven feet high and plated in a printed tin designs of the early 20th century. If anything the space, coupled with ample open room, appeared to be the remains of a general store, soda fountain or other similar business. At the moment, the simple white walls and many boxes didn't really say much of what was to come.

"Coffee?"

[Cube]

Lou was relieved to see that these offices were designed with plenty of space in mind.

"Mona!" He grinned as he held out one of his four hands for a jumbosized handshake. "It's so weird being taller than you."

Despite his rather horrifying visage, the man was still as amicable as ever. "I've been doing pretty well. The kids are fine, wife's doing okay. How have you been?"

He nodded in approval to Mona's offer of coffee, before looking for a place to sit down. "Love what you've done with the place, by the way."

[Dariusprime]

Pulling over an industrial-grade, and giant-sized, chair, for Lou, she returned the powerful handshake. "Weird having someone taller than me too!"

"I've been well myself, thank you," she said, handing him a large coffee cup prepped just like he preferred. "Hero work is keeping me busy, Mom and sis are still balls of energy, and Dad is still fighting city bureaucracy. Got engaged too."

Sipping her coffee, she looked around the main room, "Endless work in progress, just like my old drawing office." Pointing around the room, she detailed her vision, "Open floor plan. Greeter's desk there at the front, if we ever afford one. Then some open floor-plan offices for general and group work. Side offices for full-time artists, a meeting room in the back corner here."

"Upstairs is the real business area. Filing, mail room, print shop, etc." Taking a deep breath, she added, "Lots to do."

"Anyway, thanks for coming down. I heard your series with the Castle imprint was well received."

[Cube]

"Congrats, Mona! When's the wedding?"

Lou sunk into the chair with a sigh. Ahh... accommodations.

"It'll be nice to be able to come into an office again. Castle is nice, but... you know how low the ceilings can get. Plus it's been kind of awkward there lately, you know?"

He glanced over the floorplans for the future Archimedia offices. "You know, I'd be more than willing to help get set up. It'd be great to get some work down outside of the house. ...Aside from, you know."

He gestured vaguely, making an odd coughing noise that sounded vaguely like "Krampus", or maybe "Crackers".

[Dariusprime]

"Thank you. We're not sure. We're taking the whole show slowly. Maybe sometime later this year, or early next. Don't worry, you and Audrey are invited," replied Mona after a sip of coffee.

"Feel free to pick out your space," she added, gesturing around the room, "I imagine they still have that life-size Lord Pyre statue in the lobby? Pretty much sums up the situation? Lots of good people, but...yeah."

"Please. I'll take all the help I can get." As for the rest, well, she nodded and replied, "Ah, yes, I understand. This should be relatively painless."

"Although we'll have to make our own furniture."

[Cube]

"Yeah..."

Lou sighed. Lord Pyre was a great villain, but it wasn't him.

"You know they wanted me to dress up as him for a convention. Even had the spandex. I looked ridiculous..."

He shrugged. "...It's just too weird, you know? I've always wanted to be a superhero, but this is just silly. Anyway..."

He looked around the currently empty office. "Is anyone else lined up to work here, or is it just us two? ...I mean... If you're offering, that is."

[Azuth65]

Victoria Knight sat on the bus, dressed in a grey business suit she'd borrowed from her mother. Her black and red eyes safely hidden behind a pair of sunglasses with her hair tied up in a bun. She figured that while she had a previous relationship with Mona, she should make the attempt at professionalism when pitching her works.

A few minutes after her stop she was adjusting her grip on her portfolio as she walked the last few steps to Mona's office door. Okay, no pressure. Worst case, she hates your stuff and... you need to stop worrying, she thought to herself. Taking a deep breath she reached over and pressed the intercom buzzer.

[Dariusprime]

Mona grimaced in sympathy. "Really? One of your best artists turns into a Castle character, and the first thing you do is market him? They have no shame left."

"Things will come around in time, Lou. You are a great guy. If anyone can pull off the superhero thing, you can," she added, "If you want."

After a sip of coffee, she nodded vigorously and replied, "Absolutely! Archimedia is basically an undersized publishing house. What really makes it tick will be artist-owners. I won't go into the whole shebang right now, but I'd love to have you as a full partner in this cooperative."

"Which means...," about which time the buzzer rang.

"Actually, that is one of the others lined up," she said with a smile and sidelong glance. "Would you help me out and look over her portfolio with me please?"

After his response, she yelled, "Come on in, Vicky!"

[Azuth65]

Vicky turned the door knob after Mona's voice came through the device. As soon as she entered the scent of fresh brewed coffee assaulted her senses, the caffeine already buzzing her and she hadn't even tasted a cup. Walking in the carefully guided her portfolio to avoid bumping into anything as she quickly found the woman who, with any luck, would be setting her up with a job once she was out of school.

"Good afternoon Mo-," she started but as she stepped up she was taken aback by the man next to Fulcrum. Looking up at what she could only call a nine foot tall, four armed, red skinned demon her steps faltered before calming herself. Holding out a hand, she put on a friendly smile. "Sorry, didn't think I'd be seeing anyone else who'd make me feel fun-sized today. My name's Vicky, nice to make your acquaintance."

[Cube]

"It's been a while since I've had to look over anything. And... thanks for that."

Lou turned a shade more red at the compliment. Giant or not, he was still the same awkward geek Mona knew from years ago.

He grinned at the newcomer, offering one of his many hands for her to shake. "Hey! I'm Lou Ross. It's nice to meet you, Vicky. Sorry if I freaked you out. I'm not actually a... I mean, I only look like..."

He paused for a moment as he tried to find a way to parse this.

"...I'm actually quite cuddly. Have a seat?"

[Azuth65]

Taking the offered seat Vicky had no trouble keeping the genuine smile, "Freaked me out, No Mr. Ross. Just wasn't expecting to see anyone taller than our Fulcrum. Obviously, you haven't seen my high school. Though, the four armed guy in my Home Ec. class is blue." Removing her sunglasses and setting them on the table she met Lou's eyes, "I've had a few people accuse me of being possessed given my eyes. It gets old quick, doesn't it?"

"So then," Vicky said as she unzipped the case and withdrew her tablet computer first as well as a small binder filled with some of her work, "On the computer is pretty much all my recent work. This binder is my wild west set zombie graphic novel. I also have a collection of science fiction and fantasy pieces. Right now though, those are only about half done and most of the sci-fi stuff is admittedly probably a bit too derivative to publish without risk of rousing the anger and legal representatives of Mr. Lucas or Mr. Rodenberry's estate."

[Dariusprime]

Fulcrum, who had remained quiet during the introductions, smiled and asked, "Would you like something to drink, Vicky? We have all sorts of coffees, ice tea and some soda around here somewhere."

As for Lou's thanks, she just smiled and patted him on the arm. "Lou is my coworker from Castle Comics. We worked on the Freedom League run for...how many issues? I'd say at least 30. He'll be joining our little gang here if everything works out."

Lacking another extra-large chair, Fulcrum simply hovered in a sitting position and glanced at Vicky's offerings. "Wherever you want to start, Vicky. If you don't mind, I'd like to have Louis take a look at your work as well. He shares our good taste," she said with a smile and a wink.

"I recommend the zombie novel, Lou. It sounds like a blast. 'Dead Noon' is the name isn't it?" she said, addressing the question to Vicky.

[Azuth65]

"I'll go with the some straight black coffee. Smells like a fresh pot's on and it smells divine," Vicky replied, her eyes darting to the source of the scent. What she found was a collection of coffee tins and blank white mugs around a Keurig on a small table. "Oh, even better, dad has one of those at his office. The rest of his co-workers made it an initiation ritual to bring in a mug or two from home."

"I might have a couple of those issues. Would you mind if I brought a couple in for you to sign? Last comic convention your line was almost out the door. Couldn't even see your table from the end of it," she replied with a smile.

At Fulcrum's invitation she returned the wink before she slid the binder towards the pair of giants. "Dead Noon was the first title I came up with that wasn't completely terrible. I have some ideas for a sequel actually, I just haven't had much time to focus on it."

[Cube]

Lou flipped through the binder. "Cowboys and Zombies? That sounds like an interesting combination."

He got a bit antsy at the mention of his last comic convention though. "Oh yeah, that one. ...Yeah, that was memorable..."

Focusing his attention on the binder, he eyed one of Vicky's more recent works. "You've got a very interesting style. I love the line work on this picture. The detail is amazing!"

He grinned. "You know, it's refreshing to see people trying out new genres in this business. Took me ages to get Castle to consider publishing some Fiction comics. Makes you wonder how much talent they've missed over the years."

[Azuth65]

"Part of the story came from one of my old gamer group's campaigns. We'd just picked up All Flesh Must Be Eaten and while Frank, our group's primary game master, was looking through his copy for ideas his phone went off. The ringtone was The Ecstasy of Gold and it just clicked for me," Vicky explain.

The white haired teen tried to hide her blush and pleasure at Lou's compliment. She glanced at the page he was on, a full page of her protagonist, a scruffy man a torn and blood speckled duster and trail dust covered clothes holding a Peacemaker in one hand and a lit bundle of dynamite in the other in mid throw as desiccated arms reached for him. "Thank you, that particular splash took the better part of a weekend to get just the way I wanted it."

"Probably a good deal, I mean look at the webcomics community. Many are self taught but I will admit for every one gem there's about twenty more that are blatant copies or are just terrible," she commented.

[Dariusprime]

"One straight, black coffee coming up," replied Fulcrum. A strong breeze wafted through the main room, at which point Fulcrum offered Vicky a large mug. "The finest in free-trade coffee combined with the lovely Keurig system. Actually just normal free-trade coffee made properly."

"Bringing in mugs is an excellent idea! We should start that. Like a lot of things, and I'm not really joking, you can tell a lot about a person by the coffee cup they use. What do you think, Lou?" she asked while sipping her own coffee.

"Yes, I was mesmerized by her drawing style. My style isn't what you'd call realism, but I think Vicky here could do both equally well." She smiled over her coffee cup at the young heroine.

At the mention of webcomics, Mona nodded and added, "That's one of the groups I'd like to tap. Self publishing is nice and all, I've done it before myself, but having a professional prepare, produce and distribute your work allows for a much wider audience. Plus as I was telling Lou, I'm going to be 'dangerous' by forming this company as an artist cooperative: owned, operated and driven by the people that actually own the characters."

"Who is that scruffy-looking nerf herder?" She pointed to the protagonist in the duster.

[Cube]

Lou laughed. "Mona, my favorite coffee mug is the one my daughter tried drawing a picture of me on during a field trip to the pottery studio. What does that say about me, exactly?"

He smiled as he turned his attention back to the portfolio. "But I do think Vicky has a real talent. The hard part about making comics is versatility. You've got to be able to draw thousands of things in thousands of different ways if you want to be successful. Of course, a good publisher helps too. It's why I'm so excited about this. I've been drawing Dr. Mystery for so long that I've started to miss the old days where I drew a new hero or villain every week!"

[Aoiroo]

"If you want to draw a new hero every week, sit on top of a roof top at night with a sketchbook, you'll see plenty."

There was Carrie, she was currently standing next to tape in hand, currently holding it next to his waist to get the lengh between arms,

"Can you go ahead and stand up Lou, I need to get your inseam and it'd be really awkward if I had to climb under the table."

If she had cared to announce herself they would of noticed she had arrived just a few moments after Victoria. If her footsteps had made any noise, if the dark blue track suit had jingled with the sound of the loose zipper, or the purse had made a clanging sound when it hit the floor, or even the sound of her breathing after being close enough to get widte and neckline measurements of someone three times her size had been any indicator they might of notice. But she seemed to lack these subtle noises, out of habit she lacked them, and as she continued to walk around it didn't seem like they would come out of their own accord until she opened her mouth and said,

"I'm Carrie by the way, and I am making you a suit, my god it must be hard to shop for clothing."

[Cube]

"GAH! NINJA TAILOR!" Lou's horns nearly left two neat holes in the ceiling at Carrie's sudden appearance. The pounding of his heart was audible.

"Oh... I... didn't see you. How long have you been... you're making me a suit? I..." He took a moment to swallow the lump in his throat.

"Don't scare me like that."

Picking himself off the floor, he tried to salvage what few remaining scraps of dignity he had. "I... uh... Appreciate the gesture, though. I just... How long have you been in here?"

[Aoiroo]

If Carrie wasn't very nearly numbed to large scary beasts of powers she might of been startled by his start. Instead she walked over and said,

"Could you hold your arms out?"

She took the measuring tape and started to measure the width and lengh,

"Not too long, I came in when you guys started talking over the zombie cowboy comic strip. I didn't want to interupt, you guys seemed like you were enjoying yourselves."

Pulling out the chair he had been sitting on, she stepped onto it, it was only about three feet off the ground so she didn't meet him eye to eye, but she was able to put the measuring tape around his neck then around his body,

"Anyway, Mona asked me to come to get your measurements. I'm her personal tailor, in that I'm a friend who doesn't charge an arm and a leg for custom tailoring to those who suddenly find themselves to be being value sized."

After wrapping the if you looked at it, exceedingly long measuring tape around his shoulders to get that measurement, she hopped off the chair and looked over towards Victoria,

"I can probably make you a suit too, something more pastel, that hair screams winter tones."

[Cube]

"I just wish you would have warned me first." said Lou, as he stretched his arms out in a quite effective Vitruvian Man impression.

"I do appreciate the gesture, though. It it wasn't for these plus-sized tank tops and jeans Audrey found, I... it wouldn't be pleasant. Is this going to cost me much?"

Lou was definitely a large gentleman, and it would take a lot of fabric to cover all 10 feet of him.

"...In all honesty, the hard parts are really the sleeves and horns. It's hard enough to find a shirt that fits over one of these things, let alone two on the same side. And I ruin more shirts because of these stupid horns than I do from fire..."

[Aoiroo]

"As I said, I didn't want to interupt your conversation unless I really needed something. As for the horns, button up shirts, already made a note of that see."

She produced a notebook from her pocket, it had some designs already in it for a three piece suit vest included in solid black,

"I picked up some comics for research, is it a wonder the character mostly goes shirtless."

She pulled out a pen and clicked it scribbling down the measurements.

"Gonna make you some ties too, nice shiny material, completely fire proof but feels like satin. Solid colors, patterns would clash with your new complexion. Also, you got your wedding band? They probably don't make rings in your particular size, but if I know the metal I should be able to get something that'll fit and still match your wives ring."

Scribbling a little bit onto the paper she tapped her pen a little,

"As for price, don't worry about it, the suit's considered a company expense. As are the ties, the wedding band would be a gift cause it's misleading for such a handsome gent to not adverstise he's off the market."

[Azuth65]

Vicky nodded, "I'm sure there are plenty of recent start-ups looking for a place to call home." Taking the offered coffee she took a sip before glancing over at Fulcrum, "I'm curious, do you have any webcomic artists lined up to either move their series to your webspace or have their stuff printed here?"

"What it says to me is you're a loving parent," the teen supplied.

"That would be Wayne Kurtis. The idea is he's a prospector returning to the nearest settlement for some extra supplies to take back to his camp. Rides in, gets attacked by the outbreak in progress," the young artist explained.

The young interviewee had to visibly stop herself from jumping backwards when Carrie made her presence known, her chair still slid back along the floor. Taking a second to compose herself she slid back up to the table. "She has a point about the rooftops Lou, this is Freedom afterall. We live in a weirdness magnet."