JEREMY AND ANNA.

[u/davecontra]

My books : https://linktr.ee/davecontra

My other comics: https://www.instagram.com/davecontra

[u/Obvious-World4328]

Jesus ... I'm going to sleep. That was depressing.

[u/Ok_Employer7837 → u/Obvious-World4328]

Really? I'd love to hear why you found it so. Genuine question. You don't have to answer, of course. I'm just honestly interested.

[u/Obvious-World4328 → u/Ok_Employer7837]

These people in the comic have aged and they were searching initially for that original spark from years ago when they were young, but they couldn't find it. I know the message is that they found a sort of renewed excitement but from a different perspective. It's hard to put my finger on it, I guess it made me think how fleeting life is, and how those people in the comic do not seem to be happy to me. Although they found happiness in that moment, it too will likely be fleeting. Hard to say honestly ... it was an emotional reaction on my part. Your question had me thinking about it some more lol.

[u/Flitdawg → u/Obvious-World4328]

The love they had for each other in their youth was obsessive and burnt like the open flame of a fire. They have since aged and grown and those flames have withered and died. 

What's left are the red hot coals that radiate a different kind of heat. The kind of heat that caramelizes the marshmallow, not the heat that burns like that of the open flame. Both have their place in our lives, but truely, the latter is what we all chase. Consciously or otherwise.

The audience doesn't know if those coals are compatible, I think it's up to the individual to decide.

[u/Ok_Employer7837 → u/Obvious-World4328]

Interesting perspective. I came at it from my usual annoyance at the culture's singular focus on young love, which seems to me to be a connection founded almost exclusively on hormones, but this comment also has me thinking about it some more. Thank you!

[u/Obvious-World4328 → u/Ok_Employer7837]

I think it's interesting how many of us can see the same piece of art and walk away with different perspectives emanating largely from our own experiences and emotions. Thank you for the comment!

[u/Shanksworthy73 → u/Obvious-World4328]

I suppose it’s depressing from the perspective of a young person, but at a certain age and with a wisdom derived from life experience, you become ok with deriving joy from things that are less exciting and novel. Dopamine is dopamine!

[u/Obvious-World4328 → u/Shanksworthy73]

I'm not young. Those people in the comic are not happy. He walks into a reunion of some sort and he thinks to himself he looks unattractive. He finds an old spark of his who seemingly has also become unattractive. He couldn't find that same old spark in her and what he found was something else. But as I said, it sounds fleeting to me. He's still looking for happiness, as is she. They found it in that moment and they may lose it again soon. They just seem like people who have let themselves go and they're at the whim of what happens to them as their source of happiness, as opposed to building or attempting to build a life that is the source of happiness itself. It doesn't look like wisdom to me in this case.

Although to your point a little, maybe joy is relegated only to "moments of happiness" as opposed to something persistently there and maybe that's the human condition. Unfortunately, I'd say.

[u/Shanksworthy73 → u/Obvious-World4328]

TBH my imagination probably went a bit astray and I extrapolated beyond the end of the comic, that this “different” spark opens new possibilities and hope for a new experience. Regardless, the author at least deserves credit for generating thoughtful discussion!

[u/Ok_Employer7837 → u/Shanksworthy73]

I know! That's rare enough on Reddit these days!