Soup the Comic Strip by Alun Clewe
Comic strip for November 12 2023.
PANEL ONE: Erlak and Nizini sit on a bench (although not the one they usually sit on for whatever reason) ERLAK: I've been thinking. You know what we need here at the Mountains of the Gods? PANEL TWO: Closer on Erlak and Nizini NIZINI: A catchier name? PANEL THREE: Close on Erlak ERLAK: We need a theater! PANEL FOUR: Back to wider view of Erlak and Nizini NIZINI: A theater? ERLAK: Sure. Just think about it. Something to do besides hang out at the Dive Divine. PANEL FIVE: Wide view of a great amphitheater, with Erlak's transparent face superimposed in front of it. ERLAK: Imagine it... A huge theater, with sublime architecture befitting something made to impress the gods, where the greatest spectacles and most moving tales are performed... PANEL SIX: Actors perform a dramatic scene on a stage. ERLAK (off panel): Maybe the greatest mortal actors can be invited to appear there, and the works of the greatest mortal playwrights showcased — it would be the greatest honor a mortal thespian could aspire to. PANEL SEVEN: Back to Nizini and Erlak; Erlak has his head down in thought NIZINI: But who would run it? A theater of the scale you're describing would be beyond the abilities of mortal management. ERLAK: Hmm... Well... PANEL EIGHT: Close on Erlak. Superimposed are transparent images of Drv'dxx's head in the upper left and the amphitheater in the upper right. ERLAK: The Dive Divine has Drv'dxx, of course, but we're not likely to be capturing another powerful demon any time soon... besides, the theater may need someone even more powerful than Drv'dxx to run it anyway... PANEL NINE: Erlak bows his head in thought again. And no god would be willing to devote himself to the task... But there's got to be _something_ we can do... There has to be _some_ solution! PANEL TEN: Rear view of Erlak and Nizni on the bench ERLAK: What are all those gods going to do who are, for whatever reason, cut off from other normal social venues? NIZINI: Well, if you ask me, those gods should suck up their pride and go back to the Dive Divine...
November 12 2023

Was... was Panel Two a complaint that the Mountains of the Gods was a boring name? I guess, sure, it kind of is, but I'm the one who named it, so I'm really complaining about... myself? Okay, the complaint's not unjustified; it's just... a bit odd. I mean, if I disliked the name that much, I could just change it. (Except that probably when I wrote this strip, as now, I didn't want to retroactively change past strips, even if there were things I kind of wished I had done differently.

In any case, the "Mountains of the Gods" may be a bit of a bland name, but at least it's not as bad as the "Dive Divine". If I were comfortable with going back and making significant retcons, that would probably be my highest priority for a change. Oh well.