2013/01/28 [DMFA #1373] - She's as cold as Ice

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Wow.

I mean, not entirely unexpected, but Dee was spectacularly brutal about it, there.


(And Ma~ is adorable, as usual)

[Dressari]

Ugghhhhhgggghhh!. *Epic facepalm*

She is going to absolutely lose the complete and total respect of her own son let alone his love... fantastic...

Okay so now it does really ask what that feather is going to mean if it is Destanias.

[VAE]

Ugghhhhhgggghhh!. *Epic facepalm*

She is going to absolutely lose the complete and total respect of her own son let alone his love... fantastic...

Okay so now it does really ask what that feather is going to mean if it is Destanias.

Because we all know that's the most important thing out there </sarcasm>
Ah well, i think seems like she miscalculated on him staying put in the academy . . . though, what worries me is that given it was an explicit arrangement that he'd be switching back and forth, if he was back home during the time of the hit, it'd mean her information channels aren't quite flowing.

[Lying Foo]

 

"Cold" indeed.  "Snapped" indeed.  After she raised her from a small child, met her so cordially before, gave Pyroduck her feather... it all just seems so totally... unlike...

Oh, I see...

[D'ymkarra]

Ugghhhhhgggghhh!. *Epic facepalm*

She is going to absolutely lose the complete and total respect of her own son let alone his love... fantastic...

Okay so now it does really ask what that feather is going to mean if it is Destanias.

This. Perhaps before the war, Dee was a bit more friendly towards the dragon race?

Either way, Destania just earned herself at least three new enemies..

[Zebra Bug]

Oh holy shoes. I mean, not totally unexpected, but....yeesh. That is brutal. I am curious about what powers Biggs has...and OMG Matlida is so adorable! Saves the page from being a total gut punch.

And three, D'ymkarra? Dan, Alexsi, Wildy? Pyroduck? Biggs? Abel? Lorenda? Jyrras? Maybe even Kria...

[Ganurath]

Either way, Destania just earned herself three new enemies..

Yes, because there are only three people in Lost Lake that would choose Alexi over Destania after the latter expressed a desire for the former to die.

[joshofspam]

Ouch!

She knows about Alexsi and Ducky and isn't pleased. She even knows about Ducky and Fa'lina. That rage train Destania is riding certainly going for one heck of a train wreck if Dan and friends find out.

I'm not sure if I like how she's gradually closing the drape. Hope for Biggs sake, that Destania isn't thinking about doing what Keaton did to Ashford in Project Future.

[Zebra Bug]

Ouch!

She knows about Alexsi and Ducky and isn't pleased. She even knows about Ducky and Fa'lina. That rage train Destania is riding certainly going for one heck of a train wreck if Dan and friends find out.

I'm not sure if I like how she's gradually closing the drape. Hope for Biggs sake, that Destania isn't thinking about doing what Keaton did to Ashford in Project Future.

She....wants privacy?

[Dressari]

Oh holy shoes. I mean, not totally unexpected, but....yeesh. That is brutal. I am curious about what powers Biggs has...and OMG Matlida is so adorable! Saves the page from being a total gut punch.

And three, D'ymkarra? Dan, Alexsi, Wildy? Pyroduck? Biggs? Abel? Lorenda? Jyrras? Maybe even Kria...

Yeah I have to agree with Zebra Bug here. Three is undercutting it. And I doubt there is going to be any excuse Destania will be able to come up with now that will save face.

Here's another one and potentially the most important one... Edward...

[Zebra Bug]

Edward...O_O Yes. Well...if he is currently prisoner of the dragons, if they'd tortured him...he may...not...forgive Alexsi for taking up with one. Depending on if they break him or not. Otherwise, yeah...he won't appreciate Des killing his daughter.

[VAE]

Ouch!

She knows about Alexsi and Ducky and isn't pleased. She even knows about Ducky and Fa'lina. That rage train Destania is riding certainly going for one heck of a train wreck if Dan and friends find out.

I'm not sure if I like how she's gradually closing the drape. Hope for Biggs sake, that Destania isn't thinking about doing what Keaton did to Ashford in Project Future.

Biggs isn't so stupid as to push matters to such degree, and he's valuable enough ,and probably made himself valuable enough to merit not being replaced. Otherwise she'd have done it ages ago.

[Zebra Bug]

I have the feeling that the scene is going to be changing either this next page or the page after.

[Merlin]

Yikes, Dee. Just yikes.

[kztxl7]

How to go from Unlikeable to Hated in 2 seconds flat.


I'm beginning to wonder how much she really cares about Edward if she is so willing to consider his daughter as expendable. Even more so considering she did it just to settle an old grudge against Aniz.

[Wanderer]

And... why is she closing the curtains? That looks all sorts of ominous to me.

[Zebra Bug]

And... why is she closing the curtains? That looks all sorts of ominous to me.

Because she is evil?

[Jyoumon]

Ohhhh Crud...I can just see Destania getting a LOT of pain her way if Jyras ever figures out who sent those adventurers to Lost Lake. 

[Brunhidden]

'eh, so i lost a child, i can always make another one later'

[Jairus]

You know, a friend of mine and I were debating a few days ago over whether or not Destania was crazy and quite possibly genuinely evil. That she is willing to write off her adopted child that she raised and loved and who probably still loves her stepmom to death... wow. That's like... ice icing over cold.

[Zebra Bug]

'eh, so i lost a child, i can always make another one later'

Well, Alexsi wasn't even her kid, so even less emotional attachment....even if she DID raise Alexsi...teach her to fight...was called mom by her...

[techmaster-glitch]

That is brutal. I am curious about what powers Biggs has...

We've been getting a lot of hints, a lot of foreshadowing, that Biggs is not just a simple being. For a long time now, there's been quite a bit of subtle clues here and there that point to Wildy and Biggs both being Weres. (The biggest evidence towards this is here, and though some think that particular shadow isn't Biggs because it doesn't match exactly, well, we know now that the fae in that image is definitely Albanion, though his silhouette there looks a bit different from his later appearance, it was just a change in the art.)

This also goes a long way towards explaining both why Destania is allied with him in the first place, and also partially why Biggs puts on a show of acting dumb most of the time except for here when he lets his true intelligence shine. And if Biggs really is the Were on the Creature Council himself, then he most definitely would be a formidable combatant who could likely hold his own against even Destiania, making the result of an outright confrontation between the two in no ways guaranteed either way.

That said, I have no doubt the -both- of them also have "contingency plans" and/or kept-hidden powers of their own to deal with each other should an alliance no longer prove mutually beneficial. (It also might even wind up to be a 'gabit pileup' of the "I knew you'd betray me, so I (did X thing to subvert you)." "Aha! I knew you'd do X, so I (did Y that would negate X)" "But I knew you would do that, so I..." and so forth.)

All that said, I think that despite the heating-up of the apparent "cold war" between Biggs and Destania, I don't think either of them are going to try and break off just yet. It would be too much of a mess for the both of them, I expect.


(I've also been finding Destania herself to be very strange in her actions, but I'll compose my thoughts on that another time.)

[Zebra Bug]

If that were true...do you think Wildy knows she is Were?

[techmaster-glitch]

I don't see any reason why she wouldn't...I'm quite sure she's a "Were-in-hiding" just like Biggs is. She also has displayed clear ability to use magic (outside of that 'shaman' thing) when she sparred with Dan. While I'll admit that alone isn't concrete confirmation, it is supporting circumstantial evidence. (according to the demonology, weres have a fairly typical controlled spellcasting ability in 'being' form. They only get antimagic in human form, and uber-wild-magic in animal form.)

[ChaosMageX]

And... why is she closing the curtains? That looks all sorts of ominous to me.

Yeah, I'm still rather worried about Biggs at this time, especially given how Destania just openly admitted her willingness to sacrifice her own daughter to accomplish her goals.

I'll admit that their relationship seems more positive than the one between Keaton and Ashford, since Biggs seems more competent than Ashford (although I do wonder sometimes) and he has the same goals as Destania.  There also have been some hints that Biggs could be a were, which would make him more than just a being and possibly more likable and less expendable than she considers beings to be.

However, we've seen that Destania certainly has no qualms about impersonating Biggs behind his back and defy not only his wishes, but his direct orders in this case.  That jovial conversation with Biggs could have just been an act, as she obviously likes it better when he's a complacent drunken idiot and not stepping in her way like he's doing now.

At this point I think could go either way, as I haven't seen much extended interaction between Biggs and Destania aside from the Get me to the Church arc and right now.  But I still agree that things are looking ominous right now, and even if Biggs is a were and can hold his own against Destania, a fight between could still get rather ugly.

But either way, at this point, Destania has hit an all time low in my book.  I mean, for a while I've had a feeling that she didn't really love Alexsi like she loved Dan, since she's not blood related and she's only a being, but dropping her so suddenly and coldly like this still shocked me.  It makes me wonder if she feels the same way about Edward, despite being worried about him, although that too could have been an act and it could be that she really only sees Edward as a tool for procreation and a pawn in her scheme to eliminate the dragon race from Furrae.  She isn't the first cubi to look down on beings, so this wouldn't surprise me.

If she ever states that she never truly loved her own son, her progeny and part of her clan, a life she had growing within her for around 9 months, then she will truly be irredeemable in my mind, although she's coming pretty close right now.  The way she's behaving now once again makes me question how much of her past behavior was actually authentic.

That said, I have no doubt the -both- of them also have "contingency plans" and/or kept-hidden powers of their own to deal with each other should an alliance no longer prove mutually beneficial. (It also might even wind up to be a 'gabit pileup' of the "I knew you'd betray me, so I (did X thing to subvert you)." "Aha! I knew you'd do X, so I (did Y that would negate X)" "But I knew you would do that, so I..." and so forth.)

Careful now, that's starting to sound like a plot from Death Note.

EDIT:

I don't see any reason why she wouldn't...I'm quite sure she's a "Were-in-hiding" just like Biggs is. She also has displayed clear ability to use magic (outside of that 'shaman' thing) when she sparred with Dan. While I'll admit that alone isn't concrete confirmation, it is supporting circumstantial evidence. (according to the demonology, weres have a fairly typical controlled spellcasting ability in 'being' form. They only get antimagic in human form, and uber-wild-magic in animal form.)

If she is a were, or if her brother is a were, it might explain her obsession with humans.  I do agree that if one of them really is a were, then it's highly likely that the other is a were as well, since the were trait is dominant among less magically inclined races, particularly beings, so all children their were parent had with their being parent would likely be weres.

[Wanderer]

That said, I have no doubt the -both- of them also have "contingency plans" and/or kept-hidden powers of their own to deal with each other should an alliance no longer prove mutually beneficial. (It also might even wind up to be a 'gabit pileup' of the "I knew you'd betray me, so I (did X thing to subvert you)." "Aha! I knew you'd do X, so I (did Y that would negate X)" "But I knew you would do that, so I..." and so forth.)

Ugh. Reminds me of a book I read where there were a bunch of different competing groups, all of whom had seers on their side. As the viewpoint jumped from seer to seer, each one would talk about the others and how they knew all about the others' plans and had their own plans all set up to deal with them, and then the next one would be all "oh, but I know all about those plans to deal with my plans but I have plans to deal with the plans that deal with my plans" and the next one has plans to deal with those plans and so on in this weird endless circle where everyone has apparently always known what everyone else was doing and has always been prepared to deal with everyone else and has always made sure that they're going to end up winning and it gave me a headache after a while.

Yeah, I'm still rather worried about Biggs at this time, especially given how Destania just openly admitted her willingness to sacrifice her own daughter to accomplish her goals.

Amber seems to have gone on this "darker and edgier" kick lately (lately being relative) by taking characters who were mildly or amusingly evil in the past and removing any potentially redeeming qualities they may have had. It can, of course, be argued that they were always this way and we simply didn't know them well enough, but some of them went for years without undergoing that sort of grimmification. It does make me wonder sometimes what she's planning on doing with DMFA...

[Lying Foo]

...who, other than Dee?  DP and Regina seem to have gotten sillier, if anything... Kria's as silly-evil as always... it's pretty much been forgotten that Aary used to be a connoisseur of Being souls... the BOB are more of a threat now, but still hard to take too seriously...

[Wanderer]

DP and Regina seem to have gotten sillier, if anything...

Depends on your point of view, I guess.

[Tapewolf]

But either way, at this point, Destania has hit an all time low in my book.  I mean, for a while I've had a feeling that she didn't really love Alexsi like she loved Dan, since she's not blood related and she's only a being, but dropping her so suddenly and coldly like this still shocked me.

It's possible that she did up to the point Alexsi went off with Pyroduck, after all, Alexsi got Destania's special training and even the Inn itself.  Destania may have taken it as a smack in the face from her stepdaughter, even though Alexsi had little idea of what she was getting herself into and that Pyroduck's goals seem to run counter to the dragon race as a whole.

That said, I always hope for the best from evil characters, and it's possible that Destania is exaggerating in front of Biggs, but I'm not sure Destania is redeemable at this point.

EDIT:

it's pretty much been forgotten that Aary used to be a connoisseur of Being souls...

At the time the narrative seemed to be that most 'Cubi were soul-stealing monsters and Dan was different because he was brought up as a Being.  From that well Keaton was drawn, along with other fan characters, even Jakob was intended to be in the 'brought up as a Being' mould.
Over time the viewpoint seems to me to have shifted to something more like 'Cubi being okay-ish as a rule and it's mostly just maniacs like Destania and her friends who cause trouble.

[LordViking]

But either way, at this point, Destania has hit an all time low in my book.  I mean, for a while I've had a feeling that she didn't really love Alexsi like she loved Dan, since she's not blood related and she's only a being, but dropping her so suddenly and coldly like this still shocked me.  It makes me wonder if she feels the same way about Edward, despite being worried about him, although that too could have been an act and it could be that she really only sees Edward as a tool for procreation and a pawn in her scheme to eliminate the dragon race from Furrae.  She isn't the first cubi to look down on beings, so this wouldn't surprise me.

Because of how fast Destania and Edward went from strangers to married I figured it was not just because Cubi experience emotions a lot stronger, but also because Edward is being credited as Aniz's killer. If they spoke together and the topic landed on the cubi Aniz (which wouldn't be surprising with how much Destania hates his guts) it wouldn't take long for Edward to mention his previous wive was killed while they fought and killed a cubi with the same name. Probably because Aniz wanted to kill Edward to pull the same scheme as in Abel's story again.
Once Destania found out Edward killed Aniz I can imagine any feelings she had for him would skyrocket. And if we can believe Abel, once you get close to a cubi's heart you won't have a more loyal friend/lover anywhere.

While reading though the thread and the debate if the san-siblings are were I noticed something and wondered if anyone connected these dots before.
Biggs mentions Destania has been a friend of the family for generations and they are working together to the goal of killing all dragons.
In the Hybrid Genetics page for the weres, Fluffy mentions that the weres are, as a race, only close to beings, phoenix and cubi. And more importantly, the weres were once nearly wiped out by another race. The only races that would be powerful and 'evil' enough, as far as we know, to pull this off are the demons, and the dragons who nearly did this to the cubi as well.
So if we put this together, as well as the things other people mentioned, I think things are pointing to Biggs being a were that is working with a cubi, Destania, to take revenge for both their races nearly getting wiped out.