Latest Page Discussions/Comic Update Chitchat

[Purple Wyrm]

Not that I expect this to kill the "Emil can't aim ever ever ever ha ha ha" idee fixe in the fandom, but...

In panel 3 here, Emil kills a troll with one shot, holding his gun one-handed.

Apparently, this is how he was trained to fire his weapon.

But that troll was mostly dead! It doesn't count! 

(I'm just kidding. I actually agree with your view of Emil's abilities)

[Jharad17]

Not that I expect this to kill the "Emil can't aim ever ever ever ha ha ha" idee fixe in the fandom, but...

In panel 3 here, Emil kills a troll with one shot, holding his gun one-handed.

Apparently, this is how he was trained to fire his weapon.

Ah, well, that troll wasn't moving, and was just this side of dead. I think the idea still stands.

[LooNEY_DAC]

It's interesting to note (though no one has yet to my knowledge) that this storyline is one of those which Minna mentioned as being impossible without Tuuri's death: it's why Lalli and Emil stayed behind, leaving them vulnerable to whatever was awakened by the first group's passage (namely, the Werehaus); why Lalli was so low physically, spiritually and emotionally as to be on his last legs when the Werehaus showed up; and quite possibly why Lalli pushed himself over the edge to save Emil, in an "I won't let this happen again" way.

Any other thoughts on this aspect of the unfolding story?

[thorny]

LooNEY_DAC, I don't think I've got anything to add to that; but I do think that's an interesting point. Thanks for bringing it up.

It occurs to me that when Lalli said he'd have to stay till he'd figured out how to get back where he belongs, Emil and I both assumed that he meant stay in the dream. What he apparently meant was that he'd have to stay in Emil's head -- including while Emil's awake.

Which is kind of an interesting twist on the dreamworlds; and implies that even for non-mages, the dreamworlds aren't dreamworlds because they exist only in dreams, but because they're accessible only in dreams -- but they must exist all the time. Or at least all the time during which the person who dreams in them is alive. Which would imply an underlying consistency to dreams which I don't think actually exists in the world that we're living in.

And since Reynir can move from one to another -- the entire dreamworld, everyone's together, may actually be one place, but most people can only get at their bit of it.

I wonder if it's made up of individuals' dreams, or is entirely independent of them and is just a place that Minna's characters visit when dreaming? but the fact that some of the dreams clearly reference individual memories (plus the incident with Onni's ear) indicates that it's related to waking world events.

[Solokov]

Hmmmm.... this whole "lalli riding shotgun in emil's head" thing definitely gives implications for the fanfic side.

As a whole, not just for the emillali fandom.

Edit: let us recklessly speculate on those implications now, and what might happen if Lalli's body were to perish?

I kinda think it would leave Lalli stuck in emil's subconscious until emil eventually died (unless he somehow discovers the secret to immortality, now that would be a twist), the question then becomes would he remain a seperate and distinct entitiy, or would emil end up sort of over-writing lalli and just sort take on some lalli like traits?


Additionally, this close brush with magery makes me wonder will Emil gain some sort of insight into magic?

[GunmanRex]

Hmmmm.... this whole "lalli riding shotgun in emil's head" thing definitely gives implications for the fanfic side.

As a whole, not just for the emillali fandom.

Edit: let us recklessly speculate on those implications now, and what might happen if Lalli's body were to perish?

I kinda think it would leave Lalli stuck in emil's subconscious until emil eventually died (unless he somehow discovers the secret to immortality, now that would be a twist), the question then becomes would he remain a seperate and distinct entitiy, or would emil end up sort of over-writing lalli and just sort take on some lalli like traits?


Additionally, this close brush with magery makes me wonder will Emil gain some sort of insight into magic?

I am suddenly reminded of Dr. Bright from the SCP fandom.

[Grade E cat]

As far as I'm concerned, the sweet spot for Emil getting mage abilities would be ghost vision and/or troll detection, but no actual combat/defense magic. This way he gets a glimpse of what Lalli has to live with, but doesn't end up overpowered (or with something he'll probably not have long enough to make any real use out of it, since I don't picture either outlasting Lalli's stay).

[Solokov]

I am suddenly reminded of Dr. Bright from the SCP fandom.

Dr. Bright isn't riding shotgun though.

[GunmanRex]

Dr. Bright isn't riding shotgun though.

True true,
though Lalli fully taking over Emil's body would also be interesting.

[JoB]

Edit: let us recklessly speculate on those implications now, and what might happen if Lalli's body were to perish?

Lalli's quite a stickler for the noita job description, i.e., "make the soul of the dead enter afterlife proper, if need be". If the death of his body doesn't effect such in the first place, I'ld trust him to go swan-hi-jacking of his own volition.

[wavewright62]

Lalli's quite a stickler for the noita job description, i.e., "make the soul of the dead enter afterlife proper, if need be". If the death of his body doesn't effect such in the first place, I'ld trust him to go swan-hi-jacking of his own volition.

I cannot agree with you on this one - mages would also know more than most about respecting the natural order of things.  They could force a spirit onward, but that would be to make it fit into the natural order as opposed to existing outside it.  His main concern when Tuuri died was ensuring that she went properly.  He would have respect for the Swan.
We don't know yet whether 'riding shotgun' with another person is a condition that any mage has had experience with before in this universe.  As such, Lalli may be a pioneer and not even be aware of how special this experience is (similar to Reynir's lack of appreciation for his powers of mobility).  His expression when dunked into the Lilypad Pool of Nowhere was one of wonder and curiosity, and he followed the orange light because, well, what else could he do?  He looked like he had no clue what was going to happen. 
I've seen people before whose reaction to something outside their experience is to be ascerbic about it, like it's a personal affront to be outside their comfort zone.  *shrug*  That's a coping strategy, not atypical about it.

[Róisín]

I get that. Mages and scientists both. Who was that writer who said something like: 'A mage is someone who will follow the trail of an unanswered question over the edge of his own grave.' Makes sense to me.

[JoB]

I cannot agree with you on this one - mages would also know more than most about respecting the natural order of things.  They could force a spirit onward, but that would be to make it fit into the natural order as opposed to existing outside it.  His main concern when Tuuri died was ensuring that she went properly.

Yes, precisely. What I meant to say was "once Lalli were to realize that he (his body) is legit dead, he'ld insist on his soul / dreamscape-self going straight to Tuonela 'where it belongs', even if - for whatever reason - the team and the birds of The Birds' Path were opposing that".

[Grade E cat]

I can't help but notice that Reynir is actually wearing a combination of his dreamspace and real-world clothes. I can't help wondering if it's intentional or Minna forgetting which is which (she did do a milder version of that mix-up with Emil's uniform on the Chapter 14 cover by giving him the wrong boots).

[Sc0ut]

I can't help but notice that Reynir is actually wearing a combination of his dreamspace and real-world clothes. I can't help wondering if it's intentional or Minna forgetting which is which (she did do a milder version of that mix-up with Emil's uniform on the Chapter 14 cover by giving him the wrong boots).

He just looks like he's wearing his normal clothes to me. The difference between his dream clothes and real life ones is actually not great, and a lot of the differentiating details would be hidden by the uniform jacket on top. Let's see:

- his coat has short sleeves irl, and long in dreamspace: impossible to tell which one it is here, since he has the extra jacket on top
- pants and undertunic are lighter in real life and brown in dreamspace - very hard to tell in this color scheme which one it is
- long leather strips hanging below his tunic in his dreamspace clothes, there are none here
- in dreamspace, he has rune "coins" on his coat (impossible to tell if they are present here) and on his belt and boots: absent here.

So, no concrete evidence for dreamspace clothes at all >_>