Comic for February 25th, 2017

[Vintage]

IIIIIIInteresting! I'm a little surprised Trace would allow Saria to continue employing Keidran, especially around his own estate.

Oh, and at first I thought Rose was smoking in the fourth panel, but that's just steam coming from the kettle

[The Rookie]

Huh, I can't believe I'd forgotten about Rose and Saria's prior relationship. Here I was thinking that Rose was being held as additional leverage over Euchre, but since Rose was in Saria's service before Trace and Saria were even in their courting stage, that's largely out the window.

Now, speaking of their past, it appears that as the chapter continues to move forward The Dragon Masquerade becomes more and more relevant.

Spoiler!

First there was the return of Clovis, but now Rose and Saria's friendship/professional relationship have been cannonised as well. If we're going to take TDM as cannon, it's also going to mean that Kei and Rose were close enough for him to call her "Rosey" in a very friendly manner, so that could be interesting.

There's also a slim chance that Rose is going to recognise Natani, or more likely the other way around. Rose never saw Nat's real face when she was ambushed, only Nat's illusion, but Nat spent a good portion of the night wondering around in Rose's skin, so there's that. Then there's the matter of Nat recognising Saria from her painting. Even if it was an incredibly short interaction, Nat and Saria did speak briefly.

I'll guess we'll have to wait and see what bits and pieces are pulled on from TDM in future before making too many assumptions.

[Lightice]

IIIIIIInteresting! I'm a little surprised Trace would allow Saria to continue employing Keidran, especially around his own estate.

Why wouldn't he? He only became irrationally hateful of them after she was killed. Before that he was just casually racist towards them.

Though I find it interesting that Rose says that she "belonged" to Saria, even though I'm pretty sure she was shown to have pretty negative feelings towards enslaving Keidrans at some point. It kind of makes me wonder if this is really Rose, or a some sort of imitation made by old!Trace with imperfect knowledge of her true self's life...

[The Rookie]

Though I find it interesting that Rose says that she "belonged" to Saria, even though I'm pretty sure she was shown to have pretty negative feelings towards enslaving Keidrans at some point. It kind of makes me wonder if this is really Rose, or a some sort of imitation made by old!Trace with imperfect knowledge of her true self's life...

TDM stuff.

Spoiler!

If we're going from TDM, Rose was in Saria's employ, not as a slave, but as a servant. Either way, the two were good friends, and Saria insisted that she be called by her first name, rather than 'Mistress.', when they were alone.

[MuonNeutrino]

Well, looks like I might have been on the right track about how Rose got here and why Trace would keep her on, though that wasn't exactly a hard deduction. Now, interesting question - Rose obviously overheard Eric's musings. Did she hear *all* of them? And if so, what will she make of all those past tense references - 'were', 'was', etc? Remember, she doesn't know what's going on, but she *is* one of the only characters we've met who would have known Trace before Saria's death. And she certainly doesn't seem like a dummy. She ought to figure out pretty quickly that something has changed about Trace, and I don't think it would be at all implausible for her to recognize his pre-insanity personality. There could be some verrrry interesting conversations there, or at least I'm hoping so.

And, at least how I interpret it, I would say that Rose's dialog confirms that she wasn't a slave, otherwise I don't think she would use the word 'employed'. Particularly given Saria's evident attitudes towards the idea (and what we saw in TDM), I think it's fairly safe to assume that she might have been a servant (probably not surprising for a keidran in human society) but not a slave.

Anyway, on to less serious topics. It looks like Rose must have trained at the same school of butler invisibility/teleportation that Lynn did! (And now I have this weird mental image of the two of them comparing notes and trying to one-up each other at feats of domestic wizardry, complete with snarky banter and deadpan one-liners. ) And 'was pretty cute', Eric? Bad Eric, bad *bap with newspaper* go sit in the corner and think about what you said. grmmbr grmbl how dare you imply she's not still cute grmfrrg I'm loving Rose's 'tough-old-biddy-take-no-guff-from-anyone' persona more and more the more we see of it. You go, girl! Put that pervert in his place.

Would it be too much to ask to see those paintings up close, the way we got to see Adira's? Because holy smokes they're nice. (My appreciation of the subject matter of the first one has absolutely nothing to do with that desire or evaluation, nope, nothing at all. )

[Lightice]

TDM stuff.

Spoiler!

If we're going from TDM, Rose was in Saria's employ, not as a slave, but as a servant. Either way, the two were good friends, and Saria insisted that she be called by her first name, rather than 'Mistress.', when they were alone.

Exactly. Which is why the line "I belonged to her" sounds so wrong and out of place, and makes me suspect whether this really is Rose.

[Butterscotch]

Sure, sure, Saria and Rose are big stuff but let's being it to the main focus of the page....

Why are Eval's eyes Amber now? I thought they were supposed to be brown.

[Hayate]

Wow, I must have completely forgot that Saria and Rose were on good terms because I never saw this as a reason for her being here... Or maybe I just forgot that I thought that's why she was here... I dunno, it's too early in the morning to remember stuff lol.

I just hope this doesn't put Trace through some kind of feels trip... He doesn't have to remember the memories, just one tiny bit of that emotion coming through can hurt plenty.

[Schrodinger]

The events of The Dragon Masquerade need not be related in full. We could have just seen Clovis's one and only appearance in the comic proper. In Rose's case someone just needs to ask why a wolf keidran, of all things, is the steward of Trace's estate.We'd learn that Rose was in Saria's service and it was Trace's lingering sentimentality that allowed her to stay.

Like Muon said, not a hard deduction to make.

Even lacking the context of TDM, we know Saria didn't approve of slavery. So, Rose using the words 'belonged to' and 'employed' would have different meanings. In one case, it could be Rose using terminology that Eric would understand at first then clarifying her meaning. By the same token Rose could be letting out a subtle hint at unrequited love for her employer.

[BadFoMo]

I really like to know more about Saria and her father.

Uh, how did her father come into play here? I mean, what brought him up?

...And it looks like Trace is starting to remember something (at least i hope that we see some things from their past).

Maybe he's remembering the last time he ‘met’ her.

If Tom made some sort of reference to Natani recognizing anyone here, that means that TDM is canon, sort of.

...it appears that as the chapter continues to move forward The Dragon Masquerade becomes more and more relevant.

Spoiler!

If we're going to take TDM as cannon,...

The Dragon Masquerade's canonicity was in question without evidence? I thought it was already established that it was in canon. Or at least B-Canon as Tom called it.

I'd really like to see this canonised and explored more...

Although it might mean my having to give up my fantasy of a warped version of 2013's April Fool's Day special having happened, I second that notion.

P.S. Insert my usual question and request here.

[Neutral Smith]

I really like to know more about Saria and her father.

Uh, how did her father come into play here? I mean, what brought him up?

Look at her character description, and then look at my nick

[NiWo21k]

...And it looks like Trace is starting to remember something (at least i hope that we see some things from their past).

Maybe he's remembering the last time he ‘met’ her.

That was my first idea, but the way Tom drew Traces face in this panel and the "Saria..." speechbubble at the end....Mabye i am just seeing things that arent there, sometimes my imagination just goes somewhere it doesnt belong

[Raydis]

I'd really like to see this canonised and explored more...

Although it might mean my having to give up my fantasy of a warped version of 2013's April Fool's Day special having happened, I second that notion.

I third this notion. I was always curious if Rose ever did have canon kids after, at least before Saria acquired her.

[Warrl]

IIIIIIInteresting! I'm a little surprised Trace would allow Saria to continue employing Keidran, especially around his own estate.

Trace didn't go anti-keidran nuts until Saria was killed.

If Rose was very close to Saria, she'd plausibly be an exception.

Oh, and at first I thought Rose was smoking in the fourth panel, but that's just steam coming from the kettle

For a keidran of her age, I think she is.

[SpottedKitty]

I managed to catch just a few bits of this page in the stream, and it's nice to see my guess at the dialogue in the middle panels was pretty close.