Drasvin

Time for another story in the comic shop, where some ten-year-olds get to make Justin feel ancient and out of touch....

Am I the only person here whose definition of a "argument" can include friendly exchanges, not just bad ones?  You give your argument on a point, then I give mine, then we back-and-forth about it,  As long as you don't start using fallacies like Straw Man or Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc, then a good argument can be quite enjoyable.
A "debate" is more formal, a "discussion" doesn't cover each taking and supporting a side the way argument does.

drives in on a forklift carrying a steel drum labeled ClF3
One order of unquenchable fire?

There wouldn't be hybrids, as wizards can gain spells through the normal personality-tailored method. Being a wizard just adds a new method of gaining spells. There's nothing to suggest that being a wizard would cause a person to lose the normal method of earning spells other than a notion of balance or fairness and the EGS-verse isn't an rpg. The different types of magic aren't balanced against each other. If the magic of the EGS-verse was intended to be balanced in some manner, then there would be serious questions about Grace, who is possibly the most powerful person in Moperville that isn't an immortal and she got that power for just being who she is.

Chlorine Trifluoride is arguably the most flammable chemical known to humanity. It can burn almost anything, even things that are normally considered inflammable, like sand and asbestos. To quote Wikipedia, "In an industrial accident, a spill of 900 kg of chlorine trifluoride burned through 30 cm of concrete and 90 cm of gravel beneath" And if spilled on something, there is no way to extinguish it other than letting it burn itself out. It reacts violently with water, so it will explode if you try to put it out with anything water-based. It is its own oxidizer, so atmospheric displacing extinguishers like CO2 and halon do nothing to it. Though it can be safely stored in an air-tight steel drum as long as you're very careful with it.

Chlorine Trifluoride is arguably the most flammable chemical known to humanity. It can burn almost anything, even things that are normally considered inflammable, like sand and asbestos. To quote Wikipedia, "In an industrial accident, a spill of 900 kg of chlorine trifluoride burned through 30 cm of concrete and 90 cm of gravel beneath" And if spilled on something, there is no way to extinguish it other than letting it burn itself out. It reacts violently with water, so it will explode if you try to put it out with anything water-based. It is its own oxidizer, so atmospheric displacing extinguishers like CO2 and halon do nothing to it. Though it can be safely stored in an air-tight steel drum as long as you're very careful with it.

I think the problem with the idea of the aberrations' monstrous forms being a punishment is that the idea is assigning morality to Magic, an eldritch, unfathomably vast mentality that could be singular, plural, neither, or all of the above simultaneously. From what we know, Magic has a flair for the dramatic, a desire to be special( or at least to not be mainstream), and allows access to power regardless of the morality of the person seeking that power. When Magic grants power to an individual, that power is inline with the person's personality, deep desires, or bloodline affinity (Assuming Magic doesn't get confused, like in Elliot's case), though not necessarily the aspects that the person wants Magic to draw from, like when Nanase kept getting sneaking spells when she was afraid of getting outed as a lesbian. Also, in Squirrel prophet, when Magic acted to give the good guys a hint to prevent a system change, it decided to do so in an admittedly half-hearted manner, intentionally giving our heroes poor odds of success.
To me, it seems the Magic doesn't care if the heroes succeed or not, just that the events are dramatic and interesting (kinda like Pandora, but broader and with a better appreciation of natural pacing). That said, the monstrous forms of aberrations/vampires could be a consequence of that. Not as a punishment, but as a reflection of the magic users and a tool to ratchet up the drama. The monsters being monstrous makes for more interesting and dramatic events. We also have official confirmation that some aberrations only have monsterous forms when using their powers, which would allow for a degree of tension building when the action is slower and sneakier.

I think the problem with the idea of the aberrations' monstrous forms being a punishment is that the idea is assigning morality to Magic, an eldritch, unfathomably vast mentality that could be singular, plural, neither, or all of the above simultaneously. From what we know, Magic has a flair for the dramatic, a desire to be special( or at least to not be mainstream), and allows access to power regardless of the morality of the person seeking that power. When Magic grants power to an individual, that power is inline with the person's personality, deep desires, or bloodline affinity (Assuming Magic doesn't get confused, like in Elliot's case), though not necessarily the aspects that the person wants Magic to draw from, like when Nanase kept getting sneaking spells when she was afraid of getting outed as a lesbian. Also, in Squirrel prophet, when Magic acted to give the good guys a hint to prevent a system change, it decided to do so in an admittedly half-hearted manner, intentionally giving our heroes poor odds of success.
To me, it seems the Magic doesn't care if the heroes succeed or not, just that the events are dramatic and interesting (kinda like Pandora, but broader and with a better appreciation of natural pacing). That said, the monstrous forms of aberrations/vampires could be a consequence of that. Not as a punishment, but as a reflection of the magic users and a tool to ratchet up the drama. The monsters being monstrous makes for more interesting and dramatic events. We also have official confirmation that some aberrations only have monsterous forms when using their powers, which would allow for a degree of tension building when the action is slower and sneakier.

I think the problem with the idea of the aberrations' monstrous forms being a punishment is that the idea is assigning morality to Magic, an eldritch, unfathomably vast mentality that could be singular, plural, neither, or all of the above simultaneously. From what we know, Magic has a flair for the dramatic, a desire to be special( or at least to not be mainstream), and allows access to power regardless of the morality of the person seeking that power. When Magic grants power to an individual, that power is inline with the person's personality, deep desires, or bloodline affinity (Assuming Magic doesn't get confused, like in Elliot's case), though not necessarily the aspects that the person wants Magic to draw from, like when Nanase kept getting sneaking spells when she was afraid of getting outed as a lesbian. Also, in Squirrel prophet, when Magic acted to give the good guys a hint to prevent a system change, it decided to do so in an admittedly half-hearted manner, intentionally giving our heroes poor odds of success.
To me, it seems the Magic doesn't care if the heroes succeed or not, just that the events are dramatic and interesting (kinda like Pandora, but broader and with a better appreciation of natural pacing). That said, the monstrous forms of aberrations/vampires could be a consequence of that. Not as a punishment, but as a reflection of the magic users and a tool to ratchet up the drama. The monsters being monstrous makes for more interesting and dramatic events. We also have official confirmation that some aberrations only have monsterous forms when using their powers, which would allow for a degree of tension building when the action is slower and sneakier.

I just had a thought regarding this comic. What if Pandora wasn't the one controlling Dex? What if it was Voltaire? I know the urn symbol on the pendant hints towards Pandora with the old roots of the Pandora's Box myth, but I'm not sure we've had a definitive yea or nea if that is what the symbol means.
Meanwhile, Dex was mentioning 'for the greater good.' Pandora doesn't really seem like the type to care about the greater good. She cares about her son and things being interesting. I imagine she could use 'for the greater good' as means to manipulate someone into doing something interesting, but what we've seen of her direct action, she prefers to nudge things into motion and then let them develop organically (much more interesting that way).
Voltaire, on the other hand, is certainly willing to use 'for the greater good' to advance his agenda as seen in this comic. I don't know what he would have gained from killing everyone at the dojo, but little is known about Volty's plans or end goal.

I just had a thought regarding this comic. What if Pandora wasn't the one controlling Dex? What if it was Voltaire? I know the urn symbol on the pendant hints towards Pandora with the old roots of the Pandora's Box myth, but I'm not sure we've had a definitive yea or nea if that is what the symbol means.
Meanwhile, Dex was mentioning 'for the greater good.' Pandora doesn't really seem like the type to care about the greater good. She cares about her son and things being interesting. I imagine she could use 'for the greater good' as means to manipulate someone into doing something interesting, but what we've seen of her direct action, she prefers to nudge things into motion and then let them develop organically (much more interesting that way).
Voltaire, on the other hand, is certainly willing to use 'for the greater good' to advance his agenda as seen in this comic. I don't know what he would have gained from killing everyone at the dojo, but little is known about Volty's plans or end goal.

I just had a thought regarding this comic. What if Pandora wasn't the one controlling Dex? What if it was Voltaire? I know the urn symbol on the pendant hints towards Pandora with the old roots of the Pandora's Box myth, but I'm not sure we've had a definitive yea or nea if that is what the symbol means.
Meanwhile, Dex was mentioning 'for the greater good.' Pandora doesn't really seem like the type to care about the greater good. She cares about her son and things being interesting. I imagine she could use 'for the greater good' as means to manipulate someone into doing something interesting, but what we've seen of her direct action, she prefers to nudge things into motion and then let them develop organically (much more interesting that way).
Voltaire, on the other hand, is certainly willing to use 'for the greater good' to advance his agenda as seen in this comic. I don't know what he would have gained from killing everyone at the dojo, but little is known about Volty's plans or end goal.

I just had a thought regarding this comic. What if Pandora wasn't the one controlling Dex? What if it was Voltaire? I know the urn symbol on the pendant hints towards Pandora with the old roots of the Pandora's Box myth, but I'm not sure we've had a definitive yea or nea if that is what the symbol means.
Meanwhile, Dex was mentioning 'for the greater good.' Pandora doesn't really seem like the type to care about the greater good. She cares about her son and things being interesting. I imagine she could use 'for the greater good' as means to manipulate someone into doing something interesting, but what we've seen of her direct action, she prefers to nudge things into motion and then let them develop organically (much more interesting that way).
Voltaire, on the other hand, is certainly willing to use 'for the greater good' to advance his agenda as seen in this comic. I don't know what he would have gained from killing everyone at the dojo, but little is known about Volty's plans or end goal.

I just had a thought regarding this comic. What if Pandora wasn't the one controlling Dex? What if it was Voltaire? I know the urn symbol on the pendant hints towards Pandora with the old roots of the Pandora's Box myth, but I'm not sure we've had a definitive yea or nea if that is what the symbol means.
Meanwhile, Dex was mentioning 'for the greater good.' Pandora doesn't really seem like the type to care about the greater good. She cares about her son and things being interesting. I imagine she could use 'for the greater good' as means to manipulate someone into doing something interesting, but what we've seen of her direct action, she prefers to nudge things into motion and then let them develop organically (much more interesting that way).
Voltaire, on the other hand, is certainly willing to use 'for the greater good' to advance his agenda as seen in this comic. I don't know what he would have gained from killing everyone at the dojo, but little is known about Volty's plans or end goal.

The Mall-Goblin, in the mall, with a shopping bag.
 
While I know it's a joke, my brain got wondering. Doesn't the TF Gun have safeties that prevent it from bestowing a lethal transformation? It follows the rule of transformations being convenient, but I think the TF Gun having safeties like that has been explicitly mentioned. I don't remember where, and don't really feel like diving into the archive to find one little fact.

Yeah, she might be upset, at least until she learns more about Susan's past and all the trauma therein.
Susan got to grow up in wealth, while Diane got to grow up with a more complete and loving family.

Well, Mr. Verres does have enough friends in high places to make him effectively immune to being outright fired from his job, even for something as bad as almost killing a suspect that had voluntarily surrendered. He also is likely to be rather trusted by his superiors as he's been rather open about the various abilities that the main cast has.
Also the TFG might not be outright illegal, just regulated. Authorities that are in on the masquerade have the means of confirming identity even through spells and such that would conceal it, even something like Elliot's Cheerleadra and alter-egos spell, which has clauses that can mess up other spells relating to identity, such as Nanase's fairy doll spell. I could see Edward bending things a little to get his son the licenses and such that would be needed for ownership and/or manufacture of the TFG (probably holding the actual licenses himself as Ted is/was a minor and the US government doesn't let minors hold most licenses)

Well, Mr. Verres does have enough friends in high places to make him effectively immune to being outright fired from his job, even for something as bad as almost killing a suspect that had voluntarily surrendered. He also is likely to be rather trusted by his superiors as he's been rather open about the various abilities that the main cast has.
Also the TFG might not be outright illegal, just regulated. Authorities that are in on the masquerade have the means of confirming identity even through spells and such that would conceal it, even something like Elliot's Cheerleadra and alter-egos spell, which has clauses that can mess up other spells relating to identity, such as Nanase's fairy doll spell. I could see Edward bending things a little to get his son the licenses and such that would be needed for ownership and/or manufacture of the TFG (probably holding the actual licenses himself as Ted is/was a minor and the US government doesn't let minors hold most licenses)