Oh that's just absolutely TOO funny dear.

Thank you.

Bunners

Bonus Multiplier: This Episode's Guest Star
Bonus Multiplier X2: the wanted poster

LOL, poor ian.

I used that title for the original movies, but lord I miss Tim Conway and Don Knotts!

Never underestimate his actor's soul.

My brain broke at the phrase "Drip's feminine wiles". Now I can't stop laughing like Peter Lorre.

Knowing Ian's own "preferences", I dare say he saw through Drip's disguise... but still fell into the trap. e_e =P Maybe he should stick to bar tending.

He most likely did... but.. this is Drip after all.. guess I should be lucky a bump on the head and lighter coin purse was all I got.

Yeah, no kiddin'! At least Drip has always been a bit conflicted about his sexuality. I don't think he normally targets men, which I'm sure many are thankful for.

Unfortunately, his "partners" here are a little more "equal" in their targets, though at least they're more focused on money and not certain, ah, "bonuses"...

Actually, Drip DOES normally target men. They're definitely not the primary demon in his psychological cabinet - that honor goes to women thanks to Dear Granny. But in both JACK and some of the side material like the two Cliff comics it's made pretty clear that Drip often preyed on men opportunistically at very minimum. For example, the reason he and Cliff have this whole mind-bond thing going on is because Cliff not only pursued the living Drip as cop vs. serial killer, but Drip actually captured Cliff at one point. Cliff was rescued but not before Drip raped him. Also one of the earlier JACK arcs involves a guy who was Drip's second of three proteges. Among this charmer's many rambling comments to his female would-be victim as he forces her to drive at gunpoint is, and I'm paraphrasing because my memory is imperfect, "Did you know Drip was a fucking faggot? Swear to god. He used to say it was better to rape hetero men in the ass than to rape women because they get more violated or some shit. Total queer. He even made me suck it once or twice. He had a gun to my head. Fucking fag... I always used to expect to just see him in a dress sometime. What a queer." (Of course, as he's saying this, the art shows Mr Spotty Face Protege holding an aroused Drip while both sit on a bed, obviously in a consensual homosexual relationship, so we see Drip is not the only one of them who was a bit conflicted about his sexuality.)

But yeah, Mr. Hopkins has made it clear that having a penis does not make you safe from living Drip whatsoever. (obviously NO ONE is safe from dead Drip, especially at this point in JACK.)

Huh. Didn't know that about Cliff. I do remember the arc about one of Drip's "acolytes", but I forgot his exact words... I was distracted by the pictures that contrasted so strongly with them that I guess I forgot the words! I guess Drip was kinda screwed up in ways we may never know... or at least, not until Mr. Hopkins decides to show us. That bit showing his past with his grandmother and everything... that was a hard one to read.

It was a sharp reminder that nothing starts out as evil. In its natural state, everything is good. It must be twisted and corrupted to arrive at an unnatural state, and that often requires care and attention. 'Course, then you've got the sociopaths who just don't get compassion, though thankfully most of them stick to stealing and manipulation instead of murder and torture.

Drip kinda reminds me of my own villain, though I don't think I've developed me as much, seeing as I haven't really finished most of my stories or published anything. Hope to change that soon. I'm 30 years old now. Gotta make a difference in my next 30!

I know how that feels! I've got all kinds of stuff in my head but I can never seem to get it to come out. If nothing else I'll always admire Mr. Hopkins' ability to whip his muse into line and actually PRODUCE SOMETHING and KEEP DOING IT even if there have to be pauses and breaks sometimes. Of all the webcomics I read 10 years ago not many still exist and the fact that JACK is one of them is really inspiring to me.

You know that's always interested me. Even sociopaths, who lack the biological capacity for empathy, STILL usually aren't outright evil. Unpleasant, unscrupulous, sure, but the ones that rape and kill are a minority even among those with no capacity for empathy. It really goes to show that those kind of behaviors are a manifestation of something Going Wrong Somewhere if you see what I mean by that. Drip is a very well researched character. He has much in common with many real serial killers... including the history of familial abuse as a child.

Oh I should note there's more to the story with cliff and drip. Long story short, avoiding spoilers as much as possible. Drip died and became Lust before Cliff died, from the perspective of the living world (obviously Helltime is weird but yeah in this case stuff lines up pretty neatly even in physical time.) When Cliff died, Drip basically came to him and kept his body going, sort of a demonic pact done with someone before they actually got to Hell. From then on cliff had the scythe-arms (from events around his death) and the mental bond to Drip. Eventually his physical body died completely and he went to Hell but kept the scythe arms and bond to Drip.

Interesting! I should see if I could borrow a copy of the comics pertaining to Cliff's story in relation to Drip. It'd answer a lot of questions and enrich the main story a bit more.

I bought both Cliff comics from Miss Gibson's table, IIRC, at Further Confusion several years ago now, back when they were still semi-newly released. There are aspects of the story that don't make a lot of sense to me (all involving a woman Cliff meets whose behavior toward him is nonsensical in the extreme, except PERHAPS if viewed from the perspective of Godly love and openness... you'll see what I mean when you read it.) But overall it's a fantastic story. Cliff is honestly the character I feel the worst for in all of JACK. Even John, who ended up swallowed by the Hubbard, sort of earned what happened to him. Earning your fate is very much a theme in this universe, of course. But the thing with Cliff is he feels so... lost. He's far more mentally ill even than Drip at the worst we've seen him (say, when he ripped off Brian's cock), using the rubric of awareness of reality and ability to synchronize his behavior with his will. In the two CLIFF comics, especially, he seems bewildered and just trying to struggle from one moment to the next. I'm not sure that he really even knew what he did wrong except for perhaps a brief period in Hell (when he was hanging out with Todd he seemed more together than at any other time we've seen him.) But he never quite opened his eyes, and eventually, as we know, backslid... badly. Basically, to put it shortly, he's heavily dissociative even without the help of Drip being an actual voice in his head. BEFORE he went to the jungle wars, he was pretty normal, don't get me wrong, but starting with what happened there (that's where the scythe-arms stuff begins), he really just... falls apart in a way that none of the other characters in JACK have really done. He just acts out blindly, often little more than a toy for Drip to push the buttons of. There's a good person in him, somewhere, but he's so lost in himself that even without the influence of someone like Drip he's got no connection to that good person. And he really just lacks awareness in general, honestly.

That's the big difference between Cliff and many of the other characters in JACK. Many of them, like Drip for example, see themselves clearly. In short, sin is almost always a conscious choice in the JACK universe. But Cliff to me seems to embody the idea of sin as a mistake or a missing of the point rather than as a deliberate misdeed, if that makes any sense?

(The comics also explain his obsession with 'Linda', too. Worth buying for that alone, honestly, at least if you're like me and get bugged by not knowing that kind of detail!)

This world is a confusing and dangerous place. Maybe Cliff didn't have a strong sense of his own personal identity. When that happens, it's much easier to get swept up in things happening around you, and make you far easier to manipulate. People can become villains through no fault of their own except that they just didn't take time to pause and reflect. Though if circumstances don't give you the time, who can blame you? Maybe Cliff just got swept up into things and wasn't strong enough yet to withstand them. And Drip's influence only made things worse.

Still... my speculation would be stronger if I'd read the actual books. Perhaps I should look into borrowing some copies from someone.

Actually that's very much what it's like. He just sort of flows from incident to incident with almost no insight or awareness, and when Drip speaks up and makes suggestions he reacts in much the same way as a person responding to illusory 'voices in their head'... the tragedy is just that the voice in cliff's head belongs to Drip, so the suggestions it makes, well... yeah. There are a handful of moments where Cliff -thinks- about what's happening and becomes horrified, grief/guilt-stricken, and/or rebellious toward Drip, but they're rare and don't last long. For all intents and purposes, Cliff during the scythe-arms period was a boulder that Drip continually shoved down a hill every time it came to rest.

...and my psychopath character's reaction to that metaphor is, "Whee! This is fun!"

e_e I swear, I keep him as restrained as possible, but sometimes I still want to put on the mask and play as him. It's far too much fun to play the bad guy.

We've all got gators to keep fed. :p

Actually, given Andre's proclivities, he may not CARE that Drip isn't female...

Say, mind if I repost this to my gallery?

Go ahead, just make sure to credit the other people's characters.

Groovy! Just as an FYI,  eocostello is lead creator on Andre.

Recall the last two lines from either "Some Like It Hot" or "I Got Plenty of Mutton"

"Nobody's perfect! AWOOOOOOOOOO!"

... Drip looks good in a dress. wat.

Bump (and Grind) and Boost bandits.

*sarcastically does facepalm* My goodness, Drip is transvestite now...

I love the way you draw Tony-Ray. He's unmistakable as that character and not just any random pig even though you can hardly see him here. This whole series is priceless.

Say, how did Jeannie's bottle get there?

In one of the reference pics I was given he's holding a bottle similar to that: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4748982/

I always get a chuckle seeing this trio's misadventures. :)