18-178
Added 2024-10-30 03:52:46 +0000 UTCRats, I forgot to notch Ruck's tongue there.
So yes, Queen Sonorie sincerely thought she'd let General Bell hang himself by goading him on towards the sedition she was pretty sure (and apparently correct) he was jonesing for. She instructed Ruckmearkha - who had already been located and awakened to facilitate the Black Tongues' work with Roger - to deliver divine bliss and be the god that Bell thought he was serving (ultimately himself, in her opinion). She sent her Peaceguard - Toma and Elka and Petr - to try and catch him or his agents red-handed with the Silver - and it all went to shit from there.
To be fair, we know there were cosmic forces in play at the same time - Lady Ilganyag's terrible plot - taking advantage of this every step of the way. For all her scheming, Sonorie, too, was a cog in Ilganyag's machine.
Now, your Majesty, whatcha gonna do? Double down? Your co-conspirator is here too. Roger is wondering if you'll finish it.
Comments
this scene feels very catholic. sonorie's mea culpas as she digs herself even deeper with a rapacious sex monster, ruck's patriarchal declarations of love as he unleashes horrific carnage, the st sebastian pose roger is rocking in panel 5, and the eroticism of pain and violence in general. unsounded has always had that latter element but it's really ratcheted up here. similarly, ruck is a great take on a catholic demon. obviously there's all the snake imagery but it runs much deeper than that. i love how he's got this lovely poetic voice- ruck might have made a great angel once upon a time- but always in service of the profane. what if the song of solomon was only about debasing other people? he's physically attractive in some ways, and it only serves to make him more disturbing. ruck is a perversion of love. no wonder he looks to be toma and elka's final boss.
Dr. Badvibes
2024-10-30 16:00:51 +0000 UTC"Erm" is Nora's (the Chief Engineer from Litriya's Construct facility) fan name :)
Ashley
2024-10-30 15:17:46 +0000 UTCEvery Ruckmearkha interaction is like gold dust to me. Such a well written, alien mindset. Good work Ashley for being so consistent about that characterisation and making for a harder to predict yet still not... Random (e.g, working on his own rules, we just don't have his rules and if we do figure them out they seem abhorrent to a human mortality)
Ava
2024-10-30 13:39:00 +0000 UTCYes, I'm also confused, thinking "Erm... Who is "Erm"?
Ava
2024-10-30 13:34:49 +0000 UTCWho is Erm?
Capsandnumbers
2024-10-30 08:36:31 +0000 UTCThrough the last two chapters he's been stressed out about humans changing, and he's just realised that they'll eventually outgrow him. Last update he said he needs to salt the field to make sure humans don't get too advanced. So I think he wants to use his knife or a Crescian dammakhert to remove ambition from humans, so he can be apex predator forever
Capsandnumbers
2024-10-30 08:26:54 +0000 UTCAlso, Queen Sonorie’s resignation in that last panel is just perfectly palpable.
Malik M.L. Williams
2024-10-30 06:53:23 +0000 UTC“It is fine.” You know, I had just recently stopped hearing that in some deep, sibilant voice in my head from time to time. Thanks, Cope.
Malik M.L. Williams
2024-10-30 06:51:32 +0000 UTCWhat indeed does Ruck want? His motivations, aside from relieving boredom, seem entirely alien and unreadable.
Spider
2024-10-30 06:17:53 +0000 UTCIndeed.
Ashley
2024-10-30 04:53:14 +0000 UTCSort of conscious. Like being trapped in a nightmare.
Ashley
2024-10-30 04:52:16 +0000 UTCHmmm. Both these characters here and we the audience aren't operating with full knowledge on the state of things: these two do not know that the black tongues have been wiped out. Additionally, we don't know if Erm/ Nora and the Black Tongues were able to put the Dammakhert plan into effect during all this chaos or if it worked at all given that the map itself was incomplete. (that's my assumption as to what Erm/Nora's been up to this whole time, but I also could be wrong about that).
JarJar
2024-10-30 04:51:01 +0000 UTCThe question is did the Black tongues do what they needed to do before they died?
Mek
2024-10-30 04:46:55 +0000 UTCRoger's CONSCIOUS in there? 8( Rough. There's a black humour in knowing Ruck isn't yet aware the bird's strangled a good population of his bluff, though.
CD
2024-10-30 04:46:26 +0000 UTCDoubling down seems like the only option she has that Ruck wouldn't see as weakness.
Michael Stakely
2024-10-30 04:04:29 +0000 UTCPsh more like a cog in the MacQueen amiright?! Eh? Eh? I'll see myself out...
Rifter
2024-10-30 04:02:01 +0000 UTC
