Comic Page for Sunday, June 2nd, 2013

[Nobody2222]

Alt text - A Matter of Birth

[unsteddyPhoenix]

So I never considered Kat might be infertile. Maybe it was obvious to everyone else...

Well either way I must go bawl my eyes out excuse me.

[jacobc62]

So she is part canine! Glad I remembered someone else bringing that up in an earlier topic with these two on the page. And Natani also told Kathrin her secret.... this is truly a chapter of confessions..... with Raine's being probably the biggest (due to shear length alone), and Flora telling Trace that she's expecting being one of the more secretive ones....


.... And Kathrin just coming right out with her secret... wow.....

*EDIT* Explains why Eric says that Kathrin "safe too" in comic 304

[anonfox123]

Sad, but that's what happens when sentient beings are treated like property.

That being said, I can't help but wonder if the infertility was intended. Seems like it'd be such a pain to go back and re-derive the breed after the intermediate fertile generations die off.

[anonfox123]

So I never considered Kat might be infertile. Maybe it was obvious to everyone else...

Well either way I must go bawl my eyes out excuse me.

I had a nagging doubt that Canine plus Feline would equal that, or a shorter lifespan/sudden death syndrome.

I dislike being right in this regard.

Certainly is accurate with "real" genetics. Although this would technically mean that the feline and canine Keidran are separate species due to the hybrid collapse that prevents a truly viable hybrid from being created.

[Kerensky287]

The last couple of pages have been outstanding in terms of facial expressions. Dat second panel.

[Myperson54]

I feel immensely sad for Kat right now, and I love the eyes.

That is all I am going to say about this particular comic.

[jc]

Well, I don't want to start talking fan fic ideas.
But genetically speaking...
If it possible(on the low levels) for two hybrids to breed. Not highly, but possible.* I think.
Further, maybe Kat can have her ovaries made to be fertile. (I have my own theroies. PM me for the short and sweet versions)

Actually, there's a well-known, commercially-viable example of this in the US cattle industry. For centuries "everyone knew" that domestic cattle and American bison were close enough to hybridize, but produced only sterile offspring. Then, a few decades back, someone produced some fertile hybrids. The resulting hybrid species' meat is sold under the name "beefalo", and is available in many supermarkets (usually at a rather high price).

In the twokinds world, it doesn't seem unlikely that the magic done to make Trace and Flora start a hybrid baby will also apply to other human-keidran hybrids. If Tom decides it'll add to the plot, we might soon find that Eric and Kat are having a baby, too. In fact, there may be a lot of humans with keidran slaves (and vice-versa) that are now looking at unexpected pregnancies, and they'll all be surprised by the nature of the babies after they're born. This could easily become another plot point later on, when our crew gets back into contact with what passes for"civilization" in this world, and learns that there's a population explosion under way.

[MUDPUNISHER]

And now I'm sad... Great

Wundebar artistry as usual Tom!

[MuonNeutrino]

Wow. Well *that* was a bit of an unexpected bombshell - I figured Kat's 'confession' would just *have* to have been something to do with her feelings for Eric. I do recall the 'is Kat part canine?' discussion from a while ago, but I never expected it to actually amount to anything beyond the usual wild mass guessing!

To be honest, though, I'm not really surprised about the 'canine + feline = infertile' thing. I didn't see this coming, but that was because I didn't personally think Kat was actually a hybrid (there *are* cats with bushy tails IRL) - I didn't really expect feline and canine Keidran to be able to produce fertile offspring. As far as I understand the terms, real-life canines and felines are different 'families' ('felidae' and 'canidae', but both within the order 'carnivora'), and cross-family hybridization is extremely rare in nature. To be honest I'm actually kinda surprised they're able to produce viable offspring at all (let alone fertile ones) - they're obviously much more closely related than real-life felines and canines considering all of the traits they share in common, but still.

Kinda adds a bit more poignancy to the whole Flora-Sythe arranged marriage thing, too. It was obviously always a dynastic/political match, but I figured it would have been infertile and that that would have been an accepted part of the cost of such a political match. Instead it *could* have resulted in offspring, but infertile ones. Thats... bleh. Kat honestly seems to have handled her condition rather well, but at least she knows that the people responsible weren't even her own species and that her parents didn't have even the tiniest shred of a choice in the matter. As shown by the fact that Flora *did* manage to walk away from it, that wouldn't have been the case with Flora and Sythe. I'm sure that any child would still have been loved and cherished, given what we know of Flora's character, but that still couldn't be an easy thing to live with.

[Schrodinger]

The theory that Kathrin was a mix of the canine and feline Keidran tribes has been kicked around for years now, it's about time we got some confirmation. Her confession also gives us some light on the slave trade. Her infertility makes her far less valuable since she can't produce children that can be sold later. She's a trophy to be used and discarded.

[Hollow14]

Wow I mean that's a shocker I feel bad now

[dzamie]

In the twokinds world, it doesn't seem unlikely that the magic done to make Trace and Flora start a hybrid baby will also apply to other human-keidran hybrids. If Tom decides it'll add to the plot, we might soon find that Eric and Kat are having a baby, too.

This could easily become another plot point later on, when our crew gets back into contact with what passes for"civilization" in this world, and learns that there's a population explosion under way.

Anyone else remember the Half-Kinds minicomic? This might already have happened at least once.
Although honestly, the only thing I can remember of the minicomic was "DEUS EX STEPLADDER!"

[jacobc62]

In the twokinds world, it doesn't seem unlikely that the magic done to make Trace and Flora start a hybrid baby will also apply to other human-keidran hybrids. If Tom decides it'll add to the plot, we might soon find that Eric and Kat are having a baby, too.

This could easily become another plot point later on, when our crew gets back into contact with what passes for"civilization" in this world, and learns that there's a population explosion under way.

Anyone else remember the Half-Kinds minicomic? This might already have happened at least once.
Although honestly, the only thing I can remember of the minicomic was "DEUS EX STEPLADDER!"

May I present to you the official champion of Twokinds Forum lurking!

Slightly On/off Topic: The mini-comic (if I remember correctly) was the original Twokinds Tom had an idea for, hence the name, but the idea fell through after the "prologue" that is the mini-comic.

On topic: I have never truly felt sorry for any other character in the past than I am for Kathrin right now.I don't count Rose because she was only in 3 comics. Had she been in more, then I would've equally, if not more so, felt sorry for her.

[Kerensky287]

I have never truly felt sorry for any other character in the past than I am for Kathrin right now.

I don't really get why this is the general forum sentiment. So she can't have kids? Big whoop! She wanted to be with Eric anyway, which (in theory) would have yielded the exact same result. Hell, this isn't even the hardest thing she's been hit with over the course of the last in-story DAY. Remember the friendzoning? Yeah.

So she was wronged even before birth. Oh well, she's had plenty of opportunity to make up for it, both through good fortune and by her own agency. She's better off than she could have been, and she's got nowhere to go but up. Plus, magic! Magic can fix all sorts of stuff.

Hell, even today we've got modern fertility treatments for women who can't have children. If technology can do that, why couldn't magic?