Same source

You guys are so quiet lately! I feel like it’s more lively on Patreon those last few days. I hope you still enjoy the comic, though, I’m working hard here and we’re approaching some big events. Those with Private rank can already see the next two pages and oh oh… Some things are going to change ๏◡๏

And I hope you’ve been reading First Steps too! I have 3 next vote incentives scheduled for 3 next Wednesdays so keep checking them out! They are already available on Patreon too, so go there if you are pledging. I’ll need to sketch more after I’m back from the business trip to US – the date has changed and I’m flying there on 21st, coming back the week after. I might get pretty quiet in those days (or maybe more talkative, if I get lonely without my tablet).

One final announcement – I started working on a Halloween illustration / Stefen as Homura.

I like The Three-Body problem so far, it’s interesting! I’ll probably gobble it up on the plane, the flight from Tokyo to New York takes almost 13 hours and will take me 5 minutes back in time! ๏◡๏ Isn’t that exciting.

Ah, and feel free to dig up the Key and read about it from Wikipedia or wherever – our world’s Wikipedia is the same as Replay’s! So those who were curious enough to read about the book will most likely know what Filip is thinking/saying. If you don’t feel like reading please don’t worry, I plan to answer all the questions so searching for info about all the magic artifacts in this story is not obligatory. But just like Stefen’s amulet was based on a real object, Ada’s source of inspiration is very real and exists in the modern world. If it’s a fraud, old work of fiction or a real deal – that I cannot say haha~ You’ll need to try out the rituals yourself. ¯\_◉‿◉_/¯

72 comments on “Same source”

  1. NiWo21k Reply

    Maybe most wait where this is going before saying something – or a lot of things happen at the moment in real life, but it has definitive nothing to do with your work, because ist still as good as always 😉 Sometimes there is not so much to talk about, i wouldnt think to much about it, there will be pages with over 100 comments coming soon (at least when our two heroes are on their way ^^).

    And about your trip: It will be a hard time, i can imagine, but we will all survive, we not hearing from you and you not to be able to “torture” your characters XD – Joke aside, use the time wiesely for something you might normaly not do and take a small break from us 😉

    And stop encouraging people to try out magic, you know what happen in the “Evil Dead” stories, not everyone is so cool and is able to wield a chainsaw on their arm ^^

    • NotImportant Reply

      Haha yeah, I kind of got used to you guys being quiet from time to time but I still can’t figure out when those moments would happen. I could have made that scene shorter, now that I think about it… But on the other hand, it’s pretty confusing as it is – since it’s not perfectly clear who knows what.

      And please do try magic out, and let me know what worked afterward haha~!

      • Speedy Reply

        I learned that word order is crucial when translating spells into archaic languages. A spell intended to share a cold Corona with everyone, when translated incorrectly, can instead share a corona cold. D:

    • Klorix Camp dweller Reply

      Yes, it’s the quiet before the storm. W’re all holding our breath for theaction that is bound to come.

      But we’re still here 😉

  2. JW Reply

    our world’s Wikipedia is the same as Replay’s

    Ooh, does that mean I can send them secret messages by editing wikipedia 😛

  3. What the Deus? Reply

    “Name’s Filip. And you aren’t the only one who reads wikipedia out of boredom, you know.”


    Hey there mr. “Deus ex machina” how you doing?

    Still won’t waver my interest in this comic :3

    • JW Reply

      I’m not sure what’s supposed to be “deus ex machina” about any of this. There’s not any miraculous turnaround of the situation.

      • NotImportant Reply

        Me neither. As much as Filip would like to be useful he didn’t do much till now! With or without him they’d have gone to fetch that book anyway. And whether Filip’s ideas will turn everyone into mages or not… we’ll have to wait and see~

      • What the Deus? Reply

        It’s just that there’s so much exposition that the character says.

        Get the book and not the pentacles, kids can only use it, which volume they need, etc. etc.

        Maybe I should’ve said Mr. “Exposition”… XD

    • xthorgoldx Reply

      …a “deus ex machina” is when a contrived and otherwise unexplainable (aka, literal divine intervention) steps in to solve the plot’s problems. Filip’s being knowledgeable of magic doesn’t exactly solve any issues the group has, or any at all for that reason. If you really wanted to be critical, you might call it a contrived coincidence that so many survivors have relevant magical knowledge, but that’s being really nitpicky.

      • NotImportant Reply

        People with magical knowledge are just harder to kill! Stefen knows a thing about that~

      • Klorix Camp dweller Reply

        Also, you could argue that they are survivors because they have relevant magical knowledge.

        That reminds me how one of the other comics I read had a very long (years?) build-up for a deus ex machina occurence. Yes, readers knew it was coming. I loved the self-mockery there …

      • xthorgoldx Reply

        Also, the Anthropic Principle applies: at the end of the day, we’re reading a story. For the story to exist, it needs to have the elements of a story – it’s a tautology, but it requires saying. At one level or another, every narrative has a set of contrivances and presumptions that make the story happening a possibility. You can’t have superheroes save the day if there are no superheroes, or if the day never needs saving. You can’t tell a love story there’s nobody falling in love. And so on, and so on.

        So, another answer to “Why are there so many magic users in this camp?” would be “Because it’s a story about a bunch of magic-using survivors.”

      • JW Reply

        Huh. I didn’t know TVTropes had appropriated and redefined the anthropic principle.
        Though I’m not sure it really applies to “why are there so many magic users”, because the story could have just as easily have fewer magic-users among the survivors. (And at current count we only have two magic users, one of which is newly minted (or at least smelling of mint), and two magical artifact users). But if Filip is right, then magic is something everyone can acquire, and given it’s usefulness in survival everyone should learn it as soon as they have the opportunity.
        What the anthropic principle applies well to is “why is there magic” and “why are there demons”. That’s something you can’t easily explain beyond “that’s the kind of world this story requires”.

      • xthorgoldx Reply

        First, Filip has knowledge of magic, he’s not a magic user. Substantial difference – even if magic ability is relatively rare, if it exists in the world then it’s not unreasonable for people to have knowledge of it even if they can’t use it themselves.

        But the Anthropic Principle does apply to character composition, as well as worldbuilding. Yes, it most directly applies to the question of “Why does this world have magic?” but it also conceptually applies to why a certain subset of characters exist. The story has a wealth of magic users because the story it’s a story about magic users.

      • JW Reply

        First, Filip has knowledge of magic, he’s not a magic user.

        I know, that’s how I get to two, Ada + Laura. In the future Filip may make three.

        The story has a wealth of magic users because the story it’s a story about magic users.

        Perhaps. Or perhaps it’s about surviving the demon apocalypse and bringing Adam to justice. And then the story has a wealth of magic users because they’re more likely to survive (and help others survive).
        And at the end of they day, it doesn’t really matter because it’s still worth asking why.
        Ada is more interesting because we know where she got her magic from; we’ve seen her dabble with it as a student in the “first step” side-story. Filip knowing about magic makes more sense because of wikipedia. Laura being able to do magic because of whatever Filip knows is the reason makes it a better story than if it was “just because that’s how the story goes”.
        The anthropic principle only tells us why we’re observing the world/story we see, not why it’s the way it is. And why things are the way they are is often the interesting bit.

        • NotImportant Reply

          Still a while before all questions get answered but hows and whys about magic in general are a big part of the story. After all it was magic that broke the world in the first place (well, magic AND Adam). I like closed models and questions answered so if I don’t write myself into a corner everything should fit together nicely and make sense in the end.

  4. Doom Reply

    I saw that question-dodging, Filip! And being right is no excuse for being mean to our lovely fox!

  5. Refugnic Reply

    Hey there, NI.

    Don’t worry, I’m sure that the others are still enjoying the comic just as much as in the past.
    The highest comment yield happens, when people are throwing theories at each other, discussing ideas or disproving them with acquired knowledge.

    Right now, we aren’t in a ‘time for theories’ phase, but much rather in a ‘time for (some) answers’ phase.
    It’s the same kind of phenomenon as when the ‘next big thing’ is about to be revealed.

    With the suspense of ‘what’s going on’, people don’t talk.
    They listen. 😉

    Don’t worry, it’ll be just like old days again soon, I’m sure.
    Cause once you’ve thrown us a few tidbits of background information, we’ll be throwing theories about what else could be at each again in no time.
    You’ll see. 🙂

    I hope your trip will be nice and uneventful.
    Please come back to us unharmed and in good spirits. 🙂

    • NotImportant Reply

      I sure hope so! Would be kind of pointless to struggle and draw every single day after work if you guys don’t enjoy the story anymore. So, just so you know, if the comic turns dull and uninteresting please have mercy and let me know and I’ll just… draw something else I guess? xD
      Hopefully you’ll be all exploding with theories after the next few pages. Patreon supporters already saw what’s going to happen and that’s just a spark that’ll start a fire hehe~ I personally don’t like stories in which relationships between the characters are artificially static. Replay’s not going to be like that.

  6. Micah Reply

    So you’re saying there’s a chance that when the world is ending, all the hours I spent on Wiki might just save us all? I’m going to use that as my excuse from now on.

    And as for being quiet, sorry about that. Whenever I see dozens of comments I feel like either I’ll be drowned out, or what I want to say has been said. I’m (and I’m sure all the other voices) still here and I do appreciate all the effort you put into this! 🙂

    And have a good trip to the States!

    • Refugnic Reply

      Quite personally, I feel quite the same and I know how tiring it can feel to go through all that has been said before to avoid double posting, but even if something similar had been said before, who’s to say you won’t be able to add something new to the discussion?

      Why, the commentary of someone else might kick off a new idea nobody else had thought of up to that point.

      And even if you don’t go through the flood of comments and ‘accidentally’ double post, I think we are a civilized enough community to forgive you for that. 😉
      Maybe give you a heads up.

      Or just maybe you bringing up what had been said before triggers a new line of thought.
      After all, we are not machines. Even if given the same input multiple times, the output might change. 🙂

      • JW Reply

        After all, we are not machines. Even if given the same input multiple times, the output might change.

        That could just mean we’re stateful machines.

    • NotImportant Reply

      Thanks! I hope it’ll be, just like Ref said, uneventful haha. I don’t need any surprises there…
      And please, don’t be sorry! It’s not like commenting is obligatory. But it’s fun to talk with you guys or even hear that you wait for the next page. Thanks for being there and reading Replay (‘∀’●)♡

    • Klorix Camp dweller Reply

      You shouldn’t worry. I often just write down some first impressions and thoughts before reading even NotImportant’s editorial.
      When there are several topics to cove, I sometimes even split them up into a couple of posts to make for easier-to-read threads.

      Of course I’ll often find out that similar opinions were already posted, but that’s life ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
      (Plus I know that NI doesn’t mind a higher comments count 😉 )

      • NotImportant Reply

        Not really! Please fell free to spam the comment section as much as you like~!

  7. bitflipper Camp dweller Reply

    Okay, I’m here; you now have a blight on your day.

    No, oops! Waitaminnit…

    “Brighten”! “Brighten”! I’m supposed to brighten your day!

    Okay, how about this, then: every time I visit Replay, it brightens my day; I hope that’s a little bit contagious. Thank you, NI, for sharing this going with your with such beautiful art!

    • NotImportant Reply

      It’s contagious only if I know about it! ;D And thank you, glad you like the page!

  8. Rateus Camp dweller Reply

    Do the two shiny tiny light points in panel 1 and little pink flowers in panel 2 indicate feelings/emotions and if so what?

    I get that the red symbol in the final panel indicates Ada is piqued and that someone is likely to get verbally and/or physically bashed shortly.

      • Rateus Camp dweller Reply

        Kawaii etc…

        Thank-you. I’ve only really been exposed to references to that genre rather than the genre itself, so I’m not fluent yet ;-p.

        It’s a bit like all of the Simpson’s/Family Guy etc. I’ve watched which references other shows I’ve never watched, but they are referenced across enough different shows that you eventually recognise the reference without ever having see the original source material.

        • NotImportant Reply

          I saw those so many times (since I watch a lot of anime) that I no longer know what’s easily recognizable and what’s not. Sometimes I just make my own things, like Robert’s tiny flowers. Hopefully they are not too distracting, even if they don’t speak to everyone 😉

      • Klorix Camp dweller Reply

        The latter, I’d think. He’s getting very extremely (sic) excited at the thought of maybe still having a chance to become a real magical girl 😉

      • NotImportant Reply

        Yep! Klorix got it right, he’s just a bit embarrassed and excited about jumping in front of a bunch of people who can help him achieve his goal. And whom he has been observing for quite a while now 😉

  9. Regis Earsquake Reply

    There wasn’t that much happening the last weeks. They mainly prepared for leaving for some time now. It’s not that we don’t enjoy it, but it looks as if shit is going down at some point in the near future, so there is more a general anticipation than the need to talk what’s happening next.

  10. Quite Possibly A Cat Reply

    The comic is wonderful! Its great! The art is really good! The story is good!

  11. Sabreur Reply

    Still here, still loving it! Especially the faces in this particular panel. 😉

    Some people have already mentioned this, but the main reason we weren’t commenting earlier is because the most recent page didn’t have much to comment on. That’s not a bad thing! Those pages advanced the story, and it’s bad pacing if *every* page has a life-or-death demon fight or something. It’s good contrast to see our characters when it isn’t the middle of a crisis.

    • NotImportant Reply

      Thanks! Always great to hear that you enjoy! And to be honest… it does get pretty repetitive to draw fight after a fight, I guess I’m just not cut for shounen manga haha~

      • Rateus Camp dweller Reply

        I’m happy with the slow pacing for what it’s worth. It’s nice getting to know characters and seeing them getting to know each other in a more relaxed session. Plus it’s nice getting to know more about the world.

  12. NJR Reply

    Yeah, I feel like, to get a solid idea on what to think about this scene, I had to wait for it to play out more. Needed to see it in it’s entirety. You’re still doing an awesome job! Don’t stop! Also, have fun in the US!

    • NotImportant Reply

      It’s almost done haha, and thank you! I’ll try to have fun during my brief visit!

  13. Tzaphqiel Reply

    Yeah, definitely sounds like a graduate student. I remember reading way too much Wikipedia as a grad student when I should have been reading psych papers or working on either experiment or analysis programs.

  14. thebombzen Reply

    I just want to say that I love how Flip randomly knows so much because he reads Wikipedia. I find that very amusing and relatable.

    • NotImportant Reply

      Wikipedia and r/wtf are the best sources of general knowledge about weird illnesses and magic artifacts. It is known.

  15. ety Reply

    I’m still reading and enjoying!!! just…. been… hectic… and… busy…. and some other stuff and yeah, basically…. 🙁

    • NotImportant Reply

      Glad you are still here, thanks for taking a minute to let me know! And good luck with everything!

  16. Refugnic Reply

    Just checked the latest episode of First steps (seeing how you mentioned updating that on Wednesdays ;))

    Let me put it this way…he’s home because he’s down with a fever.
    High fever tends to cause delirious states…yeah, that’s it, I’m sure he’s just being delirious.

    I mean, what sane person would be thinking of inanimate objects like umbrellas (or stories or work in general) as their children?

    😀

    • Dragon Master Reply

      Oh you’d be amazed how many people are like that. Ever hear of a pet rock? A friend I had growing couldn’t have pet animal’s because her mother was allergic. SO instead she got herself a pet rock. Over the years this has turned into a menagerie of rocks pets. Last I heard she had 100 pets and counting. Still not sure if this counts as a hoarding problem or not. xD
      Also writing a story is called a labour of love for a reason. Your bringing something new into this world, giving it life. You are becoming the God of a new universe. Being God comes with a lot of responsibilities, as I’m sure our Voice of God, NI, can testify to.

      • Refugnic Reply

        I’m a writer myself, just in case you didn’t know.

        This little fact and my explicit mention of stories lead the entire statement ad absurdum, potentially creating a paradox.
        Cause if the statement was true, I would have called myself insane and the words of an insane person are not to be trusted, which makes the credibility of the statement itself questionable.

        And yes, I do consider my characters and stories my children.
        After all you bring them into this world, nurture them, accompany them through hardships, help them grow…and eventually you need to let them go.

        So yeah, don’t take my statement too seriously, I was trying to be funny. 🙂

      • NotImportant Reply

        Haha yeah, Refugnic was being sarcastic ;D Stories are very much like children. Being attached to an umbrella is a bit beyond me but I do have a plush monster that I put my elbow on when I draw and it’s called Steven. I’ve recently bought another Steven to keep at work, for the very same reason.

        And pet rocks? Did that, been there. Although I stopped when I was 6 or 7… xD

      • Dragon Master Reply

        Oh, sorry about that. I guess I misunderstood a little. and kinda had a bad tone(?). Didn’t mean to sound rude, so that’s my bad. I knew you were a writer, you’ve mentioned it before, I just somehow forgot it.
        Guess I was still a little hyped up, for lack of a better term. I had just gotten back from a debate about “The World as Myth” theory. It proposes that we are nothing more than characters in a story, that our world is just created by someone else somewhere. It’s not like religion creation though. the Author isn’t necessarily writing about every little thing we do we’re just characters in their world acting and moving in accordance to the laws they’ve set. But it does pose interesting questions. Like how do we know we’re not just print on paper for someone else to read? How do we know all this isn’t just an elaborate simulation, running inside a little device sitting on someone’s table?

  17. Dragon Master Reply

    Yeah, so NI, I just finished reading Uprooted after seeing you mention it a couple of weeks ago. Took a while for it to become available at my local library. I have to agree it IS awesome. Definitely a book I’d buy and reread. I agree that I’d love a sequel or maybe another story in the same setting, it’s also great as a stand-alone. Do you have any other recommendations for similar books?
    I’ve currently got The Three-Body problem on hold to get, but apparently it’s a very popular novel so I’m way down on the waiting list. Like #121 or something like that.

    • NotImportant Reply

      Haha yeah, I’ve heard that it’s pretty popular!

      Glad you liked Uprooted, very happy to hear that! I’ve heard that other books of the same author are pretty similar although I also just followed a recommendation from a friend and it was my first time reading something written by Naomi Novik. I don’t have similar stories on top of my head right now but I’ll think about it and ask the friend that told me about this book in the first place, she might be able to provide more similar titles.

  18. Alex Reply

    I am only quiet because sometimes I merely have nothing to add. 🙂
    Also I have a tendency of checking online comics only every other week or even just once a month.

    @comic: I like Filip. When there’s a Tsundere in the comic, you just got to have someone who pushes her buttons or what’s the point? 🙂 I mean, otherwise she’d have to be aggressive out of nowhere and become unlikeable (a way too common characteristic in recent Anime).

    • NotImportant Reply

      Ahhh I’m actually very happy to hear that you like him, I was for a moment worried that I’ll make him a bit too annoying. He’s got an unusual attitude towards his own relationship and other people… So it’s a relief that he isn’t that bad haha~

      And don’t worry, I sometimes notice that it’s more quiet but it makes me feel equally bad when everyone starts explaining, commenting is not obligatory (although it does make me happy <3). Thanks for reading!

    • Klorix Camp dweller Reply

      I haven’t made up my mind about Filip yet. Who knows, I might be like him in some ways, with regard to your comment about him, NI. We really haven’t seen much of him yet, so…

      He made an awkward entry to this scene, I’ll give you that. For now, I’ll think he was reluctant to interrupt people doing their stuff, waiting for a good opportunity. Not having had one and seeing that Ada and Robert are leaving, instead of a good opportunity he had to take the last one he’d get. Then also telling people he’d been “spying” on them does not make for a great start with someone like Ada who does not seem to be very sociable with (i.e. open to) strangers. His straightforward and pragmatic approach does not help much either.

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