Todd and Selkie only live about a half-hour away from the grandparents (by highway, assuming no rush hour traffic). So they’re cutting it pretty close to bedtime. XD
Trying some mood lighting, since it's sunset and all.
Todd and Selkie only live about a half-hour away from the grandparents (by highway, assuming no rush hour traffic). So they’re cutting it pretty close to bedtime. XD
Last panel: Best. Comeback. EVAR.
Mine would likely be “No, I’ve got a letter to prove it.”
“No, your Grandma had me tested.”
“Everyone in this world is, if you think about it.”
“You only noticed just now?”
“To this, I can only answer… Probably.”
“Yes. My mother had me tested.”
*dies laughing at the look on Selkie’s face in the second-to-last-panel*
This comic just gets more awesome all the time.
I’ve had that look on my face before… that exact face.
Me too. 🙂
I’m glad Todd is going to address this. Does Selkie have reason to be
angry? Yes. Of course. But holding onto it indefinitely hurts her, too, whether or not she realizes it.
Though, once you’ve given someone a chance, if they blow it… Sometimes you keep the angry to remind yourself that no, this person needs to make some heroic efforts to redeem themselves now, and it’s not safe to be around them till you see some serious, long-term, sustained, heroic improvements.
I mean, there’s giving someone a chance and there’s being stupid.
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There’s no point in being a damn fool about it. – W. C. Fields
Yes. This. The onus is on the wrongdoer to make things right, not on the bullied to be magnanimous. Selkie really doesn’t have any obligation here.
Well, she doesn’t have any obligation to the bully, she does however have an obligation to herself – an obligation to be the better person. And i this case that means giving Heather a second chance.
I agree with you on this one. It’s being a GOOD parent to make sure that lesson is reached, to deal reasonably with anger, and to forgive. So, Todd is a very good parent in this regard.
She has a right to be angry. Todd can insist that she listen to Heather, but the choice to forgive or not will have to be Selkie’s alone. You can’t force someone to forgive. Trying will just lead to massive resentment.
I’ll really not comfortable with the ‘it’s only hurting you, you have to LET GO’ rhetoric. Anger can serve to protect us from further harm. She doesn’t really have anything to lose by dismissing Heather.
I recently learned in therapy that it’s ok not to forgive the actions of individuals that bullied you in the past, despite the society expecting you to. I’m hoping it may be possible to let go of the anger without needing to forgive them, because the anger does hurt only you (unless it causes you to do something really drastic).
I suppose it depends on your definition of ‘forgive’. To me, forgiving doesn’t mean liking them, being nice to them, or ever letting them even be around me again. To me, forgiveness is about accepting that whatever they did, it wasn’t about me, it was about them. I was just a convenient target. It’s about accepting that they are human, and do stupid, mean, and screwed up things, just like every other human on the planet, including me. That while it certainly doesn’t excuse what they did, there was something going on in their life, or inside them, that caused them do act rotten towards me.
That actually makes a lot of sense. I always think of ‘forgive’ as meaning that if you forgive someone, you treat them as though you would as if whatever they did hadn’t happened–ie. letting them into or back into your life. That doesn’t sit well with me. Putting the blame squarely where it belongs and moving on is another matter entirely.
Agreed!
Ah yes, the theraputic effect of having dinner with the bully. Good luck, Sel!
Don´t think of it as having dinner with the bully. Think of it as negotiating Heather´s terms of surrender.
Presumably, after being “crazy grounded” from the incident to the dinner (and beyond), Heather will have learned something. Whatever that “something” is…
And Todd steps up with a parenting fastball! This could go very well or very badly. But her expression in the second to last panel is just great. Love the mood lighting, too.
Ha ha ha ha ha! ^^ “When your children are apologizing for something they did is the best moment to slip in something that they don’t want to do.” Parenting handbook, chapter 2, seventh verse.
give me that so i can burn it and find the author responsible for my childhood
“Into every life, a drop of rain must fall. Always give your child something to complain about in your style of parenting, so they will swear to themselves to do better with their own offspring. Thus, you preserve the chain of improving parenting over the generations.” Parenting handbook, chapter 13, verse 1.
I particularly love the lighting effects and how you made it very clear that it’s night time, not just darken up normal daylight colors. Very nicely done.
And oh boy….. I can’t wait to see this
Nice job with the coloring/lighting of sunset. I see that as being just after golden hour. I like how Todd admits his own uncertainty about whether or not it’s a good idea.
If it’s a simple one-off opportunity for the kids to find common ground, which “may” lead to peace, sounds like a sound idea.
I’m curious about the office politics to come from it.
I’d say the chances are good for peace. Yes Heather did something mean but is being mean truely in her nature? As I remember it she only took Selkie’s shirt to get back in with her “friends.” If she can be made to see that real friends would have rejoiced at her getting adopted, & wouldn’t have rejected her like they did, then maybe she could start to look for someone who would make for her a better friend.
I REALLY like the art in this one Dave. Keep up the good work!
I loved every panel!
And I have to remember Todd’s last line: “Possibly, yes.” There have been times. . .
“Possibly, yes.”
GOOD ANSWER!
Great mood lighting! Um, Panel 7 though… Selkie looks like a frog in a way. I love that in Panel 2 she is staring out at a lake! Intrigue! And thanks again for our first ever official guest strip!!
I hadn’t noticed she was looking at the lake before you pointed it out. :O
BTW Dave, what kind of car is Todd driving? It looks like a 42 Bluefunk. 😉
One of the modern day Beetles.
The New Beetle or the Beetle (which is the New-New Beetle)? Kind of like the iPad III vs just the iPad.
Feels like the art leveled up.
The quality of the art here he improved so much, it’s really impressive.
“I think we should work on forgiveness… on giving people a chance.”
I wonder what Andi would say about that.
:3
haha if only there was someone to say that to him at that moment
I still maintain, judging by the dialogue between Todd and Andi, that their break-up didn’t happen just because of the one comment, but because of a lot of bickering and not agreeing on things. Relationships rarely end on a single comment, even if it’s a very, very hurtful one.
I agree. They weren’t compatible because they wanted different things from life in a way that couldn’t be dealt with by compromise. Andi’s comment just drove that conflict home.
coming from some one who was bullied k-12th i under the pain and anger but, hwen i look back all these yaers later id rather say i thank them cause they helped make me the empathetic person i am today as i stand proudly and say i suvived and am better for it
Her face in panel 7. Best face ever.
XD That second last panel! Oh man, Selkie’s face is just awesome <3
PUNCH BUGGY BLUE! *whack!*