3.25
Dilemma!
Just a reminder! I’m going to be at the upcoming Wondercon (next weekend) along with Tracy and Wenquing. We’re doing a panel there on April 1, so if you’ve been waiting for the opportunity to ask some questions about webcomics or to hurl a tomato at my face, this might be your best chance.
BTW, some posters in the SA thread (hello) recently were wondering wtf is up with the visual gender portrayals in this chapter… Maybe some other people were wondering that too so I’ll clear it up now: this is kind of just what they look like. If you think that Alamand looks like a girl I suggest you go look through your middle school yearbook and laugh a bit. I tutored a lot of kids his age so I guess it doesn’t look as weird to me. I designed him off of this hyperactive kid I knew in highschool that hadn’t yet developed distinct secondary sex characteristics though he was already a junior, he cracked me up. As for Soli… she’s just Soli, she doesn’t care what she looks like as long as she’s cool with it. She doesn’t run into a whole lot of mirrors I guess. I know she has a dudely kind of facial structure, but if you look back at one that ambassador in Ch 2 you’ll notice it’s more of a racial thing. There’s an overarching purpose behind their design as well but it doesn’t have to do with soapboxing about heavy societal issues.
*edit* btw I don’t mean to suggest at all that anyone was flying off the handle or something. These were just general questions, not some drama thing.
Well I have a deadline for things on Tuesday, so next page will be after that, probably Thurs or Fri! Still doing 2x a week though, so will be chugging along to get another one done by next weekend. I WON’T LET YOU DOWN, INTERNET
146 Comments
Love where this is going. THE SUSPENSE.
Also, as a side note, I really love your designs and how they do not bend to societal interpretations of ‘beauty.’ -blerp blerp English major speaking blerp blerp-
I find it kind of weird that even though we there are a lot of androgynous looking people in reality, people still throw a fit if characters don’t purely look one gender or the other. :| A lot of kids could easily look either gender, and one of my best friends’ face looks more masculine than feminine…oh, internet. Let your gender expectations go.
Anywho! Another nice looking page. Good to know Alamand does care. D’aw. :>
This is yet another example of how brilliant you are. Just the pages before we have Alamand doing these crazy and outrageous poses and expression, yet he flows naturally right into a sobering moment. Then you have Soli with her two lines and yet she too speaks a great deal just through body language. This comic get so much better with each additional page.
He freaks out because he cares <3
Awesome. I love the body language.
I’m surprised people were taken aback by that! I thought it was pretty clear you were portraying them that way on purpose, as in, that’s just the character of Soli and Alamand.
Anyways I caught up on the new pages and they’re looking great! Keep it up, and good luck with whatever other work you have.
As always, a wonderful update Der-shing.
I need to chip in that I really love the way you portray these characters; both through their personalities and appearance. It’s nice to see a kick-ass woman featured that doesn’t concern herself with adhering to stereotypical feminine traits. It’s lovely to see you portraying a woman just as she is – herself.
I’m all kinds of tired so I hope that made sense.
Anyhow, have a lovely day, and thanks for the update!
Haha, thanks XD You have an awesome day as well
This is awesome ^^ the expressions without a word says everything!
I know a guy who is WAY older than Alamand and pretty much looks just like him, so I didn’t think it was too weird, haaha.
Also, awesome page, I’m loving the suspense. These two are awesome
Yay more updates. *fangirl squeal*
one thing I noticed, since she appears to be so small chested, if she was binding her chest. like, actually binding her chest, it would probably be a lot flatter and less pointy, or at the very least nowhere near as noticable. XD But that is like, the only problem I see in these newest pages, your doing a great job!
OMG -another- update! Yay! I didn’t realize how much I missed you, until 2 updates caused meek overload on me.. hehe
I do love me some Soli, and I genuinely enjoy and appreciate the depth you take your characters to – as well as your “unconventional” portrayal of them. Anyone who’s bitching about or even curious about gender ambiguity should ride my train to and from work with me one day. Guaran-damn-tee they will have more questions at the end of the day! LOL
This is by far and above my favorite comic (with Dylan Meconis’ Family Man coming in a close second). I love the detail and world building as much as the characters themselves.
Haha, there hasn’t been much “bitching,” mostly it’s just curiosity. Which is totally understandable since we as a culture have been trained to expect things to look a certain way.
I don’t understand why people are having such a hard time comprehending that Soli is female. She actually reminds me a lot of my parents’ next-door-neighbor – kind of masculine in body frame and facial features, but you still know she’s a woman obviously. It just goes to show that you have a good grasp of character design. It’s awesome to see popular characters that so easily defy not just a gender convention, but a character convention too.
Also, I love how quickly Alamand slips into that forlorn posture and face – this is the first time he’s really acted his age, to me! I love this kid. :)
No don’t kill them! Bring them along!
But as always, a wonderful page. This is pretty much one of the things I look forward to every week, seeing if it’s been updated. And it has! So huzzah!
I’ll be honest and say I thought Soli was a man for the first… two pages of chapter 3 I think it was, but then there was a page that had a couple of side shots of Soli in her coat and I realised otherwise and felt kinda stupid. I think it was only because the first two pages containted mostly facial shots? I dunno, I know lots of women with similar body types to her. Same thing with Alamand, I’ve taught dance to boys who are 13-15 and most of them have noooooot hit puberty yet. I think it’s people being too used to see “Hollywood high school” where everyone is played by mid-20-somethings.
Ahaha… my spam filter almost got you for the use of “facial”
Haha, probably not something Soli would be interested in? |D
exactly the same here, except it took longer with alamand because of the hair :/
I thought he was just a tom-boy-y girl, like soli
“SHOOT HER!”
When you have a park full of deadly dinosaurs why don’t you have any real guns?
Because the park is perfectly designed, obviously. CLEVER GIRL
The body language in this page definitely comment worthy, so perfectly utilized!
Really sympathising with their predicament.
“Wait here, I think I thought of a title for a chapter in a comic”
Shut the fuck up Dustin. You can’t even run
your ownKitty’s life I’ll be damned if you run mineARGH that last panel! I love the way her hair is floating out from behind her. I could be wrong, but I think it’s the first time we’ve really seen her like that, from the side and with her most obvious feminine trait visible.
Hi there! Long-time reader, new-time commenter! What’s all this fuss about visual gender anyway? It’s all down to society (in my opinion). I was initially surprised to discover Soli was female like everyone else, but now I absolutely LOVE her. She might just be my new heroine.
Alamand is pre-pubescent anyway, right? So he’s not exactly “manly” yet. I’m also guessing the slightly longer hair is a cultural thing anyway. Like we don’t have boys with longer hair in our culture.
Love the comic, it’s beautifully drawn and coloured, and I do love a good narrative.
This is kinda touching. I mean, how much Alamand cares.
And I think the last panel is the first time Soli’s looked kinda feminine to me. :o
I agree with Valadilenne. The last panel is the most feminine I think I’ve ever seen Soli, though I’m not quite sure why. Maybe because the shape of the face is different from the side and we can’t see all the lines and wrinkles? Or because the pose emphasizes her shape? I dunno. The ambassador was the one who confused me the most. Putting aside traits like breasts and the shape of the face – although it did seem to be on the masculine side of androgynous – I couldn’t even determine the shape of her body underneath her robes. You know, how masculine bodies are more like triangles in the torso and female bodies generally tend to be more even or curved? I couldn’t tell any of that, and I didn’t get any gender cues from the name, either. So I just assumed the gender I’d prefer her to be.
ANYWAYS. I really love Alamand’s face in the third panel. He’s a lot more troubled about this than he lets on, and a lot more worried about Soli, too.
Probably the pose and the fact that she’s been in a giant form-hiding jacket up until recently!
Lovely page. Though Soli’s boobs look much bigger in the last panel than in any previous ones. But maybe her binding has started to come undone after all that fighting.
Ahhh, Alamand cares.
Aww, Alamand cares <3
Your atypical character designs (aka people who look like actual people) are one of the reasons I love this comic so much, even though you've just barely introduced the main players.
It’s kind of funny how when someone is really good at what they’re doing people find these really strange and irrelevant things to complain about. Though I haven’t actually read the comments about the gender presentation so I don’t know that they’re actually complain-ish. But still. When a webcomic is this damn good I think it’s best to just take the work for what it is and trust that the artist does it the way he or she wants to. And be impressed. Be very impressed.
Seriously, guys. It’s on the Internet. There’s so much crap here that you should be happy you found something of this splendid quality to read.
Also, this comic has some of the best character portrayals ever. Keep up the awesome!
Oh yeah, sorry I didn’t mean to imply that anyone was complaining. I think it was just an honest question, which is cool with me. Though complaining is cool with me too, haha. I’m secure enough in the decisions I’ve made for the comic that it’s not really a problem.
Ah, I ended up rambling. I tend to do that. The real message behind all that is really that I’m so damn in love with this comic that I can’t even say it without a ramble. Um. Or something like that. Anyways. Looking forward to the next update!
(and Alamand is so damn sweet)
you’re teaming up with tracy butler? hell to the yeah!!!
Haha, we’re just at the same table together with our publisher 4DE.
I can’t believe people are still discussing Soli and Alamand’s genders, and why they look that way. I mean, haven’t they ever seen androgine people? You should get used to it after a couple of pages… I never thought of Alamand as a girl; his expressions and poses are pretty masculine, I guess.
I find the realistic portrail of all characters in The Meek refreshing and it doesn’t bother me at all how Soli is androgynous ( I hope I’ve spelled that correctly, I’ve got spelcheck off).
Hey, apologies for editing your comment! I just don’t allow discussion about personal stuff on my own page, it’s a peeve of mine.
Ah, that explains it. You want to remain mysterious. Alright then. Well then, I will insert my own fantasy ;)
Creepy!
I would never throw a tomato at your face. Unless, of course, that is how you eat them, and you are particularly hungry. I know I tend to forget to eat at conventions.
I personally -love- the long Carrissi faces. They’re so distinct! I’ve been into forensic anthropology recently, so the cranial structures of the various Dia ancestries just makes me a happy anthro major. This whole world is just so well thought-out and unique and aaaaaaa <3
brb geeking out
I find it immensely hilarious that people quibble about Alamand’s and Soli’s looks, seriously, if you look at any group of people will see that women and men don’t always look like they’ve come out of a marvel comic book.
Also, I’d really like to mention the body language here. Soli is so very culturally cowboy I just. C:
Soli looks very pretty in the last panel, in my opinion. Showing off her curves~
I guess the reason why people fuss about it is because usually, comics/movies/and the like usually have to employ visual stereotypes to move the story forward. It’s harder to recognize that the world has grays beyond the white and black perception of media, I suppose? Either way, I do love what you’re doing, so yay for another update!
Seeing as a classmate of mine wouldn’t look at my original characters until I gave them bigger boobs, I’d say the stereotypes are definitely there.
It’s tough to get a big audience without resorting to such ploys, and it’s one of the reasons I appreciate Dershing’s work so much.
Your classmates are dicks!
Did you have a model for Soli’s character? Because I just realized something about Soli. She is like a female combination of Simon Belmont from Castlevania and Dante from Devil May Cry.
I don’t know what those things are…. and no, no model, just an eventual design from a crappy original design.
Seriously, I adore Soli’s design. :D She’s not pretty in the conventional sense but she is handsome, which is a refreshing change from the femininely pretty characters you normally see. And Alamand seems so obviously a boy to me… though that might be his mannerisms more than anything. XD
Dang, those last two panels are the first that Soli is noticeably ladylike. Before she was still a bit like a chesty male in his 20’s
I do find it funny that people are curious or confused. I never thought Soli or Alamand had confusing genders. I know a girl who sort of looks like Soli – thin, androgynous body, and wears a lot of gender-neutral clothes. And Alamand just looks like a younger boy! Haha.
Shouldn’t it be “I ain’t killing anyone except my ex-boyfriend”? :P
I had ABSOLUTELY no idea that Alamand was a boy, and I have a younger brother! I went back and reread a few pages and still can’t see him as a he. I have no problem with Soli though, knowing quite a few incredibly androgynous people (both physically and mentally). I love the undercutting of societal stereotypes of gender in your comic; its one of my favorite subjects to debate and your comic does it so realistically. :3
hehe poor Soli. Especially in that fourth panel the way she’s scratching her head you can almost hear her brain groaning from the weight of all this heavy thinking.
or well either that or its lice
also awh man Amen you should have never gone into the border patrol business…sad fais for you
Why is it that her shirt looks tighter? In previous pages, her breasts weren’t as noticeable and I contradict the idea of her bandages being slightly undone after the fight. I would presume that she’d know that she would be fighting a lot, if that’s the case then she’d tie the bandages extra tight. I dunno, just my observation.
I’m glad you’re updating again. I don’t mean that in a disrespectful tone or anything. I just love this comic and am glad that it continues. I will only ever be upset with you if this beautiful comic goes away before the story is finished. (Unless it is because you are working on a Meek feature length film or series, in which case I’d toss money at you.) ((Seriously. Lots of money.)) (((Lots of one dollar bills.)))
I know she won’t kill them.
….Right?
I dunno, they’re cartoon characters. The difference between Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse is a fucking bow and some eyelashes. People are too reliant on stale old visual cues to tell them who’s what gender, and feel gypped having to actually pay attention to context. If you’d outlined Soli’s lips and made her tattoo pink instead of blue, no one would have any problems. Lazy readers.
Woah. Y’know, you’re right, this is the only comic I’ve read in a long time that had females without the perma-lipstick on.
I love Soli in the fourth panel! Freckles <3
Lol, they don't look so… I don't know… 'opposite gendered' to me. When I first viewed pics of them without context I was like, well those designs could be either male or female. Been an artist/on the internet too long? Idk xD
Soli’s extended duration of breathing hangs in the balance! Those guys’ is more than likely to be ended. And, hope she hides the bodies well, lest her record worsen again.
That last panel is the only time she looked female to me.
Whoops. I think I’m the guy who brought it up in the SA thread. Didn’t think it’d be a THING.
iirc I wasn’t complaining so much as noticing how conspicuous the gender thing was–mainly the fact that there’s TWO hella androgynous characters, and they’re together–and just basically saying “there must be a reason for this!!!” cause I like picking apart entertainment. Not hating! I love this comic and have been into alexds1’s drawings on deviantART since before it existed so there I am a superfan
Sorry if I made anyone mad A++ comic OP
Maaaan, you’ve ruined so many comics for me. Just in those three bottom panels alone you convey so much emotion as she struggles with this choice with such body language alone, proving that comics should also be a powerful VISUAL medium rather than just talky panels.
Then I go back to these other comics that will never convey such depth over a hundred issues and they just seem so shallow. You’ve raised the bar so much for me as a reader that so many other comics just don’t cut it anymore. No one’s ever altered my viewing of anything in such a way, and for that, I bow to you Der-Shing.
As a dudette who is often mistaken for a dude, I have no problem with Soli or Almand’s design. Sometimes it’s hard to tell gender. That doesn’t necessarily mean there’s any huge societal issue going on :P
P.S.
I love the subtle transparency of her shirt. It’s just enough to make it actually look like, well, a shirt. As opposed to a cardboard cutout shaped like a shirt.
I love your character designs – It’s nice of you to explain your choices/direction of the characters, makes it even more interesting! I think out of Soli and Alamand, Soli is my favorite. But they complete eachothers as characters, that’s for sure! Such great conversations and dynamics.
Have fun at Wondercon!
I’m devo that I don’t live wherever that wondercon is… I really want to go to one…
will it be podcast or something?
Although I haven’t followed the commentary post-for-post, I would be ticked to see the comment, “What do you mean Soli doesn’t look feminine? She’s got long hair!” Also, it appear’s Soli’s wrap is getting loose. (Which is quite natural, given that she’s been in multiple skuffles and gotten hit a few times.)
I really like both of their designs. I never had doubts about their genders but I think that’s because I read about them somewhere in your Deviantart and thus knew which pronouns applied to them. Anyways, I love Soli’s design. Her hairdo is really cool! And I know it’s strange, but her freckles make her seem more feminine to me.
So are you saying that the majority of Carissi people (both men and women) look kind of androgynous, at least compared to everyone else? I just remembered that blond crony from Chapter 1, who looked like he could be the same nationality. He wasn’t so extreme, but again he didn’t look VERY manly as compared to the other guys there. Though I may just be overthinking.
http://www.meekcomic.com/2009/06/13/chapter-1-page-35/
There are two kinds of Carissi, the group that used to live far inland and the group that used to live near the coastal areas. Now they’re more mixed together but in general the inland guys have that kind of longer face and straighter hair (not necessarily, but in general) and the coastal peoples are more… pretty? Haha, it’s not exactly cut and dried (nothing ever is), but that’s a rough guide. Soli is an inlander.
Cool! Thanks for replying, I always enjoy learning neat worldbuilding stuff like that. But it’s awesome that you came up with facial structure and everything for the races in your world. Most people may make a color scheme and leave it at that.
I bet, the guy has already escaped, so they can’t kill him
I’m really enjoying the story so far! I’ve been keeping up with your comic regularly; I love RSS feeds. :} I enjoy the gender ambiguity of the characters myself; I think it adds to the mystique of their background. I wonder what Soli’s gunna do next! I look forward to your next update!
WHAT IS THIS
THREE OF MY FAVOURITE ARTISTS DOING A PANEL ON WEBCOMICKING AND I CAN’T GO.
ONLY CAPS ABUSE CAN PROPERLY PORTRAY MY ETERNAL SADNESS.
I AM ALSO ETERNALLY SAD. ;-;
I LIVE ON THE FLORIDA’s EASTERN COAST. MY SADNESS SPANS THE ENTIRE PLANET. D:
I MUST JOIN IN ON THIS ETERNAL SADNESS
I LIVE IN SWEDEN
/ETERNAL SADNESS/
I LIVE in the San Francisco area. How do you think I feel that I won’t be able to go to that panel?!
Probably like fresh hell.
Men and women are really very similar looking. I guess this just hits a sore spot because I have a long face, a long nose, short hair and am very angular, flat chested and lanky. Yet I see loads of women who look like me. I’d say Soli’s look is only unconventional in the domain of illustration (of course excluding the tattoo and ponytail)
This is my favourite chapter so far. Thanks alexds1!
Sorry for doing two comments but….water….in the desert….
I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE.
or maybe i’m really late to the party and you did title drops in the dialogue for the other chapters too. :C
No I didn’t XD This is the first time.
well, soli does look like a women in the last pannel, but you are right about the complexion of her face being allitle confusing
You know, we all know that Angora has Plantbased powers, and Luca has some Fire/Microwave powers (Mmmmm, roasted ambassador ). So what is Soli’s ? Or will it be a switcheroo with Alamand having the powers ? Or, it remains Soli and she has Waterbased powers. Or, or, or, maybe Airbased powers, or Earth based powers (or technically that already is Angora’s power)
As long as it isn’t Heart based powers. What kind of lame power is Heart, anyway ?
Don’t underestimate Heart. An army of animals is not a bad little trick. Everything being a potential enemy is quality paranoia fuel.
Oh no! If they all gather in one place Captain Planet will come, and then we’ll have crimes against fashion too! D:
Hahaha oh god
I would be the worst writer ever if I answered your question. Aren’t you glad I’m not the worst writer ever?
I’m gonna have to say she has water based powers. Fire>Grass>Water>Fire. POKEMON.
Also because the front page says “Water In the Desert”.
Your drawing style has changed a bit! Also, I’m loving conflicted Soli.
I think it’s mostly confusing because Soli and Alamand don’t have the usual visual cues for gender, but I like that. Not every female character has to have big lips/long eyelashes, right?
And I just noticed that Soli has freckles. XD
question:
whatever happened to the other wildlife preserve dude?
I’m guessing probably incapacitated/dead from falling/being knocked off his horse.
lol, he does kind of look like he’s ready for Safari.
Other dude probably is laying insensate in a bush somewhere.
Bang bang! Will come next time. Or more. I don’t know. My tarotcards may be wrong. :D
nooo tell us your plan! Suspense me heart cannot take it!
hello, I saw the strangest thing while I was in Boston looking at a school. I was on a bus to the airport and I saw this girl that looked almost exactly like Soli, and the kicker is that she was had an identical twin! No joke, I did a double take, and thought “Wow a Soli…two Soli’s…” It was quite an interesting bus ride, trying not to stare and whatnot.
Did they have the hair?
Argh. Another one of my friends saw a Luca look-alike on the subway once. It is to much to ask that you whip out a camera and take an obvious picture of these people so I can obsess over them? Yes?
to Pneumonica- they had blond hair like her’s, but it was quite short…like her hair, but a little shorter, and no pony-tail.
alexds1- I really would have taken one if I had thought to, but again I was 2 seats away from them, and the act could have been greatly miss-interpreted
oh and the only thing I cant remember is if they had blue or green eyes. but other than that it was really cool how similar they looked, right down to the freckles
She’s called Soli by her friends. But her name is Legion, for she is many. XD
Soli’s b3wbz! *Faintgasm* I can only tear away my eyes from it long enough for this:
She’s really quite muscley, in an attractive way. And her hair is SO neat. And her freckles!~ <3
I love you Soli, even if you can't spell "Different". :3
I bet she's gonna drag the hostages with them. xD
Another most excellent page, beloved artiste!
*GASP*
I come back from visiting Kyiv, Ukraine and there’s 3 new pages!
I are happy camper.
Ooh, your trip sounds fun.
Ha, this comic has made me realize how much I fail at recognizing gender. I thought Soli was a boy, I thought Alamand was a girl, I was really confused about the gender of the author for a while, even though it was clearly stated, I somehow got mixed up over Lethy, I thought Alec was a girl even though his name is Alec…
It’s a good thing I don’t care that much about gender, because obviously its code is too complex for me.
Maaaan, draaamaaaaa.
Can’t wait to see what happens next :D I’m really enjoying your story.
Lack of curves does not mean lack of girleh.
Amen would better hope his pants are clean. Soli might shoot him instead of getting near him. Heh.
I know Soli is female, but I find her so handsome!!!
Heh. I find androgyny to be very attractive, which makes Soli…
Yeah.
Wow.
Btw I really love how you drew Soli in the last panel. Full of purpose.
Taking Care of Business (and working overtime)
I *really* don’t get the gender-confusion stuff…first off all, like a responsible person I read all the character stuff I could find long before these two came on the scene. I mean, surely Soli is not the first female comic character who could pass for a guy…or even who purposely passes as a guy?? I mean, girls who could pass for dudes is the oldest idea in the book (Shakespeare, anyone?). Why is this so confusing??
I like Soli a lot. I don’t know why. I like her design, and I think she looks like plenty of women I’ve seen.
I think a lot of people (both creators and consumers) have come to expect easy characterizations in their media… oh, here is the hot librarian. Here is the studly guy. Here is the matron. When you start going out of bounds, then people get confused (even though they probably see it all the time irl). It’s fun to make a comic that isn’t driven by money or specifically aimed at a demographic like “men 18-24”, since that means I ain’t gots to follow no rules.
Ha! I guess people just forgot what they looked like as kids. To me Alamand not only struck me as a boy, but he reminded me of some of my guy friends when we were still pre-puberty. I also remember something in your comments saying that Soli was a girl or that her gender wasn’t something that we suspected.
Anywho’s the art in this new page is stunning. I obsessed about Soli’s close-up for a few good minutes. The colors and the lines and everything is just so… wow. Her freckles are awesome and it’s insanely cool that the color of her tat matches her eyes. Even if getting one was a kind of stupid idea. :)
Hope you have an awesome day! I feel spoiled with all these updates. :)
Oh boy, I need to admit. I feel sexually attracted to Soli.
She’s a lady, no doubt!
That’s a lot of information!
I’m loving this story! I can tell it’s good because I read this in the morning and have spent the day thinking about it (and gasping at odd intervals).
I know you spent a long time preparing this story, but I’m still baffled (and incredibly impressed) that you’ve managed to make it character-driven. I love to build societies myself, and I know the urge to explain every fascinating facet of them can be overwhelming. How do you do that?
(A less articulate question being, “How are you so awesome?!”)
Haha, I grew up with a lot of guy friends, so Alamand didn’t confuse me at all. Neither did Soli, for that matter. She’s just a handsome sort of woman. Not all women are figure-eights with long eyelashes, big lips, and little heart-shaped faces, after all. =B
I like that you have androgynous people in your comics. I think Soli is really pretty!
Here here! The last two panels are actually my favorites of her so far!
Soli is the coolest chick on earth! I love her character design and how she can be portrayed as both male and female! Those types of characters have always been my favorite <3 I can't wait for the next page.
I just realised, Soli’s ponytail wisp thing is REALLY LONG. 0.0 Why doesn’t she trip over it, or it get caught in stuff?
Actually, I’m assuming it works on the same principle as all below-waist anime hair which is:
MOVING RIGHT ALONG.
The panel where Soli’s freckles are visible is really kind of incredibly endearing. I love that their character designs aren’t stereotypical, really– I mean, I knew Soli was female because of keeping up with the rough comic, but I like to think that her androgynous-ness (particularly in the first bit of her arc) keeps the reader guessing. Sort of a ‘wow, how did I not see THAT before’ moment.
Ssh! She’s not gonna kill them. She’ll think of soemthing. That’s why she’s leaving the young goat behind. XD
Hey, I’ve been meaning to comment for a while-I love the lucidity of your style and the way you manage to convey actions and attitudes without huge expositions. Love this strip!
random observation. I love the way Alamand’s curled bangs. It reminds of that kid in the elementary class that has interestingly silly hair, like the poor boy whose mom gives him bowl cuts.
Oh, bad grammar. I just hurt myself. :P
Soli looks like a girl in that last panel. A girl on a mission!! That’s right, watch out boys!!
I was just recommended this comic a couple days ago, and I read it through from panel one to here just now. I’m embarrassed to say how many times I clicked on the comic before I realized that there wasn’t a next one.
I knew Soli was a woman before she came into the comic because like an addict, I read everything I could find regarding this story once chapter 2 started.
However, she seemed really feminine to me a few pages back when she was wearing a mask (more specifically, one if the panels with just her eyes. Her eyes are feminine looking to me.)
Please excuse the fact that I can’t effectively communicate my thoughts; I’m sleep deprived.
Alamand’s little side curls are what kind of threw me off.
OH GOD THE BANNER.
*laughs forever*
that’s a very meek expression :3
I love your expressions. That header is just so… emotional. :3
Dearsweetjeez Soli’s face. Seems kind of too happy to me :P
I found Soli does look quite masculine–lower cheekbones, shorter eyelashes, and especially hair…but she’s got a narrow jaw. With long hair (and…uh…not bound breasts), she’d look female enough. (As for Alamand, prepubescent boy check. I’m sure his voice does hilarious things.)
…Yep, that new “face” is a lot more feminine. That tiny tatto rocks. :3
Oh, I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE!
I’m sure this has been said before, but I love the expression on Soli’s face in panel 4! You can see the conflict going on in her head.
Sorry to post twice, but I’m conflicted about Soli because of this:
I love the fact that she is a female character who doesn’t have a massive chest and a glazed expression all the time.
But I kind of wish she was a guy because she looks a bit like David Bowie.
I DON’T KNOW HOW TO FEEL D8
Haha, well there’s nothing wrong with girls with massive chests. But yes, diversity is awesome.
I just noticed she has discernible boobs now. Good for her.
Why is it in the final panel she looks most feminine?
Gfhfhrhfhrjd I LOVE THIS COMIC SO MUCH!!! The intricacies of this comic are just at a whole other level. The fact that the masculine-looking women is “a racial thing” is so awesome! You even had the ambassador masculine in the past episodes. So much thought u put into every detail it’s crazy. Oh and don’t even get me started on the color scheme and drawing style/quality cus we’ll be here a while. Anyways gotta go, I wanna read what happens next.