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Gah!!! They’re so sweet together!!!
And woo, new phone background!
Sensible and sweet ^^
It’ll be nice to see long distance(friendship or romance) presented in this comic. Generally, if I see it awknoledged at all in media, it brooding, sad or a struggle, but with TD’s mood, it’ll be interesting to see your approach!
About the best they could hope for currently given their current life situations. And a picture both will treasure for years to come.
Kiss her you fool!
I think that 5th panel deserves to be a wallpaper~
Seconded with bells on.
Agreed, totally!
I concur… but if memory serves, I don’t think we ever got full-res no-bubbles versions of “walking through the garden with Jin” or “Jin at a festival with a yo-yo fishing prize” to be wallpapers, so I’m not getting my hopes up. Robin’s got a heavy enough workload.
(If I am mistaken, links would be appreciated.)
If I was her dad, and I had a job that had mobility like he does. I would definitely want her to go to school in hybrid city to give her the exposure to that kind of friend group. It’s very hard being the only in the school.
Ask the kid who grew up to be an engineer while living in dairy farm country. Nobody in my school has any idea what I do for a living.
Hybrid City isn’t the only “hybrid city” in TD’s world, as far as I know, just the possibly first/most known, so somewhere welcoming, closer to family would make more sense… but also, living in the US for 2+ years away from your parents who live in Australia, at 15… doesn’t sound much better.(and that assumes she wasn’t originally from some English-speaking non-US country)
Whoop: at 13 or younger, I meant
I think you misunderstand. Near’s dad is in IT and the family moved TO Australia just a couple years ago. Really good IT people can pretty much work wherever they like, and I would assume Near has lived in several places. Please also note Near’s lack of accent supporting this.
Hybrid City may not be the only enclave of hybrid children, but it is famous enough that Near knew about it *before* she met Kai. Were I Vincent, Near’s dad, I would look into doing a stint in Hybrid City, so Near can be exposed to other hybrids. If she’s Kai’s age they will finish high school and be off to university in 3 years so at that point Vincent could start looking for someplace to work as empty-nesters.
The entire family would move, just as they all moved to Australia. If you think about it, this is exactly what Marco did with his family, for similar reasons. Vincent probably has a lot more career mobility than Marco does. Good IT people can work most anywhere.
Someone with the marketing skill to hype himself as a rock star programmer can probably land an employment contract wherever he wants. My experience is that those who can’t get the marketing babble right have trouble finding employment, regardless of how good they are at the actual job.
And Near’s mom is obviously a housewife, so nothing prevents her from moving with her husband, right? Or is she also able to find employment wherever she wants?
You are correct. The evidence in this comic is that they relocated to Australia from another country (as evidenced by Near’s comment that she had only been IN Australia for two years). She also mentioned that her Dad makes “a lot of money” which points to him being a high-value IT person.
Finally, with regard to Near’s mother, she presumably moved TO Australia with Near and her Dad, so we can at least assume she has enough employment mobility to tag along.
The actual evidence in the comic is:
Note the last three words: “for dad’s job”. That does not mean that the family first chose to move to Sydney and then started looking for jobs in Sydney. It means that dad’s job more or less required him to move to Sydney. We don’t know whether he jumped at the opportunity or moved with great reluctance to avoid losing his job. It does not work as evidence that he can choose freely where in the world he’ll live.
In most cases, I’d agree, but even before the current political problems, I would have never wanted to move from Australia to USA (here, if there’s a few people threatened by a thug, it’s actually news, and the only drills I had in school were for if something was on fire).
Yeah, gonna have to agree with Autoskip here. Quite happy with Australia personally…
That said, Australia IS one of if not the most multicultural countries in the world, most of us Aussies get along, I can see Hybrids being overall accepted into general society. Sure, we’ll get a few who will try and discriminate against them, they probably won’t be as insulated against that kind of treatment as they would be in the custom built Hybrid City, but I can see most people accepting them….
As someone who grew up in rural California I had the joy of living in a very conservative part of an extremely liberal state. I could see the discrimination we see in the Romero’s old town, and Misha’s hometowns in both the Midwest and Russia, right in the middle of a very progressive state.
Were I trying to raise a family in a town where my children faced daily discrimination like the Romero children did, you can bet that I would do everything in my power to remedy the problem, including uprooting the entire family and going somewhere else.
Oh, absolutely, but the point that LordCastigator is making is that it’d be rather difficult to find a town like the Ramero’s old town here in Australia – in Melbourne, for example, English and Australian ancestries don’t even make up half the population, and only about 60% of the population speak only English at home – and that’s in a major city with about five million residents, in a country where the only official language is English.
I would not be remotely surprised if several major cities around Australia just ended up having similar vibes to Hybrid City, with the only reason that there’s not as many hybrids per capita being that there’s more places for them to happily exist outside of them as well.
I’m pretty sure the world of Twin Dragons has pretty much none of the political problems we have IRL. At least I hope so.
I think the only way we see such things in comic is if it has a story specific application. Otherwise probably won’t see it as covering social/political strife is not a focus of the comic.
I’m not even talking about the political situation IRL – it’s just that our USA has, throughout their history, put such an emphasis on certain “rights” that if the Twin Dragons’ USA was a place that I’d be fine with moving to, it wouldn’t be USA.
Yeah, I look at it as an idealized/romanticized version of a big American city (which is a good thing). If the comic depicted New York as it really is, the tone would be very different.
Argh that was “the only *fill in the blank* in the school.”
Nothing wrong with getting another picture, especially with a scenic background, but she already has proof. They’re clearly posing for a camera in the last frame here too.
Will Near get proof she met TWO dragons? Kaya can even breathe fire hazardously!
I can see why Near would want a photo of Kai, he’s very photogenic! Maybe she can take a picture of him breathing fire? I wonder how Near’s parents will react to learning that their daughter went on a date with an actual, fire-breathing dragon boy…
Remaining in contact with each other like Near said is a wise idea, especially for a pair of overly emotional Hybrids (teenagers), this way they can get to know each other; you shouldn’t rush into a relationship, as you’re likely to learn later on that you’re incompatible with your partner. Now Kai and Near can chat about what they’re doing, anything exciting happening, funny this they saw, and share pictures of their friends and Kaya being her chaotic, loveable self! Who knows, maybe they’ll meet up again if Near’s family decides to visit Hybrid City. Kai can even introduce himself to her parents!
A remarkably mature angle to take. I like her even more now.
Me too. I wish these two didn’t have to remain apart, I really wish Near could join the regular cast, I love her personality.
The phone snaps
a perfect pair;
keeping the separate together
when the other isn’t there.
Nears’ idea is a highlight
(And she gets his address)
A lady of charms
who can, a Dragon, possess.
The trip’s closing
but they’ll stay in touch.
With souvenirs aplenty
forgetting would bee too much!
Diolch yn fawr iawn.
”’Bee” too much’…? You mean you think she bugs him…?(!)
Funny thing, I don’t recall the phrase the title text is parodying in any game other than Mega Man X8.
It’s a semi-common Engrish phrase in Japanese games, but most translators are aware that it’s clunky English and excise it in official translations. (More details at https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ItemGet first point under the “Platformer” folder)
I really respect the fact that they’re both being realistic about this. Not all relationships work out and feelings can sometimes change drastically. At least they can remain friends if things don’t work out. They’re not like a lot of foolish young teens that assume attraction equals love and love is forever.
“And proof that I really met a dragon.”
Kai would point out that a medical professionals refused to believe that he was TALKING to a dragon until demonstrated. You should probably see if you can catch a fire-breathing shot without your phone having nasty light-adjustment effects.
She should take a second picture showing she has kissed a dragon.
Kai, she’s not only cute, stunning, beautiful, funny, snarky and playful, she’s also intelligent, realistic and has a lot of common sense.
Don’t f this up. She’s a real keeper.
I’m both hopeful and doubtful about the way she’s setting things up. To “don’t commit to each other just yet” makes it sooooooooo much more likely that one or the other *will* find someone else, and the whole idea of “don’t have to feel guilty”…I’m sorry, but that feels like an impossible pipe dream. One or the other is likely to “catch feelings” before long. It’s possible that Kai already has. I remember falling in love so quickly at that age…Anyway, the idea is good, but very likely to fail, unfortunately. If one starts falling in love but the other doesn’t, that would be a very painful experience for the person who falls, if the other tries to hold to the agreement, or if the other person outright says no, or simply falls in love with someone more “available.”
Still, it *could* work. It’s one of those ideas that has about a 1 in 1000 chance, but 1:1000 is still more than zero.
TBH, the deck is stacked against them anyway, and it was from the first. It seems that Near is being pragmatic about the whole thing, and is being sensible.
The best thing that could happen would be be for Near to somehow show up in Hybrid City, but who knows if that will ever happen. I’d like to see these two in love, they make a really cute couple and I think they would enrich each other’ lives. Who knows hat Robin has in store for them, though?
Oh come on!!! As cute as a couple they are and as appealing such a fantasy would be they are barely teenagers and have been on only ONE DATE! Not only is it a single date it is their (or at least Kai’s), first ever date. It is actually very presumptuous of Near to even mention commitment.
At their age and experience, even if they lived in the same town, let alone across the world, they would be ill-advised to consider any commitment after one outing.
Planning to keep in touch and developing a friendship is fine but romanticizing a relationship at this stage is absurd.
You’re literally getting upset at them for being realistic in every way about the fact that they are attracted to each other. I seriously don’t think you could be more of a jackass if you tried. It takes a special kind of douchebag to act like there’s something wrong about “acknowledging that the attraction is there and respecting that circumstances don’t allow for it to go further at present”, especially in a work like Twin Dragons that doesn’t operate on pessimistic everything-will-go-wrong-iosis. All you’re doing is getting upset at the very POSSIBILITY of a happy ending, which is about a prickish as it gets.
No Jackass, go enroll in reading comprehension 101, you need it. I was getting upset at the likes of you for projecting a fantasy world where teenage first dates likely result in life long couples. The kids are young, inexperienced and are still living in a “happily ever after” fairy tale mindset. Totally understandable. But anybody with over two decades of life knows how rare that is. Too many of the comments ignore how unlikely any long term relationship will be. Call me a cynic but it’s based on real world observation and data.
Hate to break it to you, but when you claim it is “presumptuous” for two people who are attracted to each other to (a) ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THEY ARE ATTRACTED TO EACH OTHER and (b) ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THEY ARE IN NO POSITION TO BE INVOLVED WITH EACH OTHER, there are NO other interpretations of your comment except “I take issue with this” – and “this” happen to be them being REALISTIC about their attraction to each other, and LEAVING THE POSSIBILTY FOR A HAPPY ENDING.
You are getting upset about a WORK OF FICTION – one which does not, and has never pretended to, prioritize realism over good feelings – having two people realize that a relationship doesn’t work, and setting things up so that ALL possible doors for the future are open. This would be THE single wisest possible course of action for two REAL-WORLD people who happened to be in the same situation as Kai and Near. The situation depicted in the comic isn’t even unrealistic in the slightest, and you’re acting like it’s a problem.
The comments community on this webcomic largely consists of people who have SEEN THE ENTIRE COMIC. We are aware that the story as it has been written so far is about people who rise above unpleasant circumstances, overcome unlikely odds, and experience happy endings. The core cast of this webcomic are two siblings who literally breathe fire and have super-strength, the daughter of a multi-millionaire tech company CEO, a sportsman who enjoys tabletop games, and the adopted son of a gay couple living a happy and fulfilling life IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. All of that is extremely unlikely if not literally impossible in the real world. Two people from different countries meeting as teenagers, staying in touch after their first meeting, and having a relationship later in life is outright COMMON in comparison. If there are people commenting about Kai and Near making a cute couple and hoping they get together, it’s because this is the sort of story where THAT IS A GENUINE POSSIBILITY. There is no reason to act like that’s a problem, and your choosing to do so anyways is what makes you a jackass.
They are obviously attracted to each other. Near has SAID she’d like a crack at him after school “for real.” Yes, they are young. They are NOT too young to feel attraction, or even love. I *do* think they are being responsible about it.
I just noticed that Kai’s ear goes through Near’s hat in the photo. What I originally thought was an island in the background is probably meant to be Kai’s right ear, but to be visible above the hat it must go through a hole in the hat. The hatbrim is far too wide for the ear to be visible behind the hat. Kai’s ears are long, but they’re not that long.
Setting aside the obvious “simple artist error, don’t overthink it” explanation… I would point out that Near’s hat demonstratably has hybrid-ear-holes, and as you yourself pointed out, Kai’s ears ARE quite long – longer than Near’s, at least. Seems like a pretty simple explanation for why his ears are visible in the photo and hers are not.
Good catch, I didn’t notice that the first time.
You could call it…an earregularity.
Not Nearly as much fun as the comic itself, but some of the arguments that show up in the comments some days can be pretty funny too. 😉 🙂