On my way to Anthrocon in Pittsburgh as this posts–hope to see you there!
Digger
Discussion (39)¬
Comment¬
Digger by Ursula Vernon is powered by WordPress with ComicPress | Subscribe: RSS Feed
On my way to Anthrocon in Pittsburgh as this posts–hope to see you there!
Digger by Ursula Vernon is powered by WordPress with ComicPress | Subscribe: RSS Feed
Little Shadowchild is gonna prove a frustrating apprentice for Mr.Voice methinks
“…and more, such as making chocolate cupcakes in under ten minutes!”
i think this is a bit much to hope for :/
Didn’t Ed say “long and long” a while ago? It’s looking more and more likely that this particular demon has a history with the hyenas…
So is this Sweetgrass Voice, stretching himself out from where he’s bound with He-Is? Or is this another demon?
Oh, this is unbearable….! Hurrah, the demon will teach Shadowchild (which is a good thing, after all, the demon is pretty much the only one who can)…. but what it will teach it is …. *how to be a demon*. A presumably *evil* demon. And if Shadowchild asks anything along the lines of “But isn’t that evil?”, presumably the demon will reply that that’s OK, since that’s what they do/are. Which is true, of course.
Dammit.
Dammit.
I can only hope that Shadowchild suffers some conflict around this issue stemming from the fact that being/doing evil will be figuratively– or indeed, literally– hurtful to the being that has cared for it to whatever extent it has ever been cared for…. Digger.
But it could just as easily happen that SC decides that it’s bad to feel bad about being bad if you’re supposed to be bad… and do evil just to prove that it’s capable of doing it as it is “meant” to.
In which case Digger & Co. might have to put it down. Assuming they survive whatever evil act occurs in the first place.
Oh, dammit. There are about 75 ways this could end badly ==> really badly ==> horrifically badly, and about 0.5 ways it could end “well”. Whatever that means… since turning a demon child from Evil to Good is the most positive resolution, but isn’t necessarily “right” (changing its nature), and may cause worse problems down the road (should the demon decide that eliminating Digger would remove the impediment to SC being “what it is truly meant to be”).
Dammit.
Great arc.
Oh, and have a great time in Pittsburgh, Ursula!
Ooo.. don’t trust that Sweetgrass! Eat ‘im, Shadowchild! Er.. pretend he didn’t talk and eat ‘im!
I have every confidence that Shadowchild is going to make some kind of observation that leads to Sweetgrass’ downfall.
The first thing this demon may teach SC is whether or not it’s impervious to a pick upside it’s head once Digger gets wind of these shenanigans.
I caught up. Damn! Damn! DAMN!!!!
D:
there’s not much else to say.
Pretty, but the shadow just avoided answering questions.
My hope, the shadow (perhaps Sweetgrass-Voice) tells it’s story in a way that isn’t undirected malevolence. Perhaps unpleasant. But, while I feel sorry for the spiders I understand the wasps. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarantula_hawk )
*Whimper* I concur with Motub and Sinity. D: (Don’t be fooled, ShadowChild!) *Covers eyes with hands, peeking between her fingers…*
BTW, I just noticed this: ShadowChild’s outline is mostly smooth against the white, while “Sweetgrass Voice” is not so smooth–perhaps even aged-looking, like the text from an ancient book. I like that. May or may not be intentional on your part, Ursula, but VERY nice.
I hate the time frame between Thursdays and Tuesdays. =[
Trying not to panic prematurely… but it occurs to me that this other demon waited for the others to be asleep before revealing itself.
Uh oh.
Shadowchild is probably stronger than it, anyway.
I would imagine that being rather stretched out would weaken a shadow. I thought the same thing as those above; the words of this shadow sound awfully Sweetgrass-y , giving temptation and encouraging trust without revealing anything shadow child actually asks. Where’s a ghost with a warning when you need one!?
*sits back and munches popcorn*
I can just imagine the commotion if everyone else were to wake up while this is happening! Talk about scary. Not sure what they would even be able to do about it though, I mean, what good would weapons be against a shadow demon?
Hmmm… when will Digger wake up?
Well, I guess that explains how Sweetgrass Voice got here if his/her death was bound to He-Is’s like they said. I was wondering about that.
Darned magical fault-lines.
*hums softly*
“Tempting tonight, tempting tonight,
Tempting on the old camp ground….” 7@=Q
Oh man….
I’m so scared for Shadowchild. I mean…
Wake up Digger! Wake up Murai! WAKE UP YOU GUYS!!!
*clangs pots and pans*
!!!
No, no, no! Shadowchild, run! RUN!
The demon keeps saying that he “can” teach Shadowchild these things, which leads me to believe that there’s going to be some strings attached. Perhaps he wants Shadowchild to come with him to wherever he comes from. If this is the case, I hope Shadowchild decides to stay with Digger instead. She’s a much better role model.
Now I’m sure I don’t trust this thing. Ohh… don’t corrupt poor Shadowchild…!!! D=
I’m not worried. Remember, the slug sent Shadowchild, he didn’t just come on his own.
Delightful discussion. Almost as much fun as the story.
i’m with terry – shadowchild, with a child’s innocence, tends to say whatever is on his/her mind, without artifice – and very directly. this also means that even if this demon tells shadowchild not to tell the others about it, SC will still let the info fall, so the others will know something’s up.
and hey – if you can’t trust an oracular slug to steer you in the right direction, who _can_ you trust?
It’s now Tuesday; did SweetGrass Voice eat page 600?
I was on the fence about this demon being Sweetgrass Voice, but then I started rereading the archives (a highly enjoyable activity while my boss is out of town and I’ve run out of projects) and I saw this page http://www.diggercomic.com/?p=185. They look too much alike to be a coincidence.
Yup, it probably is Sweetgrass Voice. Big thankyou to everyone for spoiling it for me.
Nobody has said ‘it is’, everyone is just assuming and speculating… and it looks exactly like the one in the strip from Ed’s story so long ago. Not exactly a surprise…
Reading through this the second time, I notice that Sweetgrass Voice (and really, who ELSE would it be?) says it’s been watching the Shadowchild “long and long”. This would seem to imply that the Shadowchild has been wandering about longer than we think, which would explain its use of analogies like “aged wine” and such.
Probably since about the time a certain nameless god shed a bird’s body, and consigned himself to be bound under the earth…
Yup, just as I feared.
…And yes, I’m still reading this since this morning, but I’ll never manage the whole archive before I fall asleep…
Here’s hoping that Elephant’s Child… I mean, Shadowchild, asks a question that Sweetgrass-Voice-face can’t answer without incriminating itself.
I’ve noticed, on this reread, many people on this page wishing Digger and the other mortals would wake up and confront the intruder here. But what could they do, really? We know that Digger’s pickaxe is totally harmless to Shadowchild from when she threw it at at a rustling bush and hit SC, so it stands to reason that it would be ineffective against other similar demonic shadow beings as well. Murai is currently unarmed, and one-armed – not a martial threat. Grim Eyes’ weapon is not likely to be any more mystical, nor effective, than Digger’s. So if they were to wake up, there’s not much they could do: run away (not in any of their natures), fight ineffectually and get themselves killed, or try to persuade Shadowchild away from SGV and back to their team. This last might be effective, but would likely enrage SGV and end up putting them as potential helpless victims/hostages in a fight between Shadowchild and SGV.
Strange as it may seem, I think they are probably safer staying asleep, so that Shadowchild can handle this encounter by itself. I know that’s a lot to put on SC’s diminutive shoulders, but there you have it.
I think it is a measure of a truly great story that, after innumerable rereads and years after the story’s end, I can still find new observations to go on about at length. We love you, Ursula!