I remember liking gym class when I was Selkie’s age. At that age it was just fun unstructured stuff like freeze tag and duck duck goose, or whatever you call the big rainbow parachute. I didn’t start hating gym class until we had to do stuff with teams and rules.
Whatever that may say about me.
Due to poor time management, I couldn't do shadowing on this one. Sorry. -EDIT- And one whole update day later, I've gone and retroactively shaded the comic. Also added some classroom details to panel 3 that I forgot earlier. Yay retcon!
Don’t worry selkie, I never liked gym class as well 🙂
My gym class coach was a jock who thought and taught like one. So, if you weren’t one, you got neither sympathy nor notice. It was essentially state-sponsored terrorism.
P.E teacher was the coach of the great britain gymnastics team. He leaned like HELL on ya n, expected every kid doin backflips, never mind the M.S or Autism, when ya couldn’t do it he shoved ya over ta badminton and netball and acted like it was a mark of shame.
I 100% agree with you on when I started hating P.E., Dave. The big balloon thing was AWESOME ^_^. Bombardment ruined everything for me :(. (It was like dodgeball, except the main goal was to knock the tennis ball off of the other team’s plastic cone.)
I miss dodgeball. The school system here in my county had all schools stop allowing dodgeball to be played? Why?
“You’re throwing those balls around, someone could get hurt!” Yeah, DUH. Part of the game was character building through having bruises on your stomach and chest, and blood pouring down from your nose. You hurt? Walk it off!
Gee I didn’t know it was character building when the threw balls at the kid with the learning disability. Wow Catholic school I miss judged you <.<
Eh, didn’t really have that problem when we played. The kids with learning disabilities and such usually had gym separate from everyone else. The few times they DID play with us… well, everyone wanted those kids on our team.
They hit hard. I still have phantom pains. Good times, good times.
I gotta say I’m with The Bard on this one. I wore hearing aids. As if having rocks thrown at me, called ugly (when I wasn’t, but I believed them), having my speech impediment mimicked wasn’t enough? Now they get to throw balls at me. Guess who they targeted the most with those balls? I never won dodgeball.
Dude I am so with you, I never the special treatment Lazruth mentioned at her school. I was just the “retard” that everyone threw their aggression on.
I had to have a kidney removed due to cancer in second grade. When I came back to school the next year, I was not put in a separate gym class or anything. I was in regular gym with everybody else. However, since I only had one kidney, playing dodge-ball or contact sports or anything else that could have caused kidney damage could have left me in need of a replacement kidney. Having to get a replacement kidney would have meant the risk of rejection (the donated tissue and my own body fighting each other). Even if this didn’t kill me or cause immediate problems, the possibility of it happening would have still been something I would have had to deal with for the rest of my life. I would still have to go to the hospital to find out whether a part of my body is trying to kill me (again). You are certainly entitled to your fond memories, but not every injury can be walked off, and I would hardly call risking a seven-year-old’s life and health for the sake of a game “character building.”
I guess I was one of the lucky ones– our elementary-school teacher was one of the awesomest adults I knew at that age. He was tough and never let anyone slack, but he was also very fun and silly, and always fair. Nobody got away with bullying in his class.
We had WarBall. 50 guys split between two teams, 6-10 volleyballs, one gym, knock everyone out on the other team to win.
Hated it hated it hated it.
We had Battleball. Two teams, two sides, but 15-20 kids on each side. If you were able to catch the ball, the thrower was out. Had a playing area about the size of a tennis court.
Last picked, not that great at it, but a lot of fun.
Umm…could you shade it latter?
xD
That’s okay, Dave. I did the extra shading on mine and got it up around 1:45am PST but it’s because of a funeral I have to go to in about 12 hours. Not the easiest time to get a strip done when family is coming and staying at the house, and I hadn’t caught up in time to be ahead and have the strip ready before tragedy struck.
I’m sorry for your loss Jade, my condolences.
It says, Dave, that we are brothers, thou and I. How I hated gym class, and the sports culture it promoted.
I’ve never understood the mainly American obsession about dodgeball in grade school – do they use cannonballs over there or what? Everyone seems to either have loved it like a blood-sport, or hated it as being the source of the blood. Over here we played it in school, yes. We used the basketball balls for it, as they bounced so well, but it never got ugly, and I don’t know of anyone here who’d have bad experiences. It was just something fun for the end of gym class, when teacher wanted to give us a little break.
I actually have fairly painful memories of gymnastics, though. 😛
No cannonballs, but the dodgeballs we use are specifically for it. Bright red, soft and bouncy rubber, and generally filled only to the point where they kept themselves round under gravity. Makes a loud, high-pitch ‘bang’ sound when they hit, too. Doesn’t really do any damage, so it’s pretty much an excuse to let the inner demons loose without actually hurting anyone. Stings like the dickens when you take one square in the face, though. 😛
The memories I have of it are mostly amicable, though it does allow assholes-in-training an outlet to ‘practice’. That’s pretty much my only objection to it, but I admit those types of kids could find worse ways to do it.
I think this explains quite a bit – dodgeball isn’t considered a “sport” as such in school. Like I said, it was just some fun (and while I know that basketball balls aren’t the safest to get in your face, they were fun to use because they bounced so well, aka made the catching of the ball difficult for the receiving side) near the end of a gym class. I can’t remember ever encountering a ball of the type you described, I guess they just don’t have them over here. (Or didn’t have back in my school days, don’t know of current situation.)
Summersault throws with basketballs have been known to knock kids out… I remember lots of that, heh.
Dodgeballs (athletic balls) are, as noted above, usually rubber. Same balls used for Kickball, too. They hurt if you get a good arm behind them, and cause bloody noses and damaged tendons~
I always found gym fun; the entire class was playing games!
Then came high school, and it changed from “playing games” to “weightlifting, running, exercises, health reports, the cruelest teacher ever, and the only class that I ever got a D in.”
Um, Lazruth?
Those are probably all of the wonderful reasons that they stopped doing it.
In case you haven’t noticed, thing like that really hurt.
Well said! No pain, no… well, pain!
Yeah, I’ll agree there. Teams and rules are what ruined gym for me. Wasn’t until gym was almost over in high school that I finally got to do what I wanted. By that time out teacher was right on the verge of retirement and he didn’t care WHAT we did! More often than not my friends and I would set up the badminton stuff and play that.
In my school gym experience, “teams” means that half the jerks have no urgent reason to chuck a ball at your head because that´s the other team´s job, and “rules” minimizes how often the other team gets to do that before you´re out.
Seriously… school sports is how the strong kids make the smart kids pay for being smart.
The strong kids, and the most vindictive teachers.
I never had teachers who were vindictive against smart kids… that must have been a “fun” experience. Teachers having “fun” at the expense of those who aren´t good in that subject, or are plain lazy, that´s commonplace enough, but being vindictive against smart kids…?
BTW, Dave, sorry for turning the comment section into an “OMG school was so horrible” gripefest. Consider it a compliment that your comic depicts things realistically enough to bring back memories. ^_^
I don’t mind at all! It’s fascinating, to be honest.
I only have experience of the schools I attended, but I remember teachers who were at best unmotivated, and at worst petty tyrants.
Still, as the saying goes, school gives you the best days of your life… the Friday you leave, and the Monday you don’t have to go back!
I think you got off easy. We had to learn square dancing during gym class. I remember our instructor telling me I didn’t do the “grapevine” correctly. Yes, because I’m totally going to use square dancing in my future boring standard 9-5 office job. I think as a kid realistic dreams are better than saying “I want to be an astronaut!” Also, I’d always tell the opposing team in dodge ball to tag me out gently, from about 2 feet away. One tap and I officially didn’t have to participate. Everyone’s happy.
Ah yes! Gym class…better known as “point, laugh at, and humiliate the fat kids(s) trying to keep up”!
Most of the reason that I spent $10K in therapy after high school was finished to FORGET my “formative” years.
Why Dave, that says you were a perfectly normal kid of course. Because I felt the exact same way.
But unlike George (and probably Selkie too) I looooved Dodgeball. xD
Oh my god how I hated gym! Being terrible at absolutely every sport the whole thing was always just embarrassing and awkward as hell for me. So I was always one of those who participated just enough to pass but showed up unprepared on purpose most of the time and just read.
Oh my god, I always did the exact same thing. I hated gym even though no one teased me or attacked me with a vengeance, because I was awful at all the sports and thought my time would be better spent reading. I’m still in high school and I feel the same way about gym as I did in grade school.
I liked dodgeball… But maybe it’s because we couldn’t throw that hard at a young age, and our “weapons” were soft and sponge-like. What I hated was when we played tag, and for whatever reason, I couldn’t get anyone. Albeit, this was in recess, but same difference. I was lonely then and desperate for friends, so I played at the playground until I got frustrated that I couldn’t tag anyone… Puberty was a blessing, I finally caught up with some of my classmates (Realizing most weren’t really FRIENDS), but I tried to keep my inherent competitiveness down to a zero… But I knew how unfair it was when the football players, basketball guys, and, occasionally, we had a few soccer dudes, all on the same team against me, with whatever appliance I had in my mouth, my friends, and the airhead girls. I hope ya know the ones I’m talking about.
Anyway, relating to Selkie. My gym teacher made sure the classes were relatively fair, but I have the sneaking suspicion that isn’t the case here. Poor Selkie, probably has had a hard time running, dehydrating fairly quickly, as well. Not to mention getting picked on… Makes me wanna hug the poor gal… Although that may not be received well.
>.< I've always hated gym class… in grade school I actually used to get in trouble because whenever anything involved racing or several laps, I was always way behind and the last to finish! When I think about it now, my teacher was a lot like Sue Sylvester from Glee, only a HELL of a lot younger. Plus she was a hard-ass, a feminist, never let us pair up on our own, and decided FOR us what we would be doing. She seriously sent me to the principal once because I started crying when she started yelling at me…
D: Yeah, that's why I never think about grade school.
On an note unrelated to my little rant, I see Heather in back of Keisha and Amanda… the poor girl didn't do anything wrong, but in kid world, breaking a pinkey-swear is as serious as it gets. D: I still feel bad for Heather… I hope this fight they're going through won't last forever.
Well Dave, did you ever think that just one comic could generate so much heat? HAHA!
On shading: I didn’t even notice. I realized something was off, but until I read why, I didn’t even notice.
Ya I probably should’ve just kept my mouth shut. XD
Gym class used to be fun…it was golf and bicycles and archery and tag and parachute games and medic and soccer and field hockey! Then I got to middle school and they started up the real team games. I wasn’t just picked last, if one of my friends wasn’t the team captain, I wasn’t picked at all. I would automatically be put on the team that didn’t choose the other person left. (I can safely say I never played dodgeball.)
Also, in terms of the comic, Ms. Afkhami seems awesome.
I was always last pick too, mostly because I was more interested in pretending the dandelions were exploding Death Stars than playing softball.
You pretended the dandelions were exploding Death Stars? *laughs* That is so cool. I used to swing a jumprope with one of my friends, and we’d pretend our favorite characters from various series were jumping rope there. Especially the ones who’d never jump rope.
At least you got picked sometimes… even if my friends were on a team, 9/10 I was told to sit out, by the teacher no less… even if that would make the teams uneven… and nobody complained.
*Huddles in the fetal position*
Don’t sweat too much over missed details when getting out the page for its deadline. Since this IS the internet, you can go back later and put in a more finished product. However, I admire your deadication, since my own comic “updates if and when I bloody feel like it.” I haven’t updated since about 2007 or something.
Thank you. I am actually very afraid that if I miss or delay a comic deadline, it will create the dreaded “snowball effect” of missed comics. >_> Not my favorite type of snowball.
I think my first attempt at a webcomic just kind of stopped in the air after… 10 strips for that reason. XD
(it’s not on the internet anymore, just in case you try googling me. But if you DO try googling me, I am NOT the Dave Warren who was sued for intellectual copyright theft.)
Oh! I completely forgot to mention this earlier (on account of some family issues that have been eating up my time the past few days)
Happy 150th Selkie strip, Dave! 😀
thank you! And just think, the next milestone is 200! O_O
Hope your family issues are okay.
You’re very welcome. :3 And think, 200 is only 50 more updates away. XD
And, thank you, Dave. They’re doing alright, they’re just a little time-consuming. That being the only phrase that comes to mind… but they’re okay.
I just thought of something nasty.
What happens if Selkie gets hit with a dodgeball in her gill area?
That is a very interesting question that I don’t have an exact answer for. Tentatively, I would think that it would hurt, but there is muscle from the gill flaps covering the inner structures, so there would be some protection.
…I’m gonna have to google marine biology now. XD
Speaking of which… what effect would the different shape and layout of her feet have (a) on her ability to run and jump on land and (b) on the consequences if somebody accidentally steps on her foot? The “target area” is mostly webbed toes (see strip #59)…
GYM=PARACHUTE GAME <3 😀
Parachute days were the best!!!! I also remember being exceptionally good at hula-hooping. Like I literally probably could have gone nonstop all through gym on the hula hoop. That’s crazy. I totally forgot that gym class was one of my favorites up until junior high. Then it suddenly went from most awesome to most horrible just like that!
I loved dodgeball. I don’t know why. I wasn’t good and I wasn’t teased, I just went completely unnoticed, occasionally getting out. HOWEVER, when everyone else in my team was out and I wasn’t (Because I am the best dodger you will ever know) and I had to save my entire team, it became my worst nightmare. Everyone staring and yelling at me, every ball thrown at me, an I’m the only one who can save everyone by throwing well? I keep track, and in all the years I played dodgeball, I’ve gotten a sum total of 3-4 people out.
A new thought related to the dodgeball (and gym in general)… since Selkie’s gills (or gill openings anyway) are on her sides, are her sides tender for rougher touch? (Such as getting hit by a ball, or another student colliding into you.) Would she be excused from any “contact sports” due to that fact?
Gym. O’ how I loath thee. Thine wretched smells, thine horrible sounds… what torment anew ‘ere this day doth come? Lo, the Ball of Dodging, sport of the manliest of men, the bane of the Slow. Hark, the Ball of Baskets, effortless trial for the nimble, o’ but the deepest of Hells for the unfocused. ‘Ere the end of the day draws nigh, what remains be the Climb of Shame, a towering rope of infernal design! Victorious were the skinny! Failure for the chubby, doom to endure the barely-suppressed mirth of those who were gifted with the body of Adonis! Climb, yon piggly! Climb, or the Hounds shall have you!!! CLIMB!!!
…….
sorry…. I had issues in gym…
I’m in love with your way of using the English language. O_O
I wish everybody processed their issues like this. ^_^
Hey, a new reader here! I just wanted to comment and say I found your comment while I was off sick from work a few days ago and spent the whole day reading through the story so far. So firstly thanks for distracting me from being ill! And secondly, I love your story so far, it’s original and I’m enjoying the character progression. Keep on going, can’t wait to see what happens next 🙂
found comic* dammit.
Dodgeball wasn’t a terrible part of gym class for us. The balls weren’t hard enough to really hurt, even with some speed behind them. The worse part for me was in elementary school when they had us practice gymnastics. This for a girl who in my almost 28 years of life has never completed a successful somersault. I’m probably the least flexible person I know. I was picked on and laughed at for awhile because I couldn’t do any of that crap…even my best friend admitted that she thought I was lame for awhile because of it.
Gym class got slightly more awesome in high school though. You could always opt out to work on an exercise bike or treadmill and in my junior year, my schedule was so weird that four of us juniors ended up in a class for 8th graders (K-12 school, it happened once in awhile). When you’ve got a good foot and a half advantage on the rest of the class, becoming a strong basketball player isn’t difficult.
Okay, not to be a nagger, but I think I realized a continuity issue in panel 1. We don’t see the name tags on the desks like we do in the last two panels.
D: Sorry… I just notice little things like that, and they tend to bug me a bit.
Aargh you’re right… How did I miss that?
Shall fix it when I get home. Thanks!
Again, sorry. ^^”’
Oh don’t be! I’d much rather know about a mistake so I can fix it.
I REMEMBER THE BIG RAINBOW PARACHUTE THING!!!!! OMG, I’m sorry. I did I kill your eardrums?
In my high school, they didn’t have the dodgeball balls. We played with volleyballs instead…
I enjoyed gym and dodgeball. The balls never really hurt, and it was better then recess. At least with gym, if you got a bloody nose, there was a teacher right there. During recess, you could get pounded on and the teachers would be busy helping some kid off the monkey bars.
Gym class… horror of horrors.
Tolerable inside, horrific outside.
Back in primarily school, at least when we were inside I could scuttle up the wall-bars or the ropes in the gym and refuse to come down until it was over. There was no dodgeball but I still hated it… so I tended to put my tree-climbing skills to good use and keep to the high ground.
Outside though… there was nothing I could do about it unless I could sneak away when nobody was watching (a rare event) and find some foliage to hide in. The rest would play footie or rounders or something and I would try to uninvolve myself at first opportunity…
High school ones were worse though.
It was almost exclusively Rugby, Cricket or…. Swimming.
I never went in the pool. Ever. I refused. They couldn’t force me. I just put up with the punishment because it wasn’t nearly as bad as going in the water (I can’t swim and never will be able to)…
I was useless at Rugby, irrespective of weather. Couldn’t hide. Couldn’t avoid it. Had to pretend to apply a token effort. Cricket wasn’t much better, except I got to spend some time sitting down.
I’m guessing Selkie is going to have challenges with the last period, “grammar” also. 😛