Life be like that sometimes
(1-29-2021 update of Selkie will be postponed until tomorrow due to sick day.)
↓ Transcript
Selkie: Amanda, it's fines. I'm nots mad at you. I barely ever think abouts eating your face anymore.
Amanda: Barely?!
Seamstress: So, is it okay if I ask what they’re talking about?
Todd: The sarnothi girl is my daughter by adoption. The redhead used to be her school bully. We later found out the redhead is also my estranged biological daughter, which made the former rivals into sisters, and they've been working on their relationship since then.
Seamstress: Really?
Todd: Yes, ma'am.
Seamstress: BWA HA HA HA!
Seamstress: Oh my lord! It's right out of a soap opera! Oh, that's funny. You should take up comedy, sir.
Selkie: Why's she laughing?
Todd: Sometimes people react to serious things with laughter.
Marta: The absurdity of life is it's own punchline.
Amanda: Barely?!
Seamstress: So, is it okay if I ask what they’re talking about?
Todd: The sarnothi girl is my daughter by adoption. The redhead used to be her school bully. We later found out the redhead is also my estranged biological daughter, which made the former rivals into sisters, and they've been working on their relationship since then.
Seamstress: Really?
Todd: Yes, ma'am.
Seamstress: BWA HA HA HA!
Seamstress: Oh my lord! It's right out of a soap opera! Oh, that's funny. You should take up comedy, sir.
Selkie: Why's she laughing?
Todd: Sometimes people react to serious things with laughter.
Marta: The absurdity of life is it's own punchline.
Today's edition of the Secret Commentary is empty, because Dave failed to come up with something for it.
Profound indeed! Tho’ I prefer “capricious and absurd.” The counter position of serendipity with tragedy gives life the aura of That Friend you like but is some times too frank.
I don’t know that I’ve ever considered eating my bother’s face… Pounding it into goo perhaps. But its the same violent intent. I guess it really is the thought that counts. HAHAHAHAH.
The Secret Commentary is hidden in Marta’s parting comment.
I mean, if you want absurd, I was adopted by my aunt who legally became my mom and then I was later adopted back by my biological mother and my step-dad so technically I am my own cousin, my aunt is my mom, and my mom is also my aunt. No, I am not making this up.
Woah…
Getting close to the I’m My Own Grandpa song.
My brothers second wife had a similar story, she was adopted by her grandma and was never told until she was an adult that her “brother” was actually her father and that her siblings were her aunts and uncles, and then later came to find out that the woman shed been calling her best friend was her biological mom, she was born when her parents were 15/16 so they didnt want to raise her but also didnt want to abandon her.
Not sure if it’s just me, but the panel layout seems rather unintuitive today.
My instinct was to read the three panels to the left first before going to the large one to the right.
Same.
I am handicapped for odd paneling by NOT having grown up with Manga. Just Marvel and DC, I’m so very weirded out by trying to guess if; left-right, right-left, or both sides against the middle. Now, I’m feeling right left out. I can’t help it I’m old.
Somehow my brain just goes for the texts in left to right, top to bottom order, so I immediately jumped to the question and the wall of text from Todd. Halfway through I got distracted and had to check to see if I was doing it in the right order 😛
Reading direction unclear, attention stuck in ceiling fan.
I always go by upper left corner (upper right in manga) with panels with the upper left corner at the same height proceeding sequentially across the page.
Rarely does this fail me, and when it does the artist usually has apologized already.
“The absurdity of life is ITS own punchline,” Marta. Don’t mess with Dave’s comic like that. Sheesh.
Glad to see Todd has come up with an appropriate tl;dr for explaining Amanda and Selkie’s history that he can trot out as needed. Makes life easier, I’m sure.
At least he can say “sarnothi girl” now as opposed to the “purple-skinned one” or “the one with the skin condition”.
Are Sarnothi common knowledge now? I can’t remember…
I’m taking a stab at it here, and guessing Dave has it set so that most people have read about them in the paper, but since there are so few on land yet (with more coming), that most folk haven’t met or seen one in person, … And yet still know enough from the papers to be polite instead of shocked.
They were forcibly shoved into the spotlight after the new Sar’Teri “Emperor” exiled every other clan out of Sarnoth. So, most people know they exist now, but don’t know much ABOUT them other than that they’re not alien invaders.
They appeared on TV. That makes them real. /s
Marta is the Icebear of this family.
Selkie comic is a soap opera
Confirmed!
Todd’s last line reminds me of The Room. “Ahahaha, what a story Mark”
To be honest, I would probably be laughing about the absurdity of it all too. I wouldn’t mean it as an insult, but just what are the odds. Not sure that I would have told Todd to go into comedy though. I probably would have apologized to him that life decided to throw him such a curve ball. Also praise is completely needed that Amanda and Selkie are working on their relationship rather than staying in the relationship rut made by previous emotions. I feel like it has become rare for families to actually seriously work on relationships, especially if they have reached such a low point.
Laughing in front of the people it happened to, especially the children, isn’t good but as Todd said, some people react to stuff like that with laughter. Can’t always be something that is controlled.
I wouldn’t, not if I wanted to keep my job. Laughing in the face of someone like that and then just walking away? Sooooo out of line.
I wouldn’t laugh and walk away. Not at all. Also, again as Todd said, some people react with nervous laughter. You can’t help it and it is normally due to not knowing what to say. I don’t exactly think that this is the case here, and I don’t think that saying he should go into comedy is appropriate either (since it sounds more like calling Todd a liar or making up stories). When you rattle off a story like that though, you have to expect that some people won’t know how to react to it. I also think Todd gave a lot more information to a stranger than I would have. It would have been simpler to say that Amanda is his estranged biological daughter and Selkie is his adopted daughter and they used to not get along and they are working on it now. With people getting divorced, it wouldn’t be that odd for there to be an estranged daughter, and it would also be understandable that a biological daughter might feel a bit competitive to a new adopted daughter. Even related siblings can feel competitive. It is the part about Amanda used to be Selkie’s bully before they found out that she was Todd’s daughter that hits the “I don’t know how to react” note of drama. While the fact that Todd didn’t know that Amanda was his daughter is important for a better understanding of Amanda’s relationship to everyone, it isn’t really necessary to know for a random person that you are only seeing to get a junior bridesmaid’s dress from.
In general, I more meant that I would laugh and say something along the lines of sounds rough, sounds like you need a drink, or glad that you can handle life’s drama so well and I agree that the worker acted a bit rude.
I’m not sure, but I think this might actually be the first time an adult has explicitly acknowledged that Amanda was Selkie’s bully and not used some kind of softening euphemism. It might not seem like much, but that really fills up a big hole for me.
You know what else is straight out of a soap opera?
Losing your job