Message 652

August 6, 2015 9:27 AM

'Honestly, I keep thinking this but not saying it because it sounds really glib, but I never thought about wanting kids until you guys made it look actually appealing somehow.'
'Hm.'
'Ha, what?'
'No, I was gonna make some generic self-deprecating remark about how "Oh, it's not all fun and games, you know" but honestly it's the best thing ever.'
posted by the man of twists and turns (13 comments total)

Man, Subnormality is so great. Something about the narrative structure of this one seems like it could have been taken straight out of a Bradbury story from the 50's. I wish I could remember more specifically what it reminds me of.

Somewhat related: the Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer.
posted by teraflop at 10:11 AM on August 6, 2015 [5 favorites]

The characters in this story set my teeth on edge. Really fiercely. I find it hard to articulate why. It's something about the way they talk to each other. I think I feel about it the way I've heard people describe feeling about twee; but I love twee. Other than that, I've got nothing.
posted by escabeche at 10:13 AM on August 6, 2015

Oh damn, I meant to make an FPP when I saw this comic go up, but it totally slipped my mind. Thanks for the reminder; it was a joy to read it again. Also, previously, my other favorite recent Subnormality.
posted by WCWedin at 10:43 AM on August 6, 2015

Thanks for posting this. I didn't notice when I read it the first time the interpretive sign saying that nobody knew the pod played that message and it was only discovered by accident. Also, I didn't pick up on the red-haired woman being the recently departed Ken's daughter until I saw it in the comments.
posted by ob1quixote at 11:10 AM on August 6, 2015

I LOVE SUBNORMALITY SO MUCH, GOD BLESS WINSTON ROWNTREE, although i prefer the ongoing adventures of ethel/Pink Hair/Zoe/Sphynx/Airplanes Lady/The Generals to the one-offs

still, subnormality hergghh love it so much
posted by beefetish at 11:17 AM on August 6, 2015 [1 favorite]

i prefer the ongoing adventures of ethel/Pink Hair/Zoe/Sphynx/Airplanes Lady/The Generals to the one-offs

I also love the recurring character work, but my god, his one-offs are like the difference between hearing Pavarotti doing a perfect scale and hearing him do Nessun dorma.
posted by Etrigan at 11:26 AM on August 6, 2015

Somehow I keep forgetting to go back to Subnormality, despite it being The Best Thing. I probably have it bookmarked in seven different places by now.
posted by regicide is good for you at 11:33 AM on August 6, 2015 [1 favorite]

Yeah, the red-haired woman being the daughter in combination with the calendar "visit mom and dad" -> "visit mom". Awful dusty in here.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 11:39 AM on August 6, 2015 [2 favorites]

It took a little doing (so many text balloons, and I didn't at first understand that the top panels were a prologue to a time shift), but I finally got into it enough to really enjoy this.

Tangentially related is a section from Lois Bujold's Barrayar that resonated when I was young, and really brought me comfort after my first miscarriage, and seems to carry a similar sentiment.

It's...a transcendental act. Making life. I thought about that, when I was carrying Miles. 'By this act, I bring one death into the world.' One birth, one death, and all the pain and acts of will between. I didn't understand certain mystic symbols like the Death-mother, Kali, till I realized it wasn't mystic at all, just plain fact. [...] Our children change us...whether they live or not."

posted by offalark at 12:55 PM on August 6, 2015 [3 favorites]

I love how that was constructed. Got really tough to read, though, what with the tears and feeling choked up.
posted by mixedmetaphors at 2:32 PM on August 6, 2015 [1 favorite]

Great comic, but induced a dizzying sense of temporal vertigo. I'm fine with heights, but don't ask me to confront the future, please, especially one that looks halfway plausible.
posted by The Zeroth Law at 6:48 PM on August 6, 2015

This wouldn't load properly on my phone, and I didn't have another internet device until yesterday. I'm really really glad I decided to come back to this and read it (and especially on a full screen, good comics deserve a good viewing device). Thanks for posting.
posted by nat at 8:00 PM on August 10, 2015

This has come back to me a lot in the few days since I've read it. Thanks for sharing.
posted by jameaterblues at 9:33 PM on August 11, 2015