so…they made sure to place a (more-or-less) ex-agent as selkie´s new head mistress? well, that certainly explains why all of the refugee-guppies ended up at that one school. and yay for her standing up to+telling of then, he might be technically one of the good guys but is still an a#hole…..and i stand by my point that doctor bunny ears would´ve been WAY better at calming down worried parents
That’s more or less the case. I don’t think you can actually set someone up to be ineffective and self-preserving at the expense of doing their job properly.
1: Generating positive opinion for new principal from elder students. The problem is, the new principal has done nothing for this to be a -major- tidal change, as it were, which would not generate positive opinion. If anything, most students will have more trepidations because the only principal they’ve ever dealt with has been incompetent and self-serving, so why wouldn’t -this- one be? Survivors’ Bias is a real thing.
2: Testing Selkie’s reactions to bad situations. This is….somewhat less likely, but plausible. In this scenario they’re attempting to figure out if she/her species will instinctively go for a ‘kill’ scenario first or -actually- apply the authorities by nature. Some people DO actually have significant enough prejudices that this might be a reasonable assumption. In which case, kinda scummy, but it seems they’re done their probing in THAT manner now.
3: Bureaucracy. Their agency -isn’t- allowed to directly interfere in such scenarios -unless- an unsuitable individual has been found during a time of crisis (Such as while the school is active), in which case they can actively interfere in that scenario and then, if they’re -smart-, tangle up the paperwork to the point it just ends up being a long term appointment.
So, we can throw 1 out pretty damned fast since there hasn’t been anything to show the new Principal as being -particularly- extreme at grabbing the students now lowered expectations and wrapping that weakness around herself.
That leaves 2 and 3. 2 is plausible, albeit somewhat unlikely, and it would help to -additionally- explain why so many separate entities were so rapidly ready to respond to the school, in that scenario the Agency would know far more then what we’ve let on. I wouldn’t put good money on it, but I might toss in a dime or two at five to one odds, and just roll with it to see how it pays out.
Three is the one that I would consider the most likely. Their agency is more or less a foreign policy agency, which means it can’t interfere with internal affairs, EXCEPT in times of crisis. They place Selkie in a school with a principal who, while not outstanding, is hardly what you’d -want- as the principal. Being human, they shove him around a bit to -try- to enforce he acts intelligently and cares for her in particular, but they abide by the rules, as they can’t interfere domestically except in the event of a crisis. Such a crisis occurs and now Selkie has a new principal -explicitly- from them, because they’ve put it -squarely- in their own jurisdiction, which allows them to play this hand -far- closer to their own chest.
I will state it would be -most- likely, however, that they merely kept some agents near the school, as Selkie is -noted- as a test case, just in case any crises happen. It’s some minor special treatment, but if they have the extra guys, it’s easy to handle. There’s probably someone chilling within a few dozen miles of Todd’s house, just in case he turns out to be a bit nastier then he seems. This particular system will -likely- have to change and twist quite a bit with all the new immigrants, however. I suspect we’ll be hearing both less of the agency -outside- of the school, and more of the agency inside of the school, if we presuppose 20-50 people were dedicated to it, it can only do so much, and this immigration was likely hundreds, if not thousands, of people. I doubt it got terribly higher then that, certainly not to millions, or we’d have seen the whole -beach- clogged with sarnothi (or they just traveled out single file the whole way). Still, they no longer have the benefit of outnumbering the individuals they’re supposed to protect by a sizable margin. Which means that the Agencies abilities are going to steadily become less and less impressive from a storyline perspective.
This may be a dumb question… so please withhold the snark if it is.
We’ve never seen an adult Sarnothi flush their gills on screen. Do they eventually reach a point where it becomes less frequently needed/not needed at all or do they just do it off screen to save time for the comic? I imagine it’s the latter but it’s not my world and I’m not a Sabothbiologist.
Just a silly thought about all the gill flushing. I never notice, at a party, when the adults need to use the rest room. There is a seamlessness to the flow of people in and out, because they are in tune with their own bodies.
Kids on the other hand, often are having too much fun, too intent on video games, too caught up in activities, to notice and then suddenly it’s a big deal, shouting, “where’s the can! OMG! Now!” And it is a big deal, cause they never noticed/ were not sensitive/ to the build up. I always figured the Sarnothi were like that. Adults just take care of it, and we never notice because they are discreet, it’s a picnic. Kids wait and it’s a panic. Panic or picnic, that’s maturity?
If she’s a comedian, how come were not laughing? Cause it’s not funny. OMG can Ameica grow up?
Suddenly I’m optimistic! #Me too, and now ABC Television doing the right thing? We are, we are growing up.
(Psst: “rein it in” — reins are for horses, and you pull the reins towards you (“inward”) to make them slow or stop. “Reign” is for kings. Bonus: Free Rein, not Free Reign; the horse with a free (loose, not held onto) rein gets to GO WHERE IT WANTS AHAHAHAHAHAHAH STOOPID HOOMANS!)
(This tweet brought to you by Bachelor’s in English. O;> )
Or, like, you could be someone who took riding lessons. Live horses are way more fun than a hot souped-up motorcycle,…And smarter, too. But, WAY more expensive.
Having an ex-operative at the school isn’t even an uncommon thing.
The school that the president’s kids go to has several Secret Service agents on-staff, as does (apparently) the daycare center that the younger kids go to. (JFK Junior apparently went to a daycare center that had at least two FBI or SS agents on staff but I don’t have any actual references.)
? Plot twist! Shocking reveal!
…is he saying they are aliens after all?
No, he just feared how far off-track that line of questioning would lead others in the audience.
None of this is in the least concerning. At all. Nope. Not one little bit.
And now to wait for Monday. 🙁
so…they made sure to place a (more-or-less) ex-agent as selkie´s new head mistress? well, that certainly explains why all of the refugee-guppies ended up at that one school. and yay for her standing up to+telling of then, he might be technically one of the good guys but is still an a#hole…..and i stand by my point that doctor bunny ears would´ve been WAY better at calming down worried parents
Hopefully they seized an opportunity, rather than setting up Principal Hobbit for failure…
That’s more or less the case. I don’t think you can actually set someone up to be ineffective and self-preserving at the expense of doing their job properly.
but you CAN install someone sub-par so you can eventually withdraw your grace and replace them.
The question in that scenario is why would you?
I can think of three reasons offhand.
1: Generating positive opinion for new principal from elder students. The problem is, the new principal has done nothing for this to be a -major- tidal change, as it were, which would not generate positive opinion. If anything, most students will have more trepidations because the only principal they’ve ever dealt with has been incompetent and self-serving, so why wouldn’t -this- one be? Survivors’ Bias is a real thing.
2: Testing Selkie’s reactions to bad situations. This is….somewhat less likely, but plausible. In this scenario they’re attempting to figure out if she/her species will instinctively go for a ‘kill’ scenario first or -actually- apply the authorities by nature. Some people DO actually have significant enough prejudices that this might be a reasonable assumption. In which case, kinda scummy, but it seems they’re done their probing in THAT manner now.
3: Bureaucracy. Their agency -isn’t- allowed to directly interfere in such scenarios -unless- an unsuitable individual has been found during a time of crisis (Such as while the school is active), in which case they can actively interfere in that scenario and then, if they’re -smart-, tangle up the paperwork to the point it just ends up being a long term appointment.
So, we can throw 1 out pretty damned fast since there hasn’t been anything to show the new Principal as being -particularly- extreme at grabbing the students now lowered expectations and wrapping that weakness around herself.
That leaves 2 and 3. 2 is plausible, albeit somewhat unlikely, and it would help to -additionally- explain why so many separate entities were so rapidly ready to respond to the school, in that scenario the Agency would know far more then what we’ve let on. I wouldn’t put good money on it, but I might toss in a dime or two at five to one odds, and just roll with it to see how it pays out.
Three is the one that I would consider the most likely. Their agency is more or less a foreign policy agency, which means it can’t interfere with internal affairs, EXCEPT in times of crisis. They place Selkie in a school with a principal who, while not outstanding, is hardly what you’d -want- as the principal. Being human, they shove him around a bit to -try- to enforce he acts intelligently and cares for her in particular, but they abide by the rules, as they can’t interfere domestically except in the event of a crisis. Such a crisis occurs and now Selkie has a new principal -explicitly- from them, because they’ve put it -squarely- in their own jurisdiction, which allows them to play this hand -far- closer to their own chest.
I will state it would be -most- likely, however, that they merely kept some agents near the school, as Selkie is -noted- as a test case, just in case any crises happen. It’s some minor special treatment, but if they have the extra guys, it’s easy to handle. There’s probably someone chilling within a few dozen miles of Todd’s house, just in case he turns out to be a bit nastier then he seems. This particular system will -likely- have to change and twist quite a bit with all the new immigrants, however. I suspect we’ll be hearing both less of the agency -outside- of the school, and more of the agency inside of the school, if we presuppose 20-50 people were dedicated to it, it can only do so much, and this immigration was likely hundreds, if not thousands, of people. I doubt it got terribly higher then that, certainly not to millions, or we’d have seen the whole -beach- clogged with sarnothi (or they just traveled out single file the whole way). Still, they no longer have the benefit of outnumbering the individuals they’re supposed to protect by a sizable margin. Which means that the Agencies abilities are going to steadily become less and less impressive from a storyline perspective.
I kind of like Then. He’s a bit harsh sometimes, but I think that’s just a byproduct of some very strong personal beliefs.
Principal Walford is an ex-agent? Somehow I am not surprised the Agency would send one of their own after what the previous principal did.
Anyways, I know she’s only in a few comics so far, but I think I am really starting like Angela. 🙂
This may be a dumb question… so please withhold the snark if it is.
We’ve never seen an adult Sarnothi flush their gills on screen. Do they eventually reach a point where it becomes less frequently needed/not needed at all or do they just do it off screen to save time for the comic? I imagine it’s the latter but it’s not my world and I’m not a Sabothbiologist.
*pouts and sets the Snark Cannon on the ground.* FIIIIIINE. 😉
All sarnothi do it, I just haven’t worked the concept in on-screen very much for brevity’s sake. I
Just a silly thought about all the gill flushing. I never notice, at a party, when the adults need to use the rest room. There is a seamlessness to the flow of people in and out, because they are in tune with their own bodies.
Kids on the other hand, often are having too much fun, too intent on video games, too caught up in activities, to notice and then suddenly it’s a big deal, shouting, “where’s the can! OMG! Now!” And it is a big deal, cause they never noticed/ were not sensitive/ to the build up. I always figured the Sarnothi were like that. Adults just take care of it, and we never notice because they are discreet, it’s a picnic. Kids wait and it’s a panic. Panic or picnic, that’s maturity?
Bwahahaha, wait until you get a lot older.
The panic comes back.
Bwahahahahaha– how young do you think I am?
Five bladder operations, still no panic, but lots of awareness…. LOTS of awareness.
I note based on tags that her first name is Angela.
Short for Angela is Ange.
Ange has four of the same letters as agency.
“You can’t spell Agency without Ange.”
………..FUCK.
If you’re going to project, darling, project with full force 🙂
Curse that rater!
He did indeed take 66% of the Agency out of that old girl!
Glad to help!
…It’s like they were WAITING to replace the old principal~
If only racial mingling was as easy a topic as it is in the comic. The dips on the news lately don’t fill me with confidence….
If she’s a comedian, how come were not laughing? Cause it’s not funny. OMG can Ameica grow up?
Suddenly I’m optimistic! #Me too, and now ABC Television doing the right thing? We are, we are growing up.
(Psst: “rein it in” — reins are for horses, and you pull the reins towards you (“inward”) to make them slow or stop. “Reign” is for kings. Bonus: Free Rein, not Free Reign; the horse with a free (loose, not held onto) rein gets to GO WHERE IT WANTS AHAHAHAHAHAHAH STOOPID HOOMANS!)
(This tweet brought to you by Bachelor’s in English. O;> )
Ah, my degree! Or as I call it, a BA in BS!
Or, like, you could be someone who took riding lessons. Live horses are way more fun than a hot souped-up motorcycle,…And smarter, too. But, WAY more expensive.
Having an ex-operative at the school isn’t even an uncommon thing.
The school that the president’s kids go to has several Secret Service agents on-staff, as does (apparently) the daycare center that the younger kids go to. (JFK Junior apparently went to a daycare center that had at least two FBI or SS agents on staff but I don’t have any actual references.)