Endtown by Aaron Neathery for October 04, 2012

I think that the look on Marx’s face and her reaction says it all… I feel bad for Flask!

A white lie for Blackie just might have served hereOr even an “I don’t know” — softening fearBut Marx’s look damned her and all she lived forHe’s killed her in life, and in death he’d do moreNow we don’t think Marx is quite evil, per seHe’s stated he just lets chips fall where they mayBut he has shown here some compassion, concern(Although, as he noted, he’s just there to learn)So the Flask-back is over, we’re back to her, deadOr has he some other plan for her instead?I’ll wager her story’s not over as yet:We’ll see more of Flask. (Who will take on that bet?)=|====/ Level HeadVote for Endtown 2.0And for Doc Rat, tooThe Endtown ForumThe Endtown AuctionThe Endtown Books

Been there, done that. Brought me to tears too. It is so easy to believe. If you really want to or need to. Where ever she goes now, it is not going to be her heaven. Blessed Be

Flaaaaa-haaaaa-haaaaaask!! and Marx, too. ;3;

Or, it’s also possible that Marx truly doesn’t know. The look on his face could be his sympathy for what Flask has suffered for someone that she loves so much while never knowing if he ever loved her at all.

Marx was cruel to put her through that to satisfy his fanboy curiosity.

This builds on what I wrote yesterday about Flask calling Petey “her darling hero”. She wanted to think that the reason she woke up alone after mutating was because Petey got caught trying to defend her from the approaching patrol (i.e. – he loves her, too). Instead, she’s faced with the “cruel practical joke” or “he was a coward, abandoned her and bolted, and got caught anyway” prospects (i.e. – he was just toying with her). At least now Flask knows why Petey never returned her calls.

Poor bawling kitty….

She only wanted love, and yet she spent her whole Endtown life turning love away.Discovered her mistake too late. She didn’t love Petey like she thought she did. She was dependent on a selfish fantasy of her own construction, which was all about being told she was valuable and okay.But then, growing up as a Topsider is enough to scar anybody.

Remember: Marx’s motto is that life is a lot more interesting if you don’t know all the answers. Flask is looking for the single, uncomplicated answer that will make her feel bettter.Marx is not into simple answers.Life is interesting, but that doesn’t mean it’s always fun.

Marx is generally non-interventionist, as far as I can see. Or he doesn’t make intervention his mission in life, and he only intervenes sporadically, when it amuses him.I think the reason is that he has wandered so many dimensions, so many permutations of reality that anything that can possibly happen has happened. It would seem to such a traveller that any of his actions never really made any difference, only shifting the misfortune to the next dimension along.

Panel 4: Is it really better, to have loved and lost?

How can even Marx know what is in a man’s heart?

Damn!!!

’Nuf said.

The way I see it… Asking the question, actually daring to think it, gives its own answer – if you have to ask, then it’s no. She had her fantasy, because she doubted her own kind’s actions. She “betrayed” them, in her mind, and created a reason as to why other than herself (she did it… for Johnny!).This explains Petey’s reactions. He ‘remembers’ her, but there’s no emotions to remember beyond, yes, gratitude she helped him escape. Not that it amounted to much.This also gives a huge wonder as to what we know will happen to Linda. Except that the koala woman has entirely different circumstances. What difference will it have in her emotional make-up? We shall see.

Heart wrenching.

I believe the old line “this doesn’t excuse her actions, but it does explain them” is appropriate.

Well, he wanted to know what her deal was, and he found out. Looks like a long weekend wait coming up…

By the way, how old could Flask have been when the biosuits went on? I thought it was only six years since everything fell apart…I figured her to be in her thirties…

Of course Flask is not really a cat, but an anthropomorphic creature who resembles a cat. (I figured her for a Manx when I first met her, but, given what we’ve learned in the last few weeks, I know better…)

I don’t think Marx knows, and Marx isn’t one to give someone the “easy answers” as he’s proved he would rather have people solve the puzzle of knowledge before them…

I want to think Petey did the right thing that night, but I don’t know, and I don’t think any of us will ever know the real truth, unless the Topsiders decide to show up with footage from that night.

Ok. I’ll admit it. I am completely lost here. I just went back and re-read the whole Flask/Marx conversation and I am completely lost. I must be really clueless, since everyone else seems to be following along. I mean, I have always been out to lunch when it comes to seeing where we are headed, but this is the first time that I’ve felt unsure about where we’ve been. Obviously the problem is with me. I have too much faith in Aaron’s storyline to doubt that it will all make sense eventually, but right now it seems clear as mud.

What I don’t get is this: Today’s strip seems to imply that the relationship with Petey2b was all in Flask’s head. That makes no sense. She got him out with no strings attached. He was free and clear. But then the “relationship” developed. He requested additional meetings, he told her he loved her. What ulterior motive could he have had? He didn’t question her about topsider information, he didn’t steal anything from her. Heck, he didn’t even physically come in contact with her. It makes no sense. There have to be more pieces to this puzzle.

I think I got a tear in my eye.

I said this would be tragic.It is a question he cannot answer.Again a sharp blow to her fragile psyche.With the multiple realities it could go either way. He does, he does not, he does. An endless pick of the petals on the flower of love. Loves me. Loves me not. But in multi realities that goes on and on and on. WITH NO DEFINITIVE ANSWER.Again all he do is listen. God…….her crying would tear my heart out. Even if she is bad she is still some one with feelings.That last panel hurts.If you do not feel for her. Well that is your problem.Even an enemy can care about the suffering of another enemy.

And to TSOJ. On the last panel. I don’t think he is playing.If he is!Then he is more cruel and more heartless than Flask ever was.That would surprize me.Marx does not appear as that.More like a curious child witnessing for the first time the ways of this reality and not knowing what to say.As Shakespear said in Hamlet“There’s the respect that makes Calamity of so long life:For those would bear the Whips and Scorns of time, the oppressors wrong, the proud man’s contumely, the pangs of despised Love, the law’s delay, the insolence of office and the spurns that patient merit of the unworthy takes”He opened the box with its dark secrets. It has overwhelmed him.But playing her feelings. I suspect not.

@NabuquduriuzhurYeah, coward, left her to die. Deserved what he got…nuf said.

it is 36 in cat years, but you have to divide that by nine.

I think that petey manipulated her into thinking that he loved her to provide an escape for him. We don’t know all of petey’s story, after-all he was awfully interested in the well being of that other transport. What if the topsider’s took his family when he was captured and he saw them “processed”. Flask could have just been a willing patsy in his plan for revenge, just as the topsider city was almost a victim of Flask’s plan of revenge. I think that schmoozing and romancing your enemy into abandoning their way of life and then helping them to mutate into what has been their worst enemy, all while you plan to abandon them in the wastelands so that they can be ultimately captured by their old comrades and then lead a life of a neverending worst nightmare to be a masterstroke of revenge.

How is it “cruel” for Marx to allow Flask to pour her heart out but not come up with some pat, soothing answer for her? That’s wouldn’t be compassion, per se…it’s pop psychology like Deepak Chopra or Joel Osteen pedals.

Answers to our hardest questions shouldn’t come easily. That’s why they’re HARD questions. The best shrinks are the ones who’ll ask you the kind of questions that lead you to discover the answers on your own…you’re more likely to to take them to heart because they’re coming from your heart.

I think sometime in the near future, we’re gonna see/hear Petey’s side of the story…. being told to Marx

It doesn’t surprise me that Marx doesn’t have the answers. He himself said as much. I think he really was just interested in “her deal”. She was too much of an enigma for him and he needed to know. Boy is he sorry now……..

I guess I believe that Petey 2B had to have loved Flask to some degree, if only because he not only asked for her to return to him and was actually there when she returned. That was taking quite a risk, particularly once he understood what the Topsiders would do to him. The question is whether it was the passionate undying love that Flask had felt for him, that would have caused him to try to lead their enemies away from her. Don’t know, but its likely that while he had some feelings (love/lust/whatever) that he just wasn’t as into Flask as she was into him.

To TSOJ.KILLED it for her? Or finally put it to rest. I find the word killing a bit too strong. Marx is no killer.Have you ever consoled some one after a traumatic event such as death of a loved one? Talked with a person who was just told by the woman he loved that it was all over get your ass out? What do you say to someone pinned and bleeding to death with the car on fire…… it wlll be all right?What would you say to Flask after all that?Hmmmmmm.Will await reply.

At least we now know why Aaron gave her the name Philomena (powerful love). I find myself wanting to give her a hug right now, and I’m not that into hugs.

Mr. Neathery knows who I work for. My line of work requires me to be both Saint and Devil. Good and Evil. Defender and Prosecutor. I can save a life, take a live, help bring a new life into the world. When you run from the dangers of the world I am runnng also. STRAIGHT at it to stop it any way I can even if it means tossing myself under the tracks.Poor Flask had no guidance, no one to tell her how to deal with these feelings. I said this would be tragic.But ask yourself this question?Were you in the same place, same circumstance, same choices would you have done differently?Lets ease up on Flask and Marx for a bit.Right now its all about dealing with the sorrow.But if I know some egos they would do it all differently but that is Monday Quarterbacking and that is easy.

Mr. Neathery?Put that last panel up for Auction.That says it all.

To Darwinskeeper and rickDBoth well said. I was wondering if anyone else picked up on her name. I did some research to find out. That name just struck me when I read it.rickD. Dead on. Marx appears to me like I was when I first found Endtown. I started alittle before crossroads and burned hours reviewing and catching up. Even getting Vol 1 and 2. Now hanging on every day to see what is next.The rhetoric is good. This site stirs up the most post I have seen. Upper 80 to 90. FRIDAY cometh.I think I better have some tissues nearby.Yes…..a grown man can cry. If he has feelings that can be tugged by a great storyteller.

This is one of the most poignant story arcs I have ever read.

Read your post from yesterday TSOJ. In bed 2a up by 10a. But isn’t that also the next day. I am Thursday here and you are Friday there. Well Happy Friday. Enjoy the weekend. I still have to wait for Friday which is tomorrow. Which would be Saturday to you.Have a great day what ever. I am going to wander off confused and get on Google to research or maybe just give it up. Later….friend.

Hmnnn,…to those that think Petey may have been cruel enough to lead Flask on, then fled like a coward,…his actions aboard the ship (endangering himself to attempt the rescue of his falling friends,…flying right through those propeller blades, etc..) doesn’t fit the concept of a cruel or cowardly soul…

I think the ultimate answer is this: the man Flask fell in love with is dead. “Petey” is the name Albert (remember him?) gave to the disembodied head that thought it was a topsider transporter until Mallard stuck the head in a robot body. The brain in this head belonged to Flask’s love, but it was memory-wiped and conditioned for use in the transporter; only stray memories of “Blackie” remain.

Did this man Flask loved also love her? Perhaps…the events Flask described yesterday are plausible, but not necessarily true…there’s no way to know, and I don’t know if it could be determined by, say, the way Petey backed up Albert and Gustine’s story, or anything else. If those events are true, it suggests the actions of a man in love, or at least in deep friendship…

Is the man Flask loved still in that brain under Petey? Possibly…there’s no way to know…could Mallard invent something that would bring it out? Who knows, besides Aaron Neathery, what will happen here? I sure don’t…and it’s all guesswork until the final panel appears, which I hope is many years from now…

Poor, poor, evil, miserable Flask. Is it love, when you’re willing to destroy all that’s in your path to recover it? Or is it the desire to be loved, when you don’t know how to give it in return?

All web artists: so a comics list was made and you were not there. So I asked and got told:http://www.flayrah.com/4332/upcoming-furry-comics-november-2012-previews-and-marvel-previewsSeen end of the comments section.The part where the reply to my post is:They don’t submit blurbs to Previews, or they aren’t coming out in November, or I just honestly missed them.

Though mostly the first. Perils of indie publishing.

I just looked over a few older strips from this sequence…and there is at least one other person who might have seen Flask and her love as things developed, who might’ve even heard the name “Blackie” being used…the transporter.

To TSOjRead your post. I felt the same way.I was just being serious.Thanks for the laughter it cheered me up.The number 2 was a good choice.I however would glady share my chocolates and ice cream. I remember from an old Marx Brothers movie. Harpo was doing his usual chasing girls around in garden.He stopped because he could hear a girl cryin softly.He went over to her made a funny face.She looked away.He made a bigger face and honked his horn.She just looked away.He looked puzzled.He reached into his coat and pulled a single flower. Tapped her on the shoulder and offered it to her.She took it. Fell into to arms still crying but a small smile was there. He sat there and held her gently.End of scene.I have remembered that scene since I saw it many, many years ago.In this wacked out world we live in with our far flung science and techy stuff.A single flower works wonders.

To TSOJYou can never make matters worse.Just remember the flower.(Shoot I thought all you eastern philosophy types would know that) JabJab.

Am I the only one who saw parallels to Captain Morrigan from the Empires comic?

Ok, granted that everything we know right now is related to us by Flask and remains unsubstantiated by anyone else, we can at least bulletpoint certain items:Flask had been a Topsider for 3.5 yearsShe preferred suicide over mutationShe disapproved of other Topsiders vivisecting humanoid mutants alive(Presumably, other Topsiders don’t vivisect fuzzy wuzzies)She freed a humanoid mutant facing vivisectionThe two continued meeting clandestinely in the ruinsPetey2B did NOT bring fuzzy wuzzies with him to the meeting points (that Flask could tell)The two of them met often enough, and talked enough, for Flask to agree to mutation instead of suicideFlask trusted Petey2B enough to let him puncture the suit while she was asleepFlask couldn’t find Petey2B after waking upShe was captured by her co-workers, imprisoned and torturedShe turned sadistic AFTER the tortureShe wanted to find Petey2B and most of her subsequent actions were for that purpose

Notice that she’s truthful about events that can be verified, such as her reaction on finding Petey’s head in the transporter, and in dusting Mole and Crawford. She takes responsibility for tearing out her own tail, rather than claiming Topsiders did it as part of the torture. If her story is largely true, then she and Petey had at least started on the path to becoming good friends. She’s still be justified in trying to find him again, especially since he’d still be in danger from the Topsiders and she was now in a position to offer him greater sanctuary.

“Veteran, you and me and TSOJ and Saphire Dragon Studios all need to get together over some breakup ice cream. Or better…. some break up frozen custard!”

I vote for some break up chocolate cheesecake. :9

“don’t know why it’s posting this way, but you get the idea”Font change shortcut. If you’re putting two or more of the same typewriter characters (‘!$%’<) next to each other, GoComics interprets it as a formatting command. (i.e., if you put a “*” astrisk on either side of a word, it automatically gets formatted as boldface.)

I was thinking that maybe that transporter heard Flask called “Blackie,” and maybe that transporter later went on to meet up with Albert and Gustine and pick up the name “Petey,” and maybe Flask made another mistake in thinking he was her lover. But that’s a bit much.

I think he loved her, just not in the way she loved him