Comic Transcripts

[[A young fellow, ARSTUR, speaks to his father, BLORTHINGTON, who sits at a desk covered in papers.]]

ARSTUR: There’s this great girl I cross paths with at school. I’d love to get to know her better.
BLORTHINGTON: Here’s what I did when I was your age!

BLORTHINGTON: There was a WONDERFUL girl I knew. I was terrified of letting her know I liked her, so I would never make eye contact with her, never say more than a few words to her. Always played it cool, you know?

BLORTHINGTON: She was GREAT. Very friendly, even a bit flirty…but I never let on how much I crushed on her. Didn’t want to seem like a creeper — wanted to let HER make the first move, from a place of comfort. This went on for YEARS. Man. She was AMAZING.

ARSTUR: Wow. And that’s how you met Mom?
BLORTHINGTON: Oh, no! I found out later this girl never even learned my name. Your mother and I met in a support group for sufferers of INVERTED PATELLA SYNDROME. So if you’ve ever wondered why your kneecaps are concave, well, you do come by it honestly

{{header: the eternally patient WONDERMARK.COM}}

#1155; The Passive Pining Stratagem transcribed by in

[[A young fellow, ARSTUR, speaks to his father, BLORTHINGTON, who sits at a desk covered in papers.]]

ARSTUR: There’s this great girl I cross paths with at school. I’d love to get to know her better.
BLORTHINGTON: Here’s what I did when I was your age!

BLORTHINGTON: There was a WONDERFUL girl I knew. I was terrified of letting her know I liked her, so I would never make eye contact with her, never say more than a few words to her. Always played it cool, you know?

BLORTHINGTON: She was GREAT. Very friendly, even a bit flirty…but I never let on how much I crushed on her. Didn’t want to seem like a creeper — wanted to let HER make the first move, from a place of comfort. This went on for YEARS. Man. She was AMAZING.

ARSTUR: Wow. And that’s how you met Mom?
BLORTHINGTON: Oh, no! I found out later this girl never even learned my name. Your mother and I met in a support group for sufferers of INVERTED PATELLA SYNDROME. So if you’ve ever wondered why your kneecaps are concave, well, you do come by it honestly

{{header: the eternally patient WONDERMARK.COM}}

#1155; The Passive Pining Stratagem transcribed by in

[[A young fellow, ARSTUR, speaks to his father, BLORTHINGTON, who sits at a desk covered in papers.]]

ARSTUR: There's this great girl I cross paths with at school. I'd love to get to know her better.
BLORTHINGTON: Here's what I did when I was your age!

BLORTHINGTON: There was a WONDERFUL girl I knew. I was terrified of letting her know I liked her, so I would never make eye contact with her, never say more than a few words to her. Always played it cool, you know?

BLORTHINGTON: She was GREAT. Very friendly, even a bit flirty...but I never let on how much I crushed on her. Didn't want to seem like a creeper -- wanted to let HER make the first move, from a place of comfort. This went on for YEARS. Man. She was AMAZING.

ARSTUR: Wow. And that's how you met Mom?
BLORTHINGTON: Oh, no! I found out later this girl never even learned my name. Your mother and I met in a support group for sufferers of INVERTED PATELLA SYNDROME. So if you've ever wondered why your kneecaps are concave, well, you do come by it honestly

{{header: the eternally patient WONDERMARK.COM}}

I bring up the story not because I think it's at all helpful to your situation, but because I never really stop thinking about it

Bolted! Shipping is UNDERWAY

Bolted! games have been shipping to backers over the last couple of weeks! The non-US orders are (mostly) done and some folks have been reporting receiving them already!

@davidmalki.com My game arrived today!! It looks gorgeous 🙂 Hope you are well 🙂

[image or embed]

— Lar deSouza (@lartist.bsky.social) April 2, 2026 at 2:52 PM

My US inventory of games is now in-country, but still being staged at the fulfillment centers. It’s being distributed to regional warehouses, so the actual shipping to backers happens more efficiently. I hope the bulk of US shipping will start next week.

These are what the cartons (and games) look like!

bolted! games BOLTED! GAMES (pounding the table) B O L T E D ! G A M E S

[image or embed]

— david malki ! (@davidmalki.com) April 3, 2026 at 10:37 AM

I am also waiting on the bonus cards to be finished printing! I ended up needing many more of those than I had anticipated, so I decided to have the game factory print those too, for perfect matching with the base game cards.

Most people will be receiving two separate mailings: the game itself, and “anything else” (bonus cards and/or add-ons) which will be sent by me personally.

As of today, 86% of backers have completed their surveys so far! That’s pretty good, but it’s not everyone. I know YOU PERSONALLY have already completed YOURS though, so no worries!!

We have now moved OFF of Kickstarter and ONTO BackerKit for any new orders. You can bundle a game with basically anything else I sell on that there website, it’s pretty nuts!


Recent blog posts