![[0909] Larisa Is Larisa](/comics/2017-08-07-0909-larisa-is-larisa.png "[0909] Larisa Is Larisa")
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- Larisa: Yes, I’m very special! I’m Larisa.
- Sandra: Hi, Larisa. I’m Sandra.
- Larisa: Who’s that?
- Sandra: My mom.
- Larisa: Ohh……
- Larisa: My dad said it’s good to be sad. But not for too long. So, would you like to play table-tennis with me later?
- Sandra: … Okay.
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She said “dad”, not “Ivan”. Interesting…
She has to call him dad. Sandra has no idea who he is, so she cannot casually refer to him as Ivan.
BTW, shouldn’t Larisa be called Elena instead? She was called that for a short while during the very first strip she was mentioned. Then her name got changed due to the unintended association with the FFVII Turks. Since this strip chronologically takes place before that name change was made, she should be called Elena.
A disclaimer since I know someone will not get it no matter how obvious; that was a joke.
I am impressed. That actually was very nice of Larisa. I am kind of interested in her story
Crystalgate wrote:
Isn’t Elena her mother’s name?
Trimutius wrote:
Yes, it is Larisa’s mom’s name. By strict Russian naming convention, Larisa should be Larisa Koroleva, not Larisa Korolev, even if her dad’s name is Ivan Korolev. Her full name would be Larisa Ivanova Koroleva. However, some families from countries like Russia and Bulgaria who emigrate United States their last names and make them all the same to avoid confusion. I imagine that was what was in mine here in the strip.
Does anyone know why Larisa calls her parents by their first names, instead of mom and dad? Is she adopted or fostered, perhaps, and it has something to do with her illness? As for parents’ names in the strip, I’ve also seen Sandra’s mom refer to herself as Julie, rather than mom, for example in the letter Sandra found in the attic. On the other hand, Cloud calls his mom and dad, mom and dad. I’ve never quite understood why some of our first names and some are mom and dad.
*some are first names, and some are mom and dad.
@ donlindich:
I guess it’s just a thing that differs per family, just like in real life.
@ donlindich:
Larisa’s mother is named Jelena. Is that the Russian version of Elena?
The reason Larisa refers to her parents by their first names has been stated to be following: “Larisa prefers to call her by her given name rather than with ‘Mom.'” This of course covers her mom, but we can assume the same goes for her dad. I also think we should assume that’s all there is to it. There is no special reason needed.
My feels!
Nice start, I like these prequels. Larissa tells Ivan dad because if she tells Sandra ‘Ivan’ she would have to explain that he is her dad.
“I’m Larisa! This will be my home soon!”
(Just kidding. OBVIOUSLY she’ll be cremated.)
And that’s how they became BFF’s. Touching, really.
Novil,
How long has Julie been gone at this point?
donlindich wrote:
I always thought that it was to show that she is a rebel.
DaB. wrote:
Odd, I’ve called my parents by their first names since as long as I can remember, and never considered it a sign of rebelliousness, and neither did they.
Hey, one minute, why is Larissa just walking around randomly on a graveyard?…. Ah, right, Larissa.
Sandra is 10.
donlindich wrote:
I have friends who do that, it’s not too uncommon.
Pylgrim wrote:
Novil wrote:
Often, the people that closest to someone aren’t necessary the people this person had most fun with, but the people that where there in times of sadness.
I guess with Sandra and Larissa it seems to be the same.
Aww, that’s so adorable!
Wait, how am I the first to say this?
@ donlindich: Minor nitpick: Larisa IvanovNa Koroleva, not Ivanova. -ovna denotes the Russian patronymic for a female, -ova the Bulgarian patronymic. Larisa’s mom is Russian (isn’t she?).
I wouldn’t bother with this bit of spelling curmudgeonry, but Russians get rather … testy if mistaken for Bulgarians, and vice versa. 🙂
All-Purpose Guru wrote:
I found you this.
http://www.sandraandwoo.com/2009/01/15/0025-an-overdue-visit/
The death date is visible as June 14, 2006.
As a fellow reader, I know no more than you about when this strip takes place, either.
That said, the first strip is dated October 19, 2008, and the first time we see that tombstone is in January 2009, when Woo isn’t aware of where exactly Sandra is taking him, so the window is only two years, four months, five days, at the most.
“It’s good to be sad, but not for too long.” Yeah, that sounds about right.
@ Rex Vivat:
“It’s good to be sad, but not for too long.” that is actually extremly wise for once. It’s called mourning and moving on. You can’t keep mouring forever.
Just letting you know: the previous strip doesn’t have a next button and this one’s not in the archive yet.
My poor heart, it can’t take the cuteness.
@ Nuly90:
As far as I can tell that is normal and will fix itself in a few hours.
More Russian naming “Did you know” corner:
* Elena, Jelena, Helena, and Yelena might all be variation spellings of the same name. Pronounced [je-LEH-nuh], first syllable like the common part of “yet” and “yell”.
* The E in Korolev[a] is the transliteration of the letter Е. This letter may substitute Ё in print and writing; the reader is expected to infer Ё from context where appropriate. As a last name, Королёва (lit. “king’s”) is much more probable than Королева (lit. “the queen”); many Russian last names descend from (and have the grammar form of) possessives. The proper pronunciation would be [kuh-ruh-LYOF] (masc.) and [kuh-ruh-LYO-vuh] (fem.). The [LYO] is most similar to the first part of “learn”, except it doesn’t have to be prolonged.
* Of patronymics: Referring to a person by first name and patronymic (“Larisa Ivanovna”) is a very formal convention, used (1) by children when addressing or referring to adults outside the family; (2) when addressing or referring to higher-rank people; (3) between peers in a stiffly formal context; or (4) humorously. The connotations are of displaying respect while at the same time slightly distancing away, roughly corresponding in English to last name with honorific (“Mr. Smith”). The current trend is for co-workers and business partners to drop patronymics and go by first name or even diminutive first name.
* Calling one’s parents by first names is highly unusual; the equivalents of “mom” and “dad” are the norm. Grandparents (also grand^2-parents, grand-aunts and grand-uncles) can be addressed as “grandma|granpa {first name}” if disambiguation is needed. Uncles and aunts are normally called “aunt|uncle {first name}. A small child may also call close friends of his/her parents in this way. Addressing conventions for elder in-laws are complicated, ranging from intimate “mom”/“dad” through close “aunt|uncle {first name}” up to distant “{first name} {patronymic}”.
@ athroughzdude:
Ivan is her brother, not her dad (I think)
@ Gryf:
Forget that, sorry X)
Awwwwww, adorable! :3 Larisa has offered Sandra a friendship when she needed it the most! Sooooo coooool! :3
Something I just noticed. The grave doesn’t have a tombstone yet, in this comic, and that bouquet, visible on top, might well be from the funeral.
I think we can infer it’s been less than a season since she died.
So, Summer, or early Fall, 2006. Likely early July.
This arc is hitting me in the feels from multiple angles
@ SeanR:
Well, from the strip 885 we know that Sandra’s 13th birthday was in 2017 (not directly, but under reasonable assumption). Hence she was born in 2004. That means many old strips were published before the action took place. Was anyone aware of that?
I wonder if Sandra and Woo is placed directly in time (we know, that the action is not set in any particular real-world town). But if not, Novil should avoid putting explicite dates…
@ Gryf:
According to the cast page Ivan is Larissa’s father
@ pzjp:
If that was true, Sandra would have lost her mother when she was 2, which means she would have no memory of her. On the other hand, one of the later strips referenced to ISIS. If we find a much earlier strip that also references to a current event, then we have a definite contradiction. I think it’s best to assume this comic progresses in comic time.
:33< ack the f33ls!
So sweet.
donlindich wrote:
/cough/ Ivanovna, IvanoVna, Ивановна! /cough/
@ pzjp:
No, I think Novil once said, that the Time doesn’t flow in real time. Otherwise 8 Years would have passed since the cartoon started. So it is more reasonable to guess, that Her Mother died when she was around 9 so it is quiet possible, that her mother just died a few weeks ago in the flashback.
Rex Vivat wrote:
As one who was widowed two and a half years ago, I understand only too well. As my pastor said at the time, “We grieve for a while but we mourn forever.” Even with a new partner, the memories never go away.
The tears! They won’t stop!!
T_T Feels T_T
Things are never quite as scary when you’ve got a best friend.
@ DaB.:
My children call me by my first name. I’ve just never liked titles and labels.
@ Pylgrim:
Because this comic was set in the age or mileu of the free range child. Children went where
they wanted (within a specified area) *without* adult supervision. Besides graveyards are close to
being parks
There is a lot situations left out of this comic. I don’t remember, for example, know how Sandra gets to school, there are no school buss scenes.
Perhaps this comic is really set a lot earlier than indicated by the date on the tombstone.
Yay! It only took me 8 hours to catch up after finding this comic… I did not think this through -_-
skyshadow235 wrote:
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Vidad wrote:
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oledakaajel wrote:
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