[285] Story Discussion - Fzzak! Skang!

[Mezzaphor]

Early update at Drunk Duck.

Today's update has dangerously high concentrations of badassitude.

[neal]

Wow, triple protection! Everyone who we wondered about, except for that blonde lady, protecting!

[papaya]

Holy sound effects Batman! This page could not be more awesome. None of my science teachers in school ever looked that tough, especially not while wearing thick glasses.

All the speculation about who might or might not leap to Annie's rescue is nicely resolved now, ain't it?

I'm not too surprised that Reynardine helps out here (after all, he did try to get her to leave the bridge, and he could just as easily have turned around and tried to save himself there) but I never expected him to risk his life in this way.

[fjodor]

Right now I am praying that one day this story'll be turned into a movie.

Yowza, Rey to the rescue! And mr Donlan! And Eglamore! An who knows more!

[fjodor]

I hope Rey isn't hurt too badly by the way. Annie's reaction in panel 5 suggests the shield may not have stopped the attack completely.

[starkruzr]

I don't get it. Why did Ysengrin attack her to begin with?

General rage at her having the audacity to strike a god, even one he hates?

[La Poire]

I think his connection to Coyote is somewhat different than employee/employer. Probably carries a few perks, being the head henchman of a god.

Also, love the last panel (along with all the others, of course). It seems probable that nest page will also be pretty badass.

[Ptollu Vux]

fjodor said:

I hope Rey isn't hurt too badly by the way. Annie's reaction in panel 5 suggests the shield may not have stopped the attack completely.

The claw is clearly shown "FZZAK" and "BZZT"ing off the barrier. I think she's more surprised he would have taken the blow for her.

Also, are we sure that's Eglamore with the sword? He and Donlan are dressed the same, and Eglamore's sword was more purple and glowy.

[halfdeadhippo]

ptolluvux said:

Also, are we sure that's Eglamore with the sword? He and Donlan are dressed the same, and Eglamore's sword was more purple and glowy.

The upper body of the dude with the sword looks more like Eglamore's than Donlan's, but it could just be the angle, though.

[foxbow]

I wonder if the shields were originally Reynardine's and Donlan was just giving support to keep the last one up after the two before were broken. The General's claw puts a whole new meaning to hardwood though =)

And I agree, it does not look like Rey has fallen, Annie is most likely 'just' surprised to be protected like that.

[UbiquitousDragon]

halfdeadhippo said:

ptolluvux said:

Also, are we sure that's Eglamore with the sword? He and Donlan are dressed the same, and Eglamore's sword was more purple and glowy.

The upper body of the dude with the sword looks more like Eglamore's than Donlan's, but it could just be the angle, though.

It's mostly likely to be Eglamore because of the sword (hey, why can't he have more than one sword? ), and because Donald is creating the shield (how cool! I hadn't expected him to be able to do magic. Also, Eglamore's *single bound* appears to have been used because the ground is all cracked at his foot!

I also think that Donald's magic looks quite like the 'wings' on the GC signal to the forest.

[todd]

I suppose that this concludes negotiations. Let's hope that, in the subsequent fight, Ysengrin winds up at the receiving end enough that he feels less enthusiastic about having an all-out war with the Court.

[nikita]

Wow, that Ysengrin.. I wonder what he's up to. It can't just be the spanking... there must be something else.

It seems like we need much more than a bit of magic to really stop Ysengrin. The sword hasn't really done anything to him.

[Mezzaphor]

Eggers fought Rey/Sivo with a non-glowy sword back in ch 3.

Also, the pattern on the shields is the same as that on the demon containment magics that Anja used. So is that pattern widespread among magic users, or is it a Donlan thing?

[Boksha]

It would make sense that if both Anja and Donald use magic, they use similar magic because they learnt it in the same place.

Anyhow, seems old Ysy's kind of impervious to swords. The answer? Fire!

[rallan]

starkruzr said:

I don't get it. Why did Ysengrin attack her to begin with?

General rage at her having the audacity to strike a god, even one he hates?

Tact, subtlety, and forgiveness don't seem to be in Ysengrin's vocabulary. He's been a pretty primal, ragey guy so far, treating the whole encounter like a confrontation even though nobody else seems to think an antagonistic approach is necessary, and refusing to listen to explanations of how various incidents might've been accidents rather than deliberate attempts to undermine the uneasy peace between Gunnerkrigg and his forest. As far as he's concerned, all these pesky humans are the enemy, and Antimony laying the spankies on Coyote is a violation of the treaty that until now has forced him to put up with them.

[wanderer]

That's some tough wood, there. Eglamore should have brought along the glowy sword instead.

As for Ysengrin, he seems to be the sort that thinks killing everyone is the way to answer every problem. Actually negotiating with people was clearly outside of his area of expertise. I imagine he welcomes any excuse for things to get bloody.

[Don the Ninja]

I was a little confused at first as to what exactly was happening, but people's comments have cleared it up, so kudos to those with better eyes than mine.

I'd just like to say that the magic barrier in the second panel is spectacular. The design, the multiple semi-transparent layers, the 'breaking' effect on the first one: all more than impressive. Would I be wrong in assuming that the colors and effects of the comic are done in Photoshop?

And I just have to throw out there that I love the third panel.

[Wark]

Fantastic update.

Not at all surprised that Reynardine tried to save Annie. Of course, he'll later pass it off as a consequence of the bond of ownership, but it's been pretty obvious that he cares for Annie to some degree.

Coyote is mysteriously absent in this update. I suspect he's going to call off the attack once he recovers. Although that won't be the last of it.

[Ptollu Vux]

Headmaster should be stepping in soon. Lives are at risk at this point... At the very least he should be less bored.

[tyroney]

Saving? As someone commented on the front page, wouldn't Rey dying mean he gets a chance to be free from his plushie existence?

[Mezzaphor]

That arm isn't completely impervious to steel. There's a shallow cut visible in the last panel. Still, an ax would probably be more useful.

tyroney said:

Saving? As someone commented on the front page, wouldn't Rey dying mean he gets a chance to be free from his plushie existence?

Not to mention, can Rey be killed in his current form?

[Count Casimir]

mezzaphor said:

That arm isn't completely impervious to steel. There's a shallow cut visible in the last panel. Still, an ax would probably be more useful.

tyroney said:

Saving? As someone commented on the front page, wouldn't Rey dying mean he gets a chance to be free from his plushie existence?

Not to mention, can Rey be killed in his current form?

True...wolf dolls don't have vital organs. I wonder if he'll pull the lockpicks out?

I wonder if this is how most meetings between the Court and Gillitie turn out, or if this is unusual. Perhaps Eggers is just a hothead, but there was no attempt to stop the violence, just an instant counterattack.

Also, Ysengrin's large claws spell Trouble.


EDIT: Where did he get a sword?

[todd]

One mildly surprising factor: the Donlans, both of whom are science teachers, are now revealed to also both be magic-workers. One customarily thinks of magic and science as two very different things, even mutually exclusive of each other - but the Donlans are able to master both. Maybe this says something about the nature of Gunnerkrigg itself.

[nikita]

It seems a bit strange that they have magic/supernatural powers in their world focused on science and technology, but when you take a closer look, you'll see that magic is just all over the place in the court. Ghosts, the blinker stones, Eglamores sword, Eglamores physical abilities, the Donlan's magical powers, Reynardine, Zimmy and Gamma, faeries.

The most interesting question might be, why they never seem to actually use their magic tricks. So far, noone ever used their magic/supernatural powers, unless as ultima ratio. (Usually to save Annie)
Also the court doesn't seem to have much control over magic phenomena around them.

[papaya]

mezzaphor said:

tyroney said:

Saving? As someone commented on the front page, wouldn't Rey dying mean he gets a chance to be free from his plushie existence?

Not to mention, can Rey be killed in his current form?

There was some question on a previous thread as to whether Rey would be freed if Annie were killed. But if Rey's current body were dead, and he still couldn't take a new body without Annie's permission, then yes, Rey would probably die.

I'm not quite sure if he could be killed as a plushie, but right now he's in wolf form, not in toy form...possibly Rey doesn't even know what would happed to him if he were impaled by Ysengrin's terrifying skills of gardening.

So one way or another, I still believe he is acting selflessly to save Annie when, once again, he could just as easily save himself.

And are we sure that the Donlans are using magic? They are science teachers, after all, and it's possible that what they are using is actually a highly advanced technology. Still possible that it's magic, too, because if the Court has a medium, then why not magic users? In any case, that whole debate puts me in mind of one of my favorite pages from another webcomic: freefall.purrsia.com/ff300/fv00255.htm

[Mezzaphor]

nikita said:

The most interesting question might be, why they never seem to actually use their magic tricks. So far, noone ever used their magic/supernatural powers, unless as ultima ratio. (Usually to save Annie)
Also the court doesn't seem to have much control over magic phenomena around them.

I suspect we haven't seen enough situations where magical intervention would be required. We barely see Anja outside the classroom, and this is the second time we've seen Donald, ever.

I wonder how much Kat knows about her parents' abilities. I just reread the part in ch 7 where Annie reveals Rey, and Kat doesn't appear at all in that exchange (even though she's right there) so we don't see her reaction when her mom starts throwing magic around.

Speaking of Kat, pudgimelon commented on the front page:

interesting. i wonder if kat will show any aptitude for magic later on, given that both per parents seem to be very powerful mystics.

I suspect that Kat may have already mixed magic with technology. After all, she built an anti-gravity generator out of a thermos and coat hangers... and then she submitted a protein experiment to the science fair instead.

[starkruzr]

rallan said:

starkruzr said:

I don't get it. Why did Ysengrin attack her to begin with?

General rage at her having the audacity to strike a god, even one he hates?

Tact, subtlety, and forgiveness don't seem to be in Ysengrin's vocabulary. He's been a pretty primal, ragey guy so far, treating the whole encounter like a confrontation even though nobody else seems to think an antagonistic approach is necessary, and refusing to listen to explanations of how various incidents might've been accidents rather than deliberate attempts to undermine the uneasy peace between Gunnerkrigg and his forest. As far as he's concerned, all these pesky humans are the enemy, and Antimony laying the spankies on Coyote is a violation of the treaty that until now has forced him to put up with them.

Ahhh.

Wait. If that's the reason, that implies that Coyote and Ysengrin are on the same "side" of the treaty. That doesn't seem to be the case at all.

[Mezzaphor]

countcasimir said:

I wonder if this is how most meetings between the Court and Gillitie turn out, or if this is unusual.

That just gave me the weirdest idea for Wednesday's update: Two panels of tense silence as Eglamore and Ysengrin stare each other down, holding their weapons at the ready. Then, everyone bursts out laughing. Eglamore sheaths his sword, and Ysengrin returns his arms to normal. The last panel is a closeup of Annie's incredulous deadpan, as she wonders what the heck is going on.

Perhaps Eggers is just a hothead, but there was no attempt to stop the violence, just an instant counterattack.

There is no reasoning with a wolf-tree attempting to skewer a little girl. All you can do is physically stop him, by any means necessary.

Where did he get a sword?

Swordspace? Probably stashed behind a pillar or curtain.

starkruzr said:

rallan said:

Tact, subtlety, and forgiveness don't seem to be in Ysengrin's vocabulary. He's been a pretty primal, ragey guy so far, treating the whole encounter like a confrontation even though nobody else seems to think an antagonistic approach is necessary, and refusing to listen to explanations of how various incidents might've been accidents rather than deliberate attempts to undermine the uneasy peace between Gunnerkrigg and his forest. As far as he's concerned, all these pesky humans are the enemy, and Antimony laying the spankies on Coyote is a violation of the treaty that until now has forced him to put up with them.

Ahhh.

Wait. If that's the reason, that implies that Coyote and Ysengrin are on the same "side" of the treaty. That doesn't seem to be the case at all.

Ysengrin calls Coyote his lord, and Coyote gave Ysengrin his current body with its terrifying gardening skills. They are nominally on the same side, they just have very different styles of dealing with the Court. And I suspect Ysengrin doesn't have the first clue what Coyote is scheming.

[todd]

I wonder: did Coyote hope that all of this was going to happen when he hit on Annie, or was he just engaging in what he thought would be (to him) an entertaining little joke, without considering the possibilities as to what the consequences of his action would be? (The latter does seem likely for trickster mentality - they often have a tendency to have their own schemes backfire on them - though the former also seems believable.)