Page 126 – Just Follow The Freaks
I love the timing of this. I wrote this page weeks ago, thinking about what happens EVERY time I head out to an anime convention, and it ends up being the page I finish the day after I get back from one. If you’re ever in doubt where your con is, just follow the gang of 14 year old Kingdom Hearts cosplayers. 😀
Oh, and those aren’t just ANY old mad scientists in this page. From left to right, that’s Dr. Horrible (of the Sing Along Blog), Dr. Clayton Forrester (from Mystery Science Theater 3000), and Dr. Daisuke Serizawa (as seen in Godzilla). Is my geekdom showing much?
Speaking of cameos, there’s still plenty of time to submit your characters for the Far Out There Cameo Fest! The first pages with people’s characters will be appearing before long, but you can still get in on the action! Check the forums for all the info!
(Historical Notes: I guess I should technically put a disclaimer somewhere for new readers that this offer is no longer valid. You can never underestimate some people, right?)
If you want to be able to underestimate people, you have to give up all hope for humanity. And by all, I do mean ALL. Even that niggling belief that expects people to know that 2 is bigger than 1, which is, in and of itself, bigger than 0. And after getting rid of THAT belief, you’ll need to start to get rid of the REALLY deep-seated beliefs. Only after destroying any concept of belief in humanity, can you start to overestimate even the worst of humanity.
…Sometimes.
…Maybe.
…On Occasion.
Fortunately, we now have an invention that seems specifically designed to destroy all hope I might have for humanity: The Internet.
And yet, I expect that even you will have a “they can’t be that stupid” moment. No, The Internet does not completely destroy one’s hope for humanity, it’s the equivalent of a knock-out dart for one’s hope for humanity. From rumors I have heard, to even have a hope of truly starting that destruction to an atomic level, you need to work in a call center for years, possibly even one relating to Medical Billing in the USA. Then you’ll get abused by some of the most educated individuals in the country for as moronic things as you would from the idiots who call up. You may even be able to make a game of “which one’s which”, while you’re on hold.
The Internet’s destruction of my hope for humanity is a work in progress. Every time I have a “they can’t be that stupid” moment, The Internet says “Oh, Yes They Can!” and then proves it. I keep trying to have hope, but The Internet keeps wearing me down. I expect it to succeed eventually. It has more stamina than I do.
If I was to make a comparison, you could say that what The Internet is doing to you is like taking a grinding wheel to a stone. The problem with “complete” loss of hope for humanity is that the core can be said to be as hard as diamond while being as flexible as rubber. The grinding wheel of The Internet can’t do anything to that, you need something that’ll hit it hard, fast and stop it from bouncing back. Which is why I suggested years in a call center. Though I’m not sure if that’s “fast” enough to have the stated effect, it’s at least a far stronger grinding wheel than The Internet.
Oh, there’s something else that works even faster than The internet: having to watch after other people’s kids. Not your OWN kids, or anyone who have an emotional attachment to, but total strangers throwing a fit. That’s when you realize what shrieking, drooling, flailing brats we all are underneath it all.
…I need to have Ichabod say pretty much that exact thing at some point.
That depends. The watching kids bit is out of character for Ichabod, the start of the story outright states that he has a habit of picking people up for journeys in ways akin to The Doctor from Doctor Who, though with higher known likelihood of fatality among companions. So all you can have him say is that “We are all shrieking, drooling, flailing brats underneath it all, so stop trying to pretend otherwise”.