KING OF SWORDS 10-142
Chapter: 10
“Total victory is not found in the final sword blow. To perfect victory you cannot continue to spill the blood of a fallen foe, which only shows your insecurities to your many enemies. Instead, you must nurse your foe back to health, dress, and feed him, but not so much that he regains his strength. You must take away every aspect of him which originally seemed fierce and indestructible. In every aspect you must diminish and crush his spirit with affection, all the while maintaining your grip on his sword arm. In this way, kindness is the greatest cruelty.”
-Au Vam
The desire of the power-hungry to shape the world to their will is evident in all their actions, especially in their choices of attire. Just as clothing can be a flag flown in representation of who we are and/or wish to be, so too can it be a figurative (or literal) corset to bend us to the expectations of others. And as history has shown, it is very often used in the latter capacity.
It would seem Solomon seeks to bend our fierce dynamic duo into the shape of an obedient princess and a subservient maid, should he have his way. Though he would be wise to remember that clothing alone makes for a flimsy mask, and an even flimsier set of shackles.
I personally prefer the freedom of nudity, but perhaps only because I’d have to custom order pants with 16 pairs of legs.
Wouldn’t a naked trilobite be one without an exoskeleton?
Would a naked human be one without skin?
Prefers nekkid humans. Prefers skinless humans. Less’n thum be roastly crispy.
Trilobites eh. Troosies wi leg’oles o jaikets wi sleevies? Thums likesome all indecisioned thumselfs t’death. ‘Ceptin un, seemso.
so. . . so who did her hair?
Maybe she did it herself? Though she hasn’t been shown in anything more complex than a basic ponytail. There were some other hair styles in her mental landscape, but you know, mental landscape.
The only other plausible one is Cio.
I suppose the servant that brought the clothes COULD have done it.
Or maybe they were brought to a more private room (not that Cio would care all that much) where a female servant helped.
Unless Abbadon drops some hint, we’ll likely never know.
The tyrant does forget a most important lesson, that those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
A certain other Demiurge tried to put Allison in a dress, and look at what happened to her.
Yo Abbadon, you really need to post delays (though the delay isn’t beyond the more typical one or two updates per week schedule we’re used to) on the website as well!
Anyway, sounds like two more pages left for this book, either the fight scene is going to be short or it’s in the next book.
I bet he’s so pleased to be shouted at and micromanaged, in such an affable and patient way too.
Who? Abbadon? (Your post appears to be a response to mine but isn’t set as a reply to it) It’s a perfectly reasonable request to post delays on the site as well as twitter. Either that or have the twitter feed be on a sidebar somewhere.
Not everybody would be checking Abbadons twitter regularly, I don’t. I simply checked on a whim since he’s been doing the comics at a pretty quick pace the past few months.
Certainly for one’s self, one is very happy to enjoy the fruits of a hard but loving labour whenever they arrive. One finds it not possible to escape the quality inherent in an Aeon to be but patient for kalpa. What is a twitter? It seems to need keeping and fed?
Not gonna lie, Solomon should fire his tailor, as her dress does not suit her. she looks more of a fool that Gog’agog.
Perhaps that is the point.
And so I find myself having read this entire webcomic in the span of 48 hours.
My. Over 500 per 2 days, to 2 or fewer per week. The withdrawl will not be good from such an impressive and thoroughly understandable binge.
Hey Abbadon, we get that you’re on the move and all that, but would you mind mentioning delays on-site as well? Some of us would rather not wade into Twitter.
Wading into a twitter sounds too much for anyone to bear. Abbadon must hear of this dire plight. Related, one was not aware that even Patreonites were afforded any definite schedule, so one does not tend to think of there being any delays. Just a dedicated author and artist putting out his work for all, as and when at all able. Has one mentioned how nice it is to be quietly patient, then pleasantly surprised.
Apologies, one thought one was replying to Mio.
I don’t really bother with the local dialect, so apologies in advance for any misunderstandings. It seems to me you’re mocking me for making, what seems to me, a simple enough request (although of course, I may be mistaken). After all, the site clearly supports announcements like these. In fact, in the past, it was common to see them pop up at the bottom of the homepage.
As for the update schedule, I am glad to inform you that one can find it in the About section: “Tuesday and Friday evenings (and occasionally weekends). Sometimes it will be up quite late on those days.” Perhaps it would be more comfortable for Abbadon to update only once a week, though. I mean no offence, naturally. However, there is no shame in admitting that one needs a break.
Perhaps a mild mock on reading, perhaps not, perhaps an attempt at humour, for something which came across as Hey Abbadon do this cos I can’t be bothered to do that. Your echo simply followed on the heels of the smj/Tunnel Ape dialogue above. One does not understand the need to demand, nor tell a creator what he should or shouldn’t do or needs to do, but yours was certainly of request than the previous demand. Apologies for misunderstandings likewise.
One has indeed not been in the About page for many moons, but have never really thought of the updates as more than a declared goal, rather than gospel, and we have certainly received new pages on many different days. Regularity is very rare, here or anywhere; one can think of only one webcomic which has never deviated from schedule, not even once to one’s recall.
One is ever happy to receive whenever, something worth waiting for, but others’ desires may well be different and of a range. The once a week could work in the way that twice (even were it regularly twice) could then be seen as a boon; one always feels good with an overdeliver even if/when due to an underpromise.
Also fitting in with that would be the now many-days-long enjoyable and very interesting discussions, suppositions, deductions and banter from oodles of Inheritors, that have developed, and can be overtaken by events – when there is a longer hiatus we see how long the suppositions and comments naturally last, and it will normally excede 3 days (‘victim of its own success’ could fit into that point somewere perhaps; please place where appropriate). Thoughts all. Or ramblings, it does rather seem longer a comment than anticipated. Tea.
I got your point about being patient and true, it’d only been like three days, but I was just trying to say ‘hey, could you please also post schedule changes/updates’ on the site too since not everybody checks twitter.
re regularity: Schlock Mercenary, right? Anyways, while KSBD certainly isn’t as regular as that, we’ve come to generally expect a new one on average once per week (quicker pace during the coronovirus quarantine nonwithstanding), sometimes a bit longer and the delay doesn’t go beyond that, but again, I was just trying to say ‘hey, could you please post updates on the site too?’ Maybe I could have been a little less shouty about it, anyways….
Schlock Mercenary’s regularity comes at some cost to its creator, who feels bounden to work even when very ill. Also, the buffer that gives the regularity makes it very hard for a creator to change anything in the light of audience reaction, as the “future” is fixed too many pages in advance. I think Abbadon’s way is gentler and more fruitful.
Nobody here is asking for that kind of regularity or output though.
On regularity I read both Schlock Mercenary and Pepper & Carrot. One updates every day the other about 3 or 4 times a year. It is beautiful though.
>Regularity is very rare, here or anywhere; one can think of only one webcomic which has never deviated from schedule, not even once to one’s recall.
Gunnerkrigg?
Wow, the words of Au Vam are so chilling. To retain his human soul the butcher (or the vampire) must maintain empathy with his prey, all the while maintaining the flow of its draining life. It is with love we kill not with hate, and for the love of that which comes after. – Kal-2 the Reiver king.
Kindness surely is the greatest cruelty.
Man… I feel like I should be afraid, but all I can feel about someone who demands so much conformity is pity.
Perhaps he is even afraid of loss of control?
Probably not. It just makes me wonder.
I think it’s more of an expectations thing, after all, a king and his subjects would expect that his guests at the royal spectator box at least look nice, no?
We don’t have a sense of what Rayuba’s formal or upper class female fashion looks like, so, it kind of does look like he had to borrow from Mottom’s closet.
victory is hard fought death. championed by women and weak things resigned to defeat.
already regretting this
Like the braid. Shame about the rest.
Cio’s fashion sense is screaming on the inside…
Text in the description reminding me a whole lot of another favorite comic of mine:
“What is needed is that we talk. But they are unwilling to listen. So we must bring them to the table by force.”
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