Meeting over.
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Theresa sent me another fan art piece, and I’d love to share it with everyone!
Thanks Theresa!
Sometimes i can't think of commentary text.
Meeting over.
– – – – –
Theresa sent me another fan art piece, and I’d love to share it with everyone!
Thanks Theresa!
No one fell in when todd opened the door that must mean the girls are too busy glaring at each other. 😉
“screw it”… Isn’t that what Todd said before he asked her out or kissed her? I don’t remember which. I love the duality there, though. Kudos, Dave, and hope you are well!
I am, thank you! Just caught a something that had me feeling rundown. Much better now!
I love your comic.
Just a tiny note today, “anymore” is not the same as “any more”, and you picked the wrong one.
Keep up the good work.
Yes… actually, if you’re in doubt, Dave, it’s always safe to separate those two words. ‘Anymore” can always be written “any more” and you’ll be fine for all readers, no matter what meaning you intend, because it’s standard English everywhere.
“Anymore” is a neologism that has gained some contested acceptability, in some places, in contexts like “We can’t be friends anymore,” when the meaning is any longer or nowadays. (But “We can’t be friends any more,” also works and won’t bother anyone.)
It is quite jarring to nearly all readers with any sort of grammar filter in their heads to encounter “We can’t be anymore than friends.” So… if you don’t want to have to worry about when it’s acceptable to jam the two words into one, just don’t. Everyone will understand you, and you won’t have annoying people like me and ethelthefrog clearing their throats and offering corrections!
I’m not a native English user, and I didn’t think there was a difference beyond how it was written. Kinda like using “center” or “centre”. What’s the actual difference?
“I appreciate that, Mina, but right now I need to head out there and give my daughter a hug, then prepare for what’ll likely be one of the most awkward evenings of my life, trying to maintain a pleasant front for my daughter and my biological child while simultaneously maintaining my emotional distance from my ex *and* possibly shielding her from my parents who will likely be incandescently furious with her…”
“Incandescently Furious” – excellent descriptor! Totally stealing that, btw! 😀
They’ll be glowing Cherenkov blue just from hearing about it, they’ll run up to class B solar when they see here, eye to eye. Thin flammable objects will burst into flame, leaves, papers, gum wrappers and the like, as they walk down the hall. Dust bunnies will smolder and anything moist will emit a fog. Then Todd’s dad will open his mouth and a stream of molten anger will spew forth, as from the mouth of Tolkien’s Smaug … It’ll be something Andi will fight against, then the ice dragon moves in, Todd’s Mom. The voice of cold reason. Andi will likely swell up and like a Valkierie, Andi will show her true stripes in shining gold plate-armor, and explain the whole thing, and everyone will cry, even the readers, no?
Ooooo I can’t wait!!
I realize the above scenario is my story, not the one Dave wants to show us, but still, OOoooh I can’t wait.
If Todd’s parents are dragons in this scenario, what would Andi’s mother be?
The angry troll under the bridge.
Ditto!
I shall populate the web with it.
This fanart is super adorable 😀
I suppose, sooner or later, Selkie and / or Amanda will graduate from this school. Then maybe things will look different.
They don’t have to graduate from the school, just from Mina’s class. Like, next spring. Then there will be no conflict of interest, and I can’t see how Mina would get into trouble professionally.
Unless Todd finds a couple-few more misplaced daughters….
Surprise twist: Todd fathered all of the orphanage kids. And Truck.
If they start dating right after the school year ends, people might assume they were secretly together before that which might cause a lot of problems for Mina even if there is no proof.
Then again, the Teachers Union is incredibly strong.
The teacher´s union can´t stop people talking behind someone´s back.
Mina might not be fired, but how much she´ll enjoy staying that school, that´s a different matter.
No, Mina, you’re making very normal, human choices; and the one you made in panels 2-4 was kind and compassionate. Todd’s smart; he won’t take it the wrong way.
I really like Todd’s sweet, understanding expression in panels 4 & 5.
DANG, Dave, how do you get so communicative with such a minimalist style? I have marveled at this before.
That really wasn’t the impression I got. I thought his expression was rather smirking, and just figured it was an unintentional look on Dave’s part when he was drawing.
There’s always next school year…
Yep – heck, even after the end of this one (provided Selkie isn’t held back). X days until we can date without suspicion. Y days until we can date without suspicion…
Wait so I get that they can’t date right at this moment specifically for the fact that Mina is his daughter’s teacher. But what about when Selkie moves up a grade? I get that there’s religious implications involved but if they date modestly and kept it on the DL until they were ready to get serious, would it be that much of a problem?
Im not 100% informed about the issues going on with Mina and her own child, but since they are in America, if she were dating (or engaged, or married again.. much in the future) and she fought for custody, her having another spouse of some sort should not interfere in a judicial custody battle.
I guess what I mean to ask is I know there’s implications and its definitely a situation that has to be handled with delicacy… but after Selkie graduates to the next grade, what’s really stopping Todd and Mina from dating (ignoring all the mama-drama)?
There´s also the problem that Mina is Muslim and Todd is not. Most Muslim cultures frown very much on a relationship between a Muslim woman and a non-Muslim man – going strictly by the book, it´s forbidden.
that’s not really true. It’s about as true as the whole “Jews can’t marry non-Jews” and “Christians can’t marry non-Christians”, except the bit where the Quran does says that anything that is kosher is also halal and vice verse. Basically you have to go find a really strict sect that actually pays attention to those sorts of things, much like in Christianity, Judaism, Catholicism, etc. etc.
Yup. Speaking as a Jew married to a non-Jew, it really didn’t raise eyebrows in either of our households. Had we been VERY religious – conservatively religious – there may have been issues at synagogue etc, but even most synagogues are fairly lenient about that these days.
Orthodox, now… but let’s not talk about that.
She’s also her own person and even if she identifies by religion she doesn’t just identify by religion. She might ignore whatever her religious leader’s feelings on the matter and do what she wishes. The heart wants what the heart wants they say. We don’t know how strictly she follows her faith.
For instance: I’m mormon and I don’t follow the tenants very strongly at all, yet I still discuss God and talk to Him. It’s all a matter of how closely she identifies with the religion itself while keeping at least some self identification with her version of God.
There´s also peer pressure to consider.
Even if Mina does not consider certain rules binding for herself, her community might, and being ostracized by (former) friends and acquaintances, even family, is no laughing matter.
And that doesn´t even touch that fact that, even today, even in Muslim communities in civilized nation, it keeps happening that women are murdered for “bringing dishonor to their family”, such as by having a non-Muslim boyfriend.
That’s an incredibly simplistic and frankly insulting view of Muslim communities. Pretty much every Muslim I know (and I know quite a lot for a medium sized town in the Midwest, especially not being Muslim myself) is nothing like what you described, and pretty much spot on what Miss Afkami is portrayed as: pretty “normal”. Besides, that’s more of a “Japan” and “India” thing, with the shame on the family. And the only place that has any type of regular killing for family honor is India, at least in major nations, and that’s pretty much relegated to the high poverty areas which don’t have much access to the rest of the world. That’s not exactly a Muslim thing. While it’s true that a number of Arab nations have major civil liberties issues at the moment, it is a relatively new phenomenon, dating back to the 1940s and 50s. Yeah, just 50 years ago. Also, only about 15% of the world’s Muslims are Arab. The largest Muslim nation in the world is actually Indonesia, with India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan pulling up the next 4.
Actually, such honor killings are happening here in Germany, as well. Not just Arab, mostly among the Turkish minority.
I don´t know why you´re fixating on Arabs, though; I know Turkey (rural Turkey, at least, where a lot of the Turks in Germany are originally from) and Iran aren´t Arab, and they both, *especially* Iran, where Mina is also from (or at least her ancestors are), have such issues as well.
The more modern, cosmopolitan Muslims aren´t so big about those rules, that´s true – for example I would be surprised if Mina would as much as bat an eyelash if her daughter brought a non-Muslim boyfriend (or for that matter, a girlfriend) home. The more conservative elements, even those in Western countries for whom Islam is a connection to their homeland and their heritage, are a completely different story.
Less so in America than many other places.
I know observant Musleemas who have married Jews, Christians, Atheists and Buddhists
You’re thinking with your heart instead of your head, Mina. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. As long as the two of you can behave yourselves until the end of the school year, there’s nothing wrong here. And as one who WILL get to deal with some of how this all affects Selkie, Amanda, and their circles of friends, having an In with Todd to find out what’s really going on will help everyone. Plus, I doubt Todd’s likely to let his oversimplified white lie stand long enough to become toxic to you if you keep the communication lines open.
Heck, learning Andi shares an apartment building with someone who’s probably at least somewhat trained in dealing with children with issues could go FAR to helping Amanda and Andi.
You made the harder, more complicated choice, but I wouldn’t really call it the terrible one.
I don’t think it’s right that she and Todd might be discussing Andi and Amanda in the future without also talking to Andi. Talking to one parent behind the others back and getting involved in their family problems this way doesn’t seem professional to me.
The circumstances behind the Todd/Andi/Amanda situation make the whole thing a MUCH bigger possibility for drama and trouble that may spill over to the classroom. I don’t mean to say that they’ll end up discussing Andi, but Amanda’s a fair topic, and Amanda has realized that there is something more behind her being placed for adoption than Andi’s told her. This is an open door to something that could be good for Amanda.
As you point out, it could also be bad for everyone involved. That’s why I added the “behave yourselves” caveat. We’ll find out how it all works out, or doesn’t, as the story continues to unfold.
Mina, you’re blushing. Blushing means crushing!
“sleepyrobin! Go do your homework!”
You can also blush out of shame or any other strong emotion.
I like the t on the end of the clicking sound. It just sounds right in my head for some reason.
If you’re blushing your crushing!!
Also, I think that’s a prayer we’ve all made at least once, in some form or another. XD
We all know those nutty kids are totally into each other. Despite Todd’s misstep, she’s not going to just lose her feelings for him. And I for one support this. We can get so much fun and funny drama out of them fighting their feelings for each other to varying degrees of success.
Actually, you can also blush out of shame or shyness, or any strong emotion.
There is one other option. She could quit and date whoever she wanted.
And be a single parent without a job? Not a very good choice. That’s about as good as suggesting Todd take Selkie out of the school (where she’s accepted by staff and where her friends are) so he and Mina could date.
Mina shout to Allah what you wish to say!
“SCREW IT”!!!
Do the mermaids in the fan art remind anyone else of the Dirty Pair?