Parson . . . not a fan

[Machiara]

Hello all,

I've seen a lot of people on the forum say, in some form or another, that they are rooting for Parson. My question: why? He's a whiner. He has VERY questionable personal hygiene. He's rude.

Someone, please enlighten me! Why should I consider Parson anything other than a (large) roadblock for Ansom?

[Uzraid]

He's on Wanda's side?

[Khantalas]

He is the writer of Hamstard, THE Coolest Webcomic Around™?

[mikeejimbo]

Why? Because he's a rude whiner with questionable personal hygiene, is why.

[TinSoldier]

Hmm. I never took him to be a whiner. A slacker maybe. Someone who has enough intelligence to do whatever he wants to do but doesn't care to.

I find him to be more sardonic than whiny. I've known whiners. They ain't Parson.

Not that that makes him heroic, I'm just pointing that out.

[Erk]

We've never actually seen him whine at all, I would say whiner is very much the opposite of what he is. He has complained twice in the comic: once was after being asked to complain by Ashna, and his complaint was nothing probably 80% of us haven't said before: it was far more a matter of bringing him to the readers' heads than complaining. The second time, he had just been transported by a powerful spell and had a headache that looked in page18 panel5 like it could possibly make his head asplode. Give the guy some slack! Have you ever traversed the boundaries of reality and just shrugged it off and started commanding a hopeless battle with the threat of utter destruction hanging over your head?

He's also not all that rude, not openly. Just not deferential. I'm sure he will never be a consierge, but he's doing ok. And how can you not love him for his quick-thinking brilliance on page 20? The guy's a genius.

In real life, I would probably hang out with Parson but find him pretty annoying sometimes. In the comic so far, I love him. He rules.

[Machiara]

Hmm, maybe I'm not giving him the benefit of the doubt.

I thought he whined here, though:

---

[Parson says he's been preparing the game for "five solid months"]

"Five months? You really live for this, don't you."

"You have no idea."

"Why?"

"Whaddya want, a solioquy? You know why. Because my life sucks. My car is a rolling bomb. My job feels like an endless training film. Nobody reads my webcomic. This place is a hole. A condemned hole. For squatter hobbits. And to be honest, I don't find any of that stuff interesting enough to change."

---

Sure, Ashna asked him the question, but his previous comments begged that question. He was asking for an opportunity to whine. And he got one! Poor Parson, his life sucks. Well, it's not like he's mentally ill. Parson is very intelligent; he should be able to secure a challenging job and a decent living space. He just doesn't want to work, he'd rather play. I can understand the sentiment, but it's his choice to live the way he does. Ergo, he's whining.

I find it rude to be using profanity every other word in front of people you don't know. When you come through the gate, sure. But he's still using once he's engaged these people in regular conversation ("boop me in the boop").

We only have a few strips of Parson, so we are forced to draw our conclusions about him from a relatively small pool of evidence. Still, the authors (hi Rob and Jami!) are able to give us clues to character in that limited time, and those are the conclusions I draw from those clues.

Now, I do give Parson credit for having a sense of humor (see Stanley "tool" comment and "I said not to mention unspeakable," both of which were very funny). It takes more than a sense of humor to give me a rooting interest in someone, though.

[Erk]

Dude, he just got teleported from a metal folding chair into a tower in a fantasy world. He gets a free pass on "profanity useage" for the first few seconds, I would say. I never swear, and I'd cuss a bit too.

Like I said, if I knew him in real life I would find him annoying, though I would still like him for being intelligent and humerous and good at gaming. He does complain, but it's not whining as far as we can tell. Of course, we have no measure of the frequency or anything, but he more seems sardonic and a bit bitter than whiny to me. Look at Hamstard for more of his character: not whiny, just sarcastic, bitter, and cynical.

[Beleriphon]

I think people like Parson because of what has been mentioned, no in spite of what has been mentioned. Thus the humour.

[Ulrich_Brew]

When asked Parson tells others what needs to be said. Either for the sake of plot or even for introduction.

If you asked him a question on what was gonna happen, I'd want Parson to tell me because he wouldn't sugar coat it.

-scrubbed- negative personal comments about other posters constitutes flaming
-Erfmod

[DiscountNinja]

Yeh, I like Parson too - I think he's a funny guy, and hell, if I was sitting in an apartment with a car like his, I would complain too, and it's not like he asked her to ask him why his life was gaming. Sure he answered with a complaint, but only because it was true.

I see him as an intelligent man who has little interest in anything but his gaming, and he's not so much rude than he is sardonic, like TinSolider said.

Not to mention there's only been 22 comics, so there's not been a lot of time for people to see him develop, I think it's going pretty good. Especally when you consider that people start webcomics and do 4 or 5 times that number of strips and still don't have the popularity this one does.

(Is there anyone besides me who thinks Jillian and Parson sound like an interesting match? :) )

[Learnedguy]

You will like Parson becouse he is a big fat person. Like Santa Claus. And Santa Claus is jolly. Do you not like jolly people? If you don't like Jolly people, then that means that you are a jolly-not-liker. And if you say this, then you will complain. Like Parson. And if you complain like Parson, that means..Santa, is that you?!

[Sewer_Bandito]

I like Parson

A)Because he's on Wanda's side.

B)Because he wrote Hamstard.

C)He's lazy.

What's not to like about him!?

[Hilary Moon Murphy]

Why do I like Parson? Because he's bright and funny. I'm a sucker for intelligent men with great senses of humor. Yes, he has some serious flaws (a weight problem, and a problem dealing with the real world.) If he were my friend in real life, I'd be very concerned for him but I would still enjoy hanging out with him at a gaming table.

I think that Erfworld will transform him as much as he is about to transform Erfworld. Besides, Ansom's plush infantry scares me.

Hmm

[Mick_the_Rogue]

Why like him? Because he's funny and a gamer....The quintesential (sp?) gamer if pop culture is to be believed (which it is not). He is the everyman, the 'typical gamer' thrown into spectacular circumstances. Perhaps Parson is meant to be flawed because we're supposed to see part of ourselves in him, and therego we root for him...I mean do you really see any part of yourself in Ansom, Wanda or Stanley (please please be no on the last one). You may see personality similiarities, but ultimately Parson is the only 'real' person there, and obvious intended to be the sympathetic hero

But whatever, Mick's tired

And just to make an arguement, I don't like Ansom

[Maryring]

I don't like him because he appears to be filled with apathy. That is a personal choice, based on the fact that "there is only one thing we must fear more than evil men, and that is the apathy of good men". Apathy is the bane of the world and I absolutely LOATHE apathy.

That does not make me dislike the comic. This is only my view of one of the characters in it.

[Mick_the_Rogue]

Well keep in mind he still likely think he's in a coma or had a stroke or something, I mean wouldn't you?

And besides, in chess and these types of strategy games, sometimes you have to sacrifice a pawn (or a legion) to win the game overall, he's just playing as he normally would, thnking that everyone else in Erfworld is simply a delusion of his imagination (whether it is or not has yet to be seen)

Oh...by the way (parenthesis are fun!)

[Krytha]

Parson will die of disappointment if he ever gets out of there.

[TinSoldier]

Hmm, maybe I'm not giving him the benefit of the doubt.

I thought he whined here, though:

---

[Parson says he's been preparing the game for "five solid months"]

"Five months? You really live for this, don't you."

"You have no idea."

"Why?"

"Whaddya want, a solioquy? You know why. Because my life sucks. My car is a rolling bomb. My job feels like an endless training film. Nobody reads my webcomic. This place is a hole. A condemned hole. For squatter hobbits. And to be honest, I don't find any of that stuff interesting enough to change."

See, I don't see this as whining, really. At least not by my definition. I think it is more of an observation of his own life, not even a complaint really.

Of course, I've got kids. I know what whining really is.

[mikeejimbo]

I don't like him because he appears to be filled with apathy. That is a personal choice, based on the fact that "there is only one thing we must fear more than evil men, and that is the apathy of good men". Apathy is the bane of the world and I absolutely LOATHE apathy.

That does not make me dislike the comic. This is only my view of one of the characters in it.

Meh, I can't say I care about apathy one way or another. I don't see why you would hate it or feel it's the bane of the world, though.

On another note, I see TinSoldier's avatar has changed. I miss Kore

[Moechi_Vill]

Whiners can be intelligent, caring people with lots of buff. My ADHD and Aspies usually gets confused with it.

[Machiara]

I'm not saying I don't like the comic . . . I LOVE the comic. Rob and Jamie are like unto cartoon GODS. :D I'm just not sold on Parson yet.

[ElfLad]

I mean do you really see any part of yourself in Ansom, Wanda or Stanley (please please be no on the last one).

Advanced Detect Innuendo!

[Maurog]

Belkar would be proud.

[Karellen]

As far as I'm concerned, this is better than having a geek character who's good-looking, well-adjusted and charming. Such characters have merit, but generally speaking not as focus characters. I prefer a flawed and faintly pathetic individual over a pandering Mary Sue geek archetype; we've seen enough of those in hundreds of webcomics.

Frankly, I think it's necessary for him to be the way he is. "Main character gets pulled into magical fantasy world" is about the direst cliche of fantasy writing there is, and to get past that you need a fresh outlook. The outlook here would be that for our main character, being pulled into a fantasy world isn't an end-all solution to every single one of the issues he had in the real world, including his weight problem.

Besides, Parson's not that bad. He might curse a lot, but when he pulls himself together to respond to Stanley's queries on what he would do to save his city, he gives perfectly solid answers to his queries as to how he'd defend the city. I imagine we'll get to see him do (or, rather, think up) something really cool once the actual fighting stars. His contribution to the cause would be his genius mind after all, not running around waving a sword he learned to use for no good reason like in any cheesy fantasy novel.

[Pyrian]

I don't like him because he appears to be filled with apathy.

Don't mistake a difference in priorities for apathy. There is nothing apathetic about Parson. I've seen apathy - I've been apathy. What you're saying here is that apathy is not acting on the things YOU, Maryring, care about. Parson acts on the things HE cares about. He spends months building elaborate games, which by all witnesses are extremely well done. That's not apathy. That's not apathetic at all. That's focused, driven behavior.

He was probably dragged out of his world just a short time before he published the game that would have "made" him.

[Silverlocke980]

Parson is a whiner, a loser, and a geek.

But I want him to succeed. Why?

Because I want to believe that other people, just like him, can throw off the chains they have attached to themselves and live.

And if Parson can do it...

Well, there is no greater theme than redemption, and no greater story than a man rising above the problems he has placed himself in!

[Maryring]

Don't mistake a difference in priorities for apathy. There is nothing apathetic about Parson. I've seen apathy - I've been apathy. What you're saying here is that apathy is not acting on the things YOU, Maryring, care about. Parson acts on the things HE cares about. He spends months building elaborate games, which by all witnesses are extremely well done. That's not apathy. That's not apathetic at all. That's focused, driven behavior.

And don't give me intentions I never had. Parson appears (and I stress that word, APPEARS) to be apathetic because he admits to not wanting to do anything with his life. By your definition, I'd define about 99.9% of the humans on Tellus as Apathethic, which I do not. I'll admit that the vice of apathy is not my field of expertise, that would be virtues, I do believe that I know enough about Apathy to have a solid defintion of it and to be capable of backing it up. What you use to back up your argument, while vaild, is only an aspect of his character and personality. One energetic act does not make you energetic. Parson admitted, and I quote

"and to be honest, I don't actually find any of that stuff interesting enough to change."

That is what I use as a base for my view of him as apathetic. I still believe he is, but he appears less so because of recent character development. It's as simple as that.

[Indon]

Personally, I like parson because he's, well, no easy way to describe it...

In modern western culture, we're fed so much fantasy fiction (and not _just_ us nerds, though we're extreme cases) that if something incredible and unbelievable ever did happen to us, we'd roll with it.

The 'normal person whisked away to an amazing world' plot is old as dust, but nowadays, normal people should know what they're doing in them.

Thus, I rather like Parson because he is the inevitable advancement of an age-old story character. The connetticut yankee of the 21'st century, I guess.

But I guess that's more a metaanalysis of Parson as a character, rather than just evaluating him based on personal merits... but hey, it's just a story.

[InfernalistGame]

I like him, but then, I've BEEN Parson, many times in my life, usually when I'm single and unemployed and stuck on SSI. In every functional point, I exhibit his characteristics in life, including being so sick of bothering with laundry that my shirts had developed that "has he been wearing that same shirt the whole series?" feel. Hell, atm, I'm down to two t-shirts I OWN. Apathy is a result o fbeing hardened and awakened to failure, the point you give up, IMHO. Parson was definately there. This is the prime reason he "would want to be here". Trading a life where a crappy customer service job, the bane of the intellectual, can be replaced by the ultimate dream, a new Sun Tzu for a world of fantasy and magic. I see the apathy fading quickly, though the social graces may have been permanently scarred by giving up on being seen as attractive and witty; and settling for overweight, smart and snarky.

Ask me more, if you like, argue if you will. But I -AM- Parson Gotti, in all functional points. And frankly, until you've gotten to that point in your life... it's not for you to really relate to and appreciate that degree of self-awareness that Parson has, when you realize the world is stacked against you, and decided to get out of bed every day solely to pour your soul into a story, just to please 'friends' you only see on game night. When you have no job satisfaction, no love in your life, no possessions you treasure... just a computer and a construct of imagination, dice and molded plastic to pour your creativity and intellect into, who no one will ever really see except the guys who come over to drink the sodas and eat the ramen you can barely afford and cover rent.

Not to be too poisonous about the topic, but frankly, I'm on the edge of getting flame-ish on this topic. And in the spirit of speaking frankly, from the point of view of Parson himself as only a man like me can... "BOOP you. Even with a window into my life... you don't know me. And you certainly are in no place to judge me. Life with this weight, this face, and this life, then tell me you wouldn't be snarky and apathetic too."