Comic for April 19, 2023: Self Reliance

[Rafe]

Well, looks like Natani and Young Natani has been somehow fully integrated themselves into one being. You can see a link forming between them, then there's just one Natani.

This looks like Natani has finally decided to accept herself as she is. Hopefully she'll stop worrying about things from the outside controlling her, and also start treating her female body for what it is, as much a part of her as her mind is.

[Bellhead]

I kinda feel like the "... Okay." at the end wasn't really the right expression there. Nat's dealing with some rather heavy emotions, and all at once. I dunno... For some reason, it just doesn't seem in character to me.

But it looks like Nat and Youngtani are merging, probably for the last time. On one hand, that's a good thing, since it would (theoretically) complete Nat's soul once again, but on the other, well.. Nat's about to go through a very turbulent emotional period when this is all over. It's one thing to slowly discover new feelings, and to come to accept them over time, but it's completely different to suddenly feel all of them, all at once, pretty much. There's bound to be some internal backlash, and I worry for him, since acceptance isn't really his strong suit...

[Arctic Green]

Floating in the mind-scape reminds me of some of the old Erfworld scenes.

[trantor]

I kinda feel like the "... Okay." at the end wasn't really the right expression there. Nat's dealing with some rather heavy emotions, and all at once. I dunno... For some reason, it just doesn't seem in character to me.

But it looks like Nat and Youngtani are merging, probably for the last time. On one hand, that's a good thing, since it would (theoretically) complete Nat's soul once again, but on the other, well.. Nat's about to go through a very turbulent emotional period when this is all over. It's one thing to slowly discover new feelings, and to come to accept them over time, but it's completely different to suddenly feel all of them, all at once, pretty much. There's bound to be some internal backlash, and I worry for him, since acceptance isn't really his strong suit...

Yes, that would be not an easy time for Nat to come. Espacially that he will be going back to the "she part" more and faster than expected. Now, with the male soul part link gone and merged with the Youngtani part, I think we will see a change to a tough woman with some (mental) balls. Maybe a bit like Adelaide. She could give Nat some helpful advice. I would like that.

[Panther]

Ah , finally : Natani is fully herself in mind now ...... It will be hard for the persons pretending she was a male

[Ainoko Ironrose]

Called part of it. Clovis is not going love what is about to happen to him in a few moments. Moreso when he has a mana burn out, and when that happens, he is going to have to contend with two raging ladies (yes I know Nat is male but you all know what I mean).

[Bellhead]

Ah , finally : Natani is fully herself in mind now ...... It will be hard for the persons pretending she was a male

It's not that we're pretending, we're just using Nat's preferred pronouns. And the day a page comes out with Nat openly acknowledging female pronouns, I'd gladly oblige.

Called part of it. Clovis is not going love what is about to happen to him in a few moments. Moreso when he has a mana burn out, and when that happens, he is going to have to contend with two raging ladies (yes I know Nat is male but you all know what I mean).

I mentioned this in a previous page, but I don't think that's quite possible here. If you look closely at the panels we see where Clovis is using magic, we can see mana tendrils spreading out from the amulet, not from his hand (claw?). I think it's more similar to Carver, in that Clovis isn't the one actually channeling the mana, but rather, he's only controlling it. I mean, Natani put up quite a fight earlier, and even now, put up one hell of a fireball against Clovis. And even back early in the Oasis fight, Nat was already showing signs of mana fatigue. Clovis, on the other hand, seems fine, despite the thoroughly massive blast he just released.

That said, it's entirely possible that Brahn set some sort of failsafe into that amulet with an as-of-yet unknown effect. But knowing him, it would be devastating; either physically, or by giving him access to very sensitive information. After all, humans are still at war with the keidran, and Clovis is, in fact, a keidran.

[Tornir]

I've been thinking about what Clovis might be planning to do, now that he has the strength and magic of a derg.
Would he be content to go back to being the boss of his crime syndicate, or would he go and take out the leaders of the wolf keidran and proclaim himself king?

Now, IIRC, the templar were planning to use the towers as a WMD to get rid of the keidran, so could the spell that does that be hidden in the amulet?
Clovis goes to start a coup, and *boom* he and the wolf leadership wiped out in one strike?

[stlsf4003]

I've been thinking about what Clovis might be planning to do, now that he has the strength and magic of a derg.
Would he be content to go back to being the boss of his crime syndicate, or would he go and take out the leaders of the wolf keidran and proclaim himself king?

Now, IIRC, the templar were planning to use the towers as a WMD to get rid of the keidran, so could the spell that does that be hidden in the amulet?
Clovis goes to start a coup, and *boom* he and the wolf leadership wiped out in one strike?

Assuming Clovis makes it out of this in one piece without setting off whatever kind of boobytrap Brahn placed on that amulet, (not likely as far as I can tell) the very idea that he now has all the power of a Dragon would go straight to his head. No more crime bossing for him, I'd say he'd move on to something much bigger

[Bellhead]

snip

Assuming Clovis makes it out of this in one piece without setting off whatever kind of boobytrap Brahn placed on that amulet, (not likely as far as I can tell) the very idea that he now has all the power of a Dragon would go straight to his head. No more crime bossing for him, I'd say he'd move on to something much bigger

Wait... How common is knowledge of the Masks' game? Is it like a standard religion thing, or is it more like a massive conspiracy thing? Dragons are specifically exempt from that game, and live independently of it... Does Clovis know this? Does his form grant him that knowledge? And what would happen if he did go after the Masks?

[Arctic Green]

snip

Assuming Clovis makes it out of this in one piece without setting off whatever kind of boobytrap Brahn placed on that amulet, (not likely as far as I can tell) the very idea that he now has all the power of a Dragon would go straight to his head. No more crime bossing for him, I'd say he'd move on to something much bigger

Wait... How common is knowledge of the Masks' game? Is it like a standard religion thing, or is it more like a massive conspiracy thing? Dragons are specifically exempt from that game, and live independently of it... Does Clovis know this? Does his form grant him that knowledge? And what would happen if he did go after the Masks?

Bah! And I just caught up on the Archive just a couple months ago. Now... I'm going to have to reread it again aren't I?

What was the Masks again? I have... a faint memory, but it might be bleeding in with other webcomics I know of.

[Tiennos]

Well, that's obviously going to be a big change for Natani, but now I also wonder how Zen is going to take that. Sure, his life didn't depend on the link, but he's shared his mind with his sibling for so long, having that suddenly gone will take some adjusting to say the least.

Assuming things don't go back to the status quo after all of this blows over, of course.

[Bellhead]

Bah! And I just caught up on the Archive just a couple months ago. Now... I'm going to have to reread it again aren't I?

What was the Masks again? I have... a faint memory, but it might be bleeding in with other webcomics I know of.

Short version, they're the demigods that made the world.

Spoiler! Long version

The Masks are demigods, and as a game, they each make a race of people and attempt to use them to take over the world. In total, there are three of them; Chaos, Neutral, and Order. We've seen Neutral, and one other. Common theory is that Chaos represents humans and Order represents Basitin, since Neutral has been pretty clear about protecting keidran blood. You'll note that the "pro-human mask" referred to Trace as "my warrior", but they're not identified as Chaos or Order, so we can't say for certain.

We do know that this isn't the first time they've played this game of theirs, and we don't know who won the last one. We do know that, if they do so choose, they can swap races with each other. However, aside from the races they've created, other races do exist, such as dragons. Dragons, being creatures without a set lifespan, are a separate entity and not part of the Masks' game. They are (apparently, as far as I know) not "allowed" to interfere with the goings-on of the Masks, or their warriors, plans, etc., as Euchre showed us.

We also know that, for whatever reason, none of the Masks can enter the world unless somebody "wears" them.

.
That said, I don't know if having his derg form would suddenly grant Clovis knowledge of the Masks' game or not. He might just try to take over the world, which wouldn't end well for him, all told. But if he knows about the true nature of their world, and who really controls it, would he go after the Masks? Or would he work with one (or several) of them to get his way, backstabbing and betraying as he pleases? Was that Brahn's plan all along, to send him to the demigod realm to kill the Masks? Would it even be possible?

[S'aaruuk]

Yes, that would be not an easy time for Nat to come. Espacially that he will be going back to the "she part" more and faster than expected. Now, with the male soul part link gone and merged with the Youngtani part, I think we will see a change to a tough woman with some (mental) balls. Maybe a bit like Adelaide. She could give Nat some helpful advice. I would like that.

Agreed......Adelaide already explained to Nat that strength and femininity are not mutually exclusive terms. I think another 'sit-down' with Adelaide over tea would be very helpful/instructive. Nat's already told her about why she has gender conflicts, now that it's been removed she can now explore her true feminine self. And still exercise her strengths.

[stlsf4003]

snip

Assuming Clovis makes it out of this in one piece without setting off whatever kind of boobytrap Brahn placed on that amulet, (not likely as far as I can tell) the very idea that he now has all the power of a Dragon would go straight to his head. No more crime bossing for him, I'd say he'd move on to something much bigger

Wait... How common is knowledge of the Masks' game? Is it like a standard religion thing, or is it more like a massive conspiracy thing? Dragons are specifically exempt from that game, and live independently of it... Does Clovis know this? Does his form grant him that knowledge? And what would happen if he did go after the Masks?

I'd say that if he did indeed know of the Masks' little game, and tried to make a move against them, it would be like throwing an industrial monkeywrench into a delicately balanced machine.