20th of July, 2016 (Wednesday)
Page 416
Okay, serious talk time.
I've been suffering from a chronic disease for quite a while now. At the beginning of this year it got much, much worse. It began to interfere with my ability to make new pages of the comic. I had a buffer of some 40-something pages at that time, but I have burned through all of that now. I started releasing 5 pages a week to see if it was a lack of motivation or a lack of energy keeping me from being more productive. Unfortunately, it was a lack of energy.
To help me get back on track a bit, the comic will not run for the next two weeks. The next update will (hopefully) be on Monday, the 8th of August.
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Comments (76)
Charlie!
Cutting it close indeed.
Thooooooom, you marvelous devil you. You fix everything!!!
The shot heard was as he stopped climbing the fence I think. Are we then and there?
"I told you I would kill you... and still you run."
I really love this comic and just caught up. Keep up the great work man! :D
... So. I kinda stopped reading for a bit after Charlie was shot.. and then.. wtf? I am now caught up again, but I really am utterly confused. Nothing is making sense anymore! (All that didn't make sense before seems so... straightforward and simple now, relatively speaking.)
Of course now I really, really need to see where this story is going (where it came from?). I curse you for twisting my brain with time travel paradoxes and alternate realities. I also thank you for an engaging story. :)
I feel like I already know what's about to happen.
Or I don't.
You can never tell with this comic.
@Magic Trees: We already know what's going to happen. It's already happened! (damn time travel...)
Anyway, time for some speculation (some, like the first, entirely for fun.)
(Attempt #2... #1 ran me out of space with too much elaboration...)
- "Thoom" is the sound of time moving. The big "thoooom" gun was a time gun, displacing parts of you from the rest of you. Creative way to kill?
- Memnon had his adult body (some form of android) from the very beginning. His 'mind' lived in the VR world as he grew up, where he could learn about the world in as close a fashion as he could to what a human would. Also Eos gets to raise the child she could never have this way.
- Rothwell is actually Memnon's predecessor, the first iteration that didn't quite succeed, but enough to realize that he had a will to live and would never exist if Memnon went through with his plan to change the past.
- Some forms of time travel may actually be temporal cloning - A duplicate actually travels, but the original stays put. Somehow Rothwell maintains some sort of connection with his original in the future. His mind seems split between times.
- Emi. Memnon's "daughter". A girl, so we assume, that could be a transvestite Sam clone. Post apocalypse, clothing is whatever Memnon managed to retrieve from outside.
- Eos. Barren. Perhaps a transwoman started as yet another Sam clone. Perhaps her interest in cloning lies not so much in trying to have a child, but in understanding her own origins.
I think I will stop here as my ideas are getting further and further from 'plausible'.
Ah, I feared they would not go to the same place or time... And maybe it was on purpose... She's is really pretty, and particularly so on third and seventh panels.
So EXCITING!!
I sense possible future love triangle
Also, what happens after she saves Charlie (if she does so successfully)? Are we back to slice of life? Or is it (please not this) the end??
Aww yeah! Things are about to get really crazy!
Whose eyes are these?
@Mr. Jones: I think they're Eos'.
Not Charlie's, not Sam's, not Sam's mother's...
Is "EMI" her name, or does it stand for ElectroMagnetic Interference? (Or both?)
Note the change Tober made to the Ash's bio a while back, "Charlie's only best friend. " (There's a strike-through on "only" that didn't paste so I'm winging it with markup tags.) However, we've not seen any peers introduced who could be considered friends, so I think this young lady may be the person who makes it a plural.
We still don't know what became of Rothwell - did Eos blow him away or is he in custody/on the lam or completely withdrawn from this timeline? Is his distorted speech a result of being projected from one place/time to another?
I still say causal loop in play
This site looks strangely familiar.
Emi is diminutive for Emilia. Not sure if that applies to this situation.
...What the fuck is even happening?
@Dark
Don't you know? There's a Whorl Overflow :D
It appears we have simply experienced a time loop that has given us Emi. Her existence in the past has paradoxically closed that loop and now the past is once again the present. All that we saw during and after Charlie's death can no longer happen the same way because a new element has been introduced.
Looking back to before shit hit the fan...
I think I get what's happening right here, right now.
However, it's the "How" that confuses me the most.
So many people in this have used the ka-magic-instant-kid move in this comic and we are clueless about if they are originally organic or software. Simply getting an answer to this opens up so many more questions.
Man, I remember when this comic made sense...
Good times...good times...
Time travel... Always a headache. ^^;
That crack might be the first CRACK when Rothwell aimed the warning shot at Charlie.
They're going to mess with the timeline....
I read again last chapter and now I think they (Emi and Charlie) don't look so much alike.
@Aimee: maybe, but not sure. This could have happened the first time we saw it too. Maybe we're just gonna see it from another point of vue...
So if EOS is her mother, and EOS is Memnon's mother, why does she call him Dad?
So sorry to hear that, Tober :( Feel better soon!!
Feel Better Tober man, I for one understand, rest and heal up, we will all be awaiting your return
Take breaks as needed, Tober. Seriously. I've had to take the occasional hiatus with my own comic. Trust me, we'll be here when you get back.
Feel better ^_^
I'm sorry Tober. Treat yourself kindly and take the time you need. We'll be here speculating endlessly about your comic!
Good luck and good health Tober. Take the time you need, readers return.
@kidcthulu whats ur webcomic? I'd love to read it
I am so sorry. I can't even begin to imagine... take all the time you need, we'll stick around :) . This is a great story you're creating, and I hope you keep making it. Get better soon, Tober!
Feel better and quickly!
And everything loops back to here!
I knew this would all make sense eventually.
(Not that I understand everything, but I can see what the outline is so far.)
Dudes, it's a time travel story. Not everything _should_ make sense to us, because things are being revealed bit by bit. Just keep waiting and trust the master.
Fortunately, he fast-forwarded through really confusing bits, and now we're back with some characters we'll recognize.
(I'm sorry to hear that was a result of illness, btw, I had figured it was by design - get back to the main characters as fast as possible, to prevent losing readers.)
Hope things get better for you!
I hope you hit a better spot soon. Chronic illness can be extremely frustrating.
Sorry to hear about that Tober :(
Be praying for ya!
best wishes, Tober! I agree with other folks, take breaks and trends to yourself. I'll still be here! :-)
Rest up Tober! Hope you feel better :(
Hope everything works out all right for you!!!
Take all the time you need, Tober, we'll wait faithfully... Hope you find what makes you get better. And thanks again for making us dream...
Feel better
So, I've been reading to catch up for a few weeks now. This has been a very interesting and fun read! I wish you good health! I have enjoyed what I've read and look forward to more.
Does that make my wish of good health for you a selfish thing?
Feel better, Tober :)
Do what you gotta do.
Hope you feel better Tober
Take care of yourself.
Take care of your health, and only come back when you're ready!
Take your time. Be well.
May you be well, Tober.
Feel better! All us internet strangers care about your well being and we will be here when you return.
Try to get better. You have many internet strangers supporting you.
@Primordial Rage Chick: My comic is Tangentville. Google it or look at this fan art I did for Blood Splattered Socks and go from there:
http://tangentville.smackjeeves.com/news-archive/months/2015-09/#
@Primordial Rage Chick: I posted a URL just now and it's in the buffer to be checked if it's safe to post. Not sure when that'll happen, so you're better off just googling Tangentville.
Try to feel better, my dude.
We can survive.
Get better soon! We can wait!
Thanks for all the great work, Tober. Rest, recover, and we will still be here when you are able to get back to your art.
I hope for your good health. Live long and prosper, grand artist.
So.... she's on a time loop now? =OP
Tober, take all the time you need. Take care of yourself first.
I'm eager to see more story but not at the expense of your health. Please rest and may you get well soon.
oh man tober, i feel sorry ofr you. if you dont mind me asking what sort of chronic disease is it?, is it life threatening. you take whatever time you need man i love your comic but you as a person need to be first priority i wouldnt care if we never saw the next page as long as your good.
I know your condition is chronic, but I hope you can at least get it to a manageable level. Your comic is great, and I hope you don't let this stop you from enjoying your life.
How about we all buy Tober an ice cream with GoFundMe? Or beer. Or whatever makes his day?
I, as well as many others, respect and appreciate your perseverance through this. I truly hope that you get better. Stay strong bro
@fng, i would like to do that for tober sadly i am out of a job right now.
Hope you get better soon too, I'll be waiting right here when your energy allows you to do what you love! Take care!
Be well, mate.
Not to spoil anything -because I'm not psychic- but take a look at the sequence of events Emi has just warped into, the position she is in relative to the events about to unfold, and what she brought with her. Now reconsider the title of this magnificent comic. Foreshadowing finery.
hope you feel better mate. I really enjoy your comic
Hey, I just wanted to kinda check in and say I hope all is as well as possible. I hope that you are caring for yourself, and are willing to take more time if you need it. You're awesome, and you got this. We may fuss over not getting a comic, but you are a person and you come first. Be well.
i would guess emi is short for Emathion. we know morpheus is named for the greek god of dreams. two of eos's children in greek mythology are memnon and emathion.
OK, thanks to Matt's clue of August 2, I checked back. Emi has warped into page 380, when Charlie is running away from the time traveling assassin. The "crack" is when he shoots at Charlie.
AND NOW WE'VE COME BACK HERE? OKAY GREAT.
WHAT WAS THE MATRIX THING?
WHO WERE THOSE OTHER POEPLE
MEM HAD A KID!? WHO'S THE MOTHER!?!?!?
WHERE DO THEY BUY STUFFED ANIMALS IN THIS APPARENTLY APOCALYPTIC FUTURE?
SO MANY QUESTIONS!!!