this project as a whole would not be possible without a great number of dear friends and incredible artists.

friends

first of all, we understand that as white creators, we will never be able to provide a truly in-depth and personal representation of the experiences of people of color. part of our intention in creating this comic was to learn more about the perspectives and experiences of others in order to become better artists and better people. still, we know that we will make mistakes and misrepresentations, and the experiences of our characters will not accurately reflect the experiences of all those like them in the real world. the question of what is

"good representation" is complex, and constantly growing as popular media becomes more diverse. we are trying to craft the best story we can, and it is a story first and foremost about love, friendship, and high school. our characters' identities affect this story, but they are not the driving force in it. we do not have the authority to make them so.

with that in mind, we would like to thank our friends who were able to answer questions and guide the representation of our characters and their families. In particular, thank you to jess and veda for your invaluable perspectives that shaped the characters of avery and vashti in particular (and for making sure the sawant family have a proper hindi calendar on their wall, even if it is the wrong month.)

in addition, we would like to offer a begrudging thank you to our high school as a whole for its role in making this comic possible. there are many differences between a real public high school in baton rouge, louisiana and a fictional private academy somewhere west of boston, but the people within them may share a resemblance in a certain light.