Antitussive

Ho ho! That Buddha! Either I'm sticking with the narrative of this tiny web-based universe and his story's cunning use of a hilariously awful pun laid over Buddhist themes brought me back running, or I've been working on the comics the whole time and we are all very clear on the boundary between fantasy and reality. Hard to say which.

In either case, I'm back, and so too will Dido be, in a strip or two. I rather like this kind of "filler", which is in finger-quotes because if you go back and look it's really about half and half between advancement of the "plot" and really low puns. Today's story is a creative re-engineering of possibly my favorite joke in the entire world, which really only works if you're totally into telling the story and are also doing it in person. In text, it really needs some help to work, which is why I folded in Buddha's characteristic balance between really wanting everyone to become enlightened and really loving bad jokes. It doesn't really split sides in the same way, but I feel the characterization adds a bit of interest. Somewhere.

Apparently Buddha telling a story also means I recycle backgrounds like nobody's business. By now pretty much everyone recognizes the "Puppy!" background; I'm working on making it totally iconic for introductions of any sort. Panel three's background is the weird-angle shot of the Buddha's room from Failing to Believe, the psychedelic spiral comes to us courtesy of Feelin' Groovy, and the static was scooped from the TV in Oh, the Geometry! Anytime you see Tess, you see the background from panel six.

Other than that, ain't a lot to be said. It's good to be back. Lord only knows what Dido would have done with total creative control. Especially now that it's a Discordian--it's been poring over Wikipedia's page and the external links leading therefrom ever since we finished taping panel one--and found that little bit in Tess about gravity being subjective. It's only a matter of time before someone mentions Douglas Adam's whole "throw yourself at the ground and miss" thing, and then--

Whoops. I think I just taught Dido how to fly.