Unsounded II: Two Wrights Can Mend A Wrong

[Doran]

Could he be lying regarding the Sonorie and Ruckmearkha teamup?

It seems insanely foolish of Sonorie to hand that many people dirt on mind controlling her own consort, working with the Black Tongues, and with an Efheby.

She could have simply done it with a lesser captured Aldish prisoner in a cell somewhere - it smells like bullcrap to me.

[eschmenk]

OOH. It lookBell has a neck bit wound, too! Someone mentioned it in the comments today. Look close to his hand in the fourth panel here. It looks like he tries to keep it covered.

But I have to say, I am kind of impressed. Making Bastion Winalis look outright moral in comparison is a accomplishment.

Ashley has indicated in her tumblr that Bastion isn't as bad as many readers make him out to be. We've seen him work as a doctor to help the prostitutes who were hurt in Ethelmik. He was the doctor who helped Cara. He's helped a lot of other victims of the plague. He treated Elan Aled. His obsession is trying to find a way to allow people to live forever (eliminate death). He could be a lot worse.

Could he be lying regarding the Sonorie and Ruckmearkha teamup?

It seems insanely foolish of Sonorie to hand that many people dirt on mind controlling her own consort, working with the Black Tongues, and with an Efheby.

She could have simply done it with a lesser captured Aldish prisoner in a cell somewhere - it smells like bullcrap to me.

Yeah, that struck me as odd. (Technically, he's not just her consort, he's one of her husbands.) Maybe she was finished with Roger, though? Maybe she realized that he was costing her too much support? She didn't show any signs of thinking that way, though. I don't know what to think.

[Morty]

Their deal with Ruck isn't working out too well for Chorley. Have fun working for someone who can and will kill you for having an annoying voice, Black Tongues.

[guttering flame]

Their deal with Ruck isn't working out too well for Chorley. Have fun working for someone who can and will kill you for having an annoying voice, Black Tongues.

It might be standard procedure for a secret demonic cult like them. Maybe no weird sex with their divinity, though?

[-D-]

It might be standard procedure for a secret demonic cult like them. Maybe no weird sex with their divinity, though?

Was there any before?

Also, I'm sure Ruck is a fan of rape.

[guttering flame]

Was there any before.

Also, I'm sure Ruck is a fan of rape.

The Tit-bird tried to seduce our undead hero a few times, the cult's origins story sounded like a hot romance story between their founder and their divinity.

I'm sure you're right about Ruck. Still there's a big difference between them. She seduces, he taketh, she bequeath wondrous secrets, he steals them (and turn your brains into mush). I'm no fan of Ilganyang but she's world better than this dude.

[-D-]

I'm sure you're right about Ruck. Still there's a big difference between them. She seduces, he taketh, she bequeath wondrous secrets, he steals them (and turn your brains into mush). I'm no fan of Ilganyang but she's world better than this dude.

The fandom, sadly, disagrees.

I mean for me - Spiked Tits is still better than Snake Vamp Mind Rape. I'm not sure why she abandoned them though.

[lord_khaine]

I kinda think when even Bastion think the snake vampire is bad news, then perhaps it is the case?
Heck how can there even be any disagreement on this subject? It straight up shows us the poor innocent guy whose mind it has melted.

[eschmenk]

Spoiler: Something I think may be significant based on a something Ashley said on her tumblr.

Show

Ruck licking the blood reminds me of Bell wanting to lick the blood of the woman he killed. That plus his apparent Epheby bite and a rather spoilerish thing Ashley said on her Tumblr makes me think, "Hmm!"

The fandom, sadly, disagrees.

Why do you say that the fandom disagrees? Actually, can you clarify what you are saying that the disagree with? I'm not sure if you mean the 'Ruck is a fan of rape' statement or the sentiment that Ruck is significantly worse than Lady Ilganyag. I wasn't aware the fandom disagrees with either one. (IIRC, I noticed one person saying that Ruck wasn't worse than many other characters, but that person likes to stir things up, apparently.)

I kinda think when even Bastion think the snake vampire is bad news, then perhaps it is the case?
Heck how can there even be any disagreement on this subject? It straight up shows us the poor innocent guy whose mind it has melted.

I don't know how there could be much disagreement and I doubt that much exists. Some people might like Ruck as a villain because he is so horrible, I suppose, but they would still acknowledge that he's bad news.

Lady Ilganyag is creepy as heck, but she talked about finding redemption. Later, we saw that she was bothered because Murkoph had become so evil. I think of those as positive indications. I can't think of any positives like that for Ruck.

[-D-]

Why do you say that the fandom disagrees? Actually, can you clarify what you are saying that the disagree with? I'm not sure if you mean the 'Ruck is a fan of rape' statement or the sentiment that Ruck is significantly worse than Lady Ilganyag. I wasn't aware the fandom disagrees with either one. (IIRC, I noticed one person saying that Ruck wasn't worse than many other characters, but that person likes to stir things up, apparently.)

People on Ashley's Tumblr find Ruck... hot. Like hotter than Bastion.

'Ruck is fan of rape' refers to Ruck calling Roger his little rape. Also he wants to love/be loved and will use mind rewrite poison to achieve this (aka mind rape). Lady I at least seduces you, this guy slips date rape drugs via bite. And people find him "better" than Starfish.

[eschmenk]

People on Ashley's Tumblr find Ruck... hot. Like hotter than Bastion.

'Ruck is fan of rape' refers to Ruck calling Roger his little rape. Also he wants to love/be loved and will use mind rewrite poison to achieve this (aka mind rape). Lady I at least seduces you, this guy slips date rape drugs via bite. And people find him "better" than Starfish.

Well, keep in mind that Alshley doesn't post many of the questions / comments. She selects the ones that are the most interesting to her.

Also, I can see people being intrigued by Ruck. He's a lot more interesting than Starfish, for example. Granted, that doesn't make him any less evil. I suppose some people might be fascinated by him enough that the forget or ignore how evil he is, at least temporarily, but it's fiction. There is no real harm or danger in doing so.

I don't think that Ruck wants to be loved. He wants knowledge and abilities and control. In her tumblr Ashley said that Efheby tend fall in love with their victims. We see that happening with Ruck and Roger, but I got the impression from the tumblr that that's a side effect. I guess it comes from the intense knowledge and familiarity with the victim's thinking. Getting all of someone's thoughts would be a rather intimate thing to do.

I don't know how much to believe what Chorley said, but according to him, Ruck had to be enticed to mind rape Roger. It supposedly wasn't Ruck's idea. That said, he is obviously on board with the plan now.

[lord_khaine]

Please dont call it mindrape though. Its not something so minor. Its murder, pure and simple.

[guttering flame]

Please dont call it mindrape though. Its not something so minor. Its murder, pure and simple.

Do they die or just get mind maimed (eaten). He's like a wasp egg.

[-D-]

Please dont call it mindrape though. Its not something so minor. Its murder, pure and simple.

It's a poison that reveals your innermost secrets, can render you pliable to efheby that injected it, and he/she can rewrite your memories/feelings. I mean one bite and you might think Ruck was your highschool sweetheart. That's pretty much definition of mindrape.

NOTE: If efheby WANTS, they can lobotomize you on the spot and turn you into a puppet.

Well, keep in mind that Alshley doesn't post many of the questions / comments. She selects the ones that are the most interesting to her. .

True, but there has been a few posters, and now there are request for Bastion X Ruck I mean, sure yaoi is fine, but the pairing reeks of extremely non-consensual.

I don't think that Ruck wants to be loved. He wants knowledge and abilities and control..

I was going on for what Ruck said and the fact they kinda fall in love with their victims. If you fall in love, you want to be loved back.

[eschmenk]

Please dont call it mindrape though. Its not something so minor. Its murder, pure and simple.

Oh, it's horrible no matter what you call it.

It's a poison that reveals your innermost secrets, can render you pliable to efheby that injected it, and he/she can rewrite your memories/feelings. I mean one bite and you might think Ruck was your highschool sweetheart. That's pretty much definition of mindrape.

NOTE: If efheby WANTS, they can lobotomize you on the spot and turn you into a puppet.

Some of that is from the tumblr, not the comic. That's an example of why I'm ambivalent about the tumblr. On one hand, it can provide excellent background information. On the other, if the information is provided later in the comic, putting the information in the tumblr first can spoil the reveal. I think I'm going to mostly avoid the tumblr, unless I think something really needs explaining.

If you get something from the tumblr, rather than the comic, would you please say so? That way people won't check the wrong place to see where it said so.

I was going on for what Ruck said and the fact they kinda fall in love with their victims. If you fall in love, you want to be loved back.

I don't see where Ruck says so. I think he was avoiding humans until he heard about Duane, then started chasing after Duane and Delicieu.

[-D-]

If you get something from the tumblr, rather than the comic, would you please say so? That way people won't check the wrong place to see where it said so.

Yeah. I was wondering about linking it, but felt lazy I shall strive to be less lazy in future. Anyway, the thing Tumblr is mostly canon (there are some obvious jokes).

The mechanism of Efheby poison was explained somewhat in Tumblr/Comic via Darkest's knife. His knife utilizes Ruck's poison - i.e. it can cut out memories.

I don't see where Ruck says so. I think he was avoiding humans until he heard about Duane, then started chasing after Duane and Delicieu.

Source ch12p64 (panel 3)

NOTE: (Baloon indicates Ruck, text implies Bastion)

I want there to be love between us, as there was between you and Ilganyag. I can make you forget her. You swell my glands in delight! My apetite aches. I must have your Undying man...

Ruck wants same treatment as Lady I. And Lady I from what I gather in story and Tumblr wants love, i.e. passion. Which is consistent with what the more sentient Senet beast want - excitement/stimulus, something to make the infinite existence seem less dull.

[eschmenk]

The mechanism of Efheby poison was explained somewhat in Tumblr/Comic via Darkest's knife. His knife utilizes Ruck's poison - i.e. it can cut out memories.

Yes. That much was kind of explained by Chorley, too. The parts that are still missing from the comic is that Ruck can choose how precise he is and how much damage he causes to the person's mind and that he can add anything to a person's mind. (For the sake of not being misleading, I'll throw in the additional spoilerish information that these are new abilities that Efheby didn't manage to figure out for themselves. Ruck learned it from the Black Tongues. Normally Efheby left their human victims lobotomized, if they survived at all, IIRC. That's why they were hunted to near extinction.)

Source ch12p64 (panel 3)

NOTE: (Baloon indicates Ruck, text implies Bastion)

I want there to be love between us, as there was between you and Ilganyag. I can make you forget her. You swell my glands in delight! My apetite aches. I must have your Undying man...

Good point, although I still get the impression that he wants Bastion's love and cooperation largely for the sake of the information he would get out of Bastion while allowing Bastion to be able to do still more for him. I remember Ashley saying that Efheby wouldn't bother most people because their minds would be too boring, so it's not just a matter of being loved by anyone, evidently.

Ruck wants same treatment as Lady I. And Lady I from what I gather in story and Tumblr wants love, i.e. passion. Which is consistent with what the more sentient Senet beast want - excitement/stimulus, something to make the infinite existence seem less dull.

Yes, I agree now that that seems to be part of it, too. Also, on the next page, "No tears darkest. I thrill when they panic." I think he enjoys any sort of heightened emotion, including love.

A thought just occurred to me. We saw vapors coming off of Bastion's wounds. Could Ruck smell Bastion's emotions via that vapor? Did that help him enjoy Bastion's panic? Was smelling Bastion's fear what attracted Ruck back into the room in the first place? (This is the sort of thing that would tempt me to read the tumblr despite the risk of spoilers. )

[Doran]

Normally Efheby left their human victims lobotomized, if they survived at all, IIRC. That's why they were hunted to near extinction.

The hunt to extinction was initially down to their First Scales being really valuable, and an ancient human tribe having killing them as a right of manhood. So all the kind ones have been killed off leaving the really nasty ones and survivors left. Apparently Efheby venom works benevolently on other senet beasts, allowing mind links, and only physically effects two-toes.

It's just humans where it dissolves the soul.

[eschmenk]

OK, I wound up giving into temptation and catching up on the tumblr posts. After this, it's no wonder people asked her what the original dialog would have been.

Also:

Good point, although I still get the impression that he wants Bastion's love and cooperation largely for the sake of the information he would get out of Bastion while allowing Bastion to be able to do still more for him.

OK, I'll guess -D- is discounting that a bit since it was edited in. Originally, it was more about Bastion himself.

The hunt to extinction was initially down to their First Scales being really valuable, and an ancient human tribe having killing them as a right of manhood. So all the kind ones have been killed off leaving the really nasty ones and survivors left.

Yes, I forgot Ashley saying that much. The rest I just didn't talk about.

Hopefully more of the stuff about the venom and souls/minds will be explained in the comic. Sometimes her tumblr answers aren't very clear. I'm a little confused about some of the details after reading her replies.

[-D-]

OK, I'll guess -D- is discounting that a bit since it was edited in. Originally, it was more about Bastion himself.

Hopefully more of the stuff about the venom and souls/minds will be explained in the comic. Sometimes her tumblr answers aren't very clear. I'm a little confused about some of the details after reading her replies.

No, I just think - based on Tumblr, that Efhebies fall in love with their "prey". Ruck isn't that different from Lady I. He scours Earth for interesting people to drink their memories. Lady I scours Khert for interesting memories, and people to entice into castration.

Ruck takes much interest in exceptional humans. Too much interest for it to be platonic. I could be wrong.

-----------------

Yeah, I would love to hear more in comic about memory poison. I'm just impatient.

[lord_khaine]

Bastions comment about "may i have my balls back? i wrote my name on them" were really badass as well though.

[eschmenk]

Yes, Word of God is that they do fall in love with their victims. It's impossible to argue with that. I would classify it as platonic, though.

I'm not sure if you are using the word "platonic" quite correctly, though. In any case, I think it's about the mind, not about sexual contact. Not only didn't Ashley mention sex in the answer I just mentioned, Efheby can't reproduce. I don't know what, if anything, they can do sexually. They might be as obsessive regarding their victims as someone in a sexual relationship, but it still would still have to be classified as platonic, I think.

I also think that Ruck's fascination with Bastion extends to what Bastion has done and what he might do in the future. If he traveled all the way to Sharteshane to find Duane, he must have been pretty interested in him. Also, Ruck seemed to be trying to talk Bastion into cooperating voluntarily, rather than trying to bit him. He evidently wanted to keep Bastion productive.

Wait! Ruck couldn't have been thinking of making Duane a victim, could he? Duane doesn't even have a circulatory system to envenom. I could imagine Ruck being very fascinated with Duane's experiences, though. He's lived experienced a very unusual life set of experiences.

[-D-]

I'm not sure if you are using the word "platonic" quite correctly, though. In any case, I think it's about the mind, not about sexual contact. Not only didn't Ashley mention sex in the answer I just mentioned, Efheby can't reproduce. I don't know what, if anything, they can do sexually. They might be as obsessive regarding their victims as someone in a sexual relationship, but it still would still have to be classified as platonic, I think.

I also think that Ruck's fascination with Bastion extends to what Bastion has done and what he might do in the future. If he traveled all the way to Sharteshane to find Duane, he must have been pretty interested in him. Also, Ruck seemed to be trying to talk Bastion into cooperating voluntarily, rather than trying to bit him. He evidently wanted to keep Bastion productive.

I don't consider stalker with a bludgeon a platonic relationship. I'm not sure what to use tbh. It's akin to vampire and his next meal.

They can't reproduce, but they can get dirty. Or so Tumblr says.

Anonymous asked: Are efheby male or female?
They can be either. As the last of the senet beasts, they were created once the gods had a pretty clear idea of sexual dimorphism, so there are efheby slithering about with boobs and girl bits. Ruck has a penis sheathed somewhere under all those tentacles. They’re a sterile species though, and can’t reproduce. Reproduction didn’t happen until the khert came about and the second world began.

Ruck has fascination with Bastion's memories, and Ruck can see his memories if he uses poison. Problem is, do you trust Ruck to not take some intriguing memory for himself?

[eschmenk]

It's akin to vampire and his next meal.

I wouldn't go quite that far. I think Ruck would be willing to not bite Bastion if Bastion cooperates. That's what the bribery was for. He was hoping to win Bastion over.

Unfortunately, that probably wouldn't last forever. If Bastion stops producing things that are wonderful enough, then Ruck might try to mind rape Bastion. And Bastion would have to forget about his charitable doctoring, probably.

[-D-]

New comic.

Apparently Bastion had a sexual encounter with a Efheby. Although, knowing Bastion and his Everything with a Vagina policy (as far as we know), it's not that surprising.

[eschmenk]

New comic.

Apparently Bastion had a sexual encounter with a Efheby. Although, knowing Bastion and his Everything with a Vagina policy (as far as we know), it's not that surprising.

Yeah, being castrated hasn't slowed him down much. Maybe being a doctor has its perks?

Who was At'gwe? Apparently he was someone killed, in addition to Ballanstern, but how did Bastion know him? I'm pretty sure I recognize the name, but I don't remember why. At'gwe was important in the old roleplay session that Unsounded is based upon, apparently, but I'm not sure if he's been seen or mentioned in the comic.

[-D-]

Yeah, being castrated hasn't slowed him down much. Maybe being a doctor has its perks?

Who was At'gwe? Apparently he was someone killed, in addition to Ballanstern, but how did Bastion know him? I'm pretty sure I recognize the name, but I don't remember why. At'gwe was important in the old roleplay session that Unsounded is based upon, apparently, but I'm not sure if he's been seen or mentioned in the comic.

They cut of his balls, not his rod. Maybe he enjoys attention, or, as you say maybe he has a pymary that enhances the blood/hormone flow on demand. Maybe with his balls, he'd be like a sex maniac.

[eschmenk]

Who was At'gwe? Apparently he was someone killed, in addition to Ballanstern, but how did Bastion know him? I'm pretty sure I recognize the name, but I don't remember why. At'gwe was important in the old roleplay session that Unsounded is based upon, apparently, but I'm not sure if he's been seen or mentioned in the comic.

Or maybe "At'gwe" is just an expression? Using google, I found an old roleplay page in which Bastion begins a few sentences with "At'gwe." It seems to be used something like, "Oh, God" or "Damn!"

[-D-]

Or maybe "At'gwe" is just an expression? Using google, I found an old roleplay page in which Bastion begins a few sentences with "At'gwe." It seems to be used something like, "Oh, God" or "Damn!"

Confirmed by Tumblr.

[Randomguy]

New comic.

Apparently Bastion had a sexual encounter with a Efheby. Although, knowing Bastion and his Everything with a Vagina policy (as far as we know), it's not that surprising.

When did this come up before?