2987 Time Sensitive.

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Well, true to my word we have entered a new arc. There were some things I thought about wanting to tack on to the end of the last one, but I decided to circle back to that stuff later if it became important later. I very nearly did a little closing section with Ramon and Evrina, but it would probably have been another two weeks of stuff at least. I thought about making it extra content for the Patreon but I already can barely keep up. I won’t rule it out though because I’d like to draw it at some point if for no one’s sake but my own. In any case that’s for future Jackie. Present Jackie has this that he must do so he does it. This little part with Ed and Thomas probably would be seen as unnecessary to other creators, but for me it’s something that is important between them. There’s a lot about my comic that a lot of people describe as superfluous. I’m sure their points have merit in some academic sense when it comes to pacing and whatnot for books and movies, or what have you. If I was writing a movie or show I’d do a lot of stuff differently, but since I’m telling this thing the way I want I focus on the things that I think are important that tend to get glossed over. I also probably tend to gloss over things other people are obsessed with because they aren’t as important to me. Part of why people aren’t drawn to my work is that it’s granular to a degree that most people find ridiculous. Combined with the fact that it’s 3 times a week it can take years for a single day to elapse. That’s not unheard of in comics of any kind, but it’s safe to say that I’ve taken it to a level that most right minded people would never. People disregard time in media in accordance to how it suits them to. Bart Simpson has been in the same grade for the better part of 30 years. There are over 800 episodes of The Simpsons. Even if you said that every episode was a single day that’s years longer than one. Some episodes take place over weeks or months, so the timeline simply doesn’t work, but we ignore that if the story is good. I have read One Piece for at least 20 years. I seem to recall finding out in passing that the story has taken a couple of years in universe. I try not to call attention to the exact passage of time because it ruins the experience for some people. Other people are completely obsessed with it and want an exact accounting of days. The fact of the matter is that I don’t know the exact amount of in universe time the story has taken for most of the parts. The first two arcs are single days. This last section that started the morning after Ed and Nina’s first real date is a single day. That page, which is titled New Day is number 2674 and was posted on May 17th or 2024. It is May 17th of 2026 today. Almost exactly 2 years. /comics1/2674-new-day There’s another reason I don’t think about that time disparity. It means I have a limited amount of time left to tell the story. Having that breathing down my neck isn’t a good feeling. It’s always in the back of my mind, but ignoring it is how I get by every day. I am much faster at making these pages than I was when I started, but life has never given me any more breathing room. It’s always more things, more problems, more something. Looking back I don’t know how I managed to keep going sometimes. There are years of time taken up with filler material because I couldn’t focus enough on the real story to make it properly. You’ll notice that when I criticize other creators I’m never harsh about a work being abandoned, or taking a long time. I understand what it takes to do this on your own, day in and day out, for very little money or praise. Some creators get married, start families, and all the other things you do in a life instead of their pet project. I just happened to be broken in a way that caused me to fall on the side of giving up on those things in favor of the creation. I know that I chose a very difficult future. One that is going to get more and more difficult until it is finally too much. When I get there there will very likely be no support network to help me out. I accept that. When I get there I may well curse my choices, lash out at others, or who knows what else, but the world didn’t choose this fate for me. Even if I rage when the end comes I know it was me who forged the chains. In some ways I think that my youth filled with anxiety and depression was some kind of training for the back end of my life. Over time I’ve been galvanized or inoculated against the decline of a mortal life. I don’t think I’m special in this thinking, or in the experience. Uncounted others came before me and will come after. This work was, and is, a huge part of my journey. It was created with a sincere heart. I’m very glad that enough people have come to enjoy it that I have been able to noodle around telling the story of a few days in the lives of people I mostly made up. The complexity of doing that has made me appreciate in a very small way how complex the entire world must be out, and out, and out, from where I sit in the workings of it. I get a little glimpse of the fundamental interconnectedness of all things.

Anyway, I hope the time where your journey intersects with mine is worth your while again on another Monday in a long string of Mondays. I will return with more of the same on Wednesday if fate allows. Until then, if you have enough love for my efforts to become a patron I urge you to do so. I will see you soon.