Well… maybe a LITTLE fighting.
Fanart update! KB drew me a picture of Lillian:
Thank you!
Panel 4 originally had scrawled words peppering the colored expanse to expand on Amanda's inner thoughts, but I thought it felt a bit too heavy-handed.
Well… maybe a LITTLE fighting.
Fanart update! KB drew me a picture of Lillian:
Thank you!
Please don’t end up taking this out on Selkie, Amanda!
I’m absolutely floored with how much Amanda and Andi have both “grown” over the course of this arc.
That’s the most awesome thing about this webcomic: Practically nobody is stagnant, growthless. In fact, I think part of the reason the community went off on Andi is that for a long time she did seem to be the one stagnant person, who resorted to the same tactics time and time again, with no visible growth or even really repentance.
It’s boring to watch people be the same all the time (exceptions made for certain comedic relief characters). Much more interesting to watch them change and grow, and become what they had never been before.
That’s why Groundhog Day is such a tight script: 100 minutes of character development, practically nothing but. Even though the development is centered all on precisely one character (the others have no chance to develop — rather, we simply learn more about them in that short window of time each iteration), it’s fascinating to watch the way the change happens, and the extremes from the start to the end.
Think part of the Andi dislike reason is also that she and Amanda are taking up screen time which could be spend on the (to me at least) much more interesting Selkie and sarnoti stuff.
As such her finally growing up and starting to act like an adult can be seen as a good thing whether you like her or not, either as a “finally, good for you Andi” or “finally, we can be done with Andi”.
Well, they’ve certainly had a lot of screen time lately. But I don’t feel that it’s overkill. And it might be the medium: In a monthly 30-odd-page comic, maybe this covered a couple issues with a higher focus away from the main character, but on a webcomic, it takes years to get through this stuff. So it feels different.
I was pleasantly surprised to see how Dave handled both Andi and Amanda, in that my initial dislike of both characters turned into interest, then enjoyment. With Amanda faster than with Andi, but by now I’m okay with both characters.
You know… in Sluggy Freelance there’s this HUGE arc wherein the storyline hops away from all the main characters except Bun-Bun (the homicidal rabbit), and gives us pretty much an entirely different cast. For months, if not years; certainly felt like years. It’s useful to the mythology, but it still felt like a spin-off instead of the actual series.
I don’t feel that here with Selkie. I feel like Andi and Amanda are core members of the cast, and that what is happening with them is not a distraction from the main tale, it IS the main tale. At least as important as the government-conspiracy stuff or Selkie getting bullied or getting to know Dr. Pohl and his family. So while you might see this as, well, a commercial, and time for a bathroom break before they get back to the action, I definitely don’t.
Kilyle, you are very good using your words. I agree, only you said it succinctly, and clearly, … And without too many commas, or eclipses.
I am honestly unable to tell if you are being sarcastic or not. In that I use a lot of commas (but I think I use them appropriately), and a fair number of ellipses (which I might use too much).
I’m a hobbyist programmer. That has created an internal state that appreciates the clear setting-off of subordinate clauses.
I think he must be be serious because your punctuation is spotless. …no pun intended.
Amanda has her own role to play yet, and working through her issues and behavior troubles is simply something I decided to tackle now rather than sidestep the Sarnoth issues further when they pick back up.
Basically, if I moved on with the Sarnoth portions of the story, THEN cut away to deal with Amanda and Andi, I think that would’ve been a worse way to handle it.
I’m glad you’re doing it like that.
I’ve always felt that when “Sh!t gets real” is NOT the proper place to wedge in long character-growth transitions. At best it feels like an excuse to have a cliffhanger. At worst, it’s full “Shut Up And Fight Syndrome”, in which there are a million and a half more urgent things to take care of, but the author decides to cut away to something totally off-topic that encumbers the progression of the story.
Tl;dr, I like this move because it makes a lot more sense to deal with it early, than to fit it awkwardly into the thick of the action. (I’m assuming there will be action. 😛 Or at least some very intense talking. *Nod*)
Wow, their counselor/therapist/psychologist deserves a friggin medal. Because no way could Amanda of a year before handled this without total emotional shut down and share the pain mode coming online. Yeah, she may rain on Selkie or she may go up to her hug her and say “Just this once, you were kinda right, fish- er… Selkie.” And then make some snarky cutting remark but with maybe less of an edge on it.
On an artistic note- I really like how the first part of Amanda’s response becomes entwined with the colors from her hair woven around her.
Future Reference: When major speech bubbles get placed in such a way that a second character stands between them and the person speaking those words, it’s time to rethink the angle of the visuals.
Minor speech bubbles aren’t such a big deal. And I mostly noticed this because the angle of Amanda’s final speech-bubble tail seems really odd, and I realized it couldn’t easily change without having trouble with the tail of Andi’s bubble.
As with any general rule (include the 180-degrees rule), this can be bent or broken as needed, but do think about it whenever the situation comes up. It’s often best to figure out a different angle for the camera, or even a different motion of the characters.
Amanda needs a Happiness Bunny for occasions like these.
or maybe start boxing? ok, she´s a bit young, but what better way to channel+let out her agressions safely then sport? plus, its never bad to know some self-defense for a girl. heck, it could be a good thing for selkie as well – as long as they don´t pit them against each other and make sure sel doesn´t spit on her oponments 😉
I was thinking martial arts training, myself.
I thought you were going to link to this, but this is more of a calming bunny.
http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=1114
There is no greater magic.
I can see Amanda seated on a floor surrounded by lots of fluffy baby animals (Fanart, please? Someone?Anyone? Maybe with Selkie in the background in a water tank petting the fish? *shrugs*); but under different, less stressful circumstances. I think that under this circumstance, a Happiness Bunny — or even a very soft pillow — that she can beat the stuffing out of is the more appropriate choice.
I would do just her and a pile of bunnies, kittens, and stuffies all the way to her neck. No background, no Selkie, not even anything lower than her neck, just all that cuddlyness and her trying to look grouchy, trying.
Wow, that fanart is awesome!
Actually, I think panel four is a perfect visualization of the mental equivalent of furious keyboard-slapping, so good call on not putting words in there. Sometimes people are so ticked off, thoughts cease to be words, or even meanings, and it’s just GLARGERPHARWALITAGAH! 🙂
Good job finally growing up a bit, Amanda.
I love your emotional depictions as abstract imagery, it gives us an understanding on what is going on in the head of the character, I mean who here hasn’t had a squiggly on top of colorful splashes in their mind when they are trying to process emotional baggage, I know it’s not quite what one feels but it’s understandable enough to put the point across, and thank god you didn’t put words, it would have felt VERY heavy handed
Indeed. In fact, one of the key factors in good writing is knowing when NOT to spell it out for the audience. When you trust us to be able to understand the nuances and unspoken things, your work allows for a much more mature progression, and doesn’t talk down to us.
I’m gonna point out that that’s some awesome fanart, too!
I’m going to chime in with the praise – the watery backgrounds and the abstract images fit so well with emotions. You do a great job showing us, and not just telling us how someone feels. Thank you!
really hard AND demonstrably bad for you, but oh well! restraint is still good! Nice to see this ending well.
Great work on both counts girls. You’re doing us readers proud despite both fumbling in every way.
Okay, Andi, what you want to do to help Mandy get this out of her system is, you go to the gamestore, you get a Wii…
I have no idea how I managed to miss the Lillian fan art yesterday!
Awesome job, kudos to the artist! 🙂
Would you by chance be willing to share what was originally over Amanda’s inner thought squiggles? I’m curious now.
Clockwise starting from Red:
Hit hate cry why stop hurt
And in the center near Amanda’s head: love
Accurate portrail of emotions.
I’m so proud of how nice Amanda’s being. I think deserves an extra present for that.