Comic Genesis Forums

o.O

I'm afraid to ask what the first part of that story was.

Let's just say there's a REASON the kids don't go along on these outings.

Must. . . suppress. . .urge . . . to . . .mention . . .ahhhhh.
Sooo much fun tonight, too much left to do.

OTOH I think I scared my roomate (He's a home schooled minister's son), you can figure out the rest from my previous posts.

A reason they don't go along, or they aren't invited along?

On the one paw, the parents will probably talk a bit more freely with the children not around... on the other, I imagine it would take just ONE instance of hearing your (or your best friend's) parents talking abotu sex to NEVER go out on one of those outings with them again.

Oh, and I like the subtle line on Rick's neck. Suppose he'll probably have at least a scar the rest of his life... but he's got his pulse back.


I just wanted to note though... soemthing seems... rather subtilly... different abour Rick. I guess it's just the effect of the word bubble cutting off the top of his hair, but Rick looks alot more... hmmm, how to put it. Like someone that's really come to terms with themselves and is really, truely relaxing. He looks like a Zen Budhist telling a dirty joke (and yes, I have seen that). It looks like the last two decades have been good for the poor pup.

Oh, and it took me a good 5 minutes of comparing other pictures of rick to notice that the difference was probably at least partially cause by the word bubble. But it's also in his eyes and the way he's smirking.

Some of the difference is in the writing and of course wholly intentional.

All of the older characters will have subtle differences, of course; Jake's less easily flustered, Saundra's (slightly) less of a prude, and Volair's sex drive is... okay so not everyone really changed much, but there are differences and on those occasions where the original crew get center stage, I'll try to show them off.

Rick has probably changed more than anyone else, though, and the reason is fairly obvious. He's been "good" for a long time, and has forgiven himself for the things he did as a Mad. We'll see that this recovery isn't 100%, but it's a hell of a lot closer than it was at the wedding, when we basically saw him at the beginning of his redemption; frightened, and practically needing Jake to hold him up, but excited at the idea that maybe, just maybe, he was worth saving.

The Rick you see has not decided that the things he did were okay. But he isn't convinced of his damnation and you will not see him sulking the way he did in Umlaut House. He still has skeletons in his closet but he's comfortable with them, and at some core level, has forgiven himself. It'll kind of be like meeting Siddartha(sp?) at the end of the book.

One of the subtler themes of UH2 is going to be maturity, and its interplay against the lack thereof. It'll help me to exorcise some of the demons of my own adolescence without writing anything too angsty (although I've said UH2 will be a hair darker than UH, like the difference between midday and three PM) and it should also put the older cast in the limelight often enough for us all to enjoy some of the old jokes and maybe even a new one or two.

allan_ecker wrote:... like meeting Siddartha(sp?) at the end of the book...

Um... Siddartha? Book? *the ringwolf shoots Allan a puzzled look*

PUBLIC DOMAIN'd!

http://www.online-literature.com/hesse/siddhartha/

Basically, Siddhartha is a story not only of growth, but of a fall, and redemption. By the end, Siddhartha is very wise, having seen both great success and great folley. Kind of like Rick.

Although of course, Siddhartha is a Classic of Western Literature and UH2 is a hack-job comic by a queer engineer in Beaverton.

Ow! My hopes of reaching 1st baaaaase!

allan_ecker wrote:... Although of course, Siddhartha is a Classic of Western Literature and UH2 is a hack-job comic by a queer engineer in Beaverton.

I was going to wax philosophic about the importance of such works, like your own, that don't aspire to much but are instead taken there by a receptive audience. However, I was just thunderstruck by the sudden realization as to what "a stitch in time saves nine" actually means. I had no idea what it meant until about five minutes ago. Thanks, Allan.

Glad to help!

But do bear in mind that I believe Umlaut House, its sequel, and all my other comics to be VERY important.

Well, important as parts of a bigger whole.

The whole I'm talking about is independant internet-based art. I, and many others like me, am creating art that people wouldn't get to see without me. Art people enjoy.

Independant art, especially amateur art, can do things popular and industrial art cannot. I am not constrained by a market. I am writing and drawing for me. The people who come here are people who are enough like me that they enjoy what I do.

Independant art lets us come together and share the little obscure bits of humanity that don't get covered by the big-box stuff. I'm just another important part of this. And I'm very excited to be doing so.

allan_ecker wrote:All of the older characters will have subtle differences, of course; Jake's less easily flustered, Saundra's (slightly) less of a prude, and Volair's sex drive is... okay so not everyone really changed much,

I'd like to say that this is a hell of an out of context quote, and completely derailed the trains of thoughts of two dear friends of mine when dropped in their laps.

Thank you, Mr Ecker. The Queer Engineer from Beaverton. He who channels closely the power of weird. On whose word I checked out El Goonish Shive, which I am enjoying tremendously.

If we meet someday in person, I may want to kiss you. My boyfriend won't be jealous, and I don't think my girlfriend would be.



Cinni
--
Just having those two makes me purr. So wonderful. This must be as annoying to people not in relationships(who are not perfectly content that way) as hearing other people say how happy they were was to me before I met them. Dammit, now I'm rambling in my sig, though it's not a true sig because I type new ones almost every time and... dammit. I'll stop here.

Ack, confused, need help!
Ok, so I was involved with this one gal in a long distance relationship (she is currently attending Chico State U in CA) that ended in a mutual agreement because of our separation distance, since then I started seeing this guy I met on SL that I found lives mere miles from where I am. Some of you might be able to figure where I'm going with this, but anyways, when I went home to visit family (I'm still not out to them), SHE was in town visiting her family and met each other in the supermarket (I think God has a punny sense of humor, this sounds soooo cliche) and caught her up to speed what had been going on since we went our separate ways.
This is where the real problem begins, she was never one to miss an oportunity to mess with my head, btw she's a psych major, it was her way of flirting with me; her double-ontondrae (can't remember how to spell that word right now, sorry) were always amusing. I had expected her to be a little drawn back when I told her about my potential boyfriend on the other coast, of course in retrospect I could assume that she probably wanted to observe us for her behavioral studies .
To make a long story (as if it wasn't already ) short she has started sending me some rather suggestive e-mails these last couple of days. This started bugging me (not that I wouldn't mind being in Cinni's position *Tied to both sides of the fence and niether side is fighting! WOHO!*) so I call her up, and that was when things really got interesting, she expressed being interested in renewing our relationship despite the distance barrier, the only problem with me is I don't get the same feeling from talking on the phone as when talking face to face and letters just don't cut it.
So now I'm stuck with a gal who possibly never let me go or is just really fucking with my head now and a potential boyfriend who would have to stay in the shadows because of my current employer (he understand the problem which relives a lot of the stress of the situation) for the next couple of years.

In short, I want someone's external view of my situation to either help me dispell any possible misinterpretations I have made or tell me just how big a hole I have dug myself into.

Micro_fur - sometimes feeling like a Confused Paradoxical Oxymoron

Well, it sounds to me like your life is getting weirder.

Congratulations!

Ahem.

Anywho, so long as both the boy and girl you are interested in are fully aware of the other and okay with it, go right ahead and pursue both relationships. Or rather, a single relationship with them both. Do they know eachother yet?

Cast of the chains and troubles of monogamy! In favour of a new and different, stranger set.

She might just be messing with you, but she might also have been reminded of her feelings for you, and that, coupled with the "Ooooh. Two of them!" effect, might have decided that the distance was a problem worth working through.

My own partners are both long-distance, sadly. But that might be changing in a big way soonish, so I'm all elated and suchlike, and this may be affectng my suggestions in this matter.


Cin

A long-distance relationship is distinctly easier if it evolves out of an established relationship. It is easier (but not easy) with an firmly established foundation. A long-distance relationship is much more difficult when establishing the relationship. Very few survive in the long-term.

First question: Are you willing to lose the local guy if this blows up?
Second question: Is the local guy even remotely interested in sharing you?
Third question: Ditto for the gal.

Also, get yourself an unlimited long-distance plan or Skype if you go to try it.

Detail Bear! Long time no thread!

Allan I have a feeling this trad is about to go severly off topic here and I am to blame.

Ok so here's the storry so far, she knows everything thus far and is not too concerned, but is NOT in an 'OMG this can't be happening, get away from me sickko' mindset either. She feels that its ok because I'm not really cheating on her, but rather augmenting it since I'm not chasing after another girl to take her place while I'm on this side of the country. I guess she sees us (Brad, that's his screen name, and myself) as friends with 'benefits'.

Now on the flip side Brad sees me and Marry (that's her real name) as an outlet for me to 'stretch' my hetero side, based om the frequency of how often I actualy get to go back home and see Marry. Now because Brad and mine relation is still rather new so I am not too certain just how long this will roll out to. If it wasn't for those darn ultra-conservatives trmpling over my ' . . .persuit of happiness. . .' this might actualy work out.

As for if this thing blows up, I still carry some scars from previous hetero relations ad as such I tend to be guarded about how I act and react to others. I feel that if as long as the root cause does not become resentment turning to bitterness from either party I think I will manage to cope with the outcome. I have never been happy in a relationship where I could not appease my partner (in any aspect other than sex, I don't like people who base relationships purely on sex), this is where the scars I speak of came from. I had been in some abusive relationships before were one gal specificaly expioted this of me and just drove me into a really bad bout of depression.

Enough of that, I'm starting to get all teary eyed remembering the past.

Thanks you guys for the advice *hugs where apropriate*, I guess I'm just an emotional young fool.

Micro_Fur wrote:... I guess I'm just an emotional young fool.

What's the point of being young if not to be a fool? The only way to get to the vaunted title of "wise old salt" is to get experience and experience is just durviving your own mistakes. You're supposed to go make a mess of things in life's kitchens; let's see if you can make this mess into a cake, eh?

This thread's been off-topic for a while now, but that's not a problem. If this forum in any way helps any bisexuals deal with the (often fairly unusual) social issues raised, then I'm one happy camper.

It sounds like you may have issues with other people's interpretation of what bisexuality really is. Both partners seem convinced that the other one is "just part of a phase on the other side of the fence" and that kinda bites. I will never understand the monosexual tendancy to try to force things into one side or the other, even among those monosexuals who accept the existence of both sides.

I think the only advice I can give is to just keep being you, consistently, and consistently saying how you feel. If you've made up your mind about what you want, it's really up to your partners to decide if they want the same things.

Like Andrick said, getting hurt is something that happens to people. I'm not gonna lie to you, there's chances that one or both of these relationships isn't gonna make it. But we're here to support you, dude. You need to talk about this, we're here. Although maybe I should look around for some kind of "real" bi-support site I can refer people to on my link page.

My sister and I have a peice of catch-all advice for relationships, and it is this:

Stay sexy, be cool.

Meaning, as long as you recognize the validity of your own needs, and don't go too far overboard trying to appease the feelings of others, and don't let yourself put too much emotional stock in things, very little can hurt you.

(Of course, this doesn't always result in terribly LONG relationships...)

I have to agree with Allan on this... it does sound like both think that they are "the one" and the other is filling a temporary need in your life.

Fallwind wrote:I have to agree with Allan on this... it does sound like both think that they are "the one" and the other is filling a temporary need in your life.

Well, to be fair, how much experience do both hetero- and homosexual people have with such relationships? You must, must, must look at it from their perspective. The idea of a person having the same intensity of feelings and expectations with both a man and a woman is bizarre and alien to 99.9% of the planet; hetero- and homosexuals can at least grasp many of the fundamentals about the other because the relationship dynamics are so similar and, essentially, static. Bisexuality is a moving target, by comparison, and has no known stereotype other than "slut" for people to mentally grasp.

I've given this advice often enough to my heterosexual friends, but it more than applies here. Talk to your partner; ESP doesn't exist and there's no way for the other person to think and understand the things you know and want them to "just know." Expect to explain everything because almost the entire planet doesn't understand since there is nothing that they've ever been exposed to that will inform them of what is really going on.

Very well said, Andrick. Bisexuality doesn't exactly have a huge media presence.

In fact, the most prominent character exhibiting this trait I can think of is Dr. Frank N. Furter. Not exactly role-model material.

Eep! Thanks you guys, well this afternoon before I even looked at my e-mail (to which now seems I have fanned a flame in this forum, um puns not intended!) I decided to do a vioce chat with both of them because it I saw they were both online. We had a civil conversation going for quite a while untill Marry had to go for work, she's got some drive; full time student and working full time evening shifts, I managed to drive the coversation to get them to talk to each other on how they felt about being linked through me. From what I was hearing, much to my relief, they both seemed very open to this. I did touch on weather they had any feelings as to if I was just a phase to either. Even though I did'nt notice any hostility, I have a sinking feeling that one or both are just hiding behind thier words, I hope I am wrong but then again ce'st la vie!

Andrick, you of all people I find surprising jumping into the middle of this, not that your words of wisdom are greatly appreciated. Ah the spices of life, my firends range from the most sharp and individual flavors to the broad medleys of cultural influence! I see myself leaning heavily at times on my friends here in the military, yet they seem to think I'm highly independent and driven individual, not exactly what I always think of myself. . . great, now I've got 'Lean On Me' by Club Neuvox stuck in my head.

Lol, maybe I should just x-post tis to my same name LJ account! I've turned a comic strip discussion forum into a social hijinx drama!

Now on a TOTTALY off-off topic note I zapped Brad the comic page I did, not knowing he has a sister, and told me that the female character's thought was exactly his sister's response to him coming out to his family! This was the icing on today's donut!

Hmm. . .ok, I have the flour, the water,and the oil in the mixing bowl, now lets see how well the emulsifier works to keep them all together.