Dan and Mab's Furry Adventures/Headscratchers

Edward Ti'Fiona's beard.

• No, really. How exactly does that work? His whole face is already covered in fur... but the fur in the designated beard area is longer and a different colour. Wouldn't that imply that beardless males have to carefully trim their beard to the same length as the rest of their face fur, and then dye it so it's the same colour? Seems like a bit of a nuisance. Or maybe Edward's beard is analogous to a lion's mane and is a feature which is randomly inherited, like colouration, ear shape, tail shape and so on?
  • Personally, this Troper's always presumed that the beard itself was simply a dyed originally-normal-coloured extension of fur. Either that or there are some magical barbers and hairdressers in the world of DMFA that work with that kind of thing. Then again, you're talking about a world where the ends of Abel Rewanz's hair naturally turn brown when cut... so yeah.
  • Other beardy types include Seth Gianna, 'Cid' (actually Aniz) and, uh, Aniz (also actually Aniz). The latter at least has the excuse of being a shapeshifter. Cue the crazy theory that everyone with a beard is secretly a Cubi, which dovetails nicely with the Edward = Aniz theory, if you subscribe to that. Doesn't explain Seth, of course. (Also, Abel's full name is Abel Dmitri Rewanz, though he apparently doesn't like his surname.)
• Um... Maybe it's a styled lion mane?
• This should be filed under Acceptable Breaks From Reality. As it stands, people are forgetting that this is a world where, well, have you people been reading the comic? It's an artistic choice to have certain characters stand out and have unique character designs in a fantasy world.
  • Well, Magic Pants is averted - there is actually a comic explaining how the tailholes on pants are designed, winged characters either wear suitable clothing or shapeshift their limbs away, and it's said that some Creatures are granted exemptions from modesty laws because their anatomy makes clothing difficult. It's not completely unreasonable to assume that there is some explanation for how it works, given that the comic does cover some of the other complications of having people with fur, tails and wings.
  • I also feel the need to point out that the characters also have hair; oftentimes said hair is a different colour from their fur colour as well. How come you complain about their beards, but not their hair? In fact, that's my Just Bugs Me. Why do these guys have hair at all?
  • They have hair as part of their anthropomorphism. Except for the weird colours it's pretty much exactly the same as human hair. The beards, however, clearly don't work the same way as human beards. Nor do they seem readily explainable as "animal" trait like a lion's mane, either - Seth has a goatee, and he's a kangaroo rat. I know how the hair works - just like actual hair. But the beards do not work like beards, and how they work instead is not explained anywhere. That's why it bugs me.

Phoenixes

• The phoenixes have wings for arms and wings on their backs! Seriously?
  • Some Cubi can grow a third (fifth?) wing. We're seeing a lotta wings.
  • Their heads are permanently on fire, and the entire race is female. Given that and the fact that Cubi can have three pairs of wings, having two sets is relatively tame.

Mab. Just Mab

I was a sorta fan of hers in the early comics, though her randomness was a little offputting. Then we found out that she's manipulating everyone she knows, and still calls them friends. What the hell??? They're not her friends anymore, they're chess pieces! What kinda friend does all this? I could care less if she's an immortal being, with their "best interests" in heart, her doing what she's doing is just plain wrong. Especially considering that part of her plans has at least one death in the works. Sheesh. She became my ultimate unfavorite then and there. "Best interests" my ass. I bet she's really just doing this for kicks.

• She's the Big Bad, apparently.
  • Given the competition and what little we have heard, that's unlikely. She has bigger things in mind that will probably become clearer later -- it's not a good idea to judge her when we don't even know what she has in mind. That said, whatever she is planning, there is no indication that she's "doing this for kicks". If she was, then in the same arc that told us what she was up to, she wouldn't look like this.
    • Can't you tell that the Fae are evil? It's pretty subtle, but when you see it, you will shit bricks.
      • Oh please, they're not evil, they're chaotic. Contrary to popular belief, there is a difference.
    • Nah, that's just her still getting over losing her adoptive mom. Still think she's the Big Bad.
      • You're kidding, right? :/
      • Apparently not. Is it that hard to believe that the seemingly carefree and bubbleheaded Mab might actually be smart, cunning and capable of planning ahead after 400,000 plus years of life? (That little tidbit is All in The Manual, as part of one of the hidden cast pages.) There's also the fact that the Fae have their own set of rules that is so long that ordinary beings die of old age before they can hear it all. This is also stacked on top of the fact that each cubi seems to have their own morals and ethics. And, finally she knows far more about the whole situation than anybody else involved. Thus:
        • Its the end that matters, not the means. This troper can't understand why people hate her so much. Considering that she has the cast's best interests at heart. Without her, they would all probably die.
          • Well the fey do have light shades of The Fair Folk)
• She's a nigh-omniscient, nigh-omnipotent being, and with 'that' kind of power, Of course... Therefore, it's most likely her current plan is the one that works out best for all of them (except the two who have to bite it), but the alternatives are worse... Everyone in the comic 'does' have powerful enemies, or would if it weren't for Mab's intervention.
  • Just what I was thinking: Mab is Well-Intentioned Extremist who might not be so extreme as to be designated "evil". Maybe Well Intentioned Sorta-Extremist.
    • Well Intentioned Moderate.

Mink's Gender

• He? She? People say that because mink has no breasts. Could this just be a case of inverted non mammal mammeries?
  • Neither. Mink is obviously part Mythos; thus, the closest mere human minds can come to approximating Mink's gender is "squiggly".
    • No, (s)he's not a mythos because mythos can't be 'cubi. But, whatever it is, it doesn't really matter.
    • Where does it say that Mythos can't be Cubi (spelled without an apostrophe, by the way)? Mythos is clearly listed in the "Half-breed" column here. Even the example at the end is half-Mythos.
• How the hell were people ever confused over his gender? Yes, he may be pink and effeminate but he's pretty damn obviously a guy in a loincloth. If he was female he'd technically be topless and this is a T-rated comic at best.
  • Matilda is definitely female, and she walks around topless. We've also had Wildy appear topless, Wildy in the bath, Dan completely naked, Abel topless after shapeshifting boobs, and Gen flashing Abel and Mab. Simply being topless and nominally female isn't enough to break the rating.
    • Matilda doesn't have nipples, and the rest are either offscreen or Scenery Censor. And for that matter, they all have prominent and obvious racks, which seems to be a conscious art style choice.
  • It's more likely that Mink is part Mer or octopus being. Mink's gender is also rather a bit irrelevant, as it doesn't change the character much one way or the other.
    • Nope. There are no Mer Cubi. Mink is most likely Mythos, although I guess Mer-Mythos might be Mythos enough to breed with Cubi.

Creature-Being relationships

Why in the name of John Carpenter do Beings trust Creatures after centuries of hatred? They still commit atrocious murders and shit. Mush of the creatures we've seen such as Kria, Aryanna, Fa'lina, Destiana and Dark Pegasus(Did I get his name right?), use their powers for evil. Why do Muggles trust them again?

• Perverse Sexual Lust? Stuff like that hasn't stopped people in the real world, and real world people aren't able to do things like manipulate emotions and devour souls. Power is the ultimate aphrodesiac.
• Most Creatures aren't Ax Crazy, a lot of them seem to be happy to live peacefully among Beings, who seem happy to put up with reasonable Creatures. They may not like or trust them fully, but Creatures' money is as good as anyone's. That and Adventurers seem to be culling the more dangerous ones, which may be why the Creature-Being Council was established- the Creatures realised that in an all out war with the Beings, they'd probably lose. (by being too busy killing each other)
• Do beings, as a species, trust Creatures? Don't adventurers exist because Beings don't trust creatures to dispense justice, and thus thus resort to vigilantism? Wasn't Mink's mother slain by adventurers purely because she was 'Cubi? There are also Creature-governed cities, of course, but that's described as a two-way street - the Creature gets power and prestige, and in exchange anything that threatens the city gets stomped on by angry Demons. Presumably crime rates are lower when the mayor personally hunts down criminals and eats them...

Mows

• Were the mows created from Mab's DNA or is it just a coincidence that they resemble her? If it's the former, how did they manage to get Mab's DNA?
  • If they did manage to get her DNA, it'd be easy. Remember, she's been running about Jy's lab, trying to subtly get him to create the end of the world, so no doubt a strand of hair or two would have been left behind (on purpose, knowing Mab).

Okay, did Dan know Destania was a succubus or not?

She would say things like "the love of a succubus will only cause heartbreak," and didn't seem to hide her wings, and Alexis obviously knew, and there appears to be a flashback to Aliph realizing he's the son of "the succubus Destania" (which he apparently remembered despite having forgotten her "maiden name"), but it was at least a secret as far as official records were concerned, and Dan was pretty shocked at the idea he might be an incubus, so... huh. Maybe chalk it up to "Dan is an idiot"?

• Well, Dan is an idiot. :) Or more precisely, he's just clueless enough to be surprised on a fairly regular basis by the facts of reality not quite matching his expectations. It's actually entirely in character for him to have both realized that his mom was unusual (and probably kinda cool at the time) and learned a few 'adventurer facts' about succubi and still never have put two and two together before the revelation.

Shouldn't Jyrras know more about the undead than "aim for the head"?

From their Demonology page: "Left abandoned in a field, it was to her suprise [sic] that she arose back up due to the spell. Thanks to her quick thinking, she was able to enlist the aide {{[[[You Make Me Sic]] sic}}] of her friend and classmate Moira Den to become the first being to successfully win a case over her own murder." I mean, really, I know a lot of kids shut out their parents' work, but when your mother's literally gone down in history...

Okay, why the heck doesn't Azlan have a cast page?

He's never been that major, and he's been kind of Out of Focus for a while, but still... a lot of much less important or interesting characters have cast pages...

• He doesn't? Oh, he doesn't. He used to, so Amber must have zapped it as part of the cast page updates. Can't really blame her since he hasn't appeared for several hundred strips, and he doesn't seem to have much relation to the plot.

Why has no one been to Hashaan at night?

Until the car came along, it might have been that they were too afraid of being caught too close by sunrise, but once decent ATVs turned up, wouldn't someone take the risk to see a place with such history?

• Maybe "no-one" wasn't literal, and some people actually have?

What's with the entry on the main page about the fae being able to time travel?

Okay, I feel like I missed something major. WHERE does it say that fae can waltz through time, thus leading to the fridge of Mab's different personalities being us seeing her at a different age? That main page entry has been puzzling me for a while now.

• Well, Mab does refer to her non-Fae friends as "linears" when talking to other Fae, and Fa'Lina's response to how she knows Mab implies some kind of Timey-Wimey Ball in play.

Cyra clan strength: 2 members.

So... did Mink already know about Dan, or was there another member who died in the interim? How did he know about Dan when Aary didn't? Do unawakened Cubi even count toward membership totals? When was that interlude set, anyway?

• Cyra's alive, so her and Destania makes 2.
  • Actually Leaders don't count towards clan strength. (Word of author). Also the clan leader arch was more for reader benefit. The amount of clan members may be documented and Arry just hasn't looked for it.
  • Cyra clan strength: 2 Members. 1st member: Destania. 2nd member: Dan.
• We may just be seeing a version of Mink's report that has been edited for our convenience. Remember, Mink did write this thing the night before it was due, so the original report is probably full of errors.

How did Dark Pegasus capture Mab during the "Warrior for Hire" arc?

Considering that Fae are supposed to be "Stupidly Powerful" and that "all weakness will be intentional and as such will vary".

• The Fae information page mentions that the Fae will often choose a role to play, even going so far as "dying" if necessary. Mab is probably just playing the role of ditsy adventurer.