1080 Typecast.

For some reason the last time I tried to post a comic it didn’t work right. I had to go back in and screw with the publishing date until it finally decided to show up, and even then some people had to clear their caches before they could see it. Which caused a bunch of cluttering tweets. As far as I can tell I have the time and date set properly, but I thought I did last time too, so I guess we’ll see. If it happens again maybe I’ll talk to the tech person at Hiveworks and see it he knows what’s up… Or she, they have a unisex name like mine.

She rose and offered a hand. Julius did likewise, but found himself looking up at her which, at a tad over six feet himself, was atypical when greeting a woman. Up close she was more majestic than he was emotionally prepared for. He instantly felt shabby and the sensory perfection that was touching her hand didn’t help this feeling at all.
“Julius Drywood.” was all he managed to sputter out.

“Niona Black.” She smiled down at him.

“Black?” He said, desperately trying to gather composure. “So you’re not an Elf?”

“No, my grandfather was, but I’m too far removed for them to claim me.” She rolled her eyes. “You know how some families are. Granddad was the black sheep.”

He did know know how they were. At least, he knew how the portion she was talking about was. Particularly old, well off, Elven families were wildly racist. Judging by the resplendence of her armor, which was likely enchanted to adapt to suit whoever put it on, Niona’s relations were probably extremely rich and extremely horrible. It must have been quite a scandal when he married her grandmother. Up this close Julius could do nothing but empathize with him. If her grandmother was a quarter as enchanting as Niona she probably had him spellbound as soon as she said hello too.
Suddenly Julius realized he’d been shaking her had longer, and more vigorously, than he had intended, and jerked it away awkwardly. She hadn’t noticed apparently.

“When grandpa left all he had was this armor.” Niona continued as she returned to her seat. “He made his entire fortune on his own. Well… not on his own exactly, I guess. Grandma helped.” She pointed at her spearhead. “She was quite the weapon smith in her day.”

A thought arced across his mind as he gawked at the blade.

“You’re grandmother is Gretchen Black!?” He exclaimed, looking from her weapon back to her a few times before becoming self aware again. Niona nodded and grinned.
“That spear… It must be priceless!” She nodded again. There was a long silence while his consciousness was overwhelmed these revelations and his reactions to them. Eventually one question managed to work its way out of his face.
“Why in the world would the granddaughter of Gretchen Black be scavenging with the likes of me?” He blurted out.

“Intellectual curiosity” she laughed. “I want to know why the last group didn’t come back.”

“Didn’t come back…” Said Julius, turning towards the stone archway a few meters away. “Nobody told me anything about a prior expedition…”

“Why did you take the job then?” She asked cocking her head to the side.

“The guildmaster told me it was just some basic trap spotting and…” He hesitated. “Some reverse lock smithing…”

“Uh huh…” She said. “Either he thinks very highly of you, or is trying to get you killed.” Julius considered this for a moment.

“Could go either way really…” He smiled. She giggled.

33 Comments

I had problems seeing the previous comment but this one showed up instantly for me…hopefully one vote in favor of your success tonight.

Still really enjoying the comic and the story!

**previous comic

Maybe Constance teaches him to let go, as Carol taught him to live again. Anyone else see this happening?

I dunno, I think what would probably put Thomas through the biggest bind would be something more along the lines of:

– Constance shows up, acts like nothing is a problem, thus pissing Thomas off as it is doing right now.
– We find out she *is* pregnant with current boyfriend/lover’s child, again, putting Thomas in an even worse condition.
– Carol/Jo/Nina attempting to help him cope with the situation to help him get through the day as friends should.
– We find out some crazy devastating side/secret of Constance that we don’t quite know yet.(I’m guessing something to do with that overly-nice attitude she has, or that she has towards Thomas)
– Then, to make things all the worse, have the book signing go horribly bad, almost nobody shows, if any at all.
– This leaves Constance is devastated(as she seemed almost overly-excited about this, possibly her first book signing?), and now Thomas is stuck between the feelings of a very selfish victory at her loss that he had been longing for, but those feelings of victory come with the guilt that he has to see someone he used to care about devastated.
– Sure, he could say all he wants about her, about how much he hates her, but to see it in person, with your own eyes? It really changes everything, including how you *expected* to feel, especially depending on the level of how devastated said person you cared about is.

I don’t know, this is my own idea I’ve cooked up in the last week or so watching the events play out. I’ve had an idea that it might play out like this ever since the first mentioning of her showing up was brought up years ago, but the way things played out the last few weeks, it definitely hints towards this.

Good call. Either way, it will inspire him to do better, as I think the future Thomas is actually widely successful in some way, shape, or form. And probably still with Carol.

I agree Renadt this will make Thomas be better

Go Thomas! Redheads for the win! (But only if the rug matches the drapes. So many impostors these days.)

Oi I mean well… true. I wish the lass I like had red hair but eh oh well.

Not sure if it’s been mention before really and that I never really though to much about it before I ended up coming across the name again but Jo’s last name shouldn’t happen to be taken from “Mel brooks” be any chance?

Btw, just cought up again almost from the beginning and I loved it, it was much much better then cats, I’m going to see it again and again and by grabthar’s hammer I will wait, indeed i will as all I even wanted was the next page, not greedy….

You have been weighed, you have been measured, and you have been found wanted and by the sons of warvan I will stand firm for your return, just hurry, my feet feels chilly…..

Her name was inspired by Louise Brooks http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Brooks Who happened to be from Kansas and was a very interesting person.

I can’t decide which is better–the comic, or the possible beginnings a great novel you’ve been posting beneath them.

Seriously, off of what you’ve already posted, I would be SOLD on that book. Possibly a series of books.

And I think it’s awesome that the characters from the comic transfer over. I thought Julius was Ed at first, but a six foot height clearly makes that wrong. Maybe Thomas? No wait! Reggie! Duh! People instinctively not liking him, completely failing to blend in despite carefully chosen clothing, instantly falling in love with Nina :) Am I right, or completely wrong?

Julius started out as a separate character, but for the purposes of the story he’s being played by Thomas in my head. Julius Drywood is one of my default RPG names. Reggie is a different character in the story.

Ah. Yeah, I can see that

Kind of like how David Willis’ characters are the same, but the setting and circumstances change dramatically between his comics? Will we have a Carol a little like Frig from Guilded Age?

I’m not familiar with whatever that is. I guess it’s possible by chance though.

Can’t criminalize being attracted to red hair…It’s my preference. Ok so I just realized another reason I like Thomas.

Im a sucker for short red hair myself. Im attracted to many different types of women though, so its hard to settle on just one perfect package.

“Besides, the comic was in black and white when we hooked up. So it’s not like your hair color was a factor!”

I’m really starting to like front on Carol

Is it the scarcity of true red that makes guys so interested?? My husband was sold on red hair as his “type”, too, until he met me.

I do believe the rarity has a certain appeal to it, yes, but beyond that? I wouldn’t be so sure. I think many guys like it usually because red hair is typically displayed/found on very physically attractive women, so that may also have something to do with it, like an expectation or something.

In the end though, a woman/man with an awesome personality wins over a simple hair color :)

Finding each other attractive in the process can’t hurt either.

Yeah, I’ve always had a soft spot in my head for red hearts.

Uh, waitaminnit…

Three of my partners are around the 5′ mark. Every time this comes up I have to explain that no, I’m not selecting them for size! (Apparently my true type is “poly gamer geek.”)