...so, yeah, this was one of the harder scenes to draw.
I really wanted this to work as Fantasy Trauma for the constructed situation of a Fantasy Being, and not, like, "oh, it's just a metaphor for [known type of human trauma]." The burst of light in the largest panel is supposed to recall Sister Lily's glowing outburst from the cult-suicide scene -- whatever kind of soul-magic she's trying to do, it is (a) not in her normal operating procedures and (b) hurting her to reach for.
There are, also, panels where the framing and the staging is suggestive of a sexual-assault scene. Any time your Fantasy Trauma involves a violation of bodily autonomy, I think those parallels are going to come up. So yeah, this was supposed to invoke it. But, again, not to lean on it too hard.
Is it violently distressing for Patrick? Absolutely. Does Cohen's willingness to do this to a Being indicate that he'd be just as willing to inflict an all-too-human violation on another person? No.
(SCOOT) Patrick: Hold on — maybe think about this — Cohen: Hey! No tryin’ to run off. Stay. Patrick: Please stop! (GRAB) Cohen: Let go of me. Why’re you all of a sudden questioning Master’s orders, huh? Patrick: Please don’t. Please, please, please — (tremble) Cohen: If you can’t go along w’this peacefully, at least do it quietly. (CHOKE) (SMUDGE) Patrick: AIIIIEEEEEEEEEE Cohen: I said quietly! Stop hurting! I’m gonna fix it, okay, so stop screaming — (SCHLORP) (whimper) (FLEE)
4 thoughts on “Annotated Chapter 19 Page 22-23”
HKMaly
Would Cohen be willing to inflict an “all-too-human violation” on unshaped being? Probably. However, we already know that the being would only care about it when explicitly ordered to. For being, this was much worse than anything sexual.
Some Ed
We’ve also seen that Cohen regrets this and probably wouldn’t do it again. But I don’t think he understands the issue apart from what it cost him.
Erat Faciendum
There’s a little bit more here for translation. I can make out ‘~Patrick~ IS THE NAME EV THE BEING EV A TELKIEN GEEK – BVESTION THE VENT EV THE HANDWRITING OF – IS CALLED DEVE-‘. ‘Dewey library hand’ maybe?
I like the implication that ALL being owners are Tolkien geeks, even the ones that predated him.
The tablets on page 17 are too pixelly for me to decipher.
Erin Ptah
Aha, that’s a symptom of me copying the text for Luthien’s contract, and just swapping out the name!
And yes, Dewey Library Hand is the handwriting font for Tansy — the end of the phrase came up in your first transcription.
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