The Unloved Hamster - A Short Comic Story (OA)

Crimson Seiko

This was inspired by relationship troubles a good friend of mine is having with this girl... my friend representing the hamster, and the girl as... well, the girl. There's a lot of inside messages that you probably wouldn't fully understand unless you knew the entire situation, but they're everywhere... just about every panel parallels SOMETHING that went on between these two.

I drew this in hopes of helping both of them see the mistakes they're both making... the hamster refusing to let go and move on, and the girl not realizing that everything she does is being taken to heart by the hamster.

If you don't understand anything, or if you have any questions about some of the parallelism between the short comic strip and my friend's situation, I'll be happy to answer. I doubt he'll mind (and if he does... he doesn't know about this forum =P).

Also, if anything is too hard to read or you're not sure about my hand-writing, I'll clarify it. ^_^;

As for the art itself... it's not the best around. This was a doodle at best, but the story it tells is more important than the art. I did, however, redraw the last page (the last 4 panels) because they just turned out way too anti-climactic. (My art died by the time I got to the end of the comic.)

The story is not meant to be sick or twisted, though it's definitely meant to be sad. "White Hill" (Maromi's Theme) from Paranoia Agent (the ending credits) really helps to enrich the atmosphere of the story, so if you have it handy... give it a listen while you read.

And don't spoil the ending for yourself! ^_^;

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Ming Yi · Nebula Joined: 17 Apr 2005 Posts: 562

Awww, that story was so cute and so sad. I loved how you drew the hamster too. ;_;
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kidradd342 · banned onoes :< Joined: 28 Jul 2005 Posts: 50

that was so sad T_T
well anyways I like your drawing style

Tenryujin · Net Savior Joined: 11 Jun 2005 Posts: 129

Wow... The art tells the story very well, so no quips there. The bottom half of the fish page really touched me.

I love stories that make one think, and this is no exception. I hope your friend's troubles get solved... I don't want his story to end like the hamster's.
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Crimson Seiko · Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2005 4:59 pm Post subject:

The hamster design came to me by accident. I got to work, pulled out a sticky note pad, and that's the very first thing I doodled. I think his hair makes him look a little too much like a hedgehog, though. ^_^ And I'll go ahead and say it, since it's the only little detail that isn't very "deep"... I chose to bury him in an egg box simply because he looks like an egg. =P
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meggirl63 · banned onoes :< Joined: 16 Mar 2005 Posts: 1181

Your story was so sad. I imagined that I was the hamster that needed love.
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Nazne · Shukei - Hakuteiken Joined: 20 Mar 2005 Posts: 1133

Bleh. That IS sad. Have you showed it to your friend yet? O_o;

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kidradd342 · banned onoes :< Joined: 28 Jul 2005 Posts: 50

not to mean anything but
THE STUPID GIRL DESERVES TO DIE Evil or Very Mad

Crimson Seiko · Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2005 5:59 pm Post subject:

Pronouns might prove useful... so, let's call my friend Boris and his girl is Beatrice.

Anyway, so Boris has not seen it yet, no, but it's in my LiveJournal (friends-only)... so he'll most likely see it tonight when he gets back from the movies. I have a strong feeling he'll get most of the messages... specifically since he bought Beatrice a hamster recently.

I should have put the dead hamster in a marble box instead of an egg box since Beatrice's hamster is named Marble (I named it, back before I got fed up with Beatrice's crap), but I don't think marbles typically come in boxes. (Bags, isn't it?)
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Ming Yi · Nebula Joined: 17 Apr 2005 Posts: 562

I'm curious about the "mistakes" they've done. Does "Beatrice" ignore him constantly and "Boris" would do anything for her to a fault?
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Lils · Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2005 7:14 pm Post subject:

T_T How touching~
I loved how art has a sort of meaning to it that fasinates/interests people. ^^ I wish your friend the best of luck!

Btw, this seriously reminded me of Peach Fuzz in a way with the girl and the cute hamster.
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kidradd342 · banned onoes :< Joined: 28 Jul 2005 Posts: 50

what in the world is peach fuzz?
or are you talking about peach fuzz thats on peaches?

Unknown Neo · Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2005 7:32 pm Post subject:

That's an anime like lils said. And that was really touching and sad.

Slifer. EXE · Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2005 8:29 pm Post subject:

I feel so sorry for the hamster, she didn't give any feelings for it when it died and now that everyone thinks it's dead she'll never go back. How depressing. Sad

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kidradd342 · banned onoes :< Joined: 28 Jul 2005 Posts: 50

IT WAS STILL ALIVE :O
now thats sad their going to bury a precious little furry ball of joy alive
this so makes me want to go to the girl and kill her IN THE WORST WAY POSSIBLE!

Crimson Seiko · Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2005 8:58 pm Post subject:

Eh, think it's dead? It is dead. ^_^ But I suppose them burying it alive would be an interesting twist... but the hamster was meant to have been deceased by the last page, and thus was pretty much narrating from an after-life. Kinda corny, yes, but it's been done before. (So that automatically makes it OK. =P)

Since no one's really asking for specific things, I'll explain the comic a bit more. I want everyone to be able to grasp the entire meaning.

(To keep everyone up to speed, Boris is my friend who is having the girl problems, and the hamster symbolises Boris. Beatrice is the girl he's having problems with, and the little girl Ashley in my story represents her. No, Boris and Beatrice aren't their real names.)

I'm well aware that a lot of the deeper meaning wouldn't be caught by the general public, hence why I'm listing the backstory. However, this wasn't made for the general public... it was made for Boris and Beatrice, whom I highly expect to acquire most of the hidden messages.

First, the whopper. Boris recently bought Beatrice a hamster. But I think I already said that.

Now, in chronological order...

---

Page 1, Panel 1 - "I don't remember much before her face." Boris is really caught up with Beatrice... first time he's had anything close to a serious relationship. He says he can't imagine how he ever lived life before Beatrice was in it.

Page 1, Panel 2 - "I was really scared at first." Being his first serious relationship, and one of the first girls he ever really, really liked... Boris was insanely nervous.

Page 1, Panel 5 - "Li'l guy, I wuv you best! Let's be best friends forever!" Beatrice, more or less, says these same kinds of things to Boris... Things like "you're the best guy I've ever met," "I'd never break up with you," and "you're the best friend I've ever had."

Page 1, Panel 6 - "How could she love someone like me?" Boris still questions that.

---

Page 2 - Now then... Beatrice decides to randomly break up with Boris, tells him that she doesn't want a serious relationship right now, and basically totes him around still as "just a really good friend." And in turn, this gives her plenty of room to hoe around with as many guys as she wants, completely disregarding the fact that Boris still wants to spend the rest of his life with her, because it's OK when they're all "just really good friends." So she leaves Boris in the dust, when what she should really do is just tell him it'll never happen and let him start getting over it. Instead, he's hanging onto false hope that she refuses to get rid of.

That's probably a bit more... elaborate than represented in my comic, but nonetheless, the three pets Ashley starts accumilating in the comic all represent a couple of guys Beatrice decided to mess around with, right in front of Boris's face. Boris has told me, on several occasions, that he feels like he should be competing with these other guys.

The snake represents a guy who I shall identify as Carlos. Now, Carlos... took a bad trail in life. A bit overweight, he decided to start working out and getting into shape... but he cut some corners by doing diet pills, not eating, and even becoming bulimic. Only a year older than us, he recently had a heart attack and was legally dead for 30 seconds. Doctors predict he won't live passed the age of 30. Regardless of all of this, Boris still feels like Beatrice would pay him more attention if he were leaner and more in shape (Boris not exactly being the most tooth-picky around, though he looks just fine to me). Even though I tell Boris that he should just eat healthier and ride his bike like he used to, he instead insists on trying to go certain days without eating... at all. And thus, the lean and thin snake represents Carlos... and the hamster's reaction, to stop eating, represents the same reaction in Boris.

---

Page 3 - This page gets a googly-eyed goldfish. This one isn't nearly as strong in symbolism as the snake. In fact, the goldfish's only representation to this guy in Beatrice's repertoire is his eyes: this guy had fairly thick glasses. Most of the representation, however, is in the water. Around the time Beatrice started hoe-ing around with this guy, there was a fairly skanky party (one where everyone gathers in a nasty shack, gets drunk, and has sex in the yard and such)... Beatrice was going, and thus, Boris went. And because Beatrice once said "I'd love to see you drunk," Boris also got plastered... regardless that he has very strong morals and values against drinking. But did it help anything? Beatrice spent the entire night, sober, flirting with another random guy (who is not represented in this story). It only made Boris sadder. The hamster drank and drank and drank the water to try and please Ashley, but all that happened was he got sadder... and cried. And I added in the little hamster innocense to represent his tears through "all the water leaking out of his eyes."

---

Page 4 and 5 - The doggie's representation isn't exactly brought up until page 5, but the doggie basically represents Beatrice's ex boyfriend who moved away last year... but just recently moved back. (The hamster chasing his tail is mainly just there to be cute and to stay consistent... but I guess you could say it represents Boris's confusion.)

When the hamster dies, the parents say that Ashley has lost interest in "little animals." This is where some symbolism takes place between "little" and "big" animals. All of the previous pets... the hamster, the snake, and the goldfish... were little animals, and she ditched them. However, she stuck with the doggie, which is now more grown up. It's now a big animal. Little animals represent typical teenage dating... while the big animal represents a more finalized relationship. This is backed up by the fact Ashley needed to train the dog, which was named Rufus (very similar to Beatrice's ex's real name), for a dog show... showing the dog has become more important in her life than the previous pets.

And as previously noted, the egg box is just an egg box because the hamster looks like an egg. I should have made it a "marble" box, since Beatrice's real hamster was named Marble (by me). But also as previously noted, marbles don't typically come in boxes... so it wouldn't make that much sense.

---

Aside from all of this shtuff, Ashley herself also changes every page. Every page, she becomes progressively older... her eyes become smaller, her hair becomes longer (and eventually goes from two pigtails to one ponytail, and though I accidentally cut it out from the last page, eventually she wears it down altogether), she starts to get a nose, and her earrings change everytime (they hang on page 2, as opposed to studs on page 1... and they're retained on pages 4 and 5... ran out of ideas... but it's OK, 'cause I accidentally cut her ear out of that shot too =P).

There was also a slight representation in the deeds the hamster performed in hopes of winning Ashley back... basically that they progressively became more and more ridiculous. This was to parallel that the things Boris is doing to try and win Beatrice back is becoming increasingly silly and pointless. Getting drunk is pretty much up there with "trying to breathe water."

On another note, the things the hamster did to try and win Ashley back is also partial contribution to his death... by starving himself, drinking too much water, and running himself in circles until he grew tired and weak. He killed himself trying to please Ashley.

As for a moral? It's fairly simple. For the hamster (and Boris), it says that sometimes excessive optimism is a bad thing... and that blind passion cannot replace reality. You have to learn to let go before it's too late, or else you've wasted your life holding onto something that's not even really there. There's also a strong message against extreme selflessness, i.e. turning yourself into a martyr.

And for Ashley (and Beatrice), it's that your childish games are easily taken to heart by caring, trusting, kind... though blissfully and innocently ignorant... people... and that it's better to bluntly sever all connections with someone (or something) that you don't care about... rather than to continue life leading them onto believing they're important to you.
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**Malik** · Local Prinny Deity Age: 34 Joined: 14 Mar 2005 Posts: 1179

That was really touching. Sometimes I feel like that, when my friends leave me for other friends. Or when they're just not paying attention to me. Truely, this is the first time I've seen something so sad but not so attention-grabbing-angst.
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kidradd342 · banned onoes :< Joined: 28 Jul 2005 Posts: 50

T_T
its still so sad but I feel better now that you explained the story more throughly

Ming Yi · Nebula Joined: 17 Apr 2005 Posts: 562

Wow. I like how careful each representation was supposed to mean. Kudos to you for making this to help a friend. I hope he understands. You deserve hugs for something like this. :D *hugs*
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XHunter17 · Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2005 11:39 pm Post subject:

Wow the Hamster in the story reminds me of """ME""" (how sad) anyway nice story sad ending
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