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[ggamer]

The circle. Pure. Infertile.

thanks for the link dog!

Something about that page gives me heavy dark souls vibes. The world is sick, and it constantly repeats a broken cycle; constant destructive strife, followed by long periods of indolent peace. Allison strives for the power to engage in said strife, and Zoss says this is a continuation of the cycle. Zoss' motivation, then, might be to create something new entirely. Anarchy, perhaps, or a better breed of royalty. Zoss dies, yet he remains for some unknowable reason, likely a deeper understanding of the lie known as creation. Maybe that's the pivot? The strongest that might make a difference see "creation is a lie" as an allegorical concept, when in reality creation is simply the impression of the eternal flame, and to realize this brings one closer to divinity. So, the True King seeks to break free from his eternal samsara, where his colleagues were and are content to war for false ideals and rule over that which is by it's nature ungovernable. Zoss is killed by the Thorn, but when all of creation is the black and white flame of YISUN, what does it mean to die? What is biological death, when you realize the truth of your ego's continual existence through the flame? What is time, but the impression of mortal perception on the firmament of the wheel? Life is suffering, a cycle unending, where the flame fights and is remade to be broken again on the wheel ever turning. Reach Heaven Through Violence, for to impose your will on the lie of creation is the highest form of enlightenment.

[Xantalos]

I can't help but imagine this method is how a Novice Barber dwarf gives a haircut in DF.

[Trekkin]

I can't help but imagine this method is how a Novice Barber dwarf gives a haircut in DF.

Nah, Novices use a hammer. They become Adequate when they figure out they need an axe.

Reach Baldness Through Violence.

[wierd]

Honestly, just use fire. 

A molten magma facial does wonders.

(Also, I should point out that a sword, especially the kind depicted, IS NOT SHARP. It is more a crushing weapon with a tiny surface area. The hair is more likely to get pulled out during the attempt than it is to actually get cut.  Hair is actually pretty sturdy stuff in the aggregate. In order to do what is depicted, that sword would have to be sharpened first, which is actually BAD for the blade.  Now, if that were a katana or something, that would be another story, but no-- that thing is someplace between a longsword and a bastard sword.)

[Trekkin]

Ordinarily, yes, but that sword was given to Maya (well, thrown out of Meti's barrel in Maya's general direction) explicitly for shaving her head. She's clearly cleaned it since, and I wouldn't be surprised that the daughter of a noodle vendor, untutored in sword law, would treat it like a big kitchen knife and sharpen it accordingly, particularly if at any point she actually intended to go through with it.

[smjjames]

Honestly, just use fire. 

A molten magma facial does wonders.

(Also, I should point out that a sword, especially the kind depicted, IS NOT SHARP. It is more a crushing weapon with a tiny surface area. The hair is more likely to get pulled out during the attempt than it is to actually get cut.  Hair is actually pretty sturdy stuff in the aggregate. In order to do what is depicted, that sword would have to be sharpened first, which is actually BAD for the blade.  Now, if that were a katana or something, that would be another story, but no-- that thing is someplace between a longsword and a bastard sword.)

Ordinarily, yes, but that sword was given to Maya (well, thrown out of Meti's barrel in Maya's general direction) explicitly for shaving her head. She's clearly cleaned it since, and I wouldn't be surprised that the daughter of a noodle vendor, untutored in sword law, would treat it like a big kitchen knife and sharpen it accordingly, particularly if at any point she actually intended to go through with it.

I suppose it's also in part to demonstrate that they know how to use an edge. Still, Maya at some point did learn the sword art....

[Cruxador]

Honestly, just use fire. 

A molten magma facial does wonders.

(Also, I should point out that a sword, especially the kind depicted, IS NOT SHARP. It is more a crushing weapon with a tiny surface area. The hair is more likely to get pulled out during the attempt than it is to actually get cut.  Hair is actually pretty sturdy stuff in the aggregate. In order to do what is depicted, that sword would have to be sharpened first, which is actually BAD for the blade.  Now, if that were a katana or something, that would be another story, but no-- that thing is someplace between a longsword and a bastard sword.)

The article you linked isn't that related to your claim, it's just talking about uniformity of sword sharpness. It doesn't say that most swords are dull (which, though a popular notion with nineteenth century historians, is not a claim actually borne up by surviving examples) but only that those intended to encounter armor are comparatively duller at the tip than along the length.

As for the blade in the comic, it's quite clearly a jian. Even if you were expecting a slightly heftier guard, that's not nearly universal in real life examples. It also should usually have some taper to the blade, but mostly distal taper, which wouldn't be clear to see given the angles and the art. The tip is also not a usual shape for older specimens but every other element is a classic example of the form, and the blade as a whole looks very much like something from the Ming period. I'm not sure why you went to an expert in European blades in the first place given, you know, the hanzi.

More to the point, a jian could be quite sharp. A European sword from Clements' primary range of study period would be around chisel sharp for a good portion of the length, (which I reckon is theoretically possible to cut hair with even though very difficult, making it a possibility given that this is a trial) but a jian very well might approach razor sharp, especially at the tip. Considering that these these practitioners follow the path of cutting, not the path of bashing armor, I think their swords are likely sharper, at least for those non-masters who even still need a physical sword in the first place.

[Xantalos]

So, any thoughts about the recent developments in-comic? There seems to be some parallels developing between this and the tale of YS-Het, where Maya isn't a good student of sword law but becomes a good swordsman and harnesses the fires of Will, and Incubus slavishly devotes himself to everything Meti tells him to do, and becomes really good at killing people with a sword, but subsequently a really shitty swordsman.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

I suspect that Meti wished for Incubus to kill her and feed her body to dogs, calling back to Meti's parallel with Diogenes. I just don't know why, exactly. Suicide by student? She did seem to hate herself for what she learned of sword law.

I think Incubus is a decent swordsman though, just look at how he managed to dominate his own mind (...and turn a fraction into his slutty secretary self...Inky, we really need to talk about that).

[Xantalos]

Oh aye, I'm almost certain that Incubus' last test to become a master of sword law was to kill Meti and feed her body to the dogs. All of her lessons seem to be based around the 'are you stupid enough to actually do this' principle.

And I'm pretty sure that's just a function of his own self-obsession and Key powers - I recall when we first see his physical body in that giant pit of blood, the bottom text explicitly calls him out as an unparalleled master of sword law, and an exceptionally shitty swordsman.

I think being a swordsman in this parlance is another term for Royalty, or at least aspiring towards it - seeing as how we've only seen Zoss, Allison, and Maya (and possibly Meti if her spirit crown thing she showed that one time means anything) use the white energy of division/fires of Will, it makes sense to me to call it that.

[birdy51]

Fire ever burning and swords ever cutting...

[Xantalos]

Hot damn, Maya's really going into flashback city today, isn't she?

[smjjames]

She’s also picked up at least one follower of her own from the pursuers. Even if Maya isn’t master in the master-student sense, it’s certainly coming from a place of respect for a master of the sword arts.

[Xantalos]

Hah, so Meti's taking of Incubus was in the sense of showing Maya what the wrong path was.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

I guess we know why Maya had the strength of will to give up her Key.

Some more commentary about deterrence here. Meti wouldn't be too good at preventing a nuclear war, but this is an interesting statement on what makes violence necessary.

I am increasingly convinced that Meti's final test of Incubus was suicide. She holds only slightly more contempt for the world than for herself.

Though Maya's belief that she was the true student is still only her interpretation. I'm not sure I believe that entirely.