I think one of the things that amuses me about Naomi is that somehow in this comic she is “the straight man” or “the sane person” as often as not compared to whoever she is dealing with. That she is both the exuberant head-in-the-clouds neigh invincible cheerleader and often the most well adjusted and normal person in a conversation is… hilarious. Slightly unsettling, but also hilarious.
I’d counter that the two are sort of the same side of that coin. The characters are in an extraordinary situation, even for their world. Even Peter, despite being legendary at tracking plots, is straining due to the intensity of the situation. (Re: that link, I’m specifically referring to panel 5.)
Naomi went toe to toe with a Kor’s World soldier in battle mode, and despite the fact that she was using the lowest grade of spell craft, and the Kor’s World soldier was using the highest grade, augmented by some form of remote casting assist that is likely an SMAI with all the capabilities AVon was trying to build into their prototypes and more, Naomi was able to just *more power* through it.
Yes, she decided at the end to feign death. However, as far as we’re aware, this was simply due to having the prudence to realize that while she wasn’t aware of whether or not she had hit it yet, there was probably a limit to how much *more power* she could do. And also a limit to how long she could hold her breath, and well, toxic gas is toxic.
TL;DR: Of all the cast, Naomi and Mium are the only ones who aren’t feeling like they’re out of their depth. I’m not certain that Mium should be on that list. So, yeah, she’s well-adjusted. For her, everything really is fine. She has no reason to panic so long as Peter doesn’t admit to her the strain he’s under.
Optimism and positive thinking isn’t usually one of my favorite traits in my fictional characters, but panel six is a great reason why I deeply appreciate it from Naomi.
I think within the story world it’s been a short time since we first saw the died hair. She changed clothes, but I don’t think there’s been a shower/sleep cycle in there.
I think this is early the next day. She wrapped up the last one playing some game with Mium after the Consul reminded her of it.
Basically, she’s had ample time and opportunity to not still be in violation and cause headaches for whoever has to either enforce the statute or cover for her flaunting it.
She wrapped up the day by playing the paint-ball-game here. That was after she saved Tyler and de-armed Acalia.
The next day, we see her leaving with house with Mium here here. This is when she asks Peter to interfere in the war to make sure Arkady is safe, and Peter tells he to do it herself if she wants, as Mium will listen to her. Naomi does not, but makes it clear she will be sad if Arkady gets hurt. This is what prompts Mium to send Ila to intervene, kicking off a lot of things.
Here is where Naomi fights the Kor’s World Soldier, later that day.
This is the first time we have seen her since than, and there is no indication that a day has passed. I am pretty sure that she has just got back and changed her shirt. You can see the scar on her cheek in on panel, and Naomi would probably have fully healed that if she had slept since then (due to her very warped idea of how sleeping works). Since it is mostly faded, it is possible she took a short nap.
Also, I think she was intentionally still black-haired for infiltrating the building in which she fought the Kor’s World Soldier.
I should point out that when the head of the country you reside in notices you engaging in a particular crime, especially one that doesn’t have apparent victims, like this one, and opts to neither pursue the matter nor direct their people to pursue the matter, you can probably ignore it for a while longer. Especially if you can argue that you were breaking the law specifically to serve said country and fight the enemies of that country, which Naomi certainly can.
It’s possible the preceding paragraph is more relevant to people living in comic worlds. That said, …
It may also be relevant that we don’t know what the punishment for Naomi dying her hair might be. We just know it’s technically illegal, and thus poor form to do in front of the Consul. It could be a fine that’s trivial to pay, a fine that is prohibitive, prison, community service (she’s sort of already doing that, as previously mentioned), being subjected to having the offending hair shaved off, or any number of other penalties.
… It’s probably being lectured at for an hour. This would probably be a good thing. I’m pretty sure Naomi’s been skipping her classes lately (if it’s not the weekend) and thus running short on valuable sleep.
For some silly reason people think that hair dye washes out…it does not. Due to genetic changes, Naomi’s hair grows its color and is not dyed. Hair dye is just like egg dye which is just like clothes dye. It is semi permanent and takes three to four weeks to be removed.
Niaome’s hair needs to either grow and have the new hair color be there or eventually the dye will wear off but it’s going to be a very gradual change unless she were to dye it her own hair color.
The reason people think this is because there are some hair dyes that wash out. The cheapest of them wash out with just water, the merely cheap will take an actual soap of some sort to wash out. Some “permanent” hair dyes will “wash out” with special chemical rinses, but these chemical rinses tend to be very damaging.
For the vast majority of people who dye their hair, this is not a selling point. As such, I’d expect that such hair dye would likely only be readily available in areas where theater or movie production is common, as those are the primary cases that come to mind that one might want short term hair dye rather than long term.
As I understand it, movie production tends to not care so much about the financial cost of the hair dye, but it does care about such things as the sheen and body of the actresses’ hair. “Permanently” dyeing hair and then dyeing it a different color before it’s had time to recover tends to be damaging to hair. Wigs also tend to be a preferred technology, but can only be used if they are able to get a wig with the right sort of hair in the right color.
That said, I’m not in the movie business. This response is my recollection of stuff I heard while getting my hair cut back when I had a friend whose wife was a beautician.
I think it is how relentless she is in her good cheer that does it. Of Team Peter she has the most reason to be sulking right now. Her country is a mess, her best pal shut down for awhile and is acting weird, she got beat up by a Kor’s World Soldier… but just like falling off a building, she just bounces back to her normal self.
Technically, if you allow the concept of a load-bearing window, I’m not sure what’s wrong with her view of building construction. If she happens to throw the person into a support beam, that just means she’d need to throw even harder. Don’t worry, the person should be fine, those tin cans are pretty durable.
Of course, I mean, given that it’s her we’re talking about. If I talked about being able to throw someone through a window of a windowless office by merely throwing hard enough, I’d clearly have to be joking or insane. Note that the two aren’t mutually exclusive.
No, Aron held up his end of the conversation on instinct and then is wondering what the fuck just happened. Peter or Naomi might cc him a copy of her after action report, assuming she wrote one to clue him in and as a reminder to look into Kors world.
I’ve been thinking about this a while, and have reread the page a few times. I believe Arron’s concern is less that she went toe to toe with a Kor’s World soldier and more, “Peter’s at least explained the Kor’s World attitude towards other people?! She must be a more integral part of his team than I realized.”
I doubt Arron would jump to either conclusion – he seems “too smart to”. But whatever’s behind her use of that phrase, he recognizes its source and its significance.
(I should not be surprised if he tries to find out more about her. They’ve been coming up empty on what Peter did before Levenworth (aside from Peter flat out telling him he’d been at – and betrayed – Avon); maybe they’ll have more luck focusing on miss Atarah. Too bad they no longer have investigators in Malsa. His investigation will have to rely on bits and pieces from old reports and public records …)
Speaks “native wildlife” is generic enough that it could have originated from any encounter with a really stuck up person from another dimension or country, such as Vicksberg or an Ote or an War Mage.
More worrying from Aaron’s pov it might represent Naomi’s estimation of his attitude toward locals.
Problem is, I think it does.
I think she thinks that Kor’s World soldier was one of his men.
I guess that’s what you get when you reverse-engineer parts of an invading army’s gear, but don’t manage to eliminate the army which originally used that gear.
I’d be willing to bet that Peter’s taught Naomi a bit more about the cast of characters she works with than that. Also, remember that she played with someone from Kor’s World back in chapter 4, which would’ve given Peter a good chance to explain who they were.
I understand that Peter isn’t really well known for giving thorough information, but she’s a key member of his team, and it doesn’t take a long explanation to convey that the guys in solidified red magic armor are not part of the IDS, but rather are the enemy for whom the IDS put aside their differences to fight, however briefly.
I also don’t think that the IDS uses that much Kor’s World tech in their armor. It’s probably some form of composite armor reinforced with magic, but not the “Eidos written so firmly that it’s more Hyle than Hyle native stuff” that is Kor’s World gear.
I think Arron has a higher opinion of the Palindra locals than the term “native wildlife” would indicate. It’s certainly a lot lower than it should be, but I think it’s more along the lines of thinking that they’re unsophisticated, primitive, and weak.
And get really better wait at least 2 days before you go back to doing this stuff. I know you want to and you’re stressing about it but get better first. It’s easier to deal with everything life throws at you if you’re better. (Yes Mom)
Please let us know how you are doing and fell better soon!
Please don’t die. I am already on the minimum about of The Far Side of Utopia that can sustain me.
Uh… I mean, get well soon.
And draw more comics.And feel better!I think one of the things that amuses me about Naomi is that somehow in this comic she is “the straight man” or “the sane person” as often as not compared to whoever she is dealing with. That she is both the exuberant head-in-the-clouds neigh invincible cheerleader and often the most well adjusted and normal person in a conversation is… hilarious. Slightly unsettling, but also hilarious.
I’d counter that the two are sort of the same side of that coin. The characters are in an extraordinary situation, even for their world. Even Peter, despite being legendary at tracking plots, is straining due to the intensity of the situation. (Re: that link, I’m specifically referring to panel 5.)
Naomi went toe to toe with a Kor’s World soldier in battle mode, and despite the fact that she was using the lowest grade of spell craft, and the Kor’s World soldier was using the highest grade, augmented by some form of remote casting assist that is likely an SMAI with all the capabilities AVon was trying to build into their prototypes and more, Naomi was able to just *more power* through it.
Yes, she decided at the end to feign death. However, as far as we’re aware, this was simply due to having the prudence to realize that while she wasn’t aware of whether or not she had hit it yet, there was probably a limit to how much *more power* she could do. And also a limit to how long she could hold her breath, and well, toxic gas is toxic.
TL;DR: Of all the cast, Naomi and Mium are the only ones who aren’t feeling like they’re out of their depth. I’m not certain that Mium should be on that list. So, yeah, she’s well-adjusted. For her, everything really is fine. She has no reason to panic so long as Peter doesn’t admit to her the strain he’s under.
Optimism and positive thinking isn’t usually one of my favorite traits in my fictional characters, but panel six is a great reason why I deeply appreciate it from Naomi.
I just noticed, Naomi is STILL wearing black hair. When is she going to wash the dye out so she’s legal?
I think within the story world it’s been a short time since we first saw the died hair. She changed clothes, but I don’t think there’s been a shower/sleep cycle in there.
I think this is early the next day. She wrapped up the last one playing some game with Mium after the Consul reminded her of it.
Basically, she’s had ample time and opportunity to not still be in violation and cause headaches for whoever has to either enforce the statute or cover for her flaunting it.
She wrapped up the day by playing the paint-ball-game here. That was after she saved Tyler and de-armed Acalia.
The next day, we see her leaving with house with Mium here here. This is when she asks Peter to interfere in the war to make sure Arkady is safe, and Peter tells he to do it herself if she wants, as Mium will listen to her. Naomi does not, but makes it clear she will be sad if Arkady gets hurt. This is what prompts Mium to send Ila to intervene, kicking off a lot of things.
Here is where Naomi fights the Kor’s World Soldier, later that day.
This is the first time we have seen her since than, and there is no indication that a day has passed. I am pretty sure that she has just got back and changed her shirt. You can see the scar on her cheek in on panel, and Naomi would probably have fully healed that if she had slept since then (due to her very warped idea of how sleeping works). Since it is mostly faded, it is possible she took a short nap.
Also, I think she was intentionally still black-haired for infiltrating the building in which she fought the Kor’s World Soldier.
I should point out that when the head of the country you reside in notices you engaging in a particular crime, especially one that doesn’t have apparent victims, like this one, and opts to neither pursue the matter nor direct their people to pursue the matter, you can probably ignore it for a while longer. Especially if you can argue that you were breaking the law specifically to serve said country and fight the enemies of that country, which Naomi certainly can.
It’s possible the preceding paragraph is more relevant to people living in comic worlds. That said, …
It may also be relevant that we don’t know what the punishment for Naomi dying her hair might be. We just know it’s technically illegal, and thus poor form to do in front of the Consul. It could be a fine that’s trivial to pay, a fine that is prohibitive, prison, community service (she’s sort of already doing that, as previously mentioned), being subjected to having the offending hair shaved off, or any number of other penalties.
… It’s probably being lectured at for an hour. This would probably be a good thing. I’m pretty sure Naomi’s been skipping her classes lately (if it’s not the weekend) and thus running short on valuable sleep.
For some silly reason people think that hair dye washes out…it does not. Due to genetic changes, Naomi’s hair grows its color and is not dyed. Hair dye is just like egg dye which is just like clothes dye. It is semi permanent and takes three to four weeks to be removed.
Niaome’s hair needs to either grow and have the new hair color be there or eventually the dye will wear off but it’s going to be a very gradual change unless she were to dye it her own hair color.
The reason people think this is because there are some hair dyes that wash out. The cheapest of them wash out with just water, the merely cheap will take an actual soap of some sort to wash out. Some “permanent” hair dyes will “wash out” with special chemical rinses, but these chemical rinses tend to be very damaging.
For the vast majority of people who dye their hair, this is not a selling point. As such, I’d expect that such hair dye would likely only be readily available in areas where theater or movie production is common, as those are the primary cases that come to mind that one might want short term hair dye rather than long term.
As I understand it, movie production tends to not care so much about the financial cost of the hair dye, but it does care about such things as the sheen and body of the actresses’ hair. “Permanently” dyeing hair and then dyeing it a different color before it’s had time to recover tends to be damaging to hair. Wigs also tend to be a preferred technology, but can only be used if they are able to get a wig with the right sort of hair in the right color.
That said, I’m not in the movie business. This response is my recollection of stuff I heard while getting my hair cut back when I had a friend whose wife was a beautician.
Oh, how much I have missed Naomi. Her outlook on life just makes my day. ^^
She really is a treasure.
I think it is how relentless she is in her good cheer that does it. Of Team Peter she has the most reason to be sulking right now. Her country is a mess, her best pal shut down for awhile and is acting weird, she got beat up by a Kor’s World Soldier… but just like falling off a building, she just bounces back to her normal self.
Her super power is resilience in mind and body.
Most government agencies would get really twitchy if a strange person was observed standing on a nearby roof. Like REALLY twitchy….
Naomi’s understanding of building construction is almost … fluffy.
Well yes. But most goverment agencies use electronic surveillance to monitor the nearby roof… so Mium would probably remain undetected.
Technically, if you allow the concept of a load-bearing window, I’m not sure what’s wrong with her view of building construction. If she happens to throw the person into a support beam, that just means she’d need to throw even harder. Don’t worry, the person should be fine, those tin cans are pretty durable.
Of course, I mean, given that it’s her we’re talking about. If I talked about being able to throw someone through a window of a windowless office by merely throwing hard enough, I’d clearly have to be joking or insane. Note that the two aren’t mutually exclusive.
And now Aaron knows that she fought with a Kor’s world soldier and survived, seemingly none the worse for wear.
No, Aron held up his end of the conversation on instinct and then is wondering what the fuck just happened. Peter or Naomi might cc him a copy of her after action report, assuming she wrote one to clue him in and as a reminder to look into Kors world.
Hope you get better soon.
I was talking about the “Native Wildlife” comment, that is the term Kor’s world uses to refer to the locals of the worlds they invade
Doesn’t mean Aaron knows she fought one of them, or even met one of them. She could have learned that term from Mium or even Peter.
I’ve been thinking about this a while, and have reread the page a few times. I believe Arron’s concern is less that she went toe to toe with a Kor’s World soldier and more, “Peter’s at least explained the Kor’s World attitude towards other people?! She must be a more integral part of his team than I realized.”
I doubt Arron would jump to either conclusion – he seems “too smart to”. But whatever’s behind her use of that phrase, he recognizes its source and its significance.
(I should not be surprised if he tries to find out more about her. They’ve been coming up empty on what Peter did before Levenworth (aside from Peter flat out telling him he’d been at – and betrayed – Avon); maybe they’ll have more luck focusing on miss Atarah. Too bad they no longer have investigators in Malsa. His investigation will have to rely on bits and pieces from old reports and public records …)
Speaks “native wildlife” is generic enough that it could have originated from any encounter with a really stuck up person from another dimension or country, such as Vicksberg or an Ote or an War Mage.
More worrying from Aaron’s pov it might represent Naomi’s estimation of his attitude toward locals.
Problem is, I think it does.
I think she thinks that Kor’s World soldier was one of his men.
I guess that’s what you get when you reverse-engineer parts of an invading army’s gear, but don’t manage to eliminate the army which originally used that gear.
I’d be willing to bet that Peter’s taught Naomi a bit more about the cast of characters she works with than that. Also, remember that she played with someone from Kor’s World back in chapter 4, which would’ve given Peter a good chance to explain who they were.
I understand that Peter isn’t really well known for giving thorough information, but she’s a key member of his team, and it doesn’t take a long explanation to convey that the guys in solidified red magic armor are not part of the IDS, but rather are the enemy for whom the IDS put aside their differences to fight, however briefly.
I also don’t think that the IDS uses that much Kor’s World tech in their armor. It’s probably some form of composite armor reinforced with magic, but not the “Eidos written so firmly that it’s more Hyle than Hyle native stuff” that is Kor’s World gear.
I think Arron has a higher opinion of the Palindra locals than the term “native wildlife” would indicate. It’s certainly a lot lower than it should be, but I think it’s more along the lines of thinking that they’re unsophisticated, primitive, and weak.
Yup. Naomi has been shown to speak both Central and Kor’s World, though neither fluently.
Knowing a bit of each language makes me think she wouldn’t confuse the two in the field.
Woah! This thread just made me think “What if one of Arron’s men is secretly a Kor’s World soldier? and Naomi noticed!!!”
Also, I think I see at least three different spellings of Arron! 🙂 Not complaining, as I tried to spell it wrong the first time too.
That’s an interesting thought. Kor’s World doesn’t seem like it stoops so low as to infiltrate monkey troops, but it would be an interesting twist.
Just because the ones we’ve seen treat other civilizations like animals doesn’t mean they all think that way.
Plot twist: Atter is secretly a Kor’s World agent.
And get really better wait at least 2 days before you go back to doing this stuff. I know you want to and you’re stressing about it but get better first. It’s easier to deal with everything life throws at you if you’re better. (Yes Mom)
Sorry to hear you are sick. Hope that you are really better soon.
Get well soon! Non Patreon folks- if you join you could have seen this already and the next comic too!
Well, there’s that – and the backstory for Webber too 🙂
2 things: 1, I love this comic page. and 2, get well soon my friend.