Page 303

Blah blah blah blah

125 thoughts on “Page 303

  1. Somebody sounds to have experience with such things. :)

    1. Am i the only one who thinks Piper might come back and hear that “all to well” bit and be like “what to well?” and then Holland get’s creative..again?

      1. And then Feral could come in at the end of that conversation and hear something that contradicts the creative BS Holland fed him earlier…
        Isn’t it fun to think up embarrassing situations for these guys? :)

        Of course, all the hilarious faces made by Holland when he’s startled make it all the sweeter.

  2. I love how clever and articulate Meela is, like she’s an ACTUAL teenager. I’ve seen too many comics where the author seems to think thirteen year old girls are all bimbos.

    1. Indeed–Meela is a good blend of childish behavior and sensible dialogue to me, not just with her age but with all her experiences in the world. She’s had to grow up a lot when it comes to her demon side.

  3. “I know that all too well.”

    HOLLAND?

    1. He`s prolly talking about Feral, yanno. I mean, we haven`t gotten that far in flashbacks, but I think it`s obvious Feral has some demon element…maybe Holland was around when he changed or summat?

      Anyhow, Meela`s dad is awesome. And I totally want to see Feral`s reaction–or maybe he`s figured some of it out already?

      1. Huh? Isn’t he talking about how Meela almost ripped his arm off??

        1. yea and nay…

          re-read page 155.
          —————————————————

          & page 152 “maybe”… merge with Mal?…0_o

        2. @ not me
          Hi long time no chat(?). But yah one of my friends adores holland and she freaked out too thinking he became a demon. We’ve also dubbed holland “mama bird” for how he treats Meela. But yah he can’t become a demon,
          He’s too nice.

        3. ::huggs::

    2. holland my fav character now…he’s so kind and understanding he’s like an older brother to her… so cute

    3. Right?! That’s what I was thinking. Holland you’re so sweet, but yet, so sneaky. ^_^ I like you.

      1. He’s the perfect mix of sweet and sarcasm <3

  4. …Holland why u so good looking ;-;

  5. Holland! You and your secrets!

  6. Holland? What do you mean you know that all too well? Oh I get it buddy you be hiding more secrets yes? Got it. ;) Love that we got another peak at Meela’s daddy. Hehe.

  7. Why does Rollin suddenly look super evil? I mean, I know his demon side is showing but still. It doesn’t even look like him right now, it looks like his evil father.

    1. Totally agree! He might be a demon lupian but until now, Meela’s memories show him as a caring father :( Maybe he’s evil and all, but right now it bothers me that panel (personal opinion of course).

      1. Just because he’s a demon doesn’t mean he’s evil. They’re people too; there’s just a part of themselves that they have to learn to control.

        He might look evil, but appearances can be deceiving anyways.

    2. Maybe being a full demon Lupian actually causes your face to look evil and that’s one of the things the magic artifacts hide. :P

      (Or maybe it’s how Holland imagines him to hear Meela talk about him?)

    3. It’s the lighting and the expression. He’s supposed to look evil here just to accentuate that he is a demon. I also gave him more defined cheekbones because I felt his appearance was lacking.

      1. I would love to see what Rollin’s full on demon side looks like. Earlier in the comic, we see an injured demon through Meela’s dreams of Yuen and Mal. Is this sort of along the lines of what Rollin’s transformation might look like?

  8. it seems that hat = Magic artifact.
    also, how would meela be able to put wolf-transforming, head-kicking, magic-dagger-wielding, dark-energy-absorbing Feral and swan-transforming, magic-bow-wielding, magic-healing Holland in any immediate danger?

    1. Aw, she is just a kiddo haha remember how she thought she was tougher than feral? ;)

    2. well at least one thing was confirmed! he was using the bandanna to hide the horns!

      1. He wasn’t using the Bandanna to hide his horns, instead the red gemstone on the bandanna suppressed them from view. Looking back on Chapter 10 when we see flashbacks of her father; there’s no way he could hide those large horns under such a small piece of cloth.

  9. Huh? Somehow I don’t get what you’re all wondering about regarding Holland’s knowledge about the unpredictability of half-demon transformation.

    I mean, when he showed up the previous night, Meela, sweet little Meela, the girl who cried when eating a bunny, aimed straight for his throat (he threw up his arm to protect himself), mangled his arm and before that, she tore off a man’s arm and ripped out his throat.

    Really, to me, Holland has every right to say “I know that all too well”, without him hinting at any ‘secrets’ with it.

    Oh, and the hat? Nothing magic about it, just Meela’s attempt to hide her horns while she doesn’t have any magic artifacts to do it for her.

    1. -_- page 155.

      I do feel like no one goes back and starts from the beginning.

      1. I fail to see how pg.155 is relevant to this. Just because Holland said most half demons are harmless doesn’t necessarily mean he’s had any previous experiences with their transformations. Not to say the page proves that he DIDN’T (cause’ I wouldn’t be surprised if he has), just that it doesn’t prove he DID.

  10. Am I the only one who thought that the demonic form of Meela’s father was Holland for a moment? XD I’m using my phone to connect to the internet and it looked like that when zoomed out. :o

    1. Yeah… Had to read next panel to clear things up…

      1. Yeah here too. I saw it and I freaked out some, then I saw the next slide and that cleared it up for me.

        1. cudduly-wuddly, hunnky, zqueezie-pooh Holland?

          …he goes “demon” like Rollin i’m gonna be mightily sad.

    2. nope you aren’t i thought so too but hollands hair is more of a bleach-blonde-white colour while her dads is basically grey

  11. Guys, I”m pretty sure it’s the glowing jewel on the hat and the necklace that’re the magic artifacts. They glow for a reason – and that reason is for us to immediately recognize what they are referring to. Well, and it makes them look more magical. ;)

    Also, I really don’t think he’s smiling about or referring to what he saw the other night in the last panel to me. It seems more like something that happened long ago. Something that just happened the other night isn’t usually referred to as “all to well”. It JUST happened, you DON’T have much experience with something that literally just happened! Are you all forgetting Feral has a demon eye and demon powers? ;) Not to mention it’s really hard to smile about a gruesome murder from the night before, lol. But something that has happened long ago relating to the subject… *hint* *hint*

    Also, I’m typing this at almost 6 in the morning and I haven’t slept yet (in too much pain). So I apologize if this was poorly written, my brain is goo at this point, lol.

    1. pages 155 & 152 are very intresting.

      magic jewel on her hat? she doesn’t have any.
      Rollin’s bandanna had one… they are really close to the cave… maybe there’s one there just laying around!

      don’t worry, @ 6am i’d sound worse :D

      1. Of course Meela’s hat doesn’t have one. She specifically says on this page that she has no magical artifacts to hide her demon features, even though Rollin did.

        There wouldn’t be one in the cave. That was the cave she and her brother hid in after their other brother and father were killed. Rollin was never there.

        1. Just saying that I thought it over a bit and realized that she must have originally bought the hat to hide her eventual horns (hence why she said she “needed” it when Jyaku interrupted her attempt to steal it).

          Of course, she knew from experience that it was an insufficient method, but it was the best she could do with her resources.

        2. No edit button. >_<

          Meant to also say that I'm sure Tara was referring to Rollin's bandana when she said "hat."

  12. Meelas face is too adorable in the last pannel ^_^
    btw the shirts are awesome! wish I had enough money for one :/

    1. the shirts are awesome! 17 days left… (starts hoarding $)

    2. The shirts are way awesome!
      But I can’t wear them because of a problem with my neck. The neckline of T-shirts is too high and aggravates it something fierce. If there were shirts that had V-necks available I would so get one.

  13. Lol Meela’s dad has started looking like Jareth. Awesome! XD

    1. Jareth meets Tim Curry from Legend!!! Mwahahaha!!

      1. yeah.. I can envision them all having tea with Van Horne (eastwick) & John Milton (advocate)…

        all at a crazy mad-hatter esque table with the poor door-mouse shaking in his teapot! Hahahhhhh…

        (I watch too many movies)

      2. KaelinaLuvsLomaris

        Legend is such a good movie!

    2. OMG, I thought so too! I thought he was hot before, but this takes the cake! …. <..> …. “DANCE, MAGIC, DANCE!”

  14. just noticed he’s wearing a bracer.

  15. CALLED IT!!!!!!!!!

    1. explain

      1. Just about how meela’s father was the demon not her mother, but mostly of how his gems wrent just for show but were some how magically helping with his demon side.

  16. no he is always wearing those

  17. Hold on a second… Why didn’t her brothers change? They were older than 13.

    1. I think they could have been younger when the attack happened, but I have no explanation for Tannor’s appearance at the start of the comic (It’s possible the artists made him look too old like Meela looking too young.) His only other flashback has him wearing a hat, so he could have gone through the change less messily.

    2. Meela also said the change could happen any time after thirteen. He might have been taught to conceal and control it by his father, while Meela had no schooling of that sort. It only came out since Korin made her really angry. Maybe Tannor was never provoked enough to make the change?

    3. Tanner was on 12 in the first flashbacks–or just barely 13. I remember artists said he was the same age as Meela was when we started the main part of the story. He just looks older and more bulked out, bc he hasn’t suffered malnutrition like she has.

  18. Yeessss, finally this speculation draws to an end. I have to admit that Meela’s father looks kind of creepy right now in the flashback. <.< Might be the smile.

    Love the way Holland's face was drawn in these panels, though. ^ ^

  19. I think the point of the panel looking evil is to show you just how misunderstood her father actually was, he looks evil, and yet he never once hurt her mother, and it was obivious that he was a loving father to his pups. With the artifacts in place he looked like just another lupian, but removed his demon side came out, and looks can be decieving.

    1. well said

  20. wow. that demon stuff has gotta be annoying. i doubt feral could hurt her now though. he’s obviously gotten attached.

  21. Meela’s dad is slightly creepy without his demon attributes hidden…

  22. random question but i went back to look at the pages with Meela’s parents first meeting and Meela had twin brothers. I know one of them died at the very beginning but what happened to the other brother?

    1. Tannor was the one that took Meela away from the bounty hunter and raised her, but Tannor’s twin died along with their dad. :(

      1. wwait wait waiiit!!!when did Meela’s dad die?

        1. Go back and read the comic from the beginning. Not because I’m mean, but because the dream that Meela has in the beginning where she ‘remembers’ how her dad and Tannor’s twin brother Connor was killed. Also, later in the comic, in another dream sequence (when she is nearly killed by poison), she remembers how she escaped with Tannor, screaming for her dad and wanting to return hom and Tannor explaining to her that they can’t go back even though he, too, misses their dad and brother.

  23. What about the bracelet she used to wear, It used to be her dad’s and then he gave it to her brother (Tannor), and then Tannor gave it to her. Maybe it was one of the artifacts?
    I mean it looks like an everyday object simple I know, but Maybe that was the point. Whats the point about hiding your demon side if the item you are using is obvious?

    1. Exactly what I was thinking. She’s not wearing it now either.

  24. I KNEW IT!!! And also… is it story time from Holland?

  25. For some reason when I learned about Meela’s twin brothers I thought that one of them went awol and killed their father (Meoley?) and tried to kill her and Tanor as well. Especially when she said “The change can be… unpredictable”. When she says “He killed my brother!”, referring to Tanor it leaving the opening for the other brother possibly going awol.

    Maybe I should go reread the whole thing again.

    1. Interesting theory- I wonder if any of Meela’s siblings turned bad? Still, check out page 9- there are two bodies there. Are those Meela’s other siblings, or Meela’s father and one of Meela’s siblings? Something to think about…

      1. I had a thought maybe because they are twins one got to be 100% demon and the other 0% demon. Kind of like “good” twin, “evil” twin sort of thing? (though in this case the “evil” twin might not have been evil, just all demon like father?)The 0% one being Tanor maybe? Meela having no twin is 50% demon, perhaps.

    2. Meoley is the world this story is based in

    3. :P Yeaaah, it’s not one of the brothers.

  26. Am I the only one who noticed that her bandages aren’t bloodied?

    1. Maybe the wounds aren’t that deep and they’re there to keep them clean and prevent infection?

    2. Vix
      January 24, 2014 at 7:42 am
      So… no scars on her nose? I’m going to assume Holland’s healing magic made it so she wouldn’t have them? Was kind-of hoping she would have them… lol

      Celesse
      January 24, 2014 at 7:52 pm
      No, no scars for little Meela. Sorry, lol

      1. am i the only one who tries picturing Meela when she’s older with longer hair the same marks her dad has?

    3. I forgot to add the blood. I’ll fix it.

  27. hmm the one on the headband for the horns
    perhaps the jewel around his neck is for his voice or something

  28. So I wonder what Meela would’ve done had Feral been a demon Lupian. She did ask him when they first met.

  29. Very clean, crisp paneling in this page!

  30. …I was wondering how long will it take for Holland to smile again :D

  31. omg her father looks so evil now

  32. I KNEW IT! IT WAS HER FATHER!

    1. Eh, sorry? What was her father?

  33. KaelinaLuvsLomaris

    Wow… things are really starting to get serious. I want Feral and Piper to come back. I miss Feral!
    Holland is such an awesome person. I want to know what his “all too well” comment is refering to…

  34. Poor girl and kudos to Holland for continuing to be so wonderful! I get the feeling though that Feral already knows what Meela is.

  35. I TOLD YOU SO!!! (people from the livestream you know what I mean)

    Anyways looks like I wasn’t exactly correct with hos I thought he hid his horns. But at least I was right about the headband. The magic artifacts is a lot cooler then what I thought up.

  36. Yep. Demon Lupian who blended in, fell in love without hurting his gal while she tried to kill him, and ended up being a stay at home Dad. Yep. Scary dangerous. No way he should be allowed to live. LoL

  37. Yay for explanations! What interests me more than anything, though, is that neither of Meela’s brothers had demon features. Based on Rollin’s need for the magical artifacts, they can’t just be willed away like in regular Lupian transformation, so they have to be hidden in some way, right? Seems like they must not have transformed at all, even though they were old enough to do so. It really surprises me they didn’t, even when they were attacked (and ultimately killed).

    1. Well, we really never even saw Connor (though he was killed before he was old enough to transform) and tannor did wear a hat (page 136)…

      1. I think it was established that Tannor was about 13 at the time of his eventual death, and Meela said that the change can happen “anytime” after turning 13. And since boys are usually a bit behind in development than girls (no offense meant), it makes sense that Tannor simply did not have a chance to transform before he was killed and his twin brother Connor, who was killed some time before him, was still too young to have transformed.

  38. Could be genetics – y’know, one-in-four chance of recessive ‘demon’ allele being passed on or whatnot. (I forget) :p

  39. Huh? It seemed pretty obvious to me he was a demon. Was I the only one?

    1. No. :)

      1. Ah, OK, because people were like “So Meela’s father was the demon?” and “I knew it!”, and I got confused…

  40. …wait, which would mean that Meela’s mother would have to have a demonic connection, too, come to think of it…Which seems unlikely (not knowing how common demon lupians are, though)…Hmm! *shuts up*

    P.S. Got my book last week – it’s great to be able to hold a solid, printed version of Strays :)

    1. interesting theory but remember she’s HALF-demon wolf so she must of only inherited that half from her father if both parents were both demons then Meela would’ve been a full demon…no i’m making myself confused

  41. Yay! More of Rollin! Hes probably my favorite character.

  42. I’m positive her father’s mal at this point, except that stories will have plot twists, so i’m ready for one of those too

    1. Naw. Mal was a power-hungry freak who seemed to care little of relationships–let alone a domestic life with kids. Plus I remember reading demon lupians are usually a product of a demon a lupian having a baby together. If anything, I bet Mal killed her father and brother (Tanner’s twin). What I want to know is what happened to her mom.

      1. Ok, I’ve thought this through and I have solid proof that mal cannot be meelas dad; in the last dream Yuen/Feral was around 16 or 17 (assuming its been at least 1-2 years since he was in the village with Vihki, at which time he was 15 and mal was 17) making Mal 18 or 19. Feral is 28 and Meela is 13 right? Fifteen years older. Therefore, by the time that last dream occurred Meela was already born. You know, plus the fact that Mal wasn’t a demon, Her dads name was Rollin, and they look nothing alike.

    2. Mal was never a demon. In fact, he got powers that could detect them and leech energy from his opponents. He grew up in that Lupian town, remember?

  43. Yes, Meela, you’ll hurt everyone around you, like the bird healer prince, the bounty hunter and the nimble thief.

  44. i had to read it twice because i didn’t know how said” but i don’t have any”

  45. what about her bracelet wasn’t that her fathers what do you think could that be one ?

  46. Nice artwork. Love the story so far.

  47. I knew those headwraps weren’t for show. o3o

  48. God, her fathers a handsome fella, i mean, look at him, /stares with wide eyes, and, why is there no romance?, i’m just waiting for someone near her age to come into this thing, and some romance can get started, lol, sorry, i’m a freak for romance <3

  49. I know how you feel! I think that Piper has gotten too involved with Holland and Feral though. She was with Holland and now she is with Feral…. Now Meela needs someone her age. Just a thought of friendship not romance though.

  50. This should really be made into a movie or series!!!! I can see it,the characters would all look amazing!

  51. How close are you to the Cintiq Goal?

    1. Quite a ways off yet ^^; There were about $150 in donations and it doesn’t look like the shirts are going to be funded. Algy is going to have to back up and punt on another idea.

  52. maybe her lucky braclets a protection thing maybe thats why she was so afraid to take it off

  53. This is my first time ever commenting but I love this comic so much.
    I wonder if Meela’s bracelet is under her sleeve or if she dropped it during the fight?

  54. At least this explains why Meela’s dad won against Jira (Meela’s mom)

    1. I mean him being a demon and all.

  55. So that’s why she got the hat!

  56. CUTE LITTLE DEMON HORNS ON MEELAS HEAD!!!! <3 probably not the best time to say that…

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