DeRamos.org: It's a Blog.

Bedtime Stories (for Dogs)

2015-03-10T23:18:00.001-07:00

Several years ago, I tried to turn this blog into a webcomic. I drew some scribbly images -- a woman with a shotgun, some zombies, a few vampires, and other miscellaneous freaks and ghouls -- and it was kind of awful. If I recall, there was some sort of unstated plot to the images, but I kept repeating the same sequences of events with different thought bubbles every day, like a wannabe Dinosaur Comics.

I eventually got bored, and I stopped "writing" those webcomics.

A couple of years ago, I wanted to write a more focused visual adventure (okay, another webcomic, but better!), but instead of trying to draw each panel, I would use photographs featuring LEGO bricks and minifigures. I went on Bricklink to buy all sorts of parts, "cast" my main characters, and outlined how I wanted to present my ridiculous tale. It was supposed to be "bedtime stories for dogs" because one of the heroes was an anthropomorphic version of my dog Kate, with a silly supporting cast, and an epic scope that pretty much rips off Doctor Who. Sort of. It was a fantasy-comedy-type deal, and all those things pretty much sum up to being Doctor Who-like. Or Supernatural-like. I was going to have each episode / webcomic / installment on my Tumblr site, A Terrible Realm, because I had hoped that the Tumblr community would dig this kind of stuff, and it would be a successful webcomic.

I had to stop, before I even began, because I didn't have the time. I didn't make the time. I took naps instead.

I want to try again. I have the LEGO, enough to make child-me jealous of older-me, and I have since acquired a fairly decent DSLR camera. I'm going to continue developing what I conceptualized two years ago. There's a "Mary Sue" of my dog. In space. On a spaceship. There's going to be an ersatz Doctor Who Doctor, but not a direct copy/plagiarism. Hopefully. More like an homage. Or a satire. A parody, really. There will be a silly swordsman and a badass gunslinger. It will take place in different time eras, but time travel won't be used, I don't think. I just have to come up with snappy stories with the right tone, good enough to be a series of bedtime stories. For dogs.

Instead of Tumblr, I will post these adventures here. On this blog. Maybe YouTube. Motion comics? What are motion comics? I will definitely not attempt stop-motion for this series. It took hours to photograph and compile 13 seconds of useable frames, at 15 frames per second. I had to loop the footage have a 15-second video for Instagram. I mentioned this video in previous blog post(s):

Part 8 of 18: Plastic surgery. #lego #stopmotion #radiohead #fakeplastictrees #tardis 🎬👽💃
A video posted by Ryan DeRamos (@ryan_deramos) on Feb 21, 2015 at 11:27pm PST

That's all for now. Hopefully I can start posting these adventures in the immediate future. If not, at least I can type a sort of status update on this thing. Cheers!

Semantics

2011-03-01T16:30:00.000-08:00

So I've spent all night installing various production programs and plug-ins, and soon this new Death Star (computer) will be fully operational! (As long as Lando Calrissian and Admiral Ackbar don't blow it up.)

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February Flu and Files

2011-02-28T08:00:00.000-08:00

That's my excuse; what's yours?

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The Future, Conan?

2011-02-08T15:17:00.000-08:00

I apologize for this long period of non-blogging, but I have been working on some super-secret awesome stuff as of late. Okay, I don't want to oversell it, so I have been working on some super-secret regular stuff as of late.

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(Transmitido en español por SAP)

2011-01-27T01:37:00.000-08:00

This is essentially Webcomic #21a, but in Spanish. Google Translate translated the first two panels. The combination of partially-remembered high school Spanish from last century and an intro Pimsleur course I took in 2009 enabled me to write the last two panels.

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Perfect Answer

2011-01-25T02:49:00.000-08:00

Remember, kids: Anything more than perfect...is imperfect.

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New Webcomic Format!

2011-01-13T03:39:00.000-08:00

We'll see if this new DeRamos.org Webcomic format, as a four-panel comic strip, is any better (not to be confused with Eddie Vedder). This is just a preview of #021; we'll be back with some random-topic speech bubbles in the near future.

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Make That A Summer "Vacation"

2010-06-28T00:00:00.000-07:00

This ain't no vacation, really, 'cause we're workin' on some (hopefully) cool stuff.

001: France
002: Switzerland
003: Serbia
004: Serbia
005: India
006: South Korea
007: South Korea
008: Philippines
009: Hawaii
010: California
011: USA + Canada
012: South Carolina + Space + Titanic
013: England
014: England
015: England
016: Scotland
017: Ireland
018: Scotland
019: Ireland
020: Iceland

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DeRamos.org Webcomic Returns in Late June!

2010-05-24T10:00:00.000-07:00

We need to take another break! We'll be back the last week of June, if not before then. The trio of "freaks" (a foursome, if you count the Magical Shotgun) will confront the "ghouls" in Iceland, with the Ex-Vampire Lord (the new last human-human on Earth) caught in the middle. The picture sequences should be interesting, but of course the speech bubbles will likely subvert the comic. Check out the "story" (for lack of a better word) from the beginning:

001: France
002: Switzerland
003: Serbia
004: Serbia
005: India
006: South Korea
007: South Korea
008: Philippines
009: Hawaii
010: California
011: USA + Canada
012: South Carolina + Space + Titanic
013: England
014: England
015: England
016: Scotland
017: Ireland
018: Scotland
019: Ireland
020: Iceland

Oh yeah, and Happy Bermuda Day, Victoria Day, etc.

Tweet to us @DeRamosMedia! And check out FoodBoozeTunes! It's new!

Webcomic #018f: Destiny

2010-05-21T10:00:00.000-07:00

"Terms like 'fate' and 'destiny' are only appropriate in hindsight," says Justine the Revenant. In this webcomic, we use revenant to mean any resurrected character that isn't ghoulishly undead, neither vampire nor zombie, kind of like The Crow.

"Here we go again..." sighs the Silver Werewolf.

"If you say you're destined for something, but fail, that means you were supposed to be tricked into believing in a false destiny, and you end up doing what you're meant to do."

"Did you just say 'butt fail'?"

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Webcomic #019f: Bit Players

2010-05-20T10:00:00.000-07:00

"I can't until the Lost finale on Sunday," the blue reptilian in a brown robe says to the green reptilian in a blue robe.

"It's going to be two-and-a-half hours long," says the blue-robed reptilian (who's green-scaled, as opposed to the brown-robed, blue-scaled reptilian, with whom he is talking).

"Two-and-a-half hours?" interrupts the raven-haired bat demon vampire.

"There's going to be a late night post-finale show, too," adds the blue-robed reptilian, apparently with all the information. Remember that time, before everyone had an electronic device with access to the Internet, when you had to have a current newspaper or TV Guide to know the current television schedule?

"I'm going to have to set my DVD recorder for lower-quality, four-hour LP mode," realizes the bit role vampiress.

We really need to incorporate these new characters, no matter how small their role, into some new merchandise designs. It's on our to-do list...

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Webcomic #017f: Not Sparkly Vampires

2010-05-19T10:00:00.000-07:00

"If angels are the opposite of demons, what are the opposite of vampires?" asks the Vampire Lady.

"Uh, Tolkien's elves," replies Smokey the Middle-Management Reptilian Humanoid. He has a point, since both vampires and human-sized elves are corporeal, virtually immortal, and non-human. Also, geeky teenage girls like vampires, but geeky teenage boys like elves...generally (if the stereotype holds).

"Seriously, people? Elves?"

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Webcomic #020f: Hiding in Plain Sight

2010-05-18T02:00:00.000-07:00

"I am intrigued by the concept of hiding in plain sight," says the Ex-Vampire Lord, who is, of course, hiding in plain sight (since he is now a mortal human being). "Many people want to find things so badly that they look in obscure places but never right in front of them."

"Brainnn...!!!" agrees the tall zombie.

"The thing they're looking for is usually right in front of them, yes?" adds the Vampire Lady.

"In most cases, yeah," replies the Ex-Vampire Lord. "It's like a non-ghoul hanging out with a bunch of blood- and/or brain-thirsty monsters. Ridiculous."

We salute you, Ex-Vampire Lord.

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Webcomic #016f: 'Whiskey' versus ' Whisky'

2010-05-17T10:00:00.000-07:00

"The problem with drinking six shots of whiskey is that they hit you at the same time," observes the Silver Werewolf. "Then again, quality Tennessee sour mash is not that much of a problem."

"No, the problem is that you're drinking whiskey, not whisky," contradicts Pastor Reptilian, after finishing a glass of Scotch. "Take note of the spelling," he insists. "You got it?"

"Oh, I got it."