Because if we throw her into the sun, then there’s no cleanup. Though if you’re offering to vacuum then I suppose we can go ahead and simply torch her. Lacks style, but is effective nonetheless
My mom in every argument she’d yell to talk over you and then whenever you’d try to get louder than her she’d screech out “Why are you yelling at me like some animal?” Christ almighty what a trigger.
I love how I can never quite predict what will happen on a new page, yet the actions are so true to the characters – Gina is an excellent story-teller. Thanks to Kendall who posted the unofficial wiki on the last page – just reread all of Amaryllis’ pages and they left a much stronger impression on rereading all at once.
Early on, Amaryllis tells Mallow that things with Abeille have gone on long enough. This page feels like Amaryllis is close to her end game of forcing Abeille to return to Pasque. She’s truly a master manipulator and Miel and Abeille have unwittingly given her perfect ammunition to force the situation in her favor. Can’t help but wonder if all this aggression on Amaryllis’ part comes from deep-buried guilt over Evette’s death. Afterall, Abeille might have coaxed her sister outside when it was unsafe, but Evette dreamed of life on a more hospitable planet and their parents chose to raise a family in a place that will kill you half the year if you go outside. This page to me at least reads as denial, as in, if she convinces Abeille that the best thing for her, the only thing really, is to move back to Pasque, then maybe it was also the right call to raise a family on a planet that killed one of her children (in truth, I don’t think Evette’s death was anyone’s fault, per se, but it would make sense if Amaryllis doubts her choice of career over family and is only able to bury those doubts by laying blame on Abeille, while simultaneously justifying those doubtful choices after-the-fact by forcing them onto her remaining child.)
“Can’t help but wonder if all this aggression on Amaryllis’ part comes from deep-buried guilt over Evette’s death. Afterall, Abeille might have coaxed her sister outside when it was unsafe, but Evette dreamed of life on a more hospitable planet and their parents chose to raise a family in a place that will kill you half the year if you go outside.”
I think you hit the nail on the head here!! Certainly, Amaryllis has always been an overbearing and controlling parent, but her rage / glee at discovering that Miel and Abeille are engaged in “deviant” behavior seems like an “AH HA!” moment where Amaryllis has found the trump card to force Abeille to return to Pasque. And such strong anger definitely reads as a manifestation of her guilt over Evette’s death; she’s trying to control Abeille in order to try to repair the past (i.e. raising her family on such a dangerous planet and prioritizing her career over their safety, which contributed to Evette’s death) by keeping such a stranglehold on Abeille that she (Amaryllis) can make sure Abeille stays “safe”. I guarantee that Abeille wouldn’t be “allowed” to spend time with her ringette friends if she did return.
Plus the bonus of having Abeille around so Amaryllis can continue to abuse Abeille and process her own grief by using Abeille as an emotional punching bag.
Many abusers have their reasons.. but those reasons are not why they abuse. They abuse bc they want control over the situation and control over other people. As opposed to communicating with others and respecting their autonomy. It’s been really clear to me over this arc that Amaryllis is an abuser, and her family and especially her husband mostly placate her bc to do otherwise makes the abuse worse. Many abusers use threats like this to weaponize their victims shame and get what they want.
She seems to display narcissistic tendencies, tho without word of goddess I wouldn’t want to definitively say that.
I tend to agree with you, Britvulcan. I don’t think Amaryllis carries any guilt about Evette’s death, but would probably use the death as just another way to force control and abuse on Abeille. Abeille, like her father, tends to be easily bullied, so the two of them make easy targets for Amaryllis’ abuse.
That can reduce to desire being the source of misery and then there might be a paradox. We are all manipulators and abusers, I think (maybe it’s just me). There’s pathology that makes behavior problematic.
What is our goal? Punishment? Retribution? Not having the abuse continue? I’m in favor of the later. Do I want Amaryllis to suffer? A part of me does, but I would hate myself if it actually happened, and there would be no point to that. It would not unharm our beloved Abeille. Would I feel superior? Vanquishing? How pathetic is that?
I try to imagine coming up with the scenarios to tell the story. Gina is incredible. People’s comments show that thoughts are provoked.
That’s interesting about Amaryllis feeling guilt about a career choice and Evette’s death. I’ve thought guilt is wrapped up in her anxiety. I can’t help thinking she is jealous of Abeille, but maybe I’m just inventing that. Abeille is very strong and Amaryllis is not at all.
I also feel confident that Abeille is going to do the right thing, whatever that is. Maybe I’m inventing that too.
Hey um, Amaryllis, maybe you should know that it was YOUR DAUGHTER who initially wanted to get close to him and start touching others. Oh Abielle, I hope you find the courage to tell it to her straight.
What makes you think that Amaryllis would be less inclined to meddle in Abeille’s life if she knew that she was interfering with something that Abeille strongly desired rather than merely tolerated?
If Abeille tells her that, she will pretend not to believe it while gloating more. You don’t win this kind of fight by handing the other side more weapons.
Having been called a freak by my mother while younger, reeling is exactly the response. In my case, it was followed by the realization that clearly her opinion of me does not matter. I hope Abeille comes to the same place.
Frankly, Miel’s family does not exactly make the impression they’d be inclined to turn against Miel and even Abeille in the manner Amaryllis does. Abeille needs to stop trying to deal with this alone.
Unfortunately, I feel that Abielle getting mad would only make the situation worse. I can’t see her mother reacting any better than “look what they’ve turned you into! My own daughter against me! Blah blag blah” and playing the victim card.
Hoo boy, been tearing up for the several last chapters, this hits me right in the feels. Although my life experience isn’t at all about abuse, still there are such poignant moments. MS Briggs is an amazing story teller.
Perfect retort here would be her telling her mother the only one hurting her is her and that she is miserable every second she is with her, that Miel makes her feel happy, respected, and safe, unlike being with her mother who makes her miserable, disrespected, and vulnerable.
So Miel has perverted Abeille’s feeling already so much that she does not even enjoy being with her own loving mother any more? So much more reason to get this poisonous influence out of poor Abeille’s life and make sure he never comes back.
Seriously, do you think Amaryllis does not know this perfectly well? It’s why she needs to ruin it for Abeille. And the more precious what she ruins for Abeille, the better.
Look at the facial expression Gina gives Amaryllis. She is enjoying herself here.
That is interesting. I think we haven’t seen Abeille stand up to her mom, really. She was about to and Amaryllis avoided the situation https://lovenotfound.com/comic/ch16-p48/ Demeaning her daughter to others is different than doing it to her Abeille, directly.
It could be that Amaryllis would not deal well with a confrontation like you are suggesting, it seems to me. Especially, if she has supportive people around her at the time: Mallow, Miel, Jasmine and Cordia, would be good, possibly.
The idea that there are people who are unlikely to change, is an important one. But, I think it is a big mistake to assume that about people as long as you are still able to cope and not be abused in the process.
Someone in my family is very difficult to deal with and I avoid him because I know that I will behave in a way that is not productive (I’m triggered). But, I do love him and I’m blaming myself as much as him.
I wonder how much the way Evette died plays into Amaryllis’ behavior and how much is straight up abuse.
Abeillie clearly blames herself for Evette dying and Amaryllis definitely knows that. Evette died by doing something Abeillie wished for and which Amaryllis certainly would never approve of (fooling around instead of working). I could see that Amaryllis really thinks that this is all on Miel and that Abeille needs to be protected from herself, as her “antics” have “already killed Evette”, so Abeille – in Amaryllis’ mental world – cannot be trusted at all to survive on her own without getting more dumb ideas leading to disaster.
We have seen a lot of different reactions people had when it came to Miel and Abeille touching so far. Poppy freaked out while some passerbys during the festival just mumbled a bit about perverts and moved on without screaming. The way people see touches seems pretty individual and inconsistent. Amaryllis is a Grade A abuser, there’s no doubt about it, but I wonder how many non-abusive parents would actually react the same way in this world.
Not even meteors straight up abuse. Parents don’t come in grades. Beautiful Evette dying, must be agony to endure. I much prefer Abeille’s tribute, compared to Amaryllis.
Abeille crying, is a situation that is not ok at all. But, I love them. Would you hate your mom, if you were Abeille? If only things were that simple.
Poppy was protecting Abeille, I think. She went from full on, hot for Abeille to, it’s ok, by barely turning a few degrees. They are forever friends. In my opinion.
“I wonder how much the way Evette died plays into Amaryllis’ behavior and how much is straight up abuse.” That’s like wondering how much in a punch is frustration and how much is strength. There is no such difference. Abuse may have a history and motivation, but it still stands on its own.
It does not even make sense to ask “how much is deliberate” since behaviors evolve from codependencies to a degree that falling back to them is hard to avoid: a lot of separations are of the “I cannot stand the person I cannot stop becoming in your presence” kind.
What it boils down to is that Abeille does not need to determine guilt and fault and intent in her relation with Amaryllis. But she needs to recognize that this relation is not salvageable because of both of their behaviors, and end it.
It’s not clear what that means with regard to Mallow. That’s something the he will have to sort out at some point of time.
“What it boils down to is that Abeille does not need to determine guilt and fault and intent in her relation with Amaryllis. But she needs to recognize that this relation is not salvageable because of both of their behaviors, and end it.”
THIS. I get the feeling that Amaryllis is way too invested in keeping Abeille the “wayward child” to ever attempt seeing her daughter as a separate person. That, and her overbearing need for control – if Abeille isn’t dancing attendance on Amaryllis, then Amaryllis gets upset, because how dare her child have needs, wants, or interests outside her mother.
‘Love Not Found’ indeed.
I hope Abeille tells Amaryllis to leave her alone and stops having any contact with her. I suspect that’s the healthiest option for her at this point, since every interaction we’ve seen between the two leaves Abeille feeling upset and diminished.
No, Abi. LET HER. Let her go over there. Because you know what? Those women have their boy’s back. She can’t understand that. And you know what? I bet confronted with…with…THIS…they’ll have YOUR back too.
My thoughts exactly. They already know something is up by Miel’s demeanour when he got home. Although, I wouldn’t put it past Amaryllis to be homophobic, so maybe not.
Im… actually really upset. I love this comic so much and I love the characters. But Amaryllis is actually triggering to read. I wish Gina and all the readers the best, but I will have to stop reading. The characters are written amazingly. Just a little too well in this case
As someone who has never experienced abuse this part of the comic was making my blood boil… Can’t imagine what it would be like if you lived it or are still living it. If you like the characters etc. and it’s not too triggering, it might be worth letting this sit a year and coming back and binge reading afterwards. That way you can skim past this unpleasant junk, and likely hop into the fixed and happy relationship. Honestly… I might hate to do the same soon for the sake of my blood pressure.
Lovely artwork as ever. The emotion in the last frame is so personal to me, that face of pain and betrayal when all you want to say is, “But YOU’RE the one hurting me!”
Amaryllis reminds me of my mother, and I hope Abeille is about to verbally rip her head off. Some parents don’t understand that children grow up, and move on to their own life. I only moved 600 miles away from mine, but she didn’t stop trying to get me to move back “home” with her until I confronted her about how awful everything she did was.
Something about Amaryllis’ mouth in the penultimate panel was haunting me… it’s the forced “I’m feeling no emotions” mouth, in videos of people calling the manager on some young soul.
I get that her mom has trauma left over from losing her first kid, and therefore probably being completely overbearing and overly protective of this one. I mean, if I lost one of my children, then I can’t imagine how over protective I might be of the second, just out of constant fear. But I hope that Ab will stand up to her, and soon. They need an ‘intervention’, and not because she ‘touched’ someone.
As much as I love this comic, I can’t read this anymore. It hits too close to home. Amaryllis is too much like my mother and I just can’t. I wish you good fortune and know that I love you as a comic artist and writer!
I relate to people who relate to this comic, so I hate seeing you go. If you can stand seeing her face, you could check if she’s there and come back when she’s not.
If Abeille was a teenager and Miel really the older boyfriend, I believe most people would be ok with a parent stepping in and stopping what is deemed as immoral and inappropriate behavior (by society).
But when talking to your 23-year old independent daughter, I believe the tone and behaviour of “mommy knows best” needs to be adjusted. Amaryllis doesn’t seem to grasp that her thinking is not the moral road everyone needs to walk on.
Nah. Pathological parents can treat their adult children as if they were not yet grown. It’s creepy, but if anything this adds to the story for me, not detracts.
I try to keep in mind that Monotropa is not present day Earth, while also comparing what the characters are going through it to the world we live in. Attitudes about relationships seems pretty different. Sexperience is around where the holoball place is. Sex is mundane. Intimacy is foreign. Abeille and Miel are very unusual.
Agreed. Yes, there are pathological parents with ‘mother knows best’ attitude who just refuse to treat their grown children as grown-ups, but honestly – a 23-year-old could (or should!) just be able to call the cops and have her mom thrown out of her apartment. Also, how is it possible to have the parent file a complaint on behalf of her daughter, without permission?
Then again, I was raised as an equal by pretty independent parents, so probably can’t quite relate/understand why Amaryllis wasn’t just cut off after the first abusive explosion pages back.
The expression on Amaryllis’s face in the third panel says it all. She doesn’t feel concern, worry, or love for Abeille. She feels complete, utter contempt for her daughter.
Hey all! Just caught up on this comic – found it a few days ago. It’s great! Haven’t been through all the comments, but did anyone note already that this ‘strange’ future world might as well be the ultimate outcome of our COVID19 crisis? It would make sense if a very infectious disease plagued humanity, to have etiquette develop in such a way as to make touching or even being in close proximity to another person a taboo action.
Abuser.
I’m starting a petition to throw Amaryllis into a sun. Any sun. Any signers?
Why go to all that trouble when we can just set her on fire?
Because if we throw her into the sun, then there’s no cleanup. Though if you’re offering to vacuum then I suppose we can go ahead and simply torch her. Lacks style, but is effective nonetheless
Signed. Dated. Notarized.
“I’m not yelling” kind of says it all. “We’re leaving”…
Fudge ME did THAT line strike a chord.
My mom in every argument she’d yell to talk over you and then whenever you’d try to get louder than her she’d screech out “Why are you yelling at me like some animal?” Christ almighty what a trigger.
I love how I can never quite predict what will happen on a new page, yet the actions are so true to the characters – Gina is an excellent story-teller. Thanks to Kendall who posted the unofficial wiki on the last page – just reread all of Amaryllis’ pages and they left a much stronger impression on rereading all at once.
Early on, Amaryllis tells Mallow that things with Abeille have gone on long enough. This page feels like Amaryllis is close to her end game of forcing Abeille to return to Pasque. She’s truly a master manipulator and Miel and Abeille have unwittingly given her perfect ammunition to force the situation in her favor. Can’t help but wonder if all this aggression on Amaryllis’ part comes from deep-buried guilt over Evette’s death. Afterall, Abeille might have coaxed her sister outside when it was unsafe, but Evette dreamed of life on a more hospitable planet and their parents chose to raise a family in a place that will kill you half the year if you go outside. This page to me at least reads as denial, as in, if she convinces Abeille that the best thing for her, the only thing really, is to move back to Pasque, then maybe it was also the right call to raise a family on a planet that killed one of her children (in truth, I don’t think Evette’s death was anyone’s fault, per se, but it would make sense if Amaryllis doubts her choice of career over family and is only able to bury those doubts by laying blame on Abeille, while simultaneously justifying those doubtful choices after-the-fact by forcing them onto her remaining child.)
“Can’t help but wonder if all this aggression on Amaryllis’ part comes from deep-buried guilt over Evette’s death. Afterall, Abeille might have coaxed her sister outside when it was unsafe, but Evette dreamed of life on a more hospitable planet and their parents chose to raise a family in a place that will kill you half the year if you go outside.”
I think you hit the nail on the head here!! Certainly, Amaryllis has always been an overbearing and controlling parent, but her rage / glee at discovering that Miel and Abeille are engaged in “deviant” behavior seems like an “AH HA!” moment where Amaryllis has found the trump card to force Abeille to return to Pasque. And such strong anger definitely reads as a manifestation of her guilt over Evette’s death; she’s trying to control Abeille in order to try to repair the past (i.e. raising her family on such a dangerous planet and prioritizing her career over their safety, which contributed to Evette’s death) by keeping such a stranglehold on Abeille that she (Amaryllis) can make sure Abeille stays “safe”. I guarantee that Abeille wouldn’t be “allowed” to spend time with her ringette friends if she did return.
Plus the bonus of having Abeille around so Amaryllis can continue to abuse Abeille and process her own grief by using Abeille as an emotional punching bag.
Many abusers have their reasons.. but those reasons are not why they abuse. They abuse bc they want control over the situation and control over other people. As opposed to communicating with others and respecting their autonomy. It’s been really clear to me over this arc that Amaryllis is an abuser, and her family and especially her husband mostly placate her bc to do otherwise makes the abuse worse. Many abusers use threats like this to weaponize their victims shame and get what they want.
She seems to display narcissistic tendencies, tho without word of goddess I wouldn’t want to definitively say that.
I tend to agree with you, Britvulcan. I don’t think Amaryllis carries any guilt about Evette’s death, but would probably use the death as just another way to force control and abuse on Abeille. Abeille, like her father, tends to be easily bullied, so the two of them make easy targets for Amaryllis’ abuse.
That can reduce to desire being the source of misery and then there might be a paradox. We are all manipulators and abusers, I think (maybe it’s just me). There’s pathology that makes behavior problematic.
What is our goal? Punishment? Retribution? Not having the abuse continue? I’m in favor of the later. Do I want Amaryllis to suffer? A part of me does, but I would hate myself if it actually happened, and there would be no point to that. It would not unharm our beloved Abeille. Would I feel superior? Vanquishing? How pathetic is that?
Well said.
I try to imagine coming up with the scenarios to tell the story. Gina is incredible. People’s comments show that thoughts are provoked.
That’s interesting about Amaryllis feeling guilt about a career choice and Evette’s death. I’ve thought guilt is wrapped up in her anxiety. I can’t help thinking she is jealous of Abeille, but maybe I’m just inventing that. Abeille is very strong and Amaryllis is not at all.
I also feel confident that Abeille is going to do the right thing, whatever that is. Maybe I’m inventing that too.
Mallow, now would be a really good time for you to grow a pair.
Some boobs would certainly help.
ovaries?
gams!!!
on toast. hold the spam!!!
Oops, wrong pair.
Hey um, Amaryllis, maybe you should know that it was YOUR DAUGHTER who initially wanted to get close to him and start touching others. Oh Abielle, I hope you find the courage to tell it to her straight.
What makes you think that Amaryllis would be less inclined to meddle in Abeille’s life if she knew that she was interfering with something that Abeille strongly desired rather than merely tolerated?
If Abeille tells her that, she will pretend not to believe it while gloating more. You don’t win this kind of fight by handing the other side more weapons.
I imagine Abielle is just reeling right now. Amaryllis just basically called *her* “sick”.
Having been called a freak by my mother while younger, reeling is exactly the response. In my case, it was followed by the realization that clearly her opinion of me does not matter. I hope Abeille comes to the same place.
Frankly, Miel’s family does not exactly make the impression they’d be inclined to turn against Miel and even Abeille in the manner Amaryllis does. Abeille needs to stop trying to deal with this alone.
now that Abeille is more comfortable with physical touching do you think she’s ready to throw hands
I really, really hope she does. People luke Amaryllis only deserve punches to the jaw, honestly. I’ve wanted to see Abeille get mad.
Unfortunately, I feel that Abielle getting mad would only make the situation worse. I can’t see her mother reacting any better than “look what they’ve turned you into! My own daughter against me! Blah blag blah” and playing the victim card.
Hoo boy, been tearing up for the several last chapters, this hits me right in the feels. Although my life experience isn’t at all about abuse, still there are such poignant moments. MS Briggs is an amazing story teller.
I can only imagine how she’ll react when she finds out her daughter’s the “sick deviant” here.
I imagine her head imploding with a loud BANG.
It’s a disturbingly pleasant thought.
Why would she have a problem with getting more rather than less leverage on Abeille?
Perfect retort here would be her telling her mother the only one hurting her is her and that she is miserable every second she is with her, that Miel makes her feel happy, respected, and safe, unlike being with her mother who makes her miserable, disrespected, and vulnerable.
So Miel has perverted Abeille’s feeling already so much that she does not even enjoy being with her own loving mother any more? So much more reason to get this poisonous influence out of poor Abeille’s life and make sure he never comes back.
Seriously, do you think Amaryllis does not know this perfectly well? It’s why she needs to ruin it for Abeille. And the more precious what she ruins for Abeille, the better.
Look at the facial expression Gina gives Amaryllis. She is enjoying herself here.
That is interesting. I think we haven’t seen Abeille stand up to her mom, really. She was about to and Amaryllis avoided the situation https://lovenotfound.com/comic/ch16-p48/ Demeaning her daughter to others is different than doing it to her Abeille, directly.
It could be that Amaryllis would not deal well with a confrontation like you are suggesting, it seems to me. Especially, if she has supportive people around her at the time: Mallow, Miel, Jasmine and Cordia, would be good, possibly.
The idea that there are people who are unlikely to change, is an important one. But, I think it is a big mistake to assume that about people as long as you are still able to cope and not be abused in the process.
Someone in my family is very difficult to deal with and I avoid him because I know that I will behave in a way that is not productive (I’m triggered). But, I do love him and I’m blaming myself as much as him.
Ugh… how her shouts and smiles just switch right off and on.
And no, Miel’s moms don’t NEED to know what kinks he and his girlfriend have.
Oh god her smile at the end… that smug sinister little “I’ve got you now”… I hate her so much.
I am gonna SHANK a fictional character.
I wonder how much the way Evette died plays into Amaryllis’ behavior and how much is straight up abuse.
Abeillie clearly blames herself for Evette dying and Amaryllis definitely knows that. Evette died by doing something Abeillie wished for and which Amaryllis certainly would never approve of (fooling around instead of working). I could see that Amaryllis really thinks that this is all on Miel and that Abeille needs to be protected from herself, as her “antics” have “already killed Evette”, so Abeille – in Amaryllis’ mental world – cannot be trusted at all to survive on her own without getting more dumb ideas leading to disaster.
We have seen a lot of different reactions people had when it came to Miel and Abeille touching so far. Poppy freaked out while some passerbys during the festival just mumbled a bit about perverts and moved on without screaming. The way people see touches seems pretty individual and inconsistent. Amaryllis is a Grade A abuser, there’s no doubt about it, but I wonder how many non-abusive parents would actually react the same way in this world.
Not even meteors straight up abuse. Parents don’t come in grades. Beautiful Evette dying, must be agony to endure. I much prefer Abeille’s tribute, compared to Amaryllis.
Abeille crying, is a situation that is not ok at all. But, I love them. Would you hate your mom, if you were Abeille? If only things were that simple.
Poppy was protecting Abeille, I think. She went from full on, hot for Abeille to, it’s ok, by barely turning a few degrees. They are forever friends. In my opinion.
“I wonder how much the way Evette died plays into Amaryllis’ behavior and how much is straight up abuse.” That’s like wondering how much in a punch is frustration and how much is strength. There is no such difference. Abuse may have a history and motivation, but it still stands on its own.
It does not even make sense to ask “how much is deliberate” since behaviors evolve from codependencies to a degree that falling back to them is hard to avoid: a lot of separations are of the “I cannot stand the person I cannot stop becoming in your presence” kind.
What it boils down to is that Abeille does not need to determine guilt and fault and intent in her relation with Amaryllis. But she needs to recognize that this relation is not salvageable because of both of their behaviors, and end it.
It’s not clear what that means with regard to Mallow. That’s something the he will have to sort out at some point of time.
“What it boils down to is that Abeille does not need to determine guilt and fault and intent in her relation with Amaryllis. But she needs to recognize that this relation is not salvageable because of both of their behaviors, and end it.”
THIS. I get the feeling that Amaryllis is way too invested in keeping Abeille the “wayward child” to ever attempt seeing her daughter as a separate person. That, and her overbearing need for control – if Abeille isn’t dancing attendance on Amaryllis, then Amaryllis gets upset, because how dare her child have needs, wants, or interests outside her mother.
‘Love Not Found’ indeed.
I hope Abeille tells Amaryllis to leave her alone and stops having any contact with her. I suspect that’s the healthiest option for her at this point, since every interaction we’ve seen between the two leaves Abeille feeling upset and diminished.
No, Abi. LET HER. Let her go over there. Because you know what? Those women have their boy’s back. She can’t understand that. And you know what? I bet confronted with…with…THIS…they’ll have YOUR back too.
LET HER. Bitch.
My thoughts exactly. They already know something is up by Miel’s demeanour when he got home. Although, I wouldn’t put it past Amaryllis to be homophobic, so maybe not.
Im… actually really upset. I love this comic so much and I love the characters. But Amaryllis is actually triggering to read. I wish Gina and all the readers the best, but I will have to stop reading. The characters are written amazingly. Just a little too well in this case
Enjoyment!! Sweetest person ever, award! In my opinion.
As someone who has never experienced abuse this part of the comic was making my blood boil… Can’t imagine what it would be like if you lived it or are still living it. If you like the characters etc. and it’s not too triggering, it might be worth letting this sit a year and coming back and binge reading afterwards. That way you can skim past this unpleasant junk, and likely hop into the fixed and happy relationship. Honestly… I might hate to do the same soon for the sake of my blood pressure.
Virtual hugs if you want them.
Gina’s writing is great, and unfortunately that means that sometimes her characters strike very close to home.
She needs to know the truth! Not that she’ll accept it, but Abeille had better not let her think it’s all Miel.
Lovely artwork as ever. The emotion in the last frame is so personal to me, that face of pain and betrayal when all you want to say is, “But YOU’RE the one hurting me!”
Amaryllis reminds me of my mother, and I hope Abeille is about to verbally rip her head off. Some parents don’t understand that children grow up, and move on to their own life. I only moved 600 miles away from mine, but she didn’t stop trying to get me to move back “home” with her until I confronted her about how awful everything she did was.
Something about Amaryllis’ mouth in the penultimate panel was haunting me… it’s the forced “I’m feeling no emotions” mouth, in videos of people calling the manager on some young soul.
I’m just waiting for her mother to break out into song…. “Motheeer!! Knows best!!!!”
I get that her mom has trauma left over from losing her first kid, and therefore probably being completely overbearing and overly protective of this one. I mean, if I lost one of my children, then I can’t imagine how over protective I might be of the second, just out of constant fear. But I hope that Ab will stand up to her, and soon. They need an ‘intervention’, and not because she ‘touched’ someone.
As much as I love this comic, I can’t read this anymore. It hits too close to home. Amaryllis is too much like my mother and I just can’t. I wish you good fortune and know that I love you as a comic artist and writer!
I relate to people who relate to this comic, so I hate seeing you go. If you can stand seeing her face, you could check if she’s there and come back when she’s not.
If Abeille was a teenager and Miel really the older boyfriend, I believe most people would be ok with a parent stepping in and stopping what is deemed as immoral and inappropriate behavior (by society).
But when talking to your 23-year old independent daughter, I believe the tone and behaviour of “mommy knows best” needs to be adjusted. Amaryllis doesn’t seem to grasp that her thinking is not the moral road everyone needs to walk on.
Nah. Pathological parents can treat their adult children as if they were not yet grown. It’s creepy, but if anything this adds to the story for me, not detracts.
I try to keep in mind that Monotropa is not present day Earth, while also comparing what the characters are going through it to the world we live in. Attitudes about relationships seems pretty different. Sexperience is around where the holoball place is. Sex is mundane. Intimacy is foreign. Abeille and Miel are very unusual.
Agreed. Yes, there are pathological parents with ‘mother knows best’ attitude who just refuse to treat their grown children as grown-ups, but honestly – a 23-year-old could (or should!) just be able to call the cops and have her mom thrown out of her apartment. Also, how is it possible to have the parent file a complaint on behalf of her daughter, without permission?
Then again, I was raised as an equal by pretty independent parents, so probably can’t quite relate/understand why Amaryllis wasn’t just cut off after the first abusive explosion pages back.
Gaslighting works wonders on someone’s psyche, even as adults.
The expression on Amaryllis’s face in the third panel says it all. She doesn’t feel concern, worry, or love for Abeille. She feels complete, utter contempt for her daughter.
Honestly I read “we’re leaving” and got really excited! …..until I read the rest of her speech and I am once more angry again.
Hey all! Just caught up on this comic – found it a few days ago. It’s great! Haven’t been through all the comments, but did anyone note already that this ‘strange’ future world might as well be the ultimate outcome of our COVID19 crisis? It would make sense if a very infectious disease plagued humanity, to have etiquette develop in such a way as to make touching or even being in close proximity to another person a taboo action.
Hi! Yep, many times. First reference of Covid19 I found in the comments is on ch18-p22, which matches with the dates, early March.
Amaryllis – gaslighting at it’s finest folks!
The suspense of waiting for Abeille to go off on her mom is kiiiiilling me!