I live under the rug, Novalyyn. It's my base of operations.

Hey! It may be dusty, but at least it's warm!

Seriously, I hope you'll start up another web comic eventually. You've done a fantastic job with this one, and I hope to see more from you in the not too distant future!

Well, I can see why you wouldn't want Chalk ending up there. He's kinda creepy.

So... After all these years, your true identity is that of a Dust Bunny.

"So you've become one with the rugness, eh? You merely adopted being under the rug where as I was born under it!" -Dust Bunny Bane
;-)

Looks more like he got promoted from "outline" to "fill"...

I am not surprised he showed up. I am though, bitting my nails to know what's he gonna talk about!

Attention to detail, thy name is Joe English.

Not to mention that Crystal and Wally had puppies. I mean, we already knew that they had offspring, but they clearly inherited Wally's "curse" without Crystal being "infected".

Well if his children are werewolves then they should get his life span. Probably a good thing cause I thought it would be sad if wally outlived his kids and grand kids.

Are you sure that's not just a romper suit/babygro the baby's wearing?

The baby is wearing a cute little suit, yes. Which is not to necessarily say that they AREN'T werewolves, mind you.

Oh thanks for pointing that out, I must admit I missed the book they were holding. That makes sense, but makes me a bit confused about the mechanics involved...

Sadly, little novella had to have its appendix out before chapter 5.

This was discussed bevor, I think. Joe said something about the wizards helping to reduce birthrates or the rabbits moving underground.

Ah, we’ve entered the stage where ‘a wizard did it’ can more or less take care of any issue.

I guess I can hold out hope that in a few hundred years a lagomorphic horde numbering in the billions will invade the surface world leaving it in cataclysmic ruin.

Most of the discussion is on 799, with a further comment from Joe on 800.

Yeah, we had a good long talk about that some pages back. In short, the birth rate is going to align more closely to human norms. That, and the tendency to live underground, and maybe several other factors, will go a long way towards smoothing things over.

One must reckon that the death due to predation rate for ordinary humans, even in urban environments has probably increased greatly with the revitalization of magic, as well.

Relative to its current rate of just above zero? Sure. Relative to common causes of mortality? Probably not. If it happens enough that human societies generally become aware of it, there would be organized campaigns to deal with it in more or less humane ways. Keep in mind that Homo sapiens has never not been the top predator in its range, and that anything that tries to contest that spot typically gets hunted to at least local extinction. Even lions put humans higher on the pecking order than themselves as an instinctive response to hundreds of thousands of years facing stone-age humans. Individual monsters can be scary, but there aren't many things scarier than a hostile civilization, and a lot of the monsters are smart enough to know that.

I once wrote a species of rabbit-people for a fantasy RPG setting. Their greatest cultural hero and saint was the woman who created an effective birth control method...

*Chalk

Mr Chalk is a very mysterious figure that appeared in Sandra's dreams or moment of uncousciousness a couple of times. He's not bad nor evil, but seemed to confront Sandra with the harsh truths of the reality she lives in.
Nobody except Sandra knows him and she has no clue of his identity. Nothing is known about him, except that he is not litteraly a good guy.

I don't think we can confidently say he's not evil. At most, we know he didn't at the time want Sandra to die, but we don't know why he wanted her alive.

Later we got that he didn't want her trapped in Lord Incubus' prison, but again, we don't know WHY he wanted her to get out, and it was hinted that her breaking out would let him escape something as well.

Perhaps Betty has issues, and is trying to get past them?

It actually strikes me as Betty isn't sure how best to express....certain emotions, like genuine, tender affection. Her body language seems to say "I'm not sure how to say this...I hope I don't screw it up."

I'm getting more of a vibe that they are in a relationship, it's new to Betty, and she is trying hard to be a good girlfriend—that or it's something she's always been working on since they have been together. It's quite interesting to see them like this, but it makes sense given they both are outsiders to the rest of the world with ridiculously long lifespans. Betty might be one of the entities who could actually be intimate with Zandra, too.

Oh, it was intentional alright. You called it.

Yes, I'd like to make a section for it. I'll probably be tinkering with this website for quite a while after the comic's done.

Great!

Well, you know, I never entirely gave it up. There's a bit of it on this page, in the bottom panels. It's just not too noticeable under the solid greys.

The first panel of the previous page implies that Zandra is lying in the following story, but the details of what actually happened aren't clear.

Yeah, it's one of those things that was left unanswered, but it is clear it did not have a happy ending even though Zandra has come to terms with it. That's very much like real life for some of us.

I'm a parent who had to disconnect from her own family for the sake of sanity and safety so I totally understand. Sometimes you have to feed your little one child-appropriate bits of the truth or completely distract them until they are mature enough to really handle the story. Given Zandra's mother is clearly dead because of the passage of time, a temporary white lie (especially right before bedtime—which is not a great time to drop super hurtful parts of your past on a kid) will not going to harm the little girl.

Actually, Jeffrey, I have (or have had) the same attitude. I know exactly where you're coming from. So I was surprised when the story went this way. It taught me that satisfaction comes in different forms when you're reading a story than when you write it.

And in doing this I also found that I wasn't really missing the things you mentioned. In fact, quite the opposite. The future seemed a fertile place, vigorous and exciting in its own right. The promise of new and unknown adventures remains.

Granted, it's bittersweet. Some of the characters have ducked out of sight, though their bonds endure. But life is a rotating cast, and what you describe as somnambulance is merely the right to observe tranquility from time to time. The world is never a permanently tranquil place, either in real life or in fantasy.

They're still leaping through a portal, Jeffrey. It's just a wider portal, and a more measured leap.

My favourite author for ending stories is David and Leigh Eddings. They tend to end their stories with the next big happy event, like a marriage, children being born or another type of celebration, with the characters catching up with eachother. Not entirely unlike this ending, its very good (so far I must add for sincerity).

You noticed! Yes, I used to do that to my sister all the time when we took pictures.

Yes :D
One of my favoured Comics is coming to an end and so im gonna embrace every Page of it!

My Sisters and me used to do that too^^, especially on important Family Pictures :D

omg, i think that you are right o_O . I dont know why it never occured to me. Its kind of obvious now. When Chalk first appeared we didnt see anything special except his "Flatline Mouth". And he breaks the fourth Wall saying that we as the Readers would have figured him out but how should we?
If you are an Artist and want one of youre Charakters represent Death as a shadowy like Figure something like the Flatline-mouth is a very clever trick.

Also, in the first Strips he is very indistinct, cause Sandra is "young" and death seems far away. In later Strips he became much clearer cause Zandra is older and/or the Situations she faces are much more dangerous. Maybe he is always there but only Demons could notice him?

Im certain that he is the personification of Death itself and the Moment Khazandra would see him clearly is the Moment she dies.

Oh, I hope it's not a Watership Down movie ending. If it is I know it will be done well, but I would be sad if Zandra died—especially as it appears her character is still needed in the world. Besides, it feels like the embodiment of Death should really just be the Death from the Endless in this realm. ;)

Clever thinking, but no I don't think so, there's more than one hint about her longevity.

For one she hasn't aged, for another she is very powerful (see pg 593) and then there's the hint from Viv (pg 596) which I interpret as being about both longevity and being a mother (second part proven ofc).

Although, that doesn't make it impossible that Mr Chalk is Death, but if he is I don't see it being a "time to go" moment, if nothing else, Khazandra would not go quietly with a child to protect and nurture...

Is Chalk maybe the spirit of Zandra's book? She couldn't see him well earlier because she was young and hadn't yet embraced her story.He could break the fourth wall, because he knew what was happening, and also that there was a fourth wall and readers. And he is cruel because he is the mind of a book about a monster, as told by human bystanders for much of it.

I just think it's weird for her to be reading a book about herself. And then Chalk shows up, clearer than ever? So maybe the book is kind of like Tomie.

It honors me to have brought a tear to your eye, Scott. Thanks for being with us. And if we're going, at least we won't be going far.

Also the first thing ever said in the comic.

"Argh, this is hard... if only children came with a manual!"

"Dear, our child IS a manual."

HAH! Good one.

I'll admit, my reaction on seeing this was 'awww... Black Betty...'

Zandra, was removed from his influence, his net of those destined to die. Everytime Zandra had encountered him she's learned something important or moved forward in some way. Even Wally's dream hinted at both him and Crystal living forever if he turned her, as Mr. Chaulk waved goodbye to them both. Will Wally live forever? Is Mr. Chaulk coming to tell Zandra he'll one day take her? Or will he and Zandra come to an agreement?

?

Well she did try to speak to God directly but as far as she knows no one answered. Sort of like the references to that video game I've yet to play; "you call for help, no one came."