#30 - "Your Choice"

A comic featuring primarily Kinkajou and Moonwatcher, with cameo appearances from Qibli and Turtle. The location is a cavern hallway in Jade Mountain. Kinkajou is entering the scene from the back, joining Moonwatcher, Qibli, and Turtle. She is amazed that Moonwatcher "caught the bomber" and also "ousted Scarlet's spy". Moonwatcher notes that Kinkajou is willing to speak to her again, after they had previously fought. Kinkajou explains that, while she was mad about Moon keeping her mindreading powers secret, she ultimately concluded that the powers are a part of Moon's identity, and she herself tends to say everything that comes to mind anyway, and accepts Moon wholeheartedly. Moon interjects that it doesn't have to be like that. She hands the Rainwing a small rock, explaining it to be Skyfire, a material that can block mindreaders if held. Kinkajou examines the rock, then lets it drop from her hand, declaring that she was serious when she said she is fine with Moon's powers, and that she needs to accept all of Moon, including her powers, to truly be friends with her. She then hugs Moon, saying "I don't need a magic rock to keep me safe from my best friend"

#30 - "Your Choice"

Smaugust 2024

I am very fond of the second arc protagonists. They are my favorite collective of plot focus characters, which may be evident by the fact that I've been drawing them more than any other in this challenge. They are a very charming group, even if a few possible character connections are vastly underdeveloped (Moon and Turtle, Winter and Turtle, and Winter and Kinkajou could probably form very strong bonds if they were explored).

The flipside of fondness is usually the formation of strong opinions. I think about these guys a lot. One thing I initially thought was fine, but then struck me as strange on a revisit was the ending of Moonwatcher's book. You have the group (sans Winter), who previously struggled to accept Moon for her unintentionally invasive powers, ostensibly overcome their mistrust of her and solidify their respective bonds with her. Kinkajou in particular tells her that, because she makes no secret of her thoughts anyway, it doesn't matter to her that Moon can read her mind. Up to there it is all very wholesome and heartwarming. Moonwatcher then decides to give them an out, sharing the secret of Skyfire as a way to block her powers. This is a good and very noble gesture, really showing her trustworthiness and respect for their privacy here.

But then they actually take her up on that offer, right after stating they are over their misgivings. I get why they do it--Moonwatcher's uncontrollable power is really inconvenient and annoying to be around--but backtracking 5 seconds later makes their previous declaration of acceptance ring a bit hollow. If I could make a choice here, I would really have liked this to turn into a long-running character arc for the group, where they gradually learn to trust Moon and eventually decide that they don't need the Skyfire anymore, taking it off for good. And Moon in turn could work on refining control over her power so she can be around her friends without accidentally reading every thought. Maybe all of that could have been a scene in the arc 2 finale. But at the very least I would have liked for Kinkajou to stick with her original declaration and reject the Skyfire outright, signaling to Moon that--contrary to her mother's words--the powers are not a curse and that she doesn't need to be ashamed of them.

I guess here is an idea for potential fanfiction: Make them chuck the Skyfire in the bin. Let Moon see that her friends choose to hang out with her even if they can't block her powers.

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Long comic today. Sorry it took a while to come out. I think this is the longest one I've drawn for this challenge too.

Just one more day and then Smaugust will be done. I hope you have been enjoying this so far. Thanks for sticking with me.