In spite of his typical insufferableness, I would be be concerned about Tip right now, except that we all know that he always goes armed (in every conceivable way). Nick will, of course, be fine, because he’s with Tip, and also because he can always call in air support.
Wouldn’t a good investigator also have noted that, not only is there no sign of forced entry but there’s also no sign of a struggle or search? That living room is neater than mine.
I have a neighbor. His girlfriends/active acquaintances are not from most of our usual social status nor background. He gets interesting reactions left around. He’s a neat-freak too. When one of HIS coterie visits, he throws them in the shower. FIRST.
We know astoundingly little of any substance about him. Where is he from? Does he have any family? Does he come from humble origins, or from a background of wealth and privilege? Where did he go to school? (Ignoring my long-standing suspicion that he doesn’t actually have a degree for the moment…)
Why did he join the army? What motivated a behavioral scientist who worked with rats to put on a uniform and tote a rifle for Uncle Sam? Why did he only start cross dressing (publically, at least) late into his military career? Why did he leave the military? Was he forced out, or did he voluntarily go? Why did he undergo CIA training afterwards? Was he actually trying to become a CIA agent, or was it a sort of “cross-training” for some other goal or purpose? If so, what?
Who the hell is this man, and why do we know nothing about him after all this time?
He’s the very first character to appear in the strip, and yet we still know roughly as little about him now as we did then. He’s been through all the team’s adventures, but he hasn’t really had much meaningful character growth or change.
He’s learned new things relevant to the plot as events developed, but he himself is still essentially the same person he was when we met him. He’s had a few moments of self reflection, but always brief and never with any lasting effect. His biggest personal struggles so far have revolved around not being able to just magically Mojo-Goink two of the supporting cast, but then getting over it.
We’ve seen flashes of every other major character’s past, but not Tip’s. We’ve seen every other major character grow and change noticeably, but not Tip. I have to imagine that’s intentional and significant in some way.
How many people have been keeping that up? That’s the 3rd one I’ve seen, besides the one I started on my hard drive after the one I had been following stopped updating for a while.
To be fair, they also didn’t call the ‘Folk Hero’ background the ‘Hedge-born Rapscallion’ or the ‘Misbegotten Malcontent’ or whatever.
Not everything needs a judgemental and negative editorialization. Sometimes you can just describe something in neutral terms – particularly something like a rules option in a fantasy roleplaying game that lets you facilitates telling stories about imaginary characters in a feudal fantasy world setting.
Insufferable is more “foreground”, all the time.
Were I able to on here, I would have given you some kind of like/rec/upvote/whathaveyou for that.
In spite of his typical insufferableness, I would be be concerned about Tip right now, except that we all know that he always goes armed (in every conceivable way). Nick will, of course, be fine, because he’s with Tip, and also because he can always call in air support.
Nick proved he can handle himself just fine in the robot fight arc.
Wouldn’t a good investigator also have noted that, not only is there no sign of forced entry but there’s also no sign of a struggle or search? That living room is neater than mine.
Like the cushions: “Live,” “Love,” and “Lurch.”
Maybe the fan knows something—maybe it’s the fan who deserted Mr. The Mike for Nick when he beat him in the dozens…
Whatever happened wasn’t in that room.
Obviously this isn’t where the solid waste hit the rotary air impeller.
the fans know everything
I have a neighbor. His girlfriends/active acquaintances are not from most of our usual social status nor background. He gets interesting reactions left around. He’s a neat-freak too. When one of HIS coterie visits, he throws them in the shower. FIRST.
Maybe Tip should check THERE.
Does thinking “Nick and Tip” would make a great PI buddy movie mean I’ve been shut in too long? 😉
Quite possibly, however my perceptions are also clouded by lockdown, so who am I to judge? Let the fan fiction commence!
He’s an Osprey! And he dresses in Drag! Together they’re Nick and Tip; Skin Horse Special Victims Unit!
What exactly IS Tip’s background, I wonder?
We know astoundingly little of any substance about him. Where is he from? Does he have any family? Does he come from humble origins, or from a background of wealth and privilege? Where did he go to school? (Ignoring my long-standing suspicion that he doesn’t actually have a degree for the moment…)
Why did he join the army? What motivated a behavioral scientist who worked with rats to put on a uniform and tote a rifle for Uncle Sam? Why did he only start cross dressing (publically, at least) late into his military career? Why did he leave the military? Was he forced out, or did he voluntarily go? Why did he undergo CIA training afterwards? Was he actually trying to become a CIA agent, or was it a sort of “cross-training” for some other goal or purpose? If so, what?
Who the hell is this man, and why do we know nothing about him after all this time?
He’s the very first character to appear in the strip, and yet we still know roughly as little about him now as we did then. He’s been through all the team’s adventures, but he hasn’t really had much meaningful character growth or change.
He’s learned new things relevant to the plot as events developed, but he himself is still essentially the same person he was when we met him. He’s had a few moments of self reflection, but always brief and never with any lasting effect. His biggest personal struggles so far have revolved around not being able to just magically Mojo-Goink two of the supporting cast, but then getting over it.
We’ve seen flashes of every other major character’s past, but not Tip’s. We’ve seen every other major character grow and change noticeably, but not Tip. I have to imagine that’s intentional and significant in some way.
Have you read the filename story at all? It answers a lot of your questions. Here it is.
How many people have been keeping that up? That’s the 3rd one I’ve seen, besides the one I started on my hard drive after the one I had been following stopped updating for a while.
I know of two besides the one above. There’s mine, and there’s John Campbell’s. Links for both of them can be found in the comments here.
How did I miss that all these years?
How did you miss what?
I just figured “mystique” was part of the fuel for the mojo engine.
Thanks for sharing, ebonysable! Somehow I never knew that was there.
I would think that ‘from a background of wealth and privilege’ wouldn’t be a terribly hard guess to make. Even w/o reading the filename story.
WotC couldn’t get away with calling it that, so they just went with ‘noble’ for 5E.
To be fair, they also didn’t call the ‘Folk Hero’ background the ‘Hedge-born Rapscallion’ or the ‘Misbegotten Malcontent’ or whatever.
Not everything needs a judgemental and negative editorialization. Sometimes you can just describe something in neutral terms – particularly something like a rules option in a fantasy roleplaying game that lets you facilitates telling stories about imaginary characters in a feudal fantasy world setting.
It was a joke. Eesh.
They called the Batman background ‘The Faceless’.