• Announcements

    • Robin

      Welcome!   03/05/2016

      Welcome, everyone, to the new 910CMX Community Forums. I'm still working on getting them running, so things may change.  If you're a 910 Comic creator and need your forum recreated, let me know and I'll get on it right away.  I'll do my best to make this new place as fun as the last one!

Tuscahoma

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content count

    218

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1

Posts posted by Tuscahoma

  1. Posted

    47 minutes ago, Vorlonagent said:

    Did anybody besides me notice that the sword Susan used survived its encounter with the bearded snake-vampire?

    I think the narration is a bit of book-learning left by Jerry to his next life now using the working title of "Zeus."

    I noticed that.  I figured it was part of her upgraded sword summons, the glowing one she unintentionally showed Ellen and Nanase, but then I started to wonder, is that a new spell or do spells upgrade and reveal new parts?

    Also, is it just me, or is the first panel really disturbing.  I mean, I have seen more graphic stuff in comics/graphic novels and I am not usually squeamish, but there is something about the person running crying, she/he looks so much like Catalina, and the emotion is so visceral.  This person fears for their life, and the silly looking vampire might actually kill this person, bonus be danged.  Despite how silly the vampire looks, this scene really got to me emotionally; I felt horrified.  Perhaps its also how ... nice... the Moperverse usually seems to be, as well.  So of course I can imagine Susan's rage at this intrusion of horror into her world and her cleaving the monster was very satisfying.

    Bottom line, very effective, but I am glad that something like this is usually not the norm.

    Drasvin reacted to this

  2. Posted

    3 hours ago, Amiable Dorsai said:

    Mrs. Dorsai and I have been listening to the Outlander series of books as read by  Davina Porter. Right now,  a very young character is bragging about how his granda has killed two dozen redcoats., pretty that won't be the final accounting.  Nevertheless, his granda is a good guy, and one of the major characters in the series. Susan's body count is two, with more likely coming. It's funny what we'll accept in fiction.

    True, but in both situations, the bodies in question were vampires who were threatening grievous harm or death.  Susan was also strongly affected by the first time; this was a loss of innocence for her and she would not be comfortable if someone bragged about her body count.  I think this is part of why she has tears in her eyes; killing isn't something she wants to do, but feel she has to do to protect innocent lives.

    If vampires could be saved, exorcised of their evil, and someone told Susan that, I could see her working to figure out less lethal ways to stop them, because she is a good person at heart.

     

  3. Posted

    27 minutes ago, ChronosCat said:

    So, our narrator clearly isn't omniscient. Is it a character? And if so, who? (If so, I'd guess one of the immortals, probably Pandora or Voltair. Jerry would work too, if he wasn't dead.)

    I was wondering that too.  I think it might be Jerry in the form of information handed down to Zeus, since Jerry was there for the creation of Susan's Hair Bank O'Power.

    CritterKeeper reacted to this

  4. Posted

    10 minutes ago, Drasvin said:

    So, Susan's hair become a reservoir of magic. I wonder if the capacity of that reservoir is dependent on the length of her hair. That would give her a good, logical reason not to cut it.

    Reservoir of magic?  I am thinking that it might not be a good idea to cut her hair, lest you create magic effects.  Also, since her hair IS magic, could it be assumed she can have it blow in the wind upon command even if there's no wind?

    37 minutes ago, Scotty said:

    And she did use the fairy as a flashbang. Whether or not she does that again remains to be seen, something tells me we're going to see a number of new abilities so the likelihood of repeated usage is probably low.

    I wonder how many times she can summon the fairies?  Also, would this support her getting more fairy based spells?

  5. Posted

    7 hours ago, CritterKeeper said:
    7 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

    Unless, of course, it's prehensile hair like Mistress Nine's. Or Grace's antennae. Or Archie's antennae. Or...

    Or Deirdre from the Dresden Files books, if you *really* want dangerous....

    I think having a hair control spell is long overdue for Susan if only for the utility of managing long hair and for bad-ass scenes hair blowing in a non-existent wind, but we don't always get what we want.  Unless it could be weaponized as described above, and then yes, entirely reasonable as an addition to her repertoire of vampire hunter spells.

    Haven't gotten around to reading Dresden Files yet (on my list), but had to look up Deirdre, and dang, that is some dangerous hair.

    3 hours ago, Don Edwards said:
    7 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

    Notice where Susan's right hand is in the last panel--mostly out of frame. Far enough out of frame for her to already be holding her sword.

    I'm thinking that Susan won't summon a weapon until she's actually in mid-swing. That would make it easier to get close to an aberration, and harder for the monster to dodge.

    Of course, it also increases the chance that she'll be *seen* to have summoned the weapon (by someone other than the aberrations), but, well, priorities...

    (I also suspect that after she got back from France she insisted on getting some sort of martial-arts training that includes weapons - fencing lessons would count - and now really knows how to use a few preferred weapons and styles.)

    I wondered why no weapon since she reacted so instinctively here, but that kind of supports your hypothesis of weapons training (I think I would insist on weapons training also if I were her given the circumstances).  Perhaps since she is facing real danger, she is choosing her moment carefully as you suggested.  Or we could simply be waiting for the Bad-Ass Weapon Reveal In Front of Three Vampires scene.

  6. Posted

    23 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

    Remember what happens when Susan un-summons a fairy. Also remember what Adrian's murder-shroud crows did in the last panel here. Thirdly, remember Susan can summon multiple fairies now

     And fourthly, remember this Sketchbook.

    True, dive-bombing clouds of exploding fairies would be sure to ruin an aberration's day.  And judging by the sketchbook, clouds of fairies have been an idea in Dan's mind for a while.

    10 hours ago, hkmaly said:

    That was me. And EGS vampires are not undead and I doubt there is way to "turn" them. And Guardian form is very powerful and not particularly related to summoning, I don't think Diane can get that as her first spell. Maybe later.

    Quite right.  Thanks for the rogue inspiration.  If she gets marked and it works with her sneakiness, it could also mean she might get a distance attack, like an archer moving to position.  Or perhaps pompom blasters?  ;)

    I agree, EGS Vampires are not undead per se, but it would be interesting if there exists protective magic that forces vampires back.  I also agree with you on the Guardian form, too advanced and I don't think Diane is quite unselfish enough for it, but would have been cool.  I am still holding out for some Mark that lets Diane's magic interact with Susan's magic because, you know, sisters.

  7. Posted

    I take back what I said earlier about Monday's comic concerning the French Immortals.  It's not they who might mark Diane, I bet it's Pandora.  They might be too young (someone else pointed that out), but Pandora isn't, and she has so much more at stake.  Though, what could she give Diane that might help, since Diane doesn't seem combat oriented.  Some have pointed out that she could be sneaky and attack from behind like a D&D rogue, which would be in keeping with her apparent personality.  I wonder if there is an equivalent to the D&D cleric, who could turn the undead (D&D vampires fell under this category)?  Or... Guardian Form perhaps?  Wait, I got it, Guardian Form for Diane, Magic Weapons for Susan, then because they are sisters, Twin Winged Angels Wielding Flaming Swords of Justice!  SQUEE!

    Or not.  Hmm, maybe I need to ease back on the coffee.

  8. Posted

     

    7 hours ago, Scotty said:

    So I guess Susan's hair wasn't permanently made dark blue by her awakening? Is this the return of Vladia Hair?

    Also definite confirmation that it was Pandora that nabbed Jer....Zeus in Susan's room.

    Also guessing Nase is the default fairy summon if Susan isn't trying to a particular fairy like Suze. Makes sense since Nase was the first.

    Woah, is it possible that her summoned fairies serve a combat purpose; do they count as enchanted weapons or is this an upgraded spell?  Still, semi-autonomous fairy weapons wreaking havoc on vampires.  Dang!

     

    55 minutes ago, ChronosCat said:

    Susan looks pretty cool going Super Saiyan and all, but I'd be able to enjoy it a lot more if she didn't have tears in her eyes. I'm a little surprised by them; yeah Susan still has emotional scars from her first encounter with a vampire, but I would have expected her to be angry or something like that, not sad/mournful/whatever (at least not before the battle). I kind of hope we get to know a little bit more about Susan's current mental state, as I'm having a hard time figuring out exactly what's going through her head at the moment.

    I think she IS angry (check that look on her face), but her tears are earned, considering the circumstances under which she gained her magic; being forced to kill a vampire at too young an age (mourning for her loss of innocence, too much a theme in her life).  Her tears may be for being forced to fight again, and honestly, three vampires,  she isn't certain to survive. She just met her sister, a chance for another connection, but she stands willing to defend the innocent against evil with her life.  Her tears are earned, and she is Bad Ass!

  9. Posted

    7 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

    From the first Police Academy movie:

    Quote

     

    Q: What's wrong with this man?

    A: There was gunplay, sir, and he missed it.

     

    Semi-relevant?

    Oh yes, if Noah misses the Vampire Butt-Kicking, he shall surely be disappointed.

    Also, speaking of people missing,  I wonder when and where Helena and Demetrius are going to show up?  I can't imagine a Vampire Family Reunion without them crashing the party.  And probably bringing gifts too, like a Mark for Diane to empower her for this encounter.  B)  It would be amazing if it let her team up with Susan in some meaningful way.

  10. Posted

    On 12/2/2017 at 1:34 AM, hkmaly said:

    Also, I'm sure those teapots don't follow RFC properly.

    Note that DMCA obviously only stops the GOOD researchers, not the evil ones.

    Well, kind of yes, kind of no?  I am sure there are plenty of black hat researchers who love the DMCA simply for the fact that it makes it easier for them to sell any hacks they find on the black market, but I think there are some white hats who risk the penalties of the DMCA to figure this stuff out to help people.

    You know, there are aspects of technology that I am loathe to adopt quickly simply for reasons like the above, enough so that I am sure that people I talk to think I am a Luddite despite the fact that I work in IT.  And don't even get me started on GMO (yes, in theory I like the idea of genetic engineering, but when the company that sells pesticides also sells the GMO seeds that are resistant to the pesticides, then I worrry about the actual practice, oh goodness, I am ranting again, sorry, so sorry, I guess the decaf thing is working out for me... ;))

     

  11. Posted

    On 11/29/2017 at 11:48 PM, Tom Sewell said:

    Getting back firmly on-topic, let me say that I really think Diane's facial gymnastics between these six panels are awesome. Who else thinks so?

    They are awesome, and I think they are wonderfully indicative of an individual who is in the midst of try to explain herself but who is coming to grips with not living the life she really wants.  Diane has come so far.  It really makes me want to know what set her on that shallow path to begin with.

    The Old Hack reacted to this

  12. Posted

    On 11/29/2017 at 11:46 PM, Tom Sewell said:

    I'm afraid that person can't be me. Want to start a real-world-paranoia thread in Off Topic?

    Teapots.  Teapots that are internet enabled.  Teapots that are internet enabled that store your wifi password as plaintext because so many people are creating stuff for the Internet of Things that don't even think about security and keep security researchers from reverse-engineering this stuff to figure it out by using the Digital Millenium Copyright Act to threaten them with felonies.

    Just teapots.

    Wow, I am definitely feeling ranty today.

  13. Posted

    On 11/29/2017 at 6:41 PM, The Old Hack said:

    Clearly they were secret wars. If comics are to be believed, these happen all the time. :danshiftyeyes:

    Argh!  Sorry, I was around for the first secret wars, when they introduced the beyonder.  I have some... issues with that whole era of marvel comics under the helm of Jim Shooter.  Uh oh, better stop, otherwise I will start up one of those old man cranky rants about the current state of things, especially the current state of comics and all of their stupid tie-in cross-over Secret Civil Crisis on Infinite War Earths.

    Breathe.  Drink Coffee.

    Hey, isn't it great we have webcomics to read nowadays!  Ahh, much better.

    hkmaly, The Old Hack and Pharaoh RutinTutin reacted to this

  14. Posted

    1 minute ago, Tom Sewell said:

    Well, as those of us who remember The President's Analyst, it's a universal constant: Everyone has bitterness for their phone company.

    Oh my, quite a callback.  That was quite a movie, and yes, before the breakup of Bell, they were quite unpopular; afterwards for a while, many people remembered things a bit differently: "Remember when phones service was simple and the service was so great?".  I think Hudson Hawk took inspiration from that movie, especially the "Properly Paranoid" trope, because everybody was a spy.

  15. Posted

    2 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

    Maybe not. Look at how much effort Dan is putting into making rules for Goomanji 2. Clearly he loves games, and he loves writing rules. Having the apocalypse actually happens allows him to write a completely revised rule set for El Goonish Shive (Second Edition) without being accused of more retconning. And with Tedd, he's created a potential in-story agent to make the new rules.

    Does anyone here remember how different the world of Negima! was by the end of the last volume?

    On the other hand, Dan has put more than a year of work that we know of into creating a credible scheme to stop Pandora's apocalypse. My magic 8-ball is definitely showing "Reply Hazy".
     

    Clearly the stakes are already high, with our main characters under the threat of mortal danger, but now, the Magic Reset is nigh.  Honestly, I don't see quite we can avoid a reset with vampires paid to kill someone and encourage to damage property and the target is in a mall.  I think the real danger is when will the reset happen, like will it happen in the middle of the fight?  Also, will a reset affect vampires as well?  If so, then we might have confusion but both sides will be disadvantaged.  Except for the immortals, I presume, though that would be interesting if the immortals had to relearn rules as well.

  16. Posted

    4 minutes ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

    Will Susan recognize Jerry?
    It would have helped if he wore the hat.

    Susan might not, but Diane might say something.  Perhaps Jerry is trying to not be recognized?

    5 minutes ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

    But regarding the troubling social commentary at the start of the comic, I never really understood the need for one adult to place the order for another healthy adult at the restaurant.  I understand the need to order for children.  And we needed to order for my mother as her dementia progressed.  But is the medical condition of "Female" really as debilitating as "Child" or "Incoherent"?

    No, but perhaps being Male is... nah, too easy.

    Regarding ordering for another adult, I can only speak on my behalf, but I will order for my wife AFTER she tells me what she wants, because it's easier for one person to deal with the waitperson, and for some reason, I am better at remember orders than she is.  Why is this important?  Because then I have to tell the waitperson what our four kids want as well.  And honestly, the hardest part of this exercise is to get all of the kids to decide on something in a reasonable amount of time.  BUT, this arrangement was something we came up with.  I can't even imagine presuming to order for someone else on a date.

  17. Posted

    1 hour ago, Tom Sewell said:

    If Helen and Demetrius won't be at Elliot's house not long from now to catch Sirleck zapping Elliot, and Sirleck sent six vampires after Adrian, where do you think Helen and Demetrius are now?  

    Good question... I would think Helen and Demetrius would be tracking the vampires.  Main target is Adrian, they have identified Susan and Diane as potential hunters, would the vampires split up?  If so, one option would be for the Wonder Twins to split up as well, to provide support, but they seem to like sticking together, and honestly, have a habit of pushing young poeple to become vampire hunters, so I would think they might not be far behind Jerry.

  18. Posted

    1 hour ago, The Old Hack said:

    Knowing Susan, I suspect that is not going to happen. She might suggest to Diane that she run, mind you, but whether Diane will run if Susan stays I really don't know. I don't think so, but I am not sure. Temporarily retreat maybe, but leave?

    I agree that I don't think Diane would leave Susan, but perhaps she would try to reason with Susan to leave?  To take cover and call for help?

  19. Posted

    7 hours ago, hkmaly said:

    Lieutenant: I think we can handle one little girl. I sent two units. They're bringing her down now.
    Agent Smith: No, Lieutenant, your men are already dead.

    ... I don't think mere half dozen of vampires would be enough for Raven even in case Susan wouldn't be near to help.

    Oh yeah, I had conveniently forgotten about the fact that Raven, the target, was near Susan and Diane during the Sinister Six Showdown.  Oh my, that is going to be interesting..., I wonder if the Immortal Siblings will make a showing and, since Diane has no current magic, offer to mark her according to her Hunter predilection.  Not sure how much it would help her since she is more of a sneaker than a fighter.

    As for Raven against a half dozen vampires, sometimes numbers matter, since your attention will be divided.

    And oh yeah, I think Nanase will be having some words with Edward after this concerning his prognostication about how safe Diane would be if she avoids isolated places at night and that being a potential hunter would make her less of a target.

  20. Posted

    18 minutes ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

    Does Magus really believe Sirleck stuck to the plan to minimize darnage?

    Is Magus really that naïve?  Is he really that desperate that he'll believe anything?

    Or is he deliberately ignoring the fact that he is working with a body snatching vampire without any human empathy or morals?

    And is Magus planning (dreaming?) that he can somehow double cross Sirleck somewhere down the road?

    I don't think Magus was planning to double-cross Sirleck.  Could be wrong, but I thought he was honestly going to go through with his plan, minimum damage, get his new body, owe Sirleck a favor, and figure a way back home.  Magus is desperate. I think Sirleck is going for the best chance to kill any Vampire hunters in the area as well as the biggest distraction so that he can double-cross Magus, perhaps by taking over Magus' new body, and getting lost in the confusion sown by the Sinister Six.

  21. Posted

    20 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

    Which in the article you cited Gary Gygax basically stole from Jack Vance, although I remember reading decades ago it was inspired by another source.

    We all know (or should) that Dan loves games: Card games, board games, and above all computer games (video/console games are just computer games using dedicated computers.) He's aware of tabletop roleplaying games like D&D because he made Tensaided. Since I have  yet to get a single response to the tabletop RPG thread I started called imaginatively "RPG for EGS", I'd say there aren't that many people on the EGS forums who know or care about tabletop RPGs.

    Well, I do care about tabletop RPGs, but finding time has been problematic.  I started with D&D (yes, I am that old), mostly played AD&D and some Star Frontiers (TSR's odd foray in sci-fi) and a few odd games here and there.  I also occasionally  ran a rules free anything goes game (it ran like a combo of X-Files and Scooby Doo).  Oddly enough, I have four kids, and sometimes, (when screen time is over) they will sit around and roleplay in a rules free mode (one kid guides the story and determines what is allowed and what isn't).  It's cool to watch.

     

    21 hours ago, mlooney said:

    Maybe Magus uses a version of Vancian Magic and his "Sleep" and "Calm" hadn't been cast yet.  If that is the case, he might have problems getting "new" spells to cast.

    That would be hilarious.  He avoids the Universe Difference Issue (magics works differently here) by carrying his preset spells, but thinks he just has "to do that thing" to relearn them, like AD&D clerics praying for spells (and I am assuming since he hasn't panicked, relearning doesn't require access to a spellbook like AD&D mages), then "Uh oh, why can't I relearn my spells?!"

    All this time claiming to be a much stronger mage and laid low by landing in a universe with a different rule set.

    Honestly, I do hope he is limited in some way by being in a different universe, otherwise I could envision Invasions from Alternate Universes Where Magic Is More Bad-Ass.

    Since Elliot's universe seems to be more of a Mana Meter, perhaps Magus will find it harder to replenish his Mana, or that the level of effects he expect require more Mana.

  22. Posted

    11 hours ago, hkmaly said:

    There may be other reasons for magic wanting to reset in Magus's universe ; we have no idea what objectives that universe magic has. And the rules Voltaire wants to impose are likely not something any sane seer would define.

    Alternatively, maybe A.U. Voltaire wants Terra destabilized just as revenge on A.U. Pandora for something ...

    Ok, maybe it doesn't make as much sense as I though, but the idea our universe Pandora did it is not so sound either.

    No, I wasn't saying it doesn't make sense.  For example, it just occurs to me that there may be other conditions for reset in Magus' universe such that a seer is required to rediscover the rules.  Perhaps if the usage of Magic becomes too unbalanced in some other way?

     

    1 hour ago, Don Edwards said:

    We can reasonably presume, considering that they were paired off against each other in training, that Terra is a mage at least roughly comparable in trained ability to Magus.

    IMHO this makes it unlikely that Terra is their world's equivalent of a seer. But not impossible.

    Well, what if their dialog wasn't just for dramatic effect.  What if Magus believes that Terra's potential is being wasted.  Perhaps in Magus' universe, the equivalent of Seers have different set of abilities that let them do the same thing, relearn magic.  Seers might be just as rare or effectively rare (hard to find) as in our universe.  Maybe Seers in Magus' universe can get spells, making their seer abilities easy to overlook.

  23. Posted

    On 11/20/2017 at 0:32 AM, hkmaly said:

    Wait. If Terra is A.U. Tedd and Magus A.U. Elliot, does this makes Terra dangerously unstable the way Tedd would be without Elliot? Forget Pandora: Voltaire - or A.U. Voltaire - is top suspect for the sabotage ...

    Interesting thought.  I presume that Magus' universe might have Immortals, but they might be constrained by their set of non-interference rules.  Still, Voltaire or AU-Voltaire could have manipulated an enemy of Magus to commit the sabotage.  Still, if Terra were like Tedd and was a seer, then removing Magus might traumatize Terra, but to what purpose?  In Elliot's universe, Magic wants to be scarce and is threatening to reset.  Voltaire wants Tedd unable to perform some function of being a seer so he impose his own rules.

  24. Posted

    16 hours ago, Don Edwards said:

    Raccoons are big enough that they can be hazardous to hit with an ordinary car but small enough that, under normal circumstances, they aren't. (If for any reason the vehicle is not far from being out of control anyway, hitting one can finish it off.)

    My wife and I, years ago, were driving through our neighborhood, which I would have considered urban and not the suburbs, when I stopped for a raccoon that was crossing the road.  It stopped, looked at us, and I swear it looked like it nodded at us, then walked on, not hurrying at all.  Sitting on it's haunches, it looked as tall as our truck's tires.  Nope, wasn't going to run over Mr. Grampa Badass Raccoon.

  25. Posted

    15 hours ago, hkmaly said:

    http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=2424

    This was VERY rich on answers:

    1) Sirleck can't drive. Ellen is driving. (Very funny how surprised he was to avoid a raccoon.)

    I suppose it is the case that for anything requiring his host to interact physically with something, Sirleck must use the host's  physical skills and associated learned reactions, otherwise the movements wouldn't be natural.  I guess this also means that he gets access to Ellen's martial arts as well.

    Still, makes me wonder if in certain situations, Ellen might actually fight against Sirleck's control.  If I were Sirleck, I wouldn't bet on winning a fight against Nanase in Ellen's body.