Darth Fluffy

I was an older child, but still a child, when TOS aired. It was ground breaking in its day. Has not aged well. I believe there are only three of the TOS cast left, William Shatner, George Takei, and Walter Koenig. I think none of them were in the pilot, Shatner was there for the full run, George came in early, maybe first season, and Walter was maybe from second season onward? Not sure, and need to get out the door, so I'm not going to check. Walter Koenig has caught flack for his Russian accent; I knew a translator who said it was not authentic, but he learned the accent from family that came from Russia. I suspect it is a regional thing. His surname is German for king. Now I need to find a station that's playing Jingle Bells in the original Klingon. It looses a lot in translation, the Earth version has very little bloodshed.

Sorry, I did not mean that to be stressful. Hope Christmas day goes well. I saw grand kids today, going to be with family tomorrow as well.

Lab coat sounds like a variant of the basis for 101 Dalmatians. They're going to be watching for you at the rescue shelter.

Cell phones indeed have a very limited range. You can boost this, external to the phone itself, but it is prohibitive to do so within the phone for power consumed, and also size and weight, and has diminishing returns. Presumably, much of the communication capability of the communicators would be based on the ability of the Enterprise to send and receive the signal as an efficient tower surrogate. The range to a ship in orbit is ambiguous, especially in the show. Most human activity in space is within a couple hundred miles of the surface. We have not sent people beyond this since the Apollo Program, unless it has been clandestine, and we don't generally know about it. (This seems unlikely to me.) The show had images that showed 'orbiting' well beyond this; it seems likely for esthetic effect, 'We are clearly in space', but often mentions 'orbital decay' which is a significant phenomenon close in, not so much at great range. In the Gary Seven episode, the Enterprise is a large object visible in the sky. There does not seem to be more than a nod to how far away the Enterprise orbits from show to show. Tricorder * Tricorder * Tricorder * Tricorder Canon is the 'tri' is GEO(LOGICAL), BIO(LOGICAL), and MET(EROLOGICAL). This is a fantasy ensemble of capabilities that make more sense for the ship itself to have than for a handheld device to have. Realistically, in a Star Trek-like setting, meteorological data would be analyzed from the ship before sending an away team, and would be kept up to date; even in our era, the military keeps track of weather that affects ops. The away crew would get updates from the ship. Bio would be done in a lab or in sick bay because precision and verification is important, a local suite of sensors would augment the data and keep it up to date. If you wear a bio-sensing watch, that does not mean you do not visit a doctor. Geological data is trickier, but any observational data would likely occur from the ship, because a larger lens resolves smaller details. Anything close up looking through material would probably involve deploying bulky sending units and bulky sensors that are actually on the surface. Our phones cannot come close to the imagined capabilities, but we can use them to access the information, assuming you have a good signal and internet access. You can get auxiliary components to monitor health variables, and meteorological data is within the grasp of a cell phone if the demand was there to incorporate the sensors. You could also feed your phone from your own weather station. Direct geological observation through material is beyond the reach of your cell phone. However, ground penetrating radar has become an available technology for some public services to ensure they to not cut buried lines and pipes. Sonar is available to fishermen wanting to spot schools. these could be linked to a cell phone through Blue Tooth if the demand is there; I'm not aware that this has been done or not. So, what can a cell phone do? Baseline modern cell phones sense rotation (at least two sets of three axis accellerometers), inclination, can listen and record, can record images and video, can sense location via GPS, keep track of time, and report their charge. They can store internally, to the cloud, on a removable flash drive, or to an attached device. They can access a vast wealth of information through the Internet. With a health monitoring auxiliary device, the combo can record various aspects of one's well being. A TOS tricorder is also technologically inferior in several ways. It is bulky, heavier than a cell phone, and the attendant storage items are a fairly large item, a disk somewhere around the size of two nickels or quarters stacked together. Yes, it fit the esthetic of the era the show was aired; gear was still bulky, and at the time the tricorder appeared to be less so. But you weren't going to fit it in your pocket, like you do with a cell phone.

I recall a short Sci Fi story, I think it was by Kieth Laumer, where one of the protagonists was an alien lady agent sent to assist humanity against a threat that I do not recall. In her effort to pass as human, she observed that humans like boobies, so she opted for three pair. Most of the rest of what she did was equally well intentioned and inappropriate.

Sketchbook Comic for Saturday, Dec 23, 2023 YAGTSB - Amusing, I suppose, and it has a nice Christmas theme. The 'girls' are cute. The action, Larry has just transformed himself (zap background by his head), does not match the timeline of the narrative in the commentary, where he transforms first. Their body styles do not match their canon bodies, which the commentary narrative also points out. Particularly disconcerting to me, Larry's massive boobage does not make sense with his normally skinny frame. That would make more sense on either of the others, even both. Dan has a flare for drawing nice legs, and he does very good hands, which to me are difficult to draw well. Some of the choices are interesting. The outfits match, and are all green with white trim, very seasonal, but a little unusual. Typically, for a Christmas theme, you want red and green. Dan covers this with the candy striped wands. Dan also seems to favor miniskirts for non-canon artwork. There are a lot in the Sketchbook drawings. <sigh> There are things I miss about my high school years.

I would be totally freaking out facing what you are facing. I admire your courage, and wish you well. \\//, Live long and prosper.

In light of what I said above about Larry, and rereading it, I think you are correct. That is a second shot from the wand, kind of explaining the enhanced flotation package 'kind of', because it should be a separate spell. On the gun, you have to dial in v5. The sticks should basically have one enchantment for an untrained user. But perhaps Tedd made these progressive. Don't tap again, you may regret it. Boobs are an important part of an attractive girlish figure, but there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. YMMV; to me, Larry's look painful. Hopefully, the elf suit gives them some serious support. Of course almost worth it for Rich's reaction and George's amused apathy. (Is it directed to Larry, Rich, or both?)

This train of thought raises good points. I think the deal is that as a people, in a world building sense, the Immortals were not well thought out when introduced. Not trying to cast shade on Dan here; this is more or less normal. Fictitious people are as detailed as the plot needs them to be. As the milieu grows, the need for detail grows as well. It can, to some extent, grow organically, but often reaches a point where much is uncomfortably grafted in, or more jarringly, is retconned in. In EGS, immortals were initially a pervasive, significant side show. They've grown in importance, an now a main character is one. It would be odd if this went smoothly and did not require adjustment. Think Klingons on Star Trek. "We don't talk about that." At some point, Dan will have to decide on an overall back story for immortals, 'what are immortals, exactly?' Did they evolve in their spirit realm? Or did the ascend to their realm from more mundane origins? Are they universal - touching all multiversal realms? (It seems so, Magus ended up in Pandora's realm.) Do the ones from different universes communicate? (Apparently not; we've seen they have different rules.) Can they travel between these universes? (Corollary of previous, it seems unlikely, or they'd communicate.) Taken as a whole, the scant parts we already know are inconsistent. Magus, from another universe, was thrust into a non-material realm that adjoins the EGS universe, yet the EGS universe immortals have different rules than the griffin universe immortals. We are watching different shows based on the same material, and the Klingons on the new one do not match the old show. Hopes observations are not untoward, but they don't match the old show. She is currently fascinated by the muggle technology. Hmm. Another inconsistency is mind reading. Zeus was pretty clear that he does not. Yet Hope was shown as overwhelmed by the shear volume of surrounding thoughts. Re: Did they evolve in the spirit realm, it seems highly unlikely that they would have a default human-like form if they had. Related; how do aberrations happen? Is this like a failed ascension? Why was Magus unable to cast spells in the Immortals' realm? Why would he need his body to do so? Why is Steve, the crystal turtle frog, considered to be a deity? What does that even mean in this context? Just an order of magnitude more powerful spell caster? The griffins know of him, so I guess he is multiversal. That seems to place him above the Immortals. Is he one of a race, or is he unique? What is his origin story? Re: planning; a lot of Dan's non-canon eventually becomes canon. The Q&A crew are this.

You don't want to be exposed if you are compromised. We have a minor version of what you have going on. One of the disease vectors . . . excuse me, grand kids . . . is ill. We are gathering anyway. Honestly, though, if we dropped events because a kid was sick, we''d see each other in twenty years. (Of course, if THEY start having kids, we'll never see each other.) Fleas on your dog, man. And a prosperous angle on your fleecy dad.

Pandora has been in Sarah's room, Tedd's basement, and the Mall, all recently. If Hope remembers 'fire' she should remember 'lights'. Plus, a good deal of her extended life was voyeurism into the EGS world. I don't think she gets a pass for not knowing. Seriously, that seemed unrealistic on Star Trek when it first aired. Mine seems more sophisticated than the communicator and tricorder combined.

If your doctor has an infectious disease, you should avoid meeting with them. Glad you are getting a break and able to visit family for Christmas.

This comic is troubling from the aspect that it portrays Justin as particularly unobservant and clueless. Hope has come into his store, appearing unsure of herself and easily startled, and he has reached out to her to reassure her. All fine and dandy. But Justin has magic, and is aware of magic, and has interacted with less than benign supernatural beings, so his Spidey sense should be alerting him to 'something is not right here'. This already strange girl is fixated on a normal illumination device, then makes a statement indicating that it may not be within the realm of her common previous experience. That's not, 'Gee, I should be more introspective', that's a red flag, 'What the Hell is up with you?' Hope's use of the word 'summon' for turning on a light is another red flag, dude. And referencing fire as a source of illumination? . . . When is the last time you lit a candle to read by? Panel seven should have Justin asking, "Who are you?" Hope is not very good at this hiding in plain sight thing.

I recall checking about 12:30 AM, so that would 'splain it.

Dan must have posted fairly late, I checked last night. Or I screwed up, very possible. It isn't clear that she knew his name. She may have stumbled on it reading a 'These just in' sign out loud. I'm taking Justin's explanation at face value for now, she appears to be subject to some of the same magic effects as the humans around her. I think Justin is earning her trust at this point. 'Glurk' is not a common word, but I believe I have see it before, in the Dr. Seuss book, McElligot's Pool. One of the kinds of fish swam in a line, all saying 'Glurk'.

That is a good point. She made enemies as Pandora, and she may have ticked the immortals off when she cast the final spell through them. It begs the questions, "Can immortals identify the reset personage as such? Would fellow immortals know Hope was Pandora's reset? If not, is that something she is actively hiding? Or is there perhaps an understanding that they are not the same person anyway (which is weakened in Pandora's case, although they may not be aware of that.)" She is not great at stealth; she had elf ears a few comics ago. Also, what's up with hearing everybody's thoughts, and then not? Can all immortals read minds like that? We've had some weak indication that they do in a general sense, but she had a much more intense mind reading ability going on. (Might have something to do with the elf ears.)

Comic for Monday, Dec 18, 2023 I confess to failing to discern Hope's agenda here. She knows where Adrian, Tedd, and Sarah live, maybe Susan and Diane as well. What does she gain from a Magic card tournament?

Our soil is shallow clay in this region. Trees do not root deep, and they fall fairly easily. When I moved here, I wondered why the homes had few trees nearby for shade. Can't do that; they fall on the homes way too often. We had outages from above ground lines coming down. Over the years, they've been burying the lines. More of a problem still, the further out of towns you go. Points for investing in the infrastructure, though. It's cheaper for the utility as well, in the long run.

Normal immortal resets were said to leave a memory of the former life 'like reading a notebook'. Hope had a clear impression of marking Justin, even though we have no indication that she thinks of him as family. She is retaining a lot. And is apparently overwhelmed by her former life, as several have observed. My take on this is that even though her actions were often extreme and hurtful, she was more stable than the situation warranted because she had a good foundational purpose for lingering. Not saying it was overall a good idea, just that her outcome seems better than most immortals would have achieved.

Once again, bagpipes.

Hoping it works out for you and Mrs. Prof.

To me, "Step, Step, Step, Step, Step" says 'reluctance to close the distance', which in turn says she's not moving fast. Granted, they do look like speed lines but that makes no sense. The perspective in panel 1 looks close, which also makes no sense. She appears to have moved several feet closer. Why does she have knowledge of a card game that she has probably never played? Did she magic that list up on her way to Justin, or did she research it and write it out ahead of time? She seems vulnerable. Is that an act? Isn't she still an overpowered magic being, even as a young one? She is, if nothing else, adorable, so far.

Hope your power comes on soon. Ours has gotten much better in the time I've lived here; more buried lines, better protection at the substations, and the repair crews are good. Which is all nice, as we get occasional hurricanes. (The coast gets a lot; most of the time we just get the outskirts, but every now and then . . .)

Segue . . .

Maybe she should read the comic, to get some background on them.