1632 Use Yourself.

by

Hopefully I’ll be back from the store in time to write something else, but if I don’t I’m still at the store… so I’ll post something a little later on. Although sometimes I wonder if I should have a blog at all. Some people really don’t like the fact that I pretty much share all my troubles here. I’ve gotten so used to speaking to you all in a frank manner that I forget that you aren’t all really my friends. Most people just want to be entertained and not think about the person behind the content. I certainly understand that, as someone who has nearly been driven away from Questionable Content over a few offhanded tweets from Jeph. I wonder how much of the content I am. I certainly have thought of my adventures as worthy of sharing in the past… I like to post here because it reminds people that I’m human too. I try not to set myself apart from people in the way that a lot of creators have to in order to just get by. Of course the stuff I write rarely gets me death threats, or what have you. I know that my personality drive people away online as easily as it does in real life, that’s certainly become evident recently…

I’m in the store still. Typing from my phone… So yeah.

I don’t talk about my dad much because I worry that what I say might get out to his business contacts. That said, I feel like I need to talk about something, and at this point there’s nothing the world can do to hurt the subject now anyway. A couple weeks ago the man who ran the mill was diagnosed with cancer in his brain and lungs. It was very aggressive, but they gave him some hope rather than a ticking clock. The man he used to work for had stage 4 cancer and lasted two pretty good years, so it’s not like it was insane to have hope. Unfortunately the cancer spread so fast that in a handful of days it was out of control and took his life two weeks to the day he was diagnosed. He was a nice man and my father spoke well of him, which actually means something coming from him. He was a real, old school, hippie that settled down. I only met him a couple of times, but he was weirdly likable in a way you rarely feel so quickly. His death is a real shame for a lot of people and a lot of reasons. Not a lot of young people know how to run a mill anymore, nor do they want to. People sometimes like to say that any person can be replaced. Sadly, it’s true, but I think a good measure of a person is how hard it is to actually do it. In this man’s case I don’t think it’s going to be easy, and that will be extra hard for my dad.
My father is the hardest man I’ve ever known. Tough in the way actors like John Wayne pretended to be. But he works hard and is the way he is because he cares about taking care of people. Even thought he rarely shows it. I don’t know if dad thought of him as a friend, but I know he’s going to feel the loss. He’s already been helping out the widow and son. He always told my sister and I to try and do some good in the world, and he lives by those words. No matter how shitty things are.
Those are harder words to live up to than you might at first think, but I try to follow his example with the gifts I’ve been given. Benjamin Franklin supposedly started out every day by asking himself “What good shall I do today?” I only recently learned that, but it turns out someone had been teaching it to me my whole life already.

36 Comments

Dude, don’t feel bad for your posts. One of the things I love most about webcomics is getting to connect with creators on a more personal level than other forms of media. I don’t mind being a sympathetic ear if you need one at all. If others mind they can easily skip the posts under the comic if they wish. As for entertainment, that’s what the comic part is for.

Frankly, I think that if someone doesn’t like your blog and just wants to be entertained, they should just read and enjoy the comic and give the blog a pass. Nobody’s forcing them to read it, after all.

Dude don’t feel bad at all, I enjoy knowing more about the life of the person creating this wonderful work we enjoy. And besides, if someone doesn’t like it, it’s not like you’re shoving it into your stories, you’re putting it into a news blurb (plus, y’know, your comic, your rules).

Also, been following a long time, just wanted to say how much I appreciate your work =)

Seriously, having someplace to share your thoughts and feelings is important, and I feel like most of us who bother commenting care, and also a lot of us who don’t comment that much (like myself). No one has to read the blogs if they don’t want to, and I think it’s important to separate the art from the creator. If they like your comic they don’t have to like you so long as you aren’t a monster in their eyes, and why should you be? You aren’t perfect, sure, but you aren’t a bad person. But I honestly don’t know where you got the idea that people don’t want to know who you are or at least find it troubling that you open up. I’m not saying you aren’t right, but I don’t think that is true. The fact of the matter is I want this comic to continue and /you/ are the most important part of that, so if you are having trouble, I would like to know so that I can see what I can do to help out, even if it’s just to listen. It’s hard to be friends with a ton of people you don’t know and can’t talk to regularly (even though we probably all want to be your best friend) but there is still a tremendous amount of respect and “giving of fucks” going around.

Holy crap I get so flustered when ever I comment here, I feel like a teenager with a crush, corrections incoming :3

(like my self), do care*
We love you (this one isn’t a correction, just wanted to add it in there)

I like hearing about what’s going on with you. A lot of content creators are really abstract from their audience, you aren’t, and that helps make this already awesome comic a little more special.

Jackie, I actually kind of find that your posts are different in a good way. Most other comics I read, the authors usually just make a bad joke or have some pointless news post/blogs beneath each comic, and then leave the discussion of the comic to the readers in the comments.

I don’t always agree with you, but that says more about how much I like your comic. Other writers/comic’ers are so afraid of losing an audience they don’t post out of fear of offending or irritating (or laziness too I suppose). Fear of having an opinion because of the SJWs circling overhead makes me lose respect for the person, odd isn’t it.

Keep posting your blog stuff, sometimes it catches my attention with something interesting, sometimes I glance over it. But I’ll always keep coming back for the comic.

Ain’t I weird how sharing of opinions, across continents can create the feeling of a kinship.

@Crave:”aren’t all really my friends”

It is like two separate, yet intwined stories, as to akin to how Peter Jackson shewed both what the fellowship did, and what Frodo and Sam went through.

Um…did you even read the trilogy? Tolkien split the views his very own self, it wasn’t something Peter Jackson came up with. Jackson’s main claim to fame is staying amazingly close to the source material…until The Hobbit, but I guess everyone calling him a genius for following a story he didn’t write got into his head.

Not taking anything from Jackson or his films; I consider them brilliant work…in bringing the *books* to life.

Well, if you “share your troubles” there will always be some people who will gladly add a few troubles, too. Some are so full of self-hatred that some of it leaks into the internet, very few are truly evil.
Don’t mind them.

Not many people are that great at stepping up to the plate and getting shit done. Not many people can take on being Reliable (yep, capital R), and not lose their minds because of it.

Your dad sounds like a good man. Everyone has words to say about their bosses (generally involving the “F-word”), but to be willing to get things done, through good and bad (and aggressive cancer is pretty fucking bad, for sure…), especially when it flows from professional to personal, is an amazing thing, for sure.

I like having that connection, Jackie. Tears down the walls and such. I personally enjoy when a creator opens up to their audience.

Pigeon, Michael, TJ, all have the right of it.
96% of people are just folks. 2% are actively Evil, 2% are real Saints (not the ball team) and 96% are just trying to avoid the other 4% that they think are Nutsoes-whacky-wing nuts.
Thomas knows not only what he knows, he’s aware of what he doesn’t know. He teaches me much, not a Yoda, but …. A Poor Richard’s Almanac of real stuff to consider,… a character to learn something thoughtful from. Much like Willard or William in, “May the Rain Come” comic.
Keep doing what works for you. We’re here. Let the rest, rest.

Your dad sounds like a good man of the classic mold. A bit like my dad, I’d say, whose only fault is he’s so taciturn he didn’t pass on his good philosophy and good habits to me. Welp, I’ll take some of the responsibility for that too. Merry Christmas, dad.

Honestly I love hearing whats going on with you, it’s a great change of pace from other creators and really ispart of what has kept me reading for so long

You just keep doing what you do in the way you choose to do it. For my part I will keep coming back and reading your comic. Though we have never met I hold you in high esteem and I care about your wellbeing. Cheers Sir and the best of the season to you and your family.
~ulrich

I speak from experience. You do not repel people as much as you fear, either online or in real life.

Please continue to share. If anyone leaves because they can’t separate the content creator from the content they create, then wave them buh-bye and remind them about shutting doors and proximity to their hindquarters.

Dude, post all you want. I’ve been a fan of QC for awhile, and the artist’s blog is a chance for the readers to get to know the man behind the screen. If someone doesn’t like it, screw ’em

“Some people really don’t like the fact that I pretty much share all my troubles here. I’ve gotten so used to speaking to you all in a frank manner that I forget that you aren’t all really my friends.”
And you’d be right. Most of the time. I really don’t want to hear what most webcomic creators think or feel most of the time-beyond their comic. Yours is different, and it’s one of the few where I read any blog. Sometimes a few comments under DOA. It’s kind of a counterpoint, and, though I wish you the best, I’m always kind of encouraged when your characters are doing well when you personally aren’t. I think it’s important to see a bright future, even if it might not be the one you see for yourself. Like so many others here, I’m invested in your story, and to a lesser degree in you. Hope that didn’t come across as creepy as it sounded in my head. It’s been a welcome respite from real life which has kind of sucked lately.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in life, it’s that people generally don’t like frankness. A person who is frank and blunt about things is a person who has no fear of saying the things another person doesn’t want to hear or admit to, and the worse-natured the person, the more they’re going to hate people who are blunt. I’ve found it to be a pretty darn accurate measure of a person’s good character, how they react to people who have no pretenses and don’t recognize those of others. Not foolproof, but more reliable than any advice I’ve ever been given on the subject.

Really, though, once you start recognizing what behaviors come from instincts revolving around protecting one’s sense of self (pride, ego, etc.) it becomes so much easier to read people, because everyone does it. The bad part is that you start recognizing when YOU do it, and it’s doubly gutwrenching when you realize it.

So even though we aren’t really your friends, I think I speak for most of us in saying that we would like to be. Seriously the openness and frankness you exhibit are very rare in a world with a lot of very fake people. In some ways you are more free than most to be real because of your self-employed status. I for one appreciate it.

Your dad sounds a lot like my dad, I wouldn’t say my dad was “tough” but instead that he was wise. He held to his word and always did what he believed to be right. He once said to me, “Why do you need any other reason to do what is right, other than the fact that it is right? Shouldn’t that be enough?” I lost my dad about 3 years back to a long struggle with cancer. I often wonder what he’d think of me and my life. If I was half the man he was, I’d be three times the man that I am. I guess what I’m saying is, you’ve got a real good dad, take advantage of that.

It’s possible some find the way you write about your health issues to be unsettling since the comic is a comedy, but I don’t think anyone really DISLIKES author blog posts. They can be skipped if the reader just wants their lols.

I personally don’t read all of the entries because sometimes I’m not in the mood for text or just forget about it but putting your thoughts on “paper” helps organizing them.

I like the comments under webcomics, and typically the comments on yours are the longest and most cogent, so make worthwhile reading. I guess that’s why I tend to spend longest on this page rather than other webcomics.

Keep up the good work and Merry Christmas!

Doing a reread just now…

I just wanted to say that when Jo calls Thomas “teacher”, I fully expected her to say “Thomas-Sensei”

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