Zombie Cliche Lookout: My Side of Things
One of the hardest things about dealing with people is not being able to anticipate, or even tell, how they’ll react to something. The more stressful the situation, the more challenging this becomes, and it’s hard to think of many situations more stressful than zombie survival. The problem with this is that perspective plays such a huge role in how we understand our world, and each of us have a unique perspective that has been informed by countless different factors: culture, personal history, personality, and many, many others.
It’s very easy to label someone as unreasonable or dramatic, but that completely ignores everything that may have affected their perspective on things. Like the old saying goes, you can’t judge a person before walking a mile in their moccasins. Naturally, empathy can be a major factor here. Those with a strong innate sense of empathy can usually deal better with individuals who struggle with working with the group because they see things on a fundamentally different level. This might seem rather boring, but these are skills that can directly affect a character’s ability to survive a zombie outbreak, at least as far as when working with a group of others.
About this Episode:
I’m concerned that I am making Inez perhaps a little too unlikable. My goal here is to isolate her, both from the group and among the readers, but not in such a way that people label her as the bad guy. I want people to understand where she’s coming from, even if they don’t necessarily agree with her.
Discussion Question: LEGO® Accessories
It seems like most of us are big fans of third-party accessories makes (BrickArms, BrickForge, BrickWarriors, Citizen Brick, etc.), although there are certainly some purists in the audience. I’d like to hear some suggestions for what some of these companies could make that could compliment zombie survival stories and play.
My suggestion would be to start looking outside weapons. We’ve got those covered pretty well, so what about other objects people would need? I’d love to see a better variety of backpacks, for starters. I’d also like to see more everyday items like tools, small appliances, and electronics. What do you guys think?
As a Lego Zombie Fan, I would like to see the items/accessories on this website http://innawoods.net/ in LEGO form.
I’m using http://innawoods.net/ in creating character concept/barf.
I’ve been seeing a ton of screencaps of this game on Flickr, and have been wondering what it was all about.
Typo alert, Zombie Cliche Lookout, second paragraph, after the comma: “that complete ignores” complete–>completely
Same section, first paragraph: “has been informed” informed–>formed
I’ve never had anyone’s opinion informed by events they experienced! 😀
And yes I know those two typos are in reverse order, it’s because I spotted the typo that comes first after I spotted the second one! 😉
Fixed the first one. I’m sticking with informed; that’s another idiomatic one.
Thanks BV!
Inez’s behavior stems from the fact that she’s a reporter and because she doesn’t fully understand zombies and the real danger they are to her. She might realize this after Brent dies but somehow I don’t feel that she will fully grasp just how complex ordinary day to day events like living one’s own life have become.
She also doesn’t realize that Murphy wasn’t breaking the camera’s video tape because he didn’t want evidence leaking out, he was breaking it so that it rendered the video camera’s recorder useless because there is a very real danger to people wandering around filming zombies, especially if they’re unaware that these zombies are going to attack them without warning or provocation.
Excellent read on things, BV. In regards to Murphy sabotaging the tape, in hindsight, I should have had him take the battery instead. That would have been a bit less suspicious in a conspiratorial kind of way.
Also, Inez’s calling judgement on Cheryl’s actions isn’t going to go down well, being overly judgemental is a sure-fire way to lose that extra ration in your goodbye survival pack! 😀
If Dave really wants to show that she is isolated from the group, but not too unlikeable, I would strongly suggest she dial back the hate, or as the saying goes “sheath her claws”. Bitching about what others choose to do is one thing but taking it out on them is still wrong, both from a moral and psychological standpoint.
Question to Dave: Is Inez capable of realizing she’s putting too much fuel on that fire of hate she’s burning right now? If so, she should certainly come around, or at the very least back off and allow things to settle down a bit.
I kind of like Inez, but she’s harder to like every panel she’s like this, if Dave really wants us to like her more, he should show her as having some ability to take a step back and reassess her judgements of others. I sincerely hope Inez stays on with the group, or at least leaves on better terms, because that will benefit her in the long run, whereas her current track is headed for a brick wall built into a solid mountainside! 😉
Excellent points all around. Inez will likely be in the comic for a while now, so perhaps we’ll see her realize some of these things sooner or later.
Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in his shoes. That way, when you do criticize him, you’re a mile away AND you have his shoes! 😉
Love it!
Dave that second one is not an “idiomatic” usage to me, even though it is to you. It is an error to say that people get “informed perspective” over the course of their lives.
I flagged it as a typo because dictionary usage refers to informed as knowledge gained when someone gives you information. You’re talking of information learned by oneself over time. It might be idiomatic where you come from but to me it’s just a typo that’s quite plainly out of context for the sentence it’s in.
Regardless, you can keep it if you so desire, I only ask that you explain if some typo I flag is an idiomatic usage.