2014/04/21 [Matilda #59] Hindsight is 20/20

[Lorien077]

Oh ouch.  At first I got the impression that folks learned about the Blue Volcano mythos from intruding into their caves a little and getting their butts whooped, and that exiles were rare.  What Matilda implies is really harsh.... and doesn't entirely make sense come to think of it.  I got the impression that her story as shown on the talk show included her not knowing how to eat, and also attacking the adventurers at first, thus giving a possible explanation for other BV mythos being aggressive other than just being nasty and territorial.  (And actually just being scared and needing help.)

Did I just eat a big ol' bowl of dumb here?

Either way great page, really liking the nuance of Matilda's story.

[MT Hazard]

Hopefully Matilda taught others a bit of her language, at least enough to tell a banished blue mountain mythos things like "We can help you" or "We can stop the pain", Even enough to explain the concept of hunger. At least that way they will have a small chance of surviving in the outside world.

[nichdel]

Ooof Matilda... publicly encouraging negative myths about your people while they're dieing is not going to be very helpful long-term.

Additionally, is the blue mythos hunger problem a sign of what's been being hinted at in the comic for a long time, that magic is finite and disappearing? Is there not enough magic in their crystals anymore to sustain them?

[ZacAttac21]

Additionally, is the blue mythos hunger problem a sign of what's been being hinted at in the comic for a long time, that magic is finite and disappearing? Is there not enough magic in their crystals anymore to sustain them?

I think the problem arises once they leave the volcano and the crystals, not while they're still inside the volcano.

[joshofspam]

Additionally, is the blue mythos hunger problem a sign of what's been being hinted at in the comic for a long time, that magic is finite and disappearing? Is there not enough magic in their crystals anymore to sustain them?

I think the problem arises once they leave the volcano and the crystals, not while they're still inside the volcano.

I think your probably right CubiKitsune.

It's not a matter that the magic is finite, it's a matter that the crystals can only supply so much so far that leaving the caves they live in can be a slow painful death sentence without someone to explain to them they need to eat.

Not only that, but if we take into account the tight population control and the point the males solve most arguments with battle. Then we have to consider if all the people leaving these caves are really as bad as the impression caused by hunger and an alien world they walk into.

[mithril]

actually, since she specifies "the crystals no longer feed them", i read that as "the magic-life-sustaining-stuff" is no longer working right, which has led the BVM to leave the volcano to find other sources of 'food' and as a result are rampaging around when real hunger hits.

perhaps they hit some sort of population limit despite population controls.. or perhaps the crystals they relied on had a finite lifespan before they stopped working. (more batteries than powerplants, effectively)

[joshofspam]

actually, since she specifies "the crystals no longer feed them", i read that as "the magic-life-sustaining-stuff" is no longer working right, which has led the BVM to leave the volcano to find other sources of 'food' and as a result are rampaging around when real hunger hits.

perhaps they hit some sort of population limit despite population controls.. or perhaps the crystals they relied on had a finite lifespan before they stopped working. (more batteries than powerplants, effectively)

Possibly, but seeing as the Volcano is always spitting out magical lava, it seems more likely the crystals act more like a converter, changing the magic of the environment to an energy the BVM's can use to sustain themselves. The bigger the crystal, the more energy that is converted. Damage it, it would produce less energy.

To be perfectly frank, there's probably quite a few reasons why a BVM might leave their tribe. But it sounds like Matilda is answering Dan's question by first telling the general view of her people by Mentioning "Us" in her answer. Then she changes to "They're" and "Their" to focus on the ones Dan mentioned.

[Jigsaw Forte]

Remember that "most" BVM who leave the caves (and are thus kicked out of the crystal's effective range) have been exiled (or at best, tossed out for being "too weak" by BV standards) -- and since they'd rather just kill females than exile them, that means that the average BVM exile is most likely a hulking criminal (or rather, a murderer, since I imagine there's nothing worth stealing given how few possessions the average BVM has, to the point that the idea of using a crystal as a knife is outright farfetched, and other crimes are likely ill-defined and unrecognized if things like depression are scarcely considered).

Nothing about this requires the crystals having to fail -- you simply have a system where the Volcano spits out a single BVM male with a 1d12 Challenge Rating every few weeks / months, who dies quickly outside the range of the volcano unless they learn to eat.

[joshofspam]

Heshi was possibly a prime example of one not meeting those standards of their culture and being squeezed out.

If his one interaction with that one other male is a showing of how all males felt, it would only be a matter of time before everyone challenged Heshi right out of the tribe. It's tough being the odd one out.

[Tuyu]

I got the impression that her story as shown on the talk show included her not knowing how to eat, and also attacking the adventurers at first, thus giving a possible explanation for other BV mythos being aggressive other than just being nasty and territorial.  (And actually just being scared and needing help.)

But the earlier part of the story had her painting a clear "males are vicious" picture and saying that she is the only female to be exiled (having been declared male). So, not really much there to make anyone sympathetic to the other exiles.

[Lorien077]

But the earlier part of the story had her painting a clear "males are vicious" picture and saying that she is the only female to be exiled (having been declared male). So, not really much there to make anyone sympathetic to the other exiles.

There's what I was missing, good point.

[Scow2]

I got the impression that her story as shown on the talk show included her not knowing how to eat, and also attacking the adventurers at first, thus giving a possible explanation for other BV mythos being aggressive other than just being nasty and territorial.  (And actually just being scared and needing help.)

But the earlier part of the story had her painting a clear "males are vicious" picture and saying that she is the only female to be exiled (having been declared male). So, not really much there to make anyone sympathetic to the other exiles.

Except, as we saw, and she's somewhat acknowledged here, the males aren't actually vicious (Nor do they degrade their females - they merely have a culture with distinct gender roles, due to their dimorphism. Even then, when they decide Kissriss/Matilda is a brother, they treat her as such)

The "males are Vicious" is a stereotype started by people encountering BVMs who have been exiled from the volcano and driven to madness and desperation by starvation and confusion, and that and the "They're misogynistic pigs who treat women as furniture" depiction are myths propagated to stir up controversy and make money and fame by a young, angry BVM with a chip on her shoulder against her people because of a really shitty set of circumstances.

[Grey Wolf]

No, the BVM are misogynistic. They treat females as prizes to be won with little to no agency of their own. Females are expected to tend to their alpha male, and only that. Males will sometimes kill wives that have daughters before sons, and they better have two sons and one daughter or else.

That doesn't mean that every male BVM is a terrible person, or that some males can't love some females. It just means their society is set up to see females as lesser, and they are treated as such.

[lemurvid]

Also, this is a society where the males compete for the right to mate. In pure Darwinian terms what you tend to get in that scenario is big, aggressive bastard males.
I mean, elephant seals, c'mon.
That may not have been what we saw in the comic, but then that scenario never came about. If we'd seen a mating contest then we might have seen these guys in their true colours.
Blue, obviously.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Also, this is a society where the males compete for the right to mate. In pure Darwinian terms what you tend to get in that scenario is big, aggressive bastard males.
I mean, elephant seals, c'mon.
That may not have been what we saw in the comic, but then that scenario never came about. If we'd seen a mating contest then we might have seen these guys in their true colours.
Blue, obviously.

What a depressing thought. ;-]

[Tuyu]

The "males are Vicious" is a stereotype started by people encountering BVMs who have been exiled from the volcano and driven to madness and desperation by starvation and confusion, and that and the "They're misogynistic pigs who treat women as furniture" depiction are myths propagated to stir up controversy and make money and fame by a young, angry BVM with a chip on her shoulder against her people because of a really shitty set of circumstances.

Focus on the text boxes in the comics, not the pictures or dialogue. The text boxes show what Matilda told the TV audience.

>"...The temperatures there are so hot that very few creatures can survive down there. It's very dangrous. Of course, so are we...at least that is what I've been told."
>"And for the males...it was up to them to make it so they or their family were not the vacant spot."
{So I take it competition was pretty high.}
>"Well, yes. But it always was. That was life."
">Not only did you need to guard your family, you needed to be able to guard your home crystal from other tribes or an invading group. So the males needed to be the strongest."
>"Because at every point in a male's life, he would be expected to fight for them. To be recognized as the alpha male he would have to defeat his father. To have a wife he would most likely have to fight his future wife's brother or father."
{What about the females? Did they have any say in things?}
>Hmmm? No. Not particularly. We did not have to do challenges, our only purpose was to have children and to see to our alpha male."
>"The only direct competition would have been a second wife.  Most males would attempt to have at least two wives, some even three though it was risky.  In a family, one could ahve three children. The tradition being two boys and one girl.  The boys so that they would have one ally and fair rival as they grew older, and a girl to possibly trade for a future wife."
{So what happened if two girls were born?}
>"...Unfortunate things."

It matches what people in Furrae knew (if they knew anything) about blue volcano mythos, so no one has any reason to consider Matilda as anything other than what she was being presented as.

[Attic Rat]

I keep expecting that somebody's going to set up a "Halfway House for Outcast BVMs."

That would set things up for some real drama, now that I think on it.

[Scow2]

The "males are Vicious" is a stereotype started by people encountering BVMs who have been exiled from the volcano and driven to madness and desperation by starvation and confusion, and that and the "They're misogynistic pigs who treat women as furniture" depiction are myths propagated to stir up controversy and make money and fame by a young, angry BVM with a chip on her shoulder against her people because of a really shitty set of circumstances.

Focus on the text boxes in the comics, not the pictures or dialogue. The text boxes show what Matilda told the TV audience.

>"...The temperatures there are so hot that very few creatures can survive down there. It's very dangrous. Of course, so are we...at least that is what I've been told."
>"And for the males...it was up to them to make it so they or their family were not the vacant spot."
{So I take it competition was pretty high.}
>"Well, yes. But it always was. That was life."
">Not only did you need to guard your family, you needed to be able to guard your home crystal from other tribes or an invading group. So the males needed to be the strongest."
>"Because at every point in a male's life, he would be expected to fight for them. To be recognized as the alpha male he would have to defeat his father. To have a wife he would most likely have to fight his future wife's brother or father."
{What about the females? Did they have any say in things?}
>Hmmm? No. Not particularly. We did not have to do challenges, our only purpose was to have children and to see to our alpha male."
>"The only direct competition would have been a second wife.  Most males would attempt to have at least two wives, some even three though it was risky.  In a family, one could ahve three children. The tradition being two boys and one girl.  The boys so that they would have one ally and fair rival as they grew older, and a girl to possibly trade for a future wife."
{So what happened if two girls were born?}
>"...Unfortunate things."

It matches what people in Furrae knew (if they knew anything) about blue volcano mythos, so no one has any reason to consider Matilda as anything other than what she was being presented as.

The text boxes are said propaganda from an angry BVM looking to make a quick buck, and is not accurate. However, I missed/forgot the concerns Kissriss' father brought up and tried to dismiss.

[MT Hazard]

It seems to me that Dan is in a good position to help the blue mountain mythos using his adventuring contacts and if Matilda remembers enough of her language all they would need is one success story to start repairing the damage.