Ch28 Pg16

Sam: *looks at Ben* Your Majesty! *bows*

Ben: Eh… eh… *shakes his head* No… it’s okay. You don’t have to do that.

Sam: What can I fix ya?

Leona: We were actually looking for friends… two with Ben’s hair and one who is just well…

Sam: A letch? *points back at a table*

Ben: Uh, yeah. That’s them? *suddenly looks nervous* … … …

Sam: Relax. *hands Ben an ice cream cone*

Ben: Thank you? *licks it… pauses, lifts his eyebrows… licks it again*

Posted by Aywren

{-- Ch28 Pg15 -|- Ch28 Pg17 --}

34 Comments on Ch28 Pg16

Krozam sez:

I’ve been reading this comic for a while, and I like it. Despite making even the evil guys softies, it catches very well the atmosphere of every Final Fantasy (I haven’t actually played FFIV, but a few others in the series, and I dare say they all have the same special atmosphere).

However, I really have to object on the inappropriate use of question marks. -.-’ You don’t ask “Thank you?” You don’t ask “That’s them?” when you’re actually telling somebody that it IS them. There are hundreds of similar misuses of question mark in the earlier pages. Pardon me for being meticulous, but it’s really bothering me. -.-’

Aywren sez:

This has been brought up before, I believe. I do try to go through and edit the question marks a bit and I’m sorry it bothers you so much.

The way they’re used here (and often in the case of Ben) is not that he’s asking a question, but rather he’s uncertain about his statement. He’s nervous about the upcoming meeting with his father… and he’s not so sure of where he stands with Sam. Consider it a questioning tone of voice in the statement.

Both Syn and I do tend to use question marks in this way often. I think it’s just a style — because it’s difficult to highlight uncertainty in a voice that you’re reading and not hearing.

As I said above, I do edit them out from time to time, but right now, Ben is full of concern and fear. And his voice is going to reflect that. It’s written that way with a purpose and not because the authors don’t know punctuation. ^_~

Kit sez:

This comic is awesome! I’ve officially been recruited.

Question: Are the colors of Ben’s bracers symbolic? And does he wear them all the time to help cover the mark on his hand?

SweetSong sez:

Neehee… Ice cream can solve all the world’s problems. =D

Jamie sez:

To Krozam: It took me a while to get used to, but I like the way Aywren and Syn use question marks, myself. Yes, if they were writing an essay or something, that kind of use of question marks would be misleading and incorrect. However, you also have to realize that they wrote the scripts over IM, similar to role playing over instant messenger. And there really isn’t a way to convey a questioning tone in RP without *uses asterisks* using asteriks, which doesn’t look right on a comic page, and you can’t determine without tone of voice if Ben looks concerned, or disappointed, or what in that panel. You can’t write in that questioning lilt in his voice without a question mark.

From a grammatical and spelling standpoint, I could just as easily rip apart your comment - such as your improper use of quotations, and of hyphens, periods and apostrphes. It’s just as grammatically incorrect to use emoticons as it is to use question marks when one is not asking a question, wouldn’t you say?

I admit though, that I’m a bit protective of the series and of Aywren and Syntyche, having known them as long as I have, and loving Ben and the others the way I do.

I also have to argue against your statement that she made the baddies softies - I do NOT consider Zeb a softie (even if he DOES have a creamy center), nor are any of the other not-so-nice characters. Ben is just Ben. :3 He has reasons for being the way he is. *cuddles Ben*

Amberyl sez:

*looks at Jamie* Oh, my, look at her go. I wonder if she’s as protective of her own characters? I would certainly hope so, since I’m one of them.

Sar-fitb sez:

Wouldn’t it be nice if ice cream could solve every problem in the world?

Server is down: ice cream!
War in Iraq: ice cream!
Stressful Statistics test today: ice cream!
Trying to lose weight: never mind.

Cali sez:

thats what I always thought of the question marks as… uncertainty XD funny that someone would bring it up…

Aywren sez:

Aww… thanks guys for the support. As I said, I do try to pay attention to edit out some of the weirder question marks. But it doesn’t always happen.

On the topic of baddies. I also don’t see the Drake-Zazo-Kip crew as being softies at this point. Especially not Drake. I can’t vouch for future development, however. But for now, they are not-too-nice. ^_~

Em sez:

To Krozam: I understand you’re point about the question marks, as they sometimes do make me wince. As Ben’s always taking in questions, with a rising lilt, it does sometimes seem weird. However, when I try taking them out, he doesn’t sound right. There’s no good way of putting across his nervousness without giving him a stammer or putting pauses in, which would ruin his charater - one making him seem more awkard and less eloquent and the other slowing down his speech. I’d say that they shouldn’t put the ? in so frequently. Like taking it out of “Thank you?” but keeping it in for “Thats them?”. It does kind of grate untill you get used to it, but when you do, you tend to find that you can’t find a good subsitution of “?”.

Aywren sez:

It’s the great question mark debate! Jamie is right in saying that these scripts are written as interactive online chat between myself and Syn. So we’re pretty laid back in our writing as we put these chapters together.

I’ll see if I can’t find a happy medium when I go through and edit in the future. Sometimes the question marks are there for good reasons. Sometimes they are there as a writing style quirk. Either way, I’ll do what I can to see that it’s not too overused in the future.

Thanks for your thoughts on this.

Aywren sez:

Kit: Yes, the color of Ben’s bracers are symbolic. You’ve nailed part of the reason, too.

Ben’s left hand is the hand with the rune on it. He tends to think of it as something dark and a hold over from Zot. So he wears his black bracer on that arm. It’s meant to be a reminder to himself of what can happen when power is used for dark things. Somewhat like when you tie a ribbon on your finger or write something on the back of your hand to remember — since you look at your hands often, you’re more apt to think about things if it is on your hands.

Ben is right handed, thus he wears his white glove on that hand. It reminds him to think carefully and to act with kindness and good intentions — especially when he goes to use magic (since he tends to look at his hands when casting magic).

Later on, there is a story development along the lines of Ben’s rune and the dark hand. But that’s a long way down the line.

Tricia sez:

I gotta admit when I first came to the comic and started in the archives I was confused at the use of question marks. But then I took a minute and played out the scene in my head and realized just how uncertain the current user of the mark was. It all came together to give them the questioning lilt, maybe a little furrow of the brow, or a slight head tilt, making the characters more dynamic and realistic.

On that note, I wonder if we should order ice cream for the whole table now since this is likely to be a drama-filled meeting. ^_^

Bex sez:

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW XDDDDDD!

*Super-mega-twinkie-glomps ice cream Ben*

You know, I’ve never noticed the over-use of ‘?’ before. I guess I just understood it the first time. But I agree that it could be confusing. But until we can find a better way of showing emotions you’ll just have to grin and bear it ^^!

Aywren: Is that why he wears the black and white gloves? I just thought it was just for decoration! I never thought it would be so deep ^^;;!

Aywren sez:

Bex: Yep. Not everything in Wayrift is symbolic, but if it’s somewhat out of the ordinary (especially if worn or used often), then it probably has a meaning to the characters.

Ben takes his past crimes pretty seriously. Though his temper can get the best of him sometimes, usually he tries very hard never to forget.

KJ sez:

And here I thought I was the only person being constantly thrown by the question marks. I’m used to you and Syn using them in AIM conversations, but I confess that in the context of a comic, I don’t find them always appropriate.

Still– ice cream. Problem solved? Problem solved!

KJ sez:

And the ’softy’ question reminds me of a discussion I’ve wanted to prompt for some time… but I’ll save it for the forum.

stormcloud sez:

The last three panels of Ben are the cutest things I’ve ever seen.
Ben: Thankyou?(I think?)*taste* *Happyness!* Yes tank you!

Love the comic!

Aywren sez:

Well, I guess I had no idea that the question marks were really that confusing. It’s a natural way of writing/speaking for me in a chat atmosphere. As I said, I’ll work on editing better from now on. You won’t see changes until next week though because Friday’s page is already done and I’m far too swamped with things to go in and edit it.

Aywren sez:

But on the up side… I’m happy to see so many folks conversating and giving ideas. We don’t always know that there’s something confusing until we hear about it!

KJ sez:

I wouldn’t say it’s “confusing” so much as it makes us twitch… but ah well!

Mnemosyne sez:

Just a random question: What exactly is a ‘letch’?

Aywren sez:

Mnemosyne: From Dictonary.com:

letch Slang. –noun
1. a lecherous desire or craving.
2. a lecher.
3. any strong desire or liking.

In this case, it’s used to describe Kory’s sometimes excessive behavior towards the opposite sex. ^_~

Jenna sez:

I, for one, like the use of the question marks. Heh, I’ve even adopted it when I’m on AIM or when I’m shooting someone an e-mial or a text message. Granted, at first I was confused, but then it was a “EUREKA!” moment when I realized just how handy “?” is for projecting uncertainty or confusion when voices cannot be heard.

On another note, what is Leona’s favorite flavor of ice-cream? I’m assuming it’s her favorite food, yes-no?

Jamie sez:

OMG Jenna, I’m the same way. I do it now XD Especially when RPing with Syn.

Tewna sez:

Ah, yes. Ice cream without chilies in it is quite the happiness moment for Ben.

On the subject of “Softies”: I label quite a few characters softies even if it would get me in trouble with the character, I think of Zebah as a softie. There are characters that I consider softies that other people probably wouldn’t. Yeah, at this point Drake and Zazo aren’t softies because they have not encountered anything that would cause them to develop that attitude, but one hopes - having not read some very important things - that there is at least a little bit of the softie left in Kip from who he used to be… *dragged off-stage again…*

Kris sez:

well, at least Sam likes Ben
@Sar-fitb: if you were having just icecream, it would solve you being fat (unless you were lactose intolerant)

Khatz sez:

i never had any problem with the questionmarks, but i’m guilty of using lots of them in chat too when trying to express an uncertain voice.

Syn sez:

Actually - several of the question marks are my fault - and there is a good reason.

I come from a multicultural household. My mother is from Peru, while my father is a US native. My mother was learning English while I was growing up - and I’m proud to say that her skill with English rivals native speakers these days.

One of the interesting things - is that statements(!) with variable uncertainity are often posed as a question. In fact, I find myself sometimes speaking like my mom with statements ending with no? Such as:

You are going to school today, no?

Sometimes statements are just posed with the question-mark. So in the case of Aiden, you’re likely to these interrogative style sentences - based on real-life experience from someone that has grown up with both ESL in the home, and worked with it as an instructor.

Syn sez:

Krozam,

The other thing that you have to forgive is that one of the writers is an engineering type. While my writing is nowhere as bad as some of the “I R INGINER” writers out there, it’s nowhere as good as the talented language majors and artists that stalk this site.

-S

Aywren sez:

Ahhh… I had not thought about that, Syn. Thanks for bringing that up.

I’ll let Aiden have all the question marks he wants, then. I just keep cutting out a number of the “…”s however. You know how he likes to eat them, but they could get stuck in his throat. XD

Jenna sez:

“they could get stuck in his throat”
*corpses* XD

Kira sez:

Aww! Ben is so cute in the last three panels

June Bug sez:

Aww! X)
Ben’s first ice cream.