The sadist

This would be too easy if it ended on the last page, right?

No wonder he’s a little weird, hehe.

Anyway, I hope you guys can take a little bit more of the drama. From other news, life’s too fast, work’s crazy, I’m flying to Singapore with my fiance next weekend (so update might be on a different our I suppose?), my apartment finally feels like home (no more boxes!) and I’m kind of tired. I want to sleep. For a week, preferably.

And to confirm, yes, I’m working with Four Leaf Studio, it’s awesome, we’re slow but steady and I can’t really share anything at this point haha. We aim to have some preview ready for summer Comiket so I might be able to share a little bit then? We’ll see. I hope that’s as exciting for you as it is for me haha~

See you next week from Singapore! I’ve never been there so I’m a bit excited~!

42 comments on “The sadist”

  1. NiWo21k Reply

    Two complicated souls, who need each other to be a complete unit – but both are not able to see it yet. But the time will come where they have to face the elephant in the room – but it’s not this now. But it will come.

    I still think these few pages are fantastic. There is so much “feel” in it, you don’t know how to react, should we feel sorry, should we be angry, should we slap both in their faces for being this stubborn. I am really looking forward to the end of this scene, just because I want to know how you will work your way out of a specific ending ๐Ÿ˜‰

    And congrats again, it looks like you are really going up in the world. Really hope it works out and you get the recognition you deserve ๐Ÿ™‚
    And also great to hear your home is now a home and not some kind of storage anymore XD

    • bitflipper Camp dweller Reply

      Argh, the feels! They confuses us!!

      Of course, that’s why Replay is currently in the #1 slot on Top Web Comics, by a margin of about 50% over the #2 slot! Congratulations, NI!

      • bitflipper Camp dweller Reply

        That they both need each other in their lives, but not in a romantic or sexual relationship.

  2. Rateus Reply

    This page is wonderful. Have fun in Singapore. I work with people there a lot (I’m Jurong) but I’ve never been allowed to visit.

    • bitflipper Camp dweller Reply

      It’s been suggested, before, but NI refuses to tell us one way or another, presumably until (or even if) she decides to let us know in the story, itself. She’s a touch sadistic like that. And we, her readers, apparently love it that way. ;-p

      • antrik Reply

        Well, she never explicitly refused to tell, did she?…

        And I don’t call that sadistic. On the contrary, it’s very nice of her not to spoil the story for us readers ๐Ÿ™‚

      • Rateus Camp dweller Reply

        She’s ace in the old-school meaning of the word.

        Even if she was in the new-school meaning that doesn’t mean you don’t love people does it? Just that you have no interest in the physical side of relationships? I may not have properly understood.

      • bitflipper Camp dweller Reply

        You may be oversimplifying it, Rateus, when it comes to asexual people and their relationships (I couldn’t tell you, myself; I don’t know anyone who openly self-identifies as ace, and so I have no-one to ask), but I suspect that you’re right in the gist of things. Someone who identifies as ace would have no interest in men or women for sexual activity — possibly even be repulsed by the idea — but would still be capable of feeling love for someone in a more platonic relationship. As well, I also suspect, as feeling jealousy, fearing abandonment, and being very vulnerable to being hurt by someone with whom they have that close of a relationship.

        All of the above is simply extrapolation, I must admit. But, consider what NI has shown us, here, in Rob and Ada’s relationship; could this be what it would be like to feel very attracted to someone who responds to our affection — even returns it — but who either is uninterested in moving the relationship in a sexual direction, or, even moreso, who fears and is repulsed by the idea of sex? Maybe Ada is ace, or maybe she isn’t. And maybe NI will clear that point up for us, at some time, or maybe she won’t; it’s an excellent mystery around which to build some significant romantic tension and thereby involve her readers’ emotions in the story she is telling. But Ada has made it very clear that, so far as she is concerned, she and Robert are not going to be moving their relationship in a sexual direction. Her reasons why could remain unknown to us forever, and we would still follow their story closely, our own hearts aching as much as Ada and Robert’s must. That is excellent story-telling!

      • JW Reply

        But Ada has made it very clear that, so far as she is concerned, she and Robert are not going to be moving their relationship in a sexual direction

        Actually. She made it very clear she doesn’t want to date him/doesn’t want to be with him as a couple. But no one said or implied anything about sex. So technically friends with benefits is not excluded.
        Sure, it’s extremely unlikely, but I want to point out there is difference between all those aspects. To be honest it always irks me when people unnecessarily drag sex into things.
        Occam’s razor suggests she just thinks of him as a brother. But she might also secretly be an alien android afraid that he’ll find out if they kiss.

    • antrik Reply

      Yeah, that theory seems to be gaining traction. It’s been brought up multiple times over the past few weeks.

      • JW Reply

        I for one don’t see why a disinterest in a romantic or sexual relationship with one single guy would make her asexual/aromantic. It’s one thing to jump to such conclusions in defense of your own ego when a girl refuses you, but why one would do that here ยฏ\_(ใƒ„)_/ยฏ

  3. Doom Reply

    Part of the problem here appears to be that multiple concepts all use the same word. Best friend love and romantic love are both real things, but are not the same thing. The mismatch of expectations and desires our heroes have will not make maintaining their relationship simple or easy.

  4. bitflipper Camp dweller Reply

    Robert, you doof, you’re hung up on one particular definition of “love”! There are at least as many different definitions of love as there are people on this planet, and probably a lot more. After all, we love our children and our lovers, but in utterly different ways. Add in how we feel about other family members, pets, and even favorite foods, and you begin to see why one word just isn’t able to capture all the nuances. Stop thinking of it as one word; “love” is at least three words: AdaLovesYou. You need all three words for that statement to make sense, and it means something different than YouLoveAda. Although, both statements mean that you regularly tear each other’s hearts out.

    Although, when it comes to irrational behavior motivated by overwhelming emotion, here I am, trying to explain “love” to a couple comic strip characters. I guess that means I love you both. Go try to figure out what “love” means in that context. :-\

  5. antrik Reply

    Easy if it ended on the last page? I’d say it would have been easy if it ended in the middle of *this* page… But then she had to go ahead and make it complicated again ๐Ÿ˜‰

    Still, calling her evil or stupid or sadistic seems harsh. I’d settle for “inept” or “clumsy” or something along these lines…

    • bitflipper Camp dweller Reply

      “Human”. It’s a chronic condition, often fatal to the sufferer. And amusing as heck to everyone but the sufferer. ;-p

  6. Howard Reply

    Oh man that hurts, that hurts so bad. as a fellow victim of unrequited love when I was younger I can so sympathy with what she is doing to Robert here. the tears the saying she loves him but not in “that way”.. Just stab the poor guy or feed him to one of the monsters it would hurt a lot less!

  7. Rateus Camp dweller Reply

    Second read through I realised the square boxes are Rob’s internal thoughts and not spoken dialogue which makes a big difference to the scene!

  8. Crestlinger Reply

    50 shades of Ada and Robert only sees yes or no, love or not, with neither of them realizing this.

    • Potterkid522 Reply

      I agree. But I gotta defend the guy. Love isnโ€™t maby or sometimes, it has to be everlasting.
      Woo! Somebody write that on my grave!

      • JW Reply

        Does it have demons and large-scale devastation?
        Just wondering whether their universe is just a metaphor for Robert’s love life ๐Ÿ˜›

  9. Dragon Master Reply

    Ada: “You’re like a brother/cousin/other male relative(excluding father and uncle) to me.”
    Robert: “God dammit. I should have known.”

  10. Archangel Reply

    “You only hurt the one you love / The one you shouldn’t hurt at all…” :-/

    I feel for the man, I really, really do. But the lady absolutely should not try to force feelings she doesn’t have. That way lies madness.

  11. Potterkid522 Reply

    Ow… I have to agree with Rob. You canโ€™t take back something like that. So Ada… well… you blew it.

  12. Browser Reply

    Evil? Stupid? How about desperate… I feel for him, but I also pity her.
    Still, I suppose I can also tack on “naive” for her thinking it was easy to explain by saying it front-loaded.

  13. DKpsyhog Reply

    Man I just found this comic a couple days ago, and Iโ€™ve spent every minute of my free time binge-reading it. I kept coming back only to remember Iโ€™m caught up and thereโ€™s nothing else to read… This is the best webcomic I know (granted I only read three others), it definitely deserves all those first places on TWC! Great job NI!

  14. David Reply

    Fool! She is just torturing you to feed her demon friends your negative emotions. Why do you think demon monsters pretend that magic stops them?

    Your only hope is to take the sandwich girl as your lover because she must be good because she will make sandwiches when you ask for them (since she makes them even when you don’t ask).

    Sincerely,

    Dr. Genius
    Inventor of the Sandwich Seduction System

  15. Enigman Reply

    Hey, I like how the two main characters’ problem is not how their romance is forbidden or that they don’t work well together. I don’t see many popular stories where the need to be close friends is voiced without a “falling in love solely because they’re the main characters” dynamic that happens all the time (though my preference for reading mainly webcomics is definitely a reason for me seeing one thing and not the other).

  16. isonomia Reply

    Is it fronting onto Millennium Way or Blackwall Lane?? Confused. The Blackwall Lane end of the site was St. Michael”s Church, with the school playing fields behind I wonder if the church site was sold with any conditions?? Before the motorway there was also a cricket field there. And what do the Horniman people think about being overshadowed like that? A lot of the sites there could well be used for amenity because they are very central and so much promised non-housing use has disappeared between the consent and the final buildings. Couple of things do you know what has happened to the site by the motorway which the Planning Inspectorate gave consent for as a hotel??? I am not aware of a hotel being opened there just a lot of sheeting. And also guard rails on Millennium Way almost certainly were erected by NME not the Council. and we keep on, despondently, with the gasholder. They are telling people it will be down by the end of the year. They have to keep security on the site as there is other equipment there still in use so its just demolish and leave, no other use.

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  18. Speedy Reply

    “I really DO love you… Dad! I time travelled from the future to help you save the world… and Mom!”

    “You mean, all this time I’ve been jonesing for my own daughter?! … I … I think I’m gonna…” Hurk! Blaaaaaargh!

    “Oh, gross Dad! That’s even grosser than when Mom was alive and you two used to make out!”

    “Wait… won’t telling me all this wreck the timeline, or something?”

    “You did a pretty good job of that, when you threw out THE sandwiches she made you!”

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