This entire vigilante shift seems to be Mustard regressing to her high school bully roots. Binky called her out on looking for people to terrorize. I wonder where she goes from here?
I’m not sure this is the real version of events. The corndog the clown bit is absolutely a thing that happened, and it’s not in here. Could just be an omission for the sake of tone, of course.
Holy heck. Squeaky got assaulted by a balloon tank, Oats was nearly hanged off the side of a building, Gus had the lower half of his face obliterated…and this still feels like the most brutal thing Echo has done. Maggie’s death seems to have truly changed who Morgan wanted to be, and as sorrowful yet relieved as Mustard must have been that her sister was alive, she brought the ugly past with her and shoved her face into it. In chapter five she wondered if Maggie would be proud of her, of who she had become. Of all the grieving people in the world who wish they could hear the answer to that question firsthand, Morgan actually got to…and look what it’s done to her.
Maybe this’ll be what’s needed for her to truly change, to become someone who never would act the way she did when she first came back in black.
This page, suddenly and with great force, is making me ask myself why the guy who could argue anybody into anything found it so important that the woman who could reproduce any funny trick she saw not be able to speak.
Nah. It’s a fun theory, but Gus’s arguing ability is pretty explicitly described as something that can’t be learned, like PJ’s sleeping or strongman’s strength.
Yeah I think it’s more nuanced. Some abilities have pretty specific circumstances. Like being born with a bigger body and muscles is different from sleep walking, but neither can be mimicked, yet I don’t think PJ’s sleep quirks can be given through genetic manipulation science like strong man’s. McBell just improvises which can’t really be taught, but learning how to gaslight people could probably be studied. Or even stuff like Fuschia’s tech can be copied but not her intelligence.
So, I gave it some thought, and, I’m not sure how on-the-clown-nose I am on this, but, here’s what I think.
I think the truth is somewhere in between. Morrigan probably was a very flawed person in High School, but probably not nearly as bad as Maggie is making her out to be. I think the color flashback is more accurate to the truth, and the black and white flashbacks are the perceptive flashbacks. It might not be entirely accurate, but, it’s accurate to how the character feels.
Mustard’s tears might not be inherently an acknowledgement of guilt, but rather, an understanding of how her actions might’ve affected Maggie’s perceptions and sent her down this path.
Huh. Morgan’s dialogue sorta reminds me of the dynamic between Mae and Gregg from night in the woods, only one sided. Well, panel 7, anyway. In context it comes across meaner. It’s like: “You do care but don’t want to be vulnerable about it, which makes sense when your younger sister relentlessly bullies you because she thinks you’re a bully, why would you want to be emotionally vulnerable around someone who acts that way.”
Making it about you, then glaring and raising your voice, sneering, morbid jokes about her dying… It’s super easy to see just this page in isolation as chill younger sister vs mean older sister because that’s what this particular scene comes across as. …it’s not that simple.
I don’t usually feel a lot of strong emotions about being a middle child, but I’m glad that I am one right now, since I actually understand what it’s like to have both a younger sibling and an older sibling. Since it’s oldest + youngest sibling as the dynamic, they don’t really understand each other’s perspectives intuitively. I remember growing up I had several friends who had all been the oldest child, and they just acted mean in ways that seemed really uncalled for while expecting me to relate to them about having a younger sibling. It’s, like, no that’s embarrassing, “I do have the experience of having a younger sibling but you don’t have the experience of being a younger sibling,” right? It’s like… Morgan probably just didn’t realize how hurtful she was being. :/
Maggie doesn’t really seem to get how hurtful she was being either, not having had the experience of having a younger sibling in the context of that type of dynamic… Yeah, I was the nice one in my family. Somehow. I wasn’t even that nice. My perspective was literally, “I hate that you act that way and I don’t want to be that much of a [word] so I won’t do that to someone else.” I was blunt and judgemental, as a teenager in particular. I’m still pretty judgemental and blunt actually. Whatever. I like talking about myself lol. In any case yeah making yourself out to be the chill rational one and being smug about it when someone’s visibly upset is actually pretty mean, I don’t think most people realize that since they tend to focus on how it feels like winning?
I don’t know what to believe anymore.
Ted Chiang has a short story about the unreliability of personal narratives, even ones that define us— The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Truth_of_Fact,_the_Truth_of_Feeling
I had a feeling there was a Rashomon bent to this. Glad to see a second take on the same flashback to really confirm it.
You can’t get rid of me that easy…
‘Cause I’m with you to the end of the line
It’s incredible how well this lines up with page 3 of the chapter. Love this.
This entire vigilante shift seems to be Mustard regressing to her high school bully roots. Binky called her out on looking for people to terrorize. I wonder where she goes from here?
I’m not sure this is the real version of events. The corndog the clown bit is absolutely a thing that happened, and it’s not in here. Could just be an omission for the sake of tone, of course.
I think probably omitted for brevity
Holy heck. Squeaky got assaulted by a balloon tank, Oats was nearly hanged off the side of a building, Gus had the lower half of his face obliterated…and this still feels like the most brutal thing Echo has done. Maggie’s death seems to have truly changed who Morgan wanted to be, and as sorrowful yet relieved as Mustard must have been that her sister was alive, she brought the ugly past with her and shoved her face into it. In chapter five she wondered if Maggie would be proud of her, of who she had become. Of all the grieving people in the world who wish they could hear the answer to that question firsthand, Morgan actually got to…and look what it’s done to her.
Maybe this’ll be what’s needed for her to truly change, to become someone who never would act the way she did when she first came back in black.
This page, suddenly and with great force, is making me ask myself why the guy who could argue anybody into anything found it so important that the woman who could reproduce any funny trick she saw not be able to speak.
Oh my fucking god…
………..OH.
Nah. It’s a fun theory, but Gus’s arguing ability is pretty explicitly described as something that can’t be learned, like PJ’s sleeping or strongman’s strength.
I don’t know. It would certainly make sense if Gus was a genetic freak, but I can’t find a page that “explicitly” confirms the source of his ability.
Some relevant pages:
https://clowncorps.net/comic/chapter-5-page-10/
https://clowncorps.net/comic/chapter-5-page-30/
https://clowncorps.net/comic/chapter-5-page-70/
https://clowncorps.net/comic/chapter-5-page-87/
Yeah I think it’s more nuanced. Some abilities have pretty specific circumstances. Like being born with a bigger body and muscles is different from sleep walking, but neither can be mimicked, yet I don’t think PJ’s sleep quirks can be given through genetic manipulation science like strong man’s. McBell just improvises which can’t really be taught, but learning how to gaslight people could probably be studied. Or even stuff like Fuschia’s tech can be copied but not her intelligence.
Wow. How did I not put that together?
That… seems suddenly incredibly relevant, yes.
now there’s a hecking point
Siblings relationship are hard to describe no matter how far apart you are and how you grow up apart.
Seems to me that they are getting along like most sisters who are close in age.
The previous version of this flashback was in color; this one is in black-and-white. Should we be reading anything into that? And if so, which way?
So, I gave it some thought, and, I’m not sure how on-the-clown-nose I am on this, but, here’s what I think.
I think the truth is somewhere in between. Morrigan probably was a very flawed person in High School, but probably not nearly as bad as Maggie is making her out to be. I think the color flashback is more accurate to the truth, and the black and white flashbacks are the perceptive flashbacks. It might not be entirely accurate, but, it’s accurate to how the character feels.
Mustard’s tears might not be inherently an acknowledgement of guilt, but rather, an understanding of how her actions might’ve affected Maggie’s perceptions and sent her down this path.
Just my two cents.
No yeah i was just thinking about that! Why wouldn’t she be able to copy his techniques and make Mustard believe anything?
Even if this flashback is accurate, that could still be the case. Mustard, vigilantism aside, has changed from high school.
On the other hand, and idk if I’m reading too much into things, so grain of salt, but in Mustard’s flashback Maggie took a bit out of the corndog.
“Regrets are a pain in the ass.”
That line was missing here from Page 3…
Hmmm…
Huh. Morgan’s dialogue sorta reminds me of the dynamic between Mae and Gregg from night in the woods, only one sided. Well, panel 7, anyway. In context it comes across meaner. It’s like: “You do care but don’t want to be vulnerable about it, which makes sense when your younger sister relentlessly bullies you because she thinks you’re a bully, why would you want to be emotionally vulnerable around someone who acts that way.”
Making it about you, then glaring and raising your voice, sneering, morbid jokes about her dying… It’s super easy to see just this page in isolation as chill younger sister vs mean older sister because that’s what this particular scene comes across as. …it’s not that simple.
I don’t usually feel a lot of strong emotions about being a middle child, but I’m glad that I am one right now, since I actually understand what it’s like to have both a younger sibling and an older sibling. Since it’s oldest + youngest sibling as the dynamic, they don’t really understand each other’s perspectives intuitively. I remember growing up I had several friends who had all been the oldest child, and they just acted mean in ways that seemed really uncalled for while expecting me to relate to them about having a younger sibling. It’s, like, no that’s embarrassing, “I do have the experience of having a younger sibling but you don’t have the experience of being a younger sibling,” right? It’s like… Morgan probably just didn’t realize how hurtful she was being. :/
Maggie doesn’t really seem to get how hurtful she was being either, not having had the experience of having a younger sibling in the context of that type of dynamic… Yeah, I was the nice one in my family. Somehow. I wasn’t even that nice. My perspective was literally, “I hate that you act that way and I don’t want to be that much of a [word] so I won’t do that to someone else.” I was blunt and judgemental, as a teenager in particular. I’m still pretty judgemental and blunt actually. Whatever. I like talking about myself lol. In any case yeah making yourself out to be the chill rational one and being smug about it when someone’s visibly upset is actually pretty mean, I don’t think most people realize that since they tend to focus on how it feels like winning?