This makes me wonder is beast trapped in the castle like she is. When he talks about them having different contracts, I get the feeling that he does not know himself fully what is going on.
With one sentence, you have catapulted this webcomic to #1 on my Favorite Comics list, tied neck and neck with 'Housepets'. Why? Because, just like the writer of 'Housepets' you have, in one sentence, vastly unfolded the world of your story. As one writer to another, well done. Well done indeed!
In 'Housepets', the sentence was: "I was kidnapped by my own pets once."
This opened the world from 'silly talking pets' to 'worldwide ramifications of sentient animals and the ownership thereof'.
Here, it was: "They must have had their own contracts, though, because their voices stayed."
From a well-known and beloved fable retold, this has unfolded your comic into an entirely new dimension, and I am very much going to enjoy watching how it develops. Stay true to your story, and I will consider it a privilege to continue reading. :)
I wonder if this is some sort of foreshadowing to his relationship with beauty, like the contract of staying in the castle, really though provoking and lets us see the more gentle side of the beast because even though he loved the bird he let them go, I know captain obvious right here but it's very nice to figure it out on my own ^_^' great page, can't wait till thursday :D
That is a beautiful, haunting image. (The birds.) It feels very "Jorinde und Joringel".
Also, a thought on something you said, that you rely on our familiarity with the story... do you mean you rely on our knowing the story you're telling, or you rely on us thinking we know the story you're telling? (Not that I expect you to answer that...)
Well, I'll give it a nod, at least! I rely on your familiarity with at least some iteration of Beauty and The Beast much like a cover artist relies on your familiarity with a song... There are notes that must be hit in order for it to be the same song, but the way in which they are hit can result in a very different musical experience...a rock ballad played on a violin, a ukulele cover of a daft punk song... sort of like that.
Additionally, there are at least three other webcomics overtly covering Beauty and The Beast out there right now (Spina Cage, Beyond Beauty and Elise Otterlei's Beauty and The Beast come to mind) and we're all taking that same source material in very different directions!
I...really enjoy what this page does for the story. The discussion goes back to the room with the empty birdcages, which nonetheless still holds the voices of those birds. There's just...so much to dig into here.
First, the Beast let the birds go - even knowing they were there for a reason, he freed them (as he might with Beauty down the line? As he might wish to be freed?). Nonetheless, they had their own contracts, so their voices stayed behind, as did their false yet beautiful appearances (which hints at transformative magic! Yay!). His wording here also gives evidence to my theory that he is also under a contract - that he is, despite appearances, not the master here. Like Beauty, he also seems to be bound - though by whom, the story has yet to reveal.
Everything is more unique in the castle, then? I wonder how Beast feels about this. Perhaps he's a man(?) of few words because he doesn't want Beauty to fall for a more fantastic version of him that will fade once he becomes human? (Probably one of my left-field hypotheses again)
and I've got to know...which sentence? XD
This opened the world from 'silly talking pets' to 'worldwide ramifications of sentient animals and the ownership thereof'.
Here, it was: "They must have had their own contracts, though, because their voices stayed."
From a well-known and beloved fable retold, this has unfolded your comic into an entirely new dimension, and I am very much going to enjoy watching how it develops. Stay true to your story, and I will consider it a privilege to continue reading. :)
Also, a thought on something you said, that you rely on our familiarity with the story... do you mean you rely on our knowing the story you're telling, or you rely on us thinking we know the story you're telling? (Not that I expect you to answer that...)
First, the Beast let the birds go - even knowing they were there for a reason, he freed them (as he might with Beauty down the line? As he might wish to be freed?). Nonetheless, they had their own contracts, so their voices stayed behind, as did their false yet beautiful appearances (which hints at transformative magic! Yay!). His wording here also gives evidence to my theory that he is also under a contract - that he is, despite appearances, not the master here. Like Beauty, he also seems to be bound - though by whom, the story has yet to reveal.