Chamomile Comic Catch-Up

The intended way to enjoy Chamomile is to read all the comics, so that character development and running gags flow naturally, but if you want to be able to start reading weekly without having to spend the 2-3 hours it takes to catch up, read on for character and plot summaries of what has happened so far!

Main Cast

Chamomile (a.k.a. Cammie / Cam)

Chamomile is an upbeat, friendly and enthusiastic woman in her mid-to-late 20’s. While she enjoys spending time with others most, she’s also good at keeping herself company just as well. Despite being fairly booksmart, she has a tendancy to focus on the first thought that pops into her head - to say she comes across as a tad scatterbrained at times might be overgenerous, but you’ll never find a more loyal friend.

Brianna (a.k.a. Bri)

Brianna and Cammie have been best friends since they were single digit age. In spite of being more mature and capable of adulting than Cammie, Brianna is a more anxious person, who is almost always quietly pining to go back to simpler times. Cammie has remained something of her rock throughout life as a result. After working there for much of her adult life, Brianna took over ownership of a local café, The Cubby.

Layla

A high school friend of Cammie and Bri. While they stayed in their home town, Layla left for a while to pursue higher education and fell slightly out of touch with her old friends. Like the best of us, she recently returned home, degree in hand, to pursue a job in retail, where she reunited with the others. She’s the least afraid to speak her mind of the group, and somehow manages to be simultaneously chill and enthusiastic about most things in life - particularly about her love for hardcore music it, be it metal or electronic.

Vienna

A friend Brianna made in adulthood at the local branch of sandwich chain Sammiches. Bonding over customer service woes, they eventually became friends outside of work and Vienna quit Sammiches to work with Brianna in The Cubby. In her spare time, Vienna is a bit of a nerd, particularly being a fan of horror movies and video games, but she’s also something of a romantic, being the only member of the friendship group actively seeking a relationship - which is unfortunately, not her competency.

Samantha (a.k.a. Sam)

Initially one of Chamomile and Layla’s co-workers, Sam somehow manages to make being a busybody work for her - she loves a bit of gossip but always in the name of helping friends achieve their goals if she thinks she’s able to. Despite entering the group through Cammie and Layla, she ends up bonding with Vienna after self-proclaiming herself as official wing-woman.

The Seagull

The Seagull.

Other Characters

Joslyn

Works at Infusion Publishing, who Cammie almost got a modelling gig with.

Jamila

Layla’s lovely pet dog.

Area Manager

Layla and Cammie’s manager above their store manager. Pleasant enough but a bit of a corporate tool.

Mrs. Beaufort

Cammie’s kindly but forgetful landlady - she split her house in two to rent out the upper floor as a flat, where Cammie lives.

Lianne

A woman Vienna goes on a blind date with.

Mimi

Brianna’s unforgettably charismatic part-timer at The Cubby, who Cammie consistently forgets exists (despite the fact that they all went to high school together).

Chamomile’s Family

Consisting of Father Basil, Mother Piper, and her three older brothers (from oldest to youngest), Riley, Hubert and Jay. We’ve also met Riley’s wife Nana and teenage daughter Jody.

Newt

Layla and Cammie’s most recent co-worker, who replaced Samantha when she left. A nice, chill guy but Cammie isn’t satisfied with the replacement, despite Newt seemingly leading an incredibly interesting life as a part-time stand-up comedian whose hobbies include spelunking and is in a polyamarous relationship with two people.

Bullies

Two boys (who seemed to be dating) that loved to pick on Cammie, Brianna and Layla back in high school.

Newt’s Romantic Partners

Consisting of Lucy and Walter.

Plot Summaries

Comics 1 - 50

Cammie, slightly pining for the idea of getting a pet, decides to start very simple with a pet rock she finds at the beach, which she declares her new son before it is prompty stolen by an aggressive seagull.

After noticing that the photos and selfies she takes of herself are somewhat popular on social media, she obtains a small modelling job for a magazine article at local publisher Infusion Publishing. Brianna chastises her for not taking better care of her hair which is often a tangle of curls, but the result of this is Cammie ending up getting two hairbrushes stuck in the mess trying to fix it. While at the hairdresser, the seagull returns to taunt her with the stolen pet rock, and she ends up chasing it down the street, complete with hair salon sheet and hairbrushes on her person. When Joslyn, her contact at Infusion Publishing sees this ridiculous scene, Chamomie’s explanation does little to dissuade her from cancelling the job.

Vienna, who initially Cammie only saw as the grumpy, stern worker at local sandwich chain Sammiches, is revealed to be friends with Brianna, and becomes a semi-regular tag along with Cammie and Bri’s day-to-day socialising.

Brianna points out that Cammie has been unemployed for a pretty long time, and despite her aspirations of modelling, should probably look for a more accessible job to tide her over. She ends up interviewing for Repeat 1 Records, a small chain music store, discovering that her new assistant manager is her and Bri’s old high school friend Layla.

On Cammie’s first day closing the shop by herself, the seagull shows up to taunt her again.

Comics 51 - 100

As Cammie is settling into retail work, Vienna quits her job at Sammich’s to work at Brianna’s café The Cubby. As the two become closer, Vienna reveals she’s pursuing a relationship through dating apps (specifically with other women).

One evening, Cammie and Bri are due to go our for dinner together when Bri opens up a little about how anxious she is about her responsibilities as an adult. While Bri is reluctant due to not wanting to relate such a place to adult stress, Cammie insists on revisiting a childhood favourite spot of theirs to cheer up - Milky’s, a local family friendly american diner-style restaurant. Unfortunately, they arrive to find it permanently shut down, and Brianna laments that she continually procrastinated on going back due to waiting for the perfect time.

The reason it is so precious to her turns out to be that it was actually where Cammie and Brianna first met as children. Brianna lived nearby and had gone there to get an ice-cream to cheer her up when her parents (who would later divorce) were fighting, but was found by Cammie crying, ice-cream having accidentally fallen off the cone. Cammie saw her and offered her some of hers, but just ended up dropping it on the floor too. Laughing together at this, the two realised they had seen each other in the same class at school and became friends. Back in the modern day, Cammie still proves her ability to always cheer her up, as she reminds her that while those specific memories are gone, their relationship then and now is constant.

On another day, Cammie realises she hasn’t dabbled in photography for a while and goes to the woods with Bri. Cammie admits the incident with the publishers last year knocked her confidence in modelling, but Bri phones them up and confirms that the incident was entirely based around Cammie’s behaviour in the street and not anything to do with her potential as a model. This reinvigorates Cammie’s mood and they have a little photoshoot for fun in the woods, although Bri is a bit concerned about Cammie’s revived enthusiasm and willingness to try again some day considering how rude Bri was over the phone.

On the drive back home, the seagull once again taunts Cammie with the pet rock.