Ali, Taptap and Friends

Firefly comics

A four-panel strip about two best friends who happen to be fireflies. One idea per strip, and every one of them is true.

Ali flashes warm yellow and is small and quick. Taptap flashes green and is big and patient. Say their names together and you get alitaptap, the Filipino word for firefly. Their friend Kislap (Filipino for spark) flashes blue-white, almost cold. The others are named after the word for firefly in their own countries: Hotaru in Japan, Kunang in Indonesia, Luci in Spain, Yingying in China, Vaga in Brazil, Luciole in France. It is the same beetle everywhere, with the same problem.

  • No. 1 Say their names together

    No. 1 Say their names together
    1. Ali is small and quick. Taptap is big and patient.
    2. Best friends, different fireflies — so they flash different colours.
    3. Their friend Kislap is blue-white, almost cold.
    4. Colour is the first thing an expert asks you about.

    Sep 5, 2026

  • No. 2 Everyone has a word for it

    No. 2 Everyone has a word for it
    1. In Japan, Ali meets Hotaru. Hotaru means firefly.
    2. In Indonesia, Kunang. In Spain, Luci.
    3. Yingying in China. Vaga in Brazil.
    4. Same beetle. Same problem. Every language has a name for it.

    Sep 5, 2026

  • No. 3 Ali has one line

    No. 3 Ali has one line
    1. Ali has exactly one line. She has practised all year.
    2. Tonight is the night. Somebody fits a security light.
    3. Nobody can see her. Not even a little.
    4. One shade on one lamp. Taptap was there the whole time.

    Sep 5, 2026

  • No. 4 Watch one, not all of them

    No. 4 Watch one, not all of them
    1. Taptap watches the whole field. Two hundred lights at once.
    2. Even three at once blur. He loses every one of them.
    3. Ali says, pick one firefly. Follow it for thirty seconds.
    4. One flash. A long wait. Now Taptap knows who it is.

    Sep 8, 2026