Here's Clayton's room before all the pillars and rafters went up. I was almost finished drawing this one before I remembered that, at this point in the story, those pieces haven't been built yet. I had to go back and erase some lines.

I'm more than a little self-conscious about this one. This is the first comic strip I've posted that ends in a profound moment instead of a punchline. Actually, the script for this one (yes, there is a script) originally did include a joke the end, but when I went to draw the comic, I realized that the joke actually wasn't funny. (If you're curious about the alternate ending, it went like this: Clayton did not know how to keep arguing with Cassidy, so he stuttered and tripped over his words. Scatter tried to cover for him and made things worse.) I tried changing the joke but everything felt tacked on. I remembered hearing somewhere (probably from “Webcomics Weekly”) that the last panel of a comic isn’t always a joke, but it usually needs to be the highest point of the comic. I think I couldn't fit a joke in here because Cassidy’s statement is the highest point. Anything that followed up this moment would be a step down.

Cassidy's big declaration explains a lot about her personality. Up until now, she’s seemed a little too law-abiding. It’s just her style to play nice first and try to get people on her side, but if that doesn’t work, she’s not afraid to take them on.  She’s not a poser, she’s just trying to balance logic and emotion in a way that works for her.

Actually, this comic holds a great deal of my own personal philosophy. I believe that following rules unquestioningly is a slow and inefficient way to go through life. But breaking rules out of habit is a selfish way of forcing your will over others and refusing to admit that there may be reasons for these rules. You can’t follow either path all the time, so you have to use your judgment and avoid turning off your brain. And be ready to accept the consequences of either action.

See, this is why I need to put my thoughts in comic form. If I just wrote text, no one would read it.