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Homecoming - Episode 28 (Patreon)

Published:
2025-08-01 07:03:56
Edited:
2025-10-12 15:53:46
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

Kris continues to reveal the missing six weeks of her freedom to a stunned Ben, chronicling her journey to build a new identity...

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Comments

Amber Caledonia

Heartbreaking: the worst kidnapper you know just made a great point

Holly B.

Scurvy does what? *rushes to eat several limes* Great chapter!

Maggie Heels

The story is deep AF and renders are marvelous AF... classic Emory's standards... ❣️❣️❣️

Gemma

Firstly Emory I want to comment on the amazing images you have created. Kris is so attractive and beautiful in each and every image. Her facial expressions are at the next level and so clearly convey the full array of the different emotions and thoughts she experiencing in every and every image. My interpretation: The theme of this story, one I have noted before, is that of ‘post traumatic growth’ as the antidote and way to survive. Creating meaning and growth around the very trauma she encountered. Kris, however, seems to have taken it one step further and moved beyond just ‘surviving, and finding new ways to invest in, thrive, and embrace the potential new life that is available to her. Unfortunately, maybe tragically, in order to achieve this she recognised that she had to sacrifice Chris (his life was already gone), in order for Kris to exist have a life.

Erica Rost

This story is really nice, especially when the clothes change between pages 15 and 19, where the blouse becomes a t-shirt and comes back as a blouse. Maybe she has the magic to change in a few seconds in town!

Kris Greg

Intense! This is such a deep chapter.

Crewchick

Erica, give Emory some slack and not be so literal in your reading. Those panels are not all one day but multiple days of fruitless job hunting. 15 and 19 are literally night and day. In 15 she has on a light gray blazer or suit jacket and a violet shirt. In 19 she is wearing a white shirt and charcoal tweed jacket. The panels in between with the t-shirt are likely different days in between and dressing for different types of jobs than the first and last. Or do you want 30 panels of "Day 1 job hunting outfit", "day 2 job hunting outfit".... "day 30 job hunting outfit"... etc...? Granted Emory could make all those panels each look amazing! But they would not do much to move the story along and would likely delay all her other projects in the process making exquisitely crafted art and trying to spell everything out in detail for those who can't read between the panels.

Jade Diaz

Seems like dum dum Ben is finally attempting to understand how things are now, I just don’t believe for a second that he will stop trying to “save” Kris and bring back his lil buddy, the man who doesn’t exist except as a ghost.

Kirsten Roberts

This story has me totally sucked in. The best thing you’ve ever done and I love all your work. Unbelievable how good this is

Alex From the Tri-Cities

Dearest muse Emory, once again you managed to make tears 😭😭 run. But these are tears of both joy and sadness at the same time. Chris is gone and Kris is fully in charge. Jade chided me about seeing Second Dawn and the Xuniverse in all the work you do...so please be gentle 🙏🙏❤️ in your critique but what I see you did here is offer everybody a gruesome glimpse into what sweet, gentle, loving Holly's "life of freedom" would've looked like if she had accepted Mr. Xu's offer...the one in J&J Phase 8, Part 1 and 2. The one he mentions to Angela he offered Holly after killing her father...what a generous prince...and all while watching Holly and Janelle argue and fall apart...just like he schemed. Holly was smart to reject it, and his $ 10 million "retirement" is chicken 🐔 feed considering we're talking at least $787 million...and that's just what Holden inherited upon turning 21. They say great minds think alike...so please tell me if I'm onto something with what I saw in the glimpse of Kris's new life...and I implore you to save Holly's life...I and my Xuniverse characters see her as both innocent while not being blind to her flaws. Without her there'd be no Coven, Companions, no Jill being the Jill we know, and love, no Summer and no Shunfen, not Hatchings...or maybe they'd be broken "Toys" like Parker/Jessica looking for a way out... and sadly she found it. Holden/Holly Monroe-Rachel Starr or Krystal Webb Jason/Janelle-Alina Li/Lulu Chu Angelo/Angela-Aria Giovanni/Lisa Ann/Francesca Ricci Summer Chastity Crowe©™-Jaye Summers Shunfen Xu©™-Ayumi Anime The rest of The Hatchlings©™: Charity Winter Martin-Charity Crawford Zoey Spring Finch-Zoey Taylor/Cali Sparks Jessabelle Autumn Bunting-Jillian Janson Eve-Lynne Junco-Avi Love Bella Parula-Isabella Nice Ziggy Pipit-Blair Summers Toni-Bee Starling-Ziggy Star Gina Grosbeak-Gina Valentina Rachele and Renata Vespini-Valentina Nappi Aviva, Jora, Sitva, and Ilana Kirot- Abella Danger.

JS

Loved this episode

Wojtek

Thanks for another episode in which you show how assertive Kris is in her conversation with Ben, how she knows what she wants during the conversation. The pages 18 and 19 are my favorite👏. The facial expressions are so refined that you can see Kris's emotions on her face as you read the description of the action. 💖😳 The statement that Kris will exist on paper, in a place where she got a job without unnecessary paperwork, is probably ironic 🤔? But it looks like she's happy that she'll have some income for her expenses.

Robertlouis

What a wonderful chapter, Emory. Nuanced and emotional at so many levels, drawing out all the traumas and complexities of Kris’s experiences. And the facial expressions are amongst your finest artistic masterpieces. There’s the grit and determination that characterise her long struggle as well as angst, fear, and trepidation, but despite the disappointments, it’s the determination that shines through. Tremendously expressive art. And is Benji finally starting to get it? And is he ever going to acknowledge the betrayal of Chris and Kayla’s relationship, which remains ignored, although it has clearly cut Kris deeply when the three of them met? I think Kris may be the most rounded and complete heroine you have yet created, Emory, albeit the most complex as well, surpassing even Jill in terms of sheer endurance, because she’s had to bear it all in silence and solitude. As I said at the outset, it’s a wonderful chapter in a totally absorbing saga.

Crewchick

Emory, without a question another great chapter in a ongoing great story. The artwork is amazing, but we have come to expect no less from you. Likewise the narrative and story telling. I can't really amplify much more all the high praise others have already expressed for you and this story. But while I love it, I still have an issue with the premise of Chris/Kris. So far as being told Kris is boarding on Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) formerly Multiple Personality Disorder or MPD, a listed diagnosable mental health disorder in the DSM-5. Given all that Chris/Kris has been through to be suffering from such a condition is understandable, and is not an accusation of fault or weakness. It is not even an indictment of the personality of Kris. With all the physical change to Chris/Kris along with the overwhelming trauma of the captivity, I think even Ben can or will begin to appreciate that the "old Chris" can't come back divorced from or exercised of Kris. But this dissociative compartmentalization within Chris/Kris may be an understandable coping mechanism developed under unbearable trauma, but it is not a healthy post trauma state that can be maintained outside traumatic environment. The fact that Kris is in denial about this to a significant degree evidence she is still suffering from her captivity and in need of significant mental health care. Not to turn her back to Chris, but to find a more healthy way to deal with what has been done to her and process who and what she is now. And is a way that can integrate rather than simply bury and deny one personality over another. I am not bashing in Kris. She has done an amazing job of surviving and even thriving against impossible odds both during captivity and after out in the world. But without the proper care that house of cards created for survival will likely eventually crash or lead to even more sever psychological disorders. While the image of Kris laying on a couch talking to a "Shrink" may not be the most appealing for readers or fulfilling for a story teller, it is the most realistic and healthiest route for Chris/Kris. Again, I am not trying to make Kris go away or bring Chris back. Neither identity is invalid, they just need to be reconciled and associated with one another in a more healthy way than Kris seems capable of doing alone and without help.

Crewchick

I also think the disassociation would be more understandable and acceptable to those in Chris' old world if gender reassignment surgery had been done, making any idea of a return to pre-captivity Chris completley impossible.

Elrod W

Definitely worth the wait! Emory, you are doing a wonderful job of filling in the details / story between release and 'current time', although there is so much more to learn. However, the way you are crafting the story, I have a feeling that it's going to be an interesting ride. I can't help but wonder if Kris' story about the 'death' of Chris is trying to bluff Ben into giving up hope, but knowing that the Chris/Kris duality is still very much a part of her, or whether she's trying to convince herself! Or maybe a bit of both. Kris' struggles post-release are so accurately portrayed - no official identity, a 'hole' in her life even if she could get documentation, no experience - no way to get a job, which she so desperately needs. Feeling free but still caged by lack of identity and lack of control as to how men react to her - and feeling uneasy about that? A very real struggle for someone thrust into a world of suddenly being an attractive woman in a normal life without knowing HOW to be a normal woman! And if I'm reading the new boss right, that 'friendly' is going to require all her 'talents' from captivity, as well as her ability to compartmentalize her feelings in order to survive. If she is required to be 'extra friendly', will that be a moment where Chris' identity struggles to surface but is further driven into her mind's background? How do we reconcile Kris' statement that "Chris" died, that the Chris part of her is gone, with the very visible torment Chris was displaying when first re-united with Kayla, with the visible angst of feeling so far out of place? That makes me suspect that Kris' statement that Chris is 'dead' is a cover; being a detective, I somehow think that Ben is seeing it for the BS that it is. He knows Chris, he saw the anguish, and he knows that Chris is still in there. How far will he go to drag Chris back to the forefront? Will he be able to accept that Chris is no longer the primary personality? Will he be able to accept that Kris is happy, while Chris is not? Can he figure out that Kayla's angst is renewed by Chris/Kris being back, and that it's better to let Kris go live her own life? And there's Bella's helper - I'm sure SHE has a big role to play, perhaps in trying to thwart Ben's ongoing investigation as he can't help but try to dig further? Maybe to the point that Ben puts himself in danger? Or is it possible that as Ben continues to dig for the truth, Kris goes to the station to try to warn him off, only to see that the Cunt is really an insider in the police force and that Ben is in serious danger? It seems there is a trade to happen - either Kris tries with Kayla, and both realize they're not happy but still feel a commitment that's no longer valid, or Kayla sacrifices her own happiness to let Kris go, or Kris makes a decision to leave, knowing that Kayla will be devastated anew, but that any relationship they might have would be doomed and in the long run, both are better off if they go their separate ways? So many questions, so much story to be told, and I can't wait!

Jessika

Wonder if Kris will call Bella for ID/SS/Etc. assistance....seems this would not be the first time with "the released girls". Or, will Kris have to go thru this like the rest of us with doctors letters/legal name change/SS change/etc....I would think given her "extreme" circumstances and assistance from Kayla the lawyer and Benji the cop she could get those things accomplished like a standard GRS transition situation....not impossible. BTW...anyone else notice there has been no mention of Chris' ex-college roommate being taken/transitioned by Bella....is Kris, or benji, going to go back for him/her????

Robertlouis

I don’t know if Ben is stunned, Emory. He’s so thick that Kris would have to hit him very hard on the head with a large blunt object to have even the remotest chance of stunning him. 🤣

Crystal Peaches

Once again the artwork is superlative but it's the thoughts the emotions the story that is truly breathtaking.

Crewchick

Wait! Say what???

Crewchick

Ahh, Episode 24! I had forgotten. Wow that is right. Very strange that anyone Chris would know would show up at Bella's let alone Chris' college roommate, Isaiah Brooks! And no one found it odd two former college roommates go missing in a similar way in relatively close proximity in time? Especially Detective Ben! And as Chris explains all that has gone on, Ben does not even ask about the college roommate. Did Isaiah have no one to even report him missing? And Kris seems concerned but matter of fact about it. Kind of the way one might be as they drive by an auto accident and see some people are hurt at the scene. I am sure it is genuine worry or concern at the time, but then they quickly move on emotionally as they get beyond the accident scene and any first responder vehicles. Kris/Chris does not seem to be saddled with any lasting sense of guilt and sense of responsibility for his/her former friend and roommate suffering the very same hell. Especially when Bella all but admitted many men don't survive the transition she puts them through and choose to or give up and die because they won't or can't comply with Bella's demands. Would this roommate be one of them? I would think knowing she played some role in this happening to Isaiah would cause Kris to get nauseous even to the point of vomiting is she thinks about it too long. Even if they were not particularly close, as not all college roommates are, there is still a sort of bonding that takes place when you live with someone for four or even one year of college. They are sleeping, studying and hanging out in the same room all that time, they are likely sharing many meals together at the cafeteria, and maybe even have a class or two together. When you spend so much time with someone, even if neither sees the other as "part of their tribe" (jock vs. scholar, partyer vs. bookworm, etc...) you still know that person and they know you in a way only family and very close friends know you. They know you without make-up and on your period, at least metaphorically. I get Chris/Kris' desperation to need to try, as this might be an only chance for rescue, but I am not seeing Kris own it when it fails. Desperate or not it was a choice and Chris/Kris knew or had some idea of the consequences. If Kris is in fact the "strong one" and the survivor. Part of strength and survival is accepting our autonomy an agency and owning our actions, including our mistakes. Bella is a genius in the most devious, twisted and malign way. She never takes away complete autonomy from her subject allowing them to claim complete powerless victim status and disassociate themselves from what has happened to them. Everything Bella does is presented as a choice. Yes there are consequences associated with each choice, but the choice still exists. That has to haunt Bella's victims, especially the further down the rabbit hole they go into Bella's world. "What if I had said no?" "Would death really be worse than where I am now?" They have to be questions that will haunt Bella's victims the rest of their lives, if they survive. Chris would seem to have avoided this by creating Kris. But the more it goes from a persona created as a temporary defense mechanism to a separate, distinct and dissociated personality the more apparent this appears to be some kind of mental health matter that may become more troublesome and unstable once free of the confines of Bella's warped prison. And in saying there are mental health concern here I am not say Kris has to go away and Chris has to come back 100%. I think between the degree of trauma and the degree of irreversible physical change done to Chris, Kris may be the best identity for Chris/Kris to continue as. At the most superficial level Kris is who the world now sees. And while the current government is trying to reverse many political advances, it is still legal and possible to change one's gender legally on birth certificates, driver's licenses, passports and other IDs and necessary documents. So there is no reason why Kris could not have returned to Chris' old life, if only long enough to have made the necessary legal changes. Kris could have even returned to medical school if she wanted. Having been missing for three years it is not very likely Kris would run into too many other students who would remember Chris. And as others have noted, having a lawyer for a fiance and a detective as a best friend should surely grease a lot of skids getting the paperwork through the systems to do all the needed legal changes so Kris could have a life and identity and one that matched who she is now. We don't yet know how Chris was found and brought back to his old life. But so far the "I was kidnapped and turned into a girl" explanation has been received with raised eyebrows, even by Chris' best friend Ben. So whether Kris went with the truth or the Butterfly Island story, I don't think there is much threat to Bella and her operation. And I think Bella knows this or she would not have freed Kris. And this brings me to one last thought about the tattoo. They are very popular today. I am not a fan though. I think they are o.k. in discreet locations and when they have a meaning or purpose and/or a unique story that does not begin with "I was drinking in a bar one night..." Chris may have had such a story. But if Kris truly is a completely separate and different person from Chris, that story is no longer hers. So I would think the tattoo, especially one as large an prominent as hers would be something she would want to remove, even if only to replace eventually with one that represented her story not Chris's. I would also think it would have been something Bella would have wanted to have removed from Chris early on in order to destroy his individuality and identity. Also because tattoos tend to be unique to individuals and is one of several valid ways for identifying a dead body. For a long time Special Forces and CIA clandestine operators were forbidden from having tattoos because it was a way of identifying them if they were captured or their body discovered in enemy territory while on a mission the government wanted to deny. It is hard to deny an operation happened when the enemy has a body with a big ol' American Eagle on the chest and the word "MERICA" under it in big red, white and blue letters. While Bella is not running an international spy ring, she is doing something she does not want discovered while using her victims to staff an illegal brothel being patronized by people who seem to be ordinary men living out in society. Men who could go to the police if they thought something was off about the place. So I would think for both security and mind control, Bella would want to make her victims as vanilla as possible as they go through their transition. That way too there would be less detail for the patrons to provide were any to go to the police.

Emory Ahlberg

I first read about what scurvy does in a book on Shakleton's lost expedition and it has stuck with me ever since!

Emory Ahlberg

Aw, thank you so much, Maggie! I'm really enjoying this "lost" time for Kris...

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you so much for the thoughtful words, Gemma, especially about the images. I try to work really hard with the artist to capture not just what Kris looks like, but what she's feeling in those moments. It's so important that her face tells the story her captors often forbade her from speaking! I'm always intrigued by your framing of her story as post-traumatic growth. Because you're right.... It’s so much more than just "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger." It’s about being broken and then using those broken pieces to build something new, something that might even be stronger in ways the original structure never could have been.

stacy C

Great writing Em.....now you've got me thinking of caterpillar soup though hehe x

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you so much, Crystal. The art can hopefully show you Kris's beautiful, changed exterior, but the story has to pull you inside her head to feel the storm raging there. That contrast between the polished surface she's learned to present and the raw reality of her experience is my biggest goal.

Emory Ahlberg

LOL, love your take on Ben, Robert. I guess it's more accurate to say he's in a state of willful blindness. Accepting the truth of Chris's story would mean admitting a massive failure on his part as a detective and, more importantly, as a friend. That thick skull of his is a shield, and the truth is a blunt object that Kris is having to swing with all her might just to make a dent 🤣

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Jessika! I think asking Bella for help would feel like a complete regression for Kris, like putting the chains back on herself. It would mean admitting she can't make it on her own. But the alternative you mentioned, going through the official channels, is its own kind of nightmare. So here she's stuck between her abuser and a system that has no box to put her in. And Isaiah Booker has absolutely not been forgotten. His fate is a massive, festering wound on Kris's conscience. Every time she looks in the mirror and sees the face that resulted from her "punishment," she's reminded of him. He represents her one desperate attempt to fight back in the old way, and the catastrophic price that was paid for it. 😔

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Diana! Fantastic breakdown of the psychological layers at play. It's great that you picked up on Kris's reaction to Isaiah's fate. Her emotional response, or lack thereof, isn't that she doesn't care, I don't think, but her capacity for that kind of guilt has been cauterized by trauma. Two thoughts: For 3 years, survival was the only moral imperative. Every action was filtered through the lens of "what keeps me alive for one more minute." When she told Isaiah, it was a last-ditch gamble... like a prisoner trying to slip a note through the bars. When it failed so catastrophically, her mind had to file it away under "costs of war." To dwell on it, to absorb the guilt of what happened to him, would break her, and breaking isn't an option. Her focus was so narrow: protect Kayla, protect Alan, survive. Everything else is just noise from a battle she's still fighting. And you've nailed Bella's particular brand of sadism. She never allows her victims the comfort of being purely victims. By always presenting a "choice," however horrific the options are, she makes them complicit in their own transition. I think that's partly why the Chris/Kris split happened. Chris couldn't bear the weight of those "choices." Kris, however, was born from them. I also don't see the Chris/Kris dynamic as a disorder so much as an adaptation. The mind will do what it must to protect itself. Chris was the person who existed before the trauma. Kris is the person who was forged in it and survived it. She is the scar tissue that's stronger than the original skin. As for the tattoo, I think that's another piece of Bella's psychological warfare. I imagine she saw it and decided to leave it. Removing it would be an act of erasure. Leaving it is an act of conquest. It's a constant, visible reminder that this beautiful woman, Kris, was once a man named Christopher Bowman. It's Bella's brand on her prize. For Kris, I think her relationship with the tattoo is still evolving. It’s a part of the history that made her, and she’s not ready to let go of that just yet... or maybe ever. She still has connections to Chris' old life. She still loves Kayla. She is still Ben's friend (even if he is a dope). 😉

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Elrod! That declaration from Kris, that Chris is dead... well it's definitely at least a statement of survival and a desperate attempt to claim her own reality. But is it true? We will have to (soon) see! I also think you’ve completely nailed the feeling of her post-release struggles. I wanted to show that escaping the basement wasn't the end of her imprisonment. Freedom, for so many people, is just a different kind of cage. Suddenly, she's navigating a world that sees her as an object of desire, but she also has none of the tools to be a "normal" woman. All her skills were forged in a transactional hell. Frank, the manager at Full Rack, is a great example. He sees her value in exactly the same terms as her captors did. The difference is that now she's choosing to leverage those skills for her own survival. But that is a bitter kind of agency, using the tools of your own objectification to build a life. Ben's perspective is...limited. He's a (mostly) good man who loves his friend, but his love is for a person who fundamentally doesn't exist in the same way. His desire to "drag Chris back" comes from a place of guilt and a need to fix what was broken, to turn back the clock to a time before he failed to protect his friend. He can't yet comprehend that Kris doesn't see herself as broken, but as new and rebuilt. He sees her happiness with Alan as a symptom of trauma, not as genuine love, because it doesn't fit into the neat box of the life he remembers for Chris. Of course that's the real tragedy with Kayla, too. There are no villains in their breakup. Kayla fell in love with Christopher Bowman. She's mourning him, and at the same time, she's faced with this person who wears his face (mostly) but isn't him. Her pain is valid, but so is Kris's new existence. And yes, The Cunt being an insider changes everything. It means the system Ben trusts, the very rules he lives by as a detective, is compromised. Maybe he thinks he's hunting monsters from the outside, but one of them is standing right beside him and has been for years!

Emory Ahlberg

Thanks, Diana! Hmmm... the psychological sustainability of Kris. Of course, from a clinical perspective, you're right. The way Kris has compartmentalized her identity is a trauma response. But can it survive for the long haul in a world that isn't a basement prison? Potentially not, since we've already seen Chris came "back" at some point (even if he's now gone again). I think the key thing for me, is that Kris isn't in a post-trauma environment yet. The immediate threat hasn't passed. The Cunt is still out there, the deadline is ticking, and Kayla's life is on the line. In her mind, she's still on the battlefield. You don't stop to process the horrors of war in the middle of a firefight. You do what you have to do to make it to the next day. Integration is a peacetime luxury, and she is very much still at war. Her refusal to integrate Chris is a choice that's actually rooted in self-preservation. To her, Chris represents the person who couldn't cope. He was the one who checked out, who retreated into the recesses of their mind when the horror began. But Kris was the one who was born from that pain, who learned the rules of the game, who figured out how to dominate creeps like the Stinker and earn Bella’s twisted respect. So - In her eyes - to integrate Chris would be to re-integrate the victimhood she's fought so ferociously to shed. It would be like a soldier willingly taking on the fear and helplessness they felt during their first day of combat after they've finally become a seasoned veteran. But I do think that house of cards you mentioned is a perfect metaphor. It's a fragile construction. The entire dramatic tension of her current state rests on the question of whether this fierce identity she’s built can withstand the pressures of the real world, of love, of the lingering threat from her past. And of course you're right that a mental health professional would be for the best.... but characters under extreme pressure rarely choose the healthiest route!

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Robert! Yes, that determination you're seeing in her expressions is the bedrock of Kris's personality. It had to be. Hope was a luxury Christopher could have, but determination is what Kris needed to survive. She quite literally had to will herself into existence, moment by moment, and that required a level of grit that has now become a fundamental part of who she is. In fact I'd say it’s the engine that runs underneath all the fear and the pain. Will Benji finally understand? That's definitely a slow burn. He’s looking at Kris and still trying to see his old friend, Chris. He's struggling to process the idea that trauma can forge an entirely new person. The unintended betrayal he committed with Kayla is a massive unresolved issue. From Kris's perspective, that moment in the park was less about the pain of being cheated on (it has been 3 years and Christopher was declared dead) and more about the scary relief of realizing she was free from Christopher's life. Seeing them together was her 'get out of jail free' card. I absolutely love the comparison to Jill. That's really insightful. Yeah, Kris had to build herself entirely from scratch, using only the broken pieces of another person's life while trapped in a soundproof room. But I'd say sometimes your most authentic self is born when you're utterly alone, with no one to perform for but the person in the mirror. 😉

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you so much, Wojtek! Yeah, Kris is assertive as hell. I was wondering how her experiences in captivity would translate into her life in the "real world." Down there, compliance was survival, but she also learned to push back, to dominate when necessary, and to be hyper-aware of what other people wanted. She’s now applying those same skills to a conversation with her oldest friend, and Benji is completely unprepared for this version of the person he knew lol That irony you mentioned about her "existing on paper" is... yeah. Society tells us we only exist if we have the right documents, the right history. Kris has none of that, so the official world rejects her. She finds her first foothold in a place that operates entirely outside of those rules, a cash-only world where your past doesn’t matter as long as your body can do the job. 😔

Emory Ahlberg
>>182561838

Tears of joy are good! Thank you, Alex. This is maybe an echo of the offer that Xu offered Holly, yes. But I think a key difference is that Kris is far more determined and capable then Holly was when the offer was made by Xu.

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you so much, Kirsten. It truly means the world to hear that, because this story definitely feels like one of the most personal ones I've ever tackled. The characters, especially Kris, feel so real to me that writing their journey is both exhausting and exhilarating. ☺️

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Jade! Yeah, Ben's entire motivation is wrapped up in his own guilt and grief. He's not really trying to save Kris. He's just trying to resurrect Christopher to absolve himself of the feeling that he failed his best friend. He can't accept that the person he knew is gone because that would mean accepting his own helplessness in the face of what happened.

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Kris! Yeah, the diner isn’t just a diner... it's a battleground.

Emory Ahlberg

Erica, your eye for detail is great, and I really appreciate that you're looking so closely at the art. Diana is right, my goal with those pages was to use the clothing changes as a narrative shorthand. I wanted to show the passage of time and the grinding frustration of Kris’s job hunt without having to spell out "Day 1," "Day 2," etc. Each different outfit represents another failed attempt, another version of "Kris" she’s trying to sell to a world that won't buy it. Each change is another door slammed in her face, driving her closer to the realization that her "legitimate" options are non-existent. 😔

Robertlouis

Yes, in so many ways it’s a strange route to freedom, and the profundity of your final sentence here really sums it up. You want to protect her, but the paradox is that if the wrong person does so, her fragility will return, whereas right now if she’s left alone by well meaning friends like Ben, she’s unbreakable.