Chapter 15 -- Kit vs Dewbreen
 

291


A deadly alliance forms!

Ayane needs to work on her p-p-p-poker face.

Presented out of context
 

Nurse Poe

Where's her stethoscope?

1) it would get in the way of her cleavage

2) I'm not sure it would be much use in the context of this scene.

2/10, would not seek bi-yearly physical examination.

Bound and gagged Charsi?

Newly denuded Ayane?

Seems Matt's ramping up to yet another missed pornographic interlude.

I gotta inspire the people who make hentai fan comics.

Don't worry, they can always find more on their own :P

Self-discipline does not seem to be this ninja's strong side. She should meditate on this a lesson. She should also have used ninja tricks to cheat.

Well, if you remember from past episodes, illusory magic doesn't work on Kit.

Also I'm not sure Umami would want to piss Kit off by being caught cheating!

I actually don't remember anything about illusory magic at all, and I was instead thinking of sleight of hand. I was also thinking that Kit might very well have been cheating herself. And while that wouldn't necessarily preclude her from being pissed off if someone else was cheating, I didn't think the game seemed to be that serious. Seemed more like a friendly way to pass the time, where any punishment for cheating would probably not have been worse than losing all those clothes. :)

Kit saw through Umami's illusion when she made her clone of Jeanne, and waaaay back in the first Halloween Special when Rawhead tried tricking her and failed :)

So it hasn't come up much.

So, not to nitpick, but what is going on in the "Figure something out" panel? Did she suddenly grow a white mustache or something?

Actually looking at it now I think what is going on is the line of her upper lip is rising to meet the shadow under her nose. Just looks weird to me.

There may not be an update this week due to an editing problem and me spending most of the day yesterday playing MK9 instead of working.

But as new Glorious Executive Forum Overlord in Chief, I decree that anyone complaining about my slacking off will be sacked.

Long time reader, first time poster. Awesome comic!

I gotta wonder how freaky Dewbreen's gonna look. Sounds like s/he (it?) has their roots into all kinds of craziness!

Because Dewbreen's a TREE
 

Hah hah "roots" :D

I like you already, Shakalaka!

Welcome to NPF!

Can I just mention that I love how the majority of the movers and shakers in this comic appear to be female?

Because that is awesome.

Contrary to what I've been lead to believe, women are in fact NOT harder to write than men and populating your story with 'em is both fun and easy!

Plus I like drawing ladies more. :D

So I'm glad you think it's awesome because I certainly like keeping it this way!

After watching Kit destroy her at poker, I'm inclined to think that Umami wouldn't do too well in a drinking game.

No, probably not. Kit's tolerance is pretty high!

A good ninja knows her limitations. :smug:

Solid Sparkle... at first I thought she was using some kind of fairy detection ability, which gave off a 'solid sparkle' at the right location. In her final word balloon though, is "had better to it" supposed to be "had better do it"? Or is she just leaving out the "get" out of "had better get to it"?

I approve of the dark dress code, apart from forcing apprentices to freeze their nipples off in the cold night. Because that's so... sophomoric? (I had to google that word to make sure.)

GAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Oh God, please more Solid Sparkle!

I mean, we're reaching Fonzi levels of silliness here, but we got a pixie commando out of it! You jump that shark my friend!

Edit: Some notes for the future... Solid Sparkle, for authenticity, should repeat most things she's told in the from of a question. Example:

"Kit is a pinky, Sparkle."
"A pinky?"
"Yes. That's slang for demon-blooded girls. You usually don't see them outside of whore houses. You'll need silver bullets to take her down."
"Silver bullets?"

If Bludkolt didn't already jump the silly shark I don't know what will.

Solid Sparkle may not be in it all that much, but I'll keep the various Snakeisms in my head.

There's a lot of lampshade hanging in this update, and yeah, that was supposed to be "do" not "to".

Can Codecs be used for prank calls? 'Cause I've wondered about that for years.

I though, in context, "had better to it" worked just fine. Shorthand for "go to it" "get to it" something like that.

Also, I don't know if she should be taken more or less seriously with those mini dog tags and cigarette.

Not that I'd fare much better by comparison. She can drink spell components.

I'd challenge Liz. Or Poe. But probably Liz.

Poe's really working the cleavage there, huh.

Is that a pinky thing, or just a Poe thing? I mean, on the one hand Kit tends to dress in a much more covering fashion, but on the other hand there's also the culture where all of the members of the species shown are female and they're primarily employed as sex workers.

It's an interesting thought, completely Watsonian, which is why I find I'm mocking myself a little for having it instead of paying attention to any of the actual plot going on.

Gotta agree with Erin tho. Telling yourself you know somebody is a great way to end up surprised and dead, and considering the metaphysics of the comic, that doesn't even necessarily have to happen in that order!

That's mostly a Poe thing. Kit likes to dress sexy every so often too (see the Big Eagle Beer adverts or the cheerleader outfit she wore in the Halloween Special Part 2).

Kit hates it when Poe dresses that way though. Kit's a big of a "do as I say, not as I do" girl.

And now here I am wondering if pissing Kit and her controlling ass off isn't half the reason she dresses that way...

Mmmmmaaaaaybe.

Kit means well, at least.

Really dig the splatter effects in panels 4 and 5, and the background shading in the last panel.

Heh heh. I don't see why the zombie's so upset though. There are way worse things he could be staring at while being butchered alive. ...ish.

The shading works really well. It allows Erin's wings to be visible, but not in a distracting sort of way. Well done.

When Kit's away, Poe will cosplay. :dance:

Because that nurse uniform can't be intended for serious business, can it? :raise:

I mean, she's wearing it for serious business, but it can't be intended for such, right?

Looks like it might be a few sizes too small for someone as... well endowed... as Poe :P

Poe is paying homage to Skullgirls's Valentine.

Poe is also paying homage to uncountable numbers of poor decisions.

I mean, honestly. "You don't know her like I do"?

That's just asking for it.

If Poe is Jeanne's toy, then I suppose it's quite possible that Poe does know Jeanne in a way that others do not. But I guess that doesn't preclude Erin from being right. She still handled it rather poorly though, if warning Poe was actually her intent. Because it came off more as putting herself above Poe in the pecking order, and that's no way to get one's point across.

we need more holiday specials, holiday specials rock. I can't wait for the Columbus Day feature. Or, if the Moomans observe it, Pioneer Day.

A President's Day Dreadful Special would be fantastic, I'm pretty sure.

Workin' on one, actually.

It was going to be a Vday Part 2, but I changed some dialog around to make it more Americanish.

So. I imagine this was very quickly followed by attempted murders.

Or actual murder? Attempted murder doesn't seem very tragic.

Considering Sabueso is still alive...

He might be dead on the inside though.

Come on. Surely a man of his calibre has already been killed at least once already, and come back to life, so he can say cool stuff like "I got better" and "been there"? He called down an angel! Maybe that's a contact he made while he was standing in line for post-life processing? :D

So I got a lot of excuses regarding The Dreadful's update status for this week:

Been super sick + snowed in somewhere where I didn't have internet outside of my phone + edits

That means the "President's Day Special" got delayed some (I think it'll be up tomorrow) and my original intent of having two updates this week (the special and 296) will be screwed up as well...

But, better late than never??

Well it's not Megatokyo, so I think you can be forgiven.

*Hides the torches and pitchforks, then proceeds to take the oil off the fire*

Ugh, I never want to hear anything about that joke of a comic ever again.

At least there's a consistent story going on here. That's how I like my comics and hardly read anything that's a random story each week.

Well I'm looking forward to the PrezDay Special going up, whenever that is. It's up to Brian now.

I ended up adding a scene and it needs to be placed before the pages that were originally scheduled as Update 296. So that is the reason for the edits.

---------- Post added at 06:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:53 AM ----------

WILL YOU SPIT OR SWALLOW, GENTLEMEN?!

President's Day Special

*salutes Kit*

*salutes Betsy Bailey*

*eats cheesecake*

What are those shark things and why are they in a cheesecake ad?

Good question!

Unfortunately there is no straight answer.

You know Matt, you could probably make a name for yourself in surrealism.

Or porn.

Or surreal porn.

One of those things, anyways.

How about surrearotica?

Tusen tack for this comic. That wikki looks awesome, whatever they are.

I never knew history was so kinky and erotic. Can you go down on an abstract concept?

Dat swimsuit at the end, God Bless Amurika.

Page 296

Soon I will finally have the Yuffie/Selphie lesbian fancomic I've always wanted.

Hmm, "Dewbreen" might be the invention of a few Druids.
Maybe the cultists were indeed right and tried to save the people in their own murderous ways. :aaa:

297 (NSFW because boobs)

More about Dewbreen revealed.

Also more about Molly revealed.

And also giant trees.

Well, they've certainly got a Dark Oz deal going.

Also, can I just say I feel this comic could use more ninjas ripped from vidya gaems?

I think two is enough for now, though I like throwing in expys so who knows?

There's a Rogue (X-men) expy I have doodled up in my sketch book. I'm not sure if I'll use her, but I have some ideas so I may!

I always knew you had it in you, Matt.

What's that?

It's it.

Remind me - who was Molly, again? My memory is poor :(

On the other hand - interesting update in terms of visuals. And I don't just mean the obvious :)

Loranna

Dana Softmoore is a sorceress who has "set up shop" in Graingrove and is using her magic to animate a tree and pass it off as a holy being named "Dewbreen" in order to swindle the townspeople out of their money. Mistress Softmoore is also procuring local women so she can turn them into dryads, and she's very interested in obtaining Kit's soul for possibly the same reason.

Molly is her apprentice/stooge.

Oh. That explains why the dryads looked so . . . under-dressed, and acted a bit dim for forest (well, tree) spirits :).

Now that angel with the natural high heels . . . *shifty eyed look* I think I'm starting to notice a pattern. :D

Loranna

The design on the angel was the result of me playing a bit too much Final Fantasy 13 at the time.

Dana Softmoore might be constructing the dryads in her own image. Not that that's officially stated in the comic yet. Just sayin'. :)

Hang on, I was a little behind.

When did El Sabueso get replaced with an imposter? I can see his feet!

Sabueso's always had feet!

I call shenanigans!

298!

I'm not sure who is the bigger monster: Softmoore or Shichiko.

An incredibly nice tooshie... and eye beams?

I may be in love.

Also: I laughed at, like, six things in this one. Well done Matt. I think my favorite was "I'm a sorceress, I take everyone's pants off."

Between making Molly wear her robe open, the dryads, and taking Shichiko's pants off, Mistress Softmoore may be a little on the pervy side.

But Shichiko got booty f'sho.

ALSO!

I'm reminded of an old 8-bit theater gag involving unexpected eye beams. Had never seen them before, never saw them again, just one panel of sudden hilarity. Is this like that or did you always know she had eye beams? What is it with you people and eye beams anyway?

They're spontaneous!

Well, that escalated quickly.

Part of me is expecting her to have done a ninja body-double thing, but maybe I've watched too much anime :P

What a pity. I rather liked Shichiko.

These kinds of things only matter if they happen to characters that have something going for them. That's why I spent a few updates on her prior to this.

What kind of tree pretends to be a person pretending to be a tree?