Book 2 – Page 17

[SteveMB]

And it may be that Wanda is as lonely in here own way as Jullian is. Wanda is surrounded by subject who see and treat here as a virtually a titan. And Wanda is surrounded by adoring, and more importantly unquestioning and obedient Decrypted. No one to treat and relate to them as themselves. I'm really looking forward to next week's comic.

Well, not quite "unquestioning" -- Ansom objected to her plan -- but her response when her decisions are questioned fits the general thrust of your argument.

[pSycHOtic chICkeN]

I want an apology from all you haters who said crap about Xin's Wanda being ugly and unexpressive.



If looks could croak, the war would be over.

I thought the hair style was the ugly part. It is noteworthy that you pick a panel that cuts off most of her hair. One of the summer updates had Jillian picking out a blond helmet. I'll add a link if I find it. Most people will select armored combat gear based on resistance to penetration, weight, mobility restriction, shock absorption. Pretty warriors often become dead warriors.

Picasso drew a lot of ugly people. Show me a sexy oil painting by Van Gogh. I believe Xin deliberately gave Wanda an ugly haircut and stating that success should not offend the artist.

If you lack respect for Stanley I do not think Rob will be offended.

It is worthwhile asking/speculating who is responsible for the hair. I can think of several plot related reasons Rob might request that Wanda gets depicted less sexy in book 2. I'm not sure about Jamie's process of drawing. It is possible that Jamie has/had a large stock collection of sexy brunettes in various outfits and stances that he could cut and paste. He could then fill in Wanda's expression for each panel as needed.

Compare Wanda in the bottom row first two panels and Wanda in panels 3 and 5. Zoom into the book 1 image and ask "how big is Wanda's chin?". The distance from her prominent boosted shapely tits to the bottom of her chin is the same in both panels. The cloud did not move. The nose and 2 flyaway hair strands are the same proportions. The little piece of hair band is the same in both. The eyes and mouth are unique. On the left the eyebrow is below the normal looking style of hair. On the right the brow is slightly covered by the same hair. The frames are pixelated differently which will occur when you save two slightly modified images as jpg files. The new book 2 panels 4 and 5 are clearly not a zoom into the same image. Wanda's head is slightly cocked in panel 3 and less so in panel 5. The angle of the shadow on her face changes. The unfashionable shoulder thingy has moved forward relative to Wanda's cheek bone. The cloud behind Wanda drops from just below the cheek bone on our right and upper neck on our left so that it is near the bottom of the chin at right and mostly blocked by the funky shoulder disgrace on our left. Wanda is drifting past a stationary Jillian and holding a stare at her. Everything rotates and counter-rotates relative to that drift.

The way Wanda and Jillian are moving is actually significant for the discussion about combat between Megalowiffs and Dwagons. If a Dwagon has to circle and a megalowiff does not (they face the same direction in panel 2 opposite in panels 8, 9, and 12). They can move at the similar speeds (assuming interhex movement and intrahex movement correlate). A Megalowiff will have a 360 degree angle of attack, a greater than 1 thrust to loaded weight ratio, and a very low turn radius. Megalowiffs would have some serious advantages in a gun fight. In a fight with swords and teeth (or beaks) maneuverability should be much more important. The story line in both books is about preparation for a battle. Wanda's fine cleavage did not have an impact on the outcome of the battle for Gobwin Gnob. The funky shoulder thingy could catch a blade aimed at separating Wanda's head from her neck. Apparently Wanda will choose to keep her head in one piece and connected to her breasts and ass whether or not some spectators think they look good that way.

[splintermute]

One thing, though. Jillian is straddling a seat over 3 feet wide. If that's what she's used to, shouldn't she be significantly bow legged when she walks?

See summer update 044.

[gaiaswill]

Re: the two mounts, I'm thinking the Red Dwagon's bomber to the Megalogwiff's zeppelin, especially considering size, shape and apparent flying characteristics. Makes me wonder how flammable Megalogwiff's are.

Wow, some people are so literal with their reading of the script. Try reading it as an actual conversation with back-and-forth and the use of metaphor and the meaning should flow easily, without having to assume there is off-screen knowledge.

That was an interesting bit of fiction you told your Chief Warlord. I don't think he believed it.

The line comes after a bit of uncomfortable silence--important enough to be marked with a blank panel. Wanda is not referring to some offscreen conversation or knowledge (how would Wanda know WTH Duncan knows?), she is saying that Jillian's confession was scripted to be heard by Jillian's own troops. The "Chief Warlord"--not referred to by name--was just a convenient target representing this group. And Wanda's statement is not meant to be taken literally--she doesn't actually believe that; she is downplaying Jillian's words to preserve her pride; it's her way of saying Jillian was needlessly sappy. (She was. But sappy is ok in this context. )

But I do have a special charm that protects me from you.

And this is not an actual charm, as in a physical item or magical enchantment. (Though it may be love charm.) It's Jillian's counter to Wanda's dismissal: "You know you can't quit me."

I just don't want to see misaimed speculation targeting a completely illusory "how does Wanda know Duncan's intel?". Discuss something that actually happened.

Like heir-on-caster love.

[AllPurposeNerd]

[not an apology]

Still waiting, sir.

[OneHugeTuck]

[not an apology]

Still waiting, sir.

And you, sir, shall continue to wait.


1 good non-blank expression (which, as noted, is missing The Hair) out of how many panels??

[theseus2x]

*rolls eyes* Come on guys. Let it go.

For my own perspective, I will say what I've said before : I do not like Wanda's hair in Book 2. Pure and simple. We don't even know that the hair was entire Xin's call.

I don't know what people are talking about as far as chins go. I do know that Panel 6 of this post "But You Did Choose", was absolutely beautiful with the shadowing and the eyes.

[dekkerd]

If I'm reading Wanda right in the last panel, Gwiffons can't be uncroaked. Did we already know that? I can't say it's surprising (since they're made out of marshmallow), but it is still an interesting little tidbit.

Uncroaked is the key, same with other heavies. Decrypted is another thing entirely.

[theseus2x]

If I'm reading Wanda right in the last panel, Gwiffons can't be uncroaked. Did we already know that? I can't say it's surprising (since they're made out of marshmallow), but it is still an interesting little tidbit.

Uncroaked is the key, same with other heavies. Decrypted is another thing entirely.

True. At this point, I'm willing to believe any unit can be Decrypted until proven otherwise.

[MonteCristo]

We don't even know that the hair was entire Xin's call.

I would guess that it was Rob's call... he's likely the one who comes up with all the pop cultural references
Furtharmore, considering how Gk is prepared for some "chorus rock" dance fighting, the outfit is likely meant for some rocky horror style dance fighting... kinda like wanda's thriller outfit, Jillian's blond afro wig, or Stanely's kiss make over in book one... they are not just pop cultural references, they are tools of war!

unfortunatly, we won't see wanda go back to "normal" until this fight is done

[not an apology]

Still waiting, sir.

my feelings about Wanda's cake face have not changed... Wanda's old make up STILL looked better

[Dr Pepper]

One thing, though. Jillian is straddling a seat over 3 feet wide. If that's what she's used to, shouldn't she be significantly bow legged when she walks?

See summer update 044.

The archive only goes up to 38.

[dan2178]

One thing, though. Jillian is straddling a seat over 3 feet wide. If that's what she's used to, shouldn't she be significantly bow legged when she walks?

See summer update 044.

The archive only goes up to 38.

The archive only shows the summer updates that have images as well. Here's a link to #44:

http://www.erfworld.com/2009/10/summer-updates-044/

[theseus2x]

God, I wish they'd fix the archive.

[Llord_Droll]

trying to guess what will happen is wearing me out

[Aquillion]

Cracking one... but a bit of an anticlimax. Hopefully if Jillian still feels for Wanda she won't roll in the archon hit squad.

You assume she has a choice.

Remember, Charlie knows about her relationship with Wanda (because his Archons knew, back during the donut trap scene -- they saw Wanda's mind-control spell and heard Jillian say that she liked it.)

Given that, it's highly unlikely that Charlie is seriously depending on Jillian's reliability against Wanda for his plans.

[teratorn]

It just seems to easy, even for Wanda. Everything Wanda said could have been told by Jack.

[pSycHOtic chICkeN]

my feelings about Wanda's cake face have not changed... Wanda's old make up STILL looked better

It is the same makeup. She wore foundation with gray eye shadow in both books. In book two she switched to red lip stick.

[HailGreen28]

It's not the multiple partners that irritates, it's the way Jillian thinks she can pick and choose and make the rules.

Right, the bimbo/having and eating cake thing made me think in that direction.

But why shouldn't she?

Rules are just stuff people make up, not actually part of reality. Doing anything but picking, choosing, rejecting and inventing what you like is going to result in a boring, unfulfilling life lived by other people's standards.

Ah, but maybe the story is running up against a real life problem.

What happens when one of the partners in a "free love group" falls really hard for just one member? And her feelings aren't reciprocated?

Wonder if the authors are going to take the story that way? And see how Wanda handles being in that position? Seems to me they have so far, but I've learned how unpredictable (and awesome) the authors are.

[build6]

Hopefully if Jillian still feels for Wanda she won't roll in the archon hit squad.

y'know, I'm starting to wonder if we should all just assume that Jillian and Charlie are "exactly on the same page". Charlie certainly would want Wanda dead. But does Jillian? Just 'cos she's accepting/accepted Charlie's help doesn't necessarily mean she's not got her own agenda (i.e. Wanda gets to live).

?

EDIT: although yeah if she does "double-cross" Charlie she's gonna need a way to deal with quite a lot of pissed-off archons in her airspace (assuming that's something's Charlie's got in the battlespace).

[MonteCristo]

Is she? Parson concludes that she's not technically loyal to Stanley at all, and she doesn't dispute the statement.

But she is still loyal on some level..." technically" is like saying "yes and no, it depends on how you look at it"... she is "loyal" in terms that she is duty bound and must fight for stanely like anyother GK unit, but she is not loyal in the sense that she wants to work for stanely and really just wants to pursue her own ends.

my feelings about Wanda's cake face have not changed... Wanda's old make up STILL looked better

It is the same makeup. She wore foundation with gray eye shadow in both books. In book two she switched to red lip stick.

...
it's more than just red lipstick...
before and after