4.36

I LIKE THIS PAGE. I’m not often happy with how the art turns out but I am actually ok with this, haha.

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59 Comments

  • Lilian

    Hm. This isn’t going terribly well.

    It seems unlikely that Pinter/Angora and Etan/Tanome will simply part their merry ways, with Etan/Tanome never to be in the story again. If that were the case, what would be the point of this episode… except perhaps to solidify Pinter’s commitment to Angora/meet an especially unpleasant person?

    Will there be an altercation in which Tanome attacks Angora and Angora draws upon her powers to defend herself? Will Pinter choose to accompany Tanome and Etan?

    Tune in NEXT TIME…

    • Fridge_Logik

      You know, if the only result of this segment was Pinter and Angora bonding that’d be super peachy. This has been a very interesting series of interactions.

      Actually, no, you can’t say that this would only be about Pinter and Angora, we also got to learn more about people’s faith in the region and get a general sense of the world.

      • Lilian

        It seems odd to me to introduce Etan only to have him vanish several pages in, but yeah, this could serve as a bonding tool. And Etan did provide some interesting information regarding the third beast. He’s also not among the “major supporting characters” on the website, so…

        This sequence also shows Angora one of those “bad people”, though I think Pinter meant that in terms of rape as opposed to this kind of attack. Angora is genuinely frightened right now either way.

        If Pinter sticks up for Angora now, it will be good for both of them.

        • Happy

          Keeping in mind that the pacing long-term can look a lot different than day by day :) and I’m not just talking archive readers – I mean when the entire story is wrapped up forty chapters later. Some characters will flit by in the blink of an eye & it’ll all make sense when the comic unfolds at once.

          • Haha, yeah, and there have been/ will be more throwaway characters in the future. Usually there will be a handful of “new” guys to meet at per chapter (Kiz in 1, ambassadors in 2, deTiker in 3, etc) but even if they are only a blip on the radar, they still serve a purpose.

          • Lilian

            Yeah, the fact that this is a genuinely a story of epic proportions does make a difference.

    • anton

      I am sure they’ll all be happily roasting marshmallows over the fire in the next page!

  • Natalie

    The art is especially banging on this page! And wow, Tanome is really a piece of work.

    I’m not sure who is saying “And the girl?” though. From the placement I’d think Etan, but… I’m not sure. I think it’s the question mark that’s throwing me off.

    • DS

      Pretty sure that’s Tanome asking “And the girl?” but yeah, its placement does make it a bit confusing.

      • Natalie

        Oh i think i see what I did now.. I think i maybe read the whole panel left to right instead of the first column of speech bubbles then the second.

        Looks like it was just me that did that though so my bad :)

        • David K

          I read it the same way too and had trouble following the dialog until I saw your message.

    • Thanks for the feedback! I’ll fiddle with that tail some more :]

      • charles81

        I’ll confess I found it confusing on who was saying what, when and in what order, etc.

        However I’m 50/50 on if something should be done about it, because it also sets in the fast-paced confusion, and mood, of the page.

  • I’m not quite sure Pinter is gonna want to travel with Tanome after this…

  • anameer

    Wow. I honestly didn’t know what to expect from Tanome after the last page, but this? Man.

    This is the time to shine, Pinter.

    • anameer

      Also, is this when the Chekhov’s Spear makes a return?

      “If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it’s not going to be fired, it shouldn’t be hanging there.”

      I guess Tanome is gonna try to kill Angora then, hmm.

      • lol, Chekhov’s Spear… you got me

  • Kelsey Raabe

    Well that escalated quickly.

  • DS

    Interesting choice of words: “MY camp” – not “OUR camp”

    Pinter, you may want to point out that she had a giant, gaping hole in her side and it was by the grace of Angora that she is able to stand up and threaten people. It probably won’t work though. I recommend making like a tree and leaf.

  • Carolyn

    “She’s not coming with us.”

    …OK, Etan? You and your wife can do whatever the hell you want, but you don’t get to make decisions for everybody on this little road trip, no matter how much you might need Pinter’s map.

    Also, if I had to choose, I’d pick traveling with the sweet, nudist girl over your judgmental ass and your batshit wife any day.

  • Android 21 3/7

    … Is this an era like the Salem Witch Trials? I hope Tanome’s only going yell at Angora to leave. Murder attempts are just overkill.

  • By her use of words I kinda get the feeling they’re not really a married couple… rather a boss and her footman.

    • Marion

      Nah, you’re just seeing the world projected in reverse and it startles you.

      Tanome is clearly Carissi, and so far, the only Carissi we’ve seen are Soli, Armand and the two ambassadors. So a male child, a female gunslinging outlaw/thief and two highranking politicians. Oh, and of course the police officer whats-his-name who tried to arrest Soli.

      So, from the little we’ve seen so far, we can at the very least deduce that Caris is not a patriarchy, at least not one of the sort where wimmenfolks simper and bat their eyes at Strong Hubby andcling to his leg for protection. All the Carissis females we’ve seen so far are willing and able to act for their own, on their own, and they do not refer back to the Strong Male for his benign approval. The closest to a simpering Carissi female we’ve seen so far is the chubby ambassador (I forgot their names and just call them ‘the thin one and the chubby one’) and she was only chosen as ambassador because she was a member of the Royal Family of Caris. A figure head, so to speak. It was the skinny one who was really the politician of the two. The fact that Caris sends female ambassadors to negotiate with a foreign male (and rather militaristic) Emperor indicates that their culture, whatever their faults might be, firmly believes that women can be in command and be strong leaders.

      This is not something that is often portrayed in our (American) media. Even characters like the Avenger’s Black Widow, who can crush any men’s skull with her thighs, is portrayed as using her Female Whiles to Honeytrap Stupid Men. Can you imagine Captain America using his Male Charms to honeytrap some female (or even male!) villain? Well, maybe you can imagine it, but Hollywood will never show it. That’s not how American culture rolls. But Caris is not the USA.

      If Etan had been a woman and Tanome a man, and a male Tanome had said and done exactly the same things, would you have said that they were not really a married couple but instead a boss and his maid? I think not. Oh, I’m sure you would’ve protested hubby’s forcefulness but it would not seem strange or outrageous to you. A man being loud, grabbing a weapon and demanding explanations of his wife? Comes almost in the jobdescription, ammirite? But a woman being loud, grabbing a weapon and demanding explanations.. oh no, she’s BOSSY.

      She’s not ‘bossy’. She’s just not an American Stepford Wife.

      I don’t know wether I like Tanome or not; I haven’t seen enough of her yet to decide. But she’s no worse than Etan (who called Angora a witch witin a minute of meeting her), certainly no worse than Angora (because Angora has been an obnoxious stroppy piece of @#$ to Pinter for the entire comic) and since she has, as of yet, has not clobbered old, frail little men over the head in order to steal from them, she’s no worse than Soli.

      • Ash

        Solid cultural analysis!
        *claps hands*

      • aroree

        No, she is bossy.

      • :] Nice observations about the cultural thing; I would not say they are a matriarchy, but in Carissi culture, aggression yields equal results for both men and women. The power split is skewed more towards women for them in general. The Pasori cultures do not follow this model at all and find the whole thing baffling and obscene.

      • Some_Douchebag

        I would still find it shocking if a man said “Can you be left alone for one hour without dragging miscreants back to MY camp?!” (emphasis mine) to his wife. I’m not married, but in my experience married couples tend to think of even their temporary living space in terms of “we”, “us”, and “our”. Any group of people sharing living space will tend to do that.

        I’ve only seen wording like in the comic come up in very strained relationships, and marriages that are likely coming to an end. I don’t know if that’s what’s going on here, but Tanome’s possessiveness (“MINE, not ours”) can imply that there’s something else between those two than a run-of-the-mill marriage. It can also imply that it’s a heated moment, and someone who’s just come back from the brink of death after being thrust from her home into dangerous unfamiliar territory is thinking in survival mode.

        Either way, I think it’s entirely reasonable that Cyanilurus came to their conclusion because of the unusual wording rather than their small, fragile patriarchal worldview being shattered by a depiction of a decisive and aggressive woman.

      • 0btuse

        I rather doubt it is a gender thing. From what we know of the Carissi and what has been written in the wiki it seem more likely it is a cultural thing.

        The War that Emperor Luca was demanding reparations for was caused by Caris invading Pasori lands and enslaving the people. The Ambassadors seemed to regard people of the Empire as barbarians and uncivilized. This leads me to believe that the Carissi from the Caris nation would tend to believe themselves better than non Carissi.

        Of course this is just speculation on my part and it could just as easily be a personality thing on her part.

  • Spav

    In the words of a wise doberman, ruh roh

    • Haeschen

      I believe you mean Great Dane.

      • Spav

        That would be it.

  • Crestlinger

    Judgmental attitude, check.
    Torch, check.
    Pitchfork check.
    She’s a one woman lynch mob. Now where’s an ogre when you need him? Or something Huge to come crashing through the woods and swallow her in one gulp.

    • Lilian

      It’s crazy how easily people become lynch mobs, whatever end of an ideology they’re on.

      Being a one woman lynch mob? Now that is impressive.

      • aroree

        She is impressive, that’s for sure. She is kinda scary too.

  • RichWalk9891

    Just what on earth is wrong with these people? If it wasn’t for Angora stumbling across the woman dying in the middle of nowhere, she probably wouldn’t be alive right now, and her first response is to not only insult her for being out of place, but then possibly try to kill her once she finds out that she’s a ‘witch’?

    And the husband is just going to let this happen because of having witness her powers and assumed that she must be up to no good, when she’s done nothing wrong of the sort and had was even the one to find his missing wife to begin with.

    Talk about ungrateful.

  • ‘Perhaps you should calm down, cherished one!’ oh Etan lol Those spacey scholar guys need someone to drag them back down to earth

    • Lilian

      Scholarliness is attractive, but it’s even better when it’s grounded by a massive practical streak. That’s why scholarly farm boy types are awesome.

  • Jade

    I really hope Tanome has a chance to redeem herself at some point. :(

  • Ceceoh

    Fundamentalists. I hate Fundamentalists.

  • Mallow

    Wow, so much gratitude being extended to the person that saved your life, Tanome.

  • Jenny

    such pretty colors~~~~ omg how do you always pick such lovely color schemes ;_;

    • Blue, magenta and orange tend to just look very nice together XD There is probably a technical reason for this but in the meantime lets just call it “eye candy.”

  • Jonboy

    See. I’m all for women to have the same elbow room as men when it comes to assertiveness or expression, but when anyone just outs themselves as a completely obnoxious twat you find myself hoping for someone to brutishly teach them little humility.

    • Vert

      Maybe Angora should drive a giant root into Tanome’s crotch.

      It worked the last time.

    • Wood

      Two wrongs don’t make a right, you know.

  • JakeyBakey

    Naw man she’s a straight peach

  • MikeLinPA

    “First of all, you miserable old harpy, he did not drag us back to your camp. This is our camp, and we carried you back here. Leave if you like.

    Second of all, We are not following you anywhere. We have the map and are doing just fine without you. If you want to follow us, you are going to have to learn some humility! Lots of humility!”

  • 0btuse

    She’s rather springy for someone who was gored by Tayaks

  • Fal

    Did etan just say “she saved your life by means I don’t approve of, so you probably should kill her” ?

    (and I’m rolling with everybody saying angora saved her, but we don’t actually see that, do we? Today’s lines from Etan could confirm it or just mean “she does weird green magic, you have weird green stuff on your face, so it’s her fault”)

  • GUYS, I had a minor epiphany last night. I noticed a lot of comments on the last page about how Angora used to wear clothes and how weird it is that now she doesn’t even though it upsets those around her, and that got me thinking about why…

    ANGORA IS A REVERSE EVE.

    This comic is rich in biblical references (even the name is taken from Mathew 5:5 – ‘Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.’) and I’m guessing Angora underwent some spiritual transformation (likely involving Mocheril) where Original Sin was erased from her and she has turned into Eve before she ate the forbidden fruit (the first pages of the comic even feature a piece of fruit). And the Garden of Eden is even literally trying to grow around her. That’s why she’s naked and why magic plants grow everywhere she goes., and why she is the one who must judge the world – because she has no knowledge of good and evil anymore, so she is a completely objective judge on the goodness / badness of mankind.

    • David K

      Then shouldn’t her magic work better the less she wears and vice versa? If anything, her magic powers have actually increased since she started wearing pants.

      But in the absence of any flashbacks that have Angora being told at the Monastery “Get down from that tree and put some clothes on!” I am inclined to think that Angora’s initial nudity was the result of some sort of as yet unexplained spiritual or magical transformation that she underwent after she left the Monastery — with her green hair being another sign of that transformation.

      • It wouldn’t have anything to do with her magic powers being strengthened / weakened by the amount of cover up she has, though. Adam and Eve didn’t wear clothes before eating the forbidden fruit simply because they had no sense of shame or wrongness. Covering up after was a visual symbol of them suddenly feeling shame at their nakedness.

        If Angora has reversed into an Eve-like being, it just means that she doesn’t understand why she SHOULD cover up. I’m guessing her acquisition of pants was because she was sick of the crazy rapists (and also I imagine it’s easier for Der-Shing to just draw pants instead of continuing the need to cleverly sensor her pubic area) and not because she felt any kind of wrongness with herself being naked.

        I would think that Eden growing around her would get stronger as time goes by either because her power grows slowly or because she is getting closer in pursuing her goal given to her by Mocheril.

        • Lilian

          I find your theory intriguing.

    • Hannah

      I LOVE THIS THEORY.

      *gold star!*

  • apot33t

    “Everyone out here is either naked, or crazy, or violent…”

    I guess we found our Violent :)

    • apot33t

      der-shing y u so good

  • Chel

    Angora, you’d save yourself a world of trouble if you’d just pUT ON A SHIRT.

  • Jac

    Tan really needs a Snickers.

    • 0btuse

      I wonder what her real form is :P

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