Comic for February 10, 2019: Madelyn's Motivation

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chickenhawk66
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Re: Comic for February 10, 2019: Madelyn's Motivation

#16 Post by chickenhawk66 »

After seeing this story, all I can say is that I hope we are not seeing Madelyn being crafty again, because it would be kinda cruel to the reader. And as for Maddy herself if her story is true, you have to respect the situation she's in, and I can't help but feel sorry for her. She has so much to overcome, and I can see why she might not get any respect. While they are certainly capable of subterfuge, Basitins value strength, and would appear to respect direct confrontation rather than outsmarting an opponent. Or not, I've been wrong before. (what I will say though, and I will gladly argue the point, is that Madelyn...especially in this particular episode...is beautiful)

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Re: Comic for February 10, 2019: Madelyn's Motivation

#17 Post by BadJoke »

Interesting. From what she's saying it seems basitins are even more into eugenics than I though. And it's turning more and more creepy, their society is literally built on social Darwinism:

- a constant state of war with their neighbor to weed out the weak

- a society governed by "klingon promotion" where you go up the ranks through brute force

- now the systematic selection of biological traits in family lines to cultivate specific traits (intelligence, tactical sense...) which in turn shape their governing body (the generals where all from those controlled bloodlines) -> also now we could have the answer of how the basitins became incapable of disobedience: they've been biologically and culturally conditioned for generations! And those needed for other roles out of the military? Just ask Lynn: castration. Eliminated from the gene pool. And opposition? Deviants? Banished. You don't feet in? Too bad, you're out.

And so you reach the logical conclusion: the Templars are not an anomaly, an accident of history due to a lonely mad man, their the logical result of a [censored] world. Heck, considering the other people, they just fit right in.
Diabolicon wrote: Mon Feb 11, 2019 2:12 am Wow, for a supposedly military-based nation, they don't have much respect for Covert Operations do they.
Because they don't consider war like humans. Humans see war as a problem who as to be solved by any means possible which (in the story) is perfectly illustrated by the Templars, who use any mean available to win even the worst: murder, treason, conspiracy, manipulation, genocide...

Basitins meanwhile see war not as an objective but a way of life, the foundation of their society. Something who as to be as ordered as the rest of their life. And so anything "irregular", even if it brings a real advantage, is immediately shunned.

Let's not forget that their the herald race of Order, the weakest of the masks right now, and for good reason: isolated on their island, in their so ordered system, basitins have been stagnating. They can barely act out of their orders, even when it would be vital to do so, seriously lack in creativity, and their so well designed governing families have even degenerated: Alabaster, thinking himself so smart, became a pawn for the templar, Alaric, even if he had ultimately good motives, was basically an hypocrite who abused the law at every turn (and ended just as much as a pawn), and the arm general was a meat head that a powerful human mage turned into grounded meat...

So yes, I totally support their king here. Because she's the only sane man on the island. And because her people is running full speed into the wall. I even doubt they'd be of any help against the templars...
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Re: Comic for February 10, 2019: Madelyn's Motivation

#18 Post by Diabolicon »

Even Klingons have an Intelligence service, and while they might not get the "Honor" of a Warrior, only the most bone headed Klingon denys that they have an important part to play. From what Maddy's saying about the only person that gives Intelligence it's due in the Bastian hierarchy (Outside the Service itself) is Adelaide.

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Re: Comic for February 10, 2019: Madelyn's Motivation

#19 Post by amenon »

BadJoke wrote: Mon Feb 11, 2019 5:27 pm - a society governed by "klingon promotion" where you go up the ranks through brute force
Specifically through ability, with brute force being one such avenue.

BadJoke wrote: Mon Feb 11, 2019 5:27 pm - now the systematic selection of biological traits in family lines to cultivate specific traits (intelligence, tactical sense...)
I take it as her just referring to specific people, more than anything. Aster is also an Alabaster, but didn't seem especially bright. (Nor stupid. But he certainly seemed to be making his name in the brute force department, rather than the intelligence one.) Alaric feels like more of a 'first of his name' situation, in that while he probably wasn't from a nobody family (given that he knew Keith as a kid and all), I don't think there's been any indication that his father was anyone special.

BadJoke wrote: Mon Feb 11, 2019 5:27 pmBasitins meanwhile see war not as an objective but a way of life, the foundation of their society. Something who as to be as ordered as the rest of their life. And so anything "irregular", even if it brings a real advantage, is immediately shunned.
Intelligence is a regular part of their system though, for whatever reason. (With fully one third -- well, one fourth, now -- of generalships.) So the value of sneakiness is enshrined and recognized, even if it's less respected.
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Re: Comic for February 10, 2019: Madelyn's Motivation

#20 Post by Rafe »

amenon wrote: Mon Feb 11, 2019 3:16 pm Excellent page.
Rafe wrote: Sun Feb 10, 2019 9:44 pm Maddie's still bleeding. It's hard to tell how badly she's hurt. She doesn't seem to be too worried, or at least she doesn't want to admit to it. I guess we'll see about that, but there is one thing that worries me more - something we haven't seen before -
Maddie is crying.
Pretty sure she just bit her lip when she got hit. And Maddie's shown us some waterworks before -- she was even sincere one time, I think -- but never with that kind of impact, no.
I figured there was probably some incident with tears that I'd forgotten about, but as you point out, never with this kind of impact.

It's one thing to project some kind of false personal front as part of some subterfuge to fool an enemy. And a lot (maybe most) people have an image of themselves the let the world see while they keep their "real" personality to themselves, but what we're seeing here is something else, something much more tragic. Maddie, the real person underneath all this, is sure that, after all she's done and all she's tried to do, she has failed. She can't maintain the false front any more because she no longer believes in herself. After denying and fighting back against all her detractors because she was convinced they were wrong, She's starting to believe that she's been lying to herself the whole time, and the thought of that is crushing her. I'm afraid this whole confession to Karen is Maddie's way of giving up on herself.

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Re: Comic for February 10, 2019: Madelyn's Motivation

#21 Post by Technic[Bot] »

And i think this is Tom at is best.
Leaving drawing quality aside, wich i pretty damn good as usual, the quality of the interiors has ramped up significantly. This is his storytelling at best. Overall the plot of the comic is "all over the place" and the world building has more than a few holes in it. But characterization, that is were he knows his stuff, as someone said in the past:
Someone wrote: Despite not being real, Tom characters feel more real than even some flesh and blood people do. They all have hopes, dreams, fears...
I think it was Mr. Neutrino, but i cannot find the post so i paraphrased a bit :mrgreen:
Also even if Tom style is somewhat simple he manages to convey a lot of emotion in the faces he draws: pain, joy, love, embarasment. And that is why , in my opinion, most of us was hooked, he managed to make us care about his ficticious people and even in some cases realte to them, despite living in some fantasy world where half the population are talking cats. And i think that is a pretty hard thing to do!
Diabolicon wrote: Mon Feb 11, 2019 2:12 am Wow, for a supposedly military-based nation, they don't have much respect for Covert Operations do they.
I imagine it is not that they do no respect or appreaciate covert operatives, i think the whole idea is still novel to them. Even thought spyonage is pretty damn old, special forces and the like, are a very modern invention around last century and Basitin culture is around 16-17 th century at best. They still live in an era when War was glorious and dying for your country wether there was a good underlying reason or not, was a very good death, nowadyas, well there is not much glory to be had waiting in a trench to be blown up.
Also in contrast most spys are seen, by definition, as duplicitious and unstrustworthy and definetely much lesss glamorous than the knights in shining armor charging through the battlefield. My point is Maddie was born a bit to early to join a proper spec-ops team that could appreciate her skills.

And last but not least can we stop a few seconds to admire Tribal Maddie Cuteness?
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Re: Comic for February 10, 2019: Madelyn's Motivation

#22 Post by DragnMastralex »

if there is ever a time I wish I could hug a comic book character... that time is now.

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Re: Comic for February 10, 2019: Madelyn's Motivation

#23 Post by Hulk10 »

I do feel sorry for Maddie. Her society is rather flawed and she gets no real respect from anyone but her mom.
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Re: Comic for February 10, 2019: Madelyn's Motivation

#24 Post by Shockwave07 »

On a side note we now have an expert on Western Basatins if they ever go there...

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Re: Comic for February 10, 2019: Madelyn's Motivation

#25 Post by Tyger42 »

Mads needs a hug. (;_;)

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Re: Comic for February 10, 2019: Madelyn's Motivation

#26 Post by Hulk10 »

Maddie is so cute. Just like Flora.
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Re: Comic for February 10, 2019: Madelyn's Motivation

#27 Post by MuonNeutrino »

I find it interesting that, for someone who was initially reluctant to say anything, Maddie is now being so voluble in her explanations - Karen's basically said only two lines since Maddie started talking. This has the feel to me of long-pent-up frustration boiling over. Maddie's obviously been dealing with this for a long time, and she's also most likely been repressing her feelings on it for just as long.

After all, who could she have talked to about this? Her mother, whose immense shadow she's been unable to escape her whole life? The generals and authority figures blaming her for not being a duplicate of her mother? Her fellow younger basitins who are just as in awe of her mother as she is? Keith, who's become a role model for her, who she's trying to prove herself to? Admitting weakness (for such it would be seen) seems to me like it's something you just can't *do* in basitin society. She probably hasn't ever actually been able to just *talk* to anyone about this, to have a sympathetic ear to listen to her problems. Karen's not a basitin, as she noted, but that's actually a *good* thing, I think - there's no expectations or preconceptions there. A 'normal' basitin wouldn't be able to understand, or at least it'd be a lot harder. Karen doesn't have that cultural baggage, those deeply ingrained imperatives to cloud her vision. I think it's good for Maddie to finally be able to unburden herself to someone about this, keeping it pent up and trying to deal with this sort of thing all on your own is never the best way.
Technic[Bot] wrote: Tue Feb 12, 2019 3:02 amBut characterization, that is were he knows his stuff, as someone said in the past:
Someone wrote: Despite not being real, Tom characters feel more real than even some flesh and blood people do. They all have hopes, dreams, fears...
I think it was Mr. Neutrino, but i cannot find the post so i paraphrased a bit :mrgreen:
I'm flattered my post proved so memorable for you. :D But yeah, I completely agree. Characterization is definitely Tom's strong suit. These last two pages have given Maddie so much more depth and texture, exposing a vulnerable side to her character that makes her much more sympathetic and interesting. It's very well done.
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Re: Comic for February 10, 2019: Madelyn's Motivation

#28 Post by Eclipse »

Agreed that characterization is really the strong suit of this comic. That's one of the things that really keeps me coming back to this comic, is seeing how he's going to flesh out the characters or what direction they're going to go. He's really given them a lot of interesting quirks and backstories.

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