Com'c #139

The vote button text writer is currently being tortured

for information. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Commentary

Off-panel, Victor is mutilating Colour My World by Westlife. For context, I should mention that I'm a big fan of Westlife music in general, and Block knows that.

This str'p isn't particularly funny, but it will be important in the future. It is also deserved, for reasons I'll elaborate on later.

Any good writer will tell you that a good character is your worst enemy: They'll act in ways out of your control, sometimes ruining carefully thought out plots and jokes. On the flip side, they can do things that benefit you, but the point here is it's out of the author's control. While I can't claim to be a good writer, Block is a character who does this fairly often, and this str'p and the previous one are a direct result of this.

A few days ago, I came to think about how the mechanics of Block's unnoticeability worked with things he interacted with, and quickly realized that Block's description in panel 2 must be how it's always been. (This is the way that is most compatible with the established canon and feels the most natural to me - I've probably been using it subconsciously.) The problem is, however, that once I realized that, the part of me that writes Block jumped on this plan to take revenge on me. I have had practically no control over the events of this and the previous str'p - this is all Block.

I realize this probably sounds rather silly, at least if you don't have experience with writing characters, but that's how it is.

Oh, and to clarify panel two: Block's influence on things can't be noticed, but the actual changes can. This means he can interact with things only if nobody with an intact fourth wall will notice that someone unseen (Block) has influenced it. It's like a reverse ninja. The ninja can do almost anything unnoticed, Block can't do anything that is noticed. He can add some songs to Victor's playlist without Victor noticing because Victor isn't very attentive, doesn't listen to his playlist very often and wouldn't react much to hearing a song he didn't remember having on the list before. (An alternative take was that his unnoticeability spreads to his interactions, but wears off after a while, explaining how the hole in the wall went unnoticed for 28 str'ps. This would also work with the playlist, but it has some issues of its own.)

On a brighter note, next up: The Com'c One Year Super-Special!