This is kinda hearkening back to the attitude last seen on the 12th page of chapter 2. You don't really have the luxury to worry about others, so you learn not to. As you can also see from that same page, Tai's outlook has changed a bit since then, but it was not a change that came easily.
I'm personally rather proud with how this looks. I didn't think I could maintain the look on her throughout. But I did and now it's done. We will fast forward in time for the next page (but I'll still need to draw a kid, now I need to learn to draw a new age group! o_O wish me luck!
You'd think this would go quicker with no backgrounds, but I actually think it took LONGER to ink...and I didn't color that black in by hand, so I dunno what to think. XD
Also, someone pointed out a typo to me on the last page. Not a big deal, I corrected it and uploaded the new page...seven times...it's still not showing. After doing a quick scan of the forums, I found the problem. There's a bug in the system that won't let you replace old pages. The only way to fix it once it's been uploaded is to delete the whole thing and start from scratch...but this means I lose the comments underneath, and I don't want that. So both versions of the page that I have on my computer are now corrected, but you won't be seeing it any time soon. This is sad too, because I had this super-rad plan for going through the archives and fixing all the typos. I even took the time to read it through carefully searching for them and noting them so that I could go back through and correct them. Now I can't do that. I'll still be fixing them, but the changes won't be taking effect here on DD.
It sads me, but that's why the typos you see will be staying for a while (though don't hesitate to point them out. I totally want to make sure they're all fixed.)
DAJB - OH! So it WOULD be worthwhile to go ahead and upload the corrections when I do them, they just won't show for forever...okay, that's do-able (I mean, they've gone this long with the typos, the comic isn't going to collapse now). Thanks for the info!
Tantz Aerine - Boetheri biology is VERY similar to humans and much less like elves, so their approximate sizes and rate of aging is the same as a human.
That said, I took come liberties with the proportions in these pages because they're from Tai's memories, and they aren't necessarily accurate. I tried to draw the disembodied hands as being really big, because I envision that the owner of those hands is someone she's still afraid and intimidated by.
Thanks for the question! (I like to ramble XD)
I think changes do show up eventually. But, you know how it takes days for changes to your avatar and thumbnail to take place ...? It takes weeks for replacement pages!