Geez, lady can’t even accept a compliment, no wonder she’s single
Out-of-Placers
A story of inconvenient changes
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Back handed compliments still sting TT_TT
What are you talking about, they sting worse than actual insults.
Some people’s compliments just don’t translate over well!
Like a barbarian complimenting a woman by saying “Your legs are so thick, and you are laden with much fat! A hard winter could surely not claim your life.”
There was a strip in DMFA where one of the characters upon meeting the other exclaims something akin to “Wow! That’s a fat cow!”, to which the other responds cheerfully “Thank you, I worked hard on it! Thouse days it’s so rare to meet someone cultured enough to understand beauty”, or something to that note.
“Whoa! You’re a big fat cow!”
“Why yes I am! It’s so good to see all my efforts finally being noticed!”
“Cool! Wanna drink? My treat!”
Yeah, that one. Curious how it mutated over the time in the memory of mine…
I cannot even imagine how much that burn must have hurt. Wow.
Kinda like the way a fire would!
Judging by the look on Ish’s face in the last panel, pretty badly.
–oh, you meant scar-face guy!
Always bothered me how so many people think women are scary or unattractive if strong. Its the best feature to me. You want an equal, not a victim.
Pretty sure it’s not a political statement being made here, boyo…
People don’t choose what they are attracted to.
I think it has more to do with the blood-red face streak, the red eyes, and the *giant, goring horn on her snout* than her muscles. But fun fact for you, no matter how scary someone things a large, strong woman is, they will *always* think a man of equal mass a muscular density is at least twice as scary or threatening.
Not to be nitpicky- no wait, yeah, that’s totally what i’m doing. The horn’s on her forehead, dude, not her snout lol. Though, she does seem to have quite a strong looking nose, which is only accentuated by the red bits.
Also, have we figured out just what ish is? Some kinda dragon-kin, looks like, to me. What with the claws, scaley padded bits, and the tail… not to mention her size, which is, of course, gratuitous.
Yeah gimmie somma that cheesecake.
Or. The instincts are satisfied with someone you can protect, with lots of curves and reserves… yeah…
Dragon lady Isher is niiice tho. Love the frecklebutt.
A good way of thinking, especially in modern times!
People in the equivalent of the 1400’s here might have a ways to go on that, though.
One day she will gain confidence in her position as sexy queen of the freaks of Val-Salia.
She could be a candidate, but this city’s got a lot of competition going for that title.
She will kill them all (with kindness)!
Isher. Being able to cleave open a grown-man’s torso from neck-to-groin with a single kick is a rare and surprisingly useful talent! Looking the part just means it is less likely anyone will willingly enter a situation in which you might be called upon to do so, which is a good thing! It doesn’t mean that your not kind, beautiful, and graceful, it just means you are more besides! So go out there and do your best to make certain that nobody gets hurt, by making it clear that if they hurt anyone, it might result in them being skewered by nice spiky lady.
Remember that the quality of a bouncer is determined not by how tough they are, but in how few fights occur around them…
Considering what she had to do to get people to leave her place alone.
Oh yeah, that… is actually tragic. She clearly knows how to quell trouble, but just really wants a better way… Though it is clear that she ended up valuing safety over handing out free flowers…
Oh she’s kind, and beautiful to the right eyes!
But she’s a bit lacking in grace, mostly due to being all nervous and hunched forward and all : P
She ought to get bonus grace points for not causing trouble with her tail. She’s no baxxid, but an absent-minded whack from that thing could cause some serious damage. Trailing it behind you helps, but only goes so far, and sometimes you feel like a good stretch. When a single limb weighs more than some whole people, a good stretch can be noteworthy!
And I suddenly felt a wish for Isher to have wings…
Ishur has a self esteme issue, she thinks people find her unatractive, wich is partly why she does not like needing to look scary or mean. I expect with some good talking to, she can get over the issue, and may even learn to take a little enjoyment in the act, much as the fellow with the burned face seems to. (good show there, takes a strong will to servive a burn that bad and still be able to joke about it.)
Ishur just needs someone to find her atractive for who she is,. Also, I would expect Ishur, Elim and co to get promoted just a little at lest. Not the rest of the Dinnish folks, just the way close ones.
Yup! It’s all about finding the right person, isn’t it.
Well that, and she can likely give a “World of cardboard” speech. Accidentally breaking doors and walls still qualifies as clumsy, even if they are delicate like fine china to you.
I like the different reds for their uniforms, showing the age of service each of them have. It’s a nice touch.
I’d say it’s closer to them having to make the dye each time by hand so each batch comes out slightly different.
Either way it’s great attention to detail.
If only we knew which detail it was!
Glad you noticed that! Clothing manufacturing was FAR less standardized back before basic machinery, so clothing was a much bigger deal, and not something you could just throw out once the colors started to fade. Plus, different batches of dye might be more or less strong than the last.
I dye for details like this!
Gotta remember red is a horrable colour to get permanat. Heck, we do not really have a very strong permmanant red now days. It fades easy when exposed to sunlight, and just tends to fade over time period. Course, given time sunlight will bleach anything.
Oh hey, I’m right on time
It’s always the right time for comic reading!
I’m at a funeral right now.
Isher, Isher…love you. Isher love reading about you. If I were there, I would not be mean to you, Isher would not! Isher would be your friend! Isher…should stop, I know. Surely, Isher should. Yup. Isher should. Isherly know it’s probably annoying. Isher do… But Isher know I can’t stop! Isher think I can just accidentally hit the Post Comm
Turns out, living in a less modern era with lots of constant danger, inequality, and limited life choices, makes people a bit less empathetic as a whole!
There’s a reason public hangings were considered a fun afternoon event for the whole family a few hundred years ago.
What do you mean a few hundred years ago? Last public hanging in the US was on the 1930s I think?
Well… there have also been lynchings even more recently than that, but they hardly qualify as a “fun family activity”.
On a similar note, I’m surprised we don’t see more racial violence in a world like this. Although can’t imagine Isher would be a target when she can rend flesh with an errant flick of her wrist.
Ugh, I wouldn’t put too much faith in that. House Ivenmoth runs a pretty tight ship. Everyone knows that the other races are useful, and Ivenmoth doesn’t like it when useful things are wasted… The Indrel maintain a very limited and professional relationship with merchants, people who just randomly wander into their lands likely have a very different experience. Other places are probably much worse.
And I wouldn’t cite Isher as being safe. Looking dangerous is all the more reason for people to fear her and make baseless assertions. She might be big and tough and sharp all over, but an angry mobs with heavy rocks and sharp sticks and things-on-fire will be entirely capable and willing to meet her with violence in a dubious bid to protect their children. And then there is the ever-present knife-in-the-back(or poison, diseased blankets…) scenario.
The story is set in a place that is unusually tolerant of differences.
An officer saying “nab that officer dick,” is a weeee bit weird. If he was a grunt like Isher, it’d be different… unless he has a ‘thing’ for her and wants to give her sum’a his ‘benefits.’
BFG (burn face guard) seems pretty sharp tho. Him and Carl (scalp scar) officers of the guard or something?
I wonder how the ranking system works. Anyone with a beret is an officer/commander/czar, and the “badges” (badge wearers) are the lieutenants?
… hmmm… then the blanks are interchangeable and can be requisitioned by Badges or Berets (guards being exempt). So curious!!!
The little Ivenmoth badges they’re wearing is the sign of fully-vetted personnel; General Recruits like Kass, Elim and Isher, have to work for a while to earn that status. It’s a bit like an intern vs. a full time employee.
Thaaaaaaaaat or take a faceful of alien wing-I mean, a face ful of zat zing!
Assuming your comment still holds true….Oh yeah, I think Kass will be “working” for quite a while, if you catch my drift.
Don’t mind me. I discovered Val from their Lusty Argonian Maid’d series! And I *LOVED* the way they do their transformations. Also, he? She? They? It? How do I pronoun the artist!?
Also, more Sergal x Yinglet fanart is necessary. For….research.
K, I sleep now. Bye. *Thump*
Ah, gotcha. I was hoping there was some elaborate ranking system or new style structured formation. (I like new structure flows for data and hierarchies :b)
But now I’m curious how you prevent spy infiltration or false officers from doing a man in the middle (of command chain) from occuring.
I mean, look how easily Kass was accepted as an officer post transformation.
And imagine remote site or FOBs (forward operating bases).
Or is each RS and FOB setup with a defacto lord/baron/leader who opperates with impunity from the main base on all decisions regarding their operation at said site/base, unless receiving the appropriate encryption (which, having Ran as a research lead, might make for some fun algorithms or tags!)
Soooo curious!
IMHO, Kass was accepted too easily. How many yinglet officers does exist in the Ivenmoth staff? Would you really trust a yinglet wearing an officers uniform? It could have been a joke done by Elim. if I were the guard at the elevator, I would have at least asked someone to confirm the identity.
Those two got the “see me? Assume I won. Now picture the other guy.” and “I can power through a pitbull bitting on me leg and win” look
Isher has the “it’s been a while since the other guy he could land a hit on me because now I am levels above anthing coming at me.” look
Well if she ever needs any scars to make herself look more intimidating, she’s got a bunch of knives coming out of her hands and feet for easy access!
Oh boy, talking about how big/scary you look to the person with a hang-up about that very subject. Also, I’d love to see the look on those two’s faces if they ever saw the “new officer”, by the way.
Speaking of, I wonder if s/he’s face-down in a bowl of mollusks right now after being reminded that their equipment is completely wrong (I’d be tearing hair/fur out worrying about the lifespan thing over what’s between my legs myself, but then again, I’m not a soldier in a medieval setting).
I think that “plumbing” is more awkward, so it is more imposing than the lifespan(do we know anything on that point? Vizlet has at least one (maybe partial) apprenticeship under her belt…) issue. It is like physical and mental pain. Mental pain generally seems much worse to me, but physical pain is more attention-grabbing. If everything you have ever cared for was just destroyed, and then you stub your little toe, you will probably spare a moment to address the toe issue even if it is utterly insignificant.
Kassen has mentioned his lifespan. It is a sort of building dread that is slowly mounting his soul, but the prospect of going down to the enclave and popping out a few baby yinglets is a far more attention-grabbing horror that might even be a welcome distraction at times…
So how does the badge/officiation system work? These two are both Ivenmoth officials, but it seems they’re doing grunt duty as door guards, along side Isher who’s just a recruit. Meanwhile Kass is an ambassador and diplomat and I’d assumed fairly high-ranking compared to the common recruits. Are there different grades of officiation, or is Kass lower ranking than I’d thought, or are Ivenmoth officials more of a general term for anyone part of the house and their status differs depending on their duties?
They are keeping the peace at what is presumably an important meeting. They probably want officers there as much as a show of respect as to have experienced professionals on the case. Isher is there even as a recruit because she has special talents. This is grunt-work because the work itself is akin to what grunts have to do, not because grunts would be trusted to do it.
^ This
Oh, about that “officer dick” business…yeeeah…we might run into a couple issues with that
I was wondering why the poor girl was hanging out with Well Done and Zombo…
But yeah… just a smaaaaaaall problem with it.
She was hoping to at some point, unfortunatly, as the other 2 said, that officer status came with a few changes of plumbing and other issues.
Even if you don’t HAVE a dick, you can still BE a dick.
Not quite the same, Val. Not quite the same.
I mean, with the relative sizes of both parties involved, There might be more crossover than you think
“Isher Catches a Break” counter holding steady at 0… I think? Maybe I missed or forgot one, I’m not up to the same admirable level of the bigger fans here. Still, whatever the precise number of breaks may be, it is too low. Val, why you gotta be like this?
At least Isher will always catch a break in our hearts.
I feel as though this does, technically, count as a break. It is work. Remember the refugee house? Remember Isher’s house? She has a comparatively nice place. She also gets some time doing the gardening she likes, just not as much as she wants, and is often deferred to for physical labour… She just has self0image issues. She feels more like a “pretty girl” that a “terrifying engine of destruction(Ted)” and also feels as though “Ted” is incompatible with “pretty girl”. Until she either gets into a place where she never feels like a Ted, or accepts that she is a very pretty lady-Ted, or is morphed into a yinglet, she will always suffer from feeling like she can’t be the pretty girl that she wants to be. It doesn’t change that she will benefit from the paycheck and that she probably benefits from knowing how to look scary if the situation calls for it.
She looks scary by default, as the guards point out, simply by being large and having a large claw on each hand. Imagine the human equivalent, a 7 foot tall guy weighing in at 250+ pound and wearing gloves with large spiked knuckles….
And boots with large spikes protruding from them, so if he kicks your a** he will also rip you a new a**hole at the same time.
Isher doesn’t really need to *try* to look intimidating to someone who doesn’t know her. I doubt she knows how to fight, but if she got into a fight with a human it’d be hard for her to lose, considering that she has razor-sharp spines protruding from her body and is at least twice the size of any human she could run into.
I’d leg wrestle Isher. I might lose but it would be fun.
You’d also probably slice open your femoral artery and bleed out while Isher flips the fuck out, but if you’re up for it and know a good surgeon I’d say go for it.
Note to self, use leg armor for Idh wrestle.
Ish*
I am so sad for her. I just hope one of the delegates ends up being the high matriarch, and she will know of a way to get Isher a better place in society. Poor lady needs a break.
As far as I can understand about ranks, Kass has a higher rank than standard officials. This is shown by the gold collar of his/her uniform. The brown collar and shoulder patches are for the seamstress and the white sleeves are for the kitchen staff. I’m wondering one thing since i started to read this comic (this comic is one of my 3 faved comic)… it’s like no one talked about Kass to the Ivenmoth staff. No one told them something like “please don’t kill the little yinglet wearing the Ivenmoth uniform: he’s not a fake and he is really higher rank than you”.
Sorry for my bad english.
Given how the lift guards reacted I’m pretty sure such an announcement is unnecessary.
Your English is honestly way better than a lot of native speakers.
Thanks. 🙂 Sometimes is hard to explain something in a foreign language.
I must question….. is this at the bouncer job Isher started working at?
I love Ishur so much <3
OK. I *HAVE* to ask now. What *IS* Isher? She’s half-something, but I don’t know if she’s Half-Orc or Half-Dragon?! Inquiring mind wants to know!
Also, still get a chuckle out of Ran’s demonstration on homosexual yinglet sexual intercourse.
Gaaaah the spam D:
Goddammit, I thought we fixed that! Didn’t think we needed a spam moderation system in the comments section of a small webcomic, but I guess I’m wrong…
I never noticed the cut in Isher’s horn. How did that happen?
I do not believe that we know. However it is most like self-inflicted, and very tragic. I am wondering if it was a matter of choosing/being persuaded to stop, or if it started bleeding profusely and she almost died… Or it could have been cut by someone else who was fought off before they could finish, or half cut it as some sort of intimidation…
It certainly looks cut/sawed regardless. A break that deep from bending would be extremely difficult without breaking it right off, and would have left it too weak to remain long-term. It is weird to think of any natural processes that could cause it, but it could be some sort of bacteria or enzyme or something, and biology over there has some quirks… It could be something like a bite from something extremely sharp, but it is a weird place for it. No doubt there are ways it could happen accidentally too, but given her attitude towards being the biggest, toughest, strongest, and particularly sharpest person in most rooms she occupies, self-inflicted(or inflicted by a care-giver who shared such feelings) seems extremely likely.
I think she might have actually attempted to cut it off. I may be totally mistaken but I remember some vague misfortune thing about it being implied in an earlier cartoon, it was in one of her first encounters with the high researcher. With her distaste for her own appearance as a fearsome creature it would make sense that she might try to cut it off, as it pretty much is the center of her aesthetic. Or perhaps it’s tied in with an accident or attack, like a sword stroke. Perhaps it even has to do with how Kass met her, maybe he pushed her down so the sword went and chopped at her horn instead of her neck.
I never really noticed it before now, but I like it almost as much as I like the cut of her jib.
A very learned chap on this site, once told me the secret answer to your question lies within Val’s deviant art collection.
They then later proved it with a link and a screenshot of it.
Long story short, its the result of “battle damage.” (Same with the ear (if I recall correctly)
Though I must agree, I do enjoy the not knowing and speculation thay others have offered here! I enjoy how inquisitive humans are and how we look for meaning and information from occurances.
…
And speaking of such, if the horn damage was self inflicted, why wouldn’t she have started with her thumb claws (something she sees every day whilst using her hands), than the horn which she only sees when she looks up?
Well the horn is a very obvious thing, it is like a flag. Other people will likely comment on it more than the thumbs. Also, as much as the thumbs get in the way while working, that horn… Can you even begin to imagine how many ceilings she has hit with that thing? I can easily see why “fix my face” and “go through a door without bumping my head and actually stand upright in a normal room” would be on the top of her list.
But it could easily go either way. And while she seems plenty stable now, she must have been a teenager at some point…
Oh hell, ur right! I could just imagine the crank to the neck that would occur from catching the lip of a door or something. I caught my mask once and it hurt like the dickens! (Oliver twist obviously :b)
But I was thinking more of what a person sees the most when they don’t like themselves. And as mirrors (but perhaps not the ones in watee) are rare in their world (probably), she would probably rework her talons so they didn’t strike fear into someone when she reached out to hand them a flower or something (*turns red* like a hug! :3)
The face may be what the others see and talk with, but hands are how we interact with one another and convey a lot of our body language.
Heheh teenage Isher painting her nails with dye made from flowers and berries, wearing a grass skirt and whatever! :3
Oh, wow, you’re right! Isher absolutely played with flowers as a child. When she was young, her talons were probably much shorter, and just right for making daisy-chains!
Daisy chains? I never would have figured her at being adept in handling demolition charges for mining operations. A gal after my own heart :b
Burnyface seems like a pretty decent sort. Sergeant Baldy…a little less so :P.
Burn-face guy reminds me oddly of myself… except with horrific facial scarring. And less puns.
I hope we do get to see “Mean Isher” soon.
I wager you’d have to push her pretty far for that, maybe threaten to harm Kass in his/her current state.
She has very nice skin! One of the great things about being built like a tank is that you don’t scar easily…
I find her muscle very attractive. However, those thumb claws need a trim.
My spirit animal is a yinglet. This is because both are social outcasts and both can not often find food