August 17th, 2010
Page 388
Comics for August 17, 2010 - Page 388
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August 17th, 2010 at 12:11 am
Yep, this is where everything comes crashing in and our formerly plucky hero has a Total Meltdown. Why wouldn’t he, over the idea that he may have unintentionally turned his love into his love SLAVE?
And since he most definitely did NOT want Zona as a slave, but instead wanted her feelings for him to be real, well….Total Meltdown time.
August 17th, 2010 at 12:17 am
Yep. It’s gonna take him not crooning to her for a while and her still coming back for more for him to even think it may be possible that she loves HIM and not the magic.
To make things complicated, Zona may be addicted to the feelings the music inspired. Not love per se, but the undiluted power she gets nightly from her lover boy here.
August 17th, 2010 at 12:32 am
Nice twist, JD. Just when Mentl thought things were going so smoothly. What will happen if Mentl removes the supposed enchantment; provided he is able to do that?
August 17th, 2010 at 12:44 am
I re-read the early pages after last update, these are all the dialogue bits I noticed (re-noticed).
August 17th, 2010 at 1:04 am
Hey there! Long time reader, first time poster!
To borrow a line from Dr. Insano, “This is where Mentl’s soul snaps like a Twix bar.” I can really see the pain on Mentl’s face in the last panel. Awesome, awesome work!
August 17th, 2010 at 1:28 am
It’s time for Mentl to go mental !
Love conquers all, and so does magic it seems.
Tula did say that Mentl was not the typical
kind of man Zona hooked upp with…
Then again, that could have other explanations.
If this is true however, there is some
major cha to rebalance.
August 17th, 2010 at 1:39 am
So the three wisest people in the moon tribe decide to tell a magical atom bomb that he basically made a slave out of his one true love…whilst indoors and in arms reach. Me, I would have left a letter and hid in a bunker, on another continent.
August 17th, 2010 at 2:35 am
Oh GOD this page was done well. Fabulous job, JD. Can’t wait to see what happens next!
August 17th, 2010 at 2:47 am
Heroic BSOD in five… four… three… two….
August 17th, 2010 at 3:23 am
Hopefully Vito walks in and bonks some calm into Mentl, and expounds for the folks and allays their fears. Or just tell them their idiots.
Though this is probably what Vito was warning him about.
Personally I figure Mentl’s been doing exactly what ZONA said he was doing. Giving her the chance, and the courage, to ‘Take her armor off’ as she put it.
Everyone’s so worried cause they aren’t seeing Zona, The champion; they’re seeing Zona, The woman.
(Hence why mom is the least worried of the bunch, Maternal instinct and all that)
August 17th, 2010 at 3:48 am
Well. It sure is something I thought of long ago when I first started reading this story and eventually forgot. What a bombshell and possibility. Well, I hope things do work out for Mentl and Zona. How this is going to play out is truly making my mind work overtime (being a not-writing-much-as-he-should-writer). This might be the fire that truly forges a better relationship for those two…or consume one or both. Eagerly anticipating the next page(s).
August 17th, 2010 at 4:06 am
Quite simply, I do not believe it. Magic is supposedly about intent above all else. Mentl never intended to enspell Zona or in any way bend her will, ergo it did not happen.
August 17th, 2010 at 4:44 am
No, that won’t work: he never intended to enspell the queen, and it worked perfectly (and she was even aware of it), so there is a big chance he DID that to Zona. Boy, I would go downhill in top speed if someone told me something like that. One moment you are proud of being loved by a gorgeous woman, the other moment you are told to sort of a slave keeper… and that this woman probably doesn’t love you at all… where is a rope when you need one…
August 17th, 2010 at 6:41 am
Curse you Jed and your fantastic writing!
How dare you make me feel for nonexistant people and their nonexistant relationship. 
You, sir, are evil 
August 17th, 2010 at 6:41 am
@The Old Hack,
Yes, but the intent of a good musician is to engage and enthrall their audience, especially when they’re singing a love song. And he never exactly intended to bend the whole audience to his will that time in the castle, but look what happened…
August 17th, 2010 at 7:31 am
I agree with Old Hack. Yes, the songs gave everyone warm tingles, but it didn’t enslave them all. If those ‘tingles’ made Zona look at Mentl in a different light and decide that she loved him, so be it. He NEVER set out to enslave Zona.
Oh, and am I the only one to notice that Mentl’s eyes are glowing?
Yet another excellent page JED. Keep them coming.
August 17th, 2010 at 7:38 am
The funny thing is that I got my copy of the printed comic about a week ago. I sat down and read it and saw this coming. I didn’t see it when I first started reading the web comic but, with the benefit of getting to know the characters and rereading, it’s all there. Excellent job of setting up the situation and foreshadowing. Very well written.
August 17th, 2010 at 7:57 am
You can almost feel his heart and ego crunch and crumble under the self doubt.
August 17th, 2010 at 8:39 am
Looks to me like the High Priest is trying to be as gentle as possible, the High Priestess is assuming (and insinuating) the worst, and Ipola is at least giving Mentl the benefit of the doubt. Something tells me that when all is said and done, Mentl and the High Priest will be discussing love songs as a totally new magickal sphere, Ipola will be both satisfied and a bit contrite, and there will be a new High Priestess of the Moon Tribe…
August 17th, 2010 at 8:47 am
It occurs to me that the Erogenians are handling this pretty badly. They don’t seem to have taken into account at all what would happen if they pointed this out to Mentl. Whatever influence he may have had on Zona’s feelings for him, there should have been no doubt that his feelings for her were totally genuine. Given that, and the knowledge that Mentl is fundamentally a decent person, they should have been more concerned about the effect of pulling the rug out from under him. After all, Zona’s love is just about the only thing that keeps him grounded in this reality. Without her, he’s just some guy with insanely dangerous powers he knows little about, stuck in a world not his own. It should have been obvious he could easily buckle under the stress of it
So, yeah, what the hell, Ipola?
August 17th, 2010 at 9:00 am
I agree with the sentiment of, why are they telling this to Mentl INSIDE and such? And yes, Mentl’s eyes are glowing-with his ties to emotion (with Pontagar, his fists were glowing because he was truly angry and wanted to beat the living sh!t out of him) it’s not surprising. Especially since the eyes have been said to be the windows to the soul. His soul is in turmoil-I wouldn’t be surprised to see it come shooting out of his eyes in a very physical way. Although, Vito will help as much as the “powers that be” allow him to. And I’m not sure that the Moon Priestess will be cinders-she’s pointing out the ethical side of things, of when it is NOT okay to do what Mentl’s been doing. Although it could turn out that Mentl “wakes up” to find that he’s made cinders of the top three people in Ergonia. (I don’t see it happening though; as a fellow writer, unless JED has some ulterior motive, there’s no reason in my mind to kill off Ipola. Unless, of course, it feeds into the unrest coming in the forms of Shuach, the Urtt invasion, and Gorshash. But Ipola is such an awesome character…we’d all be wailing if she died. It would put an interesting twist in the Zona-Mentl stability/cha balance.)
August 17th, 2010 at 9:24 am
While I agree, in general, that intent is the most important thing in casting… The question remains, “What WAS Mentel’s intent each night, while singing to her?” Off hand, I would guess that it was to have fun singing, and have his audience enjoy the song. Mix with that that every good performer, be they author, singer, or painter, wants their audience to FEEL the work. To connect and understand the message in the medium. So yeah, I suspect he enchanted her to feel like every main character in every song he sang to her. And to love the songs. And maybe to feel like a tumble after the songs were over, just because after a while I bet the response was Pavlovian.
But, in his defense, he did NOTICE how much she was bothered by the song about the girl who left the man who loved her. He WAS reading his audience. And so I suspect he was avoiding songs that he felt she would be uncomfortable with.
All in all, yes, I think he enchanted her. No, I do not think he took away her freewill. Yes, I agree they my have a new high priestess at the end of all of this. Yes, I agree that the main conflict is insecurities the the crowd about Zona-Champion, and Zona-Woman. I think this is likely a lot of why the High priest is not so worried. And we know Tula was of the opinon that Mentel and Zona were in balance. I can not imagine her saying they were in balance if it was exclusively enchantment tying Zona to him. It started with enchantment. It has been fed by enchantment. I agree she is likely addicted to the enchantment. But she IS in love.
August 17th, 2010 at 9:29 am
To clarify, I was not meaning to imply that Mentel might injure anyone, much less kill anyone. Merely that, unless part of the High Priestess’s job is assuming the worst about people, and baiting them (both of which she has been doing stellar at), it may be time to appoint a new High Priestess.
August 17th, 2010 at 9:33 am
And this is the time when the ton of bricks make their presence known.
Impact in 3 .. 2 .. 1 ..
August 17th, 2010 at 9:43 am
I believe… that Mentl is stronger and made of sterner stuff than many of the doom-sayers posting here. Two things considering Ipola’s seeming lack of regarding a “mentl breakdown. First it seems that Erogenians place a high value on individuality and personal responsibility. They HAVE to apprise Mentl of thier concerns regarding his possible affect on Zona and let him, help him, dealt with it as best he can. It seems that anything else wold be alien to thier society.
Second they know virtually nothing of his background. As far as they know, from the short time he’s been with them, he is a stable well balanced individual. Why wouldn’t he be able to handle their concerns over his ‘powers’.
A third thought occurs, this being a world of magic users, I doubt the three individuals, Ipola included, are bereft of a considerable amount of ‘power’ of thier own.
And hey, this is Mentl, he’s not going to go all batshit crazy and harm the mother of the woman HE loves and her freinds and family.
August 17th, 2010 at 9:52 am
*harumph
K, the “oh fuck” part is going as expected. Nice touch with the old speak bubble captions. Like nails to the coffin of his heart.
Obviously he´s going to be his own worst enemy, as he´s got no clue about magic and therefore will assume the worst. As usual the experts aren´t helping, I like that. Exactly like in real life.
Hope you pull a nice rabbit out of your hat on this one, as going the usual heartbreak -> agony -> healing -> miraculously together again, will at this pace make this comic last for another ten years.
BTW I´m betting ten quatloo on Mentl fainting in the next page.
August 17th, 2010 at 10:18 am
Hey, guys!
It’s me, the author.
A couple of footnotes (written with the hands, so maybe not as authentic as Dr. JH Boob’s but there you go.)
Essentially everyone in the scene is doing their job. Karna’s isn’t a fun one, but somebody had to point out the worst case scenario. Serrin is not going there because that is his job, to provide the alternate POV. Her Maj is having to weigh things as justly and as evenly as she can. This is not, BTW, the “Beat up on Mentl” show. As has been pointed out, this is a measure of their respect for him, and their commitment to truth. Also, in this room you have the three most powerful individuals of their generations in the Moon Tribe. They are used to tackling issues and people head-on and grappling with power and problems on a very large scale. Whatever happens, they can handle it - at least that’s the working hypothesis.
Also, whatever happens, no rabbits are getting pulled out of hats, no deuses are getting machina’ed. I finished setting this up some time ago, and nothing major that has not already been established will be invented at the last minute to facilitate a quick, easy or miraculous resolution. I don’t believe in those, because they’re never satisfying or fun.
And it is gonna take as long as it takes. If I win the lotto or get a huge grant, I’ll go to five days a week.
August 17th, 2010 at 10:23 am
Ga’Tor- I certainly hope Mentl is made of sterner stuff. It would be pretty badass if he took the whole weight of what they just told him, carried it for a moment, and realized “No. They’re wrong.” Given the general thrust of the story so far, I doubt that’s what will happen, but it would be awesome if it did.
But as far as the Erogenians go, whether or not they know anything about him, they still could have done better than this. I mean think about it- is this the way you break bad news to someone? “Oh hey, Mentl, come on in. We were just talking about you. See, we think you might have accidentally enslaved the person you care more about than anyone else in the world. That whole ‘love’ thing you thought you had? It might be just an illusion you created by turning Zona into a puppet. What are your thoughts on that?”
That’s basically what they’ve done here, and it’s a horrible way to break bad news to anybody, regardless of their state of mind.
August 17th, 2010 at 11:19 am
Zu Long re: Breaking bad news. Hmm maybe but the Erogenians seem to handle thngs in a very straight forward manner. So while they are a portayed as a very passionate and caring people, they are also not namby-pambies (chanelling DI psych Ermy here) to beat around the bush. They confront issues and problems head-on and and seem to expect the same of others. All a part of that honesty thing. Which is why I expect Mentl to lay this entire matter at Zona’s feet for ill or good. Which in turn leads to….
JED’s scenario is looking to be sooo appropriate for the classic chinese proverb: “If you love something, set it free….if it returns to you, it is yours. If it doesn’t, it never was.” Now considering Mentl’s upbringing you just know he’s had this quoted to him on more than one occasion by his parents. ‘Course there’s the corrollory which ends ” if it doesn’t, then hunt it down and kill it.” Which is so inapplicable in this case for so many reasons.
August 17th, 2010 at 11:59 am
It just seems to me that there’s difference between beating around the bush and being compassionate. I mean, imagine if instead of love songs, this involved, I dunno, rock-slides or something. Here’s how the conversation has gone so far:
Ipola: Come in, Mentl, there’s something we need to talk to you about. We’ve noticed that you seem to cause rock-slides wherever you go.
Mentl: Yes, your majesty. It’s not something I’ve learned to control. It just happens every once in a while. Why do you ask?
High Priestess: Let me be plain Mentl. Did you cause a rock-slide this morning?
Mentl: Yeah, I think so. It was a pretty big one too, so I tried to keep it out of town.
High Priestess: You see? It’s as we feared.
Mentl: Wait, what?
High Priestess: Mentl, this morning Zona was horribly maimed by a rockslide. She may die. We think you caused it.
Mentl: WHAT?
High Priest: Now, normally, causing rock-slides isn’t necessarily a bad thing…
High Priestess: It is when they maim people!
Ipola: We don’t even know for sure that’s what happened though.
Mentl: *Nervous breakdown*
Now, it’s not totally analogous, but do you see what I’m getting at? This was just a bad way to go about telling him, especially when you don’t even know for sure that he did anything.
August 17th, 2010 at 12:38 pm
I know the colored text boxes have been this comic’s version of thought bubbles since the very first post, but it still bothers me that they are so SQUARE at a time like this. Shouldn’t the boxes warp and wubble and whimper to match Mentl’s state of mind?
Other than that, I enjoyed that collage of memories and the effect you pulled in panel three with the stretching.
August 17th, 2010 at 1:29 pm
@Wolf - yes, that’s exactly what I was getting at. I don’t think Mentl is going to ash the High Preistess (though Zona might belt her one :)), but if she’s truely that mean-spirited about this, then maybe it’s time to step aside and let it go.
@John - I know you’re the Author, so I have to respect your statement that she’s just doing her job, even if it isn’t fun. But that being said, there’s a whole lot of grey in this situation, and hitting Mentl (who, I think they should all realize by now, has nothing but respect and admiration for Zona AND her People) with the heavy weapons out of nowhere is NOT a particularly respectful way of approaching the subject. Yes, it’s quite blunt and straightforward, and there’s no question of what they’re talking about, but there’s a reason people do things diplomatically and don’t just go for the jugular right away, and that seems to have gotten lost on the heads of the Moon tribe…
Of course, Mentl may have also brough it paritally upon himself by accepting and fitting into Erogenian society so well that they’ve forgotten that he’s NOT one of them, and may not react they way they’re used to. Like Ipola, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt, especially since this is overall such a great comic (and story!).
August 17th, 2010 at 2:21 pm
Masterful work on Mentl’s expression. He looks as though he feels like his ribs had all shattered into glass, and collapsed around his heart. He’s almost certain to be very harsh on himself, but the way he does it will be very illuminating of his character to the Moon Tribe, and at least he’s in a supportive environment. Frankly, I’m sure that Karna and Serrin are already noticing the expression on his face, and seeing the sort of pain that results in that expression.
I think Mentl may know a song that would be very good for breaking binding enchantments. Sting and the Police, Set them Free
General mood of the song is very definitely one of liberation.
On Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XUaDJm0ac8
August 17th, 2010 at 2:36 pm
Honestly, i’d say something about how very very very sad this is, but all i can really say is
August 17th, 2010 at 7:50 pm
I think Mentl is human, and suddenly being presented with something like this will cause him to behave as such. He will be shattered …
Then he will recover a bit, plan how to fix it, and follow through. He doesn’t want the lie, he wants the truth of Zona’s feelings to come through. If she doesn’t love him then he knows he needs to set her free.
Something to consider: It just seems intuitive that magic would not to be able to trick a person’s Cha, and Tula has remarked already that she’s never seen Zona’s so intertwined with another person’s before …
The way they broke it to him is harsh, but fitting with how these guys do business. They don’t pull punches with enemies nor with friends.
August 17th, 2010 at 8:03 pm
Well, somebody needs to say something callous and insensitive. The pathos in here is getting thick enough to choke on. Ahem, here goes…
Argh, Gothic Romance! So when do we get back to the f*cking and fighting part of the story?
August 17th, 2010 at 9:18 pm
mmmyep that’s more like what I was expecting. this is going to require a whole new type of bravery from Michael. I kind of expect him to foam at the mouth and go into the fetal position. Eagerly awaiting the next page.
PS @ Possum you made me laugh dude.
August 17th, 2010 at 9:25 pm
Quick! Someone enchant a megaphone and then have Mentl sign “Love Stinks” at the top of his lungs and really, REALLY off-key for, like, an hour. If Zona doesn’t chop his head off, it’s wuv, twoo wu-uv.
Hey, look at that! J. Geils and Princess Bride in the same post.
August 17th, 2010 at 9:44 pm
Don’t think there’ll be any f*cking for awhile, but fighting…?
August 17th, 2010 at 9:48 pm
Shows a little respect by the triad here for Mentl’s character, or they are very confident in their own power. 3 of the top people in the tribe together, if he goes nutzo…. they have to figure either a) he won’t or b) we can handle it.
BTW, about the cha - if Zona REALLY thinks she fell, and Mentl fell on his own, and neither feels any guilt about it (since there was zero intent) - would their chas show it? If he did it intentionally, his guilt might show in his cha.
Agree with what someone said on the last strip, I think Tula will step up on mentl’s side big time - she’s probably his only friend other than Zona, and they seem to have gotten very close.
August 17th, 2010 at 10:34 pm
I don’t comment often, JED, but… DAMN. That central shot of Mentyl’s face is just… gorgeous rendering. He looks like a real man I could run into on the street! Really impressive lighting and shaders, especially on M2!
August 17th, 2010 at 11:24 pm
Oh, this is going to be a looong Thursday…
August 18th, 2010 at 12:49 am
@TB LOL. I agree, but JED says they know what they’re doing—then adds the caveat ‘as far as they know.’ (Does the wood ever chafe yer crotch when you do that, JED?)
Personally, I think Mentl’s more likely to harm himself, although I doubt he will. What he will do is hurt Zona, probably without meaning to, ‘for her own good.’ At the very least he’s about to take off. ‘Course, he could sing Donny Osmond’s “Go Away, Little Girl” at her. Then again, maybe not.
@JED GodsDAMMIT, somebody get this man a grant!
August 18th, 2010 at 1:34 am
it somehow remind me (on an opposite sex level) the story of the “seeker and Mother Confessor” love of Legend of the Seeker …maybe even here “love is the strongest magic” (iknow… i’m too romantic
)
August 18th, 2010 at 2:04 am
Just an observation but the druid/shaman/wiseman in a dress was smiling when Mentl walked into the room. It doesn’t seem likely that if the situation was as dire as some seem to believe he would be so light hearted about the whole thing. Also I personally do not see any evidence that Zona’s love for Mentl has been influenced by magic. Mentl’s magic as we have been told and as we have been witness to is based on, among other things, intent. Not only did Mentl have no intent of making anyone love him Mentl himself had no idea such a thing was possible. The first song he ever sang for Zona was one of his mother’s favorites and his stated intent was to show Zona how a love song was not for making love but just about love.
Obviously his magic can and does encourage certain behavior and lustful feelings when he is singing love songs but even with repeated exposure to the powerful magic of Mentl’s songs I simply refuse to believe Mentl has the ability to control such a complex emotion as love. In all other examples of his magic the intent and result were simple and straight forward. Example: extreme fire, extreme lust, extreme force (shotgun) in all cases I can recall the magic has been the result of an explosive release of power. Love doesn’t work that way, even though it can feel like it sometimes. Love is a very complex emotion full of ups and downs and created from a whole host of other emotions some just as complex as love itself. In order to make someone love someone else, even if it were possible, would require such a fine level of control over all the different aspects of love that I simply do not believe Mentl has the level of ability to make it possible even if he did have the intent.
Call me a romantic but Love is much too complex, too personal and internal to be produced so easily by something like magic. I could go on for a long time but I will stop here only to say these arguments are why I said before that love is magic but magic is not love.
August 18th, 2010 at 2:36 am
Calisto, I hate to be the devil’s advocate, but…Mentl has been singing all sorts of different love songs to Zona. It’s possible that, after two whole months of this, he’s covered quite a variety of love types and love styles…thus covering much of the complexity of love.
Personally, I think there might’ve been some enchantment…but also some actual truth in her feelings for him.
August 18th, 2010 at 5:06 am
Jed. PLEASE win the Lotto. It’s been said before, writing/story telling of this calibre, is extraordinarily rare. My hat’s off to you.
If I win the Lotto, you WILL have your grant!
August 18th, 2010 at 5:17 am
Jean you love to be the devil’s advocate and you do it so well to! But even if singing a variety of songs over time could be said to cover all the complex aspects of love I still refuse to believe such a complex and intimate spell could be cast without intent or by mistake.
Try building a house of cards by mistake, or fixing a car’s engine by mistake. Put on a blindfold and without knowing it drive to the mall… How likely do any of those sound? Each of those would be easy compared to making love out of magic.
August 18th, 2010 at 7:30 am
Yatta-Ta meanders with a hangover into the room (obviously oblivious as to whose chambers this is) and sees Mentl first, and before anything else can be done, he trots up to him and blurts out, “Wow, man! What a night!”
…
August 18th, 2010 at 9:24 am
I would be somewhat disappointed in Tula if she has been sitting around and watching Mentl enchant her sister night after night. She can “see” magic, right? She could see the earthquakes in Mentl’s fists. Why would she not see the enchantment? She figured out what Mentl was after he sang “Wild Thing,” so I would expect her to be on guard for that sort of thing. Vito has also been a common observer (by his own words), and it would be a little strange to me if he would allow it either (although not completely strange as he might regard such an alliance as beneficial to Mentl). I wonder why Ipola was affected so strongly, apparently much more strongly than most of the other women in the room (or are they all trying to get into Mentl’s pants?). Could it be because of her knowledge of what Mentl has done for her daughters combined with her love for them? Well, I guess we will find out in due time.
August 18th, 2010 at 9:31 am
2 points comments:
1: I hompe Mentl is smart enough to not sing anything and let more experienced mages work this. He might accidentally cause Zona to fall out of love with him when her feelings were actually true in the first place. Only time will tell But I’m going with true love perhaps enhansed with a little magic.
2: If it is magic it might simulate love not be true love. If ture love is a complex series of emotions perhaps infatuation is not. Simulated love via magic might not be real love but more of a hypnosis making the person think they are in love. Therefore not true love. But again let’s hope that it really was real love.
August 18th, 2010 at 9:58 am
if this was Star wars , this would be Lukes meeting with Yoda and quite a hard few truths revealed.Time to raise the x wing with the mind as well. Trust the force < Luke and all that!
August 18th, 2010 at 10:11 am
@JED *Incredible page*.
@all Ipola was strongly affected by Mentl the other night because she has been celibate for much longer than all the others present who were pretty much all couples (giving Mentl a new meaning for “rocking the house”). I know she has had lovers since her liaisons with the girl’s fathers but she is also plenty busy running the tribe, holding the Alliance together, and being the foretold priestess of legend who returned the Moon. (JED will you ever finish, ‘the King is Dead’ ?)
I know Mentl has doubts, bad ones, but Tula and Vito have yet to make their case and Z has no reason to doubt his lack of nefarious intent. He is much more likely to damage their relationship himself.
@Lebbrin - Well put.
August 18th, 2010 at 1:10 pm
Congratulations JED!
Does someone remember the name of the love-song?
*winthelotto*
August 18th, 2010 at 6:46 pm
Well, if I win the lotto, I’ll be sure to spread the wealth around…
Wow, Mentl deepest love has been turned into his love slave - who knows if she’s ever loved him be her own free will?
August 18th, 2010 at 7:03 pm
Oh, what a delightful arc to come back to.
Now can I have an update more, please? I really want to see what happens next.
(I’ve run out of NCIS to watch(it was my friend’s seasons) and my mind is working overdrive again).
August 18th, 2010 at 8:21 pm
Well, I’d consider supporting JED except a) I doubt he’d move to the Seattle area, b) he’s already got a girlfriend, and c) I’m not about to pull a life-imitates-art and make him my lurveslave.
(Unless he’s willing.)
*innercent whistlin’*
August 18th, 2010 at 9:46 pm
I’m waiting for Tula to burst in on them (now or later) and yell “Are you stupid? *I* could have told you that she’s not under an enchantment”.
Tula’s not only powerful, but very learned; remember she spent time in Kivalia studying there and even wrote a scholarly treatis on Giants, complete with footnotes.
I’m betting that Tula would have noticed anything wrong long before now. I’m also betting she’ll champion Mentl…and support him in true sisterly fashion.
I really wouldn’t want to be any of the three of them when Tula gets through with them…
August 19th, 2010 at 12:05 am
As Five-Finger-Death-Punch has said, “I’d rather you hate me for everything I am, than have you love me for something that I’m not.”
I certainly HOPE Mentl doesn’t have an epic meltdown, and -looked at logically- he would likely realize that Tula would never stand by and allow his magic to enslave her sisters feelings.
Love isn’t logical, however, and Mentl does have serious self esteem issues. I’ve had the same sort of problem for most of my life and I can tell you that whatever anyone ELSE says, HE is going to be convinced of the worst possible interpretation of his actions. People with that sort of emotional scarring are like that, once we’ve convinced OURSELVES that it’s our fault, it is incredibly difficult to change our minds and get us to banish the guilt.
Hang in there, man. The Truth will out.
August 19th, 2010 at 2:04 pm
Given that Mentl has self-esteem problems I’m fearing for the worst.
August 19th, 2010 at 2:52 pm
I love this story!!!!! JED, thanks!!!!!
August 20th, 2010 at 6:08 am
I understand John. Great and powerful scene and a very important one. The show must go on (from another John
)
August 20th, 2010 at 9:53 am
Poor Mentl - major gut punch there — the possibility is certainly there. However, I don’t really think Zona is “enchanted” - at least not like that (and I expect to hear from her most emphatically in a little bit). It was never Mentl’s *intention* to do so, and that’s very important for the effects of his magic - though he does leak a huge amount of power. I think his ghostly mentor will have something to say to help him get back on his feet though.
August 20th, 2010 at 10:15 am
@reddwarf: I don’t think she’s enchanted either but I’m thinking that Mentl is going to convince himself she is because part of him thinks that’s the only way someone like her could ever love someone like him. Yes, I think we’re headed for a Mentl breakdown. (ducks and runs)
August 20th, 2010 at 11:02 am
I was a teenage boy with a guitar in the 70s. A hot chick like Zona, and you KNOW that Mentl was trying to make her like him, and want to get in her skirt.
But to TRUELY LOVE someone, you have to like them first. Coming at love from the pure lust side is usually a formula for disaster. Speaking from experience here.
August 20th, 2010 at 11:53 am
Everyone is speculating, so I will too.
Zona is enchanted by Mentl and his songs, but only in the purely secular sense. Everyone is remembering that Mentl’s spells affect people. Tula was driven into lust after Mentl played “Wild Thing” and Zona was quite hot for him afterwards as well, BUT in the same story arc Tula sees Vito without problem but Zona doesn’t have even a glimmer that he is there.
I’m sure that Zona can be hurt by physical magic, but the sort that plays on the mind - bupkis. I’d guess she’s immune to that type and loves Mentl only because of his “funniness”.
-Z
August 20th, 2010 at 5:35 pm
I stand by my ‘Take the Armor off’ position. If only because it involves nudity.
September 9th, 2010 at 2:12 pm
I think the way you portrayed Mentl’s mental breakdown here is magnificent. It really makes you feel how he feels, detached from the world while other people speak to him but he doesn’t really hear it, seeing images and pictures from the past flooding by too fast to hang on to. Absolutely great, it’s moments like these that keep me coming back no matter how long I’m gone. Thank you for a great comic.
October 28th, 2010 at 2:00 pm
He realized it now? I thought it should’ve been obvious when Tula told him he’s an enchanter.