2002-12-16: Oh, this is bound to end well.

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2002-12-16: Oh, this is bound to end well.

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Discussion thread for Oh, this is bound to end well..
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2012-05-21: [CT]Oh, this is bound to end well

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Discussion thread for [CT]Oh, this is bound to end well
Alberich
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Re: 2012-05-21: [CT]Oh, this is bound to end well

Post by Alberich »

The fact is that Meji passing her class never even rated as a subplot in my head through all of this. It was just a means to an end to the story moving. This is why after the first few chapters it’s hardly mentioned again and never even comes up in the epilogue at all.

This was one of the most frustrating things about the comic to me, actually - trying to imagine where in hell Meji's course deadline was in relation to all the adventures everyone was having. If I get involved in a story or a game, making a "deadline" part of the story adds a sense of urgency that wants some release.
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Re: 2012-05-21: [CT]Oh, this is bound to end well

Post by tinwatchman »

I don't know. I thought the scene with the teacher at the end of things was kind of hilarious in a brick joke sort of way. And it's not like Meiji really cared about her grade in the class to begin with, all things considered...
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Re: 2012-05-21: [CT]Oh, this is bound to end well

Post by Forrest »

I was actually kind of disappointed that the graduation thing was never wrapped up in the end. I was expecting it to be something like a punchline to the entire story -- what starts off as a final project turns into a giant epic story of epicness and everybody (but us astute readers) gets so caught up in the action that we forget this was all for a final project, and then in the end after all has turned dark and grim and everybody we ever loved has died... Meji passes her final exam, yay! Like that is all she ever cared about the entire time, and she never forgot what was really important.

Or, if that undermines her character for later plot lines, her professor could congratulate her on being one of the few students to ever earn an A in his class, somewhere in the epilogue, showing that he never forgot what was really important; to which Meji of course blows him off as a piddling collection of the-things-he's-made-of.

But either way it would have been really nice for someone to have been the one character out of everyone else who remembered the first thread of this grand tapestry, just to sort of put it all in context of "where we came from".
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Re: 2012-05-21: [CT]Oh, this is bound to end well

Post by Graybeard »

Forrest wrote:I was actually kind of disappointed that the graduation thing was never wrapped up in the end. I was expecting it to be something like a punchline to the entire story -- what starts off as a final project turns into a giant epic story of epicness and everybody (but us astute readers) gets so caught up in the action that we forget this was all for a final project, and then in the end after all has turned dark and grim and everybody we ever loved has died... Meji passes her final exam, yay! Like that is all she ever cared about the entire time, and she never forgot what was really important.
A matter of taste, I'm sure, but I definitely prefer the way this actually worked out, for two reasons.

First, high school may look pretty important (or not) when you're in it, but it's really a transient in the grand scheme of things. The important stuff is what comes later. (Trivium of the day: the current police chief of Washington, D.C., dropped out of school after her freshman year in high school, and was an unwed mother at age 15. Then she got her s__t together, either returned to school and finished or got her GED, went on to college and grad school, and rose to a law-enforcement position that, any way you cut it, has to be viewed as "important.") Meji underwent a great deal of maturation as Errant Story unfolded; why wouldn't she leave Professor Yukiri's class behind?

Second, Meji wasn't the only one who was maturing as Errant Story was unfolding. So was Poe. You could watch not just his artwork, but also his writing, his grasp of nuances of character, his concept of morals and ethics -- I would say durn near his whole world view -- becoming significantly deeper and more thoughtful as time passed. Not obsessing over this particular issue, in part because Meji, having achieved near-ghodhood along with growing up, wouldn't obsess over it, is just what you'd expect of a writer who has grown up and decided to tackle the hard stuff rather than the throwaways. You done good, Poe.
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Re: 2012-05-21: [CT]Oh, this is bound to end well

Post by Elessar »

This is one of those plot holes that annoy when you read the comic from front to back, rather than ride it out over the years. I agree that dropping the primary motivator for the storyline, without ever really addressing it, was a poor move.

In fact it's nice to see Poe owning up to it.
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Re: 2012-05-21: [CT]Oh, this is bound to end well

Post by Forrest »

I agree about Meji maturing (and Poe maturing too) and I don't think that's a bad thing at all. I just think having someone, even half-jokingly, referencing the initial quest would have made a great 'punchline'. Especially because, even though the plot (rightly) moved completely away from Meji's final project, it still culminated in the completion of her final project -- she actually did become an all-powerful demigod. Hell, having someone quibble about the "insane" and "enslave all reality" parts being missing would have been perfect.
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Re: 2012-05-21: [CT]Oh, this is bound to end well

Post by Itterind »

Honestly? I still want to know if Meji passed her class and every time I fondly archive binge on ES (till the store reopens, then I can buy my set :)) I will wonder whether she passed, and I'm sure some others feel the same. It's one of those small, unimportant things you just really want to know and gives an extra sense of closure.

Till now I've just told myself her lecturing Tsuirakuans in that one shot was equal, no better, that a graduation (plus we got the scene where she confronted her teacher), but this reminds me sorely that the lovely premise to get the ball rolling is still hypothetically still dangling (hypothetically as we know she must have of course)... : (

Please, did she pass?
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Re: 2012-05-21: [CT]Oh, this is bound to end well

Post by Itterind »

: (

I'm just going to assume she did in graceful or spectacular manner.
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