1365 Relation Relations.

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Generally speaking, nobody cares if you fool around with a cousin who is related by marriage. At least where I am from. Some places, and in some families, however, it’s a big deal. Also it seems to be a problem for people who don’t understand how genetics and family titles work. (In my experience.) For some, as soon as a familial bond is expressed those people are off limits. As though the contractual bonds of marriage matter in a genetic sense. I’ve noticed that this has slowly become more of a “thing” as scientific literacy has declined. At least that seems to be a correlation. I can’t back this up with facts. It could be caused by something else that I’m just not seeing.
All that said, fooling around with your new cousin would probably be looked upon as poor form in a family like Reggie’s. And fair enough says I. It could cause undue trouble on a day that is not about you and your genitals. That pretty much boils down to how uptight the gathering is, and I think we can safely assume that Reggie’s clan is uptight enough that he’d just as soon not make an issue of the whole thing. At the same time he’s not ashamed, per se. Nor does he look upon Veronica as cheap or easy. Something he might well do if he was an outside observer. He has certainly shown that he holds a few chivalrous beliefs concerning gender relations.
Evrina is just making a big deal out of the whole thing out of spite. Testing the fence for weakness as it were. Hoping that someone will join in and back her up. She continues to pick her battles poorly.

Anyway, I think Friday is the comic’s 9th birthday. The official posting day for this page. Nine years ago the webcomic landscape was very different. There were tons of new titles appearing all at once. Sprite comics roamed the land unfettered, destroying good taste wherever they went. Penny Arcade told almost no jokes about being a parent. Wapsi Square was about normal people who were in a band. VG Cats’s update schedule wasn’t yearly. Shortpacked! Had a lot more jokes about Batman TAS, and still existed. Scott Kurtz & Kris Straub would wrassle hobos for a dollar, MasterBlaster style. People were amazed that women had the mental faculties to not only like comics, but also create them! (I guess that hasn’t changed…) Everybody had a podcast. Everybody else was spending their spare time telling people how much their comics sucked. Heady times.

I’m finally getting to a point where the comic makes enough money that I can put money back in to doing the comic better and faster. Which comes down pretty much to you guys reading and direct support from patrons. Like when I realized I was going to have to find a new drawing software I was able to just buy some. I didn’t have to scrounge around for a stolen copy, or whatever. I mean I still managed to get it for half price, but that’s another issue. I’m not going to pay more than I have to. XD
This year I’m hoping to get some kind of tablet computer that will allow me to work on things when I can’t be at my regular work area. It would really help with all the extra stuff I need to do.

I can also do things like go to the doctor without worrying that all my money will be gone forever. Maybe I can even get my truck serviced someday.

The long and the short of things is that my life is better now because of you guys and I genuinely appreciate that. You’ve made making this comic seem worthwhile when people were telling me I was terrible and should kill myself. It is a lot harder to be supportive of things than to mock them. The world is generally cruel and openly expressing thanks, or support, or whatever you want to call it, is often looked down on. But when someone emails me to tell me something I made helped them see that life was worth living it’s not just me who deserves credit for that. Every person who ever told me that Between Failures made them happy, or they looked forward to reading it, or whatever little thing they said that helped me keep going when things seemed pointless, helped save that person too. I get to entertain, teach, and help people because you guys make it possible. The kindnesses you do for me ripple out from me to people you will likely never know. The world is a little better every day for someone, somewhere, because you took the time to support something you enjoyed.

“How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world” – Shakespeare

Happy birthday.

62 Comments

It’s easy to be cynical and give up when the world keeps showing you the worst of itself. It’s far harder, and far more noble in the opinion of this humble bard, to keep hoping and working towards a better tomorrow.

Between Failures is one of the very few comics that I check regularly anymore. Keep up the good work!

Likewise. I check Wasted Talent every Monday (I’m an engineer at heart) and this comic MWF (and a bit in between to read the comments). WT is about real people and this comic is so well done that it FEELS like it’s about real people…
Other comics I check infrequently and more often than not by coming here first and then hitting one of the links in the “jump to another comic” bar.
I’m not in a position to put my money where my mouth is, but I’m very happy that enough others are that you and getting income from this most excellent work.

Be excellent to each other. And… PARTY ON, DUDES!

Holy Sh*t NINE YEARS! Happy Birthday.!
I’m not surprised that the comic is been up for that long, since I’m quite sure I wasn’t here for the start of it…but I am sure I’ve been a reading and a fan for more than half of it (at the very least 5 yrs.) I know this because I’ve traded Pokemon with you multiple times, first time I gave you a Celebi for Black and White and those games released in 2011…my god how time flies! So cliche but, you truly don’t even notice it. There have been some comics and series I was into that are ending this year…you never realize you’ve been reading/watching them for years until they get pointed out to you…Damn 5yrs reading this story and still wanting for more.

Man, thanks for giving us such a great cast of characters and great webcomic for so long.
Again Happy Birthday “Between Failures” I still remember the day I found this comic and how it deep it touched my heart. Two of my favorite quotes are from this comic, that I still have on my facebook.

“It’s not like I can blame her either. I wasn’t worth holding on to. I had no job, no direction, and was wasting my time at our shitty juco. She went off and grew up while I wasn’t paying attention. I got what I deserved, but still… I wish I had realized she was outgrowing her need for me.”

“Much of our time is spent looking to the moments when we succeed, or fail. But those moments are a tiny part of our lives. I’ll always remember that day as the one I started living… in the times between. Between Failures.”

Thanks man.

Reggie is reminding me of the way I and some of my online pals think of one of the members of our group: “Yeah, he’s an asshole. But he’s OUR asshole.”

It is so much fun watching Reggie just get to be “our asshole” right now.

Veronica is not technically Reggie’s cousin. His parent’s brother’s spouse’s sister shares no formal familial ties with him. They would only be cousins if Veronica was his new aunt’s daughter.

From what I’ve seen most people slap the word “cousin” on anything more complex than the circle right outside immediate family. Saying that she’s his aunt-in-law or first-cousin-once-removed(-in-law) would just be a mouthful.

Agreed. The informal rule I’ve observed is that if they are around a generation older you call them “aunt”, close in age – “cousin”, much younger – maybe “niece” or still just “cousin” (and the equivalents for guys of course).

Yeah, I know my family is not that literate. “One, two, ugh… cousin” is about their limit. Burning themselves on that complicated “stove” thing is a regular occurrence.

This is why nobility had whole charts and volumes of documentation about who was related to whom. And often they were much closer relations, in terms of genetics (which is where it really counts), than a genetically unrelated sister-in-law’s cousin. Well the real reason was to keep arguments over who got the family lands when someone died from turning to blood feuds between branches… which didn’t always work.

@authorship,

May you, the Teen, your family, and this “success between success” continue to prosper.

Well, from my side I’d just like to say thanks for the effort you’ve put into this, as I’ve thoroughly enjoyed your comic over the years I’ve been reading it, and it really is one of my favourites.

Keep up the good work, SIr, it’s appreciated :)

I am officially bored with these two now, next scene!
(Please don’t take that as a demand, just needed to vent a little…)

Well now his family knows. Or at least his sister does.

So what will she do with that information? (After the gratuitous blackmail, of course!)

Perhaps – perhaps not. To reveal his secret, Victoria would have to divulge her own involvement in the furry club – which she doesn’t seem to have done yet. Depending on his relationship with his sister, Reggie may be inclined to agree to “you keep my secret and I’ll keep yours” arrangement.

That said – the irony between the last panel of this comic and the last panel of the immediately preceding comic is delicious.

… Long time reader, first time poster… Reggie is becoming one of my favorite characters slowly and I am really enjoying the “transformation” process. KEEP UP THE AMAZING WORK!!!

Sorry, but I’ve got to ask. Isn’t Veronica an aunt, to Reggie, by marriage because her sister married Uncle Junias?

No. The aunt by marriage thing only applies to the person being married. I don’t think said sister actually gets any sort of “official” family title, beyond “uncle’s wife’s sister.”

Hopefully he finds out about his sister’s furriness so they can establish MAD protocols and get on with their lives. (till John somehow spills the beans to her sister)

____________________

They told you “you were terrible and should kill yourself”? What kind of crappy people would do that? Well, we certainly ain’t them. And don’t you ever stand for that sort of thing. Someone tells you to kill yourself you let them know that you are just too pretty and talented for your fans to let you die. Even if we got to get the shovel and the lightning rods ourselves…

I would like to start by saying happy 9th birthday to your comic. I’ve been enjoying it for years and I hope to enjoy it for many more.

It is also heartening to hear that you’ve something you’ve put so much into and that you very much seem to care about is able to support you. There is something to be said for financial security, it’s a whole other thing when you get it from something you love doing.

So get yourself that new tablet, get your health issues figured out, clearly you’ve earned it.

But servicing your truck? That’s just crazy…

This comic has been good from the very start. Haters gonna hate, but don’t ever listen to them. (Interesting that this topic comes up while Evrina’s onstage…)

Don’t let anybody tell you to do terrible things like that, Jackie. If anybody has got your back, your fans have got your back, your patrons at the front of that pack, making all of this possible.

Your comic is something that keeps people going – I know because I read it back in high school, six years ago – and the fact that I was able to find it again after all these years, going better than ever, have a wonderful binge, and look forward to more content, is a true testament to your talent as an artist and storyteller.

Happy birthday, Between Failures. I’m glad I’ve wandered back to Kansas to contribute to the story once again.

I can tell y’all a little story about my paternal family and its experience with internal pandering:

A girl was adopted into a huge agricultural cloth. After a failed marriage, the middle son of five siblings approached and conversed with her, thereby sparking a sweet friendship. Soon, they made love; the kids and the controversy inevitably took flight amongst the clan, serving as a taboo conversational topic for the longest time. However, much like a case of crabs, their egregious regard for them subsided and was replaced with open hearts and arms.

In summation, they were looked down upon because of the sexual relation clashing with the legal, filial proxy. It apparently matters when people are within a family group and have sex, even with two different DNA strands. I view that stance as shallow and moronic, as it cheats you out of finding happiness and true love, which could either be far away or sitting next to you at the dinner table every night.

If she’s just trying to find holes to dig deep into reggie, she’s going to have a horribly tough time. Reggie understands what he’s done and by the logic of then and now. She better cut it out before reggie really puts her down, for good.

9 years, huh? Sounds about right. I really appreciate this comic. It’s one of only about 5 that I read, and it’s always the first one I check. I think the story is well written and the characters are fleshed out and dynamic, helping each other change and grow. However, I found this comic at a very bad time in my life. I was going through what Thomas was going through at the beginning of the comic, my ex-fiancee had left me and I had learned that she had been cheating on me with my best friend. Reading your comic helped me get through that, mainly because I saw so much of myself in Thomas and what he was going through (I’m, unfortunately, not quite that witty, though). So, you thank us for reading your comic, but I want to thank you for making it. It helped me through a very dark time in my life.

Wow, 9 years. I only been reading for 3, but I remember when I found this, I literally barreled through the archive (three or four times by now) and still read it regularly. I generally let stuff pad out, but I can’t seem to bring myself to do that anymore. Thank you crave, your creation and characters are loved, and give me something to look forward to. I feel like I am more a friend with them than an observer, albeit without any lines ^_^;;;

Thanks for the relatible characters. “Everyone is a failure at one time or another. Just because you aren’t doing what you dream of doing, it doesn’t mean that what you do is meaningless.” from that line and someone commenting that the title is a reflection of the moments we live between our failures which help us grow and live, I’ve been hooked and a big fan. I want to follow your work and this family of misfits to the end~

reggie and evrina’s sniping at each other is hilarious. when disagreeable people face off, it results in entertaining times for all!! (although to be fair reggie is actually now one of my favorites… yeah, i know, blasphemy, right? but then again… nearly everyone is my fave.)

also, YOUR COMIC IS SO GOOD. don’t believe the haters. they’re assholes who don’t know good shit when they see it. you should be proud you’ve come so far. it must have been difficult to push through and ignore all the awful comments (i’m super duper sensitive to even the most well-intentioned criticism so i can’t imagine it what it must have felt like to ignore an onslaught of assholes telling me what they told you).

but now you have built up quite a fanbase of lovely people who can flood every update with the moral support and positivity! and hopefully that’ll drown out the jerks. :) damn, i can’t believe you’ve been doing this for nine years! i started reading in 2010 and my enthusiasm for BF has never waned in all that time. i am excited as ever for every update, which is not something i can say of every, or most of the, other webcomics i read.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BETWEEN FAILURES! STAY AWESOME!!! :’D

Aww, I got a little teary-eyed. I’m glad that we’ve helped you in some small way, although I’m sure it was more others than I (I really should comment more). I did want to say that I’ve been very impressed with your story-telling ability, your sense of humor, and your dedication to this comic. It’s rare to see a comic that updates so frequently and delivers so many laughs as well.

Thank you for sharing this part of your life with us.

Where I come from, Reggie and Veronica are only distant in-laws, not even remotely cousins, so there’s that. My aunt tried to fix me up with her brother in law (my uncle-by-marriage’s brother) which would be pretty much the same scenario. No one thought that was weird.
I love this comic, binge read it the first time I found it and didn’t sleep for two days. I look forward to every update and I hope one of these days I’ll have the wherewithal to support you.

Congratulations to you on 9 years, Jackie / Crave! May there be many more. I certainly will enjoy following the comic as long as you keep doing it.

Love the comic, Jackie! Makes every Monday/Wednesday/Friday morning better! Here’s too many more years of comics!! =)

“If you view the next family reunion as a chance to find a date…”

Say it with me, kids…

Not to imply that was what Reggie had in mind. And no; what difference does it make if your object of attraction is related only by marital ties? When one of my cousins got married (over thirty years ago, now), one of his new wife’s sisters was about two years younger than me, super smart and adorable. If she hadn’t lived two states away and was just starting college, our lives might have been much different…

To speak to @Brandon‘s story: I love that one. Sometimes, things just turn out right, despite the “best intentions” of the family. A former girlfriend was the youngest of nine kids. I first met her when she was 21; she already had brothers well into their 40s. After she was 7 or 8, her family started fostering some younger boys, 8 – 10; they wound up adopting four of them (don’t you wish you could have had a trial period with some of your relatives). Long story short, her next older sister (with whom I went to college) ended up marrying one of the adoptees; she couldn’t have prayed for a better husband, father and provider for their children.

Happy anniversary to Between Failures, and happy birthday to Jackie / Crave / JT!

The rule I go by is that if someone is considered part of the family, regardless of genetic links, it’s somewhat icky. But unless Veronica was considered part of the family AT THE TIME, I fail to see how it could be icky.

Happy birthday! I’m glad that you’ve stuck around this long and hope to see a lot more from you.

Personally I can see how a relationship between people who are related by marriage isn’t as gross as it would be if they were genetically related, but on the other hand there are billions of other people on this planet please find someone who’s not already part of your extended family tree.

Happy birthday, and I want to reiterate what others have said. I really enjoy Between Failures; it is without a doubt one of the very few comics where I actively look forward to updates, and have since I discovered it. Your art has definitely evolved, and I look forward to where you take the story and the characters alike.

And man, Evrina is not winning me over with this act at all. I really am enjoying Reggie in this! But I’ll admit to being in the minority hoping that they don’t get together, sexually or romantically. (Too cliche, but also, I can’t help but feel that he can do better. Even Reggie has some limitations on who he’s rude to, after all!)

Is there anything in the world that is worse than catching up with a webcomic?! I started reading this two weeks ago at work, and I’ve been dreading this day since! I love your work! Keep it up!

Yes, yes, there is actually. Losing interest before you even catch up for example. Not that this happened with Between Failures, which easily managed to become one of the comics I check regularly.

Happy Birthday to the webcomic! I’ve gotta say that it’s probably become my favorite webcomic I read nowadays. I know everything’s gotta end sometime, but I hope this thing goes on until every story you’ve got for it gets out.

I am not sure which amuses me more. His talk of the “webcomic landscape” nine years ago or the fact I know nearly all the comics/artists he used.

Happy birthday to Between Failures and to you! I’ve become so captivated with this cast of characters you’ve created and always anticipate new updates. Also appreciate your little updates on your daily life, with occasional stuff from the Teen. Keep on truckin’, Crave, and thank you for this awesome webcomic.

I completely missed that part of the blog about people being terrible/telling you to stop/kill yourself. That’s fucked up (as is a lot of the Internet/the people on the internet)

Anyway, here’s to another 9 years (or less, if the story is concluded before then, though it’s safe to say most on here would prefer it keep going) and more being able to afford nice things/essential things (health is important, we like you healthy & able)

“You ridiculous harpy” If that doesn’t clue Evrina that she’s totally outclassed nothing will…

Wow, nine years. I have been reading for about 5 or 6. It doesn’t seem that long. This become one of my favourites very quickly, and I read a lot of webcomics. Congrats on an excellent story so far.

And I love the “you ridiculous harpy” line.

Well, I think you are pretty awesome and I think your comic is really great, so there. :P

I’m a little too tired right now for in-depth thoughts on things, but it’s been a long while since I’ve commented, so I thought I’d throw my two cents in. Keep at it, man. You’ve got a lot of people who love what you’re doing and anyone who serves up pathetic criticism with the intention of hurting you should be summarily ignored…or mercilessly mocked if you’d rather do that.

I appreciate the comment. That “criticism” I referenced happened ages ago. I stopped googling my comic shortly after that because the internet hates anybody who tries. It hates anyone who doesn’t try too. Basically it hates everything, but mostly if you go looking for it. For the most part it stays in its yard. As long as you guys like what I’m doing that’s enough for me.

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