History ComicStrip / OnTheFastrack

%%* AnthropomorphicPersonification: One way to see characters like Autocorrect.%%Is?

%%* BreakoutCharacter: First Wendy Welding, then Dethany Dendrobia.
%%* BumblingDad: Art at times.

%%* ChildProdigy: Every major kid in the comic.

%%* FloralThemeNaming: Rose Trellis, Thornton Saguaro, and Bud Spore.
%%* FreakyFashionMildMind: Dethany.

%%* {{Immortality}}: The computer bugs.
%%* InsideAComputerSystem: The action often moves there.

** Percy is tens of thousands of years old, while Autocorrect is, well, younger than many readers.%%Funnily enough, this may be less significant in their case.%%How?
%%* MeanBoss: Rose Trellis, most of the time. And despite her business savvy, she sometimes veers to PointyHairedBoss.%%How is she an example?
%%* MeaningfulName: Everyone has at least one.

%%* OurVampiresAreDifferent: Thrip is now a data vampire.

%%** Has been happening with Wendy since Dethany's introduction.
%%* PerkyGoth: Dethany Dendrobia.

** Art started the comic as a JerkAss, but, for decades, his defining attributes have been laziness and technical ineptitude.
%%* {{Unicorn}}: Dethany's online avatar. Still goth.

** Dethany has a raven called Lenore.

* AnthropomorphicPersonification: One way to see characters like Autocorrect.

* BreakoutCharacter: First Wendy Welding, then Dethany Dendrobia.
* BumblingDad: Art at times.

* ChildProdigy: Every major kid in the comic.

* FloralThemeNaming: Rose Trellis, Thornton Saguaro, and Bud Spore.
* FreakyFashionMildMind: Dethany.

* {{Immortality}}: The computer bugs.
* InsideAComputerSystem: The action often moves there.

* MayDecemberRomance: The marriage of Mark (younger) and Ada (older), to the initial consternation of Ada's children. The fact that [[BlackGalOnWhiteGuyDrama Ada is black and Mark is white]] doesn't even come up.
** Percy is tens of thousands of years old, while Autocorrect is, well, younger than many readers. Funnily enough, this may be less significant in their case.
* MeanBoss: Rose Trellis, most of the time. And despite her business savvy, she sometimes veers to PointyHairedBoss.
* MeaningfulName: Everyone has at least one.

* OurVampiresAreDifferent: Thrip is now a data vampire.

** Has been happening with Wendy since Dethany's introduction.
* PerkyGoth: Dethany Dendrobia.

* StatusQuoIsGod: Averted, as in all Bill Holbrook comics.

* TookALevelInKindness: Rose isn't as bad as she used to be -- barely. This may be an example of PragmaticVillainy.
** Perhaps a better, if earlier, example is Art. He started the comic as a JerkAss, but for decades, his defining attributes have been laziness and technical ineptitude.
* {{Unicorn}}: Dethany's online avatar. Still goth.

* UnsoundEffect: Autocorrect's dictionary doesn't include sound effects like "pow," so her fight with a computer worm was accompanied by verbs like "pummel."
* UnusualPetsForUnusualPeople: Dethany has a raven called Lenore.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: [spoiler]When Percy and Thrip (at least back in her computer bug days) wreak havoc on technology, it's secretly an attempt to get humans to improve it.[/spoiler]

* MotorMouth: Fi's assistant. She chose him specifically to [[GrumpyBear drive everyone else away from her office]].

* {{Nerd}}: Bud Spore is the most glaring example.

* {{Meganekko}}: Patina Welding already was one as a toddler and still is as an 18-year-old.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: When Percy and Thrip (at least back in her computer bug days) wreak havoc on technology, it's secretly an attempt to get humans to improve it.

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: [[http://www.onthefastrack.com/?webcomic1=march-12-2014 Dethany illustrates the importance of positive feedback]] with the example of [[EnsembleDarkhorse a cartoonist learning how popular a minor character is]]. She doesn't know why she thought of it.

* OutOfFocus: Bob Shirt, former protagonist. An intentional example: [[WordOfGod According to the creator]], the character "turned out to be so boring that the strip survived only by moving the spotlight away from him."

* BadBoss: Rose Trellis, most of the time. And despite her business savvy, she sometimes veers to PointyHairedBoss.

** The Moat Monster as well, but for a different reason: The cartoonist wants to move away from some of the more bizarre elements that may distract readers who came for other things.
*** Elaborated on by a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orzt8yvY8W4&feature=youtu.be Deathany's Mailbox]] video, which explained that with more of the fantasy elements moved into cyberspace (e.g. Deathany's unicorn avatar), the "real life" fantasy elements have been de-emphasized. The Moat Monster still exists, but in the form of a human with green hair.
** Has been happening with Wendy since Deathany's introduction.

* TookALevelInKindness: Rose isn't as bad as she used to be -- barely. This may be an example of PragmaticVillainy. See also MenaceDecay above.

* WretchedHive: The Malware Cafe is explicitly called a "wretched hive of scum and villainy." (quoting ''Film/ANewHope'')

* TheUnsmile: Fi breaks from her usual dour demeanor [[http://onthefastrack.com/comics/november-20-2014/ here]]. By ContrivedCoincidence, she and Dethany hear the sound of glass breaking at the same moment.

* Crossover: Frequently with ''ComicStrip/SafeHavens'' (see SharedUniverse below). One noteworthy crossover in the early 2000s involved Rose Trellis and Jeanine Argus running for political office simultaneously, with scenes taking place in sequence in both comics.

* SharedUniverse: With ''ComicStrip/SafeHavens''. ''Havens''' main character, Samantha, has a standing job offer from Rose (for whom Samantha's father works). Patina now attends the college that Samantha works at, staying in the dorm she's RA for.

* DeggansRule: Followed. Ada, Donald, Samantha, and Guy are all Black, and it never matters to the characters.

* {{Meganekko}}: Patina Welding, already was one as a toddler, and still is as an 18-year-old.
* MenaceDecay: Percy doesn't cause as much trouble as he used to. In fact, he's pretty much done a HeelFaceTurn, never cast as an outright antagonist anymore.

* SharedUniverse: With ''SafeHavens''. ''Havens''' main character, Samantha, has a standing job offer from Rose (for whom Samantha's father works).
** Patina now attends the college that Samantha works at, staying in the dorm she's RA for.

''On the Fastrack'' is a comic strip by [[ComicStrip/SafeHavens Bill]] [[Webcomic/KevinAndKell Holbrook]], launched by Creator/KingFeaturesSyndicate in 1984. Its tech-centered humor is set in the offices of Fastrack, Inc., a company that stores all the world's data. For most of its run, it has starred Wendy Welding, the executive assistant of the CEO and the person who actually keeps things running. Nowadays, more time is given to Dethany Dendrobia, the corporate goth.

* TheBechdelTest: Passed easily, with about half the cast and especially the focal characters being female.

* GoodIsNotNice [=/=] WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler: Percy and Thrip don't like to admit it, but they attack technology in order to inspire humans to make it better. They have occasionally attempted drastic measures like dropping a heavy computer on an engineer.]] Another example could be Fistula Breech.

* WretchedHive: The Malware Cafe is explicitly called a [[StarWars "wretched hive of scum and villainy."]]

* MillenniumBug: Percy was introduced as "The Year 2000 Bug," equipped with [[TheGrimReaper an hourglass and a scythe]]. After the TurnOfTheMillennium, he usually went by "the Bug," until he divulged that the ancients called him Perseus. (He initially [[FailOSuckyname objected to the nickname Percy]], but it's grown on him.)

* {{Meganekko}}: Patina Welding, already was one as a toddler, and still is as a 16-year-old.