Pear哥
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JUNE UPDATE 2/2 I WAS BORN TO WORK RETAIL
🕑 Added 2024-06-30 11:33:47 +0000 UTCHi!! Welcome to the second June update!
IWBTWR has encountered it's first story chokepoint. Which is really interesting. So I actually would like your opinion on how the direction of the comic from now on.
The Issue
IWBTWR was originally a one-off comic which made fun of working in retail in your early 20s. It mocks disrespectful customers, it makes fun of overtly obessive managers, and it also belittles your coworkers.
It was a newspaper relateable comic. Easily digestible, universally relateable to people from whatever country, and mostly inoffensive.
Over the course of the comic's lifetime, there's been a pivot towards more harder hitting topics and more cultual commentary about Hong Kong society. I guess the change was gradual, but it's been much more obvious in the recent comics.
I am proud of this direction, I believe that it's the right way to go. I think it turns a mostly inoffensive 4 panel comic that you randomly see on twitter, so somehting more personal with more meaning behind it. However I've also suspected that it's been too on the nose with some of the topics, and the some of the nuance/humor is ruined because of these topics as well.
Damn Peargor, way to make the obvious communist offical in the comic look like a communist. Especially from the lens of someone in their early 20s. It feels really pretentious and I regret implementing some of these topics so forcefully into to comic, I could've done it in a much more subtle way? I don't know, I feel like the topics are nessesary, especially for a comic taking place in Chinese retail.
I feel like politics should be more in the background. No way Jenny's going to start another Umbrella revolution in Hong Kong. Should they be something I should let the audience feel in the wind, rather than outright showing as a story element? Should it be a force you're going to feel but never interact with?
Or should I just embrace it and make it a core part of the story. With characters based on past events of HK as a city and culture. I'm so conflicted on what to do with actual politics in the comic, even when it's important in framing Jenny's experience as a character.
Like fuck man, some stuff irl here is becoming comically evil to the point that I'm just writing from irl experience, like special ed schools here are facing defunding cause they dont sing the national anthem loud enough.
< now I think to myself,
"should i even write that? It's real. It's kinda funny in a fucked up sort of way."
"I can make it part of the story I guess. "
"wait that's really insensitive to special eds instiutions"
"but im making fun of them being defunded, not the insitutions themselves"
"That's a good idea"
"I know nothing about them, and I even qualified to give my opinion on it?"
"maybe it's more important to make the issue public first"
"It should never be part of the story."
"dude it's a comedy comic, its not that deep"
I'm happy with the way I write self reflection moments for the characters. I think it's my strong suit, just expressing raw emotion. I'll continue in the way I present personal dialogue.
What are you expecting when you read IWBTWR? Are you expecting deep topics? Do you put more empthasis on how characters are written in the comics? Are you here for the art?
I feel like I'm not ready for some of the topics I've set up for me to make into stories. I'm not upset, I just feel like I need to try harder as a writer.
Updates:
If you got some general thoughts about IWBTR please comment!
Thank you all again! See you all in the next update! I'll have a load of Koishi Project previews lined up!
Comments
bob johnson
I like the newspaper relatability aspect of IWBTWR a lot, I think it resonates with a lot of people who have had to work not just retail but any underpaid, "cog-in-the-machine" style job. I also like the contrast between the boring, unchanging nature of the job itself and the more dynamic interactions that come from actually dealing with customers/coworkers, it makes the whole thing feel very human. I'd really enjoy longer stories that delve into the characters and their relationships a bit more (I really liked the fish keeper story), and I wouldn't mind if those stories were more "political" or HK-specific so long as they retain the parts of the comic that I like and don't stray too far from the original premise. Just my opinion.
Invarus
I think it's been great the way it's going.
