[1588] things left behind

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paarfi
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Re: [1588] things left behind

Post by paarfi » Sun Jan 03, 2021 12:41 pm

tambo wrote:
Sun Jan 03, 2021 11:41 am
Currently, I have a lot of reading left before I might claim familiarity with the entire MT world. Having done at least some of the homework, I find it a little difficult to motivate myself to continue revisiting past strips... when future strips are dribbling out at the rate of one per month.

It feels a little like discovering the series Firefly in, let's say, 2014. Like, hey, here's this great thing that inspired a huge fanbase - but both the story and the fanbase have lost nearly all momentum. It's disappointing to join a community with dissipating energy. It ends up feeling more like cultural archaeology than a shared experience of cultural discovery.
It's a fair point, and I don't anybody would disagree. MT is a comic that rewards a few rereads. There's always a little more than you noticed the first time around, and Fred often makes points indirectly or in multiple layers, or pulls in things that happened hundreds of comics ago. I don't know how many times I've seen people comment that they don't understand what's going on in MT. It's not that it's hard, but it's not as in-your-face obvious as with most webcomics. That's actually part of what I enjoy about MT, but it's not everybody's cup of tea. And it is definitely harder to keep up when new comics come less frequently.

Unfortunately, that's just the reality of things right now. For all the wonderful support that MT fans give Fred via his Patreon, Twitch subs, and merchandise, that covers not much more than their health insurance and the out-of-pocket max, which they seem to hit every year. Last year, Sarah got laid off when covid hit, and they got by for a little while on unemployment, but then Fred had to go get a better bus-driving job to be able to pay the bills, which meant fewer hours to comic. His dad's Parkinson's getting worse also had Fred spending a lot of time taking him to doctors, and then after he went into the care home, taking care of his bills, teh house, etc. His dad is nearing the end now.

Fred is frustrated and sometimes depressed over this all. He wants to do more comics. He's got store orders that are 4 years old that he hasn't shipped yet. He's got people still angry over the VN, and he's just in despair over that. He's got the comics done for Book 7, and a publisher who's interested, but he can't get time to put it all together. He's only one guy, and there's only so much he can do.

Once the covid vaccinations really kick in and the economy picks back up, hopefully Sarah will be able to find a good job. And when that happens, hopefully Fred can afford to cut back or quit the bus-driving and spend more time on MT. But I've been saying similar things for years now, and something new always seems to come along to bite them. I swear they're cursed. I hope this new year will be different and better for Fred and for all of us.

Thank all of you who stick with Fred and MT through all of this. I first got into MT and came to the forums maybe 12 years ago, not long before Sarah's cancer fight started and the first real slow-downs in comic production. I've seen how many people have left over the years because the comics often didn't come fast enough. I totally get it, and I don't think badly of any of those folks. But it makes me really appreciate the folks who continue to stick it out and support.
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Zandra
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Re: [1588] things left behind

Post by Zandra » Sun Jan 03, 2021 7:16 pm

you know...fred can sell his MT VN on x box or steam when its done,or as is.
I WAS the Owner of Wolfboys 800th post but SOMEBODY had to go and get a new Forum lol!

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Re: [1588] things left behind

Post by tambo » Sun Jan 03, 2021 10:57 pm

paarfi wrote:
Sun Jan 03, 2021 12:41 pm
Last year, Sarah got laid off when covid hit, and they got by for a little while on unemployment, but then Fred had to go get a better bus-driving job to be able to pay the bills, which meant fewer hours to comic. His dad's Parkinson's getting worse also had Fred spending a lot of time taking him to doctors, and then after he went into the care home, taking care of his bills, teh house, etc. His dad is nearing the end now.
Thanks for the backstory. I knew some of it, vaguely, from stray comments both in the comic epilogues and here. And I can personally relate to some of this. Just for clarification (and paarfi seems to understand), I didn't intend any of my post to be critical of Fred.
paarfi wrote:
Sun Jan 03, 2021 12:41 pm
Fred is frustrated and sometimes depressed over this all.
Ah, shit, I know that feeling all too well, too. I also cope with depression that occasionally saps the energy from me - even stuff that I normally enjoy doing becomes bland and exhausting. And then I struggle with the guilt of being behind, or turning in work that isn't up to my own high standards, etc.
paarfi wrote:
Sun Jan 03, 2021 12:41 pm
Once the covid vaccinations really kick in... I hope this new year will be different and better for Fred and for all of us.
God, the whole world is waiting on 2021 to turn everything around. It's clear that things won't ever be the way they were, but normality and predictability would be nice.
paarfi wrote:
Sun Jan 03, 2021 12:41 pm
Thank all of you who stick with Fred and MT through all of this.
Your post was the little oomph I needed to get off my ass and do the Patreon thing already. Now sponsoring - only $5/month, which is chump change by itself, but every little bit helps. It also brings the Patreon total to exactly $2,500/month, and I'm a sucker for round numbers.

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Re: [1588] things left behind

Post by S1arburst » Mon Jan 04, 2021 10:17 pm

darrin wrote:
Fri Dec 18, 2020 9:31 pm
"False dichotomy" is another phrase I deliberately avoided from the beginning in this thread so folks wouldn't go all drinking-game on me.

But there is a wide gap between "no feeling of commitment whatsoever" and "married or deliberately moving toward marriage".

"Committed toward attempting to build some kind of more-than-a-one-night-stand relationship" does lie within that gap, even if the attempt ultimately fails.
False dichotomy, that's the point I was trying to make. Alpha was talking about actual commitment (as am I) and you objected to Alpha's post by saying that Piro and Kimiko pretty clearly have feelings of commitment. Alpha never said they don't have feelings of commitment.
The important thing to me (and I believe Alpha) is the actuality of commitment, rather than the internal commitment-castles.

Yes, you can have sex and be trying to build a more-than-one-night-stand relationship. Why would moving towards marriage not be a possibility included in that though? In my commitment wish list for Piro before sex, I included sticking around for as long as Kimiko would like him as a possibility. What's wrong with that? Would you prefer a plan to stick around for 3 months instead? I'd just like them to verbally commit to each other rather to themselves in their imaginations. Not a fan of, "Oh, let's have sex and see how things go without talking about it."
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Re: [1588] things left behind

Post by Ningen 2 » Fri Jan 08, 2021 8:34 am

I would expect there has been a lot of talk off-camera. We simply do not know what the state of their relationship is, and commitment does not necessarily have to be spelled out to be understood. Given Piro's declaration "I don't want it to be easy, I want it to be right" [931] I think there is a reasonable presumption of commitment on his part, and Kimiko's actions in that arc seem to imply it is mutual.
Image Ningen pity unfortunate individual.

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