>>81837972I think if Aaron has a blindspot as a writer it's in not realising that in any creative work, the audience will perceive characters differently to the author.
Take the current topics of conversation, for instance.
To Aaron, Jum was a useful plot point and a window into the mind of the Topsiders. His death was useful exposition.
To the audience, he was a sympathetic character and another Linda, a Topsider-in-recovery. His death hurt maybe more than Aaron intended.
To Aaron, Marx is a dear friend and useful plot tool who's been with him since college, someone with fun powers who it always amuses Aaron to write for and who Aaron believes adds interest to the strip.
To a lot of the readers? He's a badly-dressed dickwad of a Gary Stu that the strip would most likely work just fine without (indeed, he clashes with the wallpaper, so to speak), who the Author appears to be in love with and who has story-derailing powers and an apparent god complex that the Author appears to consider acceptable.
