original_post:_12/22/2004____________________________ I wanted to show Naomi's downward spiral, but instead of spending a lot of time on it, I decided to uses tropes that readers would understand. Naomi messes up, gets too into drugs and drinking, wrecks Alli's car, and then gets sent to an all girls discipline school. This is, one of the few times (if not the only time) we ever see any parents. I made a decision early on I didn't want to involve any parents in the series. It was going to be a strip about the relationship of peers, co-workers, and siblings. There are too many crazy things you can do, and have been done, with parents and I didn't want to go into that. Hell, Empire strikes back is one big tease to "who's your daddy?" I don't think it took anything away from the story, leaving out anyone's parents.