Awww…she finally got to kiss him.
But how will Nelson respond? This is his old blood brother, his scouting buddy, after all. He’s gotta be confused, to say the least.
But wait-there’s more. Oh brother, is there more. You’ll see on Monday.
Have a great weekend!
Reade takes initiative, which makes her awesome, but Nelson has been acting like such a jerk I’m surprised she still likes him! Maybe he’ll redeem himself in the coming pages, but he’s sending a lot of mixed signals. Or maybe Reade is so determined to get what she wants, she’s willing to overlook his bad behavior? Who knows. Love is weird like that.
I love Reade’s face in panel four.
You Go Girl.
Now Who’s in back?
Roll on Monday.
Damn but you’ve drawn Reade very pretty in panel Five.
Panel five? How about three and four..?
Thanks! I didn’t really have to do much to make her pretty.
Okay, I did make her eyes a little bigger in panel 4.
Aaaand I can’t count , or type either as I meant panel four!
British Numpty!
OH FOR PITY’S SAKE MICHAEL.
GET SOMETHING RIGHT TODAY PLEASE!!
Oh Mike, don’t be too hard on yourself. I thought she looked pretty cute in panel 5 too.
And I accidentally log in as “Guest” on Princess Chroma all the time.
Oh she’s trans! That makes more sense than her sneaking in to Boy Scouts and convincing everyone she was a boy 🙂
It might’ve worked in the Summer. But in Winter, when they all went to write their names in the snow…
Panel 3: When the glasses come off, that’s when things get going! Speaking from experience.
There’s even a TV Trope about it.
I reiterate – Reade makes a lovely girl.
I think so too.
Panel three of this strip is still my favorite Reade Face.
I think you guys are being a little unfair to Nelson. The comments that earned him a fractured skull in Scout camp were not intended to hurt anyone – they were, as far as he knew, perfectly normal guy-to-guy banter. He had no reason whatever to think Reed was [I]SERIOUS![/I]
And from today’s strip, he didn’t even know Reed had become Reade until he “moved out here” (I’d love some kind of dateline describing when all these previous relationships happened, and where. How long has Larry known Nelson? How long has Larry known Reade? How did Reade know Edison Lighthouse was a lush? How DID Reade get a girl-child who has her overbite? What was the question that Stephanie asked Reade “in private?”). Nelson’s casual friendliness when he came in the store might have been him just being his normal self, or possibly a mask for some mental discomfort at talking to someone who was his best buddy back when – but who has changed in some startling and unexpected ways. I’m trying not to say anything insensitive, but his reactions to this aren’t all that abnormal. It’s easy to stand at a distance and be PC about it but it’s not unreasonable to need a little time to come to terms with it.
Reade kissed him on the tip of the nose, and not on the lips – which was a bit unexpected (by Nelson, too, judging by his eyes). I sure was expecting a lip lock. 🙂
Who else has just come into the store? My bet’s on Eleanor. Or possibly Rad Sampson. Perhaps Francesca the poet (urg).
If Nelson still thinks Reed “makes an ugly girl” then he’s got some re-thinking to do!
I agree, actually. He didn’t know better when he was younger and I think it’s reasonable that this would be hard for him to process now. He has the image of who Reade used to be in his mind, but she’s not the same person anymore and even back then, he didn’t quite understand her.
Even the most open-minded person would need time to adjust to the realization that a childhood friend has entirely changed their identity. Given that he was still willing to spend time with her at the Puddin’ Shack in the first place, he obviously still cares about her and that’s what matters.
Besides, it’s not like Reade is having any trouble, ahem, getting the point across here.
On a side-note, I quite like that heart panel. It’s almost got the effect of an iris-in.
It’s not just the identity change – it’s also that this childhood friend has truly been in love with Nelson for years.
Which brings up this possibility – what if Reade became a woman BECAUSE of that love for Nelson? “He won’t be with me if I’m male…what if I became female?”
I agree, I imagine this is not an easy position to be in for him. Learning that someone you used to know was actually, at least in part someone else. It would of course be much harder for Reade to deal with, but she has obviously had the time to adjust, and become comfortable with this change. Nelson, seemingly hasn’t had that chance yet. It’s kind of unfair to ambush him this way.
Hjels-that’s why she kissed him on the nose. A liplock would’ve been forcing herself on him, and Reade’s too much of a lady for that.
Plus, she understands what Nelson’s going through. It’s best to tread lightly in these situations. He is her friend, after all.
Tru, you summed that up beautifully.
A quick timeline: It’s 1996 in Innesmount, Jefferson.
Nelson and Reed knew each other as kids. Nelson went off to college, where he met Eleanor and Toivo in 1977. Larry joined in ’78, and Lyssa moved in in ’79.
“The Adventures of Lyssa and the Pirates” happened before Larry, Toivo, and Eleanor moved out to Innesmount in around 1982.
Nelson would’ve moved out there in 1990. By that time Reade would’ve already become a woman. Izzy was born in 1981, and Tristain in ’82.
“The Importance of Being Eleanor” takes place in 1993, then.
These dates are subject to change. I haven’t really worked a whole timeline out.
I think that one of the things that might upset Nelson a little is how cute Reade is. This is his dorky sidekick from Scouts, after all.
After reading your comment, I also have to agree. I have been too hard on poor Nelson. Perhaps I was seeing things only from Reade’s side since we’ve gotten to know her a bit better over this past few pages. I can forgive him! Though I still feel his one remark “Yeah, a GIRL (can dream)” was a little harsh.
Hmmmmn the whole transgender issue is not an easy subject to totally comprehend if you’re not the person involved. We can’t root around inside someone else’s mind to understand the [b]Driving Need[/b] for another gender identity! But the one thing I can say is that it takes a helluva lot of courage to make that decision.
I have a couple of work friends who have explained the difficulties and the struggle about coming out in general, to me, so the immensity of a Transgender decision………HUGE!
In practical terms Reade’s kids could be adopted from siblings or Pre-Transition donation/surrogacy. But considering that Reade and Nelson have both moved to where Sampson Industries is based could that have something to do with it? Does Rad have a hidden Bio-Lab in building 7?
A Bio-Lab? That would explain so much.
Reade’s face is exceptionally fine in this episode.
In other events – I misred the door sign in panel 3, but I suspect it was intentionally cropped so it looked as if it said:
STRAP
ON
…or maybe its just my pervy mind….
It looks like it says STAFF ONLY…you pervert. 😉