No problem!

I was actually worried about the teeth. I am still learning human anatomy and I did not use any tooth references, so I'm sure they are off. I will be sure to use references in any future pieces.

Your artwork is very beautiful! That is some talent you have there! I was completely blown away when I saw some of the Karl fanart on here, and then I thought, "This needs to be shared."

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"Trust the Lord and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6

My guess is that Karl was helping the red-haired girl with some sort of emotional distress ("That's unusual. Something must be troubling her.").

Violin Girl likely responded well, they grew close, and she might have promised some pretty words. However, once she felt better or found another opportunity (a safer place, someone with a heartbeat), she left. Or perhaps she abandoned/betrayed him another way. We do know that she likely lied to him - he mentions being unable to trust the words of humans, and thus won't engage in promises with them.

I figure she is probably dead/gone, and he is imagining her as his conscience. Did Karl suppress the memories of why she left and how it all ended? Did he kill her? Is he just using his hate of the situation to fuel his reason for being?


Karl is much more into outward expression, so he wouldn't go into internal depression but external random acts of verbal/physical violence after the "incident." For example, he threw a dresser at Miss Red in vs Rellik. This is how Karl deals with his pain.

He also seems to be projecting. For example, he enjoys the suffering and lack of power of his victims, much like his own situation with the red-haired girl. Despite his assets, Karl had NO power if she just walked away. It's like he is reliving a relationship that can never be resurrected and fixed, so he just plays it out in his mind with different people - deceiving, betraying, hurting them - and never finds true peace.


Karl was probably like Climber and found joy in being useful to someone. Once his "purpose" was lost, he had no reason for being and so found resolve in hate. Clarice left Climber, but he has trust in seeing her again on friendly terms. Karl...has nothing.

What would be immensely sad is if Violin Girl was actually trying to help him, but Karl interpreted wrong and it all ended in tragedy. That would certainly drive someone to insanity. And imagine being near someone like Climber afterwards, who is fanboying over Clarice?


Which makes me wonder: is Climber always going to be so wonderfully nice and naive? I totally fangirl over nice guys, but I wonder if the ravages of time and experience will harden their hearts, and that beautiful, caring soul they had will eventually be lost. A person would have to be emotionally built up - know who they are and how they will react to any given situation - in order to avoid this. Climber is young, so that may not happen. What happens if Clarice betrays him? Will he become another Karl?

Thankfully, Climber has met a few not-so-horrible humans - Clarice, Miss Crowley, Chimbley, the Washer Woman - and has had positive reinforcement of what friendship is supposed to look like with Dood, Cindy, and Aldones. So, he might not be susceptible to this kind of outcome.

Karl, on the other hand, lived with human-disliking pirates, and the girl he got close to abandoned him. If Karl and Climber's situations had been switched, would they still have ended up the same?

Which leads me to another point... Karl is going up against a flesh-and-blood couple that dedicated their lives to each other, and the wife has new life forming inside her. I imagine Karl's hate is just going to increase more. My fan brain is screaming: He would have been totally incapable of giving the red-haired girl a life like that!

Such an intriguing story... I am so on the edge of my seat!

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"Trust the Lord and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6