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What makes Murkoph incongruous isn't the fact that he's unkillable (Duane), chatty (Duane again), or viciously evil (pretty much everyone else to a greater or lesser extent), it's his motiveless malignity. Even the nastiest antagonists in this comic do their Bad Things in service of some agenda, even if it's currently impossible to guess what that agenda is in cases like Winalils and Delicieu. Murkoph just wants to do Bad Things for the sake of doing them - hell, in this last page he looks like he's getting withdrawal from not being able to commit atrocities. Sette originally thought he was a nightmare and that's still not totally untrue; he doesn't mesh at all with the world's current logic. This isn't an excuse for him, more a summary of why a lot of people seem to get rubbed wrong by him beyond the whole asinine "oh dearie me, I do believe Ashley Cope is showing me pictures from her fantasy diary and it's giving me the vapors" schtick. Murkoph entering the larger plot right now would be like dropping a washing machine into a jet turbine, which I don't think I want. Still, I like the rhythm and flow of his dialogue and the way he messes with panel layout, so I will persevere for now.
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Aug 1, 2014 13:24
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Oxxidation posted:"oh dearie me, I do believe Ashley Cope is showing me pictures from her fantasy diary and it's giving me the vapors" I just come back to, "What does this character add to the story building up so far," and I can answer that for pretty much all of the named characters so far except this guy. Again, whatever, maybe he'll be awesome or something or just show up to off people on occasion because outside of Starfish and Cutter, Ashley has actually shown both a good/bad side to everyone.
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Aug 1, 2014 18:52
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Fabricated posted:That's exactly what this dude is though, bar none. The sublimated fetishes of the author whose one major hacky writing hangup is a boner for a bishonen nihilists. She explicitly says she likes him because of the (IMO stupefyingly boring) fact he's apparently been around so long and seen so much behind the curtain he could just not give a gently caress anymore. That makes him a really, really dangerous badguy but it certainly as hell doesn't make him interesting. I dunno. I was not thrilled with his earlier appearance, but now I'm starting to see the narrative possibilities in Murkoph. You're right that he doesn't add anything to the story building up, because he seems to be there specifically to topple the neatly-balanced deck of cards that's been set up over the preceding act. His introduction was really awkward, but now that the story's reached a turning point I can see a point to Murkoph. Still wish Cope would ditch the annoying attempts at wacky meta banter.
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Aug 1, 2014 19:08
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I kind of see the meta-banter as something to separate his personality from the story and make him less of a character. A force of nature that cannot be reasoned with or understood, in contrast to the much more human antagonists we've had so far. A unique story role that makes him something other than "Starfish, but handsome".
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Aug 1, 2014 19:31
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Tenebrais posted:I kind of see the meta-banter as something to separate his personality from the story and make him less of a character. A force of nature that cannot be reasoned with or understood, in contrast to the much more human antagonists we've had so far. A unique story role that makes him something other than "Starfish, but handsome". I don't mind the meta stuff in principle, and I agree that it's a nice touch for establishing Murkoph as being an alien influence in the world and the story. I just don't think it's done very well.
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Aug 1, 2014 19:35
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Oxxidation posted:Murkoph entering the larger plot right now would be like dropping a washing machine into a jet turbine, which I don't think I want. Still, I like the rhythm and flow of his dialogue and the way he messes with panel layout, so I will persevere for now. i see what you're trying to say but your metaphor doesn't work because dropping a washing machine into a jet turbine sounds awesome, i want to see that poo poo on a slowcam now 
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Aug 1, 2014 19:52
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Murkoph is basically Deadpool-lite, and it feels out of place.
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Aug 2, 2014 12:29
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WAMPA_STOMPA posted:Murkoph is basically Deadpool-lite I think you just summed up why I hate this character aside from being yet another instance of a webcomic artist not being able to keep it in their pants. Murkoph is to Cope what bloody tits were to Mookie.
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Aug 2, 2014 21:19
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I think why I dislike Murkoph is because he is such a two dimentional character in a story full of interesting well written ones. Almost all of the characters have a ton of unanswered questions, but at least they have motivation and give you some reason to care about them, be it caring if they succeed or fail. I don't even care if he fails, like Starfish for example, I just want him gone, or preferably never there in the first place. Based on comments on the site and the A/T tumblr, it seems like most of the people that claim to like him only do so because he's supposedly Ashley's favorite and they want to be the best fanboy or girl they can. Maybe deep in Ashley's mind or in some notebook somewhere there is a reason for him to be there, or it will come up later. I'm sure something will, but I am not convinced right now that it will be a satisfactory one. Maybe it will be and I will eat my words, but as it is now there is only one reason I can figure he is there and it isn't good for the story. I know the comic is based around Ashley's old roleplays and her characters from it, but that doesn't mean the comic needs to involve all of them. Esecially not if she has to shoehorn one in just because she especially likes him. It's not even that his creepyness or whatever botheres me, it's that he just seems like a poor, uninteresting character that is taking time and pages away from more interesting ones and better story lines. Whenever I see him I find myself thinking "ugh I hope I don't have to put up with him for too long before we get back to the good stuff I actually care about".
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Aug 2, 2014 22:54
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Twenty Four posted:It's not even that his creepyness or whatever botheres me, it's that he just seems like a poor, uninteresting character that is taking time and pages away from more interesting ones and better story lines. Whenever I see him I find myself thinking "ugh I hope I don't have to put up with him for too long before we get back to the good stuff I actually care about". Jackard fucked around with this message at 23:06 on Aug 2, 2014 |
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Aug 2, 2014 23:04
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"Go away, Murkoph, no one likes you. Even the fish don't like you and they like everyone." http://www.casualvillain.com/Unsounded/ch9-p56
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Aug 3, 2014 22:21
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Cute 4th wall panel breaking again where he pulls the knife out of the frame. That's gonna look like poo poo if she ever prints it though.
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Aug 4, 2014 11:30
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Doesn't Ashley create alternative art/pages for the books to make the 4th wall effect work in print?
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Aug 4, 2014 13:07
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No, she usually just crops and makes minor art alterations so the panels still make sense, but with the general loss of the page-breaking effect. The books don't have any borders, she puts the art out to the very edge of the page.
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Aug 6, 2014 04:59
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Sette eloquently expresses her opinion on working with Murkoph.
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Aug 6, 2014 06:18
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Goons: "UGH SETTE'S GOING TO TRY TO RECRUIT MURKOPH ISN'T SHE  "Author: "Go away Murkoph no one likes you" Sette: pours lye on his head
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Aug 6, 2014 06:58
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I think Sette may currently be running away with the "best character" trophy.
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Aug 6, 2014 07:01
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So now we know Murkoph's blood is black - unsurprising, he's probably been dead so long his that his innards are sludge - and his teeth look like they're trying to escape his head in that last shot. What the hell is that guy? Oh well, I'm happy to wait another year to find out.
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Aug 6, 2014 13:24
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Oxxidation posted:So now we know Murkoph's blood is black - unsurprising, he's probably been dead so long his that his innards are sludge - and his teeth look like they're trying to escape his head in that last shot. What the hell is that guy? He's a dead spirit, of course. And probably now like 5% soap.
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Aug 6, 2014 13:31
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Tenebrais posted:He's a dead spirit, of course. And probably now like 5% soap. If he were a spirit he'd have been unwound into the Khert a while ago. He's corporeal and apparently can't be killed or feel pain, which makes him different from Duane, who can still do both. He's definitely got the "constant hunger" part of the whole ghalit thing down pat, so maybe the fact that he's always indulging it is partly why he's different? But what's up with those scars? What's up with those teeth? So many secrets! But yes, let us say a prayer for that soap, which died so that other cleaning fluids may live.
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Aug 6, 2014 13:38
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The shear amount of Murkoph hate, and not just hate of the char hate enough to say you don't want to read the comic, baffles me. I think the char is so over the top he wraps around to hilarious again.
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Aug 6, 2014 16:04
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Oxxidation posted:What the hell is that guy?
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Aug 6, 2014 16:19
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Gally posted:The shear amount of Murkoph hate, and not just hate of the char hate enough to say you don't want to read the comic, baffles me. I think the char is so over the top he wraps around to hilarious again. He's the author's wank material and dungeons & dragons character forcibly inserted into the plot. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you've not read as many bad webcomic as I've to see where this might be leading.
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Aug 6, 2014 19:25
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Oxxidation posted:So now we know Murkoph's blood is black - unsurprising, he's probably been dead so long his that his innards are sludge
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Aug 6, 2014 19:37
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Rannos22 posted:He's the author's wank material and dungeons & dragons character forcibly inserted into the plot. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you've not read as many bad webcomic as I've to see where this might be leading. All of the characters are from the author's role playing group, though. Murkoph is not unique in that respect.
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Aug 6, 2014 19:57
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The entire setting is built up from the author's D&D games, so anyone opposed to material of that origin might want to consider stopping reading the comic.
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Aug 6, 2014 21:02
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I like how the ghost fish are completely terrified in that last panel. They know what's up.
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Aug 6, 2014 21:13
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Rannos22 posted:He's the author's wank material and dungeons & dragons character forcibly inserted into the plot. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you've not read as many bad webcomic as I've to see where this might be leading. Maybe Maybe we shouldn't worry about what silly chatroom roleplaying the author did years ago??? Maybe it has limited, if any bearing on what is going on right now Since roleplaying Sette has little resemblance to actual Sette Basically maybe everybody should settle the gently caress down, stop e-stalking like creepy creepers and holy poo poo stop wringing your hands about Murkoph! He is no more forcibly inserted into the plot than Sette, the rustling of your jimmies is like 90% self inflicted. Captain Oblivious fucked around with this message at 01:32 on Aug 7, 2014 |
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Aug 7, 2014 01:29
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Slashrat posted:The entire setting is built up from the author's D&D games, so anyone opposed to material of that origin might want to consider stopping reading the comic. That's not true! It was FREEFORM roleplay, no dice involved.
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Aug 7, 2014 01:56
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I am less worried about Murkoph and more worried about the sustainability of the comic. These scenes with Murkoph seem to be simply here to introduce him as a villain we'll see later. His becoming a main villain or at least a major henchman for some greater evil has already been confirmed by the author, and considering he shows up right at the ramp-up to the climax of the current storyline is pretty telling. "Hey readers, this guy will be really important later!" Yes he's shoehorned in right now but I think it was just a way for the author to introduce him early so his appearance later isn't so jarring or or out of place. The real point of Sette's foray into the khert was to humanize Duane for her. Murkoph's introduction and loving about was just an introduction of convenience so that the story could just keep rolling along after the affair with Stockyard and the first silver ends. That just seems to be Ashley Cope's style. One long continuous story. Which brings me back to my worrying about sustainability. Cope clearly has very, very long-term plans for the comic. She's been at it for some time now already; I'm desperately hoping she doesn't get burnt out before she finds some conclusion for the whole comic (not just the whatever the current storyline is at the time she decides to call it quits).
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Aug 7, 2014 04:35
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Gally posted:The shear amount of Murkoph hate, and not just hate of the char hate enough to say you don't want to read the comic, baffles me. I think the char is so over the top he wraps around to hilarious again. pretty much this Fabricated posted:That's exactly what this dude is though, bar none. The sublimated fetishes of the author whose one major hacky writing hangup is a boner for a bishonen nihilists. Grognan fucked around with this message at 06:34 on Aug 7, 2014 |
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Aug 7, 2014 06:31
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I got some minor Whizzard vibes when he first showed up, but those concerns have not been borne out. Quite the contrary, he's fine. But I was worried at first.
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Aug 7, 2014 10:57
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Count me among those who found Murkoph's metahumor more groan-inducing than funny, really.
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Aug 7, 2014 12:00
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What "metahumor" exactly? Do you mean the way he screws with the panel layout?
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Aug 7, 2014 15:14
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Grognan posted:What if this is the ironic manifestation of something like this, she has not given one note of sympathy with him like she has with literally any other character in the comic. When people complained about his comic form she made this big point about how she absolutely believes you're not supposed to like him and how you should be scared for anyone on the same panel as him, and that he's just a 'minion' and so on Then someone asks about RP Murk and it's basically her squeeing over the various gross/creepy poo poo he did. e: fully accept I probably dislike the guy more than I should; I just knew a lot of people as weird as Ashley as a stupid-as-poo poo kid on the internet and she sets off all my "batshit" warning lights when Murk and certain other things come up. Fabricated fucked around with this message at 15:39 on Aug 7, 2014 |
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Aug 7, 2014 15:17
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Oxxidation posted:What "metahumor" exactly? Do you mean the way he screws with the panel layout? More the joking references to genre conventions, like his comment about beating up brooding antiheroes and mascara-wearing sorcerers to get their leather pants.
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Aug 7, 2014 15:43
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He's not as clever as the author thinks he is, but that mostly just makes him a run-of-the-mill Malkavian style rear end in a top hat who will probably get his. I think he works just fine as the piece of poo poo he's presented as.
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Aug 9, 2014 03:02
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Fabricated posted:
Its not just RP Murkoph though. Her response to the fan asking for a Murk penis sketch was to brag about the size of his dick. 
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Aug 9, 2014 18:44
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Tar_Squid posted:Her response to the fan asking for a Murk penis sketch was to brag about the size of his dick.
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Aug 9, 2014 19:55
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Tar_Squid posted:Its not just RP Murkoph though. Her response to the fan asking for a Murk penis sketch was to brag about the size of his dick. i would do the same, because it would be funny
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Aug 9, 2014 19:57
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