troglodyte_mignon

I wonder if they’ll learn how to say no by the end of the book.

After reading strip 8/60 I thought that at some point the mother would one of her children by asking them to count themselves, but it turned out she skipped the counting altogether when leaving, ha ha.

She has her uses.

I did.

I assume there’s going to be an unfortunate counting mistake at some point and that one of these delightful children will go missing.

Oh God.

The flowers are lovely, however.

Best self introduction ever.

That must have been a hard pregnancy.

Wow, I have no memory, thank you. 😅

It’s strange that such a strict person would visit a relative for several days without telling her kids and maid. I wonder if that’s all there is to the story. Maybe she crumbled under the pressure and had to get away for some time? Or am I overthinking it? Maybe her aunt just had a health emergency of some sort.

I love how the chains framing the second panel show her state of mind as she climbs the stairs to the police station. Well, she did face her fear, and she’s not going to prison, so all is well… … ?

I’m glad that Mrs Fillyjonk’s safe and sound. (Even though she’s a bit annoying.) I wonder if her children were “missing” too? I don’t think the detective mentioned it.

That scene was so cute. The inspector’s totally treating her like a little kid. (I guess she’s not very old anyway, is she still in her teens?)

And the “with my little axe”, ha ha.

Wait, does she actually believe she killed Mrs Fillyjonk?

I so look forward to Misabel surprise-visiting her sister like that.

Misabel is finally falling to the Dark Side.

Oh shit, Misabel is really low, I know she’s often annoying but I feel sorry for her. I hope her life gets better by the end of the story… but for now, I just really want to know what’s inside her SECRET BAG. (!!!)

Hopefully, it’s not Mrs Fillyjonk’s corpse.

I’ve seen estadounidense in a Spanish newspaper before, and for some reason this word is very hard for me to spell.

In French too, there’s “états-unien” (also spelled “étatsunien”). It’s little known and rarely used (in France). I have no idea if it’s more often used by left-leaning speakers. (I do use it from time to time, and I think it can be useful to avoid ambiguity.) I can imagine its use being more common and more political in Québec, compared to France where I live?

While writing this comment, I stumbled on a letter from a very angry listener who wrote to the French public radio “arbitrator” (don’t know if it’s the right word) to complain about a guest using the word “étatZunien” (his spelling) several times (gasp) on the air. Apparently, the listener believed the word to be made up, and he wasn’t the only one who wrote to complain about it.

And the arbitrator’s like “um, dude, it’s a real word, it’s in the dictionary since 1961”.

There’s no point linking to that here, really — the letter’s all written in very incoherent French — but it made me laugh.

… Yes!!! Yes! Yes! Long live Pimple!

After reading strip 65, I thought that Misabel had realised that the Moomin were just pretending to hide from the police, but apparently she believed them. I understand why she would be hurt to learn that it was a game for them, especially if she is (or at least believe herself to be) wanted by the police.

I genuinely hope that Pimple will take it well and just say “Hey, turns out I do like dogs after all, awesome”. I don’t want him (was it a male dog?) to be unhappy. :-(

I really think Moomin Mamma shouldn’t have deceived him. However, Misabel’s decision to tell him the truth clearly doesn’t come from a good place, and she’s not going to be diplomatic about it…

I kind of feel for Misabel, there. That doesn’t look fun at all.

I thought the whole “let’s pretend we’re criminals” game would make Misabel freak out, but she reacted so disdainfully, ha ha.

The second panel is hilarious.

Oh, I hope little Pimple’s not going to get its heart broken. :-(