Endtown by Aaron Neathery for November 13, 2012

How is her path any more clear than anyone elses? What is enviable about it?

Poor lass. She had plenty of alone time in her suit, she’s not used to having so much contact all the time like this. She needs some alone time to get her head back in order. I know the feeling… it’s sort of a “people overload”.

The bits of Linda’s past are fallingSettling like siltThey bury her in her past callingCover her in guiltShe’d like to tell the story andUnload it, I suspectBut to these folks, the gory landOf Topsiders is wreckedAnd truly, she caused death and strifeGrim tales this gal possessesTo tell about it risks her lifeAnd to stay silent, stresses=|====/ Level HeadVote for Endtown 2.0And for Doc Rat, tooThe Endtown ForumThe Endtown AuctionThe Endtown Books

In fact, there are only a few people in Endtown with whom Linda can talk frankly and openly about her past. It’s hard to know if they’d be inclined to listen.

Good to see her angry for a change. Like the way she is expressed AN.This gives a whole new thought about the foods that must be “thought about” in order to eat. Obviously she is remembering and it is not good. So go off and vomit. I would. Sorry about my ranting yesterday. Today is no better. It makes me very angry that my daughter seems to know that I “did” but won’t tell me. I do not understand that. Anyway… Does anybody want a round to it???? I’m tired. I know it because my my typing is lousy. Blessed Be with caramel sauce and whipped cream. Love you all.

@DoL1Hope things get better for you – I need to get a round tuit but suspect the postage to the Old Country would prove prohibitive – as to the knowing what the problem is but refusing to tell it – thousands of married men have been there ;-)and yes, I’m a bachelor. My cooking is my penance for that (urp)

If the Topsiders are eating human tissue, they’re going to have more to worry about than the current mutant pathogen. They’ll eventually develop nasty brain diseases like kuru and Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease. The human equivalents of Mad Cow disease.

Why do I get the feeling that we’ll see Linda at the bridge?

Perhaps she will find the oracle?

Looks like she could be a certain female gator’s new barstool buddy.

She’s making it hard to like her…She should at least be civil to the people she’s stuck underground with. No where to run to!

Poor Linda.

What I am hoping for is a Linda flashback. We had Wally’s, Flask’s, now lets have a Linda.I suspect she is going to unload on somebody. Just dont know who yet. Maybe the guy playing cards with the dogs? Linda is going to have to talk to someone or explode in the meantime. Linda feels betrayed on so many levels from her point of view. Topsiders betrayed her. Endtown orders her not to talk and accept her condition. Linda betrayed herself in accepting the Topsider proposition to begin with. (Probably to raise her ranking in Topsider society. Who has more worth a good soldier or receptionist?) Maude is trying to cheer her up but without much success. Linda may open up to Maude if given the right conditions.

Hang in there folks. It seems the story is running slow. That happens in the format AN has to use. I have expressed this angst before. A four panel shot is very hard to set the scene and emotions. When back on Modern Tales he had more panels so could carry the story on like a scene in a movie.Remember I put it as Act 1 Scene 1Enter John stage right. Enter Marsh stage left.“John!”“Marsha!”Announcer. Come back tomorrow for the rest.It seems to drag but will get better. It is the format that affects the flow. It takes a week to get the whole scene in four panels at a time.

Seems like she has more bad emotions going on than missing her son. May have done what would be called atrocities here in End town. I hope she can come to terms with them.

To darwinskeeper.Why would the Topsiders go through all that trouble to butcher the “typhoid marys”. It seems counter productive and a waste of time and energy. Then what to do with all the parts? Pile them up and zero weapon them? Toss into a trench? So there has to be a purpose. Something they are looking for or creating something they need. It would be a waste of time just to catch one then examine it then cut it up only to toss it away. I may be giving Topsiders more credit then they are due as we do know very little about them. They could just be mean cruel filth and all need to die. But was that their purpose from the beginning? Just raises questions.Like I said human consuming human was just a hypothesis. There are probably other more civil explanations.

Who knows.?Maybe the virus is only airborne.(Which I dont think)Breath it and mutate.But you can eat it with no problem as you are not breathing it.Maybe it does not contaminate food if the food is sealed. You would just have to be sure the outside of the container is clean and suck out the inside.It is just Linda was struck at the thought of what she ate prior to the beans. It seemed in her expression either very tasteless gruel or something you do not want to consider eating.Maybe the creosote flavored turkey from beans created by Prof Mallard was actually done first by Topsiders.

An Automat is so 50 ish. I remember they were all the rage back then. Japan went nuts for them. I remember going as a kid to one in Baltimore. Served fancy restrauant meals by going to the wall and picking what was there. You took it to the table. A waiter or waitress would come by and check on you and clean up. They had chefs in the back that constantly keep food ready so when you took one out they immediately replaced it. Rules about food safety ran them out of business as they had to change from freshed cooked to bagged sandwiches. They just drifted off into the past. However I think TSOJ can verify. They pretty much rule in Japan even today.

…if she could just get past that avacado for a nose…..

Odd that no one has mentioned her kids…remember, initially all she wanted was for her kids to be safe? How would you feel if you knew you now could never, ever see them again? And if you did, they would’t recognize you and would probably try to kill you?

As an aspie I can relate to Linda’s wanting to be alone. Maude’s a great person but I imagine Linda just being so overwhelmed by everything that she just needs to be alone. Sometimes a little soitude can be the best medicine.

@CrookedWolf Mean and manipulative? Oh yes. And – regrettably – not as uncommon as one would hope. And many femmes ARE. There’s truth in the phrase “twisted round her little finger” and it comes from the vulnerability of extending love…. those who love open themselves to the loved one. To be open is to be easily hurt. Children hurt parents, wives hurt husbands, husbands hurt wives…. And yet one must love, it is humanity’s blessing and curse to love and be loved (hopefully) in return.Remembering what Stan Freberg could do with the words “John” and “Marsha” – I recall also Tom Lehrer with“Soon we’ll be out, amidst the cold worlds strife, soon we’ll be sliding down the razor blade of life”Those who cannot feel are dead.Back on topic; Linda can feel. She feels totally isolated, and it hurts. Roll on the next 4 panels!

Poor Linda…Perhaps her new life would not be so bad if she knew how her son was doing, considering he is now being raised by the very people who turned their backs on her when she became mutated.Even if there was a way for her to go back and find him, what are the chances that he would risk mutating for her? He may end up as a lion, or perhaps a “Typhoid Mary”. And would he want to stay in a place populated by the very beings he’s been taught to hate and destroy?Logan Sackett is right… She needs to see the Oracle.

looks like Linda’s having an epiphany about life with endtowners versus topsiders, and maybe some guilt about what she did to fellow mutants

I concur with others. The Oracle would be something to seek out. The only problem with oracles is do they see what will be or is it just conjecture. The Oracle helped Gustine as the Orcale noticed Gustine was going into Schism and needed help. Schism is apparantly a one way ticket to total madness with death the only way out if I follow it right. The Oracle can help but it is still up to Linda to make the right choices at the right time. Right now she does not know what to do. Her “enemy” is now her friend. Her “friend” is now her enemy.

TSOJ I knew it was a long time ago. In Japan is was probably vending machine like but you could get nearly anything. Sushi and the like. Back probably before you were born. It was all the rage up until the 60’s. I remember the ones in the US. It was similar to vending but served actual cooked food not prepackaged. There was one I remember that was suppose to eliminate the waiter. You sat down looked at a menu and make the selection. The Jetsons made fun of it. You pushed a button for the type of meat. Another for veggies. Another for dessert. It was suppose to even be usable in a home environment. From a central kitchen area the food was made put on a plate and conveyored out by a series conveyor links like at the post office or UPS. Your plate would move along till it got to your location. Drinks were filled at drink station mounted on the table. I think it was displayed at the Worlds Fair in the 60s. Never saw full in the field set up. Just some in New York that was a wall of little doors with different food and stuff behind. You would put in your money, open the door and take the food. Usually on a plate. Go sit and eat. The chefs in the back would make up whatever is running low and refresh as necessary. As I said I thing Health reasons probably shut it all down in the long run. I mean you cook it and put it in a vendor and wait for how long? It was not a big concern back 50 years ago like it is now.

By the way, on yesterday’s strip, and Linda’s favorable reaction to beans…I wonder just what it was she ate while in custody for three months? (Creosote-flavored cow flop comes to mind.)

Now my Aunt bemoans the loss of her Mother (my Grandmom). Go figure.

Linda’s only refuge is a place and people that she was set on destroying. Irony much?