I have holiday family stuff this evening and got comicking earlier than usual just in case fireworks go long or traffic gets bad. I actually didn’t mean for it to go live now, just under loaded it just in case. C’est la vie
I know its a WIP, but, I really like the white backgrounds and scribble people. It feels like Amanda is trying to remember, and can’t focus on anything but this one topic right now (she effectively has no surroundings in her mind).
it is going to break Amanda’s little heart
when she learns the reason her father didn’t recognize her
let alone adopt her back at the orphanage
is because her mother told him she was dead.
and as such he was never even looking for her.
Now is Amanda going to follow after her mother in hopes of more answers when they get home?
or has Amanda put enough of the puzzle pieces together to realize that her dad is walking away at the moment.
will she run after her Father begging him to forgive Mom, and give them a second chance at a family?
will she realize her best chance at having that family require her to actually make a friendship with Selkie as a new sister?
I’m more inclined to think she’d run up and kick him in the shins before she’d beg for “mom and dad” to get back together cuz we’ve seen her resort first and foremost to righteous indignation when she feels wronged. And, boy, I don’t think she’d leap to desperation. She seems the type to go straight to shin-kickin’, cuz I think she’d piece together that he was there and he was her dad and he didn’t pick her, but she wouldn’t have any idea without being told that he thought she was dead because mom told him that.
YEEEEEEAAAAAH. OH GOD. You just brought up a really excellent point and it is a likely reaction for Amanda and omgIreallyreallyhopenotthingswouldgoreallyterribleplacesforthegirlsandeverythingwouldsuckandaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh D8
I have loved this comic for awhile now, but this story line is just awesome. I want the big reveal, I want to see how Selkie and Amanda react. I want to see how Andi reacts when Amanda finds out the whole story. I want to know NOW.
But the pacing is great. It’s stretching it out and a great rate. Just enough moves forward to satisfy, but still leaves me waiting for the next page. Thanks for the great comic! 🙂
I have a bad feeling about this. I think outrage towards Selkie is stirring anew. See the exclamation marks over the vague notion of Selkie? Amanda was already telling herself a story in which Selkie “stole” the Daddy Amanda should have had when Todd adopted Selkie. I think learning that he is her biological father– which carries great weight with Amanda (REAL parents)–will make the memory of not being chosen more harsh. I don’t think Amanda is going to be able to get angry at Andi. The fear of rejection is too strong and she has no memories of stability to give her the notion that you can get angry at the people you love and they will still love you.
Amanda will look for someone to blame. And Selkie is right there calling Amanda’s bio father “Dad”.
If we’re going to be technical, she already got angry at Andi — in the car, when she took a swing at her. The consequences were mild, and while that doesn’t form a foundation for her as far as stability is concerned, it at least allows for the option of her getting angry at her mom again.
Also getting physical with her mom in some fashion. Given that that was the reaction last time there was an overload, and even though a rule was laid down, by the time you get to overload you’re not really in the mindset to follow the rules.
There is angry, and there is “I had a father that wanted me, but you didn’t. So you lied to him and told him I was DEAD. You even provided him with fake remains and lied for 8 more years, while I was hurt, and hurt, and hurt and then thrown away. He came looking for a child–because he never stopped wanting a kid–he missed me!– but he picked someone else when I was right in front of him. Because he thought I was dead. Because you lied to him” angry. One is an order of magnitude more dangerous to try to admit to.
I think she’s still at the point of “I can’t believe that jerk is my dad” combining and cross-breeding with “Fish-Face stole my biodad.” Hasn’t gotten anywhere near the layers and nuances the rest of us are working from.
I agree that they might be different in magnitude, though I don’t think that the level she’s at now should be *that* much higher than when she took a swing at her mom. Because I’m not discounting how much was going through her at the time she took that swing, which I think was a bigger deal than you might be remembering.
Not that it’s going to be anything like when she’s got all the data in front of her. But that’s a ways in coming. And if Andi can be at all sensitive to this (which remains to be seen), Amanda’s not going to get the rest of the story until she’s mature enough to put it into some perspective (and be assured that her family isn’t going to abandon her again).
No, Amanda, you should NOT know now. Because I have a horrible feeling that if you do, you will go running after Todd and Selkie shouting something horrible in the heart of the moment. I think it will be much better for you to know in the car. On the freeway. After it’s too late to go back inside.
The truth, for Amanda, really hinges on that question. Andi’s noncommittal response (not ready to tell the truth and not prepared to lie) leaves just enough doubt to tear Amanda into shreds of anxious anticipation. I don’t even think Amanda knows how she will feel or react IF Todd is her father: right now, she just HAS TO KNOW.
Your gravatar is quite appropriate here, because I feel like Mike would defuse this tension and nuke them all here and now, and I’m not sure that would be any worse than drawing it out.
You’re right. She does. See the half formed image in her mind where it is the blurry faced self, but half is Amanda’s pigtail and half is Todds blonde hair, but the face is the same. They have the same face, the same eyes. She sees it, she knows it her heart where this is going but isn’t prepared to deal with it.
I’m kind of glad I was stuck in a fireworks booth with no time to check webcomics the few times I was awake and home, since June 28–I got to read the past week’s pages all at once. (I hate doing comics on my phone.)
And now I know why my daughter (12 this coming Saturday) was desperate to get on my laptop “for just a minute” while I was gone and Grandma kept her and her sister out and about.
Yep, I suggested she might like Selkie awhile ago–somewhere during the Truck arc. I don’t think she reads the comments, though–I did warn her that the discussions could get a bit heavy, but that they’re good.
My laptop, with all my bookmarks, was down for a little over a month, and my daughter was very good about spoilers, though she didn’t get why I didn’t want to use my husband’s laptop, just because I wanted my RSS feed notifications to accurately reflect what I’d read. My laptop went down just as Andi was getting ready to go get Amanda, y’see…
She made you some fan art last night–should be hitting your inbox about now 🙂 Charcoal chunk on sandy sidewalk makes for some crude art (and filthy hands) …
GIANT MULTIPLE-PLANET-SIZE TENSION BOMB ASIDE –
From an artistic standpoint, Dave, I LOVE how Amanda/we don’t see her mother’s eyes in this one. It really adds to the alien, and alienating, feel of such a core revelation. To Amanda, Andi must feel less like a person, and more like an enigma, a figure of Secrets. Scary, life-changing things are being hidden from her… just as Andi’s face is being hidden. And the symbology of seeing someone’s face (or not) is very, very strong… Well done!
Is this strip mega early or am I going crazy?
You’re insane. ;P
I have holiday family stuff this evening and got comicking earlier than usual just in case fireworks go long or traffic gets bad. I actually didn’t mean for it to go live now, just under loaded it just in case. C’est la vie
I know its a WIP, but, I really like the white backgrounds and scribble people. It feels like Amanda is trying to remember, and can’t focus on anything but this one topic right now (she effectively has no surroundings in her mind).
I think she just figured it out
And REALLY hoping that it isn’t true, by the look on her face.
She’s the right age to do the math…
She figured it out long ago. Her subconsciousness suppresses this knowledge to protect her, though.
it is going to break Amanda’s little heart
when she learns the reason her father didn’t recognize her
let alone adopt her back at the orphanage
is because her mother told him she was dead.
and as such he was never even looking for her.
Now is Amanda going to follow after her mother in hopes of more answers when they get home?
or has Amanda put enough of the puzzle pieces together to realize that her dad is walking away at the moment.
will she run after her Father begging him to forgive Mom, and give them a second chance at a family?
will she realize her best chance at having that family require her to actually make a friendship with Selkie as a new sister?
I’m more inclined to think she’d run up and kick him in the shins before she’d beg for “mom and dad” to get back together cuz we’ve seen her resort first and foremost to righteous indignation when she feels wronged. And, boy, I don’t think she’d leap to desperation. She seems the type to go straight to shin-kickin’, cuz I think she’d piece together that he was there and he was her dad and he didn’t pick her, but she wouldn’t have any idea without being told that he thought she was dead because mom told him that.
Or will she simply decide to never forgive “that fishy freak” for stealing HER dad and insist that she doesn’t deserve him?
YEEEEEEAAAAAH. OH GOD. You just brought up a really excellent point and it is a likely reaction for Amanda and omgIreallyreallyhopenotthingswouldgoreallyterribleplacesforthegirlsandeverythingwouldsuckandaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh D8
I have loved this comic for awhile now, but this story line is just awesome. I want the big reveal, I want to see how Selkie and Amanda react. I want to see how Andi reacts when Amanda finds out the whole story. I want to know NOW.
But the pacing is great. It’s stretching it out and a great rate. Just enough moves forward to satisfy, but still leaves me waiting for the next page. Thanks for the great comic! 🙂
Oh no, she’s already onto her!
Really building up this drama bomb
Ah, poor lamb. Not only is this going to hurt, she will probably have very little faith in Andi, from this point on.
Oh Amanda. I kinda hope you don’t get upset with your Dad.
I also hope she won’t get too upset with Andi. It’d be understandable but I hope she won’t despise her forever.
Definite shizz storm on the rise.
I have a bad feeling about this. I think outrage towards Selkie is stirring anew. See the exclamation marks over the vague notion of Selkie? Amanda was already telling herself a story in which Selkie “stole” the Daddy Amanda should have had when Todd adopted Selkie. I think learning that he is her biological father– which carries great weight with Amanda (REAL parents)–will make the memory of not being chosen more harsh. I don’t think Amanda is going to be able to get angry at Andi. The fear of rejection is too strong and she has no memories of stability to give her the notion that you can get angry at the people you love and they will still love you.
Amanda will look for someone to blame. And Selkie is right there calling Amanda’s bio father “Dad”.
You are very very right Bunny. And THIS CAN ONLY END IN TEARS *covers eyes”
If we’re going to be technical, she already got angry at Andi — in the car, when she took a swing at her. The consequences were mild, and while that doesn’t form a foundation for her as far as stability is concerned, it at least allows for the option of her getting angry at her mom again.
Also getting physical with her mom in some fashion. Given that that was the reaction last time there was an overload, and even though a rule was laid down, by the time you get to overload you’re not really in the mindset to follow the rules.
There is angry, and there is “I had a father that wanted me, but you didn’t. So you lied to him and told him I was DEAD. You even provided him with fake remains and lied for 8 more years, while I was hurt, and hurt, and hurt and then thrown away. He came looking for a child–because he never stopped wanting a kid–he missed me!– but he picked someone else when I was right in front of him. Because he thought I was dead. Because you lied to him” angry. One is an order of magnitude more dangerous to try to admit to.
I think she’s still at the point of “I can’t believe that jerk is my dad” combining and cross-breeding with “Fish-Face stole my biodad.” Hasn’t gotten anywhere near the layers and nuances the rest of us are working from.
I agree that they might be different in magnitude, though I don’t think that the level she’s at now should be *that* much higher than when she took a swing at her mom. Because I’m not discounting how much was going through her at the time she took that swing, which I think was a bigger deal than you might be remembering.
Not that it’s going to be anything like when she’s got all the data in front of her. But that’s a ways in coming. And if Andi can be at all sensitive to this (which remains to be seen), Amanda’s not going to get the rest of the story until she’s mature enough to put it into some perspective (and be assured that her family isn’t going to abandon her again).
You mean calling Amanda’s biological father ‘Dads’.
Oh, Lordy. That is all.
No, Amanda, you should NOT know now. Because I have a horrible feeling that if you do, you will go running after Todd and Selkie shouting something horrible in the heart of the moment. I think it will be much better for you to know in the car. On the freeway. After it’s too late to go back inside.
Don’t worry, she’ll likely wind up shouting something with malice aforethought instead.
Sadly true, that.
The truth, for Amanda, really hinges on that question. Andi’s noncommittal response (not ready to tell the truth and not prepared to lie) leaves just enough doubt to tear Amanda into shreds of anxious anticipation. I don’t even think Amanda knows how she will feel or react IF Todd is her father: right now, she just HAS TO KNOW.
It’s beautiful in its humanity.
Jigsaw puzzle? No. This is like watching a NUCLEAR BOMB assemble itself!
And have a hand hovering it’s own launch button:)
Your gravatar is quite appropriate here, because I feel like Mike would defuse this tension and nuke them all here and now, and I’m not sure that would be any worse than drawing it out.
oh dear, this won’t end well for anyone…
Will Andi pull out the NOT NOW, AMANDA MARIE, and if she does, will it send Amanda into robot mode or a full-on rage?
Will Andi have the courage to admit to Amanda that the reason her father never went looking for her was because she told him Amanda was dead?
If she doesn’t, what new web of lies is she going to spin? If she does, what will Amanda have to say about her formerly-perfect “real mom” afterwards?
So much curiosity, Dave. SO MUCH.
SHE KNOWS.
You’re right. She does. See the half formed image in her mind where it is the blurry faced self, but half is Amanda’s pigtail and half is Todds blonde hair, but the face is the same. They have the same face, the same eyes. She sees it, she knows it her heart where this is going but isn’t prepared to deal with it.
Clever Girl!
I’m kind of glad I was stuck in a fireworks booth with no time to check webcomics the few times I was awake and home, since June 28–I got to read the past week’s pages all at once. (I hate doing comics on my phone.)
And now I know why my daughter (12 this coming Saturday) was desperate to get on my laptop “for just a minute” while I was gone and Grandma kept her and her sister out and about.
Hoo, boy…
Aw, family webcomicing together? Awesome. And yes, the tension is killing us all.
Yep, I suggested she might like Selkie awhile ago–somewhere during the Truck arc. I don’t think she reads the comments, though–I did warn her that the discussions could get a bit heavy, but that they’re good.
My laptop, with all my bookmarks, was down for a little over a month, and my daughter was very good about spoilers, though she didn’t get why I didn’t want to use my husband’s laptop, just because I wanted my RSS feed notifications to accurately reflect what I’d read. My laptop went down just as Andi was getting ready to go get Amanda, y’see…
I love that you read the comic with your kid, that’s awesome. 😀
And congrats on getting your laptop back!
She made you some fan art last night–should be hitting your inbox about now 🙂 Charcoal chunk on sandy sidewalk makes for some crude art (and filthy hands) …
GIANT MULTIPLE-PLANET-SIZE TENSION BOMB ASIDE –
From an artistic standpoint, Dave, I LOVE how Amanda/we don’t see her mother’s eyes in this one. It really adds to the alien, and alienating, feel of such a core revelation. To Amanda, Andi must feel less like a person, and more like an enigma, a figure of Secrets. Scary, life-changing things are being hidden from her… just as Andi’s face is being hidden. And the symbology of seeing someone’s face (or not) is very, very strong… Well done!
Two questions:
Did you do some of this in watercolor, or did you just do a really good job at making it look painted?
And…
Is that picture in the top right a half Todd, half Amanda head?
Photoshop brushes of my own design. Trying to mimic oil paints, but I’m not quite there yet.
And yes, it’s a Toddmanda head.