3346 Like Mother Like Daughter
Happy Anniversary YAFGC!
So despite what the archives say, May 29th was the 14th anniversary of Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic and I missed it /again/. *sigh*
Yes it’s been 14 years since a Beholder creeped on a Goblin in the old Black Mountain and kicked off whatever this is now. Glad you’ve
been enjoying it all these years and thanks for sticking with it!
-Rich “Beholder King” Morris
Oh no.
Too late daddy, or maybe too soon: Anna hadn’t finished fighting off the infection, and seeing her mother die like that? Well, that moments pause was enough for it completely infect her
Whoa. It looks like a last-minute save, but that last panel…I have no idea where this is going to go.
Damn it Rich, you got me *again*! Love it. 😀
While I don’t think Anna is going to fully give in to Ranna’s evil (possibly with the help of Shawn, Vanessa, or Ch’thier snapping her out of it), she might be left with her demonic side revealed, kind of like a scar.
😀
Did Saidrah slap away Anna’s sword with her bare hand?
Yes. And, this is not so fantastical as it may seem. It’s a tactic I’ve used myself in various fencing bouts. With a good hard push you can divert the sword. Just make sure you keep you hand open and shove the flat of the blade. If you’re in close enough you can shove the hand holding the hilt too.
Ooh, are you also a follower of the Lichtenauer school? I am fascinated by what actual historical fighting tactics were like, and admire how you get little details right.
Where in the Archive can I find Anna’s backstory & how she got free of her mother in the first place?
Unfortunately it’s not all in one tidy place. You can find Shawn’s connection waaaay back in "The Great Bardic Challenge". You can learn some of Anna’s history in "The Serpent Awakes". And Ata teaches Lewie about the history of Ranna and Saidrah in "Good or Bad". It’s spread around out there, and not entirely clear all the time.
Oh this isn’t good….
Awkward.
"Hello, my name, is Anna of Shallmar, you killed my mother, prepare to die!"
I mean you don’t have to be human to be good, just be part god and use that power to fuck rannites up.
Also I’m wondering if the uniqueness is that they’re mix of god and mortal at all, or just that it was an actual mix rather than one or the other. Didn’t Llolth plan on having a kid with wolfe earlier in the comic and have it be the eventual new drow queen? So there’s probably other instances of it happening…(Unless I’m totally misremembering). Just maybe the rules of this universe tend to default to the child being just a mortal most of the time.
Lessee if I can remember without having to crack open the ole’ YAFGC Silmarillion….
It’s not clear what happens when gods mix with mortals. We know that Ranna hit on the idea to "upset the balance" and extend her grasp on the world from the ‘afterlife’, but she created a bunch of unstable monsters until she finally got Saidrah. It’s not clear what’s different between her and the others, but Saidrah was special enough to worry the Ch’Thierians. Saidrah somehow ultimately failed anyway (probably during the last Rannite uprising that was foiled by Vanessa and her party), but she had Anna with Shawn who somehow became a new promise for Ranna.
Glon isn’t half-god, but Gruuumsh decided that he was going to influence the genetic blend of Orc and Human to create the ultimate warrior to unite them into a powerful world-conquering army. He doesn’t influence ALL Half-Orcs, but he had two close victories in his attempts. Jone and Glon.
It would appear that Lolth mixed it up with Wolf, but she fled to her netherworld after getting soundly pounded by the Beholder King and banished there by Arachne. So we don’t know how that turned out.
Other than that, there may or may not be other instances of mixed gods/mortals, but it hasn’t been touched upon in the comic thus far.
"What about Lycosa?" is up there with "What about Fluffy the Domestic Griffon?" for things I want to know about.
I really, really, REALLY hope the next words right out of her mouth will be "Thank you." but I doubt it will be that easy 🙁
I’m still hopeful that Anna will fight off mommy’s influence and in the long run will come to terms with her demonic/god side. Maybe Shawn will have to confess who he is to get through to her (Hoping for an ‘I AM your father’ moment). I mean it would be important for him to HELP in saving his girl in contrast to Jone who was lost to madness.
Did the Fox ever KNOW Jone was his daughter? I just binged through a whole lot of the archive and I don’t think that particlar detail was ever touched upon.
Probably a "now I have to kill you Ana, forgive me"
Do we even know that Jone is his daughter? My last read through the archives was 2017-2018, but I don’t recall it was mentioned?
Is it known by the readers when Shawn became the Fox (assuming it does change)? Rich, in addition to alllll else, I must commend you on keeping details straight! Even if you keep a record, it’s still sooo much to cross reference and keep track of!
Jone is the Fox’s daughter according to Goria Whiteeye, her mother.
Whiteeye Tells a Story.
Whether the Fox knows about Jone or not is unclear.
But has The Fox always been Shawn, or is it a Dread Pirate Roberts deal where the title is passed from person to person?
It’s never been clearly stated in the comic. But this strip might leave a clue.
13 Years of YAFGC and 1154 years of Naomi
Even if the Fox wasn’t always Shawn, Shawn IS the father of Anna, and Jone was younger than Anna. So unless there were two Foxes running around at the same time – or maybe a stand-in while Shawn was taking a sabbatical – I’ll stick to my interpretation that Jone was his daughter 😉
I think Shawn has a thing for feisty, non-human ladies with a hint of danger
After rereading that comic, hmmmmm! Lol
Now I’m wondering if Shawn and/or The Fox are the Ch’Thierian equivalent of Saidrah…
And btw Rich, that grin reaction to MDF … Well, I can’t say it’s evil but it seems you enjoy our reactions a little too much lmao Not that you don’t deserve it, but I hope you’re happy with yourself!! :PPP
I’d probably feel conflicted about a person killing my parent that I have a dififcult relationship with.
I’m also kinda feel conflicted about wether I’d like to find out for sure or not.
This seems to mark the first time The Fox was given a name to his secret identity.
This seems to mark the first time The Fox was given a name to his secret identity. Oops forgot we found that out in 2005.
I’m not sure a tracheostomy is enough to kill her, but maybe one from behind is…
A tracheotomy is general fatal when it goes through her spine, or maybe even her brain-stem, first.
0,0 O_O !!!!
Reading this, I feel spring-like- because of so many twists. just WOW!!!!!
On the intellectual side, I remember Saidrah is Anna’s mother, the Fox her father, but not how Vanessa fits in…and it’s wayyy too many options to look for answers in the archives. Guess I’ll just have to reread everything possibly related (no pun intended). Gee, what a shame!!!
Vanessa helped raised Anna, we saw Vanessa holding a child Anna during the last Rannite Uprising. I believe The Fox told Nin that he didn’t just hear about it, that he was there (and fairly sure it did a similar move as here: stab a gorgon from behind)
Guesticus is correct.
During the last Rannite uprising, Anna was /rescued/ from the Ranntes as a small child by Vanessa. The Fox was always on hand to help protect Anna during the whole adventure (It was actually a D&D campaign I ran for several years back in my late 20’s, early 30’s). So Vanessa is basically Anna’s …..foster mother. Her mother, Saidrah had gone crazy and ran off (probably on the run from vengeful and disappointed Rannite Gorgons) and Shawn was close at hand as The Fox, keeping his familial connection to Anna a secret.
For interest’s sake, a scene very much like this one played out near the end of the D&D campaign, with The Fox/Shawn showing up to rescue Anna (then about 12 yrs old) from Saidrah as she tried to lure Anna to embrace her demonic nature. Saidrah didn’t survive that encounter either, but neither did Shawn. He seems to have come out okay in the YAFGC version.
Vanessa and Shawn were PCs. Saidrah had been a PC in an earlier chapter of the /Legends/ saga, but the player decided not to return for the next chapter, and gave me license to finish her story as I saw fit. Anna was an NPC McGuffin.
Well, technically, we as readers don’t yet know that Shawn survives THIS version of the confrontation either. I mean, Anna looks kind of mad there in the last panel…
This was amazing. I really had no idea where it was going to go at several points – and I *still* don’t know what happens *next*.
Panel 12 is… magnificent.
t!
Isn’t it? The violation…the betrayal…the triumph…
"I’m an assassin, it’s what I do."
Close shave but now Anna has doubts about thanking The Fox for killing her mother.
I have a confession. I have as much knowledge of who these people are (in the last 10 comics, not just this one) than captain fang has about trigonometry.
There are a lot of characters to keep track of. Sorry about that.
Fang is quite an expert in trigonometry – the only problem is that it is the non-euclidean kind.
Why did I never notice until now that Saidrah pretty much named her kid after her own dear old mum?
"The ‘R’ is silent. And invisible."
Like how Rick from "The Young Ones" had a silent ‘P’ at the start of his name
For those readers who do not live in the U.S.A. this "Us vs. Them" thing is happening all over now. The country is burning. Pity we don’t have a Ch’Thier to calm us all down. Truth is often stranger than fiction.
Why bring politiucs into this?
It is not happening where I live, and if you ask 99% of the people here who do not belive everythng they see on TV, same answer.
But the problem we do have is people who bring politics into EVERYTHING.
Just sayin’…
While I agree that this isn’t the proper forum for political discussion, I think sticking your head in the sand and pretending your country isn’t sinking in a mire of shocking racism and scandalous ignorance is probably not the best way to deal with it.
But since you suggested it, let’s have a quick poll. Who here, specifically those of you readers who are living in the US right now, believe that all the news about corruption in the American police force, the violence, the clearly self-absorbed and mind-numbingly dangerous decisions being made by the American lower primate of a president are almost entirely invented by the media and everything in that country is really calm, peaceful and good?
It’s telling that my immediate response to this question is "Whoah…whoah…let’s not malign lower primates by association! Most of them are far too intelligent to abuse spray-tan like that…"
Not in the US, but have several close friends there. I have heard first hand reports from them, one of them lives in Madison, Wisconsin and works as a delivery driver. He’s been having to drive around the riots and looting, and has had to have pulled his pistol on one rioter who decided to get into his face for waving at a police officer.
Disclosure: US citizen, Anglo cis bi female living in the South. I’d venture to say that easily 90% (if not more) of the issues in the the current spotlight will not directly impact me, but I cannot deny that they are real & that I have witnessed them get worse/more apparent as I have aged. The current national leadership, IMO, is displaying that it is incredibly lacking in human empathy, experience in administration of more than a floundering lemonade stand, and is too blinded by ego to solicit or accept help from any quarter. Nothing in this country has been "really calm, peaceful, and good," for far longer than this presidential term, but I do feel this President’s bias is exacerbating existing wounds that need far more than cosmetic dressing to heal.
Likewise, letting folks know a little something about the person behind the fox/pooka. I’m a 65 year-old, gay, cis male [he/him] born and still living in the U.S.A.
In spite of what our current president says, it is not fake news. The news media has been reporting accurately about the lies and falsehoods that this man and those around him have been committing.
I have been around long enough to have seen the riots of the ’60s. I am disgusted that the racism and bigotry that caused those riots have barely changed some 50 years later. What sickens me is that instead of having a leader in this country that tries to calm the anger, instead fans the flames.
In the last 4 years we have had a president who has done nothing to try and bring this country together, who has been focused only on himself. Who can bear no criticism without flying into a multi-Tweet rage.
And now, with a pandemic that has taken over 100,000 lives in this country, unemployment levels not seen since the Great Depression, he continues to try and distract people from his failures and inability, his ineptitude in handling these situations.
These are tough times. The presidency is one of, if not the most, difficult of jobs. It’s a job that requires great character, knowledge, ability, and, the willingness to listen to others, among many other traits. Mr. Trump has none of that.
We can do better than this, and I hope we will. We need someone who will bring us together, who will call us to our better natures. We have had someone like that, and at a worse time in our country’s history. This quote is from Abraham Lincoln’s first inaugural address on March 4, 1861. The country was just at the beginning of the Civil War, a time when we couldn’t be farther apart, he was trying to call us back together. Here’s a portion of what he said:
"I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature"
Rich, my apologies for being so long winded.
Not a US citizen but can’t keep quiet anyway. Whoever denies the underlying problems with racism (specifically with but not limited to the police) might as well be a flat earther from where I’m standing – about the same level of reality denying powers.
", I think sticking your head in the sand and pretending your country isn’t sinking in a mire of shocking racism and scandalous ignorance is probably not the best way to deal with it."
Wow.
Great to hear that the USA is such a shithole. Compared to Iran, Russian, China, India, Brazil Indonesia, or any of a handful of nations of comprable size and complexity.
We who are required to understand everyoen and everything don’t get much of that from anyone else in the world.
IMHO- the problem of abusive Police is HUGE in this country and it must be ended. A nations with a conviction rate higher than North Korea has a problem, and anything that focuses solely on the racial aspect of it is a smoke-screen that shields the real issue.
We are in danger of losing our Republic to Authoritarianism.
Does anyone care?
And no, I don’t think that niding from the problem is every a good idea. All is said is that I have seen nothing like that here, a county of 200,000 people on the California border, nor has there been anything within hundreds of miles of my location.
“Great to hear that the USA is such a shithole.”
Sorry if the truth hurts. But your shithole country doesn’t have to be. The first step is not pretending that it’s okay because there are other countries that also suck.
“All is said is that I have seen nothing like that here, a county of 200,000 people on the California border, nor has there been anything within hundreds of miles of my location.”
Yeah? That shit’s happening a lot further away from me and I’m shocked and concerned. Also, the dumb shit your country gets up to influences and spills into other countries. We’ve been having similar problems my side of the border way over in Toronto. And I don’t like it. Why are you so fucking relaxed?
I can be relaxed, let’s call in calm (a good thing in times of crisis…. or so I have heard) for several reasons.
The Media has been lying to me for years, and I know that as long as Blood sells, they will feature only the very worst of everything.
I also do not belive that everything in the entire world is NOT my fault, and there is nothing that is inherently evil about me because of how or where I was born.
And, because it is healthier for me, and for everyone else.
These truths were once self-evident.
Something that troubles me is the institutionalization of anti-American thought, policy and propaganda. Our withdrawal from the world looks more inevitable every day, and why not?
No, I was not comparing the US to other countries that suck, I was comparing it to the only other ones of a similar size and complexity.
As I said.
Now, if I wanted to pick on other nations, I could start with Canada.
After all, you guys could have had British culture, French cuisine and Amerian technology. Instead you went with French technocracy, British cuisine and Ameircan culture.
And WE are the ones that screwed up?
Yes, I am trying to deal with this with humor, it seems to be a better option than running outside and looking for someone to shoot, beat or burn down.
Agreed?
Now I remember why I didn’t miss you Phaing.
I don’t live in the US, but the whole Situation with the pandemic, the growing fear of being helpless against the state and its forces, can be felt everywhere.
While Corona is a fearsome sickness, a lot of people have used it as a Kind of weapon to further their cause. In germany those are People with malicious ambitions, who we thought were just a little minority, but have grown through times where we supported other countries with financial backup (Greece, Italy) and took up a Lot of refugees. Now they tell people that the government is taking their Jobs (which is bullcrap, as anybody will find work if he tries), their Money (again bullshit, as we still pay for the crimes of our grandfathers, support for our old and never really felt that – cause the core of our system is great) and their Freedom with corona-rules (no big groups in public, staying at 6ft range, wearing protective Masks and washing hands).
They dont have the power like your president, but they stir up fear, distrust and animosity.
It seems like the World sets back to darker times and i still hope we’ll find a way to stop it. I wish you guys over in the US the best of luck with getting rid of this ignorant f*** you have as a president and with ridding your police/justice of racists, or utterly violent People, who don’t know where to stop.
Nothing political about this post at all. I am saying that my country is being torn apart by an ‘us vs. them’ scenario EXACTLY like what is happening in the comic and then saying it’s a pity we don’t have Ch’Thier to help calm things down. The point of my post is that a webcomic about fantasy characters living fantastical lives sometimes cannot compete with events occurring in the real world. On the same day, riots are tearing apart cities, astronauts launch into space on a new type of reusable rocket and there is still a pandemic covering the entire globe. If this were a movie, nobody would watch it because it’s too overly dramatic.
I didn’t read your original post as political, but as societal, and as a wish that things will end healthier than they are now. And I agree, both with who’d’a thunk so much would be going on now and that having Ch’Thier to help would be fantastic (pun intended).
It’s one of the reasons I read/watch sci-fi and fantasy- the alternate viewpoints, the possible solutions, the issues affecting us, a way to see what is occuring- all and more are included. And THIS particular webcomic as a whole has so much to say and teach about us-vs-them without becoming pendantic or boring.
Btw, the city closest to where i live (45 minutes away) was looted and violent protesting to the point where that county has an 8pm curfew (I’m 49 and we ‘d never had a curfew before), but my large town/city has a 300 person protest that was very peaceable, and the police understood it was meant to be peaceable, and didn’t instigate, antagonize, or violate any rights of the spontaneous protesters. In fact, a few cops joined. This is also true in Miami, where many officers also took a knee while in uniform.
i live in upstate NY. The Miami I meant is the one in florida. i know it’s a large geographical distance apart, but the distance seems further between my city and the one 20 miles away
p!enapple, I also live in upstate NY, western NY to be a bit more accurate, and I am pretty sure I live in the county you were talking about.
I was not near where the violence and looting occurred. I’m glad that your town’s protest remained peaceful. The talk from officials is that a lot of the vandalism and violence was caused by outsiders.
One positive note, though, is that on Sunday, around 2000 people volunteered to help clean up around the downtown area. Through all this, we have to remember there are more good people around than bad.
A very thoughtful post…. I have little to add to that. However, I do have a link to a vid that is wqually thoughtful.
(I can do that here, right? If not just scrub it. I was actually happy when I looked in the morning and saw most of this was gone)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y21TGmzHHjk&t=910s
This will not end well.
In all senses of that phrase
There will not be a hole in the ground with water in it.
He’s not wrong, Aaron.
I would like to be spared another drought, this year of all years.
t!
Well, assuming this is the big event that had magic drained from the world, it might revert to a case of "my father killed my mother, and as much as I hate her, it leaves me conflicted." We are leaving behind the last of the world being divided into "good" and "evil", and into the modern era of complex, conflicting, and always inadequate motives.
It… always was complex