History ComicBook / TheGirlFromTheSea

* JerkassRealization: [[spoiler:Aiden appears to have this when, upon him outing her, Morgan asks in a hurt tone why he "always ruins everything" before she runs off.]]

''The Girl from the Sea'' is a 2021 graphic novel by Creator/MollyOstertag. The story was originally [[https://twitter.com/GraphixBooks/status/1394321829293137920 a one page comic]] written by Ostertag in college, then was adapted into a full comic book.

Morgan Kwon, a fifteen year-old living on Wilneff Island, is under heavy stress thanks to her parents' divorce, her troublesome brother, and plenty of angst about being secretly gay. But she has plans upon finishing high school to get away from it all and live her life free of all these worries.

However, Morgan nearly drowns but is saved by Keltie, a mysterious girl who turns out to be a shapeshifting selkie. They quickly fall for each other, but Morgan is afraid to be open with Keltie, fearing honesty to everybody about their relationship will screw up her plans. But little does she know that Keltie has a secret too...

* AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents: Morgan's mother Min is very prone to embarrassing herself and Morgan when she tries to connect with her daughter. For instance, [[spoiler:after Morgan is outed as gay Min tries to lighten the mood by greeting her literally exiting a closet, and reassures Morgan that she's not worried about her daughter being a lesbian because it means she's less likely to have a teen pregnancy.]]

* ComingofAgeQueerRomance: Magic elements aside the book fits this trope. [[spoiler:The story leaves Morgan ready to accept herself as gay and out to her friends and family. Further more she intends to live her life to the fullest expecting to meet Keltie again seven years in the future.]]

* EyesAreMental: People note that Keltie's eyes are very weird so it seems that selkies can't change their eyes. [[spoiler: Earl proves this.]]

* TheFashionista: {{Downplayed}}. Morgan wears very understated but still fashionable clothes, and when describing herself in comparison to her friends she mentions her interest in fashion. It makes her relationship with Keltie ironic given the seal girl doesn't seem to really ''get'' clothes.

* FullyClothedNudity: Morgan refers to Keltie as a "naked girl" while she's still wearing her seal-skin covering her body, though she may have mistaken it for water.

* TheGhost: There's mention of a Tyler Tanner who tried to kiss Morgan and got shoved off a bridge. Also Jules, Morgan's friend, is dating a Tyler that the rest of the posse act unimpressed with.

* HiddenAgendaHero: [[spoiler: The reason Keltie kissed Morgan is so she can take human form and somehow stop the giant ship ''La Reine de la Mer'' from harming the seal's rookery. She’s willing to go to rather extreme lengths to achieve this goal but what makes her a hero is that when a better solution presents itself she takes it and is even willing to give up her life with Morgan to save Serena’s life.]]

* IWantMyBelovedToBeFashionable: Again Morgan has a serious interest in fashion, which may be part of the reason she's reticent to hang out with Keltie. [[spoiler:Also why she gets out of her fashion slump and makes a party dress for Keltie out of the Selkie's favorite shirt.]]
* IWillWaitForYou: [[spoiler:At the end of the book Morgan promises to wait for Keltie and meet her again in seven years. {{Defied}} in that Keltie tells her firmly that she ''doesn’t'' want that for her that she wants Morgan to live her life the entire time Keltie’s gone.]]

* JokeAndReceive: When Morgan fails to respond to her friends' group chat, Jules jokes she's dead. As it turns out, at that moment Morgan is drowning.

* LonelyRichKid: Serena is definitely this, [[spoiler: Her parents use her birthday as a marketing opportunity and worries Serena that Morgan’s relationship with Keltie means that she’ll be pulled away from her. Which may explain some of her behaviour.]]

* MatingSeasonMayhem: Keltie admits that conversations with seals tend to get tiring since all they ever tend to talk about is fish and mating.

** Morgan can mean “of the sea” but can mean “sea defender,” relevant given her selkie girlfriend’s mission this is oddly appropriate.

** Serena means "serene" as in calm and despite being told - what she sees as - an outrageous fib by Morgan to get her to have the yacht's route moved she keeps calm throughout it.

* OxygenatedUnderwaterBubbles: Keltie can't control the water itself but in seemingly any of her forms she can bestow a cloak of air bubbles that protects against drowning.

* PlotAllergy: Subverted, Morgan apparently has a shellfish allergy, which you'd think would come up with having a selkie for a girlfriend but it never does.

* SelkiesAndWereseals: Keltie, as her [[RhymingNames name makes obvious]], is a selkie. They're born to common seals and are very rare, but can remove their seal-skin and live on land as humans if they receive a lover's kiss. However, if they put on their seal-skin again then they're obligated to return to the sea for seven years.

* StockAnimalDiet: Keltie likes fish but does mention eating other seafood like oysters and shrimp.

* SpeaksFluentAnimal: Keltie knows how to talk to her fellow seals but also birds like seagulls and it's hinted that this includes dolphins. This doesn’t appear to be restricted to any form.
* SpoiledSweet: Serena's parents own half the town and she's the high school star, but she refrains from being too vain about it. [[spoiler:She does show some shades of AlphaBitch when accusing Morgan of ignoring her in favor of her new girlfriend, but warms up to Keltie after the selkie saves her from drowning.]]
* TrueLovesKiss: When first meeting the following morning after her rescue of Morgan Keltie says that she can now walk in human form thanks to a kiss of true love from Morgan that entwined their destinies. Morgan finds the situation suspicious. [[spoiler:Turns out Morgan was right to be suspicious, since any kiss would have done it but Keltie just wanted it to be Morgan, [[PatientChildhoodLoveInterest given her long standing crush]].]]

* UptightLovesWild: Morgan and Keltie respectively; since Morgan is a fashion appreciative closeted gay girl who would be conscious of presentation to the outside world even looking into getting a degree fashion, by contrast Keltie is a selkie; for many purposes a wild animal just starting to engage with human culture.

* WillTheyOrWontThey: {{Averted}}. Morgan and Keltie kiss and start dating in their first scene together, though chronologically it's their second encounter. [[https://magazine.interstellarflightpress.com/queer-romance-selkies-and-folklore-a2d2e20f901b The author Molly Ostertag has spoken about her interest]] in seeing more stories involving relationships and couples throughout rather than leaving the romance for the very end.

* AnimalSpeciesAccent: Keltie is given a Scottish accent here perhaps as she's adapted from a Scottish skinchanger myth. It lines up with what she says in the comic so it was probably always meant to sound like that.

''The Girl From the Sea'' is a 2021 graphic novel by Creator/MollyOstertag. The story was originally [[https://twitter.com/GraphixBooks/status/1394321829293137920 a one page comic]] written by Ostertag in college, then was adapted into a full comic book.

!!''The Girl From The Sea'' contains examples of:

''The Girl From The Sea'' is a 2021 graphic novel by Creator/MollyOstertag. The story was originally [[https://twitter.com/GraphixBooks/status/1394321829293137920 a one page comic]] written by Ostertag in college, then was adapted into a full comic book.

* AccidentallyAccurate: When Morgan fails to respond to her friends' group chat, Jules jokes she's dead. As it turns out, at that moment Morgan is drowning.

* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Morgan's younger brother Aiden was always rambunctious, but he gets even more bratty and prone to anger following their parents' divorce and his father leaves the island, it doesn't help that his big sister is brushing off his attempts to hang out to go kiss some strange girl. [[spoiler:Eventually he apologizes to Morgan for being rude and [[ForcedOutOfTheCloset outing her without permission]].]]

* AccidentallyCorrectWriting: When Morgan fails to respond to her friends' group chat, Jules jokes she's dead. As it turns out, at that moment Morgan is drowning.

* AccidentallyAccurate: When Morgan fails to respond to her friends' group chat, Jules jokes she's dead. As it turns out, at that moment Morgan is drowning.

* TheGhost: There's mention of a Tyler Tanner who tried to kiss Morgan and got shoved off a bridge. Also Jules, Morgan's friend, is dating a Tyler that the res of the posse act unimpressed with.
* GirlPosse: Morgan {{Lampshades}} that she and her friends seem like a stereotypical girlfriend squad from a 90s movie, though they appear to be far nicer than the usual high school movie posse.

* HiddenAgendaHero: [[spoiler: The reason Keltie kissed Morgan is so she can take human form and somehow stop the giant ship ''La Reine de la Mer'' from harming the seal's rookery. She’s willing to go to rather extreme lengths to achieve this goal but what makes her a hero is that when a better solution presents itself she takes it and is even willing to give up her life with Morgan if to save Serena’s life.]]

* IWillWaitForYou: [[spoiler:At the end of the book Morgan promises to wait for Keltie and meet her again in seven years. {{Defied}} in that Keltie tells her firmly that she ‘’doesn’t’’ want that for her that she wants Morgan to live her life the entire time Keltie’s gone.]]

** Serena means "serene" as in calm and despite being told - what she sees as - an outragous fib by Morgan to get her to have the yachts' route moved she keeps calm throughout it.

* SecretRelationship: What Morgan tries to have with Keltie, works pretty well until her brother Aiden gets curious.

* PlotAllergy: Subverted, Morgan apparently has a shellfish allergy, which you'd think would come up with having a selkie for a girlfriend but it never does.

* AnimalSpeciesAccent: Keltie is given a Scottish accent here perhaps as she's adapted from a Scottish skinchanger myth.
** It lines up with what she says in the comic so it was prolly always meant to sound like that.
* HonoraryAunt: The Audiobook makes clear that Val and later Earl were this to the Kwon family, with dinner being a regular thing togather. Val even used to give the kids rides in her wheelchair.

* CreatorCameo: Molly and her spouse [[Creator/NoelleStevenson ND Stevenson]] show up at the boat party for a few panels chatting.

* TheGhost: There's mention of a Tyler Tanner who tried to kiss Mortan and got shoved off a bridge. Also Jules, Morgan's friend, is dating a Tyler that the res of the posse act unimpressed with.

** It lines up with what she says in the comic so it was prolly always meant to sould like that.
* HonoraryAunt: The Audiobook makes clear that Cal and later Earl were this to Morgans family, with having dinner togather being a regular thing. Value even used to give rides in her wheelchair to the kids.

* GoingCommando: Keltie's first outfit on land is nothing more than an oversized fisher's raincoat. Morgan, taking Keltie to get some better clothes, questions if Keltie is even wearing underwear, then immediately insists Keltie not answer.

** Serena means "serene" as in calm and despite being told - what she sees as - an outragous fib by Morgan to get her to have the yacht’s trail moved she keeps calm throughout it.

* UptightLovesWild: Morgan and Keltie respectively; since Morgan is a fashion appreciative closeted gay girl who would be consious of presentation to the outside world even looking into getting a degree fashion, by contrast Keltie is a selkie; for many purposes a wild animal just starting to engage with human culture.
* WealthyYachtOwner: The Boisseaus own a cruise liner, and they let their daughter rent it for her birthday party.

* OxygenatedUnderwaterBubbles: Keltie can't control the water itself but in seemingly any of her forms she can bestow a cloak of air bubbles the delays and protects against drowning.

** Serena means "serene" as in calm and despite being told - what she sees as - an outragous fib by Morgan to get her to have the yachts trail moved she keeps calm throughout it.