Heavy Lies the Heart

By Hex and Ix

I was ruminating on ideas for my submission and I decided I wanted to make a little comic. As I am wont to do, I went to Ix asking for ideas, and he immediately spat out a whole narrative. And I was like, "Sounds like you have your submission!" And he was like, "Collab time?" And then we had a collab.

- Hex

hex turned my half-baked ideas into a beautiful visual narrative, as they are wont to do, and put up with my adhd ass treating deadlines more like guidelines (: enjoy some sad gays, fresh and fully organic!

- Ix

Start reading

Page 1

In my heart... we were never meant to be together.

Two women stand holding hands in front of a stained glass window. One woman has long hair and a fuller figure; she wears a glowing crown. The other has short hair and a slender figure; she wears a glowing wedding ring on her left ring finger. The panel is almost entirely shaded in blue; the stained glass, crown, and ring glow in yellow.

Page 2

I could not bear the weight of your hopes and dreams.

This page is split into two panels, both involving the woman with short hair.

The first panel reads "I could not bear the weight of." The woman stands in front of the stained glass window with her hands clasped; an unseen person places a new glowing yellow crown on her head. The woman is also revealed to have red teardrop-shaped earrings, a new addition to the blue and yellow palette.

The second panel reads "your hopes and dreams." The woman stands in front of a significantly less ornate window. The crown is now around her neck, choking her. Outside, the sky fades from blue at the top to a faint red hue at the bottom.

Page 3

And in my fear, like an animal in a trap, I did whatever I could to be free.

This page is split into three panels.

The first panel reads "And in my fear," with fear written in red. The woman with short hair sits against the plain window, which is revealed to be inside a bedroom. Her knees are pulled up to her chin, and she's chained to the crown by her ankle. The light outside causes the crown to cast a foreboding shadow on the floor. Outside, the sky and moon are red.

The second panel continues, "like an animal in a trap." The short-haired woman looks fearfully behind her.

The second panel blends into the third panel, which finishes the sentence: it reads "I did whatever I could to be free," entirely written in red. The short-haired woman holds a glowing yellow knife in both hands. She approaches the long-haired woman from the first panel, who is sleeping in bed.

Page 4

I did not realize how much of myself I would be leaving behind.

This page is split into two panels.

The first panel reads "I did not realize how much of myself." The knife, still glowing yellow but now covered in red blood, clatters to the floor next to the bed.

The second panel reads "I would be leaving behind." The long-haired woman, covered in blood that has pooled into the shape of a heart, reaches out to comfort the short-haired woman. Some of the blood has splattered onto her face in a pattern that resembles tears. She has a wistful smile on her face.

The woman with short hair holds her hand and weeps; her tears are glowing yellow.