2014/04/28 - [Matilda #60] It Is Finished

[Howl]

Topic title refers to something. Do you know what?

Anyway, I imagine this is a boon to some. I personally did not dislike the Matilda strip at all, but at the same time the main comic is holding my interest better. I didn't want the Matilda story to end, I wanted it to reach its conclusion. And now it did.

That is one of the many ways to say that and sound like a jerk.

[TonnyBear]

Oh, no, it's true enough.  Plus they look cute together, so it makes for a nice ending (if bittersweet). 

[nichdel]

A surprisingly low note to end on, but a good one nonetheless.

I don't know how much Amber plans and times these things, but ending the side story right as an intriguing plot is coming together in the main story is well played.

Of course, it's never to early to begin speculating on what the next side story is. On the super optimistic side, I want one about Dan and Regina's back-story.

[HoneyBadger]

I'm honestly disappointed that the comic finished so abruptly because I was hoping to see more of Dan and Matilda.      Nevertheless, I respect Amber's choice and I also thank her for making a very interesting and emotional side-comic.

[ChaosMageX]

I really feel bad for Matilda and the poor starving BV Mythos now. But who knows, maybe someone more sensible might create a charity dedicated to helping banished BV Mythos learn how to eat, speak the common language, and adapt to mainstream society.

Also, what I find fascinating is that this strip reveals that there has been a magical equivalent to high definition color television broadcasting technology for at least a century.

And there's another interesting observation.  Until this strip, we've only been seeing the TV they've been watching head on, so I had thought it was an older CRT television, but now it's been revealed that it's a flat screen.  Even though the current date of the main comic is somewhere in the 90s, they're watching Matilda's interview on a flat screen television, which means that Matilda is either rich enough to afford buying one all the way back then or entertainment technology in general is a further along than expected.  If we take the thickness and bulkiness of the tablet Abel got as a birthday present, I'd place the electronic entertainment technology somewhere in the 2000s at the earliest, really.

Or maybe that could just be the magical equivalent of a high definition flat screen television.

[katasev]

Aw, Matilda. Who watches 100-year-old talk show programs anyway? ;P

But on a serious note, I'm just gonna throw it out there that Matilda, while she feels terrible, shouldn't feel THAT terrible.  I mean, sure, maybe nobody wants to help the BV Mythos that get exiled now.  But every one of them (semi-including Matilda herself) got there through fratricide. Every BV Mythos male (so far as we know, anyway) that gets forced out of the volcano is put out specifically for the sin of killing his own brother.  It's entirely possible that some of them were accidental deaths, but if the average exiled adult male (and let's remember the size difference between a male and female adult BV Mythos) is aggressive enough and powerful enough to kill his own brother, it's probably better that adventurers (to say nothing of the usually less combat-ready scientific community) steer clear anyway. In the case of an accidental fratricide or just a curious male wanting to check out the outside world, their body language will be considerably less aggressive and confrontational, and they might well get help anyway.

[ZacAttac21]

In the case of an accidental fratricide or just a curious male wanting to check out the outside world, their body language will be considerably less aggressive and confrontational, and they might well get help anyway.

I dunno about that. It's like Matilda said before, the males have been brought up to get what they want through force.

[Scow2]

And, by the time they're found, they're probably half starved to death with no idea what's happening. Fortunately, the expedition that found Matilda tolerated her assault.

[SeamlessR]

I found the whole thing to be a great. The interplay between the narration and the dissimilar events shown visually was very interesting. Ending on kind of a depressing note is, well, depressing. But it's also a realistic reaction.

[Tuyu]

Aw, Matilda. Who watches 100-year-old talk show programs anyway? ;P

Funny--I never got the impression that Matilda had been around that long. I would have thought she'd be a bit less scatterbrained about her business (and that it wouldn't take her that long to find someone like Dan.)

But it is interesting that that show is old enough to have strengthened or spread the opinion about Blue Volcano mythos that Dan learned. The opinion predated Matilda's appearance--Strype already felt that way in comic #3--but that could have been personal knowledge gained by adventuring in the area.

[joshofspam]

In the case of an accidental fratricide or just a curious male wanting to check out the outside world, their body language will be considerably less aggressive and confrontational, and they might well get help anyway.

I dunno about that. It's like Matilda said before, the males have been brought up to get what they want through force.

Considering the life they would all have to live to get to that point, all those would at least have been brought up on the same principals. Heck, even Matilda attacked the adventurers at first. Never underestimate what a person might do when hungry.

And as for deaths, they live in a volcano in it's cave systems. Fairly easy to get crushed to death by a cave in or get impaled on a stalagmite in a seismically active spot during a battle to decide ones sitting arrangements for the day.

[Rafe]

In the page #58 discussion, I brought up the metaphorical mask that Matilda was hiding her true feeling behind.  Seeing her reveal some of what she's been keeping to herself was a lot more moving than I'd imagine it would be.  No one is perfect, and besides, flawed characters are much more human and believable.  Matilda may have made some mistakes, but the fact that she has such a conscience and blames herself shows that she values the truth, even if it hurts to think about it.  The fact that she tries not to inflict her feelings onto the people around her (with an occasional exception) shows that she cares about others - and herself, for that matter - enough to ignore her pain as much as she does.

I have to say, I come away from this story with a great amount of respect and sympathy for Matilda.

[katasev]

In the case of an accidental fratricide or just a curious male wanting to check out the outside world, their body language will be considerably less aggressive and confrontational, and they might well get help anyway.

I dunno about that. It's like Matilda said before, the males have been brought up to get what they want through force.

And that worked so well on Matilda's brother, didn't it? He sure displayed all that force Matilda claimed he did when he was consoling her and her sister, or when he turned his back on the insults thrown at him by Kesserk, or when he apparently had also turned down and walked away from every opportunity to issue a challenge against any other males.  Sure, he didn't have a rival sibling, but I sincerely doubt he was the only male born within a year's span so he couldn't have ANYBODY to play-fight with to learn how.

Considering the life they would all have to live to get to that point, all those would at least have been brought up on the same principals. Heck, even Matilda attacked the adventurers at first. Never underestimate what a person might do when hungry.

And as for deaths, they live in a volcano in it's cave systems. Fairly easy to get crushed to death by a cave in or get impaled on a stalagmite in a seismically active spot during a battle to decide ones sitting arrangements for the day.

Not sure where you were going with this.. are you agreeing with me that the adventurers are better warned to steer clear or arguing that no BV Mythos would know how to not be aggressive? Considering the gusto with which Kesserk claws out a new cave home, seems like the insides of the volcano are pretty sturdy.  They also clearly have a culture, valuation of art and beauty, and storytelling, so life can't be all THAT fraught with peril. Besides, if it were just a curious male (and not one exiled) I doubt he'd leave himself outside long enough to starve to death.  Hopefully he'd have the sense to just go back inside.    They obviously know it's the crystals that make it so they don't die, even if they don't know how to eat and not-die without one.

[joshofspam]

Snip!

I was giving a sort of recognition of how more complicated it is then simply all the people that are forced to leave the cave might be more then simply cold blooded killers.

Despite how peaceful their cultures are in everyday affairs. The males still settle disputes like this. In environments like this. That's still risks of being crushed to death or impaled somehow.

No matter how polite they are or how well they dig their cave, that makes the possibility of accidents happening more the greater. So if accidentally killing someone is a more common thing, then it would make sense that quite a few of the males aren't much different personality wise to the males still inside Blue Volcano. Just luckless bastards that did something they weren't trying to do.

But then, even then if the population is so tightly controlled banishment might be imposed for males that go over their number and the females are put to death. This culture may be more peaceful then how Matilda portrayed it, but it's still a culture that kills it's women, solves it's disputes with fighting, and left her brother in such a state that he killed himself.

[ZacAttac21]

In the case of an accidental fratricide or just a curious male wanting to check out the outside world, their body language will be considerably less aggressive and confrontational, and they might well get help anyway.

I dunno about that. It's like Matilda said before, the males have been brought up to get what they want through force.

And that worked so well on Matilda's brother, didn't it? He sure displayed all that force Matilda claimed he did when he was consoling her and her sister, or when he turned his back on the insults thrown at him by Kesserk, or when he apparently had also turned down and walked away from every opportunity to issue a challenge against any other males.  Sure, he didn't have a rival sibling, but I sincerely doubt he was the only male born within a year's span so he couldn't have ANYBODY to play-fight with to learn how.

Ah, but Heshi was an exception to the norm, remember? He was raised differently from all the other males. Two sisters, no brother, never fought 'cuz he didn't have to.

[katasev]

I was giving a sort of recognition of how more complicated it is then simply all the people that are forced to leave the cave might be more then simply cold blooded killers.

Despite how peaceful their cultures are in everyday affairs. The males still settle disputes like this. In environments like this. That's still risks of being crushed to death or impaled somehow.

No matter how polite they are or how well they dig their cave, that makes the possibility of accidents happening more the greater. So if accidentally killing someone is a more common thing, then it would make sense that quite a few of the males aren't much different personality wise to the males still inside Blue Volcano. Just luckless bastards that did something they weren't trying to do.

But then, even then if the population is so tightly controlled banishment might be imposed for males that go over their number and the females are put to death. This culture may be more peaceful then how Matilda portrayed it, but it's still a culture that kills it's women, solves it's disputes with fighting, and left her brother in such a state that he killed himself.

But just killing someone isn't enough to get you exiled, it's only specifically brother murder. And I sincerely doubt that accidental deaths would involve exile either. I think it's technically impossible to become "overpopulated" for them, since the crystals only support so many.  The whole reason the males fight or explore to find new home crystals is in order to either keep their families safe around the current crystal or find another one so they don't die.

Ah, but Heshi was an exception to the norm, remember? He was raised differently from all the other males. Two sisters, no brother, never fought 'cuz he didn't have to.

True, but that's why i was making the point about there surely being other males of similar age to fight with even if he didn't have a blood brother at home.  He may never have HAD to fight, but he certainly could have issued challenges if he wanted to.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Ah, but Heshi was an exception to the norm, remember? He was raised differently from all the other males. Two sisters, no brother, never fought 'cuz he didn't have to.

True, but that's why i was making the point about there surely being other males of similar age to fight with even if he didn't have a blood brother at home.  He may never have HAD to fight, but he certainly could have issued challenges if he wanted to.

That depends. It's entirely possible the entire culture is so small that there were no other families with boys his age/size. We simply don't know.

[joshofspam]

I was giving a sort of recognition of how more complicated it is then simply all the people that are forced to leave the cave might be more then simply cold blooded killers.

Despite how peaceful their cultures are in everyday affairs. The males still settle disputes like this. In environments like this. That's still risks of being crushed to death or impaled somehow.

No matter how polite they are or how well they dig their cave, that makes the possibility of accidents happening more the greater. So if accidentally killing someone is a more common thing, then it would make sense that quite a few of the males aren't much different personality wise to the males still inside Blue Volcano. Just luckless bastards that did something they weren't trying to do.

But then, even then if the population is so tightly controlled banishment might be imposed for males that go over their number and the females are put to death. This culture may be more peaceful then how Matilda portrayed it, but it's still a culture that kills it's women, solves it's disputes with fighting, and left her brother in such a state that he killed himself.

But just killing someone isn't enough to get you exiled, it's only specifically brother murder. And I sincerely doubt that accidental deaths would involve exile either. I think it's technically impossible to become "overpopulated" for them, since the crystals only support so many.  The whole reason the males fight or explore to find new home crystals is in order to either keep their families safe around the current crystal or find another one so they don't die.

Eh, the way the elder said it it, it could be taken either way that he's simply stating it's a crime worthy of banishment or that its the only crime worthy of banishment. In no way did he go in particulars of which he meant.

As for accidental deaths, well are own law system is rather  showing of how "oopsies" don't always give you a free pass. While in other situations it does.

While the crystal and population thing does serve as a mental reminder, it in no ways prevents someone doing something they might regret.

There's no real way to nail down as of yet if all the banished are stone cold killer or not. But one thing has been made perfectly clear, that they are starving, scared and only know of one way to solve a problem which is imprinted by their cultures ways. Matilda knows this from her own experiences and looking back on it all with all her knew experiences and her interview has left little chance for others to receive the same kind of help she received.

[Tuyu]

Sure, he didn't have a rival sibling, but I sincerely doubt he was the only male born within a year's span so he couldn't have ANYBODY to play-fight with to learn how.

I got the impression, from the talk about a brother being a "fair rival", that their culture doesn't do "play-fights". That only a brother would stop fighting short of exhaustion or death.

If this has been brought up before, I missed it, but there is a way back for the exiles--fighting their way back in. (Comic #48) So, an exile who doesn't want to stay an exile will be looking for a fight, and anyone who comes between him and that fight is just an obstacle to be eliminated as quickly as possible.