soft-pedaled, page 9

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i'm thinking of separating this section into single-file pages, 1 for felix and 1 for izzi then the next for felix, etc. 

anyway, quinn and izzi are really fun to draw. there aren't many other scenarios where i get to draw plants, especially withered plants, so that's a fun change of pace. i wanted to draw bushes and taller plants to indicate more force with their landing; if it weren't for the restrictions of space in comics, i would have drawn a couple of small trees about izzi's height springing forth and immediately rotting because that makes the most sense to me for some reason. i imagine the harder the impact, the more plants and the larger they are. it's like motion and impact lines, but with foliage! i also didn't bother picking any specific species in this case because the shot was so far, there wasn't going to be much detail anyway.

felix and romeo are much harder to draw in this sequence because romeo is more realistically proportioned and felix is less realistically proportioned so there's a drastic difference, but they're arguing so they need to be in close proximity to each other. still, it is nice to see their dynamic in action. felix is really holding their ground surprisingly well.
felix also got to namedrop 3 separate employees who've been canonically named and it's always nice to make referential continuity -- two of them were in this comic in the first couple of pages, so thank you past me for coming up with names so i didn't have to, even if you didn't realize i would be writing it this way.

POST-COLOR EDIT: i've been thinking about this page as i line and color it. quinn's dialogue with izzi can be a little bit inscrutable -- how can someone claim the opposite to what someone else says their feelings are, without any explanation at all?
there's a pretty strong undercurrent in their relationship that just isn't elaborated upon in this comic at all. it's notable that quinn is an alter unintegrated, out of quite a few that were - the only one not to integrate in some way besides LG. because integration has happened over time with active effort to completely integrate from izzi, it's evident that quinn couldn't avoid it without equal active effort to avoid integration. their interactions with her come off as curt and aloof as they reject direct, meaningful connection and communication with her.
moreso, izzi is a big girl with a lot of therapy about how to handle interpersonal relationships and being mindful during interactions. she's asking quinn the equivalent of asking a girlfriend why she didn't remind her to brush her teeth; it's really izzi's own business to handle. the only reason she doesn't handle it is because of a lack of motivation or interest in prioritizing it.