NEGATIVE ONE: 0254

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Negative One Forum!

Discussion question of the week:
Predictability
Ivy seems happier now that she's developed a routine, but she also seems to like some degree of variety. In your own life, do you prefer a predictable schedule that keeps you comfortable, or do you feel that a routine is more like a being in a rut? Do you feel more comfortable if you know what will happen day to day, or is it better to always be surprised (even if some of the surprises are nasty ones)?
Click to answer!

NOTES FROM OTHERS:

SHO! 3/27/10 0:03

WWWWOW!!! Amanda is SO ADORABLE in this one! OMG she is just too cute, and I love the shaggy hair!
I'm feeling a little ambivalent about this issue on the whole. I like that Amanda is finding a routine and beginning to enjoy her life and find stability, but at the same time I find it almost heartbreaking that she IS getting used to this "street" life. You always want to see a child survive and thrive, but it's kind of bittersweet when you realize that's just what they have to do.
!Z~
P.S. Amanda can count to four!!

MaryLynne 3/27/10 9:55

I'm glad there are so many Ivy stories - those are my favorite.
Here is what I'm curious about - when she left home she hardly thought of her mom; I think just once or twice sort of vaguely. It has to be only a few weeks later, but when Mennie first left she thought about her and wanted her back. I wonder why she never really thought about her mom or her life before or wanted mom back.

swankivy:

Yep, toward the beginning after she left there was quite a lot of thinking of her mom, and there was that weird dream she had where she went to her parents again. I think the last time she explicitly thought of her mom was issue 219 because she was wondering what she was supposed to do to "make Mommy come here" because crying doesn't seem to work for that anymore. Maybe she just cried enough times without being responded to by her mother that she's starting to forget what it was like. And I know this was pretty vague, but I've suggested in a couple places that the "idea" of Melanie is blending into the "idea" of her mother in her head, in a couple ways. It's partially because that's who comes when she cries, but also (as we'll see a little later) she is a bit fixated on Melanie's hair--primarily her bangs--and that's also very similar to Meri Lin. (You can see how she sort of seems to think so in the dream sequence, and when she says "I like her hair. It looks like Mommy's hair" in issue 189.)

Crystopher 3/31/10 3:31

"AT THE SAME TIME" and "Better than applesauce" are my two new favorite lines from this.
I like listening to Ivy's inner monologue, but I wonder how necessary it is? I don't know what's coming, but sometimes reading them I think in my head, "you don't have to spell out every detail to me!" In a nice way of course, in a, you're getting this across without saying it directly way :).
The art on this one really stands out, it's alot cleaner - Compare it to #243, just ten pages ago. It's been steadily improving from the onset, but you seem to be developing it by leaps and bounds lately. Keep it up!

swankivy:

Regarding Ivy's inner monologue, I'm not sure where the line is between saying enough and saying too much sometimes, but at least in Ivy's case I can assure you that most of it is intentional. I'm attempting to show that what she's discovering is new to her even if it's obvious to us, and show how much of a revelation something is to someone who's this new to the world. This particular one was my first Ivy-storyline attempt at a montage episode, however, so it may have seemed suddenly overdone more than usual. . . .

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SHO!	3/27/10	0:03
WWWWOW!!! Amanda is SO ADORABLE in this one! OMG she is just too cute, and I love the shaggy hair! I'm feeling a little ambivalent about this issue on the whole. I like that Amanda is finding a routine and beginning to enjoy her life and find stability, but at the same time I find it almost heartbreaking that she IS getting used to this "street" life. You always want to see a child survive and thrive, but it's kind of bittersweet when you realize that's just what they have to do. !Z~ P.S. Amanda can count to four!!
MaryLynne	3/27/10	9:55
I'm glad there are so many Ivy stories - those are my favorite. Here is what I'm curious about - when she left home she hardly thought of her mom; I think just once or twice sort of vaguely. It has to be only a few weeks later, but when Mennie first left she thought about her and wanted her back. I wonder why she never really thought about her mom or her life before or wanted mom back.
swankivy:
Yep, toward the beginning after she left there was quite a lot of thinking of her mom, and there was that weird dream she had where she went to her parents again. I think the last time she explicitly thought of her mom was issue 219 because she was wondering what she was supposed to do to "make Mommy come here" because crying doesn't seem to work for that anymore. Maybe she just cried enough times without being responded to by her mother that she's starting to forget what it was like. And I know this was pretty vague, but I've suggested in a couple places that the "idea" of Melanie is blending into the "idea" of her mother in her head, in a couple ways. It's partially because that's who comes when she cries, but also (as we'll see a little later) she is a bit fixated on Melanie's hair--primarily her bangs--and that's also very similar to Meri Lin. (You can see how she sort of seems to think so in the dream sequence, and when she says "I like her hair. It looks like Mommy's hair" in issue 189.)
Crystopher	3/31/10	3:31
"AT THE SAME TIME" and "Better than applesauce" are my two new favorite lines from this. I like listening to Ivy's inner monologue, but I wonder how necessary it is? I don't know what's coming, but sometimes reading them I think in my head, "you don't have to spell out every detail to me!" In a nice way of course, in a, you're getting this across without saying it directly way :). The art on this one really stands out, it's alot cleaner - Compare it to #243, just ten pages ago. It's been steadily improving from the onset, but you seem to be developing it by leaps and bounds lately. Keep it up!
swankivy:
Regarding Ivy's inner monologue, I'm not sure where the line is between saying enough and saying too much sometimes, but at least in Ivy's case I can assure you that most of it is intentional. I'm attempting to show that what she's discovering is new to her even if it's obvious to us, and show how much of a revelation something is to someone who's this new to the world. This particular one was my first Ivy-storyline attempt at a montage episode, however, so it may have seemed suddenly overdone more than usual. . . .