Nobody else cares… but WE do!!!
Sparklecare is an ongoing webcomic written by Kittycorn Sansom, starting in June 2018. It’s a reboot to the older webcomic Sparklecare created in 2016. The current webcomic has a creative team that helps to create the comic called the ZCP, which stands for Zany Clown Posse.
The comic is a commentary on the American healthcare system and centers around Barry Erry Ill, a college student from Littletinytown. Barry is a green anthropomorphic cat called an anthry, a species that look like many different animals. Barry admits himself to the ostensibly trustworthy Sparklecare Hospital after a previous hospital ignores his glaring health problems, hoping Sparklecare might actually help him. Sparklecare Hospital ends up being a horrible place that tortures its patients and doesn't let them leave. The comic’s main focus is a group of patients including Barry that try to escape the hospital at any chance they get. It also explores the topics of mental health, trauma and coping, and queer experiences.
The webcomic is hosted here
, and has a tumblr page created by the author here. It also has an askblog on tumblr, which can be found here.
Sparklecare contains examples of:
- Alternative Calendar: The months on Spinch seem to be slightly corrupted versions of our own: Danuary, Bebruary, Arch… This also applies to the days of the week.
- Amazing Technicolor Population/Wildlife: Anthries and ferries are shown to have wild variety in their coat markings. As explained in the site’s FAQ, saturated colors symbolize the intensity of trauma and the way it changes a person — characters who have found a healthy way to move on and cope fade to lighter colors (as seen in the Cometcare spinoff), and those coping poorly have duller, sadder colors (such as the Chunklings in Volume 2).
- Anti-Frustration Features: A non-gaming example. The website has a toggle to reduce its saturation, since the comic is drawn with glaringly bright colors. The ZCP has expressed plans to turn this into an intensity slider and provide other quality-of-life updates when they renovate the site after Volume 4 is completed.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Some patients are in the hospital due to genuine causes for concern, while others are only around for reasons that are nigh-unbelievable (such as one of Jay Fortune's afflictions literally just being unusually short).
- Asshole Victim: Pretty much whenever something bad happens to Dr. Cuddles. Nobody ever feels bad for him and often enjoys his misery.
- Bland-Name Product: Any companies, websites, bands, etc. that come up are examples of this: Wc Donald’s, Boogle, Regreddit…
- Blind Without 'Em: Uni. Without his glasses everything is extremely blurry. In an interesting variation on this trope, he usually opts to go without them.
- Caring Gardener: Hemera, who adores working with plants and helps out in the hospital greenhouse, has shades of this — “caring” may not be the first word that comes to mind to describe her strict and sometimes oppressive personality, but she’s driven by genuine concern for those around her, trying to keep everyone in line so nobody is punished for rule-breaking.
- Cassandra Truth: Any patient given the opportunity to tell an outsider about the awful treatment the hospital puts them through is subjected to this. When the social work intern Brigh T. Howtlook in Volume 3 isn’t fooled by Cuddles’ lies, he becomes a subject of this too.
- Cast Full of Gay: For main characters alone, Barry is a trans guy and bi, Uni is aegosexual, asexual, and transfeminine (closeted), Caroline is butch non-binary and lesbian, Hemera is aroace, and Jay is non-binary and bi. This doesn't even mention the staff and side patients.
- Color-Coded Speech: Every character has their own colored speech bubble, with some even having multiple colors and/or unique designs. For example, Polly's speech bubble is white and light blue, with the bottom of it looking like icicles.
- Delivery Stork: Sex is a purely recreational, vestigial function of anthry biology, as the avian god Emem delivers eggs to couples hoping to become parents.
- Dirty Mind-Reading: This is how the hospital psychologist proves he can read Barry’s mind:
Barry: Well, I don’t think I really completely believe you. It might just be lucky guesses.
Dr. Party: Well, a moment ago you were just thinking about Polly’s-
Barry: Okay!! I believe you!! Please don’t continue!!
- Even Evil Has Standards: According to
Word of God, homophobia, transphobia and other LGBT discrimination are severely frowned upon, as to where even Cuddles isn't homophobic. - Extreme Omnivore: Caroline frequently chews on and eats various plastic things and utensils.
- Eye Scream: Uni has bleeding sockets with pinpricks of magic light where his eyes should be. In volume 3, we learn what happened: he gouged his own eyes out in a suicidal panic.
- Flat-Earth Atheist: Barry refuses to believe in magic, while his roommate Uni is a half-unicorn who has used magic in front of and even on Barry before. Justified in that Barry is schizophrenic and his fixation on science is largely a coping mechanism to keep himself grounded in reality.
- Forced into Evil: Practically all the doctors at the hospital are this, as Doctor Cuddles forces them to do horrible things to patients.
- For Your Own Good: In volume 2, Hemera helps the Hospital Staff capture her friends who had escaped. She felt she was protecting them by doing so.
- Green-Eyed Epiphany: In volume 3, Uni feeling sick about Barry liking Polly (even though everyone likes Polly) is what makes him realize he has a crush on Barry.
- Half-Identical Twins: Doom and Mood look extremely similar.
- Hate Sink: Dr. Cuddles is a manipulative, capitalistic, womanizing sadist with no redeeming qualities who was based on real abusive people — not exactly favorite character material.
- Insufferable Genius: Barry at his worst can let his ego get the best of him, proudly telling the other patients that he’s intellectually superior with his scientific mind. See his monologue about winning a game of playing cards in Volume 2:
Barry: You know, this game is more than just about luck. It's about skill.
Hemera: Really?
Barry: Calculation. Basic rule of any logic games. As long as you know what you're doing you can beat anybody. But sometimes… It just comes down to INTELLIGENCE! He plays the winning card and proudly stands up with his chest puffed and his hands in the air. Aha, the amazing Barry Ill has succeeded once more, as always! My superior intellect has shone through these curtains, and now these simpletons can gaze upon my everlasting glory!
- Justified Criminal: Every nurse and doctor working at Sparklecare are committing serious crimes that can get them arrested, though none of them want to and are forced to keep working there.
- Living Aphrodisiac: The audience is informed that Polly is a passive/non-voluntary version of this. Functionally, all that’s been seen of it so far is Barry being wildly infatuated with him.
- Magic Versus Science: A theme in Barry and Uni’s dynamic, as Barry is a physics student who loves all disciplines of science, while Uni has magic powers due to his status as a half-unicorn. They even call each other “Mr. Fact” and “Mr. Fiction” in Volume 1.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: Ferries are hybrids of real-world animals. Anthries can apparently be an example of this trope as well, as Uni is a dog/unicorn.
- The Napoleon: Not counting his ears, the villainous Dr. Cuddles stands about knee-high.
- Psycho Psychologist: Downplayed, especially when compared to the medical doctors, but the psychologist Dr. Party indulges in a bit of messing with Barry’s head during their session.
- Punny Name: Every character has a pun for their name. These are referred to as “allotpuns” and are apparently a semi-subconscious quirk of the way anthries name their children.
- Really Gets Around: Carrie is shown to sleep with many of the women in the hospital and makes some of the most sex jokes.
- Rounded Character: Both the main cast and the side characters are fleshed out to some degree and have many traits and details, especially the main few patients and staff. Many of the characters have had years of developing more and growing in depth.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: Nurse Doom is grumpy and pessimistic, and his twin sister Nurse Mood is peppy and loving.
- Something Else Also Rises: A variant: Uni’s horn lights up with rainbow colors when he’s aroused.
- Terrified of Germs: Barry is terrified of getting sick and is uncomfortable touching people’s hands. The poor guy absolutely freaks out when the gang winds up at the garbage dump in Volume 2.
- Through a Face Full of Fur: Characters’ faces go bright red when they blush.
- Verbal Ticked: Uni has a habit of doubling down on his “bro”-ing when he’s in distress.
- Virgin-Shaming: Nurse Doom is constantly made fun of and called a virgin by Carrie. It often embarrasses him and he could very well be a virgin.
- Whale Egg: All anthries are hatched from eggs, even though many of them are mammalian.
- Winged Unicorn: Uni is part unicorn and has glittery magical wings.
