Heart of Ice
March 22, 2014 5:46 PM Subscribe
A plane crashes in the bitter cold. A single survivor. A visitation. Kate Craig's Heart of Ice
I guess that's a spoiler, actually. Sorry. hover over here to read it.
posted by codacorolla at 6:32 PM on March 22, 2014
posted by codacorolla at 6:32 PM on March 22, 2014
codacorolla: Not quite, as there were none.
posted by El Mariachi at 6:58 PM on March 22, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by El Mariachi at 6:58 PM on March 22, 2014 [2 favorites]
Haha, true.
posted by codacorolla at 7:00 PM on March 22, 2014
posted by codacorolla at 7:00 PM on March 22, 2014
Haven't seen True detective. I liked this though. Someone clarify--were the people who picked him up people from the plane?
posted by sleeping bear at 7:26 PM on March 22, 2014
posted by sleeping bear at 7:26 PM on March 22, 2014
I think the monster was a metaphor for his own cannibalism - so the reference to the toes and hunger before, plus how the monster took the people killed in the crash in the order of how he least liked or was close to. Or am I off the mark?
posted by Conspire at 7:33 PM on March 22, 2014 [10 favorites]
posted by Conspire at 7:33 PM on March 22, 2014 [10 favorites]
Was he trapped all winter? I mean that's lot to consume. I'm going with monster
posted by humanfont at 7:46 PM on March 22, 2014
posted by humanfont at 7:46 PM on March 22, 2014
Was he trapped all winter? I mean that's lot to consume. I'm going with monster.
posted by Pudhoho at 7:52 PM on March 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Pudhoho at 7:52 PM on March 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
When the monster arrived, he stopped mentioning his hunger. That, plus he had time to grow a beard, suggests that the monster was his own cannibalism.
posted by Mogur at 7:53 PM on March 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Mogur at 7:53 PM on March 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
In the final frames, he's acquired some suspicious new bloodstains. Plus, the posture and the claw-like hands resemble the "monster's." So...
posted by thomas j wise at 7:53 PM on March 22, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by thomas j wise at 7:53 PM on March 22, 2014 [2 favorites]
I assumed he resorted to cannibalism and externalized that act as a monster. It reminded me of Life of Pi.
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 7:58 PM on March 22, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 7:58 PM on March 22, 2014 [4 favorites]
"The creature drags him over the hill and I feel, somehow, better."
posted by mhoye at 8:08 PM on March 22, 2014
posted by mhoye at 8:08 PM on March 22, 2014
What? It's not like he's killing them to eat them! They're already dead! What's he supposed to do? I say eat hearty, friend, and dream no more of monsters. A calorie is a calorie.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 8:11 PM on March 22, 2014 [8 favorites]
posted by BitterOldPunk at 8:11 PM on March 22, 2014 [8 favorites]
The "creature" seems to be a reference to the native american legend of the Wendigo.
posted by murphy slaw at 8:18 PM on March 22, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by murphy slaw at 8:18 PM on March 22, 2014 [2 favorites]
I took it as a reference to his cannibalism. Sparsely told story and all the better for that.
posted by arcticseal at 8:40 PM on March 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by arcticseal at 8:40 PM on March 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
According to Yahoo Answers a 150lb person would provide about 77,000 calories of meat and soft tissues. Assuming our crash survivor is only 50% efficient that is still 38,000 calories. That's at least 15 days of food from each corpse.
posted by humanfont at 9:06 PM on March 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by humanfont at 9:06 PM on March 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
This was well put together. The backstory of each character was placed well, showing his justification for eating them in the order of his emotional attachment to them.
posted by GrapeApiary at 9:23 PM on March 22, 2014
posted by GrapeApiary at 9:23 PM on March 22, 2014
TL;DR
I have eaten
the corpses
that were in
the wreckage
and which
you were probably
hoping
I would not
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold
posted by Pudhoho at 9:25 PM on March 22, 2014 [44 favorites]
I have eaten
the corpses
that were in
the wreckage
and which
you were probably
hoping
I would not
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold
posted by Pudhoho at 9:25 PM on March 22, 2014 [44 favorites]
If I hadn't read it primed by this thread, I might not have read it as cannibalism. But yeah, no doubt.
posted by wotsac at 9:26 PM on March 22, 2014
posted by wotsac at 9:26 PM on March 22, 2014
As the rescue helicopter crests the hill he begins to regret he only waited 16 hours before resorting to cannibalism...
posted by Justinian at 10:46 PM on March 22, 2014 [7 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 10:46 PM on March 22, 2014 [7 favorites]
The Walker Of The Snow. (Or for those who don't read, the song's video on YouTube.)
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 12:57 AM on March 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 12:57 AM on March 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
But after six months of instant coffee and basic food allowances, Starbucks is looking mighty important too.
So cannibalism was looking good even before it became necessary for survival. Anyway, I guess I don't see the moral dilemma between starvation and eating parts of a dead, frozen body. To my way of thinking, every survival kit should include a bottle of Chianti and some farva beans. You know just in case.
posted by three blind mice at 4:18 AM on March 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
So cannibalism was looking good even before it became necessary for survival. Anyway, I guess I don't see the moral dilemma between starvation and eating parts of a dead, frozen body. To my way of thinking, every survival kit should include a bottle of Chianti and some farva beans. You know just in case.
posted by three blind mice at 4:18 AM on March 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
This was great. Comics are great. Thanks for the link!
posted by Narrative Priorities at 5:44 AM on March 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Narrative Priorities at 5:44 AM on March 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
Anyway, I guess I don't see the moral dilemma between starvation and eating parts of a dead, frozen body.
I agree with you 100%, sitting at a desk in an artificially warmed apartment in a city full of people. Ask me again when I'm crawling from the wreckage of an airplane somewhere in the Canadian countryside.
posted by Pope Guilty at 5:46 AM on March 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
I agree with you 100%, sitting at a desk in an artificially warmed apartment in a city full of people. Ask me again when I'm crawling from the wreckage of an airplane somewhere in the Canadian countryside.
posted by Pope Guilty at 5:46 AM on March 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
Assuming our crash survivor is only 50% efficient that is still 38,000 calories
I imagine cooking would help a lot if it were possible.
posted by Segundus at 5:52 AM on March 23, 2014
I imagine cooking would help a lot if it were possible.
posted by Segundus at 5:52 AM on March 23, 2014
Is anyone else here a little disturbed that anywhere, much less Yahoo Answers, is a ready source for the caloric content of a human body?
Also, creature totally == cannibalism
posted by hwestiii at 6:01 AM on March 23, 2014
Also, creature totally == cannibalism
posted by hwestiii at 6:01 AM on March 23, 2014
I think I prefer my (imagined) alternate ending where he fights off the monster just moments before being rescued (or, really, now that I think of it, the sound and/or wake-turbulence from the helicopter arriving scares the monster off). I also like to imagine he survived off the supplies that are visible in the back of the plane on page one. Yay for happy endings!
posted by and they trembled before her fury at 6:21 AM on March 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by and they trembled before her fury at 6:21 AM on March 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
>> Is anyone else here a little disturbed that anywhere, much less Yahoo Answers, is a ready source for the caloric content of a human body?
On a glass house-related note: One of the most highly decorated answers on AskMe explains how to best dispose of a body. Not that it was any less awkward there. :)
posted by JohnFredra at 6:59 AM on March 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
On a glass house-related note: One of the most highly decorated answers on AskMe explains how to best dispose of a body. Not that it was any less awkward there. :)
posted by JohnFredra at 6:59 AM on March 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
But, wasn't that the pilot and research assistant who found him? Was he dreaming that part too? Did he actually just die at the end?
posted by nushustu at 8:43 AM on March 23, 2014
posted by nushustu at 8:43 AM on March 23, 2014
But, wasn't that the pilot and research assistant who found him? Was he dreaming that part too? Did he actually just die at the end?
It's the cook (first to go) and the research assistant (last to go) at the end, yeah. Could just be that he died.
posted by kafziel at 10:57 AM on March 23, 2014
It's the cook (first to go) and the research assistant (last to go) at the end, yeah. Could just be that he died.
posted by kafziel at 10:57 AM on March 23, 2014
I think he was rescued, but his feelings of guilt caused him to hallucinate that his rescuers were the cook and the research assistant.
(Btw, I agree that cannibalism is a moral act under such circumstances.)
posted by marsha56 at 11:09 AM on March 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
(Btw, I agree that cannibalism is a moral act under such circumstances.)
posted by marsha56 at 11:09 AM on March 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
It's the cook (first to go) and the research assistant (last to go) at the end, yeah.
No they aren’t. The bearded guy does look pretty similar to the cook but has a different cap, and the other person’s nose is completely different than the research assistant’s. Looks like a guy, really, while the assistant was a woman.
posted by El Mariachi at 11:12 AM on March 23, 2014
No they aren’t. The bearded guy does look pretty similar to the cook but has a different cap, and the other person’s nose is completely different than the research assistant’s. Looks like a guy, really, while the assistant was a woman.
posted by El Mariachi at 11:12 AM on March 23, 2014
I hadn't though about the cannibalism take. Makes sense to me, especially as his parka, at the end, is depicted being covered in what I assumed was blood, though it was not at the beginning of the post-crash ordeal.
posted by Thorzdad at 11:44 AM on March 23, 2014
posted by Thorzdad at 11:44 AM on March 23, 2014
Thanks. What a tale. Will keep an eye on the artist.
posted by hat_eater at 3:14 PM on March 23, 2014
posted by hat_eater at 3:14 PM on March 23, 2014
Wow, she was the 3D artist for Gone Home.
posted by hat_eater at 3:18 PM on March 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by hat_eater at 3:18 PM on March 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
Her SO is Emily Carroll, a Metafilter favourite in her own right, which makes for a pretty intimidatingly talented couple.
posted by ZaphodB at 10:58 PM on March 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by ZaphodB at 10:58 PM on March 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
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posted by snofoam at 6:31 PM on March 22, 2014 [1 favorite]