I planted a lot of little clues to this over the strip’s run so far. Some of it may be overly-subtle, some of it seemed so blatant at the time that I thought I had tipped my hand too early.
The strips next week will be one-strip shorts, then after that Selkie and Todd go for a visit to the grandparents to meet her aunt and uncle.
When I prompted for reader-request shorts earlier, unless I missed something, I only saw two requests. One was to see what the background kids from the orphanage are doing with their new families (like Mark, the lost cast member), one was to see more of Selkie’s aunt and uncle. Since she will be meeting them in the next arc though… I have a free slot for Thursday’s strip. I am brainstorming some strange things for next Thursday’s short. 😀
Discussion (200) ¬
AMANDA?!? Oh dear…..that could get interesting…
*boggles* Um…yeeeeeeeeeeeeah.
Before you all freak out about seeing another one of Selkie’s race, what in the world is that thing in the in the dude’s hand in panel 6? One is obviously a file folder but I can’t make out the other. …Maybe it’s a clip board with a pen attached..?
Thats what it looks like to me too…
I thought it looked like he stabbed her or something
I would think a clipboard would be about the same size as the file folder. My first thought was a digital recorder for making voice notes for later transcription.
All together now!
“It’s a small world after all…”
OH MY GOD!!! I completely did not see this coming, amazing revelation.
Well…
What a twist.
A twist??? There’s more twists in this strip than at a Chubby Checker concert!
Amanda and Selkie are sisters? ROFLMAO
O____O My mind = BLOWN.
I knew a lot of people (including myself) saw this possibility, but I thought it would be a little too much of a coincidence. In actuality, I sort of thought that up a few months ago… but I kept dismissing it.
But seriously, though, Dave, BRAVO.
Plus the guy with the green skin… o.o I CANNOT WAIT TILL THE NEXT CHAPTER BEGINS. MUST SEES MORES.
Dave you wonderful plot twisting creator. I noticed that new character right away, and thought. Could it be?! Well played Dave, Well played!
Duh-duh-DUUUUHHHH… that means… *looks at the family tree* this… this isn’t going to go very well… Not for Selkie and definitely not for Amanda.
Or Todd.
…Andi, you really have no clue how bad a mess this is gonna be
Very well played
omg! I didn’t want to see this coming! OH MY GOD! By all technicality Amanda and Selkie are step-sisters!
AMANDA’S GONNA BE PIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSED!
No, by all technicality, they are SISTERS. A stepsister is when your parent marries the other child’s parent. Selkie IS Todd’s daughter, as is (apparently) Amanda; therefore, they are sisters.
My brother is adopted; I am my parents’ biological child. He is not my step-brother. He is my brother, full stop.
I once had someone explain to me how my half-sister and I are actually step-siblings. I really had to refrain from a facepalm.
There is really not enough facepalm in the world. I hope you told that person they were an idiot.
Honestly, I agree with you completely. I have two halfsisters, a halfbrother, and a stepsister (who technically isn’t even related to me any more because my dad and her mom got a divorce), but they’re all still my family, no matter what. They’re my sisters and brother. Full stop. There isn’t a condition on family.
But Selkie isn’t biologically Todd’s, Amanda is. Amanda might use that against Selkie in the future, if it becomes a terrible issue. And Amanda’s way of coping with the fact that Selkie is her sister might be… She will probably be very precise with the words. If she finds out that Todd is her dad, as a jealous child, she might throw the fact that Selkie is adopted right into her face. Which would be terrible, and it might not even be an issue, if Amanda is angry with Andi in the first place, for giving her up.
But still, it would be traumatic for all parties, and Amanda seems like the type to deal with trauma by being cruel- due to simply not knowing any better. (Or knowing, and just not applying the knowledge.)
Sorry if I offended anyone with my initial comment. 0.0 I truly didn’t mean to. It was more of a reaction, than a thought out comment.
Well, if Selkie was in a mean mood, she might throw right back at Amanda that “Even ifs he’s your dads, he still chose mes, not yous!”
Is the “Thank you Robbie” bubble in panel 6 supposed to be coming from the woman?
Nope. It is indeed supposed to be coming from the doctor of indeterminate species.
Indeterminate my right gill-set. *snort*
I actually want to add another comment quick as well… perhaps there was a reason as to why Amanda wasn’t adopted as a baby. She may have had possible medical troubles, a hard time sleeping or anything, saying as we have no idea what Andi did before she thought she could be pregnant. She could have smoked, drank, or anything else you’re not supposed to do. Obviously if that was the case, if anything like that at all, that would explain why new parents would be a little skeptical about adopting a baby like that.
I’m not pointing fingers or anything, it was just a thought.
Also… sometimes couples in the United States don’t qualify for adoption of a child actually in the country, so sometimes they perform an international adoption, in which they find a baby in a foreign orphanage, and either a caregiver meets them at the airport and unites them, or they travel to the country and pick the child up themselves. My father is rather ignorant about the subject saying as he doesn’t know the specifics…
So unfortunately because of such circumstances there are instances where couples are unable to adopt in the US, there are unadopted babies. Simply because they don’t qualify for adoption here. Usually due to a medical condition.
Anyone can feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, I know I’m no expert. I’m just a teenager myself… and I relayed this information from watching “Adoption Stories” after school for quite some time.
Dave, I love you for being awesome and hate you for constantly blowing my mind.
You are an amazing jerk, and I love you for it.
Ho boy.
This is not going to go well for anyone, methinks, including Andi.
(Particularly since it’s not Amanda McClellan anymore, it’s Amanda Fairweather. Talk about refusing to accept changes…this is going to be
interesting, all right!
And I love the sight of a doctor who *might* be one of Selkie’s species!
Loving that twist much more than the Amanda reveal.
That’s Heather. Not amanda
No, you’re confusing Amanda and Heather. Heather got adopted by the Fairweathers so her name was changed to that. I don’t think we ever got Amanda’s name.
It appears that Amanda was an anonymous surrender, because the orphanage doesn’t have any record of her last name (she is listed at school as “Amanda Doe”).
Typically the records Andi is asking for are at the county clerk’s office, but what the hey, Calumet City must do stuff differently.
On another note, hey Selkie can be Cinderella since Amanda could certainly fit the bill for the role “evil step-sister”.
As noted, Amanda is not Selkie’s step-sister. She is her half-sister by adoption.
*facepalm*
Right. Sorry ’bout that. Though I still think Andi’s in for a heck of a rude
awakening if and when she finds her daughter.
I don’t know why. Amanda’s much more aggressively malicious and Andi seems to have the “accidentally-on-purpose” passive-aggressive approach, but otherwise they both have my ex’s sense of entitlement, impulse control, foresight, and respect for everyone around them, precluding any kind of sympathy. >.>
Oh my shit, I called it. I don’t know why but, for some reason, I had a strong feeling it was Amanda. Holy balls, what a twist!
Bravo on you! This is an amazing and compelling story. Well done!! Keep it coming! <3
I KNEEEEEW IT!!! … OH CRAP!
Setting aside the two doubtless very important pieces of information, I have a suggestion for the “where are they now” short: The shoe store. Specifically, I’m wondering about the political fallout of Selkie’s order (and of who got the commission for it).
That sounds interesting.
Also, perhaps a look at what “crazy grounded” ends up meaning?
:C OH NOO! I wonder what Amanda’s reaction to finding out ‘fish-face’ is her step sister is going to be?
I think folks are missing the point about how pissed Amanda’s going to be knowing that her father chose her enemy over her for adoption. I think the fact that Selkie is her stepsister will pale in comparison to that anger.
Not if she hears that he thought she was dead. In that case, she´ll expect him to drop Selkie back at the orphanage in a heartbeat and take her instead. Once that doesn´t happen, she will *explode*.
Several things:
1. There is a fish person working at the hospital. Since there is so far no correct term for the species, I’m calling them fish people for conveniece.
2. Selkie has a sister, and it’s her arch nemisis.
3. Amanda got passed over by her own father for a fish person.
4. If fish people are working at the hospital, then Selkie doesn’t have to live in deathly fear if she ever actually gets sick. There are fish people doctors, whew.
5. Revisiting number three because… that’s messed up. Bad. The universe is cruel.
6. I wonder if Andi will be able to adopt Amanda… and if Amanda will be able to forgive her…
7. Todd is going to go apeshit when he realizes that a biological child of his had to go through what he went through… because some girl’s parents talked her out of keeping their kid.
8. Delicious plot, stewing and bubbling and thickening. I wonder what enchantment this potionmaker is brewing up.
Re: #3 and #5: Well, it’s not like Todd knew about it. Still one of those things that makes you start calculating ETAs regarding manure and fans, though.
Your points 3-5 are made of win and i <3 you
Andi probably won’t be able to adopt Amanda without going through qualification at the orphanage. She did, after all, surrender her own child. Todd, however, could probably just walk in and act like he had a claim check because he’s already qualified.
Not so true. My future in laws adopted both my fiance and his younger brother. I once asked them why they received the little brother from a different agency. Apparently, it takes even longer to adopt a second kid through the same agency than it does adopting just one.
Actually, he might have a better time of it than that. Technically, because of Andi’s machinations, *he* never surrendered his parental rights. There may be some legal seismic activity, but given that Amanda has yet to be adopted they could be comparatively insignificant. By all rights, once he could prove paternity, and that he was lied to they would have to turn her over.
Of course, if she had been adopted, he would still likely win out after a lengthy court drama. Precedent is pretty clear, four year olds who were adopted as infants have been returned to parents after flawed adoptions. I imagine that to be every adoptive parent’s daily nightmare. then again, I don’t see Todd as the kind of person to do such a thing to a child.
This is, of course, assuming that the name Amanda isn’t simply a coincidence.
I actually find it interesting that Todd didn’t choose Amanda – perhaps for much the same reasons he’s no longer together with Andi. Both females can be quite callous and selfish, putting their own wants and needs above anyone else’s.
I really hope Todd never has to be a parent figure to Amanda. Selkie’s life is only just starting to be better, and Amanda doesn’t deserve the chance to ruin it again.
If Todd was her dad, I bet he wouldn’t tolerate bullying. Considering that his younger self from the flashback way back before Selkie got adopted had a black eye, and that he identified with Selkie based on a description that included “has few friends among the other children.”
I don’t know about Andi, but Amanda’s just had a rough time of it. She feels unwanted, and she doesn’t have any adult figure to pay enough attention to even see how bad she is, let alone fix it.
Amanda’s not a bad kid. She’s just sad and alone and hurt. She just needs some love and a little discipline. Just because you don’t like “the bully type” doesn’t mean that she doesn’t deserve a chance.
This can go several ways from what I see, and this is only one scenario out of about 57 going through my head at once:
-Amanda meets Andi and is ecstatic that, obviously, she’s getting adopted.
-Holy heck, things get BETTER! Andi is her REAL MOTHER AND SHE’S COME FOR HER! (Which I’m quite sure is a common dream among orphaned children who never knew their real parents)
-SHE GETS TO MEET HER REAL FATHER TOO?!
-Waaaaait a second… he looks… familiar. Wasn’t he at the school the other day…?
-…come to think of it, wasn’t he at the orphanage, too?
-MY DAD PICKED A FISH OVER HIS OWN DAUGHTER?!
…keeping in mind this is only ONE scenario I have going, but I’m sure there’s not enough room to type them all out. It ranges from ‘Anger’ to ‘Sadness’ to ‘Skepticism’ and everything in between.
I’m really surprised that a child given up for adoption ended up in an orphanage… did her adoptive parents die? I don’t know how it is in this comic’s universe, but in our universe, there are way to many families trying to adopt babies for a baby given up for adoption to end up in an orphanage…. I just wonder how she got there?
So Amanda is Todd’s biological daughter. And he met her at the orphanage without knowing it, but passed her over to adopt Amanda’s nemesis Selkie instead.
Yup, this has just turned into a Soap Opera. 🙁
No, I’m not happy about that. One of the reasons this comic has been on my reading list for over a year was because the creator took one single “what-if”–What if a child from a non-human race was adopted into a human family?–and built a comic strip around that concept with people and situations just like we’d encounter just about any day and anywhere in the USA. Todd is an entirely plausible character, and so are his parents; for all her nonhuman physiology, Selkie acts like most eight-year-old girls. Up till now the only character that made me blink is Lillian Haversham-Zhang, but even she’s not that far off the curve. And the situations, from shopping at Wool-Mart to getting custom shoes to troubles at school, have all been perfectly plausible.
But this one’s just too far off the curve, too improbable. Now the comic involes not one “what-if”, but two: “What if a man has a biological daughter he doesn’t know about, one that was given up at birth but never adopted (or adopted and then orphaned again in just a few years), and then he meets her without knowing it but passes her over to adopt someone else that’s been clashing with his bio-daughter for years, leaving the girl more bitter than ever, and only AFTER the adoption has been finalized and the adopted girl welcomed into his home, heart and family, does he find out about the biological daughter?”
If that’s not a cue for Major Melodrama, then I don’t know what is.
Pretty much my feelings on the matter as well. I call it sloppy writing, but sometimes, very rarely, soap opera plot twists can be used intelligently. In this instance such intelligent usage would be the hospital refusing to give Andi the information, and Amanda’s biological relationship to Todd never being revealed – teasing the audience into thinking this is sloppy writing, and then actually not following through with it.
But I fear that’s not the case, and that Amanda’s going to enter Selkie’s family life in one form or another. 🙁
Oh even that the name “Amanda” is a red-herring and it’s completely different person and the writer is just trolling us XD
Yeah this is my feelings too. I loved Selkie because it was all slice of life, but this up coming plot is raising my eyebrow.
I don’t know how I feel about this since i loved the mundane, everyday feeling with Selkie and Todd.
Don’t give up hope yet. This kind of plot twist can be good if done well.
Just because a person is different doesn’t mean you should treat them differently. Just because Selkie is a fish girl doesn’t mean she should be treated as anything other than a girl. Selkie is a race metaphor. Your question is answered.
Q:What if a child from a non-human race was adopted into a human family?
A: You love her like any other little girl regardless of race. BEcause her race shouldn’t matter.
Now it’s time for other questions. Story type questions, background and history question. Questions of personality and integrity.
Also considering that orphanages such as the one depicted in this comic don’t really even exist in America anymore It’s not too much of a stretch at all that two “orphans”, in the same town end up in the same place.
I recommend taking a deep breath, relax, and realize that the story is advancing. It’s growing, evolving, and starting to approach a level of maturity where multiple “what-if”s can be dealt with. What would be truly improbable is thinking that people only have to deal with one complication at a time.
Race metaphor or just different metaphor? I’d have thought her to be a disability metaphor above anything else, seeing how she’s a special needs kid. The breathing issues, the strict diet, going-to-be staying warm issues, etc.
The point remains the same.
I can’t wait to see dr. Fishman’s story arc! I wonder if he really works there or if he just sliped on a coat to scam a file? If he works there how does he keep a building full of doctors from writing papers about him? We can be fairly sure that fishmen are not commen knowlege, everyone who has seen selkie has been pretty shocked. No one has said “o wait! She’s one of those fish guys i saw on the news! I for don’t think he and selkie come from under the sea, i think they come from the stars! That’s right! Aliens!
We can also be pretty sure that he´s never seen Selkie, because otherwise
1) her file would contain a big note “If Selkie gets sick, take her to see Dr. Fishman at Calumet Medical”
2) for that matter, a lot of the things about Selkie in her file wouldn´t trial and error
3) Dr. Fishman would at least have told her who/what she is, which Selkie doesn´t know
Maybe Dr. Fishies is there looking for records on Selkie… “Yes, I’m from [city near water]. Here are my medical credentials. I hear you have a job? Excellent. (By the way, I’d like to comb through the records of births and kids and whatnot; I believe a relative of mine may have slipped through the cracks here.)”
Ok. My crazy off the wall plot guess is this. Dr. Fishman and selkie crash on earth when she is very young. Maybe it was a small family craft or maybe it was a huge ship and the doc and selkie aren’t blood relations, just fellow survivers. If the crash was covered up by the goverment then the public would never know. Doc has held by the goverment for questions and tests but has managed to escape. Neither he or goverment knew selkie made it out alive. Maybe the officer or who ever found her had a heart and convinced the orphanage to take her in as a sick human. When todd adopted her something tipped off the feds, maybe her papers weren’t faked well enough. They sent agent jessie to keep tabs on her, that’s why jessie is everywhere selkie is. Dr. Fishman heard about selkie from his cell which is what gave him the will to escape. Now he’s trying to find her before the goverment makes it’s move. What do you think?
My crazy, off the wall guess is that Dr. Fishman was born human and for one reason or another got kissed by someone of Selkie’s species, which caused a face rash which turned into the markings on his face, kinda like tiger stripes, in the process of turning him into a Fishman from a human being. He’s a different colour than Selkie because he’s an entirely different type of species from human now, but still isn’t a “Selkie”.
Of course, I don’t believe my guess for even a second but I did squint at those markings on his cheeks and wonder…
I knew it. I knew it. I KNEW IT! *does happy dance*
I´m glad to see Andi see some character development and grow up. What Andi is going through now is NOTHING compared to how she´ll feel when Amanda throws a “you gave me away” tantrum in her face, though.
I’m pretty sure Selkie and Amanda are, then, simply sisters. There’s no marriage involved. Amanda would be Todd’s natural born daughter and Selkie is now as good as.
I hope that Andi isn’t going to be trying to win Todd over with this, because he’s going to be SO angry. I think once he finds out he might go for custody of Amanda as well.
And poor Keisha :/
I really, really, REALLY hope that Todd doesn’t try to become Amanda’s father in a familial relationship, because that would be too soap opera-ish.
There’s some sort of collective selectivity of perception in Selkie’s universe. People don’t say “Aaargh! It’s blue has fangs and black sclerae!”, they say, “Should that little girl be blue?”
Doctor X’s patients probably say “Even for a doctor he has cold hands.”
Possibly Selkie’s people exude a chemical defense (pheromonal?) that causes people’s suspicions to be allayed. Some people may sense this, and it could manifest as an irrational distrust or dislike.
Or possibly a mathematician shouldn’t talk out of his hat about psychology.
Or perhaps in this universe these amphibious mer folk do live among humans but are uncommon but are established.
I did something like this with satyrs in couple of slice of life-urban fantasy stories. They have a natural glamour that makes it hard for mundane humans to see their actual forms, but they do exist and folks do catch them with their guard down. Some freak out others tend to go “What a minute you look just like Dr Paplopos!?” and there is recognition.
Satyrs? Wouldn’t their lifestyle tend to tip people off?
Not everyone is privy to their massive sex parties XD
I like the phermone idea. That would explain alot. But would airborn pheromones evolve under water?
Pheremones would disperse even better in water, but given the effect I’m after, they’d only be needed in air. Of course, they have a long-term investment in the surface (they have lungs, or something that does that job), but I wasn’t thinking evolution- I suggest engineering.
Unless, of course, I am completely and laughably wrong.
Wait a minute- AMANDA?
CALLED IT!
I figured if Andi’s kid was going to be one of the kids Selkie knew… it was pro’bly gonna be Amanda.
Still kinda surprised Dave went that route, though… her -entire- 8 years spent in an orphanage? No wonder she’s bitter.
I didn’t see it coming myself, at all! And I’m a bit disappointed yeah, for the same reason you pointed out. 8 years in (and out of?) an orphanage. That’d be pretty rough! I think we all have a newfound sympathy for her now. lol
Am-
-anda?
As for #6, in the case of a surrender, Andi will have to requalify to adopt Amanda. And it will be *much* harder than what Todd went through, due to her history.
See one thing going for Todd here is that a lot if States have it so that the birth father has rights in an adoption too. Been like that for years. Usually they have to be contacted and since he knew she was pregnant but never asked if she could be put up for adoption, he could fight it and win and whoever signed off for him could be in a world of legal trouble for falsifying legal records.
Going FOR Todd? I’d say that would be going against him. Because if he tried to be a father to Amanda now, before Selkie’s truly securely rooted into his life, it could only spell disaster.
Well I meant that if he finds out and tries to gain her too. But I agree that Amanda and Selkie in the same house would be bad. And yeah if Amanda learns Selkie has her dad heads will roll
Wait, that means Selkie really did steal her dad! Amanda has psychic powers! Quick, call the Mutant Response Division!
The X-men?
Nope, the ones who hunt down mutants. At least in the short lived Wolverine and the X-men cartoon.
Oh, I’m not familiar with them.
While the srotry is getting better and better, I really hope Andi should never be forgiven.. sorry but no, you “killed” the baby and give her in secret to adoption without telling me; then you bring her back from the dead and show her to me for you to feel better about your own mess… i cannot say here the words that i will use to describe Andi…
And she actually things she can get the things better? what a selfish woman…
I can say those words. Human. She’s human and flawed, and in need of forgiveness. Hopefully Todd is a better man than you and will, in time, give her what she needs.
How is trying to right a wrong selfish exactly?
Because she is only doing it to get to Todd, if she wanted to right this wrong she would tell Todd what happened and decide together if the kid should be retrieved instead of dumping in on him after he has adopted another.
By the way how dose ‘human’ excuse this? Being flawed is one thing but why should it be forgiven? Not everyone dose this shit its not excusable to simply say to err is human. How about this situation: you get drunk and beat your kids, which is a horribly common ‘human’ thing that happens all the time. Should that be forgiven?
Punishment before forgiveness, you pay for what you have done then you get redemption. She has not faced her lies in any sense.
How do we know that she’s doing it to get to Todd? Maybe she’s decided that she should do something besides be the pushed-around person in her life.
Maybe she wants to know what happened to the kid so she can tell Todd the whole story, complete with the ending, “…and the baby was adopted by Steve Jobs and is going to the most amazing school, and look at that happy smile there.”
Maybe she’s bought into the myth of Unconditional Love between Parent and Child and needs some unconditional love in her life and thinks this will get it.
Or maybe she’s still trying to prove something to Todd, and be someone she isn’t (a “parent”). We don’t know yet.
Forgiveness should not require punishment. That is a selfish though and indicative of an unwholesome heart. You forgive someone because they need it, not because you want to.
Okay, okay as a stepchild and someone with two good friends who are adopted (and who considers adopting a second child), I have to point this out. Amanda is not Selkie’s *step-sister*. They are *sisters* now. Selkie is adopted. Her mother didn’t just marry Todd. Stepparents do not have the same right as *parents* (biological or adoptive) and while some are amazing people a lot do not share the same bond with their stepchildren.
Thank you, and everyone else who made this point, for mentioning this. I’ve been raising my eyebrow at all the use of ‘step-sister’ in the comments here. Step-siblings involve marriage between parents; where two parents enter into a marriage and the kids do not share a parent, they are step-siblings. If Todd were not Amanda’s biological father and then married Andi, that would make them step-siblings. However, he is her biological father, and he is Selkie’s father, and that makes them sisters. They are both his daughters; one being adopted (or surrendered) does not somehow make one less than the other. Currently the only father-daughter relationship that exists is between him and Selkie, however I do believe that should he be informed of Amanda’s relation to him he will try to form a relationship with her (much to Selkie’s chagrin, of course). Since Todd has never met Amanda before other than the interviews at the orphanage, Selkie and Amanda both started from the same point. Amanda doesn’t have a leg up on Selkie just because she shares a few strands of genetic code with him. She is not more his daughter because of it, if anything Selkie is as they have developed a bond in the intervening time whereas none currently exists between him and Amanda. Selkie and Amanda were both strangers to him at the time of their meeting, neither more or less than the other.
I don’t think that he will go the extra step to try to adopt Amanda, as that would surely strain his relationship with his new daughter, though I am not discounting the idea that perhaps his parents will step in to care for her, or should Andi receive custody he will try to support her. He will try to do right by his children- both of them. Todd will most likely try to foster a positive relationship between his two daughters, however successful that may be. I think Dave is going to use this as a way to show personal growth in people with negative characteristics, and reveal that bad people are not irredeemable (another of my favorite comics has recently started doing this with one of the characters; I never thought anything would change my hatred for Jamie from Khaos Komix, but Tab is managing to do so rather skillfully).
Out of all these things, one thing caught my attention. The doctor doesn’t have Selkie’s lisp, or should I say lisps. It looks like the S at the end of Selkie’s words are an accent rather than an inability to talk human properly.
Or maybe the doctor being an adult, grew out of his lisp?
I am *very* curious to hear why Amanda never got adopted—or if in fact she had been adopted once and lost her adoptive parents. Babies are in high demand—even ones who have “issues” (I only see behavioral/anger issues with Amanda) or mild health problems.
I’ve noticed that a lot of people have been making comments throughout the weeks as if Amanda is totally irredeemable. But the fact that Our Incredible Author has been returning to the orphanage over and over leads me to believe that that the story is about all of the kids, not just Selkie.
Of course I had been perplexed as to why the heck we got introduced to Andi who isn’t even a real girlfriend any more and who takes away valuable screen time from Selkie. Inexplicable for him to have gotten sidetracked like that…. oh.
I’ve also been thinking that while Amanda has been set up to be a villain, she hasn’t been a shallow one, nor has she done anything irredeemable. I have a lousy memory but the impression I get is that the worst thing she has done is to being extremly vocal about her dislike of Selkie. Since I adore Selkie this is not something I approve of but it’s also not remotely enough reason to write her off or hate her back. In my experience with eight-year-olds the two girls who hate each other in grade two can become bff in grade three and in intense circles the girls can go from warfare to mutual adoration in the space of a week twice a month. Not that I expect S & A to fall into each other’s arms crying “Sister!” after their past history, but some 1000 panels from now they could end up becoming allies. (Such as when they need to rescue Todd from the evil aliens etc.) Amanda’s characterization has been deep, and her motivation has been thoroughly explained. Honestly, compared to the average eight-year-old who is over tired, coming down from a sugar high or sickening for something, her behavior has been well… average. Which isn’t to say I either hate or love Amanda, as Selkie is the the one that makes me drool like a besotted grandmother looking into the cradle…
For all that it struck me that Amanda could easily become a rival for most loved character in this series by simply writing in a few panels of angst and redeeming actions, I did NOT see this coming. When it was suggested on Monday in the comments I instantly was convinced of it but I had not an inkling one comment earlier.
Andi and Amanda are rather alike, aren’t they…?
What will be Todd’s reaction to finding out he has a genetic daughter? I’d be surprised if it is anything less than an immediate application for custody. A fierce, juggernaut of protectiveness is likely to manifest. And unless things are different in this world, his chances of getting custody are… pretty much foregone? I mean, the guy has just gone through a full screening process to prove his fitness to become a dad and has likely got a ton of paperwork to prove it.
Here’s what I predict. Amanda will be on total best behavior to try to make it work with Todd. This is her desperate chance… and moreover, she can have a lot LESS conflict as Todd’s child than Andi’s because Todd never knew so is likely to be able to dodge much of the anger that consumes her.
And Selkie? I’m thinking that she’s going to feel like the most insecure kid in the world because suddenly Todd has a REAL daughter and one that is high maintenance at that and who hates her, and now she can never get away from her….
Amanda is cunning, manipulative, bullies those that are different than her, she has minions to help in this bullying, she lies, is jealous when a friend gets a good turn of luck (and subsequently maliciously happy to get said friend in trouble), she puts her own wants and needs above everything else, and is an excellent *itch-in-training.
Pretty much the check list for “villain”.
Indeed. A bully is a bully. Amanda is what she is, and she chose to be what she is. She made a decision to act as she does and manipulates people around her to achieve her own ends. If she were a real person I would be hard-pressed to resist kicking her square in the face, I don’t care how old she is. Maybe it would actually teach her something for once.
Yeah, Amanda is a bully and she is selfish and tells lies. But this is not way off the curve of normal behavior for kids. I betcha that Amanda can see no difference between when she calls Selkie a name and Selkie calls her one back. Oh sure, Amanda has friends and her friends call Selkie names too but in the battles of the playground it is unlikely that Amanda sees any difference between when Heather says something mean about Selkie and when Georgie says something to Amanda herself like, “I don’t like you. You’re being cruel to Selkie. ”
I never said that Amanda was a nice kid. I just said in my book she’s not irredemable. I haven’t yet seen anything I actually like about Amanda but people do grow out of insensitivity (sometimes).
The impression I have gotten is that Dave does not dislike Amanda – he’s writing a complex, not very likeable character and has enough talent that he could blythely send us in any direction in our feelings about Amanda. Would you still hate Amanda if say, Andi kidnaps her in order to try to reconcile with Todd, tells her how much she loves her, promises to love her always and then promptly abandons her on the street? Or would you still hate her if Dave decides to write a story arc where Amanda getting a parent is dependant on Selkie accepting her into the family. (Social workers do things like that – Todd getting custody of Amanda could be dependant on Selkie remaining happy and secure in her new home.)
I dunno what Dave is going to do, but I am enjoying the ride and waiting to see what surprise he will drop on us.
I find it slightly alarming that you would feel such strong hate for an eight year old that you call her a bitch, and fantasize about beating her. The strength of that dislike seems just a little intense. Mind you, I’m not saying that you are in the wrong. She is, after all an imaginary character so there are no real feelings or nor a body that could feel pain or take damage. It’s just when I read posts that have such a strong negative reaction to her, it makes me feel anxious. It’s scary talk to me.
When you have a bunch of adults reading a story about little kids it’s easy to give the kids adult motivions (miss my spell check) if amanda were ten years older all the hate would make more sense. That being said a spanking or two wouldn’t be out of line.
I was bullied too much as a kid to have any sympathy for her. Yeah, she’s had it tough. So did the kids who tortured me so badly I’ve wanted to end my life for the past 10 years, simply because of the colour of my skin. In my experience, people don’t change. Dave may write it in that she overcomes her evilness and becomes an actual halfway decent person…. but in real life I have yet to see that actually occur in even a single person. Of the people who made my life hell in middle school, one is dead and another most likely is, and the closest thing to regret or sorrow that I have been able to bring myself to feel is anger that I will never be able to tell them just how repulsive they were. To this day, almost 10 years after leaving that godforsaken hellhole, I will not go to the cemetery in that town because I just plain don’t trust myself not to do something unsightly to the gravesite. Which still makes me a better person than they were, as I have enough self-control to actually restrain myself.
Go ahead and call me bitter, because I most definitely am. Years of being tormented by bullies and punished for not being nice enough to them has a tendency to do that to a person.
That’s a lot of anger to hold on to, especially ten years after the fact.
I would say do your best to forgive and forget, because if you don’t, the potential is it’s going to continue to affect the way you are for the rest of your life. Do you want to give a group of people that sort of power over you, especially if they aren’t even in your life anymore/ more then likely dead?
You can’t change what they did to you in the past or how they affected you then. But it is entirely in your power to change how your experiences with them will affect your future.
While forgive and forget is nice, Datawog may be entitled. What I like to believe is that writers write the world they wish they were in, not about the world they don’t want anything to do with. You write what it should be like to show others how it can be done right. That is very noble. I’ve done the same thing but it’s writing that may never see the light of day. At least Dave has an audience wherein the chance to show such a broad group his own views of how the world SHOULD be is very encouraging to me:)
Like you say, the story is (mostly) about children. But if you put yourself on the children’s level, Amanda is very much the villain, as we see things from Selkie’s perspective. You don’t need to assign any of them adult motives, just by looking at things from Selkie’s pov makes Amanda the Evil One.
I just hope that Andi has thought this thru. Is she ready to be a part of her daughter’s life? Is she just going to find her and tell Todd who and where she is and still not be a part of her life? I’m worried for the kids. How is Selkie going to handle the fact that Todd has a “real” daughter? well i guess I’ll have to wait and see.
In my opinion she has not, and has no idea what she’s doing, still, but I suppose she is trying to make things right. One must ask for what reason. Do you say sorry and try to make ammends because you want something or because it is the right thing to do? Hm…
Oh my gods… she’s Amanda’s mother. But the thing that I can’t get over most is that TODD is Amanda’s FATHER.
Obviously all the good things can skip a generation. 😛
This could, as they say, get interesting.
I don’t know as I’ve ever posted before, but here goes:
1. I hate Andi. Oh my GOD do I hate her. I hate her stupid hair, and her idiotic tattoos and her nasty, selfish, crappy attitude. I hate her smug face, and her entitled behavior, and every hint of her past behavior toward Todd. Her sudden desire to ‘fix’ things doesn’t make me like her any more, sadly. This is in no way a criticism of you, or your comic strip — I think you’ve done an amazing job of making her a character that can unify many in your fanbase with utter loathing! 😀
2. I hate Amanda, perhaps because she’s a lot like Andi. Selfish, insecure, and entitled. I reread these comics (because I’ve truly enjoyed them all so far) and each time, I cackle with glee as Amanda is passed over in favor of the titular character. Go, Selkie! Woo! Amanda is perfectly deserving of being abandoned. Only regarding fiction can we feel so righteously pure about our convictions of judging the character of others. Then, of course, the author can wind their way back to create a backstory that could cement that conviction, or turn it on its head. WOO! I mean, so far, I’m seeing the backstory, and I *might* feel better for Amanda, who had so little chance to become awesome, based on being abandoned, but WOW do I hate Andi even more for being such a spoiled, selfish, lying COW — Didn’t wanna be pregnant? Should’ve used a damn condom! Just realized you didn’t want a baby? Get a damn abortion! If this world has fishpeople enough that they didn’t kill Selkie as an infant for being some kind of monster, certainly medicine and society have advanced enough that abortion’s not that big a damn deal. Or, here’s an idea: Give it to the baby’s father, who apparently was overjoyed for the baby! Don’t LIE about it for YEARS and then act like that guy owes you ANYTHING except a black eye and criminal charges! Fathers DO have rights in MANY states, and one can sue for paternity, and considering the awesomeness of Todd’s mom and dad, he could have done WONDERS as a parent, and they could have helped him get custody. The only reason Andi gave that baby up was because she was scared, irresponsible, and couldn’t handle the idea of a) raising a baby on her own, or b) letting Todd raise it within her view/reach because it would be a constant reminder of her failure to grow up, and that she abandoned a life she created and allowed to be born instead of handling it beforehand! Stupid, stupid, stupid Andi. I wish she’d get hit by her own truck, but then you’d need to come up with a different person for conflict that I could hate so well! 🙂
3. I want to address the weird debate everyone’s been having about the relationship between creator and audience/fanbase. There isn’t one. Before you drag me out back and shoot me, please listen: IMHO, Dave’s not writing this for cookies, tummy rubs, to put food on the table, or to make any of you happy. Dave’s writing this because there’s a fantasy world alive in his head and his heart, and he felt like sharing it. You’re lucky to read it; he owes you nothing; he is not obliged to deliver, explain, or coddle you in any fashion. That being said? He’s lucky you read it; you owe him nothing; you’re not obliged to like it, share it, or coddle him in any fashion. This is a mutually beneficial relationship that will continue as long as he produces good art, plot lines, and develops characters while putting out a comic on schedule. (He’s rocking all of it so far!) He probably loves constructive criticism, wholly fanatic outbursts of “THIS IS SO AWESOME!” , fan art, links to his work, and you spreading his name around so his story of an adoptive family can be shared with a larger audience. But he probably also has his own agenda, story arcs, and authorial intent.
Hopefully, none of you will ever make the mistake of assuming you or your opinion is so important that it will alter the course of the strip. Including him. Hopefully he’ll never, ever cater to your wishes — that would be the point at which he would have to give up this world, because it wasn’t his, anymore.
This is his world. He made it. He’s not beholden to your rules or your hopes or your fears. If you think you could do it better, I invite you to make up your own, and see how well you can handle the demands of writing, drawing, publishing, plot arcs, character development, web hosting, site design, maintenance, working on your artistic technique, moderating forums, dealing with ads, producing content on a regular schedule, trying to never take some fan’s butthurt ranting too personally, making networking connections with other webcomic artists, etc. The list goes on and on. Believe me, I’ve tried to get a webcomic started more than once. I don’t have the heart, or the talent, or the determination; what I have is a great deal of love for those who do, so I don’t make comics — I read them!
So rock on, Dave. I don’t always agree with what you make your characters do, and who they are — but that’s because I haven’t got a freaking clue where you’re going with all this, and I’m okay with that. I love the fantasy world you have inside your head and your heart, and I really hope you can keep sharing it with us. Selkie is touching, heart warming, heartbreaking, funny, quirky, sweet, genuinely engaging, unique in its approach, and one of the better comics I’ve read (and holy crap have I spent a LOT of time reading webcomics) and the ONLY criticism I can come up with is this: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PUT MORE STRIPS UP MORE OFTEN! I WANT MORE SELKIE! I HATE WAITING! That being said? Dude. You do an AWESOME job of sticking to schedule, and not failing to post when you’re supposed to — that’s something not many webcomic artists are able to do, so goodonya! I’d hate to see you push to put out a daily strip and then burn out too quickly. Better it’s a twice weekly that will last a good long time. 🙂
Thanks again, Dave, for sharing this world with us. And uh, for allowing some of us to stand on very tall soap boxes, for a very long time. 😉
Re #2: Please remember that A) if no condom was used, that was Todd’s choice as well, and B) even if they were using condoms, the Pill, and pulling out as well… there’s still a failure rate. (Rather small if there was perfect use of all that, but.) Heck, even people who’ve had clips stuck in their fallopian tubes sometimes get pregnant!
(And going through with a pregnancy she doesn’t want, because she knows her boyfriend-the-father wants the baby? That’s either really scary and disempowering, or really brave. Second thoughts in labor? Hardly unheard of in even intentional pregnancies. And with her mom apparently pushing the adoption thing and no one else there to be a support? (Yeah, stuck in traffic; he still wasn’t there, and how’s that going to feel when your body is doing things that make you feel out of control and frightened?))
Hate her all you want for being someone who is easily pushed around (no abortion… because Todd didn’t want her to have one? adoption, because her mom pushed it at her) and bad at confrontations (“…baby dead” instead of “…you weren’t there for me and I couldn’t handle it alone and they gave me the papers to sign!”), but dangit, don’t absolve Todd of all responsibility for his part in the baby-making. He was there too. If you forgive him ’cause he was a teenager full of hormones, then Andi deserves that same forgiveness.
Uhm guys are we forgetting with the focus on Amanda’s feelings what is Selkie going to be like when she finds out? She’s been rejected all her life for being unusual, now the pretty blond “normal” girl who made her life hell is her SISTER and not only that she’s Todd’s BIOLOGICAL daughter. Thats going to lead to some emotional fallout.
Carrie
I agree… since there seems to be a lot of insecurity on the part of some adoptees about the permanence of their new situation, suddenly finding out that her new dad has a ‘real’ daughter, especially since that daughter is her sworn enemy, I forsee some major emotional fallout from Selkie. Poor kid… Also, Dr. Fishman? Sweet!
I was gonna suggest that this might even cause some anthrophobia from Selkie even (She was five when she was dropped off at the orphanage and still speak her race’s native tongue so she probably identifies with her race a bit more than humans), more so if she meets more her kind and want to be among then more than her human family and continue to shove them aside to be included with her people.
It’s not at all unlikely.
wait, blonde?
pretty *brunette* “normal” girl who made her life hell
-Fixed it for ya.
Amanda has red hair. Brunettes have brown hair.
Awwwwww shit.
I had hoped it wouldn’t be Amanda, as she was too obvious a choice, and what I would consider to be lazy writing. But I realize that if you had this planned a long time ago, it’s not your fault that your readership is smart enough to make the connections. 😛
But sloppy writing or not, this confirmation means the rest of the plot is about to get a lot more knotty and thus interesting. Keep up the good work!
I’ll freely admit, I had a moment of weakness where I considered changing my plans to make the kid someone else just exactly because people pieced everything together so quickly. But if people figured it out, it’s my own fault for telegraphing it. Plus I hate whiplash-reveals where item A is foreshadowed heavily only to suddenly have item B become the revelation out of nowhere followed by five minutes of explanation that was nowhere to be seen previously. Takes the fun out of putting the pieces together. XD
Just don’t make it too soap opera-ish by having Todd be Mr. Fairweather Senior’s eldest son out of wedlock, whom only he knows about and has thus gotten to work for his company, in case Mr. Fairweather Junior doesn’t live up to his expectations… 😛
Aaaaw, but that was going to be my whole lead-in to the revelation that Todd is the long-lost heir to the throne of a kingdom hidden on top of Mount Everest, and his fencing duel with his evil twin usurper to reclaim the throne. Meanwhile, Selkie learns magic.
I’d read that. There’s been alot of talk about the “politics” of webcomics the last few strips and i just want to tell you that whatever you’re doing, you’re doing it well. Keep up the good work!
I can think up plenty more soap opera plot devices, but I thought I’d restrict my comments to just that one. 😛
Oh, too true, Dave! I fear that sometimes with Shards but honestly the clues are so far buried right now and our big reveal a ways off that I started a list of clues. Yes, they are in the comics right now, but they are little things and I wonder if the Shards fans pay as much notice of what we put in as the Selkie fans do… 🙂 You certainly pay a lot of attention, I know!
The plot. It thickens!
Would people PLEASE STOP SAYING THAT AMANDA AND SELKIE ARE STEPSISTERS. THEY ARE NOT STEPSISTERS.
1) IF and ONLY IF Amanda is returned to Andi and by extension to Todd, then they would be SISTERS, full-stop. a STEPsibling is created by the MARRIAGE of two parents. My brother is NO LESS my ACTUAL BROTHER because he is adopted; he is still MY BROTHER. NOT my stepbrother!
2) TECHNICALLY, as an orphan in an orphanage with NO legal parents, Amanda and Selkie are currently absolutely NOTHING to one another aside from enemies. They have NO legal or emotional connection outside of that.
So PLEASE STOP SAYING THEY ARE STEPSISTERS. THEY ARE NOT.
Technically, no.
>IF and ONLY IF Amanda is returned to Andi and by extension to Todd, then they would be SISTERS, full-stopMy brother is NO LESS my ACTUAL BROTHER because he is adopted; he is still MY BROTHER. NOT my stepbrother< That is absolutely true.
Your brother is your brother because both you and he have the same mother and the same father. The adoptive part does not enter into it at all. Same mother and same father equals brother and sister (I'm assuming, for some reason, that you are a girl – if I'm wrong, then change that to "brothers").
But even if it does turn out that, legally, Todd is Amanda's father, Andi is NOT Selkie's mother. Same father and different mothers equals "HALF-sisters". The only way they could be full sisters is for Andi to also adopt Selkie. If Andi and Todd were to just get married, she would be Selkie's step-mother.
What is showing, as “your comment is awaiting moderation”, is not what I wrote.
This is showing.
>>IF and ONLY IF Amanda is returned to Andi and by extension to Todd, then they would be SISTERS, full-stopMy brother is NO LESS my ACTUAL BROTHER because he is adopted; he is still MY BROTHER. NOT my stepbrother< That is absolutely true.would be SISTERS, full-stopMy brother is NO LESSIF and ONLY IF Amanda is returned to Andi and by extension to Todd, then they would be SISTERS, full-stop.My brother is NO LESS my ACTUAL BROTHER because he is adopted; he is still MY BROTHER. NOT my stepbrother.< That is absolutely true.
Your brother is your brother because both you and he have the same mother and the same father.
That should fix it. Hopefully it will post right this time.
And, once again, it did not post what I typed.
Sorry about that, some characters show up strangely until I approve them. Let me know how it looks.
I think the word they were looking for when they said step-sister was half-sister.
I’ll be honest. I feel kind of singled out from this comment. I’m aware I wasn’t the only one to say Step-Sister, but I will clarify.
I, personally, said step-sister, for lack of a better word. Because first of all, your situation is different than Amanda and Selkie. For the past, I believe, three years in webcomic time, (five to eight years old), Selkie and Amanda, were sisters. They lived in the same place, were raised by the same people, and were siblings with other people. I’m not adopted, nor do I know anyone who was adopted (to my knowledge) so I could be wrong in the way the dynamics work. In fact, I probably am.
But I’m going to continue my theory. They, along with the other kids (who do seem unnaturally close, considering this is a fantasy-esque world), Amanda and Selkie lived as sisters for three years. Selkie was adopted by Amanda’s *Unknown at the time* biological father. So in way, if the orphanage staff was looked at like a parent, then the girl’s would kind of be step sisters. (Two girls of two different sets of parents who were married in to one family.) There isn’t a word for a situation like this. So step sister seemed the most appropriate, considering. Your argument, for them being simply sisters, is also valid. As is the argument that they are technically nothing because legally Amanda has no parents.
It’s all based on perspective. I appreciate your opinion. Though, I do contest it with my own. Your situation is different. Your brother has parents. And a sister. Amanda doesn’t… Technically.
You are not wrong. But… You’re not exactly right either. And I don’t think throwing up an all-caps message was the particularly most efficient way of stating your opinion.
I’ve just read through the first story arc again, and indeed, this information changes EVERYTHING.
Well played. 🙂
See, this one I have the biggest problem with. Letting aside the fact that they even still call the home an orphanage and they let Tod walk around and meet the kids after what we are lead to believe was just a home visit instead of the months of interviews and thousands in court expenses and interviews and paperwork.
1. There is a 2-year waiting list for adopting babies in the United States. Meaning there are more couples looking to adopt babies than there are babies to adopt.
2. If no one really wanted to adopt the baby, she would be placed in a foster home, not a group home/orphanage because those are usually for older kids who have trouble with their foster homes such as running away. A baby would be better off in a foster home since there are tons of foster parents.
I know it’s nit picky, but this is just my opinion.
So, in the interests of, y’know, reality and all… how are you handling the existence of fish-people?
Just curious. 😉
I know! All the comment about how unreal the amanda thing is and no one worries about fish dudes? Lol! And anyway, this is daveverse maybe aboption works differently.
I dunno… for me, what tore it on the “willing suspension of disbelief” front was when Selkie ate a hot dog (covered in hamburger and cheese, no less) without getting stains on her dress. I mean, a single guy adopting a kid, fine. Fish people, fine. But a little girl who can eat that sort of food without making a mess? No freaking way… 🙂
Your fans are all (or at least many) doing a happy-dance now of “We guessed it, we guessed it!”
So now… will revelations heal, or will people decide that their respective blood-kin are TWERPS? (And how will Todd react, to know he was }}THIS{{ close and didn’t pick the blood-kin?)
I look forward to finding out!!!
The excrement is going to hit the rotary impeller. HARD.
If you are still taking requests for a filler page, I would love to see Selkie and her Dad talk about the whole water-breathing, clearing out her gills, and how it manifested during volleyball. If my son was having issues, I would want to talk about it with him. (And frankly it would help me understand her resparatory system, better.) Has he taken her swimming? How does the chlorine in most pools affect her?
And I´d really want Todd to hear from Selkie how much fun she´s been having with the new shoes before the gills became an issue in the gym.
I’d been under the impression that chlorine would hurt her, as they fill her gill-bowl with water bottles. But then she filled her bowl from the school’s bathroom sink, so… dunno.
Chlorine kills fish, though, so I don’t see it being good for her, particularly in the very high concentrations used for swimming pools. A nice dip in a lake or ocean would probably be much better for her.
oh bugger O_O…..so it’s the end of the world for sure now is it? because I’m pretty sure Amanda and Selki being sisters is a sign of the end times….
Isn’t it one of the biblical signs of the apocalypse?
Oh, man. I thought this might be the case at the last update. Some days it sucks to be right… >_<
Please let her fund her daughter and adopt her. Then let the horror/hilarity ensue when they go over to vist each other and have to share rooms.
Oh, man. What if, on the flip side, Dr. Fishman has a kid s/he doesn’t know about? >.<
Please please please let "Amanda" be a red herring.
I get a feeling that “Dr. Fishman” is one of the adults of the family Dave sketched a while ago.
There were a lot of things I had wanted to say (besides my reply waaay back near the top). But much of it has already been said, argued, rehashed, sliced, diced and pureed. But, I still have to say Dave, Selkie is a fabulous comic and you are one of my most favorite story-tellers. Thank you for Selkie and her world.
Ah, many points for Andy for trying to make things right.
I’d love to see a strip about the teacher and why her husband left or what life was with her daughter. Or maybe more of the cute lesbian couple.
OH
SHIT.
I mean Dear GOD, Dave, did you even expect 108 comments??? You’ve made your own website explode. XD
… I messed up. There have been more comments in the past. But I CAN SEE THE NUMBERS INCREASING AT REGULAR *LARGE* INTERVALS.
Am I the only one wondering how he’s holding those things like that with the webbing?
How did I miss the fishman the first time through?
Seems because he fits in so well there.
<3 the Kei Kurono Gravatar… just saying.
I’ve been reading this comic since the first few panels, black-and-white goodness. All this time, I’ve never felt the need to post a comment until tonight, just to say…
I KNEW IT!!! 😀 Also, I really want to know what we’re going to see about Dr Fishman in the future…
Amanda, huh? *face palm* If this is the Amanda I’m thinking of..well, she’s got her mom’s disposition. And proving for me once more that even kids raised away from their parents can end up with a ton of the traits of their biological parents. Amanda’s hurt, she acts rashly and immaturely in the same way Andi tends to.
You forget, she’s also only eight years old. When have you ever met a kid that acts ‘like an adult’ when faced with conflict? This is especially true if she was never very well taught on how to handle the anger issues she seems to have developed over years of her not being adopted.
I’ve met kids that act “adult” at that age. And most kids aren’t as malicious as Amanda.
Called it!
Dramatic convenience being what it is, I figured the baby was probably at the same orphanage as Selkie, Andi and Todd had been together for nine years prior to their break up, so their child would be around Selkie’s age, and given that the parents are a blond and a red head, odds were good that their baby would too. That narrowed it down to either Amanda or Heather, and looking again to dramatic convenience, Heather seems to hate Selkie worst of all and hasn’t been adopted yet.
Actually, I’m what I’m more surprised about is that more people don’t seem to have guessed this, given how shocked many of the comments for this page seem.
I think you mean “Amanda hate’s Selkie worst of all.” Heather’s the blond girl who took Selkie’s shirt and has been adopted.
Though you’re right, it’s a little shocking how this shocked a lot of people. I was already thinking something was up when Andi and Todd had their discussion.
Clues, Dave? What clues? I didn’t have any clues other than the fact that they seem to share the same personality.
Mostly little visual clues, with bits of dialogue here and there.
Hair colour aside from the dyed purple, for example.
Dave, I think you were plenty subtle. I’ve read through this strip several times, seen this very page probably twice before, and only on this third time through did it click for me. Maybe I’m reading faster and little Amanda’s name is fresher in my memory this time.
Well played. ^_-
… well, you know, this is quite a twist.
I wouldn’t mind seeing what’s going on with Asuka
hooo boy somewhere down the line, this is gonna get aaawkward. I *really* hope she isn’t gonna try and use Amanda to try and get back with Dave, because that’s just cruel.
I know you meant Todd not Dave, but I just got the image of Andi stepping out of my monitor telling me “This is your daughter”. XD
Well, in a sense…!
Oh whoops XD; But yeah, you know what I meant
I guessed it could be Amanda and now I’m curious whats going to happen.
I mean… it’s not like Andi could go to the orphanage and say “hey, I want my daughter back” or something.
In addition I’m surprised that Amanda hasn’t been already adopted. I mean she was given away as a baby. I don’t know how it is in the US, but where I came from you have to wait up to seven years, if you want to adopt a baby. (instead of an older child)
But that aside… oooooh what will amanda do, when she finds out, that Selkie was adopted by HER real father? And will she dislike Todd for choosing Selkie over her?
And for this page… I got the feeling, this doctor (or whatever he is), is going to play a role, too…
I’m more thinking along the lines that Andi takes her daughter back reguardless. I can also see a lot of complications later…
>Todd seeing Andi’s desire to find their daughter as a means of trying to force him back into her life…
>Todd saying something that permanantly damages any chance for him and Amanda having a normal relationship…
>Andi attempting to use Amanda to force Selkie “out of the picture”…
>Amanda refusing to acknowledge either parent since they gave her away right after she was born (even though Todd thought she was dead)…
Those are just a few of the things that have occurred to me. Not all the stuff I thought of is bad, just far fetched givin’ Dave’s habit of keeping the situations “real world.” I’m not sure if I can ever see Selkie and Amanda ever being more than civil to each other.
I can’t wait to see Todd’s reaction to Andi’s lie revealed. Dave, nice way to keep us chomping at the bit, so to speak.
I wonder if Amanda was never adopted, or if she was adopted as a baby and something didn’t work out (her adapted parents died, or something screwed up in the legal system and by the time things were sorted out she was out of the “adoptable infant” age to “the unique challenges of adopting an “older” child stage.
I knew it! xD I think Shabon is right though. If Amanda finds out that the man who favored Selkie over her is her father…ooh, it ain’t gonna be pretty!
Dr. Fishman has the Innsmouth look!
I’ve been trying not to think of Innsmouth and all that follows, but it’s getting harder and harder… although Selkie is prettier than Lovecraft’s creations. 😛
I WANT TO KNOW MORE OF THIS FISHMAN DOCTOR!
Whoa….we’re headed towards three pages of comments!
okay been thinking. There’s so much plausable ways it could go. One is Andi adopting Amanda and using her, as cited above, to get back with Todd to fix things. But I’m more thinking about Amanda. She’s got some massive adoption issues. Some kids don’t care that they were adopted when they find out, and some will always wonder -why- they were given up. Yes she’ll probably react badly to all aspects of it. Selkie was adopted by her birth dad, her mom gave her away without telling dad. She’s just in general hated Selkie for whatever reason. What could be more volitile then that? And if Andi does use Amanda to fix things and come clean that will not make Amanda feel any better. Sure she’s a kid but kids can be rather smart, and feel really upset and or conflicted to be used as a playing card in a relationship gone bad. When I split from my kids dad for our safety he constantly used her as a playing card to keep us under his thumb, but he’s also a true dead beat and it wasn’t fair to our kid. She’s nine now and even though we’ve bent over backwards to accomodate his every wish to see her, he chooses not to. I have seen the effects of it on our daughter. On some days she’s angry at him for “hurting mommy.” and other days she’s angry at him for “not coming to visit like he promised.” and other days she declares she wants us back together as a family, but understands that it could be dangeruse. The situations are different, but I used this as an example to point out the the conflicting emotions Amanda could have.
The one thing I canNOT see here is for Todd and Andi to come back together – not after Todd realizes how she´s been lying to him for the last eight years.
At best, Andi adopts/takes back Amanda, and Todd becomes part of Amanda´s life by visiting and/or having Amanda visit him and Selkie – they live in the same city, it should be easy enough to arrange.
I wonder how Amanda would develop in such a situation. I think her personality might mostly be the result of being in a constant contest for adoptive parents, so perhaps she mellows once she lives with Andi; on the other hand, she could also develop a superiority complex… after all, she unlike the other orphanage kids has real parents.
Excellent points both of you, I look forward to Monday to find out the new update.
Nope never said they would get back together. I was merely pointing out the plausable scenario of Andi using Todd as a playing card to “fix” what she lost. Which is Todd. Then dove head first into how Amanda may feel about it, based on experiances used as examples of what happens to my own nine year old. Emotions in kids are strong and very hard to control. 🙂
correction Andi using ‘amanda” as a playing card.
I didn´t mean to imply that you said they´d get back together… sorry. But you´re probably right that Andi is going to TRY to use Amanda to get Todd back… just like Amanda is likely to TRY and replace Selkie with herself in Todd´s heart.
I don’t think Andi would be quite stupid enough to try and use Amanda for that. With Todd’s background, letting him know she put their daughter up for adoption is going to be damaging enough to any remote possibility of making up. Reclaiming/adopting (don’t know if adopt is the right term for biological parents) Amanda is still a long haul process (took Todd 4 months to get the okay for Selkie) and she may not qualify anyway.
Even if she did, Todd would see right through it and that would be the end of any willing interaction with Andi. She may actually understand that it is over between them.
I was looking for those visual and dialogue clues and I am now wondering about how Selkie’s ribon being a gift may fit with the game that Amanda broke being a gift. *shrugs* There could be nothing in that though.
Ah jeeze… This makes me dislike Andi even more. She gave that kid up and now she just wants to uproot the kids life like that? She doesn’t even know if the kid was adopted or not, and yeah if it’s the same Amanda then she hasn’t but will the state even allow her to adopt the child she gave up? Overall I agree with Anderhail here and hope Andi doesn’t get taken back.
awesome comic. Just one question. What is the fish-man holding in fromt of the receptionist’s face? The red line kinda looks like blood, especially the way it blends into her shirt.
I don’t understand that panel either – it looks like he’s stabbing her in the face with something.
one thing i wonder is what if this is a different child? Or if it is the Amanda from the orphanage, if Andi doesn’t adopt her. She still seems to be seeking out the threads of her old relationship though, and this would be a huge twist in the story, for better or worse
It’s a pen on a red string, so it doesn’t get lost when the clipboard gets passed around. You seem them almost anywhere that there is a clipboard in constant use.
Quick comment: We’ve just seen someone who looks like she is of Selkie’s species in panels 5&6! In the maternity records place? I’m surprised there haven’t been more comments there. . . .
Does the fact that there is a merfolk doctor mean the fish people have been in society for a while already? if so, it makes more sense that the government wouldn’t be too concerned about them, and the relative ignorance about their existence of the general public may just be because they aren’t widespread yet…
… I somehow missed that back then… :O
That’s much better than what I translated.
Oh crap it’s Amanda isn’t it.