You could do worse for a spirit animal than the ocean’s master of disguise and trickery.
I still slip and forget Amanda's earrings sometimes.
You could do worse for a spirit animal than the ocean’s master of disguise and trickery.
What do you do when you meet your kid, and you don’t much like her?
What do you do when you meet your kid, and you realize she’s a horrible little shit to someone you actually care about?
What do you do when you meet your kid and you remember that the first time you met her was in an orphanage and that you didn’t realize it was her and your ex just dropped an emotional nuclear bomb on you and you know the kid doesn’t know that she and your other kid are siblings and you’re still wracked from the bomb and just want to hold the child you’ve mourned for the past eight years but you can’t?
That final panel in a nutshell.
You take it slow and easy.
What do you do when you meet your kid, and she’s eeriely similar to you when you were adopted?
So far he’s got zero reason to dislike her, aside from Selkie’s earlier assessment — an assessment that could just as easily come from one sibling about another. I’ve heard my nephews and nieces treat each other worse than this; “I mean, for a stupid fish” is quite mild when it comes to how kids rib each other.
Whether Todd can take a certain level of teasing as “normal” for kids, I dunno, but I vaguely recall him getting some teasing from his siblings, so that’s unlikely to be a problem.
You know, that’s actually a pretty good point. WE as readers know that Amanda is a bully, but Todd actually doesn’t know yet. I don’t recall Selkie ever going into much detail about who bullies her at school (and previously at the orphanage) to her father, so Todd basically only knows what he’s seen, and his only serious experiences with Selkie being victimized was by Heather and Truck. Todd may very well have little to no bad preconceptions of Amanda.
Just so we’re clear, I’m 99.99% sure Amanda was calling the octopus a stupid fish, not Selkie.
That’s how I took it, and it’s kind of like “My Little Ponies? Only babies watch that stuff!”
So, dismissive of something the other person is really interested in, as well as implying that they are inferior for liking it. Typical kid talk.
Wow. Amanda’s attitude was helpful for a change. Knock Todd out of his anger/hurt mindset enough to get his brain working on how he’s going to handle this. Baby steps, Todd..
I was about to ask if Selkie wanted earrings, but then…
Best comment. Hands down, best comment.
Awe they were almost getting along for once but Amanda just can’t help herself. Also, Sai Fen….!
Despite the front Amanda puts up, we’ve seen her be civil/friendly/helpful with Selkie before (biggest example: when she was in the nurses office & needed her “medicine”…despite the horrible reveal of knowing about Amanda’s abuse & the betrayal of trust & all that…)
A lot of it is the “different/weird=make-fun-of” aspect of humanity that can take practice to overcome (unless you’re already over it; hooray for acceptance!) and the anger at Selkie for being the center of attention when she arrived at the orphanage (woo flashbacks). Since time has passed and they lived together for those years, there’s still the teasing, but there’s compassion too (almost a sibling rivalry sort of thing, but with too many siblings & lots of extra chaos added in). When there isn’t anyone around to impress and nothing is spiraling out of control, Amanda seems like she could be a good kid. A bit bossy, but still a human with all the potential that contains.
I think having other “Selkie’s” around and the missing-mom scare threw Amanda off her “look how much better I am than you” game, so she’s being less prepared and more authentic(odd wording…I think you all get what I’m trying to say though)
Right, long post. Um…Felix is waving hi to Todd, and that’s outstanding (or he’s going for a high-five…either way: great)
See guys? No secret sharing.
I wonder how he can even talk about that. Especially without making her despise Andi.
Even though she would justifiably deserve Amanda’s anger as well.
Yeah, I’m starting to wonder about that. How to explain the existance of Todd to Amanda without making her ragingly mad at Andi?
You know after the last few pages of conversation the cross-talk between Amanda and Selkie is almost friendly banter at this point.
I have to say that eventually, I can imagine Selkie and Amanda being good sisters as time goes on . But, not now.
Todd totally needs to take baby steps around Amanda. Her past makes her guarded and I can imagine the big shock it would be for both sisters to find out the fact that their half sibs and how much of a setback it might cause between her and Amanda growing relationship.
Still, a Octopus is actually a pretty good spirit animal for Selkie .
Hey Dave, there’s a principle of art wherein you don’t let lines touch if the objects aren’t meant to be read as touching. Selkie’s nose looks like it’s attached to Amanda’s pigtail (second panel). The way to avoid this is to have the overlap be pretty clear, or to make the two figures not touch in the first place (space between them).
I’ve noticed this a few times before but never commented on it. But it’s a thing that will make your art read better if you make sure that lines never meet (at corners/edges, I mean) if the objects are separate.
Hi there, longtime fan! Just commenting to say that your use of the phrase “spirit animal” in the artists comments is, as far as I’m aware, actually a racist act against Native Americans. It’s a common phrase though, but I thought that you might be the sort who would rather avoid using such phrases.
That being said, I’m really glad with how this arc is turning out (though sympathetic towards Todd, and maybe a little toward Andi if she is indeed being manipulated and abused by her mother to a huge degree). I’m really glad that Todd isn’t dropping the drama bombs yet ;;
Actually the idea of a “Spirit” or “Totem” animal is just about universal to most tribes around the world. They can be seen in N. American, S. American, Australian, and African tribes even today. Many Practicing Pagans call on them for all sorts of different reasons; from inspiration in how to act, to using them in spellwork. Using the phrase “spirit animal” isn’t derogatory or racist.
Not in this context anyway.
I’m not sure I see how it’s racist. The spirit animal is a very general concept.
It’s not racist. First, it’s not racist to simply mention a piece of another’s culture (especially in an admiring way) and secondly, the spirit guide/spirit animal/animal totem/etc is, like you said, a concept that is far-reaching. I am Pagan and that is part of my spiritual beliefs. I have spirit guides I honor and respect. You using spirit guide in this context is not at all offensive to me nor any other person I can imagine. Also, they’re kids! Kids say things that might be taken as offensive (like theoretically making light of a religious/cultural belief) but you’ve got to have thicker skin than that! No harm was meant and I really can’t see how this could ever be considered racist since the cultures and spiritualities that believe in the concept of a spirit guide are so diverse and world wide. There is no one race you’re singling out here.
It’s culture appropriation from Native Americans. It’s exclusive to them and that’s what makes it racist.
hey, token Native here, they said spirit not totem, so it is more general. For the record “shaman” is actually Indo-european/Mongolian the Native term is Medicine Person. Also I give them a pass for being eight. If adults had said it it would be different, but it is a concept very popular in children’s programming.
I’m curious if we can expand on that a little bit. So the “spirit animal” phrase is not problematic coming from a child character, but if Todd had said the same line it would be problematic?
If Todd had said it I would question his character, he seems much more enlightened than that. Most of the vegetarians I know do it for moral reasons and are very socially aware. Todd seems from past comics to be one of the moral vegetarians and at least to my mind, Todd seems like he would be opposed to any form of discrimination or racist comments. He’s been very accepting of Nathanial sr. and treats him as a him even though he doesn’t bind. So it would seem really out of character for him to throw something like that off (similarly why I was very glad you changed the “cow” insult regarding Andi).
Children get a pass because so many scouting groups teach “Native skills” as part of their curriculum and many cartoons use Native ideas as part of their teaching of values, and I appreciate these things because it is teaching the younger generation that Native ways should be honored and not treated as “devil-worship” or something that needs to be beaten out of people.
Some racism is blatant like the name of the Washington sportsball team or a white teen wearing a warbonnet, some is more subtle like people calling a meeting a “Pow-wow” or randomly calling people “chief”. At least in America there is a long history of taking the best parts of Native culture with no credit and treating the tribes like vermin (and even calling them vermin and offering bounties for proof of having murdered an Indian- where scalping came from, whites did it to natives to claim their bounty money. The tribes started doing it back out of outrage)
It’s been a slow battle for acceptance and cultural identity, hopefully everyone knows the sordid history of the residential schools, where thousands of children were forcibly removed from their homes to be “re-educated” into white culture. They were tortured, starved, raped, subjected to medical experiments, and killed.
People like to say racism against black is so terrible (and it is, I’m not saying totherwise) but Native Americans were not even counted as American citizens until 1924, or given voting rights until 1948.
One way I’ve seen of dodging the term (and the possible reading of cultural appropriation*) and retaining the sentiment is using “Patronus” instead.
(* as Blue Coyote says, “At least in America there is a long history of taking the best parts of Native culture with no credit[…]” — and depending on the context, going “X is my spirit animal!” can be seen as taking something lightly that is meant to be a religious experiment. Sort of as if someone were selling Peanut Butter And Jelly Communion Wafer Snackwiches in the grocery store. Only with extra added “treating the tribes like vermin” (including outright extermination, and Trail of Tears stuff) as a historical context.)
So, as a writer who’s hoping to include a variety of ethnicities and cultures without being unintentionally offensive, I’m also curious about how this all works.
Because it seems to me that the way good customs spread around is through mimicry, where cultures that originally didn’t have the customs end up trying them out, liking them, adapting to them, and thus the meme spreads until a fair number of people don’t even recall where it came from.
Christmas, for example, is celebrated in a variety of fashions across many cultures, and is an enjoyable custom, and it ties back to the start of Christianity but even further back than that, because the winter celebration was borrowed from some decidedly non-Christian groups and altered so that Christians could enjoy it too, without acting against their own beliefs or offending other Christians.
Many of the customs we have nowadays stem from the way the holiday was celebrated prior to the Christians. Like, for example, the Christmas tree, or the use of certain foods.
So, was it wrong to “appropriate” the culture of others, even though it ended up spreading all over the world in a variety of forms that bring joy to many nowadays? If it was wrong, what is the reasoning? That practically nobody recalls the original meaning of anything, or remembers the people who originally started it? That it got mixed in with the beliefs of the people who borrowed it, so that nowadays it’s largely associated with a specific religion? Or is it something else?
The cultural appropriation thing, as far as I’ve been able to figure, is when one takes the concept from a culture that is not a majority culture, and then ignores the origin (or exotic-izes it, or acts like it came from a dead culture).
It’s not really a good parallel to do Christmas, even though it has been mutated into something that’s practically secular in many places, because it’s still running parallel — at least in America — to a religious majority. (Look, “In God We Trust” is on our money, okay? Not “gods,” not a different word for god, not even “the Divine,” not “the spiritual essence of life”… God. The Christian concept of God.)
Not to mention that — as you alluded to but kind of missed — arguably the whole Winter Holiday thing was appropriated in order to co-opt pre-existing competing religious holidays in the first place, BUT ANYWAY! 🙂
Perhaps it would be better to think of a concept like the Hanukkah games, with the dreidel, being taken by a Giant Toy Company, packaged with some variant rule set and design (like a Greek gods/Pokemon combo!), and given its own totally 50’s White American cartoon show (still with Pokemon Greek gods) as an extended advertisement context. And T-shirts. And cheap fast-food toys.
If that’s not hitting the disgust over “stealing a concept and revamping it for your own entertainment”… I could try other ideas. I bet something would wind up being offensive enough that one would go, “Wait, that’s taking the trappings, pretending like you invented them or discovered them from a dead culture, and ignoring why it’s a thing of joy and/or spirituality that came out of this cultural and historical context.”
Which is not to say that this use is OMG Terrible, because, hey, Selkie is a kid. But you asked, so there’s my two bucks. O:>
Also not racist to quote a character, which he did: Selkie said it first:)
I see nothing wrong with comment. Spirit animals are talked about everywhere and almost every animal has its traits used to describe it in common language.
This is a very general concept. Relax. Also, *a kid would say this* — you don’t get to call the author out for having a character do something they would do. Saying “X is my spirit animal” is actually really common in America, whether or not you think it’s racist.
I don’t have a problem with being called out, I just don’t really agree with this particular racism assertion.
Ehhhh – i agree this isn’t racism, but commonality does not determine whether something is racist (or otherwise inappropriate) or not. It’s more of a whether-or-not-the-subject-is-treated-respectfully kind of thing.
As mentioned above, the concept of the spirit/totem animal is not exclusively Native American/First Nations. Heck, not even all tribes espoused the concept in the first place.
Dave would be far from the first author to borrow the concept for a created religion in their works/universe.
The line between cultural misappropriation/fetishization and respectful adoption or reference is unfortunately quite fuzzy; again, not black-and-white. An author basing a created religion off of any real-life example, done respectfully (I do not yet see any evidence to the contrary), does not fall into the misappropriation category.
Yeah, that’s why I opined that it was ok, “spirit” instead of “totem” leaves it open to be a part of any animistic religion, and really the larger part of pre-Judeo religions had a lot of animism (the idea that animals, plants, stones, places, weather or other phenomena are somehow aware/alive and able to be petitioned/interacted with)
Interestingly, even the roots of “Judaeo” religions had their own elements of animism which were later shut down. And in the ‘Book’ religions (the big three, Judaism, Christianity, Islam) there are distinct comparisons made at times where the traits of certain animals were considered worthy of emulation or even given to individuals.
Most often showing up in the stories for children handed down, but also sometimes appearing, as they say, in the source material.
Okay, he got his first impression of Amanda.
I guess the next step is to get home, and break the whole thing to his parents. They have been grieving for eight years, too.
I’m quietly looking forward to the eventual “discussion” between Todd’s parents and Andi’s mother. That’s bound to be … educational.
Educational? More like “break out the popcorn” time…
I wonder if Todd´s parents will have more sympathy for Andi, after experiencing the attitude of Andi´s mother. They´re one step removed from the entire tragedy, and knowing the pressure Andi was under from her mother might do the trick.
Thermonuclear education.
Er, he has met Amanda before. First time was when he went to the orphanage, and was interviewing kids to adopt. He was Less than thrilled upon meeting her and passed her by to adopt Selkie, it happened on about page #8. So, not his First impression of Amanda, but the first impression of his Daughter.
Yes, but now he *knows* she’s his daughter. That changes things. Todd’s sense of responsibility – and the fact that he had been adopted himself – makes him duty bound to get to know Amanda and include her in his life. It’s the extent of that last bit that’s still being determined.
I actually didn’t read that he was less than thrilled upon meeting her – if I recall correctly, she was a contender up until he actually met Selkie.
Ok, after a pause to look it up, she was in the running but he went with Selkie. He thought her adorable: https://selkiecomic.com/comic/selkie21/
Gee, Todd and Amanda both have a trait of hugging themselves when they want they are controlling their emotions. (Last panel)
“Hi Todd!”
-Felix
And *still* think Felix looks damn smug.
Wow now that I look at them side by side, it’s amazing how much Todd & Amanda look alike. I think Todd’s expression is more one of heart break… he’s seeing just how much hurt this poor little girl has had to go through.. how cynical his child is from being an orphan for so long. I guarantee you he’s looking at her and seeing himself… more than anyone, Todd can relate to what she’s going through and he’s gonna be the best medicine for Amanda becoming happy again.
That’s really the worst nightmare of an abuse surviver. A lot choose not to have children just because of the fear their child may relive what they went through—especially if they still have ties to their family of origin.
He can perhaps make some intuitive leaps about what she’s been through, but so far he has not seen any evidence of the trauma she’s undergone. So far she’s just a little kid, and the type who rolls her eyes at people liking “inferior” things — typical kid. I expect this will likely change soon, but let’s not judge Todd’s experience from the basis of the stuff we have seen that Todd has not.
Well here’s my thing: Todd knows how children ‘usually’ act.. Selkie, while dealing with a lot, is generally optimistic and happy. Most children her age are…. it’s a huge red flag for a kid to be THAT cynical/unimpressed. Especially because he ALREADY knows amanda through selkie being bullied. He’s finally met her in person and he’s putting 2 & 2 together. She hasn’t been with Andi long & he knows from his own experience how easy it is to just give into hating the world. I just really feel that the way he looks at Amanda in this panel is really not “Look at how much of a jerk this kid is” more like “Every second I see this girl I’m reminded more and more of myself.”
Looking at this page, Todd meeting Amanda may actually go better than I thought it would.
Also, octopi are totally cool animals.
“What do you do when you meet your kid, and she’s eeriely similar to you when you were adopted?”
“Gee, Todd and Amanda both have a trait of hugging themselves when they want they are controlling their emotions. (Last panel)”
Wonder if, down the line, Todd helps Amanda through these tendencies. The father-daughter similarities are eerie though – not for the similarity itself, but for the implications of abuse and emotional issues.
Also LOL SAI FEN. Way to interject!
You know, “sneaky, smart and breaks out of cages” DOES fit selkie
Sai Fen is so cool. How did you get so cool, Sai Fen?
She is turning out to be my favorite character. 🙂
She’s definitely close to the top of my list of favourites. And even though he’s a new addition, I love Felix so much. Felix don’t care about your puzzles. Felix wants CLAMS. AND HE WILL RUIN YOUR @#&* TO GET THEM.
Even now he’s just there. Chilling out. Biding his time like a boss. Felix will have his vengeance.
HAIL TO OUR CEPHALOPOD OVERLORDS!
ALL HAIL LORD FELIX!
I’m looking forward to Todd becoming Superdad. I don’t know how he will manage it, but I have faith in him.