Endtown by Aaron Neathery for January 21, 2013

Linda has been made to deeply care for an Endtowners. The hardest part of her rehabilitation. Now she can assimilate.That head of security job should still be open.

“You should be proud of yourself”…so why does she feel so awful?

Wow, didn’t see that one coming! Well, at least Hopper died a happy man. But look at Linda! She’s crying. He really touched her. …OK, we still have the problem of that day waitress spilling the beans about the cake, wanting to know where the milk came from. The plot thickens..

Is she speaking kindly or is she being sarcastic? I felt sure it was kind, but calling her Trudy put a doubt in my mind. I hope that meg is a friend.Death happens. 2 men that live in my apt. complex died today. to die at peace in your sleep sounds like the best way to go.

I’m glad I’m not the only one who doesn’t know if truth is spoken or sarcasm. Or maybe I’m sorry you do too. or maybe you don’t maybe this one is really hard one to know.

Meg seems sincere in panel 3, so she’s probably not being sarcastic in panel 4. That’s not going to be of much comfort to “Our Lady of the Merciful Death”, though… (Then again, cold comfort is better than no comfort at all. If you’re southern, that is.)

“You should be proud of yourself,” Meg saidWhen Endtowners say this, it oft causes dreadLike Flask complimenting how Wally can killThough Linda can’t know this, perhaps she soon will.

But sarcasm, seemingly Meg’s native tongueIs gently meant here. She knew Hopper’s not youngAnd her other words were a bit more gently meantThe dig, I think, was unintentionally sent.=|====/ Level HeadVote for Endtown 2.0And for Doc Rat, tooThe Endtown ForumThe Endtown AuctionThe Endtown Books

It seems to me that Linda brought a little sweetness to a bitter reality for Mr. Hopper. He helped her connect with her new life and she helped in connect, for a moment, his past life. Linda must be crying because this is the third time she has lost someone she loved. The first was her husband and the second was her son when she became a mutant. Linda must feel like everyone she dares to love will be lost to her.

Life can be painful, Linda provided a much needed anesthetic. Mr Hopper was able to move past his pain, now mayhaps Linda can do the same. I’m a veteran, my body and brain is broken, I’ve lost friends, some I can barely remember. Linda did do a good thing. But remember folks, to us Mr Neathery’s world is whole cloth. He can bend it to his whim, real life is painful and needs wonderful storytellers like AN to make things bearable.

Hmmm… Might this be the new name Linda chooses to step away from her former identity?

Dry county?

I wonder if that was Linda’s name when she was a topsider and Meg knew her back then?

I think Meg is sincere about Linda doing something wonderful for Mr. Hopper, and bitter at the irony of his dying as a result, thus the sarcasm. The operation was a success, but the patient died.

I think that Meg is full of conflicting emotions here. Like us, we don’t just feel one thing at a time.I think that she is sad and angry that Mr. Hopper died.But (Happy. No that is not the right word. How about “Relieved”.) that he is not suffering any more.I feel sad for Linda. Being slapped in the face by reality so much. Then there is the “box mix” and “Milk & eggs” that is waiting to slap her again.But you have to suffer for your happy ending. Or its just not good story.

“What do you mean, he died?”Seems obvious, but isn’t that the question so many of us ask when informed of an unexpected passing..So poignant, how Linda is gripping herself. Another very human reaction when faced with disbelief, and grief.

“I wouldn’t mind a little Southern Comfort”Ouch, That was the first alcohol I ever, um, “overdid” as a stupid teenager. Have never, ever, touched it again..

Now Linda has to handle the fact that indirectly she caused a death. What she did for Mr. Hopper was a beautiful act she just now has to deal with it herself. At least others will not condemn her. They will see what she did as a good thing. But now she has to handle the fact he is gone.

I’m not waiting, I’m printing the strips out and taping them in spiral notebooks—-of course, I’ll deep-six those when the next volumes come out. I’ve done this for lots of comics, even before the Internet—-I’ve got “Peanuts” comics in notebooks going back to the 1970s.#The ‘Net (or the Web, or whatever) is fine, but it’s far from the best way to read something.

I don’t think Meg calling Linda “Trudy” is sarcastic at all. It’s shorthand for telling her “You were able to bring Mr. Hopper something he needed to close the book on this life and move on to the next one.” The cake was symbolic of something larger to him. A very gentle moment…no doubt to be followed by something a lot less sweel. “Love Is,” this strip isn’t. Thankfully.

Personally, I feel that the last comment was not a dig but an acknowledgement that Linda was more than ‘just Linda’…

Meg wasn’t being sarcastic. Linda was ‘Trudy’ to Mr. Hopper, and he went happy. Linda should feel good that she brought him some happiness in his “Last Hours”.

Regarding the dispute over whether Meg’s sincere or sarcastic, I strongly read this as sincere. Especially with the “I think you did a wonderful thing for him, I do…” It shows me that, although Meg likely does think Linda giving Hopper the cake was what lead to him ‘letting go’ and Meg is obviously sad about his death, Meg still thinks what Linda did was a good thing.

Time to put out the odds on the Over/Under for if Linda takes this well or horribly.

I can’t see this going well for our Linda. Topsider or Endtowner she is “still killing” anthros, at least that is how I see her taking this.

Can’t win for losing?

“last down, then the first back up”:-p==

We will just have to see what comes up in the strip tomorrow.I wonder if Mr, Neathery reads these comments.

I was wondering about her myself. hope shes alright

It’s been rendered obsolete by the Fantagraphic Books republishing…because of them, I believe I can truthfully say I’ve read every “Peanuts” strip.#Of course there are a few missing years here and there when I didn’t cut them out, but from the late 1980s to the bitter end I’ve got ’em all.

Of course it’s not the only comic I cut out. Some have come and gone. (I used to do “For Better or For Worse,” but since they switched back to repeats, and I’ve got all the reprint books, I dropped it. Seems like living death, actually.)#Some of the stuff just doesn’t come out in books, at least not that I know of. I’d love to have collections of “Heart of the City” or “Baldo,” but there have only been one book and two books, respectively. (“Stone Soup” has been a regular reprinter of its strips, and I’ve got them all so far.)

So long as he doesn’t take what we say too seriously…

I am still worried about the dishes. I know it will show up as a trap. Surrounded by rats with guns. Who it their right minds would give rats guns? At least Flask held the bullets. I am also wondering if Valery said anything to Meg? Is the cake still in the cupboard? Or is in the hands of the “law”. OK> Aaron, you do my worries no good. Cruel and devious you are and damned good at it. Blessed Be

(wants to gather Linda in his arms)

Everyone dies. She just let him die happy…

The casket is not for the body.The funeral is not for the deceased.The gravestone is not for the spirit.

These are for us, as we weep for that we have lost.

“telling the story to my son allowed him to bypass the experience when he was a teen”First time ever! Teens usually aren’t that astute!Glad to see DOL in the comments!

Boy oh boy I feel very special. I do love you all. Just an all night indigestion problem kept me away from my friends and Linda.Blessed Be

“Surrounded by rats with guns.”Are they friendly?

That’s so sad… and touching.

Worry less about what people say than what they do. People ‘say’ lots of things, but their actions truly define them.