DAMN, phrased that way, Joyce is a MONSTER for crushing his dreams =C
…
ya know, lemme repost the anecdote I buried in the comments a few days back, seems to apply here, too, maybe better
I actually applied for a comic position, although it was for drawing for a script rather than whatever we felt like. It apparently was down to me and another person I knew, and while it wasn’t quite Joyce vs. Walky levels of difference, I’m p sure if you replaced “level of world building” with “willingness to draw backgrounds” then the comparison is spot on ?
but I don’t begrudge “my” Joyce for getting the part, since I learned I really can’t draw to somebody else’s guidelines unless I REALLY want to do it
the main thing was, it was my first serious effort at something, for potential pay, and I was so “I WANT TO DO THIS” but also “DANG THIS IS HARD, HOW CAN I DO THE LEAST AND GET IT DONE” that I’m really not surprised the other person got it
Good lord this bodes poorly for Lucy. I mean, we pretty much all figured there was poor boding anyways, but damn.
thejeff
Not sure why. I guess you can read it to say “I haven’t stayed interested in Lucy”, but I think we’re dealing with different categories here.
He certainly stayed interested in Dorothy and Amber for more than 5 days, so it’s not really worth commenting on a lasting interest in Lucy. Staying interested in a project like the comic for that long is very different.
Sympathies. “My Joyce”, in this situation, not only easily beat me put for an internship, outside her major but inside mine, but was also a friend who essentially applied to see what would happen. It was tough remaining friends after that.
Well, at the time it was a bummer bc I was in this mindset that if it was going to work, I needed to be productive at X rate to finish Y pages to make Z dollars compared to even a minimum wage job, and I was freaking out about that plus doing a good job that people would actually pay money to see
so it’s actually for the best even though the job I now have isn’t remotely arty (though I only minimally have to care about quality of my work since currently I largely cut and paste answers and pays surprisingly well for it)
By the authority invested in me by King Daniel, I hereby define “ridiculous thing” to be a parenthetical remark which uses square brackets, and “here” to be our small insignificant suburb of cyberspace.
I mean, given that at least one character is smart-coded has said he “clearly has [it],” I think that means in-universe that he does. It doesn’t seem like Willis would float an idea like that if it wouldn’t pay off, especially because that’d probably be a little insensitive to neuro-divergents. By meta-gaming basic story-telling rules and social mores, I’m happy putting it to 99% certainty “Walky has ADHD” is an in-universe fact, no matter how it’s eventually addressed.
It’s so easy to label something ADHD. I’m in a position at 31 that for the first time in my life I put fairly consistent effort (an hour a day) in the same thing for like 20 days or so, and I am pretty damn proud even if it doesn’t pay the bills yet. It feels like an overwhelming amount of work done, and I’m struggling a lot to increase it. It’d be easy to say I’m simply incapable of paying attention. But no, the reason is a complex set of internalized beliefs and fears that I’m trying to untangle. Eg. Why do it if it won’t be perfect? You should learn to do it right before even trying. You can’t be seen as not clever at anything ever. What if doing something else instead is a more rational choice?
I took a cue from my 3rd Grade students and made myself a weekly star chart. We’re talking sparkly rainbow stickers, in various categories.
My current categories are writing my book, doing 30min+ of boring adult tasks, applying to jobs, and practicing driving. My fiancés chart has included exercising, physical therapy, producing his play, and reaching out to friends. Either of us can get a star for planning our wedding.
I don’t get all the stars possible each week, but I do get WAY more of those things done than I did before the chart. I actually look for ways to get stars each day.
(PS for my depressed pals, my star chart originally measured “I was out of bed and eating breakfast before 11am each day” and “I did 30min of a not-fun task”. I added categories over time.)
So wait, just to clarify – are you being dismissive of the internet diagnosing Walky with ADHD because you’re own described behavior is or is NOT ADHD?
Cuz I have ADHD, and you kinda sound like you’re reading my brain.
Also worth noting: I was only diagnosed 3 years ago, and I’m 42.
Yeah, once he put it like that I flashed back to a lot of memories of opportunities that meant a lot to me that people thought I put no effort into and I felt really bad. I’m still glad Joyce got it because I think she needs the outlet but I really hope that Walky can find something similar.
I have and I realized something.
I just like cream and sugar, not coffee. So I still don’t drink coffee.
A Red Balloon
Both of those are delicious, and the fact that you get all of your work done without caffeine just makes it all the more impressive!
eh, whatever
Caffeine doesn’t even work on everyone.
Clif
I actually do like coffee, though I understand why many don’t. My theory is that people that want cream and sugar in their coffee don’t actually like coffee.
But, man, if coffee tasted as good as smells…
Roborat
That is what I tell people when they ask me why I don’t drink coffee.
Eh. It’s still liking coffee if you like it with cream and sugar, just like it’s still liking chocolate if you like it at 60% or 70% dark rather than 99% or 100% (it’s even still “liking chocolate” if you like milk chocolate, though in that case you should try GOOD European milk chocolate if you haven’t. It’s NOT liking chocolate if you only like white chocolate, but really, just liking the taste of cocoa butter is fine!)
Only a small percentage of coffee drinkers prefer it bitter and very intense–many more like it with at least a -little- sweetness or at least a -little- milk (personally, I can handdle it with either or both and have youu tried vietnamese iced coffee?) So setting the standards beyond “likes the taste” to “likes the pure thing at maximum heat” is a bit much IMO.
Also, personally dark coffee is A. intense and B. really, really sensitive to the beans and brewing conditions. So while I might start with coffee black for single origin stuff so I really taste it, it’s not worth it for most coffee.
Have you tried black tea with that combination of contaminants? I liked it when I was a toddler/kid.
StClair
I had someone ask me to give that a try. I couldn’t add enough to make it palatable. Ended up pouring it down the drain.
I like soda, I like juice (including hot cider, spiced or not), I like cocoa. I like coffee as a flavor (ice cream, etc), and I like chocolate-covered beenz. I don’t like tea.
In fairness, much more than coffee or chocolate, tea is really, really variable. I tolerated tea (never really -liked- it, was just willing to drink it when there wasn’t coffee available) until I had a good selection of different good teas and found some I really didn’t care for and some I really liked.
There’s no particularly strong reason to correlate liking, say, jasmine with liking English Breakfast, with liking Ceylon, with liking lapsang suchon, with liking pueh (I don’t) with liking genmai-cha, etc. Some “teas” don’t even contain tea.
Jason
I used to hate coffee, then I had really good quality coffee with cream and sugar and it’s good. And the caffeine helps my ADHD (usually by putting me to sleep). Unfortunately my ADHD also means I’m that bit less likely to go to the effort of making fresh coffee.
Casi
I have found that making a batch of cold brew coffee every few days does wonders for making good coffee more accessible.
A Red Balloon
Interesting how that works.
One of my professors actually told me once that coffee made him sleepy too, and this held true for 5% of all people.
He didn’t seem to have ADHD though…..
Needfuldoer
That’s called coffee milk, and you can only make it right if you knew how to pronounce “quahog” before hearing it spoken on Family Guy. (Or if you use Autocrat syrup, I guess.)
why, you do not look a day older than whichever relatively-younger age number you find flattering!!! i think your comments are very good. please keep making them.
This is why I wanted Walky to get the strip. He never shows interest in anything besides cartoons, fast food, and I guess smooching ladies now sometimex. It was refreshing to see him try.
Joyce put in more effort, Joyce had proof that she’d have a comic strip to submit every week and Joyces drawings (are comics considered drawings or art?) looked more professional
Joyce is the better choice because Joyce was the better candidate
Ok, I was one of the people who thought Walky wasn’t really that upset about losing and I’ll cop to being wrong, but we don’t actually know how much effort walky put in because Daisy never looked at it
That said neither Daisy nor Joyce had any way of knowing losing the comic spot would have such a demoralizing effect on Walky (in part because he was flippant about it in front of them with that “bullet dodged” comment)
Anyway it all comes back to Daisy is bad at her job and shouldn’t have it
Nono
But if Daisy looked at both comics, and then still decided Joyce was better… Walky would still be bummed.
It sucks and Daisy was unprofessional, but Walky’s mental state hinging on the comic is not Daisy’s responsibility.
Segnosaur
Is Daisy “bad at her job”?
Lets set aside the whole “Is your girlfriend bi” comic strip (in the real world would be a bit creepy, but we will assume it was just for laughs).
She didn’t read through all of Walky’s work, but Walky:
1) showed up late. I don’t know if there was a particular time of day that he had to submit his comic by, but since Daisy was getting ready to give the comic to Joyce when Walky came it, its possible that it was close to end-of-day (which is never a good situation for a job seeker..)
2) Daisy did see one page of Walky’s work (he was holding it up when she accosted him). It is possible that she was able to recognize “repetitive themes” in what she saw
3) When Daisy suggested splitting the work, Walky’s reaction was “Great, less work”, which could make a potential employer nervous. “Is this person going to be willing to put in the effort on even a reduced workload?
Throwatron
Yeah, I thought Daisy was an asshole…for about eight seconds. Then I remembered she was a grown adult running a legitimate enterprise that has a product to produce, and the person who gets the job will literally be employed by her and she will be responsible for their output. Her being fair to anybody is not a fucking factor, here. Walky is 17 employee red flags in a recently-licked shirt, no sane person would hire him for anything that would require him to be responsible for consistently outputting a product on a schedule.
Agemegos
There is other evidence about whether Daisy is good at her job than her handling of this issue with the comic strip. We have seen her manage Dorothy and Jennifer and the Amazi-Girl and Night-Guy stories.
Walky’s haste to get the sauce off his shirt suggests that he got to Daisy’s office shortly after lunch, not at close-of-business.
Kirdei
The first thing Daisy says in that strip you linked is “We have a contest to replace a graduated cartoonist’s strip.”
Agemegos
!
Well, I don’t know how I missed that.
Segnosaur
I think the problem is, we as readers did not get details about what was required for the submission contest. However, there must have been some rules in place (otherwise Walky slipping them under the office door at 11:59 would be “submitting his work”).
So there must have been some rules in place (we know there were because Dorothy managed to find them out), and that might have involved a time-of-day deadline. (And the fact that Walky was running suggests he was late for it.)
319 thoughts on “Effort”
Ana Chronistic
DAMN, phrased that way, Joyce is a MONSTER for crushing his dreams =C
…
ya know, lemme repost the anecdote I buried in the comments a few days back, seems to apply here, too, maybe better
I actually applied for a comic position, although it was for drawing for a script rather than whatever we felt like. It apparently was down to me and another person I knew, and while it wasn’t quite Joyce vs. Walky levels of difference, I’m p sure if you replaced “level of world building” with “willingness to draw backgrounds” then the comparison is spot on ?
but I don’t begrudge “my” Joyce for getting the part, since I learned I really can’t draw to somebody else’s guidelines unless I REALLY want to do it
the main thing was, it was my first serious effort at something, for potential pay, and I was so “I WANT TO DO THIS” but also “DANG THIS IS HARD, HOW CAN I DO THE LEAST AND GET IT DONE” that I’m really not surprised the other person got it
Yotomoe
The most insidious thing about having your dreams crushed is the one who crushes your dream isn’t always the bad guy.
Decidedly Orthogonal
Good lord this bodes poorly for Lucy. I mean, we pretty much all figured there was poor boding anyways, but damn.
thejeff
Not sure why. I guess you can read it to say “I haven’t stayed interested in Lucy”, but I think we’re dealing with different categories here.
He certainly stayed interested in Dorothy and Amber for more than 5 days, so it’s not really worth commenting on a lasting interest in Lucy. Staying interested in a project like the comic for that long is very different.
Seregiel
I’m sure Lucy could point out: self published internet comics.
Rainhat
Sympathies. “My Joyce”, in this situation, not only easily beat me put for an internship, outside her major but inside mine, but was also a friend who essentially applied to see what would happen. It was tough remaining friends after that.
Ana Chronistic
Well, at the time it was a bummer bc I was in this mindset that if it was going to work, I needed to be productive at X rate to finish Y pages to make Z dollars compared to even a minimum wage job, and I was freaking out about that plus doing a good job that people would actually pay money to see
so it’s actually for the best even though the job I now have isn’t remotely arty (though I only minimally have to care about quality of my work since currently I largely cut and paste answers and pays surprisingly well for it)
Proxiehunter
Five straight days. ADHD vibes increasing.
Reltzik
Damn you for a comment-ninjaing… comment… ninjaer…. wait, why should I be upset by this again?
Joyfulldreams
At this point if Walky doesn’t actually have ADHD I’ll [insert ridiculous thing here].
King Daniel
Define “ridiculous thing” and “here”.
Clif
By the authority invested in me by King Daniel, I hereby define “ridiculous thing” to be a parenthetical remark which uses square brackets, and “here” to be our small insignificant suburb of cyberspace.
Throwatron
I mean, given that at least one character is smart-coded has said he “clearly has [it],” I think that means in-universe that he does. It doesn’t seem like Willis would float an idea like that if it wouldn’t pay off, especially because that’d probably be a little insensitive to neuro-divergents. By meta-gaming basic story-telling rules and social mores, I’m happy putting it to 99% certainty “Walky has ADHD” is an in-universe fact, no matter how it’s eventually addressed.
RowenMorland
Whatever happens to be on your mind at the time [inserted then]?
missilentmurmur
It’s so easy to label something ADHD. I’m in a position at 31 that for the first time in my life I put fairly consistent effort (an hour a day) in the same thing for like 20 days or so, and I am pretty damn proud even if it doesn’t pay the bills yet. It feels like an overwhelming amount of work done, and I’m struggling a lot to increase it. It’d be easy to say I’m simply incapable of paying attention. But no, the reason is a complex set of internalized beliefs and fears that I’m trying to untangle. Eg. Why do it if it won’t be perfect? You should learn to do it right before even trying. You can’t be seen as not clever at anything ever. What if doing something else instead is a more rational choice?
Geneseepaws
By Everything that is holy; YOU! Get OUT OF Mah BRAIN –> And the worst part for me is – the drugs only help marginally.
Taellosse
At least they help a little?
Unfortunately, after diagnosis, I found myself to be in the 20% that are largely unresponsive to the drugs generally used for treating ADHD.
But yeah, managing the condition completely the hard way is not fun.
Spencer
I mean I also do these exact things, as in those last four sentences are also mine, and I’ve got ADHD.
It can be both.
Leorale
Oh hello, this is my life.
I took a cue from my 3rd Grade students and made myself a weekly star chart. We’re talking sparkly rainbow stickers, in various categories.
My current categories are writing my book, doing 30min+ of boring adult tasks, applying to jobs, and practicing driving. My fiancés chart has included exercising, physical therapy, producing his play, and reaching out to friends. Either of us can get a star for planning our wedding.
I don’t get all the stars possible each week, but I do get WAY more of those things done than I did before the chart. I actually look for ways to get stars each day.
(PS for my depressed pals, my star chart originally measured “I was out of bed and eating breakfast before 11am each day” and “I did 30min of a not-fun task”. I added categories over time.)
Taellosse
So wait, just to clarify – are you being dismissive of the internet diagnosing Walky with ADHD because you’re own described behavior is or is NOT ADHD?
Cuz I have ADHD, and you kinda sound like you’re reading my brain.
Also worth noting: I was only diagnosed 3 years ago, and I’m 42.
Keulen
It wouldn’t surprise me if Walky does have ADHD.
H3xx
I felt this one. A lot. I really wish I had insurance so I could get help.
PB
Yeah, once he put it like that I flashed back to a lot of memories of opportunities that meant a lot to me that people thought I put no effort into and I felt really bad. I’m still glad Joyce got it because I think she needs the outlet but I really hope that Walky can find something similar.
Reltzik
I note that the thing he held an interest in for an extended time was NOT his schoolwork OR his new girlfriend.
ADHD vibes increasing.
Rose by Any Other Name
Same face.
Same comment phrasing.
…
Soggies may rule.
Nono
Walky has extended interests for fast food, I’m sure.
Sterling
You only need to be interested in the fast food until you’ve eaten it all.
JBento
The reason Walky likes fast food so much is because he can’t keep focused long enough for slow food.
Francoinblanco
If you put this this way ouch, but he always try to be better so i hope he only exaggerates
Cmasta1992
“WaLKy doEsN’T aCTuaLly cARe abOuT tHE CoMIc”
Rose by Any Other Name
… is Booster going to suggest that Walky should do a webcomic?
RassilonTDavros
And lo, on that day, Walky’s Internet Pitstop was born.
Jason Rivest
That was my thought too.
A Red Balloon
Awe don’t feel too sad, Walky. You tried, and that’s what matters! Treat yourself to a coffee or something.
Also, Booster, LOVE the belly-button shirt!
Yotomoe
Coffee is gross. Have a chocolate milk, on me.
A Red Balloon
That’s good too, but don’t knock coffee till you’ve had it with at least 20% cream.
Yotomoe
I have and I realized something.
I just like cream and sugar, not coffee. So I still don’t drink coffee.
A Red Balloon
Both of those are delicious, and the fact that you get all of your work done without caffeine just makes it all the more impressive!
eh, whatever
Caffeine doesn’t even work on everyone.
Clif
I actually do like coffee, though I understand why many don’t. My theory is that people that want cream and sugar in their coffee don’t actually like coffee.
But, man, if coffee tasted as good as smells…
Roborat
That is what I tell people when they ask me why I don’t drink coffee.
Joshua Kronengold
Eh. It’s still liking coffee if you like it with cream and sugar, just like it’s still liking chocolate if you like it at 60% or 70% dark rather than 99% or 100% (it’s even still “liking chocolate” if you like milk chocolate, though in that case you should try GOOD European milk chocolate if you haven’t. It’s NOT liking chocolate if you only like white chocolate, but really, just liking the taste of cocoa butter is fine!)
Only a small percentage of coffee drinkers prefer it bitter and very intense–many more like it with at least a -little- sweetness or at least a -little- milk (personally, I can handdle it with either or both and have youu tried vietnamese iced coffee?) So setting the standards beyond “likes the taste” to “likes the pure thing at maximum heat” is a bit much IMO.
Also, personally dark coffee is A. intense and B. really, really sensitive to the beans and brewing conditions. So while I might start with coffee black for single origin stuff so I really taste it, it’s not worth it for most coffee.
khn0
chocolate is just another Booster
Opus the Poet
Have you tried black tea with that combination of contaminants? I liked it when I was a toddler/kid.
StClair
I had someone ask me to give that a try. I couldn’t add enough to make it palatable. Ended up pouring it down the drain.
I like soda, I like juice (including hot cider, spiced or not), I like cocoa. I like coffee as a flavor (ice cream, etc), and I like chocolate-covered beenz. I don’t like tea.
Joshua Kronengold
In fairness, much more than coffee or chocolate, tea is really, really variable. I tolerated tea (never really -liked- it, was just willing to drink it when there wasn’t coffee available) until I had a good selection of different good teas and found some I really didn’t care for and some I really liked.
There’s no particularly strong reason to correlate liking, say, jasmine with liking English Breakfast, with liking Ceylon, with liking lapsang suchon, with liking pueh (I don’t) with liking genmai-cha, etc. Some “teas” don’t even contain tea.
Jason
I used to hate coffee, then I had really good quality coffee with cream and sugar and it’s good. And the caffeine helps my ADHD (usually by putting me to sleep). Unfortunately my ADHD also means I’m that bit less likely to go to the effort of making fresh coffee.
Casi
I have found that making a batch of cold brew coffee every few days does wonders for making good coffee more accessible.
A Red Balloon
Interesting how that works.
One of my professors actually told me once that coffee made him sleepy too, and this held true for 5% of all people.
He didn’t seem to have ADHD though…..
Needfuldoer
That’s called coffee milk, and you can only make it right if you knew how to pronounce “quahog” before hearing it spoken on Family Guy. (Or if you use Autocrat syrup, I guess.)
King Daniel
bUt wALkY wAsN’t rEaLLy InTeReStEd aT aLL iN dOiNg a cOmIc
(happy quarter-century to me today, I guess)
Rose by Any Other Name
Oh gods, they’re multiplying!
**runs screaming**
King Daniel
dang, comment-ninja’d on my own birthday
Cmasta1992
Please accept my full celebrations on your birthday in exchange for ninjaing you.
Rose by Any Other Name
Oh! Happy birthday!
And now, back to my screaming.
**flees**
Kyrik Michalowski
Happy birthday, hope you enjoy yourself and get to relax.
Delicious Taffy
Have a birthday, young’un.
Opus the Poet
Accept my invisible up vote. Then get off my lawn.
Delicious Taffy
If I recall correctly, you’re about 235% my age. So your lawn is safe. For now.
Deanatay
*joins Opus in shakin’ m’stick at them dang kids*
milu
why, you do not look a day older than whichever relatively-younger age number you find flattering!!! i think your comments are very good. please keep making them.
JBento
Happy birthday! Long live the king!
Geneseepaws
The King has Birthday-ed! Long Live the King! Long may he Reign, our just and noble… Hey!! Plus there’s rain for the King’s birthday, no?
Sirksome
This is why I wanted Walky to get the strip. He never shows interest in anything besides cartoons, fast food, and I guess smooching ladies now sometimex. It was refreshing to see him try.
MrSmith
Thats a bad way to decide who gets something.
Joyce put in more effort, Joyce had proof that she’d have a comic strip to submit every week and Joyces drawings (are comics considered drawings or art?) looked more professional
Joyce is the better choice because Joyce was the better candidate
alongcameaspider
Ok, I was one of the people who thought Walky wasn’t really that upset about losing and I’ll cop to being wrong, but we don’t actually know how much effort walky put in because Daisy never looked at it
That said neither Daisy nor Joyce had any way of knowing losing the comic spot would have such a demoralizing effect on Walky (in part because he was flippant about it in front of them with that “bullet dodged” comment)
Anyway it all comes back to Daisy is bad at her job and shouldn’t have it
Nono
But if Daisy looked at both comics, and then still decided Joyce was better… Walky would still be bummed.
It sucks and Daisy was unprofessional, but Walky’s mental state hinging on the comic is not Daisy’s responsibility.
Segnosaur
Is Daisy “bad at her job”?
Lets set aside the whole “Is your girlfriend bi” comic strip (in the real world would be a bit creepy, but we will assume it was just for laughs).
She didn’t read through all of Walky’s work, but Walky:
1) showed up late. I don’t know if there was a particular time of day that he had to submit his comic by, but since Daisy was getting ready to give the comic to Joyce when Walky came it, its possible that it was close to end-of-day (which is never a good situation for a job seeker..)
2) Daisy did see one page of Walky’s work (he was holding it up when she accosted him). It is possible that she was able to recognize “repetitive themes” in what she saw
3) When Daisy suggested splitting the work, Walky’s reaction was “Great, less work”, which could make a potential employer nervous. “Is this person going to be willing to put in the effort on even a reduced workload?
Throwatron
Yeah, I thought Daisy was an asshole…for about eight seconds. Then I remembered she was a grown adult running a legitimate enterprise that has a product to produce, and the person who gets the job will literally be employed by her and she will be responsible for their output. Her being fair to anybody is not a fucking factor, here. Walky is 17 employee red flags in a recently-licked shirt, no sane person would hire him for anything that would require him to be responsible for consistently outputting a product on a schedule.
Agemegos
There is other evidence about whether Daisy is good at her job than her handling of this issue with the comic strip. We have seen her manage Dorothy and Jennifer and the Amazi-Girl and Night-Guy stories.
Daisy told Walky that he had the job on condition of submitting samples on Friday. Daisy did not mention a competition. But Joyce showed up and…. Even though Joyce’s strip seems better for the paper than Walky’s, that is a dickish way to deal with free-lancers.
Walky’s haste to get the sauce off his shirt suggests that he got to Daisy’s office shortly after lunch, not at close-of-business.
Kirdei
The first thing Daisy says in that strip you linked is “We have a contest to replace a graduated cartoonist’s strip.”
Agemegos
!
Well, I don’t know how I missed that.
Segnosaur
I think the problem is, we as readers did not get details about what was required for the submission contest. However, there must have been some rules in place (otherwise Walky slipping them under the office door at 11:59 would be “submitting his work”).
So there must have been some rules in place (we know there were because Dorothy managed to find them out), and that might have involved a time-of-day deadline. (And the fact that Walky was running suggests he was late for it.)