Latest Page Discussions/Comic Update Chitchat

[thorny]

There is another possibility: All those souls the kade absorbed supposedly were Finnish mages, with the major task to guide (other) trapped souls to the afterlife. If they have been freed from the kade's influence in any meaningful way, they might have looked at the fight and seen one soul they could do that with (Surma, with a human soul) and one they have to leave for others (because Kaunoinens beast soul requires a kallohonka and, thus, physical hands to clean her bones).

That does seem to make sense -- except I don't see any indication of what happens to Surma's soul. I'd think that, if that's what Minna meant, Surma's soul would be seen rising up to join the others.

If she did mean that, she's being really unclear about it.

[tehta]

I have a positive comment to make!

While the story confounds me, I am at least enjoying the art again! Parts of the bear hunt were almost painful to me, but things seemed to improve around when the dreamspace chapter started. I found the lake, the sun(rise|set) clouds, and even the bear pleasing to look at in the last update, and since the nature scenes were one of the things that originally drew me to the comic, that really means something to me.

[wavewright62]

That is an excellent point - the art has indeed perked up again, from right about the start of this chapter. 

[thorny]

Whoops, the art has gone cartoony again; at least, as far as the humans are concerned.


 -- I wonder if Mama Bear is looking for Lalli to cleanse her bones? Her attitude looks a little, to me, like that of the dog beast in Adventure 1 chapter 3 walking up to Emil and lying down to be killed.

[lwise]

Yeah, the art ... sigh.

Questions that probably won't be answered:

Who was the Kade and why did she do what she did?
Why did the Swan leave the kadettes behind?
Why did they help (or use) Mama Bear to kill Surma?
And furthermore, how?
If the kadettes could do that, why didn't the Kade just inhabit Mama Bear (or Surma) and smash through the team, the sentinel mages, and every settlement in Finland?
Where did the kadettes go, and why?

[catbirds]

Yeah, this sort of thing would've been paced much much slower in Adv. 1. We've just been left with a few too many questions and generally not enough time for all this? At least the cameras are back on the crew, though.

One thing is I'm really wondering why no one on the team thought it prudent to wear a mask through the fire, but I'm not sure why that bugs me a lot. In a particularly fiery place, or even in a mildly smoky place, my eyes will start to burn even if I cover them and breathe through cloth. Plus, explosion fire in an industrial kitchen definitely isn't the good type of fire.

Side note: Minna did say that she'd like to end SSSS on a place where she could pick it up again if she ever felt like it. Not that her decisions with the comic now are great, or that that justifies whatever the ending will be.

I do think some of these questions about the folklore/spiritual elements can be left to personal interpretation, but the storytelling's too feeble right now to keep readers from picking up these inconsistencies.

She usually takes a break over Christmas / New Year's, so it's possible we may have only on the order of a dozen pages left in the story proper.

Oops, I totally forgot about that. If she does decide to just push through so she can get SSSS done with, that wouldn't be surprising. But I feel like I'll be able to breathe a huge sigh of relief once it's done anyway, so I'm vaguely looking forward to it.

[thorny]

Lalli going to help the bears, maybe?

Side note: Minna did say that she'd like to end SSSS on a place where she could pick it up again if she ever felt like it.

Interesting. I wonder whether she might be having second thoughts.

Sometimes new and vehement converts . . . don't stay that way.

(Definitely not counting on that, though. And if she does have second thoughts, they won't necessarily be thoughts I'd be any happier with.)

[thorny]

Well. Together, anyway.

I do hope Lalli's coming.

[wavewright62]

Lalli going to help the bears, maybe?


Interesting. I wonder whether she might be having second thoughts.

Sometimes new and vehement converts . . . don't stay that way.

(Definitely not counting on that, though. And if she does have second thoughts, they won't necessarily be thoughts I'd be any happier with.)

For all my trepidation at the effect Minna's conversion has had upon this art that we love, I do not wish for her the mental anguish that any backpedalling would entail.

[Róisín]

Nothing but mental and emotional maturity can really change such things anyway. Or direct Word of God(s).

[thorny]

Nothing but mental and emotional maturity can really change such things anyway. Or direct Word of God(s).

I don't know -- I've run into an occasional person who just seems to keep moving from one belief set to another, with seemingly equal vehemence about each one in its turn, including insistence that others ought to join in.

It occurs to me that I don't know those particular people any longer; maybe they did grow out of it eventually. But I'm not sure it wasn't a long-term character trait that they had to believe in something, but couldn't settle on what; and had to try to defend each belief by getting agreement from others.

None of which is to say that that's what's going on with Minna. I have no clear idea what's going on with Minna, but hope it works out well eventually both for her and for those around her.

ETA: In any case, I still hope Lalli's coming to help the bears on their way.

[midwestmutt]

As a practical person Minna may be having second thoughts about abandoning a proven cash cow.

[Róisín]

Minna lives on the proceeds of her art, and I’m fairly sure that whatever she made would sell, even stuff like Lovely
People.

And thorny, I’ve certainly met enough of the type who flit from one religion, philosophy, friend group or political party  to another and insist each time that they have found the One True Way and everyone they know has to convert Right Now. Don’t like the attitude, or the assumption that what other people believe is even any of their business. Sadly though, it is a common mindset.

[catbirds]

I'm glad the crew didn't end up beating impossible odds and taking down the bear, but I feel like the delivery could've been a little more emotional. I can't remember which event it was, but I got much more emotional about someone's drawing of the bears' skulls on top of some trees than this scene.

Minna lives on the proceeds of her art, and I’m fairly sure that whatever she made would sell, even stuff like Lovely People.

I do wonder, though. She's said multiple times that she didn't intend to turn a significant profit from LP, and yeah, the webpage doesn't have any ads on it either, even though I don't know the sales numbers for the LP books. The pricing model says she wants people to buy multiple copies and that the message is more important than earning money, and considering how many fancy features these books have (physically), this just isn't really... a profitable move. But 27 Euros does sound like a lot to me either way TBH.

Either way, I don't think she's having second thoughts, but maybe at some point she suddenly won't find SSSS incompatible with her new worldview. Of course, a whole bunch of us will have moved on by then, so who knows.

[thorny]

Whew.

Wonder what he's going to do about the missing skulls?