Latest Page Discussions/Comic Update Chitchat

[Temteno]

I have to comment how lovely Sigrun and Reynir's interaction has been in the newest pages! As people have mentioned, they haven't interacted that much before this (except when it was just them, Mikkel and Kitty traveling). It's fun to see how their personalities clash a little even without the language barrier - hopefully we get more of them in the future

[thegreyarea]

And I have to comment that I like this development in Sigrun character.
She took the initiative to invite Reynir to play, finding a way to overcome the language barrier. Even as she's easily bored, I feel that she's also doing that to interact with him outside the "Commanding Officer" role that she usually plays with the younger members of the team.

[Jitter]

And she also waved to Lalli and hoped he would notice. Her indifference is a facade! But we knew that all along.

[thegreyarea]

Yes! My headcannon (with nothing to support it) is that Sigrun wanted a commanding role but didn't get that back in Dalsnes (maybe there were older/more experienced people already on those positions? We have very few on Sigrun's past). That would be one of her reasons to volunteer in such an enthusiastic way for the first adventure.
Once on that role she felt the need to keep some distance from the rest. With time and after all they went through together that stance started to change. First with Mikkel, that she sees more as an equal to herself, then with Emil, that she always saw as a partner in fighting, and now with Lalli and Reynir.
As you said it was a facade, and inside we will find a playful Sigrun :-) Now I'm waiting to see her playing with Kitty!

[Jitter]

Also let’s not forget how distraught she was in late Adventure 1 when they thought Emil and Lalli were lost too. I also always read her “twig” and “little one” names as somewhat affectionate.

[Temteno]

Sigrun definitely grew on to the crew! She also mentioned when Emil and Lalli were lost that she has lost people before but not in that way. She definitely felt responsible for them in a different way: Tuuri, Lalli, Emil and Reynir were so young, easy to tease and had life ahead of them. It's no wonder the emotional punch of it really took a toll on her. She is definitely the type of person who shows her caring instead of telling.

Sigrun needs to keep the facade though so that they wouldn't stop to take her seriously She can't fool Mikkel though!

[Jitter]

Same goes for Mikkel. When Reynir runs for the church, he’s extremely upset (p 878) and then on on 968 when Lalli and Emil return he’s overjoyed although he shows it wordlessly.

[thegreyarea]

Undoubtedly! Mikkel cares for them all. Sometimes the absence of words speaks louder than anything that could be said, and that was the case on page 968.
It even makes me fear for him, as I have no doubt that in an extreme situation he would put himself at risk to protect the others (let's hope Minna doesn't read this).
Besides that, page 878 is so funny, with Mikkel furious and them, as Sigrun arrives, playing cool.
There's also, with the "heart attack" talk, a hint of Mikkel and Sigrun caring for each other here... :-)

[thorny]

Well, they all, without question, went after Lalli when they realized Lalli was going after Onni; even though they all knew they'd be going into danger, and even though any or all of them could easily have stayed home.

They may not be demonstrative about it; but there's quite a bond through the whole band of them. Even Lalli almost certainly didn't try to go without the rest of the group because he didn't want them, but because he didn't want to endanger them.

[thegreyarea]

They may not be demonstrative about it; but there's quite a bond through the whole band of them. Even Lalli almost certainly didn't try to go without the rest of the group because he didn't want them, but because he didn't want to endanger them.

Agreed. Not being demonstrative is also, I believe, a cultural thing. It's the way (most) Northern Europeans behave. And now my imagination is running wild creating an alternative SSSS that could exist if Minna was Italian or Portuguese. Things will surely be quite different, even more if she was Brazilian... :-)

[thorny]

Agreed. Not being demonstrative is also, I believe, a cultural thing. It's the way (most) Northern Europeans behave.

And I think this would have been reinforced by the trauma first of Year Zero, and then of the continuing situation. People would have needed desperately to be able to put aside their grief, terror, and horror enough to keep working -- and to work frantically hard in order to build barriers and to set up functioning systems to feed themselves and provide other resources. This will all have gradually somewhat died down by year 90 -- but for one thing, the impact on societal norms would take a whole lot longer to dissipate; and for another, note that "somewhat". Settlements are still disappearing; and three (counting Onni and Tuuri) of our group are themselves the apparent sole survivors of such a disaster.

[thegreyarea]

And I think this would have been reinforced by the trauma first of Year Zero, and then of the continuing situation.

Agreed. And probably physical contact would became much more limited. Maybe not touching would be a social rule. You would have to be very close to someone to overlook that.

[yung_chrysanthemum]

I am so confused by this troll from an anatomical perspective. A lot of trolls we've seen have obvious faces or heads... not so for this one. Truly an eldritch abomination.

[thorny]

If I look really hard I think I can see eyes and an open mouth. But I'm not sure whether I'm seeing or imagining them.

[yung_chrysanthemum]

seeing this latest page i'm reminded of the info page showing the distance that the rash can travel depending on what the source is.

"some trolls have been known to spit."

but have trolls been known to expel bile from tanks on their back?