I thought the female might be his wife. He could be married to a Sarnothi and have adopted her child. I could be misjudging her age, though, since the pic is small.
I think it must be adoption. Not to get pedantic, but Selkie’s saliva causes a rash on human skin; I wonder how a human and a Sarnothi can … get close enough to procreate.
i believ dr. pohl wife (can´t remember her name right now) said something along the lines that sarnothis don´t kiss due to teir saliva….but interbreeding with humans is still kinda farfetched.
dave? all-knowing artist? some information, please?
There’s a lot of fiction stories that act like human DNA is made of silly putty and can create biological children with any number of other fantasy races. But sadly, that’s not the case here. Will confirm, there is no “halfling” scenario possible. Humans and sarnothi aren’t reproductively compatible.
Considering the established obvious biological differences and numerous not obvious and not often taken into consideration differences (such as PH(?) balance and the like, kinda glad you are taking a more ‘realistic’ approach to it. I’m thinking Selkie’s world and situation is complicated enough without having to add in the whole possibility of half breeds into the mix. I suspect a mixed species marriage is complicated enough already both morally and politically.
Fortunately, I’d say. I find that settings that outright ignore common sense in biology (while not bothering to give explanation), while not necessarily cringe-worthy, often diminish the power and the enjoyability of the story.
not to be weird, but even if they can’t have kids, are they still able to have sex? (not looking for specifics. It’s just… you know, they’re married, and all. That’s an important part of healthy married life.
I don’t think either condoms or female condoms prevent 100% of the fluids from making contact with the other’s body. Is this impression incorrect?
E.g. if the female sarnothi’s arousal fluids cause a reaction, I’d expect the male human to get a rash around the area, even if the condom protected the most sensitive part.
But I do think GallowsNoose is right: It would make sense for saliva to cause a different reaction than other fluids would. Which probably means no kissing from sarnothi to human, but the human could kiss the sarnothi anywhere but on the lips.
I find alternative kiss sites a cool thing (like on the side of the neck, or the side of the nose), and then there are also cultures where kissing just isn’t a thing they do (like the elves of ElfQuest, where some have posited it’s to avoid censorship because of the elves’ very open bisexuality being less visually obvious if characters don’t kiss).
We’ve seen anatomically correct images of Sarnothi, and it doesn’t appear that there is anything precluding lovemaking between the races. Obviously Avery is adventurous enough to marry a Sarnothi, so one would assume that they have been creative enough to work through any issues that may arise.
You can have sex without kissing, though most cultures don’t. There are a couple of cultures that don’t kiss at all, which seems strange to many! Sensual stroking and touching of non-genital but still sensitive places is a good replacement if, say, one of the human parties in a couple is sick, so I imagine a human/Sarnothi couple who wanted to be intimate would do these sorts of things. As for sex, condoms that are resistant to whatever enzymes are in Sarnothi fluids would allow for even oral sex and certainly for penetrative sex if you are careful. Just because it causes a rash or is slightly toxic doesn’t mean it will dissolve latex, and there are non-latex condoms, dental dams, and gloves. So I imagine that if they so desire, Agent Brown and his partner would be quite able to do what they’d like!
As for procreation, I imagine Sarnothi and humans are two different species altogether (probably even a different genus or higher because Sarnothi seem closely related to fish or amphibians compared to the mammalian apes we’re related to), so their chromosomes would be utterly incompatible and no children would result. If this is wrong because of various in universe things, you could always put sperm into the female’s body through, as they say, the turkey baster method.
“[Sarnothi] based on dextro-amino acids. Human ingestion of tissue could provoke allergic reactions. Anaphylactic shock possible. So don’t… uh, ingest.”
Um, would he be CIA or FBI? CIA doesn’t have any jurisdiction domestically, and since Sarnoth is located within the borders of the US it would fall under the FBI’s purview. The FBI *does* handle domestic intelligence, and *does* report to the DNI.
From all description of Agent Brown up until now he fits directly into the FBI, not CIA.
actually that’s not quite right. CIA does handle CERTAIN things within the boarders of the United States that have international implications dealings with the Sarnothi would fall under the purview. CIA Cant make Arrests nor bring charges but CAN investigate working with local law enforcement.
He is CIA. Despite being located geographically in the US and Canada’s boundaries, Sarnoth is being treated as a sovereign nation in it’s own right for the purposes of diplomatic relations. Functionally, Sarnoth is an enclave.
It must be a different school, since I can’t imagine Selkie could have missed a kid like her in the same school. Even if the lower grades don’t interact much with the higher grades, she’d still see them walking around during recess and before/after school.
idk most of the time elementary and middle schools are separated so Agent Brown’s kid and Selkie probably wouldn’t meet due to their great age difference
Also, it was implied that Selkie is special, that she’s paving the way for “integration” that other Sarnothi children don’t have the opportunity to do yet
I think it was mentioned before that there’s a Sarnothi colony outside of Sarnoth somewhere–but the readers haven’t seen or heard much about it https://selkiecomic.com/comic/selkie381/
So maybe Agent Brown’s middle schooler either goes to school within the established colony or possibly home-schooled?
This is all just random guessing—Dave, your thoughts?
So far,
Selkie’s keepsake of her mother malfunctioned (because Selkie’s scientific curiosity got the better of her and just had to “experiment” with it)
Selkie met Agent Then another fellow Sarnothi–but as a result–lost the precious last reminder of her mother (though, Selkie MIGHT be able to more Sarnothi later as an “equivalent exchange)
Now we find the reason Agent Brown is so invested in the plight of the Sarnothi people is because HIS OWN FAMILY are Sarnothi themselves!!!
What a day! And it’s still morning too!
RANDOM QUESTION: Is Selkie gonna make it to school? Will Todd make it to work? or Are they both going to take a “personal day” for today?
Brown is an English-language surname in origin chiefly descriptive of a person with brown hair, complexion or clothing. It is one of the most common surnames in English-speaking countries.
Good move by Agent Brown. Honestly, it’s probably nice for him as well to meet someone else who has a non-professional strong relationship with a Sarnothi. I imagine his work prevents him from being too close to anyone like Todd and Selkie, but at the same time, I hope he takes some peace from it, and so does Todd.
I am wondering what Selkie thinks of the interactions here. After all, she is standing RIGHT THERE, watching Then be a jerk and Agent Brown disclosing that his family looks like hers.
Todd, I don’t think with in all your interactions with Agent Brown you have established how much you do not like government authority. Please take any and all moments you have to make your feelings about how much you do NOT like government authority figures meddling in you and your daughter’s life. Agent Brown is attempting to establish that he is not you or your daughter’s enemy and that he, Agent Brown, does have an “off switch” where he’s not the unfeeling law/regulation book that has to treat things within the black and white of his department’s regulations. Unfortunately, he’s not at a point where he can interact with Todd and Selkie during his “off time” while being able to maintain the distance he needs to do things during his “on time”. I don’t think Agent Brown could be a friend- yet- but he can be an ally and guide. I think he’s doing his best to ensure the rough handling he had to deal with with his situation is at least a bit smoother for Todd and Selkie. The whole situation sucks, honestly.
Actually, that reveal says the exact opposite. Romantic interests don’t have to be bound by species barriers. Agent Brown and his family are living proof that love can be between anyone.
Heh… Agent Brown could have avoided a lot of angst, not to mention headaches, if he’d led with that piece of info when interacting with the Smiths. If there’s anyone group in this comic who would’ve understood him, It’d be Todd Smith and his family.
i think it’s all tied to him being a Government Agent and that he was literally not ALLOWED to say anything to Todd, or Selkie, about his family. that order may have been relaxed a bit once Todd signed the NDA for the classified documents he recently? received, then again Brown may be play a delicate game here as he had earlier when he found out that Dr. Pohl was going to see Selkie outside of the Hospital, he mentioned something about letting Pohl and Todd/Selkie interact, but NOT to reveal too much, such that he would have to step in as a Government Agent and have to ENFORCE the NDA (and other stuff i’m sure) that he really didn’t WANT to “have to” enforce… and now that Agent Then just pissed him off over his attitude towards humans even AFTER getting warned about it not 10 minutes ago as they entered the building (and Then’s basic attitude in general, maybe?) in my mind, Brown’s basically said “O.F.W.” and is going all-in and bringing Todd up-to-speed as best as he can, with what information that he CAN give out without risking his job and/or security clearance “too” badly… besides he can always use the excuse that “well, Agent Then said that he would let Selkie meet ‘Other Sarnothi’.. he never SPECIFIED that those people could OR Couldn’t be allowed to be my wife and step-son… Why? is there a PROBLEM with them meeting MY FAMILY?… Hmmm??”
Totally not expecting this! Awesome job Dave. Sooo excited to see where this takes us.
From the fan-speculative perspective: I imagine it’s as scantrontb said: Agent Smith wasn’t allowed to say anything for the same reason that they couldn’t tell the orphanage and school about Sarnothi. But Todd did get the paperwork signed, and I can tell you that for a govt. form taking only a week could be considered a miracle as far as making sure all i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed. So today may have just been the first day it was allowed to be spoken of. (And also the first day that Agent Brown encouraged him to find things out on his own blatantly instead of around the bush)
Well, what about if Then was Brown’s in-law? He may owe his job to Brown, but also dislike the guy on principle at that point, and so will just be arbitrarily antagonistic towards anyone that Brown has been nice to.
i dunno about the non-compatability. sure there is the toxic saliva thing, but i believe the original idea was based on a lovecraft story…and one thing lovecraft’s works had in common was the idea of ‘ancient elder evils’ that could breed with man. The Deep Spawn for instance, are capable of breeding with human women, the resulting spawn starts off human, but as it grows, it becomes more and more distant, then eventually the call of the sea (a song only it can hear) draws it away from its humanity, and it begins the final stages of its transformation….where it does it all over again….
now, as far as the Sarnothi go, while i wouldnt exactly say the two are able to procreate, i wouldnt exactly rule it out yet either (even though it’s already been said its his step-son) it might be a taboo or extremely frowned upon (“why the hell would you want to marry an AIR-BREATHER? you know they cant hold their breath for more than 10 minutes!”) or, likewise, part of a monmusu-type experiment, using willing people/couples. especially in the instance that the the Sarnothi become public knowledge or even have to relocate to the surface.
Oooohh, something tells me this is gonna be a fantastic arc ?
Okay. Totally obvious but I did not see that coming. o.o Way to catch me off guard, Dave! Bravo. XD
Yes indeed. Well done, Dave.
Indeed. You really kept me guessing on that one.
So that’s interesting I’m assuming he adopted two children
I thought the female might be his wife. He could be married to a Sarnothi and have adopted her child. I could be misjudging her age, though, since the pic is small.
No, that’s his wife and child.
Also, I’m with Coco. Obvious – but I didn’t see it coming either.
I think it must be adoption. Not to get pedantic, but Selkie’s saliva causes a rash on human skin; I wonder how a human and a Sarnothi can … get close enough to procreate.
Or he married a single mother who already had a kid.
That’s what I thought. That’s serious love on a lot of levels.
Just because the saliva causes a rash doesn’t mean the other fluids do.
Also, it could be that that changes during puberty. Maybe the rash thing is a defense youngsters have or something.
i believ dr. pohl wife (can´t remember her name right now) said something along the lines that sarnothis don´t kiss due to teir saliva….but interbreeding with humans is still kinda farfetched.
dave? all-knowing artist? some information, please?
I don’t think they can have children but that does not rule out sex, just no kissing.
There’s a lot of fiction stories that act like human DNA is made of silly putty and can create biological children with any number of other fantasy races. But sadly, that’s not the case here. Will confirm, there is no “halfling” scenario possible. Humans and sarnothi aren’t reproductively compatible.
That’s Avery’s step-son.
Considering the established obvious biological differences and numerous not obvious and not often taken into consideration differences (such as PH(?) balance and the like, kinda glad you are taking a more ‘realistic’ approach to it. I’m thinking Selkie’s world and situation is complicated enough without having to add in the whole possibility of half breeds into the mix. I suspect a mixed species marriage is complicated enough already both morally and politically.
Fortunately, I’d say. I find that settings that outright ignore common sense in biology (while not bothering to give explanation), while not necessarily cringe-worthy, often diminish the power and the enjoyability of the story.
not to be weird, but even if they can’t have kids, are they still able to have sex? (not looking for specifics. It’s just… you know, they’re married, and all. That’s an important part of healthy married life.
Assuming that they’re capable of going through with the “act,” well, condoms are a thing.
That’s deal with any issues that a potentially toxic body fluid could pose.
Keep in mind, our saliva is a very mild acid to help with digestion, but any other fluids we secrete are not. So not all sarnothi body fluids need be.
I don’t think either condoms or female condoms prevent 100% of the fluids from making contact with the other’s body. Is this impression incorrect?
E.g. if the female sarnothi’s arousal fluids cause a reaction, I’d expect the male human to get a rash around the area, even if the condom protected the most sensitive part.
But I do think GallowsNoose is right: It would make sense for saliva to cause a different reaction than other fluids would. Which probably means no kissing from sarnothi to human, but the human could kiss the sarnothi anywhere but on the lips.
I find alternative kiss sites a cool thing (like on the side of the neck, or the side of the nose), and then there are also cultures where kissing just isn’t a thing they do (like the elves of ElfQuest, where some have posited it’s to avoid censorship because of the elves’ very open bisexuality being less visually obvious if characters don’t kiss).
We’ve seen anatomically correct images of Sarnothi, and it doesn’t appear that there is anything precluding lovemaking between the races. Obviously Avery is adventurous enough to marry a Sarnothi, so one would assume that they have been creative enough to work through any issues that may arise.
You can have sex without kissing, though most cultures don’t. There are a couple of cultures that don’t kiss at all, which seems strange to many! Sensual stroking and touching of non-genital but still sensitive places is a good replacement if, say, one of the human parties in a couple is sick, so I imagine a human/Sarnothi couple who wanted to be intimate would do these sorts of things. As for sex, condoms that are resistant to whatever enzymes are in Sarnothi fluids would allow for even oral sex and certainly for penetrative sex if you are careful. Just because it causes a rash or is slightly toxic doesn’t mean it will dissolve latex, and there are non-latex condoms, dental dams, and gloves. So I imagine that if they so desire, Agent Brown and his partner would be quite able to do what they’d like!
As for procreation, I imagine Sarnothi and humans are two different species altogether (probably even a different genus or higher because Sarnothi seem closely related to fish or amphibians compared to the mammalian apes we’re related to), so their chromosomes would be utterly incompatible and no children would result. If this is wrong because of various in universe things, you could always put sperm into the female’s body through, as they say, the turkey baster method.
“[Sarnothi] based on dextro-amino acids. Human ingestion of tissue could provoke allergic reactions. Anaphylactic shock possible. So don’t… uh, ingest.”
A bit more detail will be made in Friday’s strip but the short version is that is his wife and step-son.
Oh wow.
-claps-
p-p-p-plot twist!
So either hybrid kid situation. And Then is either the brother/wingman.
Or Then is the father and Agent Brown is a step-dad.
Either scenario is cool.
Um, would he be CIA or FBI? CIA doesn’t have any jurisdiction domestically, and since Sarnoth is located within the borders of the US it would fall under the FBI’s purview. The FBI *does* handle domestic intelligence, and *does* report to the DNI.
From all description of Agent Brown up until now he fits directly into the FBI, not CIA.
actually that’s not quite right. CIA does handle CERTAIN things within the boarders of the United States that have international implications dealings with the Sarnothi would fall under the purview. CIA Cant make Arrests nor bring charges but CAN investigate working with local law enforcement.
He is CIA. Despite being located geographically in the US and Canada’s boundaries, Sarnoth is being treated as a sovereign nation in it’s own right for the purposes of diplomatic relations. Functionally, Sarnoth is an enclave.
Again, love the little within the realm of realism details you get in. It warms my heart and inspires me.
Love enclaves and exclaves and all those geographical “anomalies” !
If you’ve never heard of Lake Constance, you might find it of interest.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwHj4lj3F-k
So now we know the identity of Agent Brown’s middle schooler. Is he in the same school as Selkie, or is there a separate middle school?
It must be a different school, since I can’t imagine Selkie could have missed a kid like her in the same school. Even if the lower grades don’t interact much with the higher grades, she’d still see them walking around during recess and before/after school.
idk most of the time elementary and middle schools are separated so Agent Brown’s kid and Selkie probably wouldn’t meet due to their great age difference
Also, it was implied that Selkie is special, that she’s paving the way for “integration” that other Sarnothi children don’t have the opportunity to do yet
I think it was mentioned before that there’s a Sarnothi colony outside of Sarnoth somewhere–but the readers haven’t seen or heard much about it
https://selkiecomic.com/comic/selkie381/
So maybe Agent Brown’s middle schooler either goes to school within the established colony or possibly home-schooled?
This is all just random guessing—Dave, your thoughts?
He goes to a private school.
So far,
Selkie’s keepsake of her mother malfunctioned (because Selkie’s scientific curiosity got the better of her and just had to “experiment” with it)
Selkie met Agent Then another fellow Sarnothi–but as a result–lost the precious last reminder of her mother (though, Selkie MIGHT be able to more Sarnothi later as an “equivalent exchange)
Now we find the reason Agent Brown is so invested in the plight of the Sarnothi people is because HIS OWN FAMILY are Sarnothi themselves!!!
What a day! And it’s still morning too!
RANDOM QUESTION: Is Selkie gonna make it to school? Will Todd make it to work? or Are they both going to take a “personal day” for today?
*to meet more Sarnothi later as an “equivalent exchange”
((sorry typo))
Ha ha, she’s probably missed first period at a minimum by now. May as well be a personal day at this stage.
I almost always tried to convince my mother (a teacher) of that – she didn’t buy it even once. Better late than not at all was the motto.
So nooooone is going to say the thing that we all thought when we finished the comic? …….. none of the Browns are brown…. ^_^
Brown is an English-language surname in origin chiefly descriptive of a person with brown hair, complexion or clothing. It is one of the most common surnames in English-speaking countries.
I’m seeing a lot of brown hair in that picture.
Well I have to admit, I did NOT see that coming. Nice work Dave!
Is his wife a Sar’Teri? Looks like one… Could also be a Tel’Dora…
Correct the first time. She’s a Sar’Teri.
Good move by Agent Brown. Honestly, it’s probably nice for him as well to meet someone else who has a non-professional strong relationship with a Sarnothi. I imagine his work prevents him from being too close to anyone like Todd and Selkie, but at the same time, I hope he takes some peace from it, and so does Todd.
I am wondering what Selkie thinks of the interactions here. After all, she is standing RIGHT THERE, watching Then be a jerk and Agent Brown disclosing that his family looks like hers.
You’ll enjoy Friday’s strip, I think. 🙂
Aubrey won’t though. Little kids and questions. 😛 Though he’s probably used to them by now.
Holy plot twist, Batman!
I eat my words from the other day… damn son that was a cool reveal
I was totally blindsided. Wow, great job!
Todd, I don’t think with in all your interactions with Agent Brown you have established how much you do not like government authority. Please take any and all moments you have to make your feelings about how much you do NOT like government authority figures meddling in you and your daughter’s life. Agent Brown is attempting to establish that he is not you or your daughter’s enemy and that he, Agent Brown, does have an “off switch” where he’s not the unfeeling law/regulation book that has to treat things within the black and white of his department’s regulations. Unfortunately, he’s not at a point where he can interact with Todd and Selkie during his “off time” while being able to maintain the distance he needs to do things during his “on time”. I don’t think Agent Brown could be a friend- yet- but he can be an ally and guide. I think he’s doing his best to ensure the rough handling he had to deal with with his situation is at least a bit smoother for Todd and Selkie. The whole situation sucks, honestly.
My jaw just dropped so hard I’ll be picking carpet fibers out of my chin for a week!
future selkie husband incoming
Actually, that reveal says the exact opposite. Romantic interests don’t have to be bound by species barriers. Agent Brown and his family are living proof that love can be between anyone.
Assuming she prefers to date males within her species, we now know of two candidates. (This one’s older; Suko De’Madiea is younger.)
It is getting very exciting now.
Heh… Agent Brown could have avoided a lot of angst, not to mention headaches, if he’d led with that piece of info when interacting with the Smiths. If there’s anyone group in this comic who would’ve understood him, It’d be Todd Smith and his family.
i think it’s all tied to him being a Government Agent and that he was literally not ALLOWED to say anything to Todd, or Selkie, about his family. that order may have been relaxed a bit once Todd signed the NDA for the classified documents he recently? received, then again Brown may be play a delicate game here as he had earlier when he found out that Dr. Pohl was going to see Selkie outside of the Hospital, he mentioned something about letting Pohl and Todd/Selkie interact, but NOT to reveal too much, such that he would have to step in as a Government Agent and have to ENFORCE the NDA (and other stuff i’m sure) that he really didn’t WANT to “have to” enforce… and now that Agent Then just pissed him off over his attitude towards humans even AFTER getting warned about it not 10 minutes ago as they entered the building (and Then’s basic attitude in general, maybe?) in my mind, Brown’s basically said “O.F.W.” and is going all-in and bringing Todd up-to-speed as best as he can, with what information that he CAN give out without risking his job and/or security clearance “too” badly… besides he can always use the excuse that “well, Agent Then said that he would let Selkie meet ‘Other Sarnothi’.. he never SPECIFIED that those people could OR Couldn’t be allowed to be my wife and step-son… Why? is there a PROBLEM with them meeting MY FAMILY?… Hmmm??”
whelp this is a case for the dramatic chipmunk. and in hindsight it is obvious but defintiely did not see that coming.
Totally not expecting this! Awesome job Dave. Sooo excited to see where this takes us.
From the fan-speculative perspective: I imagine it’s as scantrontb said: Agent Smith wasn’t allowed to say anything for the same reason that they couldn’t tell the orphanage and school about Sarnothi. But Todd did get the paperwork signed, and I can tell you that for a govt. form taking only a week could be considered a miracle as far as making sure all i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed. So today may have just been the first day it was allowed to be spoken of. (And also the first day that Agent Brown encouraged him to find things out on his own blatantly instead of around the bush)
This is the best comic strip.
Well THAT certianly explains Then’s additute being non-existent with Agent Brown.
Well, what about if Then was Brown’s in-law? He may owe his job to Brown, but also dislike the guy on principle at that point, and so will just be arbitrarily antagonistic towards anyone that Brown has been nice to.
i dunno about the non-compatability. sure there is the toxic saliva thing, but i believe the original idea was based on a lovecraft story…and one thing lovecraft’s works had in common was the idea of ‘ancient elder evils’ that could breed with man. The Deep Spawn for instance, are capable of breeding with human women, the resulting spawn starts off human, but as it grows, it becomes more and more distant, then eventually the call of the sea (a song only it can hear) draws it away from its humanity, and it begins the final stages of its transformation….where it does it all over again….
now, as far as the Sarnothi go, while i wouldnt exactly say the two are able to procreate, i wouldnt exactly rule it out yet either (even though it’s already been said its his step-son) it might be a taboo or extremely frowned upon (“why the hell would you want to marry an AIR-BREATHER? you know they cant hold their breath for more than 10 minutes!”) or, likewise, part of a monmusu-type experiment, using willing people/couples. especially in the instance that the the Sarnothi become public knowledge or even have to relocate to the surface.
OMG, I so called this, like, forever ago, but no one believed me!
Yes!!!
Totally did a happy dance when I read the last panel. 🙂