Latest Page Discussions/Comic Update Chitchat

[JoB]

Ooh, as long as I'm blethering on... re Onni vs the kade: I was thinking it would be really interesting if he picked it apart mage by mage, like peeling layers off an onion, until he gets to the unknown mage (who probably didn't know that's what they were) who was the first to get consumed. Unfortunately, I think that's unlikely, for two reasons. First, the info page about kades says that mages can be rescued "under ideal circumstances" and in "the initial stages of corruption"... although that would suggest that Onni's plan is doomed, as it's been quite some time since Ensi was taken over. Second, Onni was very dismissive of the first person so I doubt that he would be much interested in helping them. But still, I can hope!

I don't have to value an onion's outer layers or have a particular use for them to see the need to have the whole thing peeled ...

His statement that he wants to overcome the kade physically, because it's weak that way, does strongly suggest that he won't do any soul-peeling. But it also seems to contradict him facing it in the dreamworld, like he seems to do right now. Chances are that he already went through a "change of plans" phase, so why not another ...

It would make more sense for them to all follow Onni now, since Onni is the one who knows the area and is the main focus of all of this. Let the person with the most information lead.

He has an information advantage WRT the kade, maybe, but not the area. Onni was a non-immune protected youngster in Toivosaari (until the survivors got picked up and relocated to Keuruu), a place that adv2 passed through even before getting to Väinö's checkpoint.

(Which implies that if Onni succeeds he'll live, come to think of it; though I don't think it guarantees that.)

Let's say that it would give Onni the Allfeather's permission to live, if he can fit that achievement onto his adventurous plate as well.

[Vulpes]

Jitter, thorny - you are both correct, of course. It didn't occur to me that the kade info page was referring to rescuing a mage from a kade and restoring them to life, which leaves the possibility of extricating the trapped soul even after a long time, for which we do indeed have the precedent with Pastor Anne. Forehead smack. Thank-you, now I feel better, Onni may be attempting the near-impossible... but it is possible. Whew!

[lwise]

It seems to me that we will get the story of the Kade.  All the bad things are together now: Kade, bears, Surma.  It would be a profound anticlimax if the team were to simply slip away and go home while the grosslings fight it out.  So they have to stay and the situation has to be resolved with Kade, bears, and Surma all dead, and with a minimum of our team dead.  But if the adventure is to go on until next February or March, we can't have month after month of this battle dragging on, followed by the team going home.  Therefore, there must be some long narrative besides the battle, and what would that be, but the story of the Kade?  Also, narratively, Mikkel asked who the Kade was originally and Onni arrogantly dismissed the question, so naturally the question must be very important.

[thorny]

Well, that's Surma, all right --

And it's interesting that we still haven't been shown what Surma looks like. Some kind of reveal coming there, I expect. Minna's not usually shy of giving us a good look at her monsters.  -- are those eyes in the background, or just some of the flying bits and pieces?

(In other and entirely off-topic news: I just accidentally breached my treaty with the wasps and got stung for it. I pinched one between my arm and body without realizing that it was there, until the sharp pain in my arm made its presence clear. Further escalation, however, can almost certainly be avoided.)

[wavewright62]

Plot twist on the Kade: It's Helmi, who ran the cafe where Aino Hotakainen worked?      (would maybe explain a working relationship with Surma, bonding over appreciation of efficient slicing technique)

[catbirds]

Ough... today's page gives us a great peek into troll anatomy??? This thing has a brain!!!!!

I guess the one good thing about the use of small panels is that it makes the action seem appropriately fast-paced. I know some people bemoaned the loss of the wide, empty panels spanning several pages earlier, but for me the past few days have been decently quick...

On the talk of Kades: I'm pretty sure the salvaging that was stated on the info page would've only been useful back when Ensi still had a human form. As funny as it would be to maybe somehow end up with one mage-soul being the puppeteer for the entire Kade, that's probably not where the story is going and there isn't really a body for the mages unless they unionized in the Kade. If there is some way to restore Ensi to her now over-95-year-old frame, then that'd be neat either way, but as someone pointed out, the swan wants two souls. I'll not get my hopes up (The only thing that would leave a bitter taste in my mouth would be if Onni were to D-word.)

I think Jitter already covered most of this pretty accurately. Either way, I'm more familiar with the concept of a soul needing some body to return to as one of the hard rules in stories of the more magical sort. Not that this necessarily applies to Finnish mythology or folk beliefs.

On the new team structure: I've been re-re-reading adventure 2 and I managed to recall being really hopeful for a real friendship-based team when it started. It felt like one of those "weeeeeellll... Reynir's going and Mikkel's going... I might as well go too just to be safe, definitely not because I care " kind of situations because the crew would probably sooner eat a box of worms than openly admit to caring about each other (in a good way!!). Mmmmmaybe I was wrong since they don't really interact outside of practical conversations now, but y'know, friendly group that sort of has a concept of leadership left over from the first adventure would have been fun.

[Róisín]

I think a beast or troll needs a brain or at least a spinal cord and nervous system to be even pseudoalive? Remember when the train guards were trying to make sure all of the ‘viable heads’ were destroyed? I would be interested to see if my headcanon of the Rash as a single malign intelligence spread across many bodies turns out to be right.

And thorny, that was bad for you and the wasp! We have dauber wasps on the wall of the back verandah at my place. I hang my washing there, so have to be careful to not bring any wasps inside folded into the washing. I certainly would not want to kill them!

[thorny]

I didn't kill this one -- they're not bees, and I believe survive the sting. (Which still hurts; I would have expected it to have stopped by now. Doesn't hurt as much as when it first happened, though.) I don't know whether that particular one will survive long inside, or will manage to get out; but I certainly seem to be providing habitat (outdoors) for quite a few of them, so I think its kin are doing OK. I do want them -- they're beneficials in more than one way -- but it works out better for both me and them if not too many of them come inside the house!

[Groupoid]

I think the style of today's and yesterday's pages isn't so hectic anymore. The lines are thinner, more clear. I like it. /nitpicking
And no, I don't like the violence.

[Tarnagh]

I have been re-reading the story since I just got the books from the Kickstarter in the mail the other day.

I'm super embarrassed that I never figured this out until now. Feel free to point and laugh, for everyone who already knew, but I just realized that Ensi was the baby that Aino Hotakainen was pregnant with in the Prologue, Year Zero. I think I may have missed this family tree page when I read the story through online.

http://sssscomic.com/comic.php?page=629

[Jitter]

I’m sure no one is laughing, let alone pointing! But yeah, I believe it’s fairly widely known I have looked at the family tree page for dozens of times (I’ve written several little fanfics qbout the prologue characters) that it’s never occurred to me someone has not seen or registered that page!

[Jitter]

Speaking of which: I also asked Minna whether it’s safe to assume only the branches leading to current main characters are shown. I.e. that Kaino for example could have had children. And she said yes, not everyone is shown there.

[Tarnagh]

I’m sure no one is laughing, let alone pointing! But yeah, I believe it’s fairly widely known I have looked at the family tree page for dozens of times (I’ve written several little fanfics qbout the prologue characters) that it’s never occurred to me someone has not seen or registered that page!

I'm clearly just having a colossal derp moment. I never really thought about how *OLD* Ensi is/was, and put those two pieces of information together before. I must have missed the family tree page - or simply forgotten it because my brain does that to me sometimes.

Speaking of which: I also asked Minna whether it’s safe to assume only the branches leading to current main characters are shown. I.e. that Kaino for example could have had children. And she said yes, not everyone is shown there.

I do think that's cool. Maybe there's still a chance of meeting some of the extended family.

[Vulpes]

It seems to me that we will get the story of the Kade.  <snip>  Also, narratively, Mikkel asked who the Kade was originally and Onni arrogantly dismissed the question, so naturally the question must be very important.

That is an excellent point, and demonstrates my lack of understanding of story-telling!  :'D  I'm far too apt to dismiss things as unimportant, but you're right, the fact that it was discussed is probably significant. I was seeing it as merely a way to establish Onni's confidence in his ability to defeat the kade, but he could have said that without us being shown the original mage, which suggests that they're important.

<snip>
On the talk of Kades: I'm pretty sure the salvaging that was stated on the info page would've only been useful back when Ensi still had a human form. <snip>
I think Jitter already covered most of this pretty accurately. Either way, I'm more familiar with the concept of a soul needing some body to return to as one of the hard rules in stories of the more magical sort. Not that this necessarily applies to Finnish mythology or folk beliefs.

Oh, I didn't think Ensi was going to end up alive after all this time! I had misunderstood the time-limit mentioned on the kade info page as applying to any type of rescue, i.e. if it's not fairly soon after being corrupted by a kade, forget about getting the soul free. Which, on reflection, makes zero sense, because Tuuri would know that and would have tried to talk Onni out of trying, rather than agree to help.

[lwise]

Is anyone besides me getting a 404 error for the comic as a whole?