What will the comic schedule be?

Updates will be posted Mondays and Thursdays unless there is a hiatus or alternate schedule in place. The home page will have a notice if one of these is in place.

Is this comic 18+?

Yes, this webcomic is 18+ and contains content not suitable for minors.

What inspired this comic?

The original comic was created and conceptualized in 2016 when I was 15 to comfort myself during a depressive episode I went through after I had a very traumatic experience in a hospital.

What happened to you? Were you actually-

I would prefer people didn't ask for details about my hospital trauma, or have people "theorize" about what happened to me (which has happened before). It's incredibly invasive and rude, please be respectful.

How do I join the ZCP?

The ZCP does not do a regular recruiting process for many reasons. We occasionally take on new members, but there's no "application" involved in joining.

What kind of fan content (fanart, fanfiction, etc) is allowed?

It's at a point where I can't really control what people draw or make anymore, but I would appreciate it if people avoided drawing/making anything immoral or horrible. For people specifically asking about "adult" content, I'm fine with it, just please be responsible about the space you share it in.

Is it OK to dub or translate the comic?

Comic dubs and translations are welcome and encouraged!

Is it OK to make AUs and fan comics (with OCs or canon characters)?

Anyone is free to make any sort of AU they want with any characters!

When will the next volume release?

When a release date is announced, it will be displayed on the home page front and center. If a volume has ended and there is no release date, that means it has not been revealed yet.

Are there going to be physical releases of the comic?

We've talked about theoretical physical publishing for a few years, and it's certainly something we'd like to do someday, but it's not our main focus right now. Answer: Hopefully someday!

How much time passes between each volume?

Everything Sucks

• Volume 1 - Noctober 5th, 6016 (10/5/16)
• Volume 2 - Noctober 20th, 6016 (10/20/16)
• Volume 3 - Ovember 19th, 6016 (11/19/16)
• Volume 4 - Danuary 7th, 6017 (1/7/17)
• Volume 5 - Arch 3rd, 6017 (3/3/17)

How many volumes will there be total?

Series 1 has 15 volumes and an epilogue (which is technically volume 16, it just isn't a full-length volume). Series 2 and 3 have not been revealed yet.

How long will the volumes be?

The volumes vary in length depending on what happens in them, and some will be longer than others. The shortest volume in ES will be volume 16.

Can we know the titles of upcoming volumes?

Generally, I only reveal a volume's title in advance before it debuts/during the hiatus period between volumes (for example, volume 3's title was revealed before its release in March 2022 during the hiatus period between volume 2 and volume 3). So yes, I do reveal volume titles in advance, but not until they're about to come out/after the current volume has ended.

Why do the volume titles rhyme?

Everything Sucks has a name scheme that makes up a poem. I can't reveal the full poem yet, but as volumes come out, the poem will unravel itself.

Are you ok with kinning, kinsonas, and F/Os?

I am okay with all of these, and I support all of them!

Can I headcanon character as (thing)?

I'm okay with any headcanons about identity or mental illness or anything in general, my only boundary lies in headcanoning a trans character as their assigned gender because it makes me uncomfortable.

Where did the nickname "Knee" for Uni come from?

During the preboot, before Uni appeared in the actual comic, one of the crew members (my partner, Willow) was making a meme video with the characters, and in that video Barry was referring to Uni with misspellings of her name- and one of those misspellings was "You Knee." This led to a joke I pulled on the readers where, before Uni's formal introduction in the comic, I tricked everyone into actually believing her name was You Knee (and everyone actually believed it)! When she actually appeared her name was confirmed to be Uni Cornelius! Ever since then I've been referring to Uni as You Knee jokingly, and over time it dissolved into just the word "Knee". So that's why you'll probably see me or others calling her that in various places!

Some information shown on the Tumblr about the characters doesn't seem to match how things are in the comic or site, why is that?

Some information on the blog and some stuff in the actual comic get retconned with time. Some characters who have been introduced on the Tumblr often have different designs than they do when they appear in-comic because this story is a constant work-in-progress and things change a lot at times. Some scenes in the comic that don't match current lore will probably be updated with new information in the process of the future volume remakes.

Is Barruni canon?

Not yet, but it will be. Is this a spoiler? Technically yes - but I will confirm it anyways because I can't lie about them. They're too important.

What ships are currently canon?

As of ES:V5-

• Moodies (Mood X Rem) - dating
• Pinfetti (Pinata x Funfetti) - married
• Shortkills (Kills x Shortnick) - married
• Melcyn (Cyn x Mel) - dating
• Jorange (Jean x Orange) - dating
• Carruni (Caroline x Uni) - mutual romance/FWBs
• Jarrie (Jay x Caroline) - FWBs
• Careki (Kiki x Caroline) - FWBs

Is Pollarrydoomi canon?

In my heart. Read about its non-canonicity on the Cometcare info page.

Can you trigger tag [ship] when/if it comes up in the comic?

I will not put content warnings on pages with references to ships in the official comic. This is because it would be virtually impossible to read the comic when a lot of the ships are important to the story.

Are you ok with OC x canon?

Absolutely!

Are you ok with self-shipping?

Yes, I am! Go ahead!

What are we allowed to ship?

Most anything is fine, but please do not ship anything inc*stuous, p*dophilic, or otherwise bad or abusive in some nature (abusive does include Cuddles ships). However, shipping staff members with patients is fine with me as long as it isn't their assigned doctor (an assigned doctor is someone who is assigned to torture them).

Can my OC be in the comic?

As much as I’d love to include every fan character, there are literally hundreds now and it would be unfair to include one and not all others. I’d love to see them if you want to share them on the home page comments or in the Tumblr tags!

What do the wristband colors mean?

Here is a guide:

Do you have any guidelines for making OCs?

• There is no-one under 18 inside the hospital. No staff, no patients, nothing. Minors being in the hospital makes me REALLY uncomfortable. If you're going to make an OC that's a minor, make them outside of the hospital.
• Character's names are usually puns based on their illness, personality, or some other trait they have. (Ex. Barry's name is a pun on "Very Ill" because he has a poor immune system, and Uni's name is a pun on "unicorn" because she is half unicorn.)
• The "sex" label on character sheets is an indicator of whether or not a patient is sexually active/wants to be, not an indicator of gender or pronouns. It comes from doctors asking that to patients when hospitalized in real life.
• The comic takes place in 6016, which is the equivalent of 2016 (which is also when I first started the comic!) so all dates run with the consistency of 6000 = 2000. (As of 2019) you are 24 years old, born in 1995, you would be 21 inside the comic universe (because it is 2016 there.)

What happened to Uni's eyes?

Answered in update 49 of ES:V3. Warning for graphic gore/triggering content.

How can Uni see without eyes?

Uni has light projections in her sockets that are made of an enchantment on the remains of her optic nerves, which creates two yellow light orbs as her pupils. However, the spell is not strong enough to give her complete vision and this makes what little sight she has blurry. She has a pair of orange magic goggles that give her clear vision, but everything is yellowish orange.

How does Jay's luck work? Why can't they be hurt by the doctors?

Jay's luck is a protection spell that prevents them from being physically harmed. The origin of their luck will be revealed in the story, but we can say that Jay did not always have this luck protection and that it came post-arrival to the hospital (hence why they would be sent to such a dangerous establishment and not be protected from being trapped there in the first place). Another thing to note is that Jay's luck can also protect others around them, sometimes in mysterious ways that aren't obvious at first (and their luck can determine and bend the future, even way in advance).

Is Sparklecare a general or psychiatric hospital?

The Sparklecare hospital is a general hospital, but it takes in patients who have mental health issues. However, there is no specific ward for any of the ailments, so patients with mental health issues are roomed with physically ill patients. (Example: Barry and Uni). HOWEVER, with this in mind, it is BASED on a psychiatric hospital.

What is the role of the doctors?

The doctors are instructed to harm, torture, and kill patients. That's their entire job. They are told to perform what Sparklecare calls "treatments" by using sharp objects like knives and saws and other torture devices to harm them. Sometimes these treatments can be fatal.

What is the role of the nurses?

The nurses are meant to do the opposite-- the job of the nurses is to look after and take care of the patients, giving them medication to make their treatments more tolerable and feeding them. The nurses also organize social programs (like Sparkle Caring Club) and provide the patients with entertainment so they won't lose their minds.

Can doctors become patients or vice versa?

If a staff member becomes ill, they can be converted to a patient. Patients can also become staff members, but it's rare that any would want to.

Are the patients' families suspcious of why they cannot see them? What do they do about it?

Not everyone is fooled by Sparklecare's unusual denial to let their patients see their families...

What is an ITP? Who qualifies for them?

ITP is short for "individualized treatment program" and all it means is that a patient does not receive the normal treatment procedures performed by the doctors. Regular treatment wristbands indicate that they are tortured in the same ways, but a patient with an ITP either doesn't receive treatment at all or they have a specialized form of treatment that they get instead (for example, just being given pain medication through their IVs). Compliant patients are usually the receivers of ITPs. A compliant patient is a patient that consistently follows the hospital rules and does not act out. Other patients who might have ITPs are ones that simply cannot receive treatment or be affected by them for whatever reason (ex. Jay cannot be harmed physically by the doctors, so they have an ITP).

What are the hospital rules?

1. NO VIOLENCE. It is a hospital rule for patients to not be violent or aggressive with each other or staff members, which includes being verbally mean or name-calling.
2. RELATIONSHIPS ARE FORBIDDEN. Patients are not allowed to be in romantic or sexual relationships with other patients or even staff members. Patients are allowed to hug and be affectionate, but kissing or anything explicitly sexual is forbidden. Patients also are not allowed to sleep in the beds of other patients unless there is a good reason (for example, a patient is not safe to be by themselves or is actively at risk of harming themselves if left alone). Sexual or romantic advances onto staff members are also forbidden, even jokes suggesting them. However, staff members are allowed to be in relationships with other staff members.
3. NO LEAVING ROOMS WITHOUT STAFF SUPERVISION. If a patient wishes to leave their room, they are to call for a nurse to escort them to where they want to go. Loitering in the halls or visiting others without explicit staff permission isn't allowed. Attempts to escape the hospital are also a very dangerous action and can result in treatment or even death as punishment.
4. PATIENTS ARE TO FOLLOW ORDERS. If a staff member tells a patient to do something, they must do it without question, regardless of what it is.

Patients who break the hospital rules are subject to punishment (which can include treatments or forced isolation or anything the Doc sees fit. It's up to him what happens to a patient for rulebreaking.)

How does saturation work?

Visual explanation for the process of saturation in Sparklecare:

What is the significance of the color saturation/eye strain?

When an anthry is traumatized, they become brightly colored. This is to emphasize the intense effects trauma has on people and how it changes them forever. The use of bright color is to represent intense emotions, and isn't just an aesthetic choice. Anthries who aren't traumatized are usually pastel or natural colors.

Do only people in the hospital get saturated?

No. On Spinch, anyone who experiences trauma can become brightly colored.

What happens when people heal from the trauma?

Anthries who heal from their trauma turn bright pastel colors. They do not go back to their original color, but instead a brighter one- but it's still not as eye-straining. It might be more of a pastel neon.

What about black-and-white and desaturated colored anthries?

Black-and-white anthries who experience trauma will turn to colors instead of being grayscale. Desaturated color (like the Chunklings in volume 2) represents people who are coping from their trauma in an unhealthy way and aren't recovering.

Can you explain what the black-and-white scene at the end of Volume 1 means? Why did everyone turn black-and-white except the patients (and why was the beginning all in monochrome?)

The significance of monochrome and pure black-and-white represents a lack of awareness to what's happening in the hospital, or ignorance to it. After the operation scene there was a page showing newspapers and a wanted poster of Charles, calling him mentally ill. This was black-and-white because it was showing the ignorance towards him.

Why are some of the staff saturated if they're the ones causing trauma?

A majority of the staff does not want to be doing what they do. They simply are following orders, often to avoid harm to themselves or the people they care about (Ex. Doom does his job to protect his sister from harm, not for his own safety). However, there are some staff who are saturated as a result of exposure to the environment (basically second-hand trauma) if they don't directly hurt people (like most nurses don't have to hurt anyone). Some staff who seem to like their job are brainwashed. Though, there ARE some staff members who do not complain and like what they do... just not most.

What is the “preboot”?

This comic had a first run from 2016-2017, but was remade, as I wasn’t satisfied with my work and wanted to develop the story further. I refer to the ‘original’ comic as the preboot, or pre-reboot.

Where can I read the original comic?

I am no longer sharing links to the original comic. Sorry. I had it up for a while but I've decided to take it down.

Can we know details about the preboot plot?

No, because it is not canon anymore and no longer relevant to the story.

Why was preboot Doom split into two characters?

A lot of people misinterpreted preboot Doom’s character because I didn’t write him very well. He came off as more of a good person than he actually was when my intention was to make him bad but misleading. I feel like I could have done a better job of writing him.

As for why Doom and Mood came into existence, I split them because I wanted to keep the things people liked about him separate from what people didn’t. It’s weird, because reboot Doom was originally going to be completely unredeemable when I first made him; that ended up being passed to Cuddles, as it made more sense for him to be the main villain.

I have concerns about the contents of the preboot/Do you still think [thing from the preboot] is okay?

I have had people bring up and talk to me many times about the kind of stuff that is in the original comic. I want people to be aware that the preboot was created when I was 15, and not in the best mindset. I was a misguided kid that did not know any better and made distasteful jokes. The contents of the preboot are a big reason I rebooted in the first place, and the things in it do not represent who I am or my beliefs and opinions as an adult. I understand if you don't want to read this comic because of that stuff but please don't act like or claim I still think it's okay currently, because it's not, I've apologized a lot for it and I now know it was bad.

I liked the original comic more...

That's okay! I personally don't like it anymore at all and seeing it kinda bothers me but it's fine if you like it. There are still some parts of it that are nostalgic to me (like Uni's dialogue) that I don't totally hate, and even though it was weird, I understand what people liked about it/why everyone got into it. The biggest reason I don't like it anymore is because of what I said in the previous question. If you do like it, please don't ignore the issues with it/act like it was fine and that there was nothing wrong with it, thanks!

The comic page is not loading/the navigation buttons are not working

Clear your cache using F5 (or whatever cache command your browser uses) if the comic page isn't loading or your navigation buttons aren't updating when new updates go up.

Something else about the site isn't working right

Make a report on the bug report page for issues with the site.

How did you build your website?

The Sparklecare website was built from scratch using HTML, CSS, Javascript, and PHP. It also runs on Bootstrap framework for many things on the site. The domain and hosting are not free, I use Hostgator for web hosting and the site domain.

Do you have advice on making comics?

Here is a Tumblr post I made with my own personal advice on making comics.