Comic for may 16. 2020; A Second Chance

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Eclipse
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Re: Comic for may 16. 2020; A Second Chance

#31 Post by Eclipse »

Euchre's motives are honestly one of the most interesting discussion topics in the comic IMO. There's just so much we don't know, and his character could really go either way. We've seen him do absolutely horrible things in the name of becoming a powerful mage. At the same time, he does seem to show some remorse for his actions. But we seem to know very little about his plans. What's his end game here? Why is it so crucial for his plans that Trace forget his past and remain with Flora? Why is he allied with Sirus and for how long? So much of what's going on with him is shrouded in mystery, and I can't wait to find out.

I think Bellhead's description of him is pretty accurate, he's too cowardly to take direct action but he has just enough of a heart to at least help his family, Trace, and Flora behind the scenes. That being said, if something seriously threatens his plans enough, I could see him being forced to step into the forefront and taking more direct action such as sacrificing himself. That would make for good character development.

Now that I think about it though, I hope it doesn't happen anytime soon, certainly not in this chapter. I want to see Trace and Flora's reaction when they find out his true nature. I want to see Raine interact with him. I want to see more of his plans.

As for who else would potentially die in this chapter, IDK. I was going to say Zen, but he's starting a character development arc where he learns where he fits in with his relationship with Natani and potentially starting a relationship with Kathrin. And a lot of other characters have their own character arcs or relationships that would make it unlikely they'd get written out anytime soon, leaving only a handful of options. Reni? Rose? Eric? Adira? Tough question.

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Re: Comic for may 16. 2020; A Second Chance

#32 Post by Bellhead »

Eclipse wrote: Tue May 26, 2020 1:43 am As for who else would potentially die in this chapter, IDK. I was going to say Zen, but he's starting a character development arc where he learns where he fits in with his relationship with Natani and potentially starting a relationship with Kathrin. And a lot of other characters have their own character arcs or relationships that would make it unlikely they'd get written out anytime soon, leaving only a handful of options. Reni? Rose? Eric? Adira? Tough question.
REALLY wish you hadn't brought that up. Adira really is most likely, as sorry as I am to say it, if one is to die. Maeve is a child, who appeared on the chapter cover no less, and Adira would gladly give her life for her. She shows little character development, or room for it, and shows absolutely no ulterior motive in her actions. She's definitely the most static plain character we've had in... years now? Have we ever had one so basic?

But she's beautiful, and honest. And doesn't cheat for a living. Such a pure character's death would have a profound reaction, without cutting into storyline potential.

Now I'm sad. :adira:
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Re: Comic for may 16. 2020; A Second Chance

#33 Post by Eclipse »

Bellhead wrote: Tue May 26, 2020 2:40 am
Eclipse wrote: Tue May 26, 2020 1:43 am As for who else would potentially die in this chapter, IDK. I was going to say Zen, but he's starting a character development arc where he learns where he fits in with his relationship with Natani and potentially starting a relationship with Kathrin. And a lot of other characters have their own character arcs or relationships that would make it unlikely they'd get written out anytime soon, leaving only a handful of options. Reni? Rose? Eric? Adira? Tough question.
REALLY wish you hadn't brought that up. Adira really is most likely, as sorry as I am to say it, if one is to die. Maeve is a child, who appeared on the chapter cover no less, and Adira would gladly give her life for her. She shows little character development, or room for it, and shows absolutely no ulterior motive in her actions. She's definitely the most static plain character we've had in... years now? Have we ever had one so basic?

But she's beautiful, and honest. And doesn't cheat for a living. Such a pure character's death would have a profound reaction, without cutting into storyline potential.

Now I'm sad. :adira:
Well one thing I forgot was there's still the loose end with whatever's going on with Riftwall Tavern, so she could still survive before we see what's going on there. But they could also possibly uncover that themselves after she dies.

Yeah, that would definitely cause a ton of drama. Not just for Adira's innocence, but Maeve's, who's even more innocent than Adira. A young child who loses her mom and her entire world gets torn apart? You really have to wonder just what kind of effect that would have on her, it surely wouldn't be a good one.

Then again, it's possible no one dies. Tom doesn't seem to be big on character deaths to cause drama, seeing as all of 2 characters have died throughout the entire comic. And there are other ways to cause drama besides killing someone off.

EDIT: On second thought,I could see one good thing come from Adira dying and Maeve being orphaned. Let’s play this scenario out in our heads for a bit. If Adira were to die, Maeve would probably go to Trace and Flora and end up joining Team A. She doesn’t seem to have a father in the picture or really anyone else to turn to from the looks of it, and Trace and Flora would probably feel the need to act as surrogate parents to her. But they’re also about to become parents to the hybrid as well, so Maeve could become like a big sister to the hybrid. This would be a very interesting character development for her, the cute little snow leopard cub having to mature and help care for someone even younger.

The more I think about it, the more I want this to happen. Hell, Adira doesn’t even need to die to accomplish this, you could achieve the same effect if she was just imprisoned for a long time, and then Maeve could still have a mother to return to when this is all over.

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Re: Comic for may 16. 2020; A Second Chance

#34 Post by Ddraig »

Eclipse wrote: Tue May 26, 2020 10:42 am
Bellhead wrote: Tue May 26, 2020 2:40 am
Spoiler! spoilered for size
Eclipse wrote: Tue May 26, 2020 1:43 am As for who else would potentially die in this chapter, IDK. I was going to say Zen, but he's starting a character development arc where he learns where he fits in with his relationship with Natani and potentially starting a relationship with Kathrin. And a lot of other characters have their own character arcs or relationships that would make it unlikely they'd get written out anytime soon, leaving only a handful of options. Reni? Rose? Eric? Adira? Tough question.
REALLY wish you hadn't brought that up. Adira really is most likely, as sorry as I am to say it, if one is to die. Maeve is a child, who appeared on the chapter cover no less, and Adira would gladly give her life for her. She shows little character development, or room for it, and shows absolutely no ulterior motive in her actions. She's definitely the most static plain character we've had in... years now? Have we ever had one so basic?

But she's beautiful, and honest. And doesn't cheat for a living. Such a pure character's death would have a profound reaction, without cutting into storyline potential.

Now I'm sad. :adira:
[snip]

EDIT: On second thought,I could see one good thing come from Adira dying and Maeve being orphaned. Let’s play this scenario out in our heads for a bit. If Adira were to die, Maeve would probably go to Trace and Flora and end up joining Team A. She doesn’t seem to have a father in the picture or really anyone else to turn to from the looks of it, and Trace and Flora would probably feel the need to act as surrogate parents to her. But they’re also about to become parents to the hybrid as well, so Maeve could become like a big sister to the hybrid. This would be a very interesting character development for her, the cute little snow leopard cub having to mature and help care for someone even younger.

The more I think about it, the more I want this to happen. Hell, Adira doesn’t even need to die to accomplish this, you could achieve the same effect if she was just imprisoned for a long time, and then Maeve could still have a mother to return to when this is all over.
Here's a dark notion/reminder about that, though - remember, Maeve is keidran and Trace (and Hybrikid) is not, which means she's going to have a much shorter lifespan than anyone else in the family other than Flora. So Hybrikid and Trace will have to deal with her growing old and passing long before they do. Parents expect to be buried by their children, not the other way around, and siblings generally expect similar length lives to each other. I can easily envision of a flash-forward comic where Hybrikid figures out his/her Big Sister is mortal and Growing Old
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Re: Comic for may 16. 2020; A Second Chance

#35 Post by Eclipse »

Ddraig wrote: Tue May 26, 2020 7:13 pm
Eclipse wrote: Tue May 26, 2020 10:42 am On second thought,I could see one good thing come from Adira dying and Maeve being orphaned. Let’s play this scenario out in our heads for a bit. If Adira were to die, Maeve would probably go to Trace and Flora and end up joining Team A. She doesn’t seem to have a father in the picture or really anyone else to turn to from the looks of it, and Trace and Flora would probably feel the need to act as surrogate parents to her. But they’re also about to become parents to the hybrid as well, so Maeve could become like a big sister to the hybrid. This would be a very interesting character development for her, the cute little snow leopard cub having to mature and help care for someone even younger.

The more I think about it, the more I want this to happen. Hell, Adira doesn’t even need to die to accomplish this, you could achieve the same effect if she was just imprisoned for a long time, and then Maeve could still have a mother to return to when this is all over.
Here's a dark notion/reminder about that, though - remember, Maeve is keidran and Trace (and Hybrikid) is not, which means she's going to have a much shorter lifespan than anyone else in the family other than Flora. So Hybrikid and Trace will have to deal with her growing old and passing long before they do. Parents expect to be buried by their children, not the other way around, and siblings generally expect similar length lives to each other. I can easily envision of a flash-forward comic where Hybrikid figures out his/her Big Sister is mortal and Growing Old
That's true, but as you mention, Flora is also a Keidran that has a short lifespan. So Hybrikid is going to find out real quick when he/she notices Mommy aging faster than Daddy, that's something Hybrikid is going to be acutely aware of throughout his/her entire life. Flora's aging will probably be a factor several years before Maeve's.

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Re: Comic for may 16. 2020; A Second Chance

#36 Post by Technic[Bot] »

Bellhead wrote: Tue May 26, 2020 2:40 am
Eclipse wrote: Tue May 26, 2020 1:43 am As for who else would potentially die in this chapter, IDK. I was going to say Zen, but he's starting a character development arc where he learns where he fits in with his relationship with Natani and potentially starting a relationship with Kathrin. And a lot of other characters have their own character arcs or relationships that would make it unlikely they'd get written out anytime soon, leaving only a handful of options. Reni? Rose? Eric? Adira? Tough question.
REALLY wish you hadn't brought that up. Adira really is most likely, as sorry as I am to say it, if one is to die. Maeve is a child, who appeared on the chapter cover no less, and Adira would gladly give her life for her. She shows little character development, or room for it, and shows absolutely no ulterior motive in her actions. She's definitely the most static plain character we've had in... years now? Have we ever had one so basic?

But she's beautiful, and honest. And doesn't cheat for a living. Such a pure character's death would have a profound reaction, without cutting into storyline potential.

Now I'm sad. :adira:
I do not fear for Adira life, at least not yet. If I were a betting man I would say the characters most likely not to survive this chapter are: Rose we do not know ere she is know nor if she was really "alive" in the first place. And Stoneward. The former is family for Raine and both are pieces of Trace's past. The parts he would rather not forget so there is room for them to go kick the bucket, have emotional impact on the survivors and not affecting the story line much.
Wouldn't go with anyone with more story significance as I think there is still a lot of comic to go. Besides as some point out there are more ways to build drama and tension than just killing characters. It may be the easiest but it is not the only one.
Eclipse wrote: Wed May 27, 2020 1:40 am
Ddraig wrote: Tue May 26, 2020 7:13 pm
Eclipse wrote: Tue May 26, 2020 10:42 am On second thought,I could see one good thing come from Adira dying and Maeve being orphaned. Let’s play this scenario out in our heads for a bit. If Adira were to die, Maeve would probably go to Trace and Flora and end up joining Team A. She doesn’t seem to have a father in the picture or really anyone else to turn to from the looks of it, and Trace and Flora would probably feel the need to act as surrogate parents to her. But they’re also about to become parents to the hybrid as well, so Maeve could become like a big sister to the hybrid. This would be a very interesting character development for her, the cute little snow leopard cub having to mature and help care for someone even younger.

The more I think about it, the more I want this to happen. Hell, Adira doesn’t even need to die to accomplish this, you could achieve the same effect if she was just imprisoned for a long time, and then Maeve could still have a mother to return to when this is all over.
Here's a dark notion/reminder about that, though - remember, Maeve is keidran and Trace (and Hybrikid) is not, which means she's going to have a much shorter lifespan than anyone else in the family other than Flora. So Hybrikid and Trace will have to deal with her growing old and passing long before they do. Parents expect to be buried by their children, not the other way around, and siblings generally expect similar length lives to each other. I can easily envision of a flash-forward comic where Hybrikid figures out his/her Big Sister is mortal and Growing Old
That's true, but as you mention, Flora is also a Keidran that has a short lifespan. So Hybrikid is going to find out real quick when he/she notices Mommy aging faster than Daddy, that's something Hybrikid is going to be acutely aware of throughout his/her entire life. Flora's aging will probably be a factor several years before Maeve's.
You know despite being canon for several years know Tom has never given much focus to the life span difference. A couple pages after Trace was told this was an issue with Flora, Nora managed to make him desist in trying to extend it. I half expect that at the end of the comic. By the time i retire, It is gonna turn out that the whole short lifespan was an artificial limit by the mask, maybe Ephemural rolled a 1 on character creation or something like that.
What I am trying to say is that Tom seems rather uninsterested and sometimes plain opposed, to develop that plot point.
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Re: Comic for may 16. 2020; A Second Chance

#37 Post by Warrl »

Besides as some point out there are more ways to build drama and tension than just killing characters. It may be the easiest but it is not the only one.
Well the two versions I've seen of the suggestion for what to do when the writer is at complete wit's end for how to get the story to move forward a bit are "kill a lead character" and "and then the dragon shows up".

I don't think the latter would have the desired effect in this story. Considering that we've already had at least three.

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Re: Comic for may 16. 2020; A Second Chance

#38 Post by Eclipse »

Technic[Bot] wrote: Wed May 27, 2020 2:31 am I do not fear for Adira life, at least not yet. If I were a betting man I would say the characters most likely not to survive this chapter are: Rose we do not know ere she is know nor if she was really "alive" in the first place. And Stoneward. The former is family for Raine and both are pieces of Trace's past. The parts he would rather not forget so there is room for them to go kick the bucket, have emotional impact on the survivors and not affecting the story line much.
Wouldn't go with anyone with more story significance as I think there is still a lot of comic to go. Besides as some point out there are more ways to build drama and tension than just killing characters. It may be the easiest but it is not the only one.
Not Stoney. Stoney was created to be a guardian/protector to Saria's child and now Flora seems open to the idea of him serving the same role for her child. I doubt Stoney dies before we get to see him interact with the baby (boy is that going to be an interesting encounter, a hybrid baby meets a stone lizard).
Technic[Bot] wrote: Wed May 27, 2020 2:31 am You know despite being canon for several years know Tom has never given much focus to the life span difference. A couple pages after Trace was told this was an issue with Flora, Nora managed to make him desist in trying to extend it. I half expect that at the end of the comic. By the time i retire, It is gonna turn out that the whole short lifespan was an artificial limit by the mask, maybe Ephemural rolled a 1 on character creation or something like that.
What I am trying to say is that Tom seems rather uninsterested and sometimes plain opposed, to develop that plot point.
Heh, I would love that ending.
Warrl wrote: Wed May 27, 2020 4:17 am Well the two versions I've seen of the suggestion for what to do when the writer is at complete wit's end for how to get the story to move forward a bit are "kill a lead character" and "and then the dragon shows up".

I don't think the latter would have the desired effect in this story. Considering that we've already had at least three.
Is Tom really at that point though? It doesn't seem like he's running out of ideas, the speculation about characters dying has more to do with adding drama to a darker chapter than running out of ideas for plot points.

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