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This one is gonna be a real treat for Brooksie fans. I briefly considered making this an animated scroll, but it was just too much for me to try and do in a month that had already fallen almost completely apart in a year that has come comletely unhinged. You guys can just extrapolate where John and Wes rank on the Brooksie smiley head crush chart.

Okay, some of you seem to be confused about the “what I got for Christmas” post from Wednesday. On Monday, if you’ll recall, I said I was posting these all at once in case I got stuck at my grandma’s and I was going to PREDICT what I was getting. I made a list of impossible presents essentially. None of that stuff is what I got. I got some DVDs, a nice new camera, and some other cool stuff that I won’t list because it’s a little gauche. (I hope I am remembering that word correctly and using it propperly…) There is definitely no girl that I met. That said, we all had a lovely Christmas. Dot dot dot.

(I’m gonna give everyone, who doesn’t want to have the joy of this page offset, a chance to stop reading here. Come back in a few days if you’re curious, or just pass on by. If you’re the kind of person that can compartmentalize your emotions then feel free to proceed now. Whatever you choose I won’t hold it against you. You don’t need to know every detail of my life to enjoy my work, but it’s here if you want a look inside.)

Unfortunately, the day after, my Uncle Jon died. Since this comic is as much my personal journal as anything else I’d like to talk about him for a moment if you’ll indulge me.

Uncle Jon would give a stranger the shirt off his back. That shirt wouldn’t have sleeves because he didn’t believe in them, but that’s besides the point. He was kind and giving in the way that the pious tell you they are, but always fall so short of. Even though life treated him badly, and he always seemed to get punished for the good things he did, it was rare to see him without a smile. He was a joker, and a pest, and he was magic.

I was lucky. I got to spend all Christmas day with him, and we parted with a hug and a smile.

46 Comments

Ha! Love the clubs for Reggie–I assume Thomas is their mediator thingy person?

My condolences for your loss. It’s always hard to lose somebody, especially somebody as special as your uncle obviously was, but to lose somebody around the holidays makes it even harder:

I know what you mean, but I forget the word too.

Also, it is indeed.

Auspistice is the word. I was thinking her and Thomas would be more like Moirails (Diamonds) but that makes sense.

It sounds like your uncle was a truly good man. When my aunt passed away what really helped me was (this is dorky but I know my aunt would get a kick out of it) the Batman comic by Neil Gaiman – “Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader.” It talks a lot about death, what happens next, and the reward for truly good men. I highly recommend it. It won’t make you any less sad but it certainly helped me in a similar situation and it’s Batman so it’s just automatically awesome. <3 You have my deepest sympathy.

Loving the Homestuck references. :3

wait…. she’s ashen for Reggie? Is Thomas their auspistice?

actually, that makes more sense than her seeing Reggie as a kismesis, because she just plain dislikes him rather than hate-loving him to the point she’d angrily snog with him.

sorry for your loss.

I wasn’t really thinking in such homestucky terms when I painted this. Each equation is kind of an island unto itself. Although that’s probably not a bad way to look at the relationship between thomas, Reggie and Jo.

sounds good to me. Thomas seems like he’d be an auspistice for “anyone + reggie” just to keep order in the store.

A toast to Uncle Jon! *clink*

Also, those are totally bedroom eyes with the siblings. If she plays her cards right, woo~!

I knew it! I KNEW IT

What!? What did you know!?

I believe that dd feels a certain amount of justification that Jo might be bisexual. Or I may be completely off of my mark about the comment. But I kind of felt the same way about seeing Jo’s little crush thought bubble. That just makes me love Jo all the more and wish that I knew someone like her in real life.

They’re both doing shipping! It all fits!

JOLENE IS NEPETA OMG IT ALL MAKES SENSE

…or maybe not.

Also, sorry about your uncle, I only just read the commentary. Sucks when relatives die.

Amen, I’ve long had suspiscions but i think this may confirm that Jo is BI, AS LONG ARE THOSE ARE HER THOUGHTS. Not a projected guess by Ed. . .

The comic . . . so much yes.

About your uncle . . .
I’d give the “sorry” line, but, TBH, my personal opinion on the matter is that memories make the loss, and since I have no memories of the man, I can feel little besides a kind of dulled pity.
THAT BEING SAID, the concept still applies. Use your memories. If the man was as great as you say, then your memories will keep you for a long while. I like how you don’t force a pity party. You’re a big man, and it has been my pleasure to know I read your work.
*hugs*

It is unreasonable to expect people to feel a deep sense of loss for someone they don’t know. Empathy for someone who is sad is importanth though. It helps people retain perspective. I certainly appreciate your empathy and commiseration.

This comic, the entire 1021 pages of it, is really good.

Sorry for your loss.

I haven’t posted before, and the reason I do is that I am not sure I understand this page. Is this basically her keeping track of her friends, in terms of how thinking of them/being with them makes her emote? If so, excellent, although I’m not sure I, myself, grasp the rating system.

You’re not really supposed to understand her system exactly, but in its most literal translation they should read like math problems. IE: Jolene plus Thomas equals platonic love. She’s just sorting out her emotions in a way that won’t overwhelm her.

It’s always sad to lose those we love, it’s even sadder to lose them at a time of year that is supposed to be happy. I’m very sorry for your loss, and am glad at least that your final memories with him were at least happy.

I do hope that this is not foreshadowing for the coming year though, as the author of another web comic that I follow (Quantum Vibe) just lost his wife to cancer related complications on December second.

They say that death comes in three’s though so maybe with the Connecticut related thing it’s over. But in my experience it’s usually more personal. Not saying that the Connecticut thing wasn’t and isn’t horrific, but that I don’t know anyone involved with that.

With your loss and the loss of the other author’s wife, I feel at the very least superficially connected. So it leaves me wondering and fearing who else I follow will have to suffer this kind of tragedy soon.

I hope that I’m only being superstitious and that no one else I kind of know has to lose anyone. Sorry, I wasn’t trying to be even more of a bummer than I usually am.

I’m reminded of a Ranma 1/2 OAV “Tendo Family Christmas Scramble” and the poker sequence where everybody’s attractions were diagramed. Watching that OAV is a personal tradition.

I can relate to your uncle’s death. My father died early in the year, but the after-effects linger. Sympathies.

Hot damn the current story arc is awesome!
Thomas’ intentions are becoming more transparent and Brooksie is actively socialising….
Hell has frozen over and I got x-mas presents from you to celebrate :D

am I the only one who noticed “Dat Wok” and thought of the internet meme “Dat Ass”?
you have my condolences, but death is ultimately the answer to the meaning of life. his body returns to bring nutrients to the earth. though with the way people are buried and embalmed it might not be giving much back, but at the very least it is a little.

what about John – the guy she smokes with every day? the least he deserves is a place in the chart :D

off topic: at least in my opinion Jo looks a lot better with her hair undyed. i’m looking forward to the day when she has enough confidence to show her true colors :)

I’m pretty sure she sees him as to much of a friend to see him as a potential dating opportunity

Hey, I found this comic the other day, two days ago, and have finally read to the current update. Its good, I like it. At the beginning it felt like some of the characters personalities were going to be 2D representations of the artist from different perspectives, if that makes sense, but it wasn’t like that, which made me happy.

I need to really get off my lazy ass and start my own comic. I’m a pretty shitty writer though.

Hey, I’m sorry for your loss man, I had a similar experience with one of my uncles. It may take a few years for the holidays to feel the same, again I’m very sorry for your loss.

On a lighter note, I’m still loving the hell out of this comic! Looking forward to more.

I’m thinking Brooksie might play for both teams. It’s obvious that she’s kinda got something goin’ for John (seeing as she’s practically mounted him on several occasions), and there could potentially be something goin’ on with Ed. The kicker is that I could totally see her shipping Jess or maybe Nina.

I’m surprised Carol got so many hearts on her “people I like list”. I haven’t seen her spend as much time with her as John or Nina.

I can’t believe I haven’t been reading the comment sections and missed this!

So glad you got to spend Christmas with him- he sounds like one heck of a guy! It’s the little things that count.

Love <3 sent your way—

Glad to hear you got to spend time with your uncle before he was gone. All too often people come and go in our lives and we don’t get to spend enough time with them or say goodbye properly.

HUUUUUUUUSSSSSSSSSSSIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEE

What have you done!

I don’t even

You have infiltrated in this comic.

I can’t believe how many meta shenanigans i’m finding right now on the webs :3

Hmm, if Thomas was their auspistice, Jo and Reggie would be Kismets, wouldn’t they, so their symbol should be in the Caliginous Quadrant on jo’s shipping wall…

I’ve been away from the comic world for awhile and am finally catching up on all my favorites. I normally wouldn’t post on something this far in the past, but I know that even though time passes, grief remains. And I just wanted to say how sorry I am for your loss. I am in awe that even during such a terrible time you still managed to keep up with the comic.

My Grama died a few days after Christmas, and I was next to useless. Since then, a friend was murdered, my Aunt died of something they still can’t name and they still don’t know why her body shut down, and my Uncle committed suicide about a month ago because of some terrible, godawful things he suffered as a child that had haunted him all his life. Throughout all of it, as I said, I’ve been next to useless. I’ve kept on living and trying to help others as best I could, but I can’t even imagine being able to keep up with a successful web comic and trying to keep pushing through with my art through such a thing. I’ve barely been able to function outside of just keeping my head down, living, and not screaming.

You’re beyond amazing. And I could be wrong, but I think your uncle’s sheer awesomeness wore off on you.

Again, I am so sorry for your loss and I hope that time has at least made it a little easier to bear.

Thank you for sharing yourself with us, and for continually providing one of the most enjoyable comics on the interwebs. *hugs*

I have found that the best cure for depression is work. The comic is my therapy along with all the interaction it brings to me. So it’s not as amazing as it seems because I am compelled to work more in troubling times. I’m glad you think it’s super anyway though. XD I’m sorry to hear you’ve been touched by so much tragedy. My only advice is to throw yourself completely into something to do that helps people. Even if you’re hurting you’re still doing good, and that’s something that can ground you later on.

But but but where’s John??? I never noticed that John wasn’t in this before! Noooooooo my casual ship has been sunk.

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