First, let’s talk about your artistic origins. When and how did you learn to draw? Did anyone’s style influence you along the way?

Mostly, I'm self taught. I've liked to draw for as long as I can remember. I took your general art classes in middle and high school and have a two year degree in digital animation but I think I've learned more from practice and observation than anything else.

I can't say there's any one artist who influenced me especially. I started getting into anime and manga when I when in middle school and first starting to think of art as a possible career path. That probably shows in my style at least to some extent, though recently I've been trying to move away from anime and define my own style more.

Now, about Team Fortress 2. When and how did you find that?

I'd heard of it before it came out, though I never really played FPS games until relatively recently. My family always had Apple computers so we mostly played console games when I was a kid. Anyway I was introduced to the game by my brother at a LAN party and immediately fell in love with it. At the time we were still playing the demo so it was a much simpler game than it is now.

Where, exactly, did the idea for Cuanta Vida come from?

*laughs* It’s kind of hard to pinpoint exactly. I started working on the concept several months before I actually started drawing the comic itself. I guess I kind of wanted to make something that could give the game a story, so I tried to think of a scenario where a war like that could be possible. It’s still fairly absurd, but TF2 is an absurd game so I guess it fits.

About the story: By my observations, it seems that you’ve had the core of the story pretty well-planned early on -- is that correct? In contrast, how much of the story – or detail – is done on the spot? Have any of the more important concepts (i.e. a characterization or results of an event) evolved in a different direction than originally intended as the story continued?

Yeah, I’ve had the basic framework for the story planned from the start. I knew all the major plot points before I started posting pages. The specifics such as the dialogue and the exact progression of the scenes are generally written on the spot though.

Some of the characterizations did change. For example, I didn’t expect Scout’s crush on Spy to become as obvious as it has, and the entirety of BLU Pyro’s personality evolved out of him being in the story. All the characters have changed somewhat over the course of the story, just as a virtue of my getting to know them better. For example, I didn’t know at the beginning that Bleu knew how to pick locks. He also looks a little different; his hair is floofier and his nose is bigger and more hooked.

How did you go about coming up with distinct personalities for each character? Were you influenced by characters in other works? By any people you know? How so?

I was fairly influenced by the Tripfag Jones’s Naïve Spy fanfic and the NotTim chatlogs, which were written by a number of people. I really liked the idea of a sort of noobish or confidence lacking Spy, since it’s rather the opposite of how the in-game Spy behaves and yet somehow seems to fit.

The character’s personalities were originally combination of things found in game and popular fanon but mostly I wanted to make sure they contrasted. Red, for example is a complete bastard, albeit a charming one and is in many ways the complete opposite of Bleu. The Pyros are a good example too, the BLU Pyro is very shy and kind of cuddly whereas the RED one is bold and relatively scary.


Now, a quick tangent. I’m sure quite a few fans want to know: Just where did RED Scout’s Peep come from?

I probably get asked this more than anything else. PeepPeep is a nod to a fandom in-joke, it’s mostly just cute and stupid, not unlike Scout. There’s not much to explain really.

In the context of the story I imagine the RED base has more chickens; we just haven’t seen them.

How do you go about creating a page? What materials/programs do you use?

It’s fairly simple really. I start with a piece of plain old printer paper and a pencil. The one I’m currently using is a Pentel Side FX, it’s just a chunky mechanical pencil with the button on the side as opposed to the top. I also use metal cork-backed ruler. The pencil and ruler are just personal preferences, there’s nothing very special about them. I use the paper because it’s cheap. I sketch out the entire page and write in the narrations and dialogue as I go.

Then I scan the page into photoshop at 300 dpi and ‘ink’ it with my tablet. All my digital art tools are rather old. The computer is a circa 2002 iMac running photoshop 7 and the tablet is a 4x5 wacom graphire. I’ve had it for more than a decade. Wacom doesn’t even make them anymore, but it was their cheapest tablet at the time.

I only use a few tricks in photoshop for the final lineart and coloring, mostly just to make and keep the border panels straight and to outline things like sound effects and the narration text. I also use a plugin called multifill to speed up the coloring process. All the color is just flat unless I absolutely need shading to get a point across. The marbley texture on the pages is just an overlay. It’s not necessary but I think it helps any large areas of one color not be so boring.

How many more pages can we expect right now? How subject is this number to change?

I expect it'll be roughly the length of a one-volume graphic novel when I'm done, so between 100 and 150 pages total.  It's a pretty flexible number since I plan stories by events in them rather than number of pages it may end up being more than I expect.  

As every reader of CV knows, Red and Sniper have been maintaining a relationship, evidently of a sexual nature. Any comments on how they got started?

Red was definitely the instigator; he has a tendency to hit on everybody. Sniper is far too introverted to make the first move in that sort of relationship. I'm actually considering writing a prequel comic about them once I've finished Cuanta Vida, we'll see if I have the time and enough ideas for it. I had some friends tell me they were doing an RP about how they met. I haven't seen it yet, but they're both excellent writers so maybe I can convince them to let me use it for a script.

Now, since we’re on the subject of relationships, what other… feelings are going around the two bases? You don’t have to include the obvious if you don’t want to. In fact, I for one am a bit curious about the not-so-obvious, and even the unseen, if any…

I think of most of the characters as being straight, you just wouldn't notice since there's no women around for them to be straight with.  I do have a rough network of who gets along with who in my head, so when I draw characters in a scene together I know how to have them react towards each other.  For example on the BLU team Heavy is the only character who Medic is civil and not-creepy towards, and Heavy likes everyone.

Come to think of it, are there any other pairings you ship in TF2? Any particular reasons?

I'm actually really really fond of Engineer/Spy, which is funny because it's not in the comic.  I also like Soldier/Engineer, Heavy/Medic, and any combination of Medic, Spy, and Sniper.  Honestly, though I like any pairing so long as it's executed well.

Now, without mentioning names, since it’s quite obvious who we’re referring to. It seems pretty safe to presume that the main pair wouldn’t reach the… activity level, if you know what I mean, of Red and Sniper within the comic. …If you’re willing to share, what is the least we could expect of them?

*laughs* Well in the context of the comic I don't intend to have any on-camera sex from anyone.

They might kiss, and I think a lot of people will be very disappointed if they don't, but I don't want to give anything away.  That subplot will have a resolution of some kind though.

There has been fanart and fanfiction of Cuanta Vida spanning several websites – not just here at deviantART, but on Y!gallery, LiveJournal, TF2chan. I’ve even seen a Fandom!Secret on LiveJournal calling it “the best fancomic [the OP had] ever read.” Essentially, CV has created a fandom within its fandom – something not many with fanworks can say. Did you ever expect this would happen? How do you feel knowing that your comic has caught the attention of and is well-loved by a significant part of the TF2 fandom?

It feels pretty awesome. I never imagined it would become as popular as it has.  This is actually the first time I've done anything like fanfiction so it's been a complete surprise.  I've had people tell me they started playing TF2 because of the comic, and at Otakon this year I actually encountered people who were nervous to meet me.  That was kind of surreal especially since I'm usually a very shy person myself.  I'm probably just as nervous as they are, if not more so.

So far the vast majority of CV based art and fiction I've seen has been really awesome, some of it by artists and writers that I already admired.  I hope everyone will keep showing me their stuff, it's one of the things I find most rewarding about drawing this story.

Are there any little things -- plot-unimportant details -- about any of the characters that you’re willing to share with us?

Hm, well there's probably a bunch of things that won't pop up in the comic itself.  I have relatively specific stats written out for Bleu, such as his real name, where he was born (Bordeaux, France), how tall he is (5'11"), etc. I also have a little written about his family. I also have real names for Red, Sniper, and both Scouts, but unlike Bleu they only have first names.  There's been some debate as to where Red is from originally, so I guess I can settle that here. He's Italian, but he also speaks French, Spanish, and English fluently.  Bleu also speaks French, Spanish, and English, but his fourth language is Catalan.

Also, this isn't a character thing, but another fun fact I suppose: the comic is named after a song.  If anyone wants to hear it try searching for Cuanta Vida and Pastora on YouTube.  Pastora isn't a very well known group as far as I know but I like their music a lot.  According to Wikipedia, they're from Barcelona, which, coincidentally, is where Bleu's mother was originally from.

Ah, so you have other names for the characters. Are you willing to share those now? Or are you planning to release them later? Or at all?

I'm somewhat reluctant to reveal them, since trying to name the classes is somewhat taboo in this fandom. I suppose it's all right though since the characters are meant to be examples of the classes as opposed to representations of the class as a whole: i.e. Bleu is a spy, not The Spy.

Anyway the names aren't important and were intended mostly for my own notes. Bleu's is the only one that has any chance of appearing in the comic and even then it'll be hard to see. I guess I may as well reveal them though since you asked and they're not likely to crop up anywhere else. Red and Sniper are Gabriele and Liam respectively, the Scouts are Jeremy (BLU) and James (RED), and Bleu's real name is Jordi Bertrand.

No need to reveal it here -- in fact, I think we'd be better off learning for ourselves. But I just want to confirm: We will find out who Bleu's been talking to via the narration all this time, right?

Yes. There have been a couple of clues in the narrations themselves, but they're pretty cryptic so I'll be surprised if anyone works it out anytime soon.

Any last thoughts on anything at all?

I'd like to thank everyone for reading the comic so far!  You guys inspire me to keep going.

In a great white world, many white lights did battle against dark, misty shadows. From a great height, a great white light mustered power from its core until it glowed brighter and brighter and it sent out beams that overtook and drove away the dark intruders. Most dissipated. A few fled to the horizon.

It was over for now. They had been attacking with greater frequency and force, and while the great light was certain they could be fended off from this world as long as it was there to do so, some of them had managed to occasionally slip into worlds beyond. If the light was to banish them for good, the Runestones would be needed from the worlds under the greatest threat, the older and more powerful worlds, but with conditions like this…

The light was trapped here, unable to enter the other worlds without risking them. This place, the only barrier between the Thoughtless and its targets, would be unguarded.

The great light had been considering an alternate method – to call upon one who could and would perform the task.

The more the attacks occurred, the more viable it seemed.

It was decided. A new hero was coming immediately.

---

The Shop Channel's music was perfect to browse to, Gancena thought. Sure, it resembled elevator music, but it had a special, happy touch only Nintendo could provide. It seemed to add an atmosphere of a content, sheltered life in the otherwise empty gaming room.

She twirled her ponytail as she thought aloud. "So Mega Man X is eight hundred points, Castlevania is five hundred, Super Mario RPG is eight hundred… twenty-four hundred points total, and thus, twenty-four dollars." She slumped on the couch for a moment and thought it over one more time. "No, wait. That's twenty-one hundred… right? Sixteen plus five… yes." She sighed. "Either way."

Gancena sat back up and thought about going back to her room to look up more game-based cartoons. Maybe she could finally give in to her morbid curiosity about the universally panned but wonderfully premised Captain N: The Game Master… Watching an episode or two would certainly round out her video game cartoon experience. She shuddered and giggled at the thought.

Then she considered it a little more. It wasn't like there was anyone else who would want to chat or play with her, and she hadn't written anything in weeks, but if she just went back to her room and started browsing the Internet like she normally did, she'd eventually get bored. Captain N would certainly be something new.

The urge to just pick a game and start playing overtook Gancena. She pulled two handfuls of Wii games from a shelf and started shuffling through them. Then she got the idea to sort them into piles based on how far in she was and pick a game she was in the middle of but hadn't gotten back to.

"Wow." When she finished, she was surprised to find her pile of completed games higher than expected, but still dwarfed by her in-progress games. At least there wasn't a need for a third pile of untouched games.

She then looked over the other shelves: Gamecube, Xbox, a small stack of PlayStation. She decided to sort through all of them, too.

The completed stack grew a little, but her in-progress games more than doubled in height and there were a handful of games in a third pile.

Gancena paused to listen to the Shop Channel music and suddenly slapped her forehead. "Aw, man, but I haven't beaten the Virtual Console games, either! God…" Sure, she only had a handful, but these were classic Nintendo Hard do-or-die NES games. She hadn't put in the practice necessary to complete any of them.

She sighed. "Well, the only way to play a lot of games is to play a lot of games." She carefully pushed the in-progress pile aside and began putting the rest away.

The moment she finished, the music faded. When Gancena turned to look, the TV screen had turned completely white, save for a little blue circle and a large dot moving around it, the Wii's loading icon, in the center. Gancena jerked in surprise and stared. That was weird... She hadn't pressed anything, but the console was clearly doing something…

Above the circle, words appeared.

"Do not be alarmed," Gancena read aloud, and she felt a little jolt anyway. She'd never seen anything like this before. She stood up and approached the console, wondering if it needed to be reset. The words faded, and new ones appeared. "There is nothing wrong with your Wii. Well, what's going on, then?" she muttered.

She leaned towards the screen as those words faded. "Hold still…" Her brow knotted.

The dot slowed to a stop at the top of the circle, and the circle's center suddenly became multicolored, like rainbows were streaming through it.

The entire screen, save for the circle, glowed intensely. Gancena yelped and backed away, but instead of falling back on the couch, she stopped as though she hit a wall, and she was pushed closer to the screen as tendrils of colorful light reached for her arms.

"Hey! What's going on!?" she yelled. "Help! Help!" She twisted around and tried to reach for the Wiimote on the couch, but the force pulling her was too strong to fight and she was already too far away.

"Mom! Dad! Gaby! The gaming TV's pulling me in! Help me--!"

"Do not be afraid," said a calm female voice. "This is just the beginning of your adventure."

A wave of disbelief flowed over Gancena. "My adventure…?" She was turned back around.

"Hold still."

The glow brightened until it was almost blinding, and the circle grew bigger until it was big enough for Gancena to jump into.

She didn't know whether she wanted to, but she was pushed forward into the entrance of a colorful tunnel of light and pulled farther into it.

She shouted, stretching her arms in front of her. She glanced back, panting, but there was no sign of the other side of the screen.

When she looked back ahead, she started to hear sounds, nearly all of them from older video game systems: the hero obtaining an item, the music of a hometown, damage being taken, victory fanfare. She also thought she could see images of older games, but the streaming light seemed to blur it all…

---

When Gancena opened her eyes, she'd landed face down on a slate of blackness. She gasped and scrambled to stand up, tugging her purple shirt down and blue jeans up, glancing alarmingly around her. Blackness everywhere, yet she could see herself clearly. The ground was hard and perfectly flat underneath her socked feet.

The instant she looked back ahead, a huge ball of white light appeared, nearly blinding her. She shielded her eyes with one arm and stumbled backwards, yelping.

"Sorry. This is the first time I've directly interacted with an inhabitant of any of these worlds." It was the voice from before. Gancena moved her arm, and the light came closer.

Gancena's heart jumped. "Wait, what?"

"Allow me to show you just where you are." A stream of light extended from the ball and briefly covered Gancena's eyes, making her squint.

When it cleared up, Gancena gasped again. Directly ahead of her stood a grand white palace, which towered higher than she could see. The surrounding land was one continuous stretch of white ground. Even the sky was white. Everywhere she looked, other, smaller balls of white light roamed freely.

"…What is this place?"

"This is my world," the huge light answered. "It stands between your world, the origin world which you call 'real', and the many video game worlds I guard."

"You guard video game worlds?" Gancena replied quickly.

"Yes. I am a manifestation of the bond between the players of your world and the gaming worlds themselves."

"You guard video game worlds," Gancena repeated. She wondered if she was dreaming. She was certainly breathing more heavily, which often happened before she woke up panting from dreams. She blinked slowly, trying to force herself to wake up, if she was sleeping. Nothing changed. Everything seemed real enough. Maybe she'd just hallucinated that TV screen and the light. Or had a seizure? There was always a risk of seizures from video games, however small.

…She thought it over and dismissed both possibilities as ridiculous, even for her. There was no reason she'd suddenly start hallucinating something this vivid now.

"Yes. And I'm sure you have a general idea of why you're here."

Gancena took a deep breath clasped her hands, pinching one with the other. It felt real enough. Her heart beat faster and she quivered slightly as she spoke. "…Well, considering that we're talking about video games here, I assume there's… there's something going on… and you…" Her voice quieted. "…You probably want me to… help?"

"You may choose to decline this mission. I understand that players cannot spend all their time with video games. Striking a balance in life is an important part of the connection. If you decline, I can simply find another like you who may also accept."

"But I want to accept!" Gancena immediately responded. She clenched her jaw shut and swallowed as soon as she spoke. Was she crazy? She didn't even know what the mission was! She thought maybe the adrenaline was getting to her head. Maybe.

The light was silent for a moment, and then it emitted a chime-like sound.

Gancena took a deep breath. She felt calmer, but her stomach was still knotted in shock, confusion, and anticipation.

"…I knew you would want to," said the light. "It was part of why I went to you. But you must also consider the dangers and potential costs of this mission. You don't even know what you're doing yet. I can protect you from true death, but that does not mean the journey will not be hard or painful. I can bend the passage of time here so that it will be as though you never left the origin world, but will you be okay with being away from home for so long? And you must realize that if you do go on this journey, you will not end up the same person as you are now. You will never see these worlds the same way again."

The light's concerns were valid, and Gancena likely would have thought of them after calming from accepting the mission. If the light hadn't stopped her now, it probably would have been too late when Gancena did think of them. And yet, if she turned and left now, when such a wide-open opportunity was right in front of her…!

"Those are good points, but a huge part of me really wants to just accept, whatever the mission is," Gancena admitted. "Maybe… maybe you could tell me more about what I'd have to do?"

"I was about to." The light began moving towards the palace. "Follow me, please."

Gancena did so, though she glanced back once. Infinite white.

"That which threatens us has no name of its own. As far as we can tell, it does not even have thought of its own. In recent years, this world has come under siege from its offshoots. I simply dub this being 'the Thoughtless' for its lack of a clear consciousness."

The light paused, and Gancena watched in awe as the huge doors to the palace opened. The inside was almost blinding in its whiteness, but the brightness subsided within a moment. To her surprise, it was empty save for carpet and chandeliers, all that same bright white.

"In these years, I have created offshoots of my own to fend off Thoughtless attacks. When Thoughtless invade, my offshoots hold them back until I drive them off."

The great light was silent for a moment, as was Gancena, who was thinking it all over. Unsure of what else to do, she said, "I'm Gancena, by the way."

"I thought so. It's the name you give most frequently when asked."

"How..?"

"When you're asked in games, Gancena. There's no other way I would know."

"Oh. …Right. …So what's your name?"

"I have no name of my own, either. But if there is something you would prefer to call me, go right ahead."

The great light began to lead her up a giant spiral staircase. Gancena took a moment to observe herself climbing, walking on her toes, pressing with care against each step. She looked back up and thought. A name came to her, though she wasn't sure where it came from.

"May I call you Selene?"

"If it pleases you."

"All right. So… Selene. Should I accept your mission, what must I do?"

"I will show you. We've been climbing up the central tower. Above this room, the central chamber, is a secret and sacred room which only I can access. Come in."

Gancena entered tentatively. The central chamber was also nearly empty, but it also had a window circling it, overlooking the world.

"Is this your room?"

"Yes. It is from here I can best watch over this world. Look up," said Selene.

Gancena did so and noticed a dark hole in the ceiling. Selene entered and reached out to Gancena with two streams of light. Gancena grabbed them, surprised to find they felt as solid as human arms, and Selene pulled her up to hover just above the hole while it closed.

When Gancena was placed back down, there was another flash of light. She yelped again, but it was shorter and quieter than before. The room was still entirely black, save for a white tower much taller than her with many circular indentations all over it.

"This is the Rune Tower, where I originally forged the Runestones. The Runestones – or simply Runes, if you prefer – are how the love of players enters each of the worlds and keeps them alive. I believe it is this love that will ultimately save the worlds, and so I have modified it somewhat to hold the Runes we need to destroy the Thoughtless for good. I have determined which worlds we need the Runes from, and they are all represented here. Take a closer look."

Gancena swallowed and approached the tower and peered into one of the indentations. Inside, she could see the engraving of a dragon… "Mortal Kombat!" she immediately shouted, grinning with excitement. She looked into another, seeing a circle cut in half by a line and another, smaller circle. "Pokémon…" She walked around the tower, looking into every indentation she could reach. "The Legend of Zelda, Star Fox, Super Mario Brothers!" She looked back at Selene, breathless. "And I'd have to collect the Runes from each of these worlds?"

"Yes. As you can see, they bear symbols players commonly associate with each world. I want to bring the Runes back here to use to defeat our enemy, but I cannot leave."

Gancena turned back to Selene, brow furrowing in concern. "You can't leave? It's that bad?"

"Yes. My world and I are the only things that stand between the Thoughtless and the gaming worlds. If I leave, it will pass into the gaming worlds and destroy them."

Gancena winced. Selene chimed softly before continuing.

"You see, Gancena… it is a manifestation of the hate some people have of video games – 'extremists' and 'Moral Guardians', you would call many of them – and the disregard others have of the medium's origins. You'll notice that many of the gaming worlds represented on this tower are older than you. This is because there are a good amount of players who don't know or don't care about the origins of these series – or the series themselves."

"Like the kids who don't know what a Dragonite is, despite having the newest Pokémon games?"

"Not necessarily. I mean players who brush aside what you would regard as classic series. Apathy. Those who don't know of their existence know no better, but players who outright ignore those series often don't understand or don't regard the foundation many of these games laid for the future. These people are much lesser in number than those who hate, but their feelings have grown to a point where it supports the Thoughtless. The situation has grown to a point where our enemy grows in power… even I have not been able to fully protect these worlds."

"Eh!?" Gancena shouted. "But you're this super powerful being, aren't you? You told me you guard these worlds, and since you're still here to protect them…"

"I do, and I am. But now recent attacks have allowed the Thoughtless to leak its hate and apathy into the gaming worlds, augmenting their villains' powers. As you no doubt well know, if the villains win, these worlds will begin to die. They will weaken, and the Thoughtless will destroy them. If they all die, the Thoughtless will eventually find no other worlds to turn to but ours. My world and I will be erased first, and your world will slowly be consumed by hate and apathy, and it will wither, too. We have time, but I don't know how much, which is why I need to act now."

Both were silent for a moment. Gancena tried to understand. Her own world's hate of video games could be the end of her world? Of all these worlds? It couldn't be true. It couldn't be that powerful.

Maybe this was just a nightmare… Gancena glanced at the tower, and then at her socks, definitely the socks she was wearing before being pulled here. White. Like this world. She clasped her hands tightly and blinked slowly. Everything still seemed real enough.

Selene made another chiming sound and approached Gancena. "Do you understand why I need help?"

Gancena nodded vigorously. "Yes."

"Do you understand the objective?"

Again. "Yes."

"Gancena, I know that you can accomplish this mission."

Gancena looked up.

Selene continued. "You have the heart and love for these worlds. You have the capacity to learn and grow. You have the understanding of what I have shown you. And you will not be alone. Along the way, I know you will gain friends and companions to help you. You can do it. But will you?"

Gancena thought. It would be hard, Selene said. Painful, even. She could already imagine it, a little. She had strength, but she was no athlete. She had knowledge, but of some worlds more than others. She was no Game Master. She didn't know how long it would take, either. It would be as if she'd never left when she was done, Selene said, but could Gancena herself go it alone for that long?

…Well, not alone, but this was ignoring the thought of gaining friends and companions and the feeling of longing that came with it.

She wondered if she would be capable of it, considering the recent mishaps and the recent vow she made to herself…

But she also wanted the adventure. She wanted to become stronger. Smarter. Better than anyone in her world because she would have lived all the games firsthand. And she wanted to protect these worlds. She didn't want them to die!

And if she didn't accept the mission, who would?

"…I need some time to think."

"I understand."

"I… I really want to accept. So much, Selene. And I'm so sure I will. But I… need to prepare myself first. Mentally, as much as I can, anyway. …Would… would you mind if I just went outside the palace for a little while?"

"Not at all. Take your time. Rest if you need to. When you're ready to answer, call for me."

Gancena nodded. She blinked slowly once more.

She decided this was all real. It was all in her hands now.