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Comic Transcripts

RUTE 1

TEKSTBOKS

“JEG SLAPP NOEN SKURKER I ET VANN EN GANG FRA MASSE METER OPP I LUFTA, OG JEG TROR HAN ENE MAGEPLASKET. MEN JEG FORSIKRET MEG OM AT KYSTVAKTA FANT DEM.”

RUTE 2

FLYBOY

MEN JEG TROR IKKE AT JEG FAKTISK HAR SKADET NOEN.

TSUNAMI

MEN DU ER IKKE HELT SIKKER?

RUTE 3

FLYBOY

JEG ER GANSKE SIKKER.

(cont.)

MESTEPARTEN AV TIDEN, FÅR JEG BARE OFRENE VEKK DERFRA KJAPT.

RUTE 4

FLYBOY

GORDON, JEG SIER DEG, JEG ER FORSIKTIG.

RUTE 5

FLUKE

JØSS, MITCH. JÆVLIG BRA…

TSUNAMI

KANSKJE DU ER FORSIKTIG, KANSKJE IKKE, MEN JEG BEKLAGER, VI KAN IKKE LA DEG FORTSETTE Å GJØRE DETTE.

RUTE 6

TSUNAMI

KYLE, DU MÅ LEGGE TIL DET MITCH FORTALTE OSS I NOTATET.

COMMANDER

NEI.

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PANEL 1

CAPTION

“I DROPPED SOME BAD GUYS INTO A LAKE ONCE FROM A BUNCH OF FEET UP AND I THINK ONE OF THEM BELLY FLOPPED. BUT I MADE SURE THE COAST GUARD GOT HIM.”

PANEL 2

FLYBOY

BUT I DON’T THINK I’VE EVER REALLY HURT ANYBODY.

TSUNAMI

BUT YOU’RE NOT SURE?

PANEL 3

FLYBOY

I’M PRETTY SURE.

(cont)

MOST OF THE TIMES, I JUST GET THE VICTIMS OUT OF THERE FAST.

PANEL 4

FLYBOY

GORDON, I’M TELLING YOU, I’M CAREFUL.

PANEL 5

FLUKE

WOW, MITCH. KICK ASS…

TSUNAMI

MAYBE YOU ARE CAREFUL, MAYBE YOU AREN’T, BUT I’M SORRY, WE CAN’T LET YOU KEEP DOING THIS.

PANEL 6

TSUNAMI

KYLE, YOU NEED TO ADD WHAT MITCH TOLD US TO THE NOTE.

COMMANDER

NO.

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The Young Protectors: Engaging The Enemy Truth or Dare—Page 15

June 5, 2015 Alex Woolfson 462 Comments

Well, now. That’s one way to deal with it.

(Oh, and I have to say I loved the awesome discussion y’all had on the last page about Tsunami’s and Flyboy’s actions. Really thoughtful and engaging. Lots of fun for me to read!)

This week, over at the Patreon Page, we hit another Milestone Goal. 🙂 That meant we unlocked the background for the Full Monty Tsunami Pin-up!

Folks who pledge $5 or more will be able to download a digital wallpaper version of the full, fully nude image. It’s gorgeous. And since this got unlocked before the end of last month and also before I could make an announcement here about hitting the Milestone Goal, I’ll add the high-res file for the Full Monty Tsunami Pin-up with Background, just for this month, to the any other high-res files I send out to $10+ backers at the end of this month. These high-res files I send out to $10+ backers have double the resolution of the digital wallpapers and, since they don’t have to conform to mobile phone shape, often include more art on the sides.

Over 1130 of you have already become Patrons in the last few months. There are lots of great benefits to being a Patron, and you’d really be helping me out if you became one too. If you’re enjoying our work here and would like to see it continue (and would like to get access to all kinds of special benefits!),

please take a moment to watch the video on my Patreon page and consider becoming a Patron.

So! Tsunami’s got a plan to keep Mitch and others from harm, but Commander doesn’t seem too pleased with that idea. Will Tsunami be able to convince her? Should he?

Tune in this Wednesday to find out! Hope to see you there! 😀

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462 Comments

Oh dear! Not knowing Mitch? I dont think this will please Tsunami

congrats strawberry… 🙂

Thank you Mr. Dangerfield.
And I do hope you are having a good eveing dear

Strawberry on the hunt, don’t be fooled by the fruit 😉

Hiding under the blankets were you, hmm? Unable to move, hmmm?

I tried to distract her with the cats!

She’s allergic. Unless they’re stuffed, that wouldn’t work. 😐

*Glances apologetically at the pile of snoring blankets with the catnip ball under it and the herd of felines frolicking all over it*. Wait. Why is the blanket pile is still snoring if Sapfo is out here commenting and stealing V-cards?
*Lifts corner of blanket and reveals a tape recorder playing snoring sounds*

Dang it!! She’s a sneaky one.

I am guessing you never fall for that one again? o.O

Most likely not! 😛

I think you will 😉

We shall see!!

It WOULD work, but not the way the distraction was intended .. so let’s not try o.o’

LoL. I had that thought when I first read this, but thought I would just pretend that mind DOESN’T automatically go to dark and cruel places 😛

It was a good try Tyler. Maybe next time you will get me. Muahahaha!

Finally!!

Uh oh…

Commander puttin’ her foot down! 😀

She said NO!
I like Amanda. She’s a boss after my own heart.

And it’s italicized!!

But no red bubble

No red bubble, but still intense and definitely an order. I don’t think Amanda needs to yell.

Yeah… I think redbubble means mad. She’s not mad. She’s in charge!! (love her)

I have such a girl crush on her at the moment. 🙂

*Starts singing Girl Crush*

Wait? There’s a song?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYZMT8otKdI

Not sure if Country is your thing or not, it usually isn’t mine, but this one is catchy in it’s own cool way

Nice job, Amanda!

Hahaha, I love how Paul just thinks Mitch is awesome. 😀

It’s times like this when I’m just like, “Yeah, he’s a seventeen-year-old boy all right.”

PAUL… in all the best fearless-friend ways. Your buddy who will back you even though you are a wank-badger who made a human mistake and are hurting… just cause you’re his BF and he loves you… YEAH… that 17 year old friend. Love him.

He was a lunkhead who told Kyle that dating a guy called the Annihilator was NOT a great idea, but you just know that if Kyle was kicked out of TYP for making a mistake, Paul would have gone with him.

THAT friend. Thank god for them. At our lowest moments, we all need them… more than air.

I love Paul so much.

I was going to say, Go Paul!

Because Mitch is just that awesome!

P much

One of the guys sotting on one side scolding the other guy sitting opposite telling him he “kicks ass” . .. .. .. That’s a hoot.

🙂

It seems no on is having trouble with Mitch’s activities but Tsunami.

Gordon is, as usual, overprotective (and more than a little overbearing about it).

Overbearing I would agree with. I would also add controlling. I’m not so sure about the protective part.

Well, at least in his own mind, he’s being protective. I think Gordon has very strict, clearly delineated Lines That Should Not Be Crossed, and Mitch (as the “baby” of the group) going out alone at night, in secret, crosses one of those “No No Bad Idea” lines. Baby Mitchy-poo has to be protected and watched over (perhaps literally – I get the feeling that if he ever had kids, Gordon might be one of those “helicopter” parents).

That I can agree with. 🙂

oh, and if he ever decides to be a parent, Mitch literally *can* hover over them. xD Hopefully he doesn’t do it the Gordon-way though.

LOL! Indeed.

HA! (looks up) “Daaaaaaaad!”

Beautiful mental imagery. I need fan art of Mitch hovering around a playground swooping in a “saving” all the children from every possible boo boo before they happen

Helicopter parents. I like that frase. Not sure we have an equal call name here yet. Here in Denmark we do use the frase Curling parents, but that’s not the same.
I think we may still just use ‘overprotective’ for the helicopter’s here 🙂

The things that’s so appropriate with your connection to “helicopter parents” is that they do no favors for their children. I don’t think Amanda was taught to rely on mommy… I suspect that Mitch won’t accept it either.

Although, given how well adjusted Amanda is, I would imagine that she was still very supported by her mom, though. Never relied upon, but never doubted was there

Supported, yes, definitely. But not overprotected or coddled.

Yes… but THAT is the definition of good parenting. Learning to act properly on your own and yet knowing, in your heart, that they are there for you as a person — specifics aside.

My dad is passed years ago and my mom is elderly. They are/were both the best people I know. I dread the day my mom passes for that reason… the back-stop that I’ve always known is there… won’t be.

I’ve worked my entire life never to “need” them to financially support me, but I’ve always valued knowing they were there to emotionally “support” me. It’s a subtle difference.

(excuse me… now I’ve made myself cry)

Awwwwe. I’m sorry. *hands you cookies*

And yeah, that was my point. Amanda seems well adjusted enough to have bee given the room to stretch and grow into herself, without ever having doubted that there was a net to catch her if she fell down.

Thanks *takes cookie*. I have kleenex now and am better. Yes, exactly that on Amanda. She is the awesome.

*hugs you*

I think Tsu would be more of a “black helicopters” parent. And I’m not referring to ethnicity or skin color.

I don’t think I get the reference?

Is that a reference to Black Ops?

Conspiracy theory, Black Ops, Big Brother is Watching, etc. Tsu strikes me as someone who would hire a SWAT team to escort his kid on their first date… and every date thereafter – if there were any after that.

Gordon is, as usual, a great example of how to NOT successfully heard cats.

Oh, well said.

IS there a successful way to herd cats? xD I think the Mythbusters proved there isn’t. /off-topic

Sure you can, throw the catnip ball in the general direction that you want the herd to move in. It’s chaotic, inefficient, and will take you a literal forever to make any significant progress, but it CAN be done 😛

Actually, one of my cats hates catnip. She would probably just ignore a catnip ball. And the other one, once he got hold of it for a bit, would just start running all over the place.
‘Course, this is all anecdotal evidence. I am more than willing to conduct actual testing if someone can convince my husband to let me have a herd of cats… >:3

For the felines who are not susceptible to catnip, honeysuckle has very similar effect

Schrodinger is very anti-plant, but I might try.

“Anti plant” lmao. I like that. Owned a few of those in my day as well

She really is; she’s like “ewwww plants”. Like a kid who doesn’t want to eat their veggies. Meanwhile Murphy is happily chomping on every green thing he can get to. >_> Though, to be fair, Murph thinks almost everything is food. My grandma once caught him licking the dressing off her salad.

Try valerian. Not all cats react to catnip, but most of those who don’t will react to valerian instead.

I suspect that cats were the model for teenagers… I mean it seems obvious.

Cats are one of the few species on this planet that voluntarily domesticated themselves. THEY chose to associate with US, and will remind you of that hierarchy at every opportunity. I love my arrogant doofuses

The makers of the Catwoman film expected to have to use CGI for the scenes where they needed cat, sometimes many cats, to do very specific things. They found that this was not necessary. Every cat scene is made with real cats, trained to do as the script demanded.

Easy, put the cat food tin in the can opener.

I think they, as well as pretty much all the readers, sympathise with the desire to help as many people as possible. It’s still the wrong choice until he’s fully trained but sympathetic.

I don’t think vigilantism is the WRONG choice, out and out, but it has to be very careful. If Mitch does not engage bad guys, and restrains himself to simply swooping victims to safety, that is probably about the safest way to do this as possible. The problem will come when he sees that one crime in progress that affects him emotionally and he gets Involved.

I anticipate that Amanda is less than thrilled with Mitch’s activities, but probably already knew or at least suspected. However, like the others can empathize and realizes that short of branding him a villain or stripping his powers somehow, Mitch will have to figure out how to process his Hero’s Guilt Complex in his own way.

WHICH! Leads me to my continuing rant on Gordon, he lacks empathy. He seems to be hell bent on The Rules, and the The Rules are the be all end all of morality for him, without any consideration for how The Rules actually affect people and whether or not they help or hurt. I think protectiveness IS in there somewhere, but until he learns how to see things from the other side in an confrontation, he is always going to find himself on the wrong side of debates and looking like a jackass

I like what you have to say and want to subscribe to your newsletter!!

I’m beginning to feel a little bad for Gordon, because there has to be tension and he seems to be the driving force behind character tension within the team. Everyone else is very understanding, so you have to have SOMEONE who’s not.

This is true. In a real life situation, people would take turns wearing putting their foot in their mouth. In a fictional story though, fans get really attached to characters and then it becomes a bit dramatic in the comments when that character screws up. Not saying that Alex deliberately avoids butthurt in the fandom, it’s just the nature of writing fiction.

What rules? He never mentions any rules.

The Rules. You know, the one’s Mitch broke by helping people, that’s why it was vigilantism. The “rules” Kyle broke by being gay. The (probably) dozens of rues he broke by getting involved with a super-villain. The “rules” Kyle broke by being a Prince of Hell. Gordon’s base reaction to everything seems to be “Is this allowed”

It’s not Mitch’s “motivations.” It may be his execution. If his support team of elders could calm down and work things out. They’d find a solution that doesn’t ruin their relationship with him and helps him do the right thing.

Gordon clearly is unable. We can only hope Amanda can.

Well the rest of the team seems to understand and that’s the first step to reconciling these things. Mitch just needs to be pointed in the proper direction.

Nice page filled with tension and dynamics. Alex and Julie, once again you make sitting on couches and playing Truth or Dare seem as harrowing as any superhero battle. Well done.

I need a bit of time to soak this up, but I think the energy comes from the fact that each and every one of us has had a moment as important and intense as this one. A moment when what we needed most was to be understood and respected by the people we admired.

It’s the taut moment between telling someone you truly care about that you are gay…………… and their reply.

That moment can seem like a hundred years sometimes. I really feel for everyone around this table. Whatever they feel. Whomever’s side they’re on. This is the potential for heartbreak. The fact that Amanda speaks up makes me breath out in relief… hoping and praying that she take the reigns and puts this curse of a “game” back on track before someone is irreparably hurt.

Lovely page. Thank you both!!

And don’t forget all the Tsunami yelling a brick walls temper tantrumness!

Thank you, Chris. I like the way you’re thinking about this. 🙂

Chill mate just chill out. For a guy who has water powers your a hot head

I commented on a different page that I’m beginning to think Gordon and Kyle’s powers got switched at birth

On the other hand, water can easily be a relentless force that’s just constantly crashing down on you, which does fit.

He’s almost literally steaming a lot. His temper in constantly boiling. He overheats easily. It seems to come in waves. He can be cold as ice or if the dam around his emotions break, he will come at you like a flood.
When his ‘ground’ is shook is when he really fits his name and come at ya like a Tsunami wave.

… I’ll just stop here now ;D

That rant was almost Homestuck worthy.

Old Faithful?

Well that’s an intensive page 0.0

I think I’ll comment just on the funny situation that Tsunami wants to punish flyboy for breaking the rules, or at least to record flyboy’s breaking the rules. BUT recording this information would break the rules set out at the beginning, that the conessions were undertaken with the understanding that none of them would be remembered in the morning.

I’m pro-Tsunami, but it’s never a good sign when you only want the rules to apply to other people, not yourself.

I think that’s a big flaw of Gordon’s. He was very upset at Kyle for breaking the group’s trust, but has also not shown Kyle much trust himself. First, not trusting Kyle as an adult to make decisions about his own welfare and second not trusting Kyle once he learned of Kyle’s parentage. He’s also unwilling to admit fault in making Kyle feel unable to come out to the group by his obvious homophobia.

I see a lot of people comment about Tsunami’s homophobia which make me think I need to reread the comic, because I didn’t notice any :/

It was very subtle and very casual.

I think it’s just a possible interpretation -among others- until it’s shown more clearly.

You’re forgetting the slash-porn interlude. Tsu’s reaction was way off the board.

I’m not forgetting it. It’s true he went overboard, but so has been any other time he had a meaningful appearance in the comic, so that’s not saying much.

His reaction that time was revulsion and disgust, which goes toward the presumption of homophobia.

That’s one way to look at it. I think there are other possible interpretations, like Flyboy seeing porn of himself and his teammates, or seeing porn, period.

I think we won’t agree so let’s just stop at this.

No, Tsu has said things that are very specifically homophobic and not just over dramatic, like his reference to Kyle “Sharing his sex life with the underage team members” Thing is that Spooky is sexually active, and was as a minor, and this is all very public knowledge. Perhaps that bothers Gordon, but he isn’t calling him out for it. That is a very clear case of a dual standard where Kyle was being treated as if he were actively involving others in his sex life simply by them knowing that he is gay and no longer a virgin, a standard which non of the other team members are being held to.

That sounds like Gordon has more issues with all kinds of sex being discussed and treated like a normal thing than homophobia specifically. Again, I think we won’t agree on this, so I won’t continue talking about it. Let’s just agree to disagree.

No. Kyle is still the only one getting called out. I said that Gordon MAY be equally uncomfortable with Spooky’s sexual activity, but he has not said anything, meaning that there is currently a double standard in place with gayness as the determining factor of “ick.” That is, by definition, homophobia. Making Gordon homophobic. But as I said above, I think Gordon’s homophobia is really not that significant an issue because it appears the to be the kind that is relatively easily overcome. So, in light of the fact that I just don’t think this a big enough or interesting enough character trait to warrant the continued discussion; Yeah, let’s just agree to disagree and move on.

Hey guys, you’ve done a great job of being civil and respectful of each other. I see that you’ve each already bowed out, so I just wanted to step in before anyone else comes in and say I definitely think this should be the last that’s said on this here. Thanks! 🙂

We do not know what Tsunami has said about Spooky off panel. However, we do know of something else he has said off panel. Paul says that you (that is Tsunami) has made it no secret you don’t like gays.

What Terri said. It wasn’t the blatant hate crime type stuff you would be afraid of hearing from a homophobe, but rather the kind of passive discrimination that you hear from conservative religious politicians regarding the LGBT community. However, it was set up in such a way that it really framed Gordon’s reactions to Kyle being gay and a prince of hell on the plane. Not to mention the fact that Fluke’s comments there made me feel like there was a lot more material “Off Panel” that the team has seen than just what was in the slash fic arc.

Well then it’d probably go right over my head again, total airhead here 😛

Pointing out something here. It is in the Interlude Gordon refers to the gay porn they found as “messed up and twisted” and told Mitch it would “ruin his life” if he looked at it.

Still re-reading it but spooky makes references to Amanda fantasizing about the guys together in the shower, depending on the timelines SPOOKY MIGHT REMEMBER THE THINGS REVEALED IN THE COMIC. that is all for now :3

Or in the time between this and the Interlude they actually talked about their relationship like adults just like Amanda mentioned just a couple of pages ago

Nah that’s far too reasonable. Why talk when there could be convoluted magical eavesdropping involved?

or convenient plot devices 😛

Well.. I’m not saying you’re wrong about him being a ‘silent’ homophobe (because he could or could be, I’m not fully decided yet) – but, me being straight, (and loving m/m stuff) and all, there’s still some pretty twisted and messed up fanart/fiction/porn/whatever I wish I had never seen. I’d rather have lived in ‘innocent’ bliss than ever watching/reading that again *shudders as some memory images flashes before my eyes*
Seeing myself drawn/written some of these things might scar my brain for life xD

lmao. There IS that. Fanfiction can get very…. “strange.”

Yeah, let’s go with that word. “Strange”

Worst thing, and I mean WORST, for me is that I’ve actually managed to come by a ‘porn clip’ video that beats every porny fiction/drawn art I’ve ever, EVER, read or seen.
I may have read some twisted things, before I gave up on it if too twisted, but nothing can beat real life images imo.
(Lord, I wish I’d never seen it. I was traumatized for weeks after… and I’ll go with that and not specify more)

I’m trying to figure out if I had come across anything that disturbing. And the only things I could think of were crack fics where the point is to be disturbing as part of the humour. But I am very good at leaving a fic immediately if it leaves me feeling uncomfortable.

anyway, I see what you mean he is strongly averse to teh gay. When I first read it I assumed it was because of it being porn at all and maybe because the thought of sleeping with his teammates squicks him out due to their existing relationships. But calling it twisted is a bit far, and I doubt the average slashpic would ruin anyones life, then again… some of that stuff ahaha.

nd to be entirely fair, I do not think that Gordon’s homophobia is his greatest flaw. Heck, I don’t even think that it’s that big a flaw period, because it doesn’t seem to be the virulent, actively hateful variety. But the passive “Us vs OTHER” kind where he simply views homosexuality as an unwanted variant of “normal”. That’s the kind of homophobia that is workable, it can become self aware and worked past. Hence, I have no problem whatsoever labeling Gordon as homophobic, and then seeing him earlier and being like “Oh, look, Gordon is waving his Str8Bro” flag again. Silly Homophobe. Moving on to the anger management issues.” because the setting of the story currently allows for a very natural coming to grips with reality over time.

There was also the plane ride where Kyle telling the story of how Duncan opened up a hell portal is “sharing his sex life with a member of our team who is fifteen” and then turns around and says that Kyle has been lying to them for not telling them he was gay.

Yeah, that was a lovely “catch 22.”
If he had told them he wold have been inappropriately involving a minor in his sex life, but not telling them is equivalent to lying

He called the homosexual fanfics online “disgusting” and “gross.”

To be fair those fics involve him having sex with his underage wards. Real person fic is kinda creepy to begin with, add in when it’s about you and doing something that’s just disturbing in general and also counters your sexuality and his reaction there is understandable.

His homophobia isn’t so much on the side of hate as it is on the side of it ew and squicky. The kind who hesitates to tell younger people and children about it because he thinks any explanation would inherently be graphic. Basicly people like this get hung up on the sex part and have trouble getting past it.

I don’t see it that way at all. Tsunami does not want Flyboy punished. At least he gives no indication that he does. He wants him to stop what he is doing. Not because he is breaking the rules. Because what he does is dangerous, and Tsunami is duty bound to protect him. Judging from his attitude in the interlude, he also really cares about him.

And no amount of persuasion, or for that matter punishment, will make him stop if it is forgotten the next day.

That’s true, Tsunami has made no mention of punishing Flyboy, and if punishment was his aim he’d want to enact it now regardless of it carrying over into tomorrow.

I wonder if our dear Commander already knew about the problem? She is a telepath and given the way teenage minds work he’s likely thought about it enough in her presence to have it slip through. Probably waiting for him to either stop or confess on his own, and doing it this way is a massive violation of trust, given the parameters they set up at the start of this.

I agree. This is NOT a healthy way for the issue to be dealt with, as I said below, Mitch is going to have to deal with his Hero’s Guilt, and he’s going to have to process that on his own, or it will never stick. As long as he views it as simply The Rules forbid me to help people, he will never really respect the rule, just live in fear of the consequences. Once he finds a way to personally identify with the need for proper training and acknowledge that he is NOT properly equipped, then he can let it go.

Let’s just hope it doesn’t involve him or someone else to get badly hurt in that process 🙂

Agreed.

Based on what’s said here… the problems are minor and may not have been able to be helped considering risk/reward evals. It seems he was smart about saving/helping what he could and avoiding harm.

Again, Mitch seems very mature in a hard situation. Sure it may be technically wrong but theoretically very right. I’d work to find a solution that helped him meet his admirable need to help people in a safer way.

What is not to support?????

He may get hurt. He may get somebody else hurt, victim, crook or bystander. When he is caught, and he will be if he keeps it up, the government may well shut the entire team down.

Sure there a infinite possibilities. A person might be in a hurry to get to the hospital and start their virtuous nursing shift in the Emergency Room and, with the best of intentions (see Mitch’s speech on the previous page), take insufficient caution while walking out their front door, trip over a unnoticed skate board left on the front walk, fall and hit an elderly woman passing by, causing her to fall and snap her neck on a nearby brick wall. Tsk Tsk Tsk… one could judge such a person as at fault for hurrying excessively (despite it being in a good cause) and not taking appropriate cautions. Bad bad person. Let’s fire them. In fact lets close down the hospital. Yes, anything might happen in any circumstance.

The question for me is… should another person (see Gordon) judge, rant, berate, browbeat and chastise said bad person — publicly — from a bully-pulpit of supposed greater age, wisdom, arrogance and superior position in some work-place?

IMHO, I’m suggesting NOT… since none of that helps make ANYTHING BETTER.

We can suppose a million cause >and> effect possibilities. However, the truth is we don’t know WHAT the government would or would not do. It’s just as possible that Amanda will be forced to let Gordon go, because he has anger management issues and that’s just as (if not more) dangerous in a super-powered workplace. That’s a much more reasonable “possibility” to me.

However, anyone can “suppose” any possibility they wish.

Personally, I’m not interested in judging Mitch’s actions. I’ve already said they are the misguided, poor choices of a 15 year old. That can be fixed.

I trust Amanda to do the right thing regarding Mitch, because kicking him out of the group would leave him vulnerable, betrayed, mad and ultimately far more dangerous than keeping him under her thumb and appropriately helping him learn how to manage his need to help people in a safe way.

PERSONAL STORY: I drove drunk once (at 16)… and killed a fence. My father picked me up and then proceeded VERY GENTLY to explain in great and horrifying detail the number of hideous possibilities that might have happened. The children I might have killed. The jail time I might have been subject to. What that might have done to my mother. What example that might have been to my younger brother… etc… The point was he never raised his voice. He didn’t belittle me. He didn’t have to. He didn’t have to “judge” me. Once I was forced to see it through his eyes, I judged myself quiet harshly and I cried for most of the rest of the day…

Of course I also wasn’t allowed in the front seat of a car for quite a few months. Oh, and I learned how to repair a fence. That was the end of my career drinking and driving. I was very lucky. My father made it clear that I had an open-ended taxi fund should I ever find myself somewhere with too many beers in me. I learned and, to this day, I have cash folded in the inner pocket of my wallet that is only for taxi’s. I haven’t needed it in many years, but it makes me think of my late father. So I like it.

Mitch will also learn… with the right kind of support. I just don’t believe that support is Gordon at this time.

Gordon is an interesting character. Look at all the emotion he stirs up in us readers, but since we’re discussing them both as humans. Then, I’m stuck on the fact that this is Gordon’s third time with behavior more than bordering the unacceptable in his work place. I think I’ve said most of what I think about these occurrences in other places… so I’ll leave it at that.

Presently, I wouldn’t want him guarding my “gay” back out there. Here’s one post where I mention my Gordon-concerns (however there are several)…

http://webcomics.yaoi911.com/typ/ete-tod-page-14/#comment-2061080511

I look forward to more information about what might be causing Gordon’s behavior, because if it is simply Intrinsic to “who he is as a person” then, if I’m Kyle and/or Mitch, I’d seriously be rethinking being part of a team that has an angry, judgmental, borderline-homophobe as its #2. That’s not something I’d passively support.

And with that, I’ll respectfully step out of the Gordon debate… Thanks for listening.

My point was that he is right that Mitch ought to stop moonlighting. I fully agree that what he is doing to make that happen is not helping.

Whether she knows or not is a really good question. It’s not hard to imagine that she’s doing exactly what you suggest.

Go Amanda! I don’t think she supports what Mitch has done much more than Gordon, but she will still make it equal for everyone. They’re agreed to share secrets, but also to forget the secrets that’s been told.
Equal and fair.

man…over protective much Tsunami? >:S lol…not that we didn’t already know he was….but seriously, poor Mitch, give the guy a break…

Everyone seems pretty dismayed by Tsunami’s demand. Even chill Spooky. Paul’s jaw is a smidge away from being dropped. Poor Mitch, he might have chosen a different secret had he known this would be the reaction.

Hmm, at least this secret will *definitely* fulfil the curse!

That’s true. But geesh, poor guy.

Ok, it’s been a few minutes… Are you hummin “I’ve got a giirllll crush” over and over in your head yet? 😛 lol

‘Fraid not. 😛 At the moment I’m listening to Sarah McLachlan’s Angel. With some Josh Groban next in line.

All my hugs are for Mitch.

Maybe not if they write it down to remember.

That’s interesting…

I find the contrast interesting…. Tsunami is legally an adult, but in other ways, he’s really quite immature, especially when hit by the unexpected. Amanda, on the other hand, is a grown-up in all senses of the word.

If it were up to me, SPOOKY would be co-leader, not Gordon. Because he demonstrates the empathy that Tsunami clearly lacks.

There’s something to be said for a second-in-command like Tsunami, not the least because he does look at things differently than Commander does. She and Spooky are perhaps a little too close; it’s too easy for them to become a sort of echo chamber, or to be perceived that way.

And Gordon’s seeming “These Are The Rules” attitude is actually pretty good for an XO, honestly. Being of a different opinion, when it’s Discussion time, he will bring something new to the table, and being of a “The Rules Must Be Followed” mindset, when Commander gives Orders, he will follow and enforce them. I wouldn’t want him to be In Charge, and there is that downside that, if Commander isn’t around, he’s the authority, but he does work well as her second in most other ways.

This being an Alex Woolfson production, I’m hopeful of some character growth for Gordo over time. 🙂 God knows he needs it something fierce.

I dunno about 2nd though. Like I said below, LOW level management, the ability to execute decisions and to bring concerns to the table, but with a very clearly defined LACK of independent decision making authority.

I think he already *is* the 2nd though? I could be wrong; my memory is fabulously spotty. And honestly, in a group this size, you don’t need much more management than that.

He is.

I’m with that. I want to know what’s motivating what seems like Gordon’s excessive “mad.” And you’re right about #2’s in command. I’ve seen corps defintely hire hard-ass types (as #2s) when layoffs were in the offing, and then wait until they did all the dirty work and fire their unpopular asses too. Thus hoping remain the good-cops after they cut many decent employees off at the knees via said intermediary.

There’s good and bad to it. That said, Gordon goes way beyond what anyone would define as appropriate leader behavior. If this had been going on a long time, it wouldn’t be surprising if others hadn’t left the team.

Of course, that’s me bringing a real world employer/employee eye to the dynamic. If we assume that super heroes live in an entirely different situation… then what do I know?

But they are a team of rejects. To leave the team would mean leaving the last chance they have of being a superhero.

And Gordon makes THAT seem a better option…

What has he done that goes way beyond?

I’m not sure I agree, because one of the goals of an XO (unless your name is William Riker 😉 ) is to eventually gain enough experience to lead on your own. And I really don’t see Gordon learning… his reactions here are the same as his reactions to learning about Kyle’s parentage, or even when they found that slash art in the interlude.

His first reaction seems to always be to assume the worst, and reply with ultimatums. A leader is more than someone that gives orders.. it’s someone who can inspire those underneath her to FOLLOW them.

Tsunami’s lack of empathy and “my way or else” attitude makes the latter seem unlikely.

It always seemed to work for Cyclops. But then Scott Summers IS a self acknowledging world class dick.

Ah, Riker <3 *ahem*

It may be his goal to lead in his own right, but that doesn't mean he's going to attain it any time soon (or possibly ever). Ideally, people rise to a point in the hierarchy where they are suited and stay there; usually, people get promoted one step above that, where they're just barely competent enough to escape either praise or condemnation… I kind of wonder if that's where Gordon is now, actually. xD

Usually the way it works is for the XO to be more personable. By doing so, they can soften the blow of a harsh criticism or a difficult mission. They can be a buffer between the CO and the minions.

Officially, they are meant to be a buffer for the CO a – an additional step in the chain of command where smaller concerns are taken care of without bothering the CO, whose job is to handle the larger issues (including politics, which XOs are supposed to be removed from).

This also allows them to give a minion who has broken the rules a second chance, before it is brought to the attention to the CO. The CO will know about it anyway (if the XO wants to keep his/her job), but as long as the CO isn’t *officially* informed, everyone can pretend otherwise. Nine times out of ten (or better), the minion shapes up and there’s no repeat.

And their other official duty is to bring a different perspective to the table. They are supposed to point out to the CO that he/she is full of it. They are supposed to point out consequences or complications that the CO hasn’t considered. They are supposed to be the CO’s confidante: understanding the information that the rest aren’t supposed to know, understanding the reasons behind orders and disciplinary actions, and knowing the CO’s fears and doubts.

The group is small enough to not need an XO, provided that the CO (Amanda) can trust everyone enough to let them have access to the secrets she has to deal with. Amanda isn’t unapproachable, although she is decisive and determined.

But *with* that kind of XO, the Interlude could have been handled much better. A good XO could have deflected Mitch without putting him down. And a good XO would have been able to recognize that there were issues that weren’t being addressed, by the reactions of each of the team members.

No offense, but Tsu would be my last choice for XO. As in “last person on Earth, except for Platinum Priestess and Annihilator”. Every other person on the team would be a better XO.

From an educator’s perspective, the best teams of admins I’ve had resemble Gordon and Amanda in some ways: one a little stricter, the other a little more approachable and empathetic. When you have TWO admins that are very similar it tends to create managerial problems because then they’re either too strict or too loosey-goosey with the rules.

Very interesting points here, Jen. Nice. 🙂

I think Tsunami’s plenty empathetic. he’s just overly protective more-so, which I again think stems from said empathy. we don’t see him much in the comic, for all we know he could be worrying himself into an ulcer over his charges, which causes him to aggressively flip his shit due to something in his own past. keep in mind we’ve only seen maybe 3 people’s back stories so far: Spooky, Amanda, Kyle(-ish). for all we know Gordon might have had someone in his past that he failed to protect that he’s over compensating for now.

Okay, that could have been a lot worse.

Commander seems to be more cognizant of the possible consequences than Tsu. If the secrets are supposed to be forgotten when the curse expires, what does keeping the secret public do to the curse? I can see several ways that could work out, and some of them could go very wrong.

Not to mention is gross violation of trust that it represents even if it doesn’t directly affect the curse.

IIRC the people who have been cursed forgot what secrets they spilled, but the people who cast the curse don’t forget anything. Remember that it’s a curse used by Inquisitors, so the casters would obviously want to remember the information they acquired through the use of the curse. The current situation is unusual in that the ritual is being conducted entirely by people who have been afflicted.

And we don’t know how that “unusual” circumstance will affect the curse. It’s already iffy by virtue of all of them being the target of what should be a single-person spell.

Commander ought to have stopped Tsunamis interrogation of Mitch 2 pages ago.

They already established that extra questions threaten the persons life.
Just by making Mitch feel hes holding back some part might kill him.
Thats really sloppy.

I’m not sure why she intervened on the note in particular.
The only reasons I can come up with are :
(1) She has telepathy and already knew this and was monitoring Mitch anyways.

(2) This threatens Fluke’s life.
He hasnt gone yet. If He cant trust them not to write it down, he might not give up a confession that will save his life.

Option 2 is another interesting and very plausible reason to not writing it down. Could be another thing on top of being fair to all of them – or the better reason.

Sorry, it may be that I haven’t slept much, but I don’t understand it. Why would writing it down put Fluke’s life in danger?

FlukE hasnt gone yet.

The terms of the curse are rather strict. It has to be something that sayer doesnt want to say.

By writing this down for Mitch, Gordon just changed the terms of the game for Fluke.

Everyone else had the freedom to speak knowing it would be forgotten. Then Fluke will know what secret he gives up could be permanently written down. That means he has to be OK with it written down, which in itself violates the terms of the curse.

It was already a narrow window. If it isn’t sufficiently personally embarrassing the curse wont be lifted

Well said.

Thanks!

@Lilac Mouse:disqus just restated it above too

Very well stated

Tsu hasn’t gone yet either. And it may be that he is subconsciously sabotaging this because he has things he desperately doesn’t want to tell.

After all, if someone dies, it’s not his fault, it’s the wizard’s. And if Tsu dies, well, then he doesn’t have to tell any secrets.

I’m not saying he’s deliberately sabotaging the proceedings, but sometimes our minds do very strange things to preserve our coping mechanisms. And in this case, the coping mechanism is to not tell anyone.

*Points* What Adam said. I was replying when I saw he already had 🙂

Seriously y’all. This is why I keep rooting for some Amanda art to win a vote (despite the smexy guys options) whenever there is one… like on Patreon.

We need more art with her, be it some pin-up, something romantic, sweet or some BAMF art. I want more of her than ‘just’ what is coming because of the trading card art. This may be a gay themed comic, but a little girlpower on a poster or two would’t hurt 😉
Next time, vote Amanda! *shakes popm-poms*

I fully support Amanda art!

I would love some awesome Commander art, I just keep missing the polls

I can understand why Tsunami wants this to be something they’ll remember so they can deal with it. But, I think Amanda’s right to not want it to be written down. She’s tried to make sure that in addition to the fact that they won’t remember all of this by tomorrow, that this will still be a safe space in the moment. It doesn’t feel like that anymore once the possibility of something you say when you take your turn being remembered the next day, and that could influence someone to not tell the truth (or perhaps just not the whole truth) about something and that could have a terrible consequence. Knowing that you could be berated for your truth is already something to side-eye without the added worry that everyone will remember tomorrow morning, after all.

I think its more galling that under the supposed guise of protecting Flyboy, Tsunami just repeatedly threatened Mitch’s life, over and over.

Every single “Are you sure” ?” was asked with an equivalent of knife to Mitchs throat.

Tsunamis actions here are significantly more careless and in violation of the rules than Flyboys rescues were.

And to suggest writing it down. What a violation of trust, even aside from likely getting someone killed. For shame.

I never thought I would say this, but here it goes: I want more Tsunami.

I mean I want to know what drives him, what are his motivations, where he is coming from. We’ve had three big moments when his reactions have been less than stellar, and I feel this has to go somewhere. He may have a story or a background that explains this amazing lack of empathy, and maybe even redeems him in the eyes of us readers. Or he might become, not a villain per se, but such a negative force that he is seen as such by the rest of the team, or maybe even by us readers.

Somebody tell me if I’ve gone too meta…

I agree, I want a compelling backstory with insights into his world view. I don’t really want a Tragic Backstory ™ that redeems him, though. I want some explanation and understanding, and then if he really WANTS to be a good guy let him earn it from a position of us being able fully appreciate his growth as a person.

I agree that Tragic Backstory (TM) would feel a little blah. I just really want to know what he’s all about. In real life sometimes we know, and many times we imagine, why people act in certain ways. But the good part about this is that we can politely suggest it to the author 🙂

Taking notes yet, Alex?

I am a bit tired of seeing the Tragic Backstory trope too in many stories when it’s used as a single, shocking event (usually an accident or simmilar) that changes the character’s life completely for the worse. There are many other ways a character’s life can change or be influenced even if it doesn’t have anything to do with the character directly.

After all if the YP team is a team of “rejected people”, there should be a reason for Tsunami to be there :3

Now, Gordon, truth or dare?

I like this conversation between Mitch and Gordon because we see that Tsunami genuinely cares about his team mates. He doesn’t always show it in a constructive way like currently, but we are seeing how much he cares. Had Mitch honestly hurt anyway and given away a Super had saved OR hurt anyone, the YP team would have been instantly been put under a microscope by the authorities that are allowing them to be a team. He is not only sharing concern for Mitch, but for his team as well.

This is something we see among other leaders in other comics and shows as well. Superman has berated Superboy in the Young Justice show for being careless about his strength, Batman consistently berates his Robins and some of his Batgirls (all the Robins have gotten the lecture) about being careless while battling bad guys or swinging off buildings in the comics, the shows, etc. The Flash has yelled at Kid Flash. It’s a consistent theme, but it shows they care about their wards and don’t want them to get hurt In a way, Gordon and Amanda are Mitch’s wardens and they are responsible for keeping him safe. It’s odd that when this happens in other comics, we as readers don’t yell at those mentors for we knew that was going to happen, but in this comic a lot of us are mad at Gordon. Are you mad at him for crossing the line twice or are you angry that Gordon is so close in age to these boys and acting as a mentor?

Gordon is a very protective, very loyal and very traditional person. I think the first thing that pointed me to this was his Maori-style tattoos. The Maori are very centered around nature, but they are also very set in their ways with tradition. He’s very much the traditionalist in a team full of more feminist characters.

Maori? I thought it had been confirmed by WoG that he is Samoan.

I have no idea who WoG is, but I have never seen any positive confirmation of any heritage for Tsunami.

WoG means Word of God, meaning “explicit confirmation of a fact by the author of a work.”

Someone needs to find if this has been confirmed because I’ve never seen it. The tattoos are very reminiscent of the Maori, not the Samoan. The Maori are more fluid; the Samoan are more angular.

WoG – Word of God. I could have sworn that Alex has stated that Gordon is Samoan and Amanda is Native American along with Spooky being Chinese.

I haven’t seen any such comment, but if you can find it and link back, then I’ll take it. As I said, Tsunami’s tattoos are more reminiscent of the Maori than the Samoan, but either can work.

They also look Native Hawaiian.

I saw the comment way back when we were discussing Spooky’s ethnicity (around the first Interlude or before), I haven’t been able to find it (maybe someone with more experience with Disqus could do it) the “best” proof I could find was the YP’s TV Tropes page.

Both AJ and I are a litle unsure what’s been stated by Alex, and what’s been guessed, so we have messaged him.
He’ll probably reply when he’s around again 🙂

That might be in some of the Patreon stuff. Like the height chart? But I think I remember Amanda being Native American as well. I couldn’t remember Gordon’s specific heritage but I was pretty sure it was Pacific Islander of some variety.

I am pretty sure that Spooky’s heritage has not been revealed. And equally sure that Alex has stated, long before he was an Patreon, that Tsunami is Samoan, even though his tatoos are not traditional Samoan tatoos.

When they were rescuing the people from the burning building Spooky summoned a Chinese Dragon and talked about owning stereotypes.

Yes, Spooky is seen as Chinese. But he himself does actually know. He does not at the end of the bonus comic, and this is such an important part of his background that it would be a momentous event indeed if he were to remember or learn anything about it. I am certain that it would not happen without us being told.

I think I remember Alex mentioning in the comments that Tsunami’s tattoos are based on Samoan tattoos.

Tsunami is Maori-American. I think I might have mentioned in the comments once that I had considered making him Samoan-American because I have Samoan-American friends, and I wanted my friends to have some more representation. (And I might have even flirted with a “ret-con” in my mind, since I hadn’t established it.) But my direction for Adam from the beginning was to base Tsunami’s tattoos on Maori art.

Thank you so much for establishing this, Adam. Doing an homage to your Samoan-American friends would have been beautiful and I hope maybe you find another place for that! I love that you found a place for a Maori hero as I often see them portrayed as villains in movies or literature (which is a shame if you ask me, but as you know most indigenous peoples–even American ones–are made to be villains.) I love that you consistently turn stereotypes on their heads.

Thank you, Kate. 🙂

I am getting a genuine trip out of how successfully ALex has split his fandom right down the middle regarding Gordon at this point, lol. Half of use are still determined to see this as misguiding protectiveness, and the other half of us have written him off as a Big Brother run amok with anger management issues, hehehe. Can’t wait to see where Alex eventually leads this runaway railcart

He’s definitely got us split. I don’t think he has anger issues; he just has, “I don’t know how to express my feelings properly” issues. That issue otherwise known as Traditional Male Syndrome; traditional Western men are taught to not show any emotion EXCEPT anger; expressing one’s feelings is for sissies. This syndrome is taught in quite a few other cultures. I like to call it “emotional constipation.” My dad has times where he needs a laxative for this issue.

But, wouldn’t that be the very DEFINITION of anger management issues? 😉 😛 Tsu being raised in a culture where anger and aggression are the only acceptable masculine emotions, and as such he posses both in abundance. And has trouble processing them constructively? I mean, that’s one of the ways I define anger management issues. Ad to that a strong authoritarian streak that feels justified in punishing “wrong” and you got a hot mess.

That’s just how my brain processes it anyhow. I just happen to feel like he lets his protectiveness take a back seat to his need to enforce the rules, which (in my mind) is his true flaw. Prioritizing the rules over the real world situation.

Gordon is not enforcing some arbitraty rule. He is right. He is doing his best to protect Mitch. Unfortunately his best is not very good.

That’s the thing. I’m not seeing this as protecting Mitch. Mitch has broken rules by saving people from getting mugged and or raped and basically got accused of potential manslaughter. Gordon has barely even acknowledged the possibility of Mitch getting hurt, he blew straight past “You could have gotten hurt” straight into “Have you hurt anyone!” This isn’t about protecting, it’s about enforcing rules, regardless of whether or not the rules are right. Gordon plainly stated that he never feels compelled to do MORE than the rules require, because “The Rules.” That just seems to be his be all and end all.

I think, ultimately, this is a place where we will have to agree to disagree.

And right now his “best” could get Mitch killed if he doesn’t shut up. The only reason I am being so calm about this is that Mitch lives through this.

No. Anger management issues is when you literally cannot control your anger and you hurt others in the process, whether it is verbal, psychological, emotional and/or physical. I feel like Tsunami has a very good grip on his temper, but it’s when his team crosses the lines that his temper is lost. You’ll also notice he’s not abusive, but genuinely caring to his team. He wants his team to be safe, not hurt.

Hmm.. this is probably another agree to disagree issue, because from my way of thinking Gordon IS being abusive atm. But then, again, from my view he is acting out of a need to punish rule breaking; and you are seeing it as an expression of protectiveness. In other words, we each just have totally different interpretations of the character motives that are based on personal interpretations of the subtitles. Although, I can see where you are coming from on the definition of anger management, perhaps I should try to practice my college level reading comprehension skills and find a better way to state my take on it. 😉

As I said, I can’t wait to see where Alex is steering this runaway mine cart.

On one hand, Tsunami is being an asshole (like always), on the other hand, I feel like literally everything they’re saying should be on this note, otherwise I feel like none of these answers should be painful enough anyways. If I was in their shoes I don’t think there’d be anything I’d be unwilling to give up, because I’m not really telling them anything.

They are people who usually don’t deal with magic and pretty young, if everything was written to the note then there would be even more danger of someone lying and that would be catastrophic.
As it stands they are lucky Mitch is going second to last because I could see Kyle lying about his interactions with Spooky with this kind of reaction.

Yeah, but if literally no one is going to remember anything anyways, then I really don’t see how any answer they could give on anything could qualify as something they really don’t want to tell them, which would also be catastrophic.

But they would have to face their teammates’ reactions in the present, which to my mind could still be extremely uncomfortable. I can understand how that might not be a big deal for some people given that they know none of them will remember this, but for a lot of other people I think the experience would still be pretty stressful.

Isn’t this a game of life and death? Shouldn’t Tsunami be more aware of that? Tsunami is not impressing me with this outing.

Now I fully understand why Paul only grabbed Spooky and Mitch to help Kyle after his “date” with the Duncan, it wasn’t a fear of Amanda’s reaction, it was a fear of how badly Gordon would react.

Well, yeah. Gordan had already made it wildly clear how homophobic he was by this point, to be honest I’m pretty sure Kyle thought that would bother him more than the fact that he doomed the world.

It doesn’t matter the who, what, where, when or why. I am the getting the impression that if someone does something that goes south Gordon would stand around yelling rather than helping.

….I think that’s actually a new definition for homophobia in my book… Given, “I’m a dude who just slept with a man,” and “A man just used me to doom half the planet to Hell,” being immediately more upset about the former…. That requires a lot of… issues.

Casual homophobia that he displayed in the Interlude is still homophobia.

That is like saying that casual racism isn’t “real” racism. It is called casual because it is everyday and subtle. The homophobe isn’t going around saying “death to all [insert slur here]” is it the subtle accusations and looking down upon someone.

…I’m not saying it isn’t? I’m saying I hadn’t thought about this specific way of defining homophobia before…?

I kind of meant as more of, “That’s a whole new level/different kind of issues,” thing. If you prioritize, “I’m gay” over “Someone used me to possibly end the world,” you have serious problems. That doesn’t mean other forms of homophobia aren’t homophobia, just that this is one I hadn’t thought about before. I don’t run into a lot of people who have to worry about accidentally ending the entire world a lot, so forgive me if I thought I’d ponder it aloud a little.

Well in the plane ride Gordon kept on harping on about how Kyle had lied to them about “a lot of things” and once even after he had a go at Kyle for “sharing about his sex life with a minor”. The fact that it had been confirmed by Spooky that Kyle was no danger to world by being at the magic site Gordon kept on insisting that Kyle shouldn’t be at the ritual site because they couldn’t trust him.

And I still didn’t phrase it that way in my head until now. So sue me for being stupid. My bad.

Hey guys. Now would be a great time for you both to bow out, and refrain from taking this further.

Sorry.

Rough day… Didn’t notice I was being sharp…

True, it’s no less a problem, but (to my mind) it’s is less bothersome than the anger management problems and the authoritarian militarism mindsets, the casual homophobia is more easily corrected if the transgressor is willing/able to acknowledge that they are wrong. Because it’s more often an issue of realized that their specific derogatory belief is simply innacurate. Those anger management skills and urge to punish, though, those will get a subordinate or teammate killed on the field.

When did he say anything about punishment?

This is like when as a kid, that one person while promising not to tell a soul coaxes you to tell them a secret, maybe who your crush is, or what’s the dirtiest word you know, and then turns right around and tells. But worse since this is a life and death situation. He’s more concerned with punishing Mitch than anything else.

Seriously. I never liked the guy, and now I want to slap him more than ever. He may not be evil, but the fact that his preferred method of doing good is to control the rest of his team is worrying at best.

That, by my mind, is more evil than anything Duncan and PP are plotting.

Yeah, it sucks a lot but come on, more evil than killing billions of people? Priorities.
But I agree Tsunami can’t expect to do much good by breaking the trust of his teammates as a first option in any situation.

Yeah, it really is. Duncan and PP are at least doing something that (assuming there were no lies in the monologue) ultimately save the world in an incredibly selfish way. It’s still evil, and they are still wrong. But this, this is just flat out harmful to everyone in the equation with no benefits. Evil for evils sake, so to speak.

And yeah. My brain connects the dots in odd ways sometimes, but that is just straight up me. I can RESPECT what PP and Duncan are doing, even if they are wrong and must be stopped. Systematic repression and abuse of authority are unforgivable though.

That just brought a philosophical question to mind for me. Which is better?

To do the right thing for the wrong reasons, or to do the wrong thing for the right reasons?

PP and Duncan: Doing the right thing for the wrong reasons; saving the world is good, doing it so they get more power in the process? Not so much.

Tsunami: Doing the wrong thing for the right reasons. Enacting and demanding a curfew or punishment on Mitch, is not a conductive or helpful thing, but he’s doing/wants to do it to try and keep the kid safe, which -is- a good reason.

Maybe it would be better if someone went -with- him on the extra-cirricular stuff? Or if he got a GPS in a watch or something, so in case he gets in trouble then he can signal for help? Ethics and Morality is muddy water.

I think that is a question that does not have a one size fits all answer. Those kinds of ethical gymnastics almost always need case-by-case consideration.

Though right now Gordon seems more concerned about everyone else’s safety than Mitch’s. He hasn’t asked if Mitch ever got hurt, he has only asked about the safety of others.

For all we know My Precious Mitch is hiding bruises, minor cuts and abrasions under his outfit. Maybe there is a reason that his official hero outfit is a bit looser than his nighttime activities suit. Also he would be able to repair that suit without questions being asked.

In regards to Mitch: https://36.media.tumblr.com/2ec7dbdfdf0e07c290fd88d660b05167/tumblr_nminz3WdTs1unwxsro1_500.jpg

In regards to Tsu-Tsu: http://data2.whicdn.com/images/57894877/large.gif

“Punishing” is the wrong word. Tsunami is having a ‘parental over-reaction’ to finding out their teen is doing something very dangerous that he was told not to do. It feels more like he’s taking the “mom” role while Amanda is having more the “dad” reaction to the situation. It’s not about punishing Mitch at all, it’s all about protecting him. As others have commented, Tsumani is young and inexperienced with the secondary team leader role and feels the responsibility very deeply. This has caused him to over-react. He is not being “evil” about the situation.

Except he is not focusing on Mitch’s safety but others.

I think that was Kyle’s decision. http://webcomics.yaoi911.com/typ/ete-ch3pt1-page-6/

He only wanted Paul, Paul dragged Mitch and Spooky along with him. Or at least that is how I read that.

I see questions to why Gordon ended up as 2nd in command (or 2nd guardian) instead of Spooky, with that temper of his, and I’ve shared my theory about that before a while ago.

I don’t think Spooky wants to be 2nd in command, or anyones guardian, and I have some doubts if Spooky was even approved (by government) when the question came up… but still, there come a lot of responsibility with being a guardian. A personal responsibility I don’t think Spooky wants, based on his previous life and risks he’s taking.
Spooky is in the group, but he also going solo and has hero-work and other things going on the side. He hunts demons just to mention one thing, and we’ve been told he has his own tv-show and magic stuff while working with the police etc..

Actually. looking at things now, that might explain his – and the others – not so dramatic reaction by everyone except Gordon, despite Mitch going off on his own against the rules. Spooky kinda set a ‘bad example’ there – if you really go by the rules. He’s been allowed to run his own course from early on.
That might just be another issue Gordon has with him. The WHOLE world just luuves Spooky, right? He even got special treatment along the way.

Now with Gordon. In many ways he’s acting like that new and unexperienced parent who’s being juuust a tad too protective. Baby might fall and get a boo-boo, better secure the whole place. As I said on previous page, I don’t think Gordon is wrong with his opinion, but he’s doing/handling it all wrong. Wanting to write it down is especially wrong, but that’s not what I was going at here.

Gordon needs to remember that while he’s a guardian, his ‘fledgelings’ aren’t babies. They’re not that much younger than him, and growing up fast – maybe even faster than many teenagers, given the powers, early training and responsibilities they have to others when being on a team.

You’ve got a point. And I agree that Gordon probably DOES have a bit of a beef with Spooky. Spooky is a pretty free-wheeling type of guy. He does what he wants, and is clearly the type that will automatically step on the toes of someone like Gordon. But what makes it worse for Gordon is that he can’t chastise Spooky, because Spooky is not only stronger, he’s more experienced, more recognized, and really? More mature. He HAD to grow up fast; he was in frickin’ HELL for a year. And he survived. He knows more about both evil and adult struggles than Gordon, an actual adult who’s caring for younger kids.

And it’s plain that REALLY grates on his nerves. Spooky’s famous, popular, and well…. right. He survived Hell because he’s got great instincts and they became impeccable instincts with his fight to survive. Gordon….. while he means well, is a poor father figure. He’s barely older than the others, he doesn’t have the right feel for it, and he’s not really that good at constructive guiding….. He has this attitude that since he’s older, and the biggest, he’s unquestionably to be obeyed by the other boys….. but they don’t. Because they’re teenagers, super-powered themselves, and they’ve all had experience heroing elsewhere. They’re used to having SOME free reign….. and he’s trying to put them on a three-inch leash. Sure, he means well; he clearly cares about Mitch and you can feel that he’s terrified Mitch will be hurt, or worse, hurt someone else and destroy his future and himself inside. But he’s TERRIBLE at conveying what he really feels, and it causes a lot of friction with the others. It’s a really tense situation for them.

I fully agree. I think you said it better than me. This is how I currently see their situation.

Eh, well, I’ve been in Gordon’s shoes… I have two younger siblings. I’ve been babysitting them since I was 12, and they’re about 7 years younger than me…. so, I was a teen babysitting preteens and teens. Both parents worked full time, so I was babysitting A LOT. It made for a contentious relationship with them…. So yeah.. he’s making a mistake I made a couple times. He’s just… not learning from it.

He may or may not be jealous of Spooky. He really cares about the others. And he takes his responsibility as guardian very seriously. He is not very good at dealing with it.

well said!

Nice follow-up, Aitsuki. Also fun for me to read. 🙂

These are all really good points, Danish. Nice analysis. Very fun for me to read. 🙂

There’s another way to look at this.

What happens when they read the note? They will see an accusation that Mitch has been “breaking the rules.” There’s no context, no subtext. No empathy (no matter how well written, which I am not aware Kyle is able to do anyway). Nothing.

How will the team react to that? Yeah, we know Tsu’s reaction will be bad. Commander? Maybe a tad strict. The rest?

There’s going to be doubts. Each could suspect that some of the others might still remember the secrets that were told (how many people were writing stuff down, really?). And only Mitch knows, vaguely, which secret he told, the rest have no idea what they revealed about themselves.

Writing that down, in addition to the other things we’ve discussed, would break the team. They might not split up, but they wouldn’t be a team anymore.

Great observation… one can ‘break’ a team without formally dissolving it.

I thought I saw a post earlier about what unintended consequences there might be for the unusual circumstances surrounding the way this curse was cast. But now I can’t find it, so here we go, at the (current) top of the board”:

I’m thinking of the charm that Lily and James used to hide from Voldemort in HP, and that the Order of the Phoenix used to hide Grimauld Place as their headquarters from the Death Eaters. That one person is the Secret Keeper and no one can find the location of a place, unless they are taken or given directions by the Secret Keeper. In our case the curse was intended to be cast be a group of Inquisitors on a single subject who would then be tortured and questioned. The next day the Inquisitors would remember what was asked and what the answers were, and not much else, the poor victim would rmemeber nothing, and because people tend to lie under duress, as a safety measure, dishonesty results in the victim dieing so that the Inquisitors would know not to trust the information they gained.

Now, to my HP reference, when Draco killed Dumbledoor, he was the Secret Keeper for the Order’s headquarters, He inherited that responsibility after Sirius Black (The original Secret Keeper) died (and he was the designated back up), but the Order had not yet selected a new back up SK. The way the spell worked around this on its own was that each member of the Order became a Secret Keeper. Which kind of defeated the purpose, but that’s what happens when magic is forced to work in ways outside what it was designed to do.

Now, back to our team, The curse was originally intended to be cast by a group on a singular target, but this time it was cast by a single person on a group. The original Inquisitor is now dead, leaving only the group of questioned/ Does that make everyone on the team both Inquisitor and victim? And does that mean that EVERYONE will remember EVERYTHING tomorrow?

My usual conspiracy theory disclaimers apply. I’m not actually personally endorsing this theory, it was just a stray thought that sounded like it would be fun to discuss, However it DOES make a certain degree of logical sense to me.

You may want to edit your comment to state that it contains HP spoilers. Theres’ still people who hasn’t read, or seen, them (all) yet 🙂

Ooopsie! Wasn’t even thinking. Thank you for protecting me from the unintended rudeness.

I think you all get props… due to the time delay “spoilers” would never have occurred to me. I think it’s just another example of how damn nice this forum is… that folk would think of Harry Potter spoilers. Brava/o.

YES! THANK YOU!

The last book was released in 2007 and the last movie in 2011-12. It is now 2015, the time for spoilers has passed.

Do not agree. You should ALWAYS put up a spoiler tag for a major media production! It’s just courteous!

Never the less, a Moderator asked very nicely. Even if it weren’t courteous in general, it’s would be courteous to comply in this case. lol.

I know people who knows nothing of the HP books/movies and young people grow up every day, to reach the age of reading a book or watching a movie. Big spoilers are never over due date.

Should we stop talking about the major twist in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back? Because there are definitely people who wouldn’t have been old to watch it in the cinemas when it was first released and I have been told there are people who haven’t yet watched it.

You are welcome to do so, all you want to, but it would be a nice courtesy to warn about spoilers. I didn’t ask Tyler to not post spoilers. I asked for a fair warning so people, who might not want to read the comment because of it, have a chance to skip it.
I’m stopping our talk about this here. I asked, and Tyler agreed without any issues. That’s all that is needed.

I disagree, as Danish said below kids grow up every day and at some point are old enough to read them.
Not that those kids would read this webcomic right now due to their age but there are still people who for some reason denied to read or watch the books and movies but at some point reconsider but got spoiled beforehand and lose interest again, it would be sad in a way.

And what does it harm to just put a spoiler alert somewhere? ^^

Maybe because I am an Australian and have had to live with being “Spoiled” in movies and television since I have gotten onto the internet. To me “spoilers” are nothing, they have to be.

And now I’m ending this discussion by asking everyone to not reply more. We have different views of a need for spoiler warnings. It doesn’t need to be debated any further.

Fair enough, I am just used to the 5 year spoiler warning for books and the 1 year spoiler warning for movies.

Maybe if that is how things are like in Australia? But that’s not the common way of things ^^ Either way, thanks for editing your post 🙂

I’m having the title “The Occasional Unintentional Asshole” added to my name whenever I become world infamous. Worried it will take up too much room on the business card, though. Or the Evil Lair sign.

That’s a very interesting theory although my train of thoughts reading your post went more to the “if they write down one of the information said during the night and the person’s info who was written down read it, it would create a sort of “paradox” and then the victim would die.

So basically, I think they’re still all “victims” and not inquisitors but they don’t know enough about this spell to risk knowing what was said under the spell afterward.

You mean Snape, not Draco. 😉

Sorry to be the voice of disgruntled dissent, but the more I see of Tsunami, the less I like him. He’s hung up on blame, which is a toxic attitude in a team environment–more so when his is supposed to be the voice of maturity and restraint. He reminds me of a lot of mid-level officers I knew in the Navy. Lieutenants, Lt. Commanders, and Commanders (in Army terms: Captains, Majors, and Lt. Colonels) who were unlikely to ever make Captain (Army full Colonel), and even less likely to make Flag rank (Admirals/Generals) simply because the upper echelons recognize that, in the simplest of lay terms: they’re dicks, wrapped up in their own vicious, petty little Weltanschauung, unwilling to admit that anyone anywhere could ever do anything for reasons of humanism, altruism, or generosity. Guys like Tsunami think they know how the world works, and their version is base and psychically destructive. Again, in simplest terms: he’s a dick. For all his bloviation about safety and concern for the team: he’s a small, selfish, self-centered jerk (with a great body). The only way he’ll ever learn is by getting someone close to him killed, and that might not work the first time. I would sooner share a foxhole with a cobra than with someone like that.

You’re not dissenting with me. That’s basically my stance on Gordon, just stated prettier 😀

Wait, what’s Commander saying “No” to? Scolding Fluke for being impressed? Or telling Tsunami that it’s not getting written down???

I think she’s objecting to getting it written down…

So do I….. that’s what I’m hoping for at the very least. Because it wouldn’t be fair for Mitch… He showed a lot of courage admitting that. …. without proper context and stuff, them rediscovering this in just a note? it would be really hard on him. And Gordon would be a real monster about it, I feel….

I think she’s saying “No, you can’t write that down, because then that could potentially get Paul killed if he knows that recording his secret is an option.”

really now they make notes?
I… must have forgotten that they intended to do this… or I ignored as I think it’s very counterproductive… who would be REALLY honest when they know it WILL be recorded in some way?
Or is it just Tsunami who came up with it this very moment? I need to re-read everything but have not much time before leaving for my part-time job right now xD
I hate long Saturday shifts…
I’m glad Commander intervenes there though! It would really kill the purpose, and leave the ones still in need to answer with uncertainty to how honest they can be…
Even if I agree with Gordon that Mitch has to stop that…

I think the only thing they agreed to write down was exactly what they were doing there when morning came around and they forgot what had transpired, not what each of them said.

That’s what I had remembered. The note is just supposed to be a quick explanation of how the fight ended,and how and why they went to the cabin, and why they don’t remember any of it, nothing about what actually happened.

now I remember! Thanks for telling 🙂
but I guess I might still reread the whole story so far! Can’t do any harm ^^

A reread never ever does any harm! 🙂

I think whatever her opinion of Mitch’s extra curricular activities the Commander is right to object to adding it to the note: they’re sharing these awkward secrets to break the curse, making a special note of *anyone’s* secret is quite a breach of trust.

Indeed it is. And furthermore, is Fluke going to tell something he really wants keep secret if he is not sure that it will be forgotten? Is Tsunami?

Tsunami just proves again that im right not liking him from the very beginning, it is a type of character i just cant get a connection with. Wouldnt be sorry if he vanishes.

he can vanish into my life, i have a spare room and i live in hawaii…

HA!

Quick, mommy and daddy are going to argue, get the popcorn! 😀

which one will win ? the “but what about the baby?” or the “Logic Hand Of God” :p

Everyone knows Momma always gets her way eventually, even if it’s behind Poppa’s back.

And here again my theory of “Amanda stepping out to put stuff under the rug” seems to be confirmed XD.

I think she intervenes because from the beginning, she’s setting the rules about how to deal with the curse. She was the one who put the “no sex questions!” and Spooky still used it against her but because of the curse she had to cave and reveal her sexual fantasies.

She could have intervene before to stop Tsunami if she really thought he was going to far with Mitch but here’s the thing I get from Amanda, I think she either agrees with Tsunami, or she doesn’t… “care” ? At least not that much ? She prioritizes a lot and here her priority is for everyone to get out of the curse alive. So she lets Tsunami grill Mitch becauuse well like her own question, they need to be thorough in their answers. She only stops Tsunami when he threatens the “rules of the curse”, not for any of his questions to Mitch.

In fact, thinking about it, we don’t know a lot about Amanda’s thoughts (which is well done considering she’s a telepath). We actually know very little about Amanda’s feelings, the biggest admission I felt from her was when she talked about her relationship with Spooky and how she hoped that maybe there will be one day where they would be in the right situation and moment to rekindle it. To me it felt like a bigger confession than her sexual fantasies.

I see a lot of people say she’s the most adult and all, but she’s just very guarded about her own opinion (like during the porn episode ? She barely reacted to it aside for a “go back to work people”) and she’s actually priotizing the mission all the time (which duh since she’s been training with Navy Seals). She doesn’t stop Tsunami to protect Mitch here from an after-night scolding, she’s protecting the rules they put on the curse to go through it. So I don’t know if she’s the most “adult” or just as adult as Tsunami but she doesn’t have parental feelings toward the group like Tsunami does. (maybe because she’s the only woman in the group she made sure she wouldn’t be looked at as a “mother” ? and so the parental figure got taken/fell upon Tsunami’s shoulders more naturally ?)

Gaaah I need more of Tsunami and Amanda’s stories and thoughts ! They’re so fascinating ! (to be fair, everyone is fascinating in this comic and I’m really really happy for this interlude to show us more of everyone)

I am convinced that Amanda does care. For my take on her reasons for saying “no”, vide infra.

“not caring” was a bit strong yes, I think she cares about her teammates but the mission stays her priority.

I think it has to do with the rules of the curse.
Writing the answers down would change the rules and might prevent the cure from working.

Yes I think so too

i have been plugging on just following the story while clearly missing the motivation for all this and the nature of the curse, not to mention from whence it emanated or when this occured. is this pre or post the dramatic confrontation in the ongoing story line?

if there are pages in which these events are set up, would someone please make me aware of them so i can fully appreciate the situation?

This story break takes place prior to Kyle going into the gay bar and encountering Annihilator after at the opening of this comic. It’s a flashback giving us some insight into the characters… character.

There is a set up summary of this Truth or Dare story line under the title page.
http://webcomics.yaoi911.com/typ/tod-title-page/

Is it weird that Flipper is getting on my nerves with his high and mighty attitude? I mean yeah Mitch is taking risks in doing this, but damn Tsunami’s acting like Mitch is a bad guy all of a sudden.

I’m glad to see the general tone about Gordon seems to have changed to be a bit more reasonable. Rather then just straight-out condemning him. Until we know exactly what has made him the way he is, there is no fair way to judge him, or anyone for that matter.

I wonder what Tsunami’s secret is…. He sure sounds defensive to me.

Mitch: … I think one of them belly-flopped. But I made sure the coast guard got him.

OMG… is Mitchy the sweetest midnight vigilante you have ever met? I know he’s an out of control mega-dangerous teenager right now and everyone wants him locked in the pokey, but I just want to hug the stuffing out of him for being so sweet (d’awwwwww ‘belly-flop’).

SIDE NOTE: It’s much easier not to be lured into feeling like a dirty older man with Julie’s younger looking version of Mitch. I love Adam/Vero’s version, but theirs looks closer in age to Kyle and Paul to me, so I have to forcibly remind myself how young 15 is. Here he is just so damn adorbs that it never even crosses my mind. Yep. HUGGABLE!!!

I want to hug him and squeeze him and pet him…

HA… you know I was thinking of that toon!

It is a classic!

And I will name him George!

Well, George is the giant eye from the hell realm, but otherwise, yes. 😀

George is also the giant black and green/yellow garden spider who has dedicated his life to building his big zigzaggy web between the poles on my carport so that I walk through it EVERY. SINGLE. MORNING> getting homr from work, because even after doing this every day since March, after working a 12 hour shift in the steam powered webbing plant that has an average indoor temp of 110, George is the last thing I’m thinking about as I get out of my car. But hey! Giant Demon Eye will work just as well, actually, I don’t think our two George’s are THAT far removed from each.

Yes I get several LAAAARGE mostly harmless, except to my nerves, garden spiders that, overnight, build these huge webs that stretch across the overhang on my front door, the tree and my railings on the stairs, and the garage and the plantings. THREE. AT LEAST. I tells you!!!

It’s still somewhat dark and they manage to be hard to see until you’re sleepy morning face plows into a very sticky clingy one, scaring both me and the spider and making me scream ~~like a gir…~~ like a guy who screams really loud and high.

I then drop everything all over the stairs and start brushing sticky web and spider every which way, like I’m freaking out. Which I am.

You’ll be relieved to know that I can be taught. I now have a sawed off broom handle by my front door (better than an umbrella) and I hold in in front of my face as I proceed to the garage to catch the ginormous webs by one side and gracefully and gently detach them (trying not to sqeeee as the giant spider runs up into a tree or something, where they will efficiently suck up the remainder of the ginormous web… until tomorrow night.

If you see me going down the stairs in the early morn with my spider stick brandished in front of me like Obi Wan… yes, I’m the one who looks like a slightly demented, under-caffeinated, jedi knight headed to the car. 🙂

And every night the spiders say to themselves, “Yes it keeps breaking the webs but tomorrows web may hold it and we’ll feast like kings!!!”

HA!

Arg!! I hate that!!. Other than the staring always staring I’d say that they were very similar. It may be one of George’s minions.

But you are a dirty old man. 😛

Nah, it’s cool. I’m more than twice Mitch’s age and I agree with you, so I guess I’m a dirty old woman.

Eh, you can have him. You’ll have to fight Doki and Mary for him, though. Just as long as you all stay away from my Spooky! >;)

YOUR Spooky? It’s just silly how all you people keep fighting each other over my Spooky. I said/established that years ago, even before Alex directly assured me my love wasn’t a lost cause, because Spooky like a woman to be older than him and experienced… but you people keep trying to butt in.
Sheesh, no respect around here :3

fujoshi ^_^

🙂

Too precious for words. That is what Mitch is.

Yes, I’m sure thats just do to the art.

Does the coast guard patrol lakes?

I guess in this AU they do.

It wouldn’t have to be an AU if it was one of the Great Lakes. http://www.uscg.mil/d9/

Grumpy-pants Gordon is grumpy.
¯_(ツ)_/¯

You tell him Amanda!

That’s w=right, Commander! Remind who THE BOSS is!

Foolish freakin’ Gordon, idiot needs to remember they’re counteracting a CURSE here, not being the Judgement Police.

Not to sound like a broken record, but Spooky’s fingers in Kyle’s hair gives me life

You are not alone.

I love Mitch’s phrasing. Instead of having dropped them from “high up,” he dropped them from “a bunch of feet.”
Because, from his perspective, “high” is a bunch of miles, not a bunch of feet.

I repeat Gordon is still a jerk……wish we could see what he was like in the beginning…..bet he was a real klutz…..possibly drowned a few people!

An entire page of darling Mitch expressions to enjoy–what’s not to love? He’s so earnest in trying to get Tsunami to understand, it’s heartbreakingly adorable (Julie has really outdone herself with the facial expressions on this page!). Gordon must really be angry not to have melted by now from Mitch’s entreaties for understanding. I can’t fault him for his technically correct reaction, but I hope he realizes soon that this is not necessarily a case of vigilante mischief being perpetrated by a restless scamp. Please hear him out Gordon, or at least hear Amanda out. :-

Paul’s reaction in panel five–such a typical teenaged boy reaction! I love it! Way to keep sight of what’s truly impressive to young super dudes, Fluke! 😛

Amanda is so cool. She is showing why she is the leader (yet again) in panel six. She totally understands where Mitch is coming from; she was totally there when she was his age. Having a mom who helped her channel those feelings and urges made her into the awesome person she is today, and I believe she wants to do the same for Mitch, as well as all of her team members, and she knows “snitching” on him by writing down that secret for the whole team to deal with later is not the way. I have a feeling she might have had an inkling about his extracurricular activities anyway (Mitch strikes me as the sort of sweetie who might be psychically rather…porous, especially if he feels guilty about something), and is monitoring the situation in her own way, while allowing Mitch to develop the independence and important decision-making and problem-solving skills on his own that will serve him well in the future. If that’s where she’s coming from, we’ll see if she can get Gordon to understand that point of view.

Lastly, I have to agree with @dartist123:disqus in that Spooky’s hand in Kyle’s hair give me the warm, fuzzy squees, always. X-D

Looking forward to the next page!

Glad to hear it, fujoshifanatic! Thank you for the thoughtful reaction! 🙂

Tsunami I dont much care for your attitude, your very quick to anger and forget that your all part of a team and your not the leader, so far all I have seen of this character seems to be shouting and reprimanding and being very judgemental, I really hope we see a more human side because this whole attitude of this character is really rubbing me up the wrong way and I am just praying he has some sort of humanising moment where he shows he isnt a total butt.

I don’t care much for Tsunami period but I guess it helps to have many different personality types in a group

Based on this, and his behaviour in the plane, I do wonder if Tsunami has a problem with respecting Amanda’s authority and thinks he should be the leader.

When Amanda said: “If I am taken out, Spooky is in charge, then Gordon, then Kyle”, he didn’t bat an eye.

That’s a good point… so what is his #2 job description? Yelling, random tantrums, answer phones and monitoring the supply room?

Oh and unjamming the copy machine?

Unjamming the copy machine is VERY important work!

Those things have favorite people, and I’ve never been one of them. Seriously, they hated me. Have no doubt about it.
Sometimes I just had to enter the room and be next to a copy machine, and it went from happy printing to nope, if it didn’t decide to wait until I was using it. They could have worked just fine, up until me getting near them. Almost every damn time I had to print/copy a school/exam project for years. Yup, hated me!

So there is a NOTE. Does that mean that no one will recall what was said after all this is over?

Alex posted the set-up story for this bonus comic in the notes under it’s title page (and some on page 1). You can read it here: http://webcomics.yaoi911.com/typ/tod-title-page/

ah twas on the title page I see. Thanks Wolfie Woo XD

*poke poke* Hey Holly!!!

OMG! Mitch is just too precious for words!!!

TOOOOO PRECIOUS!!!

FOR WORDS!!!

*silent squee*

Wow…I wouldn’t have thought that Tsunami (I want to say his name is Gordon?) could be so harsh on Mitch. I see him as such a dick now because of it. You don’t just do that to Mitch. He’s too cute for that!

I agree the more I see of Tsunami the more I dislike him, he is quick to anger, aggressive towards team mates and a bit of a bully, frankly I think the team would be better off without such a person.

Just a point about Paul’s comment in Panel 5:

Mitch is a hundred times more awesome (and a thousand time better looking) than Kick Ass. There really is no comparison.

TL;DR: Gordon winds me up a lot, but he’s basically good at heart, more experienced and cares a great deal about Mitch, so I get where he’s coming from here.

I can’t be too mad at Gordon right now. It’s obvious that he genuinely cares about Mitch and his safety; it feels a bit paternalistic at times, but I really do find it touching. He would be devastated if Mitch got hurt, or if he hurt someone else and ended up facing harsh legal penalties as a result.

Also, he’s older and more experienced than Mitch, and has likely seen a number of serious accidental injuries—perhaps even deaths—due to well-meaning supes intervening in otherwise mundane situations. His raw strength and frankly dangerous power could easily cause injury if he’s not careful, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s accidentally hurt someone and been subject to discipline himself.

Gordon’s frequently annoying, bossy and overbearing. (He’s also not totally comfortable with homosexuality, which is something I suspect he’s going to deal with as the comic progresses.) Of all the Young Protectors, he’s the one who most frequently rubs me up the wrong way. However, as one of the older and more experienced members of the team, he feels a heavy burden of culpability, and in this case he’s understandably concerned. A young man he cares about a great deal, and feels very responsible for, is engaged in something illegal and extremely dangerous to himself and others. What decent person wouldn’t be worried in his position?

In my opinion, Gordon is easy to understand when you remember he and Amanda are Mitch’s legal guardians. As in he acts paternalistic because he’s legally Mitch’s DAD in this situation. What Mitch is doing would be if your 15 year old kid went out on his bicycle at night to go fight bad guys in dark alleys. That’s terrifying!

It feels natural that he would put his foot down to stop Mitch from doing what he’s doing because it’s literally his responsibility to keep Mitch from getting hurt. Even the best case scenario would be CPS coming to take Mitch away from them.

Amanda’s objection here is probably multifaceted. I’m sure that Amanda feels the same as Gordon about Mitch’s behavior, but she has a big picture view of the situation. As soon as they write down anything about what happens, the rest of the characters will feel less compelled to tell the absolute truth, which risks them being killed by the Veritas curse.

Nice, thoughtful follow-up, Dave. Also fun for me. 🙂

Great point. I wasn’t sure how to interpret the “legal guardian” thing when it was mentioned last chapter—if it meant in loco parentis or if I’d missed/forgotten something that made it more permanent—but, either way, you’re absolutely right. It totally puts his reaction into context.

If I’d answered sooner, I’d also have agreed that Amanda doesn’t want to compromise the ability of other team members to be honest and forthcoming. As it is, the latest strip confirms that you’re correct. 🙂

A nice analysis Jordan. Fun for me to read. 🙂

This is exactly how I feel. You hit the dealing with homosexuality thing on the nose; that’s how I felt coming out of a military environment–where things like homosexuality was NOT talked about (and when it was, it was very much frowned upon) and you certainly never saw homosexuality in public on the bases–and into a civilian life where it was very open. I had to go through all of the weird uncomfortableness and really challenge the views I internalized being a military kid. Do I keep the “don’t ask, don’t tell” view or do I break down my own beliefs and examine them?

That’s really interesting! I’ve known a few people who could have unhelpfully been labelled “homophobic,” but whose attitudes were best understood as discomfort at something strange to them rather than real animosity. Many of them have become far more comfortable, but I don’t begrudge them needing time to adapt.

Even discussing it can be difficult. They fear both causing upset at home for considering change and encountering ire outside for not being done changing already. I don’t know if you felt similar pressures from your family or from civilians?

Either way, it’s a real pleasure to hear people consider where they were and how they’ve evolved in retrospect. I’m honestly glad you shared your experience, Kate. 🙂

It’s more the more I saw it in civilian life, the more I wondered why I was bothered by it and I just had to examine it. There’s really no pressure, but it’s more what you see as a child that is absorbed; when you leave THAT life and see a complete 180, it’s very odd. I left a very conservative lifestyle (the Army is VERY conservative on the whole) and I moved to what a more liberal area where sports and both lib and fine arts are very much pushed. I was kind of swimming in an infinite ocean trying to find my feet learning all of this new lingo (foxy? What on earth does that mean? Somebody come teach this 12 year old all of the lingo!) and what was cool (100 6th graders. I was new. YOU COULD TELL.)

I was very much a more conservative person when I was younger. If you want to move up in the ranks like my dad did, one thing you had was a perfect wife and perfect children…at least that’s what you showed the world. That’s why there’s the perception that all military families are Stepford families. It was getting out of the military where I learned to crack that shell and really got to develop my own sense of self and my own opinions.

Bad news and AMAZING news!
Can’t camp tonight. They asked me to work Tuesday night, which I usually have off. -.-
BUT!
I got a call yesterday! I landed myself a fancy new DAY JOB! Haha. So long grave shift! And I’ll finally work at a place that has holidays off! (Yay for being able to go see my family!!) I’m working a FEW less hours, but making a dollar more an hour.
I start July 8th, which gives me plenty of time to put in my two weeks notice and adjust my sleep schedule!!
*throws confetti*
I’m so excited!
This means I’ll get to camp whenever I want now! I will not be working any later than 7:00 PM!
….
This also means I can start looking for theater work to do in the evenings! I really, really wanna be able to finally put my degree to use. Haha.

But…. Anyways, that’s it from me. I hope everyone has a wonderful camp!

Congratz! That is awesome news.

Awww! Thanks, everybody! You all rock!! 🙂

Best news EVER! Looking forward to seeing you at camp soon. Yay and congrats!

Congratulations!

Congrats!

Way to go. Breaks out the noise-makers and party hats.

Go you!!! Congrats!

YAY! That’s awesome! So happy for you! You rock! 🙂

Congratulations on your return to the diurnal world!

I love how Spooky looks like he’s caressing Kyle’s neck. So cute! I might have a new ship (yes, I still ship Kyle/Anni).

I hope to be here for camping tonight. There’s lots more to learn about TYP.

TYP Camptime Vernacular Breakdown:

what one means: I love this character in so many ways, I have a difficult time articulating them.

what one says: SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

^_^

Snicker

Oh in relation to MItch,

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

‘Zactly!

*sigh* I was really hoping to make it to camp after being away for a week, but I am really tired and need to go to bed. Night everyone and happy hunting.

Nite Sweet Doki… We shall Squeee on your behalf as necessary. 😀

Dream about Mitch flying above the clouds with you. Good night, hon!

Aww. Sleep well!

Wait a minute! Waitaminutewaitaminutewaitaminute. Is this going to be like last page, when under Sapfo claimed to be too tired to camp, and then she took the first post for this page, and when Tyler looked under the pile of blankets there was a tape recorder playing snoring sounds as a distraction?

Surely our Doki wouldn’t be so sneaky??

Not yesterday unfortunately. 😉

Unfortunately not.

Goodnight Doki! Sleep well, darling!

Not so well I don’t think. I have had a nasty headache all day, my feet hurt from where they were swollen…and also dealing with the monthly girl issue -_-

Oh no, poor Doki! D: *hugs you*

*hugs back*

My prediction for the rest of ToD:

Amanda does manage to get everyone back on task, pointing out the deadline they are under, however things come to a head when Gordon is asked what in his past is making him so hard on Mitch and he storms out without giving a proper answer, the rest of the group try to find him but he’s gone before they can react. Since he doesn’t know where he’s going, just filled with anger, Amanda cannot track him telepathically.

TYP resign themselves to losing Gordon, as the only member not to fulfill the requirements of the curse, and come to terms with it one by one. We get touching moments fo commiseration and forgiveness, with Tsunami now absent for good.

However, it turns out the Tsunami they were all sharing secrets with was not the real Tsunami, but a robotic double created by his arch-nemesis Mechismo. Mech!Tsunami was euipped with a recording device to capture all the secrets the Young protectors would share, but luckily the robot was also subject to the Veritas curse, and when the curse deadline expired it disintegrated before Mechismo could recover its recordings.

Also Gordon is safe and sound somewhere and was never affected by the curse.

Hmm. And then somewhere down the line there’s a dramatic cover where real Tsunami turns up as a silhouette in the foreground, and the rest of the Young Protectors are reeling back in surprise as they stand in the middleground exclaiming, “But… You’re dead!”

To which he replies, still shadowed “Not dead, no. But not the Gordon you remember”. Then it is revealed that Mechismo’s experimentation has left Gordon with one robotic arm, which is mysteriously forgotten about in later material.

OMG is this a Bucky-Gordon fan fic? 🙂

I only vaguely know who bucky is 🙁 he’s part of Captain America right?

I know people who are mad for him and yes… that’s the one. He has a metal arm I think. Other’s on this group will know more. 🙂

Is he “the Winter Soldier” ? ?

Yes, he is.

Yep! That’s right.

Chris’ head-canon version of tonight’s page:

(I was concerned that Alex might not have written tonight’s page correctly, so I’m taking the liberty of inserting this small correction to the opening panels. Thank yew.)

Panel #1:

(GORDON CONTINUES RANTING AT A COWERING MITCH WHO LOOKS SO HEARTBROKEN HE MAKES US CRY)

Gordon: Snarglebarglemugglebumfusspicklesnoutstinkerfooss…

Panel #2:

Commander: Gordon stop!

Panel #3:

(Gordon doesn’t listen)

Gordon: Wagglebiztofragfragsaggle…

Panel #4:

(Furious Amanda leans across the table and slaps the silly out of the over wrought Gordon [more loud than painful]. He stops talking in shock and looks at her –)

Panel #5:

Commander: (calmly) THANK. YOU. I’ll be taking this from here.

*** At this point the scene resumes as Alex thinks best. ***

I don’t think that Amanda would smack one of the guys under her charge. I think only GIBBS of NCIS gets away with that. I think the guys respect Amanda too much to do force it to that.

Hey remember the film AIRPLANE. Sometimes you have to smack hysterical people to snap them out of their funk. Right? LOL.

Edit: And Amanda is totally equal to Gibbs………

That was my generations version of THE HANGOVER.

‘Aint it true!

Looking at Gordon’s mumbles, I wonder if you know the person who ‘named’ me on skype. Inspirations seems to be alike 😉

HA!

My email went nuts and got messed up and I don’t think I will get it back in less than a few weeks or maybe ever. – – – dave@fragments.ws might be gone forever. So please would please change it in your records if you have it, I would appreciate it. Also, if you have used it, I’ve lost that information. Please resend it. Thanks very much,
Dave
dave.fragments.dc@gmail.com

Well, what do you know, I made it to camp today.
It may or may not be because I haven’t slept yet.. uhm, because I may or may not have sat up all night to read some of a new book that I got… and I may or may not be almost square-eyes from reading on the screen for hours at this point 😉
I started getting pretty tired about 45mins ago, but so far I’m still holding out for the page, and if it’s early-ish at it’s been the last 3-4 pages then I might be able to stay awake until after it’s up.

*wakes up from own nap* Hello wolf! I miss those nights of staying up all night reading a good book…

Just a small FYI:

Alex just sent out Kickstarter Update #109. I just received it at my (Kickstarter identified) email inbox. If you didn’t receive it, you might want to check your Kickstarter directly, your spam folder, or throw your laptop forcefully through the nearest window with a few choice expletives (as always, the choice is yours).

Quick Note: We’re only a few trading cards away from goodies getting shipped, but artists and schedules haven’t been doing as AW wishes (darn them) and so it’s taking longer than he wants to get all those boxes out of his kitchen (romantic dinners are so awkward when you have to peer through a thousand Spooky caps to see your date).

Just wanted to make sure this crazed fandom was in the know… 😀

I feel so bad. There is Mitch, poor little Mitch, begging Tsunami for understanding. He looks terrified. He wants everyone, especially Tsunami to understand, someone he probably he sees as a big brother. He has this need to do something with his abilities, to help those who are being victimized. And instead he gets treated like a criminal. Just boo. Just boo.

I just don’t think this is the appropriate reaction on Tsunami’s part. It’s counter productive, especially since they’re not supposed to remember. Just boo.

But how do you really feel?

Just booo!

Heh…

😛 It’s a valid feeling. Boo Tsunami for his temper and apparent lack of compassion. Bah! Boo!

I never contradict the Admiral….. 🙂

Heeee!

Wow, as long as I’ve been reading this comic I’ve never camped with you guys before. Hi.

Hello. Welcome to camp then 🙂

welcome

Hello! And welcome!

Welcome! It’s great to have you.

Sets out sugar cookies for the campers

*takes bait* worked like a charm XD

Ooh, thank you! <3

There used to be a place in Elizabeth New Jersey (Affectionately referred to as “armpit” USA) that served a half gallon milk shakes with a whole pint of Ice Cream. If you could eat two, they gave you the third.

At which point you exploded.

yep. I could eat one but never two. They were wonderfully good but huge and thick. You could take a straw with the paper, dip in the the milkshake and shoot the paper to the ceiling and make it stick like an arrow. Now that’s thick.
They had pictures of kids who succeeded on the walls. But the look on their faces was priceless. It was eye-bulging filled and bloated.

I just bet. Reminds me of that comedy John Candy was in where he set out to eat the huge steak. Don’t remember the name but… 🙂

I think THE GREAT OUTDOORS and that;s the only part I remember from the movie.

That was it! Yeah, me too. Heh.

No, you can’t put that in the note. The note is only to explain whats going on when we all wake in the morning wondering why we are all naked lying over the twister game board.

Back in my college days we called that a Wesson Oil party.

Well there no telling where these dares might get too. hehe

slippery little minx

I`M AWAKe!! O___O
(no I am not)
I mean, good morning good people ^_^

Good Morning, Ms. Strawberry.

morning Admiral! Everythings alright I hope.

Well the seas have been a little rough a little lately. So we’ll see.

So, what you’re saying is that you’re sleepwalking.
[Hands Sapfo some of Kit’s sugar cookies] Are you capable of sleepeating? (or maybe that’s sleepnomming…)

For cookies I am always ready to be awake 😀

Dollar size sugar cookies, with a solid layer of candy sugar sprinkles on top.

Oh thank you Kit!

I’ve think I’ve got some sugar butter creme icing you can put on top around here someplace.

Not sure though, I think they need something else. More sugar maybe?

<.<
bad kit XD

Morning.. I’m very close to going ‘ZzzzZzzzzZzz’ .. so I hope I manage to see the page first. Depends on how much longer I manage to stay awake.

sleep little wolf, sleep. you can hunt virgins another time.
*Put blanket over wolf*

Good morning! I have been gushing to Core about HQ!!…. *intense feels*

Morning Kitten.
I have a problem. Do I have to do only Sports anime. I have so many others in my brain O.o

Nope expand and go with just 10 characters if you want. I just knew 10 sports anime would be SO HARD

I have to do it after work. But I will get to it.

I need to watch that.

Good morning, Sapfo!

CAVS WON!!!!! CAVS WON GAME 3 OF THE NBA PLAYOFFS!!!!

For those who don’t know, 1) this is basketball, and 2) they have not won the championship yet – it is a best of 7 series (right now we’ve won two games and our opponents have won one).

One step closer to the LeBron promise!

Whoooooo!!!

So close to the new page, and I have to give up and get some sleep or at least a power-nap. I’ll see how that goes. Will be back soon.

Have a good rest, love!

Rest well!

page is up
http://webcomics.yaoi911.com/typ/ete-tod-page-16/

I keep seeing this appear in my email. I keep not seeing any boy-on-boy action, like there (kinda) was in the first chapter.

Due to the heartbreaking nature of this comment, I couldn’t help but try to dig up a few options to tide things over until Alex gets around to dishing up some m/m snogging…

The following page is a ginormous list of gay porn sites… maybe something in there will help. Best of luck. 🙂

http://myporngay.com/

Oh my, Tsunami is such a dutiful guardian for Mitch, it’s quite cute actually.