New webcomic out: In Suitable Conditions!

A long time in the making – Two years after finishing my previous webcomic BSandL, I’m so happy I’m finally able to share my new webcomic In Suitable Conditions.

What is In Suitable Conditions?

After dropping out of university, Lissa is slowly becoming a shut-in until her roommate makes her find a job. Cleaning a kindergarten is not exactly what Lissa imagined herself doing, but a girl’s got to make rent. At least cleaning is a solitary activity, so she doesn’t have to talk to anyone!

Dream on. Not only does she have to get more involved in her working environment than she’d like to, a teacher there thinks he can just “pull her out of her shell”.

How will Lissa handle the expectations and her new responsibilities? Will her new friend make her a fully functional and mentally sound social virtuoso? Should she even become one, does she want to? What does she want, really?

In Suitable Conditions is a lighthearted story about heavy topics: anxiety, loneliness, identity, and resilience.

Out now on Tapas (English and Finnish) and Webtoons!

Why I created this series

In Suitable Conditions is based on my own experiences as a socially awkward potato and the struggles of pushing through a first job, higher education, professional and personal relationships, and feeling directionless in life and career.

Can a potato stay underground forever? Sheltered from the relentless air and beaming sun rays by the soft and gentle earth? You sure hope they can because you feel incapable of handling the responsibilities that await you above ground. You’re about to get eaten!

Now in my thirties, I’ve been forced to eject my being out of dirt and into plain air: find the joy of being social, supporting myself financially, and being able to move in and out of my house. It’s not so bad out here after all! Personal growth and reflection on my experiences have helped me create a narrative of my past and form insight on the vortex that might be going on within a person who’s in my situation.

Eventually, I felt I want to take distance to this narrative of myself; looking back does only so much good because you’re in danger of mutating into whatever image you’ve constructed of yourself. Let this comic be the final processing of the embarrassments and hard learnings of my twenties.

It took some time to find the protagonist to fumble through the story, but I’m happy to have found Lissa, an old character who’s lived with me for over a decade and slowly evolved into her current form. I feel like we’re still getting to know each other because she’s reluctant to reveal herself, but we’re getting there.

With In Suitable Conditions, I hope to give peer support to anyone who’s staying afloat, sometimes with solemnity but more often with a well-intended snicker at Lissa’s awkward adventures. Will she push through the dirt?

Support the comic on Patreon and get rewards

In Suitable Conditions is independently published. If you’d like to support the creation of this comic and get special monthly rewards, check out the options on patreon.com/nilukka.

If one-time payments are more your thing, you can buy me a coffee on Ko-fi, or consider purchasing In Suitable Conditions, Chapter 1 ebook on Gumroad.