Just your average nobility problems, nothing the commoners would understand.
Out-of-Placers
A story of inconvenient changes
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For some reason I think his bride might not be human. And when I think of nonhuman female in this comic I think off Kass. Honestly my first thought was that he meant Kass, but that might be a tad too cliché. I would honestly be disappointed if Kass didn’t have at least a minor role in his wedding plans. If nothing else she would be a cute flower Yinglet.
On the one hand, that does create awkwardness potential. On the other, non-humans seem like a suboptimal choice for bearing a human’s heirs, unless biology (or inheritance) works very weirdly here.
Although I low-key kind of want it to be Vizlet because I love me them ships that (probably) don’t work.
Isher is a hybrid.
It may be possible for certain sapients to bear offspring.
I suspect that we haven’t seen her.
Oh boy, the theories have already begun faster and harder than I was anticipating.
“Harder and faster”, you say?
Innuendos, HOOO!
My first thought was Vizlet, also the only female we have seen him with on a more or less equal level.
Well, he is wearing the Reed of Carnal Beckoning in his hat after all…
Nope. Blue, but different blue. The petals alternate on the sexy-reed.
http://www.valsalia.com/comic/out-of-placers/oops-017/
True, but Valsalia himself said in http://www.valsalia.com/comic/out-of-placers/oops-23/ “Originally and officially, the blue-leafed reed-stem is for use by an enclave’s females to indicate that they re approachable for certain reasons, but it has since become fashionable for males to use the reed’s color or the reed itself in personal decoration, as well. Because of this, the reed’s distinct light blue color has become the yinglets’ general cultural indicator of “come get some.”” Of course, I could just be looking far too deeply into a hat decoration as well
Maybe you are right. I can imagine Trademaster Viracroix being a bit of a trendsetter, even if it is cultural appropriation of ‘yinglet code’.
I have to go through the archives again and take note of everyone’s headgear. 😉
He did say the interest was personal: http://www.valsalia.com/comic/prologue/36/
YAY update! but yes i also think this points at kass lmao
Oh he’s interested in Kass all right, but not for being an amazing and impressive woman.
Kass has got to WORK for that if he wants to be one.
Love triangle! Yissssss!
Thank you! These silly people can’t seem to get that Kass is an egglayer now and Viracroix needs a livebearer.
aw so the scared baxxid is gonna get a punishment for just being scared? even though it wont be a great deal of punishment, but c’mon, she/he was cute as hell.
She will be sentenced to Ultimate Mega Torture: being tickled with a feather for a full minute.
The punishment is for screaming with a set of lungs capable of producing more noise than a warhorn! Seriously, you start doing that in the neighborhood at 5am and ain’t nobody gonna be happy.
Ever heard of Harsh Noise music? I imagine Baxxid singing to sound a lot like that; however, since I am into the advant-garde and dark music scene I may actually enjoy that! Silly me and my weird music! Oh, and if a Baxxid was a death metal vocalist… Gods, what devastation. But, alas, knowing myself I would actually find a way to enjoy that, too.
We need more of these monster cuties.
Just don’t call them cute while they’re around, you’ll make them blush
Thats some really hard blushing if it can be seen through that bone carapace
Kass is the only “female” we’ve seen him show interest in, outside of politics. Also, Kass is the main character. He’s talking about Kass.
I’m not really liking the direction this comic has been going lately…it feels like it’s just turning into non-stop fan-servicey smut-teasing.
This page started off interesting…and then was derailed by talking about how yet another character wants to feminize and bang Kass.
I suppose my opinions of the recent comics are tainted by…well everything else.
Commenters are always clamoring for Kass to become a motherly matriarch, and for all the characters to hook up. Then there’s that whole argonian maid comic and it’s fans…and of course the patreon stuff is very fan-servicey, though it’s supposed to be.
Such things are not what attracted me to this comic, and regardless of the meaning of this current scene it still feels like it’s been seeping it’s way in. I have seen other comics devolve into nothing more than a serious of excuses for fan-service and softcore smut, or outright porn. I don’t want to see that happen to this one.
TBO, if it went that far in the comic itself I would bail too. I doubt Val wants to lose the fanbase that is here for the excellent worldbuilding and character development, which is most of us.
It can’t be Kass. It isn’t.
Probably some Indrel chick. 😉 😛 JK
I’m hoping I’m/we’re wrong and he isn’t talking about Kass, as that would be more interesting. However, narratively, no one else as been established as a possibility.
Or maybe that’s just what I want you to think!
In all seriousness though, he’s been with his lady for much longer than Kass has been a ying.
Thanks for clarifying on this, as I didn’t think it was Kass either, couldn’t be, if heirs are wanted.
I can just see it being Ginny, the dancer Kass had a crush on, though. That would really get Kass’s undies in a wad then.
Good idea, Ginny it is.
Or Felsa.
So much Kass speculation. If Viracroix were talking of a yinglet (strange if he’s expecting an heir) why would he pick Kass over Vizlet?
we dont even know if yingets can reproduce with humans! it seems more about exending the family line than anything.
I think you are all missing the other option here. If he’s looking for an heir what about the rather larger gal who is in fact partly human. or even half-something?
Kudos on the excellent Baxxid design. The posing in the third panel is particularly striking. I’m thinking Viracroix may be like me, just waiting for that one quasi-reptilian giantess who COULD easily bench press him but would rather envelope him in gentle caresses…did I just say that?
I know who this woman is! That dancer Kass always loved. Oh what a scamp, that Salia.
I love how this is kinda becoming A Thing in the comments
You’ve created a shipping monster.
I predict Isher! Best wife is obviously … the best wife!
Longer lifespan, armored, spikey/spined, and highly intelligent and social.
Just gotta wait till she gets over her old flame (which would sadly remove some of her charm and perceived reliability…)
Though it being on purpose (or even possible), that he engineered Kass’ s transformation is highly improbable…. He doooooes know Ran … a budding scholar in the way of scav psychology and sociology …
If I’m right don’t tell me, and if I am wrong, do not tell me!
Best webcomic artist is obviously … the best webcomic artist! Vote Val!
http://topwebcomics.com/vote/7258/default.aspx
(Quick! Before I delve into poetic and alliterative phrases like “Be a Pal; Vote for Val!”
or
“Of Our Out-of-Placers, We Owe Our Oligarchy (in an Obduction of rock) of Omnifarios-Culture and Omniferious-Market Objectives, to Our Own Obeisant Overlord … Salia! lOl” please pay no mind to my sophmoric wordplay.
But do please pay proper respects to our placers publisher :b
+1 for “Be a Pal; Vote for Val!”
That got me a little too much! 😀
I’m riding the Viracroix/Isher ship as well. She’s a half-something, so presumably still able to bear him heirs.
Huzzah! More supporters of the good ship “Best Wife is Isher!”
Your name isn’t Lee by chance, is it?
Ahhhh! So, definitely not Kass! ( http://www.valsalia.com/comic/out-of-placers/oops-49/#comment-5273 )
I’ll bet we haven’t even seen her in the comic yet.
.
.
Did Viracroix’s great grandfather eat a kid?!
Could we replace the bagpipes on It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll) by AC/DC with some baxxids? Thanks in advance…
Yes! Though hopefully baxxids do not suffer from Halitosis. Cause that is going to require a lot of “Hhhhh” sounds.
(Who ever gave Halitosis that Ha I’m the front of the name, was a cruel cruel human :b)
Not as cruel as the person who gave “the fear of long words” the name Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia.
Also, instead of replacing the bagpipes in one song, how about replacing some of the musical instruments from other songs with bagpipes?
Here… the Red Hot Chilli Pipers performing “Everybody Dance Now”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BWEd_kB6WE
(P.S., in case you’re wondering why their bagpipes aren’t producing the usual “drone” noise, it’s because they’ve removed the reeds from the chanters, which are the pipes coming out the top of the bag.)
Well, for cruelty, how about a simple one-syllable word for a speech defect, such that the people who have it can’t say it?
“Lisp”.
Let it be known that this is the port from which ships sail. Not all of them are captained by trained sailors, and you may experience some canon-fire while things get sorted out.
That said, I will declare suspects to be: Vizlet and Rann. I shall ship whichever one has the most adorable fanart.
Rats! I should have made my Rann ship comment under yours, since you were the first one to bring it up!
I also suspect this mystery woman to be Vizlet. After all, the two are clearly already friends. As for all this “not the same species” nonsense, I like to point to Viraciox’s interest in Kass’s current predicament. Could be the real reason for his interest is in finding a way to turn Vizlet human (though not also male).
Whoever it is is clearly human as he expects her to bear him children once things are worked out with her family. Given that the answer he gives is time, and not some strange machinations of magic, I don’t think he has any plans of turning anyone into a human.
Maintaining and reassuring your political support. This guy seems pretty good compared to most politicians, but the game remains the same at the core regardless.
Well Baby Eaters are an embarrassment…
You know: Totaly average family business stuff! :V
There’s like, ten extra levels of complications when your family be noble, yo
As I always say, it’s complexicated.
I’m thinking it’s Isher. She seems to be a valuable asset, what with the mysterious-but-a-big-deal lineage.
I wonder if it is Lippie! Nervous, scared, all of the time. Out-Of-Place maybe…
While on a nice walk on the beach, Trademaster’s completely normal human ladyfriend accidentally steps on a ‘Zat Zhing’; gets transformed into a yinglet! The Great Viracroix Salia would do anything for his bride-to-be, even if that means bartering with yinglets for green glowing beach rocks.
My theory has a few problems with it though. Probably not Lippie.
A safe (and probqbly incorrect) bet for Viracroix’s bride is a fine lady from another house, marriages were a great way to secure an alliance.
Although Ran would likely be interested in in seeing the result, human/yinglet children seem improbable at best.
I’m going to play the long odds and say he’s got his sights set on Vizlet, having seen a way to make it work with the introduction of Zat Zhing to his 3-dimensional chess board.
Kass gets maneuvered into position as “The Invenmoth Matriarch”, they find an incredibly rare Reverse Zhing, and Trademaster manipulates the situation so it goes to Viz, Human Viz ties the enclave closer to Invenmoth, Kass is left holding the bag running it and also thereby increases it’s ties to Ivenmoth, final score Trademaster: Everything Everyone Else: Important Lessons about themselves, and life, were learned. Kass’ only hope? A dark and brooding stranger who plays a similar game to the Trademaster. Named Beizel.
Beizel seems smarter than the other patriarchs. Speaks to the point, notices things. Probably uses snark for his own amusement.
Knows about zhings?…
He does seem smarter, and it’s worth noting that Vizlet didn’t give any specific warning about him. She knows she and Kass are playing a dangerous game around whatever conspiracy the patriarchs have in motion, and unless she’s blinded by her arrogance I’d think it was clear that Beizel is the most dangerous among them. Vizlet may have just been short on time and didn’t want to introduce too many variables, but she may also not be 100% sure Beizel isn’t running his own, separate, game.
I really want Beizel to turn out to be some kind of yinglet Captain Vimes/Vetinari cross.
Given we haven’t seen any half-breeds in the comic, and that it takes a very low-magic approach while also sticking to a fairly consistent concept of biology, I think it’s safe to say that if Viracroix wants to continue the line (which would require biological heirs), he’d have to pick a human female.
However, the society of Val Salia could be similar to Japan in that adoption is seen as a very legitimate form of continuing the family name and legacy. If that were the case, however, the importance of a spouse is reduced, so I don’t think that’s the case here.
And is nobody going to comment on the fact that Viracroix’s great-grandfather *ate his children*? And that he had to be *murdered*?
*ate children
What is there to comment on? It’s just your everyday family drama.
Sounds like some of the less effective sultans or kings (after Suleiman The Magnificant, there was several generations of terrible sultans which mismanaged the empire. Also, having the heir assasinated to make you the heir was not uncommon, or useless sons killed.)
There is no chance Ran is in drag as a man, is there?
Then the complicated problem would be exposing her to the scientific community! As a woman scientist was deemed far less credible, and to do so would make Ran quite sad if she is doing an experiment on the scientific community to get past this …
Could explain the name too!
Are a Man!
R A maN!
Ran!
Ran a woman? Well, it would fit in some ways. As the Trademaster’s intended, “he” would be indulged in “his” scientific studies, with the Trademaster willing to pretend it is important to study the other races. And it is a common enough opinion that this is just a phrase that the Trademaster might easily feel that Ran only needs time before she becomes a proper wife. [Of course, if Ran insists on “staying” male, things might get ugly.]
However, this is a small city, maybe no larger than a village. So if Ran was born female, everybody knows that. It can be quite socially improper to treat “him” as female in any way, but they all know the facts and just pretend real hard.
However, there are problems. The Trademaster is quite eager to study the other races, instead of just indulging his girlfriend’s crazy hobbies. And he says he hired Ran. Again that may be a social fiction, but the more social fiction, the more it breaks down. Ran also has an obsession with the sexual act, a common trait of us males. Maybe nothing that rules out Ran as female, but don’t bet the farm on it.
I told my friend to be a baxxid for like..I never gave an end date, so he kept typing and talking like a Baxxid, and he did really well the entire time. Like not even breaking character, I should tell him to do that again..or have him drawn as one, eheh.
C’est la vie, je suppose.
I’m so ecstatic to see Trademaster again, and also that the air-raid siren scene wasn’t just a funny joke. I keep returning to old pages to see if we missed anything important…
How did you become so damn good at dialogue! I mean seriously, this is so natural to read even with the baxxid and yinglet pronunciation quirks. Has to be some kind of gift you’re born with.
P.S.: Best ‘ship’ is Ran and Yannit. Friendship that is. They seem like stars in a buddy-cop movie. One is super-smart and solves problems with science, the other bumbles around and asks questions no one else has the guts to… and is a giant friendly bug.
*note to self: don’t post when really really tired*
Do not sell yourself short comrade! I liked the idea, I even came up with someof my own to add to your idea. Drum roll please!
*drum roll*
Good names for the buddy cop flicks!
If Rann has top billing –
“The Professor and The Hair Dresser!”
“The Insect and the Intellect!”
“Jeepers!” and “The Creeper!”
“Einstein and the Hive-Mind!”
“Dr. Rann and Jackie-Yann (it)” heh :b
Yannit has top billing
“Legs and the Eye!”
“Armor and Dr. Amoret” (cause of hos fascination with how creatures fug / get it on… which leads to! – – – )
“Mr. Bug and Dr. Fug”
“Night Crawler and The Scholar!
(Bonus : Dirty / Hairy )(Pervert Ran / Hair fetish Yann (it)
With such wonderful cases like –
“The mad-man and the messy-mane” (introductory episode )
“The Scav who loved me”
“Of Hive-minds and Men”
“The Carapace before the horse”
“The Hounds of Bassik-ville”
“Playing in Heavy Trafficking”
“The
“The Wastrels of the Wastes”
“Fact or Vivisection?”
“Who dares, grins”
And classic shorts
“The aerodynamic challenge : wind vs wings”
“Cooking with Yannit”
“Yannit’s Hair Dressing Guide (cut-out dresses and outfits included!)
“Ask Rann”
“Sextants : A how to guide”
“3 Lefts = a Right : Cartography with Rann”
“Will it blend? : An interspecies breeder’s guide”
Whoops “Insect and the Intellect” is in the wrong spot! Blast my disdain for proof-reading!
And that should be “The Hounds of Baxxid-ville” I refuse to acknowledge anymore of my mistakes, and will now only be accepting adoration and adulations (or witty banter and charming repartees) :b
I enjoy your great use of words, my sir! As a writer myself it brings me hope that there are still creative people capable of understanding words like, “espouse”, “albeit”, and other as you say sophomoric words.
“The Scav who loved me” (LOL, 007 😀 )
“The Hounds of Bassik-ville/Baxxid-ville” (I caught it the first time, nearly fell off of the couch. Thanks MeTV!)
“Cooking with Yannit” (This should be a Field Guide from Ran. Please Val, pleeeeeeaaassss………)
“Will it blend? : An interspecies breeder’s guide” *facepaw*
Your ideas for the cop movies are superb, and Dirty / Hairy might be the best spoof title I’ve ever heard of, maybe YouTube video.
“The aerodynamic challenge : wind vs wings” I’ve been wondering if Yannit can fly or glide. Anyone have a canonical reference to this question of great importance? Maybe only the breeding males and females can fly, so not Yannit.
Alright. I’ll be quiet until the next update. (Be a pal, vote for Val!)
Well throwing my crazy theory into the ring;
I’m guessing he’s talking about Vizlet which would explain why he was interested in transformations before Kass ever came around, is so interested in Kass now, and was already involved with some negotiations for a “partnership” with the local Ying enclave.
I don’t know what I like more, the sheer craziness of the theories or the fact that any one of them may be correct anyway.
Rooting for Vizlet.
Yah Theory time! Heres my best guess!
He’s talking about Vizlet. If you think about it, it ties in a lot of the other questions about whats going on in the story. My guess though….. (Entering Specualtion Zone!)
Scalia’s behind everything. I mean EVERYTHING.
I believe that Scalia fell for Vizlet (my guess is that Vizlet does not know that he has fallen for her) but they could not be together because (1. Scalia is the royal prince and it would look bad to the people and (2. Vizlet is a Scav and can’t give Scalia children therefore being an improper marriage for royalty to continue the lineage
Now why would Scalia fall for a Scav? Its because they are so similar! They’re both leaders, they both crave the endless pursuit of knowledge, they both have high intelligence, and similar temperament/personalities. Also, she is the only female we’ve actually seen interact with and get along with him. Remember, (Varkeses: “I have not SEEN any woman by your side”, its because the only “woman” that he’s been around is a Scav not a human woman!)
Well he obviously can’t be with Vizlet so end of story right? wrong! Its actually the driving force of the entire story!
Scalia’s playing dumb. Remember when Kass asked him whether he knew anything about the glass charm?Scalia said that he knew SOME information but not nearly enough but continued by saying that his interest in Kass was PERSONAL (he mentions its his love of knowledge but he specifically puts emphasis on the word “PERSONAL” and i feel he means something actually “personal” like Vizlet).
Scalia knows about the glass charms existence and what it does because he hired the thief yinglet who gave Lopin the charm on page 45. Why else would that yinglet be running from scouts in the city? Its because he stole the charm to bring back to Scalia/Ran to experiment on. Also note, the guards were specifically stated as Beizel’s Scouts. Beizel is the Patriarch of INTEL therefore the scouts and Beizel know about the charm and what it does or else why would they chase after the thief? (at one point the scouts do mention the matriarch so maybe Vizlet knows something about the charm’s existence as well)
Why would Scalia/Ran want to experiment on the glass charm? Its because they wanted to find a way to transform Vizlet into a human! If Vizlet was transformed into a human then she would be able to marry Scalia and produce him children (also explains why Ran is so fascinated by reproduction, genes, and biology). This also explains why Kass was changed into a FEMALE Yinglet specifically. Its because the charm was meant for a FEMALE!
This also sheds light on why Scalia and Ran easily accepted Kass’ story. It’s because they knew exactly what happened to him. They knew about the charm and what it could do. It also explains why Scalia so quickly dispatched troops to nab Kass. He knew something had gone wrong with the charm. Also, Scalia being so accepting of something literally magical seems completely out of place for someone so rational, scientific and knowledgable. You would expect him to have the same reaction that Vizlet did to hearing that someone just transformed into another species (IMPOSSIBLE!).
But he doesn’t. Scalia might not have the charm but he’s working with plan B. Kass. Everything Scalia told Kass is a lie to stroke Kass’ ego and keep him from delving deeper into Scalia’s true intentions. Scalia said that he wanted Kass to be an informant but that doesn’t make any sense. Even Vizlet herself said that “It’s not as if we HAVE any valuable information to steal”. Scalia is very smart and should already know this fact. His real goal is to observe the effects of the charm on Kass the guinea pig to see what effects it would have on Vizlet.
Finally, remember Vizlet’s rant to Kass about her dream to bring the Yinglets up to the level of humans? Vizlet is clearly envious of humans and their standing in the world. I would take a guess that she’s had the same conversation with Scalia. Perhaps Scalia sympathizes with her and feels for her. It would explain why Scalia puts up with the Scavs running rampant in the city (and probably not bringing in any money by the looks of it) and why he sees their potential. Its because he loves Vizlet. And what better way to bring up the Yinglets standing in the world than to marry into a powerful human family?
(Exiting Speculation Zone)
Ahhh, I hope i didn’t pull anything with all that stretching but I will definitely keep this as my headcannon until more pages come out. Let me know what you all think! thanks!
+1
Thanks to you, I finally figured out what the note behind the librarian was! Just a to-do list, but an intriguing one…
http://www.valsalia.com/comic/prologue/28/
Awesome theory.
Trying to figure out Beizel is my top theorizing priority, he is too quiet for a yinglet.
I don’t think Scalia technically lied to Kass yet, though he does seem to have most conversations planned out already. I still doubt the women will be Vizlet; she wouldn’t willingly transform into a human. She is literally the smartest yinglet that we have seen, and has almost complete control of her enclave’s future.
If she got ‘zat zhinged’ by Scalia I’d imagine that her enclave would collapse or worse, be attacked from wherever cardinal direction Narklet’s associates are. Or, even more terrible, the males go absolutely bonkers when they realize Vizlet is gone forever because of Someone in Val Salia. There would be war.
Short yes, but many yinglets and some humans would meet their demise.
I wonder what else one would do with the artifacts. Besides them being possible evidence aliens, ‘gods’, or a technologically advanced civilization, you could catapult a ‘zhing’ into a city and all hell would break loose. “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
Oh yeah I totally believe that Vizlet after thinking long and hard about the decision to transform would probably refuse too. She’s just too loyal to her enclave and goals. But I still feel that salia (just realized I had been writing it wrong) would at least try.
I don’t really know if the yinglets would use them for weapons but thats certainly a good thought. Though, I still am confused as to why the scouts were trying to hunt down the thief in the first place if he wasn’t hired by someone non-yinglet. Like what else or who else was he going to sell it to who would care about it? I dunno. Still a lot of questions that need answered.
OOPs *Salia
We both misspelled The Great One’s surname!
*shudders in shame* 😛
Did the Trademaster mean to say “contract” instead of “compact” in panel 4, perhaps?
In that particular context, either word would have worked just fine. Interesting comment on that, by the way.
I feel like if it was Kass or Vizlet it would be something of a political move. Not something in the nature of having children.
Theory time:
Viracroix is particularly interested in zhat zhing because he wants one for his own use. He intends to become a Yinglet, having seen the potential of the species’ rapid guided evolution, and he sees Vizlet as the ideal mate to kickstart the yingletization of House Salia.
God, imagine it’s Ginny and Kass just loses her shit
“So long as a Salia controls this city, the bond between our people is secured”
That has to be one of the most dangerous thing to say in fiction. He tempted fate to topple his house and reign.