Due to some additional changes to the overall outline and long term plans of the comic’s story, I’ve decided it is in the best interests of the narrative to make some changes to the strip’s overall premise. I’ll have to retroactively re-draw all the past strips to make this happen, but I think in the end the effort will be worth it as we grow to love this story of an orphaned human living amidst a world of amphibious humanoids.
~_^
(Happy early April Fools. XD Here is the real strip for today.)
-EDIT- I apologize to everyone who tried to check in at the usual time and got a “Bandwidth Exceeded” downtime message. That was not part of my little joke, I just forgot to pay attention to site traffic. Fixed now!
Today's edition of the Secret Commentary is empty, because Dave failed to come up with something for it.
lol, when I saw the bandwith thing taking so long I thought I stumbled into an alternate demention
Naw, the bandwidth message was me not paying attention to site traffic.
Alternate demention? I am going to have to save that one it is brilliant.
yes, and alternate demention. Just mentioning the demention causes it to grow more powerful. Then as soon as you turn to the next page and forget it, it becomes weaker. That is the power of the demention.
Nice one. 🙂
April 1st is the one day a year I avoid the internet, for all the smart reasons… I’ve been had, regardless.
Touché, sir, this year I’ve been had regardless…
I’m sorry if you didn’t like it. I couldn’t resist the idea once it popped in my head. Hope you enjoy the real strip linked in the commentary for today more. 🙂
Oh no, I absolutely loved it. I half-expected some sketches for 4-1, but a whole comic from bizarro world is pretty awesome. The art is well done for it ^_^
It raises a couple questions for me: Does this race gain markings as they grow? I’m guessing it’s part of puberty/adulthood, unless it’s, say, cultural-based tattoos. (also curious, could skin built to be amphibious hold ink the way human/mammal skin does? I couldn’t find much on it, though admittedly it is an odd query.) Also, they seem to have racial analogues but they seem inconsistant… I don’t know if it’s just personal differences or if they have a wider range of skin colors/markings, but it’s an interesting exploration into the races, canon or no.
Besides, as someone who enjoys the art (and can see the improvements you’ve been making), more is always a good thing ^_^
Thank you. ^^
I dunno about tattoos honestly, never thought about it. But you’re correct, the facial markings occur during the onset of puberty. Selkie will develop her own markings one day…
Awesome! Markings are always cool. :3 anyways great joke comic!
Oh and Boo Yah!
I knew it had to be the gills yesterday. But knowing the anatomy your probably going to do the privacy screen again.
Although you could do a swimsuit since you know Todd has to be interested how it works too.
That strip was awesome and disturbing at the same time.
Ohhhh jeez. I forgot about April Fool’s completely and thought this was some kind of imagination sequence, Selkie pretending SHE was the normal one. Not going to lie, this page is kind of sad in that context. xP Ya got me, Dave.
Ha-ha, real funny one there. 😀
I actually thought Selkie was dreaming or hallucinating at first, ha, but then I read the commentary at the bottom. xD
Heh, that’s evil.
Was the bandwith exceeded thing an Aprils fool too?
No, the bandwidth exceeded downtime was me failing to pay attention to site traffic. >_<
Yeah… My first thought is.. “Dave’s got to be kidding! Nooo I liked it the other way better!” *hit back button* *hit forward button and finish reading Dave’s entry* “Oh whew”
Wait, all the amphibious humanoids are speaking normally, rather than having Selki’s “-s” issue. Does that mean that she has a speech impediment? I had assumed that her speech pattern was characteristic of her species.
Without getting into too much detail, the lack of over-pluralizing is intentional.
Ah, that’s mean. I live in Germany and it’s still the 31 of March here 😛
Well, technically, it was still the 31st of March on the West coast of the US too when I read the post 🙂
Heh, good. I wasn’t the only one then wondering what happened. Loved the prank though!
Well, Dave, first off, I was gonna advert on Selkie for today but your bandwidth was exceeded. I was gonna email you and found I couldn’t find the addie anywhere! LOL Was gonna congratulate you 🙂 So you moderate your own bandwidth?
As for the strip and April Fool’s Day, well, I figured it was just like Coming Up Violet and it was another reality. What a surprise:) Either way!
I don’t moderate my own bandwidth per se, but my host provides optional bandwidth-cap add-ons which can be upgraded/downgraded as needed.
Oh, and thanks! I feel like a hermit crab that outgrew it’s shell. XD
Thanks a lot.. now I want an ‘eel nugget’… It sounds so tasty…
Wow, you scared me there! I really thought you were going to change, and I was like “Nooooooooooooooo!”
Well done!
I seriously thought you were gonna change!! It would have been cool if you had.
But I’m glad you didn’t, the comic’s great the way it is.
Selkie’s self-image, as someone living in a population of very different beings, is going to be tricky. She can “pass” as human in a lot of ways, but the differences (mostly physical, from what’s been shown so far) are all the more striking by contrast.
As her new parent, Todd is of course keenly interested in her “special needs”. It’s great to see the full implications slowly sinking into him. From what I’ve seen in real life, no one is “ready” for being a parent ahead of time.
You should’ve seen my original plot outlines. I originally planned for Todd to find out all the physiological differences (gills, etc) the same way he found out the carnivorism; on the fly. I think that schtick would’ve gotten a bit redundant after a while, though.
Hmm. Yeah, maybe a little bit if you did it too much … but I expect Todd still has a surprise or two coming. 😉
Ok this is awesome, and i just have to say i love the fish version of todd, also i noticed that all the adults have shoes on, does that mean in this universe they have successfully developed mass produced comfortable fin shaped shoes?
Yep! Which means that in this alternate universe, Sophie’s feet are too small.
Sorry bout this, but you didn’t fool me for a second. 😀 When I saw the comic I had the same thought as most people, where I figured Selkie was imagining or hallucinating something. Then I read the commentary, and I could just feel you holding this overly serious face 😉
I’m glad you aren’t changing the comic though. I’d miss the old Selkie and Todd.
At first I thought you were trying to say this is how she sees the world… but I like the April Fool’s Day twist better. 🙂
Selkie…..the alternate reality!
Oh what a great joke! But at the same time, it’s rather intriguing idea, no? And poor Selkie with her gills. I inhaled a piece of hotdog once into my nasal passage by swallowing wrong, and it hurt like fire! True story, i was chewing, and alluva sudden I was choking and gasping. hotdog+nose=pain! I can laugh about it now though. but gills? Owie.
I didn’t think of an April Fools joke (It’s still March here), I though it was a parallel story of a human swapped at birth with Selkie. And that going forward the story was going to swap back and forth.
Oh man, you got me but good! I was all, nooooooooooo! lolz
Shows how well I pay attention … I was on the third panel of the “April Fool’s” comic before I realized it was Sophie, not Selkie … Back in the “real world”, it does seem that Grandma is having some trouble accepting that Selkie is different. I hope this won’t continue to be a problem.
lol! very nice fools man!!! XD
Sure had me going too for a moment! Thought it was ME that was hallucinating … bad salmon tonight or something. ROFL
The “real” comic has me wondering though … I didn’t remember that their gills (Selkie’s species’) came out in their back! That’s gonna mess up another dress! Poor Selkie! (Wish I could remember how far back the species drawings were. Dangit. I’ll have to find them now.)
And now that I mention going back and finding that page, it makes me think … you’re beginning to get enough material that you’ll need to be thinking “archive” pretty soon I think.
(Man was that ever a run-on sentence!)
Man, I am having a heck of a time putting thoughts together tonight.
I meant an archive where there was a browsable list of the comics. Meaning I know you’ve got the comics archived …
Bleah. Nevermind …
You mean like an organized, sorted archive? Probably a good idea!
And as for the gills, they are located on the sides of the torso. She’s pointing to her sternum.
2 comics in one day. Yay!
Gah… you got me. It took me a moment to recognize the differences in skin.
So, here’s a little about me and my stumbling upon your story;
I’d seen little banners around for a bit and then finally last Monday (the 21st) I was linked to a comic that had another of your banners, but of the 125X125 gif variety. With a little more glimpse into just what your story was about… into the abyss I was drawn.
I went through your archive, but was both a little too tired and a little too busy to read through your anatomy sketch. On the following Wednesday I gave it a look through and whilst on the bus did the next slew of questions come to be.
The current strip at the time was of course #88 (when Selkie was running off to find the bathroom; leaving me very confused as to why she was referring to bathrooms in the plural) and you referred to Selkie was being very sensitive. So enters the first question; Just how sensitive is she exactly? I’ve heard of people who have so strong a fish allergy that as a result they can’t even eat chicken which has been fed grain which had fish parts in the fertilizer. [Also, would Selkie’s allergies be better classified as allergies or intolerances? An allergy is a reaction of the immune system attacking a supposed invader, where as an intolerance would typically be an inability to digest something, either partially or in whole (such as lactose intolerance being an absence of sufficient levels of the enzyme lactase, or some other inability of digestive system to absorb a protein etc.) but of course this is all likely better explained elsewhere…]
Next question: regarding her species reproductive cycle… you wrote about that the species typically gives single birth; does this mean that her species has pregnancies of only one child (my assumption), or that they can only ever get pregnant once (a possibility for sure)?
And regarding the flush with fresh water (which incidentally you have brought up in this update); I had assumed at first that her species was a marine dwelling race, however seeing the flush with fresh water as opposed to saline (which even humans use for most every flushing purpose) leads me to think that she’s from a race of fresh water dwellers; perhaps from the swamps of myth? So, the question here (if you may answer it) is; Where does her race typically live?
… I believe that is about all for now really, but if I think of anything I’d missed (it has been a long week since my original list was born of thought) I know where to go :P. [Though on an unrelated, mostly rhetorical note… who on earth puts their child up for adoption in another race’s orphanage? … and if she knew about orphanages at all, why don’t more people know about their race?]
I knew the animated gif advert was a good idea. XD Glad it snagged you!
As for your questions… wow! You have asked a lot of really good questions, and to be honest I will need to be very careful how I answer some of them. ;P
1. Selkie’s “food allergies” are (as you suggested) better phrased as “intolerances”. I feel “allergy” is a more common word for the characters to use, though. And really, “sensitivity” and “intolerance”, in regards to Selkie, are actually just euphemisms for the fact that she is carnivorous, and biologically incapable of digesting plant matter. She can eat meat from animals that consume plants, just not plant-based foods themselves. Digestion is easier, though, for items that have been processed or broken down, such as sauces and some seasonings, especially if they are taken WITH meats or cheeses. Which means, for example, Selkie could eat teriyaki beef jerky safely. Any plant matter involved is so broken down that it just slips on through the digestive tract unnoticed.
2. Reproduction is comparable to humans in that they generally give birth to one child at a time. Twins are still possible, but the mortality rate of the twin babies is higher compared to humans. They can (and do) have more than one child over the course of their lives.
3. You are correct, they are a freshwater species. Their gills are not constructed to extract oxygen from salt water, and even when on dry land only fresh water is viable for flushing in order to prevent salt build up in the gill membranes. As for where exactly they live, that much I can’t say. :3
these are fun, you should do them more often
Coming back to this page after more recent revelations, and seeing the skin colors and marking patterns on this page… touche, the level of pre-planning is becoming clearer and clearer every time I do an archive trawl. Hats off to you, good sir (or madam or otherwise, I guess I never checked). I can’t wait to see what this and future works of yours have in store.
So, I tried checking the real version of this strip, and I’m getting a page not found error. Is there something wrong with the link?
I moved the site to a new host recently, some things keep turning up as lost in the shuffle. I’ll try to get it re-added, thanks for letting me know.
MEANWHILE IN AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE…
The cramp thing is a myth, if you’re interested