kim activates what i like to call "the tattle reflex" again on this page... it's a good and natural instinct to have in general (although being able to abuse it because you have too much access to the powers that be is inexcusable). i love when kids get to that age where they will redirect attention to someone else when they feel like they're in trouble, though. they're starting to learn more about fairness and testing it out!
(side note: was asked how far along in the story it is now; it's about 1/4th of the way through the script after this scene, which is probably only one more page)
OH gosh Judy going in on the doctor apologism Q^Q but then chicken nurse's "for some reason" line later in the page revealing that the nurses listen in and it's like "ohhh gosh that's x_x...."
also it's a good touch that kim puts on her best more-calm faces when she does leave the room and is talking to chicken nurse like even before the listening in reveal it's obvious she's much less comfortable displaying her full emotion in front of the nurses because of the hostility the staff
the shading and line highlights look gorgeous, they've really been making the recent pages pop!
judyyyyyyy, pleaseeeee, i WANT to like you, but you have no idea what the staff here have put kim (and probably half of all the other patients) through D: judy's behaviour seems so... idk the word for it aside from "therapized"? especially the "try not to think with 'what if'", that sounds like something a therapist would say verbatim. like, she doesn't even give it a second thought that maybe, just maybe, the way kim is feeling and acting is justified by the way she's been treated here so far. she just chalks it up to kim's anxiety of being in a new place at a rough time.
idk, i just hope that eventually judy understands how kim has been treated and doesn't dismiss her. she genuinely seems to want to help, but her notion of "help" seems to be limited to "do what the therapists want"
To me she reads like she understands the situation, and at least I'm assuming she's had to have gone through and witnessed some abuse at the hands of the staff after being there for over a week. I've been reading a lot of her mannerisms, especially the way she talks, as having more to due with her age. I noticed a lot of middle aged people I was around in therapy spoke the same way. I'm also wondering if the way she's talking to Kim is more of a protective or looking out for vibe. Maybe trying to downplay the situation and play up the "play nice with doctors" angle to try and subtly explain to Kim how she can get out of there as quickly as possible and away from the abusive powers that be in the facility.
Judy's expression in the 2nd panel makes me feel really warm even though i know how dire Kim's situation feels from exp with doctors. I like how you can peep the chicken nurse playing cards on the comp.
i'm sure judy gets the struggle kim is going through... i'm pretty sure i remember her saying this wasn't her first time here? in such an environment, i feel like it makes sense judy would try to acclimate to the specific lingo etc, since arguing with doctors and therapists at all can really escalate to something even worse. and, yet, she's been there for a considerably long time (this time). judy says the hospital only wants you to be safe and feel better-- maybe she really believes it, or maybe she's hoping she does.
judy is interesting side-by-side with kim's franticness and unwillingness to "go with the flow." poor kim, i don't think she has had a comfortable conversation with anyone yet. her struggle to convey her worries... saying "i'm safe, really!" with her claws out... AND still emotionally/physically healing from a suicide attempt, kim is really trying to find footing here and it's just hasn't worked out yet.
bad feeling about a nurse hearing kim say "maybe some peoples files DO get lost and they stay here forever", i was always terrified of saying anything that could even marginally be misconstrued as paranoid in front of staff because i didnt want to stay longer... but who knows if staff even cares
i love the way kim talks, you can tell shes so exasperated by everything and she has to just sort of throw her words out. its really interesting, i especially like the 4th panels dialogue
also it's a good touch that kim puts on her best more-calm faces when she does leave the room and is talking to chicken nurse like even before the listening in reveal it's obvious she's much less comfortable displaying her full emotion in front of the nurses because of the hostility the staff
the shading and line highlights look gorgeous, they've really been making the recent pages pop!
idk, i just hope that eventually judy understands how kim has been treated and doesn't dismiss her. she genuinely seems to want to help, but her notion of "help" seems to be limited to "do what the therapists want"
judy is interesting side-by-side with kim's franticness and unwillingness to "go with the flow." poor kim, i don't think she has had a comfortable conversation with anyone yet. her struggle to convey her worries... saying "i'm safe, really!" with her claws out... AND still emotionally/physically healing from a suicide attempt, kim is really trying to find footing here and it's just hasn't worked out yet.