Support me: patreon.com/shencomix // Store: topa.to/shen These comics are only visible to cool people.
- Tweets 6,861
- Following 1,072
- Followers 786,644
- Likes 19,518
ALT Panel 1: Val is walking in between a crowd of wavy blue and purple humanoid figures with prominent eyes. She is looking at the ground, but many of their gazes are on her. "The gazes of others have always hurt me," she narrates. Panel 2: Val glances over her shoulder with a worried look. "Why are you LOOKING at me? What are you THINKING of me? What do you WANT from me?" she narrates, "There are so many implication to being looked at." Panel 3: One of the blue figures looks down at you, its eyes contorted in disgust as its whole body seems to shrivel along with it. "They look is unmistakable. DISGUST. They find me disgusting," Val narrates. Panel 4: A hand belonging to one of the figures, lifting up a rock amid some grass to find a small dark brown millipede squirming in the dirt below it. Val continues: "Like they just lifted up a rock and found a bug beneath it, small and squirming and unused to sunlight."
ALT Panel 5: Audrey is standing in the crowd among the humanoids, looking right at you, wearing the white blouse and blue bubble skirt from when they first met by the river bank. "But Audrey's gaze is DIFFERENT. It's not like when others look at me," Val narrates. Panel 6: Audrey's eyes burst with pure white light. "It's WORSE," Val narrates. Panel 7: The glow of Audrey's now-giant eyes on his now-giant face pierces Val like a spotlight. "Utter annihilation," Val narrates as her souls is parted from her body, now floating behind her as she floats in the glow of Audrey's eyes. Panel 8: Val's unconscious body floats in the glow as her soul comes up behind her and puts its hand on her shoulder to take a look at her. The soul is a dark blue humanoid form with a messy ponytail and glasses. "I'm suddenly painfully aware of every flaw I have. Every bad habit, every stupid thought. I was so accustomed to just surviving every day," Val narrates.
ALT Panel 9: The lifting up rock panel again, but now the hand lifting it up is Audrey's hand, and under it is now a tiny Val, eyes shut tight, in fetal position. "Why did I not care about myself?" Val narrates, "Why did I not like myself?" Panel 10: "I'm not READY ... for someone to look at me with anything but disgust, Audrey," Val narrates, turning her head to look up from the dirty, fearfully, still grasping her knees in fetal position. Panel 11: A snail on a leaf on a peaceful, sunny day. A few raindrops glisten on the leaf from a recent drizzle. The snail is snugly inside its shell. Panel 12: Point of view of the tiny Val in the dirt. Audrey lifting up the rock, the sun illuminating the him from behind, his eyes glistening. "I'm ... not ..." Val narrates.
ALT Panel 13: The snail once again, now slowly, cautiously, sticking one eye out of its shell and beginning to come out. Panel 14: "Ready," says Val out loud, standing near the doorway into her apartment and holding a mostly full trash bag in her right hand. She's wearing her red sweatpants, socks and bathroom sandals, and a long sleeved black shirt with the Nirvana x-eyed smiley face logo. Panel 15: Closeup of Val's desk. A monitor with the League of Legends defeat screen and a digital clock. A stray piece of paper, a paper bag, and a stack of sticky notes in front of the monitor. The monitor has a sticky note on the bottom reading "7PM" circled. The digital clock reads 6:42PM. Panel 16: We get a full view of Val's room and it is a mess. Unopened envelopes and pizza boxes on the floor. A pile of dirty clothes next to an uncovered mattress that is pinning two bags of chips against the wall. Trash bags, electronics chargers, and a roll of paper towels on the floor. "Ah, shit," says Val.
ALT Panel 1: Audrey and Val are facing one another on the river bank, seemingly in the late afternoon. They're wearing their last respective outfits from the previous episode. Audrey is saying "Well, you live right near the corner store, right? I was thinking, when I get off work ... I could bring over some snacks and we could watch a movie or something." Panel 2: Val has a strained expression and starts sweating, sucking in her lips, like she is trying really hard to decide what to say. Panel 3: Audrey holds his hands up and says "Okay, yep, no. That's definitely the NO face. Say no more!" Panel 4: Val looks to the side with a strained, nervous expression, replying "No, no, Audrey, it's just, I don't think my apartment is ... Ready for visitors."
ALT Panel 5: Audrey tilts his head and asks "Oh? What's up with it?" as Val turns her head away from his, sweating. Panel 6: Val says "UH," rapidly swinging her head back to face Audrey but with his eyes lagging to the side, giving her time to think. Panel 7: Val recalls her room, which is an absolute mess, empty pizza boxes, trash bags, socks, unopened mail, miscellaneous chargers, and stains littering the floor. The mattress has no cover, the trash bin is overflowing, and there's a single sound insulating foam panel on the wall behind the computer monitor. A sound of a fly buzzing emanates through the room. Panel 8: "Black mold," replies Val, finally looking directly at Audrey.
ALT Panel 9: Audrey suddenly leans close to Val and balls his hands with a worried expression, yelling "BLACK MOLD?? Val, you CAN'T BE LIVING THERE!!" Val leans back a bit. Panel 10: Val gives a thumbs up and a close-eyed nervous smile, saying "No no it's okay. I like ... wear a mask." Panel 11: Audrey has a comedically sad expression, like a toddler who got told that magic isn't real. Water eyes, tensed chin, as if about to cry. Panel 12: Val, by contrast, just has her brow furrowed in slight annoyance, asking "What."
ALT Panel 13: Audrey, still watery-eyed, begins speaking in a baby talk voice, saying "My besht fwiend's wivving wiz bwack mowod." Panel 14: Fisheye lens closeup of Val looking very unamused, brow still furrowed, the setting sun casting a hard shadow on half of the face. She says "Audrey. Audrey you know I hate the V-tuber baby voice." Panel 15: Audrey raises his head and begins saying into sky, "OOWOWW DA BWACK MOWD IS" and Val interrupts him, hands together in a pleading gesture and eyes shut tight, saying "OKAY OKAY I'll call a mold specialist TODAY. And we can hang out tomorrow. No more ear terrorism." Panel 16: With her hands still together, Val looks down towards the ground, her pupils hazy, as a bead of sweat rolls down her face. "God I am so f*cked," she thinks.
ALT The scene is in a forest clearing. There is a small bald quadripedal creature of some (labeled "YOU"), munching on the last 3 panels of this episode (labeled "THIS EPISODE"). They are leading to a box propped up by a stick, under which there are the first 3 panels of the next episode (labeled "NEXT EPISODE, Already Posted") and a few golden nuggets (labeled "Bonus Panels"). There is a string tied to the stick propping the box up, and the other end is in the hand of Shen, who is hiding behind a nearby bush with a maniacal grin and bloodshot eyes. Below, it says "Fall for this for just $1 per month at PATREON.COM/SHENCOMIX".
ALT Panel 1: Audrey and Val are facing one another on the river bank, seemingly in the late afternoon. They're wearing their last respective outfits from the previous episode. Audrey is saying "Well, you live right near the corner store, right? I was thinking, when I get off work ... I could bring over some snacks and we could watch a movie or something." Panel 2: Val has a strained expression and starts sweating, sucking in her lips, like she is trying really hard to decide what to say. Panel 3: Audrey holds his hands up and says "Okay, yep, no. That's definitely the NO face. Say no more!" Panel 4: Val looks to the side with a strained, nervous expression, replying "No, no, Audrey, it's just, I don't think my apartment is ... Ready for visitors."
ALT Panel 5: Audrey tilts his head and asks "Oh? What's up with it?" as Val turns her head away from his, sweating. Panel 6: Val says "UH," rapidly swinging her head back to face Audrey but with his eyes lagging to the side, giving her time to think. Panel 7: Val recalls her room, which is an absolute mess, empty pizza boxes, trash bags, socks, unopened mail, miscellaneous chargers, and stains littering the floor. The mattress has no cover, the trash bin is overflowing, and there's a single sound insulating foam panel on the wall behind the computer monitor. A sound of a fly buzzing emanates through the room. Panel 8: "Black mold," replies Val, finally looking directly at Audrey.
ALT Panel 9: Audrey suddenly leans close to Val and balls his hands with a worried expression, yelling "BLACK MOLD?? Val, you CAN'T BE LIVING THERE!!" Val leans back a bit. Panel 10: Val gives a thumbs up and a close-eyed nervous smile, saying "No no it's okay. I like ... wear a mask." Panel 11: Audrey has a comedically sad expression, like a toddler who got told that magic isn't real. Water eyes, tensed chin, as if about to cry. Panel 12: Val, by contrast, just has her brow furrowed in slight annoyance, asking "What."
ALT Panel 13: Audrey, still watery-eyed, begins speaking in a baby talk voice, saying "My besht fwiend's wivving wiz bwack mowod." Panel 14: Fisheye lens closeup of Val looking very unamused, brow still furrowed, the setting sun casting a hard shadow on half of the face. She says "Audrey. Audrey you know I hate the V-tuber baby voice." Panel 15: Audrey raises his head and begins saying into sky, "OOWOWW DA BWACK MOWD IS" and Val interrupts him, hands together in a pleading gesture and eyes shut tight, saying "OKAY OKAY I'll call a mold specialist TODAY. And we can hang out tomorrow. No more ear terrorism." Panel 16: With her hands still together, Val looks down towards the ground, her pupils hazy, as a bead of sweat rolls down her face. "God I am so f*cked," she thinks.
ALT Panel 1: Audrey and Val coming out of the entrance to the pool they were in last episode, Audrey back in his seashell shirt outfit and carrying a green towel. Audrey is saying something while smiling to Val but there's no speech bubble. Panel 2: They're now in the exact same walking pose, but in the park. Val is in her usual attire. Audrey is wearing a button-up blue sweater with a few multicolored diamond shapes on it, a white dress underneath, and a burgundy beret. Val is saying something while smiling, no speech bubble. Panel 3: Val is smugly tossing a coin into a wishing fountain at the park, but Audrey notices it's about to get snatched by a crow at the top of its arc. Panel 4: Val is sitting at a restaurant eating spaghetti, pointing and laughing at something across the table from her.
ALT Panel 5: Across the table is Audrey, who has made an absolute mess of his spaghetti. He's got like 6 strands in his mouth and one on his face and one on his hair somehow. Panel 6: Photo from a photobooth of Audrey doing double peace signs, sticking his tongue out, and winking, and Val sitting farther back, embarrassed. Stickers on it of a yellow star and the lettering "QTs" with a yellow heart. Panel 7: Another photo, Val now in front, sticking her tongue out with an angry expression and doing double metal/devil horns signs, as Audrey looks on sparkly eyed behind her. Stickers on it of a flaming skull and the lettering "LFG" in red.
ALT Panel 8: Audrey waving hi mid-step at a movie theater, in a white dress shirt and a dark blue vest, skirt, and boots. Panel 9: Same pose, but now at a carnival at night, with a blue-striped long-sleeved white shirt, a jean-overalls-romper, and blue poofy sneakers. A ferris wheel shines in the background. Panel 10: Same pose, but now at a museum, in a dark blue tank top, a white light sweatshirt with bows at the ends of the sleeves, very wide JNCO-esque jeans, and green and white sneakers. Panel 11: Same pose, but now at the river bank where he and Val met for the second time, in a long flannel purplish-grey overshirt, a dark blue crop-top, dark blue skirt, blue-grey torn stockings, and blue-grey heavy boots. An uncharacteristically punk outfit.
ALT Panel 12: Val mid-step, waving hi back to Audrey, walking into the movie theater. She is in her normal sweatshirt and sweatpants. Panel 13: Same pose, now walking into the carnival. Same sweatpants, but she's now wearing a dark oversized t-shirt with an indecipherable yellow metal band logo. Panel 14: Same pose, now having just walked upstairs at the museum. She's wearing a dark tight turtleneck and a tan jacket on top, with red sweatpants and brown shoes with with a grey stripe behind the toes. Her hair is also down. She looks almost academic. Panel 15: Same pose, now at the river bank. She's got the grey laptop bag from the fighting game arc, a white t-shirt with an orange wing logo, a dark-green cropped bomber jacket, and bright orange Converse-esque shoes with white toes. Her hair is also in pigtails that look vaguely like wings now!
ALT "THIS COULD BE YOU," an arrow points to a disheveled person with long messy hair grasping their head and yelling "AAAA!! THE VISIONS!! I SEE THE FUTURE!!!" In their eyes are the first few panels of the next update, in which Val is walking through a crowd of wide-eyed shadow people. The text continues: "... When you see the NEXT UPDATE NOW and get a BONUS PANEL with every update for just $1/MONTH at patreon.com/shencomix"
ALT Panel 1: Audrey and Val coming out of the entrance to the pool they were in last episode, Audrey back in his seashell shirt outfit and carrying a green towel. Audrey is saying something while smiling to Val but there's no speech bubble. Panel 2: They're now in the exact same walking pose, but in the park. Val is in her usual attire. Audrey is wearing a button-up blue sweater with a few multicolored diamond shapes on it, a white dress underneath, and a burgundy beret. Val is saying something while smiling, no speech bubble. Panel 3: Val is smugly tossing a coin into a wishing fountain at the park, but Audrey notices it's about to get snatched by a crow at the top of its arc. Panel 4: Val is sitting at a restaurant eating spaghetti, pointing and laughing at something across the table from her.
ALT Panel 5: Across the table is Audrey, who has made an absolute mess of his spaghetti. He's got like 6 strands in his mouth and one on his face and one on his hair somehow. Panel 6: Photo from a photobooth of Audrey doing double peace signs, sticking his tongue out, and winking, and Val sitting farther back, embarrassed. Stickers on it of a yellow star and the lettering "QTs" with a yellow heart. Panel 7: Another photo, Val now in front, sticking her tongue out with an angry expression and doing double metal/devil horns signs, as Audrey looks on sparkly eyed behind her. Stickers on it of a flaming skull and the lettering "LFG" in red.
ALT Panel 8: Audrey waving hi mid-step at a movie theater, in a white dress shirt and a dark blue vest, skirt, and boots. Panel 9: Same pose, but now at a carnival at night, with a blue-striped long-sleeved white shirt, a jean-overalls-romper, and blue poofy sneakers. A ferris wheel shines in the background. Panel 10: Same pose, but now at a museum, in a dark blue tank top, a white light sweatshirt with bows at the ends of the sleeves, very wide JNCO-esque jeans, and green and white sneakers. Panel 11: Same pose, but now at the river bank where he and Val met for the second time, in a long flannel purplish-grey overshirt, a dark blue crop-top, dark blue skirt, blue-grey torn stockings, and blue-grey heavy boots. An uncharacteristically punk outfit.
ALT Panel 12: Val mid-step, waving hi back to Audrey, walking into the movie theater. She is in her normal sweatshirt and sweatpants. Panel 13: Same pose, now walking into the carnival. Same sweatpants, but she's now wearing a dark oversized t-shirt with an indecipherable yellow metal band logo. Panel 14: Same pose, now having just walked upstairs at the museum. She's wearing a dark tight turtleneck and a tan jacket on top, with red sweatpants and brown shoes with with a grey stripe behind the toes. Her hair is also down. She looks almost academic. Panel 15: Same pose, now at the river bank. She's got the grey laptop bag from the fighting game arc, a white t-shirt with an orange wing logo, a dark-green cropped bomber jacket, and bright orange Converse-esque shoes with white toes. Her hair is also in pigtails that look vaguely like wings now!
ALT Panel 1: Val and Audrey are standing together in front of the pool. Audrey points forward as they exchange a look and says "You don't have to go in if you don't want to. But I'm goin' in!" Panel 2: Audrey begins to pull up his shirt over his head, illuminated by a streetlight behind him. Panel 3: Val quickly covers her eyes, sweating a bit, surprised by him suddenly doing that. Panel 4: We see only the thin slivers of light leaking between Val's fingers from Val's point of view. A speech bubble appears by one of the slivers, the tail indicating it to be from Audrey. "Val?" says Audrey.
ALT Panel 5: Still Val's point of view. Val opens her fingers a bit, just enough to see Audrey's face looking at her, amused. "Val, why are you doing that? Ha ha," says Audrey. Panel 6: Val opens her eyes fully to see Audrey in a frilly blue two-piece bathing suit with a top that slings around the shoulders on both the side and top, and a skirt bottom. "It's just a bathing suit," says Audrey, "It's not like I'm naked." Panel 7: Audrey walks off, sticking his tongue out a bit stupidly, as Val looks on. Audrey says "Anyway, I know what I'M here for. I'm gonna go splash around!" Panel 8: Val thinks "I had seen Audrey be clumsy when we were walking on land before," and remembers him tripping with a fast food tray in front of her, sending french fries and soda flying everywhere.
ALT Panel 9: Val looks forward, the pool reflecting in her glasses, and thinks "But, looking at him now, I realized something."
ALT Panel 10: Audrey smiles placidly as his whole body gracefully flows through the water, as if he he one with the currents, bubbles gliding around him along the rhythms of his body. "This was never a land creature," Val narrates.
ALT Panel 16: Closeup of her now standing, wide-eyed, implied to have just spoken to Audrey, and saying "You want to ... come to MY place?"
ALT Shen's body is facing away from you with arms crossed by he's turning his head to look at you with one angry eye that nevertheless sparkles with curiosity. You are holding out a dollar to him. He says "I'll NEVER show you the NEXT EPISODE NOW and give you a BONUS PANEL with each episode at patreon.com/shencomix. NEVER. Not even for $0.75/month ... OR EVEN $0.85/month ... OR EVEN -- I-is that a whole DOLLAR? ... (Wipes brow)". The "(Wipes brow)" is inside the speech bubble.
ALT Panel 1: At the top it says "(THE BIT ZONE)" indicating that we are in the grassy void that is the non-canonical Bit Zone. Audrey is a pair of short-bottom jean overalls and in a white shirt with blue stripes, holding something behind his back in front of Val. He says "Hey Val, close your eyes and hold out your hand." Panel 2: Val smiles incredulously and says "Hah! What is this, middle school? You gonna put something gross in my hand?" Panel 3: Audrey's grey-brown eyes sparkle in pin, yellow, and green as an arrow points to them labeling them "'Trust Me' Eyes" Panel 4: Val closes her eyes, turns her head slightly, and holds up her open palm, unable to resist. Audrey is overjoyed.
ALT Panel 5: Audrey places something in Val's open palm, his other hand still behind his back. Panel 6: Val opens her eyes and calmly looks at what's in her palm. Panel 7: It's two enamel pins of Audrey and Val's faces, as well as two stickers of them looking like beans, or like they are a very small creature that just ate a cheese puff, or perhaps a tech deck dude. Panel 8: Val looks up at Audrey with a blank expression of neither joy nor sorrow, as if to ask "what is this". Panel 9: Audrey's eyes glimmer as he folds his arms in front of himself and says "That's us."
ALT Panel 10: Text reading "PREORDER CAMPAIGN! T.B.F.V. ENAMEL PIN SET, PREORDER COMES WITH 2 BONUS STICKERS," once again showing the two two pins and two stickers, and indicating the pins to be 1.5 inches wide.
ALT Panel 11: Shen, in a yellow dress shirt and dark blue dress pants and overalls, looks back at you from a slightly overhead angle and points up, smiling. He says "Only at TOPA.To/SHEN, until 10/1! Note: This is a peorder campaign, so it won't ship immediately, and will take some time to get to you. (It'll be available normally later, but the stickers are a preorder bonus)"
ALT Panel 1: Val and Audrey are standing together in front of the pool. Audrey points forward as they exchange a look and says "You don't have to go in if you don't want to. But I'm goin' in!" Panel 2: Audrey begins to pull up his shirt over his head, illuminated by a streetlight behind him. Panel 3: Val quickly covers her eyes, sweating a bit, surprised by him suddenly doing that. Panel 4: We see only the thin slivers of light leaking between Val's fingers from Val's point of view. A speech bubble appears by one of the slivers, the tail indicating it to be from Audrey. "Val?" says Audrey.
ALT Panel 5: Still Val's point of view. Val opens her fingers a bit, just enough to see Audrey's face looking at her, amused. "Val, why are you doing that? Ha ha," says Audrey. Panel 6: Val opens her eyes fully to see Audrey in a frilly blue two-piece bathing suit with a top that slings around the shoulders on both the side and top, and a skirt bottom. "It's just a bathing suit," says Audrey, "It's not like I'm naked." Panel 7: Audrey walks off, sticking his tongue out a bit stupidly, as Val looks on. Audrey says "Anyway, I know what I'M here for. I'm gonna go splash around!" Panel 8: Val thinks "I had seen Audrey be clumsy when we were walking on land before," and remembers him tripping with a fast food tray in front of her, sending french fries and soda flying everywhere.
ALT Panel 9: Val looks forward, the pool reflecting in her glasses, and thinks "But, looking at him now, I realized something."
ALT Panel 10: Audrey smiles placidly as his whole body gracefully flows through the water, as if he he one with the currents, bubbles gliding around him along the rhythms of his body. "This was never a land creature," Val narrates.
ALT Panel 1: Val is is looking back at Audrey at the arcade with a confused scowl. "SWIMMING?" she asks, "Why SWIMMING all of a sudden?" The small blue imp version of her (Imp Val) that showed up before peaks out from behind her right side and angrily says "HE WANTS TO SEE YOU IN A BIKINI ..." It then switches to her left side and squints spitefully, saying "PERVERT ..." Panel 2: Audrey has his hands folded behind his back, happily replying "Y'know the pool?" Val asks, "That sad little chlorine hole we have on North Street?" Panel 3: Val points down at the ground with a concerned expression, talking about what they're currently doing as the arcade entrance illuminates her from behind. "Audrey, I'm gonna be real with you," she says, "THIS, TODAY was kinda an exception for me." Panel 4: Val puts her hands up in almost a shrugging gesture, continuing, "Ninety percent of the time I'm OUTSIDE at all, it's for a night walk. Pool's way too loud and crowded."
ALT Panel 5: Audrey looks to the side coyly and says "Well ... not always." The background turns a playful mix of reds, yellows, and pinks. Panel 6: We see a view of a public pool at night, illuminated with streetlights and with a lifeguard on duty. On the right is a metal sign reading "NIGHT SWIM: 8PM to 11PM." Audrey's head and hand float in front, pointer finger raised, saying "They're actually doing NIGHT SWIMMING this month. But no one ever goes 'cept for a few old folks." Panel 7: Audrey puts his fingers on his clavicle and closes his eyes, saying "That's when I like to go. But I never have anyone to go with because, y'know ... Who wants to go to the pool at night LMAO." Panel 8: Val does that shrug-like gesture again and says "Why not just go during the day like a normal person? YOU actually have social skills."
ALT Panel 9: Audrey twirls his pointer fingers around one another and looks away nervously, saying "Well, it's just ... the way I dress, it's, um" Panel 10: Val, with a stern expression, replies "Audrey, there's nothing wrong with the way you dress." Audrey exhales in exasperation. Panel 11: Audrey looks away once again, this time sadly, and replies "It's about what I like to wear when I'm swimming, Val." Panel 12: Both Val and Imp Val are stunned next to one another, having realized why Audrey only goes at night.
ALT Panel 13: Audrey, back to his characteristic happy cat smile, says "I'm gonna go no matter what. Around 10PM. You don't have to go, I just wanted to invite you." Panel 14: Audrey prances past Val towards the light of the exit, glancing back and giving her a quick wave, saying "Okay, bye now!" Val is still just standing there looking forward. Panel 15: Val, the arcade machines reflected in her glasses, says to herself, "Naw that's stupid. I'm just gonna stay home and game." Panel 16: In the exact same pose and angle, Val is now in an orange t-shirt with a towel draped over her shoulders, with a fence and a tree in the background and Audrey sitting by the pool reflected in her glasses. Audrey is saying "VAL! YOU'RE HERE!!" and the tail of the speech bubble of him saying that is actually reflected in Val's glasses like a physical object.
ALT Panel 11: Audrey's head happily pops out of the water, sending little droplets flying and reflecting the moonlight. "This was something aquatic," Val narrates, "Gentle. Curious. Unhurt." Panel 12: Audrey's eyes sparkle as he notices a rubber duck floating around in the pool with him. It has round glasses, making it look kinda like Val. "Or maybe not unhurt," Val continues narrating, "but..." Panel 13: Audrey picks up the rubber duck, smiling and inspecting it curiously. Panel 14: Audrey holds up the rubber duck above his head so that Val can see it, big smile beaming. Behind him is an almost magical, chromatic sky filled with red, yellow, green, and blue stars, galaxies, and a huge moon. All of these elements are also reflected in the rippling pool, making it look like a paint-filled art easel. "Not defined by hurt," thinks Val.
ALT Panel 1: Val is is looking back at Audrey at the arcade with a confused scowl. "SWIMMING?" she asks, "Why SWIMMING all of a sudden?" The small blue imp version of her (Imp Val) that showed up before peaks out from behind her right side and angrily says "HE WANTS TO SEE YOU IN A BIKINI ..." It then switches to her left side and squints spitefully, saying "PERVERT ..." Panel 2: Audrey has his hands folded behind his back, happily replying "Y'know the pool?" Val asks, "That sad little chlorine hole we have on North Street?" Panel 3: Val points down at the ground with a concerned expression, talking about what they're currently doing as the arcade entrance illuminates her from behind. "Audrey, I'm gonna be real with you," she says, "THIS, TODAY was kinda an exception for me." Panel 4: Val puts her hands up in almost a shrugging gesture, continuing, "Ninety percent of the time I'm OUTSIDE at all, it's for a night walk. Pool's way too loud and crowded."
ALT Panel 5: Audrey looks to the side coyly and says "Well ... not always." The background turns a playful mix of reds, yellows, and pinks. Panel 6: We see a view of a public pool at night, illuminated with streetlights and with a lifeguard on duty. On the right is a metal sign reading "NIGHT SWIM: 8PM to 11PM." Audrey's head and hand float in front, pointer finger raised, saying "They're actually doing NIGHT SWIMMING this month. But no one ever goes 'cept for a few old folks." Panel 7: Audrey puts his fingers on his clavicle and closes his eyes, saying "That's when I like to go. But I never have anyone to go with because, y'know ... Who wants to go to the pool at night LMAO." Panel 8: Val does that shrug-like gesture again and says "Why not just go during the day like a normal person? YOU actually have social skills."
ALT Panel 9: Audrey twirls his pointer fingers around one another and looks away nervously, saying "Well, it's just ... the way I dress, it's, um" Panel 10: Val, with a stern expression, replies "Audrey, there's nothing wrong with the way you dress." Audrey exhales in exasperation. Panel 11: Audrey looks away once again, this time sadly, and replies "It's about what I like to wear when I'm swimming, Val." Panel 12: Both Val and Imp Val are stunned next to one another, having realized why Audrey only goes at night.
ALT Panel 13: Audrey, back to his characteristic happy cat smile, says "I'm gonna go no matter what. Around 10PM. You don't have to go, I just wanted to invite you." Panel 14: Audrey prances past Val towards the light of the exit, glancing back and giving her a quick wave, saying "Okay, bye now!" Val is still just standing there looking forward. Panel 15: Val, the arcade machines reflected in her glasses, says to herself, "Naw that's stupid. I'm just gonna stay home and game." Panel 16: In the exact same pose and angle, Val is now in an orange t-shirt with a towel draped over her shoulders, with a fence and a tree in the background and Audrey sitting by the pool reflected in her glasses. Audrey is saying "VAL! YOU'RE HERE!!" and the tail of the speech bubble of him saying that is actually reflected in Val's glasses like a physical object.
ALT Panel 1: Val is walking away from Fatima in the arcade, doing a quick wave goodbye back at her. Fatima says "It was nice catching up, Val! Don't be a stranger, ok?" Val responds "I won't. I gotta go find Audrey." Panel 2: Fatima points to farther inside the arcade and says "Isn't that him over there?" Panel 3: Val looks it Audrey, who is going so hard on a rhythm game machine that it looks like he has six arms, all moving so fast that they blur together. An aura of yellow, pink and white light emanates from the machine as if produced by his force and focus. Panel 4: Closeup of Audrey as his hands go so fast that they look like they're doing a jutsu from Naruto. He's sweating and his eyes are intensely focused.
ALT Panel 5: Audrey wheezes and sweats heavily as the song concludes. Panel 6: Audrey leans on the machine, with his other hand on his hip, and the machine's screen reading "YOUR RATING: SSS. FULL COMBO!" He says "Phew! Almost missed a couple there!" Panel 7: Closeup of the cat-ears guy's face, which has a more-realistically-drawn-than-usual deadpan expression. He thinks "This arcade is full of demons." Panel 8: Val approaches Audrey, who is still sweating his behind off but is now more relaxed. Uncharacteristically, Val is smiling a bit here as she says "Audrey. There you are."
ALT Panel 9: Val looks to the side coyly, still smiling, and says "I'm going home. Today was kinda FUN though. I think you're ... I guess, shockingly tolerable for a moid." Panel 10: Audrey pretends to get shocked by electricity, his hair zigzagging and even his usual blush adopting a zigzag pattern, and says "I find you SHOCKINGLY tolerable too! BZZZT". Val, while still smiling, has a slightly exasperated expression and says "Alright don't push it." Panel 11: Val and Audrey face each other as Audrey leans in slightly and says "This was a really cool day, Val. Thank you for joining me," to which Val responds, "Yep!" Panel 12: They continued to awkwardly look at each other.
ALT Panel 13: Audrey looks to the side as a bead of sweat rolls down his face, while Val looks down at the floor. Neither knows what more to say. Panel 14: Val puts her hand up to wave goodbye and starts turning to leave towards the light of the arcade entrance, saying "Well, I guess that's it then. See ya'!" Panel 15: High view of Val walking away from Audrey, both of them casting shadows backwards against the light of the arcade entrance as Audrey stands silent. Panel 16: Audrey speaks up. "Hey, um," he says, "Do you wanna ... go swimming? ..." Val stops walking away and shifts her gaze back at him.
ALT At the top left it says "YOU IN 100 YEARS:" and it shows a very old person laying in bed saying "My only regret in life ... is ... Not joing the Shen Comix Patreon for only $1/month... Where I could've read the next episode now AND gotten a bonus panel with every episode." At the bottom right is Shen looking at you with raised eyebrows at his workstation, with "UNLESS ... ?" written next to him. Two notes clarify the Shen Comix Patreon as patreon.com/shencomix, and the next episode and bonus panels as not being lewd regardless of the preview images, which show Audrey taking a shirt off.
ALT Panel 1: Val is walking away from Fatima in the arcade, doing a quick wave goodbye back at her. Fatima says "It was nice catching up, Val! Don't be a stranger, ok?" Val responds "I won't. I gotta go find Audrey." Panel 2: Fatima points to farther inside the arcade and says "Isn't that him over there?" Panel 3: Val looks it Audrey, who is going so hard on a rhythm game machine that it looks like he has six arms, all moving so fast that they blur together. An aura of yellow, pink and white light emanates from the machine as if produced by his force and focus. Panel 4: Closeup of Audrey as his hands go so fast that they look like they're doing a jutsu from Naruto. He's sweating and his eyes are intensely focused.
ALT Panel 5: Audrey wheezes and sweats heavily as the song concludes. Panel 6: Audrey leans on the machine, with his other hand on his hip, and the machine's screen reading "YOUR RATING: SSS. FULL COMBO!" He says "Phew! Almost missed a couple there!" Panel 7: Closeup of the cat-ears guy's face, which has a more-realistically-drawn-than-usual deadpan expression. He thinks "This arcade is full of demons." Panel 8: Val approaches Audrey, who is still sweating his behind off but is now more relaxed. Uncharacteristically, Val is smiling a bit here as she says "Audrey. There you are."
ALT Panel 9: Val looks to the side coyly, still smiling, and says "I'm going home. Today was kinda FUN though. I think you're ... I guess, shockingly tolerable for a moid." Panel 10: Audrey pretends to get shocked by electricity, his hair zigzagging and even his usual blush adopting a zigzag pattern, and says "I find you SHOCKINGLY tolerable too! BZZZT". Val, while still smiling, has a slightly exasperated expression and says "Alright don't push it." Panel 11: Val and Audrey face each other as Audrey leans in slightly and says "This was a really cool day, Val. Thank you for joining me," to which Val responds, "Yep!" Panel 12: They continued to awkwardly look at each other.
ALT Panel 13: Audrey looks to the side as a bead of sweat rolls down his face, while Val looks down at the floor. Neither knows what more to say. Panel 14: Val puts her hand up to wave goodbye and starts turning to leave towards the light of the arcade entrance, saying "Well, I guess that's it then. See ya'!" Panel 15: High view of Val walking away from Audrey, both of them casting shadows backwards against the light of the arcade entrance as Audrey stands silent. Panel 16: Audrey speaks up. "Hey, um," he says, "Do you wanna ... go swimming? ..." Val stops walking away and shifts her gaze back at him.
ALT Panel 1: Fatima looms over Val, backlit by the entrance to the arcade, with a cold expression. She says "Two YEARS, Val. Two YEARS you haven't shown your face here." Panel 2: Zoom in on Fatima's face as she opens her eyes wide and says "And NOW ... I have something to say to you." Panel 3: Fatima's expression becomes comically 'about-to-cry', her nose scrunched, mouth tensed, and eyes glistening with years. Panel 4: Fatima hugs Val, shedding big tears, and yells, "I'M SOOOORRRYYYY"
ALT Panel 5: Fatima puts her head over Val's shoulder and continues crying, saying "Val, I was a TERRIBLE friend. I NEVER should've asked you to do that." Panel 6: We flip the view and now see Val's face as she looks stunned. Fatima continues talking, saying "I should've just asked you to cast the tournament with me or something! I was so STUPID!!" Panel 7: Val hugs Fatima back as her expression turns slightly pained. "I did you dirty too, Fatima," she says, "I said I'd do our plan and then didn't." Panel 8: Val hold's Fatima's shoulders, holding Fatima in front of herself as they face each other. Val says "I was too proud to lose, but then too ashamed to face you. I wanted to make it look like I walked out an indignant victor ..."
ALT Panel 9: "... But really, I RAN," Val finishes saying as Fatima looks at her wide-eyed, her makeup running. Panel 10: Audrey is standing behind Val with his hands clasped together on his jeans and says "Hey, um. I'm gonna give you two some space." Val replies "Thanks, Audrey." Panel 11: Once Audrey leaves, Fatima leans in close to Val with sparkly eyes, saying "Val, who was THAT smokeshow?? I didn't know you SWING that way!" Val replies, "There's a lot to unpack in that sentence" Panel 12: Audrey is walking whimsically through the arcade and looking around, humming a tune.
ALT Panel 13: He spots an arcade machine with a four by four grid of square buttons, which happens to have the cat-ears guy from a few comics ago standing next to it. Audrey says "OH! What's THIS game??" Panel 14: The cat-years guy gestures towards the game, also placing his hand on it, and says "Oh, this is a rhythm game from Japan. The menu is all in Japanese. I can teach you to play if you like." Panel 15: Audrey's eyes sparkle as he insistently presses a button on the grid that has lit up. The cat-ears guy is saying "Okay, so, just because a button lights up doesn't mean you NEED to press it." Panel 16: The cat-ears guy shifts his gaze over to the machine's screen to see how Audrey is navigating the menu by spamming that one button. He says "Okay, so, you just selected the hardest song on the maximum difficulty. Don't press that button again. Press the other one to go back. Okay, so. You pressed it again."
ALT At the top it says "Who will get YOUR dollar?" with you sticking out hand with a dollar out and an angel and a demon both stretching out their open palm to accept it. The angel looks like Shen with a blue robe, halo, and white wings and is labeled "ME (AKA patreon.com/shencomix where you can read the next episode now and get a bonus panel with every episode for just $1 per month!" The demon also looks like Shen but with devil horns, a spiky collar, a tight sleeveless top with a demon-head-shaped cutout on the chest, a Japanese oni-esque kilt and ripped pants. That one is labeled "Also me but in a gay little devil outfit".
ALT Panel 1: Fatima looms over Val, backlit by the entrance to the arcade, with a cold expression. She says "Two YEARS, Val. Two YEARS you haven't shown your face here." Panel 2: Zoom in on Fatima's face as she opens her eyes wide and says "And NOW ... I have something to say to you." Panel 3: Fatima's expression becomes comically 'about-to-cry', her nose scrunched, mouth tensed, and eyes glistening with years. Panel 4: Fatima hugs Val, shedding big tears, and yells, "I'M SOOOORRRYYYY"
ALT Panel 5: Fatima puts her head over Val's shoulder and continues crying, saying "Val, I was a TERRIBLE friend. I NEVER should've asked you to do that." Panel 6: We flip the view and now see Val's face as she looks stunned. Fatima continues talking, saying "I should've just asked you to cast the tournament with me or something! I was so STUPID!!" Panel 7: Val hugs Fatima back as her expression turns slightly pained. "I did you dirty too, Fatima," she says, "I said I'd do our plan and then didn't." Panel 8: Val hold's Fatima's shoulders, holding Fatima in front of herself as they face each other. Val says "I was too proud to lose, but then too ashamed to face you. I wanted to make it look like I walked out an indignant victor ..."
ALT Panel 9: "... But really, I RAN," Val finishes saying as Fatima looks at her wide-eyed, her makeup running. Panel 10: Audrey is standing behind Val with his hands clasped together on his jeans and says "Hey, um. I'm gonna give you two some space." Val replies "Thanks, Audrey." Panel 11: Once Audrey leaves, Fatima leans in close to Val with sparkly eyes, saying "Val, who was THAT smokeshow?? I didn't know you SWING that way!" Val replies, "There's a lot to unpack in that sentence" Panel 12: Audrey is walking whimsically through the arcade and looking around, humming a tune.
ALT Panel 13: He spots an arcade machine with a four by four grid of square buttons, which happens to have the cat-ears guy from a few comics ago standing next to it. Audrey says "OH! What's THIS game??" Panel 14: The cat-years guy gestures towards the game, also placing his hand on it, and says "Oh, this is a rhythm game from Japan. The menu is all in Japanese. I can teach you to play if you like." Panel 15: Audrey's eyes sparkle as he insistently presses a button on the grid that has lit up. The cat-ears guy is saying "Okay, so, just because a button lights up doesn't mean you NEED to press it." Panel 16: The cat-ears guy shifts his gaze over to the machine's screen to see how Audrey is navigating the menu by spamming that one button. He says "Okay, so, you just selected the hardest song on the maximum difficulty. Don't press that button again. Press the other one to go back. Okay, so. You pressed it again."
ALT Panel 1: Val and her fighting game opponent are sitting on front of a big flatscreen, a crowd gathered around them. It's a fighting game showing a flying robot extendo-punching a blocking Doctor Duel in a flooded cave. Val narrates: "It's the last game in the set. I won the first and lost the second to make it more convincing." Panel 2: Both the characters' healthbars are very low, with 38 seconds left on the match timer. Val continues narrating: "I made it CLOSE on this third one too. I'm PRECISE." Panel 3: We zoom in on the robot extend-punching Doctor Duel, who is blocking in a crouched position, shielding himself with his white cape. Val continues narrating: "Now he's chipping me out in the corner ... and I just have to let him do that." Panel 4: Profile view of Val's head, her face illuminated by the light of the screen, as she continues narrating: "It's just a small favor for a friend. A small concession. Really not a big deal and not a testament to anything."
ALT Panel 5: Val looks down at her hands. Panel 6: In her hands is a PS2-style controller. She is holding the left direction input on the d-pad, in order to block in the game. She narrates: "But ... That's how these things work, isn't it." Panel 7: Val, in mid-air in a dusty white void, eyes closed and mouth hanging open slightly, has several jigsaw-puzzle-piece shapes taken out of her form. She narrates: "Just one small concession. And then another. And then another. None of them seem that important ..." Panel 8: We zoom in as she now has more jigsaw-puzzle-piece shapes taken out of her form, notable one of them previously where her mouth was. She opens her eyes slightly. She narrates: "Until you realize ..."
ALT Panel 9: Now instead of jigsaw-puzzle-piece shapes taken out of her, only one piece that has any of her in it remains, and it is her eye, in a state of dread and panic. She narrates: "You've conceded your ENTIRE EXISTENCE." Panel 10: Val is now in profile again, but colored with dark greens and blues and frontlit with red. She is sweating and scowling, and he controller shakes in her hands. She continues narrating: "It's not in me. This isn't why I'm here. I want to LIVE. I want to SURVIVE ..." Panel 11: She stands up out of her seat with such force that it almost knocks it over, a blaze of deep crimsons and yellows, and yells "I EXIST GOD DAMN IT!!!" Her opponent sits shocked, looking at the screen. Panel 12: Doctor Duel kicks straight up, sending the robot flying backwards and depleting the rest of their healthbar, as the screen says "K.O." in big shimmering blue lettering.
ALT Panel 13: Val is standing in front of the flatscreen, both her opponent and the crowd looking at her in shock. The whole scene is bathed in red, except for Val and the screen, who are in colder colors. The screen reads "PLAYER 1 WINS" and shows Doctor Duel with a tensed, hand out, aura farming. Panel 14: Val gently set her controller down on the seat of the chair. Panel 15: Back-view of Val leaving the arcade proudly with her laptop bag, as Fatima reaches the tournament prize money to her over the counter with a nonplussed expression. Panel 16: Val puts her hand out palm-down, rejecting the money, and says, with her pupil glowing red, "Keep it. I'll never come back here."
ALT Val is squatting and pointing directly at you with an annoyed expression, like you're getting interrogated by a delinquent. She says "Hey PUNK, don't you wanna see the NEXT EPISODE NOW?? Well it's already UP at PATREON.COM/SHENCOMIX for just $1/month. And you get a BONUS PANEL with every comic. See, THAT'S how you do a promo, Audrey!" Audrey is peaking in from the bottom right corner with sparkling eyes, going "Waow!"
ALT Audrey in a classical-looking blue dress with a frilly white collar, short frilly sleeves, a bow on the front collar and a bow on the back. He's also wearing a wide-brimmed white hat with blue flowers on one side. "THE BOY FROM VENUS" is written in a spiral pattern, following a gust of wind blowing the grass into the air, and a stamp reading "EPISODES 5-8" in red ink is in the bottom left. "VENUS" is written in pink, stacked upon indigo, stacked upon yellow.
ALT A small Shen face puts its palm out in a 'stop' gesture at the top and says 'WAIT! First, let's run through the MAJOR EVENTS so far!' Panel 1: A chibified Valerie that looks like a roly-poly toy says "I HATE MOIDS!! asterisk" with "asterisk (men)" written below it. Panel 2: Valerie says "At least the new cashier at the corner store is a girl" and thinks of a roly-poly style chibified Audrey. Panel 3: They're at the counter at the convenience store and Audrey tells Valerie, "Actually I'm a man" Panel 4: Valerie is twitching back and forth chaotically with "(crashing out)" written below. I like to imagine Garry's Mod ragdoll noises here.
ALT Panel 1: Audrey later meets Valerie with a bag the stuff she bought at the store but forgot to take. He says "Hey you forgot your stuff at the store. Also do you wanna go shopping with me this weekend?" Panel 2: Valerie says "I'm too ugly for shopping." Audrey says "Wronge." (Misspelling of wrong is intentional) Panel 3: They're now shopping and Valerie is in the swimsuit/crop-top outfit they found for her then. Valerie says "It's cool how you don't care what anyone thinks of you." Panel 4: A shadow comes over Audrey's face as he casts his eyes slightly downwards blankly. He says "... Yeh ..." There's a little Shen peaking over the bottom of the image below, saying "Ok, ready?? Let's keep going!" and then there's an arrow indicating to flip to the next page.
ALT Panel 1: The sweatshirt girl stands on a tiled street outside, hanging a small clothing shopping bag with a logo that looks like a t-shirt and a cap from both hands. She looks down pensively, thinking "I can't believe I spent MONEY on just some stupid clothes..." Panel 2: She continues looking down, her frown slightly tensing. "What a dumb, frivolous way to spend money," she thinks, "I feel bad." Panel 3: The convenience store clerk prances up to her, holding up 4 large bags of clothing from that store. He smiles innocently, saying "HEYYYYYYY~ I finally finished checking out! Thanks for waiting." Panel 4: The sweatshirt girl smiles and almost lets out a laugh, sounding like "hrmk. "OK I guess I don't feel TOO bad," she thinks.
ALT A closeup of the scowling face of a NEET girl with dark hair, messy bangs, round glasses, and a warm-grey sweatshirt. Reflected in her glasses is a person with shoulder-length sharp light-brown hair, wearing a white blouse, a blue bubble skirt, and black short-heeled shoes, and in a cute horizontal pose grabbing the back of one of the legs (like if you were putting on pants while leaning back onto a bed) smiling and surrounded by stars.
ALT Panel 1: A girl with with melly black ponytailed hair is sitting in a messy room at a computer in the dark, playing a video game. She is saying "GET ON THE OBJECTIVE, WHAT'RE YOU DOING??" Panel 2: She grits her teeth as, in the headphones in the voice chat, voices say stuff like "STUPID B*TCH", "WHAT'S YOUR ONLYFAMS?" and "GET OUT OF QUEUE AFTER THIS AND GET BACK TO THE KITCHEN" Panel 3: She throws down her headphones, her face grimaced with anger and she stands off her chair, toppling it, and yells "rrrrrRRRFUCKING ... MOIDS!!" She wears round glasses, has messy bangs, and has a small mole on the left side of her face. She wears a grey sweatshirt and grey sweatpants. Panel 4: Her glasses seem to reflect fire as she yells "I PRAY FOR THE DAY WHEN HUMAN CLONING IS VIABLE AT SCALE AND WE CAN FINALLY SAY GOODBYE TO THESE EVOLUTIONARY DEAD ENDS!!!"
ALT Panel 5: She calms down a bit, huffing, as more of her room is revealed. Her floor is littered with junk food packaging and she's got an exposed mattress with no cover. Panel 6: She says "I'm hungry. I should hit up the corner store for a snack." Panel 7: She remembers the cute girl who works the register, with shoulder-length hair and a green apron, and says "At least there's a GIRL working there now." Panel 8: She thinks about a golden-retriever-esque orange haired buff guy at the register instead, and says "And not that SMOOTHBRAIN MOID that was working there before as a summer job."
ALT Panel 9: Her eyes go wide and her mouth goes beak-like as she says "OH! I wonder if she's based? ..." and thinks "I should test her." Panel 10: The NEET girl is standing at the register at the convenience store, buying a soda, and energy drink, and a bag of chips. The clerk, that cute girl she remembered, says "Hey there~ Another late night gaming sesh?" Panel 11: The NEET girl rubs her hands together nervously and replies "Oh, um, yeah, haha. So uh ... How 'bout them moi--, how 'bout them MEN, huh?" Panel 12: The clerk, confused, looks at her wide-eyed and says "huh?"
ALT Panel 5: On the screen of the arcade cabinet is "Player 2 Wins. PERFECT." In front of the cabinet is the crop-top guy sweating and vomiting on the ground with the "BLARGHH" while Val holds her hand out in front of him for a post-game handshake. Panel 6: "Well well well," says a voice from off-panel, "Been a while since I've seen THAT screen THAT fast." Val turns her gaze slightly and a shadowy feminine figure is reflected in one of her glasses lenses. Panel 7: A curvy woman with long eyelashes, full hair that curls at the ends, and warm-brown skin stands leaning on the checkout counter. She is wearing a green top with a yellow triforce on it and cargo shorts. She says "Valerie ... 'Never come back here,' huh?" The girl on the checkout counter computer is looking over at her, surprised. Panel 8: With a serious, calm expression, Val replies "It's nice to see you again, Fatima. Although I'm sure YOU don't feel the same."
ALT Panel 9: 2 years ago. Val has just "PERFECT"-ed a guy in Monsters Vs Vigilantes 2, and points back towards Fatima, saying "Hey Fatima, chalk up another one!" Val's hair is down at shoulder-length, and she looks a lot happier and less tired overall, wearing a white t-shirt. Panel 10: Fatima has a chalkboard with tally of "VAL PERFECTS". She says "you're on a ROLL today, aren'tcha, ya' dork?" She's wearing a dark blue t-shirt with a cake icon that says 'LIE' on it (a reference to Portal), a long-sleeved fishnet top, a large-studded belt, and a dark blue skirt. Panel 11: As Fatima is marking down the perfect victory, she says "but we're going to have to cut it here, guys. I have to close up, door's already locked." Val looks happy and the guy she was facing is shedding tears dramatically, defeated. Panel 12: Val grabs her laptop back and waves back at Fatima as she leaves, saying "okay, see ya' tomorrow!" Her t-shirt has a red number '100' on it, and she's wearing red sweatpants.
ALT Panel 1: Fatima leans over the counter and says "Hey Val, WAIT. Can I talk to you?" Val stops and turns around. Panel 2: Val has approached the counter, smiling innocently, as Fatima crosses her arms and says "I saw you signed up for the tournament this Saturday. And, listening to the other regulars, well, everyone knows you're gonna win it." Panel 3: Val waves her hand in front of her dismissively and smiles with one eye slightly open in an expression both humble and smug. She says "Aw shucks I'm not THAT good," and then more quietly says "But yeah, I'm totally gonna win it." Panel 4: Fatima leans in close, their faces both now in shadow. "Valerie," she says, "Can I ask you to do something that I promise I will NEVER ask you for again?"
ALT Panel 1: Val slams her fist down on the countertop at the arcade, infuriated, yelling "YOU WANT ME TO LOSE IN THE FINALS?" Panel 2: Fatima grabs Val by the shoulders over the counter, saying "Val, PLEASE. My dad wants to BAN you. He doesn't get WHY, but ... every since you started coming here, we've lost a LOT of regulars." Panel 3: Fatima's POV of Val crossing her arms and looking to the side indignantly, as Fatima still has her left arm gently on her shoulder and is gesturing conversationally with her right, saying "Everyone KNOWS they can't beat you. Do you know how ard it was to even get anyone to SIGN UP for this tournie." Panel 4: Fatima looks away from Val, her expression tensed in shame, and says "And ... like 90% of our regulars are guys. They don't like losing to a girl, so they've stopped coming."
ALT Panel 1: Val looks up at her, more shocked than angry, and says "SO YOU'RE JUST GONNA LET --" Panel 2: Fatima puts her fingers to her chest in the 'referring to me' gesture and interrupts Val, replying "VAL, I KNOW, OKAY?? I'M A WOMAN. I KNOW." Panel 3: Fatima's expression is serious as she continues explaining, "But, my family relies on this arcade for income. And the income has been going DOWN. Hell, my lil sis needs this arcade to go to college." Panel 4: Fatima puts her palms together, distraught, begging Val, saying "Val, PLEASE. Just show people you CAN be beat. Just this ONCE. And I will NEVER ask you to do anything like this EVER AGAIN."
ALT Panel 1: Fatima now puts her hands out in an offering gesture, having started sweating and moved onto negotiating, and says "I'll comp your entry fee! I'll even give you the prize money you would've won!" Panel 2: Val looks slightly to the side in a long, contemplative pause. Panel 3: Val looks forward and delivers her answer, clearly with some hesitation: "Fine, Fatima. Just this ONCE, I'll do that for you." Panel 4: Fatima pulls Val into a hug over the counter, blushing and smiling, yelling "OH THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!" A gentle smile creeps across Val's face.
ALT Panel 1: As Val leaves, a smile still on her face, Fatima waves her off, also smiling, and says "Have a good night, Val!" Panel 2: Val gives a peace sign back to the smiling Fatima and responds "Later, Fatima!" Panel 3: Fatima turns her head away as her expression secretly falls into one of deep shame. Panel 4: Val's expression, as she walks facing away from Fatima, secretly becomes one of anger and frustration, her teeth clenched and her eyes wide.
ALT Shen appears to be sitting on nothing with his legs crossed, his right arm rested on nothing and his left arm giving you a two-finger salute as he winks at you. He's got a couple of pink stars with purple backing around him. He says "And now you're caught up to RIGHT BEFORE THE MOST RECENT UPDATE, which was posted a couple days ago. Thank you for reading THE BOY FROM VENUS so far, and I look forward to seeing you in the next update!"