"Baltics: Population 6 million.
This can not end well... And neither can my supposed mini-vacation. Like waking up not human wasn't enough, everyone I've ever known and loved are gone and now I'm all alone and three hundred kilometers away from an empty home. Did I mention I'm some weird lion-chicken now? Fun...
But no, it doesn't just stop there. When one trek is over it can only signal the beginning of another journey that'll take me halfway across the world. It doesn't help that I can't swim..."
What started as the story equivalent of a survival game took a hard turn into existentialism, the breakdown of the individual without society and the meaning of being good. The philosophy of a selfish, soulless, depressed nihilist that desperately wants to be alone, but not lonely, and the hell that is people assuming they know you better than you do. The Dark tag is there for a reason.
A Ponies After People story. All art by me [devi] [tumblr] .
You have my interest.
Good start but you just lost your pacing in the last third where it began to feel rushed. If you keep it like in first two thirds that'd be great because that was just right. On the plus side: very few spelling/grammar mistakes. Nothing jarring there.
Your setup is nice, it's a griffon protagonist (yay!) and eastern Europe has joined the emptiness (double yay!). Props for not going through every detail of the transformation thing again but summing it up in the 'mental breakdown quota', since we've read that a lot of times by now. Oh, remember you have sharp claws. Just cut any ropes and don't accidentally shred your dog when petting it.
That last line hit me in the feels somehow. I want to see where this goes!
The metaphorical straw, huh? Rolled with all the punches but that one got past her resolve...
Off to an interesting start! Have a thumb and a fave.
So, I see two possibilities here: either mom returned earlier, and deemed only her blankets worth taking with her, or else she was totally wrapped up in them and they vanished with her.
Which begs the question: do griffons (and pegasi) have nictitating membranes?
Guess that answers the question of whether anyone else returned in that house and already left. I doubt they would have left the dog behind or redone the rope at the top if they had.
Darn.... Another Griffin
How come I hadn't put this on tracking? Now rectified.
Everyone who ever went backpacking has this in pathological form.
Oregon Trail comparison. You win the wasteland!
Hey, this is fun! Very different style than most other stories but that's to be expected when the author's from a very different country :) Me like. The abrasive language takes a little getting used to, but then it works as a stylistic element in a way. Certainly goes a long way for characterization.
A lion chicken in a shopping cart going rodeling. Yeah!
Since I didn't comment on the cover art yet: love it. More of that?
Looking forward to the next chapters!
Aaaand... cliffhanger. Good good. And for some reason this scene reminded me of the very first part of Tomb Raider 2013. Don't ask.
I was thrown off a bit as to where in the landscape she was trudging along before (perceived) suddenly being in Riga, but that doesn't matter much.
That worked. Real impact. The following 'which wasn't really mine' moments were quite powerful, an interesting coping mechanism. Oh and that picture... she made a nest. Sweet
More please ;)
Her method of looting is a lot like my Griffins..... Take all the stuff XD
Mess up the sad with comedy.... Noce
...it's quiet here.
Edit: Hope you continue this story it seems... interesting.
I just realized I posted this exactly a year since the last update. I swear to you that was not intentional
Brilliant as always
well worth the wait!
so...i wonder if the Minotaur can help you fly? they are pretty strong right?
Glad to see this back.
Thank-you ever so much for updating this awesome fic.
Holy crap it updated 0-o
Poor bird
I honestly wish i could do that. Im just so bloody tired of havjng to be nice and civil sometimes
Oh I missed this :)
This bit is absolutely perfect. Well done.
Also, that angry rant is amazing. You have a unique LPoE story going here and I really look forward to seeing more of the crew you've just assembled.
An update that wasn't a year later
I very much hope you will continue updating on a regular basis.
EDIT: Once a month is absolutely valid.
This is good! SO VERY GOOD. KEEP IT UP
Isn't Riga population more like 650 thousand?
7708374 Whoops....
...
... How long has that typo been there??!
7708516 Guess, most readers never heard it once approached a million, and didn't notice.
I love this story so much.
That whole scene was pure brilliance.
And the shock just caught up to her. Damn. Very good imagery there.
That's some powerful writing right here. Chills.
This chapter is so full of character development moments and atmospheric setting that I could quote 80% of it back to you with a praising comment. Good stuff... good stuff.
7752633 You are the best reader, I swear.
dawww!
7752732 Well, I wasn't at all sure about this story at the beginning, but you certainly managed to win me over. I'll give criticism when I think it's warranted, but right now I'm just enjoying the ride. This story is something different and, sadly, under-appreciated. Anyway, keep it up!
Brilliant as usual
This is one of the weirdest and most hilarious images ever.
But damn, this is some chilling stuff. That's a great take on how finding a collapsed portal circle might play out. I like the idea that the remaining magic radiation hotspot could screw with people's heads and I totally hadn't thought about the fact that these markings might be terrifying. Something unknown and powerful went down here and it's probably related to the planet's depopulation. Of course it'll induce fear in many.
Oh, and art improvement. Yay! Looking good.
Did you just update your cover art or did I miss it when you posted the new chapter? 'Cause it's awesome.
7844587 Aw thanks! Ye' I just finished it last night. Felt nice to finally do something that wasnt my comic. I swear that thing takes up like 80% of my artness at any given time, I don't understand how other people do it.
Still. I got two done chapters qued up as well so no drought for the near future, yay~
7844883
Nerd bonding... beautiful. That was some surreal slice of life here and I had to smile all the way through. Even if I have zero idea what they're talking about. You just effortlessly emptied a ton of character detail over your readers' head and I love it. And a happy griffon!
And damn, you're productive.
dawwww!
7869672 To be completely honest I had the worst time trying to figure out what to replace MLP with. I ended up just mashing like five different fandoms into a blender and this happened. I put Rick and Morty in the heart of it since it seemed the most well known so I figured..
Make no mistake, they would've been talking pony. Well... Dia would have brought it up first and like most closeted bronies Carl would have come around soon enough.
“As I lay on the dirty floor bawling, I managed to choke out the fact that we would never find out what happened to the Author in Gravity Falls since ‘Tale of Two Stans’ was supposed to air this month or so.”
If that episode was going to be aired that month, in a number of different languages, it would probably exit somewhere. All our named characters need to do is find a copy in some national broadcasting center’s office or a local language dubbing studio. Now that would make an epic quest!
http://gravityfalls.wikia.com/wiki/Gravity_Falls:_International_Versions
7869735
Please consider adding to your story Lauren Faust’s proposed series “Milky Way and the Galaxy Girls”. This Sailor Moon inspired series, considered and then rejected for development by Hasbro, has many ideas that Lauren transferred to generation four, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Thus, Milky Way would be a cool substitute for MLP: FiM on this world. As May 23rd, 2015 was a Saturday, you could have a Milky Way convention, similar to the My Little Pony conventions, at a local hotel or convention center.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Toys/MilkyWayAndTheGalaxyGirls
Yeah sometimes good ideas hit you in the head like a brick.
Very nice story and I am enjoying this greatly
I got a little confused about speaker identity in the first exchange of pleasantries. A few more '," x said' would be nice.
That out of the way: Damn damn damn! This is the best 1st person 'snapping' scene I've come across so far. Amazing - and I'm picky with stuff like that. Your characters are wonderfully consistent, even while going completely off the rails. The build-up is well done, you're just using the tension that has been steadily increasing over the last chapters and trigger the breaking point with a cold sponge bath. Good stuff, I actually read the chapter twice. RED.
The aftermath with her trying to patch up her 'victim' works as well. Poor Kaja, the sole remaining voice of sanity.
I've really become invested in these characters, don't know why it took me this long to get around reading the update.
Now from the road trip to the boat trip.
Let's have even more confined space...
And of course: very nice art. Looks good and captures the mood.
6472727 yay! something that's not a pony.
BRILLIANT!
And the journey continues. Repairing relationships is never easy, and this here is a whole new level. Managing fairly well though, considering the circumstances. Necessity can be a great mediator, but in the end it's probably all down to Kaja. They'd be so lost without that bat.
Love the imagery of the lonely harbour. Groaning, huge machinery in the murky twilight, abandoned in the middle of some dockyard task. Calm, inky water splashing against the hull of their tiny in comparison yacht... it's good stuff. Word painting.
Keeping the sailing details vague works well for me (but then again, I've got as much knowledge about it as our griffon). So, out to the open sea it is. Best of luck with that, you weird band. Do carry on!
Actually, thinking about it, I do believe that you can actually start a car even if it's battery is dead. Im not sure, but I do believe that you need to push it along in the hopes to get the alternator to start charging the battery and thus the car
Even though the baltic sea is small in comparison to the atlantic or pacific, it should still generates its own currents. it'll be easiest for them to ride one of these currents down to poland, instead of relying on an engine. which they can hardly use.
ITS ALIVE!
CONGRATS ON GRADUATING! i'm starting Uni soon as well!
...griffons are part bird.
ducks are birds.
birds float.
ergo, griffins float.
if all else fails, hopefully your claws are near the surface and can latch onto some wood.
Yay! I missed this story! Your style of narration is bloody hilarious and I utterly love it
8312531 Oh dear, considering this has horribly deteriorated my ability to write like a normal person maybe you shouldn't encourage me.
On the other hand I do love writing in this style, the uninterrupted flow of consciousness has a certain, peculiar rawness to it.
(that and i doubt i'l ever get the chance to write in this style ever again because people prefer it if im 'proper' and all that garbage)
8313456
I don't care. I enjoy it for it's bluntness XD
Bacon is good.
and Siren? Merpony?
Waitwaitwait why didn't I notice you updated?!
Oh please don't turn 'proper', you 'play by your rules' after all. I so love this story.
But what a way to ruin a badass assertive assertion of catbird awesomeness (and hurt feelings).
Your characters continue to be top notch.
Oh, and on edit, a belated congrats!