Of anniversaries and other artificial constructs.

[shortpacked]

Shortpacked!: Not quite a momentous occasion.

Comments

[revaladdinsane]

Is the second thing that Shortpacked takes place in California?

[shortpacked]

Before Shortpacked! began, I considered putting it in Columbus. Write what you know, etc. But at the time, I thought I might be moving out to California to be closer to Maggie, and thought I'd plan my strip accordingly.

But in the end she moved out here instead. Oops!

[ladyyuna07]

Well, by the river there's some hills, especially as you get closer to Appalachia, but nothing like that, and nothing that civilized.

And then if you're near Toledo like me, we're nothing but flat, farmlands!

HAPPY TWELFTH, WILLIS!

[spleeny]

I managed to completely miss the California clues when I was looking through those links. What I saw was a steady build-up to Ethan marrying a Batman figure. First he talks about how he's surrounded by fake plastic things. Then Robin explains how much he LOVES shopping for figures (this one is kind of weak, I admit.). And then he wonders if his Batman toys will care for him.

And now he's married to a Batman figure.

I blame this on being tired.

[shortpacked]

Heh heh heh heh! I also like your interpretation.

[linkara]

I concur with the interpretation that he wanted to marry his toys.

They never loved him though, did they?

[linkara]

By the by, rereading strips from that point I also noticed the foreshadowing of Mike being behind the closet door when Robin proclaims that "The man of her dreams is behind that door!"

I read your book, you magnificent bastard!

...All three of them, in fact.

[thandrak]

Oh, god. That last is Lombard Street, isn't it?

[shortpacked]

It is!

[thandrak]

When I was younger and the Embarcadero was still around, I once skateboarded down it. I only wrecked twice.

[gwalla]

Yeah, that's what confirmed it for me.

(That's kind of a tony area, though, and I don't think there are any bars nearby. What's he doing over there?)

[cholma]

Oh man. I thought the "second rule" was about never putting Batman in a suit!

;)

[gwalla]

I thought it was about when it was still okay to eat something that'd fallen on the floor.

[anonymous]

Meh, it's not like the first cardinal rule hasn't been broken before. I remember some certain octagonal text boxes appearing around the time of the drama tag's pulling. And Mike, Robin, and Ultra Car's existence in Shortpacked! are violations. But I like continuity nods, so let the good times roll on.

[shortpacked]

The cardinal rule was specifically about Joyce and Walky appearing in Shortpacked!. (And Robin was specifically created to be in Shortpacked!, despite appearing in It's Walky! first.)

[chrisascended]

It is entirely thanks to the TF Wiki that the sentence "Robin was specifically created to be in Shortpacked!, despite appearing in It's Walky! first." made me think of Death's Head.

[volkai]

Was she really? Wow. I did not have the slightest inkling that she was fated for Shortpacked from day one - I had always thought that the rule was 'no It's Walky!' characters (except for Mike) and that it was broken way back by her inclusion.

This is also my reason for not realizing there was a 'no Joyce & Walky' rule. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.