Comic for Wednesday, February 11, 2015

[victorymon]

... and what if a part of is still arround?

[Fakefox]

The first thing I thought of was the youtube loading icon because it looks like Natani's basically getting his consciousness via streaming and someone just unplugged the server he's connected to

[Autumn]

... and what if a part of is still arround?

And since a few people mentioned a spiritual limbo, what if Tom uses all of this as a way to check in on dead characters? Admittedly, a bit of a stretch, but it could offer resolutions to old storylines and create new ones at the same time. I doubt that's where we're going, but it's an interesting thought.

Part of me really hopes that's the case, I miss her and that last scene with her was depressing. I mean, we from before that the dead are never quite gone forever. Nat could be anywhere at all.

[victorymon]

... and what if a part of is still arround?

And since a few people mentioned a spiritual limbo, what if Tom uses all of this as a way to check in on dead characters? Admittedly, a bit of a stretch, but it could offer resolutions to old storylines and create new ones at the same time. I doubt that's where we're going, but it's an interesting thought.

Part of me really hopes that's the case, I miss her and that last scene with her was depressing. I mean, we from before that the dead are never quite gone forever. Nat could be anywhere at all.

Yes. And what IF the missing parts are replaced?

[Fakefox]

Ignoring the scroll work does anyone else think that the 9th panel kind of look like a CRT being powered down?
Also wouldn't using Keith as a roll of soul duct tape make Natani transgendered and transspecies?

[hoon]

first of all, sorry that im not reading the thread, im kinda tired x.x
but like, im confused about whatever going on with natani's and zen's eyes
so
usually zen have both his eyes brown, and natani have one brown and one gray
now, when zen controls his body, natani's eyes turns brown, and if he leaves tottaly they are both gray, but zen's eyes so far didnt change once i think
is one of them like, parasiting the other?

[Him]

is one of them like, parasiting the other?

Yeah, Stav, Natani is somewhat of a parasite and is attached to Zen's soul.

[hoon]

is one of them like, parasiting the other?

Yeah, Stav, Natani is somewhat of a parasite and is attached to Zen's soul.

thats not a healthy relationship between family members ^^;

[imalbert]

is one of them like, parasiting the other?

Yeah, Stav, Natani is somewhat of a parasite and is attached to Zen's soul.

You mean was attached.

I think Natani will be up and about and feeling foxier in no time.

[Bellhead]

is one of them like, parasiting the other?

Yeah, Stav, Natani is somewhat of a parasite and is attached to Zen's soul.

thats not a healthy relationship between family members ^^;

It has been mentioned before in comic. Nat's soul needed Zen's to hold it together. Ergo, Zen was the "parasite" keeping Nat alive. It's complicated.

Also, can we just accept that Laura is dead? Hasn't she been through enough?

[BadFoMo]

Maybe (to gain their trust) they could get attacked and need a magic user to help them. Raine does not seem that experienced which leaves Zen as the magic user.

I think you're forgetting that that group has no mana crystals. If they did, Raine would have used them for the shackle.

I don't mean to argue, but do we know how many he had versus how many Raine used to fix and re-enchant the shackle?


Anyway, I think I have compiled a list of the theories so far pitched and my opinions on them.

1: Her consciousness is stuck on Zen's side of the link leaving her body as an empty shell.
2: The shock from suddenly being disconnected from Zen caused her to faint. She's still in her body, she's just unconscious.
3: The shock from suddenly being disconnected from Zen caused her to enter a coma. She still in her body, but she's not going to easily wake up anytime soon.
4: She's stuck in a void of some sort. She is neither in her body, nor with Zen.
5: She is dead.

I like to think that theory 1 is what happened since Zen would be able to try and get help for her.

Although I prefer theory 2 since it's just a matter of time till she wakes up, but I think a lot of people would be more infuriated with this one because there was no threat, there would have been no suspense and we ended a chapter on this.

I have similar feelings for theory 3 as I do for 2 since it's just a matter of taking care of her body until she somehow miraculously wakes up if they can't figure out how to wake her up.

I'm not exactly sure how to feel about theory 4 since unlike in theory 1 there would be no way for Zen, probably the only person who might know what just happened and how it could be fixed, to do anything about it. If the theory about the shackle being an on/off switch for her is correct, the only thing that can be done is to sit around and wait for the shackle to be taken off which I don't see happening anytime soon since Zen seemed a little too calm about the whole thing.

Like many of us, I am completely against theory 5. Although the threat of death is still there, as I said earlier she's too much of a main character to just simply kill off. Unless of course Tom enjoyed all of the arguing and everyone getting angry at him for That-Which-Must-Not-Be-Named last year, I'm not sure we have anything to worry too much about.


I would have made a list of theories on what happens to her next and give my opinion on them, but there is like only two.

1: The first being that she has another soul bonded with her. Everyone is suggesting that Keith would step up to the challenge, but I can't help but feel that he would ask himself/be asked if she would actually want this. Yes, it might bring her back, but would she really want another person in her mind? Would she want Keith to go through what she and Zen went through when they were just starting to get used to this? What would happen if (assuming that simply removing the shackle would fix everything) the rest of her actually returned? It wouldn't be a case of missing data being replaced with compatible but incorrect data, there would be two sets of data in the same place somewhat conflicting each other. I think the same could apply if Laura is still somehow floating around and decided to try and fix Natani's broken parts. The only difference is in addition to what I just said, would she still be the same person to Keith?

2: The second theory being her body becomes a host for either Laura, Trace's Black Smoke Thing, Alaric or Alabaster. While I added the last two as a joke which I really do not want to see happen, I am not exactly fond of this idea. The way I see it (and as I stated earlier), Laura no longer has unfinished business in the land of the living and has moved on, and Trace's Black Smoke Thing is exclusive to Trace.

A theory I would like to add to this list is that there is nothing anyone in Group A can do to help her except try to keep her body alive. Group B needs to remove the shackle from Zen in order for Natani to return to her body (this is assuming that theories 1 or 4 are correct).

Also, can we just accept that Laura is dead? Hasn't she been through enough?

I would like to accept that too, but if everyone really wants her back (and possibly Alaric too), I had this idea from my list of Sketch Suggestions where they possibly invade Keith's dreams from the afterlife. What purpose this would serve for the story outside of fan service/slowly turn the comic into El Goonish Shive, I have no idea.

[imalbert]

2: The second theory being her body becomes a host for either Laura, Trace's Black Smoke Thing, Alaric or Alabaster. While I added the last two as a joke which I really do not want to see happen, I am not exactly fond of this idea. The way I see it (and as I stated earlier), Laura no longer has unfinished business in the land of the living and has moved on, and Trace's Black Smoke Thing is exclusive to Trace.

That is not correct. Laura had given Natani an assignment to care for Keith (also here) which can't be fulfilled with Natani in this state. Laura also hasn't moved on but has simply faded back into the state of limbo from where she came.

[Jan125]

1: Her consciousness is stuck on Zen's side of the link leaving her body as an empty shell.
2: The shock from suddenly being disconnected from Zen caused her to faint. She's still in her body, she's just unconscious.
3: The shock from suddenly being disconnected from Zen caused her to enter a coma. She still in her body, but she's not going to easily wake up anytime soon.
4: She's stuck in a void of some sort. She is neither in her body, nor with Zen.
5: She is dead.

Or, for people with an affinity for technology:
1. Lost connection to remote server.
2. Sudden, non-destructive battery discharge in a normal phone.
3. Sudden, non-destructive battery discharge in a BlackBerry.
4. Backup uploaded to 3rd-party cloud, then crashed. Device reset itself to factory default.
5. Circuits fried. :c
_____
Although I'm pretty sure everything will work out in the end, it'll probably have a negative effect on the nataniPhone, e. g. not being able to store memories for very long, due to the fact that the storage server (Zen) isn't available.
If the server goes online again, it'll probably have problems reconnecting to the device without correct input from the nataniPhone itself.

We'll probably have to combine the efforts of our technicians Trace and Raine to get both of them up and running again.

[stumblinbear]

1: Her consciousness is stuck on Zen's side of the link leaving her body as an empty shell.
2: The shock from suddenly being disconnected from Zen caused her to faint. She's still in her body, she's just unconscious.
3: The shock from suddenly being disconnected from Zen caused her to enter a coma. She still in her body, but she's not going to easily wake up anytime soon.
4: She's stuck in a void of some sort. She is neither in her body, nor with Zen.
5: She is dead.

Or, for people with an affinity for technology:
1. Lost connection to remote server.
2. Sudden, non-destructive battery discharge in a normal phone.
3. Sudden, non-destructive battery discharge in a BlackBerry.
4. Backup uploaded to 3rd-party cloud, then crashed. Device reset itself to factory default.
5. Circuits fried. :c
_____
Although I'm pretty sure everything will work out in the end, it'll probably have a negative effect on the nataniPhone, e. g. not being able to store memories for very long, due to the fact that the storage server (Zen) isn't available.
If the server goes online again, it'll probably have problems reconnecting to the device without correct input from the nataniPhone itself.

We'll probably have to combine the efforts of our technicians Trace and Raine to get both of them up and running again.

Ohhhh... I understand what's happened now ;~;

[TinyVoices]

A lot of posts in one day seems natural for this particular thread. Even still, haven't had the chance to run through the whole thread yet.


This was the first time that Twokinds has ever made me mouth drop and loudly say "oh [censored]." I think this will be a memorable page, no matter what Tom does with this issue.

I don't think I am mad at Tom, but instead just scared and sad and surprised. Natani is one of my favorite characters, and here she is seemingly killed off. Whether this state of hers is temporary or permanent in the sense that removing the collar will fix her, does not matter. Her body will likely begin to rot if her consciousness does not return soon. And since there is likely no way to communicate with group B, or at least no way to readily convince them to remove the shackle, I don't see help for her anytime soon.

Deus Ex or Trace knowing a spell to prolong the inevitable aside, there isn't exactly a way for group A to save her right now.