[OC] And then...

[u/skroode]

More, if you're into that sort of thing, at skroode.com.

[u/Victor9538]

It’s interesting that you chose to not have him have children.  I’m curious why that was left out?  A lot of events in his life seem like things he did not want to do (no sign of happiness when getting married for example), but did anyways.  Married couples often get pressure to have kids.

Was not having kids the one thing he did choose that also went against social pressure?

Or is it just because he’s a mermaid and his wife was not, so conception not even possible?

[u/skroode → u/Victor9538]

He's a character from the comic, this being let's call it a sort of outtake? Different comic with him in it, not necessarily 'canon', riffing on an idea? If that makes sense?

Didn't think to add kids, interesting question. Some of it was to keep it under 50 panels, but maybe it never even crossed my mind b/c as a parent that was a little too far for me even.

[u/mistersnarkle → u/skroode]

Honestly I respect this take; you’re too good of a parent to do that to even a fictional child.

I was a nanny, and now I’m a server; most adults are just big children stumbling around

I’d love to see if he ever did get to swim; I bet chlorine would fuck with him physically, and pollution would hurt, but I would love to see if he ever got to even try — if only for the child he used to be.

[u/DrunkBrokeBeachParty → u/skroode]

Solid concept and the styles fun dude. Keep it up

[u/FauxGw2 → u/Victor9538]

Not everyone can have kids or in a situation they should.

[u/ForeverAfraid7703 → u/FauxGw2]

If anything I'd imagine he wanted kids but can't because, well, fish

[u/Fern-ando → u/Victor9538]

And who put flowers in his grave if he divorce, had no friends and didn't have children?

[u/Snoo-76264 → u/Fern-ando]

In my country there are volunteers that take care of forgotten graves by maintaining them and leaving flowers and candles on them.

Also who's to say the ex-wife didn't leave them there.

[u/Tethys404 → u/Fern-ando]

Parents, cousins, neighbors, acquaintances, ex wife, maybe. People are usually remembered in death even if they were forgotten in life

[u/BreakfastBeneficial4 → u/Victor9538]

Not once, not once did I notice the tail.

[u/maplecremecookie → u/Victor9538]

To me, the comic seems very antinatalist. Going from a fetus to an old man and not finding enjoyment or a purpose in anything, Anyone with a rational mind would understand there's no point in perpetuating the cycle.

[u/Ragnarok314159 → u/maplecremecookie]

He is a fish out of water.

The comic is about being forced to live a life you shouldn’t be forced into, he should have been swimming in the ocean.

[u/maplecremecookie → u/Ragnarok314159]

Yeah but most people are forced into a life they don't want. Everyone always complains about school, work, etc. etc.

[u/The_Chubby_Dragoness → u/maplecremecookie]

yeah, thats a hell of a problem

[u/kidjupiter → u/Ragnarok314159]

People are too focused on the fish tail. He’s just one in cast of a few absurd characters that the artist uses in many comics.

[u/WildFlemima → u/maplecremecookie]

I think you missed the mark by a long shot, which is understandable because you didn't notice that he is a merman

The comic is about someone who is born very different, goes through all the motions he's "supposed" to, all the while feeling terrible. At the end of his life he still feels terrible and he doesn't get what the point was.

But, again, he was born different.

What would this comic have looked like if he had been born to merpeople?

His mom wouldn't reach out for first steps he can't take; he would swim to her.

No one would bully him for his tail.

He'd have some kind of merperson job, not stuck miserably behind a desk, a literal fish out of water.

His wife would be a mermaid, someone like him. He might even have kids, because they'd be compatible biologically.

At the end of this life, a life that would have fit much better for someone without a tail, he asks what's the point. It's not his fault or anyone else's fault that he was born in the wrong place and time, and was deprived of his potential.

I think this is a metaphor for anyone who feels like a mermaid stuck on land. This is a metaphor for the disabled, POC, queer, trans, autistic existence

[u/DerpsterCaro → u/WildFlemima]

...Gunna be real i somehow missed the mertail. No i dont know how. The fins look JUST like feet enough i guess.

[u/kidjupiter → u/WildFlemima]

People are too focused on the fish tail. He’s just one in a cast of a few absurd characters that the artist uses in multiple comics. The fish tail has no meaning. Check out skroode.com.

[u/guysomejust69 → u/Victor9538]

He a fish man. Cant have kids

[u/galgatrex → u/Victor9538]

He’s got a fish part where his dingus would be