Line #75 Webcomic/Pawn


1	[[quoteright:229:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pawn_comic.jpg]]
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3	''Pawn'' is a [[{{Webcomics}} webcomic]] by fantasy artist Fredrik K.T. Andersson which started in 2004. It follows the adventures of a human girl named Ayanah and her demon partner Baalah, beginning with their first encounter and their escape from the crypt in which Baalah was contained.
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5	As of about November 2010, new pages appeared after [[ScheduleSlip two years without them]]. Then a couple of days into January 2012 the strip stopped posting again, only to post on August of 2013. Only to stop posting again this time for over four years and counting. As of late 2018, the webpage itself hasn't been updated, but the artist's [[https://www.deviantart.com/derangedmeowmeow deviantart page]][[labelnote:nsfwnote]]Link is to main page, which includes NSFW if you're logged in, but is blocked if you're not.[[/labelnote]] now has all six sections (Minus the single page of 7 that was the last post on the website). The notes for Part 1 includes the line, "''So, does this mean I’ll be doing more Pawn? Well, to all of you who kept poking that lazy butt, that stick just got shorter. ;3''"
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7	Contains lots of bare nipples, so the webcomic link at the top is to the SFW first page. Links below are mostly NSFW. It's pretty light in content, though--more an R than an NC-17.
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10	!! Tropes Used in the Webcomic
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12	* AmazonianBeauty: Baalah, especially when in her giantess form.
13	* ArtEvolution: Art has become more solid and less relying on slight touches.
14	* BadassBookworm: Though she hasn't displayed much physical capability thus far, Ayanah did manage to make it to the end of a dungeon crawl that has claimed the lives of other adventurers completely unscathed before the comic proper began. She also researched ''exactly'' how to enslave Baalah, permanently, knowing every loophole the princess could use to get out of it.
15	* BatmanGambit: Ayanah's plot for Baalah. She sneaks into a huge labyrinth after mapping it extensively beforehand and during the trip, finds Baalah after researching her location in ancient demonic texts, uses well researched rules to prevent her instant murder by Baalah using a loophole that allows people to challenge demons via mental powers, not via direct combat, picks out a game that Baalah has no idea how to play, ''taunts her'' into making a bad move, then abuses a very, ''very'' specific loophole regarding virgins and demons to permanently enslave her. She pulls it off ''flawlessly.'' Even Baalah has no problem following Ayanah for now, as she considers life of servitude outside dungeon better than life of servitude back inside.[[spoiler: Except that Ayanah accidentally unsealed something other than just Baalah at the same time, and her map for the way out isn't as good as she thought it was, partially due to Baalah and happenstance damaging a trail marking.]]
16	* BeautifulDreamer: Baalah watches Ayanah as she sleeps. Justified in that demons don't need to sleep, and Baalah doesn't even understand the concept of it. Nevertheless, Ayanah is still notably creeped out.
17	* BigNo: Baalah lets one out upon finding out that Ayanah is a virgin.
18	* BoxedCrook: Baalah. She was forced to trade in [[SealedRoomInTheMiddleOfNowhere semi-eternal guardianship of a bunch of forgotten treasure at the bottom of a huge dungeon]] in lieu of being a GenreSavvy [[TheChessmaster Chessmaster]] Lesbian's personal sex slave -- for all eternity. Fortunately for her, Ayanah's a very nice girl (although it's heavily, heavily insinuated that she's only waiting to get safely out of the dungeon before she takes advantage of Baalah) and she seems to be falling for her, to boot.
19	* ChekhovsSkill: Ayanah's noisy butt pervented her from being eaten by the Necrachid.
20	* CheshireCatGrin: Ditto Baalah, but Ayanah also gets them. Of special note is the first one, when Baalah is [[OhCrap realizing]] just how ''screwed'' Ayanah's virgin kiss left her -- which set the [[LesYay tone]] for the character, as up until then, she came across as an innocent bookworm type.
21	* [[ChessWithDeath Chess With Demon]]
22	* [[strike: [[ChildrenAreInnocent Children]] ]] [[ChildrenAreInnocent Sheltered Demonic Princesses of Hellfire Are Innocent]]: Baalah. It's insinuated she's quite young for a demoness, she's sheltered royalty, and she's been sealed away in a dungeon for ''millennia''.
23	* CuteLittleFangs: Baalah can have these at times.
24	* DidYouJustScamCthulhu: Ayanah was able to invoke all the laws to prevent death at the hands of a demon princess, pit said demon into a game she knew nothing about (chess), beat her at it, AND have them both get bonded eternally.
25	* DoomyDoomsOfDoom: The story takes place in the ancient dungeons on the Island of Doom.
26	* DreamingOfThingsToCome: Chapter 4 begins with Ayanah dreaming of [[spoiler: getting Baalah out of the dungeon and making love to her in a field, only to have Baalah's demonic essence somehow corrupt her through the bond, leaving ''her'' as a demonic entity of malevolence.]]
27	* DungeonCrawling: Inverted. The plot begins with Ayanah completing her dungeon crawl, with Baalah as the treasure, and everything from that point on is the two of them working their way back to the surface. Naturally, getting out is turning out to be more difficult than getting in was -- what with the giant bone spider creature trying to kill them and all.
28	* ExtremeOmnisexual: The Bard from Andersson's Elfwood page. It's a running gag that every single time the party enters a new town, they find a new fantasy creature (werewolf, centaur, unicorn, giant, meremaid, minotaur, dragon, ''a random, nonsentient rock'', etc etc.) with a HalfHumanHybrid child to introduce to the Bard... In fact, the only girl that the Bard apparently ''hasn't'' seduced outright is his Elf companion, something that [[ObliviousToLove annoys the hell out of her for some reason]].
29	* {{Fanservice}}: Pretty much the whole damn thing.
30	* {{Fartillery}}: Ayanah is saved from certain death from an undead EldritchAbomination by accidentally letting one rip in its face.
31	--> '''Ayanah:''' "Stupid rations."
32	* FreudianSlip: Thanks to a constant barrage of annoying questions, Ayanah lets slip that there never was any treasure for Baalah to guard.
33	* GassHole: Not only does Ayanah fart [[RunningGag several times throughout the series]], they're also usually comically exaggerated; they have been shown to be capable of echoing throughout the entire dungeon and were even (accidentally) used as {{Fartillery}}.
34	* GenreSavvy: Ayanah, as part of the BadassBookworm package. She even ''made a map'' of the maze -- and took notes. Baalah's reaction implies that this is somehow cheating.
35	* HumansThroughAlienEyes: Human behavior and biology is just strange to Baalah. As a demon, she doesn't get tired, she doesn't need to eat, and she doesn't need to remove bodily wastes. So she reacts with confusion whenever Ayanah sleeps, eats, [[GassHole farts]], or has a PottyEmergency.
36	* INeverToldYouMyName: Baalah never learns Ayanah's name (in fact, she outright refuses to hear it), but knows it instinctively due to the pact, something that comes up when Ayanah's in danger for the first time.
37	* InnocentFanserviceGirl: Baalah. She hasn't put on a stitch of clothing the entire series (although we do see her dressed in the gallery, amusingly dancing with Ayanah at a high class society ball), has shown no body shame whatsoever (she apparently doesn't even ''own'' any clothing), ''and'' being a completely sheltered royal, actually is rather innocent, to boot.
38	* InsistentTerminology: A RunningGag is how the girls argue whether an action qualifies as a helpful push or a forceful shove.
39	-->'''Ayanah''': What the ''hell'' was ''that'' for?! \
40	'''Baalah''': What? i just gave a friendly push to help you [climb] up.\
41	'''Ayanah''': That was not a ''push''! It was a ''shove''!\
42	'''Baalah''': It was a push!\
43	'''Ayanah''': A shove!\
44	'''Baalah''': A push!\
45	'''Ayanah''': Shove!\
46	'''Baalah''': Push!\
47	'''Ayanah''': Shove!
48	* KidWithTheLeash: Ayanah to Baalah. Baalah is rather [[{{Tsundere}} spiteful]] for being leashed, and in a rather amusing aversion, the "kid" in this case has [[LesYay bad intentions.]]
49	* LongRunner: 10 years and counting(Sorta).
50	* AMagicContractComesWithAKiss: Both to seal the contract, and to alter Baalah's size.
51	* MsFanservice: Baalah is a perpetually naked demoness with giant breasts who can be either human-sized or the size of a house with one kiss from her female partner.
52	* NobleDemon. Baalah. Though she's a literal one, she hasn't actually killed anyone in her tenure as a guardian, and at one point is shown lamenting one young warrior who died in the dungeon fleeing in terror from her.
53	* NobodyPoops: Averted with Ayanah, thanks to those [[RunningGag stupid rations]]. Justified with Baalah (and all demons, for that matter), who doesn't need to eat, sleep, or remove bodily wastes
54	* OhCrap: Baalah, as she realizes that Ayalah has never kissed anyone, and is a pure, untouched, virgin, to boot -- meaning that Baalah is now her personal slave for all eternity.
55	** The Necrachid does this a lot, which is impressive, considering its heads are only skulls.
56	* OverlyLongTongue: When Ayanah tells Baalah to [[http://pawn.smackjeeves.com/comics/1025099/pawn-part-6-page-5/ "Watch her tongue"]] Baalah, not knowing its just an expression, [[http://pawn.smackjeeves.com/comics/1025100/pawn-part-6-page-6/ does exactly that,]] revealing herself to have an inhumanly long tongue. When Ayanah sees this, her mind goes straight to the gutter.
57	* PlayingWithFire: Baalah, as a princess of hellfire, can hurl fireballs.
58	In a side comic, she's shown lighting up a match by ''licking it.
59	* PottyEmergency: [[RunningGag Stupid Rations.]]
60	* ProphecyTwist: Ayanah is following a specific, cryptically and ambiguously worded prophecy to [[spoiler: further cement the already permanent bond she has with Baalah, turning it into true love]]. It's ambiguously worded enough that this trope is definitely in play.
61	* PunchClockVillain: Baalah may be a demon princess of hellfire, but she's rather friendly and playful unless you try to take the treasure she's guarding.
62	* RiddleMeThis: Subverted. Baalah thinks the challenge is about riddles and is disappointed when Ayanah reveals that it is not.
63	-->'''Baalah:''' ...But I like riddles...
64	* RunningGag: Ayanah ate bad rations on the way down, which have given her an upset stomach.
65	* SealedEvilInACan: Baalah, trapped in a SealedRoomInTheMiddleOfNowhere (at the bottom of a ''huge'' trap filled maze). In a subversion of the typical plot, Ayanah ''intentionally unseals her'', not out of some convoluted plot to get revenge, to steal her treasure, or even get her help to defeat an evil, but because ''she realized she could (relatively) safely enslave a succubus.'' [[spoiler: Unfortunately, either Ayanah accidentally unsealed something else, or the people sealing Baalah in the maze had a backup plan, a necromantic spider... thing is chasing them.]]
66	* {{Sizeshifter}}: Baalah, who can go from normal human sized to large enough to fill the cavern at will.
67	* SnipeHunt: Remember the [[spoiler:treasure Baalah was down there to guard? Turns out there was no treasure. Baalah]] is less than pleased at this revelation.
68	* {{Squick}}: In-universe, this is Baalah's reaction when she finally saw what [[PottyEmergency Ayanah had been doing around that corner]].
69	--> '''Baalah''': "''I'm having very contradictive feelings about your butt right now. It's cute '''and''' disgusting!''"
70	* StealthPun
71	-->'''Ayanah:''' Don't push your luck!\
72	'''Baalah:''' Oh, I'm sorry...would you like me to shove it instead..?\
73	'''Ayanah:''' Very tempting, but no.
74	* SuperDeformed: Frequently, often with cuter eyes and more animesque mouths at the same time. Amusingly, SD!Baalah keeps her large breasts.
75	* SurpriseCheckmate: How Ayanah is able to beat Baalah at chess. Possibly justified in that it was Baalah's first game, Ayanah is a scholar, and Baalah... "isn't."
76	* ToiletHumour: Fart jokes are a bit of a RunningGag due to the bad rations Ayanah ate. See {{Fartillery}} and GassHole above.
77	* TookALevelInBadass: [[http://www.smackjeeves.com/images/uploaded/comics/d/5/d5f73ad82Hz4O.jpg The Necrachid.]]
78	* TreasureRoom: What Baalah was summoned to guard for all eternity. [[spoiler: The joke is on her, unfortunately -- the cost of creating the TreasureRoom, building the dungeon above it, filling it with traps, and summoning Baalah bankrupted the kingdom that was doing all this, leaving ''Baalah'' as the only thing of any value at the bottom of the dungeon.]]
79	* {{Tsundere}}: Both Ayanah (type B) and Baalah (type A, though it really doesn't take much to trigger her ''deredere'' side).
80	** [[spoiler: Subverted, slightly, in that Ayanah is intentionally invoking this trope to keep Baalah interested, but also keep her from confessing romantic feelings to her until they arrive on the surface. You read that right: She's intentionally being a tease to her pet ''succubus''. Well played, scholar girl!]]
81	* {{Vaporwear}}: As the comic is in black and white and features BarbieDollAnatomy, there has been some debate as to whether Ayanah is wearing tights or nothing at all below the waist except her shoes. [[http://pawn.smackjeeves.com/comics/1039414/pawn-part-6-page-10/ The scene here]] can be interpreted either as her pulling down her pants or pulling up her skirt, so jury's still out.
82	** The author is well aware of the duality, and continues to play with the readers. Observe [[http://pawn.smackjeeves.com/comics/1379468/pawn-part-6-page-22/ this December 2011 page]], wherein Ayanah's buttocks are either blushing or shaded for texture.
83	* VillainousBreakdown: One can argue how much of a villain Baalah is, but after losing her challenge to Ayanah, Baalah certainly has a breakdown. It continues to escalate as she realizes that [[spoiler: Ayanah is a virgin, ''and'' has never been kissed, meaning Baalah is completely screwed, from a demon's point of view.]]
84	* VirginPower: How Ayanah is able to bind Baalah to herself.
85	* WeakButSkilled: Ayanah is only a scholar, and has no skill in combat. Regardless, she was able to venture all the way to the bottom of a labyrinthine dungeon by herself and defeat a demon without violence.
86	* WebcomicTime: The freaking bathroom break. It took almost a year!
87	* WellDoneSonGuy: Implied to be the case with Baalah, who fears her father will disown her for being beaten by a scholar.
88	* WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove: Baalah, as part of the bond, seems to be falling for Ayanah, but is completely unable to comprehend the emotion.
89	* WorthyOpponent: Baalah implies that she had been hoping to find one during her tenure as a guardian, if only because being beaten by one would have allowed her to return to Hell with grace. But since she was instead defeated by "a little school-girl," she'll now be a laughingstock.

Context Webcomic / Pawn