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Editor: Raptie
Colorists: Koof & Oniontrain
https://unitedhelpukraine.org/ https://www.comebackalive.in.ua/
Out-of-Placers
A story of inconvenient changes
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OOPs now has a Russian translation which updates shortly after the English pages are posted!
Now also in French:
And Ukranian:
Boss, de problem is dat for many of us, we are all a Kassen, broken under a mask of calmness. Dis arc reminds me of how little separates de person people sees, and de person de mask hides. But I do hope dis arc of de comic goes somewheres and soon. Seeing characters you made and we have come to adore be tortured for monzhs now like a naughty humani 8 year old does to a house yinglet makes me sad, boss. Being dark sometimes is part of OOP, is true zhat violence happens here, but dis is different. Its your comic, but right now, wizh de bad stuffs in de world and such I come here to have a mental space aways from de demons dat whisper in my head normally. I hopes dat zhings go better soon, and we see a return to de dark humor and good writings for all of us fans regardless of politics or language. Take care boss, and good luck wizh your demons too.
Respectfully, Dat Specific Yinglet.
P.S. Sorry for poking holes at de Beletan’s sword earlier, its not as dumb as many science fiction or fantasy stuffs out zhere, but de comments came from having been forced/ordered to hold a weapon at arm’s legnzh to understand how heavy zhings can be wizh time.
Haha man, you always have something interesting to say. Yeah, I getcha! This mini-arc is definitely a hard contrast to most of the comic’s overall mood, but is also absolutely vital to understanding the people that Kass and Elim are, so many years later. Don’t worry, I’m not about to get all dark and gloomy with the story! This is just a critical moment in the story that’s been in the storytelling pipeline for years, and it really needed to be told properly in order to give meaning to a lot of important stuff going on.
I’m glad you care enough to have strong feelings about these characters and what happens to them, enough to post about it!
War is hell, and this comic doesn’t shy away from that fact. Take comfort in remembering that, for these characters, this scene from “The War” is in the past, and they’re in a much better place now. They live in interesting times, people in positions of authority have taken notice of them, and at least one wild fever-dream has come true, but they’ve got a chance in Valsalia to make a home, and maybe even make it a better place than it was before they immigrated.
Lookies, what took place in de last 6 comics was not truly new zhough. We know zhat Kassen got conscripted (OOP60) into what zhey call “De Ten Seasons War” (prologue 1) and lost zheir homeland (prologue 2). Elim in OOP 005 speaking to Kass “Neither of us should’ve survived the long run all the way here from the front lines. We kept each other alive, and no one can judge us for the things we did to make that happen.”. Elim was stabbed in de leg and had to be carried by Kass (OOP 34) Elim got his first shanking on de escapings (OOP 36) but trusted Kassen to save zhem bozh instead of making his woundz worse (OOP40) Kassen got Dysentery while on de run with Elim (OOP 58) and Elim did too (OOP85) Kassen likely ran into Galen (de drug addict) to patch Elim up, possibly at sword point on de run from de Beletans, and joined a refugee migration away from de Beletan’s forces, which got Kassen and Elim to Ivenmozh.
It took a lots of readings to get all dat information, ya know? And it is zhings like dat, where having read de comic has payoffs for laters. So yeah, we have had de flashbacks before, but only from de single point of view. Dis series of late was supposed to be from Elim’s point of view, but somehow ended up being some of Kassen’s too, and made my head all spinny like having Isher toss me a few times from losing de point of view of de storyteller of de flashback. Dat and dere was no buildup to de confrontation of Elim’s first kill, or de moment he and Kass fled from de front lines. Dere was just killings, and not knowing who was dying or why dey stood and fought. De flashback could have started wizh Elim being sick from having killed for de first time and lost nozhing story wise. So, I asks why. Why show de killing drawn out, and Elim’s horror at having taken a life in such detail wizhout a real grounding page for when and why de action occurred. Dere was just pain zhere, and a fractured narritive too. I get it dat war is like dat. And dere is a story to be told, and a good one of how Kassen helped bring de Drinnish to Valsalia. But perhaps dere should be a side comc for it?
A interesting Side Jot is dat de Drinnish Religion (of whom Kass is intimately familiar) revolves around a prophecy zhat de glowy stuff in de sky will save de Drinnish people in zheir time of need by restoring a great leader to zhem. (Field guide 7) Zhat Kass was affected by dis same glowy stuff in his people’s time of exile is a interesting parallell perhaps too.
Yeah I know. It’s awfully true to life. But that’s what makes this webcomic such a treasure. There are lots of funny comics out there, but very few, I think, combine such delightful comedy with the emotional scope and depth we find in these characters. We get so attached to the story because it feels genuine, honest, and unforced. Nobody in this world ever seems to say or do anything just because the plot needs them to. You never wonder “why did they do that,” or “why did they say that,” and have to answer, “because it’s in the script.” It’s a quality you hope for in a good novel, and it’s a real treat to find it in a webcomic.
I do want it to be mostly comedy, though, so I also hope the war scene ends soon. Maybe we’ll pop out of this flashback on the next page, into Kass’s office, and we’ll realize that the two of them have been having the same daydream at the same time? That would be an interesting transition, wouldn’t it?
I have been a loyal Yinglet here for years now. Yes, de comic has gone a long ways to give its characters “deep” moments but zometimes maybe a little too deep? Was hard to watch Isher’s Romance Arc as de example. But going zhrough bad zhings is not what makes a person deep. Its how zhey cope wizh de world’s troubles and if not overcome zhem, at least live wizh zhem. I watch de comic “Darbi” and it is truly “R” rated in de amount of blood and gore it shows, but I expect it zhere, and its presence has a reason to be zhere. Zhis “Flashback” being a sign of Elim’s ongoing mental breakdown is harder to watch just because I have seen and indeed lives zhrough such before, and know worse is to come. People who let de horrors of de past define zhem are consumed by zhem too. It is de contrast of Kassen and Elim zhat one is looking forwards, always, and de ozher backwards.
Anozher way to put it I suppose is de quote: “Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.” Quote by Friedrich Nietzsche. Zhat Kass, who has lost de form she was born wizh does not see herself as a monster, but Elim, who has but a few scars on de outside thinks badly of himself shows just how much naval gazing does to harm oneself. And for de “waking up” scene, hope Kass is zhere, hearing what Elim has been reliving as he talked in his sleep. Elim needs a hug after zhis, to remind him zhat he has a purpose, and is not de monster as Mr Nietzsche said.
I don’t think what we’re seeing here is any sort of mental breakdown of Elim. In the past, he vomited from the nausea and stress having had to fight for his life and kill someone in the process. In the present, I think this may be the first time he’s really had a chance to just… process what happened with the yinglet exiles. Don’t forget that he killed several of them, so it’s natural for his mind to go back to the first time he killed somebody (which, honestly, speaks well of Elim – it implies he thinks of the yinglets he killed as PEOPLE rather than ANIMALS). So, I’d imagine that’s why the author opted to show Elim’s kill, rather than just his reaction to it – because Elim is thinking about his first kill, not just his reaction to it.
Elim’s mental healzh has been a zhing for a while now. Elim started off as Kassen’s check on his ambitions. (oop prologue 8) After “Zhat Zhiing” Elim got very protective of Kass (OOP 10) and comforted Kass, saying to her “You clearly got the worst of all this nonsense, but it has still has me all shaken up”. Then in OOP40 Elim asks Kassen to let Elim help her, though admitting to himself zhat “..there isn’t a damm thing I can do to to make things better” in oop54.
And zhat admission echoed in oop59 zhat is Elim’s problem, zhat dere is no way to make zhings better. Elim is de person who cannot see forwards, and dat is his character IMHO. Elim bases his self worzh on being useful to his friends and employer, and cannot see dat he is appreciated for being himself sometimes. Kass confronts Elim in concern for his mental state in oop 85 “I also know you feel like you are carrying some kind of debt to me” and zhen told she did not expect repayment, then telling Elim she did not like Elim zhinking like he was. which is answered by Elim “…I’m feeling good about something that is caused by you being in a bad situation so I feel worse.”. Dis rapprochement was interrupted by Elim being shanked, and now unable to be helpful to Kass, or de Trademaster as he heals. Dis for us was 108 episodes ago, but for Elim, zhis was de last time he seen de outdoors. Elim and Kass were togezher for de last time in de comic oop 123, 73 episodes ago after saying “I’ll be right back” (which I hope she was, just offscreen) and wizhout Kass being around, to ward off his feelings of inadequacy, de flashback of de killing comes back.
Dat is Elim as I know it. A guy zhat cares deeply, but not near enouzh about himzhelf. Does dis mean Elim is having a full scale nervous breakdown? Probably not, but nor is he in a good place mentally. And until Elim has somewhere he wants to be for his own dreams and hopes, he will struggle.
For Elim seeing Yinglets as people, having his best friend be one would be a good start towards dis even if dey did not live in a multiracial, multispecies environment. Dat dere was no prejudice from day one is commendable for sure, but not surprising even before de “Isher Incident” where Kassen tries to appease de trademaster’s thirst for oddities in return for rank and wealzh.
So he kept it together for his friend, interesting. Must have sucked to have lost that control, to have stopped being that bedrock of stability, overnight, through no fault of his own.
Maybe JUST A LITTLE
Iz zat a feckin pun?
😛
Gotta fake it till you make it now
Deal with how that breaks your brain later
Yup! First step is to make sure you’re alive, to deal with the breakage later.
We’re all just acting tough to look cool and in control to others.
it’s also a defense mechanism.
Like, I can seem kinda scary by acting big and boisterous. But what I’ve found out really , truly frightens people is that in response to a dangerous situation you are just stone cold blaise about it.
I broke up the neighbors having a fight, and since my back was out, out. I just really would not have felt a punch to the face at that point. The guy was threatening to sick his pitbull on me, and i was leaning up against a telephone pole with my eyes closed and I could hear him freaking out (bending down to rub the pitbulls ears and go “Awwww… PUPPY!” almost gave him a heart attack)
Kind of expected that.
Kass looks kinda creepy on that third panel. But also, nice to see him act so positive back in the days! Even if it was only a mask. While Kass generally tends to be similar as a human in the past and a yinglet in the present, panel 6 is a very stark contrast to his yinglet self.
Even the guy going “Good soldiering! Don’t worry about those thoughts that this is somehow wrong!” is just another person also on the verge of losing it themselves.
Propaganda at work, even as they’re deserting from the army.
He’s probably feeling kinda creepy too, trying to make a decent face in such a horrifying situation, for survival’s sake. I hope I never have to go through anything like it.
Don’t let him in, don’t let him see,
Be the good boy, you always have to be,
Conceal, don’t feel, don’t let him know…
Well, now he knows!~
Let it go, let it go
Can’t hold it back anymore
Let it go, let it go
Turn away and vomit more…
‘
I don’t care what shrinks gonna say
Let’s paste smiles on…
shellshock never bothered me anyway…
EEEEEEEEEEEE! *blink blinks*
While normallies I’d dos some kinda silly pratfallz or schtick here (yeah I’m ZHAT GUY)… I’m just gonna has a shot ofs clamsjuice… *gulp!* and leaves za bottle here for anyings else who may needs it.
Love this kind of character. Doing their best at being the rock, the course, to which the others can hang on.