So much for might-have-beens. Time to deal with the here and now, get over yourself, and speak to her freely.

Timing is rarely EVER right. Sometimes you have to fly by the seat of your pants. If it tears, you hope the rest of the fabric holds

Yeah, that's the thing with waiting for the "perfect moment"; life rarely cooperates in such a manner. Sometimes you have to settle for "close enough" or risk never doing it at all.

Not that anyone asked my opinion (tbh this is probably just me being fickle), and I couldn't write a story to save my life, but I feel like Fred as a character is a bit too far gone and he's clashing with the vibe of the story a lot. At various points in the comic it seemed he was going to acclimate to this well (in his own socially bumbling way) but now it feels clear that he can't and his universal response to dealing with interesting conflicts is to walk away from the plot. I'm even questioning how much he loves Kathy. He's been a total drag in this comic for a very very long time now (more than normal, more than intended I think) and that awkward yet endearing, horny yet shy demeanor that kept me fascinated at Fred and Kathy's dynanic feels like a distant memory. Tbh idgaf what happens to these 2 anymore, Fred's boring me. He's a 1 trick pony. I'm far far more interested in Kathy's reign now, especially as her exotically western ideas clash with this absolutely baffling and violent hypothetical culture. She has created the craziest clown car Vorthy team, and I have no idea what's gonna happen but I'm sure it's gonna be epic. Fred's just a worn out prop to me at this point. I'm literally more interested in Kathy's relationship with Jinjur than Kathy's relationship with Fred.

That's an interesting and honest perspective, and you're not the first to say Fred's got all the romantic charisma of a used tea bag. But don't give up on him just yet.

The road to romance often does not run smoothly.

Just out of curiosity, thetwo--how would you think it should be going?

I know what the story is doing in my head; I'm thinking I'm not explaining the motivations of the characters well enough. Or I'm operating on an outdated social model--my inspiration comes from the sociopolitical situation in Europe at the end of the 19th century and just before WW I, but I'm guessing a lot of people aren't familiar with that.

Oh I uh. Wasn't expecting to be taken seriously. You probably shouldn't, I'm something of a train wreck and if you asked my friends they'd tell you I have the creative sensibilities of a goldfish.

"my inspiration comes from the sociopolitical situation in Europe at the end of the 19th century and just before WW I, but I'm guessing a lot of people aren't familiar with that." Yyyeah I had an American education in eastern PA, which basically means I had like 8ish years of American history and absolutely positively no education of anything going on outside of the country. Also, American history only covered up to just before the Vietnam war, i.e. I have no education on what happened in the Vietnam war. Straight up propaganda style education. Very patriotic. Even in my 30s now, I get humiliated from time to time by being sandbagged by basic shit that goes on in other countries. I can name every state in alphabetic order but I guarantee you I could not label 20% of Europe on a map, even with an answer key. Almost everything I know about history is because I came from a family of gun nuts and indirectly studied the historicity of many many guns. I can't tell you about Italy but I can tell you about the Beretta M9 developed there. I can't tell you about about Austria but I can tell you the Glock was developed there. I can't tell you about Israel but I know that the Desert Eagle originates from there before Magnum Research moved production to Minnesota. I can't summarize World War 2 but if you show me a WW2 movie I guarantee you I can name 2/3 of the guns minimum, especially the American's weapons.

So.. Yeah. No. I'm afraid I'm not familiar with that in the slightest. God bless American education, eh.

To clarify, I think the story is going great. I'm deeply invested and I love every panel. I just think Fred's become something of a flat character. I'm glad to see him get a bit of focus now, but nothing more is really being revealed. We've been over this dude's mentality many times now. A piano solo isn't really enough to change that. I liked him before because he often had unexpected but when explained ultimately sensible approaches and solutions to problems. A brilliant mind gimped by his stoic demeanor and blindsided by new feelings that he doesn't know how to manage. The dude attacked a pillow with a fucking sword in a horny rage. The unwavering constitution of his demeanor helped accent the few times where he just kinda loses his shit.

Now he's basically just... beta male incel energy.

I think many people in the US aren't familiar with late-19th-century European history. It's the best analog to the matrilineal, militaristic, egocentric Crocutan culture I can use, though. In those days, people in lower social castes had to be deferential to their betters, and servants had to bow and be obedient to their employers. Those employers were often too rich for their own good and spent their days engaged in parties and other ostentatious shows of wealth and power, while the lower orders kept everything running smoothly--and invisibly.

In Russia, the wealthy were turning a blind eye to the discontent simmering beneath their noses. And in all European monarchies, the ruling class paraded around in a variety of fancy uniforms, showing off their yachts and their colorfully liveried regiments, while unrest brewed.

Women were, technically, the possessions of their husbands. An heiress in her own right would have to turn her fortune over to her husband to manage. This was part of the reason why the wealthy classes worked hard to find good matches for their children--the men to get their hands on money, and the women to prevent fortune-hunters from stealing it, and vice-versa.

I turned this dynamic around for the hyenas, so that Fred is the wealthy heir whose mother sought to make a careful match for him, lest he lose his family's wealth to a domineering gold-digger. Fred is also somewhat powerless to do anything about the course of his career--it's all been dictated by his mother with an eye toward maximizing her investment in him.

This, of course, is quite foreign to modern readers, who are used to people doing as they please without having to obey anyone--in fact, ignoring parental advice and making one's own mistakes seems to be the way most people choose to live their lives nowadays. That Fred has remained a virgin due to a contract his mother drew up betrothing him to a princess, and that he keeps putting off jumping in bed with her even though he'd like to do so, is unbelievable today. If this were a different comic, they would have had sex the first night. (I even almost went there early on, with him offering a six-pack to her to get her drunk so they could "finalize the deal" in the back of his car. The story evolved since then, however.)

Fred's a cold fish partly y nature, and partly because he has to be that way. Since they arrived in Kiyanti, he's had to go back on his guard. Plus, he's realizing that the wedding will soon change everything for him, and he's still not sure he wants to be married to Kathy for the rest of his life, especially when he sees her acting as capriciously as Songween. He's worked for the Duchess for ten years and she's given him gray hairs. The thought of spending the rest of his life cleaning up Kathy's messes terrifies him.

http://www.hirezfox.com/km/co/co102...../20220302.html

Wow this was awesome, thanks for sharing!

I am VERY glad you didn't go the contractual drunk hookup route, I can't imagine the story going in a great direction from there.

Neither could I, which is why it didn't happen! ;) Actually it wasn't going to; it was playing off a comment Kathy's Grandma Fisi had made about "Warriors get drunk sometimes" when asked why she had a child. The running gag is that Crocutan women are so averse to having sex that they need to be drunk to be in the mood.

And then the men have to be drunk to get past the anatomy of the women...

I dunno man, some bi dudes would prolly be huuuugely into it. A woman who can basically peg me with her natural anatomy OR receive me? Maybe it's just cause I'm ignorant on hyena mating specifics but imagining this feature on a human sounds rad

Tons of recent images on FA would tend to agree with you. But lots of people get squicked out by the most innocuous things, like buck teeth, or a bad hairdo, or tattoos, or a raucous laugh, so dealing with hyena women (most of whom are "triple baggers"--you put two bags over her head, and one over your own in case hers fall off) is something only for the very brave, the very horny, or the very drunk.

So, wait... Crocutua is... like... a gender-swapped version of Europe from before the Great War?

Holy carp, is that genius! XD I wish I'd thought of it myself. It explains so much.

Small wonder you're married, ma'am. Any gentleman would be lucky to have snatched up someone as creative and clever as you. I wish you both many happy years together creating wonderful stories. =)

Thank you! We just celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary. We've known each other since sophomore year of high school.

To reply to your question--yes. I had done research on the family of the last Tsar for another story I was writing, and was struck by the family/political dynamics of Europe at the time--most of the rulers were related to each other, etc. The ruling class was out-of-touch with the masses. And women had no rights to their own property--their husbands controlled everything. An heiress getting married lost the ability to control her own fortune.

So I pretty much just ported that over to the anthro-Africa (The Old Country) I created for this story.

I don't believe Fred liked who he was, but had know idea how to change.

Fred is a weirdo in hostile territory. He's had to protect himself his whole life, behind several layers of masks, as he was used as a pawn by his mother in a bid to take control of Rackenroon. He is a lone, priviledged male in a militaristic matriarchy. His life was micromanaged from infancy to be Sire Consort. He had almost no choice in anything, and the one fortunate thing is that he has the sort of cold demeanor necessary to cope with this. If he had been of a rebellious nature--like Songween's son Reggie--he'd probably be dead by now.

I really do like the old girl...

Vix

"No plan for battle every survived contact with the enemy." (unknown military but attributed to Helmuth von Moltke the Elder)

as he asked himself why it never seemed right?

he should.

It's an excuse, of course. Look at his body language. He's avoiding her gaze so much, he's turned his back on her, humped up his shoulders, and has his eyes on the floor.

naturally.