Those sausages are the worst thing I've ever seen. Also, it's fun to follow the eye contact (or lack of) on this page. Sugar (uhh Kysely this time, whups) seems to focus her gaze on unusual/interesting points in space, enjoyed that in Drop-Out. You always put a lot of attention into your characters' attention, it's subtle sometimes but over several panels that kind of stuff makes a person so dimensional. GREAT page, great timing for some comic relief and best of all, Kim's face in panel 3
Fresh Meat has already been a great comic but now it’s definitely gone beyond great. This page is seriously hilarious. I love Kim’s expressions and body language, especially compared to Kysley, who oh my gosh is soooo different from how she is in “present day” it’s kind of incredible.
speaking of which, i don’t remembered if you’ve mentioned anywhere, is Kylsey around Kim’s age here? 17-ish?
i think sugar is around 19 in cross-check, its 3 years before sugar and frankie break up, which is 2ish years before drop-out, when she is is 25. so kysley is a couple years older than kim
Looooove those squished eyes in panels 16-17 since it gives such a strong expression. Also it is very refreshing to see Kim finally interact with someone who isn't a nurse. Can't wait until we meat the main cast.
god the interactions between these two are so great, i love how kim is just super weirded out by everything kysley's doing
really interesting to see how different kysley acts compared to how she was in drop-out and how she is now (i.e in familial stranger). she seems a lot more negative/hopeless and kinda more naive? curious to see how she'll act later on too
Ifff I may build on this a bit- she also seems more... considerate? In Familial Stranger? More communicative? She seems to more actively consider other people's feelings and what they're trying to say to her, and more frequently explains her own actions and reasonings. And while she does talk about things here, it seems to follow like...her own train of thought? I don't know if I'm explaining myself well lmao, but I thought it was interesting.
@fallingfeather exactly! here, she seems a lot more... unaware in general, like not fully aware of how she might appear to others or what others want (notably the 'impatient'/'a patient' thing).
she also seems slower, if that makes sense?
again, definitely interested to see how things play out w/ the dynamic between these two!
It keeps nagging at me that the page numbering is off by one from the URL numbering. I know it's because page 5 was the title page, but it bothers me for some reason.
I accidentally reloaded the page instead of posting my comment so like despacito but it gives me a chance to fix my word salad so blessing in disguise! Anyways so! Technical stuff! I love Kim's head shake and the shared eye between the two "frames", it works very well! And I love the comic medium and I'm extra in live with it right now because the time between now and the next update will let me feel that Mealtime Tension when it comes to sitting at a table somewhere. Like I just think that's so cool that there's a way to convey that a little bit extra to the reader! At least the current ones anyways. Next up. sugarrrRRRRRRRR kysley! We love a kysley! We love happier grown fat beautiful personality sugar of the future but to see where she came from is super cool! I LOVE HER teeth in the last panel but also just the expressions throughout, especially the one where she talks about the hairbrushes she's just so.. amused but like also obviously on some heavy sedatives. Those big old half lidded eyes.. and just the like wordplay and like even under that heavy sedation she's so smart like her vocabulary is still pretty impeccable, if slightly quirky in it's intricacies and also just noticing things about Kim. And I just really really really like how well this conveys the exact situation. Like the exact feeling of being new to this place where you're exhausted and confused and there's absolutely no way to prepare for the dynamics in the ward and youre desperately trying to grasp what the standard of normalcy is in here so you can act normal and you meet this person. And the person is some sort of revolving door or at least quite experienced patient, they know the drill, they're kind of cynical, they have absolutely no scrap of judgement when it comes to other peoples behaviours left in their body. But you don't know that so you're still grasping at straws trying to find a safe way to test the waters and have a normal conversation so they don't judge you for being so new and confused. But the other person isn't judging at all so they just talk how they do and they know that the new one will figure it out soon enough. This is honestly word soup at this point but yeah it gets that exact vibe down pat!
GOD sugar's baby butch haircut with the hair poking out at the bottom is killin me lmao. i had that as a teen soooo much, well before i even realized i wasnt straight. she looks soo fuckin young here and reminds me so much of awkward nonbinary butch teen me... i would protect her with my Life.
i love that sugar is coming across kinda blunt and rude here, but at the same time you can tell she's genuinely a fundamentally nice person who does want to be friends - you can tell from little details like her apologizing then properly introducing herself once the realization dawns on her that kim is new and freaked out, as well as waiting for kim to be done so they can sit together.
it almost comes across as like... tsundere, until you realize that's most likely symptoms of her (yet-undiagnosed) condition like blunt affect, wandering trains of thought (misattributed to adhd), social difficulty, anhedonia, etc. she probably doesn't realize how blunt or aloof she's coming across or hasn't yet identified exactly what causes people to react like she's being rude- there's no ill intent, it's just... how she talks
also i REALLY love the line variation usage to portray objects that are closer or further away
i started rereading drop-out today bc i wanted to get to the super relatable The Gend conversations, but then i got to page 33 where sugars talking about still having hospital bills to pay off and my eyes opened so wide.... anyway i remember having seen gray talk about how sugars very different when shes not in the middle of An Episode and its rlly cool to get to see that side of her here/in side comics.
also having come out of some recent bad experiences with the mental health industry its just really cathartic to read about characters who are also being actively failed by the system. i know stuffs probably gonna keep getting worse for kim and the rest of the cast which wont necessarily be Fun to see, but it still feels like getting to commiserate, vicariously. so gray if youre reading this thanks for what you do
(additional obligatory mention that all of kims awkward faces on this page are beautiful. shes so great)
always so refreshing to see such a relatable character in sugar, seriously it makes me emotional and means a lot. i especially love the top 3 panels juxtaposing kim trying to figure out the best way to approach while sugar just kind of dozes off. always love ur ability to demonstrate thoughts and feelings without dialogue. also kim trying to gauge how ~~Crazy sugar is and how to act is so funny, and sugars reactions are so good.
what? it was a joke based off that one guy who comments so much for consistent updates on every late page. I don't get why you're directing this to me when there's someone commenting the phrase this joke is based off completely unironically literally RIGHT below me
are you the same guy from the last 2 pages? like the dude above me said you are way too fucking entitled--dupe doesn't owe you consistent pages or anything for that matter so just get over it, it's not gonna kill you to wait a few days for a comic page
also i find it interesting that kysley clearly has good intentions but comes off as rude bc of how straightforward she is, like, the socially learned tone of someone saying "are you gonna _____" implies that they're irritated but i feel like that was a genuine question
my sister (a vegetarian) had these awful morningstar veggie sausages that looked very similar in color and texture to those, actually. i know sugar can't eat them because she's a carnivore but i can all too vividly imagine the horrible mushy not-food texture of biting into one
Just read drop out, drop out myself, been through hell and back, having a good laugh reading these comics, the text is a bit illegible but i can make it out.
speaking of which, i don’t remembered if you’ve mentioned anywhere, is Kylsey around Kim’s age here? 17-ish?
really interesting to see how different kysley acts compared to how she was in drop-out and how she is now (i.e in familial stranger). she seems a lot more negative/hopeless and kinda more naive? curious to see how she'll act later on too
she also seems slower, if that makes sense?
again, definitely interested to see how things play out w/ the dynamic between these two!
i love that sugar is coming across kinda blunt and rude here, but at the same time you can tell she's genuinely a fundamentally nice person who does want to be friends - you can tell from little details like her apologizing then properly introducing herself once the realization dawns on her that kim is new and freaked out, as well as waiting for kim to be done so they can sit together.
it almost comes across as like... tsundere, until you realize that's most likely symptoms of her (yet-undiagnosed) condition like blunt affect, wandering trains of thought (misattributed to adhd), social difficulty, anhedonia, etc. she probably doesn't realize how blunt or aloof she's coming across or hasn't yet identified exactly what causes people to react like she's being rude- there's no ill intent, it's just... how she talks
also i REALLY love the line variation usage to portray objects that are closer or further away
also having come out of some recent bad experiences with the mental health industry its just really cathartic to read about characters who are also being actively failed by the system. i know stuffs probably gonna keep getting worse for kim and the rest of the cast which wont necessarily be Fun to see, but it still feels like getting to commiserate, vicariously. so gray if youre reading this thanks for what you do
(additional obligatory mention that all of kims awkward faces on this page are beautiful. shes so great)
take as long as you need to take care of yourself
Looking forward to how things progress from here.