Yamara™

Revenge motives not pictured: Cruel death of Dew’s slave-born mother, Dew’s doomed illicit affair with senator/royalty, farmer in-laws, Dew’s ineligibility to sit on the Jedi Druid High Council, Dew’s massive fifth-degree lava burns, Christopher Lee’s seductive voice.

 

[2006.08.19]
First, some background on this episode.

When we were setting up Persey’s future career after her resurrection, we took
pains to emphasize that fungi relations were going to become a critical element of her job description.

This particular episode’s primary joke was first imagined as taking place late in Persey’s life, when her penchant for the gitchy, lower life-forms would be as established for the strip’s audience as it would be for Persey’s students. And also because, as Chris pointed out on our forums, this was one Dragon would never have let us publish. We never even mentioned it to them, as we knew this was one we’d have to add to some collection or other on our own. Today, among webcomics, we feel this joke to be “competitive”. In 1995, it was merely “psychotically ill”.

But the G-rated ooze-whisperer jokes were supposed to be keeping us going for years. The grossest things in fantasy gaming, and Joe was now married to an aficionado! I mean, this was hilarious: a druid chick totally fixated on slimes and molds! We were going to run with this great, original idea and– AH, G@&@##!%.

Well, at least no one can say it isn’t a great idea. Check out Tony Moseley’s Mt. Zogon (and Zogonia) in the magazines, or as he posts them online wherever you can find them.

Persey will still be in love with the oozes, Galeena notwithstanding. And cheese. You can’t have decent cheese without mold, after all.

 

Now then. A tale to be told about what we’ve been dealing with. Grim, unwelcoming tale.

The first week of August saw record temperatures across the United States. This would not have been very hindering of webcomic production in itself, but Barbara had multiple international clients in town, so time would be very tight.
Chris made the effort to begin the current strip early, and so the first two panels appeared in the vote incentives.

Two cruelties struck at and near us while our time was already maximized. First, one of our pets has required radical surgery, and constant supervision. The initial results were creepy enough to cause our other pets to literally back away in terror of the patient, but she is doing fine at present, though her schedule of treatment is still ongoing.

More darkly, and tragically, a young friend of Barbara’s fell from a bridge into the East River. His body was recovered, but there was that terrible heat wave.

It has not been a fun couple of weeks out here.

In any case, we are catching up with life, with our sense of humor, and with Yamara. The wordless version of this episode that you’ve been looking at was left on the site to give the Walrus php program a “future” strip to latch onto; Chris seems to recall a glitch in one version or other that made that necessary, or at least smart. Perhaps we shall replace the mysterious non-rerun with something like a “Please Stand By” card at some “future” date.

Our apologies for not keeping everyone informed, but it’s been really just too much. We have a better idea of how much time our pet will need of us now, and so the comic schedule can, hopefully, be restored.

 

Finally, new vote incentives won’t be up before Sunday or Monday, as Chris is still doing some necessary driving around. But we’re still rearming for a weekly Thursday schedule.