10/24/09 [AS2 #73] - Unique Situation

[techmaster-glitch]

Man, Kria looks kinda sad here... like she definitely knows that this is going to be a painful experience for everyone (Abel meeting his mom, I mean).

I'm not really surprised that Zinvth authorities chose Kria for this job, but I wonder how exactly she is going to "validate" Abel? A question? A spell? We'll see tomorrow...

(Although, if they did choose Kria based on her connection to Abel, they had to figure that out. I wonder why they never figured out she was part of that Being massacre way back when, and if they did, why don't they care?)

[Baal Hadad]

Man, Kria looks kinda sad here... like she definitely knows that this is going to be a painful experience for everyone (Abel meeting his mom, I mean).

I'm not really surprised that Zinvth authorities chose Kria for this job, but I wonder how exactly she is going to "validate" Abel? A question? A spell? We'll see tomorrow...

(Although, if they did choose Kria based on her connection to Abel, they had to figure that out. I wonder why they never figured out she was part of that Being massacre way back when, and if they did, why don't they care?)

Wow--I am kicking myself for not seeing this coming....   

It did not occur to me AT ALL that they'd try to "validate" Abel but why NOT, when his father is a known shapeshifter???

I suppose the thing I should find odd is that Kria mentioned the shirt/shoes policy with a straight face....  How did she get LESS serious over the years, I wonder...?

[Garsemor]

Ok, seing as this page seams to be sad I shal point out that Fa'lina has changed outfits again. Enjoye .

[Lego3400]

O.o Not who I was expeccting to see.... And Fa'lina DID change outfits. I almost missed that. She must be shifting to create them or something..... *cough*

[Lisky]

anyone else notice how huge both these women seem to be compared to Abel?  I mean, Kria is about a half-head taller than Abel, and Fa'Lina is a whole head taller than her... dear gawd, Fa' must be a freaking giant

[MT Hazard]

anyone else notice how huge both these women seem to be compared to Abel?  I mean, Kria is about a half-head taller than Abel, and Fa'Lina is a whole head taller than her... dear gawd, Fa' must be a freaking giant

Distance is also a factor in the last panel but Fa'lina is huge compared to most other characters, something she probably does intentionally to assert her authority. 

[Tapewolf]

Well that certainly changes the dynamics of the relationship between Abel and Kria.  It may perhaps be why we haven't seen them meet in the mainline comic yet.
Even worse is if Abel fails validation and is denied access to his dying mother.  I can imagine that kind of grudge lasting a long, long time.

[Nyomi]

Well that certainly changes the dynamics of the relationship between Abel and Kria.  It may perhaps be why we haven't seen them meet in the mainline comic yet.
Even worse is if Abel fails validation and is denied access to his dying mother.  I can imagine that kind of grudge lasting a long, long time.

There is also the possibility that he passes validation but by the time he gets to his mother, she is already gone, which would have similar results. I'm going to hold out hope that he passes, though. Can't think of too many ways for him to fail at the moment.

[Tapewolf]

There is also the possibility that he passes validation but by the time he gets to his mother, she is already gone, which would have similar results. I'm going to hold out hope that he passes, though. Can't think of too many ways for him to fail at the moment.

I was going to list a few possible reasons, but all I can think of now is Kria standing between Abel and his mother saying "Enter the 4th word in the 5th paragraph of page 23 of the manual".

[Sid]

Never thought I'd see the day where Kria looked short compared to someone else...

Even worse is if Abel fails validation and is denied access to his dying mother.  I can imagine that kind of grudge lasting a long, long time.

That would be a major jerk move by Kria (even if she meant well). If that happened, I'd actually love to see them meet in Main DMFA, if just for closure. But I think that this will be more of a solemn mini-arc and not one full of rage. Then again, I didn't check any of the previous threads, so I may have missed any "Prepare for lots and lots of blood and screaming" warnings Amber may have given.

I was going to list a few possible reasons, but all I can think of now is Kria standing between Abel and his mother saying "Enter the 4th word in the 5th paragraph of page 23 of the manual".

"Man, it's written in black on dark grey paper... hold on, I need more light..."

[Sunblink]

Yeesh, Kria. Way to be a major ice queen.

As for determining Abel's identity, I just think they're gonna check his arms. His clan marking is on his back and Aniz's was on his forearm, and since Abel isn't wearing any gear that would hide a hypothetical clan mark confirming his legitimacy would be easy.

[Tapewolf]

As for determining Abel's identity, I just think they're gonna check his arms. His clan marking is on his back and Aniz's was on his forearm, and since Abel isn't wearing any gear that would hide a hypothetical clan mark confirming his legitimacy would be easy.

Unless he's had the new mark tattooed on his back and painted over the arm.  And assuming that they know the significance of the marks.
Then you've got the problem of whether Aniz has read and studied kid-Abel's thoughts to a degree that he could answer any question Kria throws at him about his youth...

[Succubus_1982]

anyone else notice how huge both these women seem to be compared to Abel?  I mean, Kria is about a half-head taller than Abel, and Fa'Lina is a whole head taller than her... dear gawd, Fa' must be a freaking giant

Obviously Fa'lina's mother had an affair with a great dane 

Yeesh, Kria. Way to be a major ice queen.

I don't think she's intentionally being an ice-queen just that the mood calls for one to be solemn and respectful and also she is here in an official post. I think personally though she is trying to keep things direct and official so as to keep Abel's mind occupied and not languishing in grief. Even if that means he has to think she's a bitch, in the process. She's Abel's mental anchor so to speak, keeping him grounded. It just seems like a weird position for her to be in because we only normally see her being wacky. However as a creature she can probably shut her emotions on and off fairly easily when the need arises.

What I'm trying to say is in this scenario Fa'lina is the warm comforting motherly one but Kria is the actual firm support to keep him from really crumbling or going crazy. If Abel gets hysterical it'll definitely be Kria who stops him. In a way she's acting in the 'Daddy' role. Encouraging him to be strong and 'man' about it. Well imo anyway. 

[Sunblink]

I just read over the comic again. When Kria said "Cubi trickery" I thought I read a bit of contempt in there. Is she prejudiced against Cubi? She didn't seem to be in the recent comic strips, but Amber mentioned that Creatures tend to view Cubi as cowards.

Unless he's had the new mark tattooed on his back and painted over the arm.  And assuming that they know the significance of the marks.
Then you've got the problem of whether Aniz has read and studied kid-Abel's thoughts to a degree that he could answer any question Kria throws at him about his youth...

If she uses the clan marking as a means of identification, quizzing Abel with personal questions wouldn't be necessary. If this is going to be a serious inspection, then there's probably an easy way for Kria to determine that the clan marking is legitimate. I'd reckon a spell of some kind.

...Or, unless the paint is really strong stuff, she could just scrub it off.

My personal theory is that Abel's going to be able to see his mom, otherwise there will probably be a few loose ends left untied.

...

What I'm trying to say is in this scenario Fa'lina is the warm comforting motherly one but Kria is the actual firm support to keep him from really crumbling or going crazy. If Abel gets hysterical it'll definitely be Kria who stops him. In a way she's acting in the 'Daddy' role. Encouraging him to be strong and 'man' about it. Well imo anyway. 

These are all good points, but I'm not sure that Kria is being so serious for Abel's emotional benefit due to the skeptical quotation marks placed around his name. I guess most of her apprehension stems from the fact she's not even sure if Abel is the real Abel. Not sure how her attitude will change if she's certain that he's the real one, seeing as their last encounter wasn't very pleasant.

(Although, if they did choose Kria based on her connection to Abel, they had to figure that out. I wonder why they never figured out she was part of that Being massacre way back when, and if they did, why don't they care?)

My guess is that Kria's involvement was never brought to light because Kria and her unknown teacher let Selev and his brother take the fall for the massacre.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Distance is also a factor in the last panel but Fa'lina is huge compared to most other characters, something she probably does intentionally to assert her authority.  

Maybe. Maybe not. She might be shrinking herself; remember how big Cyra is. (albeit that was dream territory, so may well be different again...)

I was going to list a few possible reasons, but all I can think of now is Kria standing between Abel and his mother saying "Enter the 4th word in the 5th paragraph of page 23 of the manual".

"Man, it's written in black on dark grey paper... hold on, I need more light..."

"What a silly manual. All it says is 'HASTUR HASTUR HASTUR', over and over again..."

[Tapewolf]

I just read over the comic again. When Kria said "Cubi trickery" I thought I read a bit of contempt in there. Is she prejudiced against Cubi? She didn't seem to be in the recent comic strips, but Amber mentioned that Creatures tend to view Cubi as cowards.

Judging from her reaction to Dan and Lorenda I would say that she's got over it.  Bear in mind that in Zinvth they have fairly recently had a major diplomatic issue with 'Cubi (i.e. Aniz running amok).  It took centuries of negotiation for Jin's clan to get close to being able to open a hospital, a project which Aniz has basically set back to square one.

In other words, 'Cubi don't seem particularly welcome in Zinvth at that point in time.

As you say, it seems clear she doesn't believe Abel is real.  Whether she'll suddenly become more pleasant and sympathetic once Abel has convinced her, or whether his race alone has negated all the love she once had for him is something that remains to be seen.

[Lucheek]

Man, Kria sure does get around in this plot.

[Succubus_1982]

...

What I'm trying to say is in this scenario Fa'lina is the warm comforting motherly one but Kria is the actual firm support to keep him from really crumbling or going crazy. If Abel gets hysterical it'll definitely be Kria who stops him. In a way she's acting in the 'Daddy' role. Encouraging him to be strong and 'man' about it. Well imo anyway. 

These are all good points, but I'm not sure that Kria is being so serious for Abel's emotional benefit due to the skeptical quotation marks placed around his name. I guess most of her apprehension stems from the fact she's not even sure if Abel is the real Abel. Not sure how her attitude will change if she's certain that he's the real one, seeing as their last encounter wasn't very pleasant

That is very true. I guess I'm biased to support Kria because I'm such a huge fangirl of her as a character 

Man, Kria sure does get around in this plot.

That's because she's awesome and Amber knows this and must show the appropriate worship. 

[Aracia]

I'd like to point out that back on the day of the massacre, when Kria gave Abel her amulet, she said she'd come by his house later. If she kept her word, I imagine she was unpleasantly surprised at what she found there. She may have found out what happened right then from May's mouth and the...evidence all over the kitchen floor. Kria would know that Aniz did it and took Abel away.

As you say, it seems clear she doesn't believe Abel is real.  Whether she'll suddenly become more pleasant and sympathetic once Abel has convinced her, or whether his race alone has negated all the love she once had for him is something that remains to be seen.

It would be safe to think that Kria is being cold at the moment because there is a possibility that Aniz disguised as Abel is standing in front of her. After whatever she does to verify Abel is done, I would expect her to soften quite a bit.

[tiggertoo]

I just read over the comic again. When Kria said "Cubi trickery" I thought I read a bit of contempt in there. Is she prejudiced against Cubi? She didn't seem to be in the recent comic strips, but Amber mentioned that Creatures tend to view Cubi as cowards.

It seems to me that most creatures have an attitude that one should always be proud of one's accomplishments and name (though many seem quite value neutral as to the *nature* of those accomplishments). Kria is rather strongly disapproving of Aliph running around as "Dark Pegasus" after all - she thinks that you should always have your real name attached to your deeds.

There does seem to be a strong sense of honor of a sort involved with all of this. This could answer a couple of points that have puzzled me. When they find Aaryanna originally they simply take her word that she hasn't been ravaging the countryside (which was true). When Dan meets Kria he quite directly comes out with who he is and what he's there to do, which I thought was not exactly a wise course of action and put it down to Dan being Dan. Now I think it was Dan knowing his audience - that Kria would respect such honesty and directness. Since the typical Cubi strengths are based on deception, I can see why Kria (and most other creatures) would be less that thrilled -- and Aniz really threw a huge monkeywrench into the works. It's a wonder Fa'lina didn't simply ship pieces of Aniz to all those who wanted some when he showed up with Abel at the Academy.

About the only things that Kria does seem to be serious about (mostly) are her family and, since her family was one of the founding families, her city.

[Alondro]

Hmm, Kria seems to have... how to put it... de-matured as she got older.  She went from this stolid, elegant, schooled figure to a lusty, murderous whore who has even eyes for her daughter's bishi boyfriend-in-training.

Clearly, she was kidnapped and brainwashed by Charline.   

[Succubus_1982]

Hmm, Kria seems to have... how to put it... de-matured as she got older.  She went from this stolid, elegant, schooled figure to a lusty, murderous whore who has even eyes for her daughter's bishi boyfriend-in-training.

Clearly, she was kidnapped and brainwashed by Charline.   

Hey! Kria is not a whore! She's a Lady of the Night  (yes I know same thing, but the other sounds classier)

[KarlOmega1]

I was gonna mention Fa'lina's change in outfit, but i guess someone beat me to the punch...However, I do wonder how she did it mid-warp? The last comic strip was mostly dark. Can she even see in the dark?

Anyway, I understand where Kria's going with this...Cubi can shapeshift into other people and I don't blame the city or her for being skeptical.

[ChaosMageX]

Hmm, Kria seems to have... how to put it... de-matured as she got older.  She went from this stolid, elegant, schooled figure to a lusty, murderous whore who has even eyes for her daughter's bishi boyfriend-in-training.

Clearly, she was kidnapped and brainwashed by Charline.  

I know, it's really weird how the maturity of creatures seems to "fluctuate".

The first time we saw her, she was in her early 30s, and acting like a being of about the same age.

We see her now, and she's in her early 70s, and acting like a very wizened individual, just like a being of about the same age.

I'm thinking that creatures start to loose little bits of their sanity as they pass into beyond-being ages, and a number of factors contribute to this, such as watching the beings they grew up with grow old and die all around them.

Now that Abel is watching his one mother die while he's still stuck in his twenties, his sanity will start breaking down little by little as well, and he'll turn into the Abel we all know and love from the main comic.

Edit: Also, with this page, along with this page, we're finally able to make a height chart of DMFA's tallest characters.

[Baal Hadad]

I'd like to point out that back on the day of the massacre, when Kria gave Abel her amulet, she said she'd come by his house later. If she kept her word, I imagine she was unpleasantly surprised at what she found there. She may have found out what happened right then from May's mouth and the...evidence all over the kitchen floor. Kria would know that Aniz did it and took Abel away.

As you say, it seems clear she doesn't believe Abel is real.  Whether she'll suddenly become more pleasant and sympathetic once Abel has convinced her, or whether his race alone has negated all the love she once had for him is something that remains to be seen.

It would be safe to think that Kria is being cold at the moment because there is a possibility that Aniz disguised as Abel is standing in front of her. After whatever she does to verify Abel is done, I would expect her to soften quite a bit.

Uh-oh--May isn't going to become an undead, is she...?

[Tapewolf]

Uh-oh--May isn't going to become an undead, is she...?

Doubtful.  Firstly it would feel a bit of a cop-out, secondly even if Kria was willing to misuse the corpse of someone she seems to have had a bit of a soft-spot for, I don't think DP had the whole soul-binding bit down pat yet at this point in time.  So it probably wouldn't really be her.

[Jigsaw Forte]

Hmm, Kria seems to have... how to put it... de-matured as she got older.  She went from this stolid, elegant, schooled figure to a lusty, murderous whore who has even eyes for her daughter's bishi boyfriend-in-training.

This hardly surprises me.

As people get older (past mid-life), they stop giving so much of a crap and just start having a good time. This is why your grandparents give you the types of toys your parents would never buy and start doing more pleasure-seeking things like going on cruises and such.

A few hundred years of having a stick up my ass and I'd start hacking off heads for fun and profit too.

[Baal Hadad]

Uh-oh--May isn't going to become an undead, is she...?

Doubtful.  Firstly it would feel a bit of a cop-out, secondly even if Kria was willing to misuse the corpse of someone she seems to have had a bit of a soft-spot for, I don't think DP had the whole soul-binding bit down pat yet at this point in time.  So it probably wouldn't really be her.

I was kind of joking--I was just reminded of the fact that Kria did have Devin revived as an undead....

[Shirou14]

I am actually curious, Kria appears in so many places, I wonder if she has more to do with this story than she appears to.

[Rambon]

Honestly, this is now making me wonder about what would happen if Kira and Abel met in the main timeline even more now.