Elva struggles through her life as a flightless faery, constantly looked down upon by others. Her only respite from this is the first friend she ever made, a girl from the sea named Nerissa. Nerissa and Elva become close in the few months they spent together as children, but Nerissa has to return to the ocean. That is, until the two of them grow into adults, both struggling to find their way in the world and come together to navigate a new adventure and their unfamiliar feelings for each other.
I think this is my most recent subscription and just… wow. Right off the bat the art is immensely nostalgic: if you ever read the Tinkerbell/Pixie Hollow novels as a kid, this reminded me so much of that in the best way possible, (also Barbie Fairytopia, for obvious reasons). The colors and textures are reminiscent of a childhood paradise and the plot is both meaningful and sweet. The pacing isn’t particularly fast or slow but the art tends to focus on details and there’s lots of little things in the worldbuilding that make me read a bit more lingeringly than most. (Also the way texture is used??? Delicious.) I really like what we’ve gotten of the main characters so far, and even though I really can’t tell where the story is going yet I’m so excited to be along for the ride.
In terms of my rating scale, I think this one only misses points on areas 11) cookie cutter syndrome, 17) extra satisfying dialogue, and 18) makes me excited when it updates. Most of the characters have a pretty similar body type, but my bigger issue is that two of the mothers look like teenagers, which becomes even more apparent when the main characters pass the timeskip and are also teenagers. (I promise nothing bad happens if you depict middle-aged women with cellulite and wrinkles.) It’s not a big deal, but… eh. And then point 18 is just by nature of the comic, it’s a bit slower-paced than some others, so I’m not, like, on the edge of my seat over it. That said, I think the pacing is one of its strengths (overall tone, too), like it really is such a peaceful and enjoyable read.
