jeriendhal | Vegetating on Web Comics

I think I must be serious about this diet thing. I've managed to exercise on the bike for five days out of the last six, I've managed to cut down my cola drinking by half, and I ate the green beans in my Healthy Choice microwave meal (I loathe and despise all vegetable matter). Of course I covered them in gravy beforehand, but I ate 'em...

Over on the Terinu forum, Peta has expressed interest in doing a straight up collaboration with me. Which is nice, but somewhat problematic, as she's competent at producing comic book scripts, I tend to blather on quite a bit. In fact, the only real idea I came up with for a collaboration is a gag-a-day webcomic idea that's been knocking in the back of my brain for a while called "Damsel and Dragon". In which we follow the adventures of Isolde as her father saves her from a life of being bored out of her skull at the castle by tying her to a post and leaving her as a snack for the local dragons. Which turns out to be not so bad, because the dragon that finds her, named Jeremy, is less interested in eating her and more in having a playmate (in human terms he's about eight years old.) Which doesn't exactly mean she's resigned to the sitaution, but she's willing to make the most of it (it beats being married off to some nobleman three times her age and dying in childbirth anyway.)

Anyway, I can't decide how badly I'd be ripping off Patricia Wrede's "Enchanted Forest" books if I did this.

Characters

Isolde: Sixteen year old, spunky, sarcastic princess. Tends to speak her mind, which isn't exactly a good idea in front of an ancient dragon. Fortunately Jeremy doesn't count, though she still has to watch out for Mom. She bounces between being irritated by Jeremy's childish behavior (which she's just growing out of herself), and having fun teaching him about stuff.

Jeremy: Very young dragon, equivilent to a human eight-year old, which means he's about the size of a pony. Has a sunny, if uninformed, outlook on life. Tends to completely miss the point when Isolde occasionally rants about "being held prisoner by a bunch of fire-breathing hell beasts." He's the loveable if sometimes irritating little brother to Isolde's big sister. Isolde would find him slightly more intimidating if she didn't know she could make him cry at the drop of a hat.

Jeremy's Mom: She's large ancient red dragon, to the point that when she appears, we basically only see her head (or a foot) in the panel. Tends to regard Isolde as something between a nice playmate for Jeremy and a disposable hampster. Leaves Isolde along for the most part, unless the princess makes Jeremy cry. If that happens, she usually ends up tying Isolde to her post for a while to teach her a lesson (and allow Catherine to make snarky "I told you so" commentary).

Catherine: Pleasant, plump, ex-princess in her forties or fifties. She's Jeremy's Mom's princess, and quite enjoys her life of Not Being a Trophy Wife. Catherine is Isolde's conduit of information about dragon customs, and her motherly foil to some of the young princess's more outrageous behavior. When she's not doing that, Catherine spends most of her time playing gin with the other local princesses.

Ambassador Tez: Yes that Tez (well, an alternate universe version of him anyway). Friendly, personable, and charming, he's Ambassador to Dragons from the Elven Kingdom, which means he basically hangs about chatting a lot. Isolde has an utter, inescapable crush on him, which is only enhanced by his tendency to walk around shirtless. For his part Tez tries to keep Isolde's romantic fantasies at arms length, since he regards any relationship with her as cradle robbing. Like Catherine, he actually likes the dragons, which tends to drive Isolde up the wall.

Sir Lance: No, not that Lance, though there is a certain family resemblance. He's the stereotypical Knight in Shining Armor, handsome, brave strong, and with a brain as thick as lard. Serves as a foil Isolde. Tends to get terminally confused by Isolde's frantic efforts to avoid being rescued by him (she appreciates the thought, but the idea of doing the Happily Ever After thing with HIM drives her up the wall.) Most encounters with him tend to end with him limping off the field of battle after Mom scorches his armor.

Princess Gwendolyn: Princess belonging to Jeremy's next door neighbor/dragons. She's the Popular Kid, totally serene in her upper-class perfection, waiting calmly for a knight to rescue her and be rewarded by her rich daddy. In the meantime she spens a lot of time double checking to make sure her hair and nails are perfect and reading Royalty Weekly. Tends to be snooty towards pretty much everybody, and drives Isolde (and occasionally Catherine) up the wall.

Isolde's Dad: Shows up occasionally to check to see how his daughter is getting along. Usually leaves quickly after Isolde makes some pointed comments about getting around to paying her ransom...

Regular Locations

General Area: A big bowl shaped valley, with a lot cave entrances in it. Basically it's the dragon equivilent of an apartment complex. Complete with tenant association...

Inside the Cave: Where we usually find Jeremy's Mom. Pretty much a sterotypical dragon's den, with so much treasure in it Isolde ocasionally finds herself tripping over it all. One corner has Jeremy's "room", a cleared out space for his bed of gold and his toys.

Outside the Cave: Just a big hole in the granite, with the post that Isolde occasionally finds herself tied to.

The Princess Co-Op: A combination tavern-cum-general store at the bottom of the valley, where Isolde has an opportunity to chat with Catherine and other princesses away from their dragons. Occasionaly Jeremy follows her in, much to her frustration when she's trying to get some "me" time. Unfortuantely it's also the most likely place that she'll run into Gwendolyn or Lance, but nothing is perfect...

General Themes

Finding one's path through the world. The battle between responsibility and youth. All reflected in Isolde's tug of war between wanting to get out from underneath Jeremy's Mom's clawed thumb and not following meekly along with Lance or her dad's ideas about 'proper' behavior. In a wierd sort of way she has more freedom being a captive in the valley, which is just another contradiction she has to deal with.

Oh yeah, and there'll probably be dragon poop jokes too.