You're browsing the archives of OldGrayling.
You can search these comics too.

show: [ full transcriptions | abridged transcriptions | just the first line ]

Grayling - Sunday, June 8, 2008 - Page 688 [[Abe is shown alone with a look of determination]] Abe (to Morse): You're not going in there alone. I'm coming with you. / [[Morse frowns, raising a brow]] Morse: I have no idea how "delicate" Rhodes is now. He might not want to see any of his... Creations. / [[Abe and Morse face off in profile]] Abe: I've come this far. I'm not leaving you. / Morse: Okay okay. No need to get stroppy. Sorry for suggesting it. / [[A blank panel]] Abe: Maybe we're past the point of having the luxury of petty squabbles. / Morse: Yeah. Let's be off.
http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080608
Grayling - Monday, June 9, 2008 - Page 689 [[Fern sleeps on the floor]] / [[Cal walks in with one hand to his head. His eyes are closed and he looks fatigued]] / [[Cal takes off his coat as he speaks to a closed-eyed Fern]] Cal: Fern? Are you awake? / Fern: Am now.
http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080609
Grayling - Tuesday, June 10, 2008 - Page 690 [[Fern and Cal sit on the floor. Fern has one hand in his pocket and his legs are crossed. Cal rests his elbows on bent knees. He looks at Fern as he speaks.]] Cal: Lem went back to be with Darcy. The others are working on finding food. Do you want anything? I'll get it for you. / Fern: Mm. No thanks. / [[Fern looks up and to the side]] Fern: I just want to sleep. I thought I'd want to be awake for the end of the world, but I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing. / [[A small image of Fern in the bottom left]] Fern: Except having sex. Want to? End of the world and all. / [[A small image of Cal in the bottom right]] Cal: I'm... I'm too upset. Sorry. / Fern (off panel): Just thought I'd ask. / [[Cal looks serious]] Fern (off panel): You know, your hair looks funny. / Cal: Fern, could we talk? / Fern: You know I love to talk. You and Rae going to psycho-analyze me some more? / Cal: No, let's talk about me.
http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080610
Grayling - Wednesday, June 11, 2008 - Page 691 [[Fern turns his eyes to Cal as he makes a dismissive motion with his hand]] Fern: You just reconciled with your brothers and you want to get riled up about something else? Give it a rest, Cal. / [[Cal leans forward, hands on the floor between his knees]] Cal: No, I need to do this. I want to take you up on that offer. I just need your help. I know I keep things from you and that's why you're upset. But I need to know specific things. I'm serious this time. I'll tell you everything. / [[Fern looks at Cal with a raised brow]] Fern: ... / [[Fern closes his eyes]] Fern: All right. Let's give it a try. / Fern: You've always acted through our relationship. It's in your nature to disseminate the truth, and I don't blame you for that. In a lot of ways it makes life with you, ah, interesting. But you hid important things, like your anger towards me. It's not that you never picked fights. To obscure the real reason you're angry you devise ways of confusing the issue. You get upset about trivialities you don't actually care about. You sic Rae on me to fling insults you couldn't in my face. Or you make it "about work." I rarely got to have a real fight with you.
http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080611
Grayling - Thursday, June 12, 2008 - Page 692 [[Cal looks surprised]] Cal: You want me to fight with you more often? / Fern (off-panel): Not... exactly. Maybe I'm not saying this right. / [[Fern sits with his arms crossed on his knees, looking away at the floor]] Fern: Healthy relationships involve a certain amount of arguing. They don't involve... Braining each other with shovels. / [[Cal wears an expression of shock, almost dismay. He raises his hand to his mouth.]] Fern (from off panel): Maybe it's just me, but I think if you were driven to hurt me that badly, there's something I did to upset you. But you won't tell me how I contributed to that. Even if I hadn't been sick and drunk most of the time, you'd still need to tell me. / [[Cal bursts out in concern]] Cal: It wasn't your fault! I didn't want to hurt you, b-but I can't have you think-- / Fern (again off panel): Cal, you don't want to hurt me right now. / [[Fern looks serious and intent. He has bright yellow eyes.]] Fern: But you did. You wanted to kill me. I know you don't want to remember it. But we need to know why you did it, so it doesn't happen again. / [[A blank panel]] Fern: I refused to tell you I loved you, and that's when it happened. Why did you feel like I didn't love you? What made you lose faith in me?
http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080612
 
Grayling - Friday, June 13, 2008 - Page 693 [[Cal stands with one arm crossed and the other held up with hand covering his face]] Cal: *sniff* / [[Fern looks remorseful. He looks at Cal from the corner of his eye.]] Fern: Look, Cal. / [[Cal stares down as he wipes his nose with the back of his hand.]] Fern (off-panel): Let's stop. You probably thought you could keep rolling after making up with Lem. But it's okay if you can't. / [[Empty panel]] Fern: You and Lem pretty much have the same problem in the end, though, right? He was able to finally break through it, you will too. It's just a matter of being ready. / Cal: No, no. It's completely different from Lem. / [[Fern looks up curiously]] Fern: Oh? That's a start. What's the difference, then? / [[Cal wears an eager expression]] Cal: I'll tell you. I really will. I'll tell you everything now. / [[Cal's lips tighten into a closed frown, utterly unable to speak.]] Cal: ... / [[Fern faces Cal, almost resignedly. Cal, meanwhile, looks down, resigned.]] Fern: Let's do the short verison of this, Cal. Tell me your entire life story. From the top. / Cal: Good idea...
http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080613
Grayling - Saturday, June 14, 2008 - Page 694 [[Rae sits alone, staring at an off-panel Cal and Fern with an interested expression.]] Viv (off panel): Rae? / Fola (off panel): Rae, don't stare at them, they're trying to talk. / [[Fola, Rae, and Viv stand together. Viv looks at Rae.]] Viv: You want to eat with us? / Rae: Yeah, sure. / [[An empty panel]] Rae: Wait, eat? Did you find food? Is it good? / Viv: Uhh, it's mostly granola and will take some chewing, but it's edible. / [[Funa, Viv, Fola, and May all stand next to each other contentedly chewing on bagged granola.]] (Sound effects) Crunch, crunch, crunch.
http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080614
Grayling - Sunday, June 15, 2008 - Page 695 [[Rae absentmindly strokes Smoke in melcey form.]] May (off-panel): Why the long face, Rae? / [[A shot of May, with bright blue eyes, listening to Rae.]] Rae: I'm just thinking about Mid. I wish he was here, at least. / [[Rae sits and looks at the ground between his knees. Melcey-Smoke rests against his arm.]] Rae: But what's worse is know how he may not finish college like he always wanted to now.
http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080615
Grayling - Monday, June 16, 2008 - Page 698 [[A small black square rests in the top of the panel. It grows progressively larger in stages until it is a large, long rectangle at the bottom. As the square grows we can see it is full of both straight and waving lines, all in shades of black.]]
http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080616
Grayling - Tuesday, June 17 - Page 697 [[A large, nearly-black rectangle is filled with vertical curving stripes. It resembles the folds of an ebony fabric.]] Cal (off panel): When I was born, I don't know how long I was in the dark.
http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080617
 
Grayling - Wednesday, June 18, 2008 - Page 698 [[A long, slender white foot drops down in the murky rectangle, disturbing the ebony lines]] Cal (off-panel): I don't even know how I got the idea that I existed. I suppose it's bound to happen to anything that thinks. But I remember that my earliest wish was that if I existed, that others would exist as well.
http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080618
Grayling - Thursday, June 19, 2008 - Page 699 Cal: But before everything started, I was afraid. / I knew that the hunger I felt could be limitless. / That I might not be able to control myself if I started damaging what had been previously perfect. / Cal: But knowing all this, / I went ahead and did it anyway.
http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080619
Grayling - Friday, June 20, 2008 - Page 700 [[Cal, half off-panel, holds onto a resisting May. Both are ghostly white against the black and dark gray background.]] Cal (speaking from the present): I awoke my sister to the fact we existed. Everything that was born after us didn't need to be told. I regret it. It hurt her. She was so much like our parents. She didn't have my recklessness, my need to explore. I relished the idea that I was no longer the only one in the world but her pain kept what I was afraid of, inside me, at bay.
http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080620
Grayling - Saturday, June 21, 2008 - Page 701 [[Shoulder-up sillhouettes of Lem and Rae stand together.]] Cal (off-panel): Then we had a world, and my brothers grew up, and I thought that surely, what I was scared of would happen with them. But it didn't. I waited, but it didn't happen. / [[Cal's long face with short, dishevelled hair and brilliant sapphire eyes, is split between two panels.]] Cal (speaking of his past self): I loved them, but as long as they were happy, I was content. They left, and still I felt nothing. Not happy but not destroyed, either. / Cal: I thought to , "I did it. I managed to resist it." "It wasn't was bad as I thought it would be." That was arrogant. I still hadn't known loneliness.
http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080621
Grayling - Sunday, June 22, 2008 - Page 702 [[A bust portrait of Fern in bright red.]] Cal (speaking off panel): Then you came along. You cared about me, you didn't want to be apart from me. You returned all of my feelings. We took care of each other and tolerated many things. But I was there from the beginning. I knew that all of the usual romantic concepts weren't real. The nature of our existence defies them all on a fundamental level. / [[Only Cal's thin right arm, in a black shirt, can be seen, pressing his hand against the wall.]] Cal: For example, no one stays together forever. But I knew that once I tasted the experience of really being with someone for the first time, I wouldn't be able to bear my existence without it ever again.
http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080622
 
Grayling - Monday, June 23, 2008 - Page 703 [[A nearly-dark rectangle with black stripes running down it.]] Cal (off-panel): But just like I had done in the beginning, even though I knew it was wrong, I did it anyway. I was sick of being alone . / [[A blank panel]] Cal: And for a time, I felt like I could do it. Things went well. / [[Fern slumped over, so only his right shoulder can be seen. Everything is bright red.]] Cal (still unseen): But then you started drinking so much that you would fall unconscious. I couldn't wake you up.
http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080623
Grayling - Tuesday, June 24, 2008 - Page 704 [[A bright red-orange portrait of Fern, smiling in glasses, fills the center of the panel.]] Cal (off-panel): I relied entirely on you for my peace of mind. That wasn't right. The moment you came into my life, I should have started trying to make other friends. I didn't, because I was afraid. But you had the same difficulties I did, so you didn't pressure me. / I admired so many things about you, and coveted your companionship because of them. You were kind and gentle, not just from your nature, but because you knew it was the way to be. You had an ethical conscience. All mortals have that, but you were the one who came along and had the patience to teach me.
http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080624
Grayling - Wednesday, June 25, 2008 - Page 705 [[Cal stands over Fern, who has collapsed from drunkenness. Cal has a deep-set brow with a complex expression of longing, melancholy, and scheming.]] Cal (referring back): Your independence was something I had never encountered either. You thought for yourself, made your own decisions. You obeyed me only, I knew, if you agreed with what I had said. I didn't realize how much that meant to me until I saw you drunk. The person I thought I admired so much became something alien to me. Instead of you, a slobbering, useless, witless stand-in. You wouldn't do what I said without a fight, but you were slavishly devoted to a drug.
http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080625
Grayling - Thursday, June 26, 2008 - Page 706 [[Cal sulks under long, shaggy bangs. His bright blue eyes stare at the ground.]] Cal (speaking of his past self): I was responsible, too. Rae and I were hurting you, your work was hurting you. It wasn't as if you lacked reason to drink. So I blamed myself and tried to turn a blind eye. You seemed in control. You'd get up and go to work in the morning, after all. [[An overlapping transparent panel, framed in red.]] Cal: I told myself I didn't mind. I told myself I didn't mind thousands of times.
http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080626
Grayling - Friday, June 27, 2008 - Page 707 [[Cal stands behind Fern, looking down at him over Fern's shoulder. Fern, drawn in bright red with yellow eyes, looks away.]] Cal (referring to the past): But you abandoned me by drinking. You abandoned everything, especially yourself. Disillusionment? Is that even enough of a word? I should have been forgiving you, helping you. You needed my help. I just blamed myself some more. In place of faith, which I didn't even know of, I had my lies, my convictions. By then I knew my judgment was bad, so I doubted everything. Even when you were clean, I doubted you. I sneered inwardly at your every lovely gesture.
http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080627
 
Grayling - Saturday, June 28, 2008 - Page 708 [[Fern, colored only in orange-red, sleeps.]] Cal (off-panel and in the future): I found myself loathing everything about you. I was always awake with insomnia. I hate your peacefully slumbering face. I hated how you'd made me take backseat to an inanimate object. For the first time I understood what my brothers had felt about me. / [[A past Cal looks up and gives a partially disingenuous smile.]] Future-Cal: But I wasn't worried about actually doing anything. I was the cowardly one, the one who always turned my cheek. I wouldn't hurt you. I couldn't. I didn't have the nerve.
http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080628
Grayling - Sunday, June 29, 2008 - Page 709 [[A series of four thin, vertical panels. The first is Cal seen profile, his eyes covered in black hair.]] Cal (speaking from the future): I was wrong about it all. Nerve has nothing to do with it. / [[A hand holding a shovel.]] Cal: In fact, it's a supreme state of numbness, / [[A splatter of red at the bottom of the panel]] Cal: desperation, / [[A panel of text]] Cal: and fear. And you know what was the worst thing?
http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080629
Grayling - Monday, June 30, 2008 - Page 710 [[Cal stands staring at the ground. His arms, shins, and feet are covered in blood, as is the ground around him. The handle of a shovel rests on the floor.]] Cal (speaking of the past): In those moments after I'd cracked your skull with the flat of the shovel, I enjoyed a total detachment from reality. All my troubles disappeared. For a few seconds I felt free. It was the most wonderful feeling I have ever had, before or since.
http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080630
Grayling - Tuesday, July 1, 2008 - Page 711 [[A dark rectangle.]] / [[Fern looks down with raised brows and a look of grim discovery on his face.]] Fern: So that's why you wouldn't talk about it. It felt that good.
http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080701
Grayling - Wednesday, July 2, 2008 - Page 712 [[Cal and Fern are sitting. Cal covers his face with one hand, while the other runs through his hair. Fern scoots closer to Cal.]] Cal: Afterwards was a different story. I shook so much, I thought I would just... crumble away. / [[A close-up of Cal. He still has one hand on his forehead, dark black hair coming through between his fingers.]] Cal: I was so disoriented, I literally went through the house calling your name, not yet sure whether I had just imagined it all. / [[Fern looks at Cal with intense, yellow eyes.]] Fern: Of course it felt good. Why did you think violence was wrong, Cal? Because it feels terrible for the aggressor? / Cal (off-panel): No, I didn't. I just... I didn't know it would feel that way. Didn't know if it was that way for everyone. / Fern: You're elemental of death, Cal. How many lives have passed through your hands? How many were murdered by their spouses? How many were murder-suicides? / [[Cal presses a hand against his mouth. His eyes are brilliant sapphire blue.]] Fern (off-panel): Crimes of passion happen. Couples do horrible things to each other. We're not unique, we just can't die. Okay? Violence is seductive. Everyone forgets that. But not you, now, huh? / Cal: No. No.
http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080702
 
Grayling - Thursday, July 3, 2008 - Page 713 [[Fern's expression becomes more gentle.]] Fern: That being said, thank you for telling me. Consider your half of the deal fulfilled. / [[Fern's hand, coming from a gray sleeve, presses on top of Cal's.]] Fern: Stop pawing at your face. / [[Fern and Cal link arms, though both have glum expressions.]] Fern: I'm sorry for hurting you with my drinking. / Cal: I forgive you. I'm sorry I tried to murder you. / Fern: That's okay. / [[A blank panel]] Cal: What now? / Fern: I dunno. It's a lot to take in. We should make a plan. / Cal: But what about...? / Fern: The world hasn't ended yet, Cal.
http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080703
Grayling - Friday, July 4, 2008 - Page 714 [[Cal, as seen over his right shoulder, looks thoughtful]] Fern (not seen): To start with, what do you want from me? / Cal: Want from you...? / Fern: We've been talking about the past, but you can't feel the same now. What do you want now? / [[Cal looks down.]] Cal: I don't... Well, I would like it if you came home. I don't want to control you or anything, but if I knew you were home at night, it'd ease my mind. / Fern (still off-panel): That's all you want? For me to live at home? / Cal: Of course. And for you to stop drinking. / [[Cal looks serious, but Fern - with closed eyes - smiles in disbelief.]] Fern: Pfft, Cal, people may think you're odd, but you're incredibly old fashioned. Okay, no more gas stations for me. I'll come home. / [[Close-up of Fern, who now has a more solemn expression.]] Fern: But Cal, understand this. I will always ben an alcoholic. Even as a mortal, I was probably a drunk. It's a part of me that will never, ever go away. If you're going to help me, you'll be helping for a long time.
http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080704
Grayling - Saturday, July 5, 2008 - Page 715 [[Fern grabs Cal's arms and leans in.]] Fern: I can't promise I won't ever drink again because that's not realistic. But it still feels hypocritical for me to say this. Cal, you can't ever hurt anyone like that again, ever. There's no quarter here. Not me, not anyone. Don't promise me; promise yourself. / [[Cal has a look of mixed horror and fear]] Cal: I promise. I'll never doubt my ability to hurt others again. Fern, after that day, I felt like I'd lost something I'd had inside. It's not a bad thing, really. Just disturbing. Almost as if I'd had this deep wound forever, but it had only just then been exposed to the air.
http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080705
Grayling - Sunday, July 6, 2008 - Page 716 [[Fern looks over at Cal who is staring at the ground in profile.]] Fern: Hmmn. / [[A view of Cal and Fern's backs. Fern sits close and wraps his arm around Cal.]] Fern: It'll be all right.
http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080706
Grayling - Monday, July 7, 2008 - Page 717 [[An empty box with a black border]] Cal: Fern? / Fern: Yeah? / Cal: Do you ever wish that we were innocent again? That none of this had ever happened? / [[Another empty panel, this one surrounded by a red border]] Fern: What, so we could do it all over again? I don't think so. Innocence is overrated. / Cal: Yes. It is.
http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080707
 

Archive Page:
<< 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 >>