Seems like we're treading some familiar territory...
We're closing in on the end of chapter 01. There have been some pretty excellent theories that some people have shared in the discord. I'd love to know what the readers think is going to happen in the coming final pages.
8 thoughts on “Ch01-21”
Refugnic
Hmm…I can’t recall there having been a roar the last time she revisited that particular memory. A creaking noise followed by some rumbling and Nell made a distinctive effort to reach the edge.
This page, on the other hand…something’s coming. It is pissed. And they seem to have a fairly good idea about what it is.
The question that comes up is, obviously, why’d the dream change now?
And which of the events reflects ‘the truth’ (if at all, memories tend to be rather unreliable things and dreams even more so).
Considering that the first panels of the last page were blotted with some sort of slime, it may well be that something is connecting with Fae at this very moment…quite possibly warping her perception in the process.
Jim
For what gain, though, I wonder? Why the subtle changes? From a creak to a more obvious groan? Hmmmm… And an entire line of dialogue is also missing…
Refugnic
Well, there’s always the good ol’ parallel universe theory. As in, what Fay is seeing right now is not her memory, but much rather a different version of the group…where a different kind of disaster befell them.
After all, there are, at any given moment, a nigh infinite different worlds springing into being…if we follow the ‘time is a branching river’ theorem.
As for ‘what gain’…not necessarily any ‘gain’ just yet. It may well just be a side effect of the fusion.
As for ‘why fuse in the first place’…well, maybe you should ask the Cordyceps why it would embed its spores into ants.
So yeah, from ‘gathering nutrients’ over ‘reproduction’ over ‘preventing an ancient eldritch horror from destroying the universe’, it’s just about anyone’s guess at this point.
In one of my own stories, the primary antagonist was a man-made weapon that decided to gorge on the life energies of…well, everything, leaving the world desolate and empty.
So the rodent might, just might, be a synthetic leftover of the past civilization. A last hurrah, so to speak…a final hope to achieve what they themselves have failed to do.
Jim
Love the theories!
Torgo_Master
Nightmares: so you can re-visit the worst moments of your life, forever!
Jim
It’s the gift that keeps on giving!
Occasionally Posts
Not a complaint Jim. As the art looks lovely. But having the trauma nightmare this close to the opening one might be a little redundant. It may have been better to either wait to introduce the trauma until the symbiote infection if it’s a thematic thing. Or to have a larger opening with the three of them exploring the original ruins if you had wanted to explore more of their dynamic. That said, lovely work as always.
Jim
No worries on the critique! Yes, it’s redundant – there were some hints that it was a common element, but I can safely say that the dream will only ever come back one more time throughout the whole story.
The point of the dram in the beginning is two-fold. Introduce the trauma, without having to overload the reader with a whole chapter of “searching ruins”, and show that it’s a past occurrence that is re-lived every night. I think we can all agree that we don’t need to see the dream sequence more than that one time to establish it’s a continual thing…
That being said: Stay tuned for the next update – that’s when things start to get a little… weird.
Always love the comments and the feedback. Never apologize for asking questions or speaking your mind 😀