Webcomic / Middle Ground

Middle Ground is a 2015 webcomic series created by AnimatedJames. In the Middle Ground universe, humans can either be Grounds—who can speak to animals, or Clouds—who can see into the future.

The series began as a flash comic on DeviantArt and Newgrounds, then continued as regular comics from July 2015 to October 2015 on Tumblr.

---

This series provides examples of:

• A Bloody Mess: At a diner, Carter gets into a physical fight with an aggressive patron who overheard his plans to pay for food with labor rather than currency. During this fight, Carter slams hot sauce into the man’s face.
  Carter: I know that looks like blood, but I can promise you most of it is not.
• Animal Talk: Ulys—a rabbit—is briefly shown talking to a cockroach, but aside from Grounds (whose entire superpower is communicating with animals), humans cannot understand animals.
• Color-Coded Eyes: The main characters. Carter with green eyes, Marker with blue eyes, Myth with yellow eyes, and Ulys with red eyes.
• Combat Pragmatist: Carter, when he makes a spontaneous move to slam hot sauce into a man's face during a fight.
• Diner Brawl: The fight between Carter and the man who overheard his plans to pay with labor rather than currency.
• Everyone Is a Super: Every human is either a Ground or a Cloud.
• Fetishes Are Weird: Subverted. "Myth's Future" opens up with Myth envisioning her future as a famous filmmaker. Her agent Ferris sounds pleasantly surprised at how her career wasn't ruined when she publicly admitted her sexual attraction to period blood.
  Myth: It’s like I told you Ferris, as long as you make positive contributions to society, no one really cares how weird you are. We’re all too focused on ourselves to care.
• Magic Realism: Humans can either talk to animals or see into the future, which, in this universe, is nothing out of the ordinary. While Marker appreciates the fact that humans have these powers, Carter’s response suggests that these are mundane abilities and not indicative of other superpowers, like telekinesis or mindreading.
  Marker: So…You ever stop and think of how amazing humans are to be able to talk to animals and see into the future?
  Carter: Well, I guess it would be quite amazing to a world where people can’t do that…as bizarre as that world might sound.
• Meta Fiction: As with James' most well-known original web series, CStudents, Middle Ground includes countless examples of Fourth Wall jokes and Anti-Humor.
• My Parents Are Dead: Marker. She doesn't articulate it, but the implications are clear when she makes an uncomfortable face after Carter asks why her parents cannot help her find a new job.
• Overly Long Gag:
  Carter: I don't mind sleeping anywhere. I've slept on grass, sand, rocks, wood, concrete, branches, snow, lilypads, glass, metal, flowers, cacti, spider webs, spiders...the edge of a cliff, dead animals, a camp fire, and the top of a billboard that had the phrase "we get the point" on it.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Carter immediately after Marker implies that her parents are dead.
  Marker: Wait, you're going already?
  Carter: Yeah, awkward conversations are usually my exit point.
• Seers: Clouds. They can see into the future, and to varying degrees; Near Clouds can see events moments into the future, while Far Clouds can see events weeks, months, or years before they happen.
• Sex for Services: Subverted in "Carter Talks Dirty", opens with a woman thanking Carter for helping her move in. She offers to repay him with sex. Carter responds with a tangent about how sex is "more of a job than a reward" to him, to which the woman gets frustrated and eventually kicks him out.
• Speaks Fluent Animal: Grounds. They can converse with animals of every kind.
• This Is for Emphasis, Bitch!: After Marker quits in anticipation of getting fired:
  June's Cat: Oh please. What would an uncultured oversized rodent like you know about humans?
  Ulys: More than you know, bitch!
  June's Cat: I'm not a dog.
  Ulys: Well what's the word for a female cat?
  June's Cat: Queen.
  Ulys: Stares angrily More than you know, bitch!
• Take That!: In "Movie-Goer-Awayer", Carter suggested "The Pixelated Four," a clear reference to the 2015 film Pixels that was released about a month before this comic.
  Marker: Oh please. You don’t have to be a Cloud to know that we’ll come out of that movie wishing we never saw it.
• This Is Reality: Marker suggests that since humans can talk to animals and see the future, there's a possibility that they could also perform telekinesis, read minds, and time travel.
  Carter: These sound like great motion comic ideas, but they don't seem possible here in reality.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Ulys calls it a "dick move" for Carter to simply walk away when Marker implies her parents are dead.
  Carter: What am I supposed to do? Resurrect them?
• Who's on First?: The dialogue that ensues when Ulysses initially asks to be called "U" for short. He then settles with "Ulys."
• Written Sound Effect: When Ulys gives the aggressive dining patron a final kick to the skull.
  "BOOM!"
• You Make Me Sick: The man at the restaurant who overhears Carter's tendency to pay with hard labor instead of money.