1115 Buy My Book.

by

I kind of wondered how long it would take before some of you started to turn on Thomas. A lot longer than I expected really. Apparently he’s still fairly likable even when he’s experiencing a character flaw. I did warn you though. There’s plenty of comics out there with smug protagonists who always win, so you have my permission to go read them when Thomas being a bitch gets to be too much for you. It’s the least I can do.

Those of you who really know how to hold a grudge understand completely. Of course he can’t “just get over it” or the story would be really fucking stupid and inaccurate not only to life, but his character. Kanly isn’t something you casually give up on…

Unfortunately you have to wait days between pages when it will seem much shorter in the archive. Such is the trial of the webcomic. Unless the webcomic updates in issues. But that’s boring. In any case he’s finally saved tonight, so he can go internalize his emotions.

Also, in panel 4 that’s a thing I saw in another comic that denotes a speaker is off camera. I liked how it looked so I though I would adopt it for situations that warrant such things. Apparently it’s a common thing in Japan. I don’t know about here, but I’m using it, and telling you what it is. Any confusion after that is on you.

In other news, I was given a Gatcha Skyward Sword Link. He’s kind of googley eyed and his sword is bent, but I think I can sort that all out. I don’t ever need to buy them again. Of course I still have a bunch of extras, including 2 more toon Links that came with SS Link… Whatever. Someone is bound to want them someday. Maybe…

Those of you who don’t follow me on any social media may have missed this summa sketch of Nina I did as a warm up. Like any proud child I wish to show it off and be praised.

ninasumma

Hopefully this will ease the pain of no story update. Take heart though, I’m clawing my way back to being on top of things.

91 Comments

Though, I don’t still have to credit Thomas to very quickly realize that he had made a tactical mistake.

This is so oddly worded I’m not sure what it’s telling me…

I thought the same thing…

Try this maybe?

“To give credit to Thomas, he is quickly catching on that he made a tactical mistake.”

Probably referencing the fact that he decided to not opt out back when he had a prime chance to, so now he’s suffering for it.

This way, though, he’s at least getting advance warning of Dawn and Lewis’s plan to move back to town. That would probably have been more of a shock if he’d discovered it after they already moved back.

I’m not too worried about Thomas, everyone probably has that ONE thing they can’t stand, which points out obvious flaws. The flaw doesn’t make the man.

No, the sum of his flaws make the man. XD

The whole is always greater than the sum of its parts.

I suppose we know now at least some of the content of Thomas’ phone call to Jess.

As for being able to hold a grudge, I can safely say I’m probably as bad a Thomas, but in a different way. I don’t hate my exes, well, not most of them. Most of them were dumb and young like I was so I can’t really bear ill will towards them, even the ones who are still dumb and mostly young. I do, however, bear massive hate grudges against certain individuals who hurt my friends. There are a couple people on this earth that I would really want to tear to shred with my bare hands if ever I had a moment, but on the flipside of that, I know they’re so low on the rungs of humanity’s ladder that they really aren’t worth my time. My protective instinct leads me to fiercely despise anyone who causes harm to my friends, while my low opinion of a majority of humanity keeps me in check to know that actually acting on the violent impulses wouldn’t be worth it in the end, no matter how satisfying lashing out could be.

In other words, I’m a crazy, nutso weirdo. Nice to meet you.

What ever his flaws maybe, facing them like he is takes more then i could ever muster. If my ex came back into town it would not be a pleasant conversation especially if she introduced me to the man she left me for. This situation resonates so well with my life as well (cheating wife left me for another man). I could not be in the same building. The hurt never goes away, you just learn to live with the wound!

You are an evil person for going with that title. Now I can’t get Jay Sherman out of my head. Which I suppose was the idea. EVIL!

I don’t get what Crave did that was so wrong. All he did was title the comic Buy My Book! Buy My Book! Buy My Book!

The Critic was awesome, I remember back when it was on, I was a Freshman in high school. Me and a friend used to do Jay’s “ack-um” cough.

OH YEAH, man that was in the back of my mind! I remember doin’ that too! That and the noise he made when he wolfed down food.

Though still, after all these years, “buy my book” will NEVER leave my head. I remember that cracked me the hell up back then.

And no one caught ‘Least I Could Do’ after smug protagonist whom always wins?

Why would anyone hate Thomas at this point? I mean, from what we readers know, anyway. He loves this girl, she leaves him for some other guy, disappears for a few years, and then comes around to tell him she’s married to the guy, pregnant with his child (well, presumably), and moving back into town, while in his store, all acting like nothing ever happened. I’m still good friends with the only woman I ever really cared about, but I’d be angry at even a friend who did something like this. You don’t leave me angry and sad, disappear for a while, then pop back and act like nothing ever happened. It’s arguably childish for Thomas to still be mad, I guess, but it’s equally childish to expect someone to get over having their heart broken by you without ever even speaking to them about it. And despite all that, he arranges a distraction that will make her day, instead of the distraction being “setting her car on fire” or something. As far as I am concerned, the man is practically a saint for everything he has NOT done.

Does it say something about me that I am still on Thomas’ side and this particular comic page makes me want to smack her smug pretentious “Only I can bring culture to these idiots” attitude?

I mean really it feels like she is rubbing her “good life” in Thomas’ face as a fuck you and he is rightfully kind of insulted by it especially when she makes a point that she chose his store on purpose. Everything she is doing comes across as “I am better than all of you just because I have decided my interests and knowledge are more important than yours”

Yes, I agree about the “bringing culture to the idiots” thing. I mean, what the heck is she planning to do, create a lecture circuit stop? AT LEAST among Nina, Carol, and Thomas there are plenty of brains and interest for the “certain level of discourse” she’s looking for.

It (again) typifies her brand of cluelessness throughout this entire scene. She doesn’t realize, because she assumes that Thomas will agree with her based on his snarky literacy comment from earlier, exactly how insulting it is to say, “you are the only person in this town capable of my kind of discourse; you’ve obviously been stuck in a circle of idiots for years and you and your friends have no kind of culture that’s worth taking part in.”

Honestly wondering how they broke up and if any cheating was actually involved. Also the way she talks makes me believe her view on reality is very skewed, especially concerning her relationship with Thomas.

Crave, Crave, Crave.
EVERYONE is a jackass in this town!
I accept that Thomas is not perfect. But, from existing exposition, he’s the lesser evil.

I cannot wait to see Jess ruin things. This will be sweet, and I can’t wait to see this woman fall.

Wait… Just a thought… But might they be buying one of Thomas’ books, just as a kick in the teeth to Dawn/Constance? It has been mentioned that he has published some material before and he said this plan was of a paragon (which I take to mean evil[not really having played mass effect]) nature.

Paragon in even the non mass effect sense is a good thing Renegade is the bad one well not so much bad as amoral

That is the only way the author/artist’s comment makes sense.

So far he hasn’t been a bitch. Sure, in the beginning of the comic he was a bit of bitch but now in this situation it’s his ex that is the bitch.

Paragon is more idealistic, believing the best of people, I-can-save-everyone.

Renegade is more ruthless, acceptable losses, needs-of-the-many

Grammar nazi kicking in, isn’t it “accustomed” in panel one? With two c’s not one?

Also, maybe I should start to question my humanity, considering the goings on in the comic lately, but why would I turn on Thomas? If anything wouldn’t I start to vindicate her because “I don’t know her (or her name apparently, drawing a black), and I know and like Thomas, and if he hates her, I should hate her too”? I actually see no reason to hate on Thomas right now… still wanna see that nervous eye twitch tho.

I believe that’s a spelling mistake, not a grammar mistake. The grammar nazi party needs to get its act together and pay attention to its own issues.

The Ladies Home Anarchist Society and Spelling Bee, as well as the International Socialist Grammar Party, are both sub-committees of the Committee for Online English. As is my department, the Department for Unnecessary Redundancy and Pointless Repetition. As is my department, the Department for Unnecessary Redundancy and Pointless Repetition.

Redundant: 12 dozen rotten eggs.

think about it awhile, it’ll come to you

That’s not really redundant it’s just incorrect. A redundancy would be more like hot water heater. You don’t need to heat hot water. 12 dozen would be 144 items.

I thought the term was all-encompassing. I thought grammar nazis handle all issues involved in mistakes with language.

That’s generally true, but it always seemed funny to me since grammar and spelling aren’t the same thing. It’s pedantry that starts off with an error, so it kind of undoes itself.

Honestly as the conversation has gone on I’ve started to hate her every bit as much as was foreshadowed. Thomas definitely isn’t handling this elegantly, but with Dawn’s queen bee act that flaunts her lack of concern for his feelings, I haven’t really paying much attention to him. Probably she’s just ignorant of how he’s demonized her over time, but I think that makes it worse. If she’s so wrapped up in her own world that she can’t even notice how he feels, then she’s just another of the many people in this world who don’t care about others – and in my opinion that’s one of the places that everything bad stems from.

…yeah, nah, I’m on Thomas’ side on this one. She is a backhanded shrew, and she can’t be bothered to at least OPEN HER EYES, let alone KEEP HER GORRAM MOUTH SHUT. She seems like a self-centered shrew that thinks so highly of herself that most other people don’t… matter…

Kinda like Thomas. Well, at least Thomas can notice it.

Who are the members of Jess’ posse? For a moment I thought they were Carol and Brooksie in disguise, but most evidence suggests they are still over at the local Bruster’s.*

I think Thomas is at his wits end. He needs a few moments to re-load.

Honestly I can’t fault Thomas at all, this girl seems to be very condescending/ acting like she is hot shit. complaining about the town being a hole, and that she is too good for it but only tolerating it due to circumstances. she is also either completely oblivious to the torment she is putting Thomas through or is intentionally being vindictive.

Long time reader, first time commenting.

I like the fact that you keep Thomas honest, Crave, and show his flaws when necessary, as in this particular arc. I think that’s what excellent stories do – job well done, as always.

I could never be angry at Thomas….Honestly I think she is the one being the jerk. It is like she is almost trying to antagonize him. Why would she ever think he would want to meet her husband she left him for and then to say “You should be friends.” I would lose it lol. Part of me wishes he would just tell her off.

Wow, I’m wondering how well he will handle the situation once he walks away and finds Carol.

Either she’s gonna pull him out of his spiral, or he will lash out at Carol(leading to more life problems)

Can’t wait for the next pages.

I’ve always thought this made for a much more interesting character development. It’s not how they overcome their problems, it’s how they deal with their existence. Obviously if you only give them a few character flaws, and then they get over them, the character becomes boring.

Honestly I can’t help but root for Thomas. I mean, he’s so far been a magnificent bastard but at least a likable one who genuinely cares about people he’s close to. This girl, however, has shown nothing but self-centered obliviousness to the reactions of Thomas.

Or, horrifying thought, she isn’t ignoring him and doing this entirely on purpose just to make him angrier, all while taking simple pleasure in watching his face contort while acting completely oblivious. Which would explain a lot of her actions so far, come to think of it…

Hmm… Nope, I don’t fault Thomas one iota. I think Dawn is a flake, totally out of touch with reality (“What color is the sky on your planet?”); unable to relate to the feelings, thoughts and desires of others. She seems to think that everything she does is perfect, and everyone else — outside her closely protracted circle (which seems to include Lewis and Thomas) is less than she.

In short, Dawn’s doesn’t stink.

all i can say is it would take an awdul lotta will power for me not to murder her and her husband for all the crap she’s pulling on him. Tho in hindsight Carol is probably not gonna take this lightly

Given that I read this because I identify with Thomas ENORMOUSLY (right down to the Cute Red-headed ex who speaks Japanese like she thinks she’s from the island) I can’t turn on him. I can only watch and whimper in sympathy as his world (such as it is) crashes in on him.

It hurts, it sucks, and by the Gods I’m married to someone else and STILL feel that twinge in my gut when she pops up on my radar again. I’ll not turn on him for being a human with emotions.

Hell, I applaud him (and therefore you). He handled the situation MUCH better than I did.

You know, thinking about it, I wonder if this is how Thomas reacts when told to travel, as foretold by John way back when. It seems that Thomas loves having an environment that is able to be perfectly controlled and feels safe.

So it comes as no surprise that he’d get a BSOD look on his face when faced with the possibility of his own culture being transformed to one of his ex-girlfriend whom he bitterly hates.

I’m not going to pretend I’m perfect. I am one who can see how Thomas could hold a grudge. I ,myself, have held a grudge to a similar degree, though not toward an ex. I had a strong malice toward a girl named Page York. I believed she had somehow influenced my girlfriend to dump me. I held my grudge for about 7 years. She had moved away and up until last year I never saw her again. She had moved back and was dating my best friend. He managed to get me to tolerate her for a while (I don’t know how did it but there it is…) and now she and I are now on speaking terms. I still don’t like her (never did even before my ex dumped me), but now I don’t blame her. We were 10 and even then Page was a 81+ยข#. She never smiled; in fact the only emotion she ever expressed before she moved was hatred toward me. I have since seen Page smile when she and my best friend were together. I didn’t think it was possible, but when I saw her actually behave like a human being, I saw her in a different light. I never found out what I ever did to deserve her hatred, but I guess it doesn’t matter any more. My ex moved away the same year as Page did and I still haven’t seen, heard, or found her since, and it has been nearly 8 years. (By found I mean on facebook or any other website for that matter.)

Also, one question for J.T.
How much of these past few slides are based on yourself?
I know it’s a personal question, and you don’t have to answer it if you don’t want to.

Can you more clearly define what you mean by slides? I’m not sure how to respond because I’m not sure what you mean by that.

I meant the past few pages of the comic. I really could have worded that better than I did, but I didn’t think cause I was half awake. I really need to stop drinking energy drinks at 9:00p.m. I’d sleep better.

It is not uncommon to hold a grudge, but of these proportions? Makes Thomas an interesting character, and possibly teaches us all something for the future. ^^

Also, if we step into Thomas’ shoes, I’d hate to hear the little world of social circles and common happenings I’ve built to start being formed into the image of another, something our little penname author here probably didn’t realize. Or did, and does it out of malice… <.<

Even though Dawn seems to be coming off as more likeable (and Thomas less so), the polls are not closed yet. Thomas may be holding an irrational grudge, but since when is love rational? He was obviously crushed in ways we have yet to understand, and can’t just “let it go”. Nonetheless, he arranged to have a legion of “adoring fans” show up, because he really couldn’t bear to see Dawn humiliated.

Dawn is very hard to take, and I have yet to see any particularly redeeming aspects to her personality. Most people are merely things she has to endure to get to where she thinks she wants to go. I suspect Thomas no longer had what she thought she needed to advance herself.

I also suspect that her book will have strong elements from the material Thomas gave to Nina. He wouldn’t know that, since he never read the book. I wouldn’t be surprised if most of her book was his material in some form or another. Of course, she wouldn’t think she stole it, since “it was just stuff we were talking about”.

Gotta say thomas is taking this like a champ she is to some extent doing this on purpose and can clearly see it’s eating away him that is the look of a man who broke on the inside this goes far beyond what I thought was going to happen

Looks to me like Thomas took the high road on this one.

Am I the only one who thinks that if there is a moment between Carol and Dawn it is going to largely be a non-event in Dawn’s point of view, but help Thomas regain some sanity?

I think a confrontation at this point would be a little too telling about a relationship that is not supposed to be out in the open. Thomas and Carol are a little too bright for that. I would hope they are, anyway.

I suppose the biggest thing I’m having to deal with in terms of relationships is a dude who really wants to hang out with me, but smokes marijuana. I am not sure I’m capable of getting him to understand just how incredibly uncomfortable that makes me.

I don’t dislike the guy, but he’s already put me in some situations I really didn’t want to be in. Also, I’m going into a HEAVILY regulated industry. The government is going to be all kinds of in my business.

I’ve heard too many people tell me this phrase, too, “If you want to see how you will be in 5 or so years, just look at who your friends are.” Then there’s Einstein’s definition of insanity. We’ve established a track record that is not very good already. (For those who wish to be reminded, insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results. Well, something along those lines.)

So, yeah. This dude is stressing me out, and he doesn’t even think anything is wrong. I’ll accept part of the responsibility for that, but I’m not looking forward to explaining it to him. He’s given to taking things personally and lashing out.

Part of me hopes that he’s like this just because he’s always baked out of his mind. I’d hate to think he’d still be like this if he’s sober.

The worst part is he thinks he’s being slick and no one knows he smokes weed. In spite of this, he’s got the Bob Marley look down pat. Does he not know that police use profiling in spite of how reviled a practice it is?

Yeah. I try to avoid grudges, but people stress is a thing I am familiar with.

You have to do what is necessary for your own improvement (read: improving your enjoyment and fulfillment in life). If his habit is going to be a big problem for you, then you’re best off moving along. Big Red Flag: “he’s given to taking things personally and lashing out”. Are you -sure- you want to have someone like that close to you?

I have really, really been there. I feel for you. Don’t believe that the company you keep defines your future self, that’s crap and beside the point. If you change, it’s because all people change, and as long as you are true to yourself, who cares how you change?

Anyway, it all comes down to this: lots of potsmokers see it as a “lifestyle” choice, like it’s an integral part of who they are, not just an activity they enjoy. Most drinkers and other recreational users do not define themselves with their substance; that’s why pot is so baffling for those who don’t partake. If you have a problem with alcohol in your house, people do not fault you for that; they respect your choice. But it is true that a lot of potsmokers (not all, but many who have been my friends), since they identify personally/spiritually/what-have-you with their substance, do feel that it is an affront to who they are when you reject “it” (not “them”).

I’ve also been in lots of situations where I was uncomfortable, but I’m loud about stuff like that. It was never a mystery why I was unhappy, when I was being taken around to parties with open pot use right under my nose, or more often, when I was at my boyfriend’s apartment and everyone but me was getting high. It really sucks.

Part of what helped me was to define exactly what my problem was. I felt powerless, because my own experiences with pot were terrible and frightening. I felt like I had no control over my situation because everyone around me was using a substance that alters their noggins. I felt left out socially, which made me embarrassed and uncomfortable.

My boyfriend and I managed to work up a compromise based on these issues and what I thought would help resolve them. He also got very, very good at being honest about what a party would be like if I went with him, or what he and his friends were planning to do at someone’s apartment. I was able to opt out, rather than go with and be surprised and unhappy. So I did “change” him a little, by tamping down on how free he was with his pot use, but when his friends protested, he just said, “Which one is more important? The girl I’m in love with, or weed?” and they shut up. He changed me, by causing me to accept pot in some small way intruding into my life (without getting majorly wigged out all the time). We both changed for each other, which (in general) is good if the changes are acceptable, and bad if you find the compromise is torture for you. We revisited the issue a lot of times before we were satisfied.

I know this was a lot of words; sorry. If you want to talk, please get in touch – we can exchange email addresses or something.

The problem I have isn’t that Thomas has a character flaw – it’s that he doesn’t even seem to acknowledge it as a flaw. He’s thinking and behaving in a way that obviously causes him distress, and (tentatively seems to) aim to cause distress to other people, and he’s perfectly fine with it – like he’s content with not growing up. Not that that’s a flaw in the comic, but it does make him significantly less likeable and relatable (to me). I wouldn’t keep friends that acted like that. ‘Course, those are my preferences.

Note: I don’t think he should be able to ‘just get over it’. Issues like these are bad habits and habits are hard to break, I understand that. Maturity exists in acknowledgment of your bad habits and other behaviors that bring you unhappiness and in progress towards breaking them – not in not having bad habits at all.

Also note, I’m not siding with Dawn. She’s annoying and oblivious.

Also also note, I don’t like Least I Could Do.

I don’t understand why people don’t like her so much? I don’t mean to attack anyone here by saying this but… General discussion.

Being oblivious isn’t a trait that makes a person malicious or evil if it’s not intended.
I’ve seen comments before saying ‘women are confusing and hard to read’, but here we see Thomas not being direct about his feelings. He could, in reality, do so. But no one wants to call him out on that where as they might call out Dawn on it if it was switched around. Dawn may have no idea he’s feeling that way, and that’s not her fault. Thomas doesn’t own the town and she has every right to move back, have a husband, and be successful in life.

The fact Thomas is still bitter over the fact she’s successful is his own personal hurdle to jump over. I don’t think she’s trying to rub her good life in his face. Nothing is really -implied- here yet. Especially with how they broke up, or what’s going to happen with the book signing.

People are treating Dawn as if she’s the bad guy without really knowing the full story quite yet, or knowing if she’s a truly malicious character with ill intent.

On top of that he has Carol now… Thomas has said before that it upsets him she’s had a better life than he has overall.

But like I was saying earlier. I don’t think Dawn is trying to do this on purpose. At least she hasn’t shown so quite yet. She might just be one of those people who is unintentionally rude without trying. I’m not siding with either of them personally, as they both have things they need to work out. Dawn on her rude comments on Thomas on handling his feelings about Dawn having a better life than he has lived so far.

I generally agree with you. I think Dawn’s oblivious in that one might generally consider that there might still be hard feelings after a relationship ends unamicably (though perhaps it did so only on Thomas’ end), and if she were paying closer attention to Thomas she might notice he’s obviously uncomfortable and bitter, but she doesn’t. But regardless, she’s moved on and is doing something with herself and that’s certainly not something to hate her for. And I definitely don’t think she’s doing anything with malicious intent.

If you’ve never hung around someone who’s socially oblivious, though, let me tell you – it can be really fecking annoying.

Part of the problem with Dawn is she seems to think herself superior to those around her, and she seems to come off as a bit insensitive where Thomas is concerned. The way she says is, it seems to imply she thinks that not many people in her hometown are good enough to hang around with, and she doesn’t seem to realize just how uncomfortable most people would be with their big ex telling them that they’d get along great with a man she apparently got together with shortly after their relationship ended and then married. He even admitted it was weird to have Dawn attempting to introduce the two of them.

I just want to say I thought the inverted speach bubble for somone talking “off screen” was a brilliant design decision. I don’t think I have ever seen that used before.

Also, love he BF and have been lurking for a while now. Keep up the great story telling.

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