18-27
Added 2023-12-04 04:35:22 +0000 UTCSome readers had wondered what was up with these memories and if Duane ever examined them much. Well, no, he doesn't visit here much. Partly because he was in agony as his corpse broke down but also because he was quite insane and sometimes Mikaila was just kinda hanging out. And could he judge Lemuel's behaviour as anything but its own shock and trauma? After all, Lemuel's brother had just been murdered and come back as a damned zombie.
Duane's been very quiet on the Mikaila reveal from a few chapters ago. He hasn't expressed much of anything regarding it, not even to Sette. It's been much easier to throw himself into the Peaceguards' battle and put his own mystery on the backburner. Here in the dark though~
Comments
Seeing that written out I feel like maybe I'm not giving Lemuel enough credit for agonizing, like it clearly bothers his conscience (at least somewhat) to be involved in military rape raids and fratricidal zombosis plots. Still, he did have his whole anime villain speech about how Duane's moral compass is weakness, so...
Josh
2023-12-05 22:54:06 +0000 UTCColor me not the most surprised person in the universe that Grandpapa Ah! Del! Ee! Yay! is one of those people that go "kid being violent? Well beat it out of him" and think that makes sense. Kind of feel like Lemuel's sociopathy is...the logical culmination of Alderode's whole deal? Like, what did they expect? Also, while more extreme and higher stakes than anything I've ever had to deal with, it rings true to me as an older sibling that Duane was the one obsessing about right and wrong, while his younger brother largely didn't care. Common firstborn affliction. Btw, comment specifically to Ashley: after seeing the Tumblr post comparing the Chapter 7 shot of Lem's steely determined gaze to the similarly framed...guilt despair self-loathing hopelessness hatred ball? expression here, I went and looked up his cold eyed death mask smirk in Chapter 14, and as ever with Chapter 14, I got sucked into reading it - I just...I hope you're proper proud of that one, even just jumping around in it, it's a compelling story.
Josh
2023-12-05 22:48:25 +0000 UTCDad died just before Simon was born, so the shop's been closed about three years. It's in a Soud ghers and the Soud population is struggling thanks to the plague and other factors, so there's not much demand for the space. The equipment's also old and no one wants to buy an outmoded press. Lemuel's been staying in his old bedroom upstairs from time to time, and Duane wouldn't sell the place and boot his bro to the Ssaelit barracks. Combine all this with both of them feeling guilty for not following in dad's footsteps, and neither has wanted to deal with liquidating the old family business. It hurts. Duane even had the wild idea in the back of his head that maybe Simon or Mikaila's husband could make something of the place one day.
Ashley
2023-12-04 16:15:53 +0000 UTCI have an overly specific question. How come Adelier print shop is standing empty and out of business? Maybe I misunderstand the timeline but my understanding is this place would have not been used for years now? Adelier family as far as I understand isn't in a great position financially, wouldn't they sell it or rent it out to someone? Housing is a pretty consistently good business though Alderode's population mechanics are weird so maybe it's not an easy sale actually.
Flyfly
2023-12-04 16:09:48 +0000 UTC
