Anguirus wrote:I dunno, I like Blackwing but his sudden verbosity feels a little deus ex machina. Like a recurring gag turned author mouthpiece.
I agree, but for now I'm reading it as an externalization of the rationalizing V (at least, relatively well rested calm V) would already be doing, like the cliché (but particularly distractable) shoulder-angel.
Edit: I agree on the "Funny for now, at least" part too, that probably didn't come across with the cut-down direct quote/response.
To me it looks like Blackwing could be a device to show the audience that V's character is growing without the other PCs realising it.
That way you'd have the dichotomy of Belkar's character remaining more or less stagnant (but everyone thinking he's changed) while V's character actually undergoes serious development with the others remaining more or less oblivious. The two character arcs would work well together.
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- Darth Wong Free Durian - Last updated 27 Dec
"Why does it look like you are in China or something?" - havokeff
Lusankya wrote:To me it looks like Blackwing could be a device to show the audience that V's character is growing without the other PCs realising it.
That way you'd have the dichotomy of Belkar's character remaining more or less stagnant (but everyone thinking he's changed) while V's character actually undergoes serious development with the others remaining more or less oblivious. The two character arcs would work well together.
I hadn't thought about that, but that is a good juxtaposition.
I'm viewing the Blackwing-V interaction as something that could have been there the entire time. It's a running gag that V has ignored Blackwing since receiving him and now you are very quickly seeing the price V paid for that. Everything is still in the vein of V learning from past mistakes and achieving true power by embracing others.
Well, in a visual medium, you usually need some kind of device to externalise internal rationalisations. You'll notice that in movie/tv adaptions of books that involve a lot of self-reflection, they'll often introduce a new character solely to act as a soundboard for the main character's emotions (as an example, there's the anime adaption of Twelve Kingdoms). This is because it's boring to see a character doing nothing but sit around thinking about their past mistakes and future plans.
You might have noticed that when Belkar was making his decision to pretend to be [good] so that things would work out better for him in the long run, his internal thought process was represented by a hallucination of Lord Shojo. Blackwing serves the same purpose, except since V's character growth story arc is likely to take longer than Belkar's, we'll see Blackwing around a lot more.
"I would say that the above post is off-topic, except that I'm not sure what the topic of this thread is, and I don't think anybody else is sure either."
- Darth Wong Free Durian - Last updated 27 Dec
"Why does it look like you are in China or something?" - havokeff
"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs." - John Rogers
Photography Genius is always allowed some leeway, once the hammer has been pried from its hands and the blood has been cleaned up.
To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.
Zixinus wrote:I think that this strip could have used a bit of editing. Haley should have been able to sum up her reasons in a few sentences.
I think that would have ruined the personality behind the message. She trying to be open about why she finds it so hard to be open, yes it could be covered in a few lines but that would make a nonsense of what was being said.
I'm not sure if that last bit made any sense at all
Nah, it's perfect - if you every tried to start a talk about a complicated issue with someone who is on a completely differnet wavelenght than you - that's how it will sound.
I liked it.
SoS:NBAGALE Force "Destiny and fate are for those too weak to forge their own futures. Where we are 'supposed' to be is irrelevent." - Sir Nitram
"The world owes you nothing but painful lessons" - CaptainChewbacca
"The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of a mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one." - Wilhelm Stekel
"In 1969 it was easier to send a man to the Moon than to have the public accept a homosexual" - Broomstick Divine Administration - of Gods and Bureaucracy (Worm/Exalted)
I didn't notice that Haley was too bad in this one. Excessive text is pretty much OotS's standard format.
Edit: Dumb Question time! I don't recall Haley ever really being disloyal to the Order in the past? Or really giving Roy reason to think she'll skip off at anytime.
That's because he's not pretending to not be an asshole. He's pretending to not be evil.
"I would say that the above post is off-topic, except that I'm not sure what the topic of this thread is, and I don't think anybody else is sure either."
- Darth Wong Free Durian - Last updated 27 Dec
"Why does it look like you are in China or something?" - havokeff
"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs." - John Rogers
Solauren wrote:I'm not really sure Belkar is evil any more. I'm wondering if the mark of justice made him 'Chaotic Neutral' instead.
Did you miss the whole dream sequence with Shojo? Belkar is very much still Evil. His alignment just shifted from Stupid Genocidal Evil to Smart Manipulative Evil. Frankly, I think that makes him far more dangerous in the long term.
Solauren wrote:I'm not really sure Belkar is evil any more. I'm wondering if the mark of justice made him 'Chaotic Neutral' instead.
Did you miss the whole dream sequence with Shojo? Belkar is very much still Evil. His alignment just shifted from Stupid Genocidal Evil to Smart Manipulative Evil. Frankly, I think that makes him far more dangerous in the long term.
Solauren wrote:I'm not really sure Belkar is evil any more. I'm wondering if the mark of justice made him 'Chaotic Neutral' instead.
Did you miss the whole dream sequence with Shojo? Belkar is very much still Evil. His alignment just shifted from Stupid Genocidal Evil to Smart Manipulative Evil. Frankly, I think that makes him far more dangerous in the long term.
Maybe, maybe not. Remember that Belkar will soon "breathe his last," so we'll see just how much evil he has time for before biting it.
Solauren wrote:I'm not really sure Belkar is evil any more. I'm wondering if the mark of justice made him 'Chaotic Neutral' instead.
Did you miss the whole dream sequence with Shojo? Belkar is very much still Evil. His alignment just shifted from Stupid Genocidal Evil to Smart Manipulative Evil. Frankly, I think that makes him far more dangerous in the long term.
Maybe, maybe not. Remember that Belkar will soon "breathe his last," so we'll see just how much evil he has time for before biting it.
Or becoming an undead or outsider.
Photography Genius is always allowed some leeway, once the hammer has been pried from its hands and the blood has been cleaned up.
To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.
