Endtown by Aaron Neathery for August 24, 2012

Called it! \o/ Actually…I’m sure half the viewership called Flask/Petey lovemance. Poor Blackie is having a nervous breakdown. ;3; She’s kind of been in the cusp of one for awhile, but I think now she’s officially crossed the breakdown line.

He’s flattened out, or mostlyBy one already deadHer hands no longer ghostlyBut solid now, insteadWe sure don’t know the rulesBut even he’s surprisedThe two of them are foolsBut haven’t realizedAnd Flask — just back from deathIs wanting to returnHer voice — does it use breath?Do her cell fires burn?And if she really diedWith flatlined, nerve-dead brainJust how can she now think?What makes her live again?If Aaron Marx arrangedHis own thoughts in this formHe wouldn’t know “deranged”From his peculiar norm.=|====/ Level HeadVote for Endtown 2.0And for Doc Rat, tooThe Endtown ForumThe Endtown AuctionThe Endtown BooksCharter member ofthe Consortium to get Aaron a Tablet

Yeah, Blackie, we figured that part. Now give us the DETAILS!

Dat ghost does have a lot of energy huh? Makes you wonder if AM is not spectral too.Blessed Be

Marx: “Can I assume that now, finally, you’re completely helpless, defenseless and have nowhere else you can mentally run off to to protect your ego? Yes? Let’s talk.”————————————-Big glass sheet.

I think the big question is how did both Petey and Flask become mutants? The Topsiders wouldn’t have used one of their own for a transport brain. Did Petey mutate before Flask did? If so did Flask still love Petey after his transformation?

I’m more interested in an answer to her question: why IS he putting her through this? If he could produce that pack of gum, and is able to quote her dialogue verbatim, surely he could have summoned up the Complete and Uncensored Memoirs of Flask.And I agree with the comments from yesterday, that’s it’s very likely he lied about her being dead.

Then explain the “hand through the hand” thing.

This is reminding me a bit of what Aaron put Wally through. It’s not that he needs to know her reasons; it’s that she needs to admit them to herself.

In the third frame, Marx has one finger up as if he was about to say something right before Flask crawled off of him.

The first two panels have a very “National Geographic” look to them. “Here we see the big cat about to pounce. Today the part of the unfortunate wildebeast will be played by Aaron Marx.” ;-)

But she got him back, kind of. She should have taken a page from Al and Gustine’s story, and love the person inside. She could have rejoiced at the gift of her love’s return, but instead chose to focus on revenge.

Of course, seeing him flirt with that hussy of a transporter could have pushed her permanently over the edge ;-)

(Panel two) AM: Ohh look , teeth!;-)

Flasks and AMs hands passed through each other…how did she grab him and knock him down??? Me thinks there is more LIFE to this story than AM is letting on!!

I hope this means the next week (or two) will be a flashback.

Brickbuilder, this could be your lucky month.

I am going to guess a new plot line as we flash back and are shown the whole Flask-Petey story.

Well, Mallard should have the ditto ball figured out by the time we get back. That could lead to all sorts of interesting trouble….;-)

If he can bring Flask back for a little conversation, he can restore Pete to what he was before.

Is that fear I see in AM’s face in panel 2? Or just surprise? Haven’t really seen much of either in him so far.Not a typical Friday cliffhanger, but I still can’t wait for next week. I do believe the Flask back story is right around the corner.

Everything is transmorgrified

I’ve seen no reason not to hold to my guess that Flask is not really dead [considering Aaron’s magick-like abilities]. Seems I’m not the only one whose guesses have tended in that direction. And those hands passing through each other, which seem such a sure proof of Flask’s immateriality? Remember 01/31/2012, when Linda, Wally and Holly bolted out of the transport with guns flashing and it sure seemed they got crisped? Compared with that, a little trick like the patented “Aaron Marx handshake” ain’t nothin’.And just for the record [unless I see proof positive] I’m still going to assume that Flask and Wally did know each other when they were both human [but that’s a side issue.]

I was about to say, there’s no proof yet as to whose hand passed through whose… but Flask being able to physically touch him by surprise makes one go “hmm!”

One doesn’t necessarily have to be a mutant to be repurposed. One could be dead. The Topsiders may consider it a waste to not reuse a good brain, especially if the former owner had signed a donor card. Resources are very scarce in this world, and salvageable brains are a resource. If Petey had died instead of mutated, they would use him. Also if he were considered a criminal or a problem.Marx could be interrogating Flask in a virtual reality made up of dittos. If Flask did die, he might have somehow copied her mind into the dittos, and has to get his answers before she loses her integrity. She’d already lost her mental and moral integrity before she died, so that may make it harder for her virtual form to hold it together.

And it just occurred to me, he could have salvaged her brain Topsider style and set up a virtual session with it. Maybe a dead brain will lose its former self and HAVE to be reprogrammed. Residual memories may remain, but that’s just data storage. Once the former contents are decayed and corrupted, the brain has be re-imaged with a clean profile, which may develop an emergent mind like Petey depending on the programming and capacity. If Marx does have Flask’s head, her mind is leaking out. Her karmic fate may be to be like Petey, with a nasty person being replaced by a much better one.

Or Flask’s death could be of a different type…“Obiwan, you told me my father was dead!”

“He was… In a manner of speaking…”

The hand through the hand thing was a one time occurrence which seems to have been contradicted by all physical contact since, such as one hitting or shaking the other. How do we know that Aaron Marx is not just another manifestation of dittos?

Folks, we’re over-thinking this. I’m going to work on the naive assumption that it is what it seems to be. AM has temporarily revived the last remnants of Flask’s memories and brought her ‘soul’ back to life in another dimension for a brief question and answer session. He really doesn’t know the answers to the questions, and although he says he enjoys unanswered mysteries over solved puzzles, he still genuinely wants to find out this time what was going on.

I do hope Mr. Neathery enjoys all this conjecture and second guessing on the strip. At least the folks who comment surely seem to.

About the hand through hand thing before and Flask pummeling Marx now – This is Aaron FREAKIN’ Marx we’re talking about!! Sheesh, you’d think people would remember that.He’s messing with her. This is still part of his plan to get her to talk. She took a gun blast to the face; if she somehow felt it when the shrapnel was pulled out of the bone, then she should know the damage was real. In which case, yes, she’s dead. Or near-dead. The hand through hand thing could have been dittos, or it could have been Marx moving over one reality to appear less substantial. Conversely, Flask could be insubstantial now and Marx just moved over to make her feel more solid. Either way, for a guy that can eat explosions, choosing selective insubstantiality to mess with someone’s head is a trivial trick.————————Here’s your anchovy paste back.

0my computer is acting up so it’s no SAt. Iove to read all the comments. I feel like I learn more from reading what every one says. I am guessing she is really dead and the will of her passion let her to be able to knock Marx down. Thinking maybe Petey will take up the narrative at some point.

– I drew a picture of Flask and Aaron Marx hugging, because Flask’s torment is heartbreaking…and because I’m a girl and I like to draw hugs. XP

@Jenner and @Three Steps Over JapanAww thank you!! I’m glad you liked it. I agree that Flask needs a hug. ;3;