#also im biased i remember this chapter coming out and this might sound stupid but it vaguelyyy makes me nostalgic

[citrus-sours]

forever lives in my head. bwaaahhhhhh

[comicteaparty]

December 14th, 2017 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on December 14th, 2017, from 5PM - 7PM PST.  The chat focused on Zaltera by Morgan Mudway (aka Tri).

Featured Comment:

Chat:

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

Good day everyone~! This week’s Comic Tea Party is now officially beginning. Today we are discussing Zaltera by Morgan Mudway (aka Tri)~! (http://zalteracomic.com/) For those new to CTP, discussions about the comic are freeform, so please feel free to bring up whatever you wish. However, every 30 minutes I will be dropping in a discussion question to help those who would like a prompt. These questions are totally OPTIONAL to answer so pay them no mind if you wish~! Remember, constructive criticism is allowed, but the primary focus here is to have fun and appreciate the amazing comics that the community makes~! Each chat a top comment will be picked and featured on an ad for this chat, so let’s have a great discussion~!

With that said, let us begin with this first question~!

QUESTION 1. What is your favorite scene in the comic so far and why?

snuffysam

Hey everyone!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

hey snuffysam~!

snuffysam

I'd say the latest chapter (prologue part 2), and the pages leading up to it. It really helps sell the point that there are multiple sides to this story.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yes. i really like how different in tone both prologues are as well. the first prologue came off to me as kind of aggressive and hostile. where the second part just feels more sorrowful and lamenting. and i think that works in a big way to show how each different species is

snuffysam

yeah that was a big aspect of why i liked it

wishjacked

I actually really loved that first prologue, I don't know if it counts as a single scene but I thought it was very masterfully written and, especially, drawn

I usually don't like BACKSTORY openings at all, but I thought it worked super well to show off the creator's skills and it definitely got me hooked.

also, hey guys!! long time no see!!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

nice to see you as well wishjacked

wishjacked

oh yeah, very good point, Rebel!!

even the way the colors/greyscales were used contrasts the two stories really well.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yes. although i like theres a contrast between the prologues and actual story too. i think it helps the prologues really stand apart so you dont need to know theyre prologues. you can just guess from the visuals by comparison what they are.

the visuals are also just masterfully done

snuffysam

yeah i was impressed by the visuals throughout, but especially prologue 1.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah i was too. also partly because the writing was very good too. going in i was skeptical cause my experience is that the comics that tend to go the more artsy root suffer in the story department. i definitely didnt feel that way at all this time tho.

snuffysam

Even our main characters feel pretty well-developed, and they've only gotten one chapter of screentime each.

wishjacked

the page in the first prologue where the Zarians find their murdered child was one of the best I've seen, I thought it was a very difficult page to pull of visually and it hit all the right notes. that's been a recurring element through the art, though-- it says a LOT even when very little it actually happening. really, really wel done

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

oh that is a good page, though i liked it for a different reason. for me that was the moment where the two sides aspect was really hammered in. cause the wording was very specific in that all it says was "we found one of our children murdered in cold blood in the streets."

it does not say who murdered that child tho

its implied to be the avolians of course

but the fact theres no direct accusation is kind of telling

wishjacked

yes!!

I thought it was great that even though the first prologue was obviously biased, the wording IS always vague enough that everything can be read multiple ways!!

really keeps interpretation open, it keeps the tension going really nicely and keeps the prologues from feeling "finished" and unimportant

snuffysam

that's a good point. so did people at the time know the truth, and this is just a biased version of history? or were the zarians confused from the get go?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yes. i really just think this comic nailed the vagueness as you say. cause this does help it reach its themes very easily. cause a lot of it definitely feels like they are stories being told by someone and not some objective narrator.

and thats a good question

id assume the zarians were confused from the get go

i mean the truth could be a lot of stuff

it could be that some zarian did it to spark a war, could be an avolian did it to spark a war, could have been an accident and no one would own up to it

very many possibilities(edited)

snuffysam

true true. there was probably even some propaganda involved

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah thats a good point

i mean its a story

so maybe never even happened at all

QUESTION 2. Some of the key themes in Zaltera revolve around historical revisionism, miscommunication, and the basic fact that history is written by the winners. Given this being the case, what do you think is the true story of events past? Did the Zarians truly leave their homeland because of an oppressive king? Were their accommodations truly so destitute and were the Avolians mistreating them as is claimed? Were the Zarians justified in taking the Avolian city? What do you think about the unicorns who the Avolians are taking refuge with? Do you have any other theories regarding the history lessons each respective culture is focused on?

(a bit early but were on the topic anyway)

snuffysam

It's interesting how the Zarians (claimed to be, at least) refugees in the Avolians's land, and now the Avolians are refugees in the unicorns' land.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yes i like this extra theme of history repeating itself. like it really makes you wonder if there'll be a war with the unicorns.

which i also like how complicated the situation is

on the one hand the unicorns feel a bit ridiculous cause they have no leeway for kids being stupid kids. but then on the otherhand as refugees, theyre kind of obligated to respect the culture status quo of the unicorns cause they are the ones who are guests. and the unicorns probably have a reason for banning violence so strictly.

its a really complicated situation that shows a lot of issues sometimes just come from cultural differences

snuffysam

And that brings up the question- how many of the issues between the Zarians and the Avolians were due to cultural differences?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yes it is an excellent question. its hard to say without seeing them interact more. although it could be that perhaps the fire magic played a role. cause that seems to be the zarian speciality while the avolians seem to have mostly disdain for it. so maybe its actually a similar playing out. where, like the unicorns, the avolians were like "hey there no fire magic we dont care if your kids are kids no fire magic." and so the zarian grew disdainful cause to them it was a ridiculous rule

snuffysam

What if the kid in the Zarian history committed some serious crime? Something the Zarians would want to forgive (since they're just a kid), but something the Avolians didn't take sitting down. Kind of like what happened at the beginning of chapter 2 with the unicorns, but much more serious.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yes that could be entirely possible.

tho i imagine their death was not some act of justice

considering from the sounds of it there were fews witnesses to what actually happened to the kid

i mean heck

kid couldve just killed themselves on accident by misfiring a spell

snuffysam

it's possible. perhaps we'll see a war break out with the Avolians and the unicorns for similar reasons?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yes it is possible. although the avolians might just get kicked out.(edited)

which maybe thatll spark another war with the zarians

cause they need their home back

snuffysam

could be. they already need their home back, after all.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

or a new home. which is why i also question the zarian account. like im sure their community had some issues of destitution, but what was the avolian situation? no matter how someone feels about refugees, they do put a burden on the system where they are taking harbor. like were the avolians being like "so hey theres this land over here where you could maybe make a new home" and then the zarians were like "eh maybe tomorrow." like, theres a lot of spitballing i could do, but i feel were missing a key component about what zarian life was like as refugees and how that was effecting the avolian system. cause its possible that the avolian resources were low or something like that too and the zarians were making those resources even more scarce or something.

Superjusting of Time and Space

OMG HELLO

Just thought I'd pop in real quick~

snuffysam

I suppose it is a bit odd that the Avolians apparently rescued the Zarians from dying in the desert, yet apparently they also treated them like hostages? How do you have both?

hey SJoTaS

Superjusting of Time and Space

Thanks for the warm greetings~

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

hi super XD

Superjusting of Time and Space

Hi Rebel!

snuffysam

for that matter, why would the Zarians mention the rescuing part in their already extremely biased history?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yes those are great points that really stand out.

it could just be agenda related though

in that they didnt need to bias the rescue part but for some reason it was super important to make the start of the war biased

Superjusting of Time and Space

True

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

QUESTION 3. On the Zarian side is the figure of Azul who feels that the history he has learnt is wrong and biased. While most of the Zarian’s advocate violence against any Avolian, Azul wants to use diplomacy. Do you think Azul will be able to convince other Zarian’s to use a diplomatic method? Will the pressures of the throne eventually destroy his values? If Azul does manage to convince others of diplomacy, how might that affect his relationship with his brother Jade? Speaking of which, why was Azul’s father murdered and how might that affect his ideas for dealing with the Avolians?

snuffysam

Depends on who he talks to. Some Avolians will be willing to talk. Others, I imagine, will not.

I don't know if Asul'll be able to convince anyone major in the kingdom to see his way. It seems more like he's just going to go off on his own.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah. not that i have specific evidence but i feel azul is going to be forced to abdicate the throne in favor of his brother cause his viewpoints well be seen as too radical. like if i assume typical story flow and that the two outcasts, azul and tigfeather, meet, then i imagine that will not go over well. where he comes home is like "mom mom see i was talking to this avolian and were friends now and see everything isnt so bad." and his mom just is like enraged and like what is wrong with you

thanks napples

i am curious why the avolians keep skirting into the city though

snuffysam

try and gauge the opinions of the zarians? i feel like they should have a pretty good idea at this point though

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

idk. like id understand if the avolians were in a better situation. cause if they intended to take their city back then of course you have scouts to plan out the attack. but the avolians i dont think would be capable of a war where they made first strike

albeit

maybe this is part of the two sides thing

the avolians are scared of zarian pursuit so send scouts to watch for attack

and the zarians fear attack so kill the scouts

snuffysam

yeah, something like that

or maybe they're scouting for some resource that they can't get with the unicorns?

not sure what that would be though

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

could be possible

or maybe theyre just hoping the zarians leave the city out of boredom XD

snuffysam

that's possible. they still consider the zarians to be residents of their native homeland, iirc, believing every race has its place and all that.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

the other possibility is that these avolians watching the city are like a splinter cell who believe war is the only answer whereas the rest of the avolians took refuge with the unicorns and were like "nope were done with war"

snuffysam

didn't someone remark on how they lost a few more scouts? or am I misremembering?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

id have to go back and re-read. its possible XD just theorizing and i might have missed it tbh

but on the point of azul i wonder why his dad was killed.

snuffysam

how long ago was the war?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

thats a good question

ive been kind of vague on the timeline tbh

snuffysam

because if it was less than a generation ago, azul's dad may have just been killed in the war. as wars do.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

hmm

so at the beginning with azul the teacher says its been passed down through generations

so it wouldve been sometime ago

snuffysam

ah. so no then. unless she's referring specifically to the beginning of the story - since it's possible generations passed between then and the war.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

although the teacher also is using the diary of azul's great aunt

cause to be fair we dont really know their lifespans

id assume his dad wasnt killed via the war tho

snuffysam

yeah that's a fair guess

so i suppose there were avolian scounts who killed azul

's dad while he was trying to chase them off?

or maybe it was an accident, and the kingdom just pins it on the avolians like everything else

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

well i doubt it was a chase off. cause jade does specifically say he was killed for taking pity on them. so clearly the dad was making friends and trying to repair relationships.

crack theory

it was the unicorns all along

they killed the dad

snuffysam

that would be pretty big. what do they have to benefit from that though? wouldn't they want the avolians to make peace with the zarians so they can get out of their hair?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

maybe the unicorns hope for mutual destruction and then they rule all the lands

didnt have to be violent

just manipulate others to be violent

its brilliant

snuffysam

i mean they do still have to directly kill people to instigate violence in this scenario. so it's not a completely non-violent takeover.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

close enough O_O

tbh i wanna go out on a limb and say it was zarian extremists who killed him. cause they didnt like he was going against tradition. so they killed him and framed the avolians, which i imagine the latter wasnt hard to do since i picture the ones coming around around were easily swayed back to the "they were right about the avolians all along"

QUESTION 4. With the Avolians our main figure is Tigfeather who is able to use fire magic. Her magic, which stands apart from other Avolians, is due to the fact that she, is in fact, a phoenix. What significance might there be to Tigfeather being a phoenix? How does this tie into the past history with Lady Rovira who ruled the Avol Kingdom? Will Tigfeather’s outcast nature make her more receptive to Zarian diplomacy, or will she perhaps help her people wage a war against the Zarians (or the unicorns)? What other ways do you think learning she’s a phoenix will affect her?

snuffysam

that sounds about right. ignore all the extreme burn marks over the king's face and body, it was the avolians.

my thinking is that she'll either be exiled or run away on her own, and then meet azul.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i doubt shell be exiled but i could see her running away. especially now that she knows shes a phoenix cause it might give her new perspective on how the others treat her. or she may do it from more noble intentions of knowing that sticking around probably means her entire ppl are gonna get kicked out and have no home.

or

maybe

what if something happens to her brother

so she leaves to rescue him

but then azul is already there rescueing him

cue sitcom friendship

snuffysam

what if she accidentally hurts her brother? and she leaves because she doesn't want to hurt anyone else.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

oh that could be too

oh oh

whatd make sense in that scenario is she specifically goes to the zarians to learn to control her fire magic

since fire is their thing

snuffysam

ooh yeah that would make a lot of sense

how good is azul at fire magic? do we know?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

hard to say but i imagine as crown prince he probably had good tutors

i mean that scene where he got angry at least showed hes capable of it

snuffysam

thats true. i wonder who would be angrier at azul and tigfeather's potential meeting (and friendship) - his family or hers?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

id assume azul's if only because his is the royal family so thus they are the example and hes the one who has a dad dead. so far with tigfeather we havent really seen a vast amount of her feelings with the zarians(edited)

perhaps shes also inspired because she learns her ppl are biased

since shes learning "wait phoenixes are not bad"

snuffysam

she doesn't seem to care that much about questioning history like azul does. she really just wants to live her life.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

it could be inspiring tho.

to be fair

her leaving the avolians could be as simple as she wants to learn more about her people's origins in general

to understand why shes a phoenix

but ive just had a thought

what if tigfeather is rovira? cause its bugged me that rovira just died considering in all lore phoenixes do the whole bursting into flames and then theyre reborn

so what if tigfeather is the reborn rovira

snuffysam

i'm guessing there's a reincarnation aspect, yeah. hence why we haven't heard of multiple phoenixes being alive at once. how long ago did rovira die?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i dont think it was said but i wanna assume it was before the zarians which is the wrench in this theory. cause it doesnt sound like theyd lost their kingdom at that point

snuffysam

unless there were other phoenixes in between them. or maybe it takes a century or so for a phoenix to be reborn.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah either or is possible

rovira just might be the most notable phoenix

although id put money on the century reborn thing too if this is the case

as i just picture the end of this prologue being the gma going "btw you are lady rovira reborn so kind of are the hope of our ppl. so yeah. good luck with that."

and tigfeather is like what O_O

snuffysam

yeah i can imagine that would be overwhelming for her lol

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

but potentially another reason she runs away. is like okay better deal with the zarians i am the hope of our ppl. she meets azul and is like "dang it they arent these blatantly evil enemies"

snuffysam

maybe she'd run away from her destiny instead of towards it?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

very possible too

i could see either or being plausible

on a different topic i wonder whats going on in the original homeland of the zarians. like...are there zarians still there? cause if the war was a long time ago the tyrannical king they ran away from must be dead

which what if they sparked the war. the avolians are like "so umm hey could you leave your homeland is doing way better now." and the zarians were like "but eww the desert"

snuffysam

i feel like some people were probably ok with the regime, and they stayed? and the thing about kings is that there's a dynasty, and his heir may be similarly bad.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah the heir could similarly bad. i dont rule that out. but dynasties also die out. so why im wondering what the state of things are.

not to mention has it been long enough for cultural diversion

snuffysam

true true. i don't think communication is particularly advanced though. Before the war, they may not have known if the king was alive or not, and after, they stopped caring.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah. tbh i dont think its much better so theres probably not a good way for them to know even now

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

Unfortunately, the scheduled Comic Tea Party is now complete~! Thank you everyone so much for joining this week’s chat~! That being said, if you would like to continue discussing the comic, we encourage you to do so~! We want to give a big thank you to Morgan Mudway (aka Tri), as well, for volunteering Zaltera for our reading queue. If you liked the comic, please be sure to support Morgan Mudway’s efforts. If you have questions, concerns, or suggestions about CTP, please feel free to PM me, or e-mail me at rebelvampire@startfaire.com.

With that said, next week’s Comic Tea Party will focus on Legendary Beings Ara & Celi by NAAN. Please use this week to read as much of the comic as you would like. Hope to see you next Thursday (December 21st) from 5PM to 7PM PST~! Until then~! Comic: https://tapas.io/series/AraandCeli