The current story arc started with this strip: Two Pieces of Cake.
- Larisa: I need a break, boys and girls. And I have to take my insulin.
- Sandra: All right. We should go back home soon anyway. Cloud and I’ll just have a last look at that room over there.
- Larisa: Hey Woo, exhausted too?
- Larisa: I guess…
- Larisa: … we all have our secrets.
- Larisa: {Sigh}
- Larisa: I wonder what yours is…
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Both ahe AND the comic has: CERBERUS SYNDROME!
(The point named after the newspaper comic where a comic goes from gag-a-day to serious or at least a followable plot.)
novil, don’t let nay sayers interfer with the stories you want to write, this has been story driven from the first comic and had a touchy subject at it’s heart (one most people agree on, true, but still touchy) even your gag a day comics make people think (for example the one-shot on jesus that you had to seal the comments board because it was getting a little hot)
I thank you and look forward to the next few months because I think it can only get better.
I’m agreeing with altengal. Overall excellent comic AND art. 🙂
Sometimes I don’t quite agree with certain things, but that’s life. It’s still an excellent story!
…and by the way, I love Larisa’s face in the second panel. It’s great she can look that way and be concerned for Woo considering what she’s doing to herself at the moment.
I am putting my guess in with Birth control pills that would normally be taken by those who have their monthly visitor. I only guess that because the container was a circle as they tend to be in.
McPoe: What, for someone of her age? Whyever for? The only reason I could think of would lend a deeeeeeep blackness to the comic that I just can’t see happening.
Though they don’t always get used for the intended purpose. Could be Larisa was born with a different name…
For what they really are, could be something as simple (and depressingly (agh!) common) as antidepressants. Her mood swings, and how over-prescribed the things currently are…? I’m glad of some of the comments in here though, it’s been educational 🙂 —
1/ injections in the abdomen, ok, never knew about that – thought it largely went in the thigh (nice big target, all muscle so well-ensanguinated even though you’re not punching into an artery/vein, and relatively small nerve density). The frame where she’s doing that looks more like pricking her finger with one of those automated bloodsugar level testers.
2/ nasal allergy spray. alright, that’s a relief, it looked like she was furtively sniffing glue or whatever. unless that’s ACTUALLY what’s going on (and the pills are morphine or ecstacy or something).
3/ no insulin in pill-form? (it was going to be my suggestion, too). presumably it’s something that’s unavoidably broken down by digestive enzymes and HAS to be injected?
For those of you that missed the insulin shot in the picture, look at panel two. You can see the small pain star from her injecting her insulin into her stomach. There’s no scene for her checking her blood sugar either. So those pills wouldn’t be sugar pills right after the insulin.
The way that she talks and acts would assume a large scare in her recent past, but with how long Sandra has known her it is most likely a progression of a past illness or she would have known about it. Seeing how she keeps it a secret, its a better chance of that and issues with her liver, lymphnodes (ugh sp) and/or her heart. The bottle looks like your average nasial spray which may be linked to allergies or a sever allergy to dust which is more and more common in youth as the years go by.
Long time reader, first time poster. I’ve always been impressed with your comic and the C&H feeling I haven’t felt since the first time that tiger pounced Calvin. I just am surprised so many people missed the insulin shot in the second panel. Then again, I missed the inuendo in last weeks comic.
Solution to your confusions.
Larisa is from the future.
those are future pills she just had
Future pills keep people from the future alive in the past.
She is in the past.
Therfore, she is here to change th future, and save it from the evil overlord tyrant Kaboondaloovakazoo, killer of millions.
Either that, or an organ transplant. :/
i wonder how much Larissa would freak out if Woo said ‘Don’t worry, i won’t tell them.’
Now that face would be priceless.
As a young adult reader who has type I diabetes, I can feel for Larissa. For those of you who aren’t familiar with diabetes in children, they often use a long-lasting or ‘basal’ insulin once or twice a day and then take a short-term/meal or ‘bolus’ insulin when they eat. Now, she SHOULD be checking her blood sugar before she gives herself insulin, but given her personality and the way she tries to downplay or draw attention away from her illness (remember, she also uses humor to deflect concern/pity which causes the school drama earlier) I’m not surprised she doesn’t check. It also would be hard to portray that in only a few frames, and would give most readers something even more puzzling to try to figure out what the heck she’s doing.
But as for her being more exhausted than the others, that could be a cover to take her meds without causing a ‘scene’ as she would view it, or simply she really is tired as well. Having a chronic medical condition like diabetes takes a toll on the WHOLE body, as well as the mind (depression is more common). Adrenaline-generating activities affect me more than others, and can actually cause a low blood sugar sometimes if I’m not careful. Which makes me wonder, I don’t recall seeing her eat something anytime soon, and basal insulin is taken 1st thing in the morning and then in the evening usually. Could she be having a low and not want to tell her friends? The shot could actually be a sugar-like solution used for when no form of sugar or carbs is available by mouth. Larissa said it was insulin but she’s not exactly the most squeamish person when it comes to lying or bending the truth I think.
Pizzasgood says: She is actually an alien. She needs the meds so that our toxic atmosphere doesn’t kill her.
Whew, I already thought nobody would get it right. 😉
Konoton says: Both ahe AND the comic has: CERBERUS SYNDROME! (The point named after the newspaper comic where a comic goes from gag-a-day to serious or at least a followable plot.)
Regarding our poll, most readers should be happy that there’ll be several longer story arcs in the future.
I’m getting a little bit tired of pointing out strips to illustrate that Sandra and Woo has always dealt with serious topics.
altengal says: novil, don’t let nay sayers interfer with the stories you want to write […]
If 75 % of all people said X then you should think about it as a creator, but since everybody seems to have different ideas I’m happily ignoring most of them except for comments that point out real mistakes or that include really good advice.
McPoe says: I am putting my guess in with Birth control pills that would normally be taken by those who have their monthly visitor […]
I usually don’t want to comment on specific suggestions, but:
NO, seriously.
Gryphon says: There’s no scene for her checking her blood sugar either
This strip already consists of nine panels and her taking the insulin is not the main focus of the strip, so there was no need to show that on top of it. There’s also an arbitrary amount of time between the first and the second panel.
Roe says: […] For those of you who aren’t familiar with diabetes in children, they often use a long-lasting or ‘basal’ insulin once or twice a day and then take a short-term/meal or ‘bolus’ insulin when they eat. Now, she SHOULD be checking her blood sugar before she gives herself insulin, […]
Which makes me wonder, I don’t recall seeing her eat something anytime soon, and basal insulin is taken 1st thing in the morning and then in the evening usually, […]
I have read several faqs about diabetes, but it’s not possible for me to know each and every detail like someone suffering from the it and thus having year-long knowledge. Addtionally, when writing fiction you always have to leave out certain aspects of the subject when they are not essential to the storyline. Absolutely nobody wants to look at five boring additional panels about the process of the correct preparation of an insulin shot. And Powree was already quite shocked that she has to draw NINE panels for this strip.
It’s always nice when your story is absolutely realistic, but you have to sacrifice that when the story demands it. Unless it becomes complete nonsense like the analysis methods shown in CSI. Yet there are _still_ many people that like that series. And I believe that this strip contains no obvious mistake, just some necessary simplifications.
I’m gonna shoot in the dark but… AIDS maybe?
Anyone else noticed that it’s in the form of a pipe? (btw, there are girls who take birth control pills to control their periods because, for some, it’s pretty long and uncomfortable -and she’s not too young [but still not it, i know, just wanted to point that out]).
Lovely comic. The writing and art are both remarkable.
You know, Novil, I’m really quite glad you brought up strip #43 in one of your comments, because I came across it too late to say anything about it in a relevant manner, and things like this have really been bothering me lately.
By “things like this” I refer to logical fallacies, and specifically the Appeal To Worse Problems, that is, the fallacious belief that: First, if someone is concerned about a trivial personal problem, they cannot simultaneously be concerned about larger problems for other people; Second, if someone was not concerned about their own annoyances, they could meaningfully ease the problems of others; And third, if someone were to ease the problems of others, they would no longer care about what was bothering them to begin with. Sometimes, but not always, conditions 2 and 3 are true. Condition 1 is almost never true outside of fiction. It’s a dishonest way to deliver a message, and I’m glad it’s not a recurring theme.
Sorry about that, but logical fallacies just trigger my pedantic tendencies. All that aside, it’s a bygone comic and I should just let it go now to focus on the present strip.
I wonder if what Woo saw was more informative than what the audience saw. To me, all “nasal spray plus pills” indicates long-term is either a drug addiction or allergies. Of the two, only one could be a secret. So… Larisa has allergies…? No, no, I’m on the wrong track here…
Or allergies plus any number of possible illnesses. which would be more in character for Larisa anyways.
I’m sorry to announce that Sandra and Woo has been struck by Rule 34 🙁
@Novil:
Someone else suggested what I was fearing was a possibility, and you’ve explicitly shot it down. To my relief, I might add.
the point that really gets me is that while everyone is blinded by the obvious foreshadowing. they are missing the lighter foreshadowing.
larisa is hiding something(we will leave the details for later) from her friends but didn’t prevent herself from doing it in front of woo, who’s secret is that he can talk and has the ability to rat larisa out.
mental image of the day: add a panel at the end and have woo lean on her and say something(anything really) and then imagine larisa’s face.
So glad I am wrong, re-watched the episode of House where that happened and eww forgot that was what caused it. (if you don’t know good.)
I don’t think that Larisa is a boy or was a boy, I don’t think she has a horrible sickness that will kill her off since it was said her story would be unfolded over the next year or two, and I do not think it matters what the pills are unless she tells Woo what they are since, being not a doctor he wouldn’t know what they were just by reading them. Woo could talk, but I don’t think he will unless some one steps on his tail or he’s scared again.
I don’t need to know what Larisa is taking meds for. We’ve already been told we’ll find out eventually.
I’m waiting to see if Woo “accidentally” answers her question with a spoken reply, like: “Guess” and then see how she reacts. 🙂
Happy ending or tear-jerker, I look forward to this story.
I hope she is ok!
I used to think Larisa acts like she does to Cloud because she prefers short-time fun to a relationship that probably doesn’t last anyway. But now that she indirectly advised Sandra to fight for Cloud I converted to the camp that believes she might not make it. Or at least that she believes she might die young (even if the doctors are optimistic about her fighting her diseases).
Allergy nasal spray, insulin, mystery pills… No, you wouldn’t, would you? No, it can’t be… hope not…
Nice character depth Novil, though I seriously hope its not what I think is ‘wrong’ with her.
@Zekermeme: In strictest terms, that would be a formal fallacy, not necessarily a logical fallacy. Every reference I’ve seen attempts to use the latter to describe only faulty logic that is not a fallacy in an argument’s structure. No reference I have ever seen lists “Appeal To Worse Problems” as either a formal fallacy or an informal fallacy. A Google search for “appeal to worse” returns eight results, only three of which appear to be relevant. I believe the closest formal fallacy in this case would be a False Dilemma. You are claiming that the writer implies that the woman can only care solely about her own problems or solely about the problems of others. Other forms of “children are starving in Africa” are generally classified as simple Red Herring arguments. You also misuse capitalization and semicolons. If you’re going to be pedantic, be careful about it. 😉
Further, that strip seems to be more about how people throw words like “persecution” around without really having a concept of what they mean. It wasn’t implying that the woman doesn’t care about the plight of the prisoner, more that she is completely unaware of it.
“Persecution” is a particularly overused word, especially in the United States. As an anecdotal example, someone I know backed his car into a shopping cart a few years ago. He claimed that someone left the cart there intentionally in an example of anti-Christian persecution. This sort of thinking is not atypical for the southern regions of the United States.
I also hear Nazi comparisons thrown around a lot. “Socialist”, “communist”, “liberal”, “Nazi”, “fascist” and so forth are all being bandied about by people who clearly do not know what they mean and are merely parroting what their favorite talking heads tell them.
By the way, this constitutes me claiming that your interpretation of the argument presented in strip 43 is a Straw Man.
I’ve actually known a couple young girls who took birth control to control their acne, because of its effect on their hormones, and not for the normally assumed purposes, so it probably wasn’t as ‘dark’ of a suggestion as most people think.
Just to point something out to those guessing off of her being tired:
Some people just have lower stamina, and that’s that. Some things contribute that are not in themselves breathing / heart problems. I get worn out relatively quickly, and a large factor is actually my diabetes.
Unless you have it or live with somebody who does, it’s difficult to understand how much diabetics go through physically, outside of all the needles. Hypo- and hyperglycemia can feel dreadful, and most type 1’s face both on a regular basis. Also, with the function of the pancreas gone, the automatic interplay between it and the liver cannot effectively compensate for physical activity levels. Diabetics have to deal with both the carbs they eat and their usage through insulin; with the energy that goes into your body requiring so much attention, diabetes is potentially wearing just in the having.
I’m not trying to rule anything out as far as the pills (see my comment on the next strip for my take on those), and I can confidently say the nasal spray is allergy-related. I just thought I’d point out another depth of diabetes and show how complicated, or else simple, her being tired is as far as any conditions she has.
Also, in case nobody has clarified yet:
Type 1 (a.k.a. juvenile) diabetes is due to an auto-immune response where the body kills off its own pancreas. The loss of pancreatic function (production of insulin) causes a need for insulin injection every day for the rest of life, because insulin is required for cells to use the glucose (a form of sugar) in the bloodstream. This means both shots for food and routine shots for the liver’s regulatory glucose output. Some people take only set, routine shots and have to follow a strict diet to match, but most take a 24-hour routine insulin for the liver and additional fast-acting shots whenever they eat, calculating how much they’re eating and adjusting the insulin accordingly. They also take insulin when they have high blood sugar (hyperglycemia) in order to bring it down. Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) is corrected by eating a certain amount of a simple, quick-to-work sugar source, such as apple juice.
I have this type.
Type 2 (a.k.a. adult-onset) diabetes is commonly found in older adults and is generally due to some degree of obesity. This is the type most people think of, where one has to abstain from sugar and may or may not take routine shots. Basically, the excess weight or fat of the individual lessens the effectiveness of the insulin they produce — rather, their insulin production is not quite sufficient. This is also the type of diabetes where one might take thyroid medication regularly, as the thyroid’s health can be affected by their weight. Type 2 can be remedied by getting one’s weight under control. They also may take insulin in the event of hyperglycemia.
I hope I made a clear and helpful distinction about these. As Larisa is obviously not overweight, she must have type 1. In “Addicted,” she probably was hyperglycemic. Her line in this strip suggests she otherwise takes insulin in a routine fashion, watching her diet closely enough to make that possible.
I know what the pills are… I think… My friend takes them too.
Personally, I’m going with insulin, laughing gas (ala the dentist from Little Shop of Horrors) and placebo pills.
eh who knows. raccoon secrets are best kept by raccoons
“My secret is that I know yours.”
Why is having to take medication a secret? anyway, since Woo can talk, her secret is not really safe.
My first thought was drugs, and after reading the comments, i am now sure that they are for some mystery illnesses. The other big question is about Woo telling Sandra about the situation. My opinion is that Woo is good for it. The secrets comment makes him look worried, and the fact that she follows with “i wonder what yours is” and he looks really sympathetic, likely due to the fact he has to keep the secret of his talking from everyone but Sandra (and possibly her dad). I am probably not saying this right, but what i am trying to explain is that Woo does not seem like the type to disclose this information, and the circumstances make it less likely.
She could have Chronic Lyme.
I have Chronic Lyme.
Chronic Lyme is often misdiagnosed as other diseases.
If you don’t treat it correctly…well…what doesn’t kill it only makes it stronger………
dam snorting coke, this just got real….
i’m really liking Larisa we have so much in common diabetes, a couple of other medical or mental problems, she’s also very funny
Perhaps the pills are antibiotics, or morphine, or soma. I have Lyme disease and my mother has MS. I used to take antibiotics; my mother takes them and also the two latter drugs.
Please tell me she is washing those pills down with vodka… even if you have to lie to me.
I had a friend back in school who used to bring a water-bottle full of vodka to school with him every day from a young age… Even to exams. And he wasn’t even Russian (he was Welsh, since… y’know… it was a Welsh school). He was practically immune to the stuff anyway.
Fall 2013 and still impatiently waiting for a follow-up! D:
@ Novil:
It’s September 2013 now. I expect more to be revealed soon.
@ Jim:
Oh god I hope not. That would be horrible and grim and totally ruin the Calvin-and-Hobbes ambiance of the comic, like the baby raccoon mini-arc of the aforementioned comic.
@ He Who Is Excellent At Laughing Evilly:
I have a friend who takes the same thing it look like…… She transgender.
@ Just a Guy:
See how she looking down and is sad, maybe shes looking at something.
[…] of you wonder if Larisa’s “big secret” is related to her behavior in [0126] Secrets. While I don’t want to talk about that in particular, it certainly appears odd that I haven’t […]
[…] of you wonder if Larisa’s “big secret” is related to her behavior in [0126] Secrets. While I don’t want to talk about that in particular, it certainly appears odd that I haven’t […]
Woo: My secret? I don’t know…
Larisa:…SANDRA! YOUR RACOON’S TALKING TO ME!
@ Novil:
….I’m so glad I’m reading this now, then.
The curiosity would kill me if I had to w8 3 years.@ Novil:
@ Jim:
Bipolar disorder, perhaps? I’ve researched and written about the subject ,and her manic pixie personality would definitely fit the bill.