backdated to 4/12, welcome to ultimate nerd hell

[frostythehitman]

James Barnes shared a photo. April 12 near Recolle

There's got to be at least one comics nerd on here. Someone explain to me what all these old comics are supposed to be, and why they all have me in them. And before you say "just google it," I did and I couldn't find anything. I have no idea where Retrospec dug these up from. Also, I've got one free ticket to the shooting range I'm willing to share. The only catch is you have to be 18+ and willing to take me too. Let me know if you're interested.

((To view the comics in larger size/more detail, click here. There was no way i was gonna manage to embed that in a DW post. EDIT: also i added a bit to this post at 4/17 11:38 EST because I was a dumbass who forgot to include it originally, sorry for any possible confusion! ))

Comments

[true_noir]

Well, a winery, but in a way. And not really. I never knew what I was missing out on?

[frostythehitman]

Okay, fine, let me correct myself: a rock-paper-scissors-less grapevine.

So if you're from some winery in the Pyrenees, how'd you end up all the way in Recolle?

[true_noir]

Student Exchange Program and a student visa, and I decided to avail myself of the land of opportunity and get my citizenship, looking to help my mother and girlfriend move her one of these days.

[frostythehitman]

Well well. Sounds like a regular American dream tale right there.

What, the wine over there wasn't good enough?

[true_noir]

It is a bit of the classic trope, is it not? And the wine here is awful, simply awful. I did not come for what you Americans call liquor, believe me.

[frostythehitman]

Man, I'm still in high school. I don't know the first damn thing about wine or liquor.

[true_noir]

I am not much older, but the drinking age in France is a few years younger than it is here. Quite a few, in fact. So I am, shall we say, much more familiar.

[frostythehitman]

Yeah and I bet growing up on a vineyard helped. Tons of wine, whenever you want it.

Besides, even if the drinking age was as low as France's here, I'd still never be able to get away with taking even a sip.

[true_noir]

You have to wait for it to ferment, you know. Ah, but I should remember. Parents here can be so picky about things. It's kind of part of our culture, a little, though so is not drinking that much of it at a time.

[Which, admittedly, she wasn't always so good about.]

[frostythehitman]

Yeah well, take that pickiness and multiply it 10x. Everything's always stricter in the army--even in France, I bet.

[true_noir]

Ah, are you in the army, or is your family in that case? Yes, that would definitely make things more complicated.

comes back in 10 days late with starbucks

[frostythehitman]

Yup, army born and bred. If I get caught with booze or anything, it could go all the way up to my dad's CO.

Starbucks is good!

[true_noir]

Right, so list of gifts to send you does not include a bottle of fine cognac until you are 21, or at least 18 in Cancun. I am told this is a loved reason people go there.

[frostythehitman]

Well, it's still 21 even on international army bases, so fat load of good that'll do me.

Not like it matters, I'm not 18 yet anyway.

[true_noir]

Well, in that case, you will just have to wait for those joys. I will say that you're missing a little, but not so much that life is not fun without it. Nothing to fret over.

[frostythehitman]

For someone who grew up on a vineyard, you're really laid back about alcohol.

[true_noir]

It is just part of a French girl's life is all. We're very accustomed to it, so I suppose that I can be a little blase at times.

[frostythehitman]

Alright alright, let's cool it with the laid back European lifestyle praise. I'm sure it's not that great.

[true_noir]

I would like to think it was pretty great. Living the American Dream was the only reason I gave it up. Hard to own your own florist shop that far from main civilization.

[frostythehitman]

So you had a florist's shop...on a vineyard? In the middle of rural France?

Yeah, that's a little weird.

[true_noir]

Hmmm, no. To be clearer: I always dreamed of a job or running a business that involves caring for and tending plants somehow. I once worked on a vineyard, and when I came to America, I began working at a florist. Sorry that was unclear.

[frostythehitman]

Oh.

So business is booming over here, then?

[true_noir]

Enchanted Blossoms? yes, it's doing well. When I finish college, I hope to open up a shop of my own like it. It's been a joy to work there.

[frostythehitman]

Sounds like you found one of those picture perfect happy endings for yourself over here, then.

[true_noir]

That's the idea, yes. My own little American Dream. Can't think of a better reason to be in America than that.