‘Not A Villain’ Webcomic – Page 335

Kleya is 13 in these particular memories. Also, that's Kim on the middle right; she used to have shorter hair but gave up that hairstyle after the Ending.

It's NAV's 4th Birthday. Yay!

And I'm sick. Yay me?

30 Comments

I always appreciate a backstory so as to understand how things developed the way they are. From the setting of the overall story, we know that the backstory couldn’t be a pleasant one.

Hurray for Aneeka for keeping us coming back!
And please get well soon!

Great page! And congratulation on the 4th birthday! 🙂

And get well soon!

Aw, feel better soon! (There’s a lot of that going around.)

This is a really great page. So many puzzle pieces. 🙂

I guessed that the woman on the right was Kim. Do we know the guy on the left? Is that the guy who is always arguing with Kim?

Now I wonder if her dad got brainwashed or was otherwise compelled to call her a monster, or if her subsequent actions caused him to hate her… and I wonder if her actions were partially motivated by wanting to “rescue” him.

I still don’t think she killed her mother, though.

I think the guy on the left is Walter.

I don’t think she directly killed her mother it was probably something she had hacked to be haywire blew up the hospitals where her mom was at

So they all knew each other before the Ending? That’s interesting, that’s very interesting.

I was going to put this on a previous page, where comments were talking about Kleya and Jake’s past, but I think it fits here as well. (I’m curious to see if this panel is due to the The Ending’s robots or before that when some organization tries to seize Kleya’s potential or something.)

Aneeka clearly put some effort (or knows someone like Kleya) into developing Jake’s character because his easy-going personality is one of the very few that would mesh with Kleya’s enough to become a long-term relationship. Kleya can’t have a relationship with someone who is also competitive because they’d quickly find something to compete over. Once that happened, they would escalate their efforts find a way to win until they spent all their time apart learning how to beat the other. Then, since Kleya doesn’t believe in honorable or the spirit of competition, and redefines success as an ultimate one until she thinks she’s won, she would eventually cross a line and everything would fall apart. Kleya will always be that way until she matures enough to put long-term social goals above short-term ones and decides to expend enormous efforts (5+ years) to redefine the core of her “Must win” personality. Any less than 5 years and she’d be a faker and ultimately a ticking time bomb.

I think that Bandit’s persona was purposely designed to be an exaggerated gaming version of Kleya’s romantic match, even knowing that she’d immediately identify him. I’m sure that Jake knows that his options for approaching her are exceptionally limited, especially with Tenka potentially monitoring them. After dating her, he would understand that Kleya’s “Must win” personality traits are not confined to computers and competition. In order to repair their relationship, he knows the best way to regain her interest and trust is by helping her achieve her ultimate goals. Although it is obvious to him that Kleya has a social agenda, evidenced by her “Do no harm” avatar, Jake can’t get closer because he doesn’t know what her ultimate goal is yet. Once he figures that out he’ll be able to find ways to help her, though he’ll have to be inconspicuous so as to avoid jeopardizing their relationship and his safety at Tenka.

I only see one quick (risky) approach with a chance of succeeding. He’d probably want to minimize the chance of rejection by waiting until she shows romantic interest in him first though. (He is still a young geeky male, after all. Romantic confidence happens much later, if ever, for us.) He would have to find a place where they both know they can’t be monitored, maybe like that unfinished university area Danni went, and making himself vulnerable by putting all his cards out on the table. After that, there is a good chance that she would momentarily drop her guard too. But, the whole exchange would probably have to start with him sincerely saying, “I still love you. I miss you so much.”

“Kleya will always be that way until she matures enough to put long-term social goals above short-term ones and decides to expend enormous efforts (5+ years) to redefine the core of her “Must win” personality. Any less than 5 years and she’d be a faker and ultimately a ticking time bomb.”

…

Don’t assume that human potential for growth as a person is limited by the examples you’re aware of.

Your post is very interesting but also very clearly highlights an internal idea that certain people are sort of “stuck” along certain tracks for awhile (“He is still a young geeky male, after all. Romantic confidence happens later, if ever, for us.”).

If a human being truly wishes to, deep change can happen within a matter of hours or days.

All of the slow, stuck, tedious growth is just holding back.

So, at best, “enormous efforts” is accurate, but the scale of time on which that can be accomplished is very… affectable. And, even “enormous” betrays a sort of idea that it’s very difficult to change.

Don’t take your limited experiences as evidence of the limitations and possibilities in the entire world — it tends to lead to an unnecessarily slow, tedious, painful, stuck life. 😉

The whole “romantic confidence” idea, for example, can be overcome by turning and facing the fears which lead to it looking shaky. May be very scary to face, and not “easy” in that sense… but in another sense, all personality “blocks” are easy to face. They’re just often very scary to face honestly… so, most humans do a halfway job – trying to change but trying not to at the same time.

It’s very easy, comparatively, if you actually try to take internal control at the roots, and do it all the way. Then there’s no “faking,” etc. from holding back or not trying to get to the heart of the matter.

I did like this post, though — was more insightful than most.

Just don’t like seeing people — especially young people — deciding all these stuck ways to approach viewing their–and others’– potential/limits… and acting out of it as if it were some sort of wise understanding about the world.

It does take years for someone to fundamentally change their personality, if the change is constructive and not deleterious–it’s biology. If someone is capable of changing in hours or days, it means that all the structure required for that change must be already implemented, and that’s not always the case. There’s few people who can develop a savant skill just by removing a mental block–as much fun as that is in a story–but most people can develop most skills to incredible levels through years of dedicated practice. That’s because the mind is made up of living cells that take time to grow and connect in new ways, and major constructive changes in behavior and function require years of growth, testing, and refinement.

It’s unfair at best to say that someone can change immediately if ‘they truly wish to’, it equates ‘truly wanting to’ with being prepared for it. While often the case, when this works it’s because putting a block in place or changing the brain’s chemistry is all the change needs. That’s not very constructive, even when it is positive. Blocks are never perfect, and changes in mood are just temporary without changes in thought and reaction.

I don’t even want to get into brain development. A young adult’s brain isn’t even finished yet, particularly not the frontal portion known for hosting personality, impulse control, and conscious will. That can’t change in a matter of hours or days. Learning to how to fake the transformation to ‘adult’ can happen relatively quickly–maybe not that quickly–under enough stress, but then it takes years to recover from that. Any faster recovery is either just as fake, or a diversion that’s misunderstood.

I think many of the people you claim are ‘trying to change, and trying not to, at the same time’ may simply be trying to change without having actually changed yet. They do have to fight themselves, but one’s mind being divided isn’t necessarily the same as one’s will being divided. The will is one small, if important part of the mind, and our minds contain far more than we could possibly be aware of at any given time.

It seems to me you’ve been focusing too much on the removal and imposition of mental blocks as the basis of change, and neglect the importance of what’s behind and in front of them, what cannot be so easily toyed with. In any case, different methods for change work better for different people and with different goals, sometimes in surprising ways. Overgeneralizing about those who are set in their ways doesn’t ring wise, either.

“If a human being truly wishes to, deep change can happen within a matter of hours or days.”

Took five minutes for me – but that was only because some things – “puzzle pieces”, one might call them – suddenly all fell into place, pretty much giving me a non-religious epiphany. I’m not comfortable with going into details here, as it was something life-changing for me, but deep personality changes can happen very fast, as your viewpoint to your own life changes.

People can deeply change within a very, very short time, and stick to that change for their entire life. Sometimes, the reason is quite obvious, sometimes… not so much. A person can stop drinking altogether because someone he cared about and used to party with, is dead. Not because drinking killed that friend, directly or indirectly, but as a tribute to their memory: “a party without my mate is just not the same”. Even though they still actually like alcohol, and they suddenly took the decision to not drink anymore, it doesn’t make their decision fake.

My main complaint with your comment, though, is that you seem to think that Jake is only a romantic interest, or that he sees her only that way. Maybe it is so. But they were raised together, and he said himself that they kinda consider each other as siblings (the kind that actually like each other, that is).

Whatever she did or is accused of having done, she thinks he can’t forgive her, and from what we’ve seen in the beginning of the story… yeah. Jake isn’t quite over it. If he was a lover, or “merely” lovestruck, the chances are, he would have found her excuses (pink-tinted glasses are a thing in love) and would at least have stayed with her, even if he couldn’t condone what she did.

The only reason he would stay behind if he loved her would be to protect her life in a way or another. I can’t think of a single example, besides the last panel of this page, that hinted at that. And I personally see this panel less about her life than about something she desperately want people to ignore about her mother.

Well, maybe he did/does love her romantically. But she saw (/sees ? |Depends if she knows he’s Bandit and doesn’t trust him anymore, or if she ignores that]) him as a brother, that much seems pretty obvious to me. And his romantic love, if it exists/ever existed at some time, grew from a preexisting brotherly love. And IF he did love her and now got over it because of the awful things she did, that brotherly love is what makes him worrying about what happened since she fled.

I’m pretty sure that Jake taking Kleya to a remote and isolated area would be more likely to put her on guard, and that hearing a confession of love would cause her to panic and flee–or leap into a fury if she found it patronizing or manipulative, regardless of its sincerity.

I’d say the oblique approach is the right one–Kleya cannot possibly object to someone else being as guarded and cautious as she is, and would find it suspiciously out-of-character for any TENka employee to ‘try an honest approach’ while still expecting something from her in return. I can imagine her breaking eye contact and pouting right now… though I at least Jake knows her well enough to understand this is not a sign of vulnerability where Kleya is concerned; and more of an implicit “This is your first warning. Stop playing with fire.”

“…hearing a confession of love would cause her to panic and flee–or leap into a fury if she found it patronizing or manipulative, regardless of its sincerity… I can imagine her breaking eye contact and pouting right now… though I at least (think) Jake knows her well enough to understand this is not a sign of vulnerability where Kleya is concerned; and more of an implicit “This is your first warning. Stop playing with fire.”

Wow, very well said. I admit to having little experience with women with that type of personality. And perhaps I’m mis-remembering something, but I thought that Brandon said something about her being his girlfriend at one time, which could have been a chiding remark. If they were in a deep relationship, especially after growing up together, I maintain my assertion knowing that quantifying certainty is impossible here. People who grow up together always know how to push eachother’s subconscious buttons towards the desired polar reactions. And if they were romantically involved, when separated, then the ability to influence eachother’s emotions would be greater still, due to biological and psychological factors. Dopamine, oxytocin, and eventually endorphins (opioid) influence brain development and create long-term biological and psychological pleasure-seeking triggers that produce increased levels of affection and open-ness. Of course metacognition would largely influence this, but it is obvious in the story that Kleya is seeking approval/acceptance by everyone, and people to which she was close, like Jake, would be chief among them.

Thanks for the backup Navian.
dralou, I’m glad you used alcohol in your example, but it was not a representative metaphor. There is a big difference between changing one’s actions and changing one’s core mentality. Yes many people can stop drinking with without much effort or backlash, which is an example of a behavior that is not a part of the person’s core mentality/personality. Alcoholism, on the other hand, is a core personality trait that can never truly go away because of, in part, the long-term bio-psycho triggers that define/create the addiction and the fact that individual brain cells (neurons) last your whole life (they don’t not recycle/replace themselves). For any males (probably females too) who don’t believe me, it is very easy for you to verify yourself. Set your mind to not thinking about gratifying sexual thoughts affecting yourself or anyone else and track how many times you have those thoughts. I’m certain that you can’t do this. Really set your mind to it so that you can prove to yourself that your determination and willpower, in this capacity, is more powerful than that of a gnat. (Moderator, please forgive that last comment as it is meant to serve a non-trolling purpose.)

Just one thing: new brain cells are not impossible, they are just not very numerous. Your brain can change, on a fundamental level, but really slowly.

I’m betting her dad is responsible for her mother’s death. In the best interpretation, he cracked under whatever they were doing to him; in the worst, he simply used mom as a scapegoat. The way he was in the TV. I’m guessing mom and Kleya split up after this scene to hide. Mom isn’t wearing a kido in this scene, is she? Her shoes sort of look like it but her arms don’t.

I think it was her who caused her moms death but not on purpose it was probably a result of her hacking or maybe a haywire robot

I think the traditional Kido is more like an immobile chamber(I’m picturing something that looks like a tanning bed), and Kleya seems to have the only functioning Hakido ever produced, so I don’t think her mom is wearing one. Just strappy shoes.

Krya på dig! That’s more or less the Swedish equivalent to “get well soon”. 🙂

And “Parane pian!” is the same in Finnish. 🙂

Blasphemy! You can’t be sick on your offspring’s birthday! You get better this instant!

Srsly though, get well soon, great comic, good job. You kept this comic going for 4 years, which, from what I’ve seen from others, is no easy task. So congrats!

Haha, I just realized that “Hakido” practically has the word “hack” in it >.>

“Hakido” = “Hack, I do”
No wonder people started being afraid of her or whatever!

It’s only one letter away from ‘Hapkido’, too! Thud. Kleya doesn’t seem to be much of a martial artist, though.

I read it as “HA-kido” for “Human-Augment(ing)-kido”. Could be wrong, but that’s what the “ha” became in my mind, considering what it can do. What “kido” stands for, or if it’s just a word for something, I’ve no idea.

The cloth on the middle panel is SO well-drawn! You’ve grown very much since 4 years ago. This is one of the things I like the most about your comic: I can watch the artist grow. Also, get better soon! 😀

Congratulations on four years of “Not a Villain”. 😀

Hope you feel better soon.

So thats why he told them it wasn’t the right person when they asked if kat was the person they where looking for

Who was Kim? I really enjoy seeing some back-story as well, this story just keeps pulling me in! Get well soon I know the feeling of being sick currently, I also picked a fantastic time to get my tetanus shot so I am now sore all over. 🙂

My opinion of the backstory right now: it could have been literally anything. The range of options along the scale of blame placed on every person is insane. From “everyone made it worse in some way” to “it was just a big misunderstanding”, literally anything is possible. Literally anyone is this story can be a villain to literally any degree, including sainthood.

We know Kleya isn’t a person she’s known to be. We know she regrets whatever happened. We know she blames herself for it. We also know she’s just the sort of overachiever personality to take blame for things she was never responsible for had had no power over. We know everyone is confused about her, and we know she wants to change and to do no more damage. We know she thinks her overachiever personality was to blame for what happened, and we know everyone else thinks she did it on purpose.

This allows for a pretty much infinite range of possibilities )=

Totally agree with you. The hints are there, but they’re somewhat vague, and as you say, don’t show what’s actually the level of culpability of anyone involved.

After 4 years, you’d think it became frustrating, not knowing anything for sure. But I’m tremendously enjoying this story, and don’t mind the slow-pace whatsoever…

Happy 4th birthday NAV!!

Hope you feel better soon though 🙂

Not A Villain Webcomic

Webcomic of a semi- reformed hacker trying to redeem herself in a post- apocalyptic world she may have created.

‘Not A Villain’ Webcomic – Page 335