05/02/2011 [DMFA #1215] - Attack of the Fifty Foot Whatever

[Alondro]

*Charles mega-otaku's*  Soooo... she destroyed Karakura Town to harvest 100,000 souls on a plot of 1-square-mile spiritually-enriched ground in order to create the Ouken and assassinate the Spirit King?   

*Charline thankfully murders Charles*  Hyoomans... Anyway, I don't see the big deal.  It's just one city!  Sheesh, Dan's getting all bent out of shape for a little thing like that!  He needs to grow up!  Now, when WORLDS start getting destroyed, THEN I'll be impressed!  (noticed:  not shocked or horrified, but impressed.  Truly Charline is an evil villainess!) 

[AxiLarin]

Dan:  "My grandmother destroyed a city!!"
Abel:  "Yeah, but it was Pleasantville, New Jersey."
Dan:  "... Oh!  Well, okay, that's better, then."

On a side note... Amber, you don't need to fret about how cool you are or how good an artist you are.  You have been producing one of the best and most beloved comics on the 'net.  And your artwork has only continued to get more impressive, especially since the format change has opened up for real estate for you to work within.  The first couple panels of this one alone look like amazing works of art.
Don't worry so much about the time frame.  Rushed artwork for the sake of a deadline will only lead to regret.  It may not seem like it at times, but we are a patient bunch, I believe.  We can handle the extra couple days if it means more wonderful art and story developments.
 

[Infranscia]

Yep, I thought so.  She ascended when she was young and foolish (particularly by Cubi standards), has had time to think about her actions, and come to regret said past actions.  If she could do it again, I wonder what she would do different?

And Amber, don't feel bad about taking more time to get a comic out.  Art really, really isn't meant to be rushed.  It's more important that you try and put more effort into what you're making.  Those that do try to churn out a comic every day or two?  From what I can see, they tend to take shortcuts: Simpler shapes, simpler shading and/or coloring (or no shading and/or coloring), smaller images, fewer panels, even fewer things in the background...  It just isn't the same.  I've looked at DMFA and been impressed with the detail on the fur and the hair, and long before I saw today's rant.  (And I've also personally been guilty of taking some of those shortcuts. ^.^; )  Yes, it tends to be a choice between quality and quantity.  Really, don't feel bad to lean toward quality.  Yes, it means there are longer waits, but in my opinion, the results are worth it.    Here, cheer up with some cookies. 

[VAE]

EDIT EDIT: I am assuming that she destroyed the city to harvest souls for ascension.  This may of course be me jumping to conclusions.

Since we don't know if she's one of the two or three that didn't do any soul thievery to ascend, this feels like a pretty big jump to me.  All we know about her ascension is that it ticked people off and that it is often considered the lynch-pin of the dragon-cubi war.  Even that is vague because it's stated that's it's considered it, but based on what?  Idle speculation based on what one group sees from some possible coincidences?  We all know you can't really base opinions on those things.

True, though... to show how the coincidence looks... it's kinda like someone walking with a big bag of cash and saying that he aided in the robbing of a bank. While it's possible he snatched the cash from an armoured transport, and while he was chased by the police and security, someone robbed  a bank using it as distraction.... it's much more likely the cash comes from the bank.

That's... a pretty weak argument.  It's possible that they have the cash legit too, and that the police and security are in error.  That's just as possible.  I understand that you're saying "It's often the most obvious and simple choice." but that doesn't always hold.  That's why we have things like judicial systems.  Jumping to conclusions and just taking things at face value is a complete gamble and just as likely wrong as it is right.  Gather the facts rather and work from there.  It may still be the case that you will never 100% know the truth, but I'd rather make an informed guess with as much evidence as I can find than just take the first 'truth' that seems convenient or suits my interests.

True, it isn't certainty.
Yet, if i  as a hypotetic militionary met someone with a bag of money just after a bank has been robbed, "Stop right there, citizen!" would be in order.
There aren't tons of evidence, but what we know about cubi, about Cyra, and her words suggest that it might have been a part of her ascension.
The only thing that possibly speaks against is that she seems to regret this particular action, which would be slightly silly in the above case... but then cubi are predominantly emotional, not rational creatures.

[Anker Steadfast]

Dammit Amber, stop flailing around and start using a sword instead, they are far better at cutting critics down to size !   

Although that makes me wonder, is the city Cyra destroyed the one that Kria was talking about? It'd explain why so many people are terrified of Cubi.

That's a very interesting idea.
It would also fit well with how Amber likes to hide clues to the upcoming plot in the story before it happens.

[D'ymkarra]

Although that makes me wonder, is the city Cyra destroyed the one that Kria was talking about? It'd explain why so many people are terrified of Cubi.

Even as Fa'Lina herself said to Abel, Cubi lack the raw power that Demons and Angels posess; Nor the magical prowess of Dragons and the Fae. To me, Zinvth should be relatively safe, being guarded in large part, by an entire family of Demons.
That being said, we don't know what all Dan was told about how she destroyed the city, or if it had anything to do with her ascension (though it seems a fair assumption the two are related). Either way, for one Succubus to lay waste to an entire city, and her clan in one fell swoop, must have taken some tremendous power.

[jmcallaway]

Well, all Cyra said was that she destroyed a city (not to make light of the fact by any means...).  No talk or mention of HOW LONG it took her to do so, or whether it was pre- or post- tri-wing.  It may very well be that she took her sweet time (say a year) to do so.  Many cities in the real world have met their demise w/o the use of nukes, giant monsters, or magic.  Alexandria was done in by fire and barbarians.  Carthage was razed by the Romans.

Either way, back in the day, Cyra was truly a bad-@$$!

[Attic Rat]

Being an ex-adventurer might be cool after all. Real-world humans sometimes think monsters are cool, right? The whole silly vampire thing, for instance? Well, to Cubi... Adventurers are scary dangerous monsters.

"He used to KILL people like us ...And he lasted long enough to RETIRE from it! And now he's on OUR SIDE!"

That'd draw a crowd.
For various reasons.

[VAE]

Being an ex-adventurer might be cool after all. Real-world humans sometimes think monsters are cool, right? The whole silly vampire thing, for instance? Well, to Cubi... Adventurers are scary dangerous monsters.

"He used to KILL people like us ...And he lasted long enough to RETIRE from it! And now he's on OUR SIDE!"

That'd draw a crowd.
For various reasons.

Noot quite... it's more similar to a serial killer, or some sort of Clint Eastwood style cop among criminals.
Most monsters' renditions are pretty much mindless killers - something like a big nasty animal , only nastier.
With vampires - for one, they were somewhat "wussified" (even before twilight... i mean, the old-time ones were more like zombies than anything) and secondly (but ties to the first) the cool comes more from "it'd be awesome to have the traits/abilities of one" (ofc, the "wussy" intelligent variant) - meeting one would be considered a bad thing among everyone but twilight fans

[Jigsaw Forte]

Hey, Amber... you ever want to do any art stuff with me, you know where to find me. I've got plenty of Southeast US contacts that could be useful to you, y'know?

[Psy-Kosh]

EDIT EDIT: I am assuming that she destroyed the city to harvest souls for ascension.  This may of course be me jumping to conclusions.

EDIT-3: Another possibility is that Cyra's ascension accidentally destroyed the city as a byproduct.

Of course, there's also the possibility that it's a non-accidental byproduct.

That is, it might be that the ascension method in question didn't exactly require the destruction so much as cause it as a side effect... but that this side effect was predictable and known to her and she simply didn't care.

(This notion, of mass death as a predictable _side effect_ of an ascension, is a bit of a plot point in the Dresden Files book Dead Beat, incidentally. (The explanation was that the process would essentially "suck out" all the magic out of an area... and so that would create a vacuum that would _then_ end up "sucking out" the lifeforce of everyone living anywhere nearby.))

[lilpuppy23]

Oh Dear! Cyra looks so sad in the second and third panel! It almost makes me feel sorry for her if it wasn't for the whole leveling cities thing. Although I guess that acctually isn't all that bad considering that its just one city versus all the other horrible things others have done. but that's just me.

[Sienna Maiu - M T]

but then be terrified to try to talk online to anyone I talked to in person cause I end up feeling like they were just being polite and in reality they thought I was a gigantic dork.
"I have confidence issues, the same as everyone else! "

No, seriously... we get it.  Welcome to the club
(and if it makes you feel any better, no doubt people feel the exact same way about you)

From what I can see, they tend to take shortcuts: Simpler shapes, simpler shading and/or coloring (or no shading and/or coloring), smaller images, fewer panels, even fewer things in the background...  It just isn't the same.

Something's got to give.
But personally, I'd prefer an artist draw something that I'll enjoy looking at for years to come, over just being able to enjoy more than two updates per week now, but in the future being unimpressed by stagnation.  (I'm not sure if that came out right... )

The only thing that possibly speaks against is that she seems to regret this particular action, which would be slightly silly in the above case... but then cubi are predominantly emotional, not rational creatures.

You know... she really only states being regretful of the consequences

[Icalasari]

Amber, I would like to say that if anything, you are a role model for some artists. You take your time and sure, updates may be a bit slower, but in exchange you create FANTASTIC art

[Alondro]

Dan:  "My grandmother destroyed a city!!"
Abel:  "Yeah, but it was Pleasantville, New Jersey."
Dan:  "... Oh!  Well, okay, that's better, then."

Couldn't she destroy Camden instead? 

Though, I guess it already could pass for being destroyed the way it is now...

[AxiLarin]

Dan:  "My grandmother destroyed a city!!"
Abel:  "Yeah, but it was Pleasantville, New Jersey."
Dan:  "... Oh!  Well, okay, that's better, then."

Couldn't she destroy Camden instead? 

Though, I guess it already could pass for being destroyed the way it is now...

Nah... Camden's got the aquarium, which is nice.  There's nothing redeeming about Targetland... er, I mean Pleasantville.

[Sienna Maiu - M T]

Nah... Camden's got the aquarium, which is nice.  There's nothing redeeming about Targetland... er, I mean Pleasantville.

Well, it does have the same name as Superman's home town... >.>

[Anker Steadfast]

With vampires - for one, they were somewhat "wussified" (even before twilight... i mean, the old-time ones were more like zombies than anything) and secondly (but ties to the first) the cool comes more from "it'd be awesome to have the traits/abilities of one" (ofc, the "wussy" intelligent variant) - meeting one would be considered a bad thing among everyone but twilight fans

Interestingly, most vampires are generally shown with a very conservative set of powers, the old classical kinds .. turning into bats, turning into mist, sucking blood, hypnotizing, and superhuman speed and strength. Once that is done with, there is often very little variation.

About the only vampire story that springs to my mind, where they really went nuts with vampire powers, is the Hellsing anime with the protagonist antagonist Alucard, who could do all sorts of nifty stuff - So Alucard gets to keep his Badass Badge, while Twilight vamps .. doesn't.

[Nerikull]

"...and that's the LAST time I took Cyra to Las Vegas!"

Sorry, I had to say it!