I’m starting to get worried what to expect from Andi, she’s not been taking all these new revelations well it seems. Though to be fair “freak out” is the most realistic reaction to everything going on so far yet. š
And Todd priming her with āthereās a horrible secret war and we are all in danger!!!ā provabably didnāt help either. So iām kind of understanding but still hope she wonāt pull some crap as a result – her track record isnāt the best.
Remember, Miss Havisham-Zhang gave Nei Li that name…
I’m pretty sure it’s just syllables in Tensei. Furthermore, Then has likely warned this ‘school of guppies’ that Selkie has integrated, and her bio-parents aren’t around, so maybe lay off?
I don’t think they will mean to be bullies. I think they are scared, and will draw into the community they know is safe–themselves. They may well lash out at those perceived as threatening them, like a cornered animal. It’s not because they WANT to be mean, just that they don’t know what else to do.
Once we get to know these kids, I may be proven wrong. But that’s my feeling right now.
Dave doesn’t do cookie-cutter kids, so I will bet that there are leaders and followers in this group. I look forward to seeing how he develops the dynamic here.
I’m doubting that there will be any ‘lashing’ at all. The worst will be them drawing into themselves and becoming a clique- but I think Selkie’s presence and ‘integration’ is going to be a BIG THING for them.
Remember, they’re kids. Still developing social skills, learning the rights and wrongs of how to act in the society around them. Having another Sarnothi who’s _already there_ and already knows how to act and be ‘normal’ means they’ll be more comfortable with integrating and learning human customs and norms.
And now for the character that everyone hates and that I’m pretty sure Dave didn’t mean for us to dislike. Every time she shows up, I want to skip a few weeks until she’s done screwing up the plot line.
If you are referring to Andi; I don’t know what you are talking about. I like her her character: She has faults, made mistakes in the past, and is trying to deal with the consequences.
Also I love how realistic her approach to atoning for her mistakes is. The trepidation and fear when facing those she has wronged is something very real are relatable.
She’s done some pretty big, and for a lot of people unforgivable things. So sheās in a position where every action she takes it held to a much higher level of scrutiny then it might have otherwise. Her hesitance about the whole ‘there not human’ is not unreasonable in of itself. However the fact this is coming from a woman who robed an entire family of a child because she could not deal with confrontation makes it especially worrying. Iām not looking at her with disgust and mistrust because her emotions are unreasonable, Iām doing so because her coping methods are frankly toxic. Even as she makes progress with Amanda the way she deals with things like her mother, Todd and Toddās family have an air of the same desperate avoidance and denial copping strategies that make her so unlikable to so many. And now that kind of āI canāt cope and thatās going to make things worse for those around meā mentality is aimed at a bunch of vulnerable children. So yeah I am watching her with dread because I think at this point she needs to be seeing a doctor for her mental health. Girl needs therapy and possibly some diazepam (and I mean that as a genuinely positive thing, I want her to get the help she clearly needs.)
I think she’s taken a very positive step. She’s cut Patricia out entirely, as far as I can tell.
We still don’t know what EXACTLY Patricia said to just-after-Amanda-Marie’s-Birth Andi… But I can only read those glyphs as “See? Todd’s not here. He did a runner. Now give that child up to a family that will really love them.” Andi was nervous, sure. but SHE decided to bring the child to term, and if Patricia hadn’t been there, she likely wouldn’t have done anything. I can easily imagine Andi having a “my god. what have I DONE!” moment when Todd arrives… and she has to mentally scramble, still exhausted from childbirth… and she tells The Lie. and keeps telling it for eight years. That’s on her, yes… but I still blame Patricia for the root Sin.
I think giving up Amanda was the right thing to do for her there – she didnāt want to be a mother at that time and thatās fine. The how of it – not telling Todd and letting him or his parents raise Amanda without her is where she did wrong.
That girl in the second panel looks so nervous. I hope she and Selkie will be good friends.
Better yet, I hope she and Amanda will be good friends. Amanda’s been in enough situations where she feels insecure that she might be able to reach her where confident Selkie might not. It would be good for both of them.
My heart goes out to all of them. In the last panel, I get the feeling that Andi is is more worried than scared. She isn’t going to try to withdraw Mandy, is she? I’m uncertain what I imagine would happen, given what I know about the characters. I bedoubt me much, that she would adopt one.
I’m hoping that she’s here to get information that will help her process. She may end up adopting one eventually, but I suspect that will take a LONG time.
Tiny art / continuity critique. It was said in a previous page there will be students for every grade but these kids are drawn all the same height even though they are supposedly across a wide age bracket?
This is just the “first wave” of Sarnothi students. It looks like the plan is to introduce them in age-equal groups… and the first group has been deliberately chosen to be at the grade level where human kids have already had contact with one sarnothi kid: Selkie.
If so, that’s smart thinking. It’s making the best of a bad situation — leveraging the one advantage they have and hoping that will help.
Oh, wait… I also missed the import of the second panel. These aren’t even the refugee kids. They are a group of kids we didn’t know existed, who were being prepared to go to this school. So of course they are all the same age as Selkie.
The government had been planning to have this particular group of kids sent to this school all along! They were just holding off, waiting for the time to be right… and now events have forced their hand. Then is genuinely pleased, even though he wouldn’t be happy about the reason, because this is what he has been arguing for.
A tiny flub there yes. Previous dialogue did make it sound like every grade level was getting a sarnothi kid, but in truth that comes later. The group of kids here were being prepared for Phase 1 of integration. These are the kids Avery’s referred to as “the guppies”.
Then is being very determinedly upbeat for public consumption, but I am pretty sure that, while he did want his species’ existence to be out in the open, this is not at all how he wanted it to happen.
I wonder, have Andi and Amanda talked about this yet?
They might not have. Or not very much… Amanda might just have said, “We’re having an assembly at the school tomorrow, Mom. You need to be there.” Or even: “I need you to be there.”
Yay for awkward first days! I know how hard it can be; I have mild cerebral palsy, but I’m still human. These poor kids will have to learn whole new history classes, deal with gym class on the land, and get used to the midwest’s cold weather. Our four seasons, if you recall, are winter, still cold like winter, almost winter, and road construction. Best of luck to these kids.
I do wonder, would sarnoth have had access to human broadcasts? If so they might have some idea – but even then it might be skewed, like if you based your idea of japan on anime.
Saurotitan, this is going to sound odd, but I’ve been had a story in my head for awhile about someone with CP. Would you be willing to let me ask you some questions, so I get it right?
My understanding of it, from when I looked things up way back several years ago, are that the CIA handles foreign affairs affecting American soil, which is why I used that agency since Sarnoth is technically a foreign power.
I find it rather curious that the new students seem to be rather homogeneous in terms of their tribe. They all seem to have the same color skin. This will make Selkie the outlier, and I fear that there might be some hostility toward her from the other Sarnothi kids.
And I think it would be a nice story element to see Selkie start getting bullied by the Sarnothi, then get saved by Truck.
These kids are all Tel’Dora. They’re second to Sar’Teri in terms of population size, and make up the vast majority of the sarnothi living outside of Sarnoth-proper. Jin’Sorai and Mor’Kama are minority clans, Jin’Sorai more so after the events of the civil war.
Thing is, back home when kids are brought along in a group and told to look at something they naturally make a formation that involved multiple levels. They are in water, so they stagger their positions gradually getting higher and no one behind anyone else. But when they started being put into groups on land and told to look at something they didn’t fall into a row naturally – being in front of someone had a much more hierarchical meaning than it does to us. Moreover many of these kids took being in the back (or better yet, middle) to be a position of safety, and they also kept moving from being nervous – in fact, schooling, just like fish.
This was extremely distracting to the humans, so one of the first things they had to teach the kids was form a line and everybody stand still. There were a lot of these things that they had to be taught. Part of their misery is the fact that they can’t engage in schooling behaviour in this very anxiety provoking situation. (not canon)
I think that guess is way off target. Dave’s already established that in Sarnothi culture, social hierarchy is indicated by relative up-down position, with higher-ranking individuals swimming at a higher water level.
Notice how all the kids are even dressed alike? That’s because their clothing was bulk bought, with an effort to allow personalization that resulted in the kids getting different coloured shirts. (not canon)
I’m starting to get worried what to expect from Andi, she’s not been taking all these new revelations well it seems. Though to be fair “freak out” is the most realistic reaction to everything going on so far yet. š
I think she’d do considerably better if the one clan left in the Lake hadn’t fired off that big-ass green laser.
And Todd priming her with āthereās a horrible secret war and we are all in danger!!!ā provabably didnāt help either. So iām kind of understanding but still hope she wonāt pull some crap as a result – her track record isnāt the best.
Andi’s there… She doesn’t seem afraid, more nervous…
Hopefully, that’s a good sign and she’s just taking an opportunity to educate herself.
…Selkie got that name because she kept saying Sel Kie and the orphanage staff thought that was her name.
Did we ever find out what that meant in Sarnothi? Is it something that the other Sarnothi kids are gonna laugh at her about?
Remember, Miss Havisham-Zhang gave Nei Li that name…
I’m pretty sure it’s just syllables in Tensei. Furthermore, Then has likely warned this ‘school of guppies’ that Selkie has integrated, and her bio-parents aren’t around, so maybe lay off?
nope the new kids are going to be bullies. And its going to be Amanda and Selkie keeping them in line
I don’t think they will mean to be bullies. I think they are scared, and will draw into the community they know is safe–themselves. They may well lash out at those perceived as threatening them, like a cornered animal. It’s not because they WANT to be mean, just that they don’t know what else to do.
Once we get to know these kids, I may be proven wrong. But that’s my feeling right now.
Dave doesn’t do cookie-cutter kids, so I will bet that there are leaders and followers in this group. I look forward to seeing how he develops the dynamic here.
Dave doesn’t do cookie cutter kids, but maybe he does “copy/paste?”
I know I would.
I’m doubting that there will be any ‘lashing’ at all. The worst will be them drawing into themselves and becoming a clique- but I think Selkie’s presence and ‘integration’ is going to be a BIG THING for them.
Remember, they’re kids. Still developing social skills, learning the rights and wrongs of how to act in the society around them. Having another Sarnothi who’s _already there_ and already knows how to act and be ‘normal’ means they’ll be more comfortable with integrating and learning human customs and norms.
i agree, selkies mere presence will help a lot – but also amanda and selkies friends, simply by being NOT afraid of the ‘aliens’
And now for the character that everyone hates and that I’m pretty sure Dave didn’t mean for us to dislike. Every time she shows up, I want to skip a few weeks until she’s done screwing up the plot line.
If you are referring to Andi; I don’t know what you are talking about. I like her her character: She has faults, made mistakes in the past, and is trying to deal with the consequences.
Also I love how realistic her approach to atoning for her mistakes is. The trepidation and fear when facing those she has wronged is something very real are relatable.
If you are talking about Andi, then you’re mistaken. Your reaction to her is not shared by everyone.
The reactions to Andi vary so wildly, I honestly never know what’s going to go down in the reader feedback when she makes an appearance.
She’s done some pretty big, and for a lot of people unforgivable things. So sheās in a position where every action she takes it held to a much higher level of scrutiny then it might have otherwise. Her hesitance about the whole ‘there not human’ is not unreasonable in of itself. However the fact this is coming from a woman who robed an entire family of a child because she could not deal with confrontation makes it especially worrying. Iām not looking at her with disgust and mistrust because her emotions are unreasonable, Iām doing so because her coping methods are frankly toxic. Even as she makes progress with Amanda the way she deals with things like her mother, Todd and Toddās family have an air of the same desperate avoidance and denial copping strategies that make her so unlikable to so many. And now that kind of āI canāt cope and thatās going to make things worse for those around meā mentality is aimed at a bunch of vulnerable children. So yeah I am watching her with dread because I think at this point she needs to be seeing a doctor for her mental health. Girl needs therapy and possibly some diazepam (and I mean that as a genuinely positive thing, I want her to get the help she clearly needs.)
I think she’s taken a very positive step. She’s cut Patricia out entirely, as far as I can tell.
We still don’t know what EXACTLY Patricia said to just-after-Amanda-Marie’s-Birth Andi… But I can only read those glyphs as “See? Todd’s not here. He did a runner. Now give that child up to a family that will really love them.” Andi was nervous, sure. but SHE decided to bring the child to term, and if Patricia hadn’t been there, she likely wouldn’t have done anything. I can easily imagine Andi having a “my god. what have I DONE!” moment when Todd arrives… and she has to mentally scramble, still exhausted from childbirth… and she tells The Lie. and keeps telling it for eight years. That’s on her, yes… but I still blame Patricia for the root Sin.
I think giving up Amanda was the right thing to do for her there – she didnāt want to be a mother at that time and thatās fine. The how of it – not telling Todd and letting him or his parents raise Amanda without her is where she did wrong.
That girl in the second panel looks so nervous. I hope she and Selkie will be good friends.
Better yet, I hope she and Amanda will be good friends. Amanda’s been in enough situations where she feels insecure that she might be able to reach her where confident Selkie might not. It would be good for both of them.
My heart goes out to all of them. In the last panel, I get the feeling that Andi is is more worried than scared. She isn’t going to try to withdraw Mandy, is she? I’m uncertain what I imagine would happen, given what I know about the characters. I bedoubt me much, that she would adopt one.
I’m hoping that she’s here to get information that will help her process. She may end up adopting one eventually, but I suspect that will take a LONG time.
I don’t think all these kids are up for adoption — indeed, my guess would be, not any of them.
Tiny art / continuity critique. It was said in a previous page there will be students for every grade but these kids are drawn all the same height even though they are supposedly across a wide age bracket?
This is just the “first wave” of Sarnothi students. It looks like the plan is to introduce them in age-equal groups… and the first group has been deliberately chosen to be at the grade level where human kids have already had contact with one sarnothi kid: Selkie.
If so, that’s smart thinking. It’s making the best of a bad situation — leveraging the one advantage they have and hoping that will help.
Oh, wait… I also missed the import of the second panel. These aren’t even the refugee kids. They are a group of kids we didn’t know existed, who were being prepared to go to this school. So of course they are all the same age as Selkie.
The government had been planning to have this particular group of kids sent to this school all along! They were just holding off, waiting for the time to be right… and now events have forced their hand. Then is genuinely pleased, even though he wouldn’t be happy about the reason, because this is what he has been arguing for.
I mean, they’re probably refugee kids, they’re just not -new- refugees š
A tiny flub there yes. Previous dialogue did make it sound like every grade level was getting a sarnothi kid, but in truth that comes later. The group of kids here were being prepared for Phase 1 of integration. These are the kids Avery’s referred to as “the guppies”.
Then is being very determinedly upbeat for public consumption, but I am pretty sure that, while he did want his species’ existence to be out in the open, this is not at all how he wanted it to happen.
I wonder, have Andi and Amanda talked about this yet?
They might not have. Or not very much… Amanda might just have said, “We’re having an assembly at the school tomorrow, Mom. You need to be there.” Or even: “I need you to be there.”
Andi rockin’ the pansexual pride flag in her hair, I see. Is that intentional?
No, her hair is a graphic design reference. Cyan Magenta Yellow blacK
Now I have this picture in my head of Andi printing out her hair that morning…
Yay for awkward first days! I know how hard it can be; I have mild cerebral palsy, but I’m still human. These poor kids will have to learn whole new history classes, deal with gym class on the land, and get used to the midwest’s cold weather. Our four seasons, if you recall, are winter, still cold like winter, almost winter, and road construction. Best of luck to these kids.
I do wonder, would sarnoth have had access to human broadcasts? If so they might have some idea – but even then it might be skewed, like if you based your idea of japan on anime.
Saurotitan, this is going to sound odd, but I’ve been had a story in my head for awhile about someone with CP. Would you be willing to let me ask you some questions, so I get it right?
The CIA doesn’t do this sort of thing, NSA or homeland security would have been better choices.
My understanding of it, from when I looked things up way back several years ago, are that the CIA handles foreign affairs affecting American soil, which is why I used that agency since Sarnoth is technically a foreign power.
I find it rather curious that the new students seem to be rather homogeneous in terms of their tribe. They all seem to have the same color skin. This will make Selkie the outlier, and I fear that there might be some hostility toward her from the other Sarnothi kids.
And I think it would be a nice story element to see Selkie start getting bullied by the Sarnothi, then get saved by Truck.
These kids are all Tel’Dora. They’re second to Sar’Teri in terms of population size, and make up the vast majority of the sarnothi living outside of Sarnoth-proper. Jin’Sorai and Mor’Kama are minority clans, Jin’Sorai more so after the events of the civil war.
I wasn’t anticipating Then being the speaker. :l I was hoping for someone with more tact.
Sad the design in her hair isn’t the Pan Pride Flag. Cuz it really was the first thing I thought of. :3 Glad I wasn’t the only one.
That student with the long dark hair…I just wanna hug her and tell her everything is gonna be okay ;_;
Any reason all the Sarnothi kids are the same color? What about the grayish/purplish/etc. shades? Are they all the same clan?
Yes, these kids are all Tel’Dora. They’re the majority Clan among the sarnothi outside of the city.
In panel 5 they look almost threatening, they have allthe same posture.
Thing is, back home when kids are brought along in a group and told to look at something they naturally make a formation that involved multiple levels. They are in water, so they stagger their positions gradually getting higher and no one behind anyone else. But when they started being put into groups on land and told to look at something they didn’t fall into a row naturally – being in front of someone had a much more hierarchical meaning than it does to us. Moreover many of these kids took being in the back (or better yet, middle) to be a position of safety, and they also kept moving from being nervous – in fact, schooling, just like fish.
This was extremely distracting to the humans, so one of the first things they had to teach the kids was form a line and everybody stand still. There were a lot of these things that they had to be taught. Part of their misery is the fact that they can’t engage in schooling behaviour in this very anxiety provoking situation. (not canon)
I think that guess is way off target. Dave’s already established that in Sarnothi culture, social hierarchy is indicated by relative up-down position, with higher-ranking individuals swimming at a higher water level.
They’re flipped in an artistic shortcut, too. Hunched, but facing towards their adult. (And colored differently!)
I love this story line…
Notice how all the kids are even dressed alike? That’s because their clothing was bulk bought, with an effort to allow personalization that resulted in the kids getting different coloured shirts. (not canon)
Nice cmyk hair, Andi. ?
Hmm… Why do I get the feeling there was a day very much like this half a century ago when the US states started de-segregating schools?