![[0135] Aftermath](/comics/2010-02-04-[0135]-aftermath.png "[0135] Aftermath")
The current story arc started with this strip: Two Pieces of Cake.
Is it irony? (see the last panel) Is it something else? I’m not really sure about the right expression for it… I was a bit puzzled by some of the bizarre suggestions about the identity of the “mystery character” in the comments of the last strips. You can expect to see more of Cloud’s mom Ye Thuza (which means “brave angel” in Burmese) in the first half of 2010. She’s a really interesting character with a twisted sense of humor and I want to show more of her and her past. Although we’ll start a new story arc on Monday, this is not yet the definite end of this storyline.
Wow, I’m absolutely amazed by the generosity of our readers after my call for donations last Monday. I thought that it should be possible to raise around $50 this month. Instead I got more than ten times as much during four days! This will really help me to pay the bills for Sandra and Woo in the future. But it’s not only the money itself which is great. It is also great to know that there are readers who care about our comic strip so much that they are willing to support us financially. Comments, reviews, fanart, donations, etc. are all important things which show us that the work we put into Sandra and Woo is justified.
The most generous donators can also expect to get a personal thank-you e-mail during the next days.
- Sandra: WHAT…
- Newspaper: Taylor jewels found! Twenty years after the raid of Edward Taylor’s jewelry store, the stolen jewels have been found again, in an abandoned factory! The anonymous finder received a reward equivalent to 5% of the insurance sum of the jewelry from the jeweler’s insurance company.
- Larisa: … THE…
- Ye Thuza: You didn’t “screw up”. Don’t be so hard on yourself, junior! Life doesn’t come with a strategy guide.
- Ye Thuza: Now c’mon, let’s go shopping!
- Cloud: Yes, master.
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AHA I- I mean OTHER people knew it!
It does suck that life doesn’t come with a strategy guide.
Doesn’t have strategy guide, but Cloud’s mom = + 5 levels, at least
Come on! It is NOT fair!
They even went through Larisa’s destructive impulses!!!
Cloud calls his mom master? That’s…kinda cool.
that still sucks. Larisa has to burn something just to take the edge off now.
And Cloud…well, his name is Cloud so go for it.
It’s Cloud’s mom after all. XD Man and here I thought it would be Cloud’s rival for Sandra. 😛
The staff in the background is scuffed at one end….
Cloud’s mom’s hair is black…
She is referred to as master. so it can be assumed that she is much more experienced then Cloud…
Sephiroth character in last strip had feminine features…
Besides Larisa’s mom, she’s the only one who knew exactly where they were…
…all signs point to her… i would understand why you would want to feature her more often, especially if she’s gonna dress like Sephiroth.
…I love this comic…
What you mentioned is not irony but a coincidence. This confusion of irony and mere coincidence is one of the pet peeves of literature geeks.
I think it’s coincidence when it’s un-intentional; irony when it is intentional by the author. 🙂
1- …and I think this is a great ‘ending’, so far. 😉 (…per your comment)
2- I really like the, “What…” “…the…” “…@#!*!” in the first three panels! Almost missed it too. 😉
3- Ye Thuza looks great.
4- Shouldn’t Cloud’s left fist have gotten another 90-degrees of rotation as he contacted his target? 🙂
5- Great strip!
Times like these call for high explosives.
True irony refers to cases where the disparity between what is expected and what is fact hold some special significance.
[quote]Iron Ed: 4- Shouldn’t Cloud’s left fist have gotten another 90-degrees of rotation as he contacted his target? [/quote]
Not necessarily. In my opinion, based off of my experience in martial arts, Cloud is either doing a mid-section back fist or, more likely, a jabbing vertical punch. Actually, I can’t decide. I’m see-sawing between those two. Let’s ask the all knowing Creator, shall we?
@Douglas Graebner.
Its irony because a few strips ago, Larisa was talking about how much it would suck to not find anything, and then read in the news paper about how someone else just found the treasure. In the abandoned factory.
I have to agree with the “mystery person” is Cloud’s mom theory. If you look back, in order to get to the grate hiding the bag Cloud had to stand on a box, however the “mystery person” was significantly taller and could reach the grate with ease.
@nivarion: I was talking about the posts yesterday speculating that the mystery figure was Cloud’s mom. That said, what significance do you attribute to the coincidence of Cloud/Larisa/Sandra missing the jewels and Ye Thuza finding them?
Damn XD’
Didn’t expect her to be so *searches for a fitting word* mean(?) ^^
“let’s go shopping”? XD’
absolutly not suspicious 😉
Oh well, she sure told them a lesson
PS:
I love how the bag was just a distraction from the treasure like it is often in dungeons.
Maybe they had found the jewelry if they had played some D&D XD”’
(I’m sorry for possible gramatical errors ^^)
Well… at a second thought (reffering to my own PS)
Larisa plus the ability to hurl fireballs might not be a good combination…
(And it seems, that I screwed up my name in my last post >,<' )
let see black hair……………………….check
clouds master…………………………….check
killed a toonberry in one shot……. check
has extra cash……………………………..check
kinda short…………………………………….. need i say more
oh yeah forgot to add long staff in the back……………… check
Did NOT see that coming! Awesome story arc, and the ending was definitely worth the wait. Keep up the great work!
Small correction- it should be “hard on yourself,” not “hard to yourself.”
That said, I can feel their pain. That really sucks, missing out on the treasure like that.
Is Cloud really fighting a fitting dummy? A tailor’s dummy? That is kind of cool, too.
This made my day. XD
D’oooHHHHHH!!
Roflmaster says: Times like these call for high explosives.
I don’t understand this…
Erebus says: Not necessarily. In my opinion, based off of my experience in martial arts, Cloud is either doing a mid-section back fist or, more likely, a jabbing vertical punch. Actually, I can’t decide. I’m see-sawing between those two. Let’s ask the all knowing Creator, shall we?
I posted this reference image in our internal board for Powree: http://www.tcm-ch.ch/DSC00536-klein.JPG and said Cloud’s punch should be harder. That’s all I can say… *hides*
Maou Zenigame says: Small correction- it should be “hard on yourself,” not “hard to yourself.”
Fixed.
Cloud’s mom is overleveled.
Indiana Mom: treasure hunting adventurer extraordinaire!
Is anyone else reminded of Balsa from Seriei no Moribito?
I’ve always wondered if web-comics (and other such web-products) could use a “commissioning” approach to better take advantage of supply/demand market forces. The problem with web-publication is that once you put a web comic out, it is “free” to everybody. So once you’ve published a strip, you rely on donation-based or ad-based revenue streams for compensation, both of which are inefficient (even with the loyal followers you have here). It’s probably naive, but perhaps you could do an experimental “commissioned storyline”, where you publish the titles and a couple of teasers of a not-yet published storyline, but do NOT begin publishing on the web until a net commission is met (say, $1000 for an entire story line). The supply/demand then allows people to “kick in” some cash to the storylines that most appeal to them, and once the quota is met, that storyline begins. Naturally, you could entice contributions with additional promos, such as deliveint to anyone contributing $10 to a given storyline exclusive private emails of each strip 12 hours before they’re web-published; draft scripts, behind-the-scenes commentary; etc.
There’s about a million variables to play with here, and I have no idea which would work best, but I strongly suspect that there’s some combination which will deliver to you an income far more in line with the actual demand there is for your product (the real risk is in trying something that comes across to loyal fans as “extortion”; hence, I’d recommend maintaining a steady string of on-going strips that everyone gets no matter what).
Anyway, FWIW, I’d commission $10 for a storyline that flushes out Ye Thuza’s character in great detail, and I wouldn’t be embittered by the notion that you withhold the publication of said storyline until the full commissioning cost of $500 (or whatever) is met.
No strategy guide for life? What do you call all those self-help books in the stores?
Just goes to show you… one’s elders, while seemingly clueless, are ontop of the ball.
Of course I think Master added insult to injury and let our kids know that she found the loot.
You know, if someone actually did publish “Life: The Strategy Guide”, I am willing to bet that it would be a best seller.
The Girl In the last page is his mom
@Novil
If Ye Thuza first heard about the treasure hunt from Cloud, she can’t have arrived long before them – probably long enough to add some distractions and watch the kids, but not long enough to find the jewels herself, until the kids were gone and she could use her superior mystery-solving powers.
(Unless, of course, she found them in the first place, hid them again and then put out clues that Sandra had to find – knowing that she would involve Cloud in the adventure. But I like the first idea better)
Ambi says: If Ye Thuza first heard about the treasure hunt from Cloud, she can’t have arrived long before them – probably long enough to add some distractions and watch the kids, but not long enough to find the jewels herself, until the kids were gone and she could use her superior mystery-solving powers.
She didn’t have to arrive before them. She just followed their tracks and got the right idea in the right moment.
i agree with gamerjoel135. there is also another way to prove it. cloud’s mom said lets go “shopping”. she could use the jewels to pay without cloud knowing. but why would she do that? to test her son? is she a bad guy? or is that mystery person NOT cloud’s mom, and are clever writer is trying to trick us? i have to know! the suspense is killing me!
hmmm…. was she the one with the all the jumping and sword having?
Umm… I believe the newspaper article already said the finder -turned the jewels in- and received a reward.
Its so obvious now that the mystery character was cloud´s mom, so fricking obvious
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It´s coincidence and not Ironi, Im a literature geek belive in my word
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There is a Writter with a Book Called “Life: strategy guide” (Vida: instrucciones de uso) called George Perec, is a french autor knowed by his difficult and complex novels, not easy reader but if you like puzzles like me, then check it out.
[EDIT BY NOVIL: MERGE OF TRIPLE POST]
Now Larisa has a reason to burn down that abandoned factory. A better title for this strip should be WTF!
as a child of the new millenium, would she not be getting this news from the internet?
loving the comic strip, and when I go cash todays paycheck your getting a donation(sorry for the delay)
altengal says: as a child of the new millenium, would she not be getting this news from the internet?
Come on, people *still* read newspapers (daily circulation nearly 70 million in the U.S.), especially for local news, and that strip would not have worked as well with her showing Larisa a website on a computer monitor.
I know when I was in school I would bring and read newspapers just to make the teachers mad. Nothing gets under the skin like a student reading.
p.s. hee hee Cloud said a dirty word. (Or as some one named cloud from FF7 would he really curse like they did in that game.)
Pretty funny stuff. Love the varying reactions to the news, Sandra-surprised, Larisa-stunned, Cloud-pissed off!! Ahh for all the times in RPGs that I missed a treasure here and there…I feel for him.
I have been reading your comic almost from the begining. I don’t usually send comments, but while all of the story lines so far have been witty, thought provoking and just plane fun, ‘ C’mon lets go shopping’ IS the best tag line so far.
I’m FINALLY able to read it! (been really busy.) Wow, I really liked this arc. I love ithe third panel, I’ve felt like that as well, (not for missing the treasure though). Cloud’s mom FTW (it also explains the Tomberry she killed).
First of all I want to say I love Sandra and Woo! It’s wonderful, Thank you. I work at a
local Library and found this while sorting some Books. Enjoy.
Zuerst möchte ich i-Liebe Sandra sagen und anflehen! It’ s wundervoll, danke. Ich arbeitean einer lokalen Bibliothek und fand dieses beim Sortieren einiger Bücher. Genießen Sie.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_14?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=zombie+raccoons+%26+killer+bunnies&sprefix=zombie+raccoon
Here’s a second to the suggestion that this was irony. The very thing Larisa suggested happened, even though she doesn’t seem to think it was going to. That the finder was most likely Cloud’s mom adds further to this.
An excellent twist, in my opinion. I also like the way the WTF text was handled.
*reminds himself to look up the exact meaning of irony*
I love the “what….the….*beep*!” panels 😀
I TOTALLY CALLED IT!