I put the description of the black spaces in the comic for the benefit of archive bingers who may miss or not read the extra commentary and commentaries.
I hope that look is Theo reassessing Andi. It looks like he’s the only one who knows what she’s done, and he’s very carefully not saying anything about it. Grandpa wanted an answer earlier (and got one). I wonder if he’s studying Andi every bit as much as he is the girls.
That’s what I was thinking … it’s interesting how the dragon is hiding the rest of Theo’s expression, so we can’t tell if he’s smiling, frowning, or neutral at Andi’s actions.
going by what Amanda’s hand was last comic, why do i get the deja vu feeling from the movie Mortal Kombat here? i think it will be that Amanda get’s right up behind Selkie, throws down her bear-trap card, then plays her last remaining Lasso card, pulling Selkie Backwards the two spaces into the bear-trap and while Selkie is getting out of the trap, then Amanda crosses the finish line and wins…
Ya know, I loved that movie as a kid, but as an adult I’m finding myself thinking the representation of Scorpion’s spear move is kind of weak. Yeah the hissing serpent-hook is a cool idea but it would look so much more awesome if Scorpion landed it and just yanked Johnny Cage bodily off his feet with one arm. Scorpion just standing there while his hook does all the work just visually lacks dynamism.
But then again that was mid-to-late 90s. They probably couldn’t do some of the stuff we can do now.
Have you seen that urban retelling video of Mortal Kombat where all the characters mentioned were turned into something from a psychological thriller? It’s interesting and actually pretty neat. Reptile became some cannibal gang leader with no lips.
I think anyone whose seen that wishes it was in development. It was just an amazingly done fan video, but unless they’ve been super quiet about it, it’s nothing more than a fan video (shot on really expensive/nice cameras)
there is a SERIES with those actors on STEAM… they’re calling it Mortal Kombat: Legacy, and it looks to be a reboot of the concept, a bit like the original Robocop… rampant crime, the various psychos running around freely and the cops can’t do squat, etc… there are at least 10 eps right now, there may be more as i haven’t kept up with it after i watched all there was at the time i subscribed…
Oh common most kids at that age gloat when they win and are mad when they lose, my siblings and all my cousins were like this even if our parents told us not to be sore losers. It’s just what kids do.
Selkie will probably gloat if she wins or be very unhappy if Amanda wins as well. She may be less mean about it, but gloating and then adding a ‘good game’ at the end doesn’t erase the fact that you still were gloating.
That’s certainly true. Though Amanda takes this common tendency and pushes it to 11. I was just observing that we already know how she (and, yes, Selkie, for that matter) will react to a win or a loss. A tie with Selkie would push the story into new territory.
English is a living language; it grows and changes. Unreturnably can be a word if you want it to be. That said, I think the word you might have been looking for is “irrevocably”.
When I got older, I was always sad to hear that my dad let me win things. It made the victories totally silly. I wish Andi hadn’t. Also, this is basically setting them up to fight again.
I’m of the opinion to let a child win 1 out of 3 times if they aren’t winning on their own. More if they need a little boost. You do have to tame it down once they get past 8-9—though my daughter seems to do a great job whooping me at chess without help, because I’m so busy trying to make sure she knows the correct moves.
Like you, I’m wondering if what Andi did was a bad idea, too. But maybe this is a way the adults can foresee the girls having a conflict—before it actually happens—and help them work through it properly.
I let my niece win sometimes, but usually I make her win on her own. She’s getting to be at the age where she should win on her own. Still, if she’s having a bad day, I’ll let her beat me. And even when I’m not letting her just win, I don’t play as cutthroat as I do with my friends. She asked me to once, just play as hard against her as I do with my buddies and she was floored by how harsh I played.
Usually we play co-op games so that we’re working together for a common goal.
I used to let my younger cousins beat me at fighting games or card games, mostly because it made them happy. It’s never fun to play a game where one person is miles better than the other. It doesn’t present a challenge or sense of victory for the better person and just makes the other person feel inadequate and that they’ll never get better. It’s way better to just coach the weaker player while letting them gain a little confidence boost by winning.
Not only that, specifically in fighting games, if I leave myself open or do a move, but don’t follow up with a combo, it let’s my cousins figure things out at their own pace. Once they get good enough to hold their own, you stop giving them hints and openings so they can improve their skills even more.
I’m not saying you should let people win continuously at later ages, but it doesn’t hurt to do it occassionally. Unless they specifically ask you not to let them win.
Used to whup my unofficially adopted niece and neph at pinochle (the card game). I’d been playing the non-Hoyle family partner version since as far back as I can remember so it wasn’t really a fair fight. So I played riskier than I do playing fam and that generally gave them a fighting chance. It’s no fun to win all the time, people don’t like playing with you for good reason. I won’t cheat outright, don’t think it’s fair to them but overbidding a hand or two to make it interesting gave them a fighting chance that made their wins sweeter for it. Of course, we’d switch up partners and games occasionally (euchre was slightly more equal opportunity) so nobody won consistently enough to take the heart out of the other players.
My 4 year old Italian niece plays Uno like a pro AND gracefully (she apologizes for throwing the action cards on us and says “It’s okay” if we play them against her) – being a good sport can certainly be taught and very early!
There’s another dynamic here you’re ignoring: Andi is VERY much in the doghouse with the grandparents, and with Todd. Winning, or even still being in the game at this point, places more attention on her than she’d probably like – far easier to shrink into the background. Also, there’s the very real danger that her continued competition could be seen as her and Amanda ganging up on Selkie – by Amanda, Selkie, any of the adults, or all of the above. It’s just a sticky, sticky situation, and Andi’s quick move to escape from it is the wisest move available.
Also incredibly characteristic of her, given her past actions – but in this case, her habit of avoiding issues instead of facing them head-on is an asset, rather than a liability.
They actually made a full, truer, series. Officially. You can buy it at Target.(and I’d assume other places). Scorpion and Sub-Zero are real ninjas. Raiden was in a mental institution until he…escaped in spectacular manner. Very worth a look.
Sorry, I lost track of time yesterday. Just got done reading part 3, it ended with a bang! I love how much vindictive creativity you gave the girls. 😀
Now that the story’s complete, I’d like to compile them into a single entry for the Fanart page if that’s alright, and give it a proper Fan Art posting with the next update.
I would coach the kids like crazy, and at times not play my hardest, but I never threw a game. They got smart enough to tell. We’d also handicap the games – like when playing pool, we’d play 3ball, and then 4ball, etc, until we got to 8ball.
I like the idea that Andi might be thinking of other aspects than just the kids. Nice thot.
I hope that look is Theo reassessing Andi. It looks like he’s the only one who knows what she’s done, and he’s very carefully not saying anything about it. Grandpa wanted an answer earlier (and got one). I wonder if he’s studying Andi every bit as much as he is the girls.
Theo seems like the most logical and level headed of the bunch. He knows what’s up.
Oh, Theo is *definitely* taking notes. On everybody.
Yep – definitely a “Sly girl!” look if I’ve seen one, though admittedly it can be tough to tell with just the eyes.
That’s what I was thinking … it’s interesting how the dragon is hiding the rest of Theo’s expression, so we can’t tell if he’s smiling, frowning, or neutral at Andi’s actions.
going by what Amanda’s hand was last comic, why do i get the deja vu feeling from the movie Mortal Kombat here? i think it will be that Amanda get’s right up behind Selkie, throws down her bear-trap card, then plays her last remaining Lasso card, pulling Selkie Backwards the two spaces into the bear-trap and while Selkie is getting out of the trap, then Amanda crosses the finish line and wins…
Ya know, I loved that movie as a kid, but as an adult I’m finding myself thinking the representation of Scorpion’s spear move is kind of weak. Yeah the hissing serpent-hook is a cool idea but it would look so much more awesome if Scorpion landed it and just yanked Johnny Cage bodily off his feet with one arm. Scorpion just standing there while his hook does all the work just visually lacks dynamism.
But then again that was mid-to-late 90s. They probably couldn’t do some of the stuff we can do now.
Have you seen that urban retelling video of Mortal Kombat where all the characters mentioned were turned into something from a psychological thriller? It’s interesting and actually pretty neat. Reptile became some cannibal gang leader with no lips.
I might as well show it to you if you haven’t. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGnVhqhmip8
It’s up there with Power/Rangers for a wild retelling.
That was nice! So it’s something in-development I assume? 2010 date on that video.
I think anyone whose seen that wishes it was in development. It was just an amazingly done fan video, but unless they’ve been super quiet about it, it’s nothing more than a fan video (shot on really expensive/nice cameras)
there is a SERIES with those actors on STEAM… they’re calling it Mortal Kombat: Legacy, and it looks to be a reboot of the concept, a bit like the original Robocop… rampant crime, the various psychos running around freely and the cops can’t do squat, etc… there are at least 10 eps right now, there may be more as i haven’t kept up with it after i watched all there was at the time i subscribed…
That seems plausible… except we don’t know what Selkie’s cards are. They’ll probably matter before game’s end. Also, she’s played this game before.
If Amanda wins, she’ll be an ungracious, gloating winner. If she loses, she’ll be a sore loser.
How will she react if there’s a tie?
Oh common most kids at that age gloat when they win and are mad when they lose, my siblings and all my cousins were like this even if our parents told us not to be sore losers. It’s just what kids do.
Selkie will probably gloat if she wins or be very unhappy if Amanda wins as well. She may be less mean about it, but gloating and then adding a ‘good game’ at the end doesn’t erase the fact that you still were gloating.
That’s certainly true. Though Amanda takes this common tendency and pushes it to 11. I was just observing that we already know how she (and, yes, Selkie, for that matter) will react to a win or a loss. A tie with Selkie would push the story into new territory.
It’s not cheating: It’s taking a dive to let others have fun. Totally legit.
Players who fall are completely out of the game?
No, but they do have to restart. That’s what someone said Friday, anyways.
I would guess that the game has progressed to a point that being forced back to the bottom puts you unreturnably behind.
Is “unreturnably” a word?
English is a living language; it grows and changes. Unreturnably can be a word if you want it to be. That said, I think the word you might have been looking for is “irrevocably”.
When I got older, I was always sad to hear that my dad let me win things. It made the victories totally silly. I wish Andi hadn’t. Also, this is basically setting them up to fight again.
I’m of the opinion to let a child win 1 out of 3 times if they aren’t winning on their own. More if they need a little boost. You do have to tame it down once they get past 8-9—though my daughter seems to do a great job whooping me at chess without help, because I’m so busy trying to make sure she knows the correct moves.
Like you, I’m wondering if what Andi did was a bad idea, too. But maybe this is a way the adults can foresee the girls having a conflict—before it actually happens—and help them work through it properly.
I think it’s obvious they’ll cooperate to beat the game together somehow.
I let my niece win sometimes, but usually I make her win on her own. She’s getting to be at the age where she should win on her own. Still, if she’s having a bad day, I’ll let her beat me. And even when I’m not letting her just win, I don’t play as cutthroat as I do with my friends. She asked me to once, just play as hard against her as I do with my buddies and she was floored by how harsh I played.
Usually we play co-op games so that we’re working together for a common goal.
I used to let my younger cousins beat me at fighting games or card games, mostly because it made them happy. It’s never fun to play a game where one person is miles better than the other. It doesn’t present a challenge or sense of victory for the better person and just makes the other person feel inadequate and that they’ll never get better. It’s way better to just coach the weaker player while letting them gain a little confidence boost by winning.
Not only that, specifically in fighting games, if I leave myself open or do a move, but don’t follow up with a combo, it let’s my cousins figure things out at their own pace. Once they get good enough to hold their own, you stop giving them hints and openings so they can improve their skills even more.
I’m not saying you should let people win continuously at later ages, but it doesn’t hurt to do it occassionally. Unless they specifically ask you not to let them win.
Used to whup my unofficially adopted niece and neph at pinochle (the card game). I’d been playing the non-Hoyle family partner version since as far back as I can remember so it wasn’t really a fair fight. So I played riskier than I do playing fam and that generally gave them a fighting chance. It’s no fun to win all the time, people don’t like playing with you for good reason. I won’t cheat outright, don’t think it’s fair to them but overbidding a hand or two to make it interesting gave them a fighting chance that made their wins sweeter for it. Of course, we’d switch up partners and games occasionally (euchre was slightly more equal opportunity) so nobody won consistently enough to take the heart out of the other players.
My 4 year old Italian niece plays Uno like a pro AND gracefully (she apologizes for throwing the action cards on us and says “It’s okay” if we play them against her) – being a good sport can certainly be taught and very early!
There’s another dynamic here you’re ignoring: Andi is VERY much in the doghouse with the grandparents, and with Todd. Winning, or even still being in the game at this point, places more attention on her than she’d probably like – far easier to shrink into the background. Also, there’s the very real danger that her continued competition could be seen as her and Amanda ganging up on Selkie – by Amanda, Selkie, any of the adults, or all of the above. It’s just a sticky, sticky situation, and Andi’s quick move to escape from it is the wisest move available.
Also incredibly characteristic of her, given her past actions – but in this case, her habit of avoiding issues instead of facing them head-on is an asset, rather than a liability.
Well analyzed.
Sounds like Andi uses my mom’s house rules. “It’s okay to cheat only when it’s helping another person, not yourself.”
House rules with my family too 🙂
Did Andi ‘cheat’ to let one of the girls win? I wouldn’t necessarily call that cheating….
She doesn’t play by the rules, that’s technically cheating regardless of the outcome. :p
They actually made a full, truer, series. Officially. You can buy it at Target.(and I’d assume other places). Scorpion and Sub-Zero are real ninjas. Raiden was in a mental institution until he…escaped in spectacular manner. Very worth a look.
just read this comment, but up in an earlier thread, i posted that it’s on Steam, i didn’t know they did a DVD of it too..
huh, amazing what a google search will find… seasons 1 thru 3 on Youtube as well.
Hey DW
(PBS ARTHUR reference),
Did you read and like the Halloween fic the other day?
Sorry, I lost track of time yesterday. Just got done reading part 3, it ended with a bang! I love how much vindictive creativity you gave the girls. 😀
Now that the story’s complete, I’d like to compile them into a single entry for the Fanart page if that’s alright, and give it a proper Fan Art posting with the next update.
Cool!
Actually if you give me a few days I may have one more little thing to add.
Nice, can’t wait! 😀
I would coach the kids like crazy, and at times not play my hardest, but I never threw a game. They got smart enough to tell. We’d also handicap the games – like when playing pool, we’d play 3ball, and then 4ball, etc, until we got to 8ball.
I like the idea that Andi might be thinking of other aspects than just the kids. Nice thot.