The Holiday Ball
Sorry for the evening post, but this is a big page. It looks like the King of Seasons is back…
In the foreground of the Holiday Ball panel we have Brett’s Mom and Dad as well as a few Mantlebearers.
Krampus – We all know him and he has appeared (and thrown down) with Brett.
Maude Calhoun – Flag Day. She represents every Flag Day, carries a quiver of flags for each country, and can speak the languages of every nation she carries a flag for.
Bernard – The current Groundhog Day Mantlebearer.
Cecil Matthews – Tax Day. Yep, Tax Day has a Mantlebearer. His mantle gives him a supernatural comprehension of mathematics, tax laws, and spreadsheets.
June Juarez – Armed Forces Day. June’s uniform pulls elements from each of the branches of the armed forces. She is the newest (youngest) of all of the Mantlebearers, having only taken the mantle in 2013.
HOVER-TEXT: I am proud of that panel but if I could go back and punch Past Brian for writing it, I would.
Is it me or does the king not seem that upset like he did last time…I got a good feeling!
I got the opposite impression. Seems like controlled rage to me.
I think I have to go with the honorable cur on this one. We’ve seen outbursts of rage, collected/quiet rage (fun contradictions!) and “waiting” from the King so far and his current expression doesn’t really resemble any of the rage ones we’ve seen. He looks more contemplative than anything else, like this is a test & he’s watching for how Brett reacts & what action he takes.
Clive, on the other hand, is full of malicious glee, and needs a good slapping.
Actually, looking back the King is actually sitting up in his throne, instead of that super lounging posture he had the first time Brett encountered him (says “paying attention” to me, which goes with the test theory, but anything could happen from this point on…)
The King is gonna side with Brett, Higgins is gonna get either destroyed, or turned into something he really doesn’t like
That would probably make quite a few readers really happy, but it can’t be that simple (or can it?)
Honestly I can see that just by comparing it to the last time, Brett was eager to do his thing got to the king (granted was pissed on his way there but ignoring that) King kicked his ass.
This time Higgins is ecstatic and probably will get pissy then his ass kicked.
It really would work, besides based on what Santa was the King can’t really say Brett was in the wrong.
He didnt seem very angry last time either, just impatient and wanted to get his point across.
Looking back at the first strip of the king, his face seemed a little bit more aggressive, while this time he looks stern but not like he did last time. He just seems to have a serious face.
Please please please let there be a Festivus Mantlebearer.
lol yea i’d be like: FINE if worrying about an injured friend and spending five minutes to check on me invalidates me from being a symbol of generosity and caring then FINE fuck you fuck the mantle Fuck your bypolar king(cause if his mood is dictated byt the seasons that is STREIGHT UP bipolar disorder) enjoy the only other option you have but tell my psychotc uncle if he comes near MY kids i’ll kill him with my own hands. *walks out*
> cause if his mood is dictated byt the seasons that is STREIGHT UP bipolar disorder)
It’d actually be Seasonal Affective Disorder, which is a depression disorder, and not associated with any Manic States, and thus not bi-polar. The rest of your illiterate ramble worries me, but please don’t make psychiatric statements that are misleading or otherwise full of bullshit.
I still say clive is really klaus. Each of his appearances convinces me more.
My vote is he works for him.
Thinks the rules of naughty and nice are too forgiving or something so he wants Klaus to step in and make it stricter.
I cant really see any other reason he would take such joy in stripping the mantle bearer of his mantle.
Clive is violating the spirit of the law (such as it is) to uphold the letter as stringently as possible.
I dare say that Brett ought to point that out to the King of Seasons. You don’t really want bureaucrats like that deciding how things work, because sooner or later they go bad. Real bad. (If Clive hasn’t gone that far already, as per the speculation of being or working for Klaus.)
If there’s a holiday in which honouring the spirit of the law over the letter is the way to go, Christmas is probably the first one I would think of.
Lady Justice just walks in, everyone silent, even the King of Seasons. You do not fuck with a blind lady with a sword being led around by a set of scales.
If I understand certain etiquettes, He did not shirk or violate his probation except for association with his friends which was after he performed his duties….. From what I can see the elf is trying to pull a Jack Frost on him in an attempt to take over…..
Except he did violate it – when he visited Sam in the Hospital, and left him an early gift.
I’m having a hard time getting a read on the King of Seasons.
Clive is enjoying this far too much. He’s not possessed by uh Evil Claus?, is he? I mean, this is a rather novel approach for him if it is.
Why do I get the feeling that poor Cecil’s mantle makes people want to punch him in the face or break down crying for no apparent reason?
And can someone get to the punching of Clive in the face until the bones in his skull turn to dust?
The King seems rather… observant here. I think he is probably very careful about the different mantle barers, and makes sure that they live up to the spirit of their holiday. The year in the North Pole was probably the first part of Brett’s test, but like Sam’s, I’d say the last part is… trickier.
hmmm…yah, like everyone else, im having a hard time reading the King of Seasons’ face here too. ‘higgins’ is definitely resembling Klaus here, so im thinking that maybe its his last attempt at the mantle. Maybe too, the KoS is aware that there is something else up, and he’s been carefully observing for the past year.
with the display of his power, if he was just going to strip Brett of the mantle, I think he would have just ported the two (or rather just Brett tbh) back to the Pole.
what worries me is the look on everyone’s faces. like (once again) Brett is late to the party and that his fate has already been decided (kinda like how it was last year) however. there is one thing i think we should all remember. 1. he said after giving Brett his beating, is that he lacked more empathy due to what he had witnessed, but saw that he loved Christmas more than anyone. 2. while he DID restrict his activities, he said MINIMAL contact (not NO contact) and outside of skyping with Jeanie, he has, even going to Sam while he was asleep, gaurded against nightmares, and left his present before he was awake.
No, i think even the King smells a rat, and is allowing the farce to play out so he can end it. however, i do think Brett may be in some trouble still.
Hey Brian, the stewards monocle disappears in the last panel, did it fall off?
As much as I’m annoyed by Rule Mongers among those who started in 3.0+ (No, You cannot Greater Cleave more than three targets. No, you cannot cleave them if it’d take more than a single swing. I don’t give a fuck what the book says, physics and momentum don’t work that way. No, I don’t care that you were an idiot and built your character around that; You should’ve asked. Just like those points in Use Rope instead of Engineering that you’re not getting back, after I told you, when validating your sheet, that “You’ll never use those”. Always assume the DM is being literal.), They’re infinitely worst in more mundane matters.
That said, Christmas arcs need a reason to get bloody (as they tend to), and the best bloodshed is when the writing gives us someone to be hated.
I want a magic monocle that disappears when I go from pompous jerk to full-blown snickering asshole too. Or perhaps I already have it, as there is no monocle on my face now. I’m sure there’s a lesson here.
Well, Chris, this is called “Brian was very tired when he finished this page and missed the monocle”.
I’ll fix it this weekend.
Y’know, I don’t know if this is what will happen or not, and I certainly doubt me saying this will actually change anything. Heck, I’d be disappointed if it did, really, a Webcomic author who suddenly changes flow to pander to an audience would be pretty wishywashy.
^Feel free to ignore this, TLDR people
Personal hope/guess: Brett didn’t just get mad, he got even. He is a gamer, and has been for years, he just got totally blindsided by Clive there, and was then given a year, away from his friends, knowing there would be a climax in 365 days. I don’t know about anyone reading, but I’ve found, when gamers get wronged, or screwed, or surprised, the plans come out. Oh, such plans. I would LOVE to learn that face on the king of seasons is a “Clive, you irritating little shit, I’m already going over the applications to replace you in my head.” Heck, Rory would be a great steward of winter.
I have a feeling that the Steward is about to overstep.
About to? I’m no expert, but aren’t stewards only supposed to speak for the monarch if he’s absent? Stepping over the king while he’s right there is more than a little faux pas…
hearby I think should be hereby
Being patient for this story is hard. But well worth the wait
While I am more of a fan of the game centric stuff then stories like this, I must give you props I have a lot of feelings in this arc. On one hand I want to see Higgin’s face caved in. On the other hand I’m also worried that won’t happen, because some of the villians on d20monkey tend to not quite get the comeupannce I wish I’d see. (Getting kicked out of a game store after ruining the dungeon run didn’t do anything to hurt that prick, it just made him worse and ended up giving him an ally.)
On the third hand, if this means Brent stops being Santa and goes back to being at the game table full time, I’m strangely happy with that thought. I’d rather see Brent fight for the spot and then decide to give it up willingly rather then be cheated out of it, but it’d certainly help the game arc to have him back.
So yeah, major props. I really give a damn about what’s going on in a story line I really didn’t think I’d like. Well done.
I will totally take that as a good thing. I get that my transition to more cast-centric stories is not for everyone but I will say that after this arc wraps up, we will see a return to more gaming arcs and shorter stories.
Small typo – it’s “hereby”, not “hearby”.
When this is all over I hope that the “Clauscubine” gets to have him.
Clive i mean i want her to beat the holiday pudding out of him.
You’re too nice. I hope Brett gets her the Scrotageddon she asked for last year. She’s been an awful good girl, Santa baby.
I dunno bout others, but I seriously wanna kick that little smiling bastard like a football and send him flying Team Rocket style.
I meant to say this earlier… But I don’t trust that groundhog….