About March 2024

Jun27
by on June 27, 2025 at 12:31 pm

ON GENTLE A four panel comic, rendered in pink and green. In the first panel, an older, short haired Emily embraces a younger, long haired Emily, the latter clearly upset and crying. The narration begins, "I'm trying to treat my depression gentler now, like a child in need of comfort." In the second panel, the older (and present day) Emily slouches over a laptop, black clouds spiraling out of her head as she laces her hand through her hair in frustration. The narration continues, "I know everything feels hopeless right now. You also haven't eaten, haven't slept well lately, when was the last time you had water?" In the third panel, Emily lies on the couch under a blanket, looking at her phone, rolled away from the viewer. The narration continues, "I know you're tired, and that feels neverending. But you also haven't seen a friend in a while, the isolation is amplifying your feelings into something unbearable." In the fourth panel, the present Emily sits next to the younger Emily, a hand on her shoulder, backs to the viewer. The narration concludes, "I know, I know. But we're ok." -- ON FREE TIME A four panel comic, rendered in pink and green. In the first panel, Emily sits on a couch with her legs under a blanket, playing a game on a Steam Deck with concentration. The narration begins, "It's not that I don't want to create art lately. I just can't find the drive right now." In the second panel, Emily lounges in profile, reading a book. The narration continues, "For so long, my free time was delegated to creating. Deviating from that was a rare, usually guilt-ridden affair." In the third panel, a hand with a tablet pen draws lines that branch out from a handheld game console, organic as they approach the pen and blocky and mechanical as they flow from the console. The narration continues, "I feel a bit like I'm catching up on years of putting productivity first, where enjoying art became work, a search for inspiration, in order to justify the use of time." In the fourth panel, a blocky, PS1 styled model of Cloud from Final Fantasy 7 runs through rubble, Buster Sword in hand. The narration concludes, "I forgot that I could just have fun and lose myself in a story. The work can wait for a bit." -- ON SLOWLY A four panel comic, rendered in pink and green. In the first panel, Emily walks, pulling a roller suitcase behind her. A map of stars is behind her, showing several cities and destinations. The narration begins, "I've traveled more than usual this season." In the second panel, Emily sits on a couch, wrapped in a blanket and holding a mug of tea, a box labeling her as "has only left the house for work in weeks." The narration continues, "And yet I've had the hardest time breaking out of hibernation." In the third panel, one Emily grips a second Emily by the shoulders and shakes her, yelling "TEXT YOUR FRIENDS GODDAMN IT" while the second Emily sheepishly replies "but I'll annoy them..." The narration continues, "It feels like I've slipped back into all of the old habits of solitude, I'm fighting with myself to break them again." In the fourth panel, Emily half-walks, half-floats through the air, clouds behind her and eyes closed with trust. The narration concludes, "I want to find the normal between these extremes with steps grounded enough to walk with confidence as myself again." -- ON A PART OF IT A four panel comic, rendered in pink and green. In the first panel, Emily pauses her walk to pull out her phone and look at it, showing an envelope bubble. The narration begins, "I always envied the spontaneity that others seemed to have in their lives, open to moments in whatever shape they may arrive." In the second panel, Emily continues to look at her phone, her confusion moving to a soft smile as the message is revealed to be a spontaneous coffee invite. The narration continues, "The closest I got to that freedom was in college--after that, any plans with friends required weeks' notice, hours of driving. And don't get me wrong, I love that too." In the third panel, Emily stands on the sidewalk of a road as she waves to a friend in the foreground to get their attention. The narration continues, "But there's something about plans with friends coming together in a flash--" In the fourth panel, Emily and her friend happily chat as they walk down the street, backs to the viewer. The narration concludes, "It makes me truly feel like I'm a part of the living organism that is this city." -- ON RECEIPTS A four panel comic, rendered in pink and green and orange and blue. In the first panel, Emily sits on a couch with her laptop on her lap, looking disdainfully at it. The narration begins, "The morning starts with another threat of going back to four day a week in the office, maybe even dropping hybrid completely if we don't get our act together." The second panel is rendered in orange and blue; in it, a past Emily walks down a hallway, coffee mug in hand, stopped by a conversation coming from a conference room, which partially reads "well...other companies have already..." The narration continues, "And I remember a moment almost exactly four years ago, waiting to be sent home as death swirled around us all--" In the third panel, with the narration of "overhearing--" Emily reacts with shock to what she hears: "at least if people get sick, they can just work from home since they're already there!" which is met with laughter from someone else. In the fourth panel, back to pink and green, Emily slams her laptop closed and takes a long sip of coffee. The narration concludes, "So my apologies, I suppose, for my lack of enthusiasm in 'the office culture.' But you already showed your hand on that." -- ON PORTALS A four panel comic, rendered in pink and green. In the first panel, Emily pulls her chair out from her desk, a tired but contented sigh escaping from her. The narration begins, "What a miracle it is--" In the second panel, a laptop sits open, light beaming from it. The narration continues, "--to come home from work and open a portal--" In the third panel, a hand reaches down to weave a single thread through many, many thread loops. The narration continues, "to friends all across the world, our lives intersected purely by chance." In the fourth panel, many little Among Us beans float around, all in various costumes. The narration concludes, "and just be little guys together."

Journal comics keep on keepin’ on. Also, I’ll be at CAKE this weekend! Come by and check it out!

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