[1956] Stupid Old Wolf

[bgb16999]

Worthless


Whelp, it looks like Ysengrin knows what he wants to do now.

[imaginaryfriend]

Anyone ever have an epiphany when you suddenly realize that someone, perhaps someone you thought was a friend or a significant other, never had a shred of respect for you and has in fact been working against your interests, perhaps backbiting and/or backstabbing you for a good while, thinking nothing of it when doing so?

I imagine that is how Ysengrin feels right now. Or a multiple of that.

[arf]

That is old Ysengrin speaking. We are yet to establish whether or not raging monster tree wolf *can* speak.

[calpal]

And just like I predicted, there's going to be a war... get your popcorns out, this is gonna be a wild ride.

[philman]

Mar 2, 2018 8:22:23 GMT imaginaryfriend said:

Anyone ever have an epiphany when you suddenly realize that someone, perhaps someone you thought was a friend or a significant other, never had a shred of respect for you and has in fact been working against your interests, perhaps backbiting and/or backstabbing you for a good while, thinking nothing of it when doing so?

One doesn't usually rip the throat out of someone you respect as a friend or significant other without knowing that they are treating you like shit already. This isn't an epiphany, just a confirmation of what Ysengrin has been suspecting for a long time.

[Zox Tomana]

Mar 2, 2018 8:54:51 GMT philman said:

Mar 2, 2018 8:22:23 GMT imaginaryfriend said:

Anyone ever have an epiphany when you suddenly realize that someone, perhaps someone you thought was a friend or a significant other, never had a shred of respect for you and has in fact been working against your interests, perhaps backbiting and/or backstabbing you for a good while, thinking nothing of it when doing so?

One doesn't usually rip the throat out of someone you respect as a friend or significant other without knowing that they are treating you like shit already. This isn't an epiphany, just a confirmation of what Ysengrin has been suspecting for a long time.

Crap! I've been doing it backwards this whole time! Dangit....

[aline]

Mar 2, 2018 8:54:51 GMT philman said:

One doesn't usually rip the throat out of someone you respect as a friend or significant other without knowing that they are treating you like shit already. This isn't an epiphany, just a confirmation of what Ysengrin has been suspecting for a long time.

He didn't suspect, he knew. Remember him talking about how he hated Coyote, but his love for him counterbalanced that?
Well, a great deal of the respect Ysengrin had for Coyote was based on the fact that Coyote was so much stronger than anybody else. Ysengrin admired that. He loved that. He took pride in serving Coyote because of that. That's why he put up with all the abuse, the mind games, the toying around.

Once Ysengrin had Coyote's strength, he became the dominant creature, and all that was left in front of him was a conniving backstabbing abusive trickster, all the parts of Coyote that Ysengrin hates and despises.

I can't believe for a second that Coyote did not predict that outcome.

[imaginaryfriend]

Ys knew some of it, see two pages back. Now he remembers all of it.

[madragoran]

Ys was the victim of horrible abuse. This doesn't make him an innocent, but it helps crosshatch his b/w portrait. He was being groom by Koyote for some unknown endgame or just for Koyote's entertainment. Dunno if Tom is painting from life or he is just, that good, but boy this is scary painful stuff. Annie and Ys seem like having quite similar histories, with Annie living in an emotionally sterile environment (for all intents and purposes alone) and Ys having his emotions forcibly taken away and controlled. What would Annie be without Kat and Rey? What is Ys in the total power of Koyote? Two raging killing machines facing off or working together to annihilate the court and the forest. I'd go for Koyote's throat in Ys place too. And now Ys has all the accumulated pain back in one instant. *KABOOM*

[red0mamma]

Mar 2, 2018 8:48:43 GMT arf said:

That is old Ysengrin speaking. We are yet to establish whether or not raging monster tree wolf *can* speak.

Or if he even actually still feels this way about humans. I'm sure he's not fond of them (with some justification), but whether or not he's truly frothing at the mouth to "show them" really is up for grabs. We've only known two parts of an animal person who was operating under extreme manipulation. It will be interesting to see what he does now that he has had a moment to destroy his oppressor and get his memories back. His face still looks angry, but has softened and shows some sort of thought. There are so many factors as to what could happen next—and a lot of those depend on his true identity and state of mind (neither of which we can predict). Very interested to see where this ends up.

[todd]

Mar 2, 2018 8:53:41 GMT calpal said:

And just like I predicted, there's going to be a war... get your popcorns out, this is gonna be a wild ride.

I wonder if we really are going in that direction (even if today's panel does suggest an ominous future). An open, all-out war between the Court and the Forest would mean that all the other plots (such as the robot religion) would have to be neglected, that the webcomic would have to revolve purely around the fighting. (Not to mention that, while Tom will include such elements in the comic when the story requires it - such as Ysengrin turning on Coyote just now - they don't seem to be his kind of thing.)

Not to mention that, the moment it looks as if there'll be an actual armed assault from the forest, the Court will most likely evacuate all the children (including Annie and Kat) for the duration of the war, which would be inconvenient for the story as well.

So I suspect that Tom will find a way to keep this from escalating into a "hot war" for now.

[philman]

Mar 2, 2018 12:41:21 GMT todd said:

Mar 2, 2018 8:53:41 GMT calpal said:

And just like I predicted, there's going to be a war... get your popcorns out, this is gonna be a wild ride.

I wonder if we really are going in that direction (even if today's panel does suggest an ominous future). An open, all-out war between the Court and the Forest would mean that all the other plots (such as the robot religion) would have to be neglected, that the webcomic would have to revolve purely around the fighting.

Because religion never flourishes during times of war and strife, does it? If anything a war would increase the religion's spread, as the robots flock to seek some meaning in their existence as they are sent to the slaughter, and the angel Kat is tasked with either protecting them, or adding to their arsenal.

[ctso74]

Y's statement seems adversarial, but it's just vague enough to be interrupted in different ways. Maybe, "showing them how weak they truly are" will be blunt, but more diplomatic and helpful than it seems.

The memory of Coyote talking to him, made we wonder about the results of the deicide. What if, Y starts seeing Coyote speaking to him, and moving forward in the comic, Coyote will be a self-aware figment in Y's head?

[darlos9d]

Geeze, if Coyote's degrading behavior towards Ys wasn't clear before, it is now. I guess Coyote also removed the memories of most of the horrible shit he said to Ys.

Mar 2, 2018 14:23:10 GMT ctso74 said:

Y's statement seems adversarial, but it's just vague enough to be interrupted in different ways. Maybe, "showing them how weak they truly are" will be blunt, but more diplomatic and helpful than it seems.

The memory of Coyote talking to him, made we wonder about the results of the deicide. What if, Y starts seeing Coyote speaking to him, and moving forward in the comic, Coyote will be a self-aware figment in Y's head?

A super-powered Ys strolls across the bridge and up to the first human he sees. He slams his fists(?) together while shouting "I AM GOING TO PUUUUMP YOU UUUUUUP!"

[nero]

It sure seems like the memories are pushing Ysengrin to destroy the Court. If he believes Coyote's strength comes from humans, it would be weird to just use that strength against the Court. Unless by actually destroying Coyote permanently, Ysengring shows that even their ether creations can be destroyed.

[faiiry]

Poor Ysengrin.

There are so many layers to this comic. I don't have 100% of an idea of what's going on at any time, but damn if it isn't one of the most well-written things I've ever consumed.

[fia]

Ooof, this page, though. Poor Grims

This is all so much domestic abuse. Grims is like one of those battered women who finally turned on their aggressor... I want Wolf Dad back as his beautiful ether-self again. Who knows if that's possible.

[faiiry]

There was a time when Ysengrin told Annie that his love for Coyote was stronger than his hate. I think he might have been lying.

[todd]

Mar 2, 2018 14:19:32 GMT philman said:

and the angel Kat is tasked with either protecting them, or adding to their arsenal.

Assuming (as I mentioned in my previous post) that Kat isn't removed from the Court as part of an "evacuate the children" measure. In which case, more likely, the robots would be trying to incorporate the adults taking her away into their theology.

[stef1987]

Mar 2, 2018 14:23:10 GMT ctso74 said:

Y's statement seems adversarial, but it's just vague enough to be interrupted in different ways. Maybe, "showing them how weak they truly are" will be blunt, but more diplomatic and helpful than it seems.

Or, it could have meant: "showing them how weak they truly are, by destroying Coyote!"
Because, if you remember, Coyote's story about how he only exists because people believe in him (or something like that). That he is basically a made up thing by humans.
...
I dunno, it sounded more logical in my head.

[blazingstar]

Mar 2, 2018 23:42:28 GMT faiiry said:

There was a time when Ysengrin told Annie that his love for Coyote was stronger than his hate. I think he might have been lying.

The balance changes a little when you don't remember all your hate...and then suddenly you do

[saardvark]

Coyote would seem to have been setting this up for a loooong time. For a god who, superficially, seems to live for the moment, this is a dangerous new depth of focus.

[Runningflame]

Mar 4, 2018 3:12:43 GMT saardvark said:

Coyote would seem to have been setting this up for a loooong time. For a god who, superficially, seems to live for the moment, this is a dangerous new depth of focus.

Not so new, I would argue, just a side of him we haven't seen as much.

[bedinsis]

Mar 2, 2018 9:10:35 GMT aline said:

Mar 2, 2018 8:54:51 GMT philman said:

One doesn't usually rip the throat out of someone you respect as a friend or significant other without knowing that they are treating you like shit already. This isn't an epiphany, just a confirmation of what Ysengrin has been suspecting for a long time.

He didn't suspect, he knew. Remember him talking about how he hated Coyote, but his love for him counterbalanced that?
Well, a great deal of the respect Ysengrin had for Coyote was based on the fact that Coyote was so much stronger than anybody else. Ysengrin admired that. He loved that. He took pride in serving Coyote because of that. That's why he put up with all the abuse, the mind games, the toying around.

Once Ysengrin had Coyote's strength, he became the dominant creature, and all that was left in front of him was a conniving backstabbing abusive trickster, all the parts of Coyote that Ysengrin hates and despises.

I can't believe for a second that Coyote did not predict that outcome.

I'm sure he predicted that Ysengrin would turn on him, otherwise he wouldn't have prepared all those memory marbles for him to accidentally swallow.

Though there is a part in me that suspects getting all the memories all at once will make Ysengrin in fact not focus his strength on humans, rather it will make him continue attacking Coyote, his true tormentor. Coyote is pretty much a text book narcissist; I could see one of those thinking that someone would continue to attack them was so out of the question that they didn't plan for that possibility.