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Today is the last day to grab some signed Octopus Pie books while they’re in my store! And I’m doing a little sale – spend at least $50 and use the code “FALLS4YOU” to save 10% on the whole order! This offer applies to original art, too. I’m also selling copies of Secret Coders Volumes 1 and 2 by my husband Mike Holmes and writer Gene Yang! I can’t recommend these books enough if you wanna get some kids in your life interested in coding. Delightful art, great energetic characters, concise examples. Mike will sign your book, too! |
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Ah God no the colors and framing are way too clear a callback for this to not be terrifyingly ominous…
Nah, it's just twilight. NOTHING bad can happen inside a car that cute.
link what it's a callback to?
I believe this sequence here. http://www.octopuspie.com/2015-03-22/763-no-easy-… http://www.octopuspie.com/2015-03-24/764-this-is-… http://www.octopuspie.com/2015-03-27/765-please-g…
Also, "I learned how to drive at school" seems to correspond to this scene as well.
http://www.octopuspie.com/2015-03-22/763-no-easy-…
It's eerily similar to this: http://www.octopuspie.com/2015-03-22/763-no-easy-…
But of course I whole heartedly support Will and his intentions versus Park's. It's seriously like night and day. I hope Eve can see the difference and open up to Will.
What if Eve is the Park here?
I had the same feeling when I read this page! D:
A Bump in the Road.
noooo not eve/park winter break up parallels.
I thought the exact same thing. This better not take a similar turn. :c
I think we'll be OK. That was winter. This is summer. I think it'll be more like a flipped mirror-image than a parallel.
I'm glad she caught it, glad she called him out on it, and glad he answered honestly. Communication, y'all! It's a good thing … even if it's sometimes uncomfortable or awkward.
Past this??? You're just gettin started !!!
whoa whoa whoa hANG ON
Does Diane own…MY car? A 2013 Mazda 2? Because mine's shaped like that, and it has a big ol' 😀 grill up front, and yeah that's pretty much the view from my passenger seat, with a few details altered to read better visually, sooooo…
I mean jeez, I didn't think she could GET any better. Also, I hope she loves her car as much as I love mine u_u
Sorry to bust your bubble, that doesn't really look anything like a Mazda2 haha.
It's rough when you realize how little you know your "close" friends, and vice versa. Over time you begin to learn that you only get out what you put into your relationships with people.
I'm so glad my twenties are almost over.
lol…It's no better in your thirties. You're just more aware of it.
And don't get me started on your forties… ^_^
Shouldn't be something you have to force there, Will.
Eh, it doesn't really come across to me like he's forcing it. Just expressing curiosity about your relationship partner, which is pretty normal. He's not asking probing, inappropriately personal questions, either.
My question is, why is Eve acting like Will's questions *are* probing and inappropriately personal?
IDK, does seem kind of forced in that most people learn to drive in grade school, so "oh wow when did you learn to drive" seems very banal.
Then again maybe that panel is commentary on bike-loving pedestrian inner-city millennials without licenses *coughlikemecough*
Back when my husband and I were just casually dating, we used to take long drives together. During those, we'd go back and forth asking each other questions like this, transparently to get to know each other better, and I remember how fun it was. Showing a little more of my true self, and seeing how he reacted. Getting to know the real him, bit by bit.
Eve clearly isn't feeling like that. She doesn't want to be really known, and she's not interested in really knowing Will. That seems like she's only in this relationship to run from something else, or some other external reason, not because wants to be with Will himself.
Another question, but this time I don't think Eve is going to answer it. Not now, anyway.
Will has always been in this for something more than he's been getting. Eve is much more complicated. She wanted more at the very beginning, but nipped that at the bud herself when she found out Will deals. Then we've been getting different signals from her, mostly showing that she's willing to get into a relationship with Will that's purely on her own terms, requires the least emotional investment and doesn't interfere with her own goals. She likes Will, but she's scared of something (that even manifests as nightmares in the night) that is stopping her from taking this relationship to the next level.
I'm not sure I can put it in words, but if I were to try, it feels like at the start, Eve took herself a lot more seriously. But over the course of Octopus Pie, she's been taking herself a lot less seriously, even to extremes. It seems to be in part a good change of her loosening up and becoming more playful, but it's also in part (it seems) a defense mechanism against pain. This is apparent throughout the strips, but the most latest example that comes to mind is when Park seriously wounds her by making it clear he's not interested in reigniting anything properly at all (in the latest arc he appeared in) and she almost cries at first, and then just starts to crack up laughing hysterically. She doesn't want to get hurt, and the less seriously she takes herself, the less likely she'll hurt when the pain does come. By proxy, Will gets included in that, and she knows that the moment she opens up to him and allows their relationship to become intimate beyond physical boundaries, she's allowing that vulnerability again.
Eve is a tough nut to crack, but I can't help but melt at the fact that Will has never stopped trying, even though she's turned away his efforts so many times. He's no saint, but he truly wants to get into that little vulnerable space of hers, and is willing to allow her into his. We'll see what Eve decides soon, I guess… no matter which side this coin falls, I'm sure Meredith will pull it off beautifully. I just hope it doesn't end with my (and Will's) heart in tatters…!
This is a beautiful summary of how I believe Eve is feeling currently, and how Will is handling it. As somebody who was once in Eve's mindset of 'dont let anybody in so you don't get hurt' Will's saintly patience and desire to help her find her way will be good for her. I just hope he doesn't hurt himself, he needs to remember his own therapy and growth and be ok with the idea that Eve may not be ready to be with him, maybe not ever. I think even if she tells him she's not ready now he will still stay by her, as a true friend, and I'm cautiously optimistic that even if they don't end up together they can heal together.
Anyway, sorry to hijack your comment, it just really resonated with me. I love Octopus Pie, and I especially love this arc and your summary is really on point!
I want to give this all the thumbs up. Well put.
What exactly happened with Hannas dad?
I will LOL if Eve resolves this convo by boning Will again.
Aaand Self-Sabotage is a GO!!!
(Eve is totally going to find some reason to shut down Will's interest and keep it as FWB. Not because she doesn't like him but, as others have pointed out, I believe she's scared. I'm not sure how much time has elapsed since the previous arc, but her last encounter with love (Park) left her reeling. She's trying to put on a brave face but the rejection seems to have made her afraid of intimacy.)
I wonder how much of his own past and self he's shared with her, or is willing to offer first.
Has he ever confided in her?
Would she be more open to him if he did?
I've generally found that people will share more about themselves if you share things about yourself in kind through conversation.
It can be weird when someone just starts asking you things.
Eve seemed hung up on Park (and he on her) primarily because they had known each other in the past, and they could coast on the assumption of intimacy even though in reality, they had grown very far a part.
Will and Eve have been coasting on a similar assumption…only here neither wanted to go further than the casual, comfortable present until Will's recent realization that he WANTS to know her better, past and future.
I keep thinking back to that time Eve almost hooked up with Jane's friend and he didn't want too because they were too drunk, and she wasn't interested after that.
The question now is if Eve wants that kind of intimacy at all, or if she wants that with Will.
Maybe her posture and the coloring in the the second to last panel matching the breakup flashback isn't telling us that they're about to break up; maybe it means that she is acting so guarded because she is afraid of being vulnerable and getting hurt like she was with Park. She's emotionally stuck (also another meaning of "past this").
It's nice to see that Will is being understanding about it, though. I'm hoping that he can help her work through this.
Are people not required to learn to drive in NYC? Down here Driver's Ed is mandatory – it sounds like Will is surprised that Eve knows how to drive a freakin' car…doesn't HE know how to drive a freakin' car??
Also: Will is just asking her an innocent question. Why does Eve have to make it into an ISSUE? She's going to ruin this….
I don't share your optimism for Will/Eve. The mirror flip could just be that this time, she's the one in control, who draws the boundaries and needs that the other has to react to. This could be the breakup that they both need to get space to reflect and change. After that reflection, anything could happen, but do they need to go straight from Fluxville to Bone Town with no time in between? Maybe not. It would be cute, but what makes it good for Eve?
Kind of interesting how the view of Eve in the driver's seat mirrors the first Park break up flashback. Though this is a sweet summer day instead of a blizzard. I love this comic!