It’s Iimi! What Will You Do Once You Learn the Truth?

Paula eavesdrops and hears something she was not supposed to hear about news that potentially means hardship for her new home. But did she hear it in context? And what will she do with the information? Meanwhile, Myrna tells Della something utterly unexpected that could shatter their friendship if either of them mishandles it. 

  

Post-Comic Commentary

So, we have a potentially controversial topic here. Some Catholics might see this as “caving in” on the issue of homosexuality. That would be a misinterpretation, however. I support the Church's teaching on the topic. This is more of a focus on the Catechism teaching that people with same sex attraction need to be treated with love and respect, even though we cannot support things that legitimize homosexual acts as “good.” So, if a reader is tempted to write an angry comment accusing me of rejecting Church teaching, don’t. It will be rash judgment.

I found Eve Tushnet's book Gay and Catholic useful in avoiding stereotypes and finding behavior that could show the love and support such a person might need in living their life in accordance with Church teaching. While I disagree with some of her opinions, I believe she intends to live a chaste lifestyle in fidelity to Church teaching. 

In doing research, I realized that one of Iimi’s views in an earlier comic was inaccurate. Iimi’s dialogue of “I used to think…” reflects that.

Myrna’s feelings for Della came around through an unintended consequence of the limitations of the Comipo program. All the female models have a slight blush in their cheeks. But it turns out that the color becomes more noticeable the darker the skin color. Also, when I designed Myrna, I wanted to give her narrower eyes. The combination gave Myrna the impression of looking at Della with affection and devotion. While there were ways to mask the blush, the combination intrigued me. So, I started dropping hints into the things Myrna said while keeping it vague enough to not give the secret away. I decided that as things heated up in Iimi’s school, bringing in someone they already knew would force the characters to shift from theoretical to “these are real people.”