Tailing, not her strong suit

posted by A on 2014/7/18 (Comics)

Merry Thursday. I know, I know, I was rooting for her to rip his throat out too. Damn Lana for still having SOME good in her heart.

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Comments

WJS - 2016/10/16
It sure is nice to see Lana actually getting to do cool stuff. Vampires are incredibly powerful monsters, but she's gotten largely overshadowed in the past.
Macco - 2016/4/14
Well macmdaaia nuts, how about that.
Nona Reverse - 2014/8/19
Reader, thanks so much! That was the best, most comprehensive explanation of this situation anyone besides my grand-self has even shown the potential to give, in this section.
And, JHSII, it is the same exact thing with me . . . plus I'm omniscient and manage awesome reflexes.
Anon - 2014/8/19
My word, JHSII, are you actually willingly admitting to hovering on this comic page for days or weeks on end because you have absolutely no life whatsoever? In all of the world wide web, *this* comic is your special spot? That is heartbreaking, in its way.

I really appreciate your comment Reader. It sounds like you do have a lot of experience in the setting of a more professional author. Well written.
JHSII - 2014/8/19
"really convenient"? "Amazing reflexes"?
Try; I work on a computer most of the day, and, when I am waiting for things to finish, I have plenty of time to see what's going on here and there online.
Reader - 2014/8/18
Although perhaps I shouldn't be taking that username after all the apparent hijinks going on here.

I just want to say a couple things:

One, I've been reading this comic since 145, so I'm not some new idiot come in from the wastes.

Two, Anon does have some very good advice about writing and ways the story could be improved, if you can get past the insults (and he also has some very good points about everyone just shouting "OMG TROLL" without bothering to make a defense of either the comic or their troll accusation. You know who you are). Anyway, why let a few mean words get in the way of becoming more skilled in your craft? This is coming from someone who's been writing for eleven years. I would seriously consider taking his advice, even though it came from him, because you will ultimately improve from it. Also, what he has to say is nothing compared to what an editor in the publishing industry would have to say to you.

Three, I know it has to be hard for you to keep making comics when this is the type of comment thread you get in return, but you are getting better. Not inducing climactic scenes with characters we've never met before would make things much better, as well as a return to either Aldran or Eldhin, whose storylines are much more compelling that Lana's at this point.

Four, I found it really convenient that every time JHSII had his handle stolen, he was immediately there to point out the trouble before anyone else could comment in between them. Amazing reflexes, JHSII.

In an end to this ramble, I'm going to keep reading the comic because it was once very good, and it has the potential to be very good again. I'd also like to hear what Jordan's opinion of all this is (the comic, the comments, everything), if he has one.
Nona Reverse - 2014/8/18
I hope Dypen takes some of the good advice those trolls and the brainless troll-slayers were spitting out in-between rants, and I am looking forward to the next strip! Where the hell is Finx!

Yay comic!
JHSII - 2014/8/17
I'm also looking forward to the next strip!! Very happy
Anon - 2014/8/17
Oy, keep yer preachin' to yerself. I hain't been complainin' 'bout impostors takin' mah name.
Jillster4 - 2014/8/17
Sooo, I'm regretting looking through the warzone that is the comment section.
Anyways, keep up the good work Leakingpen; I'm looking forward to the next strip.
Leakingpen - 2014/8/16
First off, you can't use a handle like anon and x and expect to "claim" something like that. I have an email address that is a phrase from a movie, and people use it as a fake email to get into things ALL THE TIME. I deal. (latest is someone in Florida who created a party city account, so i'm getting receipts in my email every time they shop...) Secondly, if you want some papertrail as to who is who, put an email in when you comment. Doesnt even have to be real, just use the same fake email each time, and we'll be able to see that on the backend. Third, I did ban anyone who posted porn links, large amounts of swear words aimed at people, and whoever was specifically copying another person's very not generic name. If you suddenly can't post, either it was you, or someone you know was posting crap from your computer, if you have a shared one. This is a temporary situation to avoid the stream going on, Crazed is the head honcho around here, and will make any final determinations on bannination, I'm just acting as temporary gatekeeper.
X (the real one) - 2014/8/16
Can I just point out that the X below who claims to have multiple PCs is not actually me - just one of you who stole my handle. NOT Impressed Sad
Anon - 2014/8/16
Thanks for the clarification W, I was about to say.

Perhaps I should change my handle to avoid the confusion between a regular anonymous person and this entity I've become. But then I lose my thunder.
W. - 2014/8/16
edit : *X doesnt.
sorry anon.
Nona Reverse - 2014/8/15
Oh, alternate spellings and all that. Please disregard my last comment?
Nona Reverse - 2014/8/15
So "til" in panel nine will simply be an improper "till" instead, forever? Okay. I'm accepting.

Wonder how many computers X has? Could it turn out that fifty were bought just for the purpose of trolling this comic? An undying internet troll would be neat.
W. - 2014/8/15
to anon : your comment are safe because you are less obvious, and still phrase your idea correctly.

On the other hand, X...
Anon - 2014/8/15
Wow, I didn't know they could actually ban IPs. By the way, JHSII, wouldn't they be your heroes if they'd banned ME, the one you've been so pissed off with? None of my insightful, clearly-not-trolling comments were interfered with.
Nona Reverse - 2014/8/14
Shouldn't the "till" in panel nine just be "til"? And should the question mark be OUTSIDE of the quotation marks, in this case?
Nona Reverse - 2014/8/14
Thanks, Leakingpen. And yeah, sorting through complaints is hard, if that was a problem. I'm just of the opinion that you guys are doing a great job and should be utterly perfect instead. Thank you, Dypen, for still keeping this comic going! This is always very sad! It is like watching a puppy be on life-support! Thank you so much, guys!
Aohaku - 2014/8/14
Error in panel 10. Should read "become one of the good guys" rather than "become of the good guys". Unless it's an accent I'm just not getting?
JHSII - 2014/8/14
Thank you, LeakingPen!! You are my Heroes, or should I say; You are my anti-Heroes!! Very happy
leakingpen - 2014/8/14
Spam cleaned, and I left some individual comments inside of comments as edits. Please play nice, and don't feed the trolls. If you want to lock in your username, add an email to your posts. No one who isn't logged into our system will see it, but we do, and that is an easy way to know what posts are real and what are copy cats. You dont even have to use a real email, just use the same thing each time.
Tiri - 2014/8/14
By far. I sent Crazed an e-letter already about X, but whether he reads it is another matter.
Tiri - 2014/8/14
Someone should get the webmaster down here.
Tiri - 2014/8/14
X really is bringing the average everything way down here. Intelligence, quality of trolling, subtlety of trolling, spelling ability and effectiveness of trolling. At least Anon succeeds in making people annoyed. (and uses actual arguments, instead of 'LOL HATE SPAM PORN LINKS')
Anon - 2014/8/14
Tch, it's a grim day when any old hack can come along and think they can troll. I'm flattered that some of my previous hate was popular enough to be revived in this copycat troll (and I'm more flattered to Tiri for recognizing it; 4 for you Tiri Coco) but this has degraded to 4chan-quality trolling. That is to say, some guy shouting "IMMA TRULL" and thinking that counts as trolling. Tsk tsk.
Nona Reverse - 2014/8/13
Hi, X., may I ask how come you used "lol" and "ur" right before spelling the word "innocence" correctly, and forgetting punctuation? Please call me a @**%#@* if I cannot. Please?
Nona Reverse - 2014/8/13
Hi, RyanBladeXI. Can I say it's not? I think that the presence of trolls was normal in this section, but X does it very wrong. There used to be a particular standard.
RyanBladeXI - 2014/8/13
This kind of stuff isn't common here right? Pls say that.
RyanBladeXI - 2014/8/13
Wat. Those are naked person sites
RyanBladeXI. - 2014/8/13
What the hell are you doing posting random links on here? That's not good
X. - 2014/8/13
WHAT THE **** WHO IS USING MY NAME AGAIN CUZ THAT LAST POST WITH MY NAME ISN'T ME
**** U
Tiri - 2014/8/13
Minus that 's' in 'comments' I just typed.
Tiri - 2014/8/13
Actually, I won't swear to it, but I'm pretty sure most or all of that comments is taken from one of Anon's.
Tiri - 2014/8/13
X stole that 'It's just another nail in the coffin of a rotting webcomic that wasn't anything good to start with, died halfway through, got brought back as a shambling zombie and has been falling to pieces since.' from Anon. I remember when he said that.
W. - 2014/8/12
I dont understand the previous comment : you (X) said the quality improved then trashed it as a conclusion ?

Instead of rating the quality of the comic, enjoy it (as a 'nanar' if you want)

Dypen have said that they were no PC vs NPC, meaning no ain, secondary and tertiary character clearly defined.

also : BRAIN (*shamble)
X - 2014/8/12
Ultimately I feel that these comments are detracting from the main issue at hand here. I would personally be more interested if more "main" main characters were involved, but I do really like the idea of combining murder mysteries with fantasy (where supernatural stuff can actually happen), so I'm interested in where this is going. Also, while I am getting a little tired of the continuing supporting character arcs, I do think that the strips in general have been improving in quality the past couple updates. At the rate the two gobbies are going the heroes won't even have to fight them. They'll be able to bluff their way part them... self transfering to a different dungeon.It's just another nail in the coffin of a rotting webcomic that wasn't anything good to start with, died halfway through, got brought back as a shambling zombie and has been falling to pieces since.
Tiri - 2014/8/12
Nona was acting like a 12 year old? I didn't really notice it. Then again, I don't know that many 12 year olds...
W. - 2014/8/11
This many comment appears when their is a delai. mechanically.
sorry for saying that every body was either naive, trollish or harsh, that was not what i wanted to say. (that there were those peoples) and i dont consider naive an insult.

As for X, (the first of the 3), extrem cynisism is not cleverer than extrem naivety. Most people on internet are well intentionned. But those are shy, hidden behind the minority of lud mouthed people.

As for the fact that keriss is a ranger, this class Can be stealthy, but doesnt have to. (see Belkar as an example of ranger oriented warrior) Keriss has a god fighting build and point in commanding a group. she might be bad or not as good as hidding.

for X the second, another thing i want to say is that a perfect critic is neutral, polite and constructive, a good critic is at least polite, because people just dont take into account someone aggressive, unless they are of authority in the domain. It is a well known fact. So : please be polite and respectful. You can say negative things about the comic without saying negative things about the peoples. You already know that and wont listen anyway, but i keep hope.

On another subject, it is possible to guess one age by the pattern of speach, but this method is imprecise with that few comment. In this regard, Nona would look far older than the bunch of critics (calling them troll would insult the light faction of trolls)
Nona Reverse - 2014/8/11
Huh.

I was trawling through the archives, and then I fell asleep. The dialogue got less relevant in recent panels. I don't mean there are fewer words in the speech bubbles. Before, pretty much every bubble had to contain at least one special turn of phrase that could identify the character speaking, by referencing their personality. Also, what a character said was usually plot-relevant, either creating a moment where the scene would segue into the next part of the story with the help of dialogue, or it became part of some hilarious, vital character interaction. Now, it's all just sort of generic, one-off joke commentary. I think.

Oh, and hey, Pervert . . . You're so sweet. LMAO. Out of curiosity, does this mean I can stop acting like a twelve-year-old? (Thanks for asking everyone else if I was a girl, by the way. It clued me in. I can't ask anyone their gender directly, but now I know what to do.)
Person who is sick of X - 2014/8/11
Please stop, X.
Tiri - 2014/8/11
And my kindness goes to waste, AGAIN.
Anon - 2014/8/11
Damn, what a 100th comment.
Tiri - 2014/8/10
Rye. I'll leave the hundredth comment to Nona.
Tiri - 2014/8/10
Sourdough.
Tiri - 2014/8/10
Why do you call yourself a troll, Nona? You haven't done anything remarkably trolly. Unless you are actually a troll in real life. And why would JHSII want to stir up shit? Unless you mean the guy who impersonated him.
Nona Reverse - 2014/8/10
Pages 214, 215, 218, 219, and 220. But maybe, with trolls and people working together in this section, the same numbers could be achieved again.
Anon - 2014/8/10
Wow, this blew up. I honestly don't know what's happening anymore. I thought I was trolling, then comes X who I think may be JHSII stirring shit, and I don't even know what's going on with Nona being a troll who says they're both trolling and not trolling while not trolling. The important thing is that no one cares about the comic right now. Happy
Nona Reverse - 2014/8/10
Thank you for replying, Tiri. I want to claim the hundredth comment, so that it will be a clean, funny, brilliantly informative troll who is better than everyone else that does it.
Tiri - 2014/8/10
Well, I only know of one instance where the comment count exceeded that of this page. It's not really important enough to go trawling through the archives for, but you can if you want. And X, telling people to commit suicide IS A HORRIBLE THING!
Nona Reverse - 2014/8/10
Oh, sorry, Tiri, you didn't mean just one time, right?
Nona Reverse - 2014/8/10
To Tiri, some pages' comments sections reached one hundred posts, maybe twice that I can remember . . . Want me to find them?
Tiri - 2014/8/10
You know, apart from the time everyone was complaining when this comic switched hands, I don't think there have ever been this many comments.
X. - 2014/8/10
Wow, someone thinks he's special, with all your capital letters. I think this one's a retarded 5 year old.
RyanBladeXI - 2014/8/10
Might help if you toned the Swearing and Insults down a bit, X. Unless you to start a Flame War or something.
Tiri - 2014/8/10
A box replaced the 'ive' part of 'naive' in my post. How strange.
Tiri - 2014/8/10
Ok, just to clarify, I'm not naïve(or particularly young), but I was hoping you would try to be a little kinder than you are(as you have done in your previous comment). Just because some people think it's acceptable to be any less civil on the internet than in real life doesn't mean I do.
X. - 2014/8/10
Tiri, why do you even bother arguing with Anon? He's always right, and if the writers can't take a bit of harshness, screw them. Everyone has to put up with that. Your name and arguments make you sound like some retarded 7 year old anyway, so go throw yourself off a building or something. You are one of humanity's failures, really. You don't like what someone said on the Internet because it isn't nice? How stupid is that?
Tiri - 2014/8/10
Also, Anon, people don't like what you post most of the time because you never say ANYTHING positive. I cannot recall(doesn't mean there isn't one) an single comment of yours that was anything other than complaints. True, some of the complaints may have been valid, but they get annoying after awhile, and if Dypen actually does read what you type, it probably does more harm than good to see line after line of critisicm. And then you say ' I want to see how hard it crashes'. What do you imagine that does for their morale? Anyway, I don't think you're trolling.
Tiri - 2014/8/10
Anon, which concepts are you referring to? (the ones mentioned in the response to me.) Just need that clarified so I can respond.
Nona Reverse - 2014/8/9
I agree with Anon, but please understand that I strive to be neutral. I hope that my IP address will not be blocked, so that I may continue trolling in this comments section. It is likely that I deserve respect for standing alone by my principles to dish out unwanted whininess, so don't yell at me because I have principles?

Maybe Lana's developing into a total badass, courtesy of the harrowing emotional experience Alan just put her through. Since that doesn't really work, it makes Keriss look rather stupid, more than anything else.
Anon - 2014/8/9
W.-, about that joke, that's another thing that's been bugging me. "Tailing, not her strong suit," and being obvious an ostentatious in her sneaking around. Isn't Keriss a Ranger? One with ample ranks in Hide and Move Silently as seen in her first appearance? Isn't tailing EXACTLY what she's best at? It's not exactly masterful storytelling to try to make non-jokes about a character using the opposite of the character's established archetype.

*edit from pen* It was a joke about her tail being in panel
Nona Reverse - 2014/8/9
W.-, I agree. Though for the first part of your comment, I kind of hate that I do. "On the other hand, this section is a mix of very aggressive peoples, self righteous people and some more naive readers, and probably appears really discouraging to the dypen duo." So, did you mean that regardless of how constructive they could be, all the comments came from people acting too aggressive, people acting too self-righteous, and people who are too naive to have useful advice? I think you used "naive" as a blanket term for everyone that's left to give advice. I just thought I would have fun responding, and maybe push the comments up to one-hundred before another strip is made.
W. - 2014/8/9
I have proof that the author do read the comments and act according to them. (sometime answering questions, sometimes reworking the lines of the storie). On the other hand, this section is a mix of very aggressive peoples, self righteous people and some more naive readers, and probably appears really discouraging to the dypen duo.
Also, if one doesnt want to be impersonnated , change your handle at each post : you will remain an anonimous, not "worthy" of being name stolen.

about the story : this arc (filler?) isnt finished yet, i think, and this page contain a funny(i think) situational joke. Who care if this caracter wasnt develloped? some of oots werent.

*edit from pen* This is not filler. This is main story. werewolf is filler, the heroes and laris being stuck in a town is filler. Nothing else has been filler.
Anon - 2014/8/9
Hoo boy, lots to respond to.

To Tiri, I was going to remark on your attitude of "ZOMG Anon's trolling I'm not gonna read more than one line of all this!" but honestly, I owe Nona an apology because you are FAR more naive. Are you like 12? You seem not to understand the concepts being thrown around here. I'm making people mad? Contrary to what I believe, people DON'T like what I'm posting? Boo-hoooo! I'm so sorry, I had no idea. I beg your forgiveness. Let me just slink away, never to be heard from again. [/sarcasm]

To "a loyal reader," I absolutely adore this. I love how the Anon troll is the most insightful one in the thread, and when he dares make an excellently crafted, cutting argument with regard to the shoddy writing, the "loyal readers" (really, you couldn't have named yourself better for the satire. Well done, A ) resort to name-calling and blabbering far more quickly than the aforementioned troll. I don't even have to keep writing because I KNOW you won't have read this far, but I'll entertain you nonetheless. If you look just beyond the quote line, literally JUST after the omitted comma, you see that I remarked that the only possible place the "self-righteous drivel" is coming from is because it's the premise of the comic. Of course I remember that Aldran said something quite similar. My point in saying that the drivel has no origin is that Lana herself has never done anything befitting of that mentality. What little we've seen of Aldran's backstory suggests that his view is that those devoted to the pursuit of "good" are corrupting the world, and his actions fix their wrongs. Lana hasn't done anything like that. She's donning Aldran's mantle without any substance or basis except that it makes sense in the narrative. Much in the same way that her relationship with this guy Allen and her childhood should be powerful and filled with emotion because that's what this kind of scene is in a narrative, but it's not. Because DURRRRRR THE WRITING SUCKSSSS BAAAADDDD DURRRR. There, you got what you wanted.
A loyal reader - 2014/8/9
“Where's this self-righteous drivel about being "the ones that clean up after the good guys" coming from”
- Anon

If you actually read the comic instead of going "OOOOOH NEW COMIC GONNA SAY ITS BAAAAADDDDDD LOOK AT MY FLAWLESS ARGUMENTS ABOUT HOW IT'S BADDDDDDD DURRRRR", you'd remember the last panel of this comic strip and know this is a self-reference to a past comic, and sort of shows how Lana feels part of Aldran's way of thinking now. Wink


*edit from pen* Someone caught the reference! YAY.
Nona Reverse - 2014/8/8
It's been a long time since anyone touched the page for this comic on TV Tropes. If a person wants to troll anti-HEROES, maybe going there would be the start of a neat attempt.
Tiri - 2014/8/8
And you could try not being generally unpleasant, for once. It's true that a large part of the internet is that way, but this comic's comic section was largely peaceful until you came along.
Tiri - 2014/8/8
Also, I don't think your comments do anything because the comic writer obviously doesn't read the comments, so any decent advice contained in your comments goes unused while the rest of the comment just confuses and pisses everyone off. You must have noticed it after, oh, I don't know, a few hundred strips worth of comments.
Tiri - 2014/8/8
Oops. Didn't see the 'I keep reading because I thought this comic's premise was a good idea, but it was honestly never executed very well, and I want to see how hard it crashes. Plus it's in equal parts amusing and irritating to see how an OotS knockoff can be so inferior to the original.' you posted, Anon. It sounds really cruel, though. I think everyone would pefer it if you just shut up, since your withering comments do nothing but harm, contrary to what you may believe.
Anon - 2014/8/7
Gicko...You're pretty new to the Internet, aren't you?

Let me just say...*you're.
Nona Reverse - 2014/8/7
That's strange, I don't remember typing the first paragraph from my previous comment twice . . . or making case mistakes, the second time.
Nona Reverse - 2014/8/7
I see a lot of comments here that make me think Dypen especially won't ever take advice from this section, and that's unfortunate. I really think this comic deserves to be critiqued. In a comic that started out interesting, while always maintaining such a poor update schedule, a hundred pages of filler won't work. The plot is advancing too slowly, and then this revelation about a main character's back-story gets shoehorned in. if this guy had even been a minor character in the main plot before, that could have been a hundred times better. As things stand, he's a bland, random dude who's taking up another few strips, when they are being produced so slowly. i don't even care about his part of Lana's personality, because it feels like it popped out of nowhere. Early on, she received development through getting involved in plot-relevant events. The exciting story evolved, and Lana had to keep up with it mentally.

*edit from pen* Honestly, I've STOPPED taking the comments seriously because whenever we do try to alter based on feedback, people complain about the new way of doing so, often the same person complaining about both ways of constructing. If a mass of people say that something is confusing or badly written then we certainly go back and look it over. But random, I don't like x style of writing and drawing, yeah, those are starting to get ignored as noise.
Nona Reverse - 2014/8/7
I see a lot of comments here that make me think Dypen especially won%u2019t ever take advice from this section, and that%u2019s unfortunate. I really think that this comic deserves to be critiqued. In a comic that started out interesting, while always maintaining such a poor update schedule, a hundred pages of filler won't work. The plot is advancing too slowly, and then this revelation about a main character%u2019s back-story gets shoehorned in. If this guy had even been a minor character in the main plot before, that could have been a hundred times better. As things stand, he%u2019s a bland, random dude who%u2019s taking up another few strips, when they are being produced so slowly. I don%u2019t even care about this part of Lana%u2019s personality, because it feels like it popped out of nowhere. Early on, she received development through getting involved in plot-relevant events. The exiting story evolved, and Lana had to keep up with it mentally.

Gicko, I agree a little, but . . . you shouted down the actual advice that cropped up, too, while telling Anon to be polite. At the beginning of his paragraph:

%u201CAtristain, you make an interesting point, but I maintain that any potential character development is wasted because such a development would happen as a result of previously established connections between characters. Connection that did not exist in the comic, and are now being shoehorned in so they can be broken.%u201D

I don%u2019t even care what the point I%u2019m making is, about this. But could someone please respond? Maybe tell me why I%u2019m being stupid, or it could be about why my older comments were helpful? I don%u2019t care which one, I just want to know if there%u2019s a rational group making a consensus about this comic%u2019s quality anymore.
Gicko - 2014/8/7
@Anon:
"Please, tell me how I'm trolling because this is high literature. I implore you"

one page ago.

"Hey! This guy! We care about this, because we know who this guy is and his backstory (and for that matter, Lana's) has been fleshed out enough that I'm invested in seeing its resolution and am not just outright bored by all of this. Oh, wait. Sorry, not that, the opposite of that."

You seriously could not have said this in any kind of polite term? My problem with you isn't that your a troll, it's that your an asshole. if you want to critique something, do it politely, it doesn't hurt you, and it makes the other readers and the producers actually willing to listen to you. if you want to say "we have no idea who this guy is" say it in a polite way, "look, i'm sorry, but i don't know who this guy is. can you maybe try and give a bit of an explanaition?" see how easy that was? Be polite, and rather then/while also pointing out the flaws, offer suggestions! Critiquing is far from pointing out what is wrong with something, it's also helping make it better, give your own opinions and suggestions how to make it better, talk with the producer about it and if he disagrees with you, either accept that it is his creation and that if he is unwilling to change it then there is nothing you can do about it, or try to come to a compromise about it. it's seriously not that hard, i don't understand why people don't do it more often.

just... don't be a dick. that's seriously all you need to do.
Anon - 2014/8/6
See, I think you've fallen into a bit of a paradox in that you can't exactly blame me for not answering your questions when I do and you refuse to read my answer.

From this very same comment thread, the last time you asked the same question, I replied "I keep reading because I thought this comic's premise was a good idea, but it was honestly never executed very well, and I want to see how hard it crashes. Plus it's in equal parts amusing and irritating to see how an OotS knockoff can be so inferior to the original. "

Is that not an answer? You didn't say it had to be a good answer, but it's an answer nonetheless, and a direct one.
Tiri - 2014/8/6
A second website for what? If you mean the comic, no. It just 'Updates Sporadically', as stated above. Also, Anon never really answered the question of why he continues to read this comic since, to all appearances, he hates it.
Nona Reverse - 2014/8/6
Is there a second website? I'm still the . . . probably fourth, commentor today, and this strip was completed back in mid-July. Also, squindiggly, I thought the contest winner was represented by an avatar used during the werewolf game. I'm actually rather disappointed by the lack of plot relevance to that.
squindiggly - 2014/8/6
So I get that this is supposed to be Lana's origin story, but why is nobody (even in the comments) still trying to figure out the prophecy in strip 315? Is the contest over or something?
JHSII - 2014/8/6
And another post by the impostor.
At least he kept it short this time.
JHSII - 2014/8/6
I lol'd
Anon - 2014/8/5
Not at all, I made a typing error and it's more than fair to correct it.

I have to ask though, are you like 12? You seem really naive.
Nona Reverse - 2014/8/5
Oh, again, a second late. I meant RIGHT THEN. When I pointed out your bad. I thought it was being too rude, afterward, but was too lazy to change it. So I typed more, hoping to get around that.
Nona Reverse - 2014/8/5
I want to come across as polite. If I stop genuinely struggling to accommodate others, I will become a jerk, so my future self will inevitably journey back and time to use the same name as me in the comments section of a webcomic I once perused and troll it to destruction, so that I will never get to enjoy the ending, as they did. Oooh, ooh, Dypen, ooooh, over here, Team Dypen, ooh, look at that, oooh, pay attention, oooh oooh, oooh . . . Use this idea! Maybe that will be a better story!
Anon - 2014/8/5
Whoops, my bad. Even the great Anon is not infallible.

And yeah, your comments are good? You seem to be one of the most fair-minded people here, though I can't tell if you're just being sarcastic most of the time. When did you start acting the part of a prick? I don't see where you say anything particularly obnoxious.
Nona Reverse - 2014/8/5
By the way, Anon, "more," not "most." Did you like my comments before I started acting the part of a prick, just now? I thought it was hilarious too, but maybe I came across differently than how I intended? Like, not totally hilarious, when I made my remarks . . .
Anon - 2014/8/5
First of all, this is hilarious. Secondly, I want to throw my hat in here saying that I haven't grabbed anyone else's handle or posted as anyone else, so I daresay we have a third party troublemaker in here. And I'm enjoying it. (What does it say when a comment section has most intrigue and action than the comic itself?)
Nona Reverse - 2014/8/5
I actually thought of something before, but I was afk. Maybe around one hundred or two hundred strips ago, a comments section had someone using the name JHSII and with that email address. They made a remark about how, after everyone posting here is dead, robots in the future will have been constructed to continue flaming and, in turn, proceed with the defense of this comic in the comment section. This may or may not be a lie. Whoever can confirm the truth, and who gives out their password to go along with their email address, is probably the real JHSII. Also, I have a confession to make . . . I posted as "Hates Me." PLEASE DO NOT BLOCK MY IP ADDRESS!
JHSII - 2014/8/5
It's interesting to note that I never called out Anon as the impostor. I never said who I thought the impostor was.
Nona Reverse - 2014/8/5
Sorry, I posted that last one two-seconds after that JHSII post under it.
Nona Reverse - 2014/8/5
Whew. Also, creepy that Lana cried red. Yeah.
JHSII - 2014/8/5
The impostor is posting as me again. My last post was "I would never comment "So screw you, we win"- so that post isn't mine."

It looks like the troll can't defend his actions so he's going to continue to post trying to make it appear to be me.
JHSII - 2014/8/5
What the-Okay, let's get this straightened out. This post, and all the ones below " screw you, we win" are mine. But all the ones inbetween, even the ones calling out Anon as an imposter, are him. He's trying to confuse you and is just trolling really hard. But like I said, if we respond negatively we're the ones accused of flaming. Just ignore him and let the prick get bored with trolling until he finally leaves for good.
JHSII - 2014/8/5
I would never comment "So screw you, we win"- so that post isn't mine.
Nona Reverse - 2014/8/5
Please don't block my IP address, please read the middle part instead of only my comment's beginning and end, but I really sort of liked Anon's argument this time. I just don't think shoehorning in this whole sequence made any sense. I hope I'm understanding Anon right, and that it was basically a different take on what I already said: this is a weird attempt at capping their drawn-out filler arc. Leakingpen abruptly tosses out a never-before-mentioned part of a main character's backstory into the plot, rather than finding a way to continue the storyline already getting badly mishandled . . . that isn't elegant.
Nona Reverse - 2014/8/5
Sorry, I was just curious. Which ones were your comments, Real JHSII? Because I would feel weird agreeing with one person and finding out . . . whatever.
JHSII - 2014/8/5
So, someone posts with my "JHSII" to make it appear that it's me.
That's definite proof that they are just here trolling and have no desire for any kind of honest conversation.
JHSII - 2014/8/5
Yawn. More proof.
Anon - 2014/8/4
Whoa, dude, I'm totally cowed by your flawless use of Internet logic. Checkmate.

Although, by your own argument you lost by answering at all. Poor form, mate.
JHSII - 2014/8/4
Thanks for proving that I'm right, Anon.
Anon - 2014/8/4
I love how at this point you're actually trolling harder than I am. Like you're sitting at your keyboard whine-screaming "No trolling! No trolling! No TROLLLLLIIIIIIINNNNNNGGG!" and in doing so, are trolling. Your comments have less substance than mine, after all. Hell, they have less substance than this comic! And that's saying something.
JHSII - 2014/8/4
As I posted previously - and it still holds true:

Let's see, if we respond, we're the ones accused of starting flame wars. If we don't respond, then we're not "doing much to defend it".
Nobody's forcing you to troll a comic you obviously don't like.
Anon - 2014/8/4
Again, again, once and a thousand times, saying that something is bad doesn't make me wrong. I've supported my arguments, and very few have actually had anything to say. Tiri, this Anon is contributing more than you.

Atristain, you make an interesting point, but I maintain that any potential character development is wasted because such a development would happen as a result of previously established connections between characters. Connection that did not exist in the comic, and are now being shoehorned in so they can be broken. Where's this self-righteous drivel about being "the ones that clean up after the good guys" coming from, except that it's sort of the premise of the comic? Perhaps she's not overtly evil, but what has Lana ever done that actually suggests she's got that "lot of good in her heart" that you said? Similarly, and this is the focus of my earlier criticism, we're being told that she has good in her heart in contrast to this new guy who doesn't, except we've got little to suggest he's such a douche. He was reasonably cowardly as a child, and self-interested as a thief. That's not a Joker/Batman kind of evil/righteousness dynamic, that's pretty plain.

Please, tell me how I'm trolling because this is high literature. I implore you.
Tiri - 2014/8/1
Anon doesn't deserve any respect in the context of this comic's comment section anymore.
Nona Reverse - 2014/7/27
Lana is a pretty decent person for a vampire, but I forget when was the last time she killed someone . . .
Nona Reverse - 2014/7/27
Thanks for the explanation, A Loyal Reader, and so very sorry for my lapse. I spaced out and just assumed she was coming in from the right. Yeah, I'm exasperating. As for Atristain, I got that before you said anything. I guess I wasn't clear, but what bothered me had to do with the fact that Lana's backstory was being put out so quickly. It was whining, but I don't agree with Me and Anon and whoever else said that this guy is just pointless. I think the handling of this situation is turning out pretty bad, is all. This plot point was tied into a glorified filler arc, and should have either been unveiled sooner or with more fanfare. I'm a whiner, but please, I am making misguided attempts to help, not trolling. Also, Atristain, I skipped kindergarten. And was the only one that actually needed the explanation. Show Anon some respect, geez.
Atristain - 2014/7/27
What happened with my comment?

I meant to say "character" and it say "car%uFFFDer"?

And "Kinder" tot turned into "K%uFFFDer"?

Is it that I didn't removed the accents? (My KB is latin American and my Windows is in Spanish BTW)
Atristain - 2014/7/27
I know my words are going to be wasted on the trolls, but here it goes:

Allen's appearance importance is not that we care about a new carácter, but that he's helping to prove that Lana, even as left for dead twice and turned into a monster, still has a lot of good in her heart still, that's why she's turning her back to her past (again) and acting more decent than Allen did or would do.

And I can't believe that you guys had to have Kínder garden explanation about Kerris sneaking behind Allen.
Anon - 2014/7/25
Nona, pardon? Where don't I make sense? I thought that below analysis was fairly straightforward.
A loyal reader - 2014/7/25
Nona, if you look carefully, at panel 7 Keriss looks at the scene from the left side, in 8 she clearly moved to the right side furtively (elucidated by "stop trying to sneak around", panel 12), 9 was the positioning and from 10 onwards, she was taking aim to hit. Hope it helped.
Nona Reverse - 2014/7/25
Also, the tail thing.
Nona Reverse - 2014/7/25
I personally think that the comic was good. This particular strip was decent. I don't like the way it is now, but if Anon actually gave examples of real criticism, anti-HEROES could only benefit at this point. I don't want the trolls to be quiet. I want those people to go away, and get replaced by constructive critics. Why is no one considering my very elegant criticisms of the dialogue and pacing, which came with explanations and suggestions that merit at least a reply from Leakingpen and Dyluth? I'm not a troll. I agree with Anon's passion, but the thing is, he totally makes no sense.
Anon - 2014/7/24
Again, not trolling, issuing critical commentary. It's not wrong just because it's something you don't like. From a literary standpoint, from a comedic standpoint, from a world- and character-building standpoint, this comic keeps falling flat. Since it seems to have such a blind following, I'm going to voice my (perfectly valid) criticisms.

For example, look at this comic's author comment. " I know, I know, I was rooting for her to rip his throat out too." See, here we see exactly what the author wants us to be thinking, and the emotions we're supposed to be having. Except we aren't having those emotions. We're meant to see this new character as some totally insufferable douche or something? Because that's the characterization that's convenient for the archetype? Except the author's never actually built that up for this character. We've seen him as a child not rushing into a burning room, and here being as self-invested as pretty much any CN character is meant to be. Honestly less so, actually. We know next to nothing about this flimsy character, no prior backstory nor motivation, so we cannot possibly have the strong feelings the author wants (and tells) us to have. It's nonsense.

Was that trolling, what I just did? Or was it, you know, actually reading the comic and remarking on it? As I said before, prove me wrong, and tell me WHY my analysis is wrong as opposed to just telling me THAT it is.
JHSII - 2014/7/24
Let's see, if we respond, we're the ones accused of starting flame wars. If we don't respond, then we're not "doing much to defend it".
Nobody's forcing you to troll a comic you obviously don't like.
Anon - 2014/7/23
I must say, for decrying us trolls who hate on this webcomic, you aren't doing much to defend it. You might notice our criticisms aren't just meaningless hate, but actual critiques supported by the substance of the comic itself. Want to shut us up? Prove us wrong. Tell us why this backstory matters or defend the snail pacing. Can you?

I keep reading because I thought this comic's premise was a good idea, but it was honestly never executed very well, and I want to see how hard it crashes. Plus it's in equal parts amusing and irritating to see how an OotS knockoff can be so inferior to the original.
Nona Reverse - 2014/7/23
Very good, Hates Me. Also, I have a question. Why did Keriss's tail show up in panel eight, but then she stuck a knife forward in panel ten? Was she ever facing forward before the last panel, or was the hilt in her ass when she moved to stab the guy?
Hates Me - 2014/7/23
You are totally right, Nona. We trolls have to use plants all over the freaking comments section, or else it seems like some people actually like this story. Because they're idiots.
Nona Reverse - 2014/7/23
Agreed, Me. I've tried, but Leakingpen and Dyluth said years ago that they were waiting on the script from Jordan Quigley. The dialogue is getting dry in a bad way, and even though I liked the original characters, the only ones regularly appearing . . . where the hell are the villains or Aldran? Finx and the Ivory Vale don't exist anymore, and them and the secret behind Arderas really justified the entire story from the beginning. I want to say I liked this strip, because it really is some of your better work, Leakingpen. But I saw this orphanage guy's dialogue for the first time during the previous strip, and filler's never intense when you have to read more than one page of it. At this point, I think only trolls should be posting here, or everyone should just quit. This is a filler arc, and Lana should have had her backstory unfolding in a less amateurish manner. F*** y'all.
Me - 2014/7/22
****ing ametures.
A loyal reader - 2014/7/22
Nice comic, but Keriss' name is Keriss, not Kerris. lol
chpicker - 2014/7/22
There is actually one more typo: "smoked choked" should be "smoke choked" in panel 5.
JHSII - 2014/7/21
Tiri, that's been my question too...
Tiri - 2014/7/21
I know this question has been asked a million times, but why does Anon, if indeed all the Anons are the same person, still read this comic? I mean, he has done nothing but criticize it and to all appearances, hates it.
Anon - 2014/7/19
The below comment is right on point: None of this works because this is supposed to be some dramatic lost trust scene between old friends and family that we, the audience JUST MET and have NO emotional attachment to. We don't know the connection these characters have or why they should or shouldn't care about each other, which makes this entirely pointless.

(Also when you fixed the two "of" typo, you left it wrong. It says "What, did you become of the good guys?" when it's meant to say "What, did you become one of the good guys?")

Oh, and one more thing, take a look at the far superior Order of the Stick to get a grip on how speech bubble pacing is meant to work. If you have multiple sectioned bubbles at different levels, and two characters speaking, then people read the bubbles back and forth in height order as opposed to all of one before the other. You didn't work it out very well in panel 10.
Me - 2014/7/18
Yeah, don't you proof read?

And, who is this guy and why should we care about him?
Leakingpen - 2014/7/18
Yeah.... two typos in this one, of of and redi, sorry. I'll let Dyluth know he has to do extra work to cover for my ass. Sorry all!

W, i love that you called them by name! I think I may work the names in again, heh.
jessequentin - 2014/7/18
@wolfgang
My guess is that Allen was saying "That's ridiculous", but they misspelled "ridiculous".

For something that might fit "redi...", maybe "redirection"?
W. - 2014/7/18
then Keriss will remember the most important thing : recapturing Sample and Free
.
W. - 2014/7/18
there is one "of" too many in panel 10, third white bubble
wolfgang - 2014/7/18
well vampire have a nice bonus on wisdom, listening and detection checks, and those are class ability (of rogue, still her main class).

What was allen trying to say at the end?
Kareasint - 2014/7/18
I like how she knew that Kerris was there.
Ertai - 2014/7/18
Took you guys a while Very happy
Though good strip. It's neat seeing Llana being badass for a change
Mad Lemmey - 2014/7/18
First post!

Great strip, nice use if character and powers! Very happy
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