8: Caught in the Middle
Sep25
on September 25, 2018
at 12:00 AM
Chapter: Getting Back Into the Groove
Location: Southeil Academy, The High School
Note from the Editor:
If you’re having trouble reading the text, please click the page image to view a larger version.
I have a sneaking suspicion that Red will be holding up just fine. Just a hunch.
Awesome, i was missing Red.
Yea, I have missed Red!
Nothing like an old family rivalry between a brother and sister and Melvin right to try and stay out of it too. Some how I don’t think that going to happen. I don’t think it going to happen right now, but, back story on Red would be nice to have, not too distance in the future also.
Red is working with Ida and Honey Heart. I’m pretty sure he is doing just fine. As for the girl’s school, a guy in a girl’s body is the perfect camouflage.
Who’s Tim, and why didn’t he make it on him?
Huh, you mean Tiff? That’s the nickname that JJ use to call Red.
@ Robert Nowall and @Carlos Your both wrong and he doesn’t mean Tiff either Carlos, Melvin got cut off on his last sentence. Look at the sentence structure of what Melvin is saving in the first frame, which is what Robert Nowall is talking about, there are three sentences there, I numbered them 1. 2. 3.:
1. Hi Guys!
2. You wouldn’t believe the morning that I have had!
3. I ALMOST DIDN’T MAKE IT ON TIM. <— The incomplete sentence, where the E on TIM is missing.
3. I ALMOST DIDN'T MAKE IT ON TIME. <— The completed sentence where the E on TIME isn't missing.
The next sentence where TIM come up isn't Tim or a person, is an incomplete sentence or word. The last word suppose to be Time, Melvin talking about being late and he not talking about a person here.
It changed the entire meaning of the sentence from a person name to "time". This is how people can jump to the wrong conclusion and do it innocently too.
I’m pretty sure you just got wooshed, Larry. Robert seems to be making a joke about the amusing nature of how Melvin got cut off while saying the word “time”.
@Robert. Either Larry got wooshed or he has REALLY dry humor. One or the other.
Dumb question: what means “wooshed”? It’s not part of the slang where I live.
@ijuinkun:
Interpreting from context, I’m pretty sure “wooshed” means “fooled”. Don’t worry: I don’t think it’s standard slang, anywhere.
Robert, sometimes subtle humor is lost. I appreciated the joke, though!
Lotsa jokes like that. “Do you like Kipling?” “I don’t know, I’ve never Kippled.”
I read the sentence and found myself missing the obvious ellipsis. “Almost didn’t make it on tim…”
You tease me with the possibility of frog related tf. :/
Out of curiosity, do you want to see someone turn into an actual frog or a hybrid like the butterfrog?
An actual frog. Frog tfs are a personal favorite of mine.
JJ. turn JJ into a butterfrog. But to quote Roger Rabbit, it will only work if it’s funny.
I wanna see her turned into a frog too.
I mean, not like 100% frog, like 90% frog. Like, a frog with red hair and eyelashes. lol
@Nobody: I take it that you’re a big fan of Princess and the Frog, then? I’m also quite fond of that movie, but mostly for Tiana in that blue dress, rather than the frog stuff. heh
@Robert – I’m a fan of that movie too, but mostly for the music and the villain.
@Robert: Actually, no. I want to like it, because it’s got a neat villain and, of course, there are frog tfs, but . . .
The film’s structure means it never properly builds to anything, leaving the climax feeling weak; it’s theming is way too on the nose for my tastes; and it’s paced like it was written by a 13-year-old. And it’s all the more frustrating because the guys who made that movie also made Great Mouse Detective, Aladdin, and Treasure Planet, so I KNOW they know better than this.
@Carlos, Robert: A couple of small typos:
– Panel 1: “tim” -> “time”.
– Panel 3: “thi” -> “this”.
It’s not typos, it’s deliberate to show he was interrupted before finishing talking. So, tim- and thi-.
Correct.
Ah, I couldn’t make out the hyphens.
Robert, is there any possibility of increasing the point size of the type, just slightly?
As mentioned in previous page descriptions, this is the last page where the font size was smaller than intended. Pages 9 and up will be entirely legible at the displayed image size. And even more legible when you click the comic to see the full-size file.
@Robert: Ah. Thanks. I had forgotten when that was going to change.
@Carlos: Just wondering… are we ever going to get an actual glimpse of the butterfrog? I’m getting curious to know what Melvin saw.
@Robert:
Minor grammatical quibble: In panel five, bubble 2, Clarence is referred to as “her”, while in bubble 3, it becomes “he”.
It seems like it would be more consistent to use either “her” & “she”, or “his” & “he”. IMHO, of course.
This could imply confusion on Melvin’s part. Like his brain doesn’t know which pronoun to assign him anymore.
I think that it’s a wonderful method to express his confusion about his friend. Is he a she, is she a he? How permanently is this or is it just in flux? Will Clarence ever return? Or will he always remain as Tiffany? How do I refer to my friend who didn’t ask to be changed?
All in all, I expect the confusion to endure, because it is an element of the humor in this story.
I am going with Frith Ra here. Not only is Melvin confused on how to refer to Red, Tiffany, Clarence. He also having problem deciding which of the pronoun he should use to refer his friend as her, him, she, he and they all apply depending which context we choose use too. In the personal interaction on a day to day basses, Melvin going to refer to his friend as a she or her or as Red or Tiffany. Now this is in the real world that Melvin living in.
But, Melvin heart of heard of heard or in his mind, he still see Clarence as his friend true identity and does not see Red or Tiffany as his real identity so he drops back to the male gender pronoun in the third bubble and uses he instead of she. But, Red or Tiffany has been working with her dad. Which means that she has been working as a female modal for the last three months. Where they do camera shoot for girl or ladies underwire, bras, dresses, shoes for the fall ladies magazines that going to be coming out soon. She has also probably has done a few live runway walks to display to invited guest of clothing stores change to see the new cloths that are going on sale this fall for them to place order on for there stores. She could have also have been invited to a few launches where she had to display the outfits for most of the day too. Remember Red or Tiffany is a modal now, that was put under contract to be a modal by her dad. Who is probably putting away some of the money for a collage fund for his daughter too. I am assuming that he has at least some Paternal instincts for his daughter here even if it not perfect.
So Melvin has a real fear here, for Clarence mental state of him being a boy after all this forced feminizing of his friend and now is wondering how he holding up under all the pressure of having to act like a girl. Then he/she has to go to an all girl school too. But, remember that Red or Tiffany has already been to the all girl school for about two or three months already, because, his parents transferred Red or Tiffany immediately after Clarence was transferred into a girl by Jeanie. Does Clarence still exist or is he DOA or Dead On Arrival and is now Red or Tiffany now.
A boy has a big enough problem with his identity without having to deal with something like this. That what Melvin worried about.
Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am…