It’s Iimi! Hold Fast to What You Have

When we last left Iimi, the fear that Iimi will have another nervous breakdown led to her mother forbidding her from continuing her defense of the Church. Iimi feels caught between the moral obligation to obey her mother vs. the call to help Krysta and Daryl by encouraging them to “Hold fast to what you have, so that no one may take your crown” (Revelation 3:11)

Part 2 of a 2 part story.

 

Post Comic Notes:

This will be the last comic with the “full-figure” model of Krysta. 

The problem with Comipo is it only has four basic models: Child, Male, Female, and Heavyset Male (which can only wear a business suit, or it would be the model for “Author Avatar.”). Every person in that body type has exactly the same figure. There are no “plus size” versions. I originally wanted to introduce different body types in the comic and thought Krysta, being six feet tall, was a good candidate. 

 

The problem with my attempt was it’s cumbersome to edit, as each panel had to be adjusted. In addition, it was hard to make the edit look natural as I couldn’t create the proper shading. 

I wanted to change this for awhile, but I felt trapped because I would need an excuse to explain the abrupt change.

 

So, learning that “minimizing bras” were a thing, I added a couple of lines of dialogue about a self-conscious Krysta wanting to change her wardrobe to justify eliminating the edits. 

 

I doubt I’ll try that kind of edit again unless the plot requires that body type… and I can’t imagine how it would. 

Iimi’s mental soundtrack on page 11 can be heard here:

It’s Iimi! Plots… and Machen—ations

As Irene prepares to return to school, a masked intruder recklessly leaks a compromising email to benefit her. A lost syllabus comes to light. Will this set things right? Or will it turn out into an escalating series of… Plots and Machen-ations

Post-Comic notes:

We learn something about Della’s temperament and past. I was laying some clues about it during the 2021-22 seasons, and we’ll see more in the future. It’s not a “pro-vigilante” comic. In Catholic morality, we can’t do evil, so good might come from it. Della did indeed force the issue. But the morality and results are very much in question… and she knows. And, at the end of the story, we can see it might not have even helped.

 

In practical terms, I started 2023 with the arc of Iimi’s collapse because I felt the characters needed to develop. For example, I didn’t like the rest of the cast becoming side characters in a Socratic dialogue: “Yes, Socrates… you are so wise, Socrates.” So, I began laying clues of Iimi burning out and her friends realizing she couldn’t do it alone. While I never had a breakdown like Iimi (Issue 148), the experiences and feelings are things I’ve known.

It’s Iimi! Walking the Talk

In living the Christian life, it's easy to corrupt it into doing good to our friends while showing antipathy to those who hate us. But Jesus spoke against that attitude. As He pointed out, even pagans and tax collectors do that! (Matthew 5:46-47). Ignoring injustice done to those who hate us is not compatible with our Christian calling.

 

Even if we were foolish enough to ignore what our Lord taught us, it doesn't even make sense pragmatically to behave that way. Injustice done to others can be done to us as well. And if we don't oppose an evil when it first emerges, we may learn that nobody will be left to help us when evildoers turn on us. It's not enough to be "Talking the talk," merely saying the things that sound right. We need to be walking the talk, even when it costs us.

Content Alert:

(The reader should be aware that some of the characters use slurs in referring to others. I do not do this with approval of that language, but rather I do it to point out attitudes we cannot  hold as Christians, but some tragically do.)