Abel's Story, 10-31-06

[DigitalMan]

Well now, that's demented...

*checks, sees no other topic* >.>;

[Zedd]

Nice and on time too..

[DigitalMan]

*still can't believe he made a topic at all, let alone one for the comic* Fear me, for I am ninja!

But on topic, it looks like Devin's past might be just a little more screwed up than average, wouldn't you say? There are certain conditions where one must say, "Alright, you're allowed to be a jerk."

[Kasarn]

Woo... crazy eyes...

[Jim Halisstrad]

And that folks, is what we call the Crazy eyes. 
Of course, that term is past it's Expiration date, but there are a lot of other Sick things I could have said.  Fortunately, having a new Abel's story is Nursing my mental health.  Actually it's Burning up with ideas about this comic.  Hey, I bet Devin's mom had a wicked sense of humor, she probably Slayed them up at the abortion clinic.

[Netami]

Has her relatives arrived yet?

Have her relatives arrived yet?

The latter sounds right, but maybe it isn't. The English language is funny like that.

[DigitalMan]

If we were speaking about a real person Jim would certainly be awarded "Most insensitive asshole."

But she's not real, so you're lucky

EDIT: And you are completely accurate Natami; grammar dictates that it should be "have." Considering the same error was on the standardized writing test I just took, I'm surprised anyone caught it.

[komissarmakarov]

Bigods- poor Devin. :

On one hand, I must congratulate Amber on this. The raw emotion is wonderfully captured, and I'll have to admit that its intensity somewhat scared me a little.

Which leads me on to my next point- Amber, I hope you're not inspired by actual events

What's more frightening is his mother's remark of there being 'others'. Jeebus krispies, I'm creeped out.

(That being said, and I know this is horrible of me, is anyone else seeing this lead... somewhere a bit less PG?)

[Magic]

Mmh. Nice.

[Tapewolf]

So Devin's mother was a psycho?  That would mess him up pretty good.

[Psaakyrn]

So, how many others were there? Chances are that the father is involved somehow with the decision to kill the others, but how?

However, the real question, is not why she killed the others, but of why she she did not kill him. What made him different from the rest, that she didn't try to kill him?

Regarding grammer: Both are correct: "Her relatives" can be seen as plural, or as a singular group.

[ITOS]

Ouch.

But I still wonder if it's the father's fault that Devin's mom went crazy or if she always has been like that.

[Sid]

Regarding grammer: Both are correct: "Her relatives" can be seen as plural, or as a singular group.

...my intuition somehow doubts the "singular group" thesis. *flips open his "Practical English Usage" book*
The normal structure for such groups is "singular noun + singular/plural verb" (British English allows both, depending on context; American English normally uses the singular verb), like "the team has won".
A plural noun being used with singular verbs usually happens when you mean things like "five tons of metal is a lot", "two and two is four", "more than one person is happy", "one of them is happy", "the gin and tonic costs too much", "The United States is...".
I never heard of "the relatives has". The word "relatives" is plural, so it should get a plural verb. So it's either "her relative has" or "her relatives have" (or "one of her relatives has").
Of course, that's my intuition and two hastily checked sections of a book. If you got some proof that "relatives" is a singular group like "team" or "family", please show me. English isn't my first language, so it's possible that I'm simply overlooking something.

On-topic... wow. That's pretty messed up. Devin's mother killed her other children? His father left... because Devin existed? Stuff like that really messes up your childhood. X_x

[bill]

The tricky thing about singular groups is when you have something like "Six members of his family", or even worse, "Most of his family". I believe the first is plural, and the second is singular. I'm not sure, though.

[Vidar]

Maybe it's canadian english.

Also, Devin's mom is one crazy sick b*****. Killing your own kids? Does furrae have a hell?

[Psaakyrn]

*remembers something, and points to http://pholph.com/index_a.php?Strip=365 just because*

And regarding the point of "relatives", I'll give an example of them being used as a group:
"Has her relatives arrived?" (as opposed to "Have her relatives arrived?")
"One of her relatives has arrived." (as opposed to "One relative has arrived")

[ShiningShadow]

The more I see Devin's past I kinds reminds of my past *not exactly the same* Anywho that's my past. Right now Devin as a kid should not went through this but there's something there between his mother and father something that made her cracked under the pressure of killing her children time and time again.
I think it's the mom guilty conscience got to her and the truth came out that way. I'm begining to understand Devin's characteristics and the way he emotionally handle things in life. I feel sorry for him but I think he should examine himself more to deal with these things if he has already done it. Man the raw emotion was so cool i love it like my spanish soaps.

[Nerikull]

Maybe it's canadian english.

Also, Devin's mom is one crazy sick b*****. Killing your own kids? Does furrae have a hell?

*coughs and points to the "Jack" comic*  Mmmmmaybe.

---

Yeah, that would be a fairly damaging to a kid. Also, her reference to the "others"...brrr.

[Stygian]

*"Ninjas" DigitalMan from the darkness*

SURPRISE BUTTSECKS?!

Anyhow, the story of my life. What really disturbs me though is the "I should have killed you like the others!" statement. True, I do find all of it good in a way. But there are certain things... too lowly to be allowed.

[Amber Williams]

A)  Oftentimes when I'm typing for certain characters, I type what I talk...which doesn't always equate to proper perfect English.  Which is why words like Dunno, Couldya, and such will pop in from time to time.

B) I'm going to club Dave Hopkins in the knees.  Then steal his wallet....and possibly his wife.  Look for it next Conifur as a panel event.

[Alondro]

*Charles erf*  She prolly ate her other children!  I have suspicions...    *looks at Charline*  It wouldn't be the first time I've heard of such things!

*Charline growls*  That wasn't my fault!  He triple dog dared me!  I couldn't just let something like that go!  Anyway, I'm sure Devin's mother had a perfectly rational explanation in mind... until she died.  

[willow186129]

*runs over to Devin...hugs him...ninjas away*

Poor Devin ;-; It's not really his fault his mom was a whackjob.

Yeah, the referance to "others" creeped me out o_o Craaaazyyyy

[Aridas]

Wow. That'd screw you up good. Devin's a justified ass.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

B) I'm going to club Dave Hopkins in the knees.  Then steal his wallet....and possibly his wife.  Look for it next Conifur as a panel event.

*makes note to go to Conifur*

Wow. That'd screw you up good. Devin's a justified ass.

... yet still an ass. Unmitigated, even.

[Gabi]

If we were speaking about a real person Jim would certainly be awarded "Most insensitive asshole."

But she's not real, so you're lucky

EDIT: And you are completely accurate Natami; grammar dictates that it should be "have." Considering the same error was on the standardized writing test I just took, I'm surprised anyone caught it.

The first thing I did when I clicked on this topic was search for the word 'Has' to see if anyone else had pointed it out yet.

Anyway, that's awful. No wonder it affected Devin so much.

[Stig Hemmer]

... yet still an ass. Unmitigated, even.

In his school days he was an ass, no doubt about it.  However, it looks as if he has grown up now... mostly. What he has done to Abel since the funeral has been silly pranks really, they only seem bad because of Abels memories.

Devon should see that Abel is scared silly of him, so he shouldn't have done even the pranks. Still, better the prankster than the previous bully.

[rt]

wow that is harsh .. something like that would indeed mess you up.

.. an extra nice evil touch with "the others" 

As for the grammer/spelling police ..
*tosses some random punctuation and miss-spelled words in a pit and watches chaos ensue*

[MT Hazard]

Spoken Grammar if often ignored by the majority of people, that makes this strip more realistic in my opinion. The thing I picked up on was Devin saying "Your crushing me" I would imagine a child would be more likely to say "your hurting me". brilliant atmoshere. Would be devastating for a child to know that his mother didn't love him and his father left because he was born. Plus the dead siblings bit,very creepy. Also he is carrying conflicting images of her in his head, which of course would cause further problems. It could be she did care for him a bit but not enough to override the hate she had for him as he 'caused' her husband to leave.It could also be the husband that caused the killing, one way or another.

[Arcalane]

So Devin's mother was a psycho?  That would mess him up pretty good.

Feverish? Hmmm. If it weren't for the fact Devin seems healthy enough, I'd blame it on that lovely three letter acronym - STD.

As for the 'others'... abortion - one way or another - is my guess.

[DigitalMan]

The more I look at that page the more frightened and creeped out I am... It's the kind of thing that sends a chill down your spine. Which is good for Amber, bad for Devin