2327 A Change.

by

Patreon
Subscribestar
Comic Vote
Reddit
Wiki
Holiday List
Twitter @betweenfailures
Contact me for a Discord invite.

Hmmm… What to talk about tonight. I don’t know. I’m tired. Physically & creatively. It’s not something that tends to last very long with me, but there are moments when the train just grinds to a halt & I’m left standing there like “What am I supposed to be doing..?” You look at a blank page & need to create a world, which is daunting, but you push through, I guess. Art block or writer’s block is a luxury that professionals generally aren’t allowed. In spite of how unprofessional I may seem I am a professional artist & writer. To keep being those things I need to put pen to paper & get shit done. Even if it isn’t always the best it can be. The world doesn’t run on perfection, it gets by on good enough. I hope I am doing good enough to tempt you into pledging on patreon or other services, he transitioned smoothly. So I can keep playing at this creative endeavor. Let the dream go on a little longer, I don’t want to wake up just yet…

30 Comments

Ok, I love Alex and this story. I also think you may have missed a space in the middle panel. It looks like Fromother. Thank you for the comic!

Either it’s fixed already, or I don’t see it. I’ve got “from other” here. Thanks for an upbeat day start Jackie!

Block or no block, this page flows perfectly smooth. The art is great – it’s nice to see Alex in a more upright posture for a change, when it’s so much more common to see her in that kinda forward hunch she has in panel 3. The difference was notable and striking.

Also love her explanation for her growing affection for Reggie. At first I was Carol, thinking they were a very odd couple. But as always, you, Jackie, managed to not only make them click togerher very naturally in a way that made sense, as well as make them interesting together. Maybe one of the most interesting couples in the comic so far. Love it.

Thanks for sharing your dream with us (even those who can’t afford to contribute to patreon right now) for so long now, and here’s hoping for a long, long while still!

Was going to comment on Alex standing up straighter. Between that and a smile, it can be surprising how much difference it makes-with about anybody.

The petty part of me wants to see her reaction upon hearing all the nasty shit Reggie used to say. On the other hand, what good does that do? It would be right to see him own up to his past behavior, but also I don’t want to see him slip due to being called out. Either way I’m hooked to see where their relationship goes. I’m also very interested to know Alex better.

Yeah, the only girl I “simp” for (if we stretch the term) has a problem of running into a block like that, and then just producing nothing, and I think it took a concerted effort by us basically yelling at her “Not every release has to be better than the last–even a mediocre one is better than what most other people make, and better than nothing, and we wouldn’t even BE here if we didn’t believe that!” before she finally got the message and started, at least, releasing stuff she previously buried half-complete to fill in gaps when she couldn’t make something new. Not many people just shit out nothing but solid gold sculptures every time–I’ve abandoned many, many content producers for just not producing anything, or turning it down to a trickle so they could drag it out, but much less rarely have I left due to poor quality. Like, almost never.

That doesn’t sound like simp’ing so much as just being a fan. As for the term itself, “simp” sounds an awful lot like the latest version of sexism down-labelling a person supportive of a woman. And it also is a shaming term for someone who likes something. You’re a fan. “You’re warriors, be proud!” So don’t denigrate yourself or who you like. We don’t need to let bigotry get a new toehold. Please know, I’m not calling you out as a bigot, just the terminology. And you’re not alone in letting terms get into your vernacular. Frankly I’m thankful that you used the term here, as it’s the first time I was made to really contemplate it’s connotations, and that was due to how you used it and called it out.

And your advice about producing is solid too. In my case my self-loathing is my product and it’s crushing everything else. And yes, I see my hypocrisy. It’s why I encourage others not to do it, because they shouldn’t have to feel like this.

I’m fine with the term “simp”, actually–it’s just that, like all words, especially new ones, people misuse it. It originally was applying to men who give money to women in, like, a findom situation–emotionally damaged men giving money to women because that’s the only way (they think) that they can get even a second of attention from a lady. Or a more every-day version of that is a “Nice Guy”, but not one who expects sex in return but, again, feels like the only thing he’s good for is serving women, like has has no self-worth. It’s not healthy and I don’t think anyone should simp; don’t try to buy affection from a woman, because if anything, THAT is sexist (outside of acknowledged, agreed-upon sex work). But yeah, now it’s being applied to any case where a man gives a woman money, especially if what she does is sexy. I don’t entirely understand giving Twitch thots cash for poorly playing video games while half-dressed either; but the girl I Patron for does alot of sexy artsy stuff, with no porn. And she’s a lovely girl, but that is simping for alot of people.

I don’t mind new words being invented; English is actually fairly unique for the wide variety of words we have for very specific situations like that. But people certainly abuse language too. Like “incel”–it’s now basically a catch-all phrase for any man a person doesn’t like, lumping together socially awkward nerds and psychopathic mass shooters. Seems legit.

“The world doesn’t run on perfection, it gets by on good enough” is now going up on my wall, day-drinking mom style. I will hold those words to my heart!

Can’t say I fully agree with that statement mainly due to the fact that “good enough” doesn’t exactly cut it in the military or medical institutions. Sometimes perfection is necessary when one’s life is at stake, be it as a soldier fighting the enemy on the battlefield or as a doctor operating on a critically injured patient.

You aren’t understanding the statement is the problem. It doesn’t mean that people don’t try hard, or aim for perfection, it’s that in the vast majority of situations in life people do exactly enough to do whatever it is they’re doing & go no further. Additionally, the idea that military & medical institutions don’t operate in essentially the same way as the rest of the world is remarkably naïve. If they did there wouldn’t be such a need for malpractice insurance & civilians wouldn’t regularly get blown to hell on accident then declared terrorists after the fact…

I bring the issue up, Jackie, because your original statement seemed too blunt and arbitrary. To the general reader, it gives off the impression that being good enough in all situations is passable even in absolute life and death situations. It’s one thing if…let’s say, you were working as a programmer and you present a program that works mainly to the client’s specifications despite the fact that it is riddled with bugs and could be made heir apparent in the near future. In the programming world, it happens all the time, despite what the clowns at Ars Technica want to believe. But, when it does come to more serious matters like military operations, the military must maintain a strict sense of discipline to accomplish objectives and minimize or eliminate casualties altogether, not just with citizens, but with service members as well. I guess it can be argued that perfection is the military’s version of “good enough” but any casualty that isn’t the enemy is a PR disaster for both the military and the White House which could turn the tide of public opinion. It’s the same with the medical institution. A botched surgery could legitimately kill or cripple the patient, which no insurance can reverse. If the patient were to live with only a slight drawback to their being, then fine, good enough can be accepted. Ditto for destruction of random property by the military considering that property can be rebuilt.

It’s just something to ponder as not all decisions in life can be easily excused like turning in a school research paper with openly subjective answers and getting by with a C+.

How is it that “good enough” is not by its very definition good enough? To be clear, what is good enough does vary based on the situation. But that term never means substandard or subpar.

As far as military expectations… I do not know who’s been filling your head with nonsense, but militaries the world over deal with the situation they have and the people they have. They strive for excellence, true, but no battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy. There is no military perfection.

That does mean that ‘good enough’ for the military when it comes to supplies and munitions is quite high. But, um, by definition, good enough is good enough, always and forever. Will a military turn down better? No, when better is offered for an affordable price, the bar moves, and now that’s just good enough.

I randomly ran across this for all of you who were so kind enough to weigh in on “What is geek v. nerd?”

This doesn’t settle the discussion but it’s cute.

The difference between a passionate hobbyist and a passionate academic is valid. I just don’t think the words “geek” and “nerd” accurately express the difference. For one thing, I can never remember which is which.

Geek vs Nerd? Ask them to finish this statement… “May the force”

Geeks will answer “be equal to the mass times the acceleration.”
Nerds will answer “be with you, always.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.