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Little bit of good cop, bad cop here. Or at least Duane might suspect as much and take her Majesty's beneficence with a whole heap of First Salt. He's grown a lot since his "bitch queen" days but he's still firmly against the country of Cresce, its values, its culture, its religion, and its monarchy. Also these harpies have been inflicting enormous pain on him for a month.

All this to say, don't expect him to make kissy lips.

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corvicore

he may have grown but he's still stoopid duane at heart. better choose your next words carefully, spellmaster !

Ben Dennard

Aw, we got a callback to when we all used to call her Erm!

JarJar (edited)

Comment edits

2026-10-10 14:00 Aaaaah how long has is been since Nora has said Erm?! Maybe since Litriya? I remember when that was was just what we called her! Nice to bring that back in her (possibly) final appearance. Also it's funny that Nora seemed to think that convincing the Queen about Duane's "living soul" would be the biggest hurdle. Meanwhile, the Queen is already fully prepared to treat him as a human!
2026-10-09 04:09 Aaaaah how long has is been since Nora has said Erm?! Maybe since Litriya? I remember when that was was just what we called her! Nice to bring that back in her (possibly) final appearance. Also it's funny that Nora seemed to think that convincing the Queen about Duane's "living soul" would be the biggest hurdle. Meanwhile, the Queen is already fully prepared to treat him as a human! Or at least, enemy soldier.

Aaaaah how long has is been since Nora has said Erm?! Maybe since Litriya? I remember when that was was just what we called her! Nice to bring that back in her (possibly) final appearance. Also it's funny that Nora seemed to think that convincing the Queen about Duane's "living soul" would be the biggest hurdle. Meanwhile, the Queen is already fully prepared to treat him as a human! Or at least, enemy soldier.

Khyrberos

oh what a juicy page. Nora's tirade, her adorable 'erm' callback & sheepish cessation, the 'god(s) I wish that were me' meme, the Queen's beneficience, and the tantalizing cliffhanger of Toma opening up Duane... Criminy I'm locked in.

Khyrberos

(sorry guys I promise I'll calm down 😅)

Ashley

Yeah, we don't see her again after this chapter :)

A

How can I not expect him to make kissy lips when he promised us he'd kiss a Crescian? I am owed kissy lips!

Jeremy Ball

Haha, Erm callback. Also, strange queenie is all concern now after leaving him in this tortured state the last month, and sitting there drinking tea during this session. I'd take it with a fatal dose of salt too. One suspects she wants him for a task Toma now won't be doing, otherwise she would have left him to his fate.

PotentPinion

Get your hand off of Mr. Jiggly's shoulder if you're pitching a tent, good God

Fitzy

We started this chapter with Nora briefing Duane on revelations he already knew about and conclude it with her briefing her queen on shit she... already knew about Sorry Nora: Dads talking about their kids with each-other won this round.

Wambling Wombat

Is your avatar really Little Wooden Boy? Aww.

fdsddfsa

I mean sure she's playing good cop but also she probably is disgusted that one of her countries top minds is a sadist torturing what she suspects to be a (very Aldish, admittedly) good man. Annoyingly, I can't remember for the life of me how she *knows* he's a father.

fdsddfsa

oh wait his diaries, duhhhh

Ashley

Maybe not have left him to his fate, but there's surely a reason she's come in person to see him.

Ashley

Duane and Toma talked about it, and Toma would have included that info when he spoke with her Majesty.

JarJar

It's Plank from Ed, Edd n Eddy! Little Wooden Boy is cute tho

Ben Dennard

That feels vaguely ominous..

Rifter

I KNEW It! HAHA! Er, or at least I was REALLY curious this whole time about how the Queen was gonna treat Duane, given Emil had to have at least written some decent things about him in his report and explained how much he helped them. Though we're not out of the woods yet. Sonorie is a sneaky one after all.

Duke BG

Karma. Duane reaped what he sowed. What he sowed was some mutual respect with Toma.

Rion Boom Crabhands Keon

Haha I get it :D first salt ;) like... SALT LIZARD you know? The one from the evil plot of queenie and roger? Ah. You had to be there.

vCalavera

I learned long ago how to give a rousing speech. How to make my audience excited, or scared. How to make them wait on my every word, how to make them burst into conversation amongst themselves, how to quietly and calmly bring them back to silence, and a lot more. It was pure play. Just young people having fun playing roles on stage, even though what we were learning was how to manipulate emotion, and through it, people. The older I got, the more I saw the same techniques used to convince people to buy something, to sign something, or to make very real decisions that would affect them, or worse, others. I once believed important decisions were always made with research and cool consideration. This page made me shudder because it reminded me how many decisions, even in the highest offices in the world, are made instead due to a right word being inserted into the right heart. Erm is a great orator, and she is using all her skills here to try and make the Queen see things her way, and make the decisions she wants her to make. No doubt convinced its all in the Queen's own benefit, even if she doesn't initially sees it that way. I hate that this happens in real life with so much ease, but I love how well represented it is. Thankfully (?) the Queen knows how to ward against mere words.

Reed Copperstrand

I love the setup with the Queen drinking tea in the plod laboratory! Also, Brawny Leg... lol!

Daniel in Bristol

Sonorie seems pretty good at being Queen, despite her self- doubts. Keeps herself commanding but unpredictable when appearing in public: how much is theatre, how much is real and what's her actual motive behind it all? She's not saying and people aren't allowed to ask 😁

Madison

How good is the Queens pronunciation? Is she going “Dwayne” or did Roger show her/she got used to some Aldish pronunciation before he died and she’s got the “Doo-ahn” down?

McCord Hall

I'm also quite interested in this answer!

Malik M.L. Williams

Aaaaw. No more Erm? Just when we were getting all nostalgic…

Malik M.L. Williams

I am willing to give Sonorie credit for having more sense than most.

Ashley

She's gonna say Dwayne Adaleer, just like any Crescian or Sharteshanian would :)

Rifter

I'll go one step further and say the Queen is leagues above Nora in the art of manipulation, social awareness, and sales pitches. Nora's speech likely sounded like the overblown anger of a fearmongering brat who's holding an oddly heated resentment towards this "construct". Especially given Sonorie read Emil's report, who spent a lot of time with a Duane OUT of shackles, and not only lived to talk about it, but actually got his help and said good things about him!

Josh

Finally finally finally, Duane Adelier is having tea with the Queen.

Josh

(Well, sort of.) Also how nuts is Nora that she was torturing Duane without any particular provocation just there? Just, y'know, some light ambient torture. That might make it seem a bit like "good coo, bad cop"... except I think Nora both looks genuinely off-balance and has made it clear how much she hates him.

fdsddfsa

I hope that she remembers that Aldishmen are still people, that Duane has done her a great service without expectation of reward, and (most importantly) understand that Duane *does not know the latter*.

fdsddfsa

Look you can just call them americans it's fine (fwiw I know they don't really map to our concept of nationalism)

Ashley

Yeah, I think of Crescians as having a North American accent but Shartes are more English. And English people mangle foreign names just as thoroughly as Yanks do :)