Endtown by Aaron Neathery for November 21, 2016

Like dust in the wind.

These are the days of our lives.

So…looks like Holly will be another casualty of the Endtown dystopia. At least Wally and Kirby have each other, but Wally’s expression of grief over Holly’s loss will still hurt sensitive, if simple, Kirby. Aaron’s most powerful strips are still his wordless ones.

Poor Kirbee, she hasn’t seen her “problem” turn into ashes.I predict that it will soon be the Wally and Kirby show.Holly suffered too much trauma to live.Living while suicidedly depressed is no way a life.I will miss our little mouse, at the beginning she was quite playful and loving.It is hard to tell what is happening in panel 2, Wally looks surprized to see her dematerialize.

I’m wondering… since Wally didn’t find any other ditto-ball with life inside it, has Holly already expired?

I’m wondering if Wally will go back aboard the Ella Fitzgerald and try to find Holly, or her remains.

I’m rather surprised at this turn of events..As much as I do love Kirbee, and the thought of a Wally/Kirbee relationship does tend to tickle my fancy, I didn’t see it happening with Wally already with Holly. And even now, I’m expecting Wally to mount a rescue mission for Holly..For us, Kirbee has been around for, what, a couple years? But in Endtown time, she and Wally have known each other for… maybe a month? Possibly a week? I couldn’t see Wally dropping someone he’s had a relationship with for a couple of years for that, especially when his partner was suffering obvious mental illness..But, yeah, things have certainly become very interesting!

Indeed. How can Wally not go back given all we know of him? He won’t take the others back with him willingly and unless they go by ditto ball they simply become more victims to be rescued. I know Aaron is amazing with his plot twists, but I don’t see one where they just “move on”. ;-)

I just got to wondering: if this Holly is a decoy, decoy-for-who? The Wreck of the Lorenz-Fitzgerald? Or maybe someone closer, like Kirbee?

Remembering how Holly saved Wally, way back, I hope he returns the favor (again)..

Then, again, maybe Wally and Holly are unreal things sent to torment a real Kirbee?

Ah, meta this, meta that…

Is Holly ever going to be seen again?!?

What if Holly is really no more?Can Kirbee still have feelings for Wally knowing his heart belongs to another?Who shot J.R.?Tune in two days from today!

spoiler?!. It’s her. She did it. I hate you, Aaron. I’ll never read your strip again….. OK… I can’t do it. I gotta know what happenes now. Perhaps if I toss a few paetron bucks your way?

Poor Korby, If only she kept her head turned to him. She would see Holly is gone. And may now be with him.

And now he have to get in again. And Kirbee will follow him. How hard this must be for both.

Maybe the ship kept Holly for it’s power needs, as it can’t expect victims very often. I was wondering why Wally didn’t just drain off the rest of the ships dittos. Having been in an eerily similarly situtation, I would expect Wally to go back in for Holly.

NOW What???

Wait…was this illusion Holly conjured by Kirbee?! To me, it seems like she “wished” Holly away. Her expressions seem oddly synchronised with Wally’s viewpoint, considering her back is turned.

Is it bad that I recommend listening to Kansas’s “Dust in the Wind” when seeing this strip?

Holly is the new ship’s “captain,” as evidenced by the ship’s use of Lyn in afflicting Wally.

And wait for tomorrow when she asks, “where did Holly go?”

So…is Holly still on the ship or is she gone now?

Wait… Does this mean Holly is…gone? Or is she still being used to fuel the ship? And if so, will the ship try and take off? I mean, with Holly’s emotions, Fitz must be fueled up and ready to go now.

:-((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((

I have NO words.

My heart is breaking! ! !

Why did the Holly decoy leave dust behind if it was dittos?

Irving seems to have found something that interests him. Wonder what. Yeah, I know, he’s a bug, but he’s a smart bug.

Obviously affected by whatever it was that changed the world so profoundly there and evolution.

I can’t help but wonder if Wally never left Kirby’s bubble. Dittos have shown themselves to be quite adept at mimicry and I wouldn’t throw it past our author to put another twist our way. It reminds me of that x-files episode with the parasitic mushroom. Just because you know you are sedated/hallucinating doesn’t mean that you automatically break out of it.

My reasoning is that Kirby is a lot more observant than we give her credit for, and the fitz gerald has shown itself to be pretty dang sadistic when it comes from elicting that sweet sweet sadness juice from its victims. staging a fake rescue attempt is a great way to make Everyone upset, while also confirming Kirby’s suspicions that , while Wally has feelings for her, she’s still the other woman.

Odd thoughts raised by this set of panels

Wally returns to the ship and it’s three years (two days in comic time) until they actually escape or die.

Wally is still on the ship and they (Wally, Kirbee, Chic, and Irving) can’t truly be free unless he lets Holly go.

Wally realizes that this is what Holly wants. Holly and Lynn are finally together and it was time to expel the others.

Kirbee is actually Holly in disguise?

Irving found a way home or the truth of them still being on the ship.

BTW, Irving is an insect. So far there aren’t a lot of true animals, there may have been a real fish from the earlier days (http://www.gocomics.com/endtown/2009/02/19) which was most likely a continuity issue that was forgotten since we’ve seen Endtoen bury their dead and the trial over the eating of anthro “by-products”. What if Irving is actually the master mind? Irving could a ditto construct, Marx/God, a mute anthro, or just an insect.

Either way, Mr. Neatherly is a hell of a story teller.

The Star Trek “Cage” scenario is looking more likely. Lyn had to come from Holly’s mind, and the AI tried very hard to keep Wally from Holly, and when exposed, her doppelganger was contrite. It seems the real Holly is controlling the Fitzgerald and its dittos, and trying to drive Wally away, along with the others who need him more than she does. She thinks she’s too damaged for him, and she can convalesce in the ship with her fantasy life with Lyn. She’s seen how Wally and Kirbee feel about each other, and how she’s a liability, and is pushing them away for what she sees is the greater good.

Here is something to bake your noodle, did Holly even leave Endtown? Was she ever with Wally in the wasteland?

Okay, the author of this strip seriously needs to chomp some Prozac.

The look on chic’s face: bad things happen when adults get upset…

I imagine Holly’s relationship with the ship being somewhat closer to my recollection of “The Cage” than the one suggested. The AI knows about Lynn and might give Holly what she desires, a nice imaginary home life with her first husband and child. At this point, Holly may not care that none of this is real, and be happy to stay in her imaginary dream life while Wally and company move on. The question for Wally and the rest of us is can we expect the AI to take better care of Holly than it did the rest of the people it used up?

Irving is really intent on digging something up.

WHAWHOOOAH

HEYKirbee…you might wanna turn around…

Gosh I love silent moments…well…the ability to say a lot with nothing at all.

ah…woops lol

accidentally skipped last Friday’s post…explains quite a bit…thought Holly might’ve said something prior…and she did!

Wally abandons Holly to the ship in order to care for Kirby, Chick, and Irving. They trek on, and leave Holly to her fate. Years later, Holly shows up with the fully functioning ship, but altered by her experiences into a cynical, calloused version of her former self. Only to discover that Wally and Kirby are a couple and have kids of their own, and adopted Chick. I’m really going to miss Holly. She reminded me a lot of my departed wife.

Poor Wally and Holly,