Am I the only one who heard Marge Simpson saying the following?
“It doesn’t matter how you feel inside, you know. It’s what shows up on the surface that counts. Take all your bad feelings and push them down, all the way down, past your knees, until you’re almost walking on them. And then you’ll fit in, and you’ll be invited to parties, and boys will like you… and happiness will follow. “
My guess is that she has saw him bleed from the mouth because of his sickness, he figured it out but doesn’t want her to know. So he tells her that it was just messed up images that didn’t mean anything, except that its not true.
No. He’s lying to her, and knows he’s lying to her. He doesn’t want her to be burdened with remembering his past, worse than that, with remembering his relationship with Sulla’s father. How would Sulla ever cope with remembering how she used to, in a previous life, have sex and be in love with the man who she thinks of as her father? This is tragic and destined for heartbreak, but Al is trying to do what he thinks of as the right thing. That it could eventually break her heart or shatter her trust in him does not change that.
Oh… oh crap… Sulla’s dreaming about Al’s CHILDHOOD?!?
I could be wrong, but I think Sulla’s becoming privy to a whole part of Al’s life that even Brendan was never able to explore… no, not privy – she’s having all that trauma, rage, grief and humiliation (at least that’s what I’m guessing) *dumped* on her.
The implications of this dream just get more and more dire.
Al definitely has an ulterior motive. Sulla is privy to his deepest secrets and I think it’s clear he doesn’t want them to come out. Granted, anyone wouldn’t want their memories and thoughts out of their control like that, but judging by how Al has behaved in the past, he is hiding something.
I think Al has a long, long list of Shit He Doesn’t Ever Talk About Ever. And I think he’s been in the closet about so many things for so long that the instincts of plausible deniability are all he knws.
BUT I also think the idea of someone else having to live through the things he Doesn’t Talk About is horrifying to him. So he’s not answering Sulla’s question – and trying to provide some kind of deniability for whatever information about him might make its way out through her dreams – but he’s also trying, in his awkward way, to protect her from those memories.
Blue, how you tease us with this bit of information but have the characters deny us of that information. Though in a way, it’s a great kindness from Al. Those are his memories, as painful as they were, for the most part he grew up and lives with them. They are not her memories, nor should be, unfortunately the memory/personality transfer did go better than Brendan thought with consequences. So as much as the reader want to get into Al’s past and how the revelation would affect Sulla, the best thing for the characters is for the past to be buried, and focus on the present and the future.
Even if Al had never talked about not seeing his parents, I still would have guessed at familial abuse. His characterization is so strong and he shows some really telling signs of it.
oh god the TENSION. But I have to say that Al touching Sulla’s cheek is terribly sweet. This is a lovely page.
A very affectionate, paternal gesture there. I like seeing how his relationship to her has evolved.
Damn, poor Al. You’re going to have to open up and talk to someone about your abuse as a child sometime Al.
Am I the only one who heard Marge Simpson saying the following?
“It doesn’t matter how you feel inside, you know. It’s what shows up on the surface that counts. Take all your bad feelings and push them down, all the way down, past your knees, until you’re almost walking on them. And then you’ll fit in, and you’ll be invited to parties, and boys will like you… and happiness will follow. “
:””””””””””'(
Oh noooooo T_T
you really can’t tell someone to “not pay attention to any of it,” in a situation like this.
that just smells of Cover Up — no questions to be asked
Poor guy. He’s dealt with things that way for a looooong time…
Al proceeds to go upstairs and hide under bed…
My guess is that she has saw him bleed from the mouth because of his sickness, he figured it out but doesn’t want her to know. So he tells her that it was just messed up images that didn’t mean anything, except that its not true.
No. He’s lying to her, and knows he’s lying to her. He doesn’t want her to be burdened with remembering his past, worse than that, with remembering his relationship with Sulla’s father. How would Sulla ever cope with remembering how she used to, in a previous life, have sex and be in love with the man who she thinks of as her father? This is tragic and destined for heartbreak, but Al is trying to do what he thinks of as the right thing. That it could eventually break her heart or shatter her trust in him does not change that.
More clearly, Al isn’t able to pay attention to it now.
Oh… oh crap… Sulla’s dreaming about Al’s CHILDHOOD?!?
I could be wrong, but I think Sulla’s becoming privy to a whole part of Al’s life that even Brendan was never able to explore… no, not privy – she’s having all that trauma, rage, grief and humiliation (at least that’s what I’m guessing) *dumped* on her.
The implications of this dream just get more and more dire.
Al definitely has an ulterior motive. Sulla is privy to his deepest secrets and I think it’s clear he doesn’t want them to come out. Granted, anyone wouldn’t want their memories and thoughts out of their control like that, but judging by how Al has behaved in the past, he is hiding something.
I think Al has a long, long list of Shit He Doesn’t Ever Talk About Ever. And I think he’s been in the closet about so many things for so long that the instincts of plausible deniability are all he knws.
BUT I also think the idea of someone else having to live through the things he Doesn’t Talk About is horrifying to him. So he’s not answering Sulla’s question – and trying to provide some kind of deniability for whatever information about him might make its way out through her dreams – but he’s also trying, in his awkward way, to protect her from those memories.
Al y u keep breakin my heart
Blue, how you tease us with this bit of information but have the characters deny us of that information. Though in a way, it’s a great kindness from Al. Those are his memories, as painful as they were, for the most part he grew up and lives with them. They are not her memories, nor should be, unfortunately the memory/personality transfer did go better than Brendan thought with consequences. So as much as the reader want to get into Al’s past and how the revelation would affect Sulla, the best thing for the characters is for the past to be buried, and focus on the present and the future.
Even if Al had never talked about not seeing his parents, I still would have guessed at familial abuse. His characterization is so strong and he shows some really telling signs of it.