8/22/11 Don't make a huge decision

[Tamar]

While I've been enjoying this chapter overall, I can see where Arky and Pink Freud are coming from. There's a difference between reading a comic like this installment by installment, and reading (or re-reading) a chapter or more at a time.

For example, I read "Suicide Run," one of the comic's most emotionally intense chapters, all at once, as part of my archive binge when I discovered P&A. Sure, I had the "Marshall, you jerk... Karen, you bitch... Aggie don't do it, girl" reactions, but only briefly, because another click of the mouse and there was Penny to save the day. Judging from the forum discussions I skimmed, though, for people reading that chapter as it ran those same reactions were amped up because of the gap between updates and the suspense as to what would happen to poor Aggie next. There were also a number of readers who, understandably, complained of cumulative angst overload from "Whispers and Silence" through that point in "Suicide Run," and who were impatient for the whole arc to wrap up.

That's not too different from what we're seeing now. I'm sure dare's correct that when we reread the whole "August" chapter it won't seem as emotionally exhausting and mood-whiplashy. Especially once it's actually over. That'll be even more true, I'm sure, for people reading it in one go once the comic as a whole is done. But for now, I don't think these reactions of "Now they're fine, now they're not, what the hell's going on" are unreasonable.

[Kamino Neko]

That's not too different from what we're seeing now. I'm sure dare's correct that when we reread the whole "August" chapter it won't seem as emotionally exhausting and mood-whiplashy.

I suspect the mood whiplash will be even sharper taking it all at once - it's changing pretty sharply from page to page, and that'll set your head spinning.

The 'what the hell?' part will at least be much shorter lived (a few minutes, rather than a whole week and change), though.

[Ele]

Excellent observation, Tamar.

[rebochan]

I know I've seen T. comment from time to time that the people reading chapters all at once instead of update to update tended to have the reactions he wanted, so by this point I assume it's all intentional. I have to admit after taking over a year off from the comic and the barreling through what I missed, a lot of the arcs that have been taking flack here from being pointless or boring read great to me.

[Mec]

This is backpedaling: calling their encounter "fumbling the make-up sex". One panel ago, Penny said it was the best she ever had.

Bolded for your convenience. Having heard Aggie say she didn't like it at all, Penny recognizes that it's not good sex if one partner loves it and the other hates it, or is scared by it. Again: not backpedalling.

Gonna disagree with you here. It's quite possible for one partner to be having awesome sex while the other one isn't.

Either Aggie changes, or Penny changes, or Penny will have to look for a more compatible sexual partner.

[Rebhel]

I'd be super-happy with this update... except that there's still two strips in the chapter, and twelve more after that, and with all the mood whiplash from one strip to another--sometimes one panel to another--these last few weeks... Don't know how to feel... *head asplodes*

"mood whiplash" I like that.

T does have lots of fun with the emotional rollercoaster dynamic that is so prounounced amongst teens.

[Rebhel]

Penny didn't hesitate or stumble her words. A simple "I love you." Totally worth the price of admission.

Absolutely, I was very impressed with that.

[AngFdz]

This is backpedaling: calling their encounter "fumbling the make-up sex". One panel ago, Penny said it was the best she ever had.

Bolded for your convenience. Having heard Aggie say she didn't like it at all, Penny recognizes that it's not good sex if one partner loves it and the other hates it, or is scared by it. Again: not backpedalling.

Gonna disagree with you here. It's quite possible for one partner to be having awesome sex while the other one isn't.

Either Aggie changes, or Penny changes, or Penny will have to look for a more compatible sexual partner.

Yeah but I thought great sex implied both partners were having a good time. It aint a home run if both parties aren't having a good time

[jk9000]

This is backpedaling: calling their encounter "fumbling the make-up sex". One panel ago, Penny said it was the best she ever had.

Bolded for your convenience. Having heard Aggie say she didn't like it at all, Penny recognizes that it's not good sex if one partner loves it and the other hates it, or is scared by it. Again: not backpedalling.

Gonna disagree with you here. It's quite possible for one partner to be having awesome sex while the other one isn't.

Either Aggie changes, or Penny changes, or Penny will have to look for a more compatible sexual partner.

I think Penny's point is that great sex isn't great make-up sex if they fail to make-up.

[Fhqwhgads]

Penny didn't hesitate or stumble her words. A simple "I love you." Totally worth the price of admission.

Absolutely, I was very impressed with that.

I really really want to be impressed but I keep coming back to the fact that she had to be prompted before she said it. Which gives it considerably less weight in my mind.

[Valerie]

Penny didn't hesitate or stumble her words. A simple "I love you." Totally worth the price of admission.

Absolutely, I was very impressed with that.

I really really want to be impressed but I keep coming back to the fact that she had to be prompted before she said it. Which gives it considerably less weight in my mind.

This.

[Alice Macher]

Or...maybe Penny really does love her.

Still waiting until the end of the end before giving up on these two.

[Arky]

While I've been enjoying this chapter overall, I can see where Arky and Pink Freud are coming from. There's a difference between reading a comic like this installment by installment, and reading (or re-reading) a chapter or more at a time.

For example, I read "Suicide Run," one of the comic's most emotionally intense chapters, all at once, as part of my archive binge when I discovered P&A. Sure, I had the "Marshall, you jerk... Karen, you bitch... Aggie don't do it, girl" reactions, but only briefly, because another click of the mouse and there was Penny to save the day. Judging from the forum discussions I skimmed, though, for people reading that chapter as it ran those same reactions were amped up because of the gap between updates and the suspense as to what would happen to poor Aggie next. There were also a number of readers who, understandably, complained of cumulative angst overload from "Whispers and Silence" through that point in "Suicide Run," and who were impatient for the whole arc to wrap up.

That's not too different from what we're seeing now. I'm sure dare's correct that when we reread the whole "August" chapter it won't seem as emotionally exhausting and mood-whiplashy. Especially once it's actually over. That'll be even more true, I'm sure, for people reading it in one go once the comic as a whole is done. But for now, I don't think these reactions of "Now they're fine, now they're not, what the hell's going on" are unreasonable.

This is a VERY heavily discussed issue with webcomic pacing. Writing it for the people reading along as it is posted vs writing it "for the book version". Although I don't think that is the issue here. I don't think this is book pacing. T is still packing a lot of stuff in to each strip to the point of glossing over and skipping stuff we might have liked to see (which he always does). My problem is just that it's a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing. We're still no closer to knowing whether this relationship has a future, and there is nothing at all going on in the strip anymore other than this relationship. Even the potentially fascinating Lisa/Stan stuff was just a device to create conflict in Agenny. Unlike the Cyndi & Charlotte tension all this conflict teasing is falling flat (to me, anyway). Maybe it comes of not being all that invested in Agenny to begin with, and certainly not to the exclusion of the rest of the cast.

Inevitably these things are YMMV. I don't begrudge other people enjoying it, I just take advantage of the feedback opportunity to try and get stuff more the way I like it



On the subject of pacing, though, I always prefer pacing based on reading it as it is posted, because that's how I read it and how just about all the readers will read it the first time through. Pacing "for the books" always seems to end up being an excuse for ridiculously slow pacing (Girl Genius is the posterchild for this at the moment. If this was Girl Genius, Aggie's film would have lasted two weeks of beautifully drawn strips.)

T usually paces for reading along and he might be one of the best in webcomics at it. The whole Cyndi kidnapping arc was one of my favourite arcs of any webcomic anywhere anywhen, was written and paced perfectly for the webcomic format (right down to the scroll-down reveal, and the trick chapter ending when we thought there were still 3 strips to the end of chapter). Even leaving aside the formatting gimmicks, the way we got to stew on each strip of the climax for 2 days really built the tension in a way that absorbing each page in 10 seconds and moving on could not do.

[adamiani]

The wicked wiplash has gotten to me. More than a week on, and I'm *still* waiting with bated breath to see how the Lisa/Penny tension resolves itself! Oh, the agony!

Oh, yeah, and some stuff happened with Penny and Aggie, too, but srsly....

[adamiani]

The wicked wiplash has gotten to me. More than a week on, and I'm *still* waiting with bated breath to see how the Lisa/Penny tension resolves itself! Oh, the agony!

Oh, yeah, and some stuff happened with Penny and Aggie, too, but srsly....

(Should I have said 'oh, the Agenny'?)