I thought about leaving the tails off the angel and devil speech bubbles since it's technically "thoughts", but it was a bit confusing who was saying what.
Might makes right might not be an ideal lesson, but always be honest is. Don’t set a bad example when trying not to set a different bad example, Todd. XD
Love the role reversal here! I’m glad Todd isn’t going the all out cruel route – it’s possible to tell the truth about what happened in a way that doesn’t completely screw over the principal. Todd’s choosing to take the high road. Good for him!
…But don’t lie for the principal. Actions, and lack thereof, have consequences, and an official report wouldn’t hurt in case of any future issues.
Don’t people draw “thought-balloons” anymore? Speech balloons have smooth sides and a pointed tail. Thought balloons have lumpy sides (like clouds) and the tails are a series of shrinking dots.
Yeah, thoughts should be easy enough to arrange. In contrast to a speech bubble, a thought bubble – in my experience – takes one of three variations:
1. Cloud, with little bubbles leading up to it.
2. Rectangular box, the kind reserved also for narration. When the writer’s commenting on the story, it’s narration. When a character’s commenting on their situation in an in-character, not-4th-wall-breaking way, it’s a thought box.
3. Jagged thought box, like lightning jaggedness around the sides. This is generally more for telepathy, though.
So you have some options. But because you’re totally in the thought process, I don’t think there’s any reason not to use speech bubbles for this. It’d be different if it were a normal scene but with the internal process drawn on his shoulders, not in their own world: in that case, you’d be showing which things are said out loud (and reacted to) and which are merely thought (and not heard by other characters).
LMAO! I love those characters! Especially Selkie’s personification. And I also love what appears role reversal, but is really just application of the good/justice vs, evil/chaos. Lawful good isn’t always the best alignment. đ
However, even if Todd doesn’t compound on Truck’s punishment, the principal ought to get the full fallout from this.
Holy crap, Dave, this is awesome!! I LOVE THE ANGEL AND DEVIL TODDS!!! The fact that they are at first apparently opposite than the usual is hilarious but I really want a look at the back of Angel Todd to see if the “A” is crossed out on his. I notice that Devil Todd has sad faces instead of smiley face tattoos. This is brilliant! I love the way Angel Todd still looks like his rebellious side! Squeee!! This one is fun! And, yes, speech bubbles necessary here.
Cruel is one thing. Honest is another. He owes it to Selkie (and the other kids in the school) to tell what happened cleanly, and without bias. Principal Hobbit DESERVES to have the story thrown up in his face.
Could just be me, but I interpreted âdevil Toddâ as, rather, the somewhat literal Devilâs advocateâwhich is to say in this case not so much evil as offering a counterpoint to the righteous indignation of âangel Toddâ.
Someone put Todd’s kid in the hospital and the school’s response was to punish Selkie for fighting back when screaming for help didn’t work. Her attacker got nothing except for a parental scolding when he came after her again.
I don’t care about being mean to the principal. I care about Todd making an appropriate response to a school official who was accessory to the second assault. ESPECIALLY since the principal’s response to Truck going after Selkie again was NOT to call Todd or to let him know anything had happened. It was to sweep it under the rug and try to force Selkie into going along with that.
This man threatened his teachers into keeping quiet. He had a hostile workplace claim filed against him for good reason. It’s only AFTER finding out about that does he try to smooth things over with the teacher who reported him. The principal did NOTHING until he got caught and found out he would be held accountable for his criminal behavior.
This isn’t the principal making a bad judgement call and doing his best to recover from that. This is the principal trying to ignore issues and make them go away by always picking the path of least resistance. He isn’t changing his behavior even as stuff is coming back to haunt him. He even tried to cover up the evidence Selkie gathered on her phone instead of letting her present it.
Ongoing bad behavior must be addressed rather than excused. Just because Todd is planning on bringing this up later doesn’t mean he shouldn’t move through the proper channels, first of which is honestly and completely answering the police officer’s questions.
I am someone who fought back against being bullied in school. Since I was, quite literally, the smallest boy in my school, never was any case of my fighting back ever considered something else. It’s hard to blame a kid smaller than the kindergarteners for defending themselves against someone who had 40 to 60 pounds and a full foot of height on them.
Of course I went to school during a time when the police weren’t called to arrest kids either.
My youngest brother came along at a much later time; the same time when someone defending them self was just as guilty as the perpetrator. He also got expelled his first day of senior high school for not fighting back, “because he must have done something to instigate the fight.” He did, too. He was sticking up for another kid, preventing that kid from getting bullied.
Initially, the pricipal TRIED to walk the line between doing the right thing, and following mandatory school guidelines (i.e. punishing Selkie for fighting back). Then he was bullied by the elder Trunchbull, and out of (fear? desperation?) lack of other options, reversed his position on Truck’s punishment.
Your reaction is to throw him under the bus, just as he did Selkie. Just because the Principal wasn’t a brave man (we can’t all be brave men or women) and took the cowardly way out, surely in an act of self preservation, do you feel it serves the purpose of justice to sell him out like that?
Todd is mad as hell. As a parent, that is fully his right. He also seems to possess some good sense too though.
In regards to “Does it serve the purpose of justice”, I believe that fully informing the officer of the principal’s actions is indeed justice. It might not be the “right” thing, but it is completely just. For each of our actions and choices, good or bad, there are consequences resulting from them. The principal isn’t a brave man, but that does not change the fact he DID make conscious choices in his handling of the situations. These are the consequences of his actions and choices, and speaking from a “Justice” point of view he should accept these consequences. Like I said, not sure if this is the right thing to do, but it is the just thing to do.
I do expect him to be brave, or failing that I expect him to be just enough to reverse both children’s punishments rather than only one.
Urban dictionary states: “One is thrown under the bus when they are made the scapegoat or blamed for something that wasn’t their responsibility in the first place.”
Todd is NOT making the principal into a scapegoat. This WAS the principal’s responsibility in the first place. Holding someone accountable for their actions is not the same as betraying them.
The principal betrayed a child under his care because it was easy. Holding him accountable for that is not wrong. It is not *nice,* but it is not unjust. It also does a great deal to prevent the situation from happening again.
as i have with several of my other comics i read I’m going to suggest patreon to you todd see if anything comes of it. patreon is wonderful because it allows fans to support a comic that they enjoy.
I’ve thought about it, honestly. So far what’s holding me back is that I’m so slow on making the strips, I’m afraid making regular bonus patron content would aggravate that problem.
Honestly I dont see a need for you to do a bonus if you cant or think you wont have time. Patron and things like that are a way for your fans to support you for what you are doing now. If someone wants extra in order to support that oh well, but I dont think its required. Personaly I dont like buying the books because I hate the clutter, but I like finding other ways to support the artists I like besides just purchasing books.
Ah, evil vs. good, the age-old question …
Personally, I believe that either can help you, but you have to have the lawful attitude to back it with justice.
I have no problem with Todd telling the cops exactly what the principal did, no more no less. Actions have consequences. The only thing Todd needs to tone down is the gleeful attitude. Come to think of it, the only time I have problems with Selkie is when she’s being gleeful about other people getting in trouble.
Well thanks, Dave. Now I have to spend the weekend trying to turn the Selkie “Yay, evils” image into and avatar, despite my complete lack of talent.
Seriously, though, the Two Todds are really awesome, but that Selkie drawing made me laugh for a good then minutes. Thank you, I really needed that.
Just because he has horns and hooves doesn’t mean he’s evil (It appears that his “angel” is actually his Id in this case and his devil is his Superego in this case)
Honestly I think what he should do is say exactly what happened, INCLUDING the fact that this was largely due to Trunchbull’s bullying of both the principle AND the last school.
“So while this should NOT have played out this way, I can see why it did.”
I like the role switch with the angel and devil, I believe this is the first time I root the angel is right. Also miss mad science will learn a great lesson from this, being don’t just lay down and take it when a bully in a seat of authority messes with you. The alternative is the principal states that Todd abused Selkie and that’s why she was in the hospital.The principal honestly has this coming, he abuses his power, threatens his teachers and fears a child who needs mental help.
As an evil HYDRA recruiter actively trying to get Selkie to join my organization (when she’s older(What do you mean, we’re not in the same continuity? That minor detail can be solved with sufficient Evil Science.)), it pains me to think that Todd may be sabotaging my efforts.
We better hurry up the completion of the Webcomics Portal Portal, because I don’t think we have the funds to create a time machine that functions for webcomics continuity… Please, Todd, I beg you: do not turn your daughter from the path of evil! Think of the Guardians of the Galaxy movie! She would be happier with cyborg body parts and you know it!
Honestly, telling the truth would not be “Might makes right”. It would be getting justice for his daughter who was assaulted. And it wouldn’t be casting hellfire, either. The principal took the path of least resistance to save himself, not to protect the students in his care.
Trunchbull wasn’t even told that there were witnesses to Truck’s attack on Selkie. And even openly stated to the secretary that they ONLY reason he was punishing the victim was to appease Trunchbull.
Todd has shown in the past he’ll take the highroad. And I have no doubt he’d do the same here. But he can also get justice for his daughter who is having nightmares about her attack and was made ill from her exposure to the cold by simply being honest.
Especially since Selkie now has a week’s worth of unexcused absences and make-up work. For those who don’t know about School absences, if you have more than five unexcused absences (meaning you need a note from a doctor or parent), you automatically fail ALL your classes. At least in my state. If there’s more still, your parent is held legally accountable for truancy.
And Selkie has five already, since suspensions are not counted as excused absences.
Uh, what? A parent can be held legally accountable for truancy if their child is … suspended by the school’s administration for more than a week? That doesn’t make a lick of sense.
It could be different in other places. But yeah. Where I am, each day absent with no parent or doctor note (and some places don’t even accept parental notes) are counted as unexcused absences. Which includes suspensions.
And Sylvia, a lot of laws don’t make sense. Like, I have a BBgun. I cannot bring it anywhere for protection b/c it’s illegal to carry one. However, carrying around an AK-47 (a real one), is totally legal. In Tennessee, the only animal you can shoot from a moving vehicle is a /whale/. For those who don’t know, Tennessee in the US is completely landlocked. And in New York, it’s illegal to molest butterflies. In Massachusetts, it’s legal for children to smoke, but not buy cigarettes. And in Alaska, pet flamingos are not allowed in barber shops.
I should think it would be an absolute defence in court against a charge of truancy that the school would not allow the child to attend.
The law may be on the books that way, I totally believe that — lawmakers often fail to think through the implications of a carelessly worded law — but even the least competent lawyer in the world could surely manage to get such a charge tossed out and the law overturned, so if the law still stands I’m guessing no charges have ever been laid.
Dave I hope your not going to make todd lie to Officer Martin lying to an Officer that is not something to do and not something to tell your little girl that you did do and sometimes might does make right and the principal should have told mr Trunchbull about what his kid did the first time and showed mr Trunchbull the teachers that saw his kid hurt selkie if the principal did that maybe this hole thing would not have happened.
Keep it to facts, neat, sterile, pure facts. Cops prefer it that way, they’re quite capable of coming to their own conclusions. And in this case, it’s highly likely they’ll come to the same one we all are. (Hobbit needs to get fired/jailed!)
Just tell him what happened. Whatever the motivations, what matters are the facts, and this was clearly a problem that the cops need to know about.
Also, vengeance when properly throttled can be a fine motivation. Don’t make this into the “it’s nicer to just try to end things pacifistically” moral trope. Let him have it full on in the face. (Don’t lie and exaggerate, of course, but this kid fucking beat up a kid who has genuine medical issues. There is no excuse and no sympathy for that.)
Exactly. Simply stating that children were roughhousing and it got out of hand. (none of the adults know the real reasons yet, right?) One of the children has a medical condition that makes her susceptible to the cold. Her hospitalization was an indirect consequence of this. The matter of the other child involved in the incident not being punished is something to be discussed with the School Board, but the information about the conflict itself should be told.
I wonder if some folks aren’t overlooking the fact that justice /has/ largely been served at this point. The Trunchbull situation has been resolved for the foreseeable future, and the Principal has been embarrassed for his mishandling in front of his own faculty who are taking active steps to correct for any potential future errors he might be inclined to make.
This is not, I believe, the time for a thorough scorched earth scrubbing of the Principal’s career. Is it time to be honest? Certainly.
Selkie went to the hospital because she was playing outside and got into a violent altercation with the school bully, a result of which was that she got quite sick. This is a thing that happens, and the hospital visit was not the result of the administrative abuse perpetrated by the Principal in response to the snowball fight and it’s fallout.
Thus, while he certainly deserves to be strung up by the PTA for fumbling his administrative handling of Truck and Selkie, (as well as other, related abuses including the firing of their former gym teacher over the shirt incident) the Principal does not quite deserve to be dragged in front of a Judge over it.
This is a moment for moderation, and for Todd /not/ to become a replacement Truncheon.
Part of the issue here is that the principal *has* been embarrassed for his mishandling of this situation. Never kick a guy in the balls, even symbolically. Perhaps, ESPECIALLY symbolically.
He’s not going to forget that “Todd and Selkie” are responsible for his embarrassment. Keeping him around is the worst thing that could happen for them.
I don’t know. I think Todd needs to be really careful here … there have been a lot of cases where a parent is blamed/accused of abuse/neglect when someone else is actually at fault. If that is where the cop is already leaning, Todd will have to choose his words carefully. Hopefully I’m wrong, but my devious mind went there …
No, no, no! Please don’t take this from me! It doesn’t have to be as extreme as Trunchbull’s actions, but there is a limit to victimizing victims and bullies (ie the principal in this particular instance) should get their comeuppance. Also the biggest difference is Trunchbull attacking unfairly, and this is only karma returning to the principal. It’s not like Todd’s attacking everyone, it’s just justice in this case. As long a he’s honest about what the principal did, then that should be more than enough.
I was archive binging and noticed something on this particular comic. On Devil Todd’s back, there is a tattoo that is T & A with the A crossed out. At the time, I didn’t think much of it but now, with revelation of Amanda’s history and that Todd and Andi are an item, I don’t think the T & A stands for the more umm vulgar meaning but rather, Todd & Andi. This seems to suggest to me that he got the tat when he and Andi were an serious item but then as things soured, the A got crossed off. Now, I know that its just his devil and I’ve seen Todd’s true back and don’t recall seeing that tat there, but to see that the devil part was what was Andi’s connection to him says something.
Oh, come ON! Trunchbull’s situation wasn’t like this… Selkie really was hurt.
Dangit, Dave… er… Todd! đ
I don’t understand why “false equivalence as moral dilemma” is so popular a trope.
Maybe it’s because a lot of people think in those terms, even if they aren’t right.
….
Logic is a cruel, cruel mistress…
And how! Boy, I am loving these two sides to Todd’s psyche!
DON’T LISTEN TO THEM TODD! He deserves full well to have both barrels let loose at him and you know it!
Might makes right might not be an ideal lesson, but always be honest is. Don’t set a bad example when trying not to set a different bad example, Todd. XD
Love the role reversal here! I’m glad Todd isn’t going the all out cruel route – it’s possible to tell the truth about what happened in a way that doesn’t completely screw over the principal. Todd’s choosing to take the high road. Good for him!
…But don’t lie for the principal. Actions, and lack thereof, have consequences, and an official report wouldn’t hurt in case of any future issues.
I think it’s about the choice between emphasising the Hobbit’s failure, or emphasising that Trunchbull had left the guy with not much choice.
I guess I enjoy the irony here, but the dude deserves to get busted for how he has been running the school and how he has been treating the staff.
There’s nothing evil about telling the truth.
He’ll get that on the school level, from the PTA and his own bosses. Throwing him under the legal bus is a bit much right now.
You could always color the speech/thought bubbles different colors or give them different colored outlines. Just a suggestion.
Don’t people draw “thought-balloons” anymore? Speech balloons have smooth sides and a pointed tail. Thought balloons have lumpy sides (like clouds) and the tails are a series of shrinking dots.
http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/img-thing?.out=jpg&size=l&tid=11890732
Maybe this one will work.
http://www.clipartbest.com/cliparts/ncB/6dG/ncB6dGecA.jpeg
Yeah, thoughts should be easy enough to arrange. In contrast to a speech bubble, a thought bubble – in my experience – takes one of three variations:
1. Cloud, with little bubbles leading up to it.
2. Rectangular box, the kind reserved also for narration. When the writer’s commenting on the story, it’s narration. When a character’s commenting on their situation in an in-character, not-4th-wall-breaking way, it’s a thought box.
3. Jagged thought box, like lightning jaggedness around the sides. This is generally more for telepathy, though.
So you have some options. But because you’re totally in the thought process, I don’t think there’s any reason not to use speech bubbles for this. It’d be different if it were a normal scene but with the internal process drawn on his shoulders, not in their own world: in that case, you’d be showing which things are said out loud (and reacted to) and which are merely thought (and not heard by other characters).
LMAO! I love those characters! Especially Selkie’s personification. And I also love what appears role reversal, but is really just application of the good/justice vs, evil/chaos. Lawful good isn’t always the best alignment. đ
However, even if Todd doesn’t compound on Truck’s punishment, the principal ought to get the full fallout from this.
Holy crap, Dave, this is awesome!! I LOVE THE ANGEL AND DEVIL TODDS!!! The fact that they are at first apparently opposite than the usual is hilarious but I really want a look at the back of Angel Todd to see if the “A” is crossed out on his. I notice that Devil Todd has sad faces instead of smiley face tattoos. This is brilliant! I love the way Angel Todd still looks like his rebellious side! Squeee!! This one is fun! And, yes, speech bubbles necessary here.
Cruel is one thing. Honest is another. He owes it to Selkie (and the other kids in the school) to tell what happened cleanly, and without bias. Principal Hobbit DESERVES to have the story thrown up in his face.
Could just be me, but I interpreted âdevil Toddâ as, rather, the somewhat literal Devilâs advocateâwhich is to say in this case not so much evil as offering a counterpoint to the righteous indignation of âangel Toddâ.
Someone put Todd’s kid in the hospital and the school’s response was to punish Selkie for fighting back when screaming for help didn’t work. Her attacker got nothing except for a parental scolding when he came after her again.
I don’t care about being mean to the principal. I care about Todd making an appropriate response to a school official who was accessory to the second assault. ESPECIALLY since the principal’s response to Truck going after Selkie again was NOT to call Todd or to let him know anything had happened. It was to sweep it under the rug and try to force Selkie into going along with that.
This man threatened his teachers into keeping quiet. He had a hostile workplace claim filed against him for good reason. It’s only AFTER finding out about that does he try to smooth things over with the teacher who reported him. The principal did NOTHING until he got caught and found out he would be held accountable for his criminal behavior.
This isn’t the principal making a bad judgement call and doing his best to recover from that. This is the principal trying to ignore issues and make them go away by always picking the path of least resistance. He isn’t changing his behavior even as stuff is coming back to haunt him. He even tried to cover up the evidence Selkie gathered on her phone instead of letting her present it.
Ongoing bad behavior must be addressed rather than excused. Just because Todd is planning on bringing this up later doesn’t mean he shouldn’t move through the proper channels, first of which is honestly and completely answering the police officer’s questions.
I am someone who fought back against being bullied in school. Since I was, quite literally, the smallest boy in my school, never was any case of my fighting back ever considered something else. It’s hard to blame a kid smaller than the kindergarteners for defending themselves against someone who had 40 to 60 pounds and a full foot of height on them.
Of course I went to school during a time when the police weren’t called to arrest kids either.
My youngest brother came along at a much later time; the same time when someone defending them self was just as guilty as the perpetrator. He also got expelled his first day of senior high school for not fighting back, “because he must have done something to instigate the fight.” He did, too. He was sticking up for another kid, preventing that kid from getting bullied.
Initially, the pricipal TRIED to walk the line between doing the right thing, and following mandatory school guidelines (i.e. punishing Selkie for fighting back). Then he was bullied by the elder Trunchbull, and out of (fear? desperation?) lack of other options, reversed his position on Truck’s punishment.
Your reaction is to throw him under the bus, just as he did Selkie. Just because the Principal wasn’t a brave man (we can’t all be brave men or women) and took the cowardly way out, surely in an act of self preservation, do you feel it serves the purpose of justice to sell him out like that?
Todd is mad as hell. As a parent, that is fully his right. He also seems to possess some good sense too though.
In regards to “Does it serve the purpose of justice”, I believe that fully informing the officer of the principal’s actions is indeed justice. It might not be the “right” thing, but it is completely just. For each of our actions and choices, good or bad, there are consequences resulting from them. The principal isn’t a brave man, but that does not change the fact he DID make conscious choices in his handling of the situations. These are the consequences of his actions and choices, and speaking from a “Justice” point of view he should accept these consequences. Like I said, not sure if this is the right thing to do, but it is the just thing to do.
I do expect him to be brave, or failing that I expect him to be just enough to reverse both children’s punishments rather than only one.
Urban dictionary states: “One is thrown under the bus when they are made the scapegoat or blamed for something that wasn’t their responsibility in the first place.”
Todd is NOT making the principal into a scapegoat. This WAS the principal’s responsibility in the first place. Holding someone accountable for their actions is not the same as betraying them.
The principal betrayed a child under his care because it was easy. Holding him accountable for that is not wrong. It is not *nice,* but it is not unjust. It also does a great deal to prevent the situation from happening again.
as i have with several of my other comics i read I’m going to suggest patreon to you todd see if anything comes of it. patreon is wonderful because it allows fans to support a comic that they enjoy.
I’ve thought about it, honestly. So far what’s holding me back is that I’m so slow on making the strips, I’m afraid making regular bonus patron content would aggravate that problem.
Then why don’t you make the behind the scenes stuff the bonus content? Or the chance to be featured in the comic as a character?
Cameos might be fun, but I’d rather not take things I am already doing like the behind the scenes items and move them behind a pay gate.
Honestly I dont see a need for you to do a bonus if you cant or think you wont have time. Patron and things like that are a way for your fans to support you for what you are doing now. If someone wants extra in order to support that oh well, but I dont think its required. Personaly I dont like buying the books because I hate the clutter, but I like finding other ways to support the artists I like besides just purchasing books.
Ah, evil vs. good, the age-old question …
Personally, I believe that either can help you, but you have to have the lawful attitude to back it with justice.
I really like the Angel. So what I would be doing in a situation like this.
just when he can got a great revenge the Evil Guy need to be the good guy…
Shirtless…Todds…
I have no problem with Todd telling the cops exactly what the principal did, no more no less. Actions have consequences. The only thing Todd needs to tone down is the gleeful attitude. Come to think of it, the only time I have problems with Selkie is when she’s being gleeful about other people getting in trouble.
Same here.
Well thanks, Dave. Now I have to spend the weekend trying to turn the Selkie “Yay, evils” image into and avatar, despite my complete lack of talent.
Seriously, though, the Two Todds are really awesome, but that Selkie drawing made me laugh for a good then minutes. Thank you, I really needed that.
Oh my fricking glob, this is hilarious! Todd’s “devil” arguing for right!? They’re just so fricking awesome! XD
Just because he has horns and hooves doesn’t mean he’s evil (It appears that his “angel” is actually his Id in this case and his devil is his Superego in this case)
You know it’s kinda beautiful that Todd has Selkie’s shoulder devil in his head.
Honestly I think what he should do is say exactly what happened, INCLUDING the fact that this was largely due to Trunchbull’s bullying of both the principle AND the last school.
“So while this should NOT have played out this way, I can see why it did.”
I like the role switch with the angel and devil, I believe this is the first time I root the angel is right. Also miss mad science will learn a great lesson from this, being don’t just lay down and take it when a bully in a seat of authority messes with you. The alternative is the principal states that Todd abused Selkie and that’s why she was in the hospital.The principal honestly has this coming, he abuses his power, threatens his teachers and fears a child who needs mental help.
perdition’s flame won’t fix anything? The heck? That is literally what it’s for.
A good shampoo ought to cure that hair infestation…
That Devil is a real Debbie Downer.
Isn’t anyone going to comment on the mer-Selkie waving her hands saying “Yays, evils!”? That’s the funniest thing in this comic.
As an evil HYDRA recruiter actively trying to get Selkie to join my organization (when she’s older(What do you mean, we’re not in the same continuity? That minor detail can be solved with sufficient Evil Science.)), it pains me to think that Todd may be sabotaging my efforts.
We better hurry up the completion of the Webcomics Portal Portal, because I don’t think we have the funds to create a time machine that functions for webcomics continuity… Please, Todd, I beg you: do not turn your daughter from the path of evil! Think of the Guardians of the Galaxy movie! She would be happier with cyborg body parts and you know it!
LOVE the character designs for the angel and devil.
Honestly, telling the truth would not be “Might makes right”. It would be getting justice for his daughter who was assaulted. And it wouldn’t be casting hellfire, either. The principal took the path of least resistance to save himself, not to protect the students in his care.
Trunchbull wasn’t even told that there were witnesses to Truck’s attack on Selkie. And even openly stated to the secretary that they ONLY reason he was punishing the victim was to appease Trunchbull.
Todd has shown in the past he’ll take the highroad. And I have no doubt he’d do the same here. But he can also get justice for his daughter who is having nightmares about her attack and was made ill from her exposure to the cold by simply being honest.
Especially since Selkie now has a week’s worth of unexcused absences and make-up work. For those who don’t know about School absences, if you have more than five unexcused absences (meaning you need a note from a doctor or parent), you automatically fail ALL your classes. At least in my state. If there’s more still, your parent is held legally accountable for truancy.
And Selkie has five already, since suspensions are not counted as excused absences.
Well, a full week of absence counts as 1 absence is my book, and most books for that matter.
Uh, what? A parent can be held legally accountable for truancy if their child is … suspended by the school’s administration for more than a week? That doesn’t make a lick of sense.
It could be different in other places. But yeah. Where I am, each day absent with no parent or doctor note (and some places don’t even accept parental notes) are counted as unexcused absences. Which includes suspensions.
And Sylvia, a lot of laws don’t make sense. Like, I have a BBgun. I cannot bring it anywhere for protection b/c it’s illegal to carry one. However, carrying around an AK-47 (a real one), is totally legal. In Tennessee, the only animal you can shoot from a moving vehicle is a /whale/. For those who don’t know, Tennessee in the US is completely landlocked. And in New York, it’s illegal to molest butterflies. In Massachusetts, it’s legal for children to smoke, but not buy cigarettes. And in Alaska, pet flamingos are not allowed in barber shops.
Lots of crazy ass laws.
I should think it would be an absolute defence in court against a charge of truancy that the school would not allow the child to attend.
The law may be on the books that way, I totally believe that — lawmakers often fail to think through the implications of a carelessly worded law — but even the least competent lawyer in the world could surely manage to get such a charge tossed out and the law overturned, so if the law still stands I’m guessing no charges have ever been laid.
The way I see it the only way to not get the principal into trouble would be to lie about what happened. That shouldn’t be the “right” option.
Dave I hope your not going to make todd lie to Officer Martin lying to an Officer that is not something to do and not something to tell your little girl that you did do and sometimes might does make right and the principal should have told mr Trunchbull about what his kid did the first time and showed mr Trunchbull the teachers that saw his kid hurt selkie if the principal did that maybe this hole thing would not have happened.
Keep it to facts, neat, sterile, pure facts. Cops prefer it that way, they’re quite capable of coming to their own conclusions. And in this case, it’s highly likely they’ll come to the same one we all are. (Hobbit needs to get fired/jailed!)
I’m a Hobbit, and I find this offensive.
But…”might makes right” isn’t what is happening here…what is happening is “don’t snitch to the cops even if you know what someone did is very wrong”
Just tell him what happened. Whatever the motivations, what matters are the facts, and this was clearly a problem that the cops need to know about.
Also, vengeance when properly throttled can be a fine motivation. Don’t make this into the “it’s nicer to just try to end things pacifistically” moral trope. Let him have it full on in the face. (Don’t lie and exaggerate, of course, but this kid fucking beat up a kid who has genuine medical issues. There is no excuse and no sympathy for that.)
Exactly. Simply stating that children were roughhousing and it got out of hand. (none of the adults know the real reasons yet, right?) One of the children has a medical condition that makes her susceptible to the cold. Her hospitalization was an indirect consequence of this. The matter of the other child involved in the incident not being punished is something to be discussed with the School Board, but the information about the conflict itself should be told.
I wonder if some folks aren’t overlooking the fact that justice /has/ largely been served at this point. The Trunchbull situation has been resolved for the foreseeable future, and the Principal has been embarrassed for his mishandling in front of his own faculty who are taking active steps to correct for any potential future errors he might be inclined to make.
This is not, I believe, the time for a thorough scorched earth scrubbing of the Principal’s career. Is it time to be honest? Certainly.
Selkie went to the hospital because she was playing outside and got into a violent altercation with the school bully, a result of which was that she got quite sick. This is a thing that happens, and the hospital visit was not the result of the administrative abuse perpetrated by the Principal in response to the snowball fight and it’s fallout.
Thus, while he certainly deserves to be strung up by the PTA for fumbling his administrative handling of Truck and Selkie, (as well as other, related abuses including the firing of their former gym teacher over the shirt incident) the Principal does not quite deserve to be dragged in front of a Judge over it.
This is a moment for moderation, and for Todd /not/ to become a replacement Truncheon.
Part of the issue here is that the principal *has* been embarrassed for his mishandling of this situation. Never kick a guy in the balls, even symbolically. Perhaps, ESPECIALLY symbolically.
He’s not going to forget that “Todd and Selkie” are responsible for his embarrassment. Keeping him around is the worst thing that could happen for them.
I don’t know. I think Todd needs to be really careful here … there have been a lot of cases where a parent is blamed/accused of abuse/neglect when someone else is actually at fault. If that is where the cop is already leaning, Todd will have to choose his words carefully. Hopefully I’m wrong, but my devious mind went there …
No, no, no! Please don’t take this from me! It doesn’t have to be as extreme as Trunchbull’s actions, but there is a limit to victimizing victims and bullies (ie the principal in this particular instance) should get their comeuppance. Also the biggest difference is Trunchbull attacking unfairly, and this is only karma returning to the principal. It’s not like Todd’s attacking everyone, it’s just justice in this case. As long a he’s honest about what the principal did, then that should be more than enough.
I think Todd doesn’t know that angels are good and demons are bad.
I was archive binging and noticed something on this particular comic. On Devil Todd’s back, there is a tattoo that is T & A with the A crossed out. At the time, I didn’t think much of it but now, with revelation of Amanda’s history and that Todd and Andi are an item, I don’t think the T & A stands for the more umm vulgar meaning but rather, Todd & Andi. This seems to suggest to me that he got the tat when he and Andi were an serious item but then as things soured, the A got crossed off. Now, I know that its just his devil and I’ve seen Todd’s true back and don’t recall seeing that tat there, but to see that the devil part was what was Andi’s connection to him says something.