Just don't call them by a trait they're self-conscious about! Glasses girl would be an apt name for me, but I'd feel sad being called that. (I need a new contacts prescription, but can't afford to see an ophthalmologist right now 🙁 )
I thought it was clear that by Hair Lady (Mar with dreads) and Meredith (he means to say new short haired Marigold) he accidentally thought them to be two different people, since they practically are two different people now. If I'd only briefly met Marigold Fuchs from the laser tag arc, and later met Marigold the merchandising assistant from two weeks ago, I'd be sure they weren't the same folk.
Thomas Pynchon's first novel, "V." It has an ensemble cast, largely composed of a bunch of sort-of aimless, bohemian cool dude/dudette New Yorkers who are called "The Whole Sick Crew." I used to call my own hip/sad cadre of amigos that too.
V. is really good, by the way. I won't try to summarize it because it's hard to categorize, or even understand, but it's both deep and fun.
Kim
oh my god, thank you so much!!! i can really use this information! i will also try to read this book <3
Hanna = Hanna: friend
Beard guy = Marek: not really around as a friend these days
Meredith = Marigold?: not friends with Hanna so hard to be a "sick crew"
Hair Lady = ??? (is THIS Mar?)
Angry Boy = Will: It's Complicated
Meredith is Marigold. I'm pretty sure it's a reference to people constantly transposing the two names when writing about the comic and making things confusing fast.
Hair Lady is…Julie, I'd guess. I don't think Greg ever met Jane or ***America Jones***.
I think Greg did meet Jane once, but it was at a party and she was dressed as Jay Gatsby, so it doesn't count. I think Hair Lady is Marigold and Meredith is being all meta again.
Wow, OctopusPie never fails to touch upon every painful facet of growing up – now the storyline's on losing touch with friends. What makes Eve seem so stagnant is how every other character is given detail in terms of what career goals they have; for some reason we never really see what aspirations Eve has beyond the grocery store, and I think its a cop out to claim that she merely doesn't have any just because we don't see her attempting to leave Olly's.
I felt like, IIRC from the first few arcs, that Eve maybe had a background in media advertising or design (someone correct me please?) but even then we still have no idea if that's truly what her passion is.
This stands out to me because I identify with Eve so much, it feels too uncanny, and yeah that's probably vain of me to say, but this part – where she has no direction – I am kind of unsure about. Like, is it left blank for us readers to fill in the gap ourselves, or is it left blank to indicate an actual lack of direction?
I think this is a major bomb for Eve and everyone involved. The last pages we have acknowledged that she was trying to chase something that didn't even exist anymore, living in the past. I mean, I was even going to comment earlier about how much I love Greg acknowledging the fact that all of their mutual friends have changed while Eve was the one who failed to do so with Park.
That was until I read the end, and was hit with the sudden realization that *this is the first time Eve is acknowledging how much her "new" friends have changed, too.* This is as relatable as it is harsh, and I couldn't be any more in love with this comic.
I think Eve might be depressed? Maybe she looks directionless on the outside because on the inside she feels stuck and incapable of achieving her dreams? Note that in the earlier comics, Eve is cynical and grouchy, and has recurring anxiety. Depression manifests like that for some people.
I was thinking about that, but if this whole arc is now turing to talk about how different their friends are and how people have generally changed… what if today is the day we find out Greg doesn't even want that anymore?
EXACTLY!! I'm picturing her going in for it, and him reacting along the lines of "uh oh yikes no". As we saw in the Hanna's-being-a-pit-viper arc, he's at least trying to grow out of his sad-sack ways.
Anyway, idk about Eve but I know I tend to do something really embarrassing, really self-loatheable, right before I turn a corner! Falling hard gives you the momentum to bounce back…? I guess I'm picturing myself as a rubber ball. Maybe Eve's the same!
In Brett's defense, if you look at the dog's ear as a nose and its nose as a mouth it does look like a slightly terrifying human groveling on the ground.
Just so you know this comment made me go back to the first panel so many times, over the course of several hours yesterday, trying to find the guy on the floor. "Where is he," I said to myself. "I mean there's a DOG, but where is the MAN. He said there's a man where is he!!!"
(I think this is the same kind of…gullibility? that makes me like, think REALLY carefully about every question when I'm filing my taxes. AM I blind or deaf? DO I have any dependent children? It's important to answer these things correctly, because what if you get audited.)
We haven't been at Olly's in awhile. So much has happened but we don't know what Eve's job has been like now. When was the last time we were at her work?
I think it was during Will's arc when he delivers pot for the last time and gets a call from Eve out of the blue — the one with the pissed-on coconut.
I remember how Olly seemed really freakin' different, too. He was… optimistic? Happy? Maaaaybe went a little crazy? I don't know, I think loosing his other two employees kind of made him grow softer or something. Definitely looking forward to seeing him again.
But what if Meredith isn't a mistake…. and all along Meredith Gran has been writing a comic about her friends, watching their lives from the sidelines?
Or what if Meredith is Eve's imaginary best friend who follows her everywhere?
78 thoughts on “#906 – lotta weird energy”
Vabolo
Tag yourself, I'm Beard Guy
Kasey
Hair lady
tropey
Also Beard Guy.
J.S. MacDougall
Angry boy.
manlyshimapan
hair lady!
sun in 4th house
I'm Beard Guy too
Caleb
Beard Guy for sure
Crazyguy1990
Hanna.
msdalfo
Sorry, I accidentally downvoted you. I'm probably Hannah as well.
Copycat
sick crew
Kate
I think somehow I'm both hair lady and angry boy.
Nathan
Asian guy so I'm probably part of the 'old' crew
unrecorded
Beard guy on the outside, angry boy on the inside.
ollegillarkryp
I'm pretty definitely Hair Boy, if that's acceptable
schleufer
angry girl.
channamasala
Angry girl and, given that I get weird little hairs on my chin, also Beard Guy
KitKats
Angry Guy, Def.
Mr. Potato Patato Von Spudsworth III
Beard Lady
kitschbot
Why am I so excited to see Greg balding? 😀
Also I love his nicknames.
wykstrad
I think Ray Smuckles may have made fun of Greg at Office Depot:
http://achewood.com/index.php?date=12092003
FrankRalphBob
How do you remember comics that were written 13 years ago?
wykstrad
Because they're awesome?
Rachel
Except most of those people aren't fully friends anymore! Oops.
Copycat
I'm going to start calling my friends by their most basic, obvious traits.
Glasses girl, tattoos lady, dreadlocks man, British accent guy, etc.
Myopia?Youropia!
Just don't call them by a trait they're self-conscious about! Glasses girl would be an apt name for me, but I'd feel sad being called that. (I need a new contacts prescription, but can't afford to see an ophthalmologist right now 🙁 )
heywhosyourdaddy
Wait, who's Meredith? I mean since I guess Mar is Hair Lady
Donnie
Not-so-subtle fourth wall nudge?
dylan
She makes the comic 😛
Laura
the woman who writes the comic
Stuurminator
Given as he's forgotten almost everyone else's name, I figure Meredith is Marigold.
peakpointmatrix
I thought it was clear that by Hair Lady (Mar with dreads) and Meredith (he means to say new short haired Marigold) he accidentally thought them to be two different people, since they practically are two different people now. If I'd only briefly met Marigold Fuchs from the laser tag arc, and later met Marigold the merchandising assistant from two weeks ago, I'd be sure they weren't the same folk.
schleufer
another possibility is that jane is hair lady. i can never stop staring at it, anyway.
manlyshimapan
my god. "you got so close to your new friends we thought you didn't think of us as friends anymore".
jbrader
A Pynchon reference!!!! You're the best Mer.
michael
I thought this was pretty great.
Kim
which reference is this??? i wanna knooow
Josh
Thomas Pynchon's first novel, "V." It has an ensemble cast, largely composed of a bunch of sort-of aimless, bohemian cool dude/dudette New Yorkers who are called "The Whole Sick Crew." I used to call my own hip/sad cadre of amigos that too.
V. is really good, by the way. I won't try to summarize it because it's hard to categorize, or even understand, but it's both deep and fun.
Kim
oh my god, thank you so much!!! i can really use this information! i will also try to read this book <3
peakpointmatrix
*remembers wonder wheel comic*
🙁
And christ, how do you and Valarie manage to make bars the most appealing looking places on the planet.
Sat
Those reflections on the floor ! …
leahgcl
Hanna = Hanna: friend
Beard guy = Marek: not really around as a friend these days
Meredith = Marigold?: not friends with Hanna so hard to be a "sick crew"
Hair Lady = ??? (is THIS Mar?)
Angry Boy = Will: It's Complicated
Elyse
I think Hair Lady might be Jane?
wykstrad
Meredith is Marigold. I'm pretty sure it's a reference to people constantly transposing the two names when writing about the comic and making things confusing fast.
Hair Lady is…Julie, I'd guess. I don't think Greg ever met Jane or ***America Jones***.
Aleksi
I think Greg did meet Jane once, but it was at a party and she was dressed as Jay Gatsby, so it doesn't count. I think Hair Lady is Marigold and Meredith is being all meta again.
channamasala
Did everyone just decide that Puget Sean wasn't cool enough to hang anymore?
Also I miss Julie
Booga
…and Meredith?
*tap tap tap* looks like the 4th wall is cracking, but I don't quite know if it's gonna break…
metroidlunch
Wow, OctopusPie never fails to touch upon every painful facet of growing up – now the storyline's on losing touch with friends. What makes Eve seem so stagnant is how every other character is given detail in terms of what career goals they have; for some reason we never really see what aspirations Eve has beyond the grocery store, and I think its a cop out to claim that she merely doesn't have any just because we don't see her attempting to leave Olly's.
I felt like, IIRC from the first few arcs, that Eve maybe had a background in media advertising or design (someone correct me please?) but even then we still have no idea if that's truly what her passion is.
This stands out to me because I identify with Eve so much, it feels too uncanny, and yeah that's probably vain of me to say, but this part – where she has no direction – I am kind of unsure about. Like, is it left blank for us readers to fill in the gap ourselves, or is it left blank to indicate an actual lack of direction?
EVE TELL US WHAT YOU WANT
wykstrad
Eve has a creative writing degree.
metroidlunch
ah. thanks!
Faye
I think this is a major bomb for Eve and everyone involved. The last pages we have acknowledged that she was trying to chase something that didn't even exist anymore, living in the past. I mean, I was even going to comment earlier about how much I love Greg acknowledging the fact that all of their mutual friends have changed while Eve was the one who failed to do so with Park.
That was until I read the end, and was hit with the sudden realization that *this is the first time Eve is acknowledging how much her "new" friends have changed, too.* This is as relatable as it is harsh, and I couldn't be any more in love with this comic.
Myopia?Youropia!
I think Eve might be depressed? Maybe she looks directionless on the outside because on the inside she feels stuck and incapable of achieving her dreams? Note that in the earlier comics, Eve is cynical and grouchy, and has recurring anxiety. Depression manifests like that for some people.
Eve wants to be a writer, but doesn't know how to get there. She has a creative writing degree and was considering going back to school, but ultimately felt discouraged and didn't: http://www.octopuspie.com/2011-03-16/452-heres-wh…
Note that she has dated two writers, probably for the vicarious thrill: http://www.octopuspie.com/2011-09-26/484-your-lif… http://www.octopuspie.com/2013-07-02/613-this-is-…
Yammy
I mean I don't ACTUALLY think this is gonna happen (maybe, though!)
mmmmbut
Wouldn't it be FUNNY if today is the day Greg finally gets to make out with Eve
matt w
Well Jane did say not to hook up with one of her friends, so Greg would be ideal.
peakpointmatrix
damnnnnnnn
Faye
I was thinking about that, but if this whole arc is now turing to talk about how different their friends are and how people have generally changed… what if today is the day we find out Greg doesn't even want that anymore?
Yammy
EXACTLY!! I'm picturing her going in for it, and him reacting along the lines of "uh oh yikes no". As we saw in the Hanna's-being-a-pit-viper arc, he's at least trying to grow out of his sad-sack ways.
Anyway, idk about Eve but I know I tend to do something really embarrassing, really self-loatheable, right before I turn a corner! Falling hard gives you the momentum to bounce back…? I guess I'm picturing myself as a rubber ball. Maybe Eve's the same!
wykstrad
Glad to know I'm not the only one who constantly transposes "Meredith" and "Marigold." I feel your pain, Greg.
Brett
Check out the guy on the floor, drinking from a dog bowl in the first panel. What the heck!?!?
you know
That's a dog.
Inclusit
That's… pretty obviously a dog….
Lynn
In Brett's defense, if you look at the dog's ear as a nose and its nose as a mouth it does look like a slightly terrifying human groveling on the ground.
reader
Dude… that is a dog
John Carter
I think that's just a dog.
Tessa The Moo
I made the same mistake. The bit that looks like a nose is the dog's ear, and what looks like, hair? I guess? Is the other eye.
Yammy
Just so you know this comment made me go back to the first panel so many times, over the course of several hours yesterday, trying to find the guy on the floor. "Where is he," I said to myself. "I mean there's a DOG, but where is the MAN. He said there's a man where is he!!!"
(I think this is the same kind of…gullibility? that makes me like, think REALLY carefully about every question when I'm filing my taxes. AM I blind or deaf? DO I have any dependent children? It's important to answer these things correctly, because what if you get audited.)
Arianod
SO tight.
Allie
oh goodness
I think we need a cast page
jon
Just remember, Eve, you're still a No Fly Zone for almost a week.
Col
We haven't been at Olly's in awhile. So much has happened but we don't know what Eve's job has been like now. When was the last time we were at her work?
Faye
I think it was during Will's arc when he delivers pot for the last time and gets a call from Eve out of the blue — the one with the pissed-on coconut.
I remember how Olly seemed really freakin' different, too. He was… optimistic? Happy? Maaaaybe went a little crazy? I don't know, I think loosing his other two employees kind of made him grow softer or something. Definitely looking forward to seeing him again.
Marvin Choi
This comic has gotten extra real.
Abed
But what if Meredith isn't a mistake…. and all along Meredith Gran has been writing a comic about her friends, watching their lives from the sidelines?
Or what if Meredith is Eve's imaginary best friend who follows her everywhere?
oldjeangallagher
Please don't boff Greg. There's nothing wrong with him, I just think you shouldn't do it. She's not going to, right?