With this much chick love going on, it is with a depressingly weary sigh that I confidently predict her boyfriend will be made out to be some kind of villain by the end of things. Because men are always bad and keep strong, independent women down.
I think it’s already been established that Zaid was a bit of a jerk and Allison was only dating him because she (not being remotely strong and independent) was trying to use him to prop up her self-esteem. I also get the impression she hasn’t been thinking she wants to be with him since she grew her first vertebra early on, let alone a whole backbone later.
None of that makes him a villain, but it does make it sound a bit redundant to say he would be made into a bad guy. He’s already not very good.
He was the sort of jerk that is totally irrelivent at this point. So much has happened to both of them that it would be foolish to believe Zaid is the same person he was that night.
Taking him the villain rout would be trite in my opinion. And I trust Abdon enough not to go for the easiest options.
“Zaid is kind of a creep, but he doesn’t deserve this.”
As much of a twist as it would be to have her primary motivation for the past year turned on it’s head, by Zaid being totally deserving of everything that has happened to him, I think Abadon has a specific vision of who Zaid is, and some more complex plan for what he’s going to do with him.
I would be disappointed to see him wasted on such a twist, but I don’t expect that.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Alison does come to wish, at least occasionally, that she had just left him there, though.
We know that Zaid was clumsy when making love to Allison, and that her friend called him a creep when she *thought* that Allison was upset because Zaid had hurt her. Evidence for jerkhood is not strong. My guess: he was (is?) a virgin too; clumsy because inexperience and considered creepy because he lacks confidence.
Zaid and Allison never did it, they were just getting started – they both still had their clothes on and Allison was obsessing over her hair as I recall. Pretty funny in hindsight.
Allison scheduled losing her virginity, and she couldn’t have looked less interested when Zaid was putting the moves on her. I think Allison had something to prove to herself, and Zaid was just convenient.
That doesn’t make him bad, but I don’t think she loves him, and yeah as the other perspective heir to Zoss’ power it does make sense that some of the seven will champion him the way Incubus is championing Allison. They could easily wind up on opposite sides vis a via politics for that reason.
Yeah, I’d honestly much prefer him to just be the other male stereotype (when juxtaposed with the ‘powerful woman/ women’ character type, the ‘ineffectual, whiny, doesn’t-understand-anything-that’s-happening-around-him-ever moron’. Even ‘aw, men are such useless little idiots, aren’t they?’ is marginally better than ‘men are all bastards’ I’d like to think this artist/ writer has something more interesting in mind on past form, but you’re right, it’s depressingly commonly encountered by virtue of this kind of negative characterisation being relentlessly shoved into people’s eyes and earholes at every opportunity…
My preferable variant would be this: during his imprisonment by Solomon, he was taught the comprehensive principia of government by his jailer – either of Solomon’s boredom, or sense of proper; and now, Zaid is far, far more suitable for being the ruler than Allison or any of her posse is. The new governing structure, thus, would not even rely on transfer of the Key, with Zaid managing administrative and lawmaking side, and Allison&Co serving as the circle of advisers and semi-autonomous order enforcement agency.
But eh, ultimately I’ll accept almost any outcome, so far KSBD was quite good in the storytelling department, imho…
I like your idea, except for the “cooperation” part. I feel Zaid could have become a proto philosopher king (sort of), a cold (yet good) and stoic young man raised to be a ruler, but there is something in the politics behind his raising or his ruling which makes Allison not want to renounce her key, and maybe ultimately it’s about Zaid’s “divine right” vs Allison’s “humanity” or something of the like.
you know solomon is a bad guy right? it would be weird if zaid established a similar realm, kinda contradicts the narrative of the long traumatic history this story-universe has with domineering monarchs
“There’s not-heterosexual women going on, and men aren’t involved, so that must mean the author hates men and is going to villainize them! I am upset when we are not talking about me!?!?”
I was thinking a few weeks back… this is the only webcomic I know where the five members of the hero… well, the PROTAGONIST’S gang are non-hypersexualized females with real personalities. Nyave is amazing, Cio is fun, Princess is TOP, White Chain is delightfully conflicted and so is Allie.
Sadly not many and NOTHING out of either Hollywood or the Recording industry.
The RIAA and MPAA can all drown in a stadium septic tank after a rugby match.
Sex is natural and can be a part of character development in any mature entertainment. I would not say, however, that these characters are here to sate the sex drive of us, readers. They are relatable, and not excuses for erotic scenes. Therefore, not HYPER sexualized, merely sexually active.
And yes, intelligent women with personality are sexy. As is intelligent people with personality.
Pretty much all of the major characters are awful bastards with the exception of Nyave. Even Allison is a a sentient trashpile with chronic moron syndrome. So I’m not really sure what your worry is regarding Zaid; we have no reason to think he’s a bad guy and it’s not as though the ladies are coming out of it any better.
Hmmm…you know, if memory serves, I think every single lady of the team has attempted to imprison and/or murder at least one other lady of the team at least once (except for Nyave).
In the same vein as Addlepate the Daring’s concerns, I could easily argue that KBSD is actually perpetuating the stereotype of women as high-strung she-devils who are constantly cat-fighting with each other, because of course the only thing they can actually bond over is a man. Look at this mission, all centered around Allison getting her man back! Look at the last chapter, a heist mission where the majority of the party was male! Evidence abounds, if only you know what to look for! I’ll bet that after they rescue Zaid, he’ll just become the main character of the whole comic, and assemble a team of daring men to keep all these “incompetent” ladies in line! PROVE ME WRONG, STRIP!
(but seriously, I don’t think the strip is trying to send a message that all men are one thing or all women are one thing. It is focusing a lot on an all-female perspective, though, so I guess I can understand your confusion, Addlepate.)
I mean, from the very beginning, like *literally* page 1 of chapter 1, Zaid was pressuring his girlfriend to have sex while she clearly wasn’t comfortable. She was consenting, verbally saying yes, but to quote Judith Lewis Herman (one of the big trauma research experts):
“… in practice the standard for what constitutes rape is set not at the level of women’s experience of violation but just above the level of coercion acceptable to men.”
Zaid has *always* been the kind of guy who was okay with pressuring and coercing his girlfriend into sex without concern for whether or not the experience might be violating for her. He (probably, maybe) wasn’t the kind of guy to violently rape someone … but with men like him that’s typically because that’s harder to justify to oneself and feel okay with. But even the *slightest* attentiveness to Allison’s comfort should have been bringing him to a screeching halt and yet he didn’t, in fact he reacted by pressuring her to stop expressing those signs of discomfort. We’re given every reason to believe Zaid can and does trample over sexual boundaries in violating ways from *literally* page 1. Zaid is, if not a rapist, at least rapist-*adjacent*. He is not a good person.
Now could this experience have made him more cognizant of his own mortality and fragility in a way that’ll lead to him doing some serious self-reflection? Sure. Maybe he’ll have changed. And maybe not. Maybe, given access to power, that propensity to casually disregard the comfort and happiness of another person will lead to even worse actions from him.
The point is that such a narrative “twist” would not be very twisty, and in fact be the very inciting premise of the story.
But the *real* point here is … how the heck did you miss this? I mean, “villain by the end of things”? How did you see the first few pages and not go, from the very beginning, “oh, this is not a good person”? When did he become a decent person in your mind?
Or did that first scene just register as a comfortable level of coercion?
I’d just like to put in that I was one of the readers who instantly disliked Zaid for that exact reason. Him complaining about her discomfort and anxiety and yet still going screams “assault” in my book. Doesn’t matter if she verbally said yes; her reactions were clearing saying “no.”
You know you are maybe revealing a great big spoiler there if you think about it. I never liked Zaid either, but to me it wasn’t so much sexual as general bullying. However I think he may have evolved a lot – and if he hasn’t he is in for a universe shaking pummeling..
Previously there was some discussion over the nature of Alison’s flames and rainbow symbology in general. I believe this time there should be no disagreement: That fire is gay as fuck.
“And lo, upon seeing her demon wifu, the Rising King’s Crown arose in eldritch fire upon their brow and through the air around them, harshly illuminating the entire arena, and all who beheld it did shield their eyes in pain and cry:
“THAT SHIT IS GAY AS FUCK!”
-from the Book of the Rising King
More in-universe though, I wonder if the rainbow ring is a key attribute of the master key, like how the other demiurges have their own color keys, mix them all together and what do you get? A rainbow.
I also wonder that. Interestingly though, Allison’s own flame is a light blue. Do the other demiurges have their own flame colors, separate to the keys, or do the keys attune themselves to the flame of the wielder?
I believe that one was explained? It is the user’s atum and you can manifest that fire without a key, it’s just incredibly difficult and requires generations of training.
Al-Yisun bears the greatest key, from which all other keys descend. The star on her brow is pure light, uncolored. As a prism splits light to reveal all the colors it encompasses, so the act of division reveals the component parts hidden within the whole.
Even the keys borne by the mighty demiurges are but limited divisions of the power of the true key. They each bear one divine Word, their stars burn with but one color.
No but what I want to know is whether or not the demiurge’s atums are the same color as their keys (and if so, why?) or if they just don’t ever show them.
Sort of?
In 2-30, Yisun’s multitude of selves are splayed out around and behind itself in a rainbow pattern that closely resembles Allison’s ring. And the pose was certainly the basis for her pose when Allison called out ol’ Salami.
The halo itself only showed red-orange-yellow-green-white, though. There may have been blue and violet hidden behind their divine noggin, admittedly.
Felix the Unburnt, Sword of the Song What Sings Itself
Cease such talk for your own sake! Weaponized Love-Magic is an ancient and storied art, but those practices are forbidden and locked away in many a temple vault. We once explored an entire planet which had been reduced to rubble by the emanations of two demigods’ lovemaking. May the 7 never learn these secrets (though perhaps, having hearts corroded by time, they would be incapable of using it?)
The rules have been discarded and replaced by Solomon’s declaration of “battle royale”. It would not be against the rules for you to join, Draco, though I predict that you will not, being a cowardly capitalist.
Eh, we should have tried our luck with some consistent tourney – the Demiurges are fickle and act without law. We lost a pretty coin and purse on this event (each 7 of us had wagered on a different champion) and within 3 minutes of the Battle Royal’s start all our choices were slain. Such as it is, we do enjoy the spectacle! The food stalls in town aren’t bad either!
All non-combanants were removed before the rule change, and I doubt Splomon wants random people from the crowd jumping in.
Given that, it would make sense that Alison should be disqualified, but if that were to happen the expected course of action would be to send her to the same high security cells Zaid has just been sent to, and Solomon likely doesn’t want that.
I guess he could recsend the order to put Zaid in to imprison Alison and Cio instead?
Ejjog-abean Book of Spellcastery vol. 2 sec. 137: “The Rubber Duck, found on some 34% of universes inhabited by waterfowl, by happy sephiric coincidence due to the elastic properties of Yesod, happens to display a high magical conductivity in almost all metaphysical arrangements. The consequence of this is that a Rubber Duck can be configured to operate as a suprisingly effective magical sink, and in the presence of lunifacted-antimony and thyme may be utilized as a explosive with the equivalent thaumatic fallout of a megaton nuclear warhead.”
Yep, but I bet Cio has some new moves as well. All those months of training a disciple in the Art must have forced her to revisit the basics and get stronger herself.
After last page I was looking through the contestants trying to see if maybe Cio was hiding somewhere in the crowd, or if one of them could be Cio in disguise… this entrance is better than anything I could have imagined.
As I’ve probably already mentioned, I don’t really approve the pairing, but Allison’s facial expressions throughout the page, as well as her halos, are ADORABLE. And yeah, I got the reference to “Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii quit!”.
I’m not sure which I love more, Cio screaming “I” as she runs in from the distance, just so she can properly deliver the rest of her statement when she lands, or Allison going from completely burned out to full rainbow aura as soon as Cio’s in her arms. Like I said before, Allison’s problems was never raw power or even skill, it’s believing she has limits.
I think Cio’s return has clinched it, regardless of whether she actually does anything else. All that’s left to be seen is if everyone else has realized their parts in this game are over. (Here’s a hit: Due not attack the previously unknown combatant who’s doing a fair impression of all seven demiurges.)
That said, one thing I didn’t expect was Alison’s hair turning blue.
To the left of her horns, there’s a tiny piece of fire that is more magenta colored, rather than Solomon’s purple flame. Is it a coloring mistake, or a hint to the color of Cio’s flame?
I feel that its firmly settled that we’re in a por que no los dos situation regarding that particular continuum.
Also, comments seem to be remarking less on sex and more on the giant flaming gay rainbow halo.
It’s already established that they’re sexual partners. It’s not that clear so far how much more serious the relationship is romantically but Alison’s facial expressions suggest that it might be more than just “friends with benefits”.
Look, I tend to be down on fandom (every fandom, everywhere) seeing stuff that’s (IMO) not really supported by the text, either because they want more representation of some sort, or just to imagine two (or more) hot characters and/or actors doing it. Not least because, yes, it tends to devalue and dismiss intimate but platonic relationships in favor of romantic and/or sexual ones.
But this? This is text.
We passed ambiguity long ago.
Hrmm… Outside participant entering the ring? What will Solomon think of that? I suspect purple power ropes might be yoinking Cio out again in the near future.
Hrmm… good call. So, does that mean Cio could summon a Devil army with her own paper connections? And what about White Chain? Would be interesting to see how her Angel connections might come in to play here.
That look on her face and in her eyes. I love how expressive it is. You can see all the conflicting emotions. “I’m so glad to see her” right alongside “What in the Hells am I doing here, I’m going to die!” and “you beautiful idiot what have you done THIS time!?”
Mine eyes! Mine eyes! Why’s ’tis so brightly in here as of now?! Oh it’s hurting mine eyes in this most harmful of ways, ahhhh!!
‘Tis is also so warm… I cans feel this fur on mine feet as if ’tis going to burnt!
And all’s these colours, these hues, those mine brain can neither handle!
By this name of YI-S-UN, help mine… Mine would surely will get slaughtered in this arena here in mine current state!
While we’re waiting for the fighting to kick off again, I wonder: will Cio go full Yabalchoath like she did in Yre? The combatants would recognise Yabalchoath; some of them might decide that they don’t want to play any more. The *crowd* would recognise her (she is possibly a story they tell to frighten their children); they might scream to their king to rescue them from the monster. The Rising Queen is a public figure as of the current sequence. How might it affect her public presence if she is known to be married to a monster?
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This page is love.
Halo of Gay Rights
Six Billion Demons said “Gay Rights”.
It said Gay Rights a long time ago, this is just a friendly reminder ^^
Somewhere over the rainbow blue girls fly…
Might makes right.
Gay was never as mighty.
With this much chick love going on, it is with a depressingly weary sigh that I confidently predict her boyfriend will be made out to be some kind of villain by the end of things. Because men are always bad and keep strong, independent women down.
Prove me wrong, strip.
I think it’s already been established that Zaid was a bit of a jerk and Allison was only dating him because she (not being remotely strong and independent) was trying to use him to prop up her self-esteem. I also get the impression she hasn’t been thinking she wants to be with him since she grew her first vertebra early on, let alone a whole backbone later.
None of that makes him a villain, but it does make it sound a bit redundant to say he would be made into a bad guy. He’s already not very good.
Well both of Cio’s exs are kinda villans…
Also devils. They’re expected to be villainous. Cio herself is exceptional in actually having some morals.
He was the sort of jerk that is totally irrelivent at this point. So much has happened to both of them that it would be foolish to believe Zaid is the same person he was that night.
Taking him the villain rout would be trite in my opinion. And I trust Abdon enough not to go for the easiest options.
“Zaid is kind of a creep, but he doesn’t deserve this.”
As much of a twist as it would be to have her primary motivation for the past year turned on it’s head, by Zaid being totally deserving of everything that has happened to him, I think Abadon has a specific vision of who Zaid is, and some more complex plan for what he’s going to do with him.
I would be disappointed to see him wasted on such a twist, but I don’t expect that.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Alison does come to wish, at least occasionally, that she had just left him there, though.
It was already established that Zaid, while maybe a jerk, is hoping that Alison can/will rescue him. I don’t think he’s in the Solomon camp.
We know that Zaid was clumsy when making love to Allison, and that her friend called him a creep when she *thought* that Allison was upset because Zaid had hurt her. Evidence for jerkhood is not strong. My guess: he was (is?) a virgin too; clumsy because inexperience and considered creepy because he lacks confidence.
Zaid and Allison never did it, they were just getting started – they both still had their clothes on and Allison was obsessing over her hair as I recall. Pretty funny in hindsight.
How is he a jerk? I mean when they are about to have sex he doesn’t try to pressure her and made it very clear that if she said stop he would stop.
Allison scheduled losing her virginity, and she couldn’t have looked less interested when Zaid was putting the moves on her. I think Allison had something to prove to herself, and Zaid was just convenient.
That doesn’t make him bad, but I don’t think she loves him, and yeah as the other perspective heir to Zoss’ power it does make sense that some of the seven will champion him the way Incubus is championing Allison. They could easily wind up on opposite sides vis a via politics for that reason.
It just turns out that by the time Alison got here, Zaid also found out he was gay and started dating one of Solomon’s sons.
>and started dating Solomon
FIFY
They are both kinda creeps.
Fifty Shades of Purple.
That all sounds grape to me.
Wait!
How does one hear a colour?
You know what?
Let us not answer that question.
why not it even has a name it is synesthesia i mean the name s right there and
@Prost-Phet: NICCCEEE 😀
Yeah, I’d honestly much prefer him to just be the other male stereotype (when juxtaposed with the ‘powerful woman/ women’ character type, the ‘ineffectual, whiny, doesn’t-understand-anything-that’s-happening-around-him-ever moron’. Even ‘aw, men are such useless little idiots, aren’t they?’ is marginally better than ‘men are all bastards’ I’d like to think this artist/ writer has something more interesting in mind on past form, but you’re right, it’s depressingly commonly encountered by virtue of this kind of negative characterisation being relentlessly shoved into people’s eyes and earholes at every opportunity…
My preferable variant would be this: during his imprisonment by Solomon, he was taught the comprehensive principia of government by his jailer – either of Solomon’s boredom, or sense of proper; and now, Zaid is far, far more suitable for being the ruler than Allison or any of her posse is. The new governing structure, thus, would not even rely on transfer of the Key, with Zaid managing administrative and lawmaking side, and Allison&Co serving as the circle of advisers and semi-autonomous order enforcement agency.
But eh, ultimately I’ll accept almost any outcome, so far KSBD was quite good in the storytelling department, imho…
I like your idea, except for the “cooperation” part. I feel Zaid could have become a proto philosopher king (sort of), a cold (yet good) and stoic young man raised to be a ruler, but there is something in the politics behind his raising or his ruling which makes Allison not want to renounce her key, and maybe ultimately it’s about Zaid’s “divine right” vs Allison’s “humanity” or something of the like.
you know solomon is a bad guy right? it would be weird if zaid established a similar realm, kinda contradicts the narrative of the long traumatic history this story-universe has with domineering monarchs
I love how the notallmen brigade are so sensitive that they assume the brittle martyr position 400 pages in advance.
It takes real dedication to give so much headspace to imaginary persecution.
“There’s not-heterosexual women going on, and men aren’t involved, so that must mean the author hates men and is going to villainize them! I am upset when we are not talking about me!?!?”
*sigh* and this string is soooo much better.
Buncha immature idjets all o’ ya sexually orientated peeps
Asexual supremacy?
I’d call that a new one, but prokaryotes already been there, done that.
Bigotry knows no sexual orientation.
Egro, bigotry itself is asexual.
I was thinking a few weeks back… this is the only webcomic I know where the five members of the hero… well, the PROTAGONIST’S gang are non-hypersexualized females with real personalities. Nyave is amazing, Cio is fun, Princess is TOP, White Chain is delightfully conflicted and so is Allie.
How many samples of fiction in media have this?
Sadly not many and NOTHING out of either Hollywood or the Recording industry.
The RIAA and MPAA can all drown in a stadium septic tank after a rugby match.
Our Five Woman band isn’t hyper-sexualized?
I must be reading a different comic, then.
The blood god is Pleased.
Then again, I think intelligent women with personalities are dead sexy, so…
Sex is natural and can be a part of character development in any mature entertainment. I would not say, however, that these characters are here to sate the sex drive of us, readers. They are relatable, and not excuses for erotic scenes. Therefore, not HYPER sexualized, merely sexually active.
And yes, intelligent women with personality are sexy. As is intelligent people with personality.
Pretty much all of the major characters are awful bastards with the exception of Nyave. Even Allison is a a sentient trashpile with chronic moron syndrome. So I’m not really sure what your worry is regarding Zaid; we have no reason to think he’s a bad guy and it’s not as though the ladies are coming out of it any better.
Hmmm…you know, if memory serves, I think every single lady of the team has attempted to imprison and/or murder at least one other lady of the team at least once (except for Nyave).
In the same vein as Addlepate the Daring’s concerns, I could easily argue that KBSD is actually perpetuating the stereotype of women as high-strung she-devils who are constantly cat-fighting with each other, because of course the only thing they can actually bond over is a man. Look at this mission, all centered around Allison getting her man back! Look at the last chapter, a heist mission where the majority of the party was male! Evidence abounds, if only you know what to look for! I’ll bet that after they rescue Zaid, he’ll just become the main character of the whole comic, and assemble a team of daring men to keep all these “incompetent” ladies in line! PROVE ME WRONG, STRIP!
(but seriously, I don’t think the strip is trying to send a message that all men are one thing or all women are one thing. It is focusing a lot on an all-female perspective, though, so I guess I can understand your confusion, Addlepate.)
> I’ll bet that after they rescue Zaid, he’ll just
> become the main character of the whole comic
I’ll take that bet.
> I guess I can understand your confusion, Addlepate.
I’m not “confused”; I’m concerned.
There are none who think you can tell the two apart.
Such is your condition, O Clutcher of Male Pearls.
waaaaah
oh god oh nooo
lesbianism and a male villain aaaaaah
oh christ. oh no.
I mean, from the very beginning, like *literally* page 1 of chapter 1, Zaid was pressuring his girlfriend to have sex while she clearly wasn’t comfortable. She was consenting, verbally saying yes, but to quote Judith Lewis Herman (one of the big trauma research experts):
“… in practice the standard for what constitutes rape is set not at the level of women’s experience of violation but just above the level of coercion acceptable to men.”
Zaid has *always* been the kind of guy who was okay with pressuring and coercing his girlfriend into sex without concern for whether or not the experience might be violating for her. He (probably, maybe) wasn’t the kind of guy to violently rape someone … but with men like him that’s typically because that’s harder to justify to oneself and feel okay with. But even the *slightest* attentiveness to Allison’s comfort should have been bringing him to a screeching halt and yet he didn’t, in fact he reacted by pressuring her to stop expressing those signs of discomfort. We’re given every reason to believe Zaid can and does trample over sexual boundaries in violating ways from *literally* page 1. Zaid is, if not a rapist, at least rapist-*adjacent*. He is not a good person.
Now could this experience have made him more cognizant of his own mortality and fragility in a way that’ll lead to him doing some serious self-reflection? Sure. Maybe he’ll have changed. And maybe not. Maybe, given access to power, that propensity to casually disregard the comfort and happiness of another person will lead to even worse actions from him.
The point is that such a narrative “twist” would not be very twisty, and in fact be the very inciting premise of the story.
But the *real* point here is … how the heck did you miss this? I mean, “villain by the end of things”? How did you see the first few pages and not go, from the very beginning, “oh, this is not a good person”? When did he become a decent person in your mind?
Or did that first scene just register as a comfortable level of coercion?
I’d just like to put in that I was one of the readers who instantly disliked Zaid for that exact reason. Him complaining about her discomfort and anxiety and yet still going screams “assault” in my book. Doesn’t matter if she verbally said yes; her reactions were clearing saying “no.”
You know you are maybe revealing a great big spoiler there if you think about it. I never liked Zaid either, but to me it wasn’t so much sexual as general bullying. However I think he may have evolved a lot – and if he hasn’t he is in for a universe shaking pummeling..
god damn you tore that fool apart
What?
I just love Allison’s expression. Find someone who looks at you the way she looks at Cio
They already have rights :l
YEAH
THE BITCH IS BACK
Stone cold sober, as a matter of fact.
ooh, nice one.
PREPARE FOR CIO FALL, BEST GIRL DROPPED.
Rubbery ducky, you’re the one!
You think I’ve been seeing all this action from the sidelines? Ha! I’ve been here since the Rising King first walked the void!
Oh my god the way her crown flares up when she catches Cio. Adorable.
I was noticing that, too! It’s very cute.
“Are you attaining Royalty, or are you just happy to see me?”
It’s the banana in her pocket.
Banana nothing, that’s a scepter– Nay!
A Rod of Lordly Might!
A Wizards Staff has a Nob on the end
The Hedgehog Cannot Be Buggered At All
also her heart starts glowing like the mf grinch
rainbow fire and all
shits gay
I feel like there’s some subtext here… Something about that fire…
Personally I’m wondering about the rubber duck. That one has me stumped.
A certain kind of ladies toy frequently uses a rubber duck as a disguise…
What exactly is the function of a rubber duck…?
Well, it floats in the bath.
And if you explain things to it, you can gain insight into those things.
And if it’s the kind of rubber duck I mentioned, and you have compatible erogenous bits, you can masturbate with it.
Excellent callback to Chapter 4 Page 60. I approve!
Excuse me, I’m screaming.
That sound? That is me squealing like a little girl. And proud of it.
MAGNIFICENT
Y’ALL,,,
Previously there was some discussion over the nature of Alison’s flames and rainbow symbology in general. I believe this time there should be no disagreement: That fire is gay as fuck.
Surely you meant “gay as DUCK”
“And lo, upon seeing her demon wifu, the Rising King’s Crown arose in eldritch fire upon their brow and through the air around them, harshly illuminating the entire arena, and all who beheld it did shield their eyes in pain and cry:
“THAT SHIT IS GAY AS FUCK!”
-from the Book of the Rising King
Allison’s power recharged through GAY
Lords Above & Below, that’s cute!
It’s mystically adorable!
Isn’t it just?
It’s ^^
Cio: I’m only here to help you recharge *kisses Alison, then swings around to hang off her like a backpack* now go kick some butt.
Turns out Allison was a Star Sapphire all along.
You have acquired ‘Tiny little font of gay energy.’
You feel refreshed!
I am filled with joy. <3
More in-universe though, I wonder if the rainbow ring is a key attribute of the master key, like how the other demiurges have their own color keys, mix them all together and what do you get? A rainbow.
I also wonder that. Interestingly though, Allison’s own flame is a light blue. Do the other demiurges have their own flame colors, separate to the keys, or do the keys attune themselves to the flame of the wielder?
I believe that one was explained? It is the user’s atum and you can manifest that fire without a key, it’s just incredibly difficult and requires generations of training.
Al-Yisun bears the greatest key, from which all other keys descend. The star on her brow is pure light, uncolored. As a prism splits light to reveal all the colors it encompasses, so the act of division reveals the component parts hidden within the whole.
Even the keys borne by the mighty demiurges are but limited divisions of the power of the true key. They each bear one divine Word, their stars burn with but one color.
No but what I want to know is whether or not the demiurge’s atums are the same color as their keys (and if so, why?) or if they just don’t ever show them.
Didn’t the original panel of YIS-UN prior to their holy suicide show them with a halo of rainbow flame?
Sort of?
In 2-30, Yisun’s multitude of selves are splayed out around and behind itself in a rainbow pattern that closely resembles Allison’s ring. And the pose was certainly the basis for her pose when Allison called out ol’ Salami.
The halo itself only showed red-orange-yellow-green-white, though. There may have been blue and violet hidden behind their divine noggin, admittedly.
yaaaaaaaaaay cio is back!
Anyone else notice that the only thing limiting Allison’s power was her own emotions?
Many dudes will now be exploded.
She believed she was limited and lo it was as she thought.
Unfortunately, the most common use of The Art.
The multiverse runs on the Discworld model of reality, then?
In The Disc, and in Derry, Maine, Magic and the gods are shaped to our expectations.
On The Wheel, the Universe is the fiction that bends to the self-delusion of God.
“We are all just parts of Yisun, deceiving our-self into seeing Divisions where none is truly possible.”
Divison is merely a subschool of the Red Art of Lying.
My god, this is cute.
Makes you wonder, if seeing Cio against makes Allison’s powers reignite, could there be a way to weaponize that sort of effect?
Though I gotta wonder what Cio’s escape plan is, given she’s surrounded by the strongest Fortnite players in the multiverse…
Cease such talk for your own sake! Weaponized Love-Magic is an ancient and storied art, but those practices are forbidden and locked away in many a temple vault. We once explored an entire planet which had been reduced to rubble by the emanations of two demigods’ lovemaking. May the 7 never learn these secrets (though perhaps, having hearts corroded by time, they would be incapable of using it?)
“COMPLETE WORLD TERROR”
Going that route is how you get giant robots surfing on rainbow dreams to fight for freedom while dodging lasers.
I understood that reference.
Booo! Boooooo! Get thee gone, Yabalchoath! This is against the rules! I can only win my prize money if 82 White Chain wins fair and square!
If the rules did not prevent it, I would come down there myself and release a jet of molten gold blood to assert dominance.
The rules have been discarded and replaced by Solomon’s declaration of “battle royale”. It would not be against the rules for you to join, Draco, though I predict that you will not, being a cowardly capitalist.
Eh, we should have tried our luck with some consistent tourney – the Demiurges are fickle and act without law. We lost a pretty coin and purse on this event (each 7 of us had wagered on a different champion) and within 3 minutes of the Battle Royal’s start all our choices were slain. Such as it is, we do enjoy the spectacle! The food stalls in town aren’t bad either!
The spectating’s better when you don’t have anything on the line, anyway.
No matter who loses, I always win, but I still love a bit of wagering.
One grows tired of betting only on sure things.
If one wishes to win a fair fight, cheat.
Im fairly sure this is highly illegal when regarding the tournament rules
Solomon basically threw out the old rulebook when he changed it to Battle Royale.
I’m fairly sure that doesn’t even matter at this point. Especially if they win.
All non-combanants were removed before the rule change, and I doubt Splomon wants random people from the crowd jumping in.
Given that, it would make sense that Alison should be disqualified, but if that were to happen the expected course of action would be to send her to the same high security cells Zaid has just been sent to, and Solomon likely doesn’t want that.
I guess he could recsend the order to put Zaid in to imprison Alison and Cio instead?
See? Someone else gets it. One hundred thousand Draco Nickels have been added to your bank account.
Oh hey look, 20 bucks, thanks man.
YESSSS! HELLLLL YESSSSS!!!!
Score one for the OTP! I love this page like burning excuse me as I get all up in my feelings \o/
Love the outfit, Cio. Practical yet stylish!
Agreed. It reminds me of Desperately Seeking Susan.
Hah. The eternal gay.
‘IA ‘IA AE!
Yes
Quite perfect.
Rainbow aura.
Fill your mouth with cloth and rope
and lighter fluid, just don’t choke.
the condor’s flight is your last hope.
True love is when your off to become a real life apex legend and your partner storms the ring just to bring you your lucky ducky.
Ejjog-abean Book of Spellcastery vol. 2 sec. 137: “The Rubber Duck, found on some 34% of universes inhabited by waterfowl, by happy sephiric coincidence due to the elastic properties of Yesod, happens to display a high magical conductivity in almost all metaphysical arrangements. The consequence of this is that a Rubber Duck can be configured to operate as a suprisingly effective magical sink, and in the presence of lunifacted-antimony and thyme may be utilized as a explosive with the equivalent thaumatic fallout of a megaton nuclear warhead.”
Rubber ducky is a thing which will change into giant monster devouring all others in arena right?
Release the Quacken!
I predict lots of paper soldiers and much death by paper cut very soon now.
Yep, but I bet Cio has some new moves as well. All those months of training a disciple in the Art must have forced her to revisit the basics and get stronger herself.
I don’t think we’ve ever seen Allison look this happy before!
We haven’t ^^
After last page I was looking through the contestants trying to see if maybe Cio was hiding somewhere in the crowd, or if one of them could be Cio in disguise… this entrance is better than anything I could have imagined.
Oh man, could we get the last panel without speech bubbles? It’s so cute!
The Wife is back ;u;
And she brings the rubber ducky! 😀
Does she carry actual Ingsvld’s head on her belt, or does it just look exactly like that?
It’s the book where Cio writes her fanfics. We saw it in the first chapter of Book 3 iirc.
It’s also the same one she uses for her paper based red magic.
Different guy, same species.
DEMON
GIRLFRIEND
TO THE
RESCUE!!!! :DDD
I need to learn how to summon Devil Girlfiends like that! Please save me from this cis hell of existance
As I’ve probably already mentioned, I don’t really approve the pairing, but Allison’s facial expressions throughout the page, as well as her halos, are ADORABLE. And yeah, I got the reference to “Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii quit!”.
OVERWHELMINGLY POSITIVE! REJOICE!
the wife’s back
I’m not sure which I love more, Cio screaming “I” as she runs in from the distance, just so she can properly deliver the rest of her statement when she lands, or Allison going from completely burned out to full rainbow aura as soon as Cio’s in her arms. Like I said before, Allison’s problems was never raw power or even skill, it’s believing she has limits.
I think Cio’s return has clinched it, regardless of whether she actually does anything else. All that’s left to be seen is if everyone else has realized their parts in this game are over. (Here’s a hit: Due not attack the previously unknown combatant who’s doing a fair impression of all seven demiurges.)
That said, one thing I didn’t expect was Alison’s hair turning blue.
here comes your wife
here cOMES YOUR WIFE
HERE COMES YOUR W I F E
Wait a tic. That fire around Cio’s head. Is she trailing bits of Salami’s from the jump over the railing, or is it her own?
she’s trailing bits of solomons fires brah soz
(or maybe it’s hers, because she’s HOT)
To the left of her horns, there’s a tiny piece of fire that is more magenta colored, rather than Solomon’s purple flame. Is it a coloring mistake, or a hint to the color of Cio’s flame?
Interesting vibe. All sex comments. Nothing about friendship. Lots of high schoolers here, for sure. This is just vagueness.
Abbadon, which is more important? Which way are you taking this?
They are an established couple, of course it’s about sex! And love. And Allison being really happy to see her girlfriend.
I feel that its firmly settled that we’re in a por que no los dos situation regarding that particular continuum.
Also, comments seem to be remarking less on sex and more on the giant flaming gay rainbow halo.
It’s already established that they’re sexual partners. It’s not that clear so far how much more serious the relationship is romantically but Alison’s facial expressions suggest that it might be more than just “friends with benefits”.
The ambiguity seems to be rooted more in Cio’s fear of commitment, than lack of desire to live happily ever after with Alison.
THen again, considering how her current marriage turned out, A little romantic trepedation is understandable.
Look, I tend to be down on fandom (every fandom, everywhere) seeing stuff that’s (IMO) not really supported by the text, either because they want more representation of some sort, or just to imagine two (or more) hot characters and/or actors doing it. Not least because, yes, it tends to devalue and dismiss intimate but platonic relationships in favor of romantic and/or sexual ones.
But this? This is text.
We passed ambiguity long ago.
Well said.
Reach heaven through violence, little duck
Observe how Cio cries out the true name of god as she descends. Perhaps she, too, contains some grain of Royalty.
My statement below was supposed to be a reply to this, but it seems I was hasty.
OH HELL YAH!
Oh my goooooooooodness here we go ladies and gentle bastards, let’s see what HELL RAINS NEXT TIME!
We are all just parts of Yisun, deceiving our-self into seeing Divisions where none is truly possible.
Hrmm… Outside participant entering the ring? What will Solomon think of that? I suspect purple power ropes might be yoinking Cio out again in the near future.
KoS 9-92 has Gog announcing that anyone in the ring after the evacuation period ends is entered into the tourney. I think Cio’s now in the fight.
Clever paperwitch has just avoided all of that paperwork this way.
Hrmm… good call. So, does that mean Cio could summon a Devil army with her own paper connections? And what about White Chain? Would be interesting to see how her Angel connections might come in to play here.
Anyhow, I digress…
Hrmm… Just had a thought. How do we know the evacuation period has ended?
The fact that we don’t see any more of the tendrils is a pretty good indication.
Except for the purple fire trailing behind Cio.
Perhaps she must deliver mentorly wisdom, before she is yoinked away.
THIS HAS GOT TO BE MY FAVOURITE PAGE YET.
That look on her face and in her eyes. I love how expressive it is. You can see all the conflicting emotions. “I’m so glad to see her” right alongside “What in the Hells am I doing here, I’m going to die!” and “you beautiful idiot what have you done THIS time!?”
I hope the chapter and page number isn’t foreshadowing anything…
YA BAL CHO ATH!
I think cio took so long because she wanted to look stylish when she dropped in
Mine eyes! Mine eyes! Why’s ’tis so brightly in here as of now?! Oh it’s hurting mine eyes in this most harmful of ways, ahhhh!!
‘Tis is also so warm… I cans feel this fur on mine feet as if ’tis going to burnt!
And all’s these colours, these hues, those mine brain can neither handle!
By this name of YI-S-UN, help mine… Mine would surely will get slaughtered in this arena here in mine current state!
Very nice Howl cosplay, Cio
Hail Allison !
Hail Allison – The Chosen of Zoss.
Hail Allison – The Nube.
Hail Allison – The Pursued One.
Hail Allison – The Out-Drinker of Demons.
Hail Allison – Speaker to Dragons.
Hail Allison – Slapper & Smacker of Demiurges.
Hail Allison – The Aspirant.
Hail Allison – Demon Catcher !
Thus the sun rises over a gloomy battlefield. Time for some jolly cooperation!
Can a demon be part of a blessed page?
Because this page is blessed!
Is that a book-person’s HEAD on Clio’s belt? How revolting!
It’s the same one she was holding in her first appearance.
I’m slightly disgusted but let’s go on and proceed with fighting off hordes of demons, angels and other mysterious creatures.
CRADLE SIX BILLION DEMONS
YES
SQUEEEEE
I am squealing
gay rights
While we’re waiting for the fighting to kick off again, I wonder: will Cio go full Yabalchoath like she did in Yre? The combatants would recognise Yabalchoath; some of them might decide that they don’t want to play any more. The *crowd* would recognise her (she is possibly a story they tell to frighten their children); they might scream to their king to rescue them from the monster. The Rising Queen is a public figure as of the current sequence. How might it affect her public presence if she is known to be married to a monster?
they just FwB. No marriage yet.
just Fwdgwb
Friends with demons and gods with benefits
comic/ksbd-4-59 for reference
Abbadon is certainly taking a while with the next one…..
Has he disappointed you yet? Me neither…
hahaha im glad somebody else said it, thank you
Polite of her opponents to wait for her to catch Cio: I guess they are operating by Shoujo Manga rules.
In the next panel I hope to see a field of corpses already dismembered by the power of love!
how r u so good with color
Nice of the other contestants to keep themselves out of this happy reunion.
Reminds me of a certain scene in book 1…
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