Poking Around Pt 101 (Patreon)

And here we are with the next part, huzzah.

This page ended up stopping in a different place to what I originally envisioned, but that's half the fun of a comic as organic as this one.  At least we’re wrapping up on Kuroki’s motivations, right? And look, action!

Can you tell I’m not a fan of Genshin Impact or v-tubers? 😉  Maybe I spend too much time in weird internet spaces… Waspishness aside, thanks to everyone as always for supporting this work.  TL notes below.

TL Notes

• “… In a moronic forest”: A reference to Piano no Moriwhich follows the lives of two young piano players; one of natural yet undisciplined talent, the other having studied by rote since childhood. There’s a rather poignant scene in which the latter protagonist ends up having an existential crisis: he wonders, if he is not acknowledged as a successor of his family’s impressive pianist lineage, then who is he?
• “We live, they live”: A direct reference to the film They Live. I think of it as a sort of spiritual predecessor of The Matrix, in that the protagonist finds that reality as we know it is a ruse by a nefarious being to keep humans under control. The protagonist, Nada, sees the truth via a pair of sunglasses. The 1988 movie resurfaced into public conciousness as a meme through the 2010s.
• Snubbull’s-Eye: A portmanteau of this dog and bull’s eye.
• Masshibūn: A portmanteau of this muscle mosquito’s Japanese name and an Australian men’s underwear brand. 
• “He Throh’d…”:  A portmanteau of this judo creature and the phrase “throw/knock one for six”, which means to leave someone taken aback by a cutting or confusing remark or action.

Previous Instalments:

The Beginning Bit: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12,  13,

The Eatery: 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25. 26, 27 28, 29,

Interlude: 30, 31,

All About Albert: 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44,

The Long Road Home: 45,  46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54,

Another Interlude: 55, 56,

Saruto vs Tori: 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69 70,

Hinomarusumo: 71, 72, 73,  74, 75, 76, 77. 78, 79 80, 81.  82,  83

One Immolate Evening: 83 84 85 86 87 88, 89, 90 ,  91 92 93 ,

The Barefoot Confessor:  94, 95, 96,  97,  98,  99,  100