Strawberries, almond slivers, spite, raspberry vinaigrette.
As some readers pointed out correctly on the previous strip, Selkie wasn't aware of the GameKid's smashing. It happened after she'd left.
Strawberries, almond slivers, spite, raspberry vinaigrette.
The spite gives it that extra zest. Mmm……spite.
This salad is going to taste like guilty tears.
And livers.
Shots fired.
That sounds like an awesome salad recipe, Dave. Just make sure that the vinaigrette is extra bitter.
Also, I am glad that Andi is trying to be helpful even if facing Todd’s parents scares the bejeezus out of her.
Ouch, somebody get Andi some burn cream…
Theo seems to be less angry, hopefully he can stay so.
And she needs to just take it after what she did. No, I’m not attacking her, Pro-Andi people, don’t misconstrue.
For there to be healing, they need to take their shots. Else it’ll be too much like bottling it in and that will just make things worse. And make that burn look like child’s play.
So I support this course of action.
The LOOK on her face… She earned it, and she knows it.
That’s good. It takes her closer to self-awareness.
For the record Andi ‘just taking it’ is what got them into this problem in the first place. She let her mom walk all over her and she let Todd’s feelings take precedent over her own. If Andi stopped denying her own feelings then she’d stop hurting everyone around her. She needs to stop, ‘just taking’ things and bottling up her feelings.
Now, does she need to yell and retaliate? No, but the sooner she starts facing her fears and stops letting people walk all over her the sooner she starts living her own life. If she just sits there and let’s them verbally trash her later on, who’s to say she won’t let them know everything that happened and she just goes home a wreck and cries? Think of how damaging that will be for Amanda and her relationship with her father and grandparents. Andi needs to learn to stand up for herself for her daughter’s sake.
Some times you have to simply brave the storm to rove your worth.
Andi is close to a breakdown and is starting to run away again. With this action, she has managed to isolate herself from the rest of the group including Amanda. In Andi’s mind she still feels incapable of handling both Amanda and the pressures of the situation. I think our salad recipe is going to have a few tears as well.
Yeah, and you know what? She deserves it. Sometimes the only way to build your better self is to break down and cry–and in this instance Andi deserves to cry a lot. The alternative is that Todd establish paternity and press charges.
No, it was a base, but what got them in this was hiding things way too long. Standing and taking what she earned is working towards proving she’s not making the same mistakes as before. Living the lie put her in this state. Taking the consequences and letting them get it out of their system will help.
It’s best to take the medicine, even if it tastes horrible. No more hiding. No more lies. Stand in the light of day, face the consequences, then having an adult heart to heart. That’s what leads to healing.
I’m not saying Andi shouldn’t be spoken to and shouldn’t accept her consequences, but I AM saying she needs to stop letting people walk all over her feelings and fearing that her true feelings might hurt other people. If she was true to her feelings in the first place instead of thinking of ways to spare others hurt, this wouldn’t have happened. Well, that is, if what I think happened, happened.
Which is, she never wanted a child, but Todd did and expressed how important it was to him and how excited he was. He may have never stated abortion was off the table outright, but he made it clear it wasn’t something he had ever considered. Andi, being the frightened, timid person she is, tries to squash down her own feelings because she loves Todd and thinks his feelings are more important than her own and fears if she thought or said otherwise he would leave her. So she tries to be considerate and ignore her growing fears and concerns.
Eventually the pressure gets to her, she doesn’t want to do this, she never wanted to do this, she’s scared and panics. Enter her mother. She tells her it’s none of Todd’s concern, that he doesn’t matter, it’s her body not his. She manipulates Andi into believing Todd won’t be there for her and that she’s too young to make such a mistake. She tells her to give up the baby and that they don’t have to tell Todd. Andi is hormonal, emotional, scared and confused. This is her mom, her safety net, the woman who rules her and tells her how to ‘fix’ everything. Mom has never steered her wrong before, right? On impulse she agrees, it’s all done before she has a chance to think, it all happened so fast.
She’s relieved, but now the reality sets in. What has she done? What will Todd think? She can’t take it back now, she’s too much of a timid and passive person, she knows her mom wouldn’t allow it even if she wanted to. But now Todd will be angry. She’s panicking all over again. She can’t possibly tell him the truth, the truth would hurt him, the truth would make him leave. She couldn’t tell him the truth before and she can’t now. Her mom must be right, she has to hide the truth, he doesn’t need to know. She just wasn’t ready, but he’d never understand that, her feelings aren’t important, they never are.
That’s what I imagined happened. Andi has spent all of her life being told what to do, being told to take it, being walked all over and this is the result. She should have stood up for herself long ago, stopped being a child who’s afraid to be hated. Now she’s in this mess and has to deal with it, but if she doesn’t start growi ng a backbone for herself the cycle will continue and harm her and Amanda considerably. She needs to stop hiding and cowering.
So yes, she needs to be told what she’s done and why it was wrong, why they feel they can’t trust her or forgive her, but she ALSO needs to take it in stride and inform them she’s changing and that she felt scared, neglected and alone before. That what she did wasn’t completely malicious and that she’s sorry and hopes they can learn to forgive her in the future for Amanda’s sake. And she needs to tell them Amanda is her daughter and she is her mother and that, that fact will never change.
Oh, Selkie. Look how hard you’re trying, you awesome thing. I really hope you didn’t pick the wrong thing to be awesome about…
No, I think she’s genuinely sorry for Amanda’s broken GameKid
Niiice. That was definitely better than I anticipated. Andi deserves this.
Honestly, they should throw her out. Doubt Amanda or anyone else would care tbh.
You know what I sit back and read comments you all make trashing Amanda or Andi or well honestly anyone who has has emotional baggage and isn’t the freaken main character. But I’m done. To say no one would care!!! You honestly think Amanda would care about her mom! What if someone said oh selkie wouldn’t care if her mom came back to take selkie back and someone said oh well she should just be thrown out who would care not selkie. Look what all of you seem to miss is the parallel of selkie and Amanda, both were given but by their mothers (at different times yes) but both for the same purpose the hopes that daughters have a better life. Andi messed up yes she did by not telling anyone, by holding everything. But you know what I have been pregnant I was young I was scared to death! After you give birth you are in such a freaken daze you can’t make any right choices ok do you know how it feels hours of labor and drugs that send you for a loop! She regretted it this whole time the guilt the self hate eating away. To say Amanda was dead was wrong yes it was and everyone has a right to be mad or sad or what have you but to say no one would care! You you go too far! What if you royally scewed up do you want someone to say this of you? I know its a comic but your comment was a step to far.
Gavin is a known troll. Please don’t lump us who have a reasonable beef with Andi and her actions with him.
Yeah, some of us have an issue with her lies and deceptions. Most of us in fact. But also most of us don’t think quite as far as that statement. Trollboy up there just wants to hassle and enrage you. Don’t allow it. Remember, most of us do have a level of empathy for real people.
Yeah, especially since this meeting is, among other things, a “Well crap where do we go from here” meeting (especially since Andi has full and sole custody and let us not even BEGIN to list how hard it’ll be for the Smiths to get it from her.) Throwing her out would be defeating the purpose.
…I dunno if it was intentional, but the little ear-to-ear waves look like an indication of telepathy. Then I thought about it for a second and realized, “but aren’t all long-married couples a little bit telepathic?” Nicely done. 🙂
it’s not so much telepathy as “married that long.”
She may have honestly thought she’d end up like her mom if she kept Amanda (Mommma-A struck me as the kind of person who’d play the “My life is your fault! I got knocked up and he said he loved me and he still ran like a [deleted] rabbit!” card … frequently).
She did what she thought (was pressured to think) was best for her child and it backfired. She’s trying to make amends, I just hope she doesn’t get stuck making amends for so long it turns into a martyr complex.
Ooowww that last comment burned so bad, even I felt it.
They really need to stop this. This should not be happening anywhere near Amanda OR Selkie. The hostility is recognizable, and Amanda won’t like that they “hate” her mom. They can’t just treat Amanda like a precious treasure and treat Andi like some horrible unwanted monster.
If Amanda sees it happening, especially frequently, it will make her believe that her grandparents will turn on her and hate her if she does something that upsets them.
They need to work their problems with Andi out later.
It looks to me that this exchange was a quiet one delivered away from the children. I don’t think either girl heard any of it. They’re not treating Andi like a horrible monster but rather showing a great deal of restraint.
Instead of calling her out for her 8 year long deception and making a big scene Mari is just slipping in a few digs and yes, giving her a bit of a cold shoulder.
Will Amanda pick up on it? Maybe. Will that make her think that she could do something to make Mari and Theo “turn on her”? Doubtful when the counter to that argument is “I’m just so upset with your mommy because I missed out on being there and knowing you for so long.”
Mari could easily turn Amanda against Andi by just pointing out that it was Andi’s lies that kept Amanda from being raised by her father and grandparents who WANTED HER BADLY.
Mari is showing incredible restraint by NOT doing anything to openly destroy the fragile bond between Amanda and Andi. The way I see it, Mari is taking every precaution to not hurt Amanda.
It doesn’t matter if they heard it; children are adept at picking up body language. Unfortunately, they also tend to assume that any anger generated by an adult is their own fault.
I hate my brother in law. Long story short, he’s a scumbag of the highest degree. My niece knows that I hate her father and he hates me. She has never once blamed herself. She just knows it’s best to keep her daddy and her uncle far away from each other.
I still think it’s important to let them get their shots. It’s better to get them out now than to bottle it in. And Andi deserves a whole lot of hell for her actions. Sniping with snark is very minor.
This is true, they shouldn’t be doing this here and now, but at least they’re not screaming at her. Theo seems to be a little more tolerant here. They’ve got every right to be angry, but I do hope they keep a lid on it while the kids are around. Amanda will pick up on this hostility and translate that into them not wanting either of them to be here…
(Sniff-sniff) (sniff-sniff) OMG, I smell smoldering anger, OMG, it’s not safe here! Everyone get into the cars– we’re going to get ice cream cones for dinner!
I see that Selkie seems to be trying to offer the olive branch, taking Todd’s request (order) seriously. ‘Mandy seems to be closer to shutting down. Sitting next to Todd, without Andi in the room, maybe her anchor is in the kitchen and she feels asea and awash, and is battening down the hatches,… Or is retreating back into her cave (emotionally)?
Actually, they are actually doing really well keeping it under wraps. Mari’s comment was nasty, but they are in another room and she isn’t screaming. I am guessing she said it out of earshot, too. Coming from a very *VERY* ugly divorce, I say they should be given awards for staying as cool as they are about such a horribly emotional revelation. Andi is lucky she isn’t getting worse. I’ve seen a lot of situations from different real life families (beyond my own) where she easily would.
yeah, take a look at Mari’s scowl in panel 4 and 5… she’s REALLY pissed… BUT, after Andi says that she can finish the meal and for them to go talk to Amanda, when they look at each other in panel 6 it looks like they are getting a boot-to-the-head moment about yes, they SHOULD be pissed at ANDI, but NOT at Amanda, and that they need to get out there and interact with her more… then see that Mari’s face in panel 7 is still pissed, but MUCH less so than in panel 5… i think that’s because Theo tried to calm her down prior to this meeting and was somewhat unsuccessful at the time, and to me, it looks more like he has a bit of the “i told you so” look in panel 6… and that the “telepathy” was her realizing that Theo was right and NOT her (at least in THIS instance… you know how the wife is ALWAYS correct?! even when she’s wrong! 😀 ) i think that while there may be some angry words spoken tonight, i don’t see those wordsas being deal-breakers, if you follow. it WILL BE a hard road for Andi to get back in their good-graces, but i think eventually they’ll reconcile, and that will hopefully get Then off Agent Brown’s back over this experiment, as well…
Ooh, nice read! I could see a lot of that being true. Theo’s often the one who brings reality into things, and pragmatism, isn’t he? (I’m recalling his analysis of the Sarnothi orphans situation, and how he picked up on the connection to the news story.) Seems like he’d be a peacemaker too (recalling also the fish eyes).
And I do see a change in eyebrows between the fifth and seventh. Might be nothing, might be something. If it’s something, then it’s more confirmation of the subtle body language in this comic that I can only hope to eventually achieve if I get my own running.
Selkie offering sympathy to Amanda over her toy, which Selkie doesn’t know that Amanda broke in a fit of rage, is probably hitting Amanda far harder than their normal insults, which is what I think panel two is conveying.
Three observations:
1) Sometimes the best way to confuse or frustrate an enemy is to offer them sympathy. I don’t think Selkie’s doing that intentionally here, but it seems to be working.
2) Andi, I know you mean well, but telling Theo and Mari what they “should” be doing was not the best choice of words.
3) Andi may want to seriously consider setting up a meeting with Theo and Mari sometime when Amanda’s not present and just let them go off on her — not offer any defenses, just sit and take it while they vent. Then, when they’ve spent themselves, she can ask “How can we work together to best help Amanda?” If Theo and Mari (especially Mari) have to keep their feelings bottled up much longer, there’s going to be an explosion — and it may happen at the worst possible time.
Re #2… I dunno, it may be a “should,” but it’s also saying that she’s not trying to poison Amanda against her other grandparents, and (this is more implied) she thinks Amanda needs them. It’s not the worst thing to say.
It could be that being told I “should” or “must” do something is a real hot button for me, but I think it would have sounded better as “I can finish dinner. Please, go be with your granddaughter.”
The message that needs to be conveyed here is “I’m offering to be in the kitchen instead of in the living room, so that you can be in the living room, with your grand-daughter and away from me, since I know you long to be with her and can’t stand the sight of me right now.”
But I think that Andi’s dialog in panels 5 & 6 *does* convey just that, with or without any “shoulds”. And that Theo and Mari read her loud and clear, and that little blue telepathy-squiggle is “Fine, then!” plus an instant recap of whatever conversation they had in the car on the way over, like, “We mustn’t unload on Andi to the extent we wish in front of Amanda.”
We agree on the message. We disagree on the delivery. And that may be more my issue than anything else.
Yah, it probably could’ve been worded better — I’m figuring that A: body language and tone of voice soften it a lot, and B: hey, people under stress repeat the sort of words/sentence patterns that they were told by authority figures/parents…
I think she had her heart in the right place on that one, though.
Plus, how often do we say things in poor wording and then think back later on how bad it was and how easy an alternative would’ve been if we had only thought of it?
It’s easier when you’re composing a written document and have time to mull over the words. Harder in real-time.
Selkie is being nice&awesome 😀 Amanda may unfreeze yet
and yes Andi good idea that
if she keeps working at it they might forgive her sometime 😀
1 : Somebody call a doctor!
2 : What for?
1: That sick burn!
Reusing old jokes since 2012.