Thumbnail Dump: Mutual Assurance

So! About High Expectations being something that was concocted only a couple of months ago, rather than being planned super in advance like the chapters that follow it..

High Expectations created an unintentional plothole for the future.. or at least created a problem that could not easily be solved in the other upcoming chapters I have planned. What’s that problem? Well, Paulo is supposed to be on good terms with Mike! Even though he just slammed his head into a table! At the time of writing, there’s a chapter coming up where Paulo is SUPER buddy-buddy with Mike, and things happen between them that hinges on them being amicable with each other. 

So this idea came up for plot-hole-fixing reasons and also.. come on, give these guys a little more credit! They can talk out their problems!! They can have a heart-to-heart after something like that!

So here goes:

Man are hugs really challenging and stressful, especially when it involves height differences. Paulo looks a little above Mike’s height in the third panel, BUT IT LOOKED SO GOOD ;_; Wahhh I knew I couldn’t keep it that way. I just want them to have one of those weighty anime hugs that happens in manga. That’s what I was trying to depict here. 

There’s two aborted starts to the chapter that I thumbnailed, one initially had Mike already walking home in the final panel, the other had him looking at his umbrella next to his locker — I thought the locker scene was more interesting, especially since he’s walking home in the next page anyway. I didn’t know how to lead to the second page that didn’t involve yet another shot of Mike coming home. So he needed to be in a different environment and being at his locker seemed most appropriate!

You can see a lone panel after the final page — I was trying to end the chapter on a lighthearted joke that wasn’t just “They walk home together making small-talk!” — that’s actually something that’s happened a few times before when closing chapters — like Jasmine walking home with Paulo in “Up To Bat” :l;

But I couldn’t find a way to cram it in so the chapter ends on them coming home. I wish I coulda had Mike and Paulo bicker, but maybe there’ll be another opportunity in the future!

There honestly isn’t too much else to say about this chapter, it’s a pretty comfy one about two friends who want to settle the score. Paulo really does value Mike, and wouldn’t have been able to just let what happened to them go. Some necessary development!