OK, I’ve been trying not to say this, but seriously? The fact that Selkie isn’t human wasn’t apparent to her within 2 seconds of seeing her? Exactly how dense/stubborn is this woman?
It’s only natural that she took a while to figure it out. Human beings see what they expect to see more than what’s really in front of them. She probably had no idea that there were non-human sentient humanoid beings, and probably attributed selkies visible differences to birth defects or other unusual but “possible” causes. If you saw a being that looked and acted that human in real life, wouldn’t you also assume she was human?
I’m going to quote Sereph, below, because s/he said it better than me: Selkie cannot be the only intelligent non-human in this setting. Cannot. If she were, she’d have been raised in a government lab instead of an orphanage. It’s not like the orphanage staff hid her from prying eyes. Even if they started from the base assumption that she was some kind of mutant, she has working gills. They would really, really want to know what caused that.
If I were living in a world where non-human sentient creatures were even known to *exist*, yes, that would be my first assumption on meeting someone with BLACK SCLERA.
They don’t know what she is, no others of her kind (aside from her mother, who didn’t stay long) have appeared thus far, all their information on what is healthy for her is based on observations of what makes her puke or causes allergic reaction, and her not being human hits everyone over the head without inspiring a spark of recognition in anyone. While there are certainly other members of selkies species out there, I doubt her species is known to exist, at least by the majority of the populous.
Yet for all their assumptions and surprise, nobody has yet said “That’s impossible”, which is the natural reaction if they honestly didn’t think other sentient creatures existed.
Ahh, poor Selkie, i feel for the girl, I do. on a side note, just how clueless and confused is Grandma Marigold? i mean, the girl has no ears and webbed hands and feet for crying out! You think with adopting Todd she’d be able to handle “different” children.
Well, seeing all of these comments echo my own feelings, I also want to put in that I am merely rolling with it. If there’s a reason, it’ll be revealed soon. Maybe she’s highly religious. They don’t believe in non-humans and some don’t believe in dinosaurs or going to the moon and all. Who knows:) I will always give the writer the benefit of the doubt until the end of the “episode” or book, like I do in movies. One of the most annoying things in watching a b-movie and some regular grade flicks is when they put in a scene or segment where they focus on an object and never use it. Could be a flashlight, a powder that explodes in fire but is never used, or whatever. So until Dave comments, I’ll believe the religious blindness syndrome instead of overdramatic writing.
As far as the “how can’t she tell Selkie’s not human?” comments go, think about how you would react upon seeing her. In an otherwise totally normal world, you don’t expect to see the supernatural. And if you do, you might not initially accept it as something supernatural. Even Jessie, way back in the shoe-shopping arc, asked if it was a heart problem that turned Selkie blue. [https://selkiecomic.com/?p=301] It’s just more natural to try and find a logical solution for something you don’t understand than to say “Oh, that must not be human. Makes sense.”
We’ve come a long way since the 1600’s. When anything happened that wasn’t ordinary, it was blamed on the *gasp* supernatural. Course, rather than believe that Selkie is an alien, as the people in the comic do, people in the 1600s would have believed that Selkie is a witch.. or worse.. a demon or perhaps the devil himself! And if they didn’t believe that, they’d still believe that God or The Gods (depending on your religion) had punished her for something.. or her family for something. All of these are supernatural.
And speaking of supernatural, believing that Selkie is an alien is not a supernatural phenomena. Its an ‘extraterrestrial’ phenomena.
I didn’t say anything about the fifteenth century. Nitpick my words if you want, but don’t put them in my mouth.
Anyway, if you so desire, just replace “supernatural” with “extraterrestrial” in my comment if you want, the underlying point remains the same. My apologies for using such an apparently offensive word.
You seem to have misunderstood my intent. I wasn’t nitpicking. I was definitely with you that most people these days look to scientific explanations. I guess we can chaulk that up to scientific discovery and the general education of most people these days.
Mostly, I just think its fascinating how right you are and comparing what you said with how people used to believe and how far we’ve come since that time. No offense was meant towards you so please forgive me if you took any.
As for my correction of “supernatural” to “extraterrestrial”. I didn’t find your use of the word supernatural to be offensive.. but you apparently found my correction offensive. Can’t help you there.
This story just keeps getting better and better. Seriously, Dave you’re like my new hero. Your writing and drawing skills and the fact that you’re in college has blown me away. I really want Selkie to go to print one of these days. (Oh, but I’m definitely going to need a happy ending, nothing realistic. Only small bits of sadness allowed)
Oh no. I just meant, that I couldn’t handle anything sad. Happiness is totally possible and realistic but so is Todd not keeping Selkie. I don’t think I could continue reading if that happened.
I’m pretty sure that Todd has more moral fiber (and downright stubborness) than to give up here. Just my feeling about him from the way Dave has portrayed him …
The comic in general isn’t going for gritty realism, so I’m not really bothered by the slow realization at all–I’ve suspended disbelief on far less plausible things.
In addition, as Melee pointed out, there are a LOT of weird and severe birth defects and genetic disorders in humans. Thalidomide babies, people who’ve lost arms, noses, eyes, jaws, weird blotchy skin patterns due to vitiligo, Andre the Giant, and Steve Buscemi–there’s a lot of ways to be alien looking but completely human. I had a childhood friend who had one arm and no legs, and she probably looked less obviously “normal” than Selkie at a glance.
If you showed me, in the real world, right now, someone who looked like Selkie, I wouldn’t even CONSIDER the possibility of her being another species. I’d be weirded out, sure, but I’d just assume she had some genetic disorder that caused her to be born looking like a reptile or something else that didn’t involve being another species. After all, if there were any highly intelligent humanoids on the planet other than us, we’d have found them by now–and I say that living in the middle of “Bigfoot” country.
It’s the same as if you showed me a “ghost”–it’d take a whole lot of evidence more than a weird photograph before I’m going to believe a supernatural explanation. Call it the Sculley Effect if you prefer.
I’ve mentioned my brother in the comments here before. He has Acromegaly. It’s a complete co-incidence of course, but if you look at the Male Half Ogre character portrait in Arcanum, it’s an astounding resemblance.
That’s because when they were designing the look of the Male Half Ogre they were basically going for human + tall + expanded brow and jaw line. Which co-incidentally, is pretty much what Acromegaly does to you.
Hey Dave, I have a question for you. Is time going to pass in this comic or will Selkie be forever 8 years old? I mean seeing Selkie grow up would be awesome, but as it stands “today” in the strip is still the same as the day Selkie was first picked up from the orphanage. 1 day in the strip has been months in reality. The story is great, but how the comic progresses may be problematic in the near future.
Time progression in stories (web comics included) rarely if ever match up to reality, though. The usual answer is to slip in a time-skip every now and then to keep things ‘mostly’ current.
See, i don’t see a short time skip coming into play any time soon. Not only do we have to resolve the current issue Selkie has to go back to school, and we still have an arc on Amanda’s plot for revenge coming up. Remember her promising to get back at Selkie? You also can’t really “skip” ahead a year, or even a month, of selkie’s life right after introducing her to her new home.
Time will pass, she won’t be eight forever. But considering I’ve spent about five months detailing one (long hectic crazy busy) day, a few time skips here and there may be a good idea. Nothing too big, though; as you said, there’s still a lot of “post life-change” to sort through. And I don’t wanna miss Selkie’s first post-adoption day of school anymore than you! 😀
Selkie cannot be the only intelligent non-human in this setting. Cannot. If she were, she’d have been raised in a government lab instead of an orphanage. It’s not like the orphanage staff hid her from prying eyes. Even if they started from the base assumption that she was some kind of mutant, she has working gills. They would really, really want to know what caused that.
That said, it’s possible that non-humans are so rare that Grandma never expected to meet one herself. What we’re seeing right now could be the kind of shock that people would have shown if the President had shown up to cut the ribbon on a new grocery store in my hometown (pop. 2,500).
I’m reserving judgment on Grandma until we see the next strip. If it really is just shock and the presence of a child with body issues kicks her out of it and into Comforting Grandma mode, it’s all good. If she has a real problem with Todd adopting a fish-monster, she’s going to stop being a sympathetic character right quick.
I think, on the subject of government capturing her or whatever, you’re supposed to just go with suspension of disbelief on this one.
The government capture thing is much more sci-fi or urban fantasy, and, both from the title and the way the comic has played out so far, I’d say this is a more of a magic realism or fantasy — or, really, character-driven comedy — sort of story.
The point remains that if they’re treating something utterly fantastic (fish person! Working gills!) as something relatively commonplace (child with special needs), that probably means that, in this setting, it is relatively commonplace.
Seems to me that a magical realism or fantasy setting makes that more likely, not less.
Government snatching up any non-human sentient beings only in Sci-fi? Really? How many non-humans do YOU see wandering around the streets??? SOMEONE has snatched them up!!!
Do not attribute that much intelligence to the government. What would most likely happen would be some biologist would find about about Selkie and end up starting a court battle to assert some sort of control/ownership over a nonhuman “creature” for study. Remember, we don’t explicitly grant rights to “nonhumans” so it could even be discussed that Selkie, being nonhuman, would be some sort of pet that could be taken away from her Dad.
Terrible and horrifying, but yes, it could happen.
You know, it’s also possible that the government in this particular story just isn’t that callous.
The simplest explanations that would reconcile both the general displayed lack of knowledge of sentient non-humans and the fact that Selkie was legally in the orphanage and legally up for adoption, that I can see, are as follows: either non-humans are so RARE that the average schlub just doesn’t know about them, and that their actual existence is only really known to specialists and those who come across it as part of life/work, but there is already legislation in place that applies to a case like Selkie’s…
OR
…non-humans have not been known to exist prior to Selkie’s appearance, and somewhere along the line someone in authority decided that since she is sentient, she should be treated with the same rights that humans have.
Keep in mind, she’s already been given physicals and examined by people in the medical profession – otherwise, all of her dietary needs etc. that are detailed in the file the orphanage had on her would have been discovered by trial and error, something I don’t see Mary or Lillian subjecting her to.
Also keep in mind that even if Selkie ends up classified as an exotic pet, which I doubt will happen in this comic, and someone were to try and take her from Todd, they’d have to make a case beyond “I want to study her.” The courts are generally resistant to removing even an animal from the care of someone when there isn’t a proven case of neglect and abuse. The fact that she was legally adopted would also provide Todd with a clear claim that would be very difficult to break without proof of abuse on his part.
Awww, poor Selkie! 🙁 Human or not human, she’s still a little girl who wants to fit in with the kids she’s grown up around. Let’s face it, it doesn’t matter what her species is in the end; it’s about others learning to accept how she is no matter what. It sounds super-cheesy, sure, but isn’t that really the moral of the story for the entire comic.
Argyria – a skin condition caused by an improper exposure to silver, turns the skin a blue to blue-grey color.
Syndactyly – a condition where individual digits have not fully formed. resulting in either fused digits, or a thin skin “webbing” to be formed between them.
Hypertrichosis – a condition that causes a person to abnormally grow large amounts of hair. Either the entire body, or a localized portion is completely covered in hair. Better known as “Werewolf Syndrome”
Polycephaly – being born with a second head, which can occur in humans. Typically it is the result of an identical twin zygote not properly dividing and forming a single individual.
So, you could, theoretically, have a two headed, webbed hand and foot, blue werewolf that is *fully* human. There are all kinds of odd and rare mutations that occur in real life. Much less in a comic where you have to assume a measure of suspension of disbelief.
Is there some sort of mutation where a person might have gills? They don’t have to work, like Selkie’s. Or are the gill slits so early in fetal development that if you don’t progress from that point, you don’t get born at all?
Man, I don’t fit in here at all. The only thing that bothered me about this strip was that you made Selkie SAD. AGAIN. STOP MAKING SELKIE SAD!!!!!!
But anyway, I agree with the people supporting grandma about being a little freaked out that Selkie isn’t human. It IS kind of a big deal. Whether or not there’s non-human’s out there and people know about them, raising a non-human AS a human is kind of a thing. Why isn’t she being raised with her species, even if her mom couldn’t take care of her? How are you supposed to help her if she gets the flu? Can she get fin rot? What about diseases specific to her species? Will she ever get to go home?
These are all things that you need to consider, but everyone else is just willing to go with the flow. And frankly, with how everyone else has been reacting, I don’t blame grandma for freaking out a little bit. Everyone’s been acting like Selkie’s completely normal, and she’s not human. I’d have to wonder if I’d slipped into the Twilight Zone.
Okay, it occurs to me that I didn’t need to go on a rant like that, but I do so like fitting in. Can’t wait for the next strip!
Seraph is quite right. Possibly the powers-that-be are quite aware of Selkie’s people and have reached an accomodation with them. An orphanage, of course, would be an official institution.
Or perhaps non-humans are simply much, much rarer than they used to be. Homo sapiens has a low tolerance for competitive spieces. Imagine finding that you’re child has adopted a Neanderthaler.
“You mean she’s really a caveperson? I thought they’d died out years ago. But aren’t they terribly primitive and violent? All those big clubs and stone knives and such…”
From peoples’ reactions in-comic, I’d say that non-humans aren’t a rarity, they’re unheard-of. The general populace would give about as little credence to hearing about Selkie without seeing her as we would in this world. With that in mind, it lends itself towards people in-comic not knowing what to make of her, as the laundry list of mutations and birth defects that would go in to making a human look like Selkie (and/or have her diet) isn’t much more likely. Todd’s parents are very likely keeping their cool about Selkie’s appearance only because Todd is and has asked them to do so as well.
My take on why she isn’t on a dissection table somewhere in a government lab while leaving the public completely oblivious to her species’ existence lies with Selkie’s story pre-orphanage. Where was she from? (here, i’m guessing a “not-here” element; either extraterrestrial or extra-universal [i.e. Far Realm/Cthulhu mythos]) Was it that her parents were able to pull strings to get her there (if so, why?), did she pass under the radar somehow as they went after her parents, or was she put there by the order of some agency? Without waiting to see, it’s tough to find out.
So, I just wanted to pop my head in here. I was tempted, at first, to clarify Grandma Mari’s thought processes at this new (to her) revelation, but… well, I gotta be honest. The conversations I am seeing result from this strip are wonderful. I’m really enjoying reading everyone’s speculation and theories and ideas and opinions and feedback on this. A bit Machiavellian of me, but true! Can’t wait for Thursday’s strip. 😀
Oh come on guys. Grandma’s reaction was realistic, regardless of the reason why she didn’t automatically know Selkie isn’t human. Besides, I’m far more interested to see if grandma’s going to change her behavior or not, than the reason to why she didn’t pick up on Selkie not being human.
…The slow realization? Okay. Maybe. But what’s wrong with the NOT HUMAN? True, if she were, say, “Not human with fire powers,” I’d understand the hesitation. But the only threat obviously posed by Selkie is her fangs. And all kids learn not to bite, so…
What’s being human got to do with anything not directly related to practicality? I never understood that about your people…
I almost cried… I don’t know how to tell why.
Just felt it was one of those moments where you feel the need to tell someone “You are just fine”, but you can’t because you don’t have enough confidence or experience dealing with things that differ from your daily life.
Damn…
All things considered, I have learned not to apply any sort of Scientific logic of any kind in any comic, unless it was made present at the start. Selkie is Selkie. She has feelings, and she is sad. She knows she is not human, and usually it doesn’t seem to bother her, unless she overhears commentary about her looks, and sees how people react. Children are incredibly sensitive to this stuff.
I can understand Grandma being a little bit upset, keep in mind her reaction isn’t really all that delayed, she was biding her time, and waiting for the right moment to inquire about Selkie as a whole, very much like Grandpa asking outside by the car.
I’ve worked, in a caretaker role, with adults who were “different-looking” along with having other developmental disadvantages. There were no gills or extra heads, but deformities, physical abberations, skin conditions, and bizzare allergies abounded.
From my experience there, I can tell you that most adults will simply not make eye-contact and pretend that they aren’t distressed by, or worse are super supportive of, an individual with a physical abnormality. Just as the character from the store gave Todd the “She’s so brave” line; adults tend to be very PC when in the presence of someone different and turn on the pity/aversion when out of their presence.
Also, the caretakers at the orphanage could more or less hide an abnormal biology under the guise of deformities and genetic abberations, provided they had an overworked social worker who was more concerned with the well-being of a young, obviously sentient creature than paperwork. Tuck in a benevolent MD and the story gets pretty solid.
Or everyone’s a little shady and Mrs. Haversham-Zhang is protective enough of her charges to grease palms when needed. Also in #5 there was a little boy who didn’t look quite human, as well (kinda birdish with pointy ears), so perhaps Selkie isn’t exactly out of the norm for the orphanage in question.
By the way, It’s a fun, mostly whimsical web comic, not Newsweek. Lighten up people.
Selkie looks ADORABLE in panels 3-5. especially panel 5, in my opinion
poor girl :< just wait til she hits teenage-dom, then the real self concious issues will start ^^
Oh yeah, adolescence, where hormones and social conditioning combine to make EVERYONE self conscious. It’s hell even if you are only a little different from your peers. The dietary needs alone would set her apart, but honestly, considering that she’s a different species, that “Who will I be?” realization is going to suck majorly. She’s going to need some steadfast advocates in her life, starting with her family. I realize “There IS intelligent life, and now she’s your family” is a lot to process, but Gram and Gramps need to woman/man up and reassure their granddaughter that whoever she was born to, she’s part of the family now and they love her. Also, her ears are not gross, and her personhood is not in question here. You can’t tell a child that they’re no different from everyone else if they obviously are, they’ll know you’re lying and never trust you. Todd picked Selkie to be his daughter because he saw himself in the slightly awkward, racially different little girl who felt removed from everyone else. That’s who she is to him, and it seems like the whole fish person thing is secondary to him. He really needs to read that whole briefing, maybe with his parents and Selkie in the room so everyone knows what’s going on. Selkie knows what she needs, obviously, but she also needs to not feel left out of the discussion.
selkie looks soo cute in panel 2. so far loving where the story is going.
also just a quick question, what would selkies species typically wear while swimming, would it be some kind of plant/cloth wrapped around them tightly (avoiding the gills) so it doesn’t slow them down? o.O
really liking it so far though 😀
Has anyone considered that Selkie is not extraterrestrial but merely an as yet unheard of earth aquatic race?
I mean the earth is 70% water, the ocean is vast and deep with largely unexplored regions. it would be easy for a race of aquatic beings to exist and go undiscovered.
OK, I’ve been trying not to say this, but seriously? The fact that Selkie isn’t human wasn’t apparent to her within 2 seconds of seeing her? Exactly how dense/stubborn is this woman?
It’s only natural that she took a while to figure it out. Human beings see what they expect to see more than what’s really in front of them. She probably had no idea that there were non-human sentient humanoid beings, and probably attributed selkies visible differences to birth defects or other unusual but “possible” causes. If you saw a being that looked and acted that human in real life, wouldn’t you also assume she was human?
I’m going to quote Sereph, below, because s/he said it better than me: Selkie cannot be the only intelligent non-human in this setting. Cannot. If she were, she’d have been raised in a government lab instead of an orphanage. It’s not like the orphanage staff hid her from prying eyes. Even if they started from the base assumption that she was some kind of mutant, she has working gills. They would really, really want to know what caused that.
If I were living in a world where non-human sentient creatures were even known to *exist*, yes, that would be my first assumption on meeting someone with BLACK SCLERA.
They don’t know what she is, no others of her kind (aside from her mother, who didn’t stay long) have appeared thus far, all their information on what is healthy for her is based on observations of what makes her puke or causes allergic reaction, and her not being human hits everyone over the head without inspiring a spark of recognition in anyone. While there are certainly other members of selkies species out there, I doubt her species is known to exist, at least by the majority of the populous.
Yet for all their assumptions and surprise, nobody has yet said “That’s impossible”, which is the natural reaction if they honestly didn’t think other sentient creatures existed.
Well, other strangers so far have attributed Selkie’s appearance to a “condition” so far (Jessie, Gregori).
i see that grandma has foot in mouth syndrome.
Awwww, poor Selkie! =( I just wanna hug her and pat her lil head. Poor baby!
It is called, “Taking a dip in the Nile.”
Ahh, poor Selkie, i feel for the girl, I do. on a side note, just how clueless and confused is Grandma Marigold? i mean, the girl has no ears and webbed hands and feet for crying out! You think with adopting Todd she’d be able to handle “different” children.
Well, seeing all of these comments echo my own feelings, I also want to put in that I am merely rolling with it. If there’s a reason, it’ll be revealed soon. Maybe she’s highly religious. They don’t believe in non-humans and some don’t believe in dinosaurs or going to the moon and all. Who knows:) I will always give the writer the benefit of the doubt until the end of the “episode” or book, like I do in movies. One of the most annoying things in watching a b-movie and some regular grade flicks is when they put in a scene or segment where they focus on an object and never use it. Could be a flashlight, a powder that explodes in fire but is never used, or whatever. So until Dave comments, I’ll believe the religious blindness syndrome instead of overdramatic writing.
As far as the “how can’t she tell Selkie’s not human?” comments go, think about how you would react upon seeing her. In an otherwise totally normal world, you don’t expect to see the supernatural. And if you do, you might not initially accept it as something supernatural. Even Jessie, way back in the shoe-shopping arc, asked if it was a heart problem that turned Selkie blue. [https://selkiecomic.com/?p=301] It’s just more natural to try and find a logical solution for something you don’t understand than to say “Oh, that must not be human. Makes sense.”
We’ve come a long way since the 1600’s. When anything happened that wasn’t ordinary, it was blamed on the *gasp* supernatural. Course, rather than believe that Selkie is an alien, as the people in the comic do, people in the 1600s would have believed that Selkie is a witch.. or worse.. a demon or perhaps the devil himself! And if they didn’t believe that, they’d still believe that God or The Gods (depending on your religion) had punished her for something.. or her family for something. All of these are supernatural.
And speaking of supernatural, believing that Selkie is an alien is not a supernatural phenomena. Its an ‘extraterrestrial’ phenomena.
I didn’t say anything about the fifteenth century. Nitpick my words if you want, but don’t put them in my mouth.
Anyway, if you so desire, just replace “supernatural” with “extraterrestrial” in my comment if you want, the underlying point remains the same. My apologies for using such an apparently offensive word.
You seem to have misunderstood my intent. I wasn’t nitpicking. I was definitely with you that most people these days look to scientific explanations. I guess we can chaulk that up to scientific discovery and the general education of most people these days.
Mostly, I just think its fascinating how right you are and comparing what you said with how people used to believe and how far we’ve come since that time. No offense was meant towards you so please forgive me if you took any.
As for my correction of “supernatural” to “extraterrestrial”. I didn’t find your use of the word supernatural to be offensive.. but you apparently found my correction offensive. Can’t help you there.
Melee? 100% agree. Was going to say that myself.
This story just keeps getting better and better. Seriously, Dave you’re like my new hero. Your writing and drawing skills and the fact that you’re in college has blown me away. I really want Selkie to go to print one of these days. (Oh, but I’m definitely going to need a happy ending, nothing realistic. Only small bits of sadness allowed)
Hmm? And how is happiness not realistic? Or are you just implying that the setup can end in nothing but sorrow?
Oh no. I just meant, that I couldn’t handle anything sad. Happiness is totally possible and realistic but so is Todd not keeping Selkie. I don’t think I could continue reading if that happened.
I’m pretty sure that Todd has more moral fiber (and downright stubborness) than to give up here. Just my feeling about him from the way Dave has portrayed him …
The comic in general isn’t going for gritty realism, so I’m not really bothered by the slow realization at all–I’ve suspended disbelief on far less plausible things.
In addition, as Melee pointed out, there are a LOT of weird and severe birth defects and genetic disorders in humans. Thalidomide babies, people who’ve lost arms, noses, eyes, jaws, weird blotchy skin patterns due to vitiligo, Andre the Giant, and Steve Buscemi–there’s a lot of ways to be alien looking but completely human. I had a childhood friend who had one arm and no legs, and she probably looked less obviously “normal” than Selkie at a glance.
If you showed me, in the real world, right now, someone who looked like Selkie, I wouldn’t even CONSIDER the possibility of her being another species. I’d be weirded out, sure, but I’d just assume she had some genetic disorder that caused her to be born looking like a reptile or something else that didn’t involve being another species. After all, if there were any highly intelligent humanoids on the planet other than us, we’d have found them by now–and I say that living in the middle of “Bigfoot” country.
It’s the same as if you showed me a “ghost”–it’d take a whole lot of evidence more than a weird photograph before I’m going to believe a supernatural explanation. Call it the Sculley Effect if you prefer.
I’ve mentioned my brother in the comments here before. He has Acromegaly. It’s a complete co-incidence of course, but if you look at the Male Half Ogre character portrait in Arcanum, it’s an astounding resemblance.
That’s because when they were designing the look of the Male Half Ogre they were basically going for human + tall + expanded brow and jaw line. Which co-incidentally, is pretty much what Acromegaly does to you.
So adorable~ <3
Selkie in particular is very well-drawn throughout this strip.
Awwww, Selkie in the third panel is absolutely adorable…
Hey Dave, I have a question for you. Is time going to pass in this comic or will Selkie be forever 8 years old? I mean seeing Selkie grow up would be awesome, but as it stands “today” in the strip is still the same as the day Selkie was first picked up from the orphanage. 1 day in the strip has been months in reality. The story is great, but how the comic progresses may be problematic in the near future.
Time progression in stories (web comics included) rarely if ever match up to reality, though. The usual answer is to slip in a time-skip every now and then to keep things ‘mostly’ current.
See, i don’t see a short time skip coming into play any time soon. Not only do we have to resolve the current issue Selkie has to go back to school, and we still have an arc on Amanda’s plot for revenge coming up. Remember her promising to get back at Selkie? You also can’t really “skip” ahead a year, or even a month, of selkie’s life right after introducing her to her new home.
Time will pass, she won’t be eight forever. But considering I’ve spent about five months detailing one (long hectic crazy busy) day, a few time skips here and there may be a good idea. Nothing too big, though; as you said, there’s still a lot of “post life-change” to sort through. And I don’t wanna miss Selkie’s first post-adoption day of school anymore than you! 😀
Poor Selkie.
Hmm. Okay. My take:
Selkie cannot be the only intelligent non-human in this setting. Cannot. If she were, she’d have been raised in a government lab instead of an orphanage. It’s not like the orphanage staff hid her from prying eyes. Even if they started from the base assumption that she was some kind of mutant, she has working gills. They would really, really want to know what caused that.
That said, it’s possible that non-humans are so rare that Grandma never expected to meet one herself. What we’re seeing right now could be the kind of shock that people would have shown if the President had shown up to cut the ribbon on a new grocery store in my hometown (pop. 2,500).
I’m reserving judgment on Grandma until we see the next strip. If it really is just shock and the presence of a child with body issues kicks her out of it and into Comforting Grandma mode, it’s all good. If she has a real problem with Todd adopting a fish-monster, she’s going to stop being a sympathetic character right quick.
I think, on the subject of government capturing her or whatever, you’re supposed to just go with suspension of disbelief on this one.
The government capture thing is much more sci-fi or urban fantasy, and, both from the title and the way the comic has played out so far, I’d say this is a more of a magic realism or fantasy — or, really, character-driven comedy — sort of story.
The point remains that if they’re treating something utterly fantastic (fish person! Working gills!) as something relatively commonplace (child with special needs), that probably means that, in this setting, it is relatively commonplace.
Seems to me that a magical realism or fantasy setting makes that more likely, not less.
Government snatching up any non-human sentient beings only in Sci-fi? Really? How many non-humans do YOU see wandering around the streets??? SOMEONE has snatched them up!!!
Do not attribute that much intelligence to the government. What would most likely happen would be some biologist would find about about Selkie and end up starting a court battle to assert some sort of control/ownership over a nonhuman “creature” for study. Remember, we don’t explicitly grant rights to “nonhumans” so it could even be discussed that Selkie, being nonhuman, would be some sort of pet that could be taken away from her Dad.
Terrible and horrifying, but yes, it could happen.
You know, it’s also possible that the government in this particular story just isn’t that callous.
The simplest explanations that would reconcile both the general displayed lack of knowledge of sentient non-humans and the fact that Selkie was legally in the orphanage and legally up for adoption, that I can see, are as follows: either non-humans are so RARE that the average schlub just doesn’t know about them, and that their actual existence is only really known to specialists and those who come across it as part of life/work, but there is already legislation in place that applies to a case like Selkie’s…
OR
…non-humans have not been known to exist prior to Selkie’s appearance, and somewhere along the line someone in authority decided that since she is sentient, she should be treated with the same rights that humans have.
Keep in mind, she’s already been given physicals and examined by people in the medical profession – otherwise, all of her dietary needs etc. that are detailed in the file the orphanage had on her would have been discovered by trial and error, something I don’t see Mary or Lillian subjecting her to.
Also keep in mind that even if Selkie ends up classified as an exotic pet, which I doubt will happen in this comic, and someone were to try and take her from Todd, they’d have to make a case beyond “I want to study her.” The courts are generally resistant to removing even an animal from the care of someone when there isn’t a proven case of neglect and abuse. The fact that she was legally adopted would also provide Todd with a clear claim that would be very difficult to break without proof of abuse on his part.
Awww, poor Selkie! 🙁 Human or not human, she’s still a little girl who wants to fit in with the kids she’s grown up around. Let’s face it, it doesn’t matter what her species is in the end; it’s about others learning to accept how she is no matter what. It sounds super-cheesy, sure, but isn’t that really the moral of the story for the entire comic.
Argyria – a skin condition caused by an improper exposure to silver, turns the skin a blue to blue-grey color.
Syndactyly – a condition where individual digits have not fully formed. resulting in either fused digits, or a thin skin “webbing” to be formed between them.
Hypertrichosis – a condition that causes a person to abnormally grow large amounts of hair. Either the entire body, or a localized portion is completely covered in hair. Better known as “Werewolf Syndrome”
Polycephaly – being born with a second head, which can occur in humans. Typically it is the result of an identical twin zygote not properly dividing and forming a single individual.
So, you could, theoretically, have a two headed, webbed hand and foot, blue werewolf that is *fully* human. There are all kinds of odd and rare mutations that occur in real life. Much less in a comic where you have to assume a measure of suspension of disbelief.
Just sayin’
Is there some sort of mutation where a person might have gills? They don’t have to work, like Selkie’s. Or are the gill slits so early in fetal development that if you don’t progress from that point, you don’t get born at all?
I believe that it’s a developmental anomaly rather than a mutation, but some people are born with residual gill slits visible on their necks.
Man, I don’t fit in here at all. The only thing that bothered me about this strip was that you made Selkie SAD. AGAIN. STOP MAKING SELKIE SAD!!!!!!
But anyway, I agree with the people supporting grandma about being a little freaked out that Selkie isn’t human. It IS kind of a big deal. Whether or not there’s non-human’s out there and people know about them, raising a non-human AS a human is kind of a thing. Why isn’t she being raised with her species, even if her mom couldn’t take care of her? How are you supposed to help her if she gets the flu? Can she get fin rot? What about diseases specific to her species? Will she ever get to go home?
These are all things that you need to consider, but everyone else is just willing to go with the flow. And frankly, with how everyone else has been reacting, I don’t blame grandma for freaking out a little bit. Everyone’s been acting like Selkie’s completely normal, and she’s not human. I’d have to wonder if I’d slipped into the Twilight Zone.
Okay, it occurs to me that I didn’t need to go on a rant like that, but I do so like fitting in. Can’t wait for the next strip!
Seraph is quite right. Possibly the powers-that-be are quite aware of Selkie’s people and have reached an accomodation with them. An orphanage, of course, would be an official institution.
Or perhaps non-humans are simply much, much rarer than they used to be. Homo sapiens has a low tolerance for competitive spieces. Imagine finding that you’re child has adopted a Neanderthaler.
“You mean she’s really a caveperson? I thought they’d died out years ago. But aren’t they terribly primitive and violent? All those big clubs and stone knives and such…”
Sorry to be a bit off-topic, but I think a ‘the cake is a LIE’ joke would’ve been great 😀
I see Todd and Grandma have kept their new eyebrows, but Selkie’s are less bushy in this one.
It sure does, poor Selkie.
(I agree with Silver, that would’ve been hilarious.)
The second panel is the best. 🙂
And then the third panel makes me sad. 🙁
(Also, a little off-model looking, the 3rd, but that’s just my opinion.)
From peoples’ reactions in-comic, I’d say that non-humans aren’t a rarity, they’re unheard-of. The general populace would give about as little credence to hearing about Selkie without seeing her as we would in this world. With that in mind, it lends itself towards people in-comic not knowing what to make of her, as the laundry list of mutations and birth defects that would go in to making a human look like Selkie (and/or have her diet) isn’t much more likely. Todd’s parents are very likely keeping their cool about Selkie’s appearance only because Todd is and has asked them to do so as well.
My take on why she isn’t on a dissection table somewhere in a government lab while leaving the public completely oblivious to her species’ existence lies with Selkie’s story pre-orphanage. Where was she from? (here, i’m guessing a “not-here” element; either extraterrestrial or extra-universal [i.e. Far Realm/Cthulhu mythos]) Was it that her parents were able to pull strings to get her there (if so, why?), did she pass under the radar somehow as they went after her parents, or was she put there by the order of some agency? Without waiting to see, it’s tough to find out.
So, I just wanted to pop my head in here. I was tempted, at first, to clarify Grandma Mari’s thought processes at this new (to her) revelation, but… well, I gotta be honest. The conversations I am seeing result from this strip are wonderful. I’m really enjoying reading everyone’s speculation and theories and ideas and opinions and feedback on this. A bit Machiavellian of me, but true! Can’t wait for Thursday’s strip. 😀
Oh come on guys. Grandma’s reaction was realistic, regardless of the reason why she didn’t automatically know Selkie isn’t human. Besides, I’m far more interested to see if grandma’s going to change her behavior or not, than the reason to why she didn’t pick up on Selkie not being human.
Someone beat me to “the cake is a lie”…
I’m quite interested in what happens from here on out. So far, I’ve been nothing but thrilled with this comic, and I’m sure the future holds the same~
…The slow realization? Okay. Maybe. But what’s wrong with the NOT HUMAN? True, if she were, say, “Not human with fire powers,” I’d understand the hesitation. But the only threat obviously posed by Selkie is her fangs. And all kids learn not to bite, so…
What’s being human got to do with anything not directly related to practicality? I never understood that about your people…
Oh, poor baby. *cuddles her*
OK, Todd, time for a major dose of “acceptance” from you.
Selkie is calling herself “gross” as a direct comparison to humans.
If he expects his parents to accept her– the flipside of that is that he has to support her own self-acceptance as well.
This is where father or custodian becomes “Daddy”.
I almost cried… I don’t know how to tell why.
Just felt it was one of those moments where you feel the need to tell someone “You are just fine”, but you can’t because you don’t have enough confidence or experience dealing with things that differ from your daily life.
Damn…
Must… give… cuddles….
Cuddles make everything better.
My daughter pointed me at Selkie and now I love her.
Uhh…her grandma loves her right? Even if she’s not human does her grandma still love her or…?
All things considered, I have learned not to apply any sort of Scientific logic of any kind in any comic, unless it was made present at the start. Selkie is Selkie. She has feelings, and she is sad. She knows she is not human, and usually it doesn’t seem to bother her, unless she overhears commentary about her looks, and sees how people react. Children are incredibly sensitive to this stuff.
I can understand Grandma being a little bit upset, keep in mind her reaction isn’t really all that delayed, she was biding her time, and waiting for the right moment to inquire about Selkie as a whole, very much like Grandpa asking outside by the car.
Did nobody pick up on this? ^^;;;
I’ve worked, in a caretaker role, with adults who were “different-looking” along with having other developmental disadvantages. There were no gills or extra heads, but deformities, physical abberations, skin conditions, and bizzare allergies abounded.
From my experience there, I can tell you that most adults will simply not make eye-contact and pretend that they aren’t distressed by, or worse are super supportive of, an individual with a physical abnormality. Just as the character from the store gave Todd the “She’s so brave” line; adults tend to be very PC when in the presence of someone different and turn on the pity/aversion when out of their presence.
Also, the caretakers at the orphanage could more or less hide an abnormal biology under the guise of deformities and genetic abberations, provided they had an overworked social worker who was more concerned with the well-being of a young, obviously sentient creature than paperwork. Tuck in a benevolent MD and the story gets pretty solid.
Or everyone’s a little shady and Mrs. Haversham-Zhang is protective enough of her charges to grease palms when needed. Also in #5 there was a little boy who didn’t look quite human, as well (kinda birdish with pointy ears), so perhaps Selkie isn’t exactly out of the norm for the orphanage in question.
By the way, It’s a fun, mostly whimsical web comic, not Newsweek. Lighten up people.
Selkie looks ADORABLE in panels 3-5. especially panel 5, in my opinion
poor girl :< just wait til she hits teenage-dom, then the real self concious issues will start ^^
Oh yeah, adolescence, where hormones and social conditioning combine to make EVERYONE self conscious. It’s hell even if you are only a little different from your peers. The dietary needs alone would set her apart, but honestly, considering that she’s a different species, that “Who will I be?” realization is going to suck majorly. She’s going to need some steadfast advocates in her life, starting with her family. I realize “There IS intelligent life, and now she’s your family” is a lot to process, but Gram and Gramps need to woman/man up and reassure their granddaughter that whoever she was born to, she’s part of the family now and they love her. Also, her ears are not gross, and her personhood is not in question here. You can’t tell a child that they’re no different from everyone else if they obviously are, they’ll know you’re lying and never trust you. Todd picked Selkie to be his daughter because he saw himself in the slightly awkward, racially different little girl who felt removed from everyone else. That’s who she is to him, and it seems like the whole fish person thing is secondary to him. He really needs to read that whole briefing, maybe with his parents and Selkie in the room so everyone knows what’s going on. Selkie knows what she needs, obviously, but she also needs to not feel left out of the discussion.
selkie looks soo cute in panel 2. so far loving where the story is going.
also just a quick question, what would selkies species typically wear while swimming, would it be some kind of plant/cloth wrapped around them tightly (avoiding the gills) so it doesn’t slow them down? o.O
really liking it so far though 😀
Big issues, big thoughts, Imp.
You’re probably right, though.
Yay Thursdays!
Has anyone considered that Selkie is not extraterrestrial but merely an as yet unheard of earth aquatic race?
I mean the earth is 70% water, the ocean is vast and deep with largely unexplored regions. it would be easy for a race of aquatic beings to exist and go undiscovered.
That cake meme has about a decade on Portal 1, or at least I first heard it about a decade before Portal 1 released.