Considering Amanda has more battle damage than Tammy I want to clarify that, as Selkie suggested in the previous strip, Amanda DID start the fight. That’s a self-defense black eye, or a “don’t pick fights with kids that are bigger than you” life lesson black eye as the case may be.
I also completely forgot to share a Fanart last time. I feel bad, sorry for slacking! Cynthia drew Selkie in an article of clothing I am so very tempted to canonize.
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Thank you, Cynthia!
Amanda lost one of her pigtail holders solely to satisfy my love of asymmetry.
I’m with Selkie! Grounds the craps outs of her!
So want to see the next page of this. Hey, on that note Ever thought of doing donation drive pages? You look like your trying to make a little bit of side money on this (the pins as a start) Ever thought of doing thing like a bonus page every $50 to $100?
No I hadn’t considered that. It’s not a bad idea, but I also sort of think if I CAN make an extra page a week, then I just SHOULD, you know? I have a few more product/sale ideas I am working on, and I feel if I am going to ask people for money I should offer something more… tangible.
There are some webcomics that ONLY update when the author has gotten enough money from their readers, so that’s left quite a bad taste in my mouth on all “donate for more comic” drives. So I guess I’m with Dave here in the “money for items, not for online comic” camp.
Yeah, there is that whole “hold the comic hostage” issue, too. I used to enjoy reading a comic with very strong narrative fantasy influences, but he started having money troubles and dropped it to do a comic where the main character had 45FF breasts and all the jokes related to her mammaries smothering people. So “selling out” is another issue to worry about.
As long as you don’t stop your current routine it’s really fine. Slightly dammed dose it best. When the author has time (like a school break or holiday) or is using her easier to do and quicker to get out flash back style. She will usually run a donation drive. I know people can get really jaded to it (two kinds was a horrid example) But think about it next time you have a week free and always remember. They pay for the page to show up that is all. They have no say on what’s on said page or how its drawn. This is something your pouring your heart and soul into and if it has people interested enough to pay to see the next part you have every right to make something off your work.
Hey, you could always fast forward to Selkie as a twenty-something blonde, crushing hapless persons in her over-sized bosom! Also mini-skirts and ridiculously stretched V-necks! You could even rename it “Silky,” and make thousands with body lotion product placement!
There’s a gold vein right under your feet Dave, all you have to do is mine it!
Couple comics I’ve seen have tried different things. Shortpacked/Its Walky! ran a secondary line of continuity (canon, just secondary) that was a paid strip– I found it irritating because the comments section continually referenced things that were going on “behind the curtain” and I always felt left out because I’m poor.
The Devil’s panties takes donations that turn off the ads on the strip. I like this because the donations become a group contribution that benefits everyone. It doesn’t look like it was successful, however, (you can probably ask Obby for more details than he has posted.) They are now selling additional content.
Starline is also selling additional content at Candi but it typically is very large multi-resolution background images, some of which are incredibly detailed.
There is NOTHING wrong with reserving some of your content for paying customers, especially if you’re trying to do the lifestyle change thang and trying to live off your comic. I only find it irritating if the content is canon because not everyone can be privy to what is going on.
Foo. None of my links worked. I wish there had been a “preview” function so I could have checked it.
Shortpacked/Its Walky! = http://www.shortpacked.com
The Devil’s Panties = http://www.thedevilspanties.com
Candi = http://www.candicomics.com
oh, and The Devil’s Panties also is selling porn, but I surmise that wouldn’t probably work for Selkie ;-O
I am leaning towards the Paul Taylor (Wapsi Square) method of selling art/prints on eBay on the side.
Dave Kellett also sells the original drawings of his comic “Sheldon” http://www.sheldoncomics.com, but he draws using, I think ink on bristol board (gasp!). Starline is selling art and prints, but generally through etsy. I wish you luck, I’ve seen friends with prints from comics I read, and I must say a well-done framed print can really make a room look good.
Selling items, prints, t-shirts are all excellent ideas. I’ll be buying a pin shortly. (Just sold a rare-ish Tarot deck, I’m going to wait till it’s received before I spend the money. 😀 )
When somebody starts a fight they’re sure to lose, like with the biggest kid in school, it generally means they have bigger issues than an aggressive personality.
In this case I think its resentment of a loving and supportive family and of her being happy and confident in spite of having a body that is more or less condemned by the mass media. Amanda has some serious self-esteem and self image issues due to being abandoned and seeing people having what she lacks is a big button pusher for her.
It most likely won’t help if she ever learns that there is a chance her male biological donor picked Selkie over her.
Actually: I predict that it WILL help in the long run, once Amanda gets over it, because of Todd’s reasons for making the choice in the first place.
At least, that’s a possibility I foresee. Depends on how soon the biological mother shows up and exactly how soon Todd finds out and who Amanda ends up with.
Uhhh, Todd thinks Amanda was a stillbirth. Todd doesn’t know that his child is alive, much less that she’s Amanda.
That’ll be a fun conversation…
I think it will also take some maturing on Amanda’s part before she can “forgive” Todd, even once she knows and groks the reasons why he decided what he did.
I get the impression that Todd was a troublemaker in the orphanage too, possibly for different reasons, but Amanda’s personality might be inherited.
GROUNDS THE CRAPS OUT OF HER!
Poor Amanda. It’s not really her fault now, is it? I bet there’s some nature there (although there’s still the idea of Amanda being Todd’s and Whatserface’s kid), I bet the majority is still in the nurture part. A little girl with self-esteem issues who needs to fight for every scrap of attention. Poor, poor Amanda 🙁
Poor poor Amanda’s victims. She’s a bully, and I’ve no doubt she knows that bullying others isn’t right. She may have her reasons, her reasons may be solid motivations for her, but she’s still a bully.
Actually grounding PLUS therapy may indeed be the way to go.
Damn, needing therapy at 8 years young? I know Amanda’s been really mean, but my heart does go out to her. Just a teensy bit.
And yeah, that was inappropriate for Selkie but I can understand her feelings. I did the same gleeful calling-out when my bullies got caught teasing me the first time… Good job modeling realistic childrens’ reactions Dave!
Had to see a therapist from the ages of 5 – 12. Do I think it helped. Sure, my brother and sister still live without any sign of my temper. Wasn’t completely helpful, but as I got older, my control got better based on what my therapist had me doing.
Dave – Love the sync in the last panel.
Indeed! Part of the reason I agreed with the therapy suggestion by Ms. Haversham-Zhang is because I also started therapy in middle school. My first therapist was wonderful, then she moved; all my therapists since sucked up until the one I have now, who I picked myself.
Therapy is hit-or-miss; if you are judged to need it, you probably do, but with the stipulation that it’s someone who can work with YOU and YOUR particular communication quirks, as well as with YOUR emotional needs and desired outcomes. Based on my experiences, I have come to the conclusion that if therapy isn’t working for you, it’s not the therapy that’s wrong but the THERAPIST, which would mean continuing to try new therapists until you find one that will help you work on yourself in a respectful and compatible way.
And yes, some of us do need it at a young age; I personally wish I had been taken to therapy sooner (I may be slightly biased because my first one was wonderful and actually advocated for me; if she had been terrible like all the horror stories, I may have had an entirely different opinion of therapy today).
Therapy is just a euphemism for brainwashing.
Therapist is just “the rapist” without the personal space.
It’s not Amanda’s fault, it’s the situation she’s in. Kids are born with (mostly) empty brains, but they start fillin’ up the minute they are born. They are typically a product of their environment and interactions.
….And add yet another character to my list of favourite characters. I do hope we will get to see more of Big Tammy and her parents.
Looks like the father needs some parental experience
That’s what he’s getting right now, unless Tammy isn’t his first born…
Selkie, waving in panel 6, is hilarious
I was Big Tammy when I was a kid. I was larger than all the girls and most of the boys, because I had an early growth spurt and was really stocky. My fourth grade nemesis slapped me in the face while we were at lunch, and I was so stunned I had no idea what to do, but my parents later told me that I had full permission to just deck her if she did it again.
I waited an entire year for her to do it again. She never did. My kid self was so sad. ^^; Then she moved away, so that was that.
I once tried to punch a kid who was making me miserable day in and day out. He just dodged it shoved me down and laughed.
So, you may be lucky to not have gotten that chance. XD
Sometimes one finds out that physical confrontations are not one’s forté.
However, there is always the verbal approach.
After I passed the Carrie threshold* I got into the habit of zeroing in on the bullies in advance, wearing my best slasher smile, and telling them in vast detail how awful their future was going to be, what they and their families were going to die of, how little they would achieve with their lives. I didn’t particularly care if they hit me or not after that… Just knowing I could screw with their heads and seriously upset them was intensely satisfying.
.
(* = The Carrie threshold is pretty much where you’ve been bullied so much you kinda snap, and revenge becomes a higher priority than self-preservation.)
Doesn’t feel much better connecting the blow. Trust me.
I just noticed how much Amanda resembles a young Todd in this strip… hmm…
To the mother of the towering child, I bow my head to thee, for thine regality is nigh er thine words be spoken, ’tis obvious I say!
For the one of monstrosities, nay I say. Thou are not a monster, for the monster be not tangible. It is but an aspect of thine rage, slinking its wretched fingers into thine heart. Learn thy place, O speaker of such things! This child be not in need of thine petty words; she needeth the gossamer veil of love and protection in the arms of those who would hold her close, yet nay should they allow her rot in the shadow with praise and false dreams; let her sit within the light, and see the truth for all it is, good or bad.
To the father of water, I say to thee… well done! Thine voice speaks true and thou art a fine man for raising thine brood. Thine daughter of mirth and eater of fish has much she would say, yet time and place this is not for such mirth, and thou know it well.
Verily, it makes my heart sing to read thy eloquence.
Nice visual parallel to the scuffed up young Todd from comic 22
https://selkiecomic.com/selkie22/
went back and looked myself…
same black eye, same ‘number’ of scrapes…
At first glance, the fourth panel shows young Todd in a red wig.
And Dave, I doubt that “Amanda lost one of her pigtail holders solely to satisfy [your] love of asymmetry”, but to get a Young-Todd-like hairstyle.
Walrus Kirugumi for the win
Poor Amanda is just lonely and afraid. She has no real friends. Even Heather is afraid of her, who’s to say Keisha isn’t also just afraid of her? She builds up a wall so no one knows how sad and alone she feels. I can never truly blame someone so young for being a bully. Well they hit high school and what not, yeah, they’re just being petty and selfish pricks. This age though? Sure, sometimes they’re petty selfish pricks at this age even, but there’s usually a reason…
All bullies justify their actions to themselves in some way. That doesn’t mean they weren’t bullies, weren’t doing bad things knowingly, nor that their victims in any way deserved being bullied by them.
Never once did I say that people who are bullied deserved it. I just said kids at this age usually have one reason or another and aren’t doing it out of pure maliciousness like some high school kids do.
Though I do believe people in this day and age whine too much about being bullied. I was bullied at lot as a kid and I just considered it normal teasing and a part of growing up. I got teased for a lot of things. It just made me a stronger person and made me realize I need to be indifferent to the insults people throw at me since they have their own problems and insecurities.
I, unlike my sister, graduated high school with full marks and honors. She dropped out because people “bullied” her. I was way worse off than she was. The sort of things I went through at school would be classified as real harassment. She just got called weird and people avoided her because of it. No one ever went out of their way to bother her.
I just wish kids in this day and age would grow a spine or something and stop crying over absolutely nothing.
I was bullied all the way to the brink of suicide, and back then all bullying was indeed considered “just normal teasing”, instead of the torture it was. So I distinctly lack empathy towards bullies, even if their life situation sucked.
The irony of the situation is quite stunning… ^^; And I refer to Amanda and Selkie being ‘parented at’ simultaneously, in the presence of the one’s adopted and the other’s genetic father, as well as a mother figure they both share.
I keep trying to find sympathy for Amanda. I do. I was saddened at her frightening returned-like-defective-merchandise back story. But the bullying thing keeps returning, and keeps making me dislike her. There are plenty of people with truly terrible backgrounds that do NOT turn to tormenting others.
Selkie was old enough to know and love and speak with her mother and was abandoned – that’s just as bad as what Amanda went through, and she does not hurt others. Amanda is even cruel to the people who are her own friends and frankly often seems to enjoy doing so.
And that’s with being defended (not a monster) and worked with already (behavior adjustment). Now they’re talking counseling – this isn’t a kid whose issues are being ignored!
And at this moment, despite everything, she continues as a character to ignore any suggestions that what she’s doing is wrong – self-justification all the way. Having been bullied badly as a kid, I have no sympathy.
Same here. Mind you, Dave, this – our dislike of Amanda – just means you’ve written and portrayed the character very well. The worst reaction a writer can get for a character is the lukewarm “meh, s/he’s ok”. To truly love/like and hate/dislike a character, that character must feel real. So congratulations for doing such a good job here,
I’m sure it hurt Amanda to no end to be called a “monster.” That’s her special pet name for Selkie…
Selkie in seal outfit pin =)
selkie swimming pin and another pin(s) of terrified fish.
Selkie hairbow barrette
Selkie family portrait poster, signed for a certain donation amount.
Teeshirts!
Yes, please make the seal suit canon! Even if it’s beneath Selkie’s dignity now, you could say it was for a Halloween party while she was in the orphanage. So adorable!
And oh, how I love panel 6 and Amanda’s reaction in 7: just about the person she least wanted to see at that moment!
I was bullied almost every year from 3rd to 11th grade, so while I appreciate that Amanda’s behavior has believable roots, there’s certainly no excuse for it. As Ms. Haversham-Zhang agrees. I hope the right combination of therapy and socialization will eventually straighten Amanda out.
The times I stood up my bullies were at least satisfying, if not conclusive. It definitely isn’t a “magic bullet” solution, but in my case it did wonders for my self-respect and confidence.
This might even enter canon as the origin for her name, unless Dave already has plans to explain that.
I think the picture depicts her at a pre-orphanage age — maybe a sleeper that she got as a gift during a previous visit to the surface folk?
Saying that Amanda “started it” probably means that she threw the first punch. But was there an unpleasant exchange of words first? And how did that start? Will we find out?
Treason! There is only one Queen of Canada (Reine du Canada)!
Wait, if the lady’s American… I guess the treason horse bolted a long time ago.
Will being in trouble together bring Selkie and Amanda closer, or polarise them still further, I wonder?
And was that a Kirby Crackle in frame 7?
Your comment about loving asymmetry put me in mind of Dirty Sanchez’s “Asymmetric”.
Excellent strip! Loved the background of panel 7! Fits in wonderfully with Amanda’s reaction. As others have mentioned, I love Selkie’s comment and waving & grinning in panel 6.