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Narrative Philosophy

Cumic Sans, in my opinion, is interesting in that while it does mainly follow Protagonist, the "narrative mode" as they call it varies based on location. However, the text itself doesn't change. Simply does the way the story moves.

First, a couple definitions:
  • First person Major: the principal (main, in relation to the world and events) character is the one telling the story.
  • First person Minor: the character telling the story to the reader closely observes the principal character.
  • First person Like, REALLY Minor: the character telling the story closely observes the multiple principal characters, of which there are FAR too many, and only when not overwhelmed to the point of mostly or entirely clocking out, literally or figuratively.
  • First person So Very Minor to the Point They May Only Be Present or Have Influence Once or Twice, If Ever, Despite an Ongoing and Complex Plot Line: the character telling the story to the reader is observing mainly over the television or internet
  • Third person When it is Comical: the reader is shown thought bubbles or briefly follows a character that is not Protag, because it's just too funny not to.

Examples:

While at home, and/or generally interacting with Love Interest, the story meanders along at a far less unhinged pace. In these settings, Protag generally is the one moving her own story along. Sure, others help her develop as a character, and general development occurs, but there is a clear main character moving the story: Protag. I think it's fair, then, to say this is First person Major.

While at work (generally the factory, but also other places such as, and ESPECIALLY during, the Yacht Cuck Arc), the reader is indeed following Protag... but everyone else is a bit too literally competing for that literary "principal character" title, and generally protag is forced into the backseat, generally willingly due to her low wages and general nature. During opening scenes, then, it is generally First person Minor, and once other characters get involved and intermingle, we generally quite comfortably enter First person Like, REALLY Minor territory.

Online, between arcs, Protag will often doomscroll online; yes, that hasn't changed by "the near future". Occasionally, tho quite rarely, she may post or otherwise make contact. Thus, we are in First person So Very Minor to the Point They May Only Be Present or Have Influence Once or Twice, If Ever, Despite an Ongoing and Complex Plot Line.

And finally, sometimes it would just be cruel to the reader- ok, really, this comic is written mostly for myself. So it would be cruel for me to deny myself (and to deny you all) the chance to read something just because the story is """supposed""" to be first person. Are we really just supposed to never see The Tangerine Cult's computation room? And miss out on Tryhard's fling with Yacht Cuck??? Come on, this comic is used to make a lot of statements and critiques about society (in the near future), but we're here to have fun after all.

"In conclusion..." "To recap..."

The point of this page is to point out that this comic isn't just absurd self-indulgence. I actually care about these characters, and, like most of them, hate the all too realistic setting. While it may be easy to pass this comic off (and perhaps, maybe you should still), there is, indeed a higher level of thought present here than what it may first seem.

A Note on Realism

Besides external cues like body language, no character is ever "in the head" of another character (aka, these are still limited viewpoints). There is nothing supernatural or well outside established laws of physics here. Any belief you have to suspend will probably be about social interactions, though I'll give you a hint that the vast majority of these characters are conglomerations of or very closely inspired by real people... So if you're questioning if someone would ever really do something done in this comic, likely you haven't expanded your social circle quite enough. ;^)