Line #82 Webcomic/OHumanStar


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ohs_chapter_one_cover_537.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Alastair Sterling (top-left), Brendan Pinsky (bottom) and Sulla Pinsky (top right).]]
3	->''"Are you just going to stand there?"''
4
5	Created by [[http://www.bluedelliquanti.com/ Blue Delliquanti]]. The webcomic can be found [[http://ohumanstar.com/ here]]. The rare page is NotSafeForWork, and the webcomic overall is intended only for audiences 16 and older.
6
7	There is a [[Characters/OHumanStar character sheet]].
8	----
9	!!This webcomic provides examples of:
10	* AnachronicOrder: Starts with Al's death, jumps forward 16 years, and then starting in Chapter Two there are flashbacks to when Al and Brendan first met.
11	* ArtEvolution: Early art of the characters had a rougher look before having a consistent look throughout the later chapters. Nowadays, Al's mustache is more noticeable, Brendan has fewer wrinkles in the present time, and Sulla is more expressive.
12	* ArtStyleDissonance: Did you look at the page image and first thought that the webcomic was a dramatic story about the effects of a lover's death and the humanity of being an android? Downplayed in the comic itself, due to the monochromic colorization setting up the mood to be more melancholic.
13	* BeatPanel: Lots; a particularly JustForFun/{{egregious}} example is [[http://ohumanstar.com/comic/chapter-1-page-26/ here]].
14	* TheBigDamnKiss: [[http://ohumanstar.com/comic/chapter-2-page-46/ Yep]].
15	* BloodFromTheMouth: Al displays a copious amount in the opening scene.
16	* BonusMaterial: ''[[http://bluedelliquanti.blogspot.com/2011/11/new-short-comic-oh-maker.html Oh, Maker]],'' a mini-comic published before the webcomic began, set to song lyrics and depicting Brendan and Sulla's domestic life as father and daughter before Al came BackFromTheDead. [[spoiler:It also foreshadows that Sulla [[KnewItAllAlong knew even before]] Al's reawakening that the two men had been lovers.]]
17	* BrainUploading: Done to Al when he dies. The scan is used to create Sulla and robot!Al.
18	* CassandraTruth: Brendan ''didn't'' bring Al back, and he doesn't know who did. Al doesn't believe him [[spoiler:[[http://ohumanstar.com/chapter-2-page-66/ until]] Brendan notices Al has the multitool that he'd been desperately searching for:]]
19	-->[[spoiler:'''Brendan''': Where did you get that?]]
20	-->[[spoiler:'''Al''': As I recall, it was a ''birthday present'', Brendan.]]
21	-->[[spoiler:'''Brendan''': How the ''hell'' did you get your multitool back? You ''can't'' have -- there's no way.]]
22	-->[[spoiler:'''Al''': It's ''mine''.]]
23	-->[[spoiler:'''Brendan''': Don't pull that with me. Only ''I'' knew where I kept it. You ''couldn't'' have found it.]]
24	-->[[spoiler:'''Al''': I woke up with it in my pocket. ''You'' ought to know that, seeing as you ''put'' it there.]]
25	-->[[spoiler:'''Brendan''': You don't still think I --]]
26	-->[[spoiler:'''Brendan''': Al, you ''died''. I thought you were ''gone''.]]
27	-->[[spoiler:'''Al''': Why ''wouldn't'' you give this back to me? Makes it a perfect picture, doesn't it?]]
28	-->[[spoiler:'''Brendan''': Stop it.]]
29	-->[[spoiler:'''Al''': Really ''completes'' the whole thing.]]
30	-->[[spoiler:'''Brendan''': ''I told you, I didn't bring you back --'']]
31	-->[[spoiler:'''Al''': ''Really''.]]
32	-->[[spoiler:'''Brendan''': ''You're not supposed to have the multitool anymore --'']]
33	-->[[spoiler:'''Al''': Then why do you care about this so much? Who is this ''for?'']]
34	-->[[spoiler:'''Brendan''': '''I was saving it for ''Sulla!''''']]
35	-->[[spoiler:'''[[http://ohumanstar.com/comic/chapter-2-page-67/ Brendan]]''': I was going to give her the multitool.]]
36	-->[[spoiler:'''Brendan''': For her sixteenth birthday.]]
37	-->[[spoiler:'''Brendan''': DeathGlare]]
38	-->[[spoiler:'''Brendan''': For her sixteenth birthday.]]
39	-->[[spoiler:'''Al''': You didn't do it.]]
40	-->[[spoiler:'''Brendan''': And ''now'' he listens.]]
41	* CastFullOfGay: And one Transgender girl -- and one LoveInterest who so self-identifies as [[http://ohumanstar.com/comic/chapter-4-page-56/ both a boy and a girl]](the narrative and other characters so far have managed to avoid referring to Ty by any pronoun).
42	* CerebusRetcon: There's a drawing by the artist that shows [[http://bluedelliquanti.tumblr.com/post/36239220819/is-als-name-al-because-al-looks-like-ai-artificial a humorous image of Brendan lying flirtatiously on top of a monitor while Gimel is beside him]]. The problem? Gimel turns out to have been created long ''after'' Al's death, making this Brendan a StepfordSmiler.
43	* CharacterExaggeration: The characters in the author's tumblr blog are much more comedic than in the comic. Al's a lot shyer to the point of {{Tsundere}}, Brendan's either a lot more flirty or more like a typical father, and Sulla acts more stereotypically a teenager.
44	* ChekhovsArmoury
45	* ChromaticArrangement: The scenes from the present day are colored in different shades of blue, flashbacks are red, [[spoiler:flashbacks from Sulla's perspective]] are green, and dream sequences can be one or the other.
46	* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: Al is blue, Brendan is red, and Sulla is green.
47	* CurseCutShort[=/=]LastSecondWordSwap: [[http://ohumanstar.com/comic/chapter-1-page-31/ This]]. Sulla, [[PowerFloats floating upside down]], approaches Al from behind and abruptly starts speaking.
48	--> '''Sulla''': Brendan gave you clearance, you know.
49	--> '''Al''': '''[=FFFFF=]'''[=FFFFfly.=] You can fly. That's right. Okay.
50	* DestructiveRomance: The reason why robot!Al and Brendan take such a long time to reconcile is due to Brendan's history trying to create a copy of Al and Al [[spoiler:having issues dealing with his current status as an android and being scared that he might hurt Brendan due to not knowing the limits of his power]].
51	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Sulla's experience as a synthetic human has [[http://ohumanstar.com/comic/chapter-3-page-27 similar implications]] to being transgender (although Sulla happens to be both).
52	* EatingMachine: [[http://ohumanstar.com/comic/chapter-3-page-8/ Robots can eat]], but mostly [[http://ohumanstar.com/chapter-1-page-20/ survive on fructose]] as it can be effectively converted into energy.
53	* EatingTheEyeCandy: Al and Brendan [[UnresolvedSexualTension both]].
54	* TheEndingChangesEverything: Reading the comic a second time with [[spoiler:Al’s gender identity]] in mind reveals a ''lot'' of scenes have double (or even triple) meanings.
55	* FallingInLoveMontage: [[http://ohumanstar.com/comic/chapter-2-page-57/ This page]] (worksafe) and the page after it ([[NotSafeForWork less so]]) which together form a SplashPanel.
56	* FinishingEachOthersSentences: Al and Brendan did this a lot. They ''still'' do it, even after Al's 16-year absence.
57	* FirstEpisodeTwist: Al dies and comes back as a robot. Also, Sulla is [[spoiler:a copy of Al's mind who was raised by Brendan and a transgender girl.]]
58	* {{Flashback}}: Half the comic is this, and the story keeps alternating between flashbacks and present day, seamlessly except for the change in color scheme.
59	* {{Foreshadowing}}: '''Constantly'''. Multiple rereads of the webcomic yield new revelations to the reader.
60	* FourthWallMailSlot: The characters occasionally answer questions on the author's tumblr.
61	* FunnyBackgroundEvent: Used [[http://ohumanstar.com/comic/chapter-1-page-26/ here]].
62	* GrewBeyondTheirProgramming: A major breakthrough for Al and Brendan was when Brendan explained his theory of BrainUploading as the first step to true artificial intelligence -- saying that an artificial program copied from a human one would eventually develop into its own person, distinct and self-aware.
63	%%* TheGlomp: [[http://ohumanstar.com/comic/chapter-1-page-17/ This]].
64	%%* HotMenAtWork
65	* ItIsDehumanising: [[http://ohumanstar.com/comic/chapter-1-page-27/ This]].
66	--> '''Al''': Why the hell is that thing a ''girl'', Brendan?
67	--> '''Brendan''': You can't call them ''things,'' Al, they have rights under state law now.
68	* InnocentlyInsensitive: Ty remarks not wanting to be seen like [[http://ohumanstar.com/comic/chapter-4-page-57/ "I'm a robot or something"]] in front of Sulla...who is a synthetic person and incredibly insecure about it, although Ty doesn't know this.
69	* InTheBlood: Well in the "data", because they're both robots but both robot!Al and Sulla [[spoiler:suffer a huge identity crisis in front of Brendan after they realize a part of their current selves they're scared of.]]
70	* MayDecemberRomance: Brendan with Al, who is 17 years older. After Al dies and reawakens 16 years later, they're closer to the same age.
71	* MeaningfulEcho: "Are you just going to stand there?"
72	** Kind of a weird example, because the first time it's said it's a [[{{Foreshadowing}} deliberate]] Meaningful Echo, but the context isn't revealed until later. [[spoiler: The first time the readers hear it, it's what makes Brendan realize he's talking to the real Al, because it's what Al said right before their [[TheBigDamnKiss first kiss]].]]
73	* MeaningfulName: Sulla is the name of a character from Theatre/{{RUR}}, and it's a boy's name but it was given to a female robot. Al looks like [[ArtificialIntelligence AI]] in a lot of fonts, such as [[Website/TVTropes this one]], although the [[WordOfGod author said on their tumblr]] [[http://bluedelliquanti.tumblr.com/post/36239220819/is-als-name-al-because-al-looks-like-ai-artificial that it was a coincidence]].
74	** Al's name may also be a ShoutOut to [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist another unwillingly]] TransHuman [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist character]].
75	* ModestyBedSheet: [[http://ohumanstar.com/comic/chapter-2-page-61/ This]].
76	* NoCommunitiesWereHarmed: The setting of ''O Human Star'' is never stated outright, but is heavily implied (and confirmed WordOfGod) to be [[UsefulNotes/TwinCities Minneapolis, Minnesota]]. It's actually more like the location ''isn't'' supposed to be a secret, but there has been no reason for any of the characters to mention the city's name -- if they refer to it at all, it's just "the city."
77	* NothingIsScarier: Someone managed to bring Al back to life when Brendan, who was only second to Al in the robotics department, couldn't do it, in addition to knowing a creepy number of details about his life (such as recreating Al's old apartment and basing the synthetics sent to pick him up on his old designs), and even stealing Al's multi-tool, apparently from Brendan's ''home''. And no one in the cast knows who they are and how they did this. [[spoiler: This gets explained later.]]
78	* PartingWordsRegret: Brendan's conversation with [[spoiler: a newly awaken Sulla]] implies he feels this about [[spoiler: his last words to Al.]]
79	-->[[spoiler: What was the last thing you ever heard me say?]]
80	* PickYourHumanHalf: Averted by Al and Sulla, who both look and act completely human (except Sulla can fly). Played straight by Brendan's Gimel 75 butler who acts fairly human but looks robotic.
81	** Sulla goes into more detail [[http://ohumanstar.com/comic/chapter-3-page-6/ here]], while part of it is personal preference due to a greater degree of ability to modify their forms, a lot of synthetics simply can't afford the tech that allows them to pull of the RidiculouslyHumanRobots look that they have.
82	* PoorCommunicationKills: Robot!Al's anger at Brendan comes from the fact that he doesn't know the full story. By the time he learns the majority of it, he had already done a few misguided actions.
83	* QueerRomance
84	* RapidFireNo: [[http://ohumanstar.com/comic/chapter-2-page-52/ This]].
85	* RedHerring:
86	** The mention of the various clones of Al in the first chapter along with the two recreations of Al in the flashbacks might imply that Al had a stalker all along. [[spoiler:That's not the case. Those two recreations were simply there to remind Brendan about his dead partner.]]
87	** You can argue that one could have confused that Brendan and Al had a familial relationship, such as being Uncle and Nephew, before TheBigDamnKiss, though the comic's status as QueerMedia make it so that their relationship is a ForegoneConclusion.
88	* RedOniBlueOni: Brendan and Al, matching up with their associated colors.
89	* RidiculouslyHumanRobots: Al and Sulla. Justified in that they're copies of a human mind.
90	** It's also possible for synthetics who decide not to PickYourHumanHalf to look pretty human, though looking as human as Sulla and Al is pretty expensive at the time the comic is set.
91	* SexyDiscretionShot: Occasionally, when Al and Brendan have sex.
92	* SharedFamilyQuirks: Al and Sulla both [[http://ohumanstar.com/comic/chapter-2-page-38/ pick at things]]. Also, Sulla and young Al [[http://ohumanstar.com/comic/chapter-3-page-25/ have trouble working up the nerve to talk to people]].
93	* ShoutOut:
94	** Sulla and Helena are references to ''Theatre/{{RUR}}''
95	** The [[http://ohumanstar.com/comic/chapter-1-page-1/ poster on Al's bedroom wall]] resembles the [[Literature/{{Pinocchio}} Blue Fairy]].
96	** After Al died and then woke up in his new synthetic body, he is driven to his destination by a robot resembling [[Myth/EgyptianMythology Anubis]].
97	%%* ShutUpKiss: [[http://ohumanstar.com/comic/chapter-3-page-44/ This]].
98	* SlapSlapKiss: No matter how many arguments Al and Brendan get into, they still love each other]]
99	%%* SmartPeopleBuildRobots: Indeed they do.
100	* SoulJar: This is precisely what Al and Brendan try to make, and it's what Al's new synthetic body effectively is for him.
101	%%* SpeculativeFictionLGBT
102	* SplashOfColor: In the beginning of the comic, during Al's blue-colored pages. Al walks home bleeding all over the place, reaches the bed, and ''dies''. The blood trail is a conspicuous red color.
103	** More subtly, Al's multitool has a slight pink sheen
104	* StalkerWithoutACrush: Whoever revived Al, with all the attention to detail spent in the attempt, gives off this vibe.
105	* ThatCameOutWrong[=/=]AccidentalInnuendo:
106	** [[http://ohumanstar.com/comic/chapter-2-page-29/ Oh, Al]].
107	--->'''Al''': I'm not really the ''hot researcher'' on the robotics circuit you're confusing me for. I don't get ''calls''. And the competition for your job wasn't exactly ''stiff''.
108	--->'''Brendan''': I find that hard to believe.
109	--->'''Al''': [[{{Beat}} shocked silence]]
110	** [[http://ohumanstar.com/comic/chapter-1-page-36/ Also]]:
111	--->'''Brendan''': You can sleep in my bed. ...while I take the couch, I mean. Downstairs. In the workshop. I've pulled some all-nighters in there before ''oh god..''
112	* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: The "present day" is in 2021, but flashbacks go back to 2001.
113	* UnresolvedSexualTension: Exaggerated through most of the comic. It seems the general rule is, if Al and Brendan aren't having sex, or aren't settling into a relationship together, they quickly become UST incarnate.
114	* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Part of Robot!Al's and Sulla's issues come from that no how human they ''look'' they can never ''feel'' human and be accepted as such.
115

Context Webcomic / OHumanStar