juan-an-ordinarylynx said:
this is not going to end well

I wouldnt be suprised if a ship ends up sailing with these two.

I foresee her going full Elric.

Also I had suspicions about the fact Madelyn is 13. If that is even true.

I mean:

She could be lying about her age.

Basitins may age like humans but that does not mean they necessarily mature like them (full maturity at a younger age or lower legal adult age being military minded)

For all we know Basitin culture could be an allegory/ inspired by middle eastern culture.

Because with how she acts there's no way she either isn't an adult or isn't expected to be one. I mean she's also a princess for a military people so that might contribute.

the fact she's trying to map out the house is concerning. and with her saying it's for "military" reasons, means she's planning something.

Madness "Square up"

So adorable. Maddie's got a size complex (possibly height, but given the Basitin species' love of training, her lack of muscle tone may be a sore spot).

I'm sure it will end up somewhat silly in the next page. I can sense it in the force.

yugijak said:
For all we know Basitin culture could be an allegory/ inspired by middle eastern culture.

I've always seen them as Jappanese. The whole total dedication to their culture with no counter-culture in sight. That's just my take on it at least

Bee-You-Double-El said:
I've always seen them as Jappanese. The whole total dedication to their culture with no counter-culture in sight. That's just my take on it at least

Well that too. Maybe I was thinking of the Eastern with that...well... middle East thing.

Would still fit my point though.

Bee-You-Double-El said:
I've always seen them as Jappanese. The whole total dedication to their culture with no counter-culture in sight. That's just my take on it at least

Except that Japan kinda has tons of counterculture; they did even in the Edo period.

You shouldn't look too closely for RL counterparts to these fantasy cultures. They take small bits of inspiration from lots of places, but at the end they're their own thing. Hell, there are a few elements about the Basitins that resemble stereotypical fantasy dwarves.

Iago1 said:
Except that Japan kinda has tons of counterculture; they did even in the Edo period.

You shouldn't look too closely for RL counterparts to these fantasy cultures. They take small bits of inspiration from lots of places, but at the end, they're their own thing. Hell, there are a few elements about the Basitins that resemble stereotypical fantasy dwarves.

well yeah, naturally it derives from multiple fantasy writing tropes, but all I meant was Feudal Japan wasn't the best time for individualism, and their culture was so secluded that not a whole lot of outside-influence came in. from my time living in Japan, and studying their 'Yee-olden-samurai-times' as they called it, i saw lots of similarities to them in the Basitian. take for example; samurai literally killing themselves to restore honor, and Keith attempting harakiri when he refused to kill to restore HIS lost honor.
But again, that's just my interpretation. no wrong answers and all that.

Bee-You-Double-El said:
well yeah, naturally it derives from multiple fantasy writing tropes, but all I meant was Feudal Japan wasn't the best time for individualism, and their culture was so secluded that not a whole lot of outside-influence came in. from my time living in Japan, and studying their 'Yee-olden-samurai-times' as they called it, i saw lots of similarities to them in the Basitian.

That's a pretty pop culture way of looking at things. Japan actually reached its height of social liberalism during the isolation period; the Samurai were getting outdated, the lucky ones moving to civil service, while the unlucky lived on government subsidies and became little more than petty thugs. But popular culture was booming, Kabuki actors were idolized like modern rockstars, complete with their own fanclubs, posters and so on, and Ukiyo-e-artists were like proto-cartoonists, making cheap, colorful art for the masses, that was often satirical or erotic. And up to unprecedented 80% of the adult population could read and write, and up to 60% of them wrote poetry as a casual hobby.

In that environment, where merchants and entertainers, the bottom class of the society became rich, while the soldiers, the top dogs, became poor, all kinds of subcultures flourished in spite of the suppressive government. The whole myth of the Japanese monoculture really only was formed after the isolationist period was done, and Japan was rushing to be recognized as an equal to the Western countries. So much of the militaristic, honor-obsessed, monolithic people that they came to be stereotyped as only became a national ideology during the late 19th century!

Murder on the horizon.

Thank iago for reminding of the meijinr estauration,bakumatsu, and all that.

You also forget to mention that Japan use to be uqite open on the sexual subject,before the meijin restauration, and Basatin are prudish so it doesn't really fit.

Softporn_only_nodirt said:
Murder on the horizon.

Thank iago for reminding of the meijinr estauration,bakumatsu, and all that.

You also forget to mention that Japan use to be uqite open on the sexual subject,before the meijin restauration, and Basatin are prudish so it doesn't really fit.

Well, we don't exactly know why the eastern and western Basitins are so split yet, so it could be connected (western Basitins being typically very close to naked and even eastern ones having a policy of "tasteful nudity" trumping their usual policies).