Line #70 Webcomic/SlumberTown


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1637398684macaronii_friendsnuggles_2.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:The three protagonists.]]
3
4	->''"In Slumber, all that you consider real is in your head. And everything that's in your head... is real. Not to mention the waking nightmares. Where else could we be... but a dream?"''
5	-->-- '''Echo, Book 1: The Pearl (Page 1.164)'''
6
7	[=SlumberTown=] is an anthro webcomic series following the adventures of Romy, Boone and Echo as they work to uncover the mysteries of what brought the 32 residents of Slumber to the strange, dreamy ghost town.
8
9	What brought them there? What's keeping them there? And how will they find their way home?
10
11	The series is a psychological mystery revolving around themes of community, trauma, mental illness and self-discovery. The world of Slumber is whimsical yet heartwarming with a FoundFamily feel. It's written and illustrated by Macxi. It launched originally on February 4th, 2019 and is still ongoing.
12
13	The town of Slumber is known to have many strange properties. The residents have come to theorize that they're living in a "collective dreamscape" that each resident shares and perceives in their own unique way. Perhaps one of the more staple properties of Slumber is the waking nightmares the residents experience in their daily lives, usually as a result of traumas or insecurities from their past or present. Most of the residents have fuzzy memories regarding their lives before Slumber, often forgetting, repressing or suddenly recalling memories from those lives.
14
15	Romy is the newest resident to come to Slumber, and she has ambitions of becoming a therapy dog but has debilitating social anxiety, which makes it difficult for her to overcome doubts and fears and connect with the people around her. Over time, as she settles into the town, she learns to open up and connect to the other residents through their trauma and discovers that role as a therapy dog.
16
17	Romy works at the Lost and Found with Boone and Echo, where she assists in finding "lost things" -- from family heirlooms to missing children and everything in between. It's often during these fetch quests that the trio gets tied up into the bigger mysteries surrounding the town. With Echo working part-time as a detective, we quickly learn that there's a LOT more to Slumber than first meets the eye.
18
19	It can be read [[https://slumbertowncomic.com// here]] but can also be found on [[https://tapas.io/macxi/series/ Tapas]], [[https://comicfury.com/comicprofile.php?url=slumbertown/ ComicFury]], and more recently [[https://www.webtoons.com/en/creator/i886f/ Webtoon]] where a Spanish adaptation of the comic by RoqueMapache and InkFoxPrints is being worked on.
20
21	----
22	!!''[=SlumberTown=]'' has the following tropes:
23
24	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2ndanniversary_full.jpg]]
25	[[caption-width-right:350:A town celebration at the saloon!]]
26
27	* ActingUnnatural: Romy has many instances where she tries to "act natural" but ends up acting much more awkward than she would've if she had ACTUALLY acted naturally. (That was a joke. You're supposed to laugh at jokes, right? HAHAHA!)
28	* AffectionateGestureToTheHead: Characters in Slumber often show physical affection in this way. Seen most commonly in Boone giving Romy noogies and gentle headbutts, and Echo petting or scratching Romy's head affectionately.
29	* AffectionateNickname: Nicknames are also commonly used between the friendly folk of Slumber. Examples consist of Boone calling Romy "Rom-ster" or Echo calling her "new girl".
30	* AFriendInNeed: A recurring trope in SlumberTown, usually from Romy's POV as she realizes she needs to brave her own fears and adversities in order to help a friend or a resident with their traumas. Romy can also be on the receiving end, but a big staple of her character arcs often involve following her drive to help others.
31	* AppearanceAngst: Boone is shown to be insecure about his small horns, as larger horns are usually seen as a symbol of strength and masculinity.
32	* AutismInMedia: Romy is autistic which often shows through her difficulties with socializing and hypersensitivies (including hyper-empathy).
33	* BarefootCartoonAnimal: Many of the characters in SlumberTown are barefoot most of the time. Characters can still wear shoes and socks but it's not often part of their regular attire.
34	* BrainsAndBrawn: Boone's physical prowess and Echo's sneaky intellect can make them a bit of a power duo.
35	* TheConfidant: Because Echo can be fairly private, secretive and meticulous, she often entrusts certain information to specific people. Romy, Boone and Dallas all (sometimes unknowingly) play the role of confidant to Echo as she tends to trust them with different secrets.
36	* DreamLand: SlumberTown takes place in the collective dreamscape of the 32 resident characters who live there.
37	* DrivingQuestion: The plot of the ongoing series in Arc 1 revolves around solving the questions "why and how did we get to Slumber?" and "how do we find our way out"?.
38	* ExpressiveEars: Many of the mammalian characters express emotions with their ears in various ways, like perking, flattening and twitching. Characters may sometimes pull their ears in frustration or distress.
39	* FamilyOfChoice: A lot of the characters in Slumber treat each other like family members. Examples are Boone taking on the role of "big brother" to Romy and Echo or Dallas acting as a bit of a father figure to the various residents.
40	* ForgetfulJones: One of Boone's major character flaws is that he tends to be incredibly forgetful.
41	* FurryReminder: The characters in SlumberTown act human... for the most part. Many of them have species and animal-specific quirks and behaviors though, like Romy's barking, Boone's headbutting with his horns, and Echo having abilities such as flying and echolocation. Their food and diets may also be species-specific, like Romy's dog bone cookies, Boone's love for corn and Echo drinking blood-infused beverages.
42	* GhostTown: Slumber resembles a desert ghost town, with a population of 32 residents who live within the town's borders.
43	* HisOwnWorstEnemy: A commonly recurring trope in SlumberTown. A lot of the major conflicts involve characters having to overcome their own adversities and insecurities.
44	* MasculineFeminineAndrogyneTrio: The main trio in Slumber is pretty gender balanced. Romy is non-binary and presents androgynous, Boone is a somewhat effeminate man and Echo is a fairly masculine woman.
45	* MysteriousPast: Echo doesn't seem to talk about her past all that much. Actually, she doesn't seem to talk about her past AT ALL.
46	* MysteriousStranger: Dr. Janus White Ph.D is a recurring character who appears briefly outside of the main story. Her identity and connection to the residents of Slumber remains a mystery to the reader through Arc 1.
47	* NightmareSequence: A recurring theme in SlumberTown. Many characters who live in Slumber experience "waking nightmares" - nightmare sequences that arise from fear, insecurity or trauma.
48	* TheNoseKnows: Romy has an enhanced sense of smell that can detect emotions and feelings. It's usually used in correlation with her empath abilities, but she can locate people by scent too.
49	* OpaqueNerdGlasses: Echo wears a pair of glasses that occasionally obscure her eyes. It's usually symbolic of Echo shielding or repressing emotions, both intentionally and unintentionally.
50	* ProneToTears: Romy is pretty sensitive and can be a bit of a crier. She sometimes has trouble holding back tears and often feels embarrassed about crying in front of others.
51	* ShrinkingViolet: Romy has social anxiety and can be pretty shy and withdrawn as a result.
52	* SupernaturalPhone: Romy is the only person in Slumber with a cellphone, and her cellphone has the peculiar ability to connect Romy to a mysterious caller via telepathy.
53	* TraumaButton: Oftentimes through the series, characters experience triggers that re-awaken repressed or forgotten memories from their past.
54	** Book 1: The Pearl: An earlier conflict between the trio triggers an emotional response in Romy, who later has a nightmare where she's faced with her past insecurities being repeated to her by furniture come to life.
55	** SE1: Partly Cloudy: Boone is triggered when he overhears Heather and Gavin pitying him, sending him into a panicked frenzy that leads him into a nightmare involving the trauma of his childhood bully.
56	* VisibleOdor: Through Romy's POV, we are usually able to see odors and scents weaving around characters, objects and locations.
57	* WingdingEyes: Boone's pupils can be fairly expressive, changing to horizontal goat pupils, hearts, stars, etc. His pupils form in the shape of clouds whenever he's inattentive or has his "head in the clouds", so to speak.
58	* YourMindMakesItReal: Characters in Slumber are sometimes able to manifest things or bend the world around them using imagination alone. Because you have to actively imagine things to make them exist (and keep them existing), it works great for things like food or a tool you might need in a pinch. Pants? Not so much.
59
60	!!Tropes found in [[https://slumbertowncomic.com/comic/cover-page// Book 1: The Pearl]]:
61
62	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/romyandechostars.png]]
63	[[caption-width-right:350:Romy and Echo before they ascend a path of stars on a JourneyToTheSky.]]
64
65	* BiggerOnTheInside: The pearl's illusions cause the shabby Slumber motel to appear like a much bigger and spacious hotel with a ballroom when the trio ascends to the second floor.
66	* BlackSheep: Boone briefly flashes back to his family life prior to Slumber where it's confirmed he had trouble fitting into his home life and meeting the conservative expectations of his parents.
67	* BreathlessNonSequitur: On page 164, Echo nonchalantly makes the absurd implication that she knows the feeling of "your soul detaching from your body" and how it doesn't match the vibe she gets from Slumber.
68	* CatapultNightmare: Romy wakes up abruptly in her bed after falling off her bike in a dream that felt very real.
69	* ComicalCoffeeCup: On page 164, Echo is seen materializing a coffee mug that says "I love Nonedays" - an "I hate Mondays" joke inferring that nobody in Slumber actually knows what day it is.
70	* DoorOfDoom: On page 92, Romy is presented with "Door 2A" - the door to her motel room - appearing much more ominous as it contains a nightmare within.
71	* DreamingOfThingsToCome: In Romy's New Bork dream, she is given what feels like a prophetic message to "follow the stars", though it's vague and not entirely clear.
72	* DreamRealityCheck: Romy realizes she's having a nightmare after being confronted by a giant cactus with boxing gloves. She tries to pinch herself awake shortly before she's startled by the buzzing of her phone.
73	* EmbarrassingRingtone: Romy's cellphone has "Here Comes the Sun" as its ringtone. After embarrassing her when it goes off in front of her coworkers, we can probably infer she's made sure to set it to vibrate.
74	* FlatScare: On page 87, a ghost hand whispers "boo" in Boone's ear to send him in a comedic state of panic.
75	* FloatingInABubble: Romy is often seen trapped inside a metaphorical bubble. It's typically symbolic of Romy feeling trapped by her social anxiety and unable to break free.
76	* GroupHug: "Aw yeah! Space jam with the fam!"
77	* HerBoyfriendsJacket: In the transition following Romy's breakdown, she's seen wearing Echo's coat. This can be inferred as Echo's way of comforting Romy, but also an early sign that she's interested in Romy (as more than just a friend).
78	* JourneyToTheSky: In the resolution scene of The Pearl, Romy, Echo and Boone ascend to outer space via a path of stars drudged up by Romy's imagination. This is shown as a demonstration by Echo of how parts of the town can be "manipulated" using the psyche, but it's also symbolic of Romy letting loose and finding a path toward connection with her two new friends.
79	* MovingAngst: Romy finds it a bit tough to get adjusted to her new life in Slumber. She gets a little homesick and depressed when her first day on the job doesn't turn out exactly the way she hoped.
80	* OfferingAHand: Several instances involve characters extending their hands to Romy. Romy taking the hands offered to her is often symbolic of her desire for connection.
81	* OpenSaysMe: In pages 30-31, Boone rams open the door to the Lost and Found break room head first with his horns to wake Echo up from her nap.
82	* PoorCommunicationKills: Boone lashes at Echo when he feels she's criticizing him for being absentminded. This is partly due to his rejection sensitivity dysphoria easily triggering him and causing him to act out irrationally.
83	* RapidAging: While Romy and Boone are in the "Art/ThePersistenceOfMemory" {{painting\|s}}, they age very quickly and suddenly in a nightmare surrounding existential fear.
84	* ShowerOfAngst: Romy has a depression shower while stewing in feelings of disconnect.
85	* SpookyPainting: Boone is seen staring at the Meowna Lisa whose eyes shift to look at him when he pulls away. There's also a sequence involving Romy and Boone being tossed around in famous paintings with nightmare scenarios, including "Art/{{The Scream\|Munch}}", "The Great Wave off Kanagawa", and "The Persistence of Memory".
86	* StargazingScene: The resolution scene of The Pearl involves the trio gazing down at the stars over Slumber from the surface of the moon.
87	* StrongFamilyResemblance: From what we've seen in various flashbacks, Romy seems to closely resemble her mother both in appearance and disposition.
88	* SuddenLackOfSignal: When Romy first comes to Slumber, she realizes she's unable to get service on her cellphone.
89	* TalkingInYourDreams: Romy is able to establish a telepathic connection to The Caller on her phone while dreaming about herself in New Bork.
90	* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Boone reveals that he has phasmophobia, a fear of ghosts, right before the trio is about to explore the haunted Slumber motel. He ends up being a prime victim for Walt, the prankster, who takes advantage of his fear to tease and spook him.
91	* YoureNotMyType: Echo shuts down Lester's flirting by saying he's "far from" her type. Considering she's not attracted to men, that's a pretty fair judgment call.
92
93	!!Tropes found in [[https://slumbertowncomic.com/comic/special-episode-1-partly-cloudy/// Special Episode 1: Partly Cloudy]]:
94
95	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pc_ch4_pg6_excerpt_min.png]]
96	[[caption-width-right:350:Boone conjuring a licorice tornado with his mind.]]
97
98	* BigBrotherMentor: Boone starts to act like a bit of a big brother mentor to Romy.
99	* DreamWeaver: Ken is established to be someone in Slumber who lucid dreams quite often. He's able to use this ability to dream about storm chasing - one of his hobbies!
100	* FlashbackNightmare: Boone experiences flashbacks from his past while suspended in his licorice tornado nightmare.
101	* FunnelCloudJourney: Boone and Romy are swallowed by a licorice tornado, and Romy has to brave the storm in order to break through to Boone.
102	* GoingInCircles: In chapter 3, Boone leads Romy down unnaturally weaving paths of taffy toward their destination. Instead of finding their way to the end, however, they end up looping back to the same place they started.
103	* HeatWave: Partly Cloudy starts off during one of the hotter days in Slumber. It's EXTRA sun!
104	* ManEatingPlant: He may not viciously gobble people (aside from nibbling them ferociously) but Kumo is Ken's pet that resembles a carnivorous plant. He's a weather trap that can consume and distribute various types of weather.
105	* OminousClouds: The cotton candy clouds in Boone's dream become darker and more ominous shortly before a thunderstorm kicks up.
106	* PersonalRaincloud: Boone and Romy obtain their own personal snowclouds after being nibbled by Kumo.
107	* SharedDream: Boone and Ken's separate dreams end up merging while they're both dreaming in close proximity to each other.
108	* SuperWheelchair: Ken often has lucid dreams about storm chasing where his wheelchair is transformed into a storm chasing ATV.
109
110	!!Tropes found in miscellanous SlumberTown content:
111
112	* DomesticApplianceDisaster: In the 2020 holiday special, Echo accidentally makes a huge mess in the kitchen while trying to bake Slumbermas desserts because her dyscalculia causes her to follow the recipes incorrectly.

Context Webcomic / SlumberTown