The Ivenmoth Redcloak is purposely designed to be stiff and worn somewhat loose, for various reasons. Perhaps the biggest reason is because this allows its wearers to conceal their weapons and armor underneath.
Not every recruit is given a full set of protective plate or chainmail, especially since low-level recruits sometimes join up for a few days’ worth of food and shelter before taking off in the night with whatever equipment they’ve been given.
It also allows the higher-ranked and otherwise important members to wear full sets of armor and still blend in with the rest, making it hard for would-be thieves or assassins to tell who’s got the Good Stuff.
On the flipside, it means that any random drunkard or malcontent wanting to take out their frustrations on the local enforcers cannot be sure if their intended target is wearing something underneath that could stop a blade or blunt a club strike, or where the armored vs. exposed points might be.
This also gives the entire force an advantage, in that House Ivenmoth can spread out its equipment thinly, and still (mostly) force a would-be attacker to deal with an extra element of uncertainty, in that they cannot be certain exactly what they’ll be getting into.
Redcloaks: a versatile solution for a budget-conscious guard force!
Thanks as usual to Raptie for handling the character coloring and shading on this page!
I zhink I check zhis for updates more zhan anything else. uwu
Well if you join their discord people will check for you.
All of the discord links I can find are dead
i joined it. all the cringy one line roleplay absolutely killed any desire to remain there. i thought id seen the last of that sort of thing slowly breathing its last horrid gurgles on deviantart, but i guess not.
I just muted everything except for the comic announcements, that’s what works for me
Maybe it’s time to learn about RSS feeds instead. I use it to keep up to date on 115 webcomics, some of which post randomly once a year or so, and all I need to do is check my feed reader when I need my daily dosage.
Unfortunately, the links are frequently hidden out of sight, e.g. at the very bottom of this page. I also use the Awesome RSS addon for Firefox to make it easier to notice when a website offers an RSS feed.
I use Piperka! search it up, it’s an awesome website, it’s how I keep track of all the webcomics I follow. 😀
Woo! Piperka crowd, represent!
I have 672 comics with pages in Piperka waiting for me to read them. 😛
The best friends save one another from imminent rape. Good on you, Elim!
But seriously though, that’s pretty badass.
As I read this I was listening to Simon’s Theme from Castlevania IV. It is now Elim’s.
im torn between that and Bloody Tears Castlevania lV.
Well, that’s something good. Elim’s gonna smack a bitch with a club- if he hadn’t already.
Glad some form of rescue happened.
Please don’t kill Brakka just yet! He’s a fun character.
Also I’m pretty sure he now has no options and plenty of useful skills.
Elim’s revenge
all this drama, i miss lopin. and the indrel it’s been so long i ACTUALLY FORGOT HER NAME
Yannit. There’s a very handy cast guide right up top there. 😉
i just miss yaynglit
I take the pacing to mean that the author is invested in the story. Happy and wishing for a time machine.
Payback time! I have to wonder though who will protect Kassie while Elm recovers.
Now, now, let’s not go assuming things.
*IF* he recovers.
He’s fiiiiiine, he’s been stabbed in the gut before. You build up a tolerance.
Like shooting yourself with smaller bullets to make you immune to bigger bullets.
if Elim drops I suspect Kass is going to unknowingly/involuntarily let out a “female distress scream” and then she’ll have *plenty* of protection.
That was only mildly unexpected.
INCOMING: Elim ex mace-ina
I’d explain what’s wrong with the story writing but I know it’ll just be ignored.
I might disagree with it but I won’t ignore it.
Go ahead. As much as I enjoy this comic I also have gripes of my own.
Either what you have to say is worth talking about in which case you should post the comment, or it is not worth mentioning at all in which case there was no point in this comment. You have to pick a lane or it sounds like passive aggressive whining, though I’m not going to assume that’s what it is. As a fan of the comic and prospective writer I’m curious what holes others perceive a story, because I can take that as advice for things to consider in my own work. So please, go ahead and speak up, it’s always helpful to someone out there.
I’ll read what you have to say, and it’s _almost_ as good as Val reading it! Even though I’m just the colorist. =)
I’m sure he’s speaking about situation like in web-comics Bittersweet Candy Bowl and Ctrl+Alt+Del, where heavy themes suddenly popped-up with no foreshadowing, look out-of-place in the setting, and are handled horribly. Most authors use “but it’s based on real life! My friend’s sister bla-bla-bla” excuse. NO. Just no. This is horrible excuse. You write fiction. Fiction doesn’t work like that, there’s rules to that. Randomly sprinkling “based on real life” without any thoughts is an insult to both real-life and your fiction work.
Now, this isn’t THAT bad here, but it’s still iffy.
This is why people are afraid of coming with criticism, there is too much incorrect criticism going around, coupled with fans defending practically ANYTHING, even aggravating problems.
Now, i frankly see no problems here, i’d just point out that armor do not help against attacks that actually WENT THROUGH …. so this is a possible criticism of the aftertext, not of the comic itself.
But, the author could have wanted to address the point in the aftertext for a while, so i don’t mind that much, it is merely … awkward.
As for mixing “realism” and “fantasy”, … why are readers so sensitive nowadays?
The text under the comic’s an infodump for in-universe facts. It’s relevant to the comic page, but not because of the armor bit. It’s pointing out that yes, Elim really could hide that mace under his uniform, the mace wasn’t pulled out of Val’s butt.
Ok.
^_^
@iMouse Binch, please. This comic was set up for these themes from the very start. If you didn’t see it coming, that’s on YOU, not OOPs. This stuff has been foreshadowed in not only the dialogue but also the artwork since the very moment we got past character introductions.
Maybe you ought to learn to notice and appreciate nuance in story telling a little more before you posit criticism.
Oh, lol. There’s been sex, there’s been violence, there’s been no rape foreshadowing. If you can’t imagine the work that have sex and violence, but no rape, I dunno what should I tell you, man.
Now, if you’re such a writing specialist, answer the question: how Kass should react now that he’s been a victim of attempted rape? Should he brush it off after a pair of pages of crying and talking to friends, like nothing happened? Or should he be in PTSD state for 300 pages, undergoing therapy? Both variants will kinda ruin the story.
Wait, your seriously just on about that? Oh, go cry to tumblr why dontcha.
“Should he brush it off after a pair of pages of crying and talking to friends, like nothing happened? Or should he be in PTSD state for 300 pages, undergoing therapy?”
False dichotomy. There’s more options for reaction than the two extremes you listed.
Kass has already repeatedly demonstrated his default method of ‘coping’ with the various indignities his recent circumstances have heaped on his head. Staying outwardly strong until he can’t anymore, having a breakdown about it, getting comfort from his friends, finding strength to soldier on a bit longer. Is it ideal, is it healthy? No. But it’s *foreshadowed* to hell and back.
As for the implicit demand that every theme or event has to be foreshadowed in a story to be legitimate, I completely reject that as a valid premise. But I won’t try and convince you to agree with me there. If something hitting the protagonist out of nowhere, even if something realistic and in-character to the setting and people, is something that will put you off of a work of fiction…well, that’s your loss.
Thank you for telling how it is, i’m tired of people thinking EVERYTHING must be shown beforehand.
Gotta say, Skoon is right here @iMouse.
This comment is super tacky. Don’t shittalk on the author’s website.
Looks like someoneone forgot that a little poke is not nesicerily instantly fatal. Its actualy common for people with a gut wound to take hours to die, if not days. If one can function with the pain, they should be quite able to be up and about, though it does shorten the time they have left.
FUCK YEAH ELIM
BEST BOI CANNOT BE STOPPED
Now is the time where you start fighting again, kass. Brakka is distracted, his throat is wide open, and you happen to have a large, sharp shell tooth.
Elim ruins everything, I mean…Hooray!
Ok skys, I knew something was going to happen, I kinda expected Kass to basicly gut Brakka for being such a jerk.
A friend will help you move furniture.
A GOOD friend will help you move the bodies.
… and THIS friend is apparently going to help make them STOP moving. What do you label that?
EXCEPTIONAL. -:D
On the one hand, Elim arriving in the nick of time to disrupt the Kass/Brakka tension is sort of a cop-out, and needlessly messianic.
On the other hand it is in character, and we were prepared for this in #88 where we see Elim pass out but then come to, so it’s not like he has appeared out of nowhere solely due to the demands of the plot.
I’d call it a little trite but not lazy. It’s not like the action is settled yet either.
The thing is that the Brakka/Kass tension has run its course. Brakka no longer has any sensible motive to stick around and keep harassing Kass (and if he’s sensible will flee now that Elim has appeared). The situation has degenerated from a purposeful kidnapping/interrogation to the equivalent of a random assault in an alley, and as we all know, when a random assault in an alley gets this much panel time, it’s just a prelude to Batman showing up.
I’d neither call it trite nor lazy, i’d call it the actual story.
…I’d also call some readers today overly critical, but that’s me.
There is no “actual” story. This is all fiction. None of this has actually happened.
On the one hand, this gives the author a lot of freedom. Anything could happen. For example, a magical artifact could turn a young man into a yinglet.
On the other hand, the author has to do a bit of thinking in order to keep the narrative from disintegrating into “imaginary stuff that happened.”
OoPs has strong characters, an interesting world, and a good narrative hook. The current part of the story was well set up, with alternating comics bringing Brakka and Kass/Elim into collision while also providing time for believable characterization. The confrontation between Brakka and Elim and the immediate aftermath was well handled and exciting, with a lot at stake.
This particular page is a little unsatisfying after the previous pages, where Brakka snapped, felt his hostage up, and offered his gang a piece of the action, i.e. Kass was on the verge of being raped. Flip the page, and Brakka is back in control, Kass is calm, and the creeps feeling up Kass’s tail fluff are gone. Then Elim shows up, and the uncomfortable tension is over. You can follow the story there, nothing is impossible, but the characters reactions don’t really match up with what’s happening, so you might suspect Valsalia didn’t have a plan for developing what Brakka and/or Kass were going to do other than quickly settling it with Enter Elim. Sure that’s how lots of uncomfortable situations get resolved in fiction, but that’s why I called it a little trite.
Hopefully that’s more helpful than Pononimous just going “le sigh.”
To most people, and I’m assuming Catelf belongs in this category, the word ‘story’ specifically refers to fictional narratives.
Exactly.
This is the first time i have encountered anyone claiming that fiction cannot be a story.
On the contrary, as soon as anything is getting told or re-told, it is a story, fictional or not, believable or not.
No, I claimed OoPs is not “actual” story. I disagree with internetcatchphrase, you can tell stories about actual events. You could tell a story about Watergate, Apollo 13, the court of Queen Elizabeth, or the last days of Hitler, the financial collapse of Enron, or anything at all that isn’t an original fantasy (like OoPs), and it would necessarily constrain your narrative with actual events to a far greater degree than here.
“Elim arriving just now seems like an easy way out narratively” isn’t well-answered by “that’s what actually happened, believe it or not.”
Catelf used a word with one meaning intended, you misinterpreted it to mean something else, then based an argument not in the point Catelf made, but the point you thought Catelf made. I pointed out this misunderstanding. I wasn’t calling anyone correct or incorrect in how they define the word. But if you want to understand what Catelf *meant* then you need to read their statement with understanding of how *they* use the word. Now that you know what Cateld was actually trying to say, it’s up to you how/if you respond to it.
Okay, simple word substitution of Catelf’s first response:
“I’d call it neither trite nor lazy, I’d call it the actual fictional narrative.”
My response, and I don’t see how this can be misconstrued, is that there you cannot defend fiction from any criticism by saying, “that’s just how it was/is.”
If you would actually go into detail as to the part of Catelf’s argument I am unable to grasp, I would appreciate it.
….Are you for real?
Stories are stories, you can tell stories about living beings, ancestors, famous people, legends, spirits, mythological beings, monsters and GODS !
So yes, you can also tell stories about FICTIONAL CHARACTERS !
It’s not an either/or, it is both.
How dumb are you, or are you just trolling for attention?
…
If you ARE trolling for attention, there are better ways to do that than arguing using nonsensical views.
I would like to make clear my total agreement with your earlier comment that some readers can be overly critical, as your subsequent abusive comments illustrate.
I am not trolling for attention, I am trying to have a conversation about a comic I like, not have abuse hurled at me for analyzing it.
I made a long, fairly thoughtful post about some authorial choices I liked, and some I disliked, particularly on this page. Your initial response seemed to me to say that narrative techniques like “Enter Elim” to resolve pending action cannot be criticized because… they’re what happened? In a fictional story about fictional characters in a fictional universe? We’re watching an artist at work here, right?
Followed by a bunch of stuff where you argue against the opposite of what I said, as if you only scanned my posts for keywords.
Elim back just in time for my birthday yay, and he is giving Yinglets flying lessons.
the whole spear tactic wont work in a narrow alley either. The guy with the nasty and short blunt instrument however? >:3
Say it with me: hulk smash!
Wow that guy’s tough.
There’s our boi!!
What I love best here is twofold. Trying to guess where the author is going in the next couple pages is fun. Very easy to look for updates a couple times a day to see what happens next.
The other thing to love here is some of the character personalities. There’s Kass getting hauled away into an alley and getting her boobies gropped with a side order of tail-floof molesting. Then her buddy shows up for some timely ass-whuppin and Kass is irritated ’cause Elim is not out getting medical attention instead.
I love the focus on the flying yinglet in the foreground and the unfocused background. Most excellent art work, Sir!
Elim looks like “Maybe I’ll die, but you’ll be dead before that happens”.
His corpse just becomes one more way to crush them as he goes out!
Well lady Kazz if you want your friend to survive then you better seriously take out the guy that’s trying to rape you then get him to a medic
“Hello, I am Mr. Mace, and this is my friend who is also a mace.”
It’s ass-whooping time…
Panel Four: -cue Wilhelm Scream-
Look at him swooping down with that mace like an avenging angel! What a friggan badass!
Also if I was Brakka I would have just immediately run as soon as Kass said that Zhat Zhing was gone forever, get as much ground between me, ivenmoth, and all of the people that would want to turn my hide into Brand new Scav skin boots.
That yinglet got Elim-inated!
Kass and Elim are really having a bad day. And it looks like some other people are going to share the bad.
Don’t pull it out, it’s probably keeping something you need somewhere you need it
Elim Bursting in like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY1hD0NtT4o
AND ONCE AGAIN, KENNY BLANKENSHIP AND VIC ROMANO SIGNING OFF WITH…
“DONT. GET. ELIM-INATED!!!”
“Get it on!”