Chapter 5, Page 35

Whew, big weekend. Thanks to everyone who stopped by at CALA!

I’m in the middle of traveling the whole week, so as I mentioned the updates will be somewhat sporadic. I’ve also got through being sick for the first part of the month so hopefully that bad luck is out of the way and the rest will just be lovely normal health HAHA

okay that’s enough tempting fate, and I can’t think of anything else to write, so see you later

62 Comments

  • Kyle

    I want to see the end!!!
    But I also want you to live!!!
    What’s the current plan for the schedule?

  • That’s one sodded up love triangle, haha.

    • (I know, I know)

      • MA

        There’s many forms of love, you could argue this is in fact a love triangle (though I dislike that term, it’s a love V unless A loves B and B love C but C love A.)

        • J.A Kooistra

          I feel that when relationships turn into advancedalgebra you might be making things a little to difficult.

          • Roo

            I nearly choked on Dr. Pepper reading these comments

    • Finn Kenyon

      I see no reason to assume there is love involved, a little bit of mutual respect and understanding beginning to develop between Fish and Bex, and a pretty decent friendship between Fish and Kalla. Not to mention, Fish is gay.

  • Solanuma

    Ah,finally someone said it

  • JJ

    water your thighfriend regularly and you will get along dandy

  • Some_douchebag

    “Eventually we have to. When we escape.”
    Shing, please don’t do this to me. Please don’t make the comic’s best waifu be the one ends up all alone.

    • awhorl

      It took a prod from the dialog for this to occur to me–obviously I have been actively avoiding the possibility: What if Kalla didn’t live for ages and ages, being given a new body regularly by the Processor, but actually died long long ago? And the Kalla we met is a manifestation of the Processor in her shape? Sob. That would free the two humans to leave, but it would bust my heart anyway.

      • Some_Douchebag

        That’s fine. The processor is a super-humanly (super-martianly) intelligent AI. I, for one, happen to think smart is sexy.

        • Pyrania

          Sapiosexual is the term.

      • SomeUnregPunk

        Perhaps they are all just a part of the processor. They just don’t know it because each part has access to restricted information and is further limited by their abilities.

        • John Yut Sang Cheung Groenvold

          That’s not any different from being a real person, just one that lacks much sovereignty.

  • MoonSight

    Gotta love how Mike’s watering Thigh-Friend

    • Flang

      I just noticed that, too – on my third viewing of this installment. I hope it doesn’t foretell Thighfriend’s ability to betray them.

  • Katie Veronin

    “You did, you know. Ax her head off.” – A solid point.

    I don’t have high hopes for Kalla escaping with them. In her talks with Mike earlier it seemed like she had already resigned herself to staying down there forever.

  • David Dahlbacka

    I’m still wondering, will thighfriend allow Mike to stay alive even outside the cavern, where there’s no oxygen?

  • Daviddahlbacka

    Or maybe the denouement is for Mike to die on exit from lack of oxygen, and Bex walks on, past a pile of previous Mikes who got that far and died?

    • Rana

      O.O

    • PurpleFelix

      So… Bex is Orpheus?

    • Alan

      There is also the possibility Mike and Bex bust out, Kalla is nowhere to be seen, and just before the processor seals the exit, Kalla uses her super martian jump to clear the portal.

  • ness

    I feel like this is gonna lead them into butting heads again for some reason :<

  • Tark

    This lady is annoying and I want Kalla back lmao.

  • Allen

    Hey there!!!! Glad to see more updates and am intensly anticipating the final pages with glee. This has been my number one favorite since i found it. Great job!!!

  • Kuggur

    Hi Der-Shing. Hope you are doing well. I am very curious how this very interesting (and fantastically drawn) story will play out. You hinted recently that we are nearing the conclusion. Hope you get the chance to start updating again. Think I will reread it in the meantime, when following such a plotdriven comic I sometimes miss/forget stuff important to the story.
    My curiosity prevents me from waiting til completion, and then binge reading.

  • PurpleFelix

    So glad I checked back in! I haven’t checked my favorite feeds in what feels like forever. Love your work :]

  • Fleece

    Haha, in the last page there was a good method of making Mike lose his sadness beard.

  • iowawa

    Did Der-Shing come back yet? I’m starting to get worried.

  • Kuggur

    Same here. Hope she’s allright.

  • Well, she’s still posting on Twitter, so nothing serious at least, I hope.

  • Wong Zhou

    She’s still tweeting, so she’s still alive. I think she’s just juggling a lot of projects simultaneously, plus life happens. Updates tend to come in waves and then go silent for long stretches. She’ll post something amazing here again someday. :)

  • Kuggur

    Ah, good, just a matter of patience then.
    The comic is high quality artwork, I can imagine there goes quite a lot of time in each page. Not someting to rush, especially when someone has a busy schedule.

  • Ben

    Has this comic been abandoned? Or does it simply have no resolution?

    • CJG

      I suspect that it is simply not finished and life has gotten in the way. You must be new to webcomics, these things need a good decade+ before you can consider them DOA!

  • Kuggur

    Well as someone not new to webcomics, very often such an unannounced hiatus that stretches for months means it just never picks up again.
    I imagine such a project as a long standing webcomic can just lose its momentus. Must be complicated too, an author of a novel for instance can always go back during writing, and adjust, tweaking storylines, fixing continuity problems etc. Impossible when you publish each page immediately.
    And of course life gets in the way, the creator has gotten work that actually pays the bills, stuff like that.
    I don’t feel entitled to receive this free high quality artwork, and would have no problem with Dersingh calling it quits at this point. Then its an open ending, and great fun while it lasted.
    It would be nice to get an update if that is the case. Last thing she wrote here was a promise of a swift ending of the story (which of course would be the option I hope for).

    • Hannah

      I don’t think she’d quit when she’s so close…and I don’t think this is the first time she’s had to go on hiatus (which I agree is totally her right). Heck, just take a look at her page for The Meek, which had a post for the first time after like a year.
      I always like updates, but regardless I’ll always check back every now and then and cheer in the background :)

    • so

      there is an ending, and it’s coming. shing is probably very busy with life and tons of other things. it will be worth the wait when it arrives, in the meantime we can send her good vibes <3

    • Shweta

      This particular comic has gone on hiatus for a while without warning before; Der-Shing has health issues as well as a lot of projects.

      I’m confident that if health allows, this comic will finish up and that it’ll be spectacular, so do check back :)

  • Magdalene

    If you look at Der-shing’s Twitter, they recently posted that they’re not updating right now due to having a lot on their plate (shipping books, moving, etc.)

    https://twitter.com/shingworks/status/1101279230040535041

  • Always “nice” to see your comment not making it through for no obvious reason.

    • shingworks

      Nothing nefarious, I just don’t check the site when I’m off updating. I have to manually approve all comments made by new emails (to spare readers from the 30 pieces of viagra spam I get a day) so I didn’t get to do that until now.

      Unfortunately I have to go dump my 9 months of viagra spam now lol

  • Wong Zhou

    The first panel of this comic is so meta ^^

    • Ford Prefect

      Agreed!

  • Gemi

    It was fun while it lasted, but Im going to call it quits on waiting for this one. Good art and story.

  • Kuggur

    Well, “waiting” doesn’t involve more trouble than clicking a link in my favourites, so I won’t stop checking in now and again.
    But a four month announced hiatus does not bode well, especially in combination with promises of a swift conclusion…Makes me wonder if the author actually has a thought out ending in mind.
    We’ll see (or not…)
    It is always a possibility with such plot driven comics, that they just peter out.

    • Crowbar

      IIRC Der-Shing said they rewrote 20-30 pages of ending based on new experiences since the kickstarter last year.

  • Miri

    I’m not giving up yet – I waited a year (or longer?) for Blindsprings to return after Kadi’s unannounced hiatus, so this isn’t unprecedented. It would be awesome to have a status update with a projected time Der-Shing will resume updating, though. Even if it’s another 4-8+ months from now

  • Allen

    Well this isn’t the first hiatus ice seen for this welcoming but shing has a loaded plate and i have hope for an end….. Won’t stop checking and waiting!! Love it so far glad to be part of the fandom

  • a dude

    Hang in there Der Shing. Love your work, all the best.

  • mike w.

    Still watching. Still waiting. Hope all is well!

  • so ville

    guys, she’s coming back and ending this comic. sometimes life is harder than you expect. she must have good reasons for the prolonged hiatus, and as supporters we should just wish her the best and hope she can soon resume again, because she will. this story is worth it <3

  • Kevin in WI

    Every time I visit to check if there is an update, I get caught up in the irony that Dershing stopped on a page that starts with, “Did she come back yet?”….

  • Eversist

    May not be my place to relay this, but she did change her username on Twitter to “Der-shing 德馨 Helmer @ finally finishing That Comic.” Best wishes, Der-shing! Looking forward to getting the book, whenever it’s ready. c:

  • Loxmyth

    Just another “we miss you, hope your absence is due to good news rather than bad.”

  • Brain and Brain - what is "brain?"

    What Loxmyth said above. We love your work and look forward to more of your lovingly produced story.

  • LeDayz

    Well I just got a KS survey, so I guess we’ll be back to comic updates soon.

    • remna

      yay!

  • Sved

    She is growing cacti. I’m pretty sure that’s a good sign.

  • ProphetZarquon

    “Did she come back yet?”
    No? Dang. OK, just checking…

  • Pylgrim

    Heh, look at all the people who predict that the comic will not be picked up again after all this time. All I have to say is: clearly, you weren’t around at the beginning of The Meek. The comic will 100% return and will be finished.

    Wait, I do have another thing to say: For the love of everything, people, get yourselves an RSS reader.

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