Out of the mind of Mousse...

There's really no other way to describe this comic than that. Mousse, Gem, and I were sitting around in the chat room we use when we write this strip, and Mousse just up and said the first line of this strip. "There," he said, "that's a good beginning for a strip. So how do you respond?"

Gem replied with the second line, and Mousse pumped out the rest of the comic on his own. Then we pressed Gem to come up with a likewise comic, and that prompted the whole "MORONS: Existentialist Theatre" thing. So if Gem ever finished up his idea, that'll run on Friday, with mine on the following Monday. If not, then mine will be the final existentialist strip on Friday. So, we'll have to see.

I think we all realized that most people aren't really going to find these strips "funny." Of course, we realized that a few weeks after we started writing these strips, so we're used to the idea by now. I really don't know why we're actually doing this, I guess we're just getting a chuckle out of it. And with this strip, that's really all that matters, isn't it?

Earlier today I wrote up a prospective beginning for this rant, but I ended up starting a different way. So here's that beginning, and I'll go from there.

Sporadic and indecipherable updates? Never knowing if Mousse is going to have a rant? Puzzling over the new strip to try and make any sense of it? Hey, sounds to me like MORONS the comic is back in business once again!

Ok, maybe not, but we're working on it.

Or at least we're trying to work on it. It appears that the very things that kept this strip from being draw at all last semester are threatening to tear it apart again. But we, or at least I for sure, are trying to make sure that we can get together once in a while and figure out what we can write strips about. Also, it's been a while since we've written any strips, so we have to get back into the habit of doing it again. And we have to figure out if we can come up with anything that's actually funny.

Ok, that was one big paragraph of excuses, and what it comes down to is that we still don't have this strip quite back up to where it should be right now, but we're working on it. There, I just said "we're working on it" twice in one rant.

This comic, as you have probably noticed, is incredibly random. This is because we have quite arbitrarily declared this French Existentialist Week here at MORONS. We're not even sure if the stuff we're going to be posting here actually resembles French existentialist philosophy in any way, shape, or form, but we figure that as long as we stick to the general theme of some bizarre and seemingly inane concept being a metaphor for the meaninglessness of terrestrial existence, we're at least hitting somewhere near the mark. Maybe that's closer to German nihilism, perhaps along the lines of Friedrich Nietzsche or Emmanuel Kant, but that's beside the point.

Or maybe we've missed the point entirely and ended up with some sort of wildly perverted parody of John Locke! Who knows! What do you expect when a theater major and a biology major get together and try to be silly and philosophical at the same time?

And if your answer is "an intelligent and thought-provoking commentary on the nature of human existence," you're barking up the wrong tree.

Now, what else do I have to say today?

Ah, yes. Otakon! Yes, even now, your friendly neighborhood MORONS are busy concocting evil schemes to invade the city of Baltimore alongside thousands of other crazed otaku for a wacky and upside down weekend of pure anime fandom and fun!

However, as might be expected with anything the three of us try to plan, the road to Baltimore is fraught with difficulty! One of our number, the MORON known as "Gem," is experiencing some financial difficulty, and may have some trouble saving up to pay his way to the convention. I've offered to spot him some money if he comes up a little short when it comes con time, but I can probably only realistically come up with about $100 before I'm stretching my own pocketbook a bit far.

This is where you come in! Otakon is still about six months away, and with your help, our Gem might just be able to pull enough cash to get him to Baltimore for a wacky weekend of crazy anime hijinks. So, if this gripping tale of financial hardship touches the hearts of any of you otaku out there who can spare some extra money, consider tossing a piece of it Gem's way, and help a fellow anime fan have a great summer vacation. Maybe we can even come up with some crazy promotional offer for those of you who donate to the "Send Gem to Otakon Fund," like some annoyingly badly drawn MORONS stick figure wallpaper for your computer, or a super-secret special edition MORONS comic that we have yet to conceive of and create! Just think, a special piece of MORONS memorabilia, just for you! And all it takes is a measly little donation to help an otaku in need.

Just something to keep in mind. Besides, if you're going to donate to a worthy cause, why not donate to a kindred spirit who desperately needs your help instead of one of those crazy pyramid schemes you're always seeing advertised on TV? ^_^

Anyway, other plans are also being made for the convention. We've got our hotel reservations pending later this week, and my girlfriend and I are signed up for the Otakon 2002 LARP, which should prove to be great fun. We're going to be dressed as Keiichi Morisato and Belldandy from Oh My Goddess, if you feel up to the challenge of trying to spot us. So, if you're gonna be at the con, and you see two people roughly matching that description, just yell "YO MOUSSE!" and if I turn my head, I'll give you the mad shouts-out.