In my family, there is a traditional act done at the end of a year to ensure good fortune in the next. Only my father insists it be done and he doesn’t know it exactly as historical record (the internet) says it’s actually supposed to be done, but I go along with it anyway. A person must be locked outside the house before the year ends and request to be let in once the arbitrarily designated point in time passes. The person outside must come inside with a bread-based product, a bottle containing an alcoholic substance, and “money in your pocket.” It is imperative that the money be contained within pockets. As anyone in the world can tell, the last few years I have done this, with disastrous results. In fact, I think we might all be better off if I did not do it at all. Yet here I go once more. Enjoy your continued recession and the next installment of livestock inspired illness media hypage.
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In the coming twelve month period I resolve to not draw those poorly planned interior and exterior areas of nipfolm hospitarium dome in my stupid comic any more.
Hey, what do you know, the last time I expect to need them, on Page 35 of this!
But if they are called for in the future, ideally I will be at the point in my artistic growth-regression cycle where I don’t put the accuracy of backgrounds that don’t need to be accurate before every possible other thing, because even when I do, the light sources make no sense and sixish story buildings appear to be one half in size from the outside.
Is it a sign of a psychological disorder on my part that elpse (the green character) seems to switch between having a vaguely masculine and feminine physique at random? Before you answer, I should inform you that yes. However, it is not deliberate; It may well depend on what pose I want to use and how much space there is in the frame. It merely has happened and I have not seen any reason to correct whichever one is inaccurate, now that I’ve noticed; in fact it I think it’s funny. This is good, because I used to fear elpse was being perceived as boring and unlikable, and such weirdness distracts from that. This is of additional benefit to everyone, as according to my script there are pages and pages of just walking and saying stuff coming up.
That was so weak, pointless and stupid, 2010 has no CHOICE but to seem like an improvement.
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Mrs. Kidney Failure sez:
Neugier?
Just out of curiousity, roughly how many pages are left in this particular thing-that-chapts? I notice we have already left the hospital, yet Treco’s stated plan to oversee Muffineater’s demise has yet to be addressed…
I admit I had to read Inchwelm’s statement in the fifth (new) panel more than once before I quite figured out what point biv was trying to make. In addition to the rather circuitous sentence structure (somewhat understandable for alliterative aims), the balloon’s a little cramped, causing certain parts of lower-level letters to resemble commas, throwing off the imagined rhythm, and in turn confusing the contents. I might also recommend spelling “debubblement” “de-bubblement”, as I somehow managed to misread it as “doublemint” at first, which didn’t seem to make a great deal of sense.
The fact that Inchwelm, upon losing posession of Hat, proceeds to hit the be-deedle-balled staff member with an empty hat stand is powerful symbolism indeed. Most striking, you might say.
Inchwelm looks shockingly like the previously-exclaimed P’zone in the last panel. Admittedly, I have never to my knowledge actually seen a P’zone, but were the Essence of P’zonity to be given impish form, I rather imagine it would look like Inchwelm in that last panel. Similarly, in the eight panel, Inchwelm sports a pseudo-pompadour.
Elpse was somewhat boring and unlikeable (not to mention erratic) at first, but, as I have mentioned before, biv has improved drastically in the current chapter (as has Nemitz, for that matter, whose character in the first chapter could be summed up entirely as “victim”). I must admit I had not at all noticed the physique changes, though anatomy has never been my strong suit. For what it’s worth, had I to assign a gender to Elpse, I dare say I would not hestitate for a moment to declare biv male, though that’s more a matter of personality than anything (and perhaps the ram-like horns).
Concerning your more recent addition to this entry, although I have heard of the money-in-the-pocket bit before, the locking outside and bread-n-booze elements are new ones indeed. Also, the statement that “2010 has no CHOICE but to seem like an improvement” strikes me as rather foolhardy. I said the same thing about 2009, you see, and the year apparently took it as a challenge.
Umpulurgit sez:
The original Japanese version was “Neugier,” and I think somebody re-romanized the Japanese spelling of “neugier” for the magazine piece, not realizing it was derived from a non-japanese word, and it came back all screwy.
I tried rewording the troubling situation but no way that I liked made sense. I have now replaced the problem with a compromise that is still awkward but less so.
Treco wanted a plan, but I never showed that such a plan was created. However, one was and has already begun. It’s kind of a stupid plan.
Elpse cannot actually ram things with those horns, because they curve back instead of forward. Fortunately, I think they are made of a rubber like substance which bends easily. I noticed the narrow shoulders and wide hips in the second frame as being inconsistent with the two flanking it. Nature plays many pranks on that fool. Both of them, I suppose.
People seem to assume everything is male if it doesn’t have eyelashes or wear a dress (though I reckon you’re one of few to evaluate elpse who has considered personality). This I cannot change, but I won’t tell anyone they’re wrong in this situation. It doesn’t seem worth arguing about, and I would have no alternative suggestion in such an argument, anyhow. Only ambiguity. I don’t expect this to ever be a topic within the comic itself, although now that I think of that it might be interesting. But probably just strange and off-putting.
The new year will SEEM like an improvement until it reveals itself to not be. The alternative is not being able to make any comparison until then. Also, I made that remark prior to my being assigned the task of letting in yet one more year. Perhaps next time I should work at keeping the new year out.
Corbneara sez:
hello world
Coach Handbag sez:
In it something is. I thank for the information.
Clearly, thanks for an explanation.
Curiously, but it is not clear
Coach Handbag
Zinkugel sez:
I think I would have fared better in my physical education of old with Coach Handbag around.