Today’s strip is a bit of a continuity shout-out to Mark Henderson, the kid who was almost a recurring cast member. He showed up here right at the beginning, then was adopted out of the orphanage here, then hasn’t been mentioned until now. Originally he was meant to be part of the supporting cast of kids, but he didn’t get much personality established before leaving the orphanage, and he eventually kinda faded from my story plans.
As Calvin and Hobbes fans may appreciate, Mark is my Uncle Max.
The little piece of backstory Keisha is starting here was something I wanted to drop in at the time she grabbed the shirt to explain her indignation, but there wasn't space to relate it properly and still convey the more important events. I think it works better at this scene, anyway. Rest assured, Mark was VERY sternly punished.
Well it seems that Keisha may be let off.
Also, Selkie, take note. It’s hard to fake the uncontrollable snot while crying.
Kinda hard to blame Selkie for not being sympathethic. When someone has bullied you and they’re in trouble, yeah apathy is an easy emotion to feel.
Also Tangent some people can cry like that on command, even children, it’s rather scary and not just a skill actors have.
While I do feel some pity for Keisha, after all nobody deserves to get in trouble for something they didn’t do; Selkie’s got every right to not give a crap about one of her tomrnetors.
Also Keisha’s wrong in that “it’s different”; it maybe for her personal belief’s that she doesn’t find clothes stealing funny, but it doesn’t excuse when you bully someone it’s bullying regardless of the type.
I do hope she’s “cleared” don’t get me wrong; I merely hope she comes out of this having a much healthier respect of not being a brat or bully to others, as one day she may wind up there again for something she did do.
^I actually taught myself to cry on command in grade school as a defense mechanism to bullying. Neat party trick, though in retrospect I’m surprised I never abused it as a kid. The snot was a side-effect of my asthma as much as anything, but I do know it can be faked.
But yes, *very* neat trick when someone’s about to smash your face in, I assure you.
Verbally taunting someone and physically stealing something, especially something as personal and necessary as an article of clothing, are -very- different things. No matter how many times Selkie is called a fish-face, her very most -basic- security is not being threatened. Stealing a shirt from a half-naked girl? Very, -very- threatening.
I DO hope Keisha doesn’t hate Selkie more for this… which is something I would understand on a basic level. Poor both of them.
As far as we can tell, Keisha still thinks Selkie knows who stole her shirt – she is after all not aware of the specifics, she only heard that someone “stripped her (i.e. Selkie) topless”. She´s got to think Selkie is lying in order to get revenge on Keisha.
I have a feeling these two will become friends after this ordeal. It looks like Keisha is about to open up to Selkie. Keisha is not bad at heart. She just did what she did to fit in and be accepted by Amanda.
Hopefully Selkie will see this and will forgive her.
I don’t know, Tangent. I hope so too, but if something even remotely like this ever happens again, I think that we can both pretty much count that chance goodbye. Selkie’s been tormented for a very long time, and it isn’t just the kind of thing that you forgive in a day. As the teachers say, its not what you do, but the company you keep. Every mean thing that Amanda has ever done to Selkie most likely rests on Heather and Keisha’s shoulders as well. Forgiveness is not Selkie’s forte.
On a related note, I really do hope that Heather and Keisha might start to change their ways, however, I will shamelessly admit that I myself have been to the principles office a few times, and the easiest thing to do is just to say “Yes mam. No mam. Yes mam.” etc., considering the fact that if you do anything other than agree with them then they sack you with the student’s equivalent to insubordination too (When I was in elementary school, I once beat up a boy for being a jerk to one of my friends.). They never listen to what you say anyways. Its always a whole bunch of **** in my opinion. Most of what they say has no actual meaning anyway.
So… once again, thanks for giving me the room to rant. I appreciate it.
As a person who was seriously bullied by bullies that had cronies… there was a group of 3 boys in our class, one of whom was my most avid bully during 9th class. The other 2 were not as bad, but they were there when the 3rd one tormented me. They helped him by keeping watch in case teachers came along, stuff like that. I wouldn’t have forgiven either of them just like that, no matter the circumstances.
Ah, and there’s Chris confirming that Keisha didn’t leave the gym during classtime.
You know, if the Fairweathers had been just a little more patient, letting their new daughter say goodbye to her friends, none of this would have happened.
no, Amanda still would have gone bad on her because she dared to get adopted. It wasn;t saying goodbye that made Amanada turn on her.
Character development time!
Having been in Selkie’s shoes growing up I would be hard pressed to give a damn if one of my bullies got busted, and even if they didn’t do it. I still won’t give two craps. I feel bad for Keisha, but maybe now she will realize who she is hanging out with and pick better friends. Or she will just feel sorry for herself and not change.
Who knows.
Why do I have a horrible feeling that Heather’s parents are going to threaten the school with their uber-richness-and-status, and Heather will avoid getting punished?
At least I hope Keisha will leave the “in-crowd” and she and Selkie will become friends. Or at least friend-ly.
Well, the principal is shaping up to be the ‘craptastic’ type. Not even listening to his own teachers when they say the facts don’t line up.
The artist’s drawing skills are progressing quickly compared to other online comic’s I’ve read.
This situation is starting to remind me of an incident I was in during middle school… there was this kid that was bothering me and my friends constantly, and mainly it was always happening in Art every morning. So one day when he went too far and made my friend cry my anger just boiled over, and after class I chased after him down the hallway, pinned him to the wall and kicked him in the groin four times.
I wound up with an in-school suspension the next day, but somehow after the incident we became acquaintances. It was probably just the fact that he knew I wouldn’t take s*** like that. He was really one of the only bullies I ever stood up to.
I think something like that may just happen to Selkie and Keisha; they may come to a place where they can be able to co-exist in the same environment and be able to acquaint with one another. Maybe they’ll become friends. Who can say for sure yet…
If it happened to me, it can happen to someone else.
I am glad that Keisha’s alibi has been secured, and hopefully Jessie will be coming to the office with Heather in tow before Todd shows up.
Aw, this is sad, but I can get why Selkie is unsympathetic.
I will admit, I laughed at the ‘whomped him in the glasses’ though. 😛
Wow, there’s so much improvement looking back!I don’t know how long this coming is going to go(a few months, years?) But I really can’t wait to see how your art improves and develops. It would be cool if this were to be a series of Selkie’s life, following her through school. The bullying would likely get a lot worse in middle school, sadly. In high school it would either stay the same or get even worse….
“I remember when Mark stole my panties?” What the eff is going ON in this school?!
I think the pantie incident may have happened at the orphanage, prior to Mark’s adoption.
In what possible way could that be better?
Well it wouldn’t have happened in the school, then, but “at home”.
In addition to what Hanna said, I also never said it was better. Just that it may not have gone on at school.
I’d also point out that children in their place of residence would have access to multiple items of clothing (this isn’t the 14th century! They don’t wear the same clothes every day!), and therefore Mark could have stolen the panties from the drawer labeled “Keisha’s Clothes” in Girls’ Bedroom #3, instead of forcibly removing them from her body — an act which would have teetered uncomfortably on the edge of ‘violent sexual abuse’.
I just realized something. “Tim Holstein” is the kid who’s shown by an asterisk on the seating chart, right?
Yep! Although I’ve nicknamed him “Star”. XD