Official "Discuss the latest page" thread

[charles]

Happy Birthday David.

Also: Not platypus! Ornithorhynchus paradoxus!
(points for whoever gets the reference, although it'll probably only be David or some other fellow Australian.)

Also remember that "Just last year" could mean January of the previous year when they're in December of the current year (i.e. roughtly 23 months appart). I remember it being mentioned early on that the war had been going for a year around when Kari joined the Niobids. I get the impression she's only been with them for maybe 4 months.

[David]

I need to update my timeline at some point, but I can tell you that the war began in Feb, 2688. The Prologue started in Dec 2688, and Chapter 10 started on the 14th March, 2689.

[genejoke]

Just twigged the buffy reference on the latest page. Obviously it's one of many but it took me a while to twig.

[tau.ceti]

Actually, I'd love to learn to read cuneiform, I've heard tell though that it is one of the hardest languages to learn. However, the British museum is looking for volunteers to help translate all the many, many tablets they have collected over the years and if you volunteer your time I'm sure one or two of the faculty would be happy to give you a passing knowledge of the language. I hope I'm right here when you're speaking about ancient Sumerian, I'm fairly sure Cuneiform is their written language.

[shue2a]

Hi, I'm not a gamer and I can read a bit of Sumerian! My username is actually my name from Sumerian language class. It's tricky because it's logographic and split-ergative, and not proven to be related to any other know languages. I got about as far as being able to read a door stone saying "So-and-so the King, the mighty man, the king of the four quarters, built this," but that's about it. Also, many cuneiform tablets are about the size of a postage stamp, with a curved surface and the marks all jammed together.
Anyway, I'm really enjoying the comic, so thank you for putting in all the work to make it!

[David]

Hi, I'm not a gamer and I can read a bit of Sumerian! My username is actually my name from Sumerian language class.

You, my friend, have reminded me that I have the best readers in the world

[angusj]

Hi David - re Game of Thrones ...
yes, it's excellent - both the books and the TV version too. The chap who plays Tyrion in particular is superb, but all the acting is first rate and compliments fantastic story line. I'm now reading the latest book - Dance of Dragons (Kindle version), no 5 in the series - which was released 2 days ago. Book 4 was a little disappointing but book 5 is again back to Martin's best.
Also, if you're enjoying GoT, you may also like Rome and Deadwood, both also gripping HBO productions. However, like GoT some scenes in these are a little too graphic for my sensibilities. (I think you can only get Rome on DVD in Aus. at the moment.)

[skythorn]

I would have never thought that there would be a population of ancient sumarian literati connected to this webcomic.

Completely bizzare, but wonderful.

On another thought, page 29 of Chapter 12 was stunning. Beautiful world work. I just LOVE the scene of the delicate atmosphere and girded clouds seen below. A beautiful and haunting pass through of the fighters past the freighter. Love your work Dave. Just love your work.

[cbhacking]

Interesting about the new fighters... I would have thought that given the mass-production nature of fighters, such displays would be too expensive. I suppose it lets them armor the cockpit a bit better (though how much mass can a fighter afford?) but in any case it represents either a major difference in the cost of the technology, or a very different thought process in the importance and financial value of an individual fighter.

I guess I'm reminded of Star Wars - Imperial fighters had no shields and no hyperdrive, but were mass produced and there were always people to fly them. Rebel pilots were in much more limited supply, but their fighters could take a couple of hits on the shields and operate without carrier support to some degree. Of course, the Imperials were the bad guys...

[CygnusX1]

Those actually look like Cylon fighters!