Sfeer Theory

"The basics of Sfeer Theory are this: all things have a sfeer and in this sfeer all is subject to their will. Whether it be in the mind of a single dreamer or a country as vast as the Warran Empire, if it is within the borders of your sfeer, all things shall come true. So it is that we have come to live in a cyclical world, and a cyclical world becomes a world of revolution. Thus let it be the duty of those with the Will, to make sense of all of this revolution. Within the sfeers of these men and women, all is subject to their will, and a will strong enough may change the fate of nations. They may change time itself. Let them be called cyclists, for all things come round in the end.”

—Percy Claire, The Cyclical Manifesto

"Sfeer Theory is the biography of a semi-immortal wizard named Balzac whose duty is to uphold and guard an empire, by way of a magical version of Atlas. The Uitspan Era addresses the beginning of his livelihood, and the Uitspan Age addresses the possible end of it."

—Premise on the About page

Sfeer Theory is a fantasy/ Steampunk webcomic written by Muun (Alex Singer) with art by Chira (Jayd Aït-Kaci) which updates once a week. The story is split into two storylines, Uitspan Era and Uitspan Age, with only Era updating as of this writing. Age was considered the original story with Era as a prequel, but fate conspired to have Era be created first.

Uitspan Era focuses on Luca Valentino, a Sevallese immigrant of modest birth living in the Warassa Empire. He aspires to study sfeer theory, but the closest he can get to studying at the prestigious Uitspan University is to be employed there as a lowly lab technician. He works there unnoticed for two years until Tomias (a.k.a. Balzac), one of the cyclists at the school, walks in on him performing a complex spell to clean up a wrecked lab. Hilarity Ensues.

The main character of Uitspan Age, as well as the character who started the comic, is Jahn van Heyden. He's the guy you see in the title bars who is not Luca. His story will take place about four hundred years after Era. As a young boy, he and his two younger brothers, all powerful cyclists, are taken in and mentored by the semi-immortal wizard known only as Balzac.

The main character of Sfeer Theory as a whole is technically Tomias/Balzac, but his story is told through the eyes of Luca and Jahn in Era and Age respectively.

The comic is still in its early stages, but since Muun and Chira did a lot of their brainstorming in a LiveJournal community, some readers know a lot more about the characters and setting than can be found in the comic thus far, though information on the plot itself has remained more guarded.

Oh, and the working title for the story was "Gay Wizards," with some fans now calling it "Gay Theory." The initial idea was an excuse for Porn Without Plot Yaoi, but then the plot got interesting and became the central focus. There will definitely be male/ male romance in the story, but since there isn't any posted warnings of it, probably no on-screen sex. Plus several straight and lesbian pairings as well.

Needs More Love, particularly by anyone with access to the spoiler-ish LiveJournal community. Don't forget your spoiler tags!

Also, a separate section for examples from Sfeer Theory as a whole should be made, but since we won't really know what's exclusive to Era until Age comes out, the current format for this page is just split between Era and Age. If you know better, feel free to contribute.

An Important Note: A lot of info that we have on the series is brainstorming meta, which is subject to change. If something appears in the comic that contradicts the meta, the comic wins out. Please don't clog the canon tropes with What Could Have Been if this happens. (Add a What Could Have Been tab, or failing that, just list it as a trope and keep the debunked meta there, instead of spreading it all over the page.)

Tropes used in Sfeer Theory include:

Animesque: Chira says her art was inspired by both anime and Disney, with some French comic influences thrown in.
Author Appeal: Part of the reason the comic is a Cast of Snowflakes. The designs are entirely self-indulgent to the authors. Chira especially is known for finding "ugly" features in a person genuinely attractive (especially large and odd shaped noses), and she works closely with Muun to design them so we can only assume the comic's writer thinks the same.
- Luca is an aversion of this, as Chira has admitted to finding drawing beautiful characters boring and difficult. However, she has noted that she is quite proud of how Luca turned out because of the challenge.
Arranged Marriage: Luca and his wife Carmen. Neither of them like each other very much.
The Beard: Luca has a wife and son. Considering the nature of the time period he's living in, this is pretty much expected no matter what his preferences are. Also, it was his wife's family's connections that got him the job at Uitspan, so that may have something to do with why he married her too.
Beware the Quiet Ones: One can assume that Luca, the repressed main character, will turn out to be this.
- Some of the bonus art for the vote incentives seems to support this.
  - The comic itself already supports this, as Luca is unquestionably resentful and not as okay with his position in life as he says he is. Who isn't waiting for him to crack?
Bilingual Bonus: The Empire of Warassa has a Dutch naming scheme, and Italian is the official language of Sevallia.
Bifauxnen: The character designs for Montmartre have her appear to be this. In fact when the designs were initially posted, Chira avoided the use of gendered pronouns.
Call a Rabbit a Smeerp: Magic is called sfeer theory, wizards are called cyclists.
Cast of Snowflakes: Check it out here.
Cast Full of Pretty Boys: Notably averted, seeing as the how the initial inspiration for this idea was porneriffic yaoi scenario. The main cast has examples of both male and female characters, some straight, some gay, some bi, and even some that are asexual. Also, given Chira's preference for drawing "ugly" characters, the guys that are gay together won't be pretty and girly (with the notable exception of Luca).
Cloudcuckoolander: By Word of God, Neruda.
Deconstruction: The authors have freely admitted everything and everyone is a deconstruction of common character archetypes and tropes that have annoyed them.
Drop What You Are Doing: Luca seems cursed with this gag.
Dude, Where's My Respect?: When Tomias walks in on Luca practicing sfeer theory and promptly ignoring everything that comes out of his mouth. You can just see this written all over the poor man's face.
Expy: When questioned, Chira has admitted that the blonde with the pink scarf and the dark curly haired male students seen in the background are characters from another of her and Muun's projects. She put them in entirely for their own satisfaction to "give them the happy ending they never got."
Fantasy Counterpart Culture: The Empire of Warassa is a combination of English and Dutch cultures. Sevallia is a hybrid of Italy and Spain, and Ostravari's government sounds a lot like the Netherlands.
Mad Scientist: Luca has a theory that Uitspan naturally attracts these.
Magic A Is Magic A: Sfeer theory.
Mundane Utility: The first time we see Luca practicing sfeer theory, he's using a custom, never-before-seen sfeer map to... clean up after a bunch of messy students before the bigwig scholars arrive.
One of Us: Chira and Muun are unrepentant fangirls of various fandoms. You can watch them geek out on their respective Live Journals about everything from Disney to Play Station 3 games. They are also just as in love with their characters as the fans are.
Only Six Faces: So beautifully averted. Thank Chira and her nose fetish.
Personality Powers: Possibly the most literal example ever. Sfeer abilities are classified as Introverted or Extroverted, and what sort of powers one has is dependent upon the cyclist's overall disposition. Their power level is literally based on the force of their personality.
Prequel: Technically. Era was conceived as a "narrative necessity" to Age, but the story was so interesting that Muun and Chira decided that they wanted to tell it. To do it properly, they had to create Era first.
- In other words, Age was the original brainchild, but they decided to set it up first with Era.
Silence Is Golden: while there is narrative and dialogue, there is a notable lack of sound effects
Schedule Slip: While the comic technically doesn't have a set schedule, it originally started out this way, with updates happening over the span of one or two months. However, around page 15 or so Chira has since maintained a steady schedule of roughly once a week, at times releasing two or three pages within a week.
- And now starting with Chapter 2 they have established a set schedule of every Friday.
Shock and Awe: Neruda, the woman dancing with the lightning in chapter 1.
Shout-Out: Many of the major characters are named after famous writers.
- These are actually codenames, but the canon hasn't featured them yet.
Start of Darkness: Depends on your definition of "darkness," though. Possibly a case of Protagonist-Centered Morality.
- Actually, Era ends before the fall itself happens, so, it may or may not count.
Steampunk: The clothing style, the technology, and especially how magic is treated give the story this sort of flavor.
- Probably best described as "Regency Punk."
Stripperiffic: Am I the only one who thinks this outfit from chapter 1 page 27 is male Victorian Stripperiffic? Chira does call it his "hooker boot outfit." Hm....
Unreliable Narrator: While it's too early to tell to what degree this trope takes, there is a definite duality between what Luca narrates on himself and his setting and how he actually acts within that setting.
Visible Silence: Used moderately, but most notably on this page
Wizarding School: Uitspan University. It's implied that there are others throughout Warassa and the other countries, but at least in Warassa it's the most prestigious cyclist school.