And now you know of Todd’s dark past of being a stereotype.
Believe it or not, I have a backstory for that small table Selkie's sitting at. It used to be the "Kitchen Helper Corner" when Todd Marta and Antoine were little, and Mari got it out of storage for Selkie's visit.
I just started reading Selkie on April 30th of this year and i finally caught up May 5th amongst final preparations of my senior year and martial arts . . . And so far i’ve enjoyed what i’ve read . When i finally caught up i was a little disappointed though – not because of the comic itself , but because i now have to wait for new posts . Lol keep ’em coming 🙂
Also you have GWS listed under the webcomics you like . That makes me smile .
I’m curious… Did Todd do Selkie’s new hairstyle or did she do it herself?
Todd did it through the power of Google
I HATE the vegetarian stereotype, especially because I’m vegan. Eating habits are a personal choice, and I am not here to force my eating habits on anyone. It really, really bugs me when people further the stereotype.
Well the stereotype exists because there is vegans that act that way. It suited the story’s needs and a writer shouldn’t avoid something like that if it fits the story and character’s needs.
I’ve had more people try to be righteous about eating meat to me than people who are veg.
I’ve known a couple people who are veg who are self righteous, but I have known FAR MORE meat eaters who are self righteous. I can’t tell you how many people have told me it’s un-American, un-Christian, wrong, just a fad, etc, completely unprovoked. I’ve had complete strangers verbally attack me upon discovering that I don’t eat meat. I have family that will no longer talk to me just because I don’t eat meat. I’ve had people try to trick me into eating meat (which makes me extremely sick, btw) because they claim it’s the right thing to do.
Fact: there are more omnivore humans than vegitarian humans.
Personal belief: majority of humans are jackasses in one way or another.
Conclusion: You just got really unlucky with the type of jackasses you know.
I’ve actually had far more vegans and vegetarians attack me for eating meat. There’s this cafe I really like called Cafe Yum that I happen to frequent. A good 90% of the people there are vegetarian or vegan, but every time I go in and order white rice and grilled chicken in peanut sauce, I get icy cold glares from all around the cafe; excluding the staff. I had one woman glare at me from the time I ordered until I left. That was a good 40 minutes of her straight up glaring at me. I’ve had multiple people come in and tell me that my ‘kind’ didn’t belong there. It’s a predominantly vegan and vegetarian cafe, but holy hell they are so freaking rude. They make the atmosphere of the cafe suck royally and if the food wasn’t so yummy, I’d stop going. Not to mention my city is swarming with college kid vegans who love to preach at me about how I’m utter scum for eating the results of a murder. It’s really unnerving and very rude to be harassed like that.
I hear you. I’m a vegetarian, and the ones who get all righteous about it bug me as much as the assumption that we’re all like that.
It also seems strange to me that people tend to associate vegetarianism with strange foods. The weirdest food is always animal based; there’s only so icky you can get with a plant.
I’ve had someone offer me mashed okra before so I would have to disagree with that last part 😛 Grass flavored vassoline with stringy bits in it. “Of course I’ll try some ma’am” (shudder)
Though speaking of strange foods I got a little curious and asked around some local butcher shops (I’m a Wisconsinite) and you can get the discarded fish eyes bagged up. One place even said they wouldnt charge since it was just scrap. Just a thought if Todd ever wanted to get Selkie a treat.
Heh, I take it you’ve never seen natto.
I looooove natto. And I’m American. Stirred into scrambled eggs with some fresh tomato chunks thrown in, it’s divine.
Just to add context: My Senior-Year japanese teacher once told the class that natto smelled like “Imagine you went running on a hot summer day, really soaked your shirt… then crammed it in the dankest, darkest corner of your house upon returning home, leaving it there for a few months, retrieving it, then stuffing your face into and breathing deeply.”
I’m right up there with the both of you, especially since I’m a vegetarian by NECESSITY, not by choice! My kidneys cannot process protein unless it’s from poultry, fish, dairy, or veggies, and my lower back will hurt if I stray.
My fiancee’s even worse – somehow, something to do with how she developed in utero, but her intestines and entire system cannot digest non-dairy meat at all! She’s kinda the direct opposite of Selkie XD
To be honest, until my brother’s current girlfriend, I hadn’t met a vegetarian/vegan who wasn’t a “holier than thou” jerk. I knew they probably existed, but the 7-8 persons I’d met all talked down to me – one tried the “you wouldn’t eat it if you knew how it ends up on your plate”; I talked her through the process of raising a calf, butchering it (the old fashioned way), cutting and preparing the meat and then eating the steak, and suggested to her that if she found me a “baby cow” (as she called them), I’d try my best to apply the knowledge in practice. She didn’t mention meat-eating to me ever again.
So while it may be a stereotype, it’s also how a lot of vegans/vegetarians act. It’s like religion – as long as you don’t try to tell me how I should believe, you’re welcome to your own beliefs. 🙂
I know several sterling chaps who happen to be vegetarians (amongst them my GF’s eldest), and one vegetarian (“V”) who happens to be an utter drip. Only in conversation with “V” do I ever find myself denegrating vegetarianism, because I am an absolute weed and dare not personally insult a black-belt.
“Carnivores should be made to slaughter the animals themselves.”
“Absolutely! And vegetarians should be made to bring in the harvest. Pick them spuds, V!”
One source of irritation, though; that in my experience, vegetarians do not provide a meat alternative at dinner parties, a curious omission in that they expect (and obtain) a vegetarian alternative of omnivorous hosts.
I don’t eat meat because, raised vegetarian (by one of the health-nut variety), meat tastes terrible to me!
All the more meat for y’all carnivores. 🙂
However, I do note — you don’t want the vegetarians providing a meat dish for the meat-eaters. Certainly not if they’re like me, and probably can’t cook meat safely. “It’s supposed to be that red and oozy in the middle, right? Even if it’s chicken?”
Now you mention, I was once told my rice sambal should have rice in it…
ABeth, thou art wise.
that’s because people who are not vegetarians are still capable of eating plants, but meat is not food to vegetarians. In addition, preparing meat safely/well is a skill that people who have been vegetarians their whole live usually do not have. Do you really want someone who has never cooked meat before and won’t even be able to taste the food to see if it’s seasoned properly to cook a meat dish for you?
Ever had mushrooms? 😉
You do know that fungi has cell walls made of chitin, the same stuff that insect exoskeletons are made of?
Learning that particular fact made me decide that my previous distaste for mushrooms was valid enough for me to decide against eating them in the future. 😛
I’ve hated mushrooms ever since I was a kid. The texture is not palatable to me.
Well, every plant cell interior is made of protoplasm, which every other plant and animal is made of, but a strictly mineral diet is probably not practical!
Meat-eating? I eat meat. Why not? If an animal “wants” anything, it’s to assure its next generation. With domesticated animals, that next generation is assured. It’s the deal- your species continues, I get fed.
Can’t think of a justification for eating wild animals, though.
I love wild game. Then again I’m one of these guys that after killing an elk or deer, I say a prayer to it’s spirit thanking it for it’s sacrifice.
Also, the majority of the money for preserving the wilderness in state parks and the like come from outdoorsmen including hunters so there’s your justification.
Though I met one vegan that got after me because my handle back in the day was Hunter, you know, like the legitimate name. When I hit her with that fact she went ape-Stars on me because how dare I put a nasty carnivore over a vegan like her! Mind you, I’ve enjoyed my share of vegetarian meals, but I love antagonizing people like that.
Interesting. You’re an animist? Then you probably take care not to over hunt, and even conserve game. That would be different.
I see myself more as a steward. No, I don’t overhunt and I conserve game but at the same time, I feel that I also need to use the land for what it originally was for and part of that is hunting. We are predators at our cores. There is no shame in preying on animals, they each have their place on the ladder. Hell, if we all followed our instincts more instead of tried to solve problems with answers that make everything worse we’d be the better for it.
But at the same token, I understand not everyone is going to agree with me. Some people think we should have a hands off system where no one does anything with the wilderness. I of course understand where they’re coming from, but an intelligent, conservative approach is better than a completely hands off or over consumptive attitude. Mother nature survived for eons longer than we existed. She’ll survive long after we’re dust.
I like to think that humanity will one day transcend nature. The child must leave his mother some day, even if the mother is Earth.
However, I respect your considered and passionate viewpoint. I can agree that the hunting of conserved game is worthwhile, for the same reason that domesticating animals is; it preserves their genome.
His dark past could have been worse…he could have been a hipster!
I LOL at old Todd… and I have been a vegetarian for almost ten years now. I am happy that I met annoying vegetarians before I became one! 🙂
Ah… little brothers. It´s a miracle any of them survive into adulthood unstrangled.
“Oooh Nooo”
XD
I’m not so sure this is the end of this…
Ah yes. The “Holier than thou” attitude certain(especially new) vegetarians seem to have….fortunately it seems most people outgrow it and accept the fact that others eat meat. Of course, theres always the ones who don’t outgrow it and make it their point in life to berate you for eating meat.
My friend likes to put it this way…
“Vegetarians and vegans don’t want animals to suffer, so they don’t eat meat. Instead they eat the animals’ food and leave them to starve to death.”
😛
It looks like Todd grew up quite a bit then. -snickers- Sorry Todd, but revealing one’s deep dark past (in an embarrassing manner) is a sibling’s duty! XD
I would like it that at some point someone pointed out that Selkie is actual carnivore- not an opportunistic omnivore – so she does not get much of a choice in the matter. Animal products are the only things she can eat.
Her distaste for plants is the same distaste some one allergic to chocolate or p-nuts or any other food allergy has for their food allergy trigger. Not one of a stubborn child who refuses to eat their veggies out of rebellion.
Possibly when she gets older maybe she’ll be able to consume a bit of plant matter but yeah. She’s the Red-neck’s ideal: a true blue(periwinkle) meat eater.
The upside: Tod will never have to worry about her smoking or drinking. It’s all plant based. XD
Fermented mare’s milk? Or is that only from fantasy books… >_>
Totally a thing (I believe it’s from mongolia)! Though I think, once it’s been distilled, vegetable-based alcohols (like vodka) don’t contain enough plant matter to cause an allergic reaction.
This leads me to think of all sorts of new cocktails. Milk and vodka? Vodka-soaked sashimi?
Fermented mare’s milk is a real thing. I believe it was drunk by the steppe-riders in Hungary, Mongolia, etc., on whom the fantasy books draw inspiration for barbarians all the time!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermented_milk_products
I think the one you are looking for is “kumis”.
I wonder if smoking would affect her the same way plants do? After all, it’s not an allergy, it’s a gastrointestinal intolerance. She’s a carnivore and is unable to digest non-meat proteins, but smoking wouldn’t be ingesting. Chances are if she doesn’t have bad reactions to inhaling plant pollen, she wouldn’t have a problem inhaling burned plant matter. ‘Special’ brownies, on the other hand, would probably have her running for the toilet….. mind you, regular brownies would have her doing the same thing on account of the flour.
I just had a thought… the poor girl can’t eat candy! Chocolate = cocoa beans, sugar = sugar cane…. Aww man 🙁 well at least Todd doesn’t have to worry about her getting cavities. Though, there were some pretty tasty candies I had in Mexico made from fermented goat’s milk… I wonder how much sugar would be in those, or maybe sugar is so refined from its original state that it no longer contains the plant proteins that would cause an adverse reaction? Or maybe just stick with honey to be safe.
Yeppers, gotta hit up all those fermented goat’s milk honey-sweetened candy-serving houses on Halloween. Easy peasy right?
…. well at least she still gets to dress up. I see her going out as a fish 😉
And it might be a bit of an ego boost to her… one night of the year where everyone is supposed to look scary so no one’s freaked out by her? I can’t imagine first impressions turn out so well for her most of the time.
I am confused. I thought Selkies dietry needs were explained in order to avoid another grape incident? If so did they forget or are they just being siblings and teasing todd thru selkie? which normally im ok with except for how it gets her all upset and if theyre all adopted wouldnt they know to be careful of that?
The dietary stuff was explained to Todd’s parents, apparently the siblings don’t know it yet. He should just tell them “she’s a carnivore like a cat” and be done with it, instead of explaining it away with allergies.
Love the last panel
“THANKS.”
“So… ya like _blank_, eh?”
xD That sentence always makes me dread the direction of conversation. It always leads to some horrible confrontation of some kind.
Brothers: Not helping matters since the dawn of humanity.
Gah, the hell happened to her eyes in the fifth panel? Did her eye balls suddenly start exploding then stop?
I think Marta was just trying to bond with Selkie by showing they had something in common, and Antoine used it as an excuse to bring up what Todd was like as a teenager :p
That little sad face she makes in panel 5 is just adorable.
My heart breaks for Selkie in the last panel, but I like the brother’s face as well. It’s that “Oh, shit, I said something I shouldn’t have and now someone’s mad at me!” face. Great comic, though I do wish the updates were three times a week. 🙂
Counting down the minutes till the new page…..
Oh hey, what happened to the stripes on her shirt? They were what made the outfit so cute! It looks so plain now…
Amazes me that I can miss something like that for three days straight. XD Fixing it now
I’m just surprised I was the first one who noticed. Maybe it’s just ’cause I like the outfit so much.
I do that all the time with my drawings too…. forget horns on this guy, hairtie on that one, even forget to draw in the wings on some characters sometimes. I once drew this big character study of one of my guys in a loincloth, stipple-shaded the background which took literally hours, inked the whole thing aaand…. forgot the damn tail. And the tail was the only reason I put him in a loincloth in the first place…. sigh. 6 hours of work straight down the tubes… -_-;
Todd: “Selkie, Antoine’s talking about when I was being kind of a jerk back when I was a kid. I’m nicer now. And to make up for making you sad, you now get to call him, ‘Little Uncle Annie’!”
Grandpa: “Does that make me Daddy Warbucks?”
Selkie: “Yay! Little Uncle Annie!”
Antoine: “Todd! You little sonova—”
Marta-Todd-Grandma-Grandpa: “ANTOINE! SWEAR JAR!”