Officer Kassen goes out to save the world
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Out-of-Placers
A story of inconvenient changes
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If you want a weapon you can wield, then a tail blade braid is your answer!
I zhink Kass could still use her favorite weapon, just needs a lighter ball instead of de Humani sized one. As a Yinglet zhough, it is a want to have a ranged attack, is why we use spears, not just because dey provide mechanical advantage, but it keeps zhings dat are trying to hurt us from getting close enouzh to so. Kass having zomezhing like a wind up crossbow would be ideal, as it is de only ranged weapon dat would reliably knock down a Humani (or anyone else), zhough she would not easily get a second shot off.
De ozher zhing dat is not used in dis comic is using a dirty blade, as Yinglet “Soap” is a known and deadly substance to smear on a blade to use on Humani. It is only zhat Yinglets are far, far more likely to attack eachozher, and if we did start to use deadly weapons, de Humani would just roll over us, and whatever defenses we used dat we don’t use dem much. Its just bad Karma to become a threat to de people who we just want to be friends wizh…mostly.
For a tail blade, yeah, could be fun, zhough would take practice, and might still lose against a spear. So be good to have bozh! Like a Yinglet version of Dual Wielding. De question is to be useful, how would one penetrate whatever dey are supposed to do? Its a technical question, as our bodies are kind of light for stabbing, or slashing for effect. Dat turd Yinglet was able to stab Elim, sadly, but it took all of zhier mass to do so, getting zhat amount into a tail strike would be hard, but would be good as a distraction against anozher’s eyes or feet I zhink.
I have a (non-yinglet) species in my stories that does just that! It is more of a lesser, secondary weapon that is very much like a cat-o’-nine-tails and razor sharp. Mainly used as a slashing attack, especially if you can get a slash against your opponent’s face.
Okaaay, no, gonna interject here with my human knowledge:
1. Crossbows take a lot of brute force to load. Granted, I’ve never tried loading a *wind up* crossbow, but I assume that one wouldn’t just give in easily either. A crossbow is still a crossbow. A yinglet wouldn’t have the physical strength to load one.
2. Arm shape. Apologies, don’t know the correct terminology, but… yinglets have a short, erm, upper arm? And a long forearm. Complete with their hands being less flexible than those of humans. A yinglet would not be able to comfortably wield a crossbow.
3. And finally… recoil. Firing a crossbow would shatter a yinglet’s arms. And possibly the ribcage as well.
Long story short, no, a yinglet wouldn’t be able to use a crossbow. At all.
As for crossbows, using an appropriate windlass/cranequin/whatever would potentially allow even a yinglet to load any crossbow, it would just… take quite some time. Given the way their muscles work, something that works by pushing each end in turn rather than winding might actually work better for them. A human crossbow wouldn’t really be shaped right for a yinglet, I agree – Kass would need a custom-designed one, but that’s not that difficult (early crossbows didn’t use a firearm-style trigger, but rather just had a lever you had to press to fire). For recoil, that would be dependent on the power of the crossbow. Something that can punch through decent armor is probably not going to be an option for a yinglet, but something with enough power to potentially kill an unarmored human may be an option. None of that is really going to be very useful in the sort of situation where Kass would need to fight, however.
It could take some time for a yinglet to wind a clockwork mechanism, but your ratcheting idea would be genious for a larger 2 yinglet crossbow! Have a place for a ying to hold onto with forehands, and have de foothands grasp de ratchet, den tell de ying to start Humpin! Click, click, click! Hell, it would at dat point be harder for de yings to stop shooting, and the crossbow needing a mechanism to not be over wound for de sheer amount of humpings and meyhem a group of yings are capable of.
At this point, we might as well just let yinglets operate a ballista.
Ohh! you get de idea! Its just a matter of scale, dat a humani crossbow IS a ballista for a Yinglet! Dat fancy windy, windy gears and stuff allows a ying to operate such is about as ridiculous as a humani firing a Anti-Tank rifle! (So SO big!)
It is a zhing dat nobody robs a Enclave because not only are yinglets poor, but hygene and ozher issues would be deadlier zhan any ying’s actual weapons. But dere is a reason in places dat walls surrounding a enclave exist, to fend off predators (which for a yinglet are terrifying) but dere needs to be somezhing we can use to attack before somezhing climbs a wall, unless de idea is just to run, and hope everyone don’t get eaten before the carnivore(s) gets full.
I think this thread is going in the wrong direction. A Yinglet crossbow is not a crossbow designed to be used and fired by a Yinglet, no no no.
A Yinglet crossbow is one that uses a Yinglet as _ammo_, throwing a spear-wielding Yinglet at high velocity (and volume?) over great distances.
So what you’re saying is, is that we need a Hwacha that fires yinglets?
Zhat would be a Yinglet Trebuchet. And suprisingly effective, as suddenly inrtoducing several unsupervised yinglets to a unsuspecting walled city or small town may be considered a war crime in several countries.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bmhp1Ek31xo
Somezhing like dat, fires a bolt at over 100 meters (300 feet)/second, but due to zhe mechanism, only requires 2kg (5 pounds) to operate zhe humani sized mechanism! And you are correct in zhat de recoil would break Yinglet limbs so, so cruelly…if we were just using two limbs. Our foothands and Armhands can all be used to effect, even if de crossbow wasn’t reduced in size to Kass’s dimensions, which I zhink it would be made to do so. Using all our hands, the recoil for even a Humani sized weapon would just scoot us across de ground due to de lack of mass to push against. Remember we are Yinglets, and are therefore riduculus.
Place a few Yinglets armed wizh correctly sized crossbows in a ship’s rigging, and it would be effective for deterring enemies from boarding, de same way Humani archers once were used to clear the decks of enemy ships. Ditto for siege deterrants on de wall of a fort or castle, where our size makes us hard to hit, but we can with a bit of technology, make a difference far beyond our size would normally allow. Zhat we could be holding de crossbow wizh all four hands would improve aim, and may be a steadier firing position zhan what a Humani has holding a crossbow.
Yeah, I think I suggested it before, but what Kass used to use was basically a meteor hammer with a metal string, and swapping out to a kusari-fundo (same thing, but with a much lighter weight on the end) might be doable. I suspect yinglet musculature would result in that not being a great option, however – if he opts for combat training, spears and knives (to make use of the yinglet’s natural predisposition for thrusting attacks) would be a better bet.
As for the tail blade, I was looking back at some of the Field Guides so see a clearer image of the yinglet’s tail musculature to see how well something like that would work, and as it turns out we see in FG02 (the first one talking about yinglets, it pops up right after Lopin first enters the story) a warrior yinglet of some flavor who has indeed strapped a knife to his tail. Maybe ask that fellow how well it worked out for him.
I zink zis is usually for convienent storage when not in use. When guys try to impress me wiff stabbity skill, zey pull za knife out quick and to stabby wiff hands.
Excellent alliteration! We’ll sell a million of them. Then, once there are a million people with knives, we can start selling shields…
I would imagine there’s a long line of Yinglets that had this particular idea, only to decapitate or stab themselves to the amusement of others.
I’m guessing Kass will be practical enough to realize the value of a stabby weapon like a small spear. Rather than the cool OC stuff.
“This isn’t what a man is” – neither in the meaning “male” nor “human”, heh.
Nice to see Kass show some determination, though! I wonder what they’re up to?
If one wants to learn to fight as a Yinglet, one should probably ask to be trained like one! Being de Ambassador for Valsalia should allow her access to a sensei to learn Yinglet-Fu! But it is a question of which type to learn? Beizel’s Ninja style would be de most effective, Kattajak would be de best for weapons training, but de best answer is to get to know de Patriarch of Traditions, Narklet. Not only to learn to operate in a spear triad, but to kick him once in awhile, as he so, so deserves it. Dat and maybe get close enouzh to de one who knows about “Dat Zhing” that turned Kassen into Lady Kass.
Dat sounds better zhan doing de breed a Army zhing that makes a Feemale Yinglet so formidable if one goes rogue, but I don’t see Kassen wanting to do zhat, even if its how dey learn about dat zhing. So, go gettim Kass!
The patriarch of traditions would probably be of the mind that a females purpose to society is not to protect themselves and others through force of arms, but to produce warriors to protect the colony. Even the local enclave, which I gather from narklets reaction is a den of excessive libtertinism, doesn’t have any female warriors that we’ve seen.
Yinglets seem to be a sexually dimorphic species, and one female can produce many warriors. If anything their wonky sex ratio would make a female far, FAR too valuable to place into combat.
Oh, I knows de Feemale’s value in warfare! My Humani Avatar knows of a game called Star Craft where dere is a zhing called a Zerg, which is like a yinglet, but dumber and uglier. Using dat race in de game is causing a population explosion dat overwhelms de enemy! A Rogue Feeemale can do zhat, spawning anozher Feemale on average every ozher clutch or so, so in 10 years it is possible to breed an entire Enclave’s population!
Dat Kass is the least likely feeemale to do exactly zhat despite dere being few if any physical drawbacks for her, and quite a few benefits, is not de scope of dis comic. Dat she barely comprehends de power of being a Matriarch and sees de world zhrough humani eyes still is understandable all zhings considered.
For De patriarch of Traditions wanting her to stay inside, and be a happy breeder, sure. Zhat would tickle him pink, plus he being a Patriarch he would also claim her as his rightful reward for being a patriarch. But Kass is not part of de Enclave, and zhere is de fun part! Having de Feemale so, so close, but being basically forced to treat her unnaturally would cause Narklet’s brains to melt…along wizh ozher male related issues. And dat would be just a start of Kass’s revenge on whose incompetence caused her to be a yinglet.
surprised no one has made za obvious Undertale reference… Your disdain for your growing self-pity fills you wivv DETERMINATION ….
For some reason, I am reminded of a song I once heard playing my Humani avatar: I gets knocked down, but I gets back ups again! You will never gonna eat my clams! (X three times)
Oh, never gonna take em away!
Never Gonna takes em away!
I eats a little bite
I eats a bigger bite
Clams are a good eats!
Clams are great to eats!
I eats the clams and its a good time
I eats more clams and its a better time!
O Ying, feel the buzz, its the greatest!
I gets knocked down, but I gets back ups again, you will never gonna eats my clams!
Hope Kass does get going!, tubthumping and clam eating too!
Zhis is… verries good! I gives it 4… *falls overs wizh a ‘fwup’ sound* Owies! *blink blinks*
Errr… NOW I gives it 4 ying-zhumbies up! *waves zhumbies* Yes!
*gets up and nibbles clammeats* Whatwhat? O_o
*Bows* thank ye, thank Ye!
Just popping in to say sorry for not commenting before now, been reading this since before the numbers reset. The comic is great and it might just be one of my most re-read ones. The transformation may have drawn me in, but it is your exploration of the consequences and reactions that keeps me. Well that and the world you have built to tell this story in, the Regional Guides and Kassen’s journal being a particularly good include IMO.
Also, being unable to do something that you used to be able to would suck. I think think that type of thing may just be the worst part of what has happened to him.
I mean, that’s how a lot of us with disabilities feel in relation to when we were younger.
It’s kind of one of the things that drew me in about this comic.
Noticing most of the ‘th’ sounds haven’t been replaced by ‘zh’ sounds, even when clearly spoken aloud; not sure if *some* of that is internal monologue…
Kass only Looks like a Yinglet. Mentally Lady Kass is still very much Kassen Akoll, and zhinks like a humani, and writes like one too. Not zhat Yings can’t write in common wizhout using z’s to replace th’s or my own tribes D’s substituting for z’s as a way of showing a regional dialect. Much of de comic above is a mental dialague and dere is no point to thought bubbles pointing to Kass, which is de difference. Kass speaks like a Yinglet, all high pitched and using her mouzh to speak a language developed by Humani wizh no consideration to our abilities on de matter at all!
Not that I can really blame Kass, but he does seem stuck in the idea that you have to be in the male role or you’re not contributing. If they don’t find some value in what they can do now, they’re always going to come up way, way short on their old metric.
Try telling the matriarch she’s not doing anything. I’d love to see smekfest 2: the smekening.