No grabby
↓ Transcript
ANDI: Where did you GET this thing, Todd?
AMANDA: No no no no no...
ANDI: It feels like stone, but warm-ish?
AMANDA: Nnnng..
ANDI: Uh, kiddo? You're flinching?
TODD: Andi, clip it back! Hurry!
SELKIE: You'll dooms us ALL!!!
ANDI: What?
AMANDA: Hhhhnn...
TODD: That IS the assistive device! It's sarnothi tech, and it's staving off a bad reaction!
ANDI: A bad reaction?!
ANDI: Oh, God, are you allergic to Selkie?
AMANDA: No, but I am allergic to people GRABBING my STUFF. MOM!
AMANDA: No no no no no...
ANDI: It feels like stone, but warm-ish?
AMANDA: Nnnng..
ANDI: Uh, kiddo? You're flinching?
TODD: Andi, clip it back! Hurry!
SELKIE: You'll dooms us ALL!!!
ANDI: What?
AMANDA: Hhhhnn...
TODD: That IS the assistive device! It's sarnothi tech, and it's staving off a bad reaction!
ANDI: A bad reaction?!
ANDI: Oh, God, are you allergic to Selkie?
AMANDA: No, but I am allergic to people GRABBING my STUFF. MOM!
Today's edition of the Secret Commentary is empty, because Dave failed to come up with something for it.
Wow. Andi. Way to focus on the completely wrong thing. Your child is literally going no, and you still grab things without asking? Just….Just wow.
Amanda has the correct response.
Oh, lord. She really did it.
I can’t remember, DID Andi already know about Sarnothi Echoes? My search skills through the archives are completely failing me.
Andi is about to have to process some really important things on the fly. Her “go-to” is Amanda being allergic to Selkie? Something tells me Andi isn’t completely over her bias against “aliens.” Her reaction to this is going to be pivotal for Amanda … and possibly Selkie, too.
tl;dr – please don’t treat your daughter like a freak, Andi.
I don’t think anyone topside knows about Sarnothi and their powers, outside of the government and other Sarnothi.
That’s what I thought, but wasn’t sure. Thank you! š
But that just reinforces my thought – Andi is about to go through some things and I really Really hope she doesn’t end up damaging Amanda in the process.
Pohl best get himself back into that house. I suspect he may be needed soon. š
AFAIK; I mean, sure they all saw the huge green power beam, but thatās as far as it went, as I remember it.
Oh hell, this is not going to turn out good. Not good at all. Anyone wanna bet that Andi is about to get zapped and Selkie will respond, “So Cool!”
I’m imagining Amanda’s voice developing an odd echo as she says what many children have said to their parents in so many ways. The abject terror of Todd and Selkie is priceless.
Goauld style?
I imagine more Galadriel explaining what she’d do with the Ring of Power style.
you mean to say that Galadriel was a Gouald!!… OMG…. š
Indeed
Oh Andi. *Headdesk*
Rushes to check on her daughter, is completely thick about the situation to the point of denial.
Phol was kinda vague with his “Don’t worry your kid is fine kinda sorta maybe not except she is.”
To to fair, Andi hasnāt been a custodial parent for very long so she is still figuring stuff out and panicking. I know itās not the same thing, but I remember one time when I was taking care of my niece, I swear I *blinked* and during that 0.000001 second she ran head-first into a wall. I COMPLETELY lost it. I grabbed her and kept asking if she was okay and then called my Mom Who Knows Everything to ask if I should call 911 and meanwhile my niece got over her 30 seconds of crying and was happily playing on the floor again. People freak out when it comes to children they love, is my point.
Kingofsouls also made a very good point: would it have killed Pohl to say, āThe assistive device is a weird barette – Amanda will need to wear it for a while so please donāt take it off herā? I feel, like Andi is having some trouble negotiating being a mom to Amanda, Pohl might be having some trouble negotiating between Sarnothi and humans.
Iām not saying Andi is reacting WELL here – but at least sheās panicking out of concern for her daughter.
Andi. Everyone is panicing. Do as you’re goddamn told and ask questions LATER.
Have a clue, you idiot.
Kid’s gotta point. It’s pretty rude.
I suppose at some point, we all have to teach our mothers that we are NOT an exception to all the rules of good manners they strived for years to teach us, just because we’re their kid.
My own mother came into my bedroom while I was sleeping to use my computer. It was only a 10′ room; she jostled the bed pulling out the chair, not that the click-clack of keys let me sleep three feet away either.
Then she farted.
I didn’t say a word. I just crawled under my covers until I could reach my dresser, pulled out a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, dressed under the blankets (since apparently my own bedroom has no privacy). Got up and left. Drove to the hardware store; bought a simple deadbolt, came home and installed it on my bedroom door.
You never heard such indignant whining from a grown woman. >_>
One can teach parents nothing. That bolt will always be an unforgiveable eccentricity on your part!
I can almost hear the proclamation of ‘But I didn’t *mean* to disturb you! Why are you overreacting like this?!’. Talking as someone whose mother absolutely will not respect a set boundary.
my now!Brother-in-law, on the eve of his marriage to my sister, nearly pressed assault charges against our(That is, my sister’s and my) grandmother, as she repeatedly disregarded my sister’s wishes to be allowed to adjust the lay of her own clothing.
It got bad enough that Grandma decided she wasn’t going to the wedding when my Brother-in-Law and I split for the Bachelor’s Party. I don’t know what happened, but in the 12 hours the bridal party was gone, my mother and father somehow calmed Grandma down enough that she apologized, attended the wedding with full honors, and for the remainder of her life was WAY more respectful of boundaries than she had been up until then.
It’s not like the device has been moved very far away. I’d have thought it’d have more range than that like Selkie’s suppressor did. Amanda has to wash and brush her hair at some point.
I’d chalk it up to 1.) being an imperfect/rushed copy, and/or 2.) Amanda’s Echo levels currently being highly active.
Selkie’s suppressor was applied early on (most likely before her Echo levels got as active as Amanda’s currently are, so there’s a longer “fuse” before flaring), and it was undoubtedly crafted with more time and deliberation; combine those two factors, and it’s unsurprising that Selkie’s suppressor had greater effective range than Amanda’s.
I think itās intentionally weak. Just enough to suppress it without damaging her abilities or Selkieās.
Not to mention, this is intended as a personal-range suppression device; it’s likely *designed* to not have a long range, so it doesn’t interfere with the abilities of others, especially those who are trying to practice and control those abilities… like say, her sister.
I think it’s worth saying that Selkie’s suppressor was notes to be severely over powered.
*noted
OOF. Bad move, Andi, bad move. This would be unacceptable even if it *were* just a regular hair clip.
From a realism perspective though, I really like this. It feels super in-character for her. Andi’s still super new to being a mom, and given her own upbringing, she has a lot of toxic behaviours to unlearn.
And by the looks of things, she’s getting a crash course in ‘don’t get into your child’s personal space without consent’, which of course is a super important lesson.
I just hope the fallout isn’t *too* nasty, though, for the sake of both girls.
Here is hoping that Andi doesn’t go full Karen. Something tells me this story would go into their world’s version of r/EntitledParents.
“Yeah. When I was young we found out I somehow got Sarnothi echo powers from something related to my adopted sister. My mom not waiting to listen grabbed the Sarnothi tech keeping me controlled off my head and released the kraken that is full Echo flame eyes and screamy worms. She did proceeded to lose it because it was a closely guarded government secret at the time. Good going Mom. You almost started a war because you had to be handsy. Thank God Dad knew what he was doing and stepped in with my sister’s pediatrician! That was a long week.”
*awards gold*
I am DESPERATELY looking forward to a future where Selkie and Amanda can joke around like that.
Selkie and Amanda, Partners in Crime: Blood may have abandoned them once, but they’ll never abandon each other!
(yes, Andi came back and is moving Heaven, Earth, and Luna to right the countless wrongs of her absence… but Andi’s Mom is still blood, and she’s likely NEVER going to be in Amanda’s life because she chose to abandon Amanda in the womb.
Well that was fast.
Also makes sense why the previous page was so cluttered — having the foreshadowing about the hairclip on the previous page makes sense, rather than moving 100% of it to this page as I’d suggested. Trying to fit so much onto the same page with an odd layout was difficult, but I can understand why that particular choice.
*awards gold*
How the heck did my comment end up *here*?! Sorry about that
Dave? Any chance of getting some edit/delete functions up in here?
Amanda’s awfully quick to label a borrowed device as “her stuff”, though and mouthing off her mom in the process? Sheesh.
It’s not her place as a 9 year old to set Andi straight.
…Yikes.