Happy Wednesday! One more page after this, then we’re perfectly timed for a nice holiday break. Well – a holiday break for y’all, but not for me, as I’ll be working on drawing the next chapter! Oh, what a horror, getting to tell the story I love working on just as things are coming to a head. 🙂
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TRANSCRIPT
Panels 1+2 (Imogen returns to Sparrow and Alex)
Imogen: Hey! What did I miss?
Sparrow: Alex was just filling me in on the ruse.
Panel 3 (close-up on Imogen)
Imogen: Oh! Dealing with strangers is like dealing with kids. It’s easier to tell a harmless white lie than to explain the truth over and over.
Panel 4 (Alex, looking put-out between Sparrow and Imogen)
Sparrow: Quick thinking. I can see why Alex likes you.
Alex: Sparrow is meddling. They like to do that.
Panel 5 (Sparrow puts their hands on Imogen’s shoulders)
Sparrow: Correct me if I’m wrong.
Panel 6 (Sparrow leans in and murmurs in Imogen’s ear:)
Sparrow: Better luck than the last one, darling.
Better luck than Eris, or better luck than Jonathan? Either way, ouch!
Presumably Eris, considering how Alex fucked up her last relationship…
isn’t Sparrow also an ex tho? i thought that was mentioned in the restaurant scene
*looks back at Ch 5* ok, i guess not
It struck me that it might be meant about Eris but probably feels like it’s about Jonathan
If you wanted to describe the nature of that last speech bubble for the transcript, how would you describe it?
*icily*
Yikes! I know Sparrow is hurt for Eris, but they’re a little out of line here 😬
I think it’s easy for us to judge Sparrow because we weren’t there for the messiness of Alex and Eris’s relationship fallout. We only know it isn’t going to end badly because this is a romance story we’re observing as the audience. In-universe, it must be difficult for Sparrow to watch what looks like Alex preparing to unintentionally(?) break another person’s heart, especially since it seems like it’s a pattern for her.
Yeah that’s pretty much what I’ve been saying. That in-universe Sparrow’s reaction makes so much sense. It’s a good thing Alex isn’t ACTUALLY planning on confessing her feelings or anything, or at least seemingly not. She’s really gotta work on that flaw of hers before she can date another woman. Or at least that would be the case in real life, but I know this is just a comic and that everything will magically work out, even if (when) there’ll be bumps in the road. Still though, I’ve been in Alex’s position before and have hurt my partners with my mental issues. This makes me GET Sparrow’s behavior here.
I do understand that, but after a certain point, it looks less like well-meaning advice and more like cattiness. I wonder how long ago this relationship was, or the lunch where Imogen’s friends spent a good chunk of the lunch doing the same thing.
I get the impression a lot of this is also due to being friends with Eris, naturally, but relationships end for many reasons, and yeah, sometimes being loved isn’t a good enough reason to stay with someone if you do not want to stay with them. They need to respect that and understand that their agreement or approval isn’t required for it to be valid.
Hard agree with this point.
Between this and the lunch where her friends just rubbed her nose in things, Alex is either putting up with a lot because these are otherwise great friends, or she really might want to consider expanding her friend circle to people who don’t worship Eris like she’s a goddess or something. Like, how long ago was this relationship that they are fixating on it this much?
Like, it is a great quality in friends to be someone who will be honest when they think you’ve made a mistake or done something bad, but harping on about it like this really does feel like a boundary has been crossed, and including Imogen in it is just uncalled for.
Eris *is* the name of the Goddess of Strife…
I think Alex is also embarrassed bc sparrow can tell