Also, I REALLY love what Al says in panel one. One the one hand, it’s a straightforward statement about how a relationship can’t depend solely on focusing on, and pining for, an elusive idealized personhood regardless of how the other person behaves towards you. On the other hand, it’s a casual meditation on the nature of one’s self and how it’s futile to try to carve all your trauma away as if it didn’t become part of what you are and reach for an imaginary, pristine sense of self that you’ll never fully detach from all that you’ve experienced and done and felt over the years. But ALSO, it’s a very characteristic Al Sterling Moment: not fully understanding yourself as a person and focusing on “functioning”, just like a machine, almost as if the function itself was where all of your objective worth resided (“I could deal with work, but I couldn’t deal with myself”).
I’m sorry to break up this touching moment,
but the pessimist in me is screaming very loudly…
that the acoustic ceiling tile she is lying on…
is NOT designed to hold her weight…
and there is about to be a very awkward interuption.
Who are those, and what did you do with Brendan and Al?
They are talking, finally. Not just functioning and assuming the other can read his mind. Wonderful!
I’m super happy to finally see the hopeful, vulnerable Brendan coming through again. He’s been very different in the present day, but very realistically aged in the heart and in the mind. I keep forgetting that Sulla doesn’t even really know who she is in relation to Al, so that seems more pressing to me than her seeing/hearing something intimate between them.
I still suspect that it even if Sulla wasn’t the one who brought Al back, that she was at least in on it or set it into motion. She was probably the one who took the knife that Al woke up with at the beginning of the story. This may all have been intended as a parent trap.
Does Sulla know that she was made out of a copy of Als mind? Because she’s gonna quickly put two and two together and the conclusion is gonna make her relationship with Brendan very awkward.
I honestly think (because Sulla is a perceptive, aware and intelligent young lady) that she is aware she is Al’s “daughter,” in the literal sense. What I think she is surprised at is the nature of Al’s and Brendan’s relationship. Not sure how she will process that, but I hope she realizes that this just expands her family for the better. As for Al, come on, man! If you recognize Sulla for the person she is, get over yourself and don’t repeat the same mistake from before, where your refusal to accept yourself as a gay man cost you and Brendan precious time in your relationship! You are a gruff, down-to-earth, honest, loyal, gay, sentient non-biological man, who has a man and a daughter that loves you. Embrace that fact, so you can all get on with your lives and figure out who gave you a second chance so you can thank them!
THEY’RE SO CUTE! Look at you guys, being adults and taking responsibility for your behavior and talking things out. Look at that affection, you’re wonderful.
I think an interesting thing to consider is that for Al, this whole arguement/conversation between him and Brendan is still pretty fresh
Brendan has had (presumably) decades to process and think about their relationship while Al is still reeling from the blow-up so maybe that’s why he can’t see their future together until he goes through his own healing process
Sulla is seeing something more intimate than she intended to.
WEEOOPS AND THAT’S WHY EAVESDROPPING IS NEVER A GOOD IDEA, BBY
i’m sooooo thrilled, though, about 1) this conversation, 2) the fact that they’re having it at all
SULLA, GET OUT OF THERE!! YOU’RE ABOUT TO SEE THINGS YOU CAN’T UNSEE!!!
HHIIFFJIFSUOBKUG!
Zodiac texted me all excited during work and now I see why!
Oh my!
Also, I REALLY love what Al says in panel one. One the one hand, it’s a straightforward statement about how a relationship can’t depend solely on focusing on, and pining for, an elusive idealized personhood regardless of how the other person behaves towards you. On the other hand, it’s a casual meditation on the nature of one’s self and how it’s futile to try to carve all your trauma away as if it didn’t become part of what you are and reach for an imaginary, pristine sense of self that you’ll never fully detach from all that you’ve experienced and done and felt over the years. But ALSO, it’s a very characteristic Al Sterling Moment: not fully understanding yourself as a person and focusing on “functioning”, just like a machine, almost as if the function itself was where all of your objective worth resided (“I could deal with work, but I couldn’t deal with myself”).
God, I love this comic.
I’m sorry to break up this touching moment,
but the pessimist in me is screaming very loudly…
that the acoustic ceiling tile she is lying on…
is NOT designed to hold her weight…
and there is about to be a very awkward interuption.
That’s kind of my assumption here, too.
Who are those, and what did you do with Brendan and Al?
They are talking, finally. Not just functioning and assuming the other can read his mind. Wonderful!
I’m super happy to finally see the hopeful, vulnerable Brendan coming through again. He’s been very different in the present day, but very realistically aged in the heart and in the mind. I keep forgetting that Sulla doesn’t even really know who she is in relation to Al, so that seems more pressing to me than her seeing/hearing something intimate between them.
I still suspect that it even if Sulla wasn’t the one who brought Al back, that she was at least in on it or set it into motion. She was probably the one who took the knife that Al woke up with at the beginning of the story. This may all have been intended as a parent trap.
Oh my, very interesting. Yeah. Maybe Tsade contacted her and went, ‘Can you retrieve this thing for us?’
Does Sulla know that she was made out of a copy of Als mind? Because she’s gonna quickly put two and two together and the conclusion is gonna make her relationship with Brendan very awkward.
Yes she knows, Al asked her right after she pulled him out of the water.
I honestly think (because Sulla is a perceptive, aware and intelligent young lady) that she is aware she is Al’s “daughter,” in the literal sense. What I think she is surprised at is the nature of Al’s and Brendan’s relationship. Not sure how she will process that, but I hope she realizes that this just expands her family for the better. As for Al, come on, man! If you recognize Sulla for the person she is, get over yourself and don’t repeat the same mistake from before, where your refusal to accept yourself as a gay man cost you and Brendan precious time in your relationship! You are a gruff, down-to-earth, honest, loyal, gay, sentient non-biological man, who has a man and a daughter that loves you. Embrace that fact, so you can all get on with your lives and figure out who gave you a second chance so you can thank them!
THEY’RE SO CUTE! Look at you guys, being adults and taking responsibility for your behavior and talking things out. Look at that affection, you’re wonderful.
I think an interesting thing to consider is that for Al, this whole arguement/conversation between him and Brendan is still pretty fresh
Brendan has had (presumably) decades to process and think about their relationship while Al is still reeling from the blow-up so maybe that’s why he can’t see their future together until he goes through his own healing process
And now time for eavesdropping is over.