1189 I Knew It.

by

Honestly, this should have come as a shock to no one. Brooksie’s leanings are hinted at throughout her pages, and Jess is wildly open about what she likes. These two have a lot in them that is unexpected though. I hope I can do their relationship justice.

Researching lesbian and bisexual stuff on the internet is insane, because, at least in English speaking cultures, they are hyper sexualized. Which must be why straights are so sassy about the subject. In my experience if you mess with someone’s fetish THEY GET FUCKING PISSED. Anyway, it’s all smashed together with porn that’s really meant for straight people. so I had to rely on people I know, bloggers, and scientific literature. As near as I can figure most people have regular lives, not defined by sex, no matter what their orientation is. It’s just not the most important thing. They love each other, go to the store, have dinner, and do whatever like everyone else. You don’t get to choose what turns you on. You get what you get and have to deal with it. It’s a shame we can’t just let people be who they are. it’s nobody’s business but your own anyway. I dunno, I’m not a social justice guy. I don’t spend a lot of time thinking stuff out like that. It just seems like people should be excellent to each other.

As far as the comic goes there will be ups and downs and sometimes hearts get broken. If you can’t handle that then life is going to be very hard for you, and you have my pity. I hope you can come along on the adventure with me. Jo has a lot to go through before her story ends, as does the rest of the cast.

This little interaction was the breaking point for a few people. People who were never going to stick around anyway, but they felt the need to let me know. The webcomic breakup note is something all of us who create get familiar with. I’ve been getting them since before the first story ended. I can’t imagine what it must be like for someone like David Willis, who courts controversy openly.
I’m someone who will tolerate almost anything from a story so breaking up with a franchise is pretty rare. Shortpacked was the last one. I spoke about it at the time. The tone seemed to be getting more and more mean spirited and openly combative toward the reader. Of course I didn’t send Willis a letter telling him it was over between us, that I couldn’t go on like this anymore, I just divorced myself emotionally. That said, I still read it. I’ll probably read it till it actually ends, but I’m not invested in it anymore. Shortpacked ended with Ethan leaving the store for me. I did actually take the time to congratulate Willis on a story well told that time. I felt like there was enough closure for the character I liked most. The one who brought me in.

I then moved on to Dumbing Of Age, which I love much more than Shortpacked, because it’s structure is basically the same as my own work. Work which was created the way it was because it appealed to me. So Willis starting something spiritually similar was nice. The fact that it was set in an alternate dimension, with a cast I was already familiar with in some cases, was just a bonus.

The only other comic that I can think of as having broken up with is PVP. I still look in from time to time, but it feels like Kurtz stopped caring about the work a long time ago. It’s kind of the Garfield of webcomics. Sadly marching on while its creator give his love to new projects. Not that I don’t understand that. If you have a cash cow that you can tolerate leaving to a sad, slow, decline more power to you. Sometimes you need to run something into the ground so you can move on to other things. Feasting upon its corpse like an unholy ghoul. Unfortunately PVP never gave me a stopping point. It just faded away into whatever it is now. Of course I never bothered to tell Kurtz this because I know he can’t care about one fan’s opinion. Not that he DOESN’T he CAN’T. No one can. You have to do what you have to do with your own work. Regardless of one, or even a few people telling you they can’t stand it anymore. Because people never stop telling you that. No matter what it is you do. You can’t please everyone. That is a lesson that is very hard for artists, in particular, to learn. It’s also what makes the ones who are successful seem distant and cold. We have to harden ourselves against people who tell us our work is bad and we should feel bad. Otherwise we’d be in the pits with them creating nothing.

182 Comments

Good research material is Lesbian 101 by A. Stiffler and K. Copeland. Two real world lesbian comic makers who are great

You might also check out khaoskomix.com for perspective into queer life/love. It’s a very engaging story, and is aimed at an audience that is assumed to be queer-friendly.

While I’m happy for them can’t help but think how badly Edward will take this. Just hope Nina’s there to help him ‘work’ through it

I say live and let live— but FLARPers kind of creep me the fuck out.

I mean, still live your life- I’m just creeped out by giant mascot flurries having sex.

This. There’s something genuinely unsettling about people who have to wear full body disguises in order to be intimate. But whatever, do what you do… away from my eyes and ears.

So there are only two choices: They have to hide/shrink, or you have to grow and get used to the fact that they’re not actually hurting you.

Given the number of things that people have found unsettling to look at – interracial, same-sex, etc., that the world is a measurably better place for including – I prefer to broaden my horizons. As long as everyone is consenting, then I say the more love and joy and fun in the world, the better.

Considering they will probably not actively seek them out, the choice is actually less “hide” and more “don’t do it in the middle of the street”. Which is something that can usually be said about any kind of sexual activity, so…

As for me, I’m not really creeped out by this particular thing. Still find it weird. But then I’m pretty sure that some of what I do is pretty weird to other people too.
There’s other things, that I can’t really wrap my head around. For example sexual fantasies about feces. Now I won’t judge people having those, but I hope you understand me when I say that I don’t want to see any of it out in public.

I generally regard all fetishes/sexual preferences that don’t work for me the same way I regard the foot fetish. I don’t understand it, and I probably don’t want to hear you talk about the details of it for an hour, but if it works for you, that’s great. Do you.

My love for this comic has done nothing but grow since the day I started reading it. Thank you so much for creating.

Well. I have major dedication to my selected comics to read. They might not all go in directions I like, but they are created by someone who is not me. Therefore they are not directed to my personal whims. I understand this before I even start reading. So I am glad to run into artists like you who do care, and are also resolved enough to do what you set yourself out to do……Personally I think those two are a real cute couple….Poor Ed though. He was kinda interested in Brooksie. But hopefully he can give Nina some comfort. I think those two would make a great couple. But that’s your call.

…..I still love how when they blush, their ears have that cute rosy glow!! XD

“It just seems like people should be excellent to each other.” I don’t know if this was supposed to be a Bill & Ted reference but if it was? I tip my hat to you sir. Also about this page? ABOUT TIME!!!! WHOOO! I’ve been waiting/wanting this since that one page where Jess started dressing up Jo in random clothes/outfits she had. Either way nice work man. Nice work indeed. Hat’s off to you.

A lot of my personal philosophy comes from Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure.

Such a fun movie! “The trashcan. Remember the trashcan.” “What? What trashcan?” *trashcan falls on his dads head with wyld stallyns on it* “Sorry dad.” The sequel was….OK but couldn’t compare to the first, IMO.

Hmm. Does the trash can qualify as a brick joke if it was set up by Ted’s future self?

I’d like to think it would qualify, considering the thought of the trashcan was originally setup by Present Ted which would eventually be put in to place by Future Ted (formerly Present Ted) for the use of Past Ted ~nee Present Ted. It’s all a big ball of wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff.

I felt worried because of your tweet saying people might hate you over the weekend like Jess is going is going to reject her. Thank you for alleviating my fears.

Well, the foreshadowing for this goes back far enough they must have had plenty of time to write and rewrite their “break up” notes in preparation for this moment until they were veritable masterpieces!

If they think this is something I can’t wait to hear how many, “Dear Jackie” letters there are after Mike and Lewis start sneaking around…

Don’t have to worry about me if you decide to make your characters go through very rough times. I can take it… maybe. I wouldn’t have it any other way in which direction you lead your comic in.

Well, I’ve been reading your comic for years and I have to say that this whole Brooksie/Jess thing isn’t going to change anything for me. I’ll still be back several times a week because I enjoy your characters and I am curious to see where this (the whole comic) will end up.

I don’t get the whole hate-on that some people have for those of different sexual orientations. If something does it for you, and as long as your not hurting anyone else, I say go for it. Even the whole furry/mascot thing. I don’t want to dress up as a 6 foot tall anthropomorphised polyester fox, but if you want to, more power to ya.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-

Ok, so, I’ll stop there, but that is a small bit of what is currently happening in my head after reading this page. Good work Crave. :))))

Crave,
I have been a long time reader of your work, in fact I don’t remember how I found your webcomic. I just remember reading your web comic. And I’m loving the journey your taking me on. I would have loved to send you this comment (due to potential negative reply’s) via e-mail, alas I could not find your e-mail.
Any ways, I love your blog post (1189 I Knew It) as a creator myself i know how hard it is when people rage at you and state that they can no longer enjoy your work because of (what ever reason) and your post inspired me to let you know that i’m sticking around mostly because you nailed my life with Thomas. (even down to the red hair, or at least i think its red.) Thomas fills me with hope, hope that one day things will turn around in my life, and I will no longer feel like I’m between failures.
Anyways thanks again for a great comic and keep up the good work.

TL;DR: Thanks, Comic awesome, mirror’s my life, keep up amazing work!

What did Jess know exactly? That Jo liked her? Or is it something more vague like she knew kissing Jo would be awesome?

Just… that one line gets me all confused like.

Other than that, it’s whatever. Gonna suck for the new blonde kid who was crushing on Jo but I’m sure he’ll get over it.

ugh the blonde kid wasn’t crushing on her, he was sexually objectifying her.
People who sexually objectify, or consider women as “conquests” don’t deserve sympathy.

Huh… you think so? I don’t recall getting that vibe myself but it has been a long time and I don’t remember all the words…

Didn’t seem nearly so bad at the time. I mean, don’t all crushes have an element of sexual attraction in there somewhere?

My view is what she “Knew” was that, to put it in a fun way, that Brooksie swung that way.

Though I could be wrong, only Crave knows for sure.

I don’t think I’ve ever left a comic once I’ve read it through. As soon as I do that it joins the favorite bar with the others and stays there until either it finishes for good or I switch computers and don’t remember to migrate them. If it’s good enough for me to read the archive of I probably like it’s tone or story. PvP may have changed in style quite a bit, but I get the feeling the characters have all had their major arcs and the format shifted to the gag a day thing with story going on slowly in the background. Not bad necessarily, just different.

So anyway, I’ll almost certainly be reading you comic until you’re done or I move and forget about it (Although that’s rather unlikely).

Hey-ya-yes!
Happy Brooksie = Happy Mr. Bulbmin. And I swear that this will make her happy. A relationship with someone who has already expressed open affection for you? To put a spin on one of my own favorite sayings, not yes but FUCK YES.

Also, not as verbose as most pages tend to be, but you more than made up for it with the . . . should I call it a rant, should I call it a description, should I call it author’s notes, because, really, they’re all valid descriptors of what you’ve put below your work from time to time, Crave. Anyway, you’ve more than made up for it with the words below the comic.

I’ve noticed that as well, but I tend to follow it with the same words I usually use in conversation: “I will do what most pleases me. Those with like minds will like it, those without, won’t. In the end, I really don’t see why I should do more or less.”

Short, Clean Fingernails ;) if you’re looking for details that us, sex-educated lesbians might find ways of checking.
The porn meant for icliterate straight men, where the women wear fracking claws and ignore the woman’s main sex organ just causes sympathy pain.

in all seriousness: thank you for portraying us as people, I know how hard it is to do confidently when so much of the world is declaring what we are, not only as queer persons, but as women as well, as you can be sure of our help if you need rain in a drought or something.

Just on a sidenote: I am a straight man myself and those long fingernails you sometimes see really freak me out. I can’t understand however those should be sexy or attractive in any kind of way.

I’ve abandoned a couple of comics before, but mostly because I was just reading too many. Only one has ever frustrated me into abandoning (and it’s spinoffs are getting dangerously close to falling in the same pits).

Truth be told, my initial reactions to your comic back in the day consisted of “Yeah, the art aint great, but the characters are hilarious.” Thomas’ wit has been one of the things that kept me coming around, early on. And in that time, you’ve improved tremendously, both as an artist and a storyteller. :)

Anyway, my reaction, apart from happiness for the characters, is I was actually more surprise Jo acted first. But, that was a nice thing to see her take the initiative. I hope these two work out well together. :)

I wish I had a NinJo of my very own… I would take care of her very well.

I’m a little disappointed that she is going there with Jess, but not surprised in the slightest. If we don’t make mistakes we never learn anything, (and truthfully who’s to say if this is a mistake?) if we aren’t learning then there’s no real point in being here. I don’t know where this relationship will end up, but I hope that Jo winds up all the stronger for the lessons she will take from it, I don’t think much about Jess’s morals, but this comic seems to be about growth and just because I disagree with how she is about some things doesn’t mean she won’t grow as a person as this comic continues.

I personally think I will be following this comic for as long as it runs or at least as long as I have net access. I have only sent the web comic break up note once, and that was to the author of Spinneret. I simply wished him well on his endeavor and congratulated him on telling a compelling story, but since the direction he was going in with the comic was not the direction I wished to follow I would simply be moving on.

He had been taking a lot of flack in the comments section about some of the decisions he’d been making and I just wanted to show him that even though I was not interested in those changes, I supported his right to tell the story that he wanted to tell.

You on the other hand have not only chosen to tell a compelling story, but you have created amazingly realistic characters that I have become fully invested in. They feel like real people to me, and in some ways even dear friends; all of them. Yes, even Reggie and Jess. Even though I disagree with some of the things my friends believe in, or some of the decisions and choices that they make, they are still my friends and I will support them.

Doesn’t mean I won’t voice my opinion’s about their life choices once in a while, but I would never dream of trying to control my friends lives, their decisions are theirs to make. Even more so with a story that someone else is choosing to tell. You sir, have drawn me in completely and I for one applaud you for your skill as a writer and story teller.

Wait, I just thought. Can this lead to both Jess AND Ed kicking Wes’s ass after they hear the way he talks about Brooksie? Or better yet, Ed not being able to cuz he has to work with him, but calling Jess over to take care of it? Gah, now my imagination is spinning. Anyway, this coupling remains in my good books, and if you can just get Nina and Ed together, I’ll be perfectly happy. Very well done, Sir Crave.

I can’t comprehend anyone actually having a problem with this, those people must exist you’ve said they do but I cannot for the life of me rationalize any possible reason for that to be a thing unless maby they had a thing for one or both of the girls…
but even then they are fictional and this just makes things sexier so nope…

I also find myself nodding in agreement with your common sense assessment of attraction and your sentiments towards shortpacked although I doubt it’s for the same reasons.

Keep up the good work

Squeeee!!!! I really like the relationships you portray (obviously some of the backstory ones are less good) – here’s hoping this one works awesomely.

As a guy I won’t notice if you get the “lesbian details” right or wrong, but I think we can trust you to get the _relationship_ details right – whatever right is for these characters – which I think is more important.

Your comment about “be excellent to each other” it reminds me of a comment someone left on Gunnerkrigg Court when Annie and Kat got together: “It’s the 21st century. We’re all people now.”

I think you mean Kat and Paz. Annie and Kat are just good friends. Well, best friends, but I don’t think the sentence would of come out right using that. Or it would of, who knows.

Despite the fact I am a writer and an artist who reads and enjoys art, I forget webcomic artists also read and enjoy other webcomics, so hearing what you had to say about David Willis, a man who’s work I check around the same time of day I enter your webpage into my browser, is eye opening. As was the fact our opinions mesh quite well on the subject.

I myself never really know what to say on the subject of sexuality. My own is rather stunted, having less to do with my religion and more to do with the fact that I was raised by an old and old-fashioned Southern Carolina Grandma who had seen too many family members go down bad roads, including my own mother. As it stands, I intend to do more work on the subject you’re touching on, as well as a few even deeper topics I don’t want to go into this post. That said, you do a good job telling a story. A very good job, or I wouldn’t be trying to make fan art of it while nursing a broken bone.

This is likely all tl;dr, but oh well. Good story, Crave.

I’m drawn toward your comment primarily because you used the words “sexuality” and “stunted” in the same sentence. I’m known to assume things, so I’m ready to accept when I’m wrong about them.

I’m compelled to tell you that I am a virgin in my mid-thirties, but I don’t feel “stunted” in my sexuality. The implication is there was a bar that was supposed to have been reached, but it did not get reached.

I’ve also known people who had religion, but that didn’t stop them from advancing sexually outside of the contexts of marriage. I’ve come to the conclusion that religion alone isn’t enough to convince a person of a better way to go.

The question then becomes, “Is it really better?”

I didn’t reach my mid-thirties as a virgin by accident. I mean to find out the answer to this question.

In response to your inquiry, this response:

I could go into long detail the reasons I have for my sexuality being stunted, but such a thing would take many minutes and be far too much to explain. After thought I conclude it boils down to the extreme sheltering of my grandma. For a very long time the people, both sexes, took advantage of my naivete and this was the only kind of “romantic” contact I had. I felt nothing from this, but responded automatically to what I felt was the most beneficial (for them, as in being nice, and for me, as in it not being overly painful). Also due to the sheltering from my grandma, and the fact that for all my logical thinking sexual desire and what it was is not something that could be learned in books, I did not know anything else. I knew of women who enjoyed sex, and I knew of the idea of mutual attraction and “flirting” and “instigating foreplay” and what not, but had no idea of it. To this day I am rather terrible at all of it, but happily have slowly discovered such emotions and thus feel blessed beyond measure to call a man my husband who appreciates me and, for his own reasons, also knows little about such things but together we learn what works for us.

Again, that portion of my life would take too long to explain, but luckily my answer on religion is very short: Religion is not what gives you better values. Rather, the religion you choose to follow is a reflection of your own.

Ah, okay. It’s clear I had you figured wrong. This is not something new to me, though.

What is new to me is the part where I had you figured so wrong, that I can’t describe how it feels to have just tried to give advice on feeling okay with your “stunted sexuality” when you’re married, and know more about sexuality than I ever did to begin with, including in the proper contexts.

Even if it didn’t start out that way?

At any rate, I think I should go dislodge my foot from my mouth.

Again.

I don’t get why people would stop reading the comic over something like this, especially since this technically focuses on two side characters. I mean, yeah I’ll admit that I’m a little disappointed with this reveal (mainly because of WHO Brooksie chose; personally I would have liked her to get with Ed or a female NPC), but I still want to see what happens with the other characters and their stories. There’s no point in ending a journey until you’ve truly reached the end.

Two Side characters?? Maybe, maybe Jess can be classified as a side character. But Brooksie is main if there ever was one. This isn’t a 1 or 2 at most main character thing, there are quite a few main characters in this comic. And Brooksie is most definitely among them.

An interesting story I have heard tell, about a study done by Mr. Masters, a famous scientist who made leaps and bounds in studies on sexuality. He did a study on how homosexuals of both genders approached sex. His results found that men would talk out roles and plan their actiosn, etc while the women would just get down to it and work out the roles while they were nearly knuckledeep in each other. I had always thought that gay men would be more sexually forward, but I was horribly mistaken.
As far as breaking up with webcomics, the only one I’ve ever actually done that with was Ctrl Alt Del. After the end of the actual story, it just became overt video game satire instead of the buddy gamer comic it had started out as. It’s not that I became too busy to keep up with it, either. I have a roster of about 15 comics that I check regularly, but I couldn’t do it anymore.

I was kind of dreading reading this comic today. The look of surprise on Jess’ face in the first panel, followed by the uncertain, even heartbreaking look on Jo’s face in the second panel, had me thinking, “Crave, you bastard!”

Then I saw the third and 4th panel, and I was like, “OK, nothing to see here folks! All is well! Move along..move along…”

Seriously though, well done. Moments like this are the reason why I read webcomics in general, and yours in particular.

My thoughts exactly! :D

Which of course speaks good things about Crave’s ability in both writing and even moreso arranging comics/panels.

Dearest Crave, you inspire me so.

While none of your work has been predictable, it’s more than brilliant, this has been the first thing to surprise me. I absolutely adore your work, and hope you continue this for as long as possible. Your characters are matched by none, your story-telling inspiring, and your dialogue ingenious. Here’s to you.

The thought arises in me that although Jess is the more openly, well, open of the two, she is also the one who seems to actually be searching for someone to be serious about, whereas Jo just wants to share the love she has with those she likes. I feel that perhaps it is Jess who is more likely to have her heart broken if either of them, although Jo would suffer from causing it.

I have been following Ctrl-Alt-Del for years until Ethans story ended and he died. It was an epic end though it broke my heart and the players were funny but not enough to sustain mdy interest. I still read it of course, but the first link I go to on Monday morning is this one. Between Failures is one of my favourite web comics now and this turn of events, this reality of things just made it more awesome!

Delighted to see Jess returning her interest. I hope these two crazy kids have a lot of fun together.

I stopped reading PvP when Kurtz won the Eisner Award. I was delighted for him and went to the page that day to see how he would respond to the community — no doubt with a “thanks, man, I’m really honored.” Instead I saw a comic where his character Brent basically said “fuck you” to the community — “Dick and fart jokes just won the Eisner, how do you like THAT?” My respect for Kurtz dropped into the cellar and I never read the strip again. For fuck’s sake, be a classy winner, not a jackass.

cheers,
Phil

Just for the record, on the occasions I have interacted with Scott Kurtz it’s been positive. He’s a straight shooter and tells things the way he sees them. He makes mistakes, but he’s still a decent person. It’s not my place to defend him, but he has helped me on more than one occasion and asked for no compensation. So I hope you don’t think too badly of him for his occasional slip ups.

Oh, sure, he tells things the way he sees them, and he’s up front about it. That’s his right — everybody’s entitled to their opinions, and he can express them any way he wants. It is, after all, his own site and his own comic. But, as with Orson Scott Card, I don’t have to like his opinions or read his work if I have little respect for said opinions. :)

cheers,
Phil

I think it is a credit to your writing that I was waiting for Jess’ reaction so anxiously — I honestly felt protective of our Brooksie, which is awesome considering she’s a drawing ;)

Thanks for making your characters so real.

Ha, I love it.
Happiness does come from a boundless font in life. Life is a tough game to play. Still, I love to see people playing the games that are worth playing. Love is. Happy for Jo and Jess, I hope they both get a lot from each other.

Also, excellent Bill and Ted reference.

If you are ever interested in some philosophical thinking, try “Finite and Infinite Games: A vision of life as play and possibility.” By James Carse.

Oh good, she accepts! :D

I’ve never gone so far as to hate on an artist or declare I’m never going to read their comic again. About the worst I’ll do is stop following a comic regularly. Wapsi Square for example. The last couple years it’s veered so far away from the tone and the characters it built up over the first decade of its existence that I just don’t care any more. So I don’t follow it. But I’d never write the artist a long tract detailing why and how Wapsi Square sucks now. It’s his strip, and he’s not writing it for me alone.

DEER SUR:
PLEEZ KANSIL MI SURBSKRIPSHUN!!!
THEEZ GURLZ R DEESKUZTING
N U R A PURVURT.

(* Wait, what? It’s free? *)

Well, nobody else was saying it.

Frankly, I’m surprised that there are so few negative responses here. This must be one broad-minded audience, but then, they have long since stopped amazing me in that respect. I’m proud of all of ya!

I have spent most of my life, from High School to the present day working side-by-side with people who happened to be gay or lesbian. It doesn’t bother me. A former girlfriend has been a lesbian for almost 25 years. Many of my Interwebz contacts are LGBT. It doesn’t seem to bother them that I’m straight, why should it bother me that they are what they are?

Ah yes, “Be excellent to each other” is such an important phrase that my wife and I worked that into our marriage vows. Well, sorta – we wrote the whole speech that the guy marrying us said (whatever he’s called) and we had it end with that quote. (We also had him start with “Mawage. Mawage is wat bwings us togefah, today” as in from Princess Bride. The guy was friggin’ SPOT ON with the voice).

Anyway, that phrase should most certainly be used on numerous occasions for many situations. It really says it all.

A good reflection of life turns and twists…And when you think like a mere comic may reflect some points of life itself…well…i think Belinda was right…heaven is a place on earth…somewhere out there…

On webcomics divorce:

Scott neglecting his RSS feed was the big deal-killer for PvP. I simply got out of the habit and found myself in the middle of storylines when it did update.

I love RSS simply because it means I can be lazy and let a webcomic tell *me* when there’s something new. It makes a webcomic that I like, but updates erratically (*cough*megatokyo*cough*) much easier to stick with.

It was really hard to give up Sluggy Freelance. It was the first webcomic I ever read. I had been reading it since 1998. But Pete put in the time and regular diligent effort at pushing me away so I finally left around 2011 after years of reading it and feeling dissatisfied.

Dr. McNinja: “King Radical” is all I feel I need to say.

I’m curious about what specifically pushed you away from Sluggy. I’ve never read it, but I’ve always heard the name out there.

It was an ensemble cast the stopped being ensemble. We start a story and the first thing that happened was the characters were scattered in small disconnected groups to the four winds, often across the globe if not across time, space and dimension (literally)
As time went on Pete became increasingly cruel to his characters or relied on horrific plot elements to sustain his stories. As plotlines became larger and uglier in scope, the characters cot further and further disconnected from each other and themselves. As a result, I felt more and more disconnected from his characters. I cared less and less what happened to them.

I went through several years of thinking, “If we could only got the cast back together…” And then it happened and it wasn’t better.

And I left.

YMMV. I’m sure there’s lots of people still reading the comic.

@Crave – First, I very much enjoy your comic; it seems to be a funny, thoughtful and humane portrayal of flawed characters, and you seem to have a genuine affection for them however different from you or each other they may be.

However, some of your comments could be interpreted as a suggestion that readers shouldn’t offer criticism. Possibly what you’re referring to is insulting comments that belittle webcomic creators simply for their artistic choices, and I’d agree with you in that. On the other hand, I’d assume most webcomic creators do want to know what people think of their work – otherwise why post it online and enable feedback?

The only ‘goodbye’ I ever posted was on a webcomic which had the main protagonist (a high-school student) brutally assaulting another student, including a kick to the stomach. In a semi-fantasy setting, true. Was it really bad of me to say I found this very distressing, and couldn’t carry on reading? I don’t think it was, and I’d be faintly surprised if you really think people shouldn’t offer such feedback – so long as it’s courteous and respectful.

yeah I’m sure it wasn’t Crave’s intention but his post comes off as wrong to me too

like parts of it are very tolerant and in others he comes off as very passive agressive and petty

I think I’ve shown time and again that I am both passive aggressive and petty. The problem with fan criticism is that most fans don’t know the difference between constructive criticism and useless negativity. I’ve actually spoken about this before, maybe I can find it…

First of all, a harsh critique and an insult are very different things. The internet doesn’t seem to understand that. A critique is meant to be a teaching tool, but a lot of people think that if you say “Your work is bad and you should feel bad!” that is an acceptable critique, and not only should you shut up and take it, but they should be praised for their staggering insight.

A real critique, the kind you’d get from a professor, or colleague, would point out specific flaws and offer solutions to address those flaws. I have no problem with that sort of critique. I don’t want them coming at me from random people unsolicited, but when I need help I seek out people whose skills and opinions I trust.

If someone tells me I suck it’s a pretty safe bet they have no interest in helping me improve. If they had my best interests at heart they would know better than to lead with that anyway. So stuff like that I generally ignore, and it typically doesn’t bother me.

The longer you do any kind of public entertaining the more you’ll come to realize that some people have a desperate need to blurt out their opinions all the time. That is how they gain their validation. I know this because that need is strong in me. If I was still working at Gamestop, having never taken the chance to actually produce anything, I would still be trolling around the net trying to make myself feel better by telling random people how shitty they are.

of course you never really get over that sort of thing. It’s in the very code of your genetics I think. Sometimes I just can’t help publicly stating how much I hate Least I Could Do and it’s smug asshole of a lead character, in spite of the fact that it’s really just not my thing and if you like it that’s perfectly okay. That said, I don’t fuck around in the comments, or forums, or whatever it is they have over there. That sort of activity is uncalled for. Also I have my own faults to take care of before I start pointing out the faults of others.

Still, fuck that comic. I hate it.

Not everyone is going to like what you do. Some people have in them the need to let you know this. It’s not the end of the world. just delete the comment, or whatever, and move on. As long as there are people who want to hear your stories it doesn’t matter. There’s plenty of different kinds of people in the world and you’ll never please them all.

Don’t internalize that stuff. It’s pointless.

Found it. There’s also the matter of what I call internal tone, which is the tone you bring with you into any bit of text. I read almost everything as though it was written negatively, unless it is extremely clear that it isn’t meant to be. So I am often offended by comments that seem totally innocuous to someone else. The blog post isn’t meat to discourage people from offering up critique, or even pointing out flaws, like spelling erros and missing glasses. It’s a reaction to statements clearly designed to hurt me, from people who feel hurt themselves. The last part of the blog is actually an illustration that I do the exact same thing, minus going to someone’s blog to let them know. That’s the key difference.

That said, if I got 500 breakup notes in a day I would probably take that seriously. I have no idea what it would take to alienate that many people at a time, but I’m sure it could be done.

Anyway all I’m saying is I can see it from both sides but I don’t like getting told I suck any more than the next guy.

Ok, gotcha, it’s the mindless insults you’d seek to discourage rather than respectful and courteous feedback (even if you don’t seek it from your readers) – and that I agree with completely :).

Anyway, as I said, I really do enjoy your comic, and I hope it keeps going for a long time; in spite of any negativity that comes your way.

You know, i have been following you since…a lot of time, and i love the story of the comic and how it changes and changes… And i will follow it to the end. (And actually, i dont remember to have been mad for something that happens in the comic. After all is an story you are telling us…i dont see why one will get mad at it)

Anyway, love your work. Take care.

I read web comics zoomed in as far as possible and still fit the panels within the screen width. For BF, that means I can usually fit about a quarter of the comic on the screen at a time, one panel at a time in today’s case. I read the first panel, scrolled to the second, and thought, “Oh gods, she’s gonna get her adorable little heart broken.” I’m glad I was wrong, (at least for today).

As to web break-up notes, it’s your comic. You’re the only person looking back at you from the mirror every morning.

Crave, I haven’t been this excited about a relationship in a webcomic since Martin and Dora had their kiss in QC. I literally punched the air and yelled when I saw Jess smile and kiss Jo back. Thank you, you have made my week sir ^_^

Hope that doesn’t sound creepy by being so invested in the love lives of fictional characters.

I’ve been reading your comic for a few months now and seeing this finally happen spurred me to finally make a comment. I love the work that you do, and I love all of the characters that you’ve created.

You make my Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings very enjoyable. Keep up the great work.

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