5. Love cancels all other plans. (Part VIII) – SEE SAW Comics, Webcomics from the Sequential Artists Workshop

5. Love cancels all other plans. (Part VIII)

This page is split vertically into two even panels, both gray and white. The left panel shows a man wearing a light long-sleeve shirt, overalls, socks, and a Toronto Maple Leafs beanie with a pompom on top. He has light, wiry hair that goes a bit past his ears and a darker horseshoe mustache. He is smiling and talking. His body faces the reader, but his head is turned slightly to his left, facing the next panel, which is a continuation of the physical space of the first panel. In the same room just slightly to the man’s left, a gray cat sits in their little cat tree, front paws politely together. The cat looks ahead, slightly facing the left panel. Lynn narrates, “…gravitating towards gentle men is informed by my family history. All of the physical lashing out I endured growing up contributed to my never, ever wanting children—that and a horror of childbirth, not super uncommon among adoptees. I can’t even watch Call the Midwife. Cats, though. I always wanted cats. The man calls to Lynn, who is off-panel, “Hey, you’re up! I got the car dug out for ya.” She responds, “Thanks! Yeah, I’m awake.” He asks, “What time’s your mom’s appointment?” She answers, “9:45. I better get moving.”

This page is split horizontally, with the top panel slightly shorter than the bottom. Both are colored in gray and white. The former starts with Lynn’s narration—“That night…”—and shows the man from the previous page lying on his back with a cat lying down on his chest and purring. He is hatless, revealing a full head of light, wavy hair, and he is wearing a short-sleeve shirt. His eyes are relaxed and his lips are slightly parted as he says, “Well that’s good. Sounds like they’ll just remove the spot on her tongue and she’ll be good to go. Your mom’ll be fine. Hey Jack, buddy…” In the next panel, Lynn is lying on her side, facing the reader but pensively looking away up towards her left. Her hand is sandwiched between her head and her pillow, and her blanket is pulled up to her shoulder.

One horizontal panel takes up the first half of this page, colored in gray and white with higher contrast than the previous pages. Lynn narrates, “If you find yourself with elderly parents, it’s natural to wonder who’ll be the first to go. You might then contemplate both scenarios. For me, there was a best case and worst case scenario. Mom going first being the worst.” Lynn is still lying on her side, face against her pillow and looking away pensively. Her face is surrounded by a solid wash of dark gray. She thinks to herself, “*sigh* Mom’s still sharp as a tack. Dad forgets the stove burner’s on half the time. ‘Oral cancer is the concern here. We want to run it out.’ Wonder if you can get oral cancer from a lifetime of booze and shit-talking. I need to get some sleep. 100, 99, 98, 97, did I take a Dozaway?” The second half of the page is split into two panels; the left panel takes up more than half the space, continuing in gray and white. It shows two jack-o-lanterns sitting on the front steps of someone’s house, next to a handrail. One pumpkin is frowning, the other smiling; both have a blanket of snow on top that looks like they’re wearing white hats or wigs. From off panel, the man from before says, “I can hear you thinking. Try’n get some sleep.” The next panel is much smaller, taking up only half of the remaining space; it is a full-color image of a purple egg-shaped stone sitting on a gray base, across a blue background. Below the panel, Lynn continues narrating: “I still have the worry stone. It came with a purple marble egg that nests in its groove, and lives on my dresser with assorted bric-a-brac. I wonder if Kit ever spit in a tube and learned about her ancestry. Hi Kit, if you’re out there.”

A full-page image of a tea cup sitting on a little tea plate, drawn in full color. The cup sits at the right side of the plate; three white, crescent-shaped biscuits sit to its left. The cup and plate both have the same blue and pink geometric designs as the set in a previous episode. The cup is full of a brown liquid, either tea or coffee. The background is a green and yellow color wash.

Published On: January 23, 2024

Guy is relaxing on the couch watching TV with a pink-haired woman. His hand is resting on the woman’s thigh. They are both sitting in the same position, right leg crossed over left.

A view of a classroom from Kim’s perspective. A man with a goatee wearing a button down shirt stands behind a podium with a desktop computer, speaking to the glass. There is a projector on a stool in front of him, displaying an image of a rocky formation and body of water on the screen on the back wall. Two men sit in the desks in front of Kim, leaning in and listening. “September 20. Our group had its first presentation today. I had dreaded it, but we did well and now it’s over with.”

Enzo is standing in the kitchen, holding Tonks the cat in his arms like a baby in a front-facing carrier. He is smiling softly. “September 14. Made turkey meatballs before work. Crappy work day. Class after with quiz.”

Stylistically rendered with bright, flat colors, simplified shapes, and no line work: a man faces the reader across a cyan background with pink buildings and peach clouds. He stands on a pink road between cyan sidewalks. He is wearing aviator sunglasses and has a thick mustache with a stubbly chin. He wears a blue and black coat over a white Armani t-shirt; his hands are in his jacket pockets, to his side. We see down to his knees before the image cuts off. He is rendered with blue hair, peach skin, and a pink nose. He has an air of intimidating confidence.

Lorraine sits next to Lynn’s dad, both looking like young twenty-somethings. They are both dressed in formal wear - Lorraine in a floral print dress, Lynn’s dad in a suit and tie - and they smile for the camera.

Kim is reading from a book opened to a page full of pictures of different kinds of mushrooms. She is lounging, wearing comfy pants and sitting with her knees up. “September 8. Ordered mushroom cultivating supplies after doing some research. Worked until 7 p.m.”

Kim tends to a rack of bananas hanging from a rod in her house. “September 7. Felt crappy again. Made a big wall calendar to help manage time. Had class today.”

A zoomed in view of hands holding a plant’s steam with a leaf attached. In the background are more leaves and plants. “August 27.”

A sepia-toned family photograph, showing five people in formal wear posing stiffly for the camera.

Kim stands among banana trees outside. She is looking down, where a rack of bananas lies at her feet. “August 21. Worked. Blue java rack fell prematurely.”

From behind, we see Kim bend over as she steps into her bathtub. She is naked. “August 15. Sunday. Painted. Bath.”

Derek is in bed lying on his stomach. He holds the pillow over his head, pencil in hand, so he is buried under his blanket and pillow. In the background, the word "FLUSH" is written in large block letters. Derek asks, “What’s the point?”

1. Rory sits in the corner of a large sectional couch, holding her phone close to her face. She is covered in pillows. “August 9. Worked. I had planned on meeting Mom and Rory at the pool after but it was closed. Told my work I’ll need Mondays off (class).”

Close up of Lorraine's hand aggressively crushing her cigarette in her blue ash tray, surrounded by dramatic lighting and jagged lines.

Jasper sits on the foot of Derek's bed, elbow-deep in a bag of popcorn, which he munches on. He stares ahead blankly while chewing.

1. From behind, we see Kim sitting at a desk in a swivel office chair. She is bare foot. She sits in front of a keyboard using a computer mouse. A dog stands behind her, looking to the side. A dark, round table takes up the left foreground, balancing out the panel. “August 2. Worked. Went to UTC Mall after class to get school clothes for Enzo. August 3. Class down in Naples. Finished my journals at 7p.m. Sammi and Carlye took Enzo to registration at school.”

Young Lynn, in full color, looks at herself in an oval-shaped mirror, smoking a cigarette. Her head is tilted slightly to the side and she is smiling with her lips puffed out a bit. She thinks to herself, "I look so cool."

Derek is lying in bed, completely covered by his comforter and the pillow on top of his head. He huffs a “(muffled) SIGH” (drawn in big block letters). From off panel, one of his kids calls, “Dad?”

1. A man, who is only visible by the torso, holds a black and white kitten in his arms like he’s cradling a baby. The kitten’s head is smaller than his hand. He is petting the cat’s head with one finger. “July 27. Class in Naples, more food forest install. Met up with Tony on campus and had a meeting with my advisor. Then we went to the FGCU FF. Tony’s parents got a new kitten.”

1. A close-up view of two mushrooms with umbrella-like caps and long stems. The mushrooms are surrounded by twigs on the ground and a saw palmetto frond above them. “July 20.”

Derek is tucked in bed, lying down on his back with his head on his pillow and blankets pulled up to his neck. He yawns loudly (drawn in block letters). A light is shining on him and chatter comes from off panel.

1. An opossum stands chest to the ground in a spot of light; the rest of the background is dark. Their mouth is open so they look like they are almost smiling. Kim points to the opossum and labels them “Odetta” with a heart. “July 14. Last day in KY. Flew home after a delay involving landing gear. Unpacked, turned the compost pile. It’s good to be home.”

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