I wanted to have at least a few of the main kids have a hard time after our little timeskip. Everyone's story still ends in a more or less positive way anyway, but showing that little bit of struggle/realism even now is pretty important to me. Finding a job is hard, and Ana's struggle here is almost too relatable (at least for me it is). Besides, it shows that even now, these kids are all be looking out for each other.
Also, I like to think Ana is living happily in her stealth life, and that Ryan has no idea exactly how much of a compliment his panel 4 remark was (technically, same from Maria). He just happened to land on exactly the right thing to say.
I imagine Ryan being a different layer of stealth, by the way. He has no qualms bringing up his middle school cheerleading days to show he's rooting for Ana who already knows about him, but I don't imagine him being overtly out besides his friend group unless it's absolutely necessary.
Just all different trans people living all different trans lives, you know? ^_^
It's kinda sad that Ana is struggling, but yeah. Finding a career is hard. Now I have a job I didn't imagine I'd have, and I'm quite good at it, and it's helping me with my own transition. But I was at a loss a few months ago.
So, I'm just trying to say I feel the realism here c:
I understand how Ana feels. I changed majors recently and I've been having trouble with my job. I'm not unemployed but I'm a work study student and this semester they told me I couldn't start work till I got a form to confirm I'm allowed to work. And that took way more than the 7-10 business days they told me. Now its still processing.
Aw, there goes my crack theory of Ana's intro surprising us with a married name!
It's good to see the friends being supportive. And apparently Maria is a big name in VA now...?
I have that feeling too, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Most people don't stay with their high school sweetheart into adulthood, and since we almost certainly have other characters who did, it would make sense for them not to be together. I just hope they are still friends and nothing bad happened between them.
My, the characters really have had a lot of challenges over the past six years we were not with them. Strange.... a entire section of some of their lives has occurred - so much has happened.
So, I'm just trying to say I feel the realism here c:
It's good to see the friends being supportive. And apparently Maria is a big name in VA now...?