meep
-edit- Things are getting a bit too heated in the comments for the last few pages. I try to allow some leeway with people being emotionally charged or otherwise of strong opinions, but things are getting out of control. Please expect an increase in moderation and probably some Orwellian censorship for the time being.
Glory to Napoleon.
Today's edition of the Secret Commentary is empty, because Dave failed to come up with something for it.
‘It’s okay because it’s normal.’ Nah, it isn’t okay. Nor should it be encouraged. I mean I ain’t a fan of Benny. I’m somewhat glad he’s trying to sorta help Selkie. But that just doesn’t sit well with me.
And seriously? Can Todd stop with the constipated look? Yes, she lied. But most kids do when they’re panicked. And this is just overboard. Either punish her for the lie or calm down. Being angry isn’t going to help with anything. (Lying doesn’t require him being this upset. Especially if he’s not interested in finding out why Selkie did what she did. It’s kind of childish on Todd’s part.) Like uber childish.
Sometimes we forget that time runs much slower in the comic. I mean we’ve been in the same school year for almost all of it iI all. So in reality it’s been maybe a few minutes and I’d say that’sa normal time to be upset. Not to mention Dave can only fit so much in each strip. Not to be breaking the fourth wall or anything but yeahhhh it makes more sense when thought of that way
Since I can’t edit here:
Sometimes we forget that time runs much slower in the comic. I mean we’ve been in the same school year for almost all of it. So in reality it’s been maybe a few minutes, and I’d say that’s a normal time to be upset. Not to mention Dave can only fit so much in each strip. Not to be breaking the fourth wall or anything but yeahhhh. It makes more sense when thought of that way
Right, because we know parents are NEVER, EVER childish… /sarcasm
I for one kinda like that Dave portrays the parents in this comic as having flaws and not always doing what’s right/best, but still (for the most part) doing their best. Adults, in my experience, are rarely ever paragons of virtue (myself included. Lord knows I’ve got flaws I need to work on.), and even the best ones are never perfect. Seeing as the Echo thing is such a big deal, it makes sense Todd would be angry Selkie lied about it, especially given how many chances he gave her to come clean. Also bear in mind that, since the start of the conversation, barely a minute has passed. No one I’ve ever heard of cools off that fast.
Todd is probably also worried about the consequences for Selkie and, as a parent, fear often wants to manifest as anger. Combined with the fact that he has just found out about the incident, I don’t see his response as either unexpected or entirely unwarranted.
Did you forget that Todd has anger issues? Yes, he’s worked on them. Yes, he’s much better at containing it. That doesn’t mean he stops feeling it.
I don’t know why people are responding this way to a complaint at a character? It’s not like LO is saying it’s unrealistic that Todd would act this way, just expressing their displeasure that he is.
How dare I find this uncomfortable. Why do I even bother commenting when people are gonna nit pick me into a corner. -__-
You know, just because you have the right to have an opinion, but others do have the right to criticize that too.
(I’m kinda sensing a pattern here tbh. In the past, you have gotten defensive and dismissive when people responded to your comment. More than once. Makes me wonder: What kind of reactions do you expect from others?)
It isn’t like I didn’t know that. But a lot of time people go overboard if I’m ever uncomfortable with anything and voice it.
And a lot of people have been pretty dismissive of me. Even when I’ve made a joke or not said much. Heck it’s literally one of the reasons I don’t always comment. (That and I’ve had times were I didn’t have something to say)
In my experience of a teacher, one of the best ways to discipline a kid who did/said something you consider seriously out of line is often to glare at them until they stop being gleeful about it and /internalize/ that yeah, no, this is not just about rules and boundaries and pushing them, they messed up and upset me. It’s more disruptive than more formal&quick ways (I usually put a tick on the board next to their name) but it’s a good way to differentiate ‘this is a step too far in messing around and i need you to scale back because we’re still in a LESSON’ from ‘i am legitimately angry/upset/disappointed at this’.
Kids are empathetic. Playing up your emotions is often a good way to get through to them when necessary, and in this case it kind of IS necessary to get through to Selkie, from Todd’s perspective.
I figured the glaring was Todd trying to get Selkie to realize she needs to stop acting like what she did was fine since words aren’t getting through to her.
benny giving lessons in species-apropriate prejudice…..and not one of the listening grown-ups has a thing to say about it?
See comment by “…” above: Nobody cools off THAT fast, especially since the words are barely out of his mouth…
basically, what i think you seem to be saying is that no adult should ever let their kids ever even finish a sentence before stopping them from saying anything possibly offensive “just in case”?
once again, comic-time is not traveling at the same speed real-world-time is…
remember we’re reading and replying to this many hours/days after this was posted, but the characters haven’t moved or changed the words they’ve spoken at all until the next strip gets posted… so it just SEEMS like nobody is going to say anything about his response… UNTIL NEXT STRIP… THEN if nobody says anything you can be annoyed about it, but until that strip is posted give the author TIME to do what he wants and HOW he wants to do it, please.
He just said it, in the last panel, Give Dave a chance to show what’s going on. For all we know Todd might be completely absorbed in close conversation with Avery. For all we know, they might already be in the appartment having left Benny and The Snark out in the hall.
my comment wasn´t adressing dave, more the father-qualities of brown. ok, benny´s prejudices were likely taught to him back in sarnoth, but he´s been out of the lake, and a stepson of brown, for several years now – yet he wasn´t taught better then to judge people by their clan stereotypes?
It is also possible this hasn’t come up much at home. With his clearance level and type of work it’s very possible his interaction with and discussions of sarnothi habe been limited. Thus brown may not have seen/heard this before. I can’t speak for anyone else but I knew most swear words a year or two before my parents heard me say a single one.
We have to remember that the Sarnothi are a completely different culture than us. They don’t have a similar moral code when it comes to prejudice. Thinking a primitive tride of humans in the jungle, where men are the hunters and women are just coolers and caretakers of children for hundreds of years. Suddenly, a group of strangers walk in and say “No, no, no, you’re culture is all wrong and you need to change to fit our moral views!!” They would look at them and wonder what was wrong with us for letting our women out of the home. The Sarnothi are literally thrown out of their natural habitat and into an alien culture, some without even basic knowledge of that culture. It takes time to change a culture views, just be patient.
This is a very good point, which highlights a potential difficulty in Sarnothi integration.
Perhaps we shouldn’t consider the Clans as cultures? Perhaps a better standard of comparison would be our own attitude towards sub-cultures? There seems to be no PC backlash from characterizing Goths as moody, New Romantics as quixotic, Hippies as passive, nerds as obsessive, and so on. The Sarnothi attitude may be similar- perhaps the sub-groups even had their origins in similar movements?
I am reminded here of one of the ongoing themes of Star Trek Enterprise which was “Don’t make non-humans fit into your human pigeon-holes”. Sure, when someone is trying to integrate into another culture, they gotta learn changes. But to call “foul” because the sarnothi don’t play the same ball we do? besides: Its. A. Story.
It’s almost as if nothing is free from criticism and people are going to criticize things they find uncomfortable in a story. Weird.
Ah! But the issues are very real.
Well, most hunter-gatherer tribes don’t actually fit your notions of how they work, but I get your point. They don’t have the ability to waste the capacities of their members, so men don’t only hunt, women also hunt (men are more likely to hunt bigger game, but women will set snares and use slings to take down rabbits and birds and, frankly, provide more protein than the men), men and women gather food, men and women care for and teach children, men and women cook, men and women make clothes, weapons, baskets, and other useful goods. Different groups of people will split up tasks in different gendered ways, but there also isn’t any one gender split in tasks.
Also, women are “just” cookers and carers of children? Maybe you want to interrogate why you think hunting is more important than cooking and caring for children? The women can hunt small game and gather for everyone, cook the food, and care for children and keep things going if all the men die, but the men are completely f*cked if the women die. If your view of hunter-gather bands was accurate, anyways, which it isn’t.
Thanks for this comment; there’s a lot to unpack in DaHoboJoenME’s comment, and frankly I didn’t have the energy for it.
I took it to mean our current society looks down on women who aren’t career women and choose to ‘just’ be housewives and mothers.
So a question I have is, when is it stereotyping and when is it racist to point out differences between people?
If you link together physical appearance and future actions/value, then you’ve crossed the line.
http://littledemonlorne.tumblr.com/post/181311634585/punk-amanda-from-selkie-comics-shes-a-fairly
http://littledemonlorne.tumblr.com/post/181313515480/updated-pastel-goth-look-for-selkie-smith-from
Figured surprise fanart would help lighten the mood. (Cuz I needed a moment to chill.)
Thank you for these. I like how Amanda seems to have taken her Mom’s old hairdo. XD
Kinda figured she’d try it once in her life. :3 And you’re welcome.
Those are awesome! Thank you for sharing those. Made me smile
Dave, I guess I haven’t seen the last few pages’ discussions as being too heated. But maybe I’m inured by the current reality where I live 🙂
I do believe that a) these kids are kids, and b) these parents here aren’t really that old either. It takes a few decades before finally believing what your mom told you, “if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”
Also remember folks: the characters don’t have the advantages of the wisdom, grace, and tact, that all of us readers have gained over the years.
The markup ate the fact that it was supposed to say “cough” in brackets after that.
I prefer to give my glory to Neapolitan ice cream.
Yeah, i used to think Ice cream was the zschizz, then I discovered the joys of sacher torte, but a lovely friend who really cared for me introduced me to Napoleons. O.M.G. Napoloeons. There are no words that can convey, the smooth, the crunch, the sweet, the chocolate, these all fail to describe the synergistic sumptuous, gah!…. The words just Fail!
Glory to Arstotzka
You’re my new favorite commenter, I enjoy that game
Joy, to the world,
To all you boys and girls.
Joy to the Sarnothi in the deep blue lake,
Uhn…, errrrr,….
Joy to the eels and snakes? Nah,
Joy to those that bake?
And as some of you will honor Ceiling Cat, please remember the Earth, who bore us.
Well, yeah, but…
…?
Joy to you All. May you all have a wonderful and Merry christmas, a Cool Yule, ecstatic Solstice, &ct. Wishing you a fabulous New Year! Everyone! (I mean; everyone except Pants, that is.)