oh my gosh THEY'RE ALL GROWN UP! gah, I am totally freaking out about this, imagining them having grown up together, especially because we have some idea of the in-between from the 3rd chapter of YAMASAGANS. but this is like the outcome of all that - here we get to see, in detail, what those years caused in them overall
ooh interesting...the train has been out of commission for 5 whole years...i'm betting that's to do with why this third member is only going to react now. oooh no I just realised that that means it'll have been 10 years since Max's mum died...there's no way she'd still be around for him to meet...
oh I love how you've accommodated for the canon comics, its so easy to imagine this series being real, just happening after the comic ends!
and the save face martyr-thing, the reading and Eightfold, the parkour, the fact that they got worried about Max's mental health but their concerns were assuaged and they all have this developed, comfortable dynamic GAH THE GRASP OF THE CHARACTERS IS PHENOMENAL! it's just perfect for imagining where they will be at this age; they know each other as well as themselves but they're still too young for that to mean they know each other inside and out. they still surprise each other, they still keep some things below the surface level and hide stuff, and they're still growing into themselves. god I love this so much
oh man, Spenders insights into the kids just makes this even better!
oh man Isaac and Ma have changed over the years and so has the dynamic of the pining...
oh jeez Spender's obsessed with this third one...interesting subversion of expectations - I was sure they'd more or less have forgotten about it and would be caught unawares, but this is so much worse (in a good way, like the tension is killing me like it must have been killing Rick - I mean 6 years, jeez...)
damn this all looks so freaking good!