I very much understand the urge to tell someone else how to do whatever it is they do. I even understand the joy of guessing what an author is going to do. I do these, and other annoying things, to other authors. It is hypocritical of me, but it’s something that exists in all of us. That desire to shape things in ways we like. Having said all of that I would add that if you don’t like how I write there’s not much point in sticking around. I’m not trying to create a by the numbers tale of people moving from point to point in their lives with purpose and direction. I’m writing the tale of people just getting by day by day, hampered by the reality that things don’t usually happen very much, until they happen too much all the time. The journey is the point of this whole thing. Plus, the more you try to force me to do something the more I will resist. I do what I do in my own time, in my own way, or not at all. This is the contract I present you. I try not to use my platform as a bully pulpit, shoving my beliefs down your throat, and I try not to randomly turn characters gay, or suddenly add whatever kind of person the media is currently obsessed with. If that’s what you want I can certainly point you in those directions. There’s no end of them. In fact, a lot of you cam from such a place and now never go back there. I know this because many of you tell me so all the time. “I used to love ########## ######, but now the characters are just mouthpieces” “I hated it when #### suddenly dumped ##### for no good reason.” and so on. I’m not forcing anyone to be here, and generally, people don’t act as though they are being. Yet a few come around every so often looking for something that is similar to what I’m doing but not the same, and I can’t provide that exact thing. I can only provide what I am capable and want to provide. If I was forced to tell someone else’s story their way I would simply kill myself and be done with life. I see no point in doing anything, including existing, unless I can do it more or less exactly as I please. My existence is already enough of a struggle being trapped in my own broken mind with me. I don’t want the addition of having to meet the demands of someone else any more than society forces me to. If you can accept these terms I welcome you to enjoy my work if you are capable of doing so. If not, then I hope you can find something you can enjoy, because people are constantly trying to thwart those kind of efforts recently.
I don’t feel as if I am demanded very much of from my audience. In fact, I think said audience is extremely kind to me on balance. It’s still important to state the terms of our agreement from time to time. Which is basically I make exactly the comic I want to make and you can read it at no cost, unless you decide you would like me to keep making it. It’s an old form of monetization, but sometimes I prefer the old ways.
Anyway, I don’t want to seem ungrateful, or standoffish, I’m just constantly annoyed by all the stuff that is perpetually impeding my goals. I’ve had one phlebotomy a week for two weeks and I have one more on the horizon. There’s also the looming potential of worse things to come. So I choose not to be told what to do with the undetermined amount of time I have left on Earth. I hope you can accept this quirk of my nature. If so, I hope to see you on Friday. Safe and alive, as I also hope to be. Until that outcome resolves itself, keep on truckin &, if you can, fuckin’.

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I wouldn’t take the morons to heart Jackie. Youve made nearly 3000 pages. And your art and writing has improved, but you never changed what the comic is: a character driven slice of life.
Lets be real here: I, and many others, *do not* want the plot to happen. Because youve already planted the seeds, we know what that plot will be. When you are finally done, you’ll be able to give this story an ending.

But I, and others, dont *want* it to end. We love these characters. We love *you.*
And I know not wanting the ending is unrealistic. Everything ends eventually. But damn it, fuck the plot, we want to enjoy the happy moments.

Because life is what happens Between Failures.

So thank you, for letting us be Between for even a little longer.

Well put! As someone that was fresh out of retail when I started reading 10 years ago and hasn’t been back in retail since, I don’t remember much about the day to day minutiae of store operations. I do, however, remember the times between: BSing in the break room on slow days, goofing off over the intercom after closing, going out for wings afterwards, etc. It’s why I enjoyed the ghost hunting arc so much and why I like to revisit it from time to time. In addition to the fun, adventurous feel of it all, it encapsulated the things that are actually remembered about working in retail as a 20 something: the people.

As far as other internet discourse goes, most of that is just screaming into a void that screams back at this point anyways, and holds little value. I love a good discussion but it’s harder and harder to find now.

Right on, as we used to say in the 70s. “Character-driven slice of life”, exactly.
(Although, I do for some odd reason have a vision of Carol striding Towards us, away from an overly flamboyant explosion.)

I saw that thread on the last upload. It’s crazy that people who seem to care so little put so much effort into expressing just that. I, however, love these characters, and it’s somehow comforting seeing others go through the mundane of life. It makes me feel less small, and I know I can relate to others when it comes to working and relationships. I’ve been reading this comic pretty much since it first came out, and it’s been a wild ride, despite the sometimes somber tones. Much of this comic is silently profound—one should be proud of accomplishing that.

Carol seems to be suppressing the urge to break into a cat smile in the last panel.

This better end with an orgy in the ruined husk of the store with everyone, including the three thieves.

He’s a good lieutenant, he knows to listen to his senior sergeant because the sergeant actually knows what’s going on and he does not.

Huh? Where’d this come from? Your characters aren’t mouthpieces. Never have been. I’ve seen that and worse in other webcomics. It’s been twenty-five years since I first read Sluggy Freelance and stepped into the world of webcomics. I feel like I have a very good idea what a webcomic gone to seed looks like. And I have dropped them.

And I am on your Patreon.

And I am not going anywhere.

You do a great slice-of-life webcomic. You did a great job turning Reggie sympathetic. And you still did the best transition from B&W to color I have seen.

he problem is we can’t come by your house and tell you in person “Don’t listen to the negative voices. They lie.” But they do.

It doesn’t pay to be a backseater. If someone knows what they’re doing, they don’t need others’ unsolicited advice. At the same time, if someone sees someone else being busy with something, they need to ask if they need advice. If the answer is no, then that’s that. Don’t offer unsolicited advice that will only serve to debase their efforts.

It’s not just a problem for those who do webcomics, but also those who game. This happens in streaming all the time and why those who stream have to have a disclaimer against backseating.

I just want to say, Jackie, you’re doing an amazing job. I’ve been enjoying your work for years now, and I’ve never left a comment before. I tend to occasionally check in on the comments below and read the blog post. I honestly don’t even know what the drama is about from the last page, but I just wanted to say…

Keep doing what you’re doing, at your own pace.

To be able to come home after work, and check on these characters and their lives, is something that always brightens my day. At this point the cast are old friends, and I genuinely wish them well. What keeps me coming back, every day, is how natural it all feels. As many others have said before, the mundane moments you portray truly matter.

I’ve been reading different webcomics for multiple decades now and am in my later 30’s. There are so many of them I’ve stopped caring about over the years, but this one has always been on my list. Between Failures manages to capture those beautiful, fleeting moments that make life worth living. So, please just be yourself, and continue to craft this masterpiece of a story. I know I’ll be here till the end.

Thank you for everything so far, Jackie, and take care of yourself.

This is the breast webcomic, don’t let the haters get you down.

I love your stuff and how you pace it so you do you jackie. Reading this comic is a comforting thing. Ive reread it probably 12 times start to current finish and will probably do so again and again. Now it helps me that ed and thomas are charecters i personaly identify with but thats not something against your writing instead its something indicative of how good it is.

Keep it up. Been here since before the comic went color so I’m sure whatever you want to write is better than what I think I want to read. One of only two webcomics that I still bother to look at.

I’ve dumped many webcomics. Only once did I ever bother offering any reason as to why, any critique of the artist specifically, and that was because she was basically driving off her audience by never updating and focusing on commissions, aka, making money today but neglecting to continue building her brand so she could make money tomorrow. But creatively? After this many years, it’s pretty silly to expect change like some folks do.

2688 Soft Power.

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