Apr03
Road trip!!
on April 3, 2013 at 12:01 amCourtney:
You just know Cyril’s face is getting absolutely thrashed by Skärva’s sideburns.
I like that first panel a lot. Here, have a larger version of it!
The Fourth
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The Fourth by Courtney Svatek and Victor Acuña is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
“They were never mass produced, since it’s easier to use magic” That line pretty much sums up why when magic is a widely used thing in a fictional universe it’s more common for the tech to be older rather than newer. Because why would you need to advance machines when you can make magical versions of whatever you need instead?
…I have heard that argument before, but now that I think about it I feel an urge to think of a setting where people mass produce things USING magic (and without the more familiar route of magitech). A manufacturing economy based on training large numbers specialized wizards is an interesting idea.
That’s quite interesting. So it’s sort of an assembly line process where many wizards are trained, or is the machinery itself magically-fueled to create non-magical things? A magic factory would be pretty cool.
Would the factory be a magical factory that made “mundane” things, or a magical factory that in TURN made magical things?
Could you theoretically make a techno-magical-hybrid robot/golem?
If so, could you theoretically make techno-magical-hybrid robots/golems that made OTHER techno-magical-hybrid robots/golems?
Could you have a techno-magical-hybrid robot/golem rebellion?
And how many times would people say “techno-magical-hybrid robot/golem” before finally giving up and just giving them a shorter term for them?
Magic-based machinery has been done to some extent in a few settings, though they rarely go into it in that much detail. The idea that is new to me is an assembly line of wizards. For example, if the wizard Ford trained a dozen ‘apprentices’ to each cast one simple spell repeatedly, then organized them to produce (normally extremely labor-intensive) suits of platemail.
Then comes the question of how limited is the magic. Is there an actual source? Can it run out? Is it renewable?
The source, in this case, is food. As long as the people don’t starve, magic in Idenue is a renewable resource.
Then comes the question, could it be more efficient to, assuming you have the food supply, have people act as batteries for such purposes as powering factories?
…the implications of such a course of action could get pretty horrific.
@SecretAgent000
Factories that horribly exploit or abuse their workers are a thing that already exists in real life.
I would love for the first panel to be a wallpaper :O
I don’t know if it’s quite big enough in the original, but I’ll see what I can do!
Speaking of that first panel, this was my first thought reading it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRUycq-1JmA#t=1m06s
Oh, the random connections a tired brain will make…
I dunno, that’s not so random a connection considering he’s saying pretty much the exact same thing
Alright, to all artists reading this… Fanart Idea: Skarva as Layton, Derk as Luke, and Lorelei as Flora. Cyril can be Inspector Chelmey or something. Or better yet, make Cyril be annoying little Luke, and let Derk be Chelmey.
It’s times like this where I wish I knew anything at all about Professor Layton besides things remind him of puzzles.
All you need to know about Professor Layton:
Professor Herschel Layton: A professor of archaeology and quintessential gentleman that had a knack for puzzles and often finds himself on some adventure utilizing his god-tier critical thinking skills.
Luke Triton: Some little kid that follows Layton around all the time and gets taken on extremely dangerous adventures, all the while calling himself Laton’s apprentice. Haven’t played the prequel trilogy yet, but apparently whatever happened then caused them to become close friends, despite their age difference.
Flora: A Pollyanna who is rescued in the first game. Her father’s death is what sparked the game, and at the end she becomes the foster child of Layton. In the next two adventures, she gets left at home while Layton and Luke go adventuring, ditched at a farm after being discovered following them, then left at home again in the next adventure.
Don Paolo: Although he is the self-proclaimed rival of Professor Layton, Layton has no clue who this guy is. However, he does seem to have a genius for invention. He’s essentially a more off-kilter Dr. Robotnik. Has an epic theme song.
Now that you know this, go watch Professor Layton and the Malignant Growth. It sets up the relationships pretty well.
Greatest. Automobile. EVER.
Look for it in Skärva Kart, coming this fall!
Oh wow, this brings back memories of car trips with my sister. “Please, I’m trying to drive” vs. “Shut up back there!”, dependent on which sibling was doing anything.
Those tree/bushes look really… Painting-esk. It’s kinda cool.
Wow those tires are tiny though. Are they actually tires made of gold though? That doesn’t seem like it would be a very smooth ride.
The new accordion looks both Much more fancy, and Less easy to play. It doesn’t even look like it has a keyboard!
Lorelei had angry tears in her eyes when Skærva abandoned Cyril the first time. I’m betting she’s actually going to care about this story.
Unimpressed car is unimpressed. 0___0
OK, the compass glows when he holds it, but how does Cyril tell which direction it’s pointing? If there are multiple keys to the gate, wouldn’t the compass be pointing in five directions at once anyway?
I think he’s just making this up. “Keep going South”, psssh.
Many many car trips have I had, but usually they’re fine, what with me looking out the window, reading, or playing my Gameboy/DS. Except one time I forgot to charge things and we were driving by night and I couldn’t sleep and everything I had was dead and I didn’t even have a book light so I nearly went insane. Or was that the time my brother flat-out took my DS to play the game my own friend had lent me… and he was enjoying it too much for me to demand it back…
Thanks! I enjoy getting to be really loose like that and not having to worry about lineart sometimes. I love it when I get to draw the characters out in nature as opposed to buildings.
Haha, this has already come up. I don’t think they’re actually made of gold, but I wouldn’t put it *beyond* the Skärvas…
It’s painted nicer, but it’s cheaper and has much less of a range. I’m trying to find an example of what I based it on but instead I just found Cyril as a kid. http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/thumblarge_583/1297861324m7IY7N.jpg Oh, technically it’s a concertina, just look that up.
Of course she does. She’s drawn to Cyril, and for the same reason she was originally drawn to Skärva, I think. She can tell when people need more hugs in their life…
I mean when you already have a shark hood ornament, what WOULD impress you?
It’s chosen one to point at and will point there until they’ve obtained it. If you look closely, you can see that a thin arrow of light points out of it in the direction they should be going.
Road trip Skärva is best Skärva.
Do you mind if I take that large version of the car driving around and post it on Tumblr? With a link back to the comic, of course! More people need to read this.
I actually intended to post it there myself later; thanks for the reminder. If you wait a little while, you can reblog it from me.
All right, that sounds good. :3
Easier to use magic… Huh, I thought the vehicle runs on magic.
Nope, it’s purely non-magical actually. Although cars might as well be magic, for all I understand how they work…
Movin’ right along in search of good times and good news,
With good friends you can’t lose,
This could become a habit!
Opportunity knocks once let’s reach out and grab it (yeah!),
Together we’ll nab it,
We’ll hitchhike, bus or yellow cab it!
(Cab it?)
Movin’ right along.
Footloose and fancy-free.
Getting there is half the fun; come share it with me.
Moving right along (doog-a-doon doog-a-doon).
We’ll learn to share the load.
We don’t need a map to keep this show on the road.
(Hey, that song is sounding better Fozzie.)
Movin’ right along,
We’ve found a life on the highway.
And your way is my way,
So trust my navigation.
California here we come, the pie-in-the-sky-land.
Palm trees, and warm sand.
Though sadly we just left Rhode Island.
(We did what?!)
(Just forget it.)
Movin’ right along (doog-a-doon doog-a-doon).
Hey LA, where’ve you gone?
Send someone to fetch us, were in Sasketchewan!
Movin’ right along (doog-a-doon doog-a-doon).
You take it, you know best.
Hey, I’ve never seen the sun come up in the West?
Movin’ right along.
We’re truly birds of a feather,
We’re in this together and we know where we’re going.
Movie stars with flashy cars and life with the top down.
We’re storming the big town,
(Yeah, Storm is right should it be snowing?)
(Uh, no I don’t think so…)
Movin’ right along,
Do I see signs of men?
Yeah, “welcome” on the same post that says “come back again.”
Moving right along, nice town!
Footloose and fancy-free,
You’re ready for the big time…
Is it ready for me?
Movin’ right along,
Movin’ right along,
Movin’ right along,
Movin’ right along
You just wait, they haven’t even traveled by map yet!
I see Cyril trying to lead them in a musical travel montage and get a few lines in before Skarvs manages to clock him with his own accordion.
traveling by map is the only way to travel
Are we there yet?
Oh but the journey is the destination! All of life is a voyage and we never really reach the end until we die.
So what I’m saying is, no.
We’re lost, aren’t we?
I thought the car itself WAS magic and skarva had one cuz he’s an awesome wizard and stuffs :C
I mean he’s STILL an awesome wizard and stuffs but he’s also rich enough to have things that he doesn’t really need because he’s an awesome wizard.
So what is that little chevron+sphere symbol? Skaerva house symbol? Also damn interesting backgrounds! o.o; Are those new, or am I just forgetful?
Yep! And I used essentially the same method here as I did when they were walking through the swamp a bit earlier, returning from the manor… but granted, when I draw nature scenes they tend to look a bit different every time.
Thanks for the transparent picture, I’m now going to put them in a bunch of random situations.
I know Cyril’s currently the resident punching bag, but I can’t help but feel sorry for the guy. look at those eyes. Those are the eyes of a broken man.
…or not.
I want to see all of these random situations!
Here:
http://multi-bear.tumblr.com/post/47081892836/altermentality-detail-from-todays-comic-beep
…I’m sorry.
AAAAHAHAHAHA
THAT made my day. I love you. XD
Meheheh. . . I think I also know how skarva could have won.
(Quick, think that blank is Cyril!)
Stab. stab. STABSTABSTABSTAB!
Also, Imaginary swords say stab all the time. MUAHAHAHAA!!!
Alas, I think Skaerva already hates Blank and Cyril about equally. But Blank has a sword and Cyril has an accordion. One is a lot more frightening.
Gee, never thought of Cyril in that light, but yeah, I guess he COULD be pretty terrifying…
Yup, Cyril’s more dangerous. I knew it.
As was mentioned a few pages ago, it’s only been a few days since Skærva met Cyril the first time. How did he get in dire enough straights to lose his accordion so quickly!