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We can't necessarily DEFINITIVELY say she doesn't have an additional element from wizard powers but given the wizard we're pretty sure she's a replacement for had more of a Phoenix motif rather than Wu's 'turn into a dragon' deal it's certainly not where what we've seen so far comes from.
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Jan 21, 2018 02:20
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Daughter of the Lillies is good but the cave elf thing seems obvious from Chapter 1 and 2.
GlyphGryph fucked around with this message at 22:05 on Jan 21, 2018 |
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Jan 21, 2018 21:58
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Willo567 posted:This probably has already been discussed before, but has anyone read A Better Place
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Jan 22, 2018 03:27
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GlyphGryph posted:Daughter of the Lillies is good but the cave elf thing seems obvious from Chapter 1 and 2. Someone upthread said the first part of the story got some edits or redraws or something like that. It might not have as clear before. Also, chatter about this made me go and read the story for the first time, so thanks for that. I find it interesting that some of her 'self-doubt' calls her 'spoiled' and things like that. If she is a half-monster or whatever, it seems like she still had a pretty sheltered childhood.
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Jan 22, 2018 03:40
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Yeah initially cave elves were a lot less monstrous to the point that at least when I read it it didn't seem bad ENOUGH to trigger the reactions we'd seen. Then at that point the drath red herring was in full swing.
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Jan 22, 2018 03:57
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Bobulus posted:Also, chatter about this made me go and read the story for the first time, so thanks for that. Likewise! It seemed like bog-standard fantasy at the outset, but then it got real good. Being able to literally fight your anxiety and depression is the kind of fantasy wish fulfillment there should be more of. Otherkinsey Scale fucked around with this message at 04:29 on Jan 22, 2018 |
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Jan 22, 2018 04:04
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reignonyourparade posted:Yeah initially cave elves were a lot less monstrous to the point that at least when I read it it didn't seem bad ENOUGH to trigger the reactions we'd seen. Then at that point the drath red herring was in full swing. The whole "eating people" thing was still in though, right? So I mean even if she wasn't monstrous, so long as she was recognizable she was still a "eats people race". But yeah I suppose it's pretty obvious now from the moment the cave elf runs away from her in Chapter 1 that she's a Cave Elf (or at least part cave elf) but I never saw it before the edits so maybe it wasn't before.
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Jan 22, 2018 04:18
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o jerusalem posted:i'm really enjoying this tbh Yeah, I'm generally not a big fan of stories with this kind of over-the-top frenetic oneupsmanship but when the story is literally about cool stuff a kid dreamed up it fits pretty well.
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Jan 22, 2018 04:25
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If you're enjoying A Better Place and haven't read Demons Mirror (Tapas link) already, I'd recommend it. Same author/artist. Unrelated story, but some similar themes.
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Jan 22, 2018 08:52
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And there she was, gone. Sad to see Lottie go so soon, but I think she'd probably wind up taking over the story if she was more actively involved. I'm guessing the band might play a role in bridging the gap between the two towns, though. Can anyone else say 'benefit concert'?
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Jan 22, 2018 09:01
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Yvonmukluk posted:And there she was, gone. So Lottie and the band will become bland Youtubers and mesmerize the public to make peace with each other? Grendel's a genius! Either that, or we find out Desmond's mom came from Wendlefield and he turns out to be the "Golden Child" who will heal the rift of the warring peoples. 
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Jan 22, 2018 12:09
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amigolupus posted:So Lottie and the band will become bland Youtubers and mesmerize the public to make peace with each other? Grendel's a genius! I'm holding out for the Rhino migration plan. Or the Bitcoin treasure hunt.
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Jan 22, 2018 12:30
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Yvonmukluk posted:Or the Bitcoin treasure hunt. It's probably the most realistic plan.
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Jan 22, 2018 13:27
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Yvonmukluk posted:I'm holding out for the Rhino migration plan. It's not Rhinos, but Jesper Bloem (RIP) had a horde of animals that might be convinced they need a new home.
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Jan 22, 2018 14:01
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So, I know EGS isn't exactly well-liked around here or anything, but the last week or so has just been a bunch of HOLY poo poo moments. I just wanted to have someone to share that with (because no one I know in real life
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Jan 22, 2018 19:11
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Yvonmukluk posted:I'm holding out for the Rhino migration plan.
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Jan 22, 2018 19:16
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Axiem posted:So, I know EGS isn't exactly well-liked around here or anything, but the last week or so has just been a bunch of HOLY poo poo moments. Yeah, I actually really loved Pandora's closing scene. EGS can have pacing problems but this chapter is going at it with both barrels.
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Jan 22, 2018 21:07
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Tenebrais posted:Yeah, I actually really loved Pandora's closing scene. EGS can have pacing problems but this chapter is going at it with both barrels. I still read it too. I feel like the wrap-up going on here dealing with like ten years of loose ends is really showing that Dan isn't a bad writer or cartoonist by any stretch and if anything is limited by his neverending high school fetish comic. That being said, what else can be done from here other than the eventual culmination into some chapter where magic just dies or something? Dude should seriously consider pulling a John Allison and rebooting himself into a new comic when that happens.
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Jan 22, 2018 22:18
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Kazinsal posted:I still read it too. I feel like the wrap-up going on here dealing with like ten years of loose ends is really showing that Dan isn't a bad writer or cartoonist by any stretch and if anything is limited by his neverending high school fetish comic. Or he could just tell new stories and not tie himself forever to the cast of his original, long-since forgotten comics.
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Jan 22, 2018 23:13
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There can still be fun moments in EGS, but trying to take the dramatic plot seriously is always going to be underscored by the fact that the whole narrative has drifted a hell of a lot as Dan Shive has matured as a person and shifted his interests. I'm not even sure if you can say it'seven recovered that much of a focus, it was all over the place before Magus and Sirleck came back on their magical road trip to finally move the plot along. There's a lot of dropped elements, like Grace, Uroyoms (I know I probably misspelled that) Tedd's Dad, Greg, Grace's family, Tedd's mutant cat, that weird alternate dimension skunk girl, most of high school life in general, and even Lord Tedd. When the plot hasn't shown a character for a while, I'm never really sure if they're still supposed to be part of the narrative at all or if they've just been dropped. Dan Shive has definitely improved greatly as a writer and artist, he just is stymied by his teenage limitations. My recommendation, as always, is that he should cut himself free and do something new.
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Jan 22, 2018 23:50
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I'm pretty sure Shive is still running on whatever basic plot template he set up way back when he was first conceiving the comic. Lord Tedd and all that. But when I mentioned pacing problems earlier, well... The last time we saw most of the cast in a non-adventure context, they were playing a lawyer-friendly Magic The Gathering tournament, and Sarah and Justin both came out of it with dates. That was in 2014. Those dates have not happened yet. In fact, since then, there has been one plot arc completed and the one we're in now. None of the events in EGS seem to feel slow to me as they're happening. I never get a feeling of "just get on with it already". But it takes years for the comic to get anywhere, and that's with a pretty brisk thrice-weekly update pace. I guess he's an engaging enough writer that he can just make a lot of talking around things still read interesting, but he could probably do better editing just so he can have less cases of major characters not appearing for actual years.
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Jan 23, 2018 01:13
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Let the past die. Kill it, if you have to. It's the only way to become the artist you were meant to be.
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Jan 23, 2018 03:28
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Altervative: pull an It Hurts and transform the comic into a post-magical-apocalypse setting. Surplus characters and plot elements become collateral damage.
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Jan 23, 2018 03:49
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In his EGS:NP side series, he's generally a lot more concise (when he's not doing an exposition dump) and his stories don't drag on. I think the main thing dragging him down (aside from having to force these old characters and setting into a new shape they don't really fit) is trying to force everything into his old, vague plans for a narrative that he clearly loses interest in at times. Of course right now EGS:NP is leaning too heavily on the fetishy side of things.
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Jan 23, 2018 04:47
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Jackard posted:Let the past die. Kill it, if you have to. It's the only way to become the artist you were meant to be. 
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Jan 23, 2018 05:22
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El Goonish Shive may be juggling like eight times the plot devices than it needs, but dammit I started reading that poo poo in 2004 and I can't back out now. Also, frankly, I just really like Susan.
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Jan 23, 2018 14:25
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I'm in the same boat of having read it for a very long time, and I actually like most of the characters, and that none of them are just strict archetypes. They've grown on me, and it's been kind of cool delving more into their emotional lives. His pacing in terms of real world things is slow (his characters have even called this out at least once), but I think that's also because he focuses more on that dialogue and on those character emotions and interactions. I appreciate that. Is he the greatest? No. But it's entertaining and keeps me coming back. At this point, it's the only story comic I read in college that I still read; all of the rest of them just grew boring. EGS has maintained being interesting to me. SlothfulCobra posted:I think the main thing dragging him down (aside from having to force these old characters and setting into a new shape they don't really fit) is trying to force everything into his old, vague plans for a narrative that he clearly loses interest in at times. I'm not sure he still has the same grand narrative plans, mostly because it seems the focus has kept changing over time. Though part of what I like is that the narrative doesn't seem to me to be pushing hard for a definite resolution; it's much more a group of kids growing up with superpowers and getting into crazy madcap adventures as a result. I appreciate that sort of slice-of-life thing, though I'm weird and sometimes enjoy stories that just kind of meander through their premise and characters. Though, I agree, there are a lot of loose ends that haven't been brought up in a while, but even Gunnerkrigg has that. It's possible we might forget about some of them—then again, the whole Magus thing appeared to have been dropped for like, years as I recall, and now it's a driving factor (almost literally?). Personally, I don't think he'd do as well with something new. Part of what makes what's going on interesting is that we've gotten so much time with these characters, and seen them grow and change as Dan himself has grown and changed (Susan is a great example of this: she'd be nowhere near as interesting a character if we were introduced to her in her current state; but having had the time with her slowly delving into her shell and understanding how and why she sees the world and the emotional entanglements she has—like that kiss with Justin when they were sex-swapped—is part of what makes her far more compelling now). Maybe his teenage ideas are a liability, but I'm not as convinced of that anymore; there are always narrative devices for overcoming that sort of thing, if desired.
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Jan 23, 2018 19:19
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I know It Hurts! chat was a fair while back, but I finally finished it, and that certainly was an experience. I'm not sure there'd any other word I could use to accurately describe it.
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Jan 23, 2018 23:39
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Found this recently: http://alchemillacomic.com I liked the 'halfway house' concept and am hoping for more of that and less of the other stuff, but it's a good comic.
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Jan 24, 2018 05:53
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Well, after two years of beating around the bush, the best couple on Monster Pulse finally got to have their big kiss.
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Jan 24, 2018 06:02
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well, that's how i found out le guin died
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Jan 24, 2018 07:31
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nine-gear crow posted:Well, after two years of beating around the bush, the best couple on Monster Pulse finally got to have their big kiss. For the fact that it's practically mandatory to have a lesbian relationship in webcomics, it's surprsingly rare to see a gay male one.
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Jan 24, 2018 08:48
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Poor Jack. Also, look who's back! Edit: It seems that Mildred did not think this plan all the way through. Yvonmukluk fucked around with this message at 09:32 on Jan 25, 2018 |
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Jan 24, 2018 08:53
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I would like to get into Scary Go Round, but I don't know where to start.
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Jan 27, 2018 00:23
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SardonicTyrant posted:I would like to get into Scary Go Round, but I don't know where to start. Do you mean Bad Machinery, the currently running comic hosted at scarygoround.com, or its predecessor comic, Scary Go Round? If you haven't read Bad Machinery, I would recommend jumping in at the start of Bad Machinery; 99% of the time all of the previous related comics are irrelevant so you're not really missing out. Actual Scary Go Round is much older and jankier and while it's still entertaining it's a lot of investment for rather uneven payoff, and I would definitely not recommend starting there if you're new to John Allison's work--just read Bad Machinery and if you want more then you can pop in to Scary Go Round and say hi to the older version of Ryan.
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Jan 27, 2018 00:29
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SardonicTyrant posted:I would like to get into Scary Go Round, but I don't know where to start. I started with the beginning of Bad Machinery when it was linked in a previous version of this thread. When folks post the earlier stuff with a drastically different style I have no idea who anyone is supposed to be.
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Jan 27, 2018 00:34
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Bad Machinery is awesome and the rest I only know about through osmosis
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Jan 27, 2018 01:04
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Straight White Shark posted:Do you mean Bad Machinery, the currently running comic hosted at scarygoround.com, or its predecessor comic, Scary Go Round? I think it's back to being called Scary Go Round. Either way, starting out with bad machinery is probably right. If there's something truly important from the days of yore Allison is good about mentioning it with a link back to the relevant old comic, which is a huge rabbit hole for me.
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Jan 27, 2018 01:20
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The actual chapters of Bad Machinery are very good and don't lean on the old comics at all. In the margins between official "The Case Of the _____" chapters though, he's fallen into the habit of writing comics that don't really fit into any category, bringing in characters from sgr and bm and at one point even reviving "bobbins" a couple times. I recommend just looking at the BM archive and clicking on the book covers to read the stuff that is well-written and self-contained.
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Jan 27, 2018 06:55
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Or you could read it on Gocomics (which has the book versions that have slight expansions for some strips)
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Jan 27, 2018 07:00
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