For non-Americans, Child Services is a generic name for government agencies that investigate child endangerment.
Selkie should probably not joke about that.
↓ Transcript
So real quick, before
we start eating, whats everyone doing after dinner?
We'll probably head home.
Selkie has to
do her practice.
Yay!
And then chores.
Gross.
Oh, but you
LOVE chores!
Gross.
Like taking out the trash.
Gross.
And Crook's litterbox.
I'ms callings
Child Services.
we start eating, whats everyone doing after dinner?
We'll probably head home.
Selkie has to
do her practice.
Yay!
And then chores.
Gross.
Oh, but you
LOVE chores!
Gross.
Like taking out the trash.
Gross.
And Crook's litterbox.
I'ms callings
Child Services.
Today's edition of the Secret Commentary is empty, because Dave failed to come up with something for it.
Yeah, I was a bit surprised Selkie was joking about CPS. Not that kids don’t joke about that, but I generally don’t see kids who have actual experiences with the system making those jokes– but then, Selkie’s experience is, of course, very different than most. Now, Amanda, I definitely wouldn’t think she’d make those jokes.
It makes a lot of sense for her middling level of experience with the system. Child Services is something she will have encountered frequently from other kids in the orphanage, or overhearing things from the workers there, but she has not personally dealt with the upheaval and chaos of being directly involved in an assessment and consequent legal action. It’s an idea with a lot of real estate in her mind, but not one which is directly tied to trauma.
That, and Selkie is actually that sarcastic. She’s not the type to hide from darkness, and evoking its vestige is just as much a way to reassure herself of how much better her current situation is than it could be as it is a mock threat. It could also be seen as a form of self-empowerment and even as an act of love: she is aware she can call Child Services if things were really bad, but she isn’t doing that, because despite her annoyance she does understand the necessity. Therefore, she is *choosing* this path forward; it is her decision to obey, and she is in control. A child her age wouldn’t formalize the concept that way, but the underlying psychology is there.
This is the kind of joke which I made quite frequently when I was a child in the middle of an impressively nasty divorce. The “it could be worse” framing was an important thing to cling to when things were really bad, and it helped me to pretend that things were not bad. That’s the kind of habit that sticks with you for the rest of your life, in some form or other. Whether that is a useful tool or a scar is a matter of perspective.
I am picturing Selkie trying Echo powers with chores.
Oh the mess when eye lasers meet cat poop…
I mean, levitating stuff is possible.
cleaning a litter box would probably be easier.
no seriously NOT joke about that. the system is corrupt AF.