Story: Monday April 18, 2016

[partner555 170]

http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=2182

So his name is Voltaire? That's a reference to something, but I'm not sure what.

And it looks like Abner is a double agent.

Edited April 18, 2016 by partner555

[Scrapyard_Dragon 5]

On one hand, yay, he has a name now.

On the other hand, we don't get to call him Kentucky Fried Immortal anymore. Also, I won't be surprised if Abner has his own agenda, but darned if I have any idea what it could be.

[CritterKeeper 1,102]

How long before a Li'l Abner joke shows up?  Or is his appearance already a reference to the black-haired perpetually-19 character?

[Matoyak 51]

52 minutes ago, Scrapyard_Dragon said:

On the other hand, we don't get to call him Kentucky Fried Immortal anymore.

Thank goodness.

[ijuin 572]

1 hour ago, CritterKeeper said:

How long before a Li'l Abner joke shows up?  Or is his appearance already a reference to the black-haired perpetually-19 character?

Only if we can call Voltiare "Jubilation T. Cornpone".

Anyway, his choice of the name "Voltaire" probably implies that he is not one of those who is far into the age-related insanity. The famed French writer named Voltaire (after whom this Immortal presumably named himself) was not prominent before around 1730, so this places an upper limit on when this Immortal chose then name. The choice of the name also makes it sound like he believes himself to be more "enlightened" than other Immortals.

Note Sirleck's facepalm--while having Helena and Demetrius distracted from Elliot is a good thing for his plan, having them over-focused on hunting Aberrations obviously makes him more vulnerable.

So, "Plan CM" apparently begins with inducing Sirleck (and Magus) to make a move. Either Voltaire has set a trap for them, or else stopping Magus/Sirleck's plans was not Voltaire's motivation for needing Elliot dead for "Plan A". I still think at this point that Voltaire's motive for killing Elliot was for the emotional effect that it would have on Tedd, Nanase, and the rest of "the pawns of Chaos" (i.e. all of our friends who were Marked or otherwise manipulated by Pandora).

So, Dan has been planning this for six years, eh? *checks archive* That would mean that this was planned back when Sirleck was first introduced.

 

[InfiniteRemnant 141]

Voltaire could be a reference to a French writer, or a musician.

Which now has me picturing him talking with the same voice as the musician...

[ijuin 572]

Indeed he could be, but if the Immortal named himself for the musician, then he is pretty young.

[InfiniteRemnant 141]

Meh. I don't mind the idea of him being under 40 if it means he has that voice.

[The Old Hack 2,448]

Voltaire? Blow that for a game of soldiers. To me, he will always be Colonel Sanders. With his Amazing Chicken Power.

[ijuin 572]

Would that be the power to chicken out when confronted with an angry griffin?

[The Old Hack 2,448]

7 minutes ago, ijuin said:

Would that be the power to chicken out when confronted with an angry griffin?

Precisely.

[ProfessorTomoe 1,308]

3 hours ago, partner555 said:

And it looks like Abner is a double agent.

Exactly. How chummy-chummy are Abner and Voltaire, and how did they get that way? Did Voltaire give Abner one of the Symbols On The Back that haven't all been accounted for yet? Which one?

[Xenophon Hendrix 47]

So, we can settle last weekend's discussion by saying that Voltaire Sanders was the spy, but he is feeding Sirleck information with a human go-between.

[The Old Hack 2,448]

1 hour ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

Exactly. How chummy-chummy are Abner and Voltaire, and how did they get that way? Did Voltaire give Abner one of the Symbols On The Back that haven't all been accounted for yet? Which one?

I am terribly tempted to suggest that the private eye should get the magnifying glass, but Dan did say Abner was only a very very recent arrival to the story.

[partner555 170]

46 minutes ago, The Old Hack said:

I am terribly tempted to suggest that the private eye should get the magnifying glass, but Dan did say Abner was only a very very recent arrival to the story.

I thought the consensus is that Luke has the magnifying glass symbol?

[The Old Hack 2,448]

21 minutes ago, partner555 said:

I thought the consensus is that Luke has the magnifying glass symbol?

I'm not sure, but it's possible! I only really suggested it because of the trope of PIs carrying magnifying glasses.

[ProfessorTomoe 1,308]

32 minutes ago, The Old Hack said:

I'm not sure, but it's possible! I only really suggested it because of the trope of PIs carrying magnifying glasses.

Maybe he got the bisected circle one, which allows him to have Agent Cranium's power to see what's on the other side of walls. Perhaps?

[Scotty 1,061]

2 hours ago, Xenophon Hendrix said:

So, we can settle last weekend's discussion by saying that Voltaire Sanders was the spy, but he is feeding Sirleck information with a human go-between.

Well it's certainly settled that Ashley isn't the spy.

Still I did not expect Whitey Sanders informing Sirleck in this way. It's still confusing though, Voltaire wants Elliot dead for some reason, Sirleck wants Elliot alive because Magus needs him alive, what does Voltaire plan to do when Sirleck gets a hold of Elliot?

[Sweveham 65]

Over six years! Wow, Dan really plans ahead.

I like Abner already. Then again, I'm rather fond of hardboiled, snarky private detectives (Raymond Chandler is awesome).

He's pretty good for a character who, judging by the commentary, was created to fill a plothole.

 

[Aura Guardian 57]

The "vampires are for real" line... SPLENDID trolling of the vampire. At least I think Volty woulda made sure he knew they were.

[Matoyak 51]

39 minutes ago, Sweveham said:

Over six years! Wow, Dan really plans ahead.

Yeah, it's one of my favorite aspects of Dan's stuff. And he's said before that the main bulk of the story was designed to take place when the main crew got into college. If that's still the case, then we've got a LOT to look forward to.

[Wildcat 37]

Abner looks like Raven....

6 hours ago, ijuin said:

Anyway, his choice of the name "Voltaire" probably implies that he is not one of those who is far into the age-related insanity. The famed French writer named Voltaire (after whom this Immortal presumably named himself) was not prominent before around 1730, so this places an upper limit on when this Immortal chose then name. The choice of the name also makes it sound like he believes himself to be more "enlightened" than other Immortals.

Well, Jerry implied that all immortals think they're more enlightened or important than other immortals with the name thing

http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=1110

[CritterKeeper 1,102]

6 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

Voltaire? Blow that for a game of soldiers. To me, he will always be Colonel Sanders. With his Amazing Chicken Power.

"Blow that for a game of soldiers"??  Never heard that one before!

3 hours ago, partner555 said:

I thought the consensus is that Luke has the magnifying glass symbol?

I dunno, I thought he might be the amorphous blob, for seeing auras.

[Stature 96]

7 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

Voltaire? Blow that for a game of soldiers. To me, he will always be Colonel Sanders. With his Amazing Chicken Power.

PUH-REACH!!

Sadly, Voltaire is not as electric as he seems.

9 hours ago, CritterKeeper said:

How long before a Li'l Abner joke shows up?  Or is his appearance already a reference to the black-haired perpetually-19 character?

In the forums, not for long. Go back there, Abner. Or I will ship you to Abu Dhabi.

One thing I noticed on re-read: The ghost-like hand of Sirleck. Pass-through, buddy?

[Schol-R-LEA 0]

6 hours ago, Xenophon Hendrix said:

So, we can settle last weekend's discussion by saying that Voltaire Sanders was the spy, but he is feeding Sirleck information with a human go-between.

Are we certain that Abner isn't an Elf? It would make sense, especially if Sirleck hasn't met him in person, and thus thinks he's human.