Murphy's Law 8: College? What About It?

[CoffeeIncluded]

Thank you, guys.

[Alagaesian]

Yep, a prince is usually the heir to a king. Unless you read Homestuck, in which case it means something completely different, which ironically turns out to be the exact thing Riley fears the most.

I see Riley's having the problem most young rulers have - they feel too young and too inexperienced to do a good job leading a country. Luckily for Riley, he's surrounded himself with people he can (hopefully) trust, who will help him along the way. I'm very curious, though, to see what's in these "old records" that would comfort Riley and increase his confidence.

[CoffeeIncluded]

I haven't and now I'm curious. Spoilers in the spoiler box please?

And yeah, Riley turns 20 tomorrow. He hasn't shown it until now, but the stress is really getting to him. At least the acknowledgment of the burden is a good thing.

[Hiro Protagonest]

I read Homestuck up to I dunno where. The vagabond managed to

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get his home to fly

and Jade had been introduced by then (hadn't seen her grandpa). I look at the length of the unfinished archives and just get so dissuaded from continuing, but even this early in I see the seeds of an amazing story.

[Lix Lorn]

I like this Riley dude. Most of the time, being worried about being good is what is needed to stay good.

[Alagaesian]

I read Homestuck up to I dunno where. The vagabond managed to

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get his home to fly

and Jade had been introduced by then (hadn't seen her grandpa). I look at the length of the unfinished archives and just get so dissuaded from continuing, but even this early in I see the seeds of an amazing story.

Aw, you stopped only at the end of Act 2? That's kind of a bummer, actually - the story really starts picking up pace in a few acts.

See, Homestuck originally started out as a reader-driven webcomic; there would be a suggestion box where readers could input the next "command" for the story to follow. However, the reader base eventually became so large that taking suggestions like this was too time-consuming - imagine reading through thousands of suggestions for each update. So, the suggestion box was kicked midway through Act 4. The story really condenses and becomes more focused after that point. Sylladex problems disappear in favor of character development and some incredibly complex but still miraculously coherent time-travel shenanigans.

If any of you have two weeks available when you can sit down and plow through the longest webcomic on the internet, I would suggest reading Homestuck. Winter break sure is convenient, isn't it?

Anyways, the Homestuck thing about Riley being the Prince of Laria:

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Prince of X = Destroyer of X. Therefore, Prince of Laria = Destroyer of Laria. Surprisingly, this may end up happening at some point, but due to Rust rather than any mistake on Riley's part. If anything, Riley may end up being the "Bard of Laria", as Bard of X = One who allows X to be destroyed.

[CoffeeIncluded]

...Yeesh. Yeah, Alagaesian. Riley would...not handle that well. At all.

I'm laying out the template for the next update before going to bed, guys!

[McDouggal]

What happened to all the viewers and posts from just a year ago?

Kinda on-and-off lurking here. I stopped looking as often when the pace of comics dropped off. (Also, the main party is just more opportunity for funzies and thus more talky from the people.)

[CoffeeIncluded]

Aw, okay. I'll try to get a comic up by the new year. Let's see if I can do it! I'm really sorry, guys.

[Lix Lorn]

It's fine, hon. No apologies needed!

[MoleMage]

Lix is right. It's not anything to worry yourself about. I still check every time my subscription pops up; I'm just a lurker by habit.

[Elemental]

Don't worry about deadlines. New Year is only two hours away for me anyway.

Which brings me to my next point...

Happy New Year!
*******

[HalfTangible]

Aw, okay. I'll try to get a comic up by the new year. Let's see if I can do it! I'm really sorry, guys.

Don't push yourself for our sake Most of us just lurk in the background.

Probably.

[Mina Kobold]

Don't worry, Coffee, we don't mind waiting till next year. ^_^

And a Happy Gregorian New Year's from the local Kobold too! It may just be 4 O'Clock in the afternoon here, but I hope you all have a fun time when your timezones zooms into the next calendar year.

[CoffeeIncluded]

Thanks, but if the Giant can get a comic in by the new year, so can I! Just one panel left, then text and post! It should be up within the hour.

[CoffeeIncluded]

I have the comic ready to go but photobucket's being so buggy I can't post it!

[CoffeeIncluded]

Okay, it works on chrome. Almost within the hour!

#203: Not The Best At Comforting

By the way, if his legs look too short, that's because they are.

[Qwertystop]

Black on slate-blue? Tricky.

Funny comic, though.

[Silverraptor]

Okay, it works on chrome. Almost within the hour!

#203: Not The Best At Comforting

By the way, if his legs look too short, that's because they are.

It didn't? Well darn. Back to the drawing board then.

[t209]

Okay, it works on chrome. Almost within the hour!

#203: Not The Best At Comforting

By the way, if his legs look too short, that's because they are.

Well, Butter me biscuit! I hope he wasn't played by Malcolm Mcdowell. Is it inspired by Charles II (Spanish Inbred king) and the mad king from Game of Thrones.
That will be lesson to all those who played Crusader Kings II.

[Mutant Sheep]

Can they swap royal lines so funny bearded guy can rule and the sometimes-serious ruler can be chancelor? That'd be aweeeesome.

[t209]

Can they swap royal lines so funny bearded guy can rule and the sometimes-serious ruler can be chancelor? That'd be aweeeesome.

Hope that the winter isn't coming!
What if the history of Inbred king was a lie too? Like maybe the previous king was a good king with few quirks (minus inbreeding) who was given a Richard III treatment (Shakespeare, under the regime of Tudor, gave him a hunch back and evil demeanor).

[CoffeeIncluded]

Oh no, the previous line really did inbreed themselves to one last insane king.

[Mina Kobold]

That has happened disturbingly often in real history. Turns out that keeping the bloodline pure made more sense when you did not have a good grasp of heredity and evolution. Kind of like the Earth being flat, except sadder for the children. u_u

I suggest that they decide to make it a double-monarch system, splitting the responsibility between the two lines and ensuring that no one person is burdened with it all. Also helpful for preventing corrupting, according to the Romans. ^_^

[Mutant Sheep]

Oh no, the previous line really did inbreed themselves to one last insane king.

I don't see any lunacy beyond the tradition decadency of the throne though. Grapes and women are the standard of a corrupt monarchy, after all. But what did he do besides indulge in the usual fare of fancy high courts? GIVE US MORE HISTORY. Because if you can overthrow a lawful monarch because he likes grapes 'n women, why not for having a giant ice dragon dance? Or a throne room? Or crown? Liking grapes and pleasing base instincts are not signs of lunacy, and in comic I only see his eyes being slightly more lopsided than everyone else's.

Ok, Lix said it better, as usual. Hedonism. I was trying to find the right word.

[t209]

That has happened disturbingly often in real history. Turns out that keeping the bloodline pure made more sense when you did not have a good grasp of heredity and evolution. Kind of like the Earth being flat, except sadder for the children. u_u

I suggest that they decide to make it a double-monarch system, splitting the responsibility between the two lines and ensuring that no one person is burdened with it all. Also helpful for preventing corrupting, according to the Romans. ^_^

Here's the example of last insane king from "pure" Bloodline. What if one of the guard is actually a illegitimate son of the previous line or the previous line's brothers or cousin's former roomate (maybe one of characters had to be one).

[Lix Lorn]

I feel that, from what we've seen, that king got a bad deal. We see him being a bit of a hedonistic moron, but... that doesn't deserve death. Was he actually a cruel ruler, rather than just an incompetent and uncaring one?

[CoffeeIncluded]

I feel that, from what we've seen, that king got a bad deal. We see him being a bit of a hedonistic moron, but... that doesn't deserve death. Was he actually a cruel ruler, rather than just an incompetent and uncaring one?

You don't want to know what he did to Elroy's family. If I went into the details...Well, I don't think I should. And he let the kingdom slide into near-ruin, because he didn't govern at all. And then he raised taxes even higher to pay for his own hedonism while there was a famine! The situation got so bad that there was a revolution.

[t209]

I hope the inbred king is the last one and doesn't have a sister who retreated back to barbarian, horse riding, and bared chested Bronies and plan to have army of dragons.

[Lix Lorn]

Aaaah. Well, that seems like something that might need to come up in-comic some time?