Comment by Dire

Oh my god. Necropony on the top banner. Absolute best thing ever.

Poor Jonan. The wounds to the pride here must be cutting deep.

Reply by rainycity1

I went 'ahhh' when I saw that, I admit. <3

Reply by Shazzbaa

He's not a main character at all, but as the most beloved character of this entire comic, he deserved a place in the banner. c:

Reply by Why?!?!

You obviously don't read your own comic, Shazz! Necropony is SO a main character! He's the only reason I come around here.

Him(?) and the great story, awesome art, and wonderful pacing, anyway.

Comment by Mer

At first I was like "I can't think of which new faces she must've added to the top bannerOMG DA NECROPONY!!" XD Love it! Also: seeing Iavin on the banner smiling like that is a strange and scary thing lol xD

Also also: askdalkdj Jonan! I can't wait for the humbling character development this will cause for him maybe at some point |D

Reply by reynard61

"I can't wait for the humbling character development this will cause for him maybe at some point |D"

Or he'll get more vengeful...

Reply by Shazzbaa

(Fear is an appropriate reaction to smiling Iavin, I think)

Comment by Riverfox237

Oh my goodness, Kirby's D: face! So sweet and adorable! And I love how you showed Jonan's thirst /hunger catching up to him and making him pass out. Honestly, with as skinny as that guy is, I'm not too surprised it only took a couple of days for him to faint.

The Vote Incentive comic is also really neat. I could almost see that being its own page. You just KNOW the dude is going to find Jonan out there eventually and not be able to help himself. But I wonder what Jonan did that makes it such a relief that he's 'leaving them alone'? Maybe he wanted to use dead patients as zombies? Hmmmm...curiouser and curiouser!

Reply by Shazzbaa

Yeah, that combined with the physical exertion of traversing a crowded city on a twisted ankle...? NOPE GOODNIGHT IT'S TIME TO SLEEP.

And aw, thanks! :") If the healer guy were a more major character I think it really could be a page! As it is it's just a little look at what's happening outside of the spotlight. c:

Comment by Why?!?!

As terrified as I am for Jonan at this point, I can't help but also think, "Well, it serves you right for being as unfriendly and downright harmful as you possibly can to everyone you meet." I mean seriously, has the guy ever heard of karma?

Reply by Shazzbaa

....Actually, now that you mention it.... it's pretty exact karma.

Reply by Glew

Almost ironic echo really. In the face.
Really sort of a "No one mourns the wicked" feel...

I'm still sorry for him though. He probably is/was a dangerous, proud, harmful jerk; but... well we don't yet know just how much of a harmful jerk he was to this person, so, it's harder to just discard this as "Serves him well. That's what he deserves."

Also (especially in the highlighted ironic echo's light) this only makes this healer guy just as much of a jerk as Jonan. Turning down a completely helpless person in need.

Reply by AlpineBob

Not quite as big a jerk, I don't think. Jonan just couldn't be bothered, but this guy has a perfectly reasonable fear of retaliation by someone who was powerful enough to do this to Jonan.

Reply by Glew

Oh well. First I didn't quite get what the guy was so freaked out about. But even now it is just so unreasonable, he hardly let Jonan do any explaining, this guy is just jumping to conclusions. Might be the shock. But then Jonan must have done some really nasty stuff to them to get such a strong emotional and irrational response.
And to be honest even if Jonan is a teen with an attitude and zombies, I can't picture him torturing or slaughtering ppl. Well... not intentionally anyway.
To sum it up, I don't like bald guy. He is a coward without a sense for adventure. Doesn't he know that he was here to forward the story? ;D

Reply by AlpineBob

Karma that he gets turned away, just as he turned away our heroes? I suppose so. Though until I checked your link, I had supposed you were referring to the way he is suffering the consequences of his spell as his previous victims did.

Speaking of ironic echoes: I like how Jonan fails to gain admission whenever he tries to do it alone.

Comment by Kiri

So, like, tattooface guy, have you considered how Jonan will feel about you after he gets helped and is up to his vindictive ways? Hmm? HMM?

Comment by Wabbajack

I know Jonan is a jerk, but balding guy is heartless. That is all.

*cough* However, I will probably be back soon with something else to say. *cough*

Reply by Nerrin

Well, balding guy runs a hospital. And given he thinks someone else did that to Jonan, anyone who can pull that spell off and force Jonan to be so secretive on his search for help is someone to be feared - especially when you're responsible for the well-being of others. (Even though the only thing forcing Jonan to be so secretive about it is his own pride...) Basically, Jonan has never done anything to merit others taking a huge (perceived) risk on his behalf.

Also it's probably the hunger, thirst, and general fatigue making him overlook the obvious, but Jonan really should have written a note to hand over immediately. Instead of thinking everyone would be cowed by menacing glances, meaningful silences, and gentle wobbling in place.

Reply by Shazzbaa

I cracked up at the last sentence here but TO BE FAIR TO JONAN he was interrupted while getting his writing stuff out. xD

Reply by Glew

Yeah, how could he _not_ be "secretive" when he is muted and the guy wouldn't wait for just a second for him to write a note???

Comment by Grumpy Old Snake

And not just whoever cast the spell on him--everyone who knows Jonan and finds out seems absolutely convinced that there's going to be a horde of angry and possibly powerful people after him as soon as word of his inability to cast gets out. I think you're right about his reasons for turning Jonan away--he seems downright terrified. (To be honest I'm pretty sure that's at least part of why Jonan's so, excuse the pun, close-mouthed about his situation. Sure, he's pretty prideful, but he also knows how many could take advantage of his situation.)

Comment by Jitterz

Oh no, poor Jonan!
That's going to hurt in the morning.

Comment by Tama-chan

I suddenly picured Necropony along with song lyrics that go: "This boegyman wants you to know that love is in the soul." It's from A Monster in Paris. Shazzbaa, have you seen it?

Reply by Shazzbaa

I hadn't (though it looks interesting *just Youtube'd it*) but that is adorable when juxtaposed with Necropony.


(....though I'm not sure if he technically has a soul tbh BUT STILL CUTE)

Comment by Grumpy Old Snake

...you should have stood up slower, Jonan. D: My vision greys out to a depressing degree when I stand up, some days, and I'm not even dehydrated or malnourished. Then again I suppose he had good motivation to try to get back on his feet and at the door or out of the crowd quickly.

I will say, I really like the second to last panel. It isn't quite how I'd expect to see the beginnings of a faint to be illustrated, but then again I've never actually fully fainted before so what do I know. And it looks awesome. :D

Our hospital guy looks downright terrified, but I've already joined a ramble over why that might be.

...fourth panel Jonan puts me instantly in mind of one of a cat squeezing its head through a partially open door or the gaps in the banisters of a staircase. It would make me laugh if he didn't look so pleading and suddenly young, which is not at alp how we've gotten used to seeing him...

Reply by Wabbajack

My brain does that too. The world slowly turns into black pixels for me, though, with flashes of white, red and/or blue. Most of the time, when I wake up in the morning and get out of bed it happens and my head hurts... Plus afterwards I heard a "shhhh" in my ears like sand falling. Once I was significantly close to passing out, because I fell over with my eyes open only to get up a second later feeling very odd. I heard the reason for this is usually when your blood level is low.

Reply by Grumpy Old Snake

Yeah, I've been told that's a frequent cause too. If your blood pressure is low, you stand up and gravity keeps enough blood from getting to your upper organs for a moment.

It's really neat hearing how differently people perceive things. I've never noticed much of a sound, myself. A second or two after I stand up I'll get lightheaded, though it doesn't hurt, and grey blocks will fill in my vision from the edges in, sometimes until I'm completely blind for a moment. (Which can get interesting, if I decide to ignore it and keep walking... xD) If it's a bad one my arms and face will go numb, then start tingling and feeling like they're cold and being squeezed after I can see again.

It's interesting that you see flashes of color. Are they little tiny pixels of color, like you can think you see if you close your eyes or are in the dark, or are they big flashes?

Reply by Wabbajack

GIANT WALL OF TEXT ALERT

That makes so much sense, actually... I think I should get up real slow every morning. lol

Yeah, for me the little pixels come from the corners as well. The majority of them is black, some big and some small, but there are usually little coloured ones too. Tiny ones, like, as you said, the ones that you think you can see when your eyes are closed and you're staring at the insides of your eyelids. I can't tell what shapes they're making, because you can't really focus on something that's inside your eyeballs (or maybe even beyond), but it just seems to me like what happens when your TV screen turns to static -- only just black. The numbing thing of yours is worrying. OuO I hope it doesn't happen too often. I tend not to ignore my fading vision because I'm worried I might pass out. The one time I think I fainted was when I disregarded it and kept on going. It also makes my legs feel weird and painful, like they're going to fall out from underneath me or something equally unpleasant.

As for the sound, I'm not sure. I've suffered from both tiny hallucinations at night time when I'm not wearing my glasses (due to my weak eyesight) and tinnitus (just little sounds, like the creaking of cupboards or strange animal noises). This might contribute to the sand sound I hear in the morning when my eyes pixel out.

Reply by Grumpy Old Diamond

Haha oh gosh, should I have been warning too? I'm a rambler at heart. ^^;

It always used to kinda frustrate me as a kid that I couldn't actually LOOK at them at night... xD And yeah, it's kinda hard to describe exactly what you see because it's never where you can focus (which is, well, the problem). You just get a general impression. Which is one thing that I really liked about that second to last panel, how everything's blurring out except what he can feel of himself.

As far as the numbing goes, I have a doctor's appointment coming up that I plan to mention it in. xD It's a recent development, as I used to only get lightheaded once in a while when I stood up, and never went numb, but there's at least a day every few weeks recently where it's been happening what feels like every other time I stand. (Though thankfully I don't go numb too often.) And I guess I never really ignore it, but depending on the situation I'll keep going until I reach a wall or my new seat.

Yours sounds downright painful, between the headaches and your legs! It's kinda odd that it happens most frequently after you've been sleeping. That seems really specific. I guess it makes sense that you might hear a rushing noise, though, if you hear things on occasion anyways. So do you wear your glasses at night to prevent that from happening or something, then? Or are the hallucinations mild enough that they don't bother you?

Reply by Wabbajack

ANOTHER WALL COMING THROUGH THANKS

lol No worries, I'm sure people won't notice.. >u>;

Yeah, the way that they disappear or start to lose form before you can get a good look at them is infuriating. But I'm seconding that statement; the second last panel is epic.

I hope it's not too much of an issue. It sounds pretty lame though. I hate going numb. Do you get pins and needles afterwards, or is it just numbness?

It's pretty much normal for me now, even if it is a little painful/disorienting. I suppose the sand thing makes sense, although I'd never heard anything like it at any other time. Not sounds that feel as though they're literally inside my skull.

LOL Wear glasses to sleep? That's a terrible idea, not to mention it wouldn't do anything at all. I roll so much in my sleep. They'd either be broken or covered in smudges by morning. On top of that, my eyesight is weak in dim light even when I'm wearing my glasses. Pitch darkness would be far better than an eerie twilight, because at least there's no light that can trick my eyes. The hallucinations started off being far from mild, but nowadays they're either tiny or medium, both of which I can ignore. I once saw a figure peeping out from behind my cupboard at night. Unfazed, I said to him, "Go away, I'm trying to sleep." I'm sure he was disgruntled and wholly offended as he fizzled into pixels.

P.S. When did you become Grumpy Old Diamond? I'm not gonna lie, the name change freaked me out. My little sister's username on certain sites and MMOs is DiamondSnake.

Comment by Grumpy Old Snake

We'll just... quietly create these enormously long, slowly narrowing blocks of text and pretend it's a private conversation because nobody else has the desire/attention span to read them. ;)

First off, all this talk reminded me of a writers resource over on deviantART for fainting, which incorporates a lot of peoples descriptions of their own perceptions: http://luna--rose.deviantart.com/art/Knock-Yourself-Out-215931832. I decided to add mine. xD

I'm pretty sure it's not too big a thing; I mean if it is from blood pressure it makes sense, a limb will go numb and get the pins and needles if you keep it in a bad position too long and cut off circulation, so it's probably the same thing. And yeah, once the numbness fades there are pins and needles and this odd cold acid-like sensation.

I can see how you'd get used to it after a while. And it might actually be a real sound: I know that sometimes I can hear my blood flowing in my ears, and it will have a bit of a rushing like sound. The only issue is that usually it's in a pattern like a heart beat...

I didn't think it was very likely, haha! xD I asked because I think I just misread your sentence: you meant at night because you don't wear glasses then, not my initial read of it which was 'those nights when I'm not wearing glasses'. ^^; I've never had a hallucination, or really known anyone who has. It's good they've faded with time, I guess. Have they been around since you were a kid or are they more recent?

P.S. OH gosh I'm sorry about that. D: Both pennames are in reference to one of my characters, named Diamond, who started off as an old diamondback rattlesnake stuffed animal when I was five. He's old enough that his names enough a part of my identity that I feel really comfortable using it as a penname. But anyways once I got the deviantART account I realized that having drawings of him and using 'Diamond' as a penname would get really confusing, and someone tried calling me by the abbreviation which was the first time I noticed what it spelled, so I went NOPE time to change. I still find myself writing Diamond on accident randomly though. ^^;

That's kind of a cool coincidence though, that the names line up like that!

Reply by Wabbajack

That sounds agreeable. HEAR THAT, PEOPLE? NOTHING TO SEE HERE, OFF YOU GO.

lol Unfortunately, the link isn't working. But it's awesome that you're on deviantART too! I'm on there as Tobassinesia. |D I looked at your art (I'm sort of like an awkward internet stalker, hope you don't mind) and your writing style is really clean. It's awesome! /saying random and pointless things, excuse me while I use paralysis spells on my babbly fingers..

Le gasp! I get the acid feeling too! Although when the black-out thing is in effect, the acid inside feels grossly warm. Then it gets cold.

That could be possible... But I know what blood pumping in your ears feels like (my mum says it's when there's too many things going on in your brain at once) and I know sure as hell that the sand thing isn't. Seriously, it's grainy and endless. If compared to a real sound, it could either be "SHHHH", an endless, rasping sigh, or a stream of sand falling like in an hourglass.

Hahaha well that's good to know. I was a bit startled that you'd assume one would wear glasses to bed. Unless the person in question was really paranoid. Or something. The hallucinations began when I was somewhere around 10 or 11 (not too long ago, actually), when I started watching videos of a game called Amnesia. A horror game, obviously. I'd watch until I felt sick to the stomach with fright. But I liked it anyway -- somehow, the feeling of absolute terror made me feel alive. Nowadays it's hardly scary anymore. In a way, hallucinations faded along with my fears. I'm not even nyctophobic anymore. However, if I was the type to have nightmares, I would've never looked at those videos, I'm sure. lol

P.S. It's no problem bro. Diamond looks pretty awesome in your devART gallery. I love that thing with his eye. Is that the same Diamond you're referring too? Oh probably not, since he's a rattlesnake... Erm forgive me if I'm getting confused.

My sister has been DiamondSnake before, though she prefers not to be known as that anymore. Nowadays she's Gambolpuddy. She claimed that "too many people called themselves Diamond" and that it was "uncreative and girly". Her reason was different to the girlies, though; her birthstone is the diamond, plus her real name starts with a "di" as well, and her Chinese zodiac sign is the Snake. As for me, I'm sadly a Peridot Rabbit. But I'd rather people didn't call me that...

Reply by NoRAd

Wow... Amnesia came out when you were ten or eleven? Now I feel old.

As an aficionado of walls of text, I have to say, I enjoyed this conversation. It was long and detailed, but more importantly, kept to the topics at hand. My natural writing style is actually very brief, so I don't often get the chance to weigh in on stuff like this. I have to say, I haven't ever passed out from standing up too quickly or anything, but yeah, I do get that lightheadedness, and occasionally my vision gets a bit wonky.

If we're going by birthstone Chinese Zodiacs, I guess you could call me RubyTiger?

Anywho, on to the interesting topic, these hallucinations. I used to imagine things all the time when I was younger, had trouble sleeping in the dark and all. I think it's fairly normal to see shadows and have your brain tell you that it's not the shadow of that dresser, or even scarier, that there's something IN the shadow of that dresser. Is that what's going on here, or is it something else?

Like... When I was eight or so, I had trouble sleeping because I was scared, so I went into my parents room, and they slept with the lights off, and I spent what felt like at least a few hours terrified that every shadow in the room was going to eat us if I turned away from it for just a moment, and seriously had no idea how they could sleep while we were in such mortal danger.

Doesn't really happen anymore, because my imagination is dead now :(

P.S. Happy belated birthday, I'm glad you hit level 14 last month.

Reply by Wabbajack

lol Aww don't feel old. I think I was in my late 11's. Or maybe even 12's! I don't keep track of these things. XD

*comes back after looking up the meaning of "aficionado* Dude I applaud your love of text walls. Personally, they make me cringe and run whenever I see them. Of course, I don't have any problem with creating them myself...

I wish I could have a brief writing style lol. I go into excessive detail and use far too many verbs. But then again, I feel that the more descriptive one's writing is, the clearer the picture in my head becomes.

Hah! Yours is way cool. I love being a rabbit and all, but it gets lame when people assume you're all cower and no scratch. At least I'm not a Topaz Monkey like my brother.

My brain takes the darkness from the background and sort of swirls it into something new. It's not always just the shadows tricking me -- they literally rise up and take on a new form.
... Of course, the way I'm saying it makes it sound dramatic and horror-worthy. On a side note, there are certain occasions where the figures I see are, in fact, white and not black. My sister has seen coloured ones, too.

I still sleep in the same room as my sister, so I have her for company. I usually wouldn't run into my parents' room if I was scared. But sometimes, I would really prefer to be alone; sleeping people are no better than dead people to me. And since my eyesight started deteriorating from a young age, it started messing with my sister's face. Sometimes it looked like she had no eyes, or like her eyes were open and she was snarling at me. I was also the type to freeze and be unable to anything other than move my eyeballs. I'd be too scared to say anything, or even reach out to shake my sister.

Le gasp! What happened to your imagination? How did it die? I can't imagine being unable to imagine, in spite of my ability to imagine anything to do with imagination!

P.S. I'm not going to ask what thing I said gave that away, but thank ee kindly! XD

Reply by Grumpy Old Snake

xD Move along, move along... (Except not really. Nice to meet you, NoRAd! Or RubyTiger? Anyways, glad it's an interesting discussion to you, too. ^_^)

Haha oops. Well, it's the first thing to come up in the site if you search 'fainting writing tutorial'. I found it interesting to read peoples' accounts. Lol, and no worries, I'm kind of an awkward stalker too. And thank you! It's not often someone has anything to say about my writing... <3

Huh. Well, it was an idea. xD

Oh, wow. Okay. Haha, I never watched stuff like that as a kid. Then again I was an awkward paranoid kid who wouldn't eat at new resturaunts because I was convinced one of the strangers would flat out poison me... ^^; Nowadays it just doesn't hold much interest for me; it's either not interesting or does its job too well. xD I can see how watching that might have lead to some concern, though. And even with okay eyesight I know exactly what you mean by people looking like they don't have eyes in the dark. Do the hallucinations usually happen when you're mostly or almost asleep, or are they while you're still wide awake?

Oh, haha, I guess I'd never thought of other people going by Diamond. Now that I'm older I find it endlessly amusing that I associate the traditionally feminine word 'diamond' with a cranky, mostly blind old man, though. xD And yeah, the human missing an eye is him. He makes a much easier character to work with as a human; I've decided to leave him that way.

I'm going to second that notion, NoRAd; whatever happened to your imagination? D: And I'm going to assume you guessed the birthday either by the sign or the devART account?

Reply by Wabbajack

I'll have to go and check it out. Most definitely. Yay, this can be an awkward stalker club! (come on NoRad, we know you're one too *nudge nudge*)

And a good idea. It's just that I'm not really sure of anything at all. XD

I was, and still am, a strange kid. Maybe I felt stronger when I was afraid. I dunno. Well, the hallucinations happen when I'm wide awake, but when I'm asleep but still awake (my way of describing my "half asleep" state) my tinnitus and hallucinations go absolutely crazy. The hallucinations tend not to bother me at that stage, since my brain is elsewhere, but when tinnitus does something... farewell hopes of sleep. For example, once I was nearly fast asleep, and guess what? This really loud sound, right next to my ear, shook the crap out of me. Only afterwards did I realize that it sounded exactly like a pig.

I like how you did that thing with Diamond. I don't like it when people associate a certain thing with girls/boys. People have dubbed pink the "girl colour", and people have dubbed violent video games as the "boy games". I mean wtf? Pink is at the bottom of my colour preferences and violent games are at the top of my gaming favourites. In my imagination (which was once a lot more out of control than it is nowadays), I had a white dragon and his name was Diamond. There was also a younger one named Emerald. I was quite uncreative while naming my dragons, but not so much when thinking up character names... Go figure.

Comment by NoRAd

Yep, still feel old here. When I was 12, You weren't born yet.

It was actually a challenge to make a 'wall of text' even as long as that one. My writing style really betrayed me in high school, when I was supposed to write 3-5 page papers on topics I felt could be covered in once page. I don't think I had a single paper longer than two and a half pages throughout all of high school. Since then I've learned to not worry so much about rambling off topic to get a point across.

I don't actually put a lot of stock in astrology, but I do like rubies, and tigers are pretty cool. Plus I can use the lame joke that I'm a tiger... in the sack.

Hmm... I don't remember any swirling when I was younger. The shadows did seem to stretch, though. It's actually fascinating reading about this kind of thing. I don't remember what kind of media I was consuming before the one night that stands out in my memory, but I do remember being terrified, and since then, I haven't actually talked to anyone about it.

At the time, I was probably sleeping in the same room as two of my brothers. now they don't even live in the same building as me. At this point, I'm going to take a wild guess and say that you're female! I agree that sleeping people suck at keeping watch with you. That whole no eyes thing is kind of creepy, I have to admit.

Okay, I was exaggerating. I admit it. I do have an imagination, but it doesn't run rampant like it used to when I was younger. I started getting more rational and applying logic to situations. In real life, how common is it to find monsters in a house, you know? Shadows really just don't scare me any more. That said, when I'm walking in my neighborhood late at night I do get scared sometimes, but only because there's a skunk that wanders around out there, and it has way better night vision than I do, and I don't want to get sprayed. I guess it's not really my imagination died so much as I've gained the confidence that I could kick the ass of anything that actually would be in the shadow.

P.S. Peritot = August, Rabbit and somewhere around 11 when amnesia came out = born in 1999.

Reply by Wabbajack

That doesn't sound old to me. "Old" in my brain dictionary is defined as "after 60 years of age". Now "mature"... I don't know, when someone reaches their mid to late thirties I consider them mature.

Eh... I'm not sure whether I should ask what a tiger in the sack is... Should I...?

I waaaay prefer to talk to people about this kind of thing. You have no idea how many times I would give my sister nightmares by dumping all my fears onto her head. Poor her.

That's sad that you don't live with your brothers anymore. My sister and I are determined that we will never get married because yuck, but we'll stick together as a team. If you think that's childish, you are utterly correct, as this was a plan we formed since we were young. But I still think it's a marvellous one.
Wait... you're taking that guess at this point?? Erm... I would've thought it was obvious from the very beginning, hohohohoho.

I understand all of what you said, buuuut I can't relate to it at all. 1) Logic comes second in my brain, and when I'm scared, logic packs its things and simply skedaddles. It leaves me alone and afraid, which is the way I prefer it. Logic has not helped me thus far, so I like it to leave when it's needed least. 2) I have a strong belief in monsters and bad energies and jinns/genies and angels and all that. I'm not joking. I believe that every random and out-of-place shadow I see flitting through the corner of my eyes is a real creature, and the ringing in an ear that I sometimes hear is them trying to communicate with me. So, in real life, how common is it to find a monster in a house? About as common as finding an apple in a fruit bowl.

P.S. I think we've found a genius here. Take note, everyone! Either this is a genius, or a really odd creeper! I'm going with the former.

Comment by Wabbajack

*cough* So sorry I'm back again. *cough*

The hospital dude is either made of jellybeans and marshmallow fluff, or Jonan possesses invisible muscles hidden inside his robes. It honestly can't be that difficult to keep a starving, bone-thin necromancer out of a door. Can it?

Reply by AlpineBob

But hospital dude succeeded in keeping Jonan out.
Yes, There was a some delay while he rationalized his decision to ignore Jonans plight, and when Jonan managed to jam his walking stick in the door, but, yeah, when push comes to shove (panel 5), he gets the job done...

Comment by Karma Squirrel

I'm continually impressed by the expressiveness of an animal that literally has no eyes or even flesh on its face. Necropony is amazing.
Also, I don't think it occurred to me before this page that Jonan must be horribly dehydrated by now. No wonder he keeps falling over.