Comic for Wednesday, January 28, 2015

[Schrodinger]

ALT TEXT: Sacrificing Comfort For Security.

Hmm, now that is quite the dilemma Raine has.

[Damien203]

Just for a minute you posted this before.
My guess is that Red is not going to use the shackle on Zen.
I'm pretty sure Raine is going to keep it.
EDIT: last panel, tears?

[Schrodinger]

EDIT: last panel, tears?

Yup, she's tearing up.

[Ketzal]

Time for exposition and flirting!

But in all seriousness, I love how in-character this is for Raine. Poor dog girl has to deal with being a wolf a little longer though

[Aeolus]

I say Red's gonna admit he's actually fine with her being wolfish, now. Calling it!

I could also see him giving it to her instead to ease her distress, but that's just reinforcing her dislike of her alternative self. I'd like to see her comfortable with both forms.

If he gives it to her because he doesn't want her to be a wolf anymore, then so much for all the apparent character growth.

[Onyxheart]

i had to actually log in so i could comment on here instead of my usual lurking

dammit Red...hug her already, be comforting you doofus!

hug her!

hug her!

HUG HER!

don't let her cry...cause then i will too ;n;

[Niara]

We're seeing Red keying off the emotional cues of her wolf form here; that's important.

I agree with the others that say that any pressure from him to imply that she should clap it back on right away, would be a step backwards for him. In the past few pages he's shown that, when really faced with confronting his existing prejudice on a personal, individual level, he's ultimately let his acceptance of the individual win over instead... so if is character truly is growing in this regard, then the thing I'd expect from him in this case would be to reassure Raine that there's nothing wrong with her looking as she does.

Regarding the shackle and Zen, I really have never seen there as being any realistic chance that they would kill him, and the more bits and pieces that get added to the equation, the increasingly more remote that non-possibility becomes.

[Bellhead]

I was wondering where that shackle went a few pages back... And why didn't she bring it out earlier? Like, say, when Zen first woke up?

Also, To Chris: This is proof that Raine is at least somewhat okay with her form disregarding outward factors.

She needs a hug. Red, that's your cue. Also, now's your chance to tell her that you'll love her just as much no matter what she chooses. You better not screw this up.

[BillyreadsTwoKinds]

It would be nice to see "Human Raine" in the current art-style at least. I can't remember if we've seen that, but I have a weird feeling the shackle will still go to Zen. Also, is it just me, or has the art gotten better than ever before in the last three comic pages?

[Damien203]

I'd like to see her comfortable with both forms.

Yes, I would like to see that too.
Like you and Niara have said, that shows us the growth of both, Raine and Red.

to reassure Raine that there's nothing wrong with her looking as she does.

[Kyrit]

If the shackle is 'working' again, why is she in wolf form? Previously, if it was closed she would be human, regardless of if it was on her being or not. If Tom takes that back, the whole reason she got stuck like this is kinda pointless, since it only broke due to not being on her at the time anyways. My current hope is that she just means that she managed to fix the crack and that she still needs to re-enchant it, since I don't see any runes on the shackle (not counting the one panel, since I think that was just emphasis on the enchantment in general). If the enchantment is still there though, Tom's made a serious plot hole.

As an aside though about how nice this page looks, the detail on Raine's feet with the toes fiddling about is quite a nice touch

[Tom]

If the shackle is 'working' again, why is she in wolf form? Previously, if it was closed she would be human, regardless of if it was on her being or not. If Tom takes that back, the whole reason she got stuck like this is kinda pointless, since it only broke due to not being on her at the time anyways. My current hope is that she just means that she managed to fix the crack and that she still needs to re-enchant it, since I don't see any runes on the shackle (not counting the one panel, since I think that was just emphasis on the enchantment in general). If the enchantment is still there though, Tom's made a serious plot hole.

She needs to put it on at least once before it will work. It isn't tied to anyone yet.

[Vintage]

Such a stunning portrayal of color and lighting! In agreement with everyone above:

Hug her already!

Amazing to see that Raine would sacrifice her comfort for the sake of the group. I didn't even see that opportunity for the shackle itself.

-snip-

She needs to put it on at least once before it will work. It isn't tied to anyone yet.

Ah, that'd make sense.

[Schrodinger]

If the shackle is 'working' again, why is she in wolf form? Previously, if it was closed she would be human, regardless of if it was on her being or not. If Tom takes that back, the whole reason she got stuck like this is kinda pointless, since it only broke due to not being on her at the time anyways. My current hope is that she just means that she managed to fix the crack and that she still needs to re-enchant it, since I don't see any runes on the shackle (not counting the one panel, since I think that was just emphasis on the enchantment in general). If the enchantment is still there though, Tom's made a serious plot hole.

It's possible that it was previously 'tuned' to her curse. Magic suppression was just the base enchantment and Raine hasn't re-tuned it so it's not functioning as it did previously.

Edit: Wow, I missed Tom coming in and confirming my suspicion.

[Chris]

Also, To Chris: This is proof that Raine is at least somewhat okay with her form disregarding outward factors.

I dunno. We see her saddened and tearing up with the idea that she'll continue to be stuck as a wolf if they use it on Zen. Raine's said she doesn't want Zen to be killed if there was another way and, well, this is that other way. But she's obviously not happy about it even though it means avoiding unnecessary deaths. It's definitely possible she's sad because of what it means for Red and Maren, but I don't think there's enough to go on here to know exactly why.

Something I'm curious about with this page is if the shackle will have any implications on Zen's link with Natani. Previously we've seen the link survive through the mana drain from the Basitin tower exploding, but that is a bit different from continuous active suppression.

Ironically, since we know Zen has no mana crystals left and no further means of casting magic, even with Natani's help, having the shackle on him accomplishes nothing. The group obviously doesn't know that and are just taking reasonable precautions, but it's still interesting to realize they don't actually need to use the shackle on him (unless there's something else we don't know here..).