[Trollbabe comics] Tea and Sympathy strip #1

[jrs]

Ooohhhh -- are we to learn that Aiga was Huurch's son?

Julie

[ejh]

I think that's already clear -- at least in retrospect.

After all, Tha hasn't killed *that* many trolls recently, I don't think....

[lumpley]

Holy fuck.

-Vincent
who just read the 11-22-04 installment.

[ejh]

See, I was more like, "NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

But "Holy fuck" works too.

Yeah.

[Ron Edwards]

Hello,

So, the story's over now. It's six strips long, and I'll ask Clinton to post it in full.

When it's up, the entire Trollbabe story as written so far will be available. As I mentioned before, I may write another cycle of stories (52 strips worth, as with each of the two so far). I already have some notes for it, but none of them are done and I haven't spoken with any artists yet. Andrew, you're definitely in mind if I decide to do it.

Best,
Ron

[lumpley]

I'm still seeing the "wait..." strip. Did I lose count and that's the last one?

-Vincent

[Ron Edwards]

Hi there,

The final story has six strips:

1 Tha & Retta in the street

2 Tea talk - "about men" "pregnant"

3 Tea talk - ends with Oskar

4 Tea talk - ends with Aiga connection

5 Listening to the music

6 Retta leaves ("wait ...")

Best,
Ron

[lumpley]

It confused me that you posted "it's done!" on a Monday; I thought you were announcing the final strip.

So that's it, huh?

Tha's like, who ARE my people? Wait...

Retta's like, this lifestyle has its downsides.

Kind of a sober end.

-Vincent

[jrs]

Oddly enough, out of all the Trollbabe comics I find this one the least satisfying.  I like the Tea and Sympathy strips individually, but they do not hang together as a whole.  In particular, strip #4 seems out of place.  Now that the story is done, I'm left wondering (and not in a good way) why exactly Retta is leaving-- Is it because Tha and Oskar are together, or because Tha killed Aiga, or because Retta considers the music Tha hums ominous (historically, music does not bode well for Retta), all of the above, or is it simply that Retta always leaves and here is no exception.

I also consider the title disturbingly ironic since I see little to no sympathy between the two main characters.

I look forward to the whole being available to revist the earlier strips rather than rely solely on my memory.

Julie

Edited to correct name confusion. jrs

[Ron Edwards]

Hello,

I suggest taking a peek at music, in general, across the stories.

A couple of musical notes sneaked into the strips due to artistic whim, specifically anything Retta hums or whistles. Those are not actually scripted in.

Other music plays a more concrete role in the story, beginning from the very first strip all the way through to the second-to-last one. In addition to the first story, of course, I recommend the reader investigate the final panel of "Dusty Musty Wisdom" (it's Tha, not Retta; that musical note was scripted), Tha's ritual in "Life and Death," and Retta's mushroom trip in "Mystic Crystal Revelations."

Retta's reaction in the final two strips of the final story will, I hope, become a little clearer.

Best,
Ron

[jrs]

Yeah, Ron, I know about the music; I even mentioned it in my post.  I guess I wasn't clear.  What bothers me about T&S is that I don't know to give the music issue more weight than any of the other possibilities.

Julie

[Ron Edwards]

Hello,

There's more to the music than being ominous. Anyone care to venture an idea? (Not one of the artists, thank you, who have been privy to back-stage discussion)

Best,
Ron

[Alan]

Hi Ron,

What Julie may be getting at is that, as this use of music was the key turning point of the ending, the meaning of it should click for the reader by the time he gets there.  I think it's okay to keep people guessing and culling previous strips to understand some things as the story unfolds, but a different approach is needed for communicating a satisfying ending.

Many writers do succeed in writing an ending that both clicks immediately _and_ leave readers thinking.  I think T&S (as much of your writing) tends to fall in the latter zone rather than the former.

[Ron Edwards]

Hello,

I'm clearly not communicating  ...

Let me start over.

My entire response to all posts so far is: Thanks for the input! That's very interesting!

Best,
Ron

[Solomon]

There's more to the music than being ominous. Anyone care to venture an idea?

I guess I'm confused by other people's confusion.  Maybe I misunderstood something, or maybe it's too obvious to state, but my immediate thought was that Tha's child is the newest incarnation of the Ancient Foe.