4.18 - Playoffs

"It's almost like the culture that has allowed me to be who I am wins" I'M LOSING IT you've put so many of the things i feel about hockey and identity and "belonging" to the culture into words over the past few years, thank you thank you thank you

Ohhh, how would Whiskey know anyone who would bring a Ferarri to frat party?? 😮 You never know...

Ngozi

Mysterious Ferrari!!! Who could it be? I will say it's definitely not Whiskey's. XD He's rich but not that rich! Thanks you!

Ngozi

Who is Whiskey texting on the first page? Could it be driver of the Ferrari parked outside the Haus???

Loved this update, and how all grown up and intense our Samwell boys look. But can we talk about the Ferrari parked outside the Haus? Is that Whiskey's ride? If so, who is the mysterious stranger behind the wheel? Somehow, I think you left that hanging for a reason. Inquiring minds want to know!

"...the culture that has allowed me to be who I am - WINS." <3 <3 <3

Julie

Yay, I'm glad. and Whiskey's mysterious!

Ngozi

This is giving me all the feels. For all of the boys. And Whiskey, you've made me want to know all that's going on with that boy.

Raylen

Yay Whiskey storyline! And Bully’s playoff beard! And CAPTAIN ERIC BITTLE 😭 all the bbs growin’ up!

Not sure if you intended this but I love how you're trying to capture queerness in all different shapes and sizes. Not every gay man is as publicly comfortable as Bitty is, and Whiskey serves as a great reminder of this. Loving this and the way you're trying to wrap up the Whiskey storyline.

I did forget to comment above that I'm lovin' Bitty's face-off growly face! Also, yes, I totally grok Bitty's remark about Kegstands! This comic was wonderful!

This is an excellent update. Page 5 is my fav, since the guys look epic. It's an image I'd expect as part of a trailer. Also, you perfectly handled Whiskey and Bitty reaching an understanding. It's a quick, straightforward conversation that holds a great deal of weight. There are so many aspects to appreciate.

Octavia Atlas

This comic was the positive vibe I needed today!! Can’t believe we’re coming to the end of this story. I’m gonna be graduating the same time as Bitty and this update gave me grad feels.

Bitty has aged several decades from the stress of keeping the frogs, tadpoles and waffles alive. (And also from avoiding his senor thesis. LOL.)

Ngozi

Thanks so much!! I'm glad the montage feel comes across. One of the most difficult parts of telling this story was fitting in all the hockey? They play SO many games. I want those games to feel important without drawing every single one. THANKS!!

Ngozi

Whiskey actually talking to Bitty is the surprise of 2020 XD

Ngozi

I'm doing very okay with all that to be honest! Part of this being my story is me getting to choose how I release it? I think it's nice that people will be forced to read it in context. It feels good!

Ngozi

So much love 😭💕😍💕💕💕💕

Amanda

Look at those boys having emotions and conversations!

I'm so full of emotions about this comic that I can't make them into coherent sentences, but the general mood is Hard Relate. I'm reading this after a two day tournament and new years eve party, which were both full of Feelings about Being Part Of A Team (even a rag-tag Team who only all met each other on Sunday afternoon) and the building tension of the first six panels took me through all the emotions of a tournament so the release of the "we're heading to regionals" kegstand panel felt completely needed and natural to me. Whiskey seems to be slowly letting his guard down and opening up a little bit more, and I relate to that and I love that he's feeling comfortable enough for that kind of conversation with Bitty - even referring to it feels like a big change for him! (There's also some Hard Relate coming from "there are so many steps, we're not at the end but it's still important to celebrate what we've achieved so far" resonating hard with finally finishing off the last steps of my PhD lately - Bitty has been with me through the whole thing and now hes growing up and getting to the end of his degree and I'm very emotional about it all)

Ms Ukazu PLEASE this is so stressful (but also omg this update looks so good???)

Kate

It makes me sad that you can't release the Parse comic after this, that there are a**hats in every fandom who feel like they can police the story that YOU are creating. I'm sorry you have to deal with this 😞.

I love the way you've cut together the hockey scenes, it really gives the hectic-sports-montage feel of a postseason! And then the hard cut back to a single moment is brilliant. Love it all, thanks so much!

Ahem... BITTY IS TOO YOUNG TO FEEL TOO OLD FOR KEG-STANDS!! *old lady yells at cloud* (in all seriousness, i felt too old for keg-stands by my senior year too lol)

elizabeth p.

Oh there's so much! Bitty's last tournament!! I'm emotional. His "getting too old for this" comment lol. Whiskey actually talking to Bitty wow amazing. And who is in the Ferrari hmmmm???

Hal Forbess

Thank you so much!! (Also Whiskey is 100% hockey-robot lite™ 😅)

Ngozi

Hi!! Thanks for comin' along for the ride! Yes, it's time for a certain fancy-car-renter to show up to Samwell and be mature and gracious.

Ngozi

I really love this!! I always have a lot of feelings when Bitty thinks about the team, and this is no different. I think the way that you brought in Whiskey was PERFECT for what we know of him. It would have felt strange for him if he’d made a giant deal of talking to Bitty about what he saw, because he just doesn’t seem like that person. But this? The simplicity? The light hockey-robot-ness of it, along with the genuine appreciation? It’s so perfect. I also really love how you put in ONE TINY LINE about a Ferrari and I knew in my gut who will probably be showing up at this kegster. It’s AMAZING how you do things like that, just weave things together in a way that is so realistic. It really feels like a party- how sometimes things happen that catch people’s attention but there’s a million other things happening that make it realistic that Bitty will probably be caught off guard when whoever that Ferrari’s owner is (😉) comes in. You have such a way with creating nostalgia and really pulling us into Bitty’s emotions and the world with the simplest details and that’s one of my faaaaaaavorite things about this comic! 💖 as always, thank you so much for sharing these ridiculous hockey boys with us 💖

Thank you!! This episode had to cover a lot of ground so i'm glade it worked!

Ngozi

Chowder....he is trying SO HARD. ;-;

Ngozi

I want everyone to be so happy and just BE FRIENDS. Parse-I-mean-mystery-ferrari-owner is definitely here for congratulatory mature adult conversations, RIGHT?! Also, I love this and can't believe I've ignored every reference to Check Please I've seen online until like, a month ago. Glad I could join the party before it ends and thanks so much for sharing this with us<3 HAPPYNEWYEAR

S R

He is in his early 20s and EXHAUSTED

Ngozi

*winks and points* aaaaand we jump right over THAT. 😉😅

Ngozi

🙌🏼🙌🏼 talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show-stopping, spectacular

I love the way you sometimes turn on a dime in the middle of an episode. This one is a good example. The tone was serious and made me think of an inspirational sports movie montage (this is a compliment) - and then all of a sudden Bitty is doing a keg stand. I LOVE IT.

Aaaahhhhh! ❤️ 🥃

Cathy Berner

oooh so this is where the parse comic fits in

Ahhhhhhhh!!!!! OMG I'm not ready for Bitty's college hockey career to be over. I'm also crying over Chowder's baby mustache. ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

I died laughing when Bitty said he was getting too old for this 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Bree

BOY IF YOU DON'T GET BACK IN YOUR FERRARI AND GO HOME