I don’t understand why she would be wetting her pants. You pee your pants from fear. Why would she be afraid of Todd? I doubt he has ever seriously punished her.
What did he do to her when she stole his money to buy flowers for that other girl? Forbid her from watching Sue and Kathryn? Yeah, that’s a terrible punishment. I would be shaking in my boots, if that’s what my father did to me for stealing from him.
Eh, she’s 9, he’s her parent, and she knows she done messed up big time. It’s also worth noting that she didn’t *actually* wet her pants; like Stu said, she’s a drama queen.
After reading the last couple pages of this story I feel like this problem is as much on Todd and Andy’s head as well as their girls. Todd basically telling his mom want to hear something horrible that happened to your girls and being cagey about it when his parents genuinely wanted to know hey what happened.
I know the non-disclosure agreement but still if you’re going to keep that kind of secret you don’t really tell someone you don’t even given an inclination that something is up. Todd and Andy immediately should have went home to have an important conversation with his with the girls.
I would say that Todd should have also asked Avery if his parents could be part of the nda since they’re going to be also looking after the girls too. But to be fair to Todd the whole thing happened so fast he didn’t really have time to actually think.
I’m not going to lie I feel like Todd and Andy kind of need to get a metaphorical butt kicking and actually be called out on their nonsense.
I gotta agree. At this point Theo (who is conspicuously absent) needs to come in and read the riot act to Todd and Andi about how they have completely unreasonable expectations of Amanda and Selkie.
You know…… this feels like “unreasonable expectations for a child of this age” is actually part of the point?
Like, these two parents have not BEEN parents. They’ve had children, but not taken care of them. They have *been* children, but that was ages ago, and now they’ve suddenly got kids who are old enough to have words and will, old enough to sneak around and to decide that their wisdom outweighs that of their parents, and, well…
It takes time in parenting to learn how to handle that. To learn what sort of expectations are actually reasonable for a kid that age. Heck, there are some ADULTS who, upon being told “it’s absolutely imperative that you tell no one,” will immediately post the secret to social media (or tell the one friend who’ll have it around town in an hour).
By having skipped the early childhood stages, they haven’t built up the experience of what these children are like and what irrational behavior children in general are capable of. As parents, they’re operating at a severe handicap, and it’s only now really starting to show.
You know that is a very insightful thing you just said, you’re right that both Todd and Andy are working with a handicap.
To add on to that it’s actually even worse Selkie is not even human, but from an race ancient of fish people that could be just be as old as the human race with practices and beliefs that are far more different and alien than his own.
Also she has developed superpowers as well as Amanda, so I am going to be fair to Todd and Andy they are dealing with unknowns and the game has been set up against them
Maybe this is unintentional by Dave, but in all honesty, I see Todd talking to his Mom like that as a form of pride. Yes lasers are weird and scary, but he loves BOTH his daughters (Andi is doing well on that too) and when your children do something amazing, (even if a bit scary) there is part of you that wants to brag.
I’m going to be very Disappointed in Amanda if she doesn’t fess up and admit that selkie told her not to But she did it anyway And she gets punished for something she was barely involved in.
Technically, Selkie didn’t mess up here- Amanda did. Selkie knows not to use the lasers without supervision (preferably from a Sarnoth who knows how to guide an FNG). She shouldn’t be in trouble for this.
Standing around encouraging (as opposed to trying to stop, or getting an adult) while another kid sets fire to things is not exactly “innocent bystander.”
… Amanda set the couch on fire and let the adults deal with reality please. I am so done with this aggressive mind game of threats and expectation of obedience that defies logic. You have two girls with a history of abuse and less than stellar coping mechanisms gaining access to Lasser eyes. You as the adult are at fault here Todd, not the 8 year olds desperately trying to explore their new abilities that in their inexperience may seem like a solution to all their problems. The fact that Selkies’ coping mechanism is a fantasy of absolute superiority and control rather than actually hitting people like Amanda doesn’t make it any less of a problem for her ability to assess risk reward and control impulsivity. The idea of green magic eyes will cure a deep sensation of worthlessness, self hate and a spiralling feeling of lack of agency is to be expected! The adults in the room need to stop acting like this is stealing cake from the kitchen levels of misbehaving.
I could not have said it better myself you definitely hit the nail on the head, and if I could add on to that, something that will also give Selkie a way to be close to her own people and her culture that has been denied to her for a very long time.
Hmm.. I went back a few strips. Todd and Andi did tell the girls not to do echo stuff till they had spoken to professionals. Todd shouldn’t have called his mom and horsed around with I have terrible news about your granddaughters. Either tell them everything or tell them a brief version without breaking the nda later. And he could have told the girls again before getting off the car to not do echo stuff even at their grandparents’ and explained why.
I believe by the time they get home, Todd and Andi will have done some self reflection and calmed down.
You know, honestly I’m on Todd and Andi’s side here. Both the girls were warned, repeatedly, that they should not use their echo powers. They knew what they were doing was not allowed. And yet they did it anyway. And very nearly caused a house fire. If they were playing with matches the result would be exactly the same, and no one would be blinking an eye.
And…we really don’t know what’s in those NDAs. And given it’s the government, I get the feeling violating them isn’t a matter of “We sue you.” It’s probably closer to “We take your children and you never see them again.”
You are definitely right about that Todd really should have not horsed around and just kept his mouth shut and just took the girls home. But what he did instead was highly irresponsible.
And yeah Todd should have told his parents about the NDA or go all in, in telling them. Honestly he should have called Avery and talked to him about this, but to be fair it’s been a day for Todd and Andy so I’m willing to cut them some slack.
And Amanda?
Oh she’s free to wiz to her heart’s content, naturally. >_>
I don’t understand why she would be wetting her pants. You pee your pants from fear. Why would she be afraid of Todd? I doubt he has ever seriously punished her.
What did he do to her when she stole his money to buy flowers for that other girl? Forbid her from watching Sue and Kathryn? Yeah, that’s a terrible punishment. I would be shaking in my boots, if that’s what my father did to me for stealing from him.
That didn’t involve setting things on fire, after being told, repeatedly, to not use their powers at all.
Selkie IS something of a drama queen – there was a mini-arc about this 😛
Ever heard of jokes?
Eh, she’s 9, he’s her parent, and she knows she done messed up big time. It’s also worth noting that she didn’t *actually* wet her pants; like Stu said, she’s a drama queen.
Her spit contains paralytic toxins. Her blood made a cat stoned.
God only knows what her urine could do to a human (or a yappy little dog).
After reading the last couple pages of this story I feel like this problem is as much on Todd and Andy’s head as well as their girls. Todd basically telling his mom want to hear something horrible that happened to your girls and being cagey about it when his parents genuinely wanted to know hey what happened.
I know the non-disclosure agreement but still if you’re going to keep that kind of secret you don’t really tell someone you don’t even given an inclination that something is up. Todd and Andy immediately should have went home to have an important conversation with his with the girls.
I would say that Todd should have also asked Avery if his parents could be part of the nda since they’re going to be also looking after the girls too. But to be fair to Todd the whole thing happened so fast he didn’t really have time to actually think.
I’m not going to lie I feel like Todd and Andy kind of need to get a metaphorical butt kicking and actually be called out on their nonsense.
I gotta agree. At this point Theo (who is conspicuously absent) needs to come in and read the riot act to Todd and Andi about how they have completely unreasonable expectations of Amanda and Selkie.
You know…… this feels like “unreasonable expectations for a child of this age” is actually part of the point?
Like, these two parents have not BEEN parents. They’ve had children, but not taken care of them. They have *been* children, but that was ages ago, and now they’ve suddenly got kids who are old enough to have words and will, old enough to sneak around and to decide that their wisdom outweighs that of their parents, and, well…
It takes time in parenting to learn how to handle that. To learn what sort of expectations are actually reasonable for a kid that age. Heck, there are some ADULTS who, upon being told “it’s absolutely imperative that you tell no one,” will immediately post the secret to social media (or tell the one friend who’ll have it around town in an hour).
By having skipped the early childhood stages, they haven’t built up the experience of what these children are like and what irrational behavior children in general are capable of. As parents, they’re operating at a severe handicap, and it’s only now really starting to show.
At least, that’s my current take.
You know that is a very insightful thing you just said, you’re right that both Todd and Andy are working with a handicap.
To add on to that it’s actually even worse Selkie is not even human, but from an race ancient of fish people that could be just be as old as the human race with practices and beliefs that are far more different and alien than his own.
Also she has developed superpowers as well as Amanda, so I am going to be fair to Todd and Andy they are dealing with unknowns and the game has been set up against them
I like your idea I hope in the next page or the page after Theo comes in and do is read both Todd and Andi the Riot Act.
I could see that happen if Theo checks the wood burning tools and realizes they haven’t been used, meaning Andi lied and something is up.
Maybe this is unintentional by Dave, but in all honesty, I see Todd talking to his Mom like that as a form of pride. Yes lasers are weird and scary, but he loves BOTH his daughters (Andi is doing well on that too) and when your children do something amazing, (even if a bit scary) there is part of you that wants to brag.
I’m going to be very Disappointed in Amanda if she doesn’t fess up and admit that selkie told her not to But she did it anyway And she gets punished for something she was barely involved in.
Technically, Selkie didn’t mess up here- Amanda did. Selkie knows not to use the lasers without supervision (preferably from a Sarnoth who knows how to guide an FNG). She shouldn’t be in trouble for this.
Standing around encouraging (as opposed to trying to stop, or getting an adult) while another kid sets fire to things is not exactly “innocent bystander.”
Todd. They’re eight.
… Amanda set the couch on fire and let the adults deal with reality please. I am so done with this aggressive mind game of threats and expectation of obedience that defies logic. You have two girls with a history of abuse and less than stellar coping mechanisms gaining access to Lasser eyes. You as the adult are at fault here Todd, not the 8 year olds desperately trying to explore their new abilities that in their inexperience may seem like a solution to all their problems. The fact that Selkies’ coping mechanism is a fantasy of absolute superiority and control rather than actually hitting people like Amanda doesn’t make it any less of a problem for her ability to assess risk reward and control impulsivity. The idea of green magic eyes will cure a deep sensation of worthlessness, self hate and a spiralling feeling of lack of agency is to be expected! The adults in the room need to stop acting like this is stealing cake from the kitchen levels of misbehaving.
I could not have said it better myself you definitely hit the nail on the head, and if I could add on to that, something that will also give Selkie a way to be close to her own people and her culture that has been denied to her for a very long time.
[begin bulletin]
I am a long-time fan of dramatic irony and am enjoying how Dave is wielding it in this arc.
[end bulletin]
Good on Todd for encouraging Selkie to broaden her vocabulary! 😉
Hmm.. I went back a few strips. Todd and Andi did tell the girls not to do echo stuff till they had spoken to professionals. Todd shouldn’t have called his mom and horsed around with I have terrible news about your granddaughters. Either tell them everything or tell them a brief version without breaking the nda later. And he could have told the girls again before getting off the car to not do echo stuff even at their grandparents’ and explained why.
I believe by the time they get home, Todd and Andi will have done some self reflection and calmed down.
You know, honestly I’m on Todd and Andi’s side here. Both the girls were warned, repeatedly, that they should not use their echo powers. They knew what they were doing was not allowed. And yet they did it anyway. And very nearly caused a house fire. If they were playing with matches the result would be exactly the same, and no one would be blinking an eye.
And…we really don’t know what’s in those NDAs. And given it’s the government, I get the feeling violating them isn’t a matter of “We sue you.” It’s probably closer to “We take your children and you never see them again.”
But Selkie didn’t use her powers, only Amanda did, so Selkie shouldn’t be afraid or in any trouble.
You are definitely right about that Todd really should have not horsed around and just kept his mouth shut and just took the girls home. But what he did instead was highly irresponsible.
And yeah Todd should have told his parents about the NDA or go all in, in telling them. Honestly he should have called Avery and talked to him about this, but to be fair it’s been a day for Todd and Andy so I’m willing to cut them some slack.