familial stranger, page 6

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pretty sure lola's backpack strap switches shoulders here... i'll fix that continuity error tomorrow.

this scene (lola knocking on the door and her dad opening it) was very different in its original conception.
it was one of the first things i wrote for the story; usually for short-ish comics like this, it starts with "key dialog" for the point of the story and a basic summary of what the story is in a sentence or two, then it settles for some-odd months and i add bits of dialog i felt was compelling as i feel "inspired," which isn't necessarily pivotal to that specific plot, and then if one gets a green light from the polls, i write out a prose-alike outline without much specific dialog, from the start to the end, sometimes with some actual scripting for tighter scenes and themes.

at the beginning, lola was intended to knock on his door with no warning, ask him if he knew who she was, and he said "of course, i could never forget those eyes" along with a comment about how they're like elizabeth's. in the concept, that was the point where lola became stand-offish in the rest of the comic, instead of approaching the situation with wariness from the start due to her recent reconnection with elizabeth, which wasn't planned at that point.
it was changed because as much as i've theorized about what meeting my dad would be like, we've all got lives as adults and it isn't believable for lola to just show up and even be there at a time when he's actually home instead of working or some such. i also hate dropping trans characters' birth names if i can avoid it, and lola prefacing their meeting meant i could avoid it.

also, jason's dog is an australian shepherd. this was the ref art i made for her:

don't get too invested in her, she doesn't play a big part in the comic. fun facts: her coat looks a bit different from the classic aussie merle because she is a working line of the breed.
dogs with merle genetics can reproduce puppies that are double merle, which tend to have many problems at birth; not very desirable for a working animal. this is also why she has no tail or dewclaws - puppies usually have these docked shortly after they're born.
despite the fact that she's a working dog, jason doesn't use her for work; she's just a rescue animal who kept coming back due to the high maintenance required to keep a happy high-energy breed, which many people, when buying pets, don't expect before they get them.