5. Love cancels all other plans. (Part VII) – SEE SAW Comics, Webcomics from the Sequential Artists Workshop

5. Love cancels all other plans. (Part VII)

"PART TWO I really wanted to meet the neighbors in Kit's old house but what would I have said? 'Oh hi. I spent years playing in your house. My mom slapped me in your kitchen.' It's hard to rein myself in sometimes. The day Mom struck me sealed the end of the tap dancing deal. I wanted her attention and wasn't getting it." 1. The front door to a green house, with a set of stairs leading up to it. A green bush is to the left. From inside the house, Lynn says, "Mom. Mom. Mom." 2. Younger Lorraine is sitting at a table with two other women her age. The woman to her right (left on the panel) is holding a needle and thread in one hand, a ball of yarn or felted wool in the other. Lorraine is smoking a cigarette and drinking coffee in a tea cup, gossiping with the woman to her left, who looks shocked at what she's saying. 3. Lynn continues narrating, "...so I mocked her." Young Lynn cocks her head to the side slightly, hands on hips, and repeats, "Well. Donna had said..." 4. Close up of Lorraine's hand aggressively crushing her cigarette in her blue ash tray, surrounded by dramatic lighting and jagged lines.

1. A close-up of Lorraine, head to chest, with smoke coming out of her ears and raising her hand to slap Lynn. She is scowling and her mouth is open like she's yelling. She is facing straight ahead, so it looks like she is about to slap the reader. Lynn narrates, "Thus began a full-on rift between Mom and me." 2. "It lasted throughout my teens." We zoom in on Lorraine's tea-cup, decorated with abstract and geometric patterns in blue and pink. The force of the slap seems to have shaken the table enough to knock the tea cup askew from its little plate, spilling the coffee inside. In a small inset panel, we look at Lynn, holding her hand to her brow, her left cheek red with a hand imprint. She is grimacing in pain. She thinks to herself, "My real mom would'a never slapped me!" Lynn narrates, "The 'time-out' was yet to become a thing."

1. "I found the world a very confusing place. Mom was allowed to slap me and Dad spanked me when I was younger." Across a yellow background, we see the black silhouettes of Lynn's dad spanking Lynn as a young girl. She is lying on her stomach on his lap, and lines of pain are coming from her butt, which he has already spanked and is getting ready to hit again. Lynn continues narrating, "Adam was never punished for punching me all the time, so in effect he was given the green light. Yet striking out at any of them was forbidden. Not that I wanted to." 2. White text fills a black panel: "Happily, when I started getting in to serious trouble I was too big to be spanked. All I ever wanted was to get along. Be able to express myself without reprisal. It isn't rocket science figuring out why in my adult life I've run from conflict, rarely saying when something bugs me, to my own detriment. After high school ended, we made an effort to get along as adults. But our version of forgive and forget was forget and medicate. Corporal punishment reinforced my desire for a new tribe. And..." 3. A black and white panel of someone from the elbows down. They are wearing a jacket, flared jeans that have a zipper running along the side of the leg, and chunky work boots. They are holding a snow shovel in their hand. They either stub their toe on or deliberately kick the step in front of them: "thump."

Published On: January 18, 2024

Enzo is standing in the kitchen, holding Tonks the cat in his arms like a baby in a front-facing carrier. He is smiling softly. “September 14. Made turkey meatballs before work. Crappy work day. Class after with quiz.”

Stylistically rendered with bright, flat colors, simplified shapes, and no line work: a man faces the reader across a cyan background with pink buildings and peach clouds. He stands on a pink road between cyan sidewalks. He is wearing aviator sunglasses and has a thick mustache with a stubbly chin. He wears a blue and black coat over a white Armani t-shirt; his hands are in his jacket pockets, to his side. We see down to his knees before the image cuts off. He is rendered with blue hair, peach skin, and a pink nose. He has an air of intimidating confidence.

Lorraine sits next to Lynn’s dad, both looking like young twenty-somethings. They are both dressed in formal wear - Lorraine in a floral print dress, Lynn’s dad in a suit and tie - and they smile for the camera.

Kim is reading from a book opened to a page full of pictures of different kinds of mushrooms. She is lounging, wearing comfy pants and sitting with her knees up. “September 8. Ordered mushroom cultivating supplies after doing some research. Worked until 7 p.m.”

Kim tends to a rack of bananas hanging from a rod in her house. “September 7. Felt crappy again. Made a big wall calendar to help manage time. Had class today.”

A zoomed in view of hands holding a plant’s steam with a leaf attached. In the background are more leaves and plants. “August 27.”

A sepia-toned family photograph, showing five people in formal wear posing stiffly for the camera.

Kim stands among banana trees outside. She is looking down, where a rack of bananas lies at her feet. “August 21. Worked. Blue java rack fell prematurely.”

From behind, we see Kim bend over as she steps into her bathtub. She is naked. “August 15. Sunday. Painted. Bath.”

Derek is in bed lying on his stomach. He holds the pillow over his head, pencil in hand, so he is buried under his blanket and pillow. In the background, the word "FLUSH" is written in large block letters. Derek asks, “What’s the point?”

1. Rory sits in the corner of a large sectional couch, holding her phone close to her face. She is covered in pillows. “August 9. Worked. I had planned on meeting Mom and Rory at the pool after but it was closed. Told my work I’ll need Mondays off (class).”

Close up of Lorraine's hand aggressively crushing her cigarette in her blue ash tray, surrounded by dramatic lighting and jagged lines.

Jasper sits on the foot of Derek's bed, elbow-deep in a bag of popcorn, which he munches on. He stares ahead blankly while chewing.

1. From behind, we see Kim sitting at a desk in a swivel office chair. She is bare foot. She sits in front of a keyboard using a computer mouse. A dog stands behind her, looking to the side. A dark, round table takes up the left foreground, balancing out the panel. “August 2. Worked. Went to UTC Mall after class to get school clothes for Enzo. August 3. Class down in Naples. Finished my journals at 7p.m. Sammi and Carlye took Enzo to registration at school.”

Young Lynn, in full color, looks at herself in an oval-shaped mirror, smoking a cigarette. Her head is tilted slightly to the side and she is smiling with her lips puffed out a bit. She thinks to herself, "I look so cool."

Derek is lying in bed, completely covered by his comforter and the pillow on top of his head. He huffs a “(muffled) SIGH” (drawn in big block letters). From off panel, one of his kids calls, “Dad?”

1. A man, who is only visible by the torso, holds a black and white kitten in his arms like he’s cradling a baby. The kitten’s head is smaller than his hand. He is petting the cat’s head with one finger. “July 27. Class in Naples, more food forest install. Met up with Tony on campus and had a meeting with my advisor. Then we went to the FGCU FF. Tony’s parents got a new kitten.”

1. A close-up view of two mushrooms with umbrella-like caps and long stems. The mushrooms are surrounded by twigs on the ground and a saw palmetto frond above them. “July 20.”

Derek is tucked in bed, lying down on his back with his head on his pillow and blankets pulled up to his neck. He yawns loudly (drawn in block letters). A light is shining on him and chatter comes from off panel.

1. An opossum stands chest to the ground in a spot of light; the rest of the background is dark. Their mouth is open so they look like they are almost smiling. Kim points to the opossum and labels them “Odetta” with a heart. “July 14. Last day in KY. Flew home after a delay involving landing gear. Unpacked, turned the compost pile. It’s good to be home.”

1. Kim lies down on the foot of her bed. She is on her stomach, resting on her elbows. Her head is tilted slightly to the side and she leans her cheek on her hands. She is wearing a black short-sleeve shirt, dark pants, and socks. She smiles softly. One of her dogs rests their head on her back. “July 8. Class in Naples. Bought ‘Sacred Economics’ to read on our trip.”

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