Murphy doesn't live here anymore.

[CasVeg]

It could be worse. However, Ralph isn't nearly as evil as I.

If I had been writing this, that bucket would have gotten knocked over and spilled. Quentyn's front and bottom would be soaked, robbing him of what little censoring power his fur (and his tail) may have had. Meribeth would have gotten tired of the party (or some other set-up would have happened), then gone off to take a bath. Quentyn would have ducked into the room just as she was getting in the water. Quentyn would go into shock; Meribeth would have to revive him. About the time that Quentyn is waking up, Meribeth's aunt would join the crowd of curious on-lookers that had gathered around the still-open door. . . .

What!?

I'm evil!


So, yeah, it could be worse. But, Murphy doesn't live here anymore.

[Shyal_malkes]

the worst thing I think Ralph oculd do to Quentyn is have him give up and lose hope in general. few things hurt us nearly as bad as our own thoughts and emotions, to depths that make losing one's pants laughable, even ignorable...

at least he's still got enough left in him to keep complaining and feeling the pain of his situation.

[Mwalimu]

I think it depends in large part on what the end result is, either his present predicament with the party, or the whole trying-to-get-his-sword-back story arc.

[Madmoonie]

Some times bad things happen to people. This is Quentyn's time. But also, I believe that Quentyn is strong enough to handle this. He is smart and savy enough to get out of this intact. Heh....Quentyn should be thankful of his lack on notarity because even if he is caught, the most he is likely to get is an unamed also noted in the scripts. No, I do not believe RH is being too hard. It is his comic and he can do what he pleases. I believe he has a reason for what he is doing, and we should stop picking on Ralph for being "mean" to Quentyn. I say, let it roll. Let us see what happens next.

[Sharuuk]

I agree with the last part Madmoonie, but hey.....we all love the little guy and even if it IS a comic, some of us are genuinely feeling sorry for him. I mean nobody's luck runs this bad...one fiasco after another, each one progressivly worse without some kind of break.

I think that's what some of us are asking for......just some kind of break for the little furball......and it's all summed up in panel 3.

But since we can't do crap about it, we might as well just sit back and see how much harder RH plans to hammer him before he decides to give the kid a break.

S'aaruuk

[Kerry Skydancer]

The little guy's learning a lesson here. I'm not yet sure what it is, though it might be 'sometimes you need to yell for help'. Or it might be something else.

But at the risk of sounding Nietschzian, 'What does not kill you, makes you stronger.' Quentyn's going to come out of this pretty much immune to embarrassment, I think.

[BlasTech]

Well im just taking comfort in the fact that this wont kill him, and that it sounds from his narration that the scars have healed ... partially ^^

[Nikas_Zekeval]

The little guy's learning a lesson here. I'm not yet sure what it is, though it might be 'sometimes you need to yell for help'. Or it might be something else.

But at the risk of sounding Nietschzian, 'What does not kill you, makes you stronger.' Quentyn's going to come out of this pretty much immune to embarrassment, I think.

Actually how about Quentin's Rules of Questoring...

Rule 1. There is no such thing as a 'simple' Questoring Job. If it looks simple, double check everything, there is some twist or catch waiting to bite you. If you STILL can't find it, pack twice the normal gear, it's gonna be a wild ride.

Doubt me? Let us count Quentin's jobs.
1. A 'simple' missing kit case. With a Gragum Mage/Psuedo-Messiah.
2. A kit's 'simple' night terrors. Which turn out to be Wight Rats.
3. A 'simple' street robbery.

Let's look at the last. Quentin's experiences are building an interesting picture, one that I'm sure he'll get once he's dealt with more immediate needs.

What picture?
Item 1. Robbery is up as is confirmed by the older Rac'conians in the pub, and this missing Questor's sword. *tries to hold up the missing sword, to find it's been taken while he was talking*

Item 2. The crime is up, because rather than wasting energy on intercene struggles over territory a truce is in effect. So more effort can be expended on money making ventures. Note: Some gangs (like the Red Caps) Are Not Happy with this state of affairs for unstated reasons.

Item 3. The truce apparently came about by certain persons that wanted the crime rates up to help push certain political measures. Presumably this truce was paid for or enforced by bribes, protection (info from a mole in the guard?), support (lux artificats?, bail and fine money?), and/or theats and violence (wes gonna make you an offer you can't refuse). The last could be simply with holding the advantages to those gangs that don't sign on. No intel on Guard patrols means more look outs or members getting caught. No support means more of the gang's resources going to keep up, or doing without and being less well off than the others, loosing recruits and perhaps members. So why are the Red Caps pissed? Maybe they think they got the short end of the deal, locked into now less lucrative territory, or just not able to expand like they feel they can.

So, in doing a simple job, getting his sword back, Quentin stumbled into an under the table backing of Sancturary Gangs by certain public (maybe political?) persons to further their agenda. Sancturary's Watergate?

[DragonMasterHawk]

"No, and I can't wait until he really starts laying it on."

It's been practically nothing so far. Comedic relief. Quent will look back on these days, years from now, and smile.

No. I'm waiting for Quent to do something really horrible. I want him to regret, to feel guilt, to learn through mistakes. REAL mistakes. BIG mistakes.

I think the comic will dramatically rise in quality when that happens. Until then...Quent's just not quite human yet, to me.

[Sharuuk]

I think the comic will dramatically rise in quality when that happens. Until then...Quent's just not quite human yet, to me.

Dood.....he ain't supposed to be human.......he's a RACCOON f'r cryin' out sideways!!!

S'aaruuk

[TGIF]

IOACS!

Plus, it's Ralph's story.

He knows where it's going.

He knows why these things are happening.

He has shown us from his excellent work in the past that he knows what he is doing and isn't arbitrary.

He is allowed to do things just for comic effect - after all, there were no Racoonians harmed in the making of this comic!

TGIF

[Sharuuk]

[after all, there were no Racoonians harmed in the making of this comic!

TGIF

Well aside from gettin' bounced off the wall at the hands of the Red Caps.....I guess he wasn't really harmed......not in this arc anyway.

He got really chewed up, almost to the point of death from the Rat Wights....so RH has laid some hurts on our hero.

S'aaruuk

[StrangeWulf13]

It's a comic. Get over it.

To be honest, we are nothing more than passengers in a boat, with Ralph at the helm as he steers us down this particular river of time, taking care of where he goes. Some of us cheer him on, and a few might add a little gas to the engine now and then to keep it moving.

I used to think that writers were gods, creating their worlds and characters from nothing, breathing life into them with each stroke of the pen. As such, I felt responsible for their fates, and the events they went through. If I didn't finish a story, I felt like they were trapped in limbo, powerless to move or act without my help.

Then I read the books based on a game called Myst. And my perspective changed.

Those who write are not gods. We do not create our worlds, our characters. Rather, we have something like a fae rath in our heads, picking up on the little "could-have-been" universes out there, the possibilities never realized in our own. Or ones that are quite real and alive, unknown save to the one who is tuned into it.

As such, our responsibility changes. Our only control is to choose the path, the timeline we wish to follow. And if we know our characters well enough, chances are good we will be faithful in our reporting of this other universe, this unknown world.

The role is not one of a god. It is that of a lonely traveler, walking down a road no one has been down before, and noting what we see.

I pray that God will help me be faithful in the tellings of my stories. There are many worlds for me to explore. I can only hope my report is as accurate as possible. After all, my Editor is rather picky about being truthful.

[Madmoonie]

Dude, thats beautiful.

[TGIF]

[after all, there were no Racoonians harmed in the making of this comic!

TGIF

Well aside from gettin' bounced off the wall at the hands of the Red Caps.....I guess he wasn't really harmed......not in this arc anyway.

He got really chewed up, almost to the point of death from the Rat Wights....so RH has laid some hurts on our hero.

S'aaruuk

Nah - at the end of the day he take off all the slime and makeup and heads home unfazed by the day's script.

TGIF

[Greatdane]

"It's RH's story."

That's my point of view, and I have to agrree with DMH, it could be a lot worse. I do believe that Quenting had been through a lot, most notably being chewed to bits by wight-rats, so I don' believe that much more should happen to him.

Look at it like this: He went into that last fight, expecting to die, he didn't, but something sgould have happened in his mind, he should be more brave. But by putting him through emotional pain, RH have found a gap in Quentin's emotional armor, and is by that strenthening him and toughening him up.

[Yuoofox]

Well, on the subject of suffering and hard times, this reminds me of one of my favorite hymns, "Through it All," by Andre Crouch. Here are the lyrics if you're interested, but my favorite line from the song is:

For if I'd never had a problem
I wouldn't know that He could solve them

In regard to Quentyn's suffering, I think that Quentyn is destined to be someone great, and sometimes it takes difficult times to "refine" a person.

[Shyal_malkes]

while I know it's Ralph's comic and he can do as he pleases, the point of the forum (and the current topic (more specifically)) is for the fans to espress their opinions reguardless of wether we should get over it or not, there may be one or two that voted in directions just to see what kind of a reaction they would get.

[RedSquirrel456]

I do believe that Quentyn's experiences are a good respite from his miraculous saves and flashes of inspiration. If we're seeking opiinion, I'd like to see the beginnings of some sort of cohesive resolution to this sooner or later. That's probably still a ways off (unless we fast forward to Quentyn just getting out of jail again), but for now I think we need to just watch the next direction things are taken. I'm personally enjoying this, since as I've said before, the guy is just fourteen. Not like he'd actually be able to do this with any sort of skill. He's still learning. Maybe when he gets a little older many arcs onward things will start getting serious and dark.

[StrangeWulf13]

Dude, thats beautiful.

*bows* Thank ye. 'Tis a message from the Editor. I do hope I conveyed it well enough. Such things are of great importance.