Comic for Monday, January 5th, 2020
Uh… Happy 2020 everyone?
…I seem to have missed a comic, and I’m not entirely sure what happened. I don’t think I was that drunk on New Years Eve but somehow it’s time for the next comic already, and I just sort of finished the last one. Realistically I think the issue was that I mentally associated “two days off of work” with “two days free to work on the comic” and that ended up very much not being the case for either Christmas or New Years… they were both very strange weeks with having 2 days off in the middle that ended up being in many ways less comic-productive than a typically work day.
Anyway; I don’t think it’s realistic to make up that lost comic now, so we are going to call this the comic for the 5th.
I know that my schedule has gotten spotter here, and it’s a trend I’ll do what I can to reverse. My interest in working on comics (and this comic in particular) hasn’t really waned; if anything, I still try to figure out every few months if at what point I can “retire” to a life of drawing webcomics and working on my other hobbies… thanks to some of my other hobbies that’s not that unrealistically far off potentially, but also a not quite there yet either; I guess I’m trying to say that I wouldn’t read the pattern spotter schedule as me losing interest, just what it is… I have a lot of things to juggle, and sometimes I drop the ball.
I feel like I shouldn’t promise too much considering, but I do have a good chunk of the next Chapter of Tyler’s story written, as well as another similar thing… well, I’ll say I’m aimming for 2020 with them… that should give me a window I can reliable hit 😀
Happy New Years everyone, and I’ll keep you all posted with hopefully somewhat reliable comic updates.
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Page should be up tomorrow. If it’s not,
I’ll edit this to look I never said it was… er, update you then. But I think it will be 🙂Close, but won’t make it. Have too much stuff tonight to finish it. Tomorrow is likely.
EDIT: Update… not going to make it today. Too much stuff. Apologies. Did make a little progress, but have to head out shortly and it’s not done, and won’t be back till late 🙁
No one else replies, so I will.
I am watching you.
Figuratively, not literally, please don’t call the police.
Literally.
I’m the guy in the ratty Camry that’s been frightening you for the past week.
The guy in the Accord takes over for me when I need to eat.
Guys? Chill. A stalked cartoonist generally makes poor quality cartoons. There have been studies.
I feel the mere fact that there have been scientific studies performed to determine this proves that I’m part of a horrible race of creatures.
I’m so ashamed.
… Um, reading these studies a bit more, I see that the errors that typically increase from such activity are typos, grammatical mistakes, and missed post times. Well, that would explain some things. Sigh.
I make no apologies.
Be ashamed all you like.
Make apologies or not.
I just really, really don’t want arrested. Again.
I can certainly understand that. I don’t want to be burned at the stake again. That was a really bad experience.
At least for me, the worst part was all the horrified looks when they realized that I’m not actually flammable. I mean, I just want to be helpful. Causing everybody to run away screaming was just not at all what I had in mind.
I really do like the Consul and her level of manipulativeness. Peter’s a bit too much for me, or maybe it’s more that he rarely concentrates well enough to do personal manipulation, where that’s the Consul’s area of expertise.
The thing with Peter is that he is so sure you logically have to do what he wants you to do, that he doesn’t bother with the niceties of it. Peter puts people into a position where they will do what he wants, but completely lacks empathy and charm in the execution of it.
The Consul is charming. Peter cannot quite turn the snark all the way off enough to be be friendly or charming, and is pretty much only capable of empathy of Miko is involved.
I think Peter’s only capable of empathizing properly with Miko because she’s on the same wavelength. I would think he’d probably be capable of empathizing with others on the same wavelength, but those people tend to be rare enough that it’s reasonable there’s only two in this cast.
That said, it’s possible that there’s actually three of them in this cast, but Kyle’s been around long enough to pick up a little more charm than Peter has.
I say this because it’s pretty clear to me that Peter *tries* to be empathetic towards Kally, but he just fails at it very very hard.
I am amused by Shemoki not listing Regin as part of Ashvalt’s backup. Considering that he was at the last planning meeting before this meeting, I’d guess he’d be on Ashvalt’s side. It also seems quite unlikely that Regin would bring a member of his house to the meeting who he wasn’t confident was on the same side as he is. I remember that Kahlek admonished Regin for picking on someone of twice his power in response to Regin’s bristling Camilla, but given that Nydia’s someone in Regin’s house who he feels the need to be protective of, listing them as backup but not Regin feels like a bit of a burn.
It’s likely that family head selection isn’t just simply who has the most power, and it feels probable that part of the Camilla and Regin tension is that he feels like Camilla’s predecessor shouldn’t have left her in charge so quickly. That would suggest that he would not promote his own heir so quickly, whether that’s Nydia or someone else. But it does feel like who has the most power seems to be a significant component of who family heads are, which would suggest that family heads are expected to have power in their own right, not just because they brought someone powerful along.
I feel like Regin’s heir is almost certainly Eliana, being that she’s a tactical class mage (if, I would argue, just barely, as it seems that she needs other mages to help her). But given that she’s somewhat impaired, he may be hanging onto power.
Nydia is likely a half-blooded member of the Families or a some other combination that makes her “lesser” given that her hair and eyes don’t match (like Marc). I don’t know that we have the full picture what that means (Marc and Amy are the notable people in that category) but it makes me suspect she is not the heir.
Given the Nydia smack talks Camilla, I would guess they are something close to rivals, though Camilla seems clearly more powerful.
I do find it interesting that Nydia (who is powerful enough to talk back to Camilla at least) and Ashian (who, while it easy to forget, is a Registered Mage like Tyler) are considered to both equal up to Elmon, who in turn does not seem to be considered all the powerful. I’m guessing that Ashvalt, Saldur, and Saraine are all quite powerful, at least on par with Camilla, if perhaps not quite as dangerous.
I think Camilla tends to both be very powerful and an exceptional duelist, which is why the other Family heads are worried about her. We’ve seen her magic, it would be nearly impossible to beat without nearly impenetrable defenses (Elizabeth is probably a pretty powerful mage, even if she is a tier below Kally and Nathan).
I suspect the most powerful mage is probably the heir, but the heir doesn’t always inherit immediately. We haven’t seen any sign of Camilla and Ashian’s parents, so something might have happened to them.
I don’t think Camilla is much older than the main cast; I would be surprised if she’s more than year or two out of Levenworth (given that she’s engaged to Arkady who is still there). She may have even left early due to becoming a Family head.
I wonder if Eliana will show up too now? That would be sort of the nail in the coffin for the rogues… Camilla, Eliana, Tyler… Ashvalt wouldn’t really need bureau backup.
I suppose Eliana could bring Ila if she’s woken up, but that seems like a bad idea.
I’m tempted to try to make a list of the power of all the mages we’ve seen… it’s a particular neuroses of mine to think about such things though lol.
Eliana being Regin’s heir would probably fit. Their hair color’s different, but they tend to have different hair color for men and women for some reason. Maybe it’s to counter the fact that a lot of the men seem to like having long hair – this way, they can still tell what sex somebody when looking at them from behind.
Personally, I find that a bit creepy. I mean, what business is it of theirs what these other people have in their pants? Life’s about more than sex. But I assume it’s the parents who are deciding these things, and they are by definition people who were concerned with sex.
We knew Eliana lived near The Consul’s Office, because her place had Mium’s favorite roof, which was next door to The Consul’s Office. If Regin is her family head, that lets him be nice and close for the Consul’s impromptu meeting, and it lets Eliana be nice and laid back because she doesn’t have to be a family head.
This is why people hate cowards. They’re too smart! 😀
I think the real reason people dislike cowards is that they won’t dependably support one regardless of how stupid one is.
In this case, I feel like Shemoki did the rest of the rogues a service here. By voting before anyone else on his side, and explaining his vote, he helped save them from potentially fatal embarrassment. It can be *frustrating* to have someone like this on your team, because you have an idea of something you want to accomplish, but it feels like they’re standing in your way.
They’re not actually standing in your way, they’re pointing out why you wouldn’t have been able to succeed if you didn’t have someone on your team who could point that out ahead of time.
I can also relate it can be frustrating to *be* such a person. I mean, you have goals you want to accomplish, but you’re clever enough to see the forces that are arrayed against you are insurmountable with what resources you currently have. Depending on what ones goals are, it’s entirely possible that they could be insurmountable with any resources you can conceivably assemble. (For example, anyone who wants to end world hunger. Sure, the world currently grows more than enough food to feed everybody on the planet. But due to various factors, we won’t be able to distribute that food to everyone who needs it within my lifetime.)
Of course, that doesn’t mean that one should give up – but depending on the goals one has, it could mean that one needs to be smarter about it. Rather than trying to buy food to give to people in countries that net export food when they have more starving people per capita than most other nations, it may be more prudent to work that issue on the political level.
There’s a reason for the saying, “… all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”
Think outside the box, Tgape. With today’s NBC weaponry, it should be pretty easy to feed the world’s population. If food production and/or distribution is problematic, then reduction of that population is pretty easy. Taken to an extreme, a population of zero will have zero hungry people.
Definitely possible in your life time. According to some it is not only possible but in fact quite likely!
Actually, given your solution, it feels like it’s very definitively not within my life time.
Yeah, I tend to notice these things. Figuring out how to respond in a timely fashion is a different matter.
Hmmm. I missed that aspect. Seems pretty Captain Obvious after you point it out.
Oh well. No plan survives first contact with the enemy.
I hear you on the formulating a response. In my case the world is probably better off without my two cents.
My plans almost always survive first contact with the enemy. My plans for dealing with enemies is always something like
1. Contact the enemy.
2. Figure out what comes next.
How does a plan like that not survive contact with the enemy? I mean, it would have to, right?
Pretty simple really.
1. Contact with enemy.
2. Enemy has a plan that they execute immediately.
3. Enemy celebrates their plan finally surviving first contact.
4. You wonder what just happened.
Those small panel, look on everyone’s faces. Its like a ghost walked into the room.
Yup. Except I think this lot is probably pretty comfortable with the walking dead, ref the century old ruling about the dead not being welcome at the meetings any longer. As such, I think it’s more, “Oh, crap, I thought we were finally *done* with her.”
I’m a little surprised at the last. I think that’s the guy the were looking to uncover, because the trash talk at the start of the meeting made it sound like they were on the team loyal Malsans. I do realize, reviewing that again, it could just as easily been smugness at him not having to go into exile, despite holding unpopular views.
Panel 4: They were…
I think this is more or less what Peter’s plan was – drive a wedge between the IDS and the Rogue Families:
-Peter told Kally he was going to protect the Consul. Peter was probably telling the truth there, so we can know that much of his intentions at least.
-Arron realized (and Peter probably already knew) that a vulnerability of the Malsan power structure is that if the Consul dies, the power reverts to the Families. If the Rogues could get a majority, they’d change course.
-The Rogue Families are working with the IDS and PACT. At least an element of them.
-Stopping IDS from killing the Consul was easiest if they thought they’d succeeded and left. Winning without fighting is classic Peter.
-But that would only be one bird. If Peter is going to throw as stone he wants two birds.
-So he arranged things in a way that would break the IDS credibility with the Rogue Families.
-But there’s more, he wanted a third bird. The Rogue Families were almost certainly not the only target of this recording. The IDS openly committing a major war crime and bragging about it would severely damage their credibility, and than double tap it once it turned out they didn’t even succeed, both in Palindra and back in Central… I bet the politicians in Central are not going to be impressed with this fiasco.
-Arguable this is just a side effect of Peter’s plan the Consul is acting on. I would guess this news propagating back to Central is more core to his plan. After all… Mium is on Central, and where Mium is tends to be a good indication of where Peter’s main scheme is, because Mium is basically his primary “fixer” when he really needs to land a complicated plot.
Ashvalt was likely an informed participate of the Peter/Consul plot, but he has old scores to settle with the rogue Families, so was taking this chance to try to pin them further. He bullied the cautious Shemoki into taking his side, knowing that the schemers would have to play more cards to convince him to go back to their side. Ever since his first appearance in the room he has been trying to get them to show their cards. What he wants is them to admit they are working with the Orish or IDS, not just benefiting from that situation, so he has justification to treat them as enemies of state, rather than personal enemies? That’s my theory. If Shemoki is to be believed, Ashvalt has some sway with the Bureau, and the power dynamics of Malsa have probably shifted with the advent of designer children.
The Malsan Families think of themselves as powerful, but how much more powerful are they than a literal army of Designer Children? Naomi might be (certainly is) an exception, but she is almost certainly more powerful than Arkady or Ashian.
I think Peter and the Consul make a good team though. Peter excels at putting people in bad situations, he just struggles with the follow through because he is too openly manipulative. The Consul is much smoother operator in terms of social manipulation, but cannot compete with Peter’s resources in terms of manipulating the course of events.
In this case, I think the Consul has somewhat managed to manipulate Peter. Peter didn’t really care about this war, but once it became inconvenient for him, he kneecapped the IDS and rogue Families in one stroke. As long as the Consul can make her enemies inconvenient for him, she can keep using him to eliminate them. Of course, she has to not become too convenient for him herself… Mium’s estimation of her being disposed might hit 100% real quick.
I’m not sure, but I think the Consul’s good enough at her job that Peter’s not going to be quick to want to get rid of her. That is, she’ll find ways to reward him for his assistance as well.
Also, just wanting to keep up my game to spotting typos for Past… you probably wanted to end that with, “Of course, she has to not become too inconvenient for him herself… Mium’s estimation of her being deposed might hit 100% real quick.” That said, “disposed of” could work in place of “deposed”, but the term previously used was “deposed and/or assassinated“.
Unfortunately the editing window on the comment has long since closed. It was a long comment and I had to hit publish before I finished proofreading it because I had to leave and didn’t want to lose the comment. Yes, should have said “inconvenient” and “deposed”.
Consul fills a role that Peter prefers not to have to perform himself. Political figurehead.
That willingness on the part of the Consul, and Peter’s willingness to NOT fill it, should go a long way to keeping the two on good terms.
Yep. Additionally the fact that Peter left it to Mium’s judgement how much he helps the Consul or not suggests that Mium might give the Consul some gentle prods if needed to keep her from crossing Peter’s plans to a degree that would lead him to act.
Though taking Mium into account and the fact that I think Mium would need an override from Peter to lead her to her demise deliberately, if the Consul ends up on a graveward path then I’ll more than slightly suspect Mium of choosing that for her.
Good point. I seem to have the impression Peter feels she performs that role relatively well.
Peter did deliberately intervene here on the Consul’s behalf:
> “I don’t plan on letting Biana get the Consul”
It is a little open to interpretation if he did primarily to annoy Biana (who seems to have gotten thoroughly on shit list after her attempt to skyhammer him and sick Atter on him, the latter of which seems to be the thing he’s taken the most personally of anything someone has done so far), or to actually save the Consul, but that is more effort than he puts into most people’s survival. He was largely apathetic to to the survival of Arkady, for example.
On that note though, it is interesting that the two things that actually seem to get Peter angry is Atter (demons) and Kor’s World. I think this might hint at the bigger picture he operates on.
Interestingly, both of those things also seem to dislike eachother (or at least Kor’s World seems thoroughly anti-Demon).
So the biggest picture seems to be Peter vs. Demons. vs. Kor’s World in a three way fight… and I think unlike the local threats, those might be more his caliber.
Of course, he has Kally that can stomp both of them into fine powder at the same time. Peter + Kally really is an overpowered team.
Actually I think that the problem was Atter not demons. Peter never seemed to be antagonistic towards fluffy… just his usual level of “annoy everybody”. It’s more likely that he hated Atter because Atter was able to escape the consequences of his actions and Peter has previously stated that the only reason he worked for the IDS is because it allowed him to force consequences onto those who believed themselves immune to repercussions
Thinking about this, I think you’re right, it’s specifically an issue with Atter, Sophie, and Biana not getting their consequences. I personally didn’t think he had too big of an issue with Biana, at least partially because he anticipated the scenario and had prepared for it, it was just ahead of schedule.
I think the thing with Kor’s World is sort of separate, but sort of not. They at least tend to act like they don’t have consequences to face. Even when they’re in deadly combat, it’s like they’re just doing their day job, and it’s nothing special. Janitorial work is probably more interesting than they act like their jobs are, on average. Sure, there are a lot of times when janitorial work isn’t anything in particular. But then there’s times when it’s horrible. It’s not the kind of interesting you wanted, but you have a hard time saying it’s not interesting.
In any event, Kor’s World represents a real danger, one they need to overcome, without accidentally becoming.
Based on some of the comics, it seems like that ‘becoming’ option is a real concern.
hey man, I understand. as for what happened between Christmas and New Years, I guess your brain had to shut down to decompress. take all the time you need to sort things out.
Probably a bit of that, but also families tend to see holidays as their time.