Applied Living

Author notes

The Void of Creation 3

acadia

on Jan. 22, 2009

A word about this page, to start things off.

Shaun and Dave, the creators, not the characters, are literally in the comic at this point, so to say. Essentially, they switched places with Shaun and the Dave the characters in order to examine their work from the inside out. In short, the creators have become the characters, for the moment, for the sake of improving the comic. We probably could have used an extra comic between this one and the last, but the jump isn't too bad, I don't think.

Regardless, we kind of started this arc without much forethought, mostly for the sake of getting things going and rolling. It's not our best, and it doesn't really make sense, but it's not bad. It works. The concluding page salvages things a bit.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is, we're freaking excited for what's coming up next, and maybe a little distracted. The next month may be the most momentous moment in Applied Living's fractured history, save for when I came aboard. (And I don't mean that because I'm egoistic, but because me becoming the writer dramatically changed almost everything about the comic itself, which is pretty momentous, regardless of individuals.) As I said before, it's a little different, but it's hugely important to the demeanor and direction of our comic in the long run.

Speaking of excitement, an Applied Living merchandise shop is in the works. Yeah, it may be a little lame and maybe even selfish, and most likely unproductive and unprofitable, but I feel like it shows we're serious about comicking. It's a way for us to have more fun with this thing, a way for generous supporters to directly support us, and a chance to make the hideous look trendy and the bland taste flavorful with our apparel and objects. Regardless of any sort of profit, which I don't expect in the least, it's important to me to be able to create something that makes people want to wear it on their bodies and drink it out of their coffee mugs.

Is that the secret to legitimacy?

So, yes. Enjoy. Anticipate.

Things are about to get good.

–Shaun