Character Development: Lalli

[Sue D Nym]

Maybe whatever made them leave their village lost them their parents too. In that case Onni probably raised both of them.

[Pessi]

There was some discussion back on one of the comic comment threads about Lalli coming across as being somewhere on the autistic spectrum or otherwise neurodivergent.

Sounds logical. Asperger could well be the case since communication difficulties, intensive concentrating on one point of interest, oversensitive sensory systems, difficulties with managing the complexities of everyday life and specific talents are all part of the syndrome.

On the other hand most people show some autistic trait or another. Perhaps Lalli is just strongly introvert and has spent most of his life in his own company.

[Annie]

Perhaps Lalli is just strongly introvert and has spent most of his life in his own company.

That's also entirely possible/plausible. Also, given that Tuuri said it had been a long time since she'd seen any children, I'd have to imagine there weren't very many - if any - at Keuruu (it is a military base, after all). So, if there weren't any other kids around, Lalli wouldn't have had much chance to learn HOW to interact with people. Tuuri seems extroverted enough that she wouldn't have any trouble socializing with willing (or unwilling) adults.

As for Lalli, if he's like most introverts I know, and if he was recovering from the trauma of whatever happened to his village and parents, he'd probably find animals easier and more comforting to be around than people. I can easily imagine the poor little guy spending much more time around Keuruu's cats than it's people. If that's the case, no wonder he behaves like a cat!

[Cynic]

Maybe whatever made them leave their village lost them their parents too. In that case Onni probably raised both of them.

Very likley, I think it was clearly indicated (but not spelled out) that at least Lalli's parent didn't make it.

[littlebus]

I do hope Lalli itching his leg on page 180 is merely "this new uniform is weird" and not the first stages of anything he might have picked up from his Close Encounter Of The Trollish Kind (though he is listed as Immune).

[BrainBlow]

He's obviously just uncomfortable in it.

[Solovei]

Guys, are we not going to discuss how Lalli and Onni supposedly have a telepathic connection? Because that is something that
a) was not mentioned anywhere on the mage info sheet
b) somewhat changes their relationship

[Richard Weir]

Magical, yes - but telepathic? I think we need to wait and see how Minna portrays it before we can discuss it. After all, it may be no more intimate than a phone conversation was back when they were very rare and only a few households had them.

Still, it's an interesting idea and I sort of hope there is some kind of bond involved.

(Or better still - Lalli invokes a spirit animal to act as messenger! Imagine a grumpy Mrs Squirrel from A Red Tail's Dream turning up to shout at Onni!)

[Sera]

Solovei, I'm curious about that too! I suppose we'll just have to wait and see, as has been said, we don't really know how magic works/if magic works yet. I did find it interesting though that Lalli could pretty much care less, and that was very in keeping with his character so far, and yet when Tuuri insists, he says he'll at least try. That also says something about him, cat-like though he is, he has enough regard for Tuuri (as one of his humans, I guess?) to do what she asks.

[JoB]

Guys, are we not going to discuss how Lalli and Onni supposedly have a telepathic connection?

They do? According to what we've seen in the comic so far, it could just as well be runos chiseled into a boulder that gets express delivered by continental drift.

[BabaYaga]

(Or better still - Lalli invokes a spirit animal to act as messenger! Imagine a grumpy Mrs Squirrel from A Red Tail's Dream turning up to shout at Onni!)

Hey, if there are spirit animals involved, Lalli definitely invokes a grumpy cat, not a grumpy squirrel. Although I could see Onni sending Mrs Squirrel to yell at his stray sister and cousin.

[Richard Weir]

An interesting little interaction between Tuuri and Lalli on Page 220: when Tuuri asks Lalli if he knows where they are he replies "I know where we are [...] A weird, foreign scary country".

And he still does his duty and goes out to scout.

(Some people read this as being sarcastic, but I couldn't help but read it as a bald statement of fact; this seems more in keeping with his more autist-like traits.)

[Piney]

Yeah, I didn't read it as sarcastic either. I mean, Lalli knows that Tuuri was afraid, but really, what was he supposed to do about it? It's what Sigrun told him to do, and it's literally his job to ne a night scout. He seemed to know better than Tuuri what they were getting themselves into going on the mission (and I should note that he was the one who didn't even really know what was going on, originally). The whole point of the trip was to go to places that no one's gone - everywhere they'd go would be weird, scary, and foreign.

[Esko Oksanen]

Guys, are we not going to discuss how Lalli and Onni supposedly have a telepathic connection? Because that is something that
a) was not mentioned anywhere on the mage info sheet
b) somewhat changes their relationship

My half-assed last-minute theory to this is that maybe some Finnish have this ability based on how tightly knit their bond may be with someone?

[Piney]

My half-assed last-minute theory to this is that maybe some Finnish have this ability based on how tightly knit their bond may be with someone?

If it was referring to the whole mage chat room connection thing, then I think it's been disproved already. Because, *ahem*, Braidy was there...