oh, wow. None of the old comments ever came up with that pun, and it’s so incredibly obvious now that it pains me not to have said it before now. I am in awe.
She reads to me as having an Australian accent, though it comes off as sounding South African in my mind. Because I’m terrible at accents. Even in my mind.
Here’s the thing that has always bugged me about this page: Why stab Digger in the rear? I realize that she has a backpack on, so the back is out, but wouldn’t it make more sense to stab her in the neck or side or shoulder or just reach around and slit her throat? Granted, I’m glad the robber was stupid, but come on!
That’s a good question, Rachel. The relative position of the robber is a little vague; perhaps in sneaking up on Digger he had to get pretty low, and he just stabbed what he could reach.
Also, since he wouldn’t know what a wombat is, he might not have wanted to chance an encounter between his hand and an unknown set of teeth.
Rachel, TekServer… this is what i brought up in the old sites comments. Why in god’s name stab someone there? (why stab some one at all is another matter, but lets not get into that now). If you are going to be a bad guy at least do it properly! Presuming he was trying to kill Digger, and if he was not trying to kill her he either
A, needs to work on his people skills when greeting new people, or
B, wanted to try to hurt without killing, in which case he’s a sadist and a rather poor student of anatomy, and/or
C, Very, very stupid, because if your profession is bandit you presumably aim to kill people BEFORE THEY CAN GET YOU.
All this leaves us with the presumption that he WAS trying to kill her.
Well… where does one start? Clearly he’s never heard of those handy phrases granny teaches such as “Carotid synapse” “Jugular vein” ” Brachiocephalic artery” “Intercostal muscles” or “Just stab them in the neck, its right there in front of you! Even between the scapulars would do at a pinch!” (Nanna was a nurse and midwife and although she disproved of all the violence on tv, which she insisted on watching just to disprove of it up close and personal, it was the anatomical inaccuracy of the high pressure blood spurts that truly galled her. The hag wouldn’t have stood five minutes to her.)
If someones got their back to you and you stab them in the rear, you deserve everything you get. If you let then turn around, that’s too bad for you, although it opens the conversation up to the pratchet quotes.
“They say he way to a man’s heart if thought his stomach, which to be told shows basic lack of understadin’ of anatomy. Unless you’re talking about instructions on how to stab him, in which case up thought the diaphragm would probably be better still.” The Nanny Ogg Cookbook.
I would guess it was a lunge going for a hamstring. Looking at Digger’s back the skull is out, there’s no real neck and the upper back, spine and kidneys are all protected by the backpack. This leaves a poor shot at the major arteries in the leg, or a hamstring attempt. If you assume a rush or lunge from the last seen position (last page) it would be easy to see how the knife might end up there, especially since the bandit would have to reach down to hit anywhere on digger. (This also precludes the reach around and slit the throat, as you need to be of similar height for that to be practical).
There’s also all the problem with height. I thought Digger was short enough that a mere crouch or lunge wouldn’t be low enough unless you were prone. If only the hand wasn’t visible on the dagger last panel, replaced by lines suggesting motion and displaced air. Although one can assume he did throw it.
Sound advice. Wombats almost literally have armor-plated rears – their primary defence mechnism in nature is to climb into a burrow/hole/small available place head-first and just stubbornly wait out whatever’s hungry enough to come in after it, and since the nearest piece of available flesh is covered with a few of inches of hide the consistincy of boiled leather, you’d have to be bloody hungry to claw through that.
In other news, it’s late, this is my third time through, and I’ve probably made a fool of myself.
B, wanted to try to hurt without killing, in which case he’s a sadist and a rather poor student of anatomy, and/or
-I have to disagree. To use incapacitating (or even maiming) force when those will do the trick, rather than lethal force is usually a demonstration of restraint.
The only way I could like this better would be if she said ‘arse’ instead of rear.
Are you writing Digger as culturally Australian?
Wombats are such hard-asses.
oh, wow. None of the old comments ever came up with that pun, and it’s so incredibly obvious now that it pains me not to have said it before now. I am in awe.
Digger is culturally Wombat, I do believe.
She reads to me as having an Australian accent, though it comes off as sounding South African in my mind. Because I’m terrible at accents. Even in my mind.
I touched a wombat ass at one point. Which probably sounds worse than it should, but that’s not the point. Their rear-ends are HARD! Like armour!
Here’s the thing that has always bugged me about this page: Why stab Digger in the rear? I realize that she has a backpack on, so the back is out, but wouldn’t it make more sense to stab her in the neck or side or shoulder or just reach around and slit her throat? Granted, I’m glad the robber was stupid, but come on!
KOMBAT WOMBAT ^^
That’s a good question, Rachel. The relative position of the robber is a little vague; perhaps in sneaking up on Digger he had to get pretty low, and he just stabbed what he could reach.
Also, since he wouldn’t know what a wombat is, he might not have wanted to chance an encounter between his hand and an unknown set of teeth.
So he was probably trying for a hamstring.
😉
@Eagle: I may or may not have touched a wombat ass at one point, too, but that’s the type of thing I’d keep to myself! 🙂
Mortal Wombat!
Rachel, TekServer… this is what i brought up in the old sites comments. Why in god’s name stab someone there? (why stab some one at all is another matter, but lets not get into that now). If you are going to be a bad guy at least do it properly! Presuming he was trying to kill Digger, and if he was not trying to kill her he either
A, needs to work on his people skills when greeting new people, or
B, wanted to try to hurt without killing, in which case he’s a sadist and a rather poor student of anatomy, and/or
C, Very, very stupid, because if your profession is bandit you presumably aim to kill people BEFORE THEY CAN GET YOU.
All this leaves us with the presumption that he WAS trying to kill her.
Well… where does one start? Clearly he’s never heard of those handy phrases granny teaches such as “Carotid synapse” “Jugular vein” ” Brachiocephalic artery” “Intercostal muscles” or “Just stab them in the neck, its right there in front of you! Even between the scapulars would do at a pinch!” (Nanna was a nurse and midwife and although she disproved of all the violence on tv, which she insisted on watching just to disprove of it up close and personal, it was the anatomical inaccuracy of the high pressure blood spurts that truly galled her. The hag wouldn’t have stood five minutes to her.)
If someones got their back to you and you stab them in the rear, you deserve everything you get. If you let then turn around, that’s too bad for you, although it opens the conversation up to the pratchet quotes.
“They say he way to a man’s heart if thought his stomach, which to be told shows basic lack of understadin’ of anatomy. Unless you’re talking about instructions on how to stab him, in which case up thought the diaphragm would probably be better still.” The Nanny Ogg Cookbook.
I would guess it was a lunge going for a hamstring. Looking at Digger’s back the skull is out, there’s no real neck and the upper back, spine and kidneys are all protected by the backpack. This leaves a poor shot at the major arteries in the leg, or a hamstring attempt. If you assume a rush or lunge from the last seen position (last page) it would be easy to see how the knife might end up there, especially since the bandit would have to reach down to hit anywhere on digger. (This also precludes the reach around and slit the throat, as you need to be of similar height for that to be practical).
I just figured she was bent over helping Murai and he stabbed whatever he could reach…
Biceps with feet, indeed
FATALITY!
There’s also all the problem with height. I thought Digger was short enough that a mere crouch or lunge wouldn’t be low enough unless you were prone. If only the hand wasn’t visible on the dagger last panel, replaced by lines suggesting motion and displaced air. Although one can assume he did throw it.
“I am no physician, but there appears to be a dagger in my rear.”
😉
Sound advice. Wombats almost literally have armor-plated rears – their primary defence mechnism in nature is to climb into a burrow/hole/small available place head-first and just stubbornly wait out whatever’s hungry enough to come in after it, and since the nearest piece of available flesh is covered with a few of inches of hide the consistincy of boiled leather, you’d have to be bloody hungry to claw through that.
In other news, it’s late, this is my third time through, and I’ve probably made a fool of myself.
B, wanted to try to hurt without killing, in which case he’s a sadist and a rather poor student of anatomy, and/or
-I have to disagree. To use incapacitating (or even maiming) force when those will do the trick, rather than lethal force is usually a demonstration of restraint.