May 022012
 


Peterdivine wrote:
Katia: Cut your losses.
Find shelter. Get to the church now.
Only thing worse than being a Khajit conned naked out of all her stuff is being a wet, sick Khajit conned naked out of all her stuff.


Snikers wrote:
You do not make good decisions when you are emotional. Find a quiet place, cry yourself out and take stock of the situation when you’re a little more lucid.


Unclevertitle wrote:
You know what, Katia? Forget the stupid letter in the trash. Rushing desperately after a stupid letter isn’t getting you anywhere and will just get you naked wet and probably taking shelter in a trash can.


Self-Loathing wrote:
You know that you can’t fix this. You can’t fix anything. You never could. It’s always been this way. Just when you think things are looking up, you slip and suddenly your lower than ever before.


Self-Loathing wrote:
You can’t change that.


Self-Loathing wrote:
You’re not smart or strong or determined enough.


ArcaneMonkey wrote:
The gods want you to fail, to fall?
Fuck ’em
You are Katia FUCKING Managan.
You will not stand for this.
You’re going to end up a pitiful wreck, disappointing every friend you ever hoped to make?
Fuck all this.
You are KATIA FUCKING MANAGAN.

You’re not Katia Managan. You’re not a budding wizard. You’re not even a real person.

You’re just some dumb stray animal that tries its goddamn hardest to please absolutely anyone and always fucks up anyway.

  • stupidjellyfish

    I-…

    Just don’t know anymore.

    • Memory

      Well, back to the booze or the strip club… At least that we know Katia can do right.

      • Lopus Etterie

        There’s more to life than swinging around a pole, darlin’.

        • MIke

          Not for Katia… Not any more..

  • Keeria

    So sad. I don’t even know what to think when I see updates like this. Poor Katia.

    • xwinnor

      I like the part when katia got her stuff back…

      • Airedar

        When has she ever gotten her stuff back? Really?

        Also, inb4 drunkenness and Quill-Weave’s deep disappointment. I see here a conveniently placed bit of alcohol. YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED, K. And I’d thought Katia was better than this now. Ah well.

        • Lopus Etterie

          It could just be an empty bottle, or it could just be a failed potion.

          Or even some of Sigrid’s perfume.

          You never know.

  • Steve Potluck

    I was wondering when we would get an update with few words.

    • ThePinkPanzer

      I was wondering when you would be grateful you got anything.

      • Me

        Come on, we’re readers. We can appreciate what we have, but what’s wrong with wishing for something different?

      • Steve Potluck

        I am not complaining, I am merely commenting on there being few words. Awhile ago I wondered to myself if Kazerad would make a really crushing update using few words to drive home how bad the shit has hit the fan. Less equals more, right?

        • ChetBetera

          Minimalism? Sure, why not?

          • Not quite minimalism, we’re dealing with something that’s more akin to a comic here, where we have the use of text and images.

            It’s pretty common for a comic to cut down on the words and focus on the images when trying get something with a strong emotional impact across. Steve was just wondering when this would happen given that emotion is something this strip tends to deliver on.

  • ClancyDamon

    Oh gods! That mighty black&white leap at the garbage, teeth-bared and eyes on fire had me hoping against hope that she’d be able to make up for SOMETHING! That she could earn, not just get, but earn even a trivial piece of trash as a symbol for hope. One meaningless scrap that could help her just make it through the night!

    But she couldn’t even have that, could she?

    I don’t know Kaz. I’m not going to be one of these “DONE!” assholes as I love the shit out of this comic, but I’m starting to think /co/ is right – you have a misery fetish and are getting off on this.

    • FiveForty

      That is the whole point of this series. Maybe not to fetishistic levels but the subtitle IS “Making a cat cry: the adventure”.

      Katia is destined to fail until the day Kaz sees fit to change the direction of the series. I like it like this because it’s well written and the trial-by-fire character development is top notch. I feel like I know Katia personally from seeing the things she goes through. There will come a time when making Katia fail repeatedly might get repetitive and things will have to end or move forward, but I don’t think it’s happened yet.

      • Katia’s guardian angel

        Many people here follow prequel for katia … not for making someone cry … of course it makes a good story and all and its the creators decision. But crying can be in a funny way and in a depressive way … were reading this for our own fun, not to feel miserable.

        I really like the story, and I’d like to just once point out to that =^.^= Keep up the good work but don’t fall too deep or it will start to become an emo comic and who wants that *blink¨*

        • steampunkLocket

          He’s doing this so he can keep us faithful that Katia’s destiny will change for the better. Don’t you guys read Pratchett?

          “What good’s a god who gives you everything you want? … It’s the HOPE that’s important. Give people jam today, and they’ll just sit and eat it. Jam tomorrow, now — that’ll keep them going for ever.”

          Since as an author he’s technically the GOD of this comic…. yeah, you get where i’m going.

          • Glamador

            What you misunderstand about Pratchett’s words there is that he refers to a god that takes a HANDS OFF approach. One who lets things fall as they may. Look at Om in Small Gods. Hell, look at the whole plot of Small Gods.

            Don’t CREATE terrible situations just so there can be hope later…that defeats the whole purpose. In fact, talking about a Discworldian god outside the context of Discworld is a bit silly. The author doesn’t feed on Katia’s belief. He has no reason to dump on her and make her hope. And regardless, these situations don’t even FOSTER hope.

            I suppose you could say that WE are his worshipers and that he feeds on our hope. But by repeatedly destroying any progress Katia makes all he does is make his readers predict her future failures. Hope means predicting that GOOD things will happen. I’m losing my hope that this story will ever turn out well.

            But I’m okay with that. What irks me is that it all feels so BLOODY EFFING CONTRIVED. Inventing new ways to fail over and over again just for the hell of it. It doesn’t feel like a parody or a satire, commenting on how the world can throw shit at us. It makes us *actually* care about Katia. And when that happens the humor in these situations dissolves. It doesn’t feel *real* but it doesn’t feel *fake* either. I can’t be invested without feeling sad, and I can’t see the humor in it because I care too much.

            This story commits the cardinal sin of being serious but not being believable.

          • FiveForty

            Glamador, that’s just it though, you say that the way the things are going in this story makes you feel sorry for Katia and makes you care a lot about her, its not humorous when these things happen to her, etc – that is the point of this series, IMO. Kaz tries to make us care about what is going on, with the intention of crushing our souls in the palm of his hand. It’s the same reason people watch dramatic movies where bad things happen and the endings are often sad and depressing. You don’t watch a movie or anime like that for humor or feel-good happy times, and I don’t think Prequel is any different, aside from there being some humor sprinkled around here and there.

            I don’t feel that the events are contrived either, honestly. You have to remember that the time in Oblivion is different from ours, the people here live day-to-day in what we would consider poverty, in a world where your only income is to provide a skill, a trade. Today, tradeskills are unnecessary to thrive but during the time that Oblivion mimics, you either provided a service or you were royalty, or a beggar. Katia is a beggar.

          • hostergaard

            >That is the whole point of this series. Maybe not to fetishistic levels but the subtitle IS “Making a cat cry: the adventure”.

            But it is making me cry! ;_;

            Poor Katia…

          • Brandik

            hope is a new spoon
            still useless, but still hope

          • Zerithos

            Horripilation.

  • Ames

    [Nelson] Ha ha [/Nelson]

  • Norexico

    http://i48.tinypic.com/2myzq6o.jpg

    And I’ll say it again!

    • ukstriker

      I love you. If she met Sheogorath this series would probably ascend to an unfathomable level of fantastic feline fun.

      • Dr. Curiosity

        I have this sneaking suspicion that we are, in fact, Sheogorath.

        • Liv

          That… Actually makes a lot of sense.

        • Al_434

          But… She can’t be… Sheogorath is Sheogorath…

          • Sheogorath

            And how could you know i’m me? Have you met me before? I don’t recall you bumping around the Isles and… wait… HASKIIL, GET OVER HERE!

          • Haskill

            I live to serve.

          • Pan’o’war

            Sheogorath in Skyrim is implied to be the Hero of Cyrodiil…even if that hero was an argonian/khajiit.

          • Will

            Actually, its just that in that timeline, the hero was a male Imperial/Nord/Brenton/whatever.

            Then again, Sheogorath probably transforms to fit in everywhere. So, that brings up a question: Why? In all of Nirn, would a Daedra who used to be a noble-fearing female Khajit ever want to transform into a rich, kooky old white guy?

            I think we all know why.

            Poor, poor, poor, Katia’s mind. ITS ALL YOUR FAULT, CYRODIL!

        • TheTurnipKing

          She’s more like a pawn of the god of misery.

  • Ransom

    Kazerad, I just wanted to say I found this very well done. Seeing her react against all those user comments (elements of her own subconscious) and try, only to see it all come down like this, really does pull the heart strings. The timing between panels and user comments/commands is great.

    I picked up the comic just about the time she sat down with Sigrid, so while I’ve seen Katia hit a bout of depression before, this is the first time I’ve seen in in ‘webcomic’ time, with the knowledge that I’ll have to wait days to see how the situation resolves.

    I’m pulling that this time, when she hits rock bottom, she won’t find her refuge in a bottle or something worse (dare I even imagine).

    • Kazerad

      Thank you! I’m actually pretty relieved this one turned out okay (since, as a dude, I secretly get all insecure when I have to write about feelings). And because the lack of narration makes it pretty different from the earlier scene it echoes.

      • Rii the Wordsmith

        For being insecure about writing feelings, you do an excellent job. Katia’s always come off as tangible and not just her feelings of fear and sorrow.

        I totally didn’t notice the similarities between the crypt and now…but that’s actually super awesome. ^_^ You’re a fantastic writer, even if you are slowly twisting most of your reader’s heartstrings into a tangled mess.

        Actually that’s just another mark of your skill.

      • Dragon

        Wait, the author isn’t a girl?
        …I seem to making that mistake a lot…

    • KuZaganHW

      I started reading about the same time, I was so sad when I realized that I was stuck with my friends waiting day by day to find out Katia’s fate. You can do it Katia! Somehow >.<

  • I finally caught up! (pant pant) This story is great so far, thank you Kaz! (Hi everyone)

    –H

  • Ransom

    Aaaaaand I just noticed the bottle lying there. I’m actually getting a bit tense now.

    • Ryuujin

      Who throws full bottles in the garbage though?

      Oh wait… the cyrodiils do; always finding perfectly good drinks in the garbage

  • Ray

    THIS IS SO EMO NOW

  • FuzzyZergling

    All of my sad ;n;

    • Brandik

      come on, turn that ;n; into an ;u;
      no, wait, that looks stupid

  • thatnewgirl

    Sometimes the updates make me want to cry myself to sleep. I guess I’m okay with that.

    • dude

      shut the fuck up bitch

      Uncool!! – Kazerad

      • TheSterlingKnight

        A bit excessive no?

        • Ransom

          Normally I’d just say “don’t feed the troll,” but I agree. Totally unnecessary.

      • patrick

        You need to calm down. Take a time out even.

      • Lopus Etterie

        You need a huge glass of “Grow the fuck up” right now.

  • Feyla

    Yay! an update on my birthday!
    wait, this is Prequel…

    Yay! Depression on my birthday!

  • Owenman2000

    This, This right here is a very powerful page. There’s so much emotion in the sheer bravado, desperation and futility that Katia conveys as she denies what seems to be her better judgement to keep the foundation that she is a new person. The need to know for herself that she isn’t the promiscuous cultist and jailbird who had no future except her bad reputation.

    This is why people grow so attached to Katia. We have all had that desperate struggle where, deep down, we knew we would fail.

    And why she cannot take that bottle of booze. She HAS to win next time. For us.

    • stupidjellyfish

      Agreed.

      One of the best scenes this webcomic ever had.

    • Ryuujin

      Us…
      …You mean, that voice of self loathing that taunts her into a fireball slinging rage and laughs at her failures and eggs her on to go well diving or go on vampire blood drives just to see how that could go wrong?

      Yeah, I can just see her wanting to win *for us*, as opposed to drinking herself into a voiceless stupor :p

      • Rii the Wordsmith

        Hey, being a schizophrenic is hard! She’s going to have to learn what voices to listen to, and what voices to ignore.

  • tech

    DRINK!!!

    • David Argall

      That seems like very bad advice, but just maybe that will result in her waking dry in a nice bed, and just maybe her bedmate will be willing to help.

      • tech

        That would be an ecumenical matter…

        • cheesybob1

          Yes!

      • Grendel

        her first bedmate mugged her for all her stuff afterwards, her second was a necromancer, and possibly a skeleton, 3rd time’s the charm?

        • Rii the Wordsmith

          Three lefts make a right, right?

          But no matter how many lefts make a right, no amount of wrongs do.

          • WellThen

            Well, it’s either that or a visit from our favourite royal eldritch horrors again.

        • Sarria22

          Hey, at least the necromancer was a decent guy. Before the first guy killed him any way.

  • Sanic da Hegehog

    Next time:
    How to accidentally seal an oblivion gate while completely naked with an amulet of silence.

    Why’d the gate close after Kvatch was wrecked?
    Katia Managan.

    • Fast

      Next time:
      Katia joins the Mythic Dawn!

      • Wytsfs

        I would laugh so hard if the reason the megagate they used to invade Kvatch was closed was because Katia somehow accidentaly broke the sigil stone.

  • Rambo Dash

    Whoa. O_O I thought she was going to break the fourth wall for a second at the end…

    • Dr. Curiosity

      The foundations of the fourth wall are already pretty loose around here.

  • YYYEEEEAAAAHHHH

    Fuck you web comic maker. You’re a fucking gay asshole. It’s an ADVENTURE, you ADVENTURE and get BETTER/FASTER/STRONGER/HARDER not LOSE EVERYTHING WE’VE WORKED FOR IN A SINGLE INSTANT.

    Fucking wank. Go learn how to make a real plot line instead of fucking restarting the story all over again and again and again.

    FUCK YOU SPECKLE STICKS, FUCK YOU.

    • I kinda think we need a flagging system for comments. Not a super-high priority, but something that we can mark to hide/remove comments that amount to spam, trolling, and so on.

      Comments like this one.

      Criticism is cool, and so are opinions. Just present them as opinions, instead of this sort of entitled bitching bullshit. If you can’t deal with a bit of tragedy in your comedy, go elsewhere and leave all the people who dig this story in peace.

      • Haha oh wow

        Can’t handle the internet and want a baby flagging system? Get the fuck off it then.

        • Malpercio

          “Haha oh wow” yourself. There’s a difference between being a pussy and highlighting a problem that does in fact need fixing.
          Just like there’s a difference between saying “I don’t like this, I’m done.” and “OMFG YOU PIECE OF SHIT GO DIE BECAUSE YOU WON’T WRITE YOUR STORY THE WAY I WANT IT FOR ME.”

          • Profanity aside, there are some perfectly sensible criticisms in there about the lack of progression and frequent use of the reset button. This isn’t “a bit of tragedy”, this is sadism.

          • Trance

            “this is sadism.”

            No, it really isn’t.

        • > “Can’t handle the internet and want a baby flagging system? Get the fuck off it then.”

          Well, actually yes. A baby-flagging system is apparently just the thing we need.

      • Trance

        +1 vote for the flagging system. I just don’t understand the massive problem people are having with this story. Bad shit happens so Kazerad has a sadism fetish? Fuck straight off.

        As I’ve said in a previous comments section, if you’re looking for a happy story about someone who knows what they’re doing, you’re reading the wrong MSPA. If seeing a character fail at stuff pisses you off so much, you should stay away from literature in general for the sake of your own health.

        Nobody likes to fail, but it happens. It happens a lot more easily than success does. Maybe you’ve not had to face this fact in your life yet, but you will. Until then, you can appreciate a real look into what it looks like without having to go through it.

        (None of this was directed at you Solifuge, btw)

      • Ransom

        I’m afraid I agree. Some of the comments have begun to turn especially ugly, demeaning and mean spirited lately.

      • Grendel

        to be fair, this is sort of the 3rd time it’s gone back to naked katia with nothing but an amulete and painted on underwear, but it could of been presented a little bit more intelligently.

        • kabecca

          Well, Rule of Three is a big trope, right? Maybe this’ll be the last time.

        • NoriMori

          It was handled very intelligently already. I’m not sure what more you could possibly be expecting out of it.

    • Noctantis

      Cry some more. Sometimes shit happens. Sometimes things don’t go as planned. Not every adventure is a success. You want that? Go read something else. You recognize the pattern. I know you wish that it will change, but if it’s gotten to the point where you’re just gonna say “fuck you” to the author who has every right to take the story wherever he damn well pleases, then maybe it’s time to give up. Stop for like a year and come back if you every get curious again. Hell, go play some goddamn Oblivion or Skyrim. Then, every adventure is a success. In real life, not everyone is meant to be a hero. Not everyone is successful whenever it conveniences them or would make them happy.

      A real plot line? This is about as real as it gets. Every protagonist does not equal successful hero who has the adoration of everyone and everything. There’s pieces of literature crawling everywhere with stories of successful heroes. Hell, there’s stories of struggle too. And improvement over time. Why not one about the failures? Or the ones who have much too hard of a rough start? There’s a story there, too, you know.

    • steampunkLocket

      I’m a sneak skill level 100 with all of them sneak perks. When i go around stealing CLOTHES off of people, this is how THEY must feel afterwards. Think like this when you play Skyrim next time so you can ‘FUCK YOU’ at yourself all day long, because you are the author of your own story progression.

      For the record, i don’t even think you’ll read far enough into the comments criticizing you to get to mine, but it’s worth a try.

    • tech

      RAEG much?

    • lawl

      Don’t ever read A Song of Ice and Fire. Ever.

      • Link

        Oh god, you’re the best for bringing that up =D

        This is like ASoIaF Lite =P

        That said I personally love both to death =)

    • Delta9-11

      lol….wow…just…how childish. 🙂 Don’t like, don’t read. I for one Love this comic.

    • Smoky

      yea we REALLY are forgetting its called making a cat cry: the adventure XD

    • tech

      “Hello, 911? yeah, I need a whaaambulance, stat!”

      • ArcaneMonkey

        that burn was so sick it started some fires

    • Lopus Etterie

      Grow up you little faggot.

      First of all: Using “Gay” as an insult just makes you seem like a complete ass.
      Second of all: Go drink a big, fat jug of “Grow the fuck up” and choke on it.

      • Steve Potluck

        Please tell me your reply was for irony’s sake. I refuse to believe you would open with the exact same insult that you would then attempt to correct him over.

  • Fuck off Kazerad

    Fuck off and die in a fire

    • robotnik

      Umm… a little extreme much? I have to admit I’m getting sick of all this goth c*** too but… really? Let kaz do his goth emo story the way he wants it even if its depressing as living s*** if you have nothing nice to say… shut up lol (trolololololololo)

      • ArcaneMonkey

        agreed
        the depression is part of the true charm of this story
        don’t lie, you love it whenever Katia gets back up again and keeps going
        but she’s got to be knocked down to do that
        this time she got knocked down HARD
        but just imagine what she will be like when she gets back up

        • robotnik

          easy there Monkey… i never said i was happy about it being depressing. in fact this comic makes me more cynical every day i read it, but when it comes down to it, me b****ing in the comments section isn’t going to effect anything in the story what so ever. i do sometimes agree with the people giving him c***, mainly because Kaz had the nerve to get us attached to a character than doom her to sadness and failure >: /. THAT DOES NOT HOWEVER GIVE THE PEOPLE WHO DO WANT TO SEE CHANGE A FREE LICENSE TO BE VULGAR AND RUDE!!! even though recently his story has not been fun to read in my opinion, you have to respect that this is the way he wants to write it and nothing you say (especially in the way people are saying it) is going to change Katia’s luck. until Kaz feels like letting it happen, this story is not gonna get any better for Katia no matter what choices people make… and now i’m mad again 🙁

    • Lopus Etterie

      Another person who needs a nice, hearty glass of “Grow the fuck up”.

  • stupidjellyfish

    ^
    Kaz works his ass off making these things. Fuck off and stop experiencing what you personally despise.

    • Haha oh wow

      Maybe he can go and work his ass off doing something productive for society instead of fucking pawning off his bestiality-sadism fetish on the internet for sick fucks like you to eat up.

      • Norexico

        Go and vent your closet furry rage somewhere else, fucker.

        “pawning off”, fuckin furry.

        • Watch out guys

          Holy shit using the phrase “pawning off” = furry now? Go project some more.

          • Katia’s guardian angel

            :S

        • tech

          “Pawning off” means selling something for a fraction of it’s original price.

          • Grendel

            and could make a good bad pun for fire

        • Norexico

          Can’t believe I typed all that… My apologies to everyone, I had a bad day when I wrote it. And I was drunk. Sorry.

          I still stand that that “haha oh wow” guy is a motherfucker, though. Man up and take web comics as they are.

      • Doggod101

        Oh my god I just realised that Bethesda and Valve and every game company are actually not doing anything productive at all! and writers who needs them right what are they getting done anyway just putting words and letters on paper how stupid. You sir are a f*cking idiot and “bestiality” if you want to be mad at someone for that go be mad at Bethesda and in the first place it’s not “bestiality” at all.

      • Doggod101

        Actually I’m not quite satisfied with my last comment it could be better written here is my revised copy: Oh my god I just realised that Bethesda and Valve and every other game company are actually not doing anything productive at all! and writers don’t get me started who needs them right? what are they getting done anyway just putting words and letters on paper how stupid. You sir are a f*cking idiot and “bestiality” if you want to be mad at someone for that go be mad at Bethesda and in the first place it’s not “bestiality” at all. Bestiality is having sex with an animal or being physically attracted to an animal such as a bear or fox or even different primates. Now on the other hand there are “furries” who are physically attracted to bipedal human like figures with animalistic qualities such as tails, fur, paws, muzzle/snout, etc.

        • I’m sorry in advance, but

          everyone involved in this argument is wasting their time. There are much better things to do than try to change someone’s mind on such an undeniably inconsequential matter. That pursuit is not only hopeless, but wrong; everyone is entitled to their perspective. Getting angry over any given opinion is…

          less than admirable. Certainly ill-advised.

          ~take a chill pill~

        • Oh yeah, also

          Both sides have valid arguments which could be reasonably defended to one’s dying breath, so don’t go trying to be *right* just because you think you are. It’s just someone’s story so the first guy shouldn’t have gotten upset, and it’s just a comment so the others also shouldn’t have.

          Swallow your pride long enough to realize what you’re doing is foolish.

          • Doggod101

            The thing is you assume I think my opinion is more valid or respectable, I don’t but that does not mean I shouldn’t post it just like the original poster posted his.

          • Doggod101

            And by the way he doesn’t have a valid argument all “Haha oh wow” did was insult the writers and the creator of this comic then insult those who are reading it with no evidence to prove it in any way except in his own mind.

          • Doggod101

            And just because someone hates people with dark skin tones and has some supporting evidence to their claim that they are evil that does not mean he is correct, clearly not everyone is the same. So what I’m saying here is maybe in his mind the people reading are s*ck f*cks but that does not mean they are by popular opinion and even if it is only his opinion that does not allow him to escape criticism or punishment based on that opinion.

          • In conclusion,

            you are hopeless.

  • Baldr

    check the bottle maybe it is a potion not alcohol, if it is a potion or poison find a way to use it if it is alcohol stay clear

    • Grendel

      maybe it’s a chameleon potion, she can sneak back into the guild at some point when the sheild’s down and the door’s unlocked, steal her stuff back, meanwhile taking some ‘donations’ herself

      • Baldr

        but it is a mages guild they are sure to know ways of seeing living things, be it spells or enchanted items

  • Liv

    I was all “please don’t let this end depressing, please don’t let this end depressing”
    And then I cried.

    Another excellent update, but I can’t abandon my naïve wish to see something go well for Katia one day :/ Rest assured I’ll remain loyal to the story.

    • dude

      gay

      • Liv

        No I was sad actually, not gay.

        • patrick

          i see what you did there.

      • steampunkLocket

        gayer

        • Rii the Wordsmith

          The heck is wrong with you.

          • Gillsing

            Well, it would seem as if steampunkLocket believes that gay = wrong, so gayer = more wrong, and that the bad thing that dude did wasn’t the use of “gay” instead of “wrong”, but the disagreement with Liv about this comic update.

            So that’s apparently what’s wrong with steampunkLocket: She doesn’t realise (or care?) that it’s disrespectful to gay people to use their sexual preference as a word for “wrong”.

          • steampunkLocket

            actually you’re wrong, gay means happy (originally) and i meant it that way, because i’m happier than the other guy. Because i’m a sadistic bitch and like to see katia squirm. Also good guess guessing i’m a girl.

          • Score

            I think we can all agree that gay doesn’t mean happy any more.
            Until its use in context becomes a thing again, at least. (When was the last time you heard someone say, “Thanks, I feel a little gayer now” or “That was the gayest day of my life” – while meaning happy and not homosexual?)

  • Zakkeh

    Only way this could be better is if, in those last few panels with the paper in hand, if she just slowly drooped down. Amazing timings, I honestly can’t wait to see what comes next.

  • Realism

    Katia: just fucking kill yourself already.

    • jellicoDace

      that would be far too easy, and wouldnt repay Quill-Weave.

      • Grendel

        and would end the comic quick, unless it focused direction on quill-weave at that point

    • Ryuujin

      She’d probably screw that up too :p – you know, failing at failure

      • steampunkLocket

        How exactly does failing at failure differ from success? Because it’s not really the same. Like… Failing so much you’re approaching success from the other end of the universe.

        • ThatGuy

          She fails so hard when she tries killing herself she closes the Mega Gate.

    • Lopus Etterie

      How about “No”?
      I love Katia. She’s great.
      She’s adorable.
      She works hard, she screws up, and she genuinely makes me feel like there’s someone out there who can relate a little to how I feel.

      Plus, I want to see if giving her sound advice would actually make it go somewhere GOOD.

  • Anon44

    Welp.

    Gonna need to find me some Prozac.

    • R.Yin

      I know it might sound terrible to say this but, your comment gave me the biggest laugh I’ve had in a few days.

      Thank you.

    • tech

      Winners Use Drugs!

  • jellicoDace

    go back to Quill-Weave, tell her what happend. apologize profusely (tears would help, and shouldn’t be hard), then mention you can write, and write well. I dont know if printing presses have been invented, but so far as I know books still need to be written by hand. If they have not been invented yet you have a fail-proof way of repaying her for everything. also, mention you can scribe for the (not Kvatch, never mention Kvatch again. in fact forget the entire city exists) mages guild. thats the best advice I can think of right now. sorry its so little.

    • jellicoDace

      ADDENDUM: STEAL THE PUMKIN THE GARDNER WHAS GROWING, CARVE A FACE AND GIVE AS PRESENT TO QUILL- WEAVE :D. on a slightly less stupid note, you wouldnt be wrong in donating a bit of blood to that vampire for 15 coin, so long as you use a cup and not direct fang-to-neck suckage. then use the coin to buy an apology present. I do hope things go better for you. also you’re cute, never forget that ^_~`

      • tronn

        What pumpkin?

        • steampunkLocket

          exactly.

          • tronn

            -_-
            I saw what you did there…

          • lawl

            No you didn’t.

  • Carbon

    At least, at least get out of the rain. Maybe staying in the church will help? The Gods are infinitely compassionate to mortals, I hear.

    • Ryuujin

      Only if their fame outweighs their infamy… and… that pineapple incident… yeah not even jesus could love katia :p

      • M

        Light gods are a bunch of judgemental prudish douches, it’s not like the pineapple incident makes her a bad person.

        Of course dark gods are opportunistic assholes.

        Generally best to just ignore deities, if everyone does it, they go away. Gods are all attention whores.

        • Hide-of-Scales

          Personally, I don’t think the pineapple trick is the only reason the Eight and One would scorn Katia…

          We have to remember that Katia came here from the province of Hammerfell to start a new life, meaning she’s also trying to get away from her past (a past she’s clearly not proud of… gee, I wonder why…). Just because Katia’s willing to forget what she did doesn’t mean the Nine Divines are just going to also forget… Father Akatosh doesn’t roll like that.

          • forgive and forget

            Forgive and forget. the devines cant scorn katia forever. eventually they would have to forgive her mistakes… i was gonna say shes only human but… well you know :/

          • Weomur

            Sheogorath.

            That’s what we need right now. A good, Oblivion-sized dose of SHEOGORATH.

          • Pan’o’war

            Sheogorath would only make things worse be making her go crazy. Then again, a visit to New Sheoth might be just what she needs…

            Bliss. Not Crucible. GOD not Crucible.

  • amymist

    I think I’m going to be legitimately angry if Katia drinks tonight,

    • knock on wood

      ZIP ZOP BOOBITY BOP back to square one we go… AWAY!!! Never gets old huh? its like playing a game without saving it and starting again every day its so much fun unless you actually want to see any progress being made : ).

      http://cheezburger.com/930790656

  • 65534

    Oh, for the sake of… How can so many people complain about such an ordinary thing?

    When I was unemployed (twice in my life, both time for half a year) every day was like this day for Katia. And I am a wizard (well, the closest thing to a wizard that exists in real life, engineer/embedded systems developer).

    • Hi there 65534, do you mind if I call you $FE?

      –another embedded developer (unemployed for now)

      • 65534

        I am more accustomed to my full name FFFEh.

  • DD

    Oh no. I see a bottle, -hope its empty! What fresh horror is she going to wake up naked next to if she goes for the drink again THIS time? >_>;

    • ThatGuy

      Well technically she is still naked.

  • Retrocombine

    Katia is destined to fail until she realizes CHIM near the beginning of Oblivion.

    Well, maybe.

  • Corovaneer

    I hope Katia won`t drink. That`ll put her right where she was at the beginning, minus the hope for better and every last bit of self-respect.

    Just no.

  • tronn

    YESS! Finally we’re getting back to the basics and make the cat cry. Good work!

  • Halbean

    A solution for this predicament! What to do, what to do? |3

    I do hope that bottle is empty~

  • M

    Oh dear… Katia’s brought to her absolute lowest… and there’s a bottle quite likely containing alcohol nearby.

    On the upside Katia might know two spells now. Maybe she can finally get an apprenticeship. If she has someone to take her under their wing a bit, maybe she’ll be okay… less room to screw up then. Maybe she’s just trying to much. Not many people CAN haul themselves up by their own bootstraps. (Much as everyone seems to think they can, or think they DID when they didn’t and had all the comfortable trappings of a happy middleclass upbringing. When you got absolutely nothing and no skills, life’s harsh.)

    Someone needs to give Katia a REAL break. Quill’s proven quite nice, but she doesn’t have the means to do so.

    Still I like to think there’s more to this story then just torturing poor Katia. Her whole background and personality feel to real. In fact I find her story actually quite realistic, because of how flawed and unlucky Katia is. Real people just aren’t super successful at everything they do and possessed of an unbreakable will. Katia… represents what really happened, especially in even harsher times, to quite a few people who had dreams of moving somewhere else and going rags to riches. For every such success-story, there’s a million failures.

    Poor Katia, she has a sweet well-meaning personality, she might be a bit naive, but that doesn’t mean she deserves this.

    • Rii the Wordsmith

      No one is going to GIVE her a break. If any message should be coming through here, it’s that one.

      Sometimes there is no kind guardian, there is no benevolent mentor, no Oprah.

      My only hope is that Katia doesn’t totally lose that sweet spirit. She needs to lose the naivety but I sure as heck hope she doesn’t become so hardened she loses who she is now entirely.

  • Tormuse

    It took me a moment to realize that the letter she had in her hand spontaneously ripped in half.

    • Rii the Wordsmith

      me too.

      • I didn’t realize that until after reading your two posts! I spent some time looking at that frame before, thinking it looked maybe like some water dripping off whatever she was holding but decided that couldn’t be it, and not understanding why the item kept changing between two sizes. (Well, obviously there were only two frames of that object, but I couldn’t tell which one began the sequence.)

    • Frank

      It’s soggy, because of the rain.

  • Thatbottle

    Should go pick pocket a yoyo,pineapple and some beer/wine and everything shall be good

  • No fak u

    This comic gives me constant Existential crisis.
    Damn you Kazerad and your depressing story ;_;

    • ChetBetera

      You get existential crisis from reading this webcomic?
      I get existential crisis from looking in a mirror!
      Beat that!

      • Katia’s guardian angel

        I get existential crisis from seeing your post

        • KTB

          I get existential crisis everytime i see my jugemental grandparents or whenever a complete stranger makes me feel like a complete dumbass.

      • steampunkLocket

        I get it from going to bed. yeaaaah.

      • tech

        I get existential crisis from thinking too hard, or I’m hungry, or it’s thursday. And Heaven help me if I think too hard while hungry on thursday.

        • Dr. Cynic

          I AM an existential crisis.

          • tech

            you win

  • Lert

    Goddamnit, Katia! Long time reader, first time commenter here. Yes, that’s right, I stopped lurking just to chew your worthless ass out!

    You think you’re so useless. You think you’re so worthless. You think you’re good for absolutely nothing, sitting there kneeling down sobbing in the rain over some trash with your painted-on underwear. And if you think I’m going to tell you that you AREN’T a worthless good-for-nothing sack-o-bones-and-fur sitting there, you’re wrong.

    But let me ask you a few questions. Does this looks like a worthless, good-for-nothing sack of bones and fur to you? Or this? Or this? Or this? Or this?

    Answer: No, they don’t. They look like a fucking apex predator going after her prey. They look like the rage of someone who has been wronged, and who know EXACTLY by whom, and where they’re stuff is.

    Ok, so, you haven’t been able to become successful entirely on your own just yet. Because that bitch Sigrid took your god damn stuff. So, go to the guards, explain the situation. And if that doesn’t help, remember where your stuff is. And remember that you’re a Khajiit. The product of millions of years of evolution. Time to fucking ACT LIKE IT. Find a window, sneak inside, burn down Sigrid’s stuff, get your own stuff back.

    Yeah I know you wanted to live an honest life without crime. Fuck that. You were wronged, and not just a little bit either. You don’t have to sit there and take it. You’ve got a spine. Those pictures of you prove it.

    • Grendel

      Sigrid’s got piles of gold everywhere, don’t burn it down, TAKE IT

    • Rii the Wordsmith

      Problem with going to the guards:

      1. Sigrid made Katia sign papers saying she gave the stuff willingly.
      2. Sigrid can/has used her charm on EVERYONE.
      3. Even if she hadn’t, Sigrid > Katia in respectability, notoriety, and station, and the guards will take her word over Katia’s any day.

      Sigrid was careful. That’s how you know she’s honestly evil.

  • TechSmurf

    There’s only so depressing this story can be– she’s still a wizard (kind of), and that’s awesome.

    • SciencceGuy

      It would be awesome if she wasn’t in a world in which even the merchants can use spells.
      //trollface

      • Rii the Wordsmith

        You know what’s awesome?

        Being able to use magic in a world where everyone can use magic.
        Considering what the alternative suckage is.

  • Blacky

    Now now Katia, no reason to be depressed. You just have to look at the bright side of things!

    I’m singing in the rain
    Just singing in the rain
    What a glorious feelin’
    I’m happy again
    I’m laughing at clouds
    So dark up above
    The sun’s in my heart
    And I’m ready for love
    Let the stormy clouds chase
    Everyone from the place
    Come on with the rain
    I’ve a smile on my face
    I walk down the lane
    With a happy refrain
    Just singin’,
    Singin’ in the rain

    • steampunkLocket

      SO MUCH WIN X3

    • Rii the Wordsmith

      +1

    • kabecca

      Yes, please!!

  • plopp-plopp

    What time is it!?
    SUICIDE TIME!!!

    • Katia’s guardian angel

      then go ahead plopp 🙂

      • plopp-plopp

        I’m already dead.

        • Katia’s guardian angel

          jaaayyy

          removes 1 more name off her list.

        • tech

          brains…

    • Rii the Wordsmith

      Whoa whoa what the hey, people!?

      Suicide is NOT a joke…and the only time I can think of where it could be at ,ALL appropriate is maybe if one finds themselves an evil dictator about to be overthrown or something.

      • ArcaneMonkey

        it isn’t a joke
        in fact it is so unlike a joke it approaches jokedom from the other direction, we laugh at it to distract ourselves from how terrible it is
        kind of like clowns

        • robotnik

          WIN OMG!!! you made my day with that 🙂

        • NoriMori

          There’s a more succinct term for that. It’s called “crossing the line twice”.

  • steampunkLocket

    Hope the bottle is full of alcohol, empty it on the wall of the mages’ guild, THEN use your fire magic. Let it all BURN.

    • Trance

      It’s raining.

      • steampunkLocket

        fuck rain because she’s katia fucking managan! Also alcoholfed fire is a little harder to extinguish. And if not for anything else, let’s see her fail at something else as well.

    • kabecca

      Yeah, use the booze for good instead of depressingness.

  • EbonyBarkley

    Oh cool, 4chan’s here…
    Brushing that aside.

    I like the route you’re taking and all that, its a cool tragedy/Pyrrhic tale, but are you going to continue making Oblivion references? That was kind of the reason I found this comic so amusing in the first place. Then again, I am but one man, but I just thought it really helped move things along with all the little nods to various quirks about Cyrodill and TES IV in general. I think some people would probably be more willing to stick with it if they had those little quips to slightly throw a coin down the well you’re digging. Either way, cool beans and keep going, anxiously awaiting the next dream sequence…

    • Kazerad

      There are still a boatload of TES game references scattered all over, but for the most part they are very subtle and only really pop out if you’ve played the games – for instance, maximizing someone’s disposition and then taking all their stuff right in front of them IS actually something that works in-game; this whole segment basically put Katia on the receiving end of that. Or the line about a “Hammerfell lockpicking” consisting of ramming the door was a subtle jab at how Daggerfall (partly set in Hammerfell) was the last game in the series where you could bash doors down.

      though if you’re bored and want a CHALLENGE RUN trying to discover some other recent Elder Scrolls references, have you…

      Identified the potion Sigrid used? (easy mode)
      Discovered which of Sigrid’s boastful statements was a blatant lie she accidentally disproves herself? (medium mode)
      Figured out where the Ethnic Diversity Mural is implied to have come from? (hard mode)

      • ChetBetera

        Easy: Telvanni Bug Musk. Or some sort of Personality Potion.
        Medium: … I dunno.
        Hard: Rythe Landas. The only painter – that I know of – in all of Cyrodiil.

        • Steve Potluck

          The painting looks like it came from Modryn Oreyn of the fighter’s guild.

          • kgy121

            I thought it was from Madame Murial, but if it’s from Elder Scrolls…

      • Bluescale

        Medium: Master alchemist one?

  • So everyone says “OH FUCK THIS SHIT.” but i think its just getting started, note for you half-wits. Katia has just hit rock bottom, earlier was nothing. Now her mettle is really tested, if she can manage to get out of this little hump then she will transcend past her own boundaries and pull some “bombs over redline” shit (Linked in webbie)
    This is where the real story starts.

    • plopp-plopp

      God are you melodramatic.

      • NoriMori

        Do you feel better now?

    • hate to point out the obvious…

      if this is rock bottom kaz is drilling away at it to get lower trust me this can only get worse thats the name of the game 😛 time to dis attach yourself in everyway posible cause its not rock bottom till shes dead.

  • Plus

    I thought this was Prequel, not Boxdog

  • Zelkova

    I don’t see how she hit rock bottom.

    1. I thought she aim those fireballs pretty well when shooting them at the door.
    2. She can move stuff with her mind now.
    3. She not as scare to be around royal peeps anymore though that nightmare still exist.
    4. She had a great meal for the night…Overpriced meal but meh.
    5. She still have the amulet.

    I just a lurker but why don’t you guys play the game like well…Like TES series? You guys hope for money to rain from the sky or a NPC to give their life to her. Why don’t you guys try training a skill or something? Mage guild is great, sure…But freelancing allow one to discover a lot without being force to return back to the requester. Either decide to finish or end the current letter quest then never officially pick up a quest ever again. Promises can never be kept sometimes in a comic like this.

    Also drinking some booze act not only as a recall spell but also allow Kazerad to add new plot elements. If she haven’t drunk the brooze she wouldn’t have met that nice cat loving guy. Food for thought. If you truly feel she hit rock bottom then maybe it time to reset the game board?

    • robotnik

      Umm I don’t think that’s a good idea cause that works for a self pride reset too

  • Seth44

    I’m really starting to like Katia, and seeing this kind of thing happen to her makes me feel really bad for her. :S

  • EveryZig

    You are still a wizard.

  • Lookin at it the wrong way. She just gained a spiffy new trash can hat!

  • Delta

    To all haters:
    If you hate kaz so much go and rite your own web adventure, full of flowers and with a main protagonist that always gets what he wants and never has problems
    Let’s see how many people would actually read and follow that

    • Grendel

      then we’d end up with a dozen ‘Sonichu’ s?

    • You spelled ‘write’ rong.

      (see what ah did there)

    • Some dude

      Because there’s fucking nothing in between, right?

  • Hocus

    Someone give her a hug already!!!! And take her out of the rain for christ sake!

  • Rii the Wordsmith

    You know, in a way this whole story pisses me off because I’m not used to seeing a hero fail…and then…fail. And then fail. And oh, look she’s gonna…er, fail.

    I’m used to a hero failing a little, then rising a little, then failing a little, then hitting rock bottom, then rising with some stumbles, AT WORST.

    So I’m kind of like, rolling my eyes here wondering if this is REALLY a story about hope and the backstory muck that no one more than hears the summary of in other stories or if it’s just one long trolling session to us, the readers.

    But I get to thinking about it a little…And who is to say that this is really a story about misery? I mean, it is. But not the way all the haters seem to think, I don’t think, because in a very subtle way…the story IS the hero failing and rising and failing. And I’m not talking necessarily about getting drunk and then getting wizard powers and then getting robbed blind. I mean that’s part of it but it’s a futile part since none of the successes MEAN anything that way, when it’s all wiped out and Katia has to start over.

    I’m talking about growth.

    What I mean…Well. Lemmie quote one of my favorite movies:

    “There’s a benefit to losing: you get to learn from your mistakes.”
    -Megamind

    Maybe Katia will learn to listen to those schizophrenic voices in her head a bit more, trust herself, and though trusting others is a good thing…not so naively and desperately as Katia does now. Even in her other trials, she’s never learned not to automatically trust others in a totally devoted manner. She looks down on herself so much that she put herself in the position, I need to respect everyone and work really hard to get them to like me even a little! She does not add, they need to respect me a little. I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t.
    Maybe she’ll learn even a Khajit ex-slut, even a “dumb stray animal”, deserves enough respect not to be totally abused. She works too hard to gain the trust of others…thinking she has to sacrifice the part where they earn her trust.
    I hope she learns that that’s an important thing, too.

    While this story might crush my soul a bit, had I one, and I’m getting pessimistic about things changing for Katia, I certainly hope that she continues to grow from each trial. As soon as she stops learning anything, then I give up hope for her and this comic and want nothing to do with it.

    But as long as Katia effing Managam continues to fail and grow a little…well. Let her fail. When she succeeds, she’ll be the better for her failures.

    • Rii the Wordsmith

      Effff I left an italics tag off. Sorry about that.

      In other news, OH LOOK. I didn’t have to cuss out Kaz for being overly depressing! AMAZING.

    • Right! I’ve been reading the minor polemic here abut people complaining that this comic is just resetting back to square one all the time, and I’ve wanted to reply to that concept and I’ve been waiting until I read to the end of this thread… but I think now is a good time to post:

      Katia is not losing EVERYTHING, she’s losing nearly everything material but she’s still better off when she started:
      1) She’s got two spells and knows how to use them.
      2) She’s got that amulet for at least a little control.
      3) She’s got friends.
      4) She’s got everything she has learned since arriving.
      5) She’s got a potential mentor or two.

      No, she is not in worse shape than she was in the beginning, not even just as bad shape. She’s in bad shape, but still better than the shape she had been.

      • Some dude

        She knows one spell, has 2 people who tolerate her, and an acquaintanceship with an imperial guard who’s in trouble with the countess of her “home” town. She’s lost absolutely everything she owns, her dignity, and pissed off half the town.

        • xKiv

          Did you miss when she learned she can sorta (weakly) punch things with her mind?
          (Shouldn’t even need the lockpick if she learns to use this properly)

  • Grendel

    train sneaking and pickpocketing and target the kvatch mages guild, screw not wanting to be a theif, it’s karma

  • Calzone

    Katia: Go form a gang of hardened shadowy criminals and rob a bank or something because that would be interesting

    • Dinnerblaster

      that would require any form of sucsess which i think we all know is not going to happen :/

      • Calzone

        Oh sorry I forgot this comic follows a strict formula of “Katia seems happy, Katia fucks up, Katia cries and is also naked for some reason” instead of actually progressing with any sort of story or doing anything interesting. My bad.

        • Trance

          It doesn’t help matters that suggestions like yours are utterly retarded.

          Your opinion of what constitutes an “interesting” story are at odds with the majority.

          • Katia’s guardian angel

            And you’re opinion is the majority ? As far as I see most people really like katia and even if it wasn’t about failing this would still follow the comic, and are sad when shes failing and blame the creator. I see only a few people actually saying this cruelty IS great. There are a few downfalls, but the story is improving little by little for katia and she DOES have way more good moments where hope rises if you compare them with moments when it failed.

          • dinnerblaster

            hey trance? p*** off cause that was a d*** move. come up with your own god d*** ideas before you go telling others theirs is stupid… a** hat!!! >:(

          • hello! man are making very cool comments yes!
            ‘hey trance? p*** off cause that was a d*** move. come up with your own god d*** ideas before you go telling others theirs is stupid… a** hat!!! >:(‘

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          • Trance

            @Katia’s Guardian Angel: “And you’re opinion is the majority ? As far as I see most people really like katia and even if it wasn’t about failing this would still blah blah irrelevancies garblrblgh”

            Honestly, I have no idea what counterpoint you were trying to make here. Most of the comments in the actual thread are not people whining about how they’re not getting a happy story. They’re offering useful, sensible suggestions, so not only are they still reading, they’re still invested enough in Katia to try to improve her situation in a manner that actually makes sense. I’m sure they don’t LIKE bad things happening to Katia, but neither do they want Kazerad to change up the tone because it’d be killing the plot as well as the biggest reason people are still reading.

            I mean, I’m not sure just what you meant to disagree with on my position. I can’t see much difference.

            What I was talking about in my above comment was that for people demanding Kazerad make a happier story, they really should take a long, critical look at themselves to see if they have the writing expertise necessary for their narrative vision to be worth a damn. I’ll bet dollars to doughnuts none of them could craft a story half as captivating as Prequel.

            Kazerad knows what he’s doing, and if one wants to be more than just discordant background noise, they need to 1) stop bawling about sad kitty and 2) submit a suggestion with a bit more thought behind it than “go be a criminal so something different happens”.

  • FlexySanders

    Kazerad, I want you to know that my heart broke when I read the last sentence.

  • Duster

    Ont he plus side she makes a good cheap whore… Although a shame her last 2 clients killed each other…

  • Uzi_Man

    Katia.

    We know that you came to Cyrodiil to find a new and better life.

    Many people will tell you that you’re a FAIL, because your actions FAIL. But the truth is, that you’re not a fail, but you’re not a win either. Who are you, then? Thats inside you, only you can know. We don’t.

    Katia, experience comes from failure. Nobody can learn about life without having failed at certain points. For some people, it takes longer to learn, like you. But don’t feel bad about it.

    You are different. FORGET your name. Thats NOT important. What IS important are your actions. Now, take this big, big failure, as a great chance to gain experience. It will be worth it for your future.

    But always listen to our voices, Katia, as we are your only guidance, and you’re blessed for having our infinite help. Nobody in your world can hear us. Only you can.

  • robotnik

    Umm hate to be the one to say this but if these are the user comands don’t you think the life of this comic is coming to an end? I mean the comands show that people are giving up and are crashing this story into the ground to see how big a splat they can get, translation internet comic rage quit!!! And yes I’m ready to get s*** for writing this critical comment so let it rip : / p.s. tread lightly kaz looks like your p***ing a lot of people off hate to see my prediction come true : (

    • robotnik

      P.s.s. enter qw to give katia some help! she did get a note telling her katia was leaving and she knows katias gonna need all the help she can get. What does qw have going on that’s so important that she can’t go after katia? Nothing, that’s exactly right : )

      • Hide-of-Scales

        Didn’t you play Oblivion? Quill’s too busy planting meat outside of her neighbor’s house in a crazy attempt to get rid of said neighbor’s pet rats to really help Katia (something about mountain lions and Quill hating rats… I haven’t played Oblivion in a long time).

        Yeah, Quill’s kind of a jerk like that.

        • robotnik

          well which is greater, her homosexual crush on katia (she did give her that pinaple and pretty much confirmed why before katia had her king dream) or her dislike of rats? i would be really disapointed if the rats turned out being more important to her :(, and yes im aware its probobly not going to happen but cant blame a guy for hoping : /

  • KeyFox

    Well, ain’t that some shit?

  • Aaron

    c’mon dont be down like that ok so youve fucked up alot but that dosent me u have to give up c’mon at least try to cheer up and look at the bright side

  • Cedar

    Well, at least she’s wearing waterproof paint. I guess that’s eh only way this could be worse; if she were a naked naked khajit. So there’s still a little hope left.

    Maybe she can pretend to still be under the glamor and sneak back into the mage’s guild tomorrow night somehow?

    It’s terribly depressing that Khatia lost *everything.* We’re practically back at the beginning again.

  • Jexsam

    I don’t get it. At least all her previous failures were sorta funny as well as being sad (waking up naked in a bloodsoaked room with a skeleton? Funny. Tripping while running out of a ruin? Classic slapstick Getting robbed by an eloquent, intelligent orc? Comedy gold. Hell, even the whole well thing was delivered in a way that elicited a chuckle). This is just outright depressing. Why the sudden lack of humor? Are you intentionally trying to crush your readers alongside Katia?

    I can kinda see why so many people are ragequitting. I won’t go do far as to say the comic sucks right now (it’s actually pretty powerful, which is kinda the opposite of suck), but it’s taken a distinctly dark turn. It has a very different feel now than it did early on, and I totally understand why some folks are angry. It doesn’t feel like the same comic right now.

    I really hope you can put this back on the right track, because this isn’t really fun anymore.

    • Jeizar

      yes it has suddenly taken a turn very serious and scary, but I think it’s temporary.

    • Graknorke

      Are you seriously telling me that that whole bit before with Katia and Eepy handing over their stuff wasn’t funny? As well as mentioning the “nicest compliment” and “fairest negotiations”?

      Also whatever happens after she gets DRKUNK will be funny. Calling it now.

  • Cheezie

    I somehow feel that Sheogorath needs to come in at some point >u> He just needs to. It’ll fit right in. yup.

  • Illidan

    I must confess I cried reading this update.

  • Jeizar

    This update is completely awesome even if is also so sad …
    I remember when i began to read this story, i find everything was strange for a “Oblivion lore based” story, but i was curious and i kept reading and now i’m completely amazed to see how you managed to make the story of Katia so addictive !
    Some parts are extremely strong – like this one – and you still succeed to keep your original concept and keep it intresting to read with a lot of hummor.
    And however i think it’s hard to make a story with a hero who fails so often, anyway it’s hard for readers to see a so attaching character fall against her unfortunate fate but this is what makes your adventure so special !
    Keep making good job Kazerad ! And command submitters, submitting interesting commands 😉
    (… hope my english is understandable O_o)

  • Zorpike

    You know, it gets worse everytime you fall. But then it gets better everytime you rise. So because this situation really SUCKS, and it wasn’t your fault, you should have a whole bunch of good Karma coming your way. Just you wait, Katia Fucking Managan.

  • Dan-za

    Well, atleast she didn’t go compleatly insane, join the Mythic Dawn, and tried to end all life in Tamriel. If she can still have some grip on reality after all this, then she can still prevail, right?

  • Zorpike

    Fuck Sigrid and her pheromone inducing concoctions. On the bright side, you kicked both the door’s and the trash can’s ass.

    • I’d be interested in seeing what a door and a trashcan would look like if they had asses.

    • I’d be interested in seeing what a door and a trashcan would look like if they had asses. Or if they both had a single ass.

  • regisie

    To the bar.

    Oh wait, you’re banned from there. Idiot.

  • Zorpike

    We still believe in you. 🙂

    • Wolligepoes

      At least most of us do

  • MSB

    And suddenly, OBLIVION GATES.

    What? Too much?

    • Ryuujin

      Why stop here on the trauma conga line :p

  • “,”

    when will kazerad admit this is his fetish.

    • Dinnerblaster

      when and if he finds a new one. remember when he admits it the fun is over >:)

  • Not Kamina

    KATIA! Let me see you grit those teeth! This is not over, are you going to just lay down and let that bitch ruin your life!? WHO THE HELL DOES SHE THINK YOU ARE!? I know who you are, you are Katia FUCKING Managan! You’re is the wizardry that will conquer even the 9 Divine! Now get your ass up and remember who you are. Time to find a Guard.

  • Jebediah Oldenheimer

    Well, in defense of this update, the comic -is- alternatively titled, “Making A Cat Cry: The Adventure.” She was doomed from the start.

    We’ll be seeing her in another high point of her life eventually, all we need do is patiently wait.

    • Some dude

      “Another” high point? The highest she’s been is “has clothes, has moderate control over the most basic of spells, and has some pocket change”

      • Jebediah Oldenheimer

        Minuscule as it may seem to us human nobles, it most certainly was a high point to her.

  • ProviD

    Found “Prequel” a couple of days ago and all I can say is “This is awesome!”.

    I just hope Katia will find the fighter inside her and ‘not’ take the easy way out of this. I don’t mind a little mark&recall throught the bottle but.. yeah.. :/

  • Wrath

    Hey, remember Sigrid?
    You know.
    That bitch who took your stuff and left you in the rain without any clothes?
    Well, you have claws.
    And your paws are probably awfully cold right about now.
    And all of that warm, crimson blood flowing through her veins was probably stolen, too.
    I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if you sunk your claws into her jugular for just a second or two…

    • David Argall

      We are already nearly certain that Katia can’t kill her, and likely can’t even seriously bother her. In the game, Sigrid survives until after the invasion. So we are not going to get to kill here before it.

      • Wrath

        Kill her?
        Why, I would never suggest such a thing.
        It would be horribly rude to do so.
        But does she really need ALL of her blood?
        Katia only needs enough to make a deal.
        She’ll give the blood back.
        In exchange for her lockpick.
        Then she can use the lockpick on the locked door on the first floor of the guild.
        And use whatever’s in there as a bargaining chip for everything else, perhaps more.
        And distribute the profits to the poor.

  • WolfDog

    Head to the chapel Katia, you’ll find shelter there and Martin will help you.

  • Motherfucker

    Nothings more delicious than good quality suffering.

    Problem is now she is on a low so we need to build her up to fall once more.

  • Delta9-11

    I see what you have to put up with as a comic writer Kazerad…. look at all those hate comments, oh well can’t please everyone right? But for those of us who do love this comic? Hook line and sinker, We will stick around and continue to see what happens to the lovable Katia who is down on her luck, I know she’ll get back up there, she always does, sure she may fall down again but I almost think you do that purposely just to sit there and laugh at the hate comments, if not, well your doing a good job at creating a Katia Managan Fan base for sure 🙂

    Keep up the good work bro.

  • naturallyInconspicuous

    Yay, a beer bottle! I wonder where we’ll wake up this time! 😀

  • Licensed Psychiatrist

    Man up, you massive pussy.

    • Harlander

      Cat puns? At a time like this?

      And you call yourself a scientist psychiatrist.

      • xKiv

        Also, she’s not *fat*.

  • Tennae

    Dear lord, why do I read the comments section immediately after an update?

    I feel bad for Kazerad. Writing a wonderful damn story for everyone, and illustrating it, and this is how he’s repayed? Shame on you, trolls, shame on you.

    • ChetBetera

      Illogical! Trolls feel no shame!

      • Motherfucker

        Don’t agwree wif my grorious oprinion, you are nasty trorr and will be dingdong banuu

        End of rine, rine ends here.

        • David Gayderr

          Not all of us can make be witty internet warriors.
          (or make a successful webcomic)

    • patrick

      You unfortunately always be negative feedback to great stories like this. If he writes it, troll or real, they will come. What gets me is the need to comment about quitting the comic. If you are really that pissed off about it, then just leave. Delete the bookmark and forget about it. It is not that hard of a concept.

      Although i am sure those comments do not bother Kaz. That is just a hunch though.

    • Some dude

      There’s a difference between criticism and “trolling”. To dismiss any negative feedback as an attempt to stir shit up is to admit that you think your work is infallible. And I’m sure Kaz, like any reasonable artist, understands this.

      • Alex

        looking for useful feedback in a comment section is like looking for valuables in the garbage. You may find something half-decent occasionally, but did that really justify all the dump-diving you had to do?

    • and then it goes on again

      Stupid faggots who think people who dislike what you like = trolls.

      Go back to Ray William Johnson you fucking shit headaeadadadjaehdahedheHAEHDAHED

  • TelvanniBugMuskPeddlar

    This whole set up feels familiar… I think there’s a name for it.

    • TelvanniBugMuskPeddlar
      • anon

        No, you idiot; Cerebus Syndrome is what happens when you think you like writing comedy and mostly write comedy for a while until you suddenly decide you prefer drama and start writing mostly that. What part of “Making a Cat Cry” does not say that the drama we see here and in the other two times she’s been thrown back to square one (even if you thought it was funny/slapstick, she DIDN’T or else she wouldn’t have immediately boozed out) are intentional parts of the writing? Just because she’s been up for a while doesn’t mean the fall here was the result of the author changing priorities all of a sudden on the fans. If Asotil hadn’t shown up, she would have fallen back at the Countess’ place instead.

        • NoriMori

          Did you actually read the Cerebus Syndrome article? Nowhere does it say that the author has to “think they like writing comedy” and then “decide they prefer drama”, or that any drama in the beginning of the work has to be accidental. All that is required is a shift from mostly comedy to mostly drama. No, this doesn’t make Telvanni right, but it doesn’t make YOU right either, and it makes YOU the idiot for thinking you’re so much smarter.

    • The Amazing d20

      Is it schadenferude?

      I bet it’s schadenfreude.

  • One Trick Pony

    Yeah I can kinda see both sides of the coin here. To the best of my memory I’ve never seen the author reply once to comments that are critical. I totally agree that openly hostile comments, flames or insults should be frowned upon. Yet there have been some sincerely politely written comments basically asking what is with seemingly sadistic turns of events for katia on the part of the author.

    Yeah pathos has it’s place and all, but when it seems that’s all the story amounts to, it seems to come down to the author maybe being a one trick pony. There are only so many times you can do basically the same thing with a story, before it gets to be trite, old hat.

    The author does seem to have some good writing skills, it just seems to me he’s kinda sorta just repeating the same trick over and over.

    • Kazerad

      Most criticism just doesn’t warrant much response. I always like hearing people’s reactions since it helps me measure how well I did, but it’s not like I’m going to drop in and tell someone’s opinions that they are right or wrong. It is more effective to just keep writing the story and, though the story itself, either justify or refute someone’s position.

      • Hate to be your personal yes-man, but I can wholeheartedly agree with this stance. Keep on rocking, as ever.

    • Actua

      You say that Kazerad seems to be a one trick pony. The biggest ssue with that even if it were true, is how well he does it. Every time she falls we care. Not only has she come that much closer to having a life, but she’s become that much stronger as a person.
      And then she falls…
      We care. We care because we want her to succeed. We care because she is trying.We care because she got a shit hand and every new deal was new shit hand. The table was crooked so she left. The place down the street has marked cards but only the house can read them. We want the house to fall. We’re trying to keep her pockets full till the dealer slips.
      We care because we’ve been there, but she got the shit of the shit and we know its not fair.

      Kazerad is writing this story well enough to make us care that much. How he does it doesn’t matter.

  • fyver

    “You know that you can’t fix this. You can’t fix anything. You never could. It’s always been this way. Just when you think things are looking up, you slip and suddenly your lower than ever before.”
    Story of my life….

  • Leold

    She should go report this crime to ASotIL and bust in there to take her stuff back.

  • Foxxy

    At least you still got that sick eye patch!
    Also you can shoot fire, go burn some things!

  • Jimmy Jazz

    oh sweet dear god shit.

    what is that bottle.

    please. Kazerad.

    Don’t do this.

    • OldSchoolRPGDude

      Mmm… syrup of ipecac.

  • Dr. Curiosity

    *shakes a fist at Self-Loathing*

    • Score

      Self-Loathing-Loathing

  • OldSchoolRPGDude

    This seems familiar.

    Great writing! You have instilled me with compassion for our protagonist. Looking forward to the next installment.

  • Grillo

    Not to hate or anything, but there’s nothing I hate more than what this update has, self-pity. Although it’s weird, since past updates had the same kind of thing going on. There’s something different about this one, maybe? It might be the rewarding failure with even more failure thing this needs more yuri shipping

    • ChetBetera

      Trust me when I say, there is enough yuri shipping. So much shipping. And none of it in the platonic sense.

  • Samael

    This comic has grown too depressing to continue reading.

    • David Gayderr

      It’s not like you can, it hasn’t been updated in 3 weeks.

  • R’Becca

    There is so much hate in the comics… and people keep coming back anyway, haha.
    Good job Kaz, loving the story so far.

  • stupidjellyfish

    Kaz, you’re an inspiration. This whole interactive comic makes me want to be an artist and a writer for the sake of my own personal piece of fiction.

    Keep it up.

  • well, in normal stories, the protagonist starts hopeful, but not too high, falls to the floor, stands up, repeat a few times, hits rock bottom, and then manages to come up against all odds.

    katia starts low but hopeful. falls down, falls down the cellar stair, slips and hits rock bottom face-first, scrapes along it on her face, falls down another stair into a sewer, gets washed down a waterfall, and lands naked and full of fillth in complete darknes 100 metres below rock bottom.

    • R’Becca

      She got friends and a few spells. That’s more than she started out with.
      Slowly but surely it gets better.

  • Corovaneer

    Suddenly, be a completely normal non-nocturnal human again.

    Smell blood dripping from these fingers. Be completely drawn towards it.

  • Zenchii

    I felt…. nothing. I’ve seen this happen twice now, both ending up in the same way as this. A naked, lonely failure. Except this time, I felt nothing. No pity, no sadness, absolutely nothing. That’s because, personally, this level of failure for Katia is getting old for me and I’m already numbed by it. I just don’t give a fuck when she fails. I’m just waiting to see her rise up from this. Admittedly I did not know the alternate title for this: “How to make a cat cry” or something like it, but thanks to the comment section, I know now.

    Before then, I was under the assumption that the story would actually go somewhere. Because of this new info I have now, I fear that she’s never going to move forward as a character, She will ALWAYS go back to square 1, always perform massive failures that will strip her of everything even when it’s common sense not to do certain things (This whole debacle could’ve just been avoided had she just Heeded the warnings of the Kvatch mage’s guild in the first place, for example) all for some dark laughs. Now, I’m not asking for some ideal happy ending or anything, I just think her constantly failing massively like this is gonna get very old at some point, even to some of the more die-hard readers. I can almost Guarantee it.

    Basically what I’m saying is, while it may have originated as a dark comedy MSPA where the funny thing about it is to watch her fail repeatedly, you actually have a lot of readers now who WANT to see her succeed and not fail so hard for a change. I’m just suggesting that you let go of it’s roots and evolve the story past it’s dark comedy (While still keeping some dark humour in it, of course). At least let her keep her damn clothes next time she fails. Is that too much to ask?

    (PS: sorry for the long comment)

    • Above poster is a genius

      Above poster is a genius. Heed his factual opinions.

      • Zenchii

        Thank you for noticing. I’m truly flattered.

    • Whimbrel

      But then we wouldn’t get to play dress up~!

    • xKiv

      I am thinking we will see her climb higher and higher, just for the express purpose of making her fall deeper and deeper.

      Eventually, her day will consist of waking up naked with nothing to her name next to a hobo in QW’s bed, then becoming the Ruler Sovereign of Known Space, only to screw up something trivial, have everything taken away in a gruesome and embarassing way, and drinking. Repeat.

      BTW, Kazerad, I typed exactly what “Type X.” told me to type, and it didn’t work ;-p

      • Zenchii

        That’s honestly exactly what I’m afraid of. :/ I hope it does’t come to that.

    • Actua

      She’s not at square 1.
      She has magic. Powerful or not right now, nothing can take that away, not even that theiving bitch.
      She has friends. The Guard helped her learn to control her magic and although he’s a little off, he would never let her come to harm-within the bounds of his scheduled patrol times. And Quill-weave…fan-art aside, she cares about Katia and she wants her to do better. She gave her a chance and if she had the chance she’d be here giving her support right now. Were it not for a certain green jerk-off-who probably has a degree in accounting-she would have a necromancer friend with some free swag to boot.

      She has discovered her own skill. She has people that care about her. She has more chance than she ever had before.

      • Im kinda pissed

        Thats beyond the point. The pont is that any of these accomplishments may be randomly taken away if Kazered feels like it. Thats not good writing. Why should I care about any accomplishment if at any point in time if it makes sense or not Kaz just randomly strips Katia of her (And in a way) my achievements.

        This wouldn’t be AS annoying if we weren’t given partial control over Katia. If this was just a story this would be less annoying and insulting.

        • Trance

          “Thats beyond the point. The pont is that any of these accomplishments may be randomly taken away if Kazered feels like it. Thats not good writing.”

          Um, what? Where’s this literary rule that says protagonists must keep what they’ve gained? I’ve certainly never heard of it.

          “Why should I care about any accomplishment if at any point in time if it makes sense or not Kaz just randomly strips Katia of her (And in a way) my achievements.”

          Maybe you should try caring about the character and her growth AS a character instead of worrying about all the stuff she’s accumulated? Maybe you should stop attempting to play it like a game and instead read it like a story?

          I mean, I know it’s a bit misleading and all being framed as an adventure, but assuming you’ve read as much of the story as I have, you should realize by now that the adventure part is little more than an embellishment. If your suggestions get picked, it’s because they either mesh well with what Kazerad was already drafting, or they’re something that helps Kazerad arrive at a new idea. Either way, this story belongs to Kazerad, not the general public.

          Not to cheapen the overall work in the slighest, since I think Kazerad is doing a brilliant job in spite of all these people clamoring for creative control.

          “This wouldn’t be AS annoying if we weren’t given partial control over Katia. If this was just a story this would be less annoying and insulting.”

          Then as I’ve suggested above, why not sit back and let the story run on its own? You can choose not to bother submitting suggestions, let go of that assumption of control over the story, and just read it as it comes in. You might find that the story will get less annoying and insulting for you.

          • Im kinda pissed

            “Um, what? Where’s this literary rule that says protagonists must keep what they’ve gained? I’ve certainly never heard of it.”

            I have no problem with taking everything away. Just that this happens on random, with big ass dues ex machinas.

            Why did sigrid steal everything of value from Katia? Because if she only stole her money (Like any realistic person would) then Katia would just go to a different mages guild. Thus manufactured drama was created.

            My point is the WAY it is done is awful. A giant dues ex machna will wrangle control out of our hands when the plot demands it and take katia to square 1.

            Im sure that if necessary Kaz will find a way to strip her of magic anyway. Once you start using dues ex machina I can’t trust him not to use it again.

            And Kaz honestly expects me to take this moment seriously. We have already gone over this ground before multiple times! I don’t care. Give me something new.

            “read it like a story?”

            I would complain ANYWAY. I would still call it dues ex machina. Dont tell me I have player input if at whenever you want the results are still the same (Like the mass effect ending)

            My complaint isn’t that she looses some/ wins some.

            My complaint is that they happen randomly, as if the author just “suddenly” wants to do this.

          • Trance

            “Dues Ex Machina”

            You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

            One, DEUS ex machinas are employed to RESOLVE a difficult or seemingly impossible situation. Events like what just happpened to Katia do essentially the opposite of that.

            Two, deus ex machinas, being the literary easy-buttons they are, give the impression of being contrived and deployed in the nick of time, often challenging the audience’s suspension of disbelief. You might argue that when Katia tripped coming out of the dungeon and broke all those bottles it was a last-second unexpected thing, but tripping and falling surely can’t be something that challenges suspension of disbelief, especially concerning a character with a head full of fresh hubris so preoccupied with her own awesomeness that she’s not paying close enough attention to where she’s putting her feet.

            Also, contrived and unexpected do not describe Katia’s encounter with Sigrid in the slightest. There has been a lead-up to this encounter ever since the discussion Katia had with the mage in Anvil. Any reader who had been paying attention would have known this was coming for a long time. And ignoring all the warning signs about Sigrid, nonspecific as they may have been, is totally characteristic of Katia who often throws caution to the wind when dealing with other people.

            If you’d like an example something that approaches a real deus ex machina in Prequel, revisit the arrival of ASOTIL during the Countess’ dinner party, when he arrives in the nick of time to prevent Katia from drinking Quill-Weave’s rum water. That had all the air of a contrived last-second resolution to a seemingly impossible situation. Then again, Kazerad could have easily written that scene differently if he hadn’t intended ASOTIL to make an entrance, so in all likelihood Katia’s bit was set up for the benefit of ASOTIL, not the other way around.

          • Im kinda pissed

            Your definition still fits perfectly. The tough situation of preventing Katia from achieving anything was resolved by Katia suddenly not caring, and then mind control.

            The hints about sigrid meant nothing. Katia could have run away only to find out that she really hurt sigrids feelings (And it turns out she was just a flakey butterfly, who just sucks at making friends). This could have EASILY also been the case. Until the money stuff, the warnings meant nothing.

            Tripping on a rock, whilst not dues ex machina and WAS funny the first time, is not good writing.

            Its the same situation: Katia would have sold the stuff and suddenly everythings fine for katia.
            So written into a corner Kaz picks the trip and booze out option.

            This has been done before. The plot is staling in place: give me something new.

          • Trance

            “Your definition still fits perfectly. The tough situation of preventing Katia from achieving anything was resolved by Katia suddenly not caring, and then mind control.”
            No. That is not a deus ex machina. You don’t understand the term. Deus ex machina =/= any event out of the ordinary.

            “The hints about sigrid meant nothing […] Until the money stuff, the warnings meant nothing.”
            That just proves my point. The fact that the warning signs didn’t point to any specific danger made them all the easier to ignore as Katia walked right into Sigrid’s trap.

            “Tripping on a rock, whilst not dues ex machina and WAS funny the first time, is not good writing.”
            I thought the writing was perfectly fine. It was both a comedic moment and a sobering reality check (albeit one where she promptly un-sobered herself in response).

            “So written into a corner Kaz picks the trip and booze out option.”
            Written into a corner? What? Where was this corner? At what time was Katia trapped in this situation with no obvious exits?

            The “boozing out option” was a running gag that has happened a grand total of TWICE in the whole series. The fact that you’re complaining about 1) a perfectly understandable decision made by an alcoholic to drink away their worries 2) with obvious comedic effect by virtue of repetition 3) that has happened all of TWO TIMES, goes beyond being merely whiny to making me seriously wonder what exactly your expectations for Prequel have been.

          • Im kinda pissed

            I guess Its unfair that I call dues ex machina the opposite of what its supposed to do but eh.

            But it fits very well:
            “A plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem is suddenly and abruptly solved with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability, or object.”

            It feels like Ive just wasted my time. Months of stuff happening, all invalidated by sigrid. Thats not good writing.

            Months of buildup for a random back to zero thing (But its not back to zero! Katia can now tip things over and throw fire! Bla bla bla) done FOR THE THIRD TIME is annoying!

          • Trance

            “It feels like Ive just wasted my time.”
            That’s how I feel having this exchange with you. You’re fixating on Katia losing her stuff and keep asserting the Sigrid encounter was some sudden unforeseeable thing that Kazerad just put in because he can’t think of any other way to write.

            You keep talking about “good writing” like you have some expertise on the subject, but you haven’t done much else but show that you can’t analyze a narrative well enough to be able to identify good writing.

        • Actua

          Aaaaaaand you missed my point entirely. She CAN’T lose what she has. Sigrid took everything away that CAN be including her self-confidence, but she still has her magic. She still has a purpose! She still has some chance. Those things AREN’T gone. She just thinks they are. She didn’t start at square one like you seem to thing. She came here with a very serious handicap and she is trending toward barely capable with a future in possibly awesome.
          She didn’t start by failing. She started by getting the door slammed in her face by some weird-ass godling. She had nothing and no one and no way to get either. That has changed and cannot be changed back.Confidence on the other hand can crumble in an instant when not tempered by experience of success. When did she start moving forward? When did her life even look like it could get better? Three days ago. That means she has 3 days of ups and downs in the face of at least 20 years of failure and being shat on by the Divines.
          She’s kinda having a hard time believing in herself ok.

  • DKD

    First off, :'(

    Second, “You’re not Katia Managan. You’re not a budding wizard. You’re not even a real person.”

    The sweetroll is a lie! XD

  • Seiun

    Katia, stop trying to please other people. It makes you act awkward and timid, makes you an easy mark for con men and thieves, and causes most of the problems you’ve had to deal with. Worry about yourself first. EVENTUALLY you will find and meet people whose goals and aspirations go along with what’s best for YOU. Not because you do things for them, but because they happen to like who you actually are. STOP thinking the only way you can get people to like you is by doing things for them.

    Quill-weave was never your friend. She was someone whose life you ransacked and then she felt awkward by your enthusiasm to help her out.

    Sigrid was never your friend. She was a predator who saw how eager you were to help people and took advantage of that.

    Meanwhile there’s a dance instructor in this town who likes you FOR YOU. The old you. And your fear of success has driven you away from him, and probably anyone else who might like the slutty, drunken pineapple-tricking trollop that you’re running away from.

  • Anonymous #69105

    No.
    You are Katia Managan.
    You’re a wizard.
    She took your stuff.
    She took Quill-Weave’s packet.
    [S] Make her pay.

  • VekErro

    You try to be a good person, but the world keeps beating you down.
    This is how villains are made.

    • a wizard named… Tim?

      that is so often true
      she will probably turn evil, go insane or both

      • Motherfucker

        Katia Managan, evil wizard.

        hahahaha!

        Oh, you’re serious? Let me laugh harder.

        AhahahahaHAHAH!

        • ChetBetera

          I think what you meant was:

          Katia Managan, a evil wizard?

          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_n5E7feJHw0

          • a wizard named… Tim?

            you’re right…


            she’ll probably become like a crazy homeless person,
            like instead of begging she jumps out at people and rambles at them…
            and spontaneousley combusts or something

          • a wizard named… Tim?

            and talk about how everyone likes corn

  • MrBond

    Now now, I know what would help at this time of day.
    *ahem*

    Rain rain
    Go away
    Come back another day!

    • Rain Rain

      Nope.

  • hostergaard

    Now there is a cliffhanger. Very well done, I feel really sorry for Katia. We are all rooting for you Katia ;_;7

  • Vulion

    Think of the bright side Katia. You’re still alive. You can still act. It’s not like a gate to a dimension filled with nothing but destruction and death will suddenly spring out before the city and spill demon’s who want nothing more than to cause misery and suffering.

  • Madd

    So sad! :C I really like this update. Such powerful emotion!

    And you guys need to stop arguing and just enjoy the webcomic. If you aren’t enjoying it, stop reading it. :0 I really don’t understand the problem.

    • Me

      I don’t see why fans just have to stop reading. Their criticism is valid.

  • M

    You know… Katia can actually sort of semi-salvage this.

    First off… that bottle? If she’s tempted, smash the fucking thing. That proves she’s stronger then she used to be on it’s own.

    Second, get to the chapel, get shelter, get free healing, get some robes. Since Sigrid seems to have an effect on the entire town, don’t mention her, claim memory loss if pressed.

    Third, the next day go back to the bookstore elf and claim the letter was lost when you where robbed. He’ll likely just write a new letter.

    Then return to Anvil with Asotil later. Sure she won’t have Quill’s spelling book, but she again has an excuse, being robbed. And getting the letter delivered and a new counterletter back to Quill… well it’s not a 100% success, but it counts as a 80% success. That spellingbook can be replaced later. Quill’s need for it is likely not all THAT pressing. It sucks, but sometimes you gotta know when to do a tactical retreat and come back later.

    Next up, try to get a wizard apprenticeship, now that she knows two spells.

    I think if she really comes through, she can actually do this. Or at least make PROGRESS. Then the cat may cry, but not in vain.

    • robotnik

      you win +1 internets fot that idea : D

    • OldSchoolRPGDude

      Yay! Plz submit in the Commands forum so this can happen! I don’t want to steal credit for your suggestion.

      … or do I?

  • Circ

    If you touch that fucking bottle I am going to reach through the internet and slap you so hard

  • The Whicher

    marvelous! splendid! excellent!
    And I’m not talking about the whole ‘disaster’ thing, I mean the way it was presented. The prolonged lack of movement, indecision, inner strugle to make things right, sudden defiance.
    Theres so much tension, so many emotions when she rushes towards the trash can (and all of it happens in the blink of an eye), and then … the breakdown.
    Can’t imagine a better update

  • K

    CURSES!! FOIL’D AGAIN!!

  • Guvernor

    It’s mind blowing how many people still don’t “get” this comic.

    So gtfo and take your trolling with you.

    Sweet update, Kaz.

    • Parasite

      makin a cat cry- 2deep4u

    • Me

      You’re making it sound like this is a deep story. It’s a good story, but it has flaws. And even if making Katia miserable is the point of the story, it doesn’t mean we can’t have advancement.

      I know a lot of people are raging hard right now, and generally being bad apples. But a lot of the criticism of the story is really just at this point.

  • Dynablade

    Just read the entire series today, and I gotta say this is the funniest, yet saddest thing I’ve ever had the dis/pleasure to read. I laughed when her hand got burned during the first few fireball casts, I cried when she was begging for the Argonian’s mercy. Cheered for her when she found she had a high affinity for magic, and was sad today after she was swindled out of all her gear.

    The pictures are amazing, really giving you a feel of the world and its inhabitants, and the perverted part of me really really wants her to bed that Argonian. And don’t tell me a part of her doesn’t want the same..~

    • Actua

      I don’t think she does. Not because it would be outside her comfort zone, but rather because the whole friend, lover thing is turned on its head…and scrambled…and sent through blender. She hasn’t had any relationships eyond one-night stands and so she doesn’t have the same meaning for lover as someone else might. I keep wondering if she’s ever even had sex sober? That would mean a lot either way but I’m beginning to doubt she ever has. Just a thing that happens. A good friend…maybe a parter in whatever form that might take is much more important. Eventually she may come to understand the distinction between lover and that dude that boned you but she’s not ready for it.

  • Dynablade

    oh and a slight comment for more of those gifs.
    if she ever decides to ‘get a little crazy’ again, more of that matrix like movements from the battle with the imps. that was pretty…beastly

  • StrateFromDaSnakBar

    I have a feeling that at some point Katia’s going to attempt suicide and then fuck that up.

  • Hide-of-Scales

    … I liked it better when we were making Katia cry for laughs. I’m not experiencing any laughs here, Kazster. You should fix that come next update – that bottle of potential hooch might work.

    Anyway, having read all of this, I think we all really need to accept something here: Katia is never gonna make it big or become someone of a grand reputation (at least not in Cyrodiil, anyway) – remember, this is a prequel to Oblivion, and if Katia truly did succeed, we would’ve heard about it (and don’t give me that “but this is fanfiction and Katia’s not an official character” nonsense, either – from what I’ve read here, Kaz is almost certainly smart enough to keep that in mind when writing this). We’re going into this assuming Katia is capable of anything when she’s really not – she has no real talents, no real skills, has awful luck, and may or may not have Sheogorath’s “blessing” (why else would she be hearing all of these voices in her head?).

    If Katia does manage to make it or at least do well enough to get by, it’s almost certainly going to be either A) not in Cyrodiil or B) is so damn subtle about it that the Champion of Cyrodiil somehow never encounters her and somehow never hears about it via one of the many NPCs in Oblivion.

    … Well, either that of Katia really does eventually make it big and becomes some grand champion of sorts herself, but then in a moment of stupidity, puts on the Cowl of Nocturnal and thus erases her name and legacy from all of history. Now that would be funny.

  • Wolligepoes

    Readers : y u such trolls?

    Katia, It’s not too late until Quil weave finds out about this. Nah might be able to help if you offer her some blood (not straight from your neck, you’d turn into a vampire too) there is the nice elf and the Imperial soldier ( using magic on people with bad meanings is a crine, right), there are much friends that might e able to help. Or you could make some money and simply ask the owner if the bookshop if he can write a new letter and you could buy a new book. You would need to work hard though, but you must try, you MUST try

  • Wolligepoes

    And Katia, as long as people read this comic, they still love you, even if it were the tiniest bit, always remember that

  • Parasite

    FOR THE LOVE OF GAWD
    STOP IT
    SERIOUSLY
    STOP IT

  • Pogiforce

    sooooo, when are we getting through this slump? When was the last time something good happened?

    • Pogiforce

      I mean, we get it, she’s hit rock bottom. but how long are you going to make her wallow in it?

    • xKiv

      About three hours earlier? (Katia time)

      This is something that I think could possibly be called a legitimate gripe with this story – this last torment was only a couple (dozen?) minutes for Katia, but three weeks for us (not counting when we knew what’s coming but she didn’t).

      I mean … it’s been over a year our time for less than 4 days Katia time … at this pace, it will take a century for us to see a year of her life. Almost precisely.

  • ThatRationalKhajiit

    Lol it seems like everyone brought their hate to the party after this chapter -_- Calling Kaz a Sadist Furry asshole is not even remotely cool. (Not to mention it makes *You* look like an Asshole) He probably works hard through Writer’s block and Artist’s block and all kinds of other hinderances only to have his finished product ripped to shreds by ungrateful trolls and “I quit at the first bad thing that happens ’cause I hate bad things.” people like at least 40 percent of the people who have decided to spout off here. News Flash people: Bad things happen, there are unlucky people in life, but there’s always a chance for improvement, no matter the situation, no matter the world. -End of Rant/Rage/whatever other words for ‘angry paragraph’-

    • Some dude

      There’s a difference between jumping ship the first time something doesn’t work and being frustrated that the story fails to progress after an entire year. This is exactly what happened with the wine and the ruins. What’s the point? Wasn’t this story eventually going to go somewhere, or is it really just going to be a Cat person spilling her shit everywhere daily for the rest of time?

      • xKiv

        OK, let’s see, a comparison …
        day 1:
        starts with crappy clothes and lockpick
        fucks up, wakes up in QW’s bed with just the lockpick
        day 2:
        gains painted underwear and decent clothes
        is screwed over, but sets up day 3’s up point
        fucks up, wakes up in QW’s bed with lockpick and painted underwear
        day 3:
        gains breakthrough understanding of magic (i.e. that she can do it at all, after all), good robe, safety amulet
        doesn’t completely flip out around the countess
        doesn’t fuck up, wakes up in QW’s bed with lockpic, painted underwear, entry-level wizard robes, some stuff and proto-fireballs
        day 4:
        learns fireball enough to actually call it a fireball
        finally doesn’t fuck up getting to Kvatch
        has some confidence-boosting, even talks to the noble there
        learns basic (still not-very-useable) telekinesis (important because it means she’s not a one-trick pony)
        is royally screwed over, loses all stuff inlcluding lockpick
        stuff left: safety amulet, painted underwear, “firethrower” magic, TK (more useful than the lockpick she doesn’t even know how to use)
        hasn’t fucked up yet (still has time)
        hasn’t woken up in QW’s bed yet (still somehow possible, I am sure)

        • xKiv

          (Sigh)
          And with that I meant to say that I thought it was one rock-bottom screwup per day, but it’s actually *not* been that many! She’s doing better than what I set up my expectations as!

        • Score

          “still somehow possible”
          We are to assume that she has already mastered long-distance teleportation spells, but is only able to cast them while she is completely hammered.

  • TDW

    You could wait it out in the church, then have a number of options
    1: get the guard, alert them about the spell that was put on you and the items that were stolen from you.
    or
    2: wait till she leaves the house, break/sneak into the house and grab whatever you can.
    or
    3: pretend to have more items for her, gain her confidence, then when you get inside set the house on fire (bit drastic)
    or
    Maybe call you your vampire girl friend see if she can help.

    • Vulmen

      True but the vampire friend wasn’t really a “friend” … kinda left in a hot mood for goodness knows why.

      But…get the vampire friend! She likes drinking blood right? There’s plenty of it in that locked room, it’s practically leaking right out from under the door! Tell her where the snack is, maybe she just might “bite” on that!

      Katia; get your vampire friend to sneak you in there! xD

    • David Argall

      1. The guards are also controlled by Sigrid. Katia is arrested for slandering a good and noble woman.
      2. It appears that Sigrid never leaves the guild building. And it looks like she locks the door when she does.
      3. Katia made all sorts of racket trying to get back in. It would be amazing if she was not entirely aware that Katia is no longer her toy. Just not a chance of fooling her.
      Now as noted, the vampire is not a friend. Still, as noted, she might become one if all that blood is mentioned.

      But we still have the basic problem that Katia is only 1st level, if that, and Sigrid is name-class or higher.

  • nic

    *tight hug*

  • Lapine_D

    Are we to assume that Katia is the PC in Oblivion? If so then we can all rest assured that no matter how hard she is fucking up now, she will always be known as the prisoner that found out about the Emperor’s illegitimate child and nearly got him killed before he turned into an actual dragon.

    • Motherfucker

      Nope, this is PREQUEL as in PRE oblivion, Katia is not a hero, she’s not even a real person.

    • stupidjellyfish

      The fact that you can meet Quill-Weave in Oblivion with a reaction of not knowing you is proof enough that Katia is not the Champion.

      • David Argall

        A reasonable argument, but not at all decisive. There are several possible explanations. The mundane ones are that the writer never noticed this conversation or felt it was too minor and could be ignored since a Katia/Quill-Weave relationship added to the story.
        An excuse that might be used is that whatever destroys Katia’s memory will also affect Quill-Weave.

        • David Argall

          Oh yes, it seems our Necromancer who Katia slept with becomes a possible PC as does The completely ordinary human woman. So it is also possible that Katia will end up as an acquaintance of the hero.

  • Deafiler

    Katia: Fuck it, time to commit suicide. The gods hate you; at this point there’s no logical way to deny that. Whether you’re Katia Fucking Managan or just the easiest lay in Hammerfell and Cyrodiil, you’ll never be able to amount to anything with the nine divines and twenty-three members of the Khajiit pantheon joined forces against your happiness.

    Go back to the well. Take a bath with the slaughterfish. At least that way, in death, you’ll provide a pleasant meal to something more useful to the world than you are. And who knows? Maybe the lead in the paint you so stupidly applied to yourself will poison them to death without killing the entire town.

  • Motherfucker

    So like, we kinda need to break the formula, I mean watching new and interesting methods of suffering is great but really… it is like a formula now

    Katia goes up, gets good, diabolus ex machina and down she goes rinse repeat ad nauseum

    I mean suffering is fun and the collective tears of the fans nourish my cynical heart but this has happened literally three times in a row and it needs new and interesting things to happen.

  • CarbonF

    Hahaha, nice work as always.
    But just look at all the mad. My goodness. I hope you hold true to the story you want to tell. When authors start telling the story their audience wants to hear and not the story they wanted to tell in the first place, then you have a problem.

    By the way Kaz, I’d hardly noticed until you linked back to some earlier pages but damn your art has improved a lot. Keep it up!

    (Also, it’s awesome when you show up on tgchan. Just sayin)

    • Some dude

      This story sucks and is going nowhere, There’s a middle ground between never wanting anything bad to happen and going absolutely no where.

      • CarbonF

        Katia’s in Anvil, isn’t she? She’s become proficient at throwing fire, hasn’t she?
        This is only one small part in her story. She’s hit a new low, an all-time low at that. Can it be topped? It remains to be seen, but it’s all just setup for the next part, where she figures a way to get all her stuff back, maybe grabs some coin on the side. I don’t know, I’m not writing it.

        But just because we’re at another sad part, doesn’t mean the story isn’t going anywhere. I don’t know how you could even think that.

        (As for the story sucking, OPINIONS. I ain’t gonna argue opinions.)

        • Pogiforce

          She’s not in Anvil, she’s in Kvatch. If she was in Anvil she literally would have gotten no where.

          • CarbonF

            Well, shit. Nice spotting.

  • Daniel

    >Katia
    Ask for help from M’aiq the Liar.

  • Rambo Dash

    I don’t see why everyone’s SO opposed to Katia drinking alchohol. Think about it like this:

    Don’t drink: Continue on your boring, depressing life. Maybe sleep in the church. Cry some. Trudge back to Anvil. Dissapoint Quill-Weave. Cry some more.

    Drink: Black out and magically wake up somewhere else! It’s not like you have anything to lose. You can’t just keep trudging down this path, it’s obviously not working for you. Think of it as a restart.

  • Motherfucker

    I know she’s gonna drink the bottle, she always drinks the bottle, the bottle is the next step.

  • CapnFailBoat

    Won’t the rain wash off her painted “underwear”?

    • Edwardius

      I still question the plausibility of painted on underwear having covered anything in the first place.

      • xKiv

        I think her fur has that covered.

        • Edwardius

          Fur doesn’t really work like that, and if it did the body paint wouldn’t be involved to begin with.

  • Edwardius

    I’m at a loss at what the intended direction this of this comic was. I’m quite sure the premise was that Katia was going to slowly but surely succeed at being someone, but not without suffering innumerable down-trots and failures… A failure of this magnitude, naked, penniless, failed all her active duties and exploits… This isn’t even within the player’s hand anymore. The interactivity here is dead. Some stupid deus ex machina is all that’s left to go on from thereon in! I want to like this comic but this is starting to go the way of Homestuck and insufferably going nowhere! What’s next? Are we going to be introduced to a dozen more side characters that get killed off? How many more red herrings do we need?

  • M

    You know, I was thinking… Actually Katia is making progress quite fast. How long has she been in Cyrodiil in COMIC TIME? Three days? And she already knows two spells.

    That’s a huge step up from her life in Hammerfell.

    Anyway if Katia where a really good actress she might get her stuff back actually. She could fake memory loss and confusion, but could claim she was robbed. And say she was there on that mission for Quill, which IS true (And can be at least partially confirmed by some people she talked too.) But claim the last thing she remembers is the mages guild. Now that would be a claim that warrants investigation and lets say a law enforcer and Katia confronted Sigrid again. Sigrid has that document Katia signed, but if Katia can act well she can act like it’s a total surprise to her, because she has memory loss, and that it makes no sense because of that mission to Quill that she’d do that. If she pulled the memory loss acting off to well the whole thing would be confusing, and suspicious.

    Now that COULD lead to Sigrid just giving her stuff back to avoid trouble and suspicious with someone who’s heading out anyway. OR she could try that hypnotic perfume. But of course Katia remembers that stuff, and seeing her go for it she could make a quick surprise dash and snatch the stuff then quickly use it on herself and suggest Sigrid does nothing to harm anyone. (Contingent on that it works on Sigrid, but even if it doesn’t, there would be a non-hypnotized law enforcer too in case she gets hostile.)

    And if it does work Katia can use the perfume to proof her case, bring up the fact that Sigrid lied to the bookstore owner about the magic books only costing 1 coin, and bring the whole thing down. And probably get a reward that’d get her enough to buy Quill’s book AND maybe some magic items and other mage starter stuff.

    Eh… of course that’s merely a happy fantasy I doubt would happen. And something I’m not sure Katia could pull off. And there might be something I didn’t think of anyway…

  • Uzi_Man

    we really, REALLY need a hero to appear from nowhere to help Katia. Give her a place to sleep, tips for life or something.

    • xKiv

      Like a briiiidge over tro-ou-bled water …

  • Melpomene

    Oh look, it’s raining because the protagonist is sad and everything turned to crap as usual. What a great trope never before seen in this story or anywhere else.

    Your story is becoming predictable Kaz. It’s one thing to write a tragedy, but if your story is constantly yo-yoing back and forth over the same ground it becomes utterly mediocre. How many times is this going to happen before Katia just decides to kill herself? At least that would be some kind of resolution to the story, rather than tedious retreading of the same ground.

    At this point you’re like a guy at a party who gets a laugh from a joke, then flushed with excitement over the attention tells it several more times to try and get more laughs.

    Only now the audience is starting to chuckle quietly and stare awkwardly, expecting something more. Maybe we misjudged you. Maybe your apparent talent is just a fluke. A one hit wonder.

    I won’t be one of those people saying they’re going to quit, but eventually your skill at drawing and animating will just be a pretty shell around an empty narrative. Then you won’t even get hate anymore.

    • Trance

      I don’t think I’ll ever understand how people arrive at a conclusion like yours. I mean, where does this perspective come from? Yes, Katia has failed more than once in a manner that strips her of her material possessions and hit a low point for which she has no contingency plan. What else about the story has happened before? Is that the only reason you decry it as predictable? If it is, it’s an incredibly weak reason that makes it seem like you’ve not been paying any attention this whole time.

      Have you taken into account that we’re not reading about a character who is in any way competent or savvy? We are, in fact, reading about a pitifully naive former failure rushing headlong into a new life with effectively no knowledge or experience relevant to her overall goal. In such a context, frequent and occasionally spectacular failures would be almost inevitable, wouldn’t you agree? Only rarely outside of Hollywood do people with this breathtaking lack of life experience make it on their first try. Reality usually has to give them a few stout cuffs to the brainpan before they start learning how to succeed.

      This story is pulled straight out of real life. The setting and details have been changed to protect the innocent, of course, but you don’t get a coming-of-age story truer to life than this. This is the main reason, I think, that Prequel has so many readers: not because of the pretty kitty in the animated art boxes, not even because of the comedy, but because of how much people see themselves in Katia.

      If you can’t appreciate that, then I doubt you’ll ever enjoy this story and you’re better off moving on to other things. Rest assured that Prequel’s following will only fade when Kazerad starts taking comments like yours to heart.

      • Im kinda pissed

        You realy don’t get it do you? If “Dues ex machina” is good writing for you then Of course this looks like good writing here.

        • Trance

          See my above response to your other “dues ex machina” comment. You don’t quite know enough of what you’re talking about.

          • Im kinda pissed

            Yes. If I criticize the work for retreading over and over I of course no nothing. Dues ex machina means god from machine. As a term it can be used for both postive and negative situations. Even though the ancient greeks used it to resolve plays in a positive way, the term is very useful as a word meaning “Unrealistic plot turn that just seems like that author grabbing the characters with a god hand”.

            So yes. I know what the terms means. In an ordinary story the point of dues ex machina is so that the character succeeds. In this story the point is that the character fails, so dues ex machina is used to ensure that the character fails. Also definition:

            Latin: “god out of the machine”; plural: dei ex machina) is a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem (Or in this situation an unavoidable success) is suddenly and abruptly solved with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability, or object.

          • Trance

            “If I criticize the work for retreading over and over I of course no nothing.”
            You know nothing if you actually believe Prequel is retreading over and over.

            “the term is very useful as a word meaning “Unrealistic plot turn that just seems like that author grabbing the characters with a god hand”.”
            And if you’re using this definition to justify describing Prequel’s recent plot as a “dues ex machina”, then I’m justified in saying you don’t know what you’re talking about.

            Please explain exactly what about recent events have been unrealistic, bearing in mind the setting of the story.

            “In this story the point is that the character fails, so dues ex machina is used to ensure that the character fails.”
            I also don’t understand why you seem to think Katia was headed for some unavoidable success. She entered the lair of a manipulative mage, having been given vague warnings by others well before her arrival, and with the help of a Charm spell made a “donation” of everything she had (which, from the details Sigrid gave during their discussion, has happened to countless others unwitting enough to enter the Kvatch Mage’s Guild). There is nothing about this situation that doesn’t make sense and which wasn’t heavily foreshadowed.

            I still don’t see how you could have missed so much of the plot that you consider this a deus ex machina.

          • Im kinda pissed

            “You know nothing if you actually believe Prequel is retreading over and over.”
            And you know even less if you think it isn’t. Patronizing and insulting isn’t it?

            “I also don’t understand why you seem to think Katia was headed for some unavoidable success.”

            Because she had money, stuff and mage ability. Even if rejected by sigrid her rejection would mean nothing as she would just join a different mages guild. Even if her money was stolen it would suck for a bit, but not much. No realistic drama could come of this situation.

            So there was a necessity for forced manufactured drama, wherien Sigrid stole everything (To the petty extreme) from Katia. Then it starts raining NOT during the lightning storm that was happening a while ago but the SECOND that somebody suggests getting the letter. Aint that contrived to you? No?

            “There is nothing about this situation that doesn’t make sense and which wasn’t heavily foreshadowed.”

            Again the foreshadowing means diidly squat. Just because something is foreshadowed doesn’t change anything.

            It doesn’t make sense as Sigrid seems to be stealing EVERYTHING to the petty extreme. Then why didn’t she go all the way? We know shes a monster so:

            Why didn’t she mind control Katia into publicly killing herself? So that she couldn’t tattle to other mages guilds about her? If you say “well she expected her to be charmed” then why does she suddenly have charm resistance? Shes not that particularly strong willed. That wasn’t foreshadowed.

            And I didn’t miss any of the plot mister arrogant pants.

          • Trance

            “Because she had money, stuff and mage ability. Even if rejected by sigrid her rejection would mean nothing as she would just join a different mages guild. Even if her money was stolen it would suck for a bit, but not much. No realistic drama could come of this situation.”
            Again, how was the success unavoidable? People lose money and stuff all the time, especially when they fall victim to manipulation or confidence tricks. How is Katia a special case? What makes you think that the only way she can lose her money and stuff is through some contrived plot bomb?

            By the way, she’s still got her mage ability, in case you missed the last update.

            “Then it starts raining NOT during the lightning storm that was happening a while ago but the SECOND that somebody suggests getting the letter. Aint that contrived to you? No?”
            So what? What would have been the alternate outcome if Katia HAD retrieved the letter intact? At best, she would have managed to avoid losing it and made it all the way back to Quill-Weave without making any attempt to recover her stuff, which would have been the dullest possible outcome, or she would’ve lost it somehow on the way back and be right where she was now.

            “Again the foreshadowing means diidly squat. Just because something is foreshadowed doesn’t change anything.”
            Yes it fucking does. You’re saying that Sigrid’s theft was some plot-related panic button Kazerad deployed to induce tragedy for whatever reason. I’m detailing exactly how wrong that assessment is. This encounter did not come out of nowhere by any stretch, nor do I see this story arc ending right on this page.

            “It doesn’t make sense as Sigrid seems to be stealing EVERYTHING to the petty extreme. Then why didn’t she go all the way?”
            Katia GAVE Sigrid everything, due to being under the influence of Sigrid’s magic. Why doesn’t that make sense to you? It’s all stuff she can either directly use or sell to add to her piles of gold.

            “Why didn’t she mind control Katia into publicly killing herself? So that she couldn’t tattle to other mages guilds about her?”
            Well even if you could convince someone to do such a thing via a Charm spell, which I doubt, why would Sigrid need to? She’s already fully protected by a magic barrier, and given the dubious circumstances under which the decision to demolish the Kvatch Mage’s Guild was suddenly dropped, it’s reasonable to assume Sigrid has some influence with the city authorities. But if people who visit her guild suddenly start killing themselves shortly afterward, then not only will the negative press spread even further, eliminating her supply of “donors” as people avoid her guild like a housefire, but it might be enough to negate whatever hold Sigrid’s got on the minds of city authorities and get them to launch an investigation.

            “And I didn’t miss any of the plot mister arrogant pants.”
            Then I can’t fathom where you’re pulling these conclusions from. If you haven’t missed any of the plot, then you must have massively misinterpreted it.

          • Kazerad

            You just got the 400th comment on this update :D!

            And people thought the comment section was full after Dmitri got sliced.

          • Trance

            “You just got the 400th comment on this update!”

            Woohoo! Are drinks on the house?

            I just got tired of seeing all the people crying about “back to zero” like that’s something people are supposed to care about. It is so utterly not the point to me. I am very much looking forward to seeing Katia’s next move.

            Keep on doing your thing, Kaz. You’ve got a fan here.

          • Im kinda pissed

            I was going to continue my argument with you but Im just fed up with how you address me.

            Any opinion that is not your own is automatically idiotic and comes only from stupid whiners in your opinion.

            I may disagree with you, but I do understand you.

            You dismiss my arguments before the conversation even begins. I don’t want to talk to you.

          • Trance

            “Any opinion that is not your own is automatically idiotic and comes only from stupid whiners in your opinion.”
            No, I don’t consider differing opinions automatically idiotic. But opinions such as yours that rest on an oversimplified picture of the story, fixating on possessions and literary devices instead of actual important plot-related matters, and especially those that make an unwarranted assumption of expertise on what is or isn’t good writing, ARE idiotic and deserve to be called out. It just seems like you’ve made up your mind to dislike the story for the most trivial shit.

            You’re free to opine to your heart’s content, but doing so in a public venue opens yourself to criticism from people who think your opinion is stupid.

          • Im kinda pissed

            Alright then. Il also revert to name-calling.

            You enjoy repetition and retreading on the same space. As long as minor details are changed you are placated. You enjoy watching nothing change and then will insist that the smallest of details make up for months of buildup. You are easily amused and don’t like thinking critically.

          • Trance

            I think my deconstruction of your criticisms in the half-dozen or so comments I’ve made pretty effectively destroy your claim that I don’t like thinking critically. In fact I love it, where it’s warranted. If the criticisms have any real relevance to the story then I’m totally with it. Yours don’t, despite your protestations to the contrary.

            And when a “critical thinker” like you ignores information contrary to their position in order to maintain their position, that’s what I really can’t stand. It kills the purpose of critical thinking when you don’t apply that critical thinking to your own ideas. At that point you stop focusing on being as correct as possible and instead resort to “winning” an argument by having the last word. Like you’re doing now.

          • Im kinda pissed

            Actually, I think your right. The term “Dues ex machina” does not fit here. This is not dues ex machina as it still does make sense.

            I think the closer problem is “Out of control”. What happened here was completely out of Katias control or understanding. Or at least our control or understanding.

            The reason the “out of control” bugs me is that Katia has nothing to do with her being sucky or amazing. Its just pure random bad luck.

            Its annoying to me because A: This is not random bad luck B: This makes it Harder to care about Katia

            A: The author is in charge of the bad luck. This isn’t a roll of a D20. The author wanted Katia to fail and so she did. Foreshadowing doesn’t change that. Lets say in comics I foreshadowed that Superman would loose his superpowers (Because otherwise the baddy that the author wanted superman to fight would be to easily dispatched) because he would accidentally swallow a secret potion (That accidentally fell into his salad). Just because its accidental does’t mean that the author didn’t plan this. Foreshadowing doesn’t make this turn of events any better.

            B: This makes it difficult for me to care because it could happen again. This is a rather large leap of events. Lets say that later superman gains his powers back. But why should I care? The author has shown that when necessary he will strip him of his powers. This is not in any way related to supermans actions.

            This makes it difficult for me to root for superman when he attempts to gain his powers back because at any point in time the author could repeat this occurrence when necessary (And this could be caused by superman tripping on a rock or just saying the wrong word (That he had no idea was a wrong word) to an elder god).

            This is different then lets say if Superman KNEW about the potion in the salad but needed to eat it because he needed to save somebody. It gives pathos and a reason for these occurrences and makes it feel like superman achieved something.

            To summarize: Why should I care about any of the achievements when through random bad luck (thats not random bad luck) they could be taken away? Oh sure, superman gains experience through this, but that doesn’t change the fact that this randomness is annoying. That means that I only care about his experience and I am utterly bored whenever he tries to regain his superpowers. Il be going

            “Get on with it! I don’t care about the superpowers. I know they will just randomly be taken away again. This is dull”

            Lets say in Diehard John maclain is about to kill the final bad guy with his cool idea of taping the gun to his back and !………He dies from food poisoning. Whaaaa? I know that they implied that the burrito that he ate in the airplane might have been somewhat icky but this is just a bit much!

            How do I know that in the next action movie the hero might just have a heart attack because of the cancer that he might have had (But didn’t know about). I know its realistic, but it doesn’t make for good entertainment.

            So this is my thingy.

          • Im kinda pissed

            And actualy the “Superman needs to eat the salad to save somebody” example was also somewhat off. If he had the possibility to AVOID the salad but failed to do so it has more reason and explanation.

            Why did the Orc robbing her feel different from Sigrid robbing her?

            Because in the Orc situation that was also random bad luck but she was still in control. She COULD have done something. She just failed. That means that the next time I will root for her to WIN. The Orc was also allot more reasonable.

            But repeat the robbing scene with the Orc enough times Il ALSO get bored of it.

            “Gee, I wonder if shes going to be too scared to do anything..Yup. ]=( ”

            In the Sigrid Situation there was NOTHING she could do. Control was wrangled from her hands and put into the authors. Same thing with the rock. There was nothing she could do about it.

            I have no reason to care because at any later stage control could be wrangled from her hands/ paws/ claws.

            How do I know she won’t trip on a rock and hit her head and get amnesia forgetting all abou the spells she learned?

            Tension and caring = Gone.

          • I have an epiphany

            Im on a bit of an epiphany:

            And why is the reverse of this also annoying?

            Lets say superman just has a chest of gold suddenly fall into his lap.

            Its unsatisfying, because superman did nothing to earn that treasure.

            If katia just suddenly found a treasure chest of gold under her feat this would be equaly as unsatisfying as having all her stuff mind controlled out of her hands.

  • /d/generate

    I’m positive kazera/d/ writes this shit an/d/ touches himself, just like ICS.
    because you can’t be a fan of homestuck an/d/ not be a freak.

    • Ch’marr

      Ice Cream Sandwich touches itself?

      • Rambo Dash

        Man, I FUCKING LOVE ice cream sandwiches….

  • turi

    your retro game was so nice

  • Rookanook

    Katia you still have a chence you remember what Sigrid has done and its a crime. Most people don’t mind a small charm on them that badly but to use one that strong to take all your possessions and sigh a legal document against your will. Asotil told you criminals have no rights well Sigrid is a criminal and every one you had met with hatred for her is your evidence. it isn’t wrong to ask for help or tell the law.

  • /d/generate

    ICS is Ian Samson, another webcomic artiste who’s also into softcore torture porn an/d/ ba/d/ en/d/.

  • Gamstah

    I’m still bit curious about that cat (who showed up for the vampire) with familiar glowing gem and letter tied on his back…
    But oh crap. Try to cheer up ur readers bit

    /\___/\
    ) (
    =\ /=
    ) (
    / \
    ) (
    / \
    \ /
    \__ __/
    ))
    //
    ((
    \)

  • ArcaneMonkey

    emotional roller coaster time
    Yay, an update!
    Awww…it’s sad
    Yay, my profanity filled suggestion got used!
    YAY! epic Katia!
    awww….
    aw….

    welp…

  • Catlyr

    Such a poor destitute little cat, get up now, pick yourself up, there must be something you can do. You are Katia Managan and you need to be strong, maybe stronger than you have ever been, but that doesn’t just happen, you have to get up, you have to face what has happened and meet it with a smile. Even if you have to force a look of determination on your face and you don’t really feel it, lying to yourself is by far better than giving up, been there and done that, but that was the old you. You are Katia Managan and you can do better, you can take back what was taken from you and make everything better. Take it from another feline who cares, even if he is just in your head. Of course you could always see if that obviously vampire chick is still around and try to get her to help you, you never know, she just might…….. Wishing you the best; Catlyr

  • The wanderer

    Poor, poor, child. No matter how hard you try.
    No matter what you do, you always cry.
    You’ve gone so far, and fallen the same.
    And now you think, it’s only you to blame.

    Pick yourself up, dry off the rain.
    Give yourself some time, deal with your pain.
    Gather your wits, and let your wounds heal.
    And blast that bitch! With renewed zeal!

    Shove that pineapple, up her ass!
    Show your feral ancestry, of the cat!
    The power to harness, the power to fear!
    You know your target, in that direction, steer!

    I write this for hope, honor, and heart.
    May you find good company, and friendship, impart.
    Succeed and Survive, is all you can do.
    For your giving heart is good, and your soul is true.

  • Seth

    hey i heard alot of music and sounds and things like that but… what do the characters sound like? i mean what does katia managan voice sound like?

    • stupidjellyfish

      She obviously has that sexy accent the peoples of Elsweyr have, or (considering she’s from Hammerfell), she has a typical “American” accent. Either way, she probably has a whiny, jumpy tone behind it all.

  • carbocookie

    The bit of author dialogue at the end is what kills it for me. The imagery alone would have been powerful enough; driving the point home with a sledgehammer steers it into melodrama territory.

    It’s a small knock on what remains a thoroughly enjoyable series for me. I’d be disappointed if Katia managed to get the package back without some kind of disaster happening, because the fun is finding out how it resolves. Even the silliest moments in this adventure have been believable, and even the horrible nightmares were tempered with a measure of humor. Don’t root for Katia to become rich and famous overnight, because the true journey is what’s happening inside.

    • C

      It’s not actually author dialogue – Kazerad’s stated that it’s Katia’s internal dialogue. He’s not beating her up, she’s beating herself up.

  • Ransom

    I actually got out of bed at 2am to post that…

    I’m remarkably sure of what’s going to happen next. So much so I’m not even going to post it. It’s going to be glorious.

  • CHRISTHE AWESOME

    Giving up is the worst thing you can do. Please stand up and find somewhere to wait out the rain. Once it stops look around the mages guild. Find a window and bust in and get your stuff back then run like hell!

  • Aldyhm

    You can now find some shelter for this night, then go back to Cyrodiil and disappoin QW for last time, because she wont trust you anymore. But you are Katia Fucking Managan, and you just can’t give it up! That bitch Sigrid stole all your things, you must show her, that one does not simply rob you! You must break into her house and get your things back (at least your robe, letter to QW and your lockpick)!
    /BTW I apologize for mistakes in language, I’m not a native speaker/

  • Vawkis

    Katia, child. Why do you do this? Hm? You are Khajit. You are un-trusted by many. The many, you wish to impress. And yet your desires are costing you. This is not the way of the noble Khajit. You may not be able to use your magiks to enter the building. Why do you not use what the stars have blessed you with, hmm? You can see far better then any at night. You’ve got your claws. What is to say, if the building is warded from magiks that it is warded from lock picking?

    You’ve work to do child. The one being who has given you her trust. And has taken nothing from you. Except your mistakes, counts on you, to complete this. Don’t impress the world. The world is harsh and has no love for Khajit. Impress a friend. Then the world might eventually follow. If not? It is the worlds loss. Find shelter before the weather claims you this night. Then make plans. This is not the first time you’ve failed to land on your feet. It will not be the last. The difference will be your recovery

    • andwhyisit

      You might want to submit that in the suggestions thread.

  • bouncie

    Go to the Vampire-Girl! She helped you, so maybe she can help now too? It’s night anyway :3

    • Wolligepoes

      Yes offer her some blood, empty the bottle (not by drinking) use your claws to make a small wound and pour blood into the empty bottle, this way you will not become a vampire yourself and Nah gets her blood. Or you could offer her some tampons during menstruation?

  • Gregory

    DO NOT DRINK THAT BOTTLE. KATIA…PLEASE. TIME AND TIME AGAIN WE’RE HERE FOR YOU. YOU’RE NOT NOTHING. WE MADE SO MUCH PROGRESS THIS TIME. AND IF YOU DRINK, WE’RE JUST STARTING OVER.

    YOU DRINK, WAKE UP, TRY, AND FAIL, ONLY TO DRINK AGAIN. WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU DON’T DRINK?

    What if you don’t? You’ve done the same pattern over and over. And when you wake up from it, you’ll be in some Stranger’s Bed do a yoyo-pineapple trick, convince yourself you can do something, and fail, and then repeat it all by drinking. Don’t do it…please.

    Besides, look at what happens when you try? Look at what happens when you have courage? Those fireballs at that house…you’ve never done that before. You’ve gained something here! Where were you before this; nothing. But now you can cast fireballs at command, and have made friendships, and are one of the few who are willing to challenge Sigrid…

    Don’t end it here with this. Please.

    • good point :)

      but this would definitely do better in the commands section (i tried once its kind of a mess so good luck)

  • A_Person

    What we need is another character… Maybe an assassin who will get her stuffz back?

  • Man. Might just be that I spent twelve hours straight reading the whole of the series as a means to keep myself awake, but this story has gotten under my skin. I’ve become genuinely attached to this shy, meek character and her fate. And I’m really damn anxious for the next update.

    My hopes are borne on the shoulders of messenger kitten. 🙁

  • Scott

    …nooooo

    ;_;

  • Blarv

    This is getting so downright sadistic it’s fucking sick…>_>;

  • Mr.Mister

    Remember when i said i “think” Kaz isn’t trying anymore?
    Forget that, i *know* Kaz isn’t trying anymore.
    Not at all.

    • NoriMori

      You know no such thing.

  • Sunboy128

    Kazerad, stop it.
    Stop fucking pretending that there’s nothing between “always happy” and “Always sad”, and actually TRY to balance tragic moments with happy moments.

    • Im kinda pissed

      YES! This is what my problem is.

    • NoriMori

      Your comment makes me honestly wonder if we’re even reading the same story.

  • Ransom

    I think I have a problem, I’ve been refreshing Prequel all day waiting for an update! Not badgering Kaz for updates, just saying I’m really eager to see the next comic.

  • 22

    is there anyone else here who isn’t severely critical of this

    • David Argall

      Well, I am severely critical of using “this” when it might refer to any of a dozen different things.

      Now the comic? I’m going to keep on reading it. I am more critical of having to wait a week or two between updates than I am of the contents.

  • SomerandomGuyOnACatTrain/Car/Backseat

    Wait what was on that note anyway? Couldn’t We the imaginary voices in her head just suggest her to make a dupe of the note? or did the no one here ever thought about asking Katavros about reading it back when it was cleanly written?

  • TheTurnipKing

    It rains now, little khajiit. Weather the storm, as even the dumbest of animals shall.

  • ChetBetera

    For everyone who thinks that the whole universe is actively conspiring to put Katia down for eternity; How about this point of view? The universe doesn’t care about Katia.

  • and then it goes on again

    Well, there goes any faith in this character. Thus far, the entire comic seems to just repeat itself, there’s no middle line between when she fucks up and when she gets somewhere – and boy, oh, fucking boy how outstretched the fucked up moments are. It’s almost been a month since Katia stepped outside. That’s just, ugh.

  • ThatZombieGamer

    You know Kazerad has to update when 4/5 of the page are comments :/

    • wolligepoes

      But we do not control the story entirely, we don’t want to, otherwise there would be no surprises and that would not be fun

      • ThatZombieGamer

        What, I wasn;t talking about the story I;m just saying he has to update and many are waitng on him.

  • wolligepoes

    write an anonymous letter saying that people without stuff are less likely to fall for her trap again and do not provide anymore income. This way the same thing might not happen to any other people. After that, empty the botte (Not by drinking it) make a small wound and pour the blood in the bottle, offer the blood to nah in return for her help earlier and ask her a favor again. Don’t offer blood straight from you because
    1. it would be awkward since you are nude
    2. you would get infected with vampirism.
    Or give her your old tampons during menstruation?

  • Blackstone

    What you must do is simple, Katia. You’ve tried to play by the rules, to be a good kitty. Clearly, Nirn and the Nine Divines don’t want that.

    Now’s the time for you to turn [i][b]tail[/b][/i] and give into baser instincts. The Mage’s Guild had huge piles of swag just laying around, and some of it is yours. Why shouldn’t all of it be yours?

    Kvatch must have a sewer system of some kind, and surely a place as “swanky” as the Mage’s Guildhall has its own access point. Up for some sneak-thieving?

  • pingas slingshot

    you know Kaz i don’t mind if there is less art at this point i just kinda want an update more often than once a week. you could all-ways cut down on painting the pictures (cause i know thats gotta be at least half of the reason these take so long to make) and turn your attention to more story progress. i think its safe to say that people are getting a little tired of being stuck in this spot. lets start climbing out of the pit of despair… again :/

    • Noriega

      Quit complaining. Or donate. Then you’ll have a reason to.

      • pingas slingshot

        just suggesting an option no need to get mean there : /

  • flodos

    can we get some author’s comment here? i want to know where he/she wants to take the comic, becaues if this keeps up i’m going to drop it. it’s starting to feel as though the maker just wants to hate and rage at its character…

  • CodyRedclaw

    At times like this, I wish that the fan consciousness could form a corporeal person… it seems like that would be the best way to interact with Katia, rather than the indiscriminate voices in her head.

  • Yinello

    I love reading the comments. It’s my fix I guess. xD

    Was I happy with Katia being depressed again? Nope. Do I feel like Katia will ever stop getting into shitty moments? Nope. Will I stop reading? Nope. Am I sincerely hoping that somewhere along the line of Katia’s neverending story of bad luck that Sigrid will get her ass handed to her? Yes, though I’m scared of hoping honestly. I wanted the same with the orc guy and he only got better.

  • Trixie

    I’ve been a long time reader but I think this is about as far as I can go. This was certainly a well put together scene to be sure but I’m afraid I just can’t derive any more personal entertainment out of watching Katia lose everything for the millionth time and hit rock bottom again. It’s just too negative for my taste. The overall nature of the story isn’t lost on me; I realize it’s supposed to be hard for her, but it just gets to a point where it ceased to become entertaining.

    People can make fun of me for saying all that or whatever, but I’m really sad that I’ve come to this conclusion. I really do love the series. I’ll probably come back some time in the future once a good helping of updates has been released, and things might get a little more lighthearted drama like it used to be. I’d sure like that.

    Best of luck in your future endeavors.

    • fp

      That’s the problem. This would have worked out well in book format. You can keep going with the story. Unfortunately as a webcomic that seems to update once a week(sometimes) the pace gets so slow. While in actuality Katia is going through this horrible time in a matter of moments, the reader must sit there and leave the story at that until the next update occurs. This would be a chapter or two in a book, a night or so for Katia, but a month for the reader. The webcomic format has benefited this story greatly but at the same time it drags out emotions until it’s just a splotch on the road and that’s what you get to stare at for a month.

  • Willhelm

    Im no sure if i can continue reading this its getting too sad :,<

  • getyourassinthatchurch

    Katia, get your ass off that fucking ground and in that fucking church. YES, you try your goddamn hardest to please absolutely anyone. Yes you fuck up, but you know what? You didn’t fuck up that fireball you threw at the mage hall. You know why? cause you got mad and you tried your goddamn hardest to please absolutely NOBODY BUT YOURSELF THERE. Yes you tried to get Quill-weave’s shit back, but MOST of that SHIT was YOUR SHIT however,

    SO, get your ASS in that DAMN CHURCH. get your self dry and some clothes on your butt and figure out how the crap your going to GET your shit back.

  • SomerandomGuyOnACatTrain/Car/Backseat

    >”You’re not Katia Managan. You’re not a budding wizard. You’re not even a real person.” Then Katia reach chim and flew off into capital wasteland to start a new life ‘Watching the world on fire.’
    >rolls d20
    >gets 1
    >Welp she vanish for realizing she a dream up character for a sleeping god. OH WELL that’s the breaks wanna play some Prelude:Fallout edition?

  • Deangela

    YOU ARE NOT A WORTHLESS STRAY!!! NOR DID YOU FUCK UP THIS TIME!!!

    you were doing great: making friends and being a good messenger. Then Sigrid messed everything up
    ITS HER FAULT NOT YOURS YOU GLORIOUS KAJIIT!!! FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER IT ISNT YOUR FAULT!!!

  • Hamworth

    I love the comic but everything is always SOOO SAAAD.
    I wonder what katia will do to rectify the situation she’s in.

  • Poor, Katia! I thought the storms were the Oblivion Gates opening. Actually, I’m still hoping that Sigrid will be killed.

  • TheTurnipKing

    Hands up if you’re looking forwards to the next day in-comic just because she’ll be able to pull the Eye of Fear again?

  • Epidemiology

    That bottle is booze. She is going to drink it because one person suggested that she should, despite dozens of commands to the contrary.

    I have no problem with an author leading the readers through the plot. I don’t even have a problem with the writer making their characters more and more miserable with each passing chapter. That is the standard format of storytelling, after all. But, Kazerad, don’t give your readers the impression that they control the character when their commands are merely self-imposed hurdles between you and the conclusion you actually want.

    • TheTurnipKing

      Alcoholism is a terrible disease, and addiction a cruel mistress.

      Addiction means you don’t get to completely ignore alcohol just because most of the voices in your head say it’s a bad idea.

      • Jake

        It is very true. If doing the right thing and being successful was as simple as listening to the voices of reason in your head we would have no alcoholics or drug addicts on this planet, lot less misery in general. Sometimes you know perfectly well what are the correct things to do in order to achieve happiness but.

        Somehow, you just can’t do it.

  • CadillacWerewolf

    You are no stray! You are Khajiit! You resisted Khajiit instincts to take the shinies in the Guild, yes? To resist Khajiit instincts, one must have them in the first place. As Khajiit, you are smart and cunning! You saw all that gold? All that treasure? That is not all yours. Perhaps others have been cheated. Others in town. Many others. Many others that you could find and gather together! With luck, you might find a fellow Khajiit, also cheated! Maybe a Cathay-Raht! See, there is one advantage to hitting rock bottom, you have nowhere to go, but up.

    • Seth ( Mr.Fluffy )

      true so true. now this guy has a good head on his shoulders.

    • Some dude

      Katia seems to be an excellent piece of evidence that Khajiit are strays.

      • CadillacWerewolf

        You are not helpful. Go bother somebody else.

  • Yinello

    I don’t think alcoholism is Epidemiology’s point. It’s about the illusion of reader choice. It’s obviously very driven by Kaz, no matter what users command her to do.

    • TheTurnipKing

      I like to think of it as Katia’s personality shining through.

      We’re all just one of many voices in her head, and that head has its own ideas too.

      Maybe it should be “Submit suggestion”. Submit commands implies way more weight than we actually have.

  • Dan

    Can someone give me the link to the command-submitting place? I have an amazing idea!

  • TheTurnipKing

    It’s in the sidebar as “submit commands”.

    http://mspaforums.com/showthread.php?47177

  • sluncho

    So Katia, which version of “Hurt” do you prefer, the Nine Inch Nails version or the Johnny Cash version?

    No reason, just curious.

  • a wizard named… Tim?

    I wonder what the voices sound like to katia.
    do they sound like the people who make the commands?
    do they sound like kazerad?
    or… just maybe… do they sound like a certain mad god?
    have there been any cheeze commands?
    TELL ME! the fate of our main character depends on it!
    she could be wabbajacked any moment!!!
    she could drown in molten CHEEZE!!!
    she could turn PURPLE!!!
    she could play skip rope… WITH HER INTESTINES!!!
    OR WORST OF ALL…
    *dramatic music*
    have a tea party

  • Bonzohazard

    lol, worst one yet! A lot of repeat frames with almost no dialogue or events! This kat’s running out of creative steam methinks…. pity, I was enjoying this.

  • Gavinfoxx

    So… I asked in the other thread… does Kazerad take the % of ‘positive/reinforcing’ suggestions, and compare it with the % of ‘negative/damning’ suggestion, and then have example suggestions of the winner appear in the story?

    • Seth ( Mr.Fluffy )

      i dont know my friend, but if helps go back to the last update and see the percent of both good and bad comments. then if you see a greater numbers of whatever one, come back and compare it with this update.

    • Kazerad

      (I saw in the thread but was too busy to reply! Sorry!)

      Sometimes it’s a straight up percentage, sometimes it depends on what is said. It varies situation to situation, though I always try to at least acknowledge the majority opinion.

      • Some dude

        If you’re going to “acknowledge the majority opinion” how about you find a way to write a new plot than “Katia masters a task that literally any functioning adult can do and then gets all her shit stolen again for no reason”

  • Seth ( Mr.Fluffy )

    wow so many different comments. hate and like. i wonder what kaz is going to do next? and how the readers are going to take it? maybe this was kaz’s plan the whole time or a accident? maybe something terrible happens, maybe katia finds her luck, or maybe a new character changes it for the better …… or worst. the future holds it all. so kaz what are you going to do now?

    • Seth ( Mr.Fluffy )

      p.s. when is the next update my friends?

  • Marnath

    I don’t get all the negative comments. She hasn’t gotten drunk and blacked out yet so there is still time for her to make some sort of progress. She probably will get drunk and fuck up again but she might not and that’s hope enough for me to keep reading.

    • Seth ( Mr.Fluffy )

      that is right my friend. nothing that bad has happened yet. plus even through all those negative commads up, she pushed on. maybe katia is getting better. this might be the start of something new! a more positive ending this time! YOU CAN DO KATIA! I BELIEVE IN YOU! I HAVE HOPE FOR YOU! GO KATIA GO!!! 🙂

      • fp

        As did many others during several parts of this arc. And so their hopes were destroyed over and over. I don’t really care either way but it will be hilarious if she does once again get drunk and the situation gets worst despite the bottom-of-the-barrel optimism. I don’t blame people for “having had enough” of this. I don’t believe it’s a particularly hard concept to grasp either. Fortunately there’s plenty other things to read for anyone who decides they don’t want to risk seeing an update with her beheaded flashing on their screen.

        • Seth ( Mr.Fluffy )

          🙁 man i hope katia dont hear that in her head. downer. best wishs katia from Mr.Fluffy.

          • fp

            If she heard this she would realize she is in a webcomic, assuming her brain hasn’t met with the wrong side of an arrow or lightning bolt. If she does hear it and ignore it, it might imply so sort of multidimensional existence and that kind of madness would be a harbinger for Sheogorath’s appearance.

        • JJA

          If her situation was not improving at all, I’d possibly agree with you. Since things are getting better for her by degrees, I must gainsay you.

          Before you accuse me of being too optimistic, is there just a chance that you’re being too pessimistic?

          “It’s as bad to fall flat on your face as to lean too far over backwards.”

          • fp

            I don’t care what happens in the story anymore. I was saying it’s illogical to not understand why some people would be pessimistic or why some people don’t see more bad things happening over and over again as they have proven to do so before. The optimism is bottom-of-the-barrel because she is at the bottom. People aren’t this optimistic about most things when everything is okay and Katia is broke, naked, and weak. Optimism on the same level as “Well, maybe he hit you a lot but at least it wasn’t rape! That’s something to smile about.”
            Personally, fan reaction is becoming the most amusing part of the story which is why I hope she gets drunk despite some people believing full heartedly that she won’t.

          • Some dude

            fp. we’re hoping Kaz stops being so fucking bad and learns how to make us feel anything except to steal all of Katia’s shit. Or kill the PC

  • Isshiki Kotonashi

    Ask for another letter. That stuck up High Elf might be mad that you lost it but it couldn’t hurt to at least ask. And you did at least already give him that letter from QW. You are not a complete failure.

    Also you are so huggable

  • JJA

    “Tryin’ to draw cats…” plural. Is this an extra hint that the white kitten will soon appear?

    • Something or Another

      That’s what I’m figuring. Now would be the opportune time for the cat to appear, what with it raining, Katia at the end of her rope, and most of us having forgotten about it.

  • Superman

    Get to the church, cry it out, maybe ask for some new clothes, get a new letter from the stuck up bastard and leave.

    Cut your losses while you still can. At least you’re still alive. At least your not some worthless drunkard whore with no future whos probably going to freeze to death one day in an alley after drinking one tenth of a bottle. You’re a wizard. Maybe you don’t have training, but you can still light things on fire with your mind. Do you know how many people would kill for that?

    Better yet, do you know how many people you could kill with that?

    Oh and please for the love of god don’t get drunk. You came from nothing, you got magic. Losing 22 gold and some trash didn’t change that.

  • Dovakiin

    Dear Katia,

    Go get a rock, and throw it through the window. This way you can get everything you own back. Or you can give up, and turn into a spineless milk drinker.

    What I would do is get some new clothing, disguise yourself somehow, and pretend you are yet another Kahjiit interested in joining up with their guild. Then distract them by catching something on fire, and take all of your stuff back from those theives, and some extra money for “emotional trauma.”

    Don’t be a milk drinker Katia, grow a pair.

    -Dovakiin.

    • ThatZombieGamer

      You need to visit the forum thread to submit commands!

    • nerevarine

      She’s sorry Dovahkiin that she’s not born as the chosen one with godly powers and top rank in every guild earned in a matter of days, where skills, items, trust, houses, companions, and powers fall into her lap as they do for you. Your words mean nothing, Mr. I Don’t Need to Eat or Drink to Live. Your taste in alcohol crumbles before my palette.

      It is hard, Katia. Growing up in Vvardenfell and battling through the ashlands through the last years of my life I have seen societies crumble, good men betrayed, and my own right hand people turn to the very powers I warned them against. But even after death I rose up to correct the faults and saved the world from a fate far worse than death. I went from the most leading figure in Morrowind to a prisoner on a ship with a few coins in his pocket. And I rose to Nerevarine again with hard work, long treks across the continent, and doing menial jobs. I’ve saved slaves in worst condition than you and they rose to the challenge of life.

      • Prisoner 682, imperial city prison, cell 1b

        Lsat night I used a rat for a pillow, and then some random guard came in and beat me, calling me criminal scum even though I was dragged out of my bed and thrown into the cell for no reason whatsoever.

        • nerevarine

          Maddening. With the slave trade, the turmoil between the houses, corruption of the Fighter’s Guild, all the other troubles of the world and the threat of Dagoth Ur on top if it I have trouble sleeping at night. Even the storm couldn’t wake me.

  • OneOfMany

    Two choice left for you Katia:
    1. Realize that you are a toy of a furry sadist. Grab that bottle, smash it on the ground and kill yourself quickly. The gods will forgive you.
    2. ~tgm, modpcs destruction 100, kill everyone

  • Vins

    Katia’s fate is secundary, so focus on your last week at school, Kaz!
    Yo dun’ wanna get as down the sink as poor Kajiit over there, now do ya?
    We can wait. Good luck! 🙂

  • All Is Lost

    I began to read the comments, but Akatosh! there were too many. I will leave this here for Kaz. I thoroughly enjoy this comic, I haven’t put it down for 3 days in between school, and it is incredible. The level of detail, the believable characters, the endearing parody of Oblivion that both how silly it is and how much you respect it. The same goes for your homage to Hussie’s work. Katia as a character is someone who is easy to like, easy to root for, but also easy to blame for misfortune. We readers are so used to having our protagonists be paragons of success that failure is anathema. Your comic mirrors life so well: full of laughter, characters we never fully learn about, brief glimpses into the worlds of others. But at the end of the day, we are left alone with our shortcomings. Three days, three chances, and three abject failures.

  • Ian

    I think I am actually going to cry.
    Burst into tears crying.
    I feel so bad for Katia, I mean, I can understand screwing up and disappointing everyone, but I’ve never had this type of thing happen to me.
    I’ve never had everything conned off me except for the one thing that will keep everyone from dying a fire filled death.
    I haven’t been conned.
    I can’t keep myself from crying.
    Fuck this.
    Katia, you deserve better. She cheated you out of everything, and you deserve better. She lied, she cheated, she hurt your feelings, she only cared when it meant she herself was in danger, or her business was. She has all that money, and those donations are crap.
    She has deceived every last person, and the only reason she doesn’t want a bad reputation, is so she can further her ambitions, brain wash more people, and keep a revolt or rebellion from occurring.
    She had that little dinosaur steal I think when it was gone.
    Either that, or it pick pocketed from you and emptied the contents without your true consent.
    She locked up and warded the building. That way some person won’t be able to get magic revenge.
    The people at the church, most likely won’t believe you.
    That is the worst part.
    They are probably under her influence.
    That ‘totally not a vampire, and just has red eyes’ woman is your only hope for a friend to help you.

  • Lollipop

    ….I….
    Just realized how much I am like this character.
    -.-
    That said: Kaitya, it’s time to find a back door.

  • Brother Martin

    The Gods can turn anything to good young Khajiit. Come to the chapel, we can help you get back on your feet.
    (Just don’t flip out this time >.<)

  • Yinello

    If Katia was real I would’ve long suggested she’d join the Dark Brotherhood. 😛

  • CadillacWerewolf

    This one forgot to add to earlier comment. Katia IS budding mage! See scorch marks on Guild Door? This one didn’t do it. You did. Again, remember the gold. It cannot all be yours! Go to the tavern, ask around. At this hour, they will be quite boozed up and easy to manipulate. Or, as an alternative, find that orc bandit. Make small talk, and ‘accidentally’ let slip about the vast amounts of gold inside the guild. If orc takes bait like slaughterfish, he will break in and attack! If orc wins, you can slip in, get your things back, and get some of the gold. There is way too much for even the orc to carry or care about. If orc is killed, then you have revenge for being robbed. Loot his corpse, pawn his things for some gold or better, trade for Telvanni Bug Musk. Fight fire with fire, as saying goes. Oh, and don’t enter through a broken window. You might cut yourself up.

    • Pogiforce

      Dude… she’s butt naked. she can’t go to the tavern like this. she either has to reobtain her clothes, steal new clothes, or go to the church who would be forgiving of her circumstances. and with her insistence on doing things legit, she would never do option two. and option one is highly unlikely to happen successfully after everything she’s already tried. Which really leaves the church.

      Let’s face it, unless some outside force suddenly makes itself known, this khajiit is done for the night. Rest up and try again tomorrow.

  • ILoveTsundere

    Awesome, finally managed to catch up.

    Poor Katia…

    I know she’ll shrug this off and get her stuff back, I just know it!

  • Legends12

    (i like the way this one rolls out)
    Katia should burn them down. just sayin’. that or sneak in.

  • and then it goes on again

    ‘finals’

    oh great, this excuse

    we all know tests mean that free time is void. study study study!

  • SympathyGuy

    F.I.N.A.L.S.
    F-uck
    I–
    N-ever
    A-ctually
    L-earned
    this
    S-hit

    • Bob irefusetogiveyoumypersonalinformation

      Damn right.

    • Score

      I had an exam 8 hours ago. I think what you said applied to pretty much the whole paper.

  • Dr. Cynic

    Katia: Pick up your furry tail, and get out of the rain. You have the potential to be pawesome, but people have been kicking you down fur too long. Hold your head up high, in defiance of all that. Nefur loose your will to keep going. Furget the bitch from the kvatch guild. Nobody likes the Kvatch guild, and now you know why. Sure, you have lost everything, but you’re still alive. You can still keep getting up. Lick your wounds, and head back to Quill-Weave. Sure, you messed up again, but maybe you could milk a solution to your problems from her.

  • pikajens

    Katia: Take off your necklace, and cry.

    Think about what just happened, getting robbed of all your possessions by a deceptive cunning witch. Think about when you tried to kill those monstrous fish. Think about all of your failures up till this point and wish that they would go away.

    Wish for nothingness.
    Wish for the void.

  • Cpl. Cheirtov

    “Remember, everything will be okay in the end. If it’s not okay, it’s not the end.” -Unknown

    • Pogiforce

      it’s amazing how grim and yet positive that is.

  • DK3

    Ooooh i watched the whole story of this since the day i found it and i must say, she doesnt suprice me anymore but iam fascinated by how she goes trough all this bad luck in her life and yet keeps going somehoew. I find this story unique ^^

  • Katia. Katia. Stop crying. Start running and jumping up and down constantly so you can train your athletics and acrobatics.

  • Kazin

    Any one who feels this comic is too dark or cruel, go watch the anime named Gantz.

  • Ignoramus

    I shed a tear man. This is a whole other level of fucked up.

    I don’t remember the last time a webcomic gave me feels.

  • Ignoramus

    Did I say a tear man? I am fucking crying for you katia!

  • Deliciouscake

    Katia! Take off the amulet and see what happens! Nothing could possibly go wrong!

    • R’becca

      *Pawsibly

  • Deliciouscake

    No, wait! Take the bottle, smash the end, and then mug someone for their coat and all their stuff!

    • Sharky

      Chances are that she would fuck that up, too.

      • Deliciouscake

        That’s what makes it such a good idea!

        • Ch’marr

          Congratulations on having the 500th comment on this post! woo!

  • sluncho

    also calling it that the cat with the stuff on its back is going to show up and make things better for her

    or she drinks booze but it fails to keep the nightmares away so she realizes that it is no longer a way to deal with her problems

    but yeah thanks kaz, you made me into a fucking sap for a catgirl drawn in MS Paint/photoshop/whatever

    bastard

  • sefercil

    You need to pick yourself up Katia Managan. Literally. Just find the chapel. Cry if you need to. There is no shame in that; she has obviously done this before to other innocents. So take time. Breathe my dear Khajiit. Let this fuel your anger to devise a way. Because you CAN do this. You CAN.

    Nothing before matters. The moment is now. This is the time you only need to think of. Let your mind and heart burn in this turmoil, into anger, hatred, fear, sadness, anguish. But let it form alongside a fiery passion to overcome this.

    You are not alone. You have met so many people, changed lives in the smallest way. But you have done it. You have grown so, so much.

    This shall fuel your mind. You literally have a fire burning in you! Just find shelter, dearest. Find shelter and sleep. The day shall be new when you awake.

  • Carcino

    Damn is that Paint bra long lasting..

  • The Dingus

    It’s always darkest before dawn, Katia.

    • Captain Correction

      actually its darkest at midnight just before dawn it’s actually pretty bright due to the residual light of the sun just under the horizon.

    • Captain Correction

      actually its darkest at midnight just before dawn it’s actually pretty bright due to the residual light of the sun just under the horizon.

  • Tokoshoran

    Katia may have been struck hard, but she’s nowhere near the point of failure. She said she may be there for four days, giving her plenty of time to prepare. Getting alchemy supplies, finding other random junk to sell, if she can get a pencil and paper, she can write a new “ironically insulting” letter.

    Even if she cannot write another one, she at least remembers that it was somewhat insulting and contained an order for Quill-Weave’s books.

  • Gazi

    Hey Kazerad, I hate to have to bring this up, but I believe the line

    “Just when you think things are looking up, you slip and suddenly your lower than ever before.”

    Should be “you slip and suddenly you’re lower than ever before. I love your comic, please keep it up!

  • Worlds_Ignorance

    I can’t speak for anyone else reading this, but this comic is one of the most realistic views in a fictional world. Sure, it may be more fantasy based…but Katia and other mortal inhabitants of Nirn are imperfect, just like us humans.

    Quite frankly, the ups and downs she experiences makes sense too; I can personally say I know someone with a familiar outlook on life/personality, so it’s definitely not improbable to use for Katia. It would be dull to read about a character who got every little thing right the first time around, therefore not learning a lesson out of it.

    That said, I love reading this comic! Good job Kazerad ^_^

    • Some dude

      “Imperfect” people don’t lose everything they own 3 times in 48 hours. They also don’t consider selling mushrooms they picked up off the side of the road for pocket change an up.

      • TheTurnipKing

        In fairness, reagent gathering is actually pretty common for pocket change in fantasy settings.

  • WM13

    There was a young lass named Katia Managan,
    She had nothing on her backagan,
    Off a boat too try to live again,
    Poor young Katia Managan,
    Begin again.

    There was a young lass named Katia Managan,
    She went as a courier for her frienegan,
    Took a wrong turn and now got drunk again,
    Poor young Katia Managan,
    Begin again.

    There was a young lass named Katia Managan,
    She went to Kvatch for Quill-Weave again,
    Sigrid conned her of her gear again,
    Poor young Katia Managan,
    Begin again.

    • T.Howard

      But know when to let go.

  • Jack

    Oh man, wonder what Katia’s gonna do next? She might go back to her argonian friend, she might break in and steal her stuff back, she might do something involving a pineapple, Who knows?!? I can’t wait for the next update! <3

  • Rarity

    Man, I read the entire thing up to here today, and I have to say, you just made it even more like Homestuck at this point.

    In that the author creates lovable characters and compelling storylines, except still finds a way to screw over the readers.

    Come on, you could have at least left a glimmer of hope. I mean, she probably had it coming, but is this where you’re going? No character development at all? Just the same rehashed sadness over and over?

    Seriously, Andrew Hussie and Kazerad are amazing storytellers. It’s just they demean their talent by finding a way to troll their audience, the people that they should be catering to, every single time.

    Read this review on Homestuck: http://badwebcomics.wikidot.com/forum/t-415132
    Yes, the guy is being harsh, and Homestuck is actually a pretty good comic. However, I can’t help but agree with much of what he’s saying. The characters are compelling yes, but Hussie manages to mess them up. The plot is good, but Hussie fills it up with so many simultaneous unresolved plot points that it literally becomes impossible to understand anything at all. He writes specifically to troll the fanbase and see what reaction he gets. He bloody admits that, if you read the review.

    You could arguably say the similar for Kazerad. Kazerad takes the lovable character of Katia, a symbol of hope, and crushes her over and over in the same manner for no reason at all. Prequel’s pacing and plot infinitely less confusing and better than Homestuck, I’ll give him that. But it seems like Kaz is moving in the same direction as Hussie: the troll writing. Dear God, it hurts. Why are you using fan commands, if you’re just going to actively write against them. “katia it’s a trap NOO she’s mai frend must give all mai stuff”?

    If you’re not going to use the fan commands, you might as well drop it, like Hussie did in Act 4, which coincidentally was the point where Homestuck dropped from “awesome” to “well, cool I guess.”

    However, Kaz, you haven’t completely messed up yet. You have to stop the trolling before it takes you over. Let Katia’s mission be successful, and make Quill-Weave proud. We really want to see some development instead of “screw Katia over in the same manner over and over again.”

    We read this comic for hope. Hope pushes you on, despite how tough times may be, because it provides you with the possibility of a better future.

    And that’s what I hope is in store for this series.

    Hope.

    • ddh8

      The comic is actually pretty good.

      The main flaw is that it tried to do a “choose your own adventure” theme. If you ignore the input commands and the illusion that the reader has any control over the story, it manages to do pretty well – otherwise, you have a crappy self-insert/Mary Sue railroaded by an enormous cunt. The only redeeming factor is that the art and animation is pretty good.

      Also, regarding Homestuck; the artist may be a little all over the place, but at least he manages to be amusing, and to keep his fans guessing. With this, you can expect Katia to make the most idiotic and pathetic decisions consistently. There’s no surprise, and no point in providing input. The best entertainment you can get from this series is to STOP sympathizing with Katia, and indulge in her suffering.

      • Bibliophael

        The story is still controlled to a considerable degree by the readers. Some people simply have unrealistic expectations. We are not Katia. We are the voices in Katia’s head. We do not control the characters, we only offer advice. If that advice goes against the character’s fundamental personality, the character will not act upon it. Otherwise, the most commonly submitted command will be followed.

        It’s not particularly difficult to understand, but some people just want more control than is reasonable.

        • Rarity

          Yeah, I like both comics, this one probably a bit more, but it always feels like the writers do whatever the hell they want, which doesn’t make sense in this sort of format. I’d argue we’re more than the “voices in her head,” we’re the people with significant control over the plot, and when Kaz repeatedly takes the fan commands and go against them, it really hurts.

          • Bibliophael

            We are the voices in her head, nothing more.

            I hate to say this, but deal with it.

            You can ‘argue that…we’re the people with significant control over the plot,’ and we are. But not to the degree that you want to believe. We never have had direct access to Katia’s actions. We’ve only ever given suggestions that she accepts or ignores.

        • Kalix

          “Controlled to a considerable degree by the readers?” Really? Any chance you could provide any further detail or examples for that one? Maybe it’s just a matter of perception, but I don’t see how anyone could construe the story as being anything other than a pre-determined linear plot of A -> B -> C -> D. I don’t think anyone actually wants control at the level you seem to think they do; I get the feeling that the railroad defenders just like to pretend this is the other side’s argument because I have yet to see any of them refute how obvious it is that all the scenarios so far could have had no other possible outcomes, and could not have lead to any other possible scenarios.

          I assume you’re one of those who ascribe to this image? http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/7130/80764652.jpg
          I wish it worked the way the third option depicts it, I really do. But I can only call this image accurate so long as Katia is driving down a one-way road with no left or right turns. What’s the point of making suggestions when the only possible suggestion that can be followed is “go straight?”

          • xKiv

            Brake! Child in the way!
            Boooring stretch of nothing now, floor it and enjoy!
            Stop right here, need to get supplies.
            Did you go to the bathroom?
            Are we there yet?
            Are we?
            And now?
            Now?
            He’s stealing my spot!
            She poked me in the eye!
            Are we there yet?

          • Kalix

            You might as well add “Turn on the window wipers” or “Honk the horn” to that list. They’re all the same kind of superficial distractions that just help you forget that the road and destination will be the same no matter what.

          • Rarity

            That image is genius.

            Still, Kaz could pick the voices that actually match what Katia’s doing, which he usually does, but not so much in the past few pages.

        • David Argall

          I rather doubt we readers have much control, and I doubt even more that it is a good idea to give us much. All sorts of worries of the plot going nowhere as we wisely don’t take a hook or going completely off the rails and ending up in a ditch when some “neat idea” becomes cool. [We have a number of people suggesting suicide for example]
          Now we may have quite a bit of control on lesser and minor points. Take Katia’s amulet. Our author may have simply forgotten about it when Sigrid demanded Katia’s stuff, and realized it would have an effect when several of us pointed it out. We are much more likely to correct plot holes than to steer the plot away from its planned destination. [& it should have a preplanned destination.]

    • andwhyisit

      Homestuck was cool before it spammed me with endless pesterchum logs. Needless to say I gave up on it.

  • Uzi_Man

    Kazerad, if a SINGLE update is going to take 1/3 of a month just because of “new flash resources”, we will lose our patience and enthusiasm to read this brilliant story. Don’t ruin it!

    • fp

      “We will”? I have. I’ve spoken to a few readers outside the site and they have too. Kaz owes us nothing and that’s cool. He doesn’t have to do anything for us but if there’s any concern at all for the reader he must know this sucks for the reader. The updates come so slowly, recently after constant delays and excuses and for what? A story people are getting tired of? A pacing that hurts the story? A story that hasn’t gone far since March of last year? Misery and the promise of more misery to come? Even when it updates you’re getting one scene most of the time.
      Creators of web content also have a tendency of quitting a lot too. And a lot of these people actually update consistently with new scenarios distinct from the last. Then the excuses start rolling in. Then the updates slow down. Then fans start getting unstable. Then more and more people are complaining and the creator says too little or too much. And then suddenly nothing. Some readers are worried this won’t ever be finished. I hope Kaz doesn’t follow this pattern but unless there’s some sudden change I don’t think it matters either way.

      • All Is Lost

        Bro, he’s got finals.

        • fp

          It’s not about finals and it’s not just about updates. I still love the story and Kaz is a great writer but the update and story pacing has been killing the whole thing for quite a while. For the past half a year only two days have passed in Katia’s life and you realize how odd that is. I hope things turn out great with the story but I’m worried where this will go and I’ve lost enthusiasm to even care. I have a slither of hope left and am waiting to be pleasantly surprised but I don’t think Kaz will do anything any different. Which I like and dislike.

          • Some dude

            Plus in those two days we haven’t come anywhere close to getting into any kind of over arching plot, just some vague notion about nightmares that was going somewhere but then didn’t. Just some homeless person losing her shit everywhere every 12 hours thanks to Kaz’s furry humiliation fetish. Oh, and killing off interesting player characters for no reason.

  • MASDERCHEEF

    I’m not entirely sure what to say about this… I mean, yes, Katia has managed to royally fuck up everything she’s done so far, even if it started out good, but then again, she keeps trying. Sure, it takes a bit of encouragement, and perhaps she doesn’t always know what she’s doing, but every time Katia gets pushed back to the ground, she tries to get back up- I hope this is one pattern she stays with… And if she doesn’t manage to exact revenge on Sigrid for all of this personally, I can’t wait to see what will happen if she tells Asotil about it.

  • Nobody in Particular

    Alright, here’s my plan.
    You get drunk, you always seem to get into crazy stuff when drunk! So if by some chance you end up back in the guild you simply take off your necklace and ‘loose it’, be sure you can retrieve it later. then proceed to ‘accidentally’ burn the place down. should the authorities arrive, you claim that you, for some reason, gave her your amulet that was keeping your uncontrolled magic in check. as well as everything else of value. this should trap her since she did give the pendant to her.

    • dancin’ fool

      No, that is still arson and can easily be blamed on her, regardless of flimsy logic and faulty blame that will likely backfire in even skilled hands. your best bet is to move on and tell people to be careful of that place in the future, explaining to them that the owner use’s a alchemical perfume to enchant people into giving away all their possessions. This was a failure, BUT. you can look at it like this. She’s done this before, this wasn’t just a screw up on your part. She’s a professional con artist. She had PILES of coins. Simply wait till tomorrow, ask the merchant to write up a new letter, assuming you still need one. and if you still intend on trying to get that book then you can find someway to get money, WHILE STAYING AWAY FROM THE EVIL MEAN MAGIC THIEF LADY, who you believe has lice and other unpleasant things. I mean what was a few trinkets compared to her big piles, she just did that to be mean. Move on, that’s the best you can do.

    • Rarity

      Perhaps Katia can just sneak in there the next night (the door was unlocked right), take some of the gold, and leave inconspicuously. I’m sure Sigrid won’t miss any of it, seeing as she just keeps it lying there and all.

      Katia can finally put her Khajiit thieving skills to good use.

      • dancin’ fool

        So your suggesting She pushes her luck?….Against teh very powerful magic lady…

  • LoneTiger

    Maybe the gods hate you… maybe you should hate them back… hate every single person in the damn town… screw them all… if the gods want you to fail maybe you should go to the temple and spit on their altars…
    If they want you to fail then let them show it to you…

  • Penguinmustache

    God this gets painful to watch happen every damn time.
    Still have a sliver of hope something goes right and doesn’t end in “lol black out sex adventure from depression”. But I know that will happen again, it gives me frustration and a sad 🙁

    • Rambo Dash

      Sex is a bad thing now? :c

      • HomicidalDonut

        It is when it involves a threesome with a skeleton.

  • Vins

    So… Kaz, how did the finals go? That is, presuming they’re all over by now. Think you gonna have a better outcome than Katia? ^_^;;

    • Kazerad

      I am writing a four page paper that might be due in 37 minutes!

      • Carbon

        “Might”, is the key word.

        You’re goooooooooood.

      • Shinden

        And yet

        here you are

        replying to posts.

        • Katia’s guardian angel

          longest minuts of my life … they feel like days !
          oh wait it are days !

  • Trilbydude

    You are not nothing. You are growing. You are not strong, yet. You are training. You are not invincible, you are improving. You are Kajiti, not a kitten. You are not an animal, you are a living being that understands when she makes mistakes. You are at the lowest step of a stairwell that you can’t see the top of. You have heights ahead of you that you cannot even comprehend. You are going to be incredible, not incredulous. You are going to be unstoppable, not untrustworthy. You are going to be fantastic, not pathetic. You are an adventurer in her origin story, you are not a failure.

    This, in time, will pass. You will see the top of the stairwell, and climb yet higher. You will be untouchable, one day. This is simply the time before your rise, and it is going to be hard. There are going to be times when life strips everything away from you, but you will simply reclaim it all, and more, piece by piece. You are going to be strong. You are going to be trustworthy.

    You are broken and have been broken. But, what is important is what happens after we break.

    • Deafiler

      …You know what? Forget what I said before, Katia. This guy? This guy has his head on straight. No matter how bad things get, as long as you have life you have the chance for them to get better.

    • ClancyDamon

      No words.
      [Slow-Clap-Start.exe]

  • Vins

    … I’m kinda expecting either an animation or multiple updates (or just a long one) by now. Then again, don’t wanna pry too much. It’s FREE, I feel no right to complain on such thing. *waits further*

  • Darcwolf

    ok here is how i see it. katia you need to go to the town guard tell them what happen BUT point out that everything that was taken was NOT yours but was in fact Q-Ws stuff. even the coins since you are in town to also buy a book but since you didnt have the money on hand you had to earn it in witch case even the gold you earn is Q-Ws so in other words you signing that agreement is in fact not a legal document since you cant sign away the belonging of other another person.

    • andwhyisit

      I can’t ever see that working. If you buy a TV, and it is later discovered it to have been stolen prior then will you go to jail? I’d think not. Katia would likely be fully liable for the items until they are passed on to Quill Weave. While Quill Weave is the intended recipient it mightn’t be legally hers

      Either Katia would go to jail, Quill Weave gets her stuff back in exchange for Katia being jailed, or absolutely nothing would happen. *unenthusiastic voice* Yayyyyy…

      • andwhyisit

        * mightn’t be legally hers until she physically receives it.

  • Darcwolf

    sorry first time on here didnt know that it wasnt from here that i had to send it 😛

  • Shadowscale

    ive heard of suspense building but c’mon im dying over here!!!

  • Anthony

    I was seriously expecting katia to go insane and awakin some kindof of super mage, break down the door, and kill the two inside the mage guild and get her stuff back… but thats just my opinion

  • Gormech

    It’s raining. You are a cat. Isn’t this the perfect scenario to tap into that hidden cuteness act that has secured your bloodline for the past thousand generations?

    • silverbay1

      I have to completely agree with you. If Katia is a fucking cat, she should easily be able to get some sympathy. If she cant, there is either:

      1. Somethin even more wrong with Katia then we thought before.

      OR

      2. People have no hearts (which is true in most cases, but still).

  • The Game

    Trolls trolling trolled trolls

  • Tyler

    I wanted to say that I have enjoyed this series for a while now. I look forward to the updates to the comic and watching the story unfold. Thank you for giving this to us; you are doing a great job. I hope finals are/went well for you. Thank you.

  • C

    This site loads extremely slowly and causes my browser to hang. Is there any way you can clean up the way the site loads? It seems the user’s end has to do a lot…

  • ptp

    I love this update. It sets the stage for what, in retrospect, may very well be the actual beginning of this story.

    • and then it goes on again

      What a stupid fucking thing to say, if this is the ~beginning of the story~, then the entire comic as been rebooting itself for over a year. Everything is full of generic repetition.

      Hey, be nice to other commenters! -Kazerad

      • Some dude

        Hey Kaz, shut the fuck up, he’s right

        • Snerky

          Hey. Some dude. Rude outbursts are one thing, but you could at least treat the author with a little respect.

  • Keith

    Katia, you are not a dumb stray animal. YOU ARE KATIA FUCKING MANAGAN! You are a beautiful young lady who has the power to overcome anything. So get off your furry butt and make something of yourself!

  • foreshight(out-o-character)

    If this is all leading up to the beging of Oblivion, then i think katia will…

    1. vist every town.
    2. learn a basic heal spell
    3. do something that lands her in imperial prison(Rock Bottom, for real) that is forgoten about when she breaks out with the Setium.

    I do want to see her overcome all this $!#% that has been thrown on her, but I can see we haven’t finished rolling down hill.

    Even if the first two assumtions aren’t true, katia will be thrown in prison.(mabye for a minor crime, maybe she was framed) while i’m thinking ahead, i know her nightmares are causeing a fear of royalty, but she meet the emperor son and without linking him to royalty had a panic attack. Is she haveing these nightmares because of the dragonborn emperor blood line? Is this a possible link to Skyrim and the next dragonborn or maybe just some interfearing Daydra?

  • foreshight(out-o-character)

    otherwise, good series. wish it takes a trun for the better.(sorry for any grammer or spelling mistakes)

  • Vins

    … Been 10 days since we were informed of the finals week…

    Are they done yet? ó_ò

  • DarkShadow6

    Hey, buddy, fuck you. :l

    • Vins

      W-wha? Just asking! D:>

  • Kazerad!

    Good job with the whole finishing college thing, I’m sure that BA in Afro-american dance will come in handy very soon.

    Methinks you could use a bit of money now that you’re out of school, how’s about letting all these poor fools throw theirs at you?
    they’d be willing to donate a lot more than Katia just did to see another update before next month, and you don’t even have to spray yourself in bug musk- Just draw shitty pictures of cats.

    • Neuro

      I agree with this. I too am willing to throw money haphazardly at you, Kaz.

      • Riobe

        I agree with this as well. I don’t mind to throw a little to a content creator of content I want if it will give the incentive for him/her to keep going.

        • Seriously, Kaz, I’m willing to give you money too. I’m willing to give you all of the money. I’ll rob a bank and wire the cash to you, I’ll sell my body for your drugs, just give me more of these cat pictures please

    • Seth ( Mr.Fluffy )

      WHAT HELL NO!!! DONT DO THAT!!! THAT WILL LOST MANY READERS, TRUST ME.

    • No, fuck this guy. It’ll make the comic much better- It’ll give you a reason to keep doing it, a legitimate, monetary reason. And it’ll give these poor people their fix a lot faster

  • sagnip

    If there isn’t a flash game in the next update im gonna be very confused on what is taking this story the better part of a month to update

    • andwhyisit

      It’s called “having a life outside of drawing comics for random people on the internet”. Drawing these comics is quite obviously a hobby and like any hobby it’s something you do when you have free time. Kaz obviously can’t draw the comics because something more important is occupying his time. No free time = no comics. It isn’t rocket science.

      • sagnip

        oh my bad i didn’t know that my totally reasonable question would offend you. I will let you go now cause i can see that you have a very busy day of being a smart a** ahead of you. and it’s not like i’m the only one thinking it so go screw your self. : /

        • Gabrieldltc

          Yeah there should be like another 2 ppl out of 100 that think like you.

        • andwhyisit

          Am I the only one that doesn’t act like Kaz owes me something? The fact that you feel so justified about this shows how selfish and pathetic you are as a human being.

          • fp

            Nope. Kaz owes us nothing and a lot of people know that. But it still doesn’t mean people can’t complain about the exhaustingly slow update. It works both ways. They complain because they love the comic that much. At least Sagnip wasn’t getting hostile about the delay or saying anything inappropriate towards Kaz. Kaz knows everyone’s waiting for updates and I think it’d be cool if Kaz at least wrote something to explain things besides “gimme a bit” and then nothing for over half a month. It would allow people to have some sense of awareness about what’s happening instead of racking up more clicks and visitors for the website.

          • Kazerad

            I mentioned my current status a few other places but you’re probably right that I need to put this stuff on the main site. Hopefully the new note at the top explains a bit more! I’ve been sick and spending a lot of time in bed.

            I am beginning to realize bad stuff seems to happen to me every time bad stuff happens to Katia. She is like my voodoo doll, of myself.

          • Vins

            Anyone else bets Kaz got sick because he left KAtia for too long in the rain? 😛
            *brick’d*

          • fp

            I’m sorry to hear that Kaz. That really sucks getting sick that badly, especially after finals. But thank you for putting up the message about it so people could know. I just like to know there’s a reason for things and this helps since I do enjoy Prequel. I hope you get better and I really hope Katia isn’t your own personal voodoo doll…dear god the damage would be severe. I hope you recover soon for your own sake and don’t worry about prequel.

          • T.Howard

            Dear kaz- Im starting to experience physical discomfort from going cold turkey for so long. Please hurry up kthxby

        • tech

          Pots & kettles spring to mind…

    • Shoushin

      It isn’t updating THAT slowly, I know a webcomic that I really love and it updates at a rate of 1 page over sometimes several months, with a 2 year hiatus somewhere in between… I’m really not going to complain over a comic that normally updates quite fast and kaz even has valid reasons for this unusual slowness

  • Shinden

    Kaz. Im like. Jonesing for an update. C’mon man, give me my fix maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan.

  • Threyon

    Welp, time to start over again. Next stop, Skyrim!

  • The Whicher

    Poor Katia. Shes been standing in the rain for about 18 days now.
    Kaz u don’t have to put a whole update; just give her some kind of a shelter in a quick flash image 🙂 that would do just fine.

  • Dan

    Longest week in my entire life

  • dude

    lies,LIES!

  • Shadowscale

    Diablo3itis? its a common disease haha

  • Ransom

    Oh no! Part of me had wondered if you were alright. Well get well soon Kaz. And don’t get too down.

  • Vins

    Welp, hope you recover easy and fast, Kazerad.

    Not because of Prequel and all, oh no. It has been delayed for so long it’s now funny, like the whole universe doesn’t want Katia leaving from this state of sheer melancholy. Just for your sake, really.

    Anyway, guess I gonna try score as much as possible on “Dance Dance Revolution: Katia” as we wait. 😛

  • someone from /co/

    So you caught a sickness after leaving Katia out in the rain for upwards of two weeks.

    Could it be Karma?

    • Duster

      I think he meant to say Diablo 3, not sick…

      • Wytsfs

        Diablo 3 is a disease.

        • Someone from /a/

          It’s a shitty disease too.
          I’d rather watch my daily Anime than playing Diablo3.

  • k9mouse

    on a personal note: I can’t wait for katia for get rid of her eye patch — she is not as cute with one…. (may be the temple will heal her and her eye…)

    • NoriMori

      Really? I think it’s adorable!

  • Shoushin

    A lot of you guys seem to forget that it isn’t all fails, up until now it was actually going really good (except for the well). Okay, she just lost all her stuff, but she can still recover from that! She’s just a little depressed right now. Once she starts to think about it, she might find a way to get everything back.

    Love the comic btw, just discovered it the day before yesterday and I think it’s great; very touching, quite realistic, sad, but with some humor too. 🙂

    • Some dude

      It has been all falls. She’s worse now than she started. The only thing she has that she didn’t was partial mastery of the single more basic skill that literally any adult could learn.

  • Owenman91

    I got sick the first week of the second semester of college.

    I puked like 5 times and had around 30 diarrhea blasts in a day, as well as a very hot fever that probably would have killed me were it not for Tylenol and sleeping with a wet washcloth on my forehead.

    If you need to get better, you need to get better. Believe me, take your time.

  • Uzi_Man

    5/20/12: And then I got sick immediately afterwards

    l lol’ed.

    • Smoky

      same 😛

  • T.Howard

    Kazerad: get better!

  • Thatbottle

    Go get some pain killers and start drawing!

    • Demo

      How about letting them take their time, we should be happy they’re even doing this at all, let’s not rush them.

      • Some dude

        How about you shut the fuck up and learn to take a joke

        • Smoky

          OH GOD RAGE RAGE RAAGGGE RAAAAAAAAGE XD
          lol im just gonna not try to get in the way of this… uhh whatever you want to call it, I’m just gonna wait for the kaz to get… un-sick… YEA

          but in the mean time, BCB is always a good substitute.

        • Demo

          How was I supposed to tell if he’s joking? He could have been serious because there are impatient people out there, so I politely said otherwise, jeez.

  • tech

    ffffffffffuuuuuuuuu…

  • MASDERCHEEF

    It would seem as though finals did a number on you, Kaz…. Or you just “suffer” from the “disease” known as Diablo 3- in which case, I can’t blame you. Seriously, though, hope y’all get better soon. It sucks to know that someone out there is sick with all these people hounding him for an update to a webcomic..

  • Cheezie

    get well soon Kaz <3 There's no rush

  • Your Humble Narrator

    See it, dear? Can you see how Karma encircles you, see how much do you have to pay for torturing a beloved pet? Mwah, now you are responcible for Ja-Khajiit and everything that happens to her. And now you can’t get rid of her that easily. And of us as well.
    P.S. – fusozay var var, clawless fellow, and get better. Now.

  • Lime Guy

    Why can’t I hold all these updates?

    OH WAIT THERE AREN’T ANY

    • Score

      I feel like an ass for saying this but:
      It updates faster than that other cat-themed webcomic.

  • Keith

    Katia, you are not a dumb stray animal. YOU ARE KATIA FUCKING MANAGAN! You are a beautiful young lady who has the power to overcome anything. So get off your furry butt and make something of yourself!!!

  • Smoky

    LIES!!!! YOUR JUST GIVING EXCUSES!!!! YOU JUST DON’T FEEL LIKE DOING THEM!!!!!! *rage rage rage* D:<

    Lol, jk. Take all of the time you need. (But im pretty sure your doing that already XD) GET WELL SOON!!! ;D

  • Voice #9

    I’m not going to tell you that it’s going to be alright. I’m not going to tell you that there are times where you need to man up and set off Tsar Bombs in the assholes of anyone and anything in your way because this is not one of those times.
    This is one of those times where you need to regroup, gather your faculties and plan a revenge more cold and bitter than an hours-old cup of coffee.

    Take the night off, spend it at the church.

    Find that completely normal human (who isn’t a vampire at all) and try enlisting her help. I’m not quite sure where you would go from there, but the human might have some idea.

    Better yet: find Gro-upp he may have the tools required of breaking into the mage’s guild. Tip him off about Sigrid and all the treasure inside, but neglect to mention the danger involved. If you’re lucky he’ll rob the place of all its worth, and/or get killed in the process.

    And what about that woman who was trying to poison the well? She mentioned her line of work necessitating the use of magics; perhaps she knows a spell you could use to break into the guild on your own. Failing that, take down the barrier so you can burn that mother down.

    • andwhyisit

      Gro-upp avoids Kvatch like the plague.
      Nah is under Sigrid’s spell by the looks. Same for half the town.

  • OldSchoolRPGDude

    Yo Kaz: Just rest up and feel better.

  • Vuoripeikko

    The series had a long time of joy before slumping to another sad moment, which is why I read this comic. Excellent. In the end, even when Katia has her uphills and downhills, she has learned a lot and will keep learning a lot.

    I anticipate for a happy ending when this comic finally reaches it’s end.

    • Jimmy Jazz

      Knowing Kaz, it won’t be entirely happy. it’s almost certainly going to be bitter-sweet.

      • Vuoripeikko

        I’m still vouching for a happy ending, because it’ll be damned surprising after all this bashing on Katia.

  • Mausso

    This is getting disappointing, Its been a good 3 weeks now since this was updated.

  • Crazedpivotguy1234

    Uh, Katia…ever heard of “tell the guards that that bitch took your damn stuff”?

    • ChetBetera

      And I feel obligated to tell you that she unwillingly signed a waiver.

  • Voice of Treason

    Poor kitty. Look, you’ve got all kinds of tricks up your sleeve. 9 lives, the ability to land on your feet, darkvision, and the fact that you attract bad luck like a magnet. If you’re going to screw things up, drag that bitch down with you!

  • Keith

    Katia, you are not a dumb stray animal. YOU ARE KATIA FUCKING MANAGAN! You are a beautiful young lady who has the power to overcome anything. So get off your furry butt and make something of yourself!!!!

  • LazyEyedBarney

    Remember that you have a friend in a certain justice junkie imperial somewhere.

  • and then it goes on again

    5/8/12: Tryin’ to draw cats and then all of a sudden FINALS WEEK. Gimme a bit.
    5/20/12: And then I got sick immediately afterwards.

    suure

    • Ryuujin

      5/24/12: And died. Next update delayed at least a week

      …I kid :p

  • Husk

    Eat special dark chocolate. 😛 Its good for sick people.

  • Mr. Funkay

    Day twenty-still no prequel 🙁
    Get well soon, Kaz.

  • The Dynamic Duo JAM&BAM

    JAM- Cold… so cold is our hearts right now. We have been having Prequel withdraw and it is killing us. XP

    BAM- The light, it grows dimmer. *cough…… cough* Mother, is that you? No? Well, at least I have Prequel in my life and all the fond memories we have shared. *cough……cough*

    JAM- Drama Queen… >..>

    BAM- stfu <..<

  • Snerky

    Hey Kazerad, I sincerely hope the negative comments aren’t getting you down. Take all the time you need to rest up and get better, and when you feel up to carrying on, we’ll still be here. Real life and your sanity come before the comic. Feel better soon!

  • ^____^

    Kaz take all the time you need. Remember the comic comes after your well being.
    P.S: Get well soon ^__^

  • Embrace your latent powers as the Mad God and make her pay.

  • Dethelious

    If there is any sort of good news then there’s this. That dance thing is still available if you’re willing to degrade yourself enough to try to make up for what has happened so far.

  • Shinden

    http://prntscr.com/9l02p Apocalypse incoming.

  • Shadowscale

    Wow you must really be . . . catatonic . . . to be off this long 🙁 I hope your . . . feline . . . better soon.

    Much Love, Shadowscale

    • lovecraftianParadox

      Oh my god
      this is so bad that it’s good

    • NoriMori

      Took me a few seconds to get it, but once I got it I had a rare mix of “lol” and *facepalm*. LovecraftianParadox is right. So bad it’s good. XD Or maybe…so good it’s bad. So good it’s good? So okay it’s average? I dunno anymore.

  • Loki_Evl

    Hope you get better soon Kaz, remember that your health > art! Without you we don’t get prequel, IT’S ALL WE WANT YOU FOR BWAHAHA! But really, hope all is well.

  • Dude

    Bitch please, some of you would probably die instantly if you ever got your hands on a “Plague Dogs” VHS/Remastered Disk

    • Dagoth Odros

      Thanks for reminding me 🙁

    • Sad face

      as soon as i saw this comment i went to go look up what it was about… just wow :`(

  • Atari Ogen

    Dear Katia,Please get your sh#t together.
    Love, me.
    PS: OH GOD WOMAN, SERIOUSLY, STOP SCREWING THINGS UP!!!

  • Voice of Treason

    Katia, what you need to do is to learn not to have yourself beaten around with and fucked over by everyone who happens by you. Learn how to counter. Mental, physical, magical, psychic, it doesn’t matter, learn how to be immune! Become the cat everyone fears!

    • OldSchoolRPGDude

      To be fair, Katia also screws other people over as she messes up — she’s not a universal victim. Think of QuillWeave (twice…) and Nah.

      She plays her part in setting up a volatile situation — usually where she has limited control over the outcome — and then things go either way: good with QuillWeave, bad with Sigrid.

      Katia’s inner monologue, however, could use some maturity. She reflects on everything like a child — either giddy, or like the whole world is collapsing. Ironically, I think this flaw is what makes the character so endearing to her audience.

      That spawns an interesting question — could Katia remain interesting without this manic / depressive cycle? With a more calm and seasoned approach to things? I certainly think so — the challenges facing her would just have to scale / change along with her.

      • andwhyisit

        Well said.

      • Atari Ogen

        Indeed, she bring misery to everyone who trust her.She could use that natural skill and become a assassin or a politician.

  • Voice of Treason

    Well, maybe she should just find something that naturally increases her luck? No matter what, her skills need to improve. She cannot remain static in this cruel world.

  • P. 5000

    Oh, the nine…
    Whyyyyyyyy ;_;

    If only she’d kept that damn four-leaf clover.

  • Lord_joppe

    So we’ve tried to be assertive, we have tried to ignore our bad luck and our lack of talent. Time to use the power of negative thinking. as long as one thinks that things will go wrong you will not be disappointed when it does happen.

  • God damn

    Kaz, PLEASE get your shit together. I’m going through withdrawal on this shit and it’s been made even worse that you ended on the saddest page possible. I keep thinking to myself that Katia is going to kill herself or something, and it’s making me really tense. Even if it’s a 1-image teaser (maybe an art-break poster featuring all the characters so far?) you NEED to update! Blah blah get well soon and all that, too.

  • Dan

    Katia: Cast Heal on Kaz

    • k9mouse

      She does not have a heal spell 🙁 — casting fire and telekinesis on kaz might not be a good idea….. Kaz might be like a hot dog or thrown off a cliff — either case is not good for one’s health…

      • silverbay1

        Might save him a lot more pain though….

  • bobeh

    lol everyone needs to find somthing else to occupy their time waiting breath held on an update will make it take so much longer lucky for me i have minecraft xbox 360 edition and other things to keep me busy

    • TheDane

      Wow, and that without a single shred of punctuation. I would say that I’m impressed, if it wasn’t so horrifying.

      Despite that, I agree with you: people ought to calm down and find something else to do – this is going to be a slow update.

  • Scootanon

    another update-less month, its like im reading Hunter X Hunter all over again!

    hope you get well soon kaz

  • The Truth

    Well, well, well. Look where we are again. You really CAN’T do anything right, can ya’, kitty? You’re so incompetent, I have to seriously wonder how you even got this far in life. You’d think that being born with magical aptitude, under the sign of the Atronarch, no less, would at least be indicative of some sort of purpose or skill, but aren’t you just great evidence to the contrary. I guess that, for every hero, destined for greatness, and blessed with innate power, fate must have to spin out some loser like you, completely incompetent even with the power they’re given, just to keep the scales even.

    Maybe, kitty, you just need to face facts. You’re just not cut out for succeeding at life. Why not go crawl in that there bottle. Or, if you’re looking for something more permanent, maybe you could crawl back in that well. I’m sure the slaughterfish would happily oblige you a solution.

    • a wizard named… Tim?

      hey some heroes are born with superpowers and skill and stuff…
      some get there with training…
      AND SOME GET STRUCK BY LIGHTNING!!!
      QUICKLY KATIA!
      find some metal and point it to THE SKY!!!

      • a wizard named… Tim?

        no wait dont!
        it might just kill you…

  • ChasingWagons

    Don’t give up, Katia! Don’t listen to the other losers that put you down (like those two gay elves, or the shop owner, or the buff orc, or the… uh, who else… the bitch that robbed you just now, et cetera.). You just need some good advice. Brb!

  • Grond

    Katia: Sit in the ran for ~3 weeks

    • k9mouse

      On the bright side, at least she is clean….

      • Vins

        Rain water is not all that clean, y’know? In fact, I won’t be surprised she end up having a cold/fever shortly after going to the church (if she actually decide to do so).

        • AdultPuppetShow

          The only reason rainwater isn’t clean on Earth is because of pollution.

          Seeing as how Tamriel has a preindustrial society, and even the dwemer never used anything that would create an abundant amount of pollution, I’d say that the rainwater in question would be pretty clean.

    • OldSchoolRPGDude

      LOL

    • lol

      CHALLENGE EXCEPTED!!!

  • Ikato Da Aneko

    Katia!!! GET UP!!!! THIS IS FREAKING SAD!!! I DONT LIKE TO SEE A CHILD OF ELSWER LIKE THIS!!!(total fail on that.) BUT GET UP!!!

  • theartofzen

    Good update Kaz. I stole the leaping, last-chance ferocity frame to use as a background for a while. Well played sir, this is truly a wonderful lesson in pacing and overall story design on mixed media.

  • Kardlonoc

    I swear its like Katia has been stuck in purgatory for a couple of weeks.

  • ff7ivan

    very very simple, start from scratch.
    go out into the woods and kill anything you can.
    pick plants and find rocks.
    go to a shop and just unload everything and exchange for gold.

    in other words, “Katia mad farms”.

    • k9mouse

      and watch out for wild critters…

  • Lopus Etterie

    Love. Think to yourself a moment.
    Everyone fucks up. Everyone makes a mistake.
    You may not be a human being, and you may not be the best at everything. There’s only one thing that should matter to you.

    That thing should be yourself. Who you are. What you want to be. Fall and fail as you might, the sheer fact you had the strength to get up on your feet the other times is enough to make you better than any person I’ve yet to see.

    You’re the best goddamn Khajit in all of Tamriel!

    And if you need your stuff back… How about you.. *Ahem* “Ask for them back” by sneakily following Stephan inside? Spend the night at the Church. Wake up early, then get to practicing your stealth. Keep trying to walk the tightrope we all call life. Eventually, you will succeed.

    When you’ve gotten good at walking a straight line and walking quietly, see if you can’t tail some mice or other small creatures without them noticing you. If you can do that well enough, try it on some townsfolk… Just watch out for the guards, they might get a little………………… Worried.

    Then, after you’ve spent such exsessive time trying, follow Stephan(At a safe distance) and wait for him to enter her house again. When he opens the door and starts to shut it, quickly stick your foot or something very hard in the way just before the door fully closes. Then wait a few minutes and sneak in. The first thing to do is check the shevles, the baskets, the pots, and anything else around you. When those fail… Check behind the iron door.

    Remember, Katia Fucking Managan, we are always by your side. We are here for you. And we love you with all of our hearts.

    Now do the job Khajit are sterotyped to do, and get back your stuff!

    • Lopus Etterie

      *Stereotyped

      • Motherfuckers

        From that entire wall of text all you could reply to was that one spelling mistake.

        There is a special layer of hell specifically for you and everyone like you.

        • Lopus Etterie

          You DO realise that I’m the original poster.
          I saw my spelling mistake and fixed it.

          If you have a problem with a woman fixing her mistakes, then that spot in hell jumped from me to you.

          • Relem

            You admitted you made a mistake! You are the greatest woman ever.

            Wow, not terribly appropriate! – Kaz

          • Voice of Treason

            Kaz lives!

  • Sheogorath

    Well then, i must talk to Peryte because this plague that he cursed upon Kaz is driving me MAD! wait, i’m already mad… THE WAIT IS MAKING ME MADDER.

    • k9mouse

      Do you have a hat?

    • Lopus Etterie

      Just don’t become Cicero now.

      • Cicero

        Already there. I sleep with dead people.

  • ChasingWagons

    Kaz, maybe make her resist that bottle (presumably full) of booze that fell out of the trash, since she HAS been sober for a while? That would be an enormously awesome milestone! Or, if you decide to go a different direction, make her *gulp* sell her amulet of magic suppression/ her only worldly possession? Or, another different direction, have her drink the booze (I just had a brainfart, brb) While I try to remember the lost idea, maybe a bit of random good luck in the form of an item or person? – Dammit, that was a good idea, hold on… trying to remember… oh well, if I think of it, I’ll type another reply. Thx!

    -Chase

    • the sad truth of it is…

      we are going to wait one month for an update just to see Katia drink that booze and void an entire month of screaming DO NOT WANT about that bottle.

  • ChasingWagons

    Get well soon, Kaz!

    -Chase

  • Seth ( Mr.Fluffy )

    anybody else that can’t wait for the next upload? i wonder what kaz has in store for us this time. hopefully alittle light on katia managan crapy luck. anyway get well soon kaz ,and after reading what you wrote up there i hope you don’t also get katia’s luck as well lol. 🙂

  • Tennae

    Don’t die on us, Kaz. If Katia lapses into a coma, I’ll be out of worthy reading material! (I’m very cheap…)

    But get well soon! That’s important for sane writing!

  • silverbay1

    You have not been sick for 7 days, Kaz…..

  • Furnut

    Hope you are well by now 😀

    -gets whip ready- >:)

    • ChetBetera

      I do not like what you are implying. What are you implying by the way?

  • Z-Star

    Why can’t something good ever happen to katia?
    Why can’t she fight back?
    Why does she have to lose everything, and constantly fail at every single thing she knows how to do?
    Katia has to have more options than this. Possibly even resort to Kahjiit Nature. In the mages guild game of it, she does say she resisted once.

  • Z-Star

    New here, but Kaz really hates katia.

  • Vexx

    We all know your secret Kaz. You were never sick – you just took off for a month long gaming binge! How could you leave us all here hanging like this!?

    Nah, hope you get well soon, and I look forward to the next update(s)!

    • Vexx

      As a side note, I’m never reading the comments section again. Some people are so unappreciative and/or immature over a simple MSPA. Or I still might, just for laughs and lowering my hope for humanity as a whole on the internet.

      • did you really just say that?

        you look for our hope in humanity on the internet… a collection of people from all oveer the world who go here to spread stereotypes and read rage comics? I think you should look somewhere else for good deeds cause the internet is a dirty scary place :/

  • Riobe

    So….I take it the comic’s dead?

    • Lopus Etterie

      No.
      No.
      NO.
      NO!
      N.
      O.

      Don’t even joke about that!
      This isn’t the orphan joke!
      Katia’s story will NOT end here!

      And speaking of the orphan joke~….

      “If it’s relief you seek;
      Go to the children’s orphanage and take a leak!”

      • manslay3r ftw!!!

        omg you just became my hero. sadly they stopped being good when he started the skyrim ones. i guess 1 was watchable but the others were kind of garbage

        • Lopus Etterie

          Yeah, I kind of agree.

        • ChetBetera

          Watcha talking ’bout Lopus Etterie?

          • Lopus Etterie

            Look for “Gamer Poop Oblivion” on Youtube, and click the ones by Machinima or some variant of Manslayer. I believe there’s a 1 in his username.

  • Alvklez

    Katia! There are many options here!

    1. Go tell the city guard. Captain Matius will come to your rescue!

    2. Seek help from Martin in the chapel. Get your magicka recharged as well

    3. Go back to Anvil (or go to Skingrad, preferably Skingrad) and tell the Mages Guild there that the Kvatch Mages Guild is fraudulent. They’ll be sure to do something about it, seeing as how they don’t want their name tarnished. Skingrad is the closest to the Imperial City, which has the Arcane University, which has all the toughest mages.

    4. (Not Recommended) (If you fucking do this, i’ll come through my moniter and rip off your face) Degrade yourself and go dance in the arena, and have some booze. Tell the guards before hand NOT to let you out of the city, seeing as how you always teleport to Quill-Weave’s house when you get drunk.

    5. Become a theif. The world has wronged you in so many ways, and it’s time to take all of it back. Steal from the rich, give to the poor (yourself).

    6. Keep doing what you were doing. It seemed like you had a good plan going on there, until you went for the Mages Guild. Maybe the Gods are trying to tell you that you should get involved with them. If you do this, you’ll have enough money to buy more clothes and the package for Quill-Weave in no time.

    7. Return to Asotil. He seems like a capable enough fellow, although he can’t do it alone. Combine this option with Option 1.

    8. Return to Hirtel and do your sad-cute-cat-eyes on him. If that doesn’t work, use Eye of Fear (or in this case, Eye of Intimidation).

    9. (Not recommended) Wait until the next day and go back to the Mages Guild. Handle the problem yourself. Get your own stuff back and feel acomplished that you didn’t have to rely on others.

    10. (Use only as a very last resort. I, in no way condone this option, but I am putting it here, as it is a very real choice. NOT RECOMMENDED AT ALL.) Suicide. Killing yourself is a valid option at this point, although you let every single person who’s ever known you as Katia Managan down, you can’t really care, because you’re dead.

    • Rambo Dash

      Or she could just forget it all and leave. :/ She could go someplace nice, like the Imperial City, or Elsweyr even. Y’know, start over.

      • Lopus Etterie

        Wasn’t the point of her still being in Cyrodill NOT to give up again and move to another country?
        Might I refer you to the first five pages of the comic?

    • ChetBetera

      Long time since I did a point by point deconstruction of a suggestion, but I’ll do my best.

      1) Maybe he could help you in some way, but as a city guard he is bound by the law. And the law says you signed away all your belongings to Sigrid.

      2) Katia is a bit scared of Martin, though her current situation may change her mind. You do have to keep in mind that we know feck all about Martin’s character so he is an unknown variable. But hey! Don’t let me stop you.

      3) Going to another Mage’s guild to tell them to interfere with the Kvatch guild? Nice idea. Except for one flaw. We don’t talk about the Kvatch Mages Guild.

      4) Dance Contest is, allegedly, several days away. So our decisions can wait until then; including whether to booze or not to booze.

      5) Become a thief?… Do you have any idea how shitty her skills are?! For Divines sake, she can’t even walk across cobblestone without stepping on a squeaky floorboard!

      6) I have no idea what you are suggesting here.

      7) I fear he won’t be back for some days.

      8) I have no idea of the effectiveness of sad-eyes outside of Anvil Guards, so… yeah. Worth a try at the very least though.

      9) I can see why this isn’t recommended. Sigrid would Katia up, big-time! And possibly stuff the body behind the chained door.

      10) I commend you for thinking of every option. But I should also say that as long as there is something, anything, that she can live for, she must go on.
      Well, that and the fact she would actually have to kill herself. And I don’t think Katia is up for that, no matter how depressed she may get.

      • Alvklez

        You did pretty good actually…

        1. Well, she can still get them to open that scary ass door 🙂

        2. I only have my iPad and cant veiw the flashes he puts up. Her being scared of Martin was probably in one of those.

        3. True, but they would still listen.

        4. I would just practice until then if I were her.

        5. Yes, but practice makes perfect. And c’mon, what’s a good thief who hasn’t been caught a few times?

        6. I’m says that she should just keep doing odd jobs like what she was doing before she went to the Mages Guild. She had more gold than she ever had when she did those jobs.

        7. Lol. That was my fault for not reading.

        8. Yes, it is worth a try 😀

        9. Yeeeeaaaaaaah….

        10. Yes I know, I was just making suggestions though.

        • andwhyisit

          Asotil, Hirtel and Nah seem to be under Sigrid’s spell, although Nah could just be in her employ. Outside of them we don’t know who in Kvatch has been affected. Katia literally can’t trust anyone to help her. Although she could scout out people by asking their opinion of Sigrid.

  • P. 5000

    But seriously, if all else fails, bring the ruined letter back anyway.
    At least you could say you TECHNICALLY completed the errand.

  • NoriMori

    Just re-write the letter. It was very short.

  • Seriously?

    Kaz, it’s been almost 4 weeks. There’s no way you can be sick for a week. Come on, I know you’re still alive, I’ve seen your recent posts. Come on, man. For the fans, UPDATE.

    • OldSchoolRPGDude

      It’s posts like this that slowly erode at an author’s interest in publishing free work. Congratulations! You’ve brought Prequel that much closer to being permanently shut down.

      • really? A DIVA!

        well… don’t we just think we know everything. i always figured if people wanted me to do something it would be a complement. and i don’t think it’s to much to ask for an invested reader to want more than one update a month do you? i have been checking back for four weeks and each time i check i personally get more disappointed. i applause this guy. someone has the guts to say what were all thinking regardless of trolls like you rpg. keep on truckin kaz, but remember it’s getting tough to wait for this new update so a little extra speed on this please. starting to think we are gonna need Noah’s ark soon 😛

        • OldSchoolRPGDude

          Amazing — whiny obstinate jerk defends their churlish pining as if it were some sort of complement? Ah, the internet.

          “Invested reader”. You mean you like it and you want more. For free. And you’re disappointed that you don’t get more. For free.

          Again, congrats. You’re a screaming brat child who wants ice cream, and expects the guy handing it out to take it as a complement that you want it shoveled down your greedy throat. For free. And instead of patiently waiting, he’s supposed to thank you for screeching for more?

          Don’t worry, I don’t expect you to ever mature past this state. You’ll probably be a blind, screaming child your entire life, confused by the fact that others don’t feel honored to satisfy your needs.

          • Blaidd

            It would be nice if you could drop the attitude and the insults with it. While some may see it as getting something for free, every regular reader actually invests both time and interest. And that is worth something. I am a writer myself and it makes quite a difference if you have a following that offers you praise, suggestions and critique or if you just work for and by yourself. That doesn’t make the process of writing any easier – sometimes even worse because people have expectations and most creatives are trying to meet at least some of those. But it makes the process much more rewarding.

            So yeah, I take interest in my work – and even people urging me on to finally make the next update happen – as a compliment. But those compliments don’t mean I am pressured to act on them: If I have reasons for not working on my project I can always share them with my readers. I can drop a line, saying a feel too burned out right now and want to take a couple of weeks off. Or I can hint at other projects / events that currently are more important to me. In the end, people are less annoyed by the wait itself and more by the lack of communication. And information is something I feel I should provide to my audience to keep them enganged and to thank them for their continuing interest in my work.

          • dude really?

            first off i’m a different guy entirely, though I do see where it would be easy to see me as the op of this comment though : /. secondly in regards to kaz i’m not expecting anything specific from him, all i’m looking for is a continuation to his story. and also i can see that in regards to other people, you will keep your holy-er than thou outlook so this argument no longer has a point to it so good day sir >: (

          • OldSchoolRPGDude
          • Iamus

            Logic fail. The, “investing our time and effort reading”, is only because someone put real work in creating it. That’s like saying “I made TES:[game name here]”, because I played it. It’s coming out had NOTHING to do with who plays it, and everything to with the money Bethesda/Zenimax would make to release it. Kaz isn’t making money, so let’s not show a huge level of undeserved self-entitlement over someone having real life issues. Even if the issues were him playing a game for himself, let him, updates will come.

          • OldSchoolRPGDude

            Iamus, I think I love you.

  • calvin

    is there an olympics in this world? katia could probably try it

  • Pogiforce

    so it looks like this is where it ends. Katia naked in the dark in the rain crying into a trash can. she’s come full circle. story over.

  • WREN

    UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE

    please…

  • Dan

    “5/28/12: Yeah, I’m still alive. Updates will resume soon.”

    Yay!

    • Tennae

      Woo! Now all the nutters from the interwebs can stop making sexually explicit fan art faux-updates!

      Such a disturbing place, this internet…

      • FuzzyZergling

        The sexually-explicit fanart will never cease, and you know it.

  • ;_;

    I just know that in the end, perhaps in a year or two, Katia will be successful. She’s going to buy herself a huge house and invite Quill-Weave and Asotil to stay with her and she’ll murder Gharug gro-Upp and overcome her fear of royalty and be a great atronach wizard.

    …right? ;_;

    • Lopus Etterie

      And Nah will finally become a nurse. <3

      • d00d

        >Nah becoming a nurse, drinking up Katia’s wounds and being her brogirl
        awesome.

  • Score

    Hm. Katia seemed to shake off the spell relatively quickly, while pretty much everyone else seems to be under it still.

    Does she have some sort of resistance to it?
    Did… did she absorb that spell too?

    • Lopus Etterie

      I think she only broke of it because of her crazy brain.

      • xKiv

        Are we her second thoughts, or her third thoughs?

    • testing

      Test
      test
      testing..
      still testing
      Lol how do i code, dont mind me, just a single test, i wonder how this works.
      I need to lrn2internet

      • Score

        Thank you for participating in this Aperture Science computer-aided enrichment activity.

        • NoriMori

          “All Aperture technologies remain safely operational up to 4,000 kelvin. Rest assured that there is absolutely no chance of a dangerous equipment malfunction prior to your victory candescence.”

  • Atari Ogen

    “after weeks of continuous rain, the city was floode, killing thousands.katia survives miraculously by holding onto a very floatable trash can”
    i’m hoping for something like that…

  • BlankTextBox

    You know, I’m sure that everyone has already thought of this, but I just felt like pointing it out: Prequel Adventure is a prequel to Oblivion, right? And in Oblivion, Kvatch is completely destroyed? Well, if Katia’s in Kvatch a bit before it’s destroyed, and she throws freaking flames everywhere when she gets mad, and right now she is very, very upset, do you think? No, no, she wouldn’t open a gate to Oblivion, would she? Or destroy an entire city? No, Katia would never do something like that, even as an accident…

    Oh, right. It’s Katia.

    • Tennae

      You are so horribly, horribly late for that joke! 😛

      • k9mouse

        Is the old saying true? “Better late then never!” BlankTextBox theory might be true…. I wonder that sometimes as well…

      • BlankTextBox

        Thank you, I take pride in my work.

  • Bonzohazard

    LoL!!! This kat is so bored of drawing these now, and he’s been stringing out his leave with little excuses! Go read a book, maybe War and Peace. By the time you finish, he should have posted another excuse for you! :p

  • Ellert

    Well I for one cheer on Kazerad for at least making free strips to read. And “late” is relative to any specific schedule but as I understand it there is no specific schedule so it is theoretically impossible for a update to be “late” due to the aforementioned lack of schedule. At least I couldn’t find one in the “About PREQUEL” section.

    And you can argue back and forth about whose story this really is when it comes to the whole command submitting and Kazerad taking his own spin but I’m not even gonna delve into that, there are positive and negative comments and sometimes positive things happens to Katia and sometimes (or mostly) negative things happen to her.

    Now if you’ll excuse me I believe I had other hobbies keeping me occupied while I wait for new strips so see you tomorrow when I check again for a new update and have a good day. Oh, and cheers Kaz.

  • :c

    It’s killing me to find out what happens next!! I hope there’s an update soon 😀

  • Prophet

    OH PREPARE!
    FOR THE GRAND UPDATE OF OUR TIME, THE BIGGEST OF THEM ALL!
    THE GODS HAVE FORETOLD, THE DIVINE KAZERAD WILL RELEASE A UPDATE AS BIG AS THE ELDER SCROLLS!
    MAY THE GODS HAVE MERCY UPON YOUR EYES, PRAY FOR YOUR EYES, YOU MIGHT GET BLIND IF YOU ARE NOT THE RIGHT ONE TO SEE THIS UPDATE!
    OH PREPARE! IT WILL BE GRAND! IT WILL CONTAIN MORE NPC’S THAN THE WHOLE WORLD OF WARCRAFT, AND THE MAP WILL BE BIGGER THAN THE ENDLESS REALM OF MINECRAFT, OH PREPARE! THE GRAPHICS WILL BE BETTER THAN THE GRAPHICS OF REAL LIFE!

    • Fancypantsman

      Only in our dreams buddy.

    • Kazerad

      It is turning out to be a pretty long update, but not THAT long D=

      Maybe the longest, I’m not sure. All I know is that it has an assload of visual callbacks which are taking longer than I expected.

      • ooo

        Yay, update info!

      • Scootanon

        UPDATES FOR THE UPDATE GOD
        UPDATES FOR THE UPDATE GOD
        UPDATES FOR THE UPDATE GOD

      • Prophet

        OH, THE LORD HAS SPOKEN!
        IT WILL BE THE LONGEST UPDATE WE’VE EVER SEEN!
        But hey, we will wait.
        Keep up the go(o)d work, kaz.

      • Owenman91

        What’s a visual callback?

        • NoriMori

          A callback that is visual.

          • Owenman91

            OH WOW, REALLY?

            No, seriously, I can’t find anything on google. Specific definition, anybody?

          • Trance

            “I can’t find anything on google. Specific definition, anybody?”

            Try Googling for “callback comedy”. That’ll inform you of what a callback is. Then consider that certain jokes in the story have been visual. Then you will know what a visual callback is.

          • NoriMori

            Seriously? If you can’t understand by the words “visual” and “callback” what a visual callback is, I don’t think a dictionary can help you.

      • NoriMori

        “All I know is that it has an assload of visual callbacks which are taking longer than I expected.”

        I’m excited. When you say “an assload of visual callbacks”, two vague possibilities come to mind, one awesome, one horrible. I’m hoping it’ll be the awesome one. Or the horrible one followed by the awesome one.

        • Score

          Kazerad is planning to pass function pointers to our eyes so that they execute code upon reading the comic.
          Visual callbacks.

          • Trance

            BRAINHACKING

    • stupidjellyfish

      Get hype.

  • xwinnor

    If i were a khajiit…
    even just for a day.
    I’d get off the ship in the morning…
    go start a new life.
    then chase after birds.
    go meet friendly face’s,
    I’d go wherever I wanted…
    so long asotil were following…
    because they trusted me.

    If I were a khajiit…
    I think I could understand…
    how it feels to be without power…
    I’d swear I’d be a better khajiit.
    I’d listen to her…
    because I’d know how it hurts…
    when you try to do something right…
    by taking her for granted…
    and everything you had gets stolen.

    If I were a khajiit…
    I would train with a guard…
    and try to kill a pile of apples…
    by burning them with blight-flaming-sphere’s.
    I’d put myself first…
    and feel kind of suceed…
    but then i get robbed,
    by an orc who is completely obsessed,
    with clover’s.

    If I were a khajiit…
    I think I could understand…
    how it feels to be without power…
    I’d swear I’d be a better khajiit.
    I’d listen to them…
    because I’d know how it hurts…
    when you try to do something right…
    by taking her for granted…
    and everything you had gets stolen.

    It’s a little too late for you to come back.
    Say it’s just a mistake?
    Think she’d forgived you like that?
    If you thought she will let you come back…
    you thought wrong.

    But you’re just a khajiit…
    you don’t understand.
    how it feels to be in power…
    now you might wish you were a better khajiit.
    but don’t listen to them…
    you are better than that…
    b’cause i know that it hurts…
    when you lost all of your items,
    by taking taking them for granted
    and everything you had got stolen.

    • Bonzohazard

      That was….. dude, I don’t know what that was. Ice cream and ketchup might even make more sense….

    • Felidire

      I do believe that you just took what is quite possibly the most sappy, whiny, piece of shit song in existence… and make it somewhat bearable / cool.

      Good work. xP

  • NoriMori

    Seriously?

    • NoriMori

      Frig, that was supposed to be nested under the comment directly above. -_- It was in response to Bonzohazard.

  • nupanick

    I finally caught up, and… D:. Just… D:.

    On the one hand, in a real role playing game, this is about the worst thing a DM can ever do, hypnotizing the player character to force them to mess up. Taking control of the character directly is one of the biggest taboos there is.

    On the other hand, maybe a little nastiness is justified to show that Sigrid really is that evil. I mean, up until she outright mindraped our poor kitty-eyed protagonist, I’m sure some of us thought maybe she really was just a misunderstood necromancer. I know I was rooting for her not being evil. This adventure was lacking an unambiguous antagonist. Even the Green Scourge or whatever is more stupid and lucky than really evil.

    We now have an unambiguously evil, undeniably powerful villain, and she just reduced us to nothing, not because she had anything against us, but because we stopped being useful to her.. In the right lighting, this is actually an improvement to the story, for one reason:

    We’re no longer just bumbling around trying to hobble together a new identity from table scraps and cheap tapestries. We’re fighting a goddamn evil queen. And I guarantee she will use the royalty phobia to her advantage when the time is right.

  • Dagoth Odros

    Katia should learn lighting to go with her fire. Because sometimes you need to kill fast, and firs too slow.

    • Lopus Etterie

      Now that would be rather [i]shocking[/i]!

      • Lopus Etterie

        FAIL.

        • k9mouse

          Don’t make *light* of the matter 😉

  • Z-Star

    Katia still has a place to go, Quill Weave…..thats it, really.

  • SomeReader

    The story hasn’t taken us to the lowest point yet. The catharsis isn’t complete, and she shouldn’t rebound from this pit yet.

    We need to see her picking up a bottle and drinking, but instead of a comedic cut that’s basically a zoom-into-the-fireplace shot, we have to bear witness to what happens to Katia when she drinks. The story is too mature at this point for us to skip it; we have too much invested in the character to have the luxury of simply cutting to her oh-so-wacky hangover situations.

    So far, we’ve had the impression that she does dumb stuff while drunk…Dumb, sexually suggestive, cringe-inducing stuff–but it still feels endearing with the distance we’ve been granted. We don’t fully empathize with Katia, and we can’t claim to truly know her until we suffer alongside her, in her darkest hour. We need to be faced with the true horror of what she does while drunk, and only then can we revel in the eventual triumph of Katia over her demons.

    We need to invest in the true loathing that Katia feels for herself, and the only way forward is down. The story up to this point leaves no alternative, arc-wise. If it doesn’t happen, the author will have pulled his punches, to the detriment of good storytelling.

    • SomeReader

      Let me expand on my idea, even though it’s even more depressing:

      The audience, up until this point, is basically Katia’s inner voice, and we’ve largely poured our positivity into her psyche in an attempt to make her see her self-worth. This positivity we’ve taken from our own positions in life, and Katia surely benefits from our more optimistic perspectives, as we are more privileged, luckier, and wiser than she is. Doubtless people will even now try to tell her to look on the bright side; that life is worth living; that she can get over this and get her dignity back…That “even though you’re down, kid, you have to get back up.”

      But this isn’t how depression works, and I believe that’s the kernel of truth that the story is now expressing. The audience should now find itself backed into the corner, just as people struggling with depression must feel: that they have no worth; that the world would be better off without them. Trust, just like life, this is a choose-your-own-adventure, but that doesn’t give us free reign to escape the reality of what’s happening inside Katia right now.

      She should stand above the well and stare into it. The idea of killing herself will crystallize, and she’ll marvel at how much it makes sense, and wonder why she didn’t think of it before. It’s so simple. She’ll believe she doesn’t even deserve the dignity that was just taken from her; she’ll know she has no value–even what she laughingly calls her best friend is motivated solely by pity–and why should it be otherwise? She doesn’t deserve more than that. Look at what just happened to her.

      It’s in this frame of mind that the audience is given one bleak choice: Katia can throw herself into the well, or drink from the bottle of wine that rests near it. What does it matter anymore? She’s not Katia Fuckin Managan. She’s no one.

      • sghost258

        your comment came from the future O_O’

        • SomeReader

          The timestamp looks okay to me

      • Vins

        That’s… undeniable, alright. ._.
        Welp, maybe I should now put my hopes on the chances of Katia getting into an escapade with someone that happen to be considerably nicer even than Dmitri. Oh well…

  • Atari Ogen

    maybe katia should consider stealing the charisma potion, then she would at least be loved.
    but then, she almost died trying to kill fish in a well… i don’t see how she can actually get in the guild and steal anything from anyone…

  • Look at me, being polite and not impotently threatening the readers in an excessively silly manner!

    ~Whimbrel ~◕ w◕~

  • Ultimaza

    could she either ask the guy to rewrite the letter or go back and say that she “donated” something that wasn’t hers to donate so she could at least get the letter back and finish her job

  • Ultimaza

    she could even get into a mage guild that wont steal her stuff and get herself some new robes. then she would be on her way to becoming a powerful wizard.

  • Ellert

    Huh, what exactly is that a reference too anon who likes his Kazerad name with a lower case K ? I don’t get the joke.

  • Snowkitsune

    You are not a worthless stray. you are a person a hero. you will stand up wait untill morning and go back to that bitch. you will use the power if teh sing you where born under and beat her scrawny ass untill she gives you back your things. Your a person damn it start acting like one. your life is yours to controll also see if you still have that lockpick. if you do stab her in teh eye with it

  • Elosan

    I just want to reach through the my computer screen and hug her so bad 🙁

  • AnonymousDragonWolf

    … You were just gullible… you trusted Sigrid, a wizard, someone you looked up to, and the bitch stabbed you in the back.

    And the letter? Not a problem. Say he wrote the response, spat on it, then decided it wasn’t enough, so he threw it away overnight so it would get all disgusting with garbage. Then it rained and he got all giddy and thought, “A soggy letter! Perfect!”

    Ugh, still confused… So tired… Sigrid must have a bigger effect on lesbians…

  • fatblackidd

    This is just goin deep man…

  • Noc

    Aww 🙁

    I’m loving this comic but this is really sad…

  • CynicalZombie

    I am not embarrassed to say this made me cry :'(

  • Mzuark

    I don’t know why she’s so bummed out, It’s not hard to come back from having fuck-all.

  • TheDapperChangeling

    My life in a nutshell….

  • An Explosion

    I want to hug. No. Priorities first.
    I want to murder Sigrid and then hug Katia.

  • Ja’ Jarsha Rovandi

    A song to express some of the sads, at least.

    Quill-Weave, Quill-Weave I let you down
    Sigrid has took all my stuff
    I thought that I would
    Lose to no one else

    But now I sit out in the rain
    And only have to reflect
    The chance you gave
    Was more than I deserve

    So the sadness of my heart
    It says the lone thing I should do
    Like Hammerfell
    Just leave forever
    What’s gone is gone, the stuff I had
    The book the letter Sigrid stole
    You’ll never trust me now
    My fur is soaking

    Alkosh if you could turn back time
    Unmake this failure of mine
    Can’t see the plan for Khajiit in the rain
    I know I can’t return to past
    I can’t forget hope or highs
    Twisting the knife and killing me inside

    My stuff lost it to Sigrid, it’s all gone
    Even my clothes, even my cloths,
    Even my cloths,
    I still have the amulet, need it to
    Not burn me down, not burn me down
    Not burn me down
    In my heart of hearts
    I know that you will never trust me now
    I’ve failed you again
    Failed your task, every time
    You trusted of me
    Failure was the end

    Mara if you could send some love
    ‘Cause now some love I can’t find
    Can’t live without
    A bond from those who care
    I know we can’t survive alone
    We can’t forgo love or friends
    Because of that, I’m dying slow inside

    It all amounts to nothing, the rain comes
    Tumbling down, tumbling down
    Tumbling down
    It all amounts to nothing, my efforts
    Letting you down, letting you down
    Letting you down
    I am living for nothing, maybe should
    Sit here and drown, sit here and drown
    Sit here and drown
    It’s all bounded by failure, and I keep
    Reaching new lows, reaching new lows
    Reaching new lows

    Rain falling down, Rain falling down
    Rain falling down

    Letting friends down, letting friends down
    Letting friends down

    Rain falling down, Rain falling down
    Rain falling down

    Letting friends down, letting friends down
    Letting friends down