NP Comic for Tuesday, Oct 31, 2023

[Darth Fluffy 338]

NP Comic for Tuesday, Oct 31, 2023

Hmm. In either the before the change or after the change magic, Kevin makes no sense. What exactly is he? Physically, he is a stick, painted like a traditional stage wand. This makes a little sense, because as a seer, Arthur is a 'wand maker'. But Tedd has long since demonstrated that wands don't have to actually be stick shaped.

He does not duplicate the function of 'normal' wands, he is not enabling the caster to use himself to cast a spell via the magical energy he stores. A normal wand would have to be a recording of the spell it can cast, so that's not unlike Kevin, but Kevin has much more knowledge than a specific spell, and can reason about them. This is not wand-like.

He's more like a spell book, albeit an open ended one that is not about specific spells. Like if you took spellbook-like knowledge and made a pod cast about it. But even then, not a scripted podcast, more like segments a responsive program that would show short training segments to address specific queries, and even beyond that, incorporated an AI that assesses need and selects the segments. All without having much of a clue about polity and social interaction.

And then, he has odd capabilities, like speaking. Why and how? There are alternatives to speaking, he could be telepathic maybe, or create a text display in the air, or have a readout on the side. But clearly, he is speaking and several people hear him at once. He has no apparent sound interaction hardware. Yet he speaks and hears. If this is trivial to do in the EGS universe, why don't all wands have an instructional feature to tell people what they are for and how to operate them?

He can't see the video game being played, but he is aware of people and where they are. He has almost no social sense, but he 'tilts himself politely'. Where did he get that notion? And he hovers. That seems like a powerful feature, the kind of thing you'd want to build into lots of stuff, yet we haven't seen many magic items that hover. We've seen people hover, but will was involved. Kevin essentially has no will of his own, other than his teaching purpose; he 'sleeps' when he's not teaching. So why does he hover? It seems that it would use a lot of magic power to do so. It would shorten his useful life if he is using stored power. Is he dependent on ambient magic energy? Is he vampyric? Can Ashley even power him, if he is?

Presumably, he is a wand because Arthur is a wand maker, but he has more in common with a spell book than a wand, and he is ambulatory like a golem. He should have been some other kind of object:

Teddy bear

Brass frog

(I'd say a Barbie style doll, but that's too much like the fairy dolls, would be confusing in the comic)

A magician doll with a top hat

A cell phone app

A vinyl record you have to play, but the audio is responsive like Kevin, and the record keeps spinning and does not end until your session is done.

An augmentation on a cat or dog

A head set with a microphone

Kevin also appears to learn. In terms of AI, this is nontrivial; it seems that Arthur is skilled beyond just magic.

Gotta say, still not a fan of the character, Kevin. Not seeing that he brings a lot to the comic.

[mlooney 3,594]

13 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

If this is trivial to do in the EGS universe, why don't all wands have an instructional feature to tell people what they are for and how to operate them?

I don't think it's trivial, which is why he didn't work until hit with Dragon Energy (tm)

 

13 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

He should have been some other kind of object:

Teddy bear

A talking magic teaching Teddy bear would be nightmare inducing. 

 

13 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

A magician doll with a top hat

Even more nightmare inducing. 

 

13 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

A cell phone app

He predates smart phones.

 

13 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

A vinyl record you have to play, but the audio is responsive like Kevin, and the record keeps spinning and does not end until your session is done.

This would be amusing.

 

13 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

An augmentation on a cat or dog

Not sure I want to have a cat that is self aware and capable of casting magic.

[Pharaoh RutinTutin 1,619]

 

I do not think Kevin is the second coming of Srappy Doo. 

Tedd has always been alone in magical research.  Even though Edward is a powerful mage, the communication between him and Tedd has been difficult at best until recently.  Adrian Raven has remained distant due to an unspoken agreement between him and Edward.  Pandora could be helpful, IF she happened to roll about a dozen nat 20s on various skill, reaction, and sanity checks on the same day.  Other Immortals, aliens & gods are even more unpredictable and all have ulterior motives that were not in Tedd's best interest. 

Now Tedd has a magic artifact that could reasonably provide some insight into any magical question Tedd might have. 

Is it perfect?  No. 

Can it be annoying?  Yes. 

Did Kevin need to be so rude when introduced?  Character growth?

Does if smell faintly of Deus Ex Machina?  Absolutely. 

Will it be used as a mouthpiece for the author as an alternative to drawing long sequences of lab or library research?  Probably. 

The plot twist where Tedd relies too heavily on Kevin leading to a spectacular and explosive failure practically writes itself. 

 

And as for the suggested alternate Kevin Forms?

The Magical Talking Teddy Bear is nightmare fuel for those of us who survived the 80s. 

 

Edited October 31, 2023 by Pharaoh RutinTutin
Spelling

[Darth Fluffy 338]

21 hours ago, mlooney said:

A talking magic teaching Teddy bear would be nightmare inducing.

 

20 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

The Magical Talking Teddy Bear is nightmare fuel for those of us who survived the 80s.

 

I'm missing the reference. Are you referring to Teddy Ruxpin?

I had kids the right age for this toy, and I had a curious but not compelling interest, and they never asked for it.

I had a stuffed chimp when I was a toddler, about my size, and had a vinyl face, ears, hands, and shoes (possibly rubber). I was terrified of it, I think it hit the 'uncanny valley'.

 

 

21 hours ago, mlooney said:

 

Quote

On 10/31/2023 at 1:33 AM, Darth Fluffy said:

A magician doll with a top hat

Even more nightmare inducing.

I watched Mark Wilson's Magic Land of Allakazam every Saturday morning. I don't think this item would have been frightening for me.

 

21 hours ago, mlooney said:

He predates smart phones.

Good point. He could have been a dial-up service.

 

21 hours ago, mlooney said:

 

Quote

17 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

A vinyl record you have to play, but the audio is responsive like Kevin, and the record keeps spinning and does not end until your session is done.

This would be amusing.

What would you hear if you played it backwards?

 

21 hours ago, mlooney said:

Not sure I want to have a cat that is self aware and capable of casting magic.

They believe they are the center of the universe, they see things that aren't there, and they fit into impossible places . . .

 

My favorite was the brass frog.

Can Tedd transfer Kevin's functionality to another object?

 

21 hours ago, mlooney said:

I don't think it's trivial, which is why he didn't work until hit with Dragon Energy (tm)

Giving it more power shouldn't give it new functions. If that worked, we'd program computers by hooking them up to the distribution lines with no transformer.

 

20 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

I do not think Kevin is the second coming of Scrappy Doo.

You are absolutely correct. That occurred in one of the movies when Scrappy came back as the villain.

 

20 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

Now Tedd has a magic artifact that could reasonably provide some insight into any magical question Tedd might have.

Is Kevin in Tedd's custody? His assignment was to train Ashley, it seemed that he was left in her care.

Even so, he may stay at Tedd's, since Tedd is involved in the training, and that occurs at his house.

 

[Darth Fluffy 338]

20 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

Is it perfect?  No. 

Can it be annoying?  Yes. 

Did Kevin need to be so rude when introduced?  Character growth?

Does if smell faintly of Deus Ex Machina?  Absolutely. 

Will it be used as a mouthpiece for the author as an alternative to drawing long sequences of lab or library research?  Probably. 

The plot twist where Tedd relies too heavily on Kevin leading to a spectacular and explosive failure practically writes itself.

Re: Is it perfect?  No.   - Kevin might disagree.

Re: Can it be annoying?  Yes.   - Just a bit, eh?

Re: Did Kevin need to be so rude when introduced?    - Seriously does not know any better. Can't really blame him for not being something he's not.

Re: Character growth?   - Have not seen much of that. He started out rudely, but was also cowardly comedy relief. He is now more or less performing his function, depending who he's talking to. He works better with Tedd, who he says doesn't need him ("graduated") than with those who could use the training. Seems poorly designed, no?

Re: Does if smell faintly of Deus Ex Machina?  Absolutely   - Faintly?

Re: Will it be used as a mouthpiece for the author as an alternative to drawing long sequences of lab or library research?  Probably.   - True.

Re: The plot twist where Tedd relies too heavily on Kevin leading to a spectacular and explosive failure practically writes itself.   - True.

 

[Darth Fluffy 338]

Kevin scenarios:

 

Tedd is baking, needs to stir batter, uses Kevin. Kevin objects, but is not heard through goopy batter.

 

"If we cut Kevin in half, do we get two smaller Kevins, two partially functional Kevins, or does Kevin die? . . . hmm, . . . Scientific method!"

"What are you doing?"

"You can't see?"

"Uhm, no?"

"It's nothing."

"It feels funny."

"Don't worry, it won't hurt"

"You sure?"

"I promise. I won't feel a thing"

 

Kevin goes on a date with Peg, but takes offense when she is short with him.

 

[ChronosCat 158]

On 11/1/2023 at 0:51 PM, Darth Fluffy said:

I'm missing the reference. Are you referring to Teddy Ruxpin?

I had kids the right age for this toy, and I had a curious but not compelling interest, and they never asked for it.

I had a stuffed chimp when I was a toddler, about my size, and had a vinyl face, ears, hands, and shoes (possibly rubber). I was terrified of it, I think it hit the 'uncanny valley'.

I never encountered the toy in person, but Teddy Ruxpin's commercials were pretty creepy. Or at least so it seemed the one time I watched one of the old commercials as an adult; I don't think they bothered me as a kid.

My mom had a couple of stuffed "monkeys" like the one you described (one black, one brown), which she passed on to me and my sister when we were young. I didn't find them scary, but I did think they were a little ugly (it also annoyed me that they wore shoes, as that's not something most real monkeys & non-human apes are in the habit of doing).

On 11/1/2023 at 0:51 PM, Darth Fluffy said:

They believe they are the center of the universe, they see things that aren't there, and they fit into impossible places . . .

Are cats seeing things that aren't there, or are you failing to see things that are there?

(Also, cats are very sound-orientated; depending on the situation in question, it may be a case of hearing something that's not visible. For instance, tracking a mouse that's crawling in a wall.)

[Darth Fluffy 338]

On 11/9/2023 at 1:43 PM, ChronosCat said:

Are cats seeing things that aren't there, or are you failing to see things that are there?

(Also, cats are very sound-orientated; depending on the situation in question, it may be a case of hearing something that's not visible. For instance, tracking a mouse that's crawling in a wall.)

Cats are seeing things that aren't there in the universe you are in. Bets are off if it exists in the multiverse the cat inhabits. (That's how they walk through walls.)

You wouldn't say cats are very sound oriented if you ever tried to call one. However, they do sense the can opener.

[ChronosCat 158]

On 11/10/2023 at 8:52 PM, Darth Fluffy said:

You wouldn't say cats are very sound oriented if you ever tried to call one. However, they do sense the can opener.

Cats are very willful. They only come when called if they feel like it. (Of course, for many cats food is a good motivator.)

[Pharaoh RutinTutin 1,619]

 

Selective deafness is a skill few pets or people can hope to master as well as cats perform instinctually

 

[ijuin 594]

2 hours ago, ChronosCat said:

Cats are very willful. They only come when called if they feel like it. (Of course, for many cats food is a good motivator.)

My cats will come when called by name when I am calling them for food (I use specific vocabulary such as “din-din” for meals and “yummy” for treats so that they recognize what I am talking about). Coming at other times is indeed dependent on their mood at the moment.

[mlooney 3,594]

Explorer comes almost every time I make clicking sounds with my tongue against my front teeth.  Doesn't always stay but she comes to see what is up.