Just a quick announcement. After thinking about it for a bit, I’ve decided that after this story arc concludes, I’d like to take a brief hiatus from updating. I’d be spending this time working on building a buffer of strips, and maybe enjoy a little break from deadlines.
I don’t want to go completely radio silent during this break though, so I am putting out a call for guest strips to be aired on the site during this time.
I’m going to set a deadline of December 1st for guest strips. The hiatus is not necessarily begin on that day (I don’t have an exact timetable for the end of this arc, although it’s coming close.), but I’d like to have them available to sort and pre-upload by then.
So if you have a fun idea for a Selkie guest comic, or even a short story, I’d love to share it during that time. 😀
Good for you! If you don’t try out working with a buffer, you’ll never find out how it suits you. Your fans will be here anyway, always ready to enjoy more of your storytelling, whatever process you decide to use.
Does this mean no more pencil-art updates? 😉
Ideally, yes!
But I LOVE the pencil art updates!
Cue outpouring/explosion of love for the pencil-art updates.
While I don’t think anyone will disagree that a buffer and a lack of stress are both good things, I think you’re going to find that a lot of us will miss the incomplete updates, and that maybe you should think of a way to keep these works-in-progress somewhere in the mix.
You can join tumblr, and post your pencils there.
You’re the only comic I regularly follow that keeps me aware of the assembly process. As I’ve mentioned before, that helps me overcome my own inner critic when making my own comic. I would very much appreciate some channel whereby I can see your WIP material regularly.
Okay. Okay, I have to say something, because this is driving me NUTS.
You know the Spam Protection on your comments? You know how you think it says, “Sum of (number) plus (number)? (required field)” – well, it doesn’t. What it says – at least, when I read it – is, “Sum of (number) plus (number) (PHP Operator) (multiplied by)” and it breaks my brain every. single. time.
I’m sure this is absolutely trivial to everyone else in the known universe but me, but if you could find it in your heart to find someone to move that asterisk somewhere else in the sentence, I would be so very happy.
The way I’m interpreting the feel of the last panel, Andi still feels nervous and awkward around Todd and his parents. However, it looks like they’ve gotten over or set aside their anger towards her. A little glad there’s no harsh glares because those, as well as the petty comments they made towards her earlier, to me just felt like they only made things worse.
I get where the anger was coming from, but making a remark like that just seemed completely uncalled for in my book (in case anyone doesn’t remember exactly what I’m referring to, mainly this one: https://selkiecomic.com/comic/selkie686/ )
More or less what I’m trying to say here that it sorta looks like the initial feelings of anger have died down for now, though the pot may still be at simmer. But at least it seems like they can at least be civil with one another. Because they HAVE to be civil to Andi to be able to see Amanda, like it or not.
At least Theo and Marigold’s looks aren’t as venomous as they were in the start.
Very dragony indeed lol
I like how Amanda is like, “Pssh, you’re in teouble, not me, I’ve got pigtails.” and that Selkie immediately thinks they’re I’m trouble. It’s cute.
Theo still seems to be the most sympathetic of the bunch, Todd’s look… confuses me. He looks apologetic. Not sure why. Maybe he thinks he’s treated Andi unjustly before giving her a chance to properly explain? Who knows, but he definitely looks sad or apologetic. Mari… looks less mad. Looks more exasperated. A sort of ‘let’s just get this over with’ sort of look. I still don’t approve of how judgemental she’s looking, but it’s definitely better.
I hope this goes well. No attacking, no ganging up, just talking and hearing all parts of the story.
I dunno if it’s apologetic or sad. Maybe he got over the rage and is too tired to not be going “what the heck was going on with that, anyway?”
I expect we’re about to see a rather uncomfortable talk concerning some of Amanda’s behavior and possibly where Andi tells them about what happened to her with the Sandersons? It’ll have to come up sooner or later; I just wonder if she’ll have to nerve to get it out in the open now or if it’ll take Todd or one of the grandparents picking up on the signs to figure it out.
That would be a kind of awesome twist, especially as Andi is being prepared to be yelled at for the whole “dead” lie (which she still, yeah, very probably deserves). If they instead asked about the kid…
I like that twist a lot. It’d help so much more if they talked about Amanda and her history/needs rather than focus on Andi’s mistake. Yes, Andi put Amanda up for adoption and lied about it, but that was not in and of itself the catalyst for Amanda’s troubles. The Sandersons were instrumental in Amanda’s mistreatment–it was their choice to act towards her that way, and squarely their fault. Andi may have to deal with the fallout of what came after Amanda was born, but that part is not Andi’s fault.
Same.
I just thought “yep kids, you are right, someone’s in trouble. It just isn’t the two of you”
Has to come out sometime. What she did isn’t something that can be ignored at risk of everybody’s mental health – especially her own. Otherwise she’s left sitting on a time bomb waiting for the explosion. Bad enough knowing there’s bomb, worse knowing it’s been armed and the countdown has started.
Until they metaphorically explode she isn’t going to have a clue as to how much damage she actually did or be able to begin to start salvaging what pieces remain. It’s going to be bad, but there’s bad like the house has been totally trashed, the neighborhood has been destroyed, or the city is wiped out. None of it is good but most humans default to ‘I wiped out the entire universe’ while in worry mode. Putting off the damage assessment isn’t helpful.
For those who say Amanda’s needs come first – have you ever lived with someone who was constantly worrying over something? Do you remember how on edge you were knowing there was something going on you didn’t understand? Do you remember how fun it was dealing with an adult who was constantly on edge waiting for that other shoe to drop? Yes, not fun. Taking care of this is preempting additional Amanda issues, not to mention Todd/Selkie issues. People with unsettled issues are a pain in the rear to live with.
Maybe if your buffer means no incomplete updates, you could offer them as vote incentives for TWC or something special for the Patreon patrons. Sounds like they’re pretty popular. Just my two cents, take it for what it’s worth. 🙂
My only problem with moving the sketch versions to Patreon is that it bothers me a bit to take previously-free content and shift it behind a paywall.
Good for you taking a break. You will have more time for your family. Keep us updated
END HER.
I feel sorry for Andi. Everyone is mad at her for a choice that she made. And she had the right to do so anyway; she’s the mother, so she could do what she wanted. She was too young to take care of her child, so I feel like she did the right thing.
And I feel not a damn bit sorry for her. She lied to them. She conned them, she led them to believe their blood was dead and then carried on as if she did nothing wrong. She gave them an urn filled with ashes to keep the lie going as long as she could. And when she was finally revealed as a liar, she tried getting a dead relationship back on track.
Oh yes, she has done absolutely nothing wrong and did the right thing. And my farts smell of roses.
Well, we don’t know if she ‘carried on as if she did nothing wrong’ I for one think she felt pretty damn guilty from the syart, she just didn’t have the will to tell the truth out of fear of abandonment. Was that right? Well no, but it doesn’t mean she didn’t feel really bad about it.
I don’t think she was necessarily right to give up her child. She was definitely within her right as a mother to state she did not want to be a mother and would rather give up the child, but she could have easily given her to Todd. Or just got an abortion. Todd couldn’t have forced her to take the child to term if she didn’t want to.
She’s guilty of being too scared to help herself and voice her thoughts on her own body. And lying. She shouldn’t have lied, but I understand why she lied.
I will never get upset about the decision to give up Amanda. Her body her choice and all that. Plus there is no way she could have foreseen the consequences of her action. No mother in that point imagines she’s giving her child to a cycle of abuse that will leave her with anger problems that will stick around 8 years later.
I just…..I’ve said before my own time being in Todd’s position. So I will always be sympathetic to his side and less so Andi’s. Did she have the legal right to do what she did? Yes. And it’s crap that the father has no legal recourse in his situation. It would be wonderful if we men had some protections if we wanted to claim our child. And while there are stories about men getting their children back after they’ve entered the system, if you’re not on the birth certificate, there’s a million hoops to jump through even with a successful DNA test.
So Kaelen, the essence of what I am saying is, it is her right, but she wasn’t in the right to do Todd the way she did.
Really. Todd is the father. Todd wanted Amanda. He was a teenager, but he had the support of his parents. If Andi wanted to give the baby up and relinquish her claim upon her, she could have done so by giving Amanda to Amanda’s father. He had a right as great as Andi’s once Amanda was born.
Except Andi wanted Todd. Not the baby. She wanted to keep her relationship with his parents in tact as well. She just didn’t want Amanda. She may have been pressured by her own mother to give up Amanda, but the decision to lie about it and continue the charade with props was all Andi’s decision.
I know this conversation has played out in comment threads several times here, but you might have missed it. Apologies to all if I’m being redundant.
And why should the mother be able to disown the child without giving the dad the option to keep it alone? It’s a bullshit law and shouldn’t be allowed. Her being the mom is irrelevant.
Yes. Yell at the horrible human being for all the nasty awfulness she put you all through.
The insults about your family. The most messed up like and disgusting one in history. She deserves it!
Your break is well-deserved. Take the time to figure out what works and what doesn’t and address other areas of your life.
With regard to that last panel, I think the others are (mostly) past the anger, but now want answers. Not all the answers Andi can give will be satisfactory, but being forthcoming as possible will help a lot.
Is it wrong that I wanna reach out to Andi and hug her?
Consider there are two comments about how “evil” is Andi and to exaggerate probable wants to see Andi verbally burn at the stake and the rest aren’t. Its safe to say that that it’s not wrong to think that because its your opinion and your reaction , it’s just that Andi needs to deal with the earned animosity towards her actions about the lie like a adult, no running away and Andi needs to explain herself and women up about She is feeling and even touch upon how She’s going in by herself with raising Amanda and mention in private about Amanda’s past . After all, Her actions can be explained , but not excused and not forgotten .
Guest comics, you say? Can anyone get in on this? If yes, do we just email strips to you or is there some other protocol?
Anyone may submit one! My email is a good way to do it. dave AT selkiecomic DOT com. It’s also up on the menu bar.
How would we submit guess strips to you Dave?
You can use my email if you wish, that would work. dave AT selkiecomic DOT com. It’s also up on the menu bar.
You deserve some break-time. Getting burned out isn’t good for you. Even Requiem is on break, and that guy is a workhorse.
$50 says Amanda and Selkie eavesdrop on the entire conversation where Andi tells the others why she did what she did.
No bet. That’s quite likely. Unless they start arguing between themselves again, which could also go interesting places now.
But if one of them suggests eavesdropping, then the other one might try to gain leverage by tattling instead.
The downside of having a buffer is that if one of the readers makes a comment that inspires you to write an “even better” version of the next day’s comic, then you won’t be able to use it without having wasted some effort finishing up the comic that you thought you were going to use.