2018-12-10 [DMFA 1886] - The magic word

[Tapewolf]

It looks like Mab didn't expect that.  The next page should be interesting as we hear the rationalisation.  I wonder how much strength of will it took to give that answer?
Also, would Regina face a lesser charge if the murder was undone?

[Kazy]

I wonder if Biggs will refuse the boon altogether. He seems the type to want to do things by his own power.

[ProfesseurRenard]

I'm looking forward to hearing the rationality as well. I rather get the feeling Mab had never had someone she'd given a boon to decline to use it.

[Tapewolf]

I'm looking forward to hearing the rationality as well. I rather get the feeling Mab had never had someone she'd given a boon to decline to use it.

It's a good job she didn't mis-hear or assume that B had said 'yes'... otherwise that would either be two boons, or she'd have to un-resurrect her...

[ProfesseurRenard]

Lol, that would be problematic!

[Cassi-kun]

I wonder if Biggs will refuse the boon altogether. He seems the type to want to do things by his own power.

I doubt he'd refuse entirely, but he likely spent it either on opening the path to said power, or something that power still wouldn't be able to get him. We already know he didn't have info on Regina until Dan encountered her, that he currently has some kind of grudge with Aliph, a business relationship with Kria and Dee, that he "hid" Dee from the main cast, and expects Dee to betray him. My guess is that it will be something that attracts Dee's attention once Edward goes missing, or even before then that she only pursues after he disappears.

[GreenReaper]

Bridgette is channelling her inner Rorschach - though in this case, it seems nobody else is asking for the system to change, but it's going to happen anyway.

[Howl]

I'd like to point out two things here.

1 - The narrative still forces Mab to not have a genuine interest in the people around her. Even if she says it's genuine, the fact that she didn't just pull the resurrection anyway is another point that proves she's more interested in playing her game than she is having real friends. If they were any more to her than pieces on the board that she only cares about because she's supposed to, she'd have solved the plot already.

2 - Digibro actually went on about something pertinent here once. It had to do with the use of pronouns in relation to characters in fiction, specifically characters that do not identify as transgender at a certain point in the story (be it the start or, as far as is known here, in a flashback), but will do so at a later point. His question was to the tune of "Is it appropriate to refer to a character as a girl if they don't identify as one at that point in the story just because you know they will later?" (The specific character to which he was referring was one in an idea he had).

I'd cite it directly, but it was somewhere in IWTLNILADISAIHI, so that'd be hard to find.

[Cassi-kun]

In terms of the real-life transfolk I know, I tend to refer to "their old self," with the only exception being a single particular joke.

[keybounce]

1 - The narrative still forces Mab to not have a genuine interest in the people around her. Even if she says it's genuine, the fact that she didn't just pull the resurrection anyway is another point that proves she's more interested in playing her game than she is having real friends. If they were any more to her than pieces on the board that she only cares about because she's supposed to, she'd have solved the plot already.

Except that she has said that she isn't going to just solve other people's problems. If she does that, then nothing that happens has any meaning, she is just playing god with paper cutouts.

She can have serious concern and genuine interest in other people's problems, without feeling a need to solve all those problems. She knows that some of her friends will die -- heck, with time, all of them will die. That doesn't make them any less interesting to her.

[Howl]

That doesn't change the fact that in a meta sense, the narrative enforces this. It's kind of like watching a dear friend moments from falling to their death. You could save them, but instead you say "That's against the rules." and just let them die when you have nobody to answer to. You've made the rules yourself, and there is nobody who could punish you for breaking them.

"Nothing has any meaning" to who, exactly? To her? That's selfish? To those around her? I'm sure that peace has a great deal of meaning to most folks she associates herself with. Her game is more important to her than those around her. It's the result of a narrative derived from the fact that the comic started in a place where there was no consideration of overarching story, and from day one never faced a hard reboot to put things into place. Amber can contradict me on this if she wants, but my guess is that if there were a hard reboot some time through the comic's lifespan, then the Fae would not exist as they do now. My guess is that they only do because retconning them out would be too much now. It's a sunk cost.

[Cassi-kun]

You've made the rules yourself

I wonder about that, actually. In the arc about Abel's birthday, Mab and Pip yell at each other about "the rules" stating she doesn't get her full knowledge, and in the arc about Pyro facing one of Hizell's messengers, Pip tells Rose that Mab's "true potential" is locked.

It's possible that these are rules Mab and Pip wrote, but it seems to me that if they are, Mab doesn't know this while in Furrae.

[Jasonrevall]

You've made the rules yourself

I wonder about that, actually. In the arc about Abel's birthday, Mab and Pip yell at each other about "the rules" stating she doesn't get her full knowledge, and in the arc about Pyro facing one of Hizell's messengers, Pip tells Rose that Mab's "true potential" is locked.

It's possible that these are rules Mab and Pip wrote, but it seems to me that if they are, Mab doesn't know this while in Furrae.

We're forgetting that we don't know anything about the politics of The Four. It could be possible that an unbound fae messing about would draw the attention of other powerful entities and thus giants in the playgrounds would come. Mab may be restricting herself to not gain the attention of more powerful beings outside playful fae. In fact I think they even say that at one point. Mentioning something about the only reason fae and dragons are allowed to muck about in Furrae is because its a reality noone in power cares about. This could be more than just a game to Mab but to others it would be a sandbox where they want nothing more than to melt the toys with a magnifying glass.

[Dracologist]

He's actually right, though.  His mom being killed is really just a bi-product of an uncontrolled demon culture that allows them to pretty much do whatever they want against people that are helpless to stop them.  Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if his wish is to create the adventures leagues to begin to help protect the people.

[Tapewolf]

He's actually right, though.  His mom being killed is really just a bi-product of an uncontrolled demon culture that allows them to pretty much do whatever they want against people that are helpless to stop them.  Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if his wish is to create the adventures leagues to begin to help protect the people.

They already had that... the adventurers who saw Regina running in panic were two of the people she killed because they were liable to kill her first, ask questions later.
Also you're forgetting the talk that led to the flashback - Demons are themselves liable to be crushed by the next tier up with no ramifications.

EDIT: When I first wrote this I wasn't entirely sure how long the adventurer thing had been around.  But it's certainly been around a while, since Mink's mother was randomly beheaded before Abel was born (also, Cid, his would-be father was an adventurer).  It is interesting that there is no mention of the Being-Creature Council around Abel's time, you'd have thought that that would be the place to go for complaints against a rogue 'Cubi.

It strikes me that it's likely adventurers have made things worse in terms of perpetuating the cycle... if Beings can fight back and kill you, that just makes it more challenging.  Otherwise you're essentially stomping on flowers and that's no proof of strength of badassery.

[Dracologist]

They already had that... the adventurers who saw Regina running in panic were two of the people she killed because they were liable to kill her first, ask questions later.
Also you're forgetting the talk that led to the flashback - Demons are themselves liable to be crushed by the next tier up with no ramifications.

EDIT: When I first wrote this I wasn't entirely sure how long the adventurer thing had been around.  But it's certainly been around a while, since Mink's mother was randomly beheaded before Abel was born (also, Cid, his would-be father was an adventurer).  It is interesting that there is no mention of the Being-Creature Council around Abel's time, you'd have thought that that would be the place to go for complaints against a rogue 'Cubi.

It strikes me that it's likely adventurers have made things worse in terms of perpetuating the cycle... if Beings can fight back and kill you, that just makes it more challenging.  Otherwise you're essentially stomping on flowers and that's no proof of strength of badassery.

What you're suggesting here is that people keep their heads tucked between their legs and hope that the demons don't select them for a random killing, and doing so in hopes that the demons will just get bored and move on.  That's no way for anyone to live because it ignores the clear question of "what if they just don't ever get bored?  What if stepping on flowers is their favorite pass time?  What if they see this weakness as something that they can exploit for free labor?"  Things can always get worse and random killings is no where near the peak of horror that people can cast on other people.

Also you're ignoring the logic that if they enjoy the challenge of people resisting then why go after people that aren't?  If the fun is in the challenge then why slay people that aren't a challenge?  See what I'm saying?

I'm also not going to feel bad for a race of people that kill a less powerful race as a celebratory act just because they too live under fear of being killed by a race more powerful than them.  They may not be responsible for the apex race that kills them, but they are responsible for their own actions, and if the race that they're attacking rises up to try and wipe them out then I won't be saddened by it.

[Scow2]

EDIT: When I first wrote this I wasn't entirely sure how long the adventurer thing had been around.  But it's certainly been around a while, since Mink's mother was randomly beheaded before Abel was born (also, Cid, his would-be father was an adventurer).  It is interesting that there is no mention of the Being-Creature Council around Abel's time, you'd have thought that that would be the place to go for complaints against a rogue 'Cubi.

The Being-Creature Council has been established as completely useless, as explained by Inigo Montoya's cameo.