So! The Apocalypse finally descends not with a bang but with a torch song! Just as cataclysmic in its way… still, mission accomplished and widespread disaster averted (lovely lyrics, incidentally; heartfelt and extremely bittersweet. I can't think of another such story that ends quite like this. A bold, memorable move!) What a crushing tableau…
Thanks LBH! Indeed this isn't the happiest of endings, but a sense of closure after all. On the other hand... with all endings come new beginnings in one way or another, and you have seen a 'new beginning' looming in chapter 13 as well. (For those who don't know where they can find chapter 13;
check overhere, namely part 13-17 on the given link. More is to come, this autumn.
Emma, Emmi and Jen all broken into inconsolable sobs. They paid a mighty horrible price to set things right, something the final page seems to emphasize: while the off-stage crowd goes crazy, stamping, hooting and generally raising the roof, Jen remains wrapped in her personal cocoon of pain, oblivious to the adulation. The audience, gleeful in its blessed ignorance, can afford displays for unrestrained hoopla; Jen, the returning traumatized soldier who made such celebration possible, aches too deeply to join in. Some very fine visual elements in these concluding pages…
*nods* Well described as usual. Stories are often at their most powerful when there's high contrast, and I certainly put that into this one. It was, alike the apocalypse (or prevention thereof) certainly supposed to be powerful.
Fw-EEK-Hee's holographic countenance in his final testament, which Jen strives lovingly and vainly to stroke through a Niagara of sorrow, is an indelible image of loss. The whole thing is intensely unhappy, and while a more cheerful, upbeat ending would have been easier to enjoy, it wouldn't have been anywhere near as grittily believable or honest. Kudos for a courageous tale of suffering and sacrifice; if you're determined that Jen should leave the TTC, she's done so on a note most high (even if the tune's in a minor key).
Yes, it was heartbreaking to draw that scene with the hologram. That, in itself, did however help me getting into the mood and actually put an extra amount of
feeling into it. This chapter had a couple of key-scenes and I like to think this is one of them. It had to be one that you couldn't watch without at least feeling something for her, possibly for him as well.
Jen is indeed leaving TTC as such, but that doesn't mean you won't see anything at all anymore of her. The intention is to post a tk picture of her sometimes, although it'll be very sporadically, by far not as frequent as what you've been used to from me.
In that same vein, I've been to your dA site and have been able to examine all the available pages (up to page 12, thus far) of "Masquerade". The tale is progressing quite nicely, with spanking visuals (the mansion looks really terrific! No need to have agonized about that!) and the surliest, most intimidating plumber ever on record! This seems like the worst possible mission for a lady so pregnant; hope all turns out well in the end. I'll be on hand to make sure!
Thanks for paying me a visit there! Funny you should use the word 'progressing' as this was rather the climax of the story, with only one page to follow. Right now the last page is online too (that is page 12 though) and Jen's gone on a summer break, to be returning this fall.
Thanks again for your great review and I hope we'll chat again sometime. I am not visiting TT by far as often as I used to now, but if I see a new chapter of the low roads I'm sure to check it out again. ^^
