by Rene Engström
Guys! ALM is finished but I have a new comic calledSo Far Apart.
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AppearancesMarch 20-22Webcomics Weekend March 28 UK Webcomix Thing April 23-26 SPX 09 Stockholm |
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September 1st, 2009 at 12:19 am
coming up:
“drunken cheating can happen to anyone?”
and
Flipper Baby?
September 1st, 2009 at 12:22 am
So Bjorn just got back at Anders in the present! Its payback time Anders…
September 1st, 2009 at 12:29 am
awww. aw aw aw. I love Bjorn. And I love the way Rene breaks my heart a couple times a week with her lovely comic.
September 1st, 2009 at 12:37 am
Alright, now I /have/ to see this painting.
September 1st, 2009 at 12:39 am
:/
Bjorn -did- want her to go off to school, and he didn’t want a kid…
I feel bad for him, but at the same time, he set it up for her to leave that life.
September 1st, 2009 at 12:39 am
aw bjorn looks either really ticked off or concerned. i can’t tell. man maria is just a heart breaker all the time. maybe it’s the hormones?
September 1st, 2009 at 12:45 am
maria looks adorable in the first panel!
September 1st, 2009 at 1:03 am
BUH BUM BUUUUUHHHHHMMMMMM!!!!! squeeeek squeeek squeeek!
September 1st, 2009 at 1:41 am
So Bjorn doesn’t have the stupid phonetic accent?
September 1st, 2009 at 1:59 am
Eric has a point, shouldn’t Bjorn’s from Kuktrask, shouldn’t he have the accent as well? And I suppose Johan should also.
September 1st, 2009 at 2:03 am
FWIW, I think the accent here is an important part of showing how Maria is set apart from the art students. I think if it’s in place everywhere, it’s going to make things hard to read. I think it’s perfect right as it is.
Man, this comic is wrenching!
September 1st, 2009 at 2:16 am
Oh man, poor Bjorn. I knew I loved him for a reason.
Pooooor Bjorn. ;_;
September 1st, 2009 at 2:19 am
OH WAIT. Anders didn’t know about Bjorn, right? This is regarding the “drunken sex can happen to anyone”. Oh Maria. >_< *Goes to re-read the archives*
September 1st, 2009 at 2:33 am
I think Rene’s only writing Maria’s accent in the context of her southerly surroundings, and it makes perfect sense to me; when speaking with others from her own town, Maria wouldn’t “hear” their accent, because their speech wouldn’t sound accented to her. In the panels at Konstfack we’re “hearing” how Maria sounds to people who don’t share her accent. I like this effect, because I think it pulls the reader more fully into the story and its setting; we get the subjective experience of hearing speech from multiple social backgrounds.
September 1st, 2009 at 2:46 am
Maria is putting her fingers in her eye in that first panel !
September 1st, 2009 at 3:19 am
well… the thing about phonetic accents is that you only notice it when you are out your home or a foreign comes to your place
September 1st, 2009 at 3:21 am
Is anybody ever happy with their own actions in the comic?
September 1st, 2009 at 4:14 am
I think one of the finest things about the characters in A <3 M is that they are so wonderfully made up of grey shades!
September 1st, 2009 at 4:18 am
Am I the only one who noticed that Anders called Maria “Lena” in the first panel?
September 1st, 2009 at 4:22 am
I’m pretty sure Bjorn *does* have the accent, as indicated by the word “drinkin’” instead of “drinking”.
September 1st, 2009 at 4:43 am
You have an astounding control of narrative despite having so many protagonists, Rene. That makes you one helluva storyteller. And such great trinkets of detail. For instance I love how Sofi’s hair is similar to Maria’s in present time. Did Anders suggest that, or is it something she subconsciously picked up. Maybe if I read sex and the suburbs I’d know.
Hey it’s almost ALM’s 3rd anniversary, no?
Congrats!
September 1st, 2009 at 4:51 am
I’m certainly not writing the character and don’t know what Bjorn’s feeling, but I know that personally, I am always ticked off AND concerned at/with my boyfriend. xD
September 1st, 2009 at 5:33 am
Bjorn’s clothed! WTF!
September 1st, 2009 at 6:25 am
Wow, I see what’s happening here
Finally I get it
Nice story!
September 1st, 2009 at 6:45 am
i totally forgot that maria is still pregnant at this point… then i went OHHHH as to why bjorn asked her if she should really be drinking. this is so sad, i love bjorn
September 1st, 2009 at 7:24 am
Uh oh…Maria’s drinking while preggers.
September 1st, 2009 at 7:43 am
He looks a mixture of concern and ticked to me!
This current storyline reminds me very much of a past relationship. I love so much how you are able to make us relate to every one of these characters. Nobody is perfect, and we all make choices that don’t always turn out for the best.
Cheers for the brilliant artwork!
September 1st, 2009 at 8:58 am
Poor Bjorn. He just wanted Maria to be happy and go to that art school like she had been planning all year. He wasnt fond of the idea of a baby but i dont think he wouldve actually done anything about it because he loves Maria. It wasnt the reason for sending in her portfolio, it was to make her happy and keep her on the right track in regards to her future. This won’t end well…
As for the hot topic: accents
i think it is a lovely touch to your story giving it more depth, its kinda sad that there are people who dont want to bother trying to “decipher” them when its so simple. As for this comic, at first i questioned why Maria still had an accent while talking on the phone to Bjorn (because to the two of them it is not an accent of course) but i think Rene did that because Bjorn is at “home” and the whole point to the accents now is to show how far away from home Maria really is right now. Thus on this page Maria still has her accent while talking to Bjorn because it is showing that she is still far from home, while he isnt.
September 1st, 2009 at 9:07 am
First I want to say, everything about this comic makes me happy, even the parts that make me sad. Like Bjorns face in the last panel. Some asked if it was concern or anger, and I have to say, as a guy who has a girlfriend going to a school a couple hundred miles away, I know that look all too well. It is not anger, nor scorn, but frustrated worry. I have asked that very same question to my girlfriend, whom I love more than anything, and to be sure, the results of such a night have not always given me cause to sleep easily. I hope Bjorn can take his coming tragedy well.
September 1st, 2009 at 11:58 am
Erm, re Anders calling Maria Lena? He didn’t.
September 1st, 2009 at 12:22 pm
@ Jesus
Nobody noticed cause he doesn’t. He simply tells Maria that he knows Lena.
That is why Sofi calls him a teacher’s pet. Else the whole first panel wouldn’t make any sense, just sayin
September 1st, 2009 at 2:13 pm
I’ve been in Bjorn’s shoes before. It didn’t end well at all, and it certainly didn’t feel too good.
September 1st, 2009 at 2:25 pm
@Jesus: No, he’s is saying that he is friends with Lena, and that he will talk to her to make sure Maria gets into the school. “I know Lena”, not “I know, Lena”. Commas are important!
September 1st, 2009 at 2:57 pm
“its kinda sad that there are people who dont want to bother trying to “decipher” them when its so simple”
I read a lot of people sayin “we’re not really entitled to complain at all”, “rene can do what she wants”, well of course, I just said that I find it hard sometimes to understand Maria’s words, I didn’t mean to be “disrespectul” of Rene or whatever, I love the comic, maybe I’m not able to appreciate this accent thing enough but ok nevermind
September 1st, 2009 at 3:18 pm
She’s drinking for two.
September 1st, 2009 at 3:34 pm
Yikes! flipper baby indeed! Or perhaps, more likely, a miscarriage.
September 1st, 2009 at 4:26 pm
This was absolutely heartbreaking. Im all for Anders/Maria, but the bjorn part still breaks my heart. Also, i had been figuring the entire time that maybe she would just accidentally lose it…but she seems to have forgotten she is even pregnant, or she stopped caring, since she’s drinking
I love how this all ties in though. Even Maria in the beginning of the comic didnt want kids, and thought anders was nuts…until she found out she was pregnant with anders’ baby…
Also, in the beginning when Anders had to be relocated with Maria because of the press…Now we know why Maria threw such a fit about going back! She made a promise to herself to never do it, hah.
September 1st, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Also i forgot to mention, i think maria is absolutely beautiful the last few comics.
September 1st, 2009 at 4:36 pm
I would like to cheer you on, Rene, for giving us this linguistics lesson. I grew up reading classic lit, and some of the more favourite ones were written with dialects all over the place, the ones that stand out most were the James Herriot novels about the people in northern England. Their accents are absolutely precious to me…and yes, they were difficult to decipher at first but that’s the whole bloody POINT! It’s language! There is a barrier! The question is, as a reader, can you overcome it or do you just nod dumbly and pretend to understand….so kudos to you for challenging the way we’re hearing her. I adore it.
September 1st, 2009 at 4:45 pm
chill out a single evening’s drinking doesnt make a flipper baby
September 1st, 2009 at 5:46 pm
Maria totally is sticking her entire hand into her eye in the first panel. Hehe.
September 1st, 2009 at 7:24 pm
I love you guys who comment, you talk out all of the questions that I have about the comic and you all seem to have better memories than I do. Maybe this means I should just reread the entire comic
September 1st, 2009 at 7:28 pm
I like that Sofi’s doing the trendy thing drinking red wine while Maria goes for the “stor stark” with Anders. At least I assume it’s beer. Maybe it’s apple juice, what with the bebbe and all.
September 1st, 2009 at 9:03 pm
@Tez, its irresponsible to drink at all during pregnancy, no matter how little. so YOU ‘chill out’
September 1st, 2009 at 9:19 pm
Abby that is simply untrue. Don’t get huffy.
There are simply no–zero–scientific studies showing what “rare” or “occasional” drinking do to a fetus.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/29/dining/29preg.html
“Clinically speaking, there is no such thing as moderate drinking in pregnancy” said Dr. Ernest L. Abel, a professor at Wayne State University Medical School in Detroit, who has led many studies on pregnancy and alcohol. “The studies address only heavy drinking” — defined by the National Institutes of Health as five drinks or more per day — “or no drinking.”
“Lisa Felter McKenney, a teacher in Chicago whose first child is due in January, said she feels comfortable at her current level of three drinks a week, having been grudgingly cleared by her obstetrician. ”
Alarmist people who push their narrow-minded views on others–in direct contravention and opposition to science–are irritating on their best days.
September 2nd, 2009 at 2:38 am
It’s more likely that the miscarriage would be due to the tremendous beating Maria’s cervix and ute would take from Ander’s over-endowment *ahem* in a drunken heat-of-the-moment romp
September 2nd, 2009 at 6:47 am
Also, Americans, remember –
in other countries, abortion has not been made by politicians into the major moral issue that it is there.
Also, Maria already has convinced herself, correctly or not, that Bjorn does not want to have a baby. Add that to repeated reassurances that she’s been accepted to art school, and she has probably already made up her mind to have a termination. It is not something to judge her about.
But why does everyone assume she is going to sleep with Anders? She just met him, and seems okay with but not completely bowled over by him. Contrast with when she first met Bjorn and was utterly enamored almost immediately — in that context, the thought of them having sex that night made more sense.
Not so much with Anders, unless she either has a major ‘oh well, so what’ moment or he takes advantage. Neither scenario would likely lead to an 8-plus-year relationship …
September 2nd, 2009 at 4:03 pm
I think Maria looks beautiful with longer hair… I wish she didn’t cut it when she got older
Maybe she can grow it out again *hint hint* 
September 2nd, 2009 at 4:20 pm
Wow, everyone seems to be feeling so bad for Bjorn, I kind of hate him. I don’t know why, I guess it’s just because he has far too big of an ego for my tastes. And, after all, the comic is called Anders Loves Maria, not Bjorn Loves Maria. But maybe I’m just a heartless goblin who relishes in other people’s misery.
September 2nd, 2009 at 7:49 pm
@Celeste: It’s true, the comic is called ANDERS loves Maria. Which is why I hate every character not named Anders!
September 3rd, 2009 at 2:06 am
http://anderslovesmaria.reneengstrom.com/2007/07/11/2007-07-11/
This comic actually implies Maria would have short hair around this time…
oh welll….
Beautiful work, as always, Rene
September 3rd, 2009 at 2:27 pm
@Von Havick
Not necessarily. That could be AFTER she is accepted to school, meaning she still has time to cut it short.