Story Dark Times June 2020 - May 2021

[Pharaoh RutinTutin 1,586]

The Dark Times covered the (still as yet untitled in the archives) story arc centered on Ashley's Party and the start of Balance in the Story comics

If there is something that needs to be said about any of the comics therein, this may be a good place to say it

And if you could include the date of (and perhaps a link to) the specific comic to which you are referring, that would be helpful

[mlooney 3,417]

I have some that I want to make a comment on, but that will wait until I have some more caffeine in me.

[Pharaoh RutinTutin 1,586]

7 minutes ago, mlooney said:

wait until I have some more caffeine in me

I am convinced that the Trans-Human Genetic Enhancement that needs funding from every major government and corporation is a Caffeine Gland

No more poor farmers spending their lives growing and harvesting beans and leaves without any nutritional value

No more multinationals selling us said beans and leaves for thousands of times what they paid said poor farmers

No more baristas who can't spell their own name with a Sharpie on a foam cup

No.  Let us fuel our own endocrine system

[Amiable Dorsai 70]

I can't decide whether the party turned into a rational realization the the change in Magic meant that the Masquerade was now futile and could be entirely junked, or simply the normal human tendency to think "In for a penny, in for a pound." The secrecy had to be exhausting, and was clearly damaging Ashley, so, maybe both?

 

[Illjwamh 98]

I liked the party storyline as a whole. There was a lot of good character development, and it solidified Diane not only as crucial to the narrative but also as a member of their friend group.

The downside is Dan's pathological fear of ambiguity. I get wanting to make sure readers and characters understand what's going on, but he tends to go overboard on details, to the point of even taking time to explain in-story how and why certain characters are sitting where they are and how and why they switch seats. As if someone reading the comic would be completely thrown by seeing Ashley sitting on the couch in one strip and on the beanbag in a later strip. Sometimes people move.