… and that’s that for chapter 5! I will be taking a brief bit of time to finish gearing up for chapter 6, where we’ll catch up with Midori and see what’s in store for her. I’ll be making an announcement here when Chapter 6 will start, so stay tuned.
In the meantime, I’d love to know your thoughts on the chapter and what you anticipate in chapter 6! Thank you as always for reading!
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Hi all!
Some of you have been wondering about the comic’s updates and chapter 5’s progress. I admit I’m not super great about reporting my progress, mostly because I only like to show up with good news. So, I’d like to improve that.
I’m currently working on the final 7 pages of the chapter, while also gearing up to reveal a website re-design. Which I’m very excited about and I can’t wait to show to everyone! Hopefully, it will run more smoothly than the current setup (especially the comments section).
Admittedly this chapter has really been kicking my ass, and finishing it has been a much bigger challenge than I had anticipated. The current, actual dystopian world we’re living in has crushed a lot of my and my peers’ artistic and creative energy, and it seems that there’s no amount of self-care that can restore it completely right now. So I’ve been pushing through, but it’s been a real struggle. I find myself in a weird space where the me who wrote and roughed out this chapter is a lot different from the me who’s tasked with finishing it. Sometimes I wonder if the present me forgot how to draw. It’s a weird space to occupy. All I can ask is that you bear with me while I get the work done.
Thanks to everyone who reads and enjoys Centralia, who leaves their thoughts and comments, and who support the comic on Ko-Fi! Some days I don’t feel deserving of such support given how painfully slow I’ve been working. But if you’re willing to stick it through with me, then I owe it to you guys to keep trying, even if it’s really hard right now.
Thank you as always,
-Michelle
Michelle,
Look at it this way: Considering the general direction of current trends, 2020 will be soon remembered as “the good old days”. See, silver lining already!
Hang on tight. Never despair.
Well, at least we’ll always have comics, yes? :’)
Thank you, I’ll keep pushing forward!
Thank you for creating and sharing Centralia 2050 with us. It’s on my favorites list so I can easily check almost every day (regardless of update frequency) and vote on top web comics.
Thank you so much Lloyd, I really appreciate that!!
I mean…he’s not wrong….
Oops, sorry, wrong post
I figured Grey was going to pick up and leave at some point, but this wasn’t how I imagined it would go down. Sorry Midori…
So, a few pages back, I had put up a post about how I could create a soundtrack from the all the pages I have read from this comic, and Delta-v had responded asking for a playlist. Well, I decided to oblige them, and I came up with a track list of some songs that I think are appropriate either lyrically, or, they just fit a particular mood from the comic. Anyway, without further adieu, here are the tracks I have selected for your auditory receptacles to enjoy:
– Offworld by Celldweller (Wake Up Midori)
– The Invisible Plan by The Kidney Thieves (Theme of Switch)
– Our Demons by The Glitch Mob and Featuring Aja Volkman (Theme of Midori)
– Fences by Vicetone, Matt Wertz (Shipping Midori and Grey)
– U R So F****d by Infected Mushroom (Robot Spider Chase)
– Never and Me by The Kidney Thieves (Theme of Grey)
– More of Just the Same by Infected Mushroom, WHITENOISE (Chasing Weiss)
– Uncomfortable by Halestorm (Theme of Ren)
– Many Thanks by Dope Stars Inc (VR Club Noise)
– Into The Void – Formal One Remix by Celldweller (Midori’s Battle With the Quadruped)
– Love Hurt Bleed by Gary Numan (VR Club Noise Take 2)
– Please Excuse This Funk Up by Infectious Grooves (Unintentional VR Avatar Mix-up)
– Omae Wa Mou Lofi Desu by Heiakim (Theme of Lor)
– Life Will Change by AmaLee (Theme of Lor and T.O.M.O)
– Build Our Machine by Dagames (Lumico Takes Over Centralia)
– No Line in MIDI by Infected Mushroom (Theme of Midori and Weiss)
Unfortunately, I’m not very tech-savvy, and I don’t know how to share links to playlists I have created on Spotify, so you guys are going to have to search these songs using the Spotify app (or, you could use YouTube) on your own. Sorry about that, but if anyone else knows, feel free to re-create the playlist and post the link if you’re feeling generous :]
I gotta say… this seriously made my day!! I actually am not familiar with these artists, so I will have to go and dig into this list and check out the tracks for myself. But seriously, seeing such a thoughtful playlist for all the aspects of Centralia… I feel lucky to have such awesome readers like you :’)
I also have tracks that I think about for Centralia, I guess I just felt too silly to say anything about it. But maybe I can overcome my shyness and share some of my music some time. (´͈ ᵕ `͈ ）
Many thanks! This will keep me busy for days. ^^
Thanks! I’m glad you both are going to give the playlist a listen 🙂 I don’t expect someone to like every single song I picked for this playlist, but I hope there are at least a couple tracks you guys will be able to appreciate. Also, I would definitely be willing to listen to some Centralia themed songs from your personal playlist, Michelle 😀
You have two legs, Midori, don’t let him get away.
Grey has been all by himself for quite a while, and what people skills he may have started with have atrophied badly. He was terrified that if Midori found Weiss, and got her memory back, there wouldn’t be any place for him. He was falling in love with her, and is taking her complaints and cold demeanor as rejection. He’s feeling dead inside, is seeing his last hope for happiness disappear into the darkness, and he feels like a fool for even imagining that she might love him, too.
Pretty toxic, and he’s doing the wrong things, himself, but remember, he doesn’t understand people–let alone Midori. Unless she does something NOW, he’s going to be too cynical to talk to in the future.
As a matter of fact, I can’t think of anyone in the comic with what I would call good people skills. The brightest spot I see is Lor, but while she’s a sweetie, and kind, she’s also a computer nerd….
What’s GOING to happen in the next chapter? Let’s just say that this is one spot where I can’t even guess–and that’s a GOOD thing. ^^
Though I’m personally unsure if his feelings were romantic there’s obviously Strong feelings on both sides of their relationship! But yeah, a lack of people skills Really sums up most of the characters
(I’m also interested in the implication that Weiss left Midori by choice)
(I’m going to try a link–I hope it works)
https://centralia2050.com/comic/ch-5-page-45/
My take: Look at Grey’s face in Chapter 5, page 45, panel 5. That’s what a dream looks like when it smashes into reality. To him, Midori getting what she wants means losing her. For the rest of this page and the next, he’s clamped back down on the emotions he had begun to dare to let show, leaving only bitterness, and his dialogue is about what he thought they could have had together (all very cryptic and unhelpful, of course–he’s not very good at communication, either).
Midori has Weiss-induced tunnel vision, and missed all his clumsy attempts at asking her to stay without actually asking her to stay. She was too angry to realize what he was saying until it was too late.
I dunno if what’s happening is toxic, per se, as much as Grey has a hard time processing things that get too complicated or dangerous for him. It’s clear that he’s not certain that he trusts the people she’s thrown her lot in with, and it’s clear that they don’t necessarily have the best interests of the city at heart. So he’s trying to express his fear to her, and when she seems too rooted in trying to change herself by finding her Weiss, he realizes she’s not the person he thought she was. Which makes it hard for anyone to stay if you don’t feel like you can trust their direction.
Yeah, he’s very rusty at working with other people, and expressing his feelings, but in his world, not a lot lasts for long, so what’s the point?
Haha, well, that might reflect on me having a strange idea of people skills. Or rather, people skills are kind of a lost ability in this setting? Not sure!
Love to see all the discussion/postulating going on, it’s just hard not to want to jump in! But aah, I really don’t want to spoil or confirm anything too early. I can’t wait for y’all to see chapter 6! <3