Page 8 Mr Warner
skyangel on March 2, 2024
In case any one is wondering, I've changed the names of most people on here just to save any unnecessary problems later on. I have no bad memories of any of my teachers at junior school(7-11) but this guy in particular had a very deep voice and most of the time you could barely hear it yet he would suddenly raise it without warning to emphasise certain words and it always made me jump! I realised later that I was probably suffering from Androphobia which is a fear of men because the feeling of anxiety I felt when even just one adult male was in the same room was quite intense. There were men I felt okay with but only the ones who had a diluted male ego and a spoke quietly.
This anxiety lasted up until my late teens when I was in a bar with some friends one night and a few guys behind us started talking and laughing very loudly. My heart rate went up immediately and the drink in my hand started trembling uncontrollably, but when I rationalised that these men were not angry and it was only their loudness that was causing my problem it was like an instant cure and the shaking just stopped from that moment on.
Next week we finally meet the girl in the attic that this chapter is labelled!
Genejoke at 10:58AM, April 28, 2024
It's interesting when you realise the roots of anxiety and trauma and understand how they shaped you.
skyangel at 12:28AM, April 29, 2024
It is indeed! Even small events can alter our way of thinking or influence our futures at times.
edniz at 4:03AM, March 24, 2024
It also caught my attention that Nick's friends are mostly girls and they have a certain aura to them, like how they act confident. I don't know if it's an actual pattern or just something I came to think of.
skyangel at 12:19PM, March 26, 2024
In my early years all my friends were girls but I had one best male friend who I kept all through school until his parents moved out of the area. Maybe I make them seem too confident! That's a very interesting observation!
DarkVisor at 10:04AM, March 22, 2024
Yeah, some things do happen instantly, sometimes it's a trigger and sometimes it's a cure: for me, it was in High School (maybe about 15 or 16), was giggling about something and the teacher came in and just asked me to stop giggling because the class was about to start, he didn't say it loud or mean or anything, just simply asked me to stop, and did, almost instantly went from being an extrovert to a quiet introvert
skyangel at 12:08PM, March 23, 2024
DV: Wow, that's quite a story! Do you think that was a trigger for something that had happened previously or just the feeling of being 'told off' in front of the whole class?
Ironscarf at 5:26AM, March 9, 2024
Framed by the crook of Mr Warner's arm in panel one is a great choice to express the fear! The little details you've chosen set the scene perfectly and I love the humour. My loudest teacher was Mr Brace who taught English and you really did need to brace yourself for his booming 'Pearls before swine!" and similar outburts. Thankfully they were mostly delivered with a smile.
skyangel at 12:53PM, March 9, 2024
Ironscarf: I was a bit concerned readers would think Nikki was the boy at the front but then I realised all I had to do was give the front boy a darker skin to help avoid confusion!
ohanyname at 1:05PM, March 2, 2024
Just as well my kids (twin girls, one boy) don't have a problem with LOUD men as I have a voice like a foghorn. What none of us like, children or adult, male or female, is men who stand *entirely* too close. Policemen do this, it's deliberately intimidating, they're trained to do it. No-one else should.
skyangel at 9:17AM, March 4, 2024
That is a good point and really at any age it feels very uncomfortable to have someone standing too close, even more so for a child.
tommym at 9:58AM, March 2, 2024
Dear Sky, Is that a young Janey sitting next to Nikki? Think Sarah would be too shy to whisper in front of teacher. Catholic Grammar School kept boys and girls seperated, so much so, I truly believe, to this day, it stunted my social development with the opposite sex tommym
skyangel at 9:15AM, March 4, 2024
Dear Tommym: It's a nice idea but unfortunately not. I didn't meet the real Janey until I was in my 20's but it would have been fun! I think you are right about the segregation as it creates a divide that feels more serious than it should do. I was lucky to have been in a mixed school as most of my friends were girls!
HawkandFloAdventures at 9:53AM, March 2, 2024
It's great to see you back at it again! Best of luck <3
skyangel at 9:12AM, March 4, 2024
Thank you! :)
UnderTheBlackHat at 8:36AM, March 2, 2024
such lovely analysis of self from one so young. This actually reminds a bit of some of the 'Peanuts' strips where a child works an adult issue through their eyes. We very much like it and especially enjoy the 'hair raising' reaction to Mr. Warner (in both panels 1 and 6 - open and close) raising his voice. And fear not, 'Maths' was a bit of a trigger for a lot of kids all through their scholastic careers. Again a nice page that gives us insight and some enjoyable moments equally. Thanks!
skyangel at 9:11AM, March 4, 2024
UBH: I dreaded maths! Our teacher used to make us stand in a line at the back of the class and ask us random Times Table questions in order and I honestly felt like I was in a firing squad waiting for my turn to come up.. I really wasn't sure whether to do that last panel or not but when writing the scripts I wanted to add humour where I could so it gives the strip a more positive reading experience. I'm really glad you enjoyed it and thanks again for all your lovely comments!
Othosmops at 8:09AM, March 2, 2024
Love the last two panels! Mr. Warner, in an obviously good mood, uses his stentorian voice (from his point of view) in a well-dosed manner, and Nikki, who suffers a double attack that makes his hair stand on end.
skyangel at 9:05AM, March 4, 2024
Othosmops: That was quite a difficult panel as I like to keep the art looking fairly realistic and yet showing his hair stand on end was really drifting into a more cartoony style. I guess that's where using Chibis pays off!