Bookends and Parallels: Years 1-3
I’m intending to do a big “predict the end of Y4″ meta, but I don’t have time right now so I’m going to put all this background work I did for it on here just to get it out there and then I’ll worry about Year 4 later.
There are a handful of storytelling techniques that Ngozi absolutely loves and comes back to again and again. One of the main ones is bookending and parallels - in years 1-3 you can always find connections between the beginning of the year, end of the first semester, and end of the year, getting more plentiful and obvious each year as she cements her style. Plus, there are parallels between these points across the three years. (There are lots more parallels that aren't specific to points in the year, but this is enough for one post.)
These aren't always the very first and very last comic of the year/semester - often the bookends are found in the second comic of the year, and if we end on a multipart story, they might be anywhere in there.
Beginning/mid-year bookends
Year 1: With the series just beginning, she wasn't putting in as much of this, but it's there a little already.
At the start of the year, Shitty is glad Bitty's not a "bigoted dickfaced cockhole" while Ransom and Holster are talking about getting pussy.
At the end of the semester, R&H are still talking about getting pussy, and Shitty is the person Bitty chooses to come out to.
The very first and last comics of the semester both involve someone overhearing two people having an argument.
In the second comic we get Bitty saying "Didja miss me?" just like Parse does when he shows up in Parse I.
The shot of Bitty in the 9th panel of 2.2 looks an awful lot like the 5th panel of Parse III.
Year 3: She was going whole-hog on this bookend stuff by Year 3, as you'll see.
Thematically, we go from Bitty talking about the boys not knowing to them telling the boys.
In both the first and last comics Bitty says "Okay... okay".
Jack gets interrupted before we get to hear him say "Love you" and Ransom keeps getting interrupted before he can finish letting us know that they already know about Jack and Bitty.
"Jack and Me" is basically "Hi Honey Part III" so given that, we start and end with phone calls. One of the calls at the start even starts with "Hi honey" just like the eponymous call at the end of the term.
Bitty mentions how easy Jack is to talk to, and at the end they have a very big, important conversation.
Middle/end of year bookends
Year 1: Bitty is running his mouth and Shitty/Jack has to yell "Bitty!/Bittle!" to get a word in edgewise.
Jack is effectively outed to Bitty, though likely he's not sure what Bitty heard and Bitty isn't sure he heard what he thought he heard. Then at the end, he purposefully comes out to Bitty.
Bitty is wearing the same outfit in both comics, and in both cases he says a little bit at the start but then says very little and is ultimately left speechless by Jack's departure.
They come out to their friends, then come out to the whole fucking world.
The focus is on other characters for most of the comic, until Bitty and Jack take focus at the end.
If we count Cup I-IV along with Hi Honey as the end we also get:
The shot of Jack holding Bitty in Hi Honey II and a parallel shot of Bitty holding Jack in Cup I, both while it's raining outside.
In Hi Honey, Bitty's friends are concerned because he drops a pie, and in Cup II Jack knows something is wrong immediately because there's a half-finished pie on the counter. (Also, him dropping the pie vs him dropping the sandwich in the flashback.)
Bitty telling Atley Jack is one of his best friends & telling Jack how much he hates saying that, with him telling his mother the same thing.
In general, there's just a whole, whole lot of contrasting Bitty & Jack's communication with Bitty & his mom's.
The Cup IV flashback shows us that they were already talking about how hard it will be to keep it from their friends, which is what comes to a head in Hi Honey.
Beginning of year/end of year bookends
The first thing and last thing Jack says to Bitty is "Eat more protein."
We see Bitty moving into his freshman dorm at the start, and out of it at the end, both times with boxes in the background of his vlog.
Bitty is singing Halo both times.
He’s interrupted by Jack appearing dramatically in the doorway, down to the "Bittle" "Hello" - which are reversed in terms of which of the two words is tiny and which is HUGE and with an exclamation mark.
Bitty kisses the figurine, then at the end kisses Jack (the figurine also makes guest appearances in Cup IV).
"Honey, it's not like I'm gonna tell the whole world" then they totally tell the whole world.
Jack says he's "not looking forward to all the media attention" then does the one thing that would get him even more of it.
We see that aborted "Love you," then go the entire freaking year never hearing it, and in Cup IV finally get to flash back to their first I love yous.
General use of flashbacks to the summer vs flashbacks in Cup IV, along with the fact that Cup IV flashes back to around the same time as the first comic (probably just a few days before).
The very first panel is filled with a calendar that says AUGUST across the top, and the flashback starts with a panel labelled "August of junior year."
We see Coach for the first time ever, then the second time ever.
Parallels between the same point in each year
Parallels between the beginnings of years 1, 2, and 3: They all start at the start of the new school year. 1 and 3 start with his first vlog post, but in year 2 we have to wait until comic 2.
Parallels between the middles of years 1, 2, and 3: All three times, someone is outed or comes out.
Parallels between the ends of years 1, 2, and 3: The story always narrows down to focus on Jack and Bitty's relationship, even in Year 1 when that's not as exciting as in 2 and 3.
Okay, wow, that's a lot of stuff!
You can see how she kinda.... ran wild with this shit by Year 3. Already, looking at the beginning/midpoint of Year 4, there are some super obvious bookends there, but I will save that for another post...
