Heya! During the month of April, Star Quest was the Spiderforest bookclub webcomic of the month on the discord server! At the near end of the month I did a QnA session where I answered a ton of questions! SQ is still on hiatus but I thought it'd be fun to share the answers to the questions I receieved about the comic, the cast, and the Cinnaverse! Enjoy!
Questions from Lunarstar!
What are your inspirations for your comic?
It has a handful of them, but the major ones are the Kirby series (mainly 64 and Dreamland 3), the webcomic Cucumber Quest, and a bit of DELTARUNE
Do you have concept art for your characters?
I DOOOOO have concept art! Here's some concept art when I was redesigning Purvall, Twizzle, and Kris! Also I threw in an old illustration from 10+ years ago. XD
What is your favorite part of the comic so far?
The dream sequences might be my favourite so far.
If Kirby suddenly appeared on that ship with the main cast, how would it go?
LOL Kris and Twizzle would have a field day with him! I think Purvall would have to put child locks on their food pantry though
What are some neat space objects that you want to show off in the comic some day?
There's one coming up that I can't talk about yet, but I can't wait to show it off!
Everyone's age is measured in orbits. How can they record and measure that since every planet and star are different? Even when two stars are about the same size, both their life supporting planets can still have different orbits. How can they measure if two people from different galaxies are standing next to each other?
I haven't put too much thought into this actually so my answer might be a little rocky haha
Since orbits was just another way to say years, I imagine depending on the planet you were born on the orbits would translate over to another planet's orbits if that makes sense lol. The way I see it, it's like, if you were a certain amount of weight on one planet, you'd be a different weight on another
If the main cast have a fly by of Earth, what would they think of it?
Earth and humans actually don't exist in their universe... but if it did it would pique their curiosity and they'd wanna visit it! They'd probably comment on how it looks similar to Azmorfa but without the rings.
Does Avaci have a favorite galaxy? Favorite star? Favorite star system?
Avaci might be fond of the Alta Galaxy since it was the first galaxy. Not sure about star or star system though.. maybe Etolia or something.
What does Avaci think about normal blackholes eating objects and stars destroying surrounding planets as they die?
When I saw this I had to think whether black holes existed in their universe since or not their universe is a little different from ours. XD
Honestly I'm not sure, if it was normal I think she'd consider it a normal part of space. It still might spike her anxiety though
What does Avaci think about pulsars, neutron stars, and white dwarves?
Similar to black holes, she would consider these just a normal part of space. I feel like she might be annoyed by pulsars though lol
Does Avaci dread about the death of the universe?
If the theory is true, then yeah she would! I feel like she might try to find a way to stop it.
What are Kris Praiine, Purvall Gusso, and Twizzle Rizzy favorite things they seen in space in person so far? As long as they stay in a safe distance, of course.
Seeing a planet up close before they head in is always really cool to them! Also nebulas, space clouds, and galaxies up close too.
Does Purvall get sad when thinking about destroyed planets that was potentially orbiting a once living star?
Oh definitely.
What are the planets that Kris, Purvall, and Twizzle dislike the most?
It's hard for Kris to dislike a planet since he finds them all interesting, but I think he might not like planet Aridia since the planet is just one giant desert lol.
Purvall might not like planet Doromoss since it has little land and is essentially a sky (they're scared of heights).
Twizzle's least favourite planet is a spoiler. :)
Have anyone visited the Milkyway Galaxy before?
Earth and our galaxy doesn't exist in their universe, so no!
If someone told Purvall that the universe will die some day in the very very distant future, how would they react?
They'd be extremely upset.
Have Kris, Purvall, and Twizzle ever drove their ship into a nebula?
Yep, they have! 9 times out of 10 it's because of Kris lol
Have Kris, Purvall, and Twizzle seen a super nova before?
Not yet!
What are your favorite space facts that would blow people's minds?
I always thought the idea of black hole stars/quasi-stars interesting. Also how MASSIVE everything is... like the sun is huge to us, but it's so tiny compared to something like Ton 618. It's baffling to me but really cool.
Have Kris, Purvall, and Twizzle landed on a planet that doesn't have anything more then satellites?
Probably, yeah! Before the events of the comic they were just exploring planets here and there so it's likely that they came across a planet and went "let's go there!!" and visited it.
If it counts, Loba the satellite of Odana sorta fits into this category. It doesn't have any sapient or animal life, just plant life. It's considered a place there space trains, starships, and space ships tend to stop periodically on long journeys across the cosmos. It has a few hotels here and there but for the most part, the planet is practically deserted haha. Save for a few scattered ancient Novin spots. ;)
Have Kris, Purvall, and Twizzle encountered wondering objects that are made by an unknown civilization before? (Objects like the Voyager probes for example)
They've discovered stuff made by ancient Novins on multiple different planets, but something made by another civilization is a rarity, so probably not yet!
If they did pick up a Voyager probe, what would they do to it?
Kris and Twizzle would wanna poke and prod at it, but Purvall would do the responsible thing and let those on Ubo know so they can look at it. XD Kris and Twizzle might break it or something by touching it
What is the most polluted planet that Kris, Twizzle, and Purvall visited? What was their opinion on the planet and it's people?
There aren't a lot of polluted planets in the universe... if it counts planet Lavallon's atmosphere can be toxic to many but the inhabitants that live there. Those who visit need to wear special equipment to help them breathe. The trio hasn't visited this planet yet!
What is the cleanest advanced civilization planet have they visited?
Hm!! Probably planet Lomochii or Ubo. Lomochii and Ubo are known for being high tech and eco friendly so I imagine they might be one of the more cleaner planets to visit.
What are your pet peeves when it comes to sci-fi?
One of my annoyances was seeing an alien design and them being like, a recoloured human with no other defining features. Stuff like that would get under my skin a lot, but I can't say I care much now. Several years back I did go on a redesign spree to make my alien designs as non-human as possible lol. Also for a while I didn't like humans being the center piece in sci-fi media especially if there were interesting aliens present. That's also the reason why Earth, humans, and everything in our universe doesn't exist in the Cinnaverse. XD
What are your advice on designing aliens and planets?
Do whatever you wanna do and what piques your interest! ^^ I know that's kind of a barebones answer, but I like to think about designing planets and aliens like a giant sandbox- create what you wanna see!
What is your favorite alien race have you designed so far?
Robivs (pic below) are animals, but I still love their design soooo much.
Which alian race have you designed that ended up being cut from the comic?
Back in its earlier iterations I wanted the trio to have occasional run ins with a group of Lacelians (lizard inspired aliens!) that were space pirates but they were about as threatening as Team Rocket LOL. Their silly, semi-antagonistic role was cut from the comic the more I developed it, plus I wasn't all that interested in having space pirates.
They're still in the comic as side, incidental characters though with much, much less of an important role.
How do hybrids like Twizzle work?
Her parents had to be physically compatible (it works kinda like Pokemon egg groups?) to have her, but if it wasn't gonna work naturally, there's other methods of having a kid haha
Questions from NeoYi!
What were the inspiration behind some of the alien designs?
I have so many inspirations for designs!! Some were inspired by animals, aliens in existing franchises, and even stuff my friends have made too!
For example Purvall's species design was inspired by giraffes. The Ipsies (first pic) were inspired by snakes and the heads of the Togruta from Star Wars, and hell even the Caldonians and Waldroits (second pic) from planet Taibiyo were inspired by the Inklings and Octolings from Splatoon. XD
Avaci's design was reworked from a redesign a mutual did (piranhartist, third pic) that I feel the the general character designs in Hollow Knight had something to do with too. Also Dream Oracle from CQ inspired the "cloud dress" appearance she had too.
Were there any prominent sci-fi works that inspired you as well for Star Quest?
Now that I think about it, not really...??? There's some sci-fi works I like but I can't say some inspired SQ, I don't think. Part of me feels like most sci-fi media tends to turn me off so SQ ans the Cinnaverse is sorta like what I want to see in something that I would enjoy. XD
Though there is the webcomic Star Trip by Mycorrhiza, one of my favourite webcomics of all time which inspired a handful of the emotional scenes and drama that comes later in the comic. :9 Also the game No Man's Sky inspired the idea of having space stations scattered around galaxies lol
Do you have any songs that you associate with Star Quest or its characters?
YES. UGHHHH YESSS I had a whole youtube playlist for Star Quest that was mostly Kirby music LOL
Questions from Emma (Catcomixzstudios)!
What are some of your favorite parts about making the comic, whether it be process-wise or particular elements you enjoy drawing/writing?
This guy loves colouring!!!!!!! Seriously my favourite part is where I colour the thumbnails. I get to let loose and colour the scene how I see fit!
The comic is (relatively) early into its run. But still, have you had other incarnations or elements of the story that just didn't make it to the version of Star Quest we see today?
In its current form, yeah! It was planned to be much longer and I planned to have the trio visit every planet in the universe, but the more I thought about it and my limitations, I scrapped the idea and only chose planets that would be fun to visit and draw.
SQ is a story I've had since I was a teen and it has so many variations. Eventually I wanna write a blog post about me re-reading them all and writing my reactions and thoughts to them. ^^
Do you have a favorite character?
Purvall, Avaci, Hoxi, and Dark Energy
Are there any aspects of the character relationships we haven't seen yet but that you'd be willing to spoil/hint at? I'll also happily accept details about the characters about individual characters themselves
It's nothing serious, but Kris and Purvall are super duper close friends. ^^ It hasn't been mentioned in the comic too many times but they call each other "bud" and "buddy" a lot rather than their actual names. Besties for life babeyy