Revenge of Ask T Questions

[rebochan]

Really, Alice, the upside to that ending is that it's not really disproved either of our theories of where the characters would go from there. Sometimes that drives me up a wall, but here I simply see it as asking the reader to take what they know about these two characters and filling in the blanks based on it.

[Alice Macher]

I couldn't agree more, rebochan.


My previous post reminds me of a question I have for T: Did Penny's and Aggie's ventures into kinky sex (planned and otherwise) in "August" lead to them seeking more of that with Tom and Caylee, respectively?

[Fen]

Once you go kinky you can never go back, you know.

[perilsofrosella]

T, I would also like to thank you for making this comic. I truly enjoyed the ride.

What is Sara's girlfriend's name? Is Sara still friends with Lucy, and did Lucy end up doing anything with her life? Is Tom the same Tom that asked out Aggie in the beginning? (If you find these questions a bit silly, please don't answer them).

Also, out of curiosity, how much influence did Gis have on the ending?

[JGoddess]

Let's play one more round of "where are they now?"!

Charisma? Cyndi? Omar? Bob and Elmer? CHARLES?

I'm not telling you anything about Cyndi. The rest are nothing too earth-shattering. Charles is getting a little old but still with us. Bob got religion, but not intelligence, and Katy-Ann has been studiously avoiding him at this reunion. Omar would be completely unrecognizable at this point: he's doing data entry and still figuring out what he wants. Charles is a little old but still with the Levacs, who pamper him properly. Elmer's death led to the retirement of the Darwin Awards, as he did what he did hoping for a "near miss" honorable mention. "We weren't trying to encourage anyone," said the spokesman.

What about Charisma?

[TCampbell]

I couldn't agree more, rebochan.


My previous post reminds me of a question I have for T: Did Penny's and Aggie's ventures into kinky sex (planned and otherwise) in "August" lead to them seeking more of that with Tom and Caylee, respectively?

To some degree. Penny always had more of a preference for that kind of thing than Aggie did. But there's often room for compromise in the bedroom as anywhere else in a relationship.

Penny tried to keep things "primal" with Tom, who was definitely another alpha athlete like Rich, but much smarter and more clean-cut. For most of their time together in college, they enjoyed a raw physical passion that sometimes left one or the other with the occasional scrape or bruise. When Penny refocused her competitive energies on her career, the spark went out between them.

Aggie, for herself, prefers an emphasis on tenderness, but she's a more receptive lover and likes to figure out what makes her partner melt. Caylee was willing to supply that tender attention. For herself, she was an artistic type and more into creative role-play. That could sometimes head into BDSM territory, but was more about imagination and playfulness. The sex in their relationship stayed good almost to the end, and definitely kept them together through some rough times (Aggie was, as she implies, overprotective toward her seemingly flighty girlfriend).

[TCampbell]

T, I would also like to thank you for making this comic. I truly enjoyed the ride.

What is Sara's girlfriend's name? Is Sara still friends with Lucy, and did Lucy end up doing anything with her life? Is Tom the same Tom that asked out Aggie in the beginning? (If you find these questions a bit silly, please don't answer them).

Also, out of curiosity, how much influence did Gis have on the ending?

The first two questions, I'm not going to answer right now.

Tom is not that Tom! (And you wonder why I give characters names like "Tharqa?" It's to keep THIS from happening.) Tom and Penny met in college.

Gisele's been a sounding board and occasionally raised a good point, especially when I show her the art to look over shortly before it goes live. I would have to say, though, that besides me, the ones who've had the most influence on the plot have been Greg Eatroff and Maritza Campos.

[Tamar]

T, most of the fan discussion of the pairing at the end of "20 2020 Pennies" has been on Conservative Aggie, whom you'd said Greg had suggested to you. My question's about Authoress Penny. GIven that teenage Penny was very much not into literature appreciation nor, in contrast with Aggie, creative writing, was Authoress Penny meant as a sort of ironic whimsical thing like her controversial partner? Or does she reflect a more artistic or creative side of "our" Penny, that she'd been repressing, and if so, did she ever explore that side?

[TCampbell]

Let's play one more round of "where are they now?"!

Charisma? Cyndi? Omar? Bob and Elmer? CHARLES?

I'm not telling you anything about Cyndi. The rest are nothing too earth-shattering. Charles is getting a little old but still with us. Bob got religion, but not intelligence, and Katy-Ann has been studiously avoiding him at this reunion. Omar would be completely unrecognizable at this point: he's doing data entry and still figuring out what he wants. Charles is a little old but still with the Levacs, who pamper him properly. Elmer's death led to the retirement of the Darwin Awards, as he did what he did hoping for a "near miss" honorable mention. "We weren't trying to encourage anyone," said the spokesman.

What about Charisma?

Charisma hasn't changed much. She's rebranded her business as a general "wellness clinic," and that's doing well with the older set. The pace of her flings and one-night stands is a little slower than it once was, but she's probably not going to find That Guy, the one she thought Nick could be.

She showed up at Nick's one night, about two months after Aggie went to college, and they had some good times for a while after that. But the root of the issue that split them in "Dinner For Six" remained even after they were both empty nesters. Nick is still someone who takes pride and satisfaction in living for others, and that ultimately doesn't mesh with Charisma's selfish streak, except in a codependent way. They worked around this clash in values for about as long as they could, but when Nick, normally Mr. Mellow, found himself frequently losing his temper with her, he realized it was time to call it quits again, for good this time.

Nick is finally dating again, incidentally, and seems to have the desire to recapture his youth thoroughly out of his system by now.

[TCampbell]

T, most of the fan discussion of the pairing at the end of "20 2020 Pennies" has been on Conservative Aggie, whom you'd said Greg had suggested to you. My question's about Authoress Penny. GIven that teenage Penny was very much not into literature appreciation nor, in contrast with Aggie, creative writing, was Authoress Penny meant as a sort of ironic whimsical thing like her controversial partner? Or does she reflect a more artistic or creative side of "our" Penny, that she'd been repressing, and if so, did she ever explore that side?

I think Penny's interests in fashion, acting, party planning and public relations show that she is a creative, artistic person, in her way. Reunion Penny continues to explore at least two of those outlets. Teen Penny didn't think of herself as much of a "brain," though, and the interpretation of literature (find the metaphor, etc.) never interested her much. That remains true of Authoress Penny. She just writes the kind of thing she likes to read, with a healthy dose of inspiration taken from her own life and the lives of others in her sphere, past and present.

[Rowan Hawthorn]

T, along with the others I'd like to say thanks for the ride. It's been fun.

Questions... hmm. 1) Will this final chapter be available in book form?
2) Anything else I'd ask, you probably won't want to answer, but I'll give this one a shot, anyway: You said earlier that this was the final appearance of P & A "chronologically" or something like that. Does that mean there's a chance of either a) flashbacks in the spin-off to flesh out parts we haven't seen, b) future references to them, either on-screen or off, or c) I should just quit obsessing over how stories keep ending just when I start "watching" regularly...?

[kern]

I seem to remember that around the time of the end of Popsicle War, you said that Penny and Aggie becoming friends was planned before the strip started (unless I'm misremembering). Was the eventual romantic relationship in the plans as well? I know there were a lot of hints and jokes about it, but it was hard to tell how serious those were.

[TCampbell]

T, along with the others I'd like to say thanks for the ride. It's been fun.

Questions... hmm. 1) Will this final chapter be available in book form?
2) Anything else I'd ask, you probably won't want to answer, but I'll give this one a shot, anyway: You said earlier that this was the final appearance of P & A "chronologically" or something like that. Does that mean there's a chance of either a) flashbacks in the spin-off to flesh out parts we haven't seen, b) future references to them, either on-screen or off, or c) I should just quit obsessing over how stories keep ending just when I start "watching" regularly...?

1) Getting all Jason's material ready for book publication is on my agenda, though I might experiment with e-books before print with these last volumes. (Jason's material makes two unpublished volumes, not just one.)

2) Yyyyyyyyeahhhhh I've been leaving that door ajar on purpose. I want to be clear that this is a definite ending. I do spinoffs, but not sequels. But we also ended RIp and Teri, yet brought characters from that series in for a very brief (and, sorry, borderline incomprehensible) cameo in {i]Penny and Aggie.[/i] So, yeah, it's possible we may walk that line again at some point.

[TCampbell]

I seem to remember that around the time of the end of Popsicle War, you said that Penny and Aggie becoming friends was planned before the strip started (unless I'm misremembering). Was the eventual romantic relationship in the plans as well? I know there were a lot of hints and jokes about it, but it was hard to tell how serious those were.

Definitely not.

We planned to have them ask themselves the question. "I spend more of my day thinking about this girl than about my boyfriend. What does that mean? Are our fights just a mask for attraction?" And I wasn't sure exactly how they'd choose to answer that question. But I think we expected them to end up as friends with a sort of hint that they might one day be lovers, like Xena and Gabrielle, or like they were at the end of the Popsicle War.

[Dogberry]

I hope I phrase this delicately and respectfully. I can't help but keep coming back to this ending and feeling sad. When they were together, did Aggie ever say "I love you," to Penny? And why do the other characters still have stories to tell, but not P &A? Your last answer sounded like maybe you wrote them into a place you didn't want to take them. Is that part of ending it like this? Don't take me wrong - I thought the ending is masterful and true to the themes you've laid out. And I can imagine them continuing to grow as people and as lovers. But I feel like I've missed too much of their lives to be fully satisfied.