I’ve mentioned before that the guiding desire behind RACIANTAU is to do things that are new and exciting for me and relative to past works of mine. For those of you who’ve read a few of these stories so far or already, you can probably guess that the “project” for “Nature Calls” was to practice and work with natural settings and backgrounds.

The story’s also largely silent, although I’m not sure if I’d call it a “silent comic”; although they haven’t shown up yet there are SFX later on in “Nature Calls,” and I’m not sure if I consider those “cheating” or not. Either way, this story does try to operate on movement and framing more than anything else. But as usual, that’s getting ahead of ourselves.

As before, so again … I’m more invested than usual in seeing “Nature Calls” survive on the merits of its art and nothing else. So let’s talk a little more about philosophy, why don’t we? In the upcoming blurbs I’ll try to slide into the philosophizing a little more quickly. It’ll be easier then, too, because the “point” of “Nature Calls,” such as it is, should be clearer by then. For now, I think I’ll follow up on the end of last update’s blurb (calling the audience to reject authority and trust in themselves) with some words from Lin Chi, a Zen master whose teachings I’m fond of.

13.
The Master instructed the group, saying: “Followers of the Way, the Dharma of the buddhas calls for no special undertakings. Just act ordinary, without trying to do anything particular. Move your bowels, piss, get dressed, eat your rice, and if you get tired, then lie down. Fools may laugh at me, but wise men will know what I mean. […] [F]ollowers of the Way, if they have really keen eyes, will thrust aside buddhas and devils alike. While you love sages and loath common mortals, you’re still bobbing up and down in the sea of birth and death.”