The Plush Came Back – Chapter 8, Act 2, Strip 118

While all hell is breaking loose in Hell, let’s return to the (vaguely specified) location of Mopey’s breakdown/levelup incident.

And, speaking of returns, Latho is back! It’s not been since its conspicuous absence was noted during that fateful confrontation with the evil queen. Where was it, and what has it been doing in the meantime? That question isn’t entirely answered with Latho’s mere reappearance. The only thing we can say with a reasonable amount of certainty is that Latho was somewhere where it could shop for some new shades – it’s reasonably certain those are new, for Latho would certainly have worn such stylish shades earlier if it had already possessed them.

Also new appear to be a pair of large wings…although in this case, the amount of certainty involved in Latho having shopped for them somewhere is much lower. Wingshops are relatively rare, most people rely on nature to provide wings, or go without. So, possibly a purchase, but more likely…uh, I dunno. Magic, perhaps? That’s probably the most sustainable explanation…and since it’s usually the final explanation to fall back on, it better make an effort at sustaining itself, otherwise there’ll be another plothole here. >_>
Speaking of Latho’s wing, the span seems quite impressive – not really out of proportion in terms of realistic flight physics, but that’s exactly what makes them stand out. Typically, such extra wings in fiction provide far too little wing area to be anywhere near being plausible capable of lifting the body they’re attached to – and that goes even for Japanese fiction, which often supplies several extra pairs of wings to help with that problem. I blame Baroque art for distorting cultural perceptions of plausible wing area to body rations with those goddamn putti with their tiny wings. But then, I blame Baroque art for a lot of things…

Whichever way Latho has acquired those new extremities, they seem to be the only new body parts – it has obviously neither bought nor magically acquired any additional fingers. Good thing, actually, since there needs to be an end to those new forms at some point, and going beyond a third would really be excessive (if not entirely unheard of).

More on Thursday.

4 Replies to “The Plush Came Back – Chapter 8, Act 2, Strip 118”

  1. I think Latho has more then 3 fingers, but to be sure, let’s cut one each time a new form is introduces.

    1. You can’t cut off anything from Latho’s body…it’s all one big casing stuffed with plush. If you’d cut it open in one spot, all of the plush would come spilling out! XD

  2. Honestly, it’s for the best that Latho doesn’t have more than 3 fingers. The more forms you get, the more diminishing returns there tend to be. It’s just harder and harder for each new form to have the same impact.

    1. Yeah, two or three forms seem to be the most common choices – and more than five is really rare, due to that very effect. You can only top yourself that many times before it becomes either tedious or outrageous. Of course, some franchises can pull it off, to a degree, Dragonball Z being an obvious example.

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