Oh, you’re very right about that: She pushes people away to see which ones will accept her even then, which is how she assures herself that she won’t get pushed away if she screws up. Which she’s terrified will happen.
It’s not a great adaptation, but it’s quite understandable.
I’m thrilled that you’ve made Amanda evolve this much over time without taking away her essential “biteyness” — without turning her into a full good character just because she’s sorta maybe on the good team now. Like so many other characters who rest in your hands, she’s full of interesting nuances, ambivalent reactions, and character flaws that won’t be solved by Instant Epiphanies. One of the highest elements of your art.
Kilyle has said it best. I agree; “wizard waves magic wand — Mandy suddenly turns good and never says a snarky thing again.”
That might work in Tolkien, but in real life people growup day by day, even with a crisis precipitating change, permanent real change doesn’t happen immediately.
Seconded. Amanda’s changes are believable because we’ve seen how incremental they are. It takes time, years, decades for people to assimilate events and adjust their thinking and behavior.
And even with the slow changes, how a person was when ‘bad’ influences and informs how they deal with things when ‘good’.
Someone who grew up angry at the world might wind up with a penchant for biting humour, while someone who was crushed down by their circumstances might, even after they’ve come out of their shell, keep a very morbid outlook on life.
I think Tolkien’s character work is better than you give him credit for. 🙂 Consider how Gollum is gradually affected by Frodo’s kindness, to the point that he is nearly (but not quite) redeemed.
No, no, no, I was using Tolkien as a common referent for a place where a wizard uses a magic wand to do some magic. Not meaning to imply that Tolkien Ever changed a Character with a magic wand. Referencing Tolkien’s wands, not his writing.
I’m just old skool, these kids today – and their Strad-o-Blaster 2000 Brooms with 12th level pivot spells, …. Rowling makes it all about bloood, it should be al about character. I’m just glad that Gygax isn’t here to see what she’s done to Wands…. Willow and Phoenix feathers! Ha! We had to make do with a stick we found on the ground and take it to the nearest wizard and beg him with donuts as bribes, to majik it for us.
These Kids today!
Replying to your other post which doesn’t have a reply link:
Oh, I’m glad I never read Rowling. You may be old school, but I think you’re younger than… not so much me as the books I read when I was little. Plenty of authors before, around, and after Tolkein made it all about blood. It was normal. Sometimes it wasn’t too bad, but other times it made the stories awful! Others were even worse with their snap-conversions of characters. Tolkein was, if not *the* best author, quite exceptional in bucking the trend.
I like your comment about begging the wizard, too. All this stuff today where magic seems to be given freely wierds me out a bit. 🙂
I could see them as a Betty and Veronica sort of pair: “Only you and I are allowed to compete for the MacGuffin! If Cheryl starts muscling into our territory, we’ll band together to stop her so we can fight over the MacGuffin again once we’ve driven off the competition!”
Setting the scene a bit. We were RV camping, and the campground offered trail rides with horses that are stabled on the premises. Confronted with a real,live, TALL horse my sister balked, and we spent the rest of the day in the RV. I was annoyed that I wasn’t allowed to beg off walking down to the stables since I saw this coming. Fast forward 3 years, and my sister’s gotten over her fear of heights, and asks if we could go RIDE horses while we have the opportunity. That ended in a pleasant day out despite a horse trying to kidnap me.
Commenting on the actual comic: Yeah… The first sentence of that quotation is “I’m selfish, impatient and a little insecure.” Which describes Amanda Marie to a tee… but Andi seems to be doing her a lot of good.
Haha, great approach! My sister and I grew up visiting the family ranch and sometimes riding the work horses (we had free-range cattle until about thirty years ago), so she had a good idea about what was involved in actually tending to a horse. She finally decided, with a phrase that continues to delight our mother, that she “just wanted to want one.”
I’ve always been curious- the really, really small ponies… could they potentially be trained and shoed as what amounts to house pets? I mean, some of the miniature horse breeds are only the size of a medium dog. Granted, you probably wouldn’t want to ride them, but as a companion…
Well, they’re certainly acting like siblings, though both would vehemently deny it if asked. 🙂
Now it will be a case of how Andi takes the truth. I’m hoping for a little freaked, (and understably so), but will stay calm enough to think it think it all the way through before making a call where Amanda is concerned.
i´d say andi´s level of freaking out depends on whether todd drops the ‘oh, and she´s developing superhuman powerd that she can´t control yet’-bomb as well.
on another note, lets hope andi´s mom never learns any of this – she strikes me as the type who would freak out big time and start a lynch mob
Oh, I KNOW that won’t be an issue. Andi has excised that particular tumor from her life.
I’d not be surprised if Andi updated her death-or-disable-arrangements to include a line to the effect of “ABSOLUTELY DO NOT PUT AMANDA INTO PATRICIA MCCLELLAN’S CARE. EVER.”
Some miniature horses have been trained as seeing eye animals for the blind. (Allergy problems, phobias, long life span etc make mini horses a better option for some people) They tend to put sneakers on them so they can cope with interior flooring. :). Training takes a long time, but yep, I’d say it’s possible.
the real question is When someone picks a fight with the other, how big is the damage bill going to be to the outsider. I may give my brothers a hard time. But screw with one of us, and you got 3 very smart borderline evil, bastards to worry about. The psycho that raped my brother found out the hard way, the very very hard way working face of a sledgehammer to the legs hard.
Does Andi have clearance to know all this? Any of this? It sounded like it took Agent Brown a while to get Todd cleared to know about Havei Jin’Suir and…the rest of basically everything. I kind of doubt Todd’s security clearance includes “allowed to use his best judgment to decide who else to clue in.”
I mean, I get why Todd wants Andi to know about it, but “I thought it was time she knew” isn’t going to hold up to an angry Agent Brown.
I believe the proper response to all questions is:
“I cannot confirm or deny that Selkie is a different species entirely and that there is absolutely no civilization blossoming at the bottom of a rustic lake within a day’s drive from here, nor is there a large civilization within a certain Great Lake. Also please ignore the gill-like flaps on my daughter’s neck; she has a skin condition.”
Todd really needs to learn to control his volume
Oh, you’re very right about that: She pushes people away to see which ones will accept her even then, which is how she assures herself that she won’t get pushed away if she screws up. Which she’s terrified will happen.
It’s not a great adaptation, but it’s quite understandable.
I’m thrilled that you’ve made Amanda evolve this much over time without taking away her essential “biteyness” — without turning her into a full good character just because she’s sorta maybe on the good team now. Like so many other characters who rest in your hands, she’s full of interesting nuances, ambivalent reactions, and character flaws that won’t be solved by Instant Epiphanies. One of the highest elements of your art.
Kilyle has said it best. I agree; “wizard waves magic wand — Mandy suddenly turns good and never says a snarky thing again.”
That might work in Tolkien, but in real life people growup day by day, even with a crisis precipitating change, permanent real change doesn’t happen immediately.
Seconded. Amanda’s changes are believable because we’ve seen how incremental they are. It takes time, years, decades for people to assimilate events and adjust their thinking and behavior.
And even with the slow changes, how a person was when ‘bad’ influences and informs how they deal with things when ‘good’.
Someone who grew up angry at the world might wind up with a penchant for biting humour, while someone who was crushed down by their circumstances might, even after they’ve come out of their shell, keep a very morbid outlook on life.
I think Tolkien’s character work is better than you give him credit for. 🙂 Consider how Gollum is gradually affected by Frodo’s kindness, to the point that he is nearly (but not quite) redeemed.
I was going to say that too. Magic-wand character changes might “work” for Tolkien, except that Tolkien would never put such a thing into his works.
No, no, no, I was using Tolkien as a common referent for a place where a wizard uses a magic wand to do some magic. Not meaning to imply that Tolkien Ever changed a Character with a magic wand. Referencing Tolkien’s wands, not his writing.
I’m just old skool, these kids today – and their Strad-o-Blaster 2000 Brooms with 12th level pivot spells, …. Rowling makes it all about bloood, it should be al about character. I’m just glad that Gygax isn’t here to see what she’s done to Wands…. Willow and Phoenix feathers! Ha! We had to make do with a stick we found on the ground and take it to the nearest wizard and beg him with donuts as bribes, to majik it for us.
These Kids today!
Replying to your other post which doesn’t have a reply link:
Oh, I’m glad I never read Rowling. You may be old school, but I think you’re younger than… not so much me as the books I read when I was little. Plenty of authors before, around, and after Tolkein made it all about blood. It was normal. Sometimes it wasn’t too bad, but other times it made the stories awful! Others were even worse with their snap-conversions of characters. Tolkein was, if not *the* best author, quite exceptional in bucking the trend.
I like your comment about begging the wizard, too. All this stuff today where magic seems to be given freely wierds me out a bit. 🙂
oh god she’s being brutally honest with Selkie to see if she can have a sister now and she can
Oooooooo! The Sass is *strong* in that one! (Then again, I’m pretty sure that Selkie can handle whatever Amanda dishes out.)
Never liked that quote, it’s kind of arrogant, and not far from how some actuall abusers will justify themselves.
I hope the girls will work it out and bond. Sisters should be best friends.
I see it as them being ‘vitriolic best buds’, as TVTropes calls it.
bwahahahahah,. no Sisters are Arch Rivals. Wait till one of them sees a boy they both like. The Claws (and in Selkie’s case literally) will come out.
I could see them as a Betty and Veronica sort of pair: “Only you and I are allowed to compete for the MacGuffin! If Cheryl starts muscling into our territory, we’ll band together to stop her so we can fight over the MacGuffin again once we’ve driven off the competition!”
My sister wanted a pony too. I mean she REALLY wanted one. My folks handled it by getting her a shovel, and a summer job. That shut her up.
My parents fixed with a trail ride.
Setting the scene a bit. We were RV camping, and the campground offered trail rides with horses that are stabled on the premises. Confronted with a real,live, TALL horse my sister balked, and we spent the rest of the day in the RV. I was annoyed that I wasn’t allowed to beg off walking down to the stables since I saw this coming. Fast forward 3 years, and my sister’s gotten over her fear of heights, and asks if we could go RIDE horses while we have the opportunity. That ended in a pleasant day out despite a horse trying to kidnap me.
Commenting on the actual comic: Yeah… The first sentence of that quotation is “I’m selfish, impatient and a little insecure.” Which describes Amanda Marie to a tee… but Andi seems to be doing her a lot of good.
Haha, great approach! My sister and I grew up visiting the family ranch and sometimes riding the work horses (we had free-range cattle until about thirty years ago), so she had a good idea about what was involved in actually tending to a horse. She finally decided, with a phrase that continues to delight our mother, that she “just wanted to want one.”
I’ve always been curious- the really, really small ponies… could they potentially be trained and shoed as what amounts to house pets? I mean, some of the miniature horse breeds are only the size of a medium dog. Granted, you probably wouldn’t want to ride them, but as a companion…
People occasionally use Miniature Horses (yes, it’s a specific breed, about 2 1/2 to 3 feet tall) as service animals, so I’m going to go with yes.
Yes. It’s been done.
Question is: Can they be house-trained? (Cough) horse-trained (cough)
I love that last line, probably more than is reasonable. :3
THATS sisterly snark at high level there.
Well, they’re certainly acting like siblings, though both would vehemently deny it if asked. 🙂
Now it will be a case of how Andi takes the truth. I’m hoping for a little freaked, (and understably so), but will stay calm enough to think it think it all the way through before making a call where Amanda is concerned.
i´d say andi´s level of freaking out depends on whether todd drops the ‘oh, and she´s developing superhuman powerd that she can´t control yet’-bomb as well.
on another note, lets hope andi´s mom never learns any of this – she strikes me as the type who would freak out big time and start a lynch mob
Oh, I KNOW that won’t be an issue. Andi has excised that particular tumor from her life.
I’d not be surprised if Andi updated her death-or-disable-arrangements to include a line to the effect of “ABSOLUTELY DO NOT PUT AMANDA INTO PATRICIA MCCLELLAN’S CARE. EVER.”
Some miniature horses have been trained as seeing eye animals for the blind. (Allergy problems, phobias, long life span etc make mini horses a better option for some people) They tend to put sneakers on them so they can cope with interior flooring. :). Training takes a long time, but yep, I’d say it’s possible.
I don’t think Amanda’d be able to handle the responsibility of a pony. :/ It’d probably be too much work for her within a week.
Amanda seems more of an un-stable sort, anyway. 😉
Time to Rein In the puns? I’d hate to be saddled with that obligation.
the real question is When someone picks a fight with the other, how big is the damage bill going to be to the outsider. I may give my brothers a hard time. But screw with one of us, and you got 3 very smart borderline evil, bastards to worry about. The psycho that raped my brother found out the hard way, the very very hard way working face of a sledgehammer to the legs hard.
What, ONLY the legs?
bless the sisters????
Does Andi have clearance to know all this? Any of this? It sounded like it took Agent Brown a while to get Todd cleared to know about Havei Jin’Suir and…the rest of basically everything. I kind of doubt Todd’s security clearance includes “allowed to use his best judgment to decide who else to clue in.”
I mean, I get why Todd wants Andi to know about it, but “I thought it was time she knew” isn’t going to hold up to an angry Agent Brown.
How would that even apply to something that’s in plain view? Like in this instance he’s just confirming what Amanda already told her.
I believe the proper response to all questions is:
“I cannot confirm or deny that Selkie is a different species entirely and that there is absolutely no civilization blossoming at the bottom of a rustic lake within a day’s drive from here, nor is there a large civilization within a certain Great Lake. Also please ignore the gill-like flaps on my daughter’s neck; she has a skin condition.”
“The periwinkle complexion? Also a skin condition. The glowing eyes? FUNGUS. Good DAY.”
Amanda’s last line in the bottom panel should be on a t-shirt.