Many a revelation and turning point have begun with the words "I don't want to be this way". They're important words.

One of the things I'm conscious of with regards to Leftover Soup body language is the difference between male and female touch. The ladies in my strip are far, far more likely to touch each other than the dudes are. I also write the ladies, usually, as more willing to talk about their emotional states, as more conscious of those states and the ways in which their emotions impact their behaviour, more likely to cry openly, et cetera.

Or, at any rate, that's how things are with the more... typical male and female characters and their interactions. I think we can agree that the quasi-rape confession scene between Simon and Trent was not typical.

Ellen's tendency to speak didactically, to play therapist, is helpful here. People often comment that my characters are bad at communication, and that's true, but sometimes pretending to be someone who's good at communication is enough to get the job done.

Of course, if she were a real therapist, she might have taken note of the fact that, although in this moment Lily is ostensibly turning a corner in her life and relinquishing control over her friends, the two of them are still kneeling to get into this group hug.

Body language. It's the little things, y'know?