Faith: 1 | Blaire: 0
___
(Also don't forget about last week's bonus monthly page!)
This page goes out to Shepple, developer of HeartBeat. I am so grateful to have been able to get to know you on as a friend. You're incredibly talented and wickedly funny, and like many other women important in my life, I wanted a piece of you to exist in LB. Thank you for all the love, support and guidance you have given my work 💖
HeartBeat is a gorgeous pixel-art RPG that's packed to the brim with unique female characters. While tricky to 10 year old Faith, I would say it's pretty beginner-friendly. It's got multiple endings, great music - and there's a sequel in the works (which may or may not contain some LB easter eggs 👀). So if you're looking to support an incredibly talented lesbian putting in the legwork to make the media she wants to see, please consider supporting HeartBeat.
71 thoughts on “CH11P28”
Sunny
I’m hollering at Faith thinking Jaden is 16 and OLD ENOUGH TO HAVE BEEN BORN BEFORE VIDEO GAMES! That’s such a child thing to say and I love her so much!! Violet did such a great job raising her
PS: I will never get over Rileys face in the second panel. It’s a masterpiece lol
rustyhearts
Inspired by my niece asking if I’d seen Bluey recently., I responded “no”, and she nodded sagely, “Ah that’s right, they didn’t have TV back in the olden days when you were a kid did they?”
Took me the fuck out!!! Absolutely Blaire’d in that moment.
Violet doing her best to guide her daughter but also allow her to express her little hater thoughts XD
PS. Thank you, I am so happy with how it turned out XD
R.R.
I’d definitely recommend watching Bluey even thought we are from “the olden days”.
Best show for parents and children I’ve ever seen.
I watched the episode about how mothers work harder than fathers but don’t get as much credit with my niece and it was so funny and well done that it’s my go to show to put on when we’re relaxing in front of the TV now.
anonymoo
lmfaooo I love Faith, she’s gonna cause a lot of “trouble” at the party huh 😏 Faith teaching Jaden how to play her first videogame is also adorable 💛
rustyhearts
Finally, the kind of trouble we want to see!
Valerie
Faith 🥰🥰🥰🥰💖💖💖💖💖💖💖
bbbb
that blue shocked Riley face though, LOL
rustyhearts
Sucked on 1000 lemons 🍋🍋
Kory who take Faith by the wrist and declares her winner by KO
THANK YOU FAITH FOR SAVING JADEN !
This page is so so funny, the comedic timing with the previous page is so perfect I keep rereading them back to back, even hearing the classic anime soundtrack we would get !
I’ll never recover from Riley’s face in the second panel either, she looks so shocked, so expecting everything to implode explode yet it’s hilarious xD.
Faith having more media literacy and feminist analysis than adult women is both amazing and so saddening at the same time ;_; You would expect Blaire and the QT to be able to recognize that this basic sexism is not a model to emulate but to change v_v
Also, Violet looks so fine in every panel she is it will be a looong decade of pining for her while waiting for Faith to reach adulthood so I can finally date Violet v_v
PS: your inner europeancentric beauty standards are really creeping out, neither Riley nor Blaire nor Violet even have noses anymore in that last panel !!! I feel so represented as a european who had been drawn with huge cyrano-pinocchio noses by manga all my life !
rustyhearts
Thank you so much for your wonderful commentary as always Miss Kory 💜
You have the patience of a Saint waiting for Faith’s 18th birthday so you can court Violet 🤣🤣
Charly
HAHAHAHA FAITH IS NOW THE BEST CHARACTER
Love her confidence and how willing to share her opinion she is! Also lmao at her thinking Jaden is 16 😭 also I feel so bad for Riley omg
rustyhearts
Faith: expert Feminist analysis
Also Faith: 16 is pretty old
😭😭
DiscountSmirnoff
Oh, Faith… So small and already an absolute girlboss. We all are in her debt for saving Jaden from that cringe-ass show. /wipes a tear of joy/
rustyhearts
We’ve been focusing on the wrong girlboss this whole time 😭😭
miss girl
FAITH BHAHAHAHAHA I’M SO GLAD SHE DIDNT GET SCOLDED FOR SAYING THAT. also ya Allah blaire needs to get a handle on herself lol. Funny page.
marci
LMAOO faith baby ilysm 😭
Crypty
FAITH WAS THE FIRST BRICK THROWN AT STONEWALL📣📣📣
fkelkdnfalkskchkd i would die for this child she is out her psychicly kneecapping every adult in the room i think the only person who hasn’t taken damage in this page is Muddles 🤣
rustyhearts
She was the brick. She was the thrower. She was the WALL. 😎
Faith Fan Club President
someone please get Blaire and ambulance
rustyhearts
🚑🚑🚑🚑🚑🚑🚑
Nonnie
Faith: Call an Ambulance! But not for me!
Ada
Oh my god Rusty I love this page. My skin is radiant, my crops are abundant, I’m flourishing. Amazing!!!!
rustyhearts
You’re most welcome, you deserve it breastie 🥰🥰
Jaden lover and Faith admirer
Omg Faith is truly the best haha I love that little baby 😭😭
I can’t wait to see how Blaire is going to report this to her lil club lmao.
Also very cute to have Heartbeat get a nod on your webcomic, I will definitely check it out!
rustyhearts
“So what did jaden think of Star Shifters?”
Blaire, hobbling still in deep disarray, “So there was this kid.. ”
And thank you for checking out HB!
K
Faith continues to be the best. Honestly, I should have seen that coming – of course she’s already seen the series! That hadn’t even occurred to me as an option even though she actually is in the age range for it.
Also, good choice in games, kid!
rustyhearts
The target demographic and secret little hater 🤣 though in her mind she didn’t do anything noteworthy here. As far as faith is concerned she is merely participating in the discussion by sharing her thoughts 🤣
K
She made a very valuable contribution to the discourse! But yeah, she’s just a kid being honest. I love her so much. I don’t even like kids but I would volunteer to babysit this one.
rustyhearts
Wow, very high praise!
Totally Not HB Dev
Ack, finally managed to catch up after these hectic months. Can’t believe Blaire got BTFO (even if I love her) by Giga Chad Child Faith. Blaire may have pubes but she has zero defense against the honesty of a kid. Sorry, babygirl, maybe if you had more brain cells.
Also yes the secret easter eggs… 👀 Wonder where those are… 👀
-Signed,
A totally random stranger I SWEAR!
rustyhearts
The pubes couldn’t protect her from an all out psychic attack 😞😞
Can’t wait for HB2 total stranger just informing you generally :3
Green
LMAOOOO based Faith! I wasn’t expecting that, I thought she was going to like the show and Blaire would take it as a sign Faith also has a boy-gender-soul or whatever.
I love the expressions on this page. Riley dying inside, Blaire getting pushed by the speech bubble… it’s so anime! I can almost hear the soundtrack cutting off when Faith speaks.
rustyhearts
Trying to keep Faith’s reaction to Star Shifters a secret was a herculean effort, lemme tell you 🤣🤣
The anime inspo really came out in full swing on this page 🤣❤️
A.N. Onymous
I am CACKLING at Riley’s expression in the second panel, oh my god. I love Faith so much, everything she says and does is absolute gold.
rustyhearts
Riley: 🍋🍋🍋🍋🍋
Faith @ Blaire:
JJ
Local woman gets absolutely taken the fuck out by a based af child. More on this story tonight at 11.
rustyhearts
Watching. Staying informed 👁👄👁
Cath
This update has me giggling and smiling in the middle of cracker barrel like an idiot I absolutely adore Faith-
She reminds me of younger me before I learned how to properly mask- just full blunt opinions 24/7-
If you ever doodle a “what happens afterwards” kind of thing after Leasebound ends I can’t wait to see how Fsith grows up!!
Also again, amazing job! I know I’ve said this before in a previous comment but it’s crazy seeing you progress in art!! Amazing job and ty for being an older woman to look up too!!
rustyhearts
This fills me with so much joy, thank you!
Please know tho, you took me tf out Faith-Style calling me an older woman. Miss Cath I am 27 💀💀 feels crazy to think of myself as old enough to look up to🤣
Always happy to make women (of any age) laugh tho. So truly, thank you for all your words of encouragement 🥰
Mary
Get ’em, Faith! HeartBeat is such a good game! I wish it actually was on a mobile platform. Also love that Faith has cargo shorts for her 2DS.
rustyhearts
Right?? It’d be perfectly at home on something like the 2DS!
Nonnie
C-C-C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER!
I love Faith so much.
Ms. Clicker
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH W FAITH!! 😂😂 Naaahh Call her Bllaire for taking that L.
Bro this housewarming party is gonna be great.
Faith: No silly clown lady! boys don’t turn into girls! didn’t they have health classes when you were a kid?
lmaooo
C
Lovely page, I really love how you write faith, I think she is the first actually cute but still authentic child character I’ve seen in a long time. And thank you for reminding me I still have heartbeat sat in my library to play “^^
rustyhearts
That’s a huge compliment, thank you! I do try to keep the balance between her being a cute kid and an annoying kid. Mostly by trying to make sure the characters are more burdened by her child traits than the readers 😅
I gotta finish HB too tbh!! Happy playing!
Becca
I almost choked on my water from laughing I love everything about this page.
rustyhearts
🤣🤣🤣
Happy Happy Happy
great page, faith continues to be my favourite character 🙂 Also I just bought heartbeat lol
rustyhearts
Faith winning her way into everyone’s hearts warms MY heart.
Thank you for supporting HB! i hope you enjoy playing it 🥰
HorseBlaire
💀💀💀
rustyhearts
Disclaimer: no horses were harmed in the making of this page.
Norm L. Esbian
HA!!!! kids really do say exactly what they think though. faith kept pretty true to life 😂
DasFeministMermaid
I adore Faith’s happy lil face in the first panel. She’s so great. And in her head, she’s probably like “take THAT, rival-for-my-crush’s-attention!😤”. Have we ever seen Blaire at a loss for words before?
Vitamin C
This is by far the best page yet. Love the way you show the effect of Faith’s words on Blaire. In general, your art style has gotten so expressive and creative. Can’t wait to see what Blaire will be up to next week.
rustyhearts
Thank you!!!
Parniyas biggest fan
W little child whose name I forgot
rustyhearts
It’s okay, you’ve remembered your fave’s name. That’s enough 🤣🤣
Parniyas biggest fan
Yes I remember Faith now, I’ve only recently started reading Leasebound a few weeks ago through trying to find lesbian videos on “Ding dong”. I ended up falling down a gendie hole where a TIF was talking about it. I skim through the pages very quickly which is how I don’t remember a lot but I love the story.
And yes, I LOVE Parns, I am not one for fictional crushes as I have a lovely girlfriend but something about her sings to me! Maybe it is because she is so tall like my girlfriend? Although she is definitely not as tall as Parniya LOL. Will there be more of her or is her story pretty much done when she rescued Jaden?
rustyhearts
Oh noooo it made it to tiktok? 🤣🤣 I would love to see the video if you find it again! Gotta thank that girlie for the free advertising!
And fear not, you haven’t seen the last of Parniya or the other Yonique staff. ❤️
Sof
I AM SO PROUD OF BABY FAITH 😭
rustyhearts
Everyone becoming an honorary proud big sister to Faith in this moment 😤😤
Alex
Yessssss go Faith!! 😂😂
Jude
Something something the seeds of truth come from the mouths of babes something something. Faith ain’t even in highschool yet and she’s already more intelligent than most woke professors, lol.
But in all seriousness, mad appreciation for the story so far. I ran into this in early 2019 when I was just in my early-gender critical phase and dipped because it showcased too many uncomfortable questions and had me rethinking some close friendships. I’m back now and very excited for the upcoming chapters. Some notes:
🔴Always had the hots for Jaden, both wanted to be her (esp. the normie aspects) and be with her (need me tall, protective, dorky gf). Love her supportive mom and their realistic mother-daughter struggle (same with mine except she’s not as kind, forgiving, or feminist. Reading this comic helps me cope with my current homophobic living situation)
🟠Blaire. BLAIRE. BLAIRE. This woman sends me into a tivy. From the rampant misogyny (internalized + externalized), boundary stepping behavior she treats both her girlfriend and employs w/her “friends” (QTs) to the infantilization with thinking a CARTOON can change someone’s (a whole-ass adult, spec.) understanding of basic reality, she is a lot. I don’t hate her (yet, it’s just pity rn), but damn am I angry. Also the way she makes Riley feel is fucked up.
🟡Great Bi representation. I know the worn stereotype of bi women never taking their relationships with lesbians seriously and “Oh, they’re going to leave me for a man” mindset being everywhere. Definitely some bi women deserve this, but I think that a majority of this comes from heteronormative thinking/pressure, misogyny (as always) , internalized homophobia (in both the bi and gay women), and a lack of female-female positive and long lasting romance representation.
Too much of media is male-centric, violent against same-sex attracted women, and not accessible to young bi and gay women. Most lesbian novels were either written decades ago (’20s to ’90s), have been riddled with TQWERTYIIIAASDERP+ nonsense (and thus very jarring), or very fetishistic and see lesbian as just SEX, SEX, SEX or bisexual as SEX, PENIS, SEX and no romantic-platonic female relationships or healthy character growth. This is such a breath of air in a sea of rubbish.
🟢The TiFs, especially the “gay transmen” (see: straight) are killing me. I knew a TiF just like “Kai” and she drove me mad with her misogynistic + homophobic reasoning as to why she was a “man.” Tried to get me to transition or consider an alternate “” identity”” after I relayed my experiences to try to get her to see the bullshit.
Also, why is it the most feminine presenting, rich, and pick-me typical white women OR deeply traumatized (gay or bi, also often POC) women who fall for this nonsense? Like I see it all the time in these ” queer circles” and it kills me.
It just seems likely a bunch of Straight girls who don’t have any hobbies outside of obsessing over their sexuality, presentation, and self-hate pry into these circles and spread the most regressive jargon I’ve ever heard… and people still eat it up!
Like, ma’am I know it sucks sometimes being a woman (mostly because of men), but that’s literally your reality and always will be. If you were sane and healthy you’d learn that that’s not a bad thing, that women are not inferior to men, and that acknowledging biological realities is not some kind of death sentence for gnc people.
I can’t feel empathy though, because they helped pave the way for TiM to gain traction and become the (inaccurate) face of the gay rights movement. Speaking of…
🔵All the TiMs you’ve drawn are extremely accurate to real life. Anyone who’s had the misfortune of ever tracking into trans twitter, any Reddit trans sub forum, or has been to their colleges queer groups knows what I’m talking about. It’s almost always weird, grubby, straight men who are porn sick, work in IT, and were previously super racist, homophobic, sexist assholes until they ✨magically✨ discovered being tWaNz🥳🥳.
Now they spend all their time pursuing women to try to pass off as being in a lesbian relationship for their own egoes. For the TiFs it’s mostly internalized misogyny, but for the TiMs it’s almost always just regular misogyny, which has geared up to 13. And the way people fall over themselves to keep these violent, narcissistic, gross moids happy never fails to baffle me.
They are literally the worst versions of men and walk around like female caricatures, but handmaidens just don’t let up! It would be funny if it wasn’t so saddening, but you do make it quite funny.
🟣Speaking of homophobia, Alexis is the future I’m terrified of. I understand her never dating women until College because that’s often a time that young women can finally pursue their same sex interests without immediate homophobic reactions from family. She’s the second woman in a piece of media that I’ve seen shipped off to a horrible place because of the “disease” within her.
Coming from a religious family it is very scary and very much a reality. I feel like there are tons of privileged “queer” and (actually) bi/gay people who don’t understand that this is very much a reality, especially for POC women and women from immigrant families. We are definitely still struggling in the West, but both homosexual rights and women’s rights are basically non-existent and non-western Nations.
“Well, why did she date men if she can’t date women?” Her older sister didn’t go to college and immediately got pregnant with a husband, her mother prides herself on being a housewife and wants —no, demands— grandkids, and her father and his brothers are shown to have extremely predatory views towards gay or bi women.
She can still pursue relationships, but she can’t fully appreciate her whole sexuality and actually find her true love without these blocks.
She might also not have been allowed to pursue the idea or hidden that part of her (due to the idea that same-sex desire is “wrong” instilled in a lot of young people) due to shame.
🏳️🌈Healthy representation of butch women as fully rounded, fleshed out people with their own personal struggles, doubts, and reasons for adopting a more masculine aesthetic? That’s crazy! Do it more.
Thank you so much for writing this story! You make me want to explore my feminist and female-attracted interests without feeling like shit. You’re actually brave for continuing despite the threats, bannings, and regular insults. Thank you, Rusty!
rustyhearts
Thank YOU so much for such high praise – I thoroughly enjoyed reading your comment. I hope you continue to enjoy reading LB, love,love, LOVE all the thoughts it’s provoked within ❤️
BlackSwallowtail
Out of the mouths of babes! There are unfortunately many ways the clown club could twist this to their narrative, but for now I’m going to enjoy the win.
rustyhearts
Sometimes it’s good to live in the moment.. ignore the looming shadow. It’s nothing I promise :3
Didi
M-M-M-MONSTER KILL. Faith reminds me strongly in this moment of a time I dragged a school counselor for being a fan of a very popular but very Bad book series of the time. My mother was more than a little embarrassed but I was determined. I feel ya, kid.
Scully
Normally I think it’s pretty rude if someone expresses that they like something to jump in and start talking about how much you hate it.
Like for example if I say I really like cats and someone immediately pounces on telling me how much they absolutely hate cats and think it’s dumb that I like them, or if I say that I like playing video games and someone jumps down my throat about how much they hate playing video games.
To me it just seems like a selfish thing to squash someone else’s joy like that, and when I worked in childcare I always tried to teach kids that this was a rude and unnecessary thing to do.
However, I guess in this case it’s different because it’s pointing out that something is sexist.
rustyhearts
I agree with the examples you gave but I don’t think Faith is being particularly rude. Socially inexperienced maybe, but there’s no malice in what she’s saying. She’s just sharing information. Didn’t even interrupt anybody.
She asked Blaire about the DVD, Blaire barely acknowledged her, told Jaden about the show, and then in a gap of verbal conversation Faith added her thoughts about Star Shifters and how she disagreed with Blaire’s assertion that she liked it.
I’d much rather little girls be able to speak up about what they like and dislike (and possibly be a little rude in the process) than not speak their minds.
WaffleBrat