- Jay actually meeting Sam (as "Smoke")

Firstly, thank you all for your patience and words of support during the recent tech-caused delay.

This page take me ten thousand years to make, mostly due to deciding to get a new computer as a result of developing hardware issues. Getting the new computer wasn't that difficult, but getting everything the way I needed it for making comics was a bit of an adventure with many, many speed bumps (including having to adapt to new versions of things).

In the long term, I think I'll be able to make comics more efficiently. In the short term, adapting is full of speed bumps.

(Seriously, I had to relearn how to do some ridiculously basic things while finishing this page.)

Sam

Not having anything to do with computer complications was finalizing what to do with Sam's hair. I wanted it shorter, but not too different in style.

When Sam first showed up, I hadn't decided on that character being Sam. I just drew someone with a lot of pockets for fun, and later decided he was Sam. I'm not sure if I had the name in mind then, but I wanted to introduce a trans man character, and I wanted the guy with a lot of pockets to be more than a background character.

WHICH is why Sam and Luke have similar facial hair. I wouldn't have intentionally given two recurring named characters such similar beards if not for my decisions being in that roundabout order.

On top of that, Sam at that point wouldn't have had facial hair at all. Given that Sam wasn't doing anything with hormones (or magic) at that point, I wound up giving Sam a theater and cosplay background to explain how he appeared to have any facial hair.

On the plus side, now Sam has a theater and cosplay background.

Sam's current lack of pockets is in part because he's not all about pockets all the time, but MOSTLY because Sam has deliberately chosen a shirt that shows off, and accentuates, his masculine figure.

Fear not, however! He IS wearing cargo shorts!

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- Last Tuesday EGSNP