Latest Page Discussions/Comic Update Chitchat

[JoB]

Maybe we should dig up the Cliffhanger Challenge thread

Meantime, somewhere else in Finland ...

... Väinö is sweeping the floor in his abode and stands dangerously close to his filing cabinet, events elsewhere threatening to have its doors come blown clean off.

[catbirds]

Two pages at once, neat! Also the first time Minna has posted on her twitter in a while.

I didn't expect Surma to just sit down and contemplate life, though. It probably moves by detecting loud sounds, then? Since Emil, Sigrun, and Mikkel were in its line of "sight" when it entered through the window and its first response was to the bear's loud roar. This must be the stealth sequence, so good luck Sigrun

[Vulpes]

<snip>
I didn't expect Surma to just sit down and contemplate life, though. <snip>

Me neither, and yet again, Minna has managed to make me feel sorry for a hideously deformed creature that would slice and dice the main characters without... uh... I was going to say "without batting an eye", but I guess that's a given... without a moment's thought... uh... similar problem, is there thought going on there at all... aaaah... how about without the slightest hesitation? Yeah, that works!  :'D

Surma looks so despondent, sitting there waiting for the next loud sound to deal with, and I can imagine a little fragment of whoever this was wishing they could stop, and finally rest.

[thorny]

I don't think Reynir listens very well --

That might turn out to be for the best, though.

[Maple]

I think this might not be the final battle with the Kade, because it's looking just a little too goofy. Minna has been pretty good about tone at her serious moments, so this feels more like "goofing off a little and something is going to happen that suddenly makes it very serious, and then they serious up and finish the job."

My bets are on Onni looking the Kade in the eyes and being infected, and that sets off a time limit for them to vanquish the Kade before Onni is lost.

[Tarnagh]

Tuuri ... what? "Go and find grandma?" Is it possible that Ensi is still herself, somewhere in the dreamworld? Or is Tuuri tracking down the kade and luring it back to them?

[Róisín]

I had wondered whether the Kade had chosen to transfer itself to Ensi’s body as a physical base. Useful as a deception on people who might have known Ensi well enough to trust her, and a good strong body even if old. Or whether Tuuri might be trying to locate Ensi among the souls trapped in the Kade?

[Suominoita]

My impression was that Tuuri was going to find Grandma Ensi among the souls. Possibly something similar as Onni finding Tuuri among the dead. That is what Onni needed Tuuri for, after all.

Also, I don't think Onni was originally planning to defeat the Kade, merely to get Grandma Ensi out of it. Lalli and Reynir being there might have brought a change to that part though.

Even if they do defeat the Kade, they still have Surma, two bears and several wormlike things to deal with; some of them may get to the mages' bodies while they're comatose. There is some hope that Reynir might not go into coma since Icelandic magic is different.

[Jitter]

Lalli and Onni also access the dreamworld when they are merely asleep. Onni want into a coma after over-exerting himself summoning the Kokko, but other than that it’s just sleep.

Speaking of which, Reynir* has learned a neat trick: being able to fall asleep (or perhaps attain a sufficient trance) despite being separated by merely a 90-year old freezer door and window from a horde of grosslings!

* the same applies to the other ones, but they have been (more or less) properly trained, and accessing the dreamworld when needed is probably included.

[thorny]

I thought that was the bear at first, and was wondering how she got in there, and whether she was also roaring in the waking world. But it's the luonto lynx.

[Alkia]

I thought that was the bear at first, and was wondering how she got in there, and whether she was also roaring in the waking world. But it's the luonto lynx.

That makes me wonder wether the bears could have souls/luonto-type things that show up in the Dreamworld-- I know the whole "condition of the soul" thing for infected mammals, but maybe the bears are different because they're slightly more magical? Could their relation to the Kade give them shape in the dreamworld?


Anyways, what I was also going to say: I know there's been discussion of the change in Minna's art style before (I don't remember wether it was on this thread or somewhere else), and the point to be made that it has become less meticulous and meticulously detailed over the years, especially recently, but I kinda like it! I mean, I love that incredibly detailed, more complex of earlier times, but I think the gradual change has made the current style more... fluid? Expressive? Dynamic? I was looking at this most recent chapter cover specifically and admiring the lines in our three Mages and all the swooshy patterns and colors. It all looks more fast and I really like it!

[catbirds]

Oh? Is Kokko dabbing here?

Anyways, what I was also going to say: I know there's been discussion of the change in Minna's art style before (I don't remember wether it was on this thread or somewhere else), and the point to be made that it has become less meticulous and meticulously detailed over the years, especially recently, but I kinda like it! I mean, I love that incredibly detailed, more complex of earlier times, but I think the gradual change has made the current style more... fluid? Expressive? Dynamic? I was looking at this most recent chapter cover specifically and admiring the lines in our three Mages and all the swooshy patterns and colors. It all looks more fast and I really like it!

Yeah, I don't know why, but I think the bits in the dream world suit her art style really well. To be clear, IIRC she uses a texture overlay to get the sort of watercolour-y effect and the dream world's more abstract and abyss-like appearance suit a more fluid and rough art style. It's still fun to look at, if only sometimes strange when applied to modern architecture. I think my favourite parts of SSSS were the nature and dream world bits anyway!

Spoiler: opinions opinions • show

I probably sound like a snob saying this, but these days I've grown fond of stories that use heavy visual symbolism, so SSSS art isn't My Thing anymore.

[thorny]

They're all falling through the floor, right?

Shouldn't Sigrun be paying more attention to falling properly so as to have some chance of surviving the fall, instead of to being annoyed that neither bear nor Surma has noticed them yet?

Sigrun, do what cat!

[Groupoid]

Did the Kade digest the soul-bird of Ensi (or someone else)? We have no confirmation yet, that the glowing ball of goo is related to Ensi, I think.

[thegreyarea]

Did the Kade digest the soul-bird of Ensi (or someone else)? We have no confirmation yet, that the glowing ball of goo is related to Ensi, I think.

No, we don't. Yet something attracted Tuuri to that particular place. Perhaps some spiritual sixth-sense? Anyway I'm really enjoying the way we readers are being juggled from one cliffhanger to the next.