BREAKER OF INFINITIES 1-19
YISUN said, “Listen, here are three types of looking. Three men make a pilgrimage but despite their best efforts, lose the path. The desert is hot, and the men will soon be dead. They have run out of water.
The first man doesn’t know he has run out of water, nor does he bother to check. He blithely continues onwards until he is shocked to find his own death coming up from the sand to meet him.
The second man checks his canteen and sees immediately he is out of water. He gives up and curls up in a ball, and dies quite piteously, obsessing over his failures. A miserable man.”
Hansa said, “An ominous riddle.”
“The third man,” YISUN said, “checks his canteen, and finds he will soon be a dead man. Yet he is resolute, and presses onwards anyway, looking for his destination.”
“Does he find it?” asked Hansa.
“No,” said YISUN, “Quite plainly. His death finds him at the appointed time. Yet he presses on anyway, until the moment his corpse hits the dust.”
“What an idiot,” said Hansa.
“Absolutely,” said YISUN.
“What a magnificent idiot,” added Hansa.
“Hansa is observant,” said YISUN.
– Spasms
tag yourself im zaid clenching every atom in his body
Don’t move. Jagganoth can’t see us if we don’t move.
Has she teleported before?
Twice! Once on purpose, even! Waaaaay back at the beginning, not too long after we met Cio.
Four times. Once from Earth to throne (via the void) after first meeting Zoss. Once from Throne back to Earth (via the void) to escape Hell 71. Once from Earth to the void (devil bar at the Earth gate) at the end of Book 1. Once from Mykos to Throne to escape Mottom.
Yeah, that last time she zapped the whole ship outta there. This group ought to be a piece of cake. If she’s fast.
There was also the time in Mammon’s dungeon, in response to the murder attempt by the gold-mask devil whose name escapes me.
That one might also be Incubus-influenced, but she seemed pretty aligned with his reaction as well so it’s hard to say for sure.
I’m Cio handing out unnecessary ‘I told you sos’ before they’ve even escaped
Unnecessary rebukes for past actions, perhaps. But necessary entirely, for reminding Al-Yisun – and we, the perceivers – that this orgy of violence plants only its own seeds. A recrimination that pushes the narrative to an alternative solution.
If Allison heeds, the ‘I told you so’s’ will be far from unnecessary
I’m White Chain wondering where they can take Nyave that’s safe enough for long enough. And trying not to think about how Allison will explode when I explain about Metatron.
I half expect them to end up at a hospital on Earth. Pity the poor receptionist.
I’m princess, no clue what’s happening or going to happen and excited about that all.
I’m Cio, simultaneously going “this shit again” while gesturing widely at Things, “this fucking shit, it always goes this fucking way” while simultaneously not doing all that much to change myself and likely making many of the same damn mistakes (but also making some new and interesting mistakes because at least I’m not Yabalchoath anymore)
In Zaid’s defense, he did just grab by a furry armed demon wearing a shirt that says “Top.” It’s the latest thing in an already eventful day.
Grabbed by a fury arm. But I get your meaning.
Being held by both an angel and a devil at the same time is a bit much for anyone…
Sounds like a country song
Perfect.
Aw girl, yer an angel and a devil,
and one hell of a rebel,
Git yer magic zappin’
and make somethin’ happen
Transport me and my truck and my dog and my beer and this old dirt road and the full moon shinin’ on the river and Auuuggghhh!
(Cio and Princess express their opinion)
But to clarify — I pictured a generic country singer getting the music review, not Zaid!
Zaid needs a chance to show his mettle.
I’m Vigilant Gayz, disappointed the lass was not on board with some brawling.
Cio is observant
I mean… out of all the things that have happened in the comic, this one is the *least* justified to claim is Alison’s fault.
Um, Cio, I hate to point this out, but it was quite likely the two of you getting jiggy with it as a giant woman that created the cosmic vibrations that alerted Jagannoth to the likelihood of it being Salami-yeeting time.
Although on second reading I realise Cio might just as well be talking about herself.
Preem Vajrachinta, that is a very good observation!
When Cio says “treating yourself like a hammer” she is 100% referring to Allison. Cio had already decided to retire to a desk job and her fanfic hobby when the comic began.
Ah, but she is also speaking *from experience*. That is to say: a time was once when Cio — or, more pointedly, the devil that *would become* Yabalchoath — treated herself as a hammer. Or an anvil. Or the blade between. That is a warning from hard experience, borne of scars.
(Better to treat the self as a fine garden — a thing to be cultivated, but to let lie fallow at times, and to be prepared to plant anew should the worst happen. A thing of patience, made to nourish, be that nourishment of the belly, or the eyes, or the soul)
Some people do indeed treat the self as a fine garden, Yisun bless them. I treat the self more like an amusement park.
Na it was Gog-A-gog sending the message out that Salami was wounded on his tournament and lost.
It was fake news, but it was enough to let Jaganoth know that it was a good time to attack.
I love Cio, but she needs to shut tf up.
Not the right time for scolding. Not at all.
Part of the training, the guilt trips are.
Discretion is the better part of valor. Unfortunately, our heroes have neither at their disposal.
I can’t help but notice that the arm Allison is missing on the cover is the one she’s currently holding on to white chain and Nyave with.
Yeah, I rather hope Abbadon doesn’t plan on killing them both off now? That would be… a very expected kind of fuckery, TBH, and would serve me right for falling in love with this comic. But I hope he doesn’t.
What happens to White Chain if she is killed in her new body? Does she go back to the angel waiting room, or become a shade, or?
Again, cover Alison is not the same version as this Alison. Remember zoss has time loop shenanigans going on
Wait what? I didn’t the impression time travel was even possible in the KSBDverse.
On one reading, Zoss showing up once per book to advise Allison is evidence of him time travelling. On another, the “ghost” of Zoss that Allison sees is only an illusion and changes to match Allison’s understanding of herself.
To be fair to Allison, absolutely none of the deaths were at her hands and all of them were at Jagganoth’s hands, and there is nothing to really indicate that Allison’s discretion would have saved them.
Yeah, Allison’s approach this time around mostly just got some tournament goers beat up, a pretty drawn out friendly fire incident, and another case of Demiurges playing dress up with the protagonist. Things were going smoother than they usually do with her plans until Jaggy showed up.
But Then There Was Jagganoth!, yes.
There is no way that the tournament would have become the battleground of the demiurges except for Allison’s damn fool plan to – to – – – I can’t even remember what it was, it’s been so long.
The plan was to recover Zaid. I know you hate him or hate that she cares about him (I guess it’s wrong to care about past friends/boyfriends or strangers) but come on, we’ve seen main characters go farther for other people, who they knew even less in other series.
And I think jaggaonth might have showed up regardless to be honest. Since his hope was to recruit her, if she wasn’t there he’d prolly still show up to crush em.
I don’t think Zaid as a person wasore important than the act of recovering Zaid is for Allison. She got thrown in there with no clue, no objectives but plenty of people that want to control her.
Getting Zaid back is an act of defiance, disregarding the machinations of the demiurges in order to accomplish something that is personal to her and that is her Will in motion. It is also an act of defiance against a cruel world, saving a guy she barely knows not because she should, but because she could.
Also, perhaps in her mind saving Zaid puts things back into equilibrium and neatly closes this house-of-leaves excursion into the weird. Maybe she thinks getting him back will pop her world back into shape again, or at least make it possible to pretend nothing happened. But that would mean losing Cio. I guess Preem Allison will need to sit down and examine her priorities at some point. Pretty soon, I imagine.
I seem to recall from somewhere that Allison was only dating Zaid because she wanted to lose her virginity. Which, by the way, I always thought had something to do with why Zoss chose her. In any case, the author has taken great care to make Zaid as insignificant as possible as a character while at the same time looming large as a plot element, which is a really interesting and adept thing to do. I feel about Zaid just what the story has made of him.
As are we all.
Even a protagonist of a story isn’t worth reading about unless they interact with others. What we are inside means nothing, how others see us is what counts.
Yeah, Zaid hasn’t had enough air time (page time? panel time?) to develop and/or reveal his character, so it’s difficult to form much of an opinion of him. He was an impatient horny college dude in the opening — but again he’s more a plot device there too, because he’s swept away so quickly.
An aside: Going back to look at that hilarious beginning sequence – especially when Allison screams upon seeing Zoss, and Zaid thinks she’s getting into the idea of sex – makes me pause and reflect on the unmitigated brilliance of this entire work. Might be time to make use of the holidays and read through the whole thing again!
With the last panel did anyone else hear Scorpion saying “Get over here!” or is it just me?
Yeah, I’m worried that she’s taking way to long to finish your teleport.
Jagganoth’s about to show us the old ways of how demiurges add to the strength of their keys
Far and wide have i travel just to see the princes of the world clash… yet why do i feel so empty?
It’s the last book, shadow-shifter. Emptiness will follow, sadly.
indeed. Curious how a good tale have the most glorious power of making us both crave and dread the ending, just like life does.
Until the 28th, allow me to wish all a happy holiday season.
And yes, that includes Gog Agog. I *did* say all.
Ring out wild bells.
Out with the the year of sorrow and in with the year of woe.
Laughing all the way.
Marvelous Idiots may we be.
I gift this hope from me to thee.
Indeed. Tis the Great Midwinter Feast here, so I offer you the traditional seasonal blessing –
Three rented companions and a great number of well fried lepidoptera.
…
[ERR Out of scope] fornicating translator
Zaid just standing stiff and upright like he can only pretend he has any idea what’s going on…
Being intimately grabbed by an angel and a demon can have that effect. I believe Zaid is beginning to foresee his life getting very interesting indeed. Should more than make up for being a longterm desk-ornament for Demiurges, followed by designated ground zero for Solemnon Didactidave’s weighty homilies.
arrghh… i fall into a deep slumber until the 28th…
And with that, our heroes hit the “Shit’s Whack, Let’s Bounce” button. Hopefully to safer pastures. Yet the fact still remains, a war between Gods has begun. How will this play out? Long ang grueling, to buy time? Or short and bloody, with the rest of us spending our days trying to outrun extinction?
How interesting…
IF the other Demiurges manage to survive Jaggy’s early onslaught it’s likely they will remember their own battle skills and start to work together. In that case, it could be long and grueling. If, on the other hand, Jagganaoth manages to kill off several of the others quickly, it’s likely to be short and bloody, with lots of outrunning extinction.
It’s too early to say, but arguably Allison’s presence is the catalyst that moved Jagg to action: maybe a similar confrontation is inevitable, but the fact that it happened here on Ryuba at this particular moment may be chalked up to her deciding to come.
Jagganoth still wants Allison’s key.
Jagganoth still wants a master key- subtle difference.
Anyone else get the distinct feeling that Ms. “Top” shirt over there has her many eyes on Zaid?
Oh gods I want that to be canon so badly.
Quite a few ships in this fleet:
Allison X Cio
Allison X White Chain
Cio X White Chain
Nyave X Zaid
Princess X Zaid
Princess X Vigilant Gaze
Don’t forget Zaid X Solomon. It’s been a long couple of years in capitivity.
YES PLEASE
White Chain: He is not your father, yet you call him “Daddy”
Zaid (blushes): It is an… honorific for His Magnificence.
I have seen His Magnificence and it is a beauty!
ABSOLUTELY NOT.
What, no poly?
All poly, actually.
You know Cio, this one can’t really be put at Allison’s feet for once.
And a voice like the susurration of fifteen thousand pairs of gossamer wings spake, saying, “Cio, give Allison a break, this one is not on her at all. Come on.”
BE DUMB
REACH HEAVEN
I once held the entirety of the heavens in my grasp… Unfortunately, I made the fatal mistake of realizing what I had done, and my right arm was annihilated from existence.
I awoke here, drifting through the void, some years ago.
Oo, I hate when that happens. Which right arm?
… surely, you can’t mean you only had the one?
Count yourself lucky that you lost your right arm. It would have been a terrible tragedy to lose the wrong one.
Oh Wolf Favored One, I groan deeply in honor of your word play!
Pose as a team, because SHIT JUST GOT REAL.
Finally we have two angels two demons and two men on Allison’s team
Also, Zaid continues to be hilarious.
Oh goodie, the Ominous Hand. Harbinger of slapping, clapping, and worst of all snapping.
jaggys just lending someone a hand
hopefully not allison she really needs a chance to change outfits
All this criticism of Cio, but no one has noticed where she’s looking. She’s not accusing Allison specifically, but all of them including herself. Her point is completely correct, all we have seen of every Key user is them using that power to cut the universe around them into shapes they find pleasing, something Cio herself is guilty of in her past life. Allison charged into a delicate balance of power like an enraged bull, and now the Demiurge cold war has shot straight up to boiling point
I like the hand holding sound effects
Ugh, shit, did they make it out or is Jagganoth about to snatch them mid jump?
I am concerned by the presence of the ominous hand
♫ Big Hand, I know you’re the one… ♪♫