3389 Agaera Exits
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Here’s yesterday’s strip!
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I officially have a YAFGC patreon!
https://www.patreon.com/YAFGCRich
Here’s yesterday’s strip!
Dammit. She got away!
I bet she’ll be back to cause more trouble… =_=
As such, I like the idea her getting away. A well written story also needs well written villains, and its not a bad thing, if one doesn’t have to come up with new ones for every "episode". And we lost quite some well written villains during this war.
I love it when my villains get away.
Especially when the players realize it is their own fault.
Are the DM’s dead? Or just knocked out?
Knocked out would be my guess. The godtrap seems to have put to sleep everyone still alive on the battlefield, and there are no enemies nearby to suggest that these DMs went down fighting before the trap sprung.
In which case, Agaera’s "my army’s gone!" could mean…
(a) She’s jumping to conclusions,
(b) She can see that the DMs are out of commission for now, and has no reason to assume they’l wake up before her enemies do, or
(c) and most hopefully, she has reason to think that without Ranna’s ongoing influence and power, their brainwashing will not hold.
"Put to sleep" would be euphemism – I think it knocked out everyone and many would have concussion from that.
And I would assume something between "a" and "b". She sees that the DMs are out of commission and assume they are in worse shape than they actually are. She may not think they are all dead, but she may overestimate how long would take them to get to fighting shape.
Or she questions how loyal would they still remain. All these extremly evil, likely selfish people were united under the banner of Ranna. Will they still hold together after she is gone? There is no allmighty, all-cruel being now, to hold them in line…
> I think it knocked out everyone and many
> would have concussion from that.
…and now that you’ve said that, I cannot see the chapter title as reading anything other than "Concussions".
You only really get a concussion if you hit your head hard enough to ‘black out’
Not true at all. If it were the force of the recent blast that knocked everyone out — and if we were to apply real-world physics and physiology, rather than narrative convention — then you’d expect everyone on the scene to have varying degrees of traumatic brain injury.
The "shell-shocked" soldiers of WWI weren’t suffering only from psychological trauma; many of them came back brain-damaged even if the shrapnel from those nearby blasts never touched them. It remains true for soldiers today. And don’t get me started on one particularly odious commander-in-chief dismissing his veterans’ TBIs as "headaches".
Fortunately for our lovable cast of cartoon characters, they ARE cartoon characters, and can bounce back more easily. That, and it might not be a physical blast wave that knocked them out at all, but some sort of powerful sleep-enchantment side effect of the arcane godtrap.
They *appear* to have simply fallen over (or down), rather than been knocked flying by a physical blast
As you pointed out, it could have simply been a ‘knock-out’ spell side-effect of whatever it was that hit Ranna
I’m no medical expert (or expert of any kind), just have never heard of a concussion being produced by something other than a physical blow
in the real world may – however their world has ‘magic’ which could easily supercede any laws of phyiscs if Rich wanted it to
That was one crazy Yom Kippur!
*hands you a plate of cheese blintzes* such a good comment deserves this
I love the detail of the one lone snake who wakes up first, while all the other sleep on even as Agaera’s main brain comes back online. Until a shot of adrenaline from the main body jolts every snake awake!
Totally! It’s cute, and then hilarious.
t!
Agree.
Snake periscope is a thing of serious beauty.
It is. And you know my fondness for snakes and gorgons.
While I know Gorgons as a whole are going to be personae non gratae in these parts, I still enjoy the thought of a Gorgons resting her head in my lap and letting me pet her ‘hair’. ❤️?
That…is an image of gorgons that, despite being married to you for fifteen years, I had not known lived in your thoughts, my dear! <3
I like your mind. Just sayin’. (P.S.: Happy anniversary, in another hour!)
Omygawd SQUEEEE! Happy anniversary you two!!!! *Bakes you two extra special goodies to celebrate*
Awww, thank you, P!enapple (and mucat)! It’s been a wonderful fifteen years (and two and a half prior to the wedding) together, and over celebratory anniversary barbecue, we discussed gorgons at length, and furthermore, agreed that we need to start a RennFaire-circuit medieval-instruments metal band called Parseltöngue Periscope, complete with extraneous umlaut.
Happy Anniversary, Leorin and Rancourt! Warmest wishes for many, many more happy years together. ?
For your band, have you considered a snake sock puppet for your lead singer? ?
Aww, thank you, T-Chall! (And if Parseltöngue Periscope *doesn’t* have a sock puppet snake lead singer, I don’t want to play guitar for it anymore!)
At least one of the victors would vouch for Nelussa, though she might decide to make herself scarce anyway to avoid misunderstandings.
Nelussa doesn’t seem like the cuddly sort…but it would be kinda hilarious if she declined your offer, only to have her snakes insist on it because they want to get pet.
Maybe she could turn back those, who got stoned (like Sir Catianus)… Provided they are still in one piece. Otherwise it wouldn’t be too nice…
Eventhough, I’m sure she would find people, who would like to have the pieces. As I’ve heard, Bob makes a rather good stew out of elves, and like that he could spare the time on chopping the meat. After the victory a feast is due anyway… >:D
Barb has mentioned unpetrifying stored humanoids as dinner "guests" before, though I don’t know if beholders can unstone any petrified creature, or only victims of their own eye-rays. We may find out soon!
And happy anniversary to Leorin and Rancourt!
On top of all that, her direction of travel could be viewed as "Head for the hills!"
It’s amazing how *different* she looks when her hair is asleep.
t!
Yes! And also in the third panel — I had no idea that the Lady of Pain was really an emotionally-degaussing gorgon…
Insert Kirby’s Gourmet Race sounds
There she goes.
That’s a lot of Dark Mistresses.
I honestly like Agaera the Gorgon as an antagonist. That she survived is good. I think she’s running because she believes, without Ranna, her power base is gone – she won’t have control over the DM’s without that power.
I’m anticipating who wakes up next!
Because I’m silly, I’m expecting it will be Bob Newhart waking up next. He’ll be in bed next to Suzanne Pleshette, and will be telling her about this other crazy dream he just had.
Or Suzanne Pleshette is waking Bob Newhart this time, to tell him about her own dream.
"It seemed to go on for years, Bob. I was a short little goblin, and you were this weird spherical floaty thing with eyestalks, and we lived under a huge mountain with all our evil friends, ’till it got blown up. And I’m still a little mad at you about the harpies."
Yes! Oh, yes!
Fang FanGirl, I think mucat has earned some cookies. Lots of cookies!
The three of you are awesome. Keep being you, for each respective value thereof. Just sayin’.
Thanks! I think I might forevermore "hear" Bob Newhart as the voice of Bob the Beholder now…
definitely cookies for mucat!!!
and my Pooka!
and Rancourt!
Hey, would you look at the time! I gotta be… somewhere… else… where I… won’t be killed or imprisoned by the winning side.
BYE!
I think the “winners” of the war are the Dark Mistresses. It’s been win-win for them since the start. Had Ranna won, there would have been thousands of prisoners to torture. Ranna loses and they’re headed off to the nearest dungeon to be tortured. Either outcome they are happy with the results.
Well, it’s not like anyone gets into DMing for the *money*…
No, the Dark Mistresses lost. They will first be tortured with the fluffy pillows, followed by a long stretch in the comfy chair!
It was my thought as well. After all, Jais is on the winning side, and she ceartinly knows ho to torture DMs.
What would be good to know, how would that effect them. If constant torture can break one’s will to the point to join them, would constant comfort and caring reverse this process?
Eventhough, if I were Jais I would rather try to make them serve me, than let them waste in a comfy prison…
And just to be extra nice, once they are securely in the comfy chair, serve them tea and biscuits/scones/whatever.
Which leads me to wonder what an extended tea party would do to their minds.
Ever read (or seen) "Alice in Wonderland"?
Big question is: now with Ranna’s influence gone, will the ‘fresh’ converted DM’s retain their past personalities?
I understand there is no way to un-DM them (those clothes are bonded for life, unless they opt to be ‘skinned alive’), but maybe they could be ‘good’ DMs, like Jais and Arachne’s former group?
Flannet’s chauffeurs might be a better baseline for recovered DMs, since Jais and the other original-era DMs were never subjected to Rannite brainwashing. Flannet’s pair have reclaimed some capacity for independent thought, though they’re still kinda dim-witted and "evil", and clearly find it boggling that Flannet herself is neither of those things.
Still, the other DMs ought to be able to at least match their progress…and with Ranna’s power broken, they might do considerably better than that. Or, best-case, some clever coterie of (ex-?)mages, (ex-?)clerics, and/or alchemists might figure out how to reverse the brainwashing altogether.
It’s possible Flannet’s ‘bodyguards’ were kinda dim-witted to start with 😛
Depends on if they were OG DM’s or ‘New Blood’
Well, Jais and her group are still typical DMs, just weren’t Rannites. So, the ones on the losing side can just as easily stay (the new) themselves, only they have to find new pourposes. With Ranna, Celena, and the gorgons gone, they are left now without any significant leader, so I guess, they will either form their own groups now, or just join to an already existing one. I can see many of them swearing loyalty to Jais for example. With the Black Mountain and Arachne gone, she will need to find new goals too. So why not just forming an incredible DM community?
DM #1: "You heard the bard, ladies. We need to find new porpoises!"
DM #2: "…but I can’t swim."
DM #3: "Or echolocate."
…inevitably:
Adina: "…so I thought maybe they could ride along, just until we find the first porpoise school. I’ll give them swimming lessons when I’m off-shift."
Captain Safana: *facepalms*
Not only can I see this (and I’m chortling happily at this while hearing "nevvermind" in my head) I can also see the captain thinking the doing her own piercings and the rumble that admission got her into was less painful lol
I must admit, it was one the funniest reply I ever got. 😀 I could picture it very well…
(On a side note, after I finished laughing, I did have to check whether I misspelled something…)
You did: only one ‘o’ in ‘purpose’ 🙂
I can’t help not hearing "Yakkety Sax" as the soundtrack to that last panel.
Thumbs up for all the previous responses. (Awesomeness of snake periscope, the snake reactions, etc.) Mucat’s "Newhart" take is particularly brilliant. You get ALL the cookies–and the Internet for that one.
Or maybe that sound Dr. Zoidberg makes
She who fights and runs away
Lives to fight another day
As was said above, totally adorable and funny strip! Not a single panel doesn’t make me giggle and enjoy the art! Can’t even pick a fave. The periscope… I love how only 1 woke up 1st, micro and macro reflecting. The change in her appearance with sleeping snakes, the poof tail of a cat resemblance, and her hieing it hence like cartoon characters I’ve grown up on and cherished. Plus the bleariness of waking up… And to top it off, lots of boobage/cleavage, while altho covered, imagining waking up in mounds… I so needed this entire comic!!!
This kind of sums up election season too. Regardless of the outcome, life goes on.
Exeunt Agaera.
I like how the snakes were also asleep, giving her a different "hair cut".
I particularly like how one snake is the first to wake up and to curiously look around in the first panel.
Doin’ a scope.
Haha, exactly!
Oh no! I caught up again!
It had been a long time since I’d checked in on YAFGC and I had a lot to read through. I’ve been a fan since …. well, somewhere near the beginning.
Rich, I loved what you’ve done with this story. And how thoughtful you are about everything you do. It was such a treat to read through everything I remembered and then go through all the new events I’d missed!
I’ll wait a bit to let the archive build up again, but I’ll definitely be back! ;3
Hey Rich! I asked way back the archive and I was told to ask here. Am I, and others, aloud to use images from the comic for memes and things like that? Or would you prefer that people don’t use your images?
No, I don’t mind. I’d prefer it if there were some kind of credit given if possible, but I like when my images appear in modern pop culture and memes.
A friend of mine (sadly gone too soon) posted a strip on Facebook and got me hooked. A one-off joke on jousting from the tournament where Runtherd was a squire. It was enough to pique my interest and send me down the rabbit hole to the first strip. No regrets.
With both Ch’thier and Ranna out of the picture who’s time is it to shine now?
And do their adherents continue the fight, despite the lack of divine support, or does everyone lick their wounds and go home?
It’s mortals’ time to shine. And to stand up, dust themselves off, and resume slaughtering or enslaving each other would be a lousy way to begin a new Age, so I hope that they’ll find a better way to bring this war to a close.
How would that be any different than any other age? Only difference being: no, or limited, magic
The differences, and hatreds, between peoples doesn’t just magically (get it?) disappear
Mark was discussing the sudden paucity of gods, not the paucity of magic.
And yes, mortals having to forge their own moral systems without the the guidance or (two-way) influence of gods would be a pretty major worldwide coming-of-age moment…and one that it would be nice to start out on a more auspicious note than *immediately* doubling down on familiar old hatreds.
maybe she’ll run all the way to the "Modest Medusa" comic