He puts spirits to rest. One way is to avenge them. The other is to facilitate reconciliation and forgiveness. He’s just doing his job using a variety of methods.
And I’m glad to see that Rachel’s change of heart is a deeper, more understanding one. And E-Merl’s… interest… is an… interesting one. ;-)
Gravedust is very wise but he needs to get wiser, get perspective, to make that wisdom work for him in the world he is in now. Byron was saying as much way back when.
The townsfolk are getting two shows for the price of one, here! Watch as the bumbling magician works his magic while he attempts to work his magic with the ladies!
Normally, E-merl couldn’t best Best. But I suspect Rachel would say otherwise, if after sheathing his ‘wand’ inside her, E-merl cast “Engorgio!” on it.
It’s true that zealotry often doesn’t go away, just changes direction, but I wonder if Gravedust cannot appreciate that there are healthy outlets for most every urge under the sun. Not everyone can be a hermit in polite coexistence with the rest of the universe, and not all authorities are conquests.
Thus started young Stadtler’s habit of thinking clearly and applying direct feedback to the performers of his live entertainment. It wasn’t until several years later he met Waldorf and began the final perfection of his craft with the derision of his devastating laugh “Waugh-Ho-Ho-Ho-ho”.
Jean-Luc put his finger on the issue.
The old order was awful, and what is being built from its’ bones is clearly at some risk of being little more than the Frigg- modified version of the same. Grave has valid concerns, ones that only time will set to rest.
Perhaps her expression in frame three indicates E-merl will have more influence in how this all turns out than anybody thought?
The old order was a perversion. I’d say that there’s a decent chance that Gigundus merely took over what was once a beneficent order and turned it towards the ends of the ruling oligarchy. More’s the like that he was installed by said oligarchy. Granted, they did actually assist the populace of Gastonia in some manner … but it strikes me more as a “Hitler got the trains running on time” sort of trade-off. So, ol’ Tombdirt here may not be seeing the forest for the trees. Or he may. Truly, none of us know what Rachel’s up to around here.
I would have to see more about the order’s past before I could agree that it was a perversion; because honestly Gigundus (as far as we know from what we’ve seen so far!) didn’t change the order’s name…he might have, uh, *intensified* their zealotry, but really, how “beneficent” can an order be, that associates itself with a bloodshot eye?
Not that Gastonia doesn’t have a crapload of social problems aside from violently authoritarian nuns.
Gravedust’s concerns over how the entire order will behave in future may be valid. However, his words here are a little vague; to be honest until this page I wondered if he was directing his concerns at Rachel personally – and it does seem that way at points in the conversation – or if he is concerned about both Rachel’s behavior AND Gastonian behaviors, and is voicing the two ambivalently.
It’s a reach, but perhaps the eyeball is bloodshot from it’s tireless stare into the face of depravity in its fight against said depravity. It’s an unknown factor. I merely intimate that they fed the wretched, taught literacy and other such functions. A social safety net. Once Gigundus was taken down, the authoritarian bent of the Order evaporated. Thus, my belief in the installation by the oligarchy. For all that we know, Gigundus him/itself made the change.
Of course, I’m filling in backstory where none was supplied … but it’s the internet, that’s why Al Gore put on a plumber’s cap and made it, right?
It’s this or right wing talk radio. We cranks must have a voice!
This really seems very deep, and does it really matter? After all, having had a bad childhood does not excuse criminal behaviour as an adult (at most, there may be a minor reduction in sentence, if you’re lucky).
Wait… doesn’t “yield” mean “to give way/passage, to give precedence, to submit”? Sooooooo…. “UN-yielding” means “NEVER GIVE IN!!! YAAARRRGGHHH!!!” (Kinda like Frigg.) Therefore, “open” and “unyielding” are contradictory, no?
“Yes, Officer, I did see the ‘Yield to Oncoming Traffic’ sign, but they just kept comin’! ….Oh…. Wait, ‘yield’ means to let ’em pass?? Damn! That explains the looks on their faces when I kept flippin’ them the bird as I mowed ’em down!”
(Again, kinda like Frigg.)
If they really want to do that they should apparently get Freya and Scipio together.
… Please don’t let them get together, creators! D=
(In regards to Freya trying to one-up Scipio I personally think it has less to do with some kind of latent attraction and more to do with her lack of self-confidence which she covers up with her brash attitude – you know, like most people who act like she does in MMOs. Scipio’s calm and confident attitude naturally rattles Freya. /2cents /endlecture)
If you’re going to conjecture about a character, at least get their name right.
And I don’t see any attraction between Frigg and Scipio, I think Frigg is just competitive by nature. In fact, I think that the people who think she’s CLEARLY attracted to Scipio not only lack a fundamental understanding of her character but are also kind of misogynistic.
Mostly, I think it comes from Frigg’s previous behaviour with Best. Also, it’s a very well established trope (which I don’t doubt someone can provide a link for) that competition, frustration, and attempts to out-do/impress lead to love.
As for the mysogynism, not really. You could make an argument for sexism (which is a very different thing), though. However, it is important to note that the comic’s main source of sexist comments has been Frigg (followed by Best and Ardaic). Responding in kind is somewhat to be expected.
Sorry, I was tired – as in been-awake-36-hours-tired – when I wrote it and mixed up my nordic gods. Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. I will now flagellate myself with wet noodles in penance.
Hmmm… Interesting to finally see someone make allusion to Freya/Frigg. It *is* technically, the same name (Frigga, Friga, Freig, Freyja, Friday). Just like John, Jon, Iain, Ian, Ivan… Or Mary, Maria, Marya, Marja, Marie, etc.. Or Cybele, Cybil, Cybill, Sybill, Sybil.. OR Padraig, Patrick.. OK I’ll stop now.
It’s just not *Frigg’s* version of her name and won’t recognise it as her own and won’t respond if addressed so. (Trust me, I have personal similar experience, and have actually OFFENDED someone who got my name wrong by not getting that they were talking to me! It’s funny now, it was annoying then.)
And before anyone asks; I had to spend time with someone with that similar version of my name and so trained myself to not trigger-respond to it. And, seriously; how HARD is it to pronounce an ‘A’ at the end of a name instead of a silent ‘E’? Talk about sheer laziness!
… Whoa… hey…
Last I checked the date on the comics it had just gone from 2010 to 2011 …
Guess I wasn’t paying close attention after that for it to skip to 2012.
The gravestones are getting more recent.
At this rate I might even stumble across live people soon…
Gravedust is being unusually unforgiving. For a guy who had no problem avenging dirtbag pirate spirits.
Well, there was that entire ‘getting betrayed and killed over a point of political machinations’ thing. That can make one Grumpy.
Doesn’t count if it doesn’t stick.
Grumpy is a completely different dwarf.
Weird, I still cant see him being unforgiving… not forgettig, now, thats something else.
He puts spirits to rest. One way is to avenge them. The other is to facilitate reconciliation and forgiveness. He’s just doing his job using a variety of methods.
And I’m glad to see that Rachel’s change of heart is a deeper, more understanding one. And E-Merl’s… interest… is an… interesting one. ;-)
Gravedust is very wise but he needs to get wiser, get perspective, to make that wisdom work for him in the world he is in now. Byron was saying as much way back when.
I guess in some ways Rachel is ahead of him.
The townsfolk are getting two shows for the price of one, here! Watch as the bumbling magician works his magic while he attempts to work his magic with the ladies!
One may be more entertaining then the other.
She’s not interested in his magic wand.
What about his Rod of Wonder?
“Accio booty!”
It is an Unnecessarily Large Rod, to be honest
Perhaps even a Rod of Lordly Might …
ugh, yeah, forget it. I’m goin’ home.
Maybe even a Rod of Ages?
For right now, it looks more like he’s stuck with an Inadequate Wand.
No matter what E-Merl tries, he will never compete with the Best Wand. He’s just not that epic.
But rest assured he will do his best to cast a spell on her.
Normally, E-merl couldn’t best Best. But I suspect Rachel would say otherwise, if after sheathing his ‘wand’ inside her, E-merl cast “Engorgio!” on it.
Well, some of you asked for dialogue so…
I think GD merely recognizes Rachel for the zealot she inherently is (no matter how sugar coated) but we’ll see.
It’s true that zealotry often doesn’t go away, just changes direction, but I wonder if Gravedust cannot appreciate that there are healthy outlets for most every urge under the sun. Not everyone can be a hermit in polite coexistence with the rest of the universe, and not all authorities are conquests.
Maybe maybe not, but this appears to be more of a warning to avoid pitfalls, then actual condemnation.
Thus started young Stadtler’s habit of thinking clearly and applying direct feedback to the performers of his live entertainment. It wasn’t until several years later he met Waldorf and began the final perfection of his craft with the derision of his devastating laugh “Waugh-Ho-Ho-Ho-ho”.
Koyaanisqatsi
Koyaanisqatsi
– Gravedust.
Gold Star.
Thank the secular divinity for Google.
Jean-Luc put his finger on the issue.
The old order was awful, and what is being built from its’ bones is clearly at some risk of being little more than the Frigg- modified version of the same. Grave has valid concerns, ones that only time will set to rest.
Perhaps her expression in frame three indicates E-merl will have more influence in how this all turns out than anybody thought?
The old order was a perversion. I’d say that there’s a decent chance that Gigundus merely took over what was once a beneficent order and turned it towards the ends of the ruling oligarchy. More’s the like that he was installed by said oligarchy. Granted, they did actually assist the populace of Gastonia in some manner … but it strikes me more as a “Hitler got the trains running on time” sort of trade-off. So, ol’ Tombdirt here may not be seeing the forest for the trees. Or he may. Truly, none of us know what Rachel’s up to around here.
I would have to see more about the order’s past before I could agree that it was a perversion; because honestly Gigundus (as far as we know from what we’ve seen so far!) didn’t change the order’s name…he might have, uh, *intensified* their zealotry, but really, how “beneficent” can an order be, that associates itself with a bloodshot eye?
Not that Gastonia doesn’t have a crapload of social problems aside from violently authoritarian nuns.
Gravedust’s concerns over how the entire order will behave in future may be valid. However, his words here are a little vague; to be honest until this page I wondered if he was directing his concerns at Rachel personally – and it does seem that way at points in the conversation – or if he is concerned about both Rachel’s behavior AND Gastonian behaviors, and is voicing the two ambivalently.
Yay for indeterminacy!
Perhaps the Order of the Bloodshot Eye originally worshipped Bilious, the oh-God of Hangovers.
It’s a reach, but perhaps the eyeball is bloodshot from it’s tireless stare into the face of depravity in its fight against said depravity. It’s an unknown factor. I merely intimate that they fed the wretched, taught literacy and other such functions. A social safety net. Once Gigundus was taken down, the authoritarian bent of the Order evaporated. Thus, my belief in the installation by the oligarchy. For all that we know, Gigundus him/itself made the change.
Of course, I’m filling in backstory where none was supplied … but it’s the internet, that’s why Al Gore put on a plumber’s cap and made it, right?
It’s this or right wing talk radio. We cranks must have a voice!
This really seems very deep, and does it really matter? After all, having had a bad childhood does not excuse criminal behaviour as an adult (at most, there may be a minor reduction in sentence, if you’re lucky).
“Hey Rachel, you rule.”
“Hey Rachel, I wanna be your bad habit.”
“Hey Rachel, you’re second to nun.”
“Hey Rachel, is your heart open and unyielding, or are you just happy to see me?”
Keep that up and there will be nun left for the rest of us.
Anyone else want to chip in to give E-Merl some more chat-up lines?
“Hey Rachel, you wanna come back to my place for some wine and wafers?”
Wait… doesn’t “yield” mean “to give way/passage, to give precedence, to submit”? Sooooooo…. “UN-yielding” means “NEVER GIVE IN!!! YAAARRRGGHHH!!!” (Kinda like Frigg.) Therefore, “open” and “unyielding” are contradictory, no?
“Yes, Officer, I did see the ‘Yield to Oncoming Traffic’ sign, but they just kept comin’! ….Oh…. Wait, ‘yield’ means to let ’em pass?? Damn! That explains the looks on their faces when I kept flippin’ them the bird as I mowed ’em down!”
(Again, kinda like Frigg.)
Nooo stylish little elf, you deserves better!
Aw, our comic caster covets coupling with the copacetic cop-ascetic? How cute.
Aiming to reel in the shipping crowd, I see
If they really want to do that they should apparently get Freya and Scipio together.
… Please don’t let them get together, creators! D=
(In regards to Freya trying to one-up Scipio I personally think it has less to do with some kind of latent attraction and more to do with her lack of self-confidence which she covers up with her brash attitude – you know, like most people who act like she does in MMOs. Scipio’s calm and confident attitude naturally rattles Freya. /2cents /endlecture)
*Frigg
If you’re going to conjecture about a character, at least get their name right.
And I don’t see any attraction between Frigg and Scipio, I think Frigg is just competitive by nature. In fact, I think that the people who think she’s CLEARLY attracted to Scipio not only lack a fundamental understanding of her character but are also kind of misogynistic.
Mostly, I think it comes from Frigg’s previous behaviour with Best. Also, it’s a very well established trope (which I don’t doubt someone can provide a link for) that competition, frustration, and attempts to out-do/impress lead to love.
As for the mysogynism, not really. You could make an argument for sexism (which is a very different thing), though. However, it is important to note that the comic’s main source of sexist comments has been Frigg (followed by Best and Ardaic). Responding in kind is somewhat to be expected.
Frigg is pro-commitment free sex, especially in adrenaline heavy situations.
Sorry, I was tired – as in been-awake-36-hours-tired – when I wrote it and mixed up my nordic gods. Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. I will now flagellate myself with wet noodles in penance.
Hmmm… Interesting to finally see someone make allusion to Freya/Frigg. It *is* technically, the same name (Frigga, Friga, Freig, Freyja, Friday). Just like John, Jon, Iain, Ian, Ivan… Or Mary, Maria, Marya, Marja, Marie, etc.. Or Cybele, Cybil, Cybill, Sybill, Sybil.. OR Padraig, Patrick.. OK I’ll stop now.
It’s just not *Frigg’s* version of her name and won’t recognise it as her own and won’t respond if addressed so. (Trust me, I have personal similar experience, and have actually OFFENDED someone who got my name wrong by not getting that they were talking to me! It’s funny now, it was annoying then.)
And before anyone asks; I had to spend time with someone with that similar version of my name and so trained myself to not trigger-respond to it. And, seriously; how HARD is it to pronounce an ‘A’ at the end of a name instead of a silent ‘E’? Talk about sheer laziness!
… Whoa… hey…
Last I checked the date on the comics it had just gone from 2010 to 2011 …
Guess I wasn’t paying close attention after that for it to skip to 2012.
The gravestones are getting more recent.
At this rate I might even stumble across live people soon…
Rachel is my new favorite character
E-Merl’s handing out bread, but he’s the one getting toasted.
And I’m only 2 years too late.