D:
As an aside, I think the next page will go up on Thurs. My hand is starting to burn again (curse this mortal body) so I’m thinking I’d better take it easy before it turns into another round with tendinitis! So I’ll see you guys on Thurs for the next page :3
*que action music*
Wow! First of all, the recent update frequency is breathtaking – as are the art and the story. Secondly, if I didn’t take the leader serious before I do know.
I especially love the colors in this page. They seem so dark yet so vibrant at the same time.
Thanks! I think this page is my new favorite for the chapter :D
if boss dies i’m boycotting this comic.
not really BUT STILL.
“Towheads” being Carissi, I assume? (Oh noooooeeesss the genocide comin’) Pardons for missing whichever tumblr or whatnot post established this.
IIRC, “towhead” is kind of an old fashioned term for blonds, typically (but not exclusively) used for children.
More details here.
:)
Yeah, I know what towheaded means, what I’m saying is the implication that they’re taking all the blondes is bad! ): Oh, Luca, what have you done…
Whoa! I’d totally never heard that. Thanks!
These more frequent updates are awesome. :> You deserve a day off~
I love the 2nd and last panel a lot. But totally awesome page all around. <3
D: “Take the towheads.” I don’t think I like where this is going.
“You too!”
Shouldn’t that be “You two!”?
I guess it could be either. I meant “you too” though, as in, “you in addition to my coordinating buddy Tom, here”
Damn. I like the boss kid.
Towheads? Interesting.
There’s a little bit of confusion at the end, with Tom and the eyepatch kid interrupting each other. Maybe the word balloons could stretch between the cells?
It’s like that for a reason! CHAOS
the power is in my hands
Look after those hands, you hear :)?
Easy on the hand, now, hear me? Your hand is precious. Be kind to the hand.
I *like* the Boss. He cares more for the kids than for money. Responsible. That’s good.
I thought the same! :)
Btw, ‘taking towheads’ is not the same as genocide. Not yet, anyway. If Luca declares war on Caris, of course he will arrest all Carisi. Britain picked up every German and put them over the border and interred all Britains of German descent. America did the same with the Japanese-Americans. Luca will do so with the Carisi. One hopes.
The “not yet” is why I said “comin’”. All I know is Der-Shing hinted at some genocide. Fact is, when stuff like this happens, hate crimes spring up–not just incidental ones, but from groups in power like the military or law enforcement, not necessarily acting on orders–sometimes in great abundance. Coinciding efforts to kill members of an ethnic group with the intention of killing them *specifically* off because their numbers must be purged, even if not coordinated by a head honcho, still files under genocide, even if it doesn’t, say, wipe out half of them.
Yeah, we can always hope Luca would be that reasonable, but that isn’t Dagre’s intent, and I think we all know who’s pulling the strings there.
Nope, no genocide here. They’re forming a softball team.
Softball? Oh, that’s just CRUEL!
Softball is great! I don’t understand you americans, throwing the ball from distance…
I like it. “The Towering Towheads!” (Okay, somebody come up with a better name.)
Yeah, Luca is pretty much insane at this point, so this could turn very ugly very quickly.
BUT!
If a war is declared, one usually follows the decleration of war with the rounding up of those of the enemy’s nationality and either expurging them or keeping them in determent camps.
As I’ve said, the USA did the same with the Japanese-American citizens and the Japanese did the same with the European/American inhabitants of Japan. Wasn’t nice. Wasn’t nice at ALL. Was in fact very ugly.
BUT! This happens when a war breaks out between two nations and is NOT genocide.
Now, since we know that Luca has a tiger-monster in his head that WANTS him to commit genocide, I know that this ’rounding up of undesirables’ will end in mass graves, but this is insider information that the Pasori-on-the-street doesn’t have. Just saying.
Oop! Watch out for defining genocide by whether or not a war is going on. I can’t tell if that’s what you’re saying with “This happens when a war breaks out between two nations and is NOT genocide.” or if you’re simply referring to roundups of groups of people, but claiming “this was an ‘acceptable’ act of war, not an act of genocide” is the most common justification for atrocities like the Armenian Genocide, Bosnian Genocide, the Holocaust, etc.
I think Marion was talking about the sort of thing described on this site (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WWgermansBR.htm). Nasty enough, but there was no intention to outright slaughter all the internees.
Obviously, given Luca’s native temperament, grief and rage, and… other factors, plus your hints in comments, I doubt if what is going on in your story is merely internment – possibly Marion missed those points?
By the way, I’m sure you’re well aware of internment, but I though I’d include the link for those who weren’t so sure – though the usual Internet Disclaimers of Reliability apply :D
Interesting link! I hadn’t heard of that internment in particular. I was just trying to clarify between actual systematic genocide and general bad wartime things, like internment and mass slaughters and the like (though yeah nothing has happened in the comic so far other than a roundup!)
Oops, watch out when you accuse people from inferring that a genocide is defined wether a war is on or not.
Genocide is defined as “the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group”.
Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people, commonly in large groups, without trial.
The one is about deliberate mass murder, the other about imprisonment because of possible loyalty risks.
Internment of those of the nationality or direct descent of the enemy is pretty standard when war is declared.
Think the Japanese-Americans:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_American_internment
Think the Germans in Britain (see AndyW’s link below).
Even Guantanamo Bay, controversial as that is, is not genocide. Because NOBODY GETS KILLED!!!
Internment of those of the enemy’s nationality is standard in a war. Genocide is not.
Genocide is mass murder and never ‘normal’ or ‘standard’. That is why genocide is such a shocking word to use the moment, in a webcomic, soldiers start rounding up people of the nationality of the country their leader has just declared war on.
We don’t *know* wether the rounded up Carisi will be killed. We *suspect* it (because we know that Luca is in a crazed and murderous ‘kill them all’ state of mind) but it is going a bit too far to yell ‘genocide’ the moment soldiers start rounding up those of the enemy’s nationality after (or even just before) the declaration of war.
I prefer to refrain from shouting ‘genocide’ when no groups of people have been murdered (yet). There’s plenty of time for that when the killing has indeed taken place.
You’re misreading my point. Don’t worry, I’ve taken a college level course on genocide, and have read numerous papers, analyses and first-person descriptions. I’m not going to mishandle the subject.
Whoa, I do my weekly-ish check-in to see if this comic stopped being dead and there’s FOUR new pages! So excited, this is among the highest quality of webcomics around. Can’t wait for more!
Haha, check back on Sunday, the remainder of the chapter should be posted by then (or check back daily for even better thrills and chills)!
As if I’m not going to check several times a day from now on :P
Exact same thought.
4 pages in a row, wow that was awesome.
Man the colors on this are beautiful! Just … aghhh I cannot even form a proper comment about them. They are just gorgeous, this whole chapter’s coloring with the backgrounds and the desert sunsets and sunrises have just been beautiful. Gold stars all across the board for you :V
83 Thanks so much!
So does the Boss really care for the kids more than the goods, or is he afraid for his skin because he’s a towhead? Hmm… I really like this page. It makes you think.
What? He himself will risk his skin and stay behind.”I´ll get this door.”
Haha, oops, bad text crop. I’ll fix that, it’s supposed to say “floor” actually…
Ah, of course, that sentence makes more sense. >.< That´s good. That means he himself will escape too, right, after he sees everyone are safe? Or at least he thinks they have enough time for that, before the soldiers enter the building. The tension!
Wtf, I am far more worried about The Boss than I am about Soli and Alamand.
I’m worried about him too!
It’s interesting that, during an emergency, the boss does turn to the only adult in the room to use as an additional authority figure. Apparently an age-based hierarchy CAN be useful sometimes. (Well, this in addition to the fact that Boss is apparently the oldest “kid” in the organization).
But hey, if these are all neglected or abandoned kids, it makes perfect sense that they’d have a reason to not trust adults, and it’s good on this organization, and Boss, to help them all take care of themselves. (We will be learning Boss’s name, right?)
We have. It’s “Boss”.
>>>It’s interesting that, during an emergency, the boss does turn to the only adult in the room to use as an additional authority figure.<<<
Does he? Ive read that as 'get everybody out using our escape route and hey, you two Outsiders over there, we'll safe your butts too, go with them'. That is, imo, hardly an appeal to their authority. Soli doesn't HAVE authority over these kids and the Boss isn't giving her any authority. In fact, by giving them an 'out' and ordering them to take it, the Boss takes responsibility over Soli and Armand.
Instead of turning to the 'adult' to be an additional authority figure, the Boss becomes the 'adult', telling the adult what to do.
Oh, oops, after re-reading for the 18th time I noticed the ‘take the kids’ bit. I only saw the ‘You too… Get out!’ bits before.
*shamefaced*
Okay I’m hungarian so I don’ know what towheads mean, but I still feel the tension so just keep it up man… but just in case if something serious is going to happen please warn me so I won’t get a shock okay? (The others don’ need to know.) >.<"
“Towhead” is just slang for people with light skin and blond hair, traits possessed by most Carissi. Problem is, most of the people in that room are Carissi. At the very least, this will lead to your standard awful concentration-camp experience (aka. British treatment of Boers during the Boer War, American internment of Japanese in WWII). At the worst, this is the “take and kill” kind of rounding-up.
It means blonde. Carisi are (I gather) generally blonde, so any-one blonde is assumed by the authorities to be Carisi, or have some Carisi ancestry. Just generally not to be trusted, and to be rounded up and… well, internment camps sometimes turn into much nastier things.
My great grandad was Dutch, and so my Grandad (who was naturalised British) had a Dutch name – which could be taken to be German. When the second world war started, the investment bank he worked for advised all their staff with German or German sounding names to change them, to avoid getting harassed by ignorant neighbours – or worse.
I’m guessing a lot of blonde Pasori people are going to be dyeing their hair pretty damn quick!
Luckily, there aren’t many blonde Pasoris (nor do many of them live so far South)! There are blonde Santri though, and they’d better watch their asses.
Yep, like Whitecaps said, a towhead is a very blonde/ light complexed person. Think of like… people from Iceland, who can have white-blonde hair. “Tow” is a very light component of the flax plant that can be used in types of textiles and it looks kind of like light blonde hair, hence the word “towhead.”
Ahh now I get it!
Thx to all of you. I just didn’t want to spam with three identical comments. ;)
This page is awesome. And I´m glad and impressed The Boss himself is this awesome. Man, that´s so great about this comic: that when someone does something heroic, you are actually surprised and impressed and feel the strong probability that this really won´t end well for him.
On a somewhat unrelated note, is Amen Carissi or South Santri? His last name is Santri (?), but he´s working for Carissi military. Is he of mixed heritage?
I was also hoping we would find out what happened to him before the end of the chapter, but now it seems we will have no time for this.
Amen is Southern Santri! A lot of Southern Santri are religious converts due to proximity to Caris and emigrate/ live there for religious reasons.
The next thing that happens is Soli loses any money she may’ve acquired from this ordeal, right?
This is what I kept thinking. It’s way too early on for her to have “enough” as she said without losing all or at least some of that money. Things would just be too easy that way!
Haha, if you consider anything in this chapter “easy” XD
My personal guess is Soli gets caught making sure the others (or at least most of them) make it out, leaving it for cliffhanger. When Angora and Pinter make it to the city, she realizes who Soli (by now up for execution) is and engineers an escape plan (for low values of engineer, and even lower values of plan).
Probably won’t go down like that, and it doesn’t cover what happens to Boss and Ali at all, but speculating’s fun, ain’t it?
I’m starting to become really fond of the Boss character. I seriously hope he doesn’t get hurt. Also did anyone else notice the wide-eyed girl in the bandana on the last panel? She is so cute.
So when he says “I’ll get this *oor”, he means “I’ll get the kids on this floor and take them to the bypass”. RIGHT?! D:
Of course. He might be a creepy little moneybags, but his priorities are always with his “people” first ;_;
You know the best thing about the dedication of the Boss? He is blond. He could easily let a kid with another colour hair man the door/building. I see red hair, I see dark hair…
The Tyros: an equal opportunity employer
aw, man. I hope the boss survives this.
Soli’s determined face in the last panel is awesome. Guess adults aren’t so bad after all eh boss?
OH. OH GOD.
ACTION.
That aside, Alamands facial expression on panel 5 is… NNNGGGH
It’s killing me.
Pages! Pages! Lovely, lovely pages!
I love it. Keep your hands healthy, I can’t wait to see where the story goes.
You cannot imagine the respect I have for the boss right now.
I definitely can. *solemn nod*
Shouldn’t it be “You two!”? Or in a case the words are right “You, too!” :>?
Hm, maybe. I don’t like that comma though!
“Have a good day at work, honey!”
“You too!”
vs
“You, too!”
I’m not super great at grammar so I’m not sure if the second is more correct, but from a reader perspective it looks off to me.
Both are correct, but mean slightly different things.
If you said “You too!”, it’s like saying, “You as well, you must do whatever I am ordering everyone to do.”
If you say “You two!”, it’s more to get their attention, but can also lead into the same idea.
In “You too,” whether there should be a comma between “you” and “too” is, I think, the choice of the writer. In the comic setting, especially when the action is speeding up, not having the comma there is (in my opinion) the more optimal of the options. You could write “You, too,” in a slower dialogue, perhaps a dialogue more laden with emotion or indicating a definite pause that means/implies some subtext or emotion, but “You too!” is quicker and adds to the rushed feeling of this page and situation.
There’s my two cents. :)
Yes, I know the difference of the two words and the effect of having or not having a comma. The only issue is whether the grammar is 100% wrong if I leave it out (which I don’t think is the case). Anyways, this is delving too far into minutae.
Oh, I hope you didn’t take what I said offensively! D: I was defending your choice and just got stupidly excited when I saw a discussion about grammar. I can’t help it, I’m an English major. xD I’m way too into this stuff. But it’s definite a minute detail and really doesn’t matter at all, yes. :)
Dude, I love the Boss, just sayin’.
I noticed in the last panel that Soli’s tattoo is really bright. I think that’s what that little spot of blue is, at least. For some reason, I really like that it stands out so much in that dark panel. :D
IT’S A RAID HIDE THE HOOCH D8
It’s okay, Pinter’s keeping it safe!
In his liver!
…Really the only choice sensible choice.
Please don’t let anything bad happen to The Boss! He’s way to funny and interesting!
I already thought the Boss is awesome. Now I love him. Also, excellent job with the busy details. Amazing!
Awww, the little girl in panel 6!
Omg, the colors on this page. Amazing *___*
Lower left-hand panel… <3 Beautiful.
I’m in love with this page! The colors, the compostition of panel two and six, Soli’s face in panel five > Witchcraft?
Gah.
The /expressions/ on this page! The second-to-last and third-to-last panels are absolute love.
You pump so much emotion into your comic. The most awesome. <3
Hmm back to ye olde sewerpipe? Hehe I notice Soli still has her backpack. Is it still loaded by any chance?
Yeah, her bag is still full of junk (their sleeping blankets, various supplies, etc)! And her guns are still in her holsters B]
No I mean the books and the as-yet-undisclosed-item-that-may-be-a-radio. Those still there?
Nope, that stuff was in the green bag which was sold.
stank you
Ahhhh! :D So happy to see new pages! *dances the dance of joy*
Great page! I love the last panel.
I’m so happy for these quick updates, but don’t work yourself too much! Don’t diminish your work and the quality of your drawings! I love your comic and the story really grips. I can’t wait for the next one.
I’m soo enthralled. and so sad that i can’t read the whole story now. how many chapters do you think you’ll have, cause what you have so far is AMAZING. Art and visual storytelling are both top shelf, not to mention the whole mystery behind dagre and the other salamander/tree/grandfather guy. I’m excited sir.
EYEPATCH KID. BE OKAY.
“Tom, make me a sammich.”
“But, Boss…”
“Now, Tom.”
“Y-yes Boss”
also alamand hide yo’ kids and hide yo’ (future) wife @_@
Soli should want to be like The Boss when she grows up.
I knew you’d come back. ;~;
I knew you knew I’d come back ;u;
…and that’s how Soli and Alamand adopted 30 kids and lived happily ever after. The End.
6offee, you owe me a new keyboard, ‘because I spit-laughed coffee all over this one.
Looks like Soli is herding the children to safety, but secretly she’s thinking “Get out of my waaaay!!!”
IT’S THURSDAY AND THERE’S NO UPDATE. RAAAAAAAAAGE.
Jk. I really love how you do expressions!
And I bet Alamand’s going to die. I almost hope he does, for a crazy plot twist! :D
What’s wrong with me? ;-;
lol I don’t know, but there is definitely something wrong with you
:(
I’m a terrible person.
At least maimed?
… I’m done, I promise!
Run!
Ffffff–i just LOVE your colors. I should read your tutorials again. >< Also, my hand (my main drawing AND writing hand) tenses up after a bit of sketching so I usually take a break…which has lasted for seven months. DDD:
DON'T MESS UP YOUR HAND.
WOW! Just finished reading this masterpiece up until now and I AM LOVING IT.
I laughed and cried and fell in love with this world right from the start.
Love your style of drawing and it’s easy to see how hard you work on it (story wise and drawing wise).
All in all, one of the best webcomics I have read, and I hope to see more of it in the future!
Keep it up!
Avigail.
P.S
Don’t be afraid to take a break, It’s more important to keep yourself healthy and in good condition than to burn your body down to keep making something totally free (yet satisfying) to the world to see. :)
I love Alamand and Soli’s expressions in the fifth panel!
…and, you know, the whole page.
<3
Is towheads a derogatory term for Carissi? Cuz they’re blonde??
Also, ~*GENOCIDE*~!
It’s a general term for a blonde person; I think “tow” meant “flax” in old English. I guess it’s used in a derogatory way in the world of Meek.
AS A PERSON WITH BLONDE(ish) HAIR I MUST SAY I AM THOROUGHLY OFFENDED
WHERE’S MY LAWYER
Actually my hair looks more brown than blonde now, but I never pass up the chance to sue someone.
Haha, it’s not actually meant to be inflammatory, it’s just an informal way to say Carissi.
dude, i TOTALLY feel you about the tendonitis, it happens to me to. (ive been drawing a lot over the summer and the past months for my college portfolio).
its so annoying, it’ll come and STAYfor like, ever, go away, and then randomly come back.. and it feels like a fire cracker pin the wrist each time.. such a pain in the ass! Glad to know im not alone though! lol