This week’s the week! I’m going to be at ECCC at table D-08, so please stop by and say hello! <33
We’re entering some of my favorite pages in the whole comic in the coming weeks, both the writing and the art. Motherlover’s been such a labour of learning, and I’m glad to be able to do it!!
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TRANSCRIPT
Panel 1 (Alex and Imogen talking on the patio bench)
Alex: No, no, I totally get it. Can I be a selfish bitch for a second?
Imogen: Always.
Panel 2 (close-up of Alex fiddling with her parent’s ring she wears on her left hand)
Alex: I’m happy for them, but it’s like… why him? We had the same parents, grew up with the same expectations… why does he get to have happy, healthy relationships, not me?
Panel 3 (close-up, Alex)
Alex: Why do I destroy all my relationships before they get serious?
Panel 4 (overhead view of Imogen’s darkened house next door)
Imogen, off-panel: If it helps, marriage isn’t everything either. It’s weird to see people starting their married lives together when I’ve been trying to get out of mine.
Ohoooohoooohhoooi
Alex is lucky she’s out of earshot of her social circle, because as evidenced by the past, a lot of them would not recognize this to be a rhetorical question.
It’s really good to see them both so comfortable with each other that they can be so honest and vulnerable and know they’ll be supported 🥺
Is it weird to say I’m happy that the conversation has gone in such a pensive direction? I almost expected Alex to go “Hell yes, finally!” with the rest of the Happy Energy in the room, but we’ve been so focused on Imogen in this chapter so far, I lost a little of that perspective, how seeing Eiji so happily engaged must feel like for her.
Then again, that expectation might have come from a moment at a friend’s wedding, last year. Both her and her (current!) husband had been married before and divorced, finding each other and living together as partners for years before finally making it official. One of the bridesmaids had to take a phone call while getting dressed for the ceremony with everyone else, and when she was finished and came back, she announced that her lawyer just let her know HER divorce was finally FINALIZED – and everyone CHEERED! 😂 It was very welcome energy for that night, given the happily-mutual-second-marriage happening. Not exactly the same as what’s going on here, but adjacent enough to color my expectations!