A thought that occurred to me is that i think this is the first time we’ve actually seen mercy “naked”. I’ve been binging this comic on and off for a week and it seems to me that any other time we’ve seen her in a similar context she’s always wearing something, usually the sports bra and panties outfit. probably just unconscious or me reading into it but it definitely highlights her emotional vulnerability in this situation.
All right, I need to get out my omnibus and start looking through it for signs, now… or am I not likely to find anything? Bear in mind, I’m not great at picking up on extreme subtlety. Heh.
Ah, I see here one of those TV and movie tropes that on the surface make no sense, but can’t be avoided. Namely, Mercy, in the last panel covering herself with the sheet. Who is she being modest for? Well, the real answer is the audience. It’s not that sort of comic, after all.
Brian, I totally see your point, but I’ll offer up my thinking here. I’d considered the alternative for this panel, but to me, that felt a bit false for Mercy. You ask, “who is she being modest for”? And while certainly the content and tone of the series thus far keeps this level of “modesty” appropriate for what has come before (ie, “doing it for the readers”) makes a degree of sense, I also feel that Mercy is being “modest” to the extent that she is here, for herself. That is, this whole idea of a real, loving, trusting relationship, of ultimate vulnerability, is still very new to her. And that degree of emotional “exposure” can be tied up with physical exposure. It’s something that, for a character like Mercy, will come by degrees. In the past (as with Paul way back on “The Janus Voyage”), I saw Mercy as using such physical exposure not to achieve closeness, but rather to hold some degree of control. Clearly the whole context and dynamic here with Molly is completely different than that, but I believe it can take our hearts a long time to catch up with our brains sometimes (and vice versa, for that matter!) I think she’s made some pretty large strides, thanks mostly to Molly’s clearly unconditional love, but she’s still making her way through new emotional territory here. Witness her stammering question in the previous panel. She can’t even get the words of intimacy out. These, to me, are important indicators of where Mercy is at. She remains, as we all do, a “work in progress”. And, after all, I could have easily avoided the whole question my simply cropping the panel differently, changing her pose, or using strategic shadows. Like I said, I considered all of these things and ultimately made this call.
Cool. Good answer. Thanks. You’re right. Mercy is new to this. On a guns blazing adventure, Mercy is the queen, but when it comes to emotional matters, Molly is the expert, and Mercy is the one learning from her.
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A thought that occurred to me is that i think this is the first time we’ve actually seen mercy “naked”. I’ve been binging this comic on and off for a week and it seems to me that any other time we’ve seen her in a similar context she’s always wearing something, usually the sports bra and panties outfit. probably just unconscious or me reading into it but it definitely highlights her emotional vulnerability in this situation.
Excellent observation. Yes, you’re right on both counts: first time we’ve seen her naked, and that was done intentionally.
All right, I need to get out my omnibus and start looking through it for signs, now… or am I not likely to find anything? Bear in mind, I’m not great at picking up on extreme subtlety. Heh.
Well, Ele, I’ll be curious to hear what you find:-) This was all pretty “deep subtext” for a long, long time!
Ah, I see here one of those TV and movie tropes that on the surface make no sense, but can’t be avoided. Namely, Mercy, in the last panel covering herself with the sheet. Who is she being modest for? Well, the real answer is the audience. It’s not that sort of comic, after all.
Brian, I totally see your point, but I’ll offer up my thinking here. I’d considered the alternative for this panel, but to me, that felt a bit false for Mercy. You ask, “who is she being modest for”? And while certainly the content and tone of the series thus far keeps this level of “modesty” appropriate for what has come before (ie, “doing it for the readers”) makes a degree of sense, I also feel that Mercy is being “modest” to the extent that she is here, for herself. That is, this whole idea of a real, loving, trusting relationship, of ultimate vulnerability, is still very new to her. And that degree of emotional “exposure” can be tied up with physical exposure. It’s something that, for a character like Mercy, will come by degrees. In the past (as with Paul way back on “The Janus Voyage”), I saw Mercy as using such physical exposure not to achieve closeness, but rather to hold some degree of control. Clearly the whole context and dynamic here with Molly is completely different than that, but I believe it can take our hearts a long time to catch up with our brains sometimes (and vice versa, for that matter!) I think she’s made some pretty large strides, thanks mostly to Molly’s clearly unconditional love, but she’s still making her way through new emotional territory here. Witness her stammering question in the previous panel. She can’t even get the words of intimacy out. These, to me, are important indicators of where Mercy is at. She remains, as we all do, a “work in progress”. And, after all, I could have easily avoided the whole question my simply cropping the panel differently, changing her pose, or using strategic shadows. Like I said, I considered all of these things and ultimately made this call.
Personally, I think it’s totally authentic and matches Mercy’s character exactly.
Thank you! Happy to hear it struck you that way.
Cool. Good answer. Thanks. You’re right. Mercy is new to this. On a guns blazing adventure, Mercy is the queen, but when it comes to emotional matters, Molly is the expert, and Mercy is the one learning from her.
Wow, did not see that one coming, I kind of thought that there was a thing between Molly and Mercy but didn’t realize it went this far. Great writing!