story Story, Monday October 2, 2017

[Scotty 1,061]

http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=2404

Yep, Diane was nervous too. Can't really criticize Susan for not considering them choosing the same entrance though, if she did, she'd end up second guessing herself more "what if she's at that entrance? I should go in the other way, but what if she's at that one instead?"

[hkmaly 490]

So, Susan successfully recognized someone based on description "she looks just like you".

(Obviously, except hair and height.)

11 minutes ago, Scotty said:

Yep, Diane was nervous too.

Not sure who is more nervous. And both react to it by looking elsewhere ...

11 minutes ago, Scotty said:

Can't really criticize Susan for not considering them choosing the same entrance though, if she did, she'd end up second guessing herself more "what if she's at that entrance? I should go in the other way, but what if she's at that one instead?

The problem with "choosing the same entrance" is that ANY entrance might be the one the other will use.

[Tom Sewell 268]

They chose the same entrance because Dan needed them to choose the same entrance. And he was right. This is not any of the ways I pictured Susan and Diane finally meeting. It's a perfect representation of an awkward first meeting between two people who are both carrying a lot of emotional baggage.

Taken together with Friday's comic, there's a consistent but unspoken demonstration of how alike Susan and Diane really are. First, Susan hesitates before the entrance. She doesn't see Diane until she takes a few steps forward, and doesn't notice Diane until Diane speaks--likely in the voice Susan recognizes as her own. And what is Diane doing behind that pillar, shivering in a January evening near Chicago, stalling--exactly what Susan was doing, not because Diane expected to meet Susan or anyone else she knew.

Notice that there are only two panels in this comic where Susan and Diane are actually looking at each other. Panel-by-panel:

1. Susan still hasn't turned to face Diane.
2. Now they are closer and looking at each other
3. Susan continues to look at Diane, but Diane looks away as she explains, holding one arm with the other.
4. Diane looks at Susan again, but her arms are still clutched. As Susan explains, she looks away from Diane, and crosses her arms behind her back.
5. Neither says anything, and their arms are still in positions showing reluctance.
6. Arms still reluctant, they look at one another and finally agree to go inside.

I kind of think Wednesday's comic will cut away to somewhere and someone else, since it's been established that the main characters have plans that scatter them over Moperville.

• Sarah's supposed to having her not-date with Sam.
• Nanase is supposed to drive to the college alone to meet Ellen.
• After dropping off Ellen, Elliot and Ashley have plans which don't seem to involve a lazy movie.
• Like the previous Friday night, Grace and Justin will be working at Salty Crackers.
• We don't have any real clue to what Rhoda, Catalina, Adrian, and Noah will be doing or where they will be doing it. Rhoda and Catalina will probably together somewhere. Best guess is that Adrian and Noah will be home.
• Likely Jerry 2.0 is watching Susan and Diane.
• Helena and Demetrius could be watching Elliot, or looking for more vampires.
• Magus is probably keeping close to Elliot, and Sirleck is probably staying close to Magus.
• Pandora could be anywhere, as could Tedd, Edward, Matt Cohen, the Screaming Girl with raccoons in her attic, an assortment of vampires....
• Carol Brown could alsocbe anywhere, but for once, I'd like to see her actually on the scene in time.
• Greg, perhaps on a date with Vladia?

Many choices for the cast of a new scene--and also many choices for Susan and Diane to encounter inside the mall.

Or we could actually concentrate on the developing relationship between Susan and Diane as Dan did for much of So a Date at the Mall.

Stay tuned.

It occurs to me that a lot of you don't really get 'stay tuned." It's from back in the days before cable and satellite and Netflix and home video recording. When I was a kid living out in the back of the beyond in Idaho, we only had one channel until I was in the fourth grade, so staying tuned meant not turning off the TV. To get the second channel we had to put up a separate antenna. And pretty often we got interference from stations all over the continent.

People who actually lived in civilization usually got no more than three or four stations. There were only twelve channels until UHF, and markets rarely were granted licences for adjacent channels because of potential interference.

If you want more of this, maybe I'll start an off-topic thread.

Over and out.

[hkmaly 490]

2 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

Stay tuned.

It occurs to me that a lot of you don't really get 'stay tuned." It's from back in the days before cable and satellite and Netflix and home video recording. When I was a kid living out in the back of the beyond in Idaho, we only had one channel until I was in the fourth grade, so staying tuned meant not turning off the TV. To get the second channel we had to put up a separate antenna. And pretty often we got interference from stations all over the continent.

While you personally might only have one channel, the phrase was referring to possibility of having more - meaning, two or three - with the additional danger that trying to tune other channel took some time, as you needed to manually find the correct frequency for the channel by tuning some knob connected to coil. Only later TVs with "support" for more than one channel appeared, with the first versions having physical switches which controlled which tunable coil will be connected to the circuit, so you could tune every coil for different channel.

... wait. Actually, the phrase likely predates TVs and refers to radios, which rarely got support for multiple channels until they got digital tuner.

[Scotty 1,061]

7 hours ago, hkmaly said:

So, Susan successfully recognized someone based on description "she looks just like you".

I'm not entirely sure that Susan actually recognized her, she could easily just assume that it was Diane from the fact that Diane recognized her. Diane does have the advantage of seeing Susan in the review show.

7 hours ago, hkmaly said:

Not sure who is more nervous. And both react to it by looking elsewhere ...

I'd say they're equally nervous which emphasizes how alike they are even more.

7 hours ago, hkmaly said:

The problem with "choosing the same entrance" is that ANY entrance might be the one the other will use.

Yeah, and thinking about it that way would likely cause an infinite loop of nervous second guessing.

Still, Susan's mistake was that she assumed that Diane would already be inside waiting so all entrances were expected to be clear.

6 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

Sarah's supposed to having her not-date with Sam.

I'm not sure we'll see the date in this story arc, I thought Dan had mentioned that Justin's and Sarah's respective dates would get their own stories after Sister 3 is done, so that Sister 3 wouldn't drag on longer than it needed to.

6 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

Nanase is supposed to drive to the college alone to meet Ellen.

I'm really want to think that Magus has something to do with that, or maybe Sirleck trying to draw Ellen and Elliot away from where the aberrations are going to attack, note that Elliot is driving Ellen there as well.

6 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

After dropping off Ellen, Elliot and Ashley have plans which don't seem to involve a lazy movie.

That seems like that's what they plan on doing, but that might change when Elliot and Ellen arrive at Charlotte's.

6 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

We don't have any real clue to what Rhoda, Catalina, Adrian, and Noah will be doing or where they will be doing it. Rhoda and Catalina will probably together somewhere. Best guess is that Adrian and Noah will be home.

We haven't seen Rhoda or Catalina at all in this arc which is really strange considering their appearance in "So a Date" had them learning that Elliot was Cheerleadra, they're either playing it cool because of their own magic, or they're nervous about approaching any of the Main Eight about it. We don't even know how they reacted to Edward's fake Cheerleadra sighting.

As for Adrian and Noah, Adrian's probably getting things ready for when he takes down the dam, though considering he's the target of the aberrations, it's likely he'll be out somewhere instead of at home. Noah might stay at home, or he might go out with Adrian.

6 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

Likely Jerry 2.0 is watching Susan and Diane.

Yeah, now that Diane and Susan are together, he'll be able to watch them both easily, though he won't be able to so much if things get crazy as he's still a baby by Immortal standards, having recently reset.

6 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

Helena and Demetrius could be watching Elliot, or looking for more vampires.

Or looking for Vampire Hunters. We know of 2 that are possibly capable of doing so, Susan for sure, but maybe Adrian has some magic that can harm aberrations. Tara and Andrea were capable of killing vampires and they didn't need to use magic summoned weapons, maybe Adrian can enchant his cane-sword to be more effective against vampires.

 

[Tom Sewell 268]

6 minutes ago, Scotty said:

Or looking for Vampire Hunters. We know of 2 that are possibly capable of doing so, Susan for sure, but maybe Adrian has some magic that can harm aberrations. Tara and Andrea were capable of killing vampires and they didn't need to use magic summoned weapons, maybe Adrian can enchant his cane-sword to be more effective against vampires.

Noah's tonfas were pretty effective, and arguably Grace's claws, which made Damien vulnerable for the first and last time in his life, could do the trick against vampires. And have you noticed how careful Dan is being to tell us that while the events in Goonmanji 2 are non-canon, the powers of Rhoda and Catalina are canon. And it is canon that Rhoda is one of the most powerful magic-users in Moperville now. And as for Elliot and Ellen, their original magic grew out of Greg's training, and perhaps from his own magic. I kind of doubt that they would be useless against vampires.

Yes, Helena and Demetrius have quite a number of potential recruits for vampire disposal duty.

[partner555 170]

47 minutes ago, Tom Sewell said:

Yes, Helena and Demetrius have quite a number of potential recruits for vampire disposal duty.

Hopefully they'd be upfront about what they want, and make it clear the recruit has a choice to not do it.

[Drasvin 123]

58 minutes ago, partner555 said:

1 hour ago, Tom Sewell said:

Yes, Helena and Demetrius have quite a number of potential recruits for vampire disposal duty.

Hopefully they'd be upfront about what they want, and make it clear the recruit has a choice to not do it.

I would be hopeful about that as well, but unfortunately Helena and Demetrius don't have a good track record in regards to that.

[hkmaly 490]

8 hours ago, Drasvin said:

9 hours ago, partner555 said:

9 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

Yes, Helena and Demetrius have quite a number of potential recruits for vampire disposal duty.

Hopefully they'd be upfront about what they want, and make it clear the recruit has a choice to not do it.

I would be hopeful about that as well, but unfortunately Helena and Demetrius don't have a good track record in regards to that.

I would actually say that they are already aware of Adrian and Noah but they wouldn't try to "recruit" them because they would need to be upfront about it.

And they are likely afraid to approach Susan and/or Nanase again.

Greg? Well ... maybe ...

9 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

And it is canon that Rhoda is one of the most powerful magic-users in Moperville now.

"One of"? That may be true but competition is great. I think Nanase's royal-level talent is still better, or at least same with her having headstart. And obviously, professionals like Adrian Raven, Edward Verres or Agent Wolf (one of most powerful wizards in the mid-western United States) would be more powerful, not speaking about Noriko Verres (she's likely not in Moperville, though). And, well, Grace has lot of power in her technically-magic ...

 

[Tom Sewell 268]

14 minutes ago, hkmaly said:

Grace has lot of power in her technically-magic ...

Adrian agrees, except when Grace is startled. So, yeah, I think its pretty much a given Grace would be a threat to vampires right out of her egg.

[Vorlonagent 442]

37 minutes ago, Tom Sewell said:

Adrian agrees, except when Grace is startled. So, yeah, I think its pretty much a given Grace would be a threat to vampires right out of her egg.

Building on this, one wonders if Lespuko claws hurt vampires the way magically-created weapons do.

[Drasvin 123]

29 minutes ago, Vorlonagent said:

1 hour ago, Tom Sewell said:

Adrian agrees, except when Grace is startled. So, yeah, I think its pretty much a given Grace would be a threat to vampires right out of her egg.

Building on this, one wonders if Lespuko claws hurt vampires the way magically-created weapons do.

That would depend on the vampire's defense mechanism. If it's regeneration based, then yes. Lespuko claws shut down regeneration effects. If the vampire instead has abnormally tough skin, that would be more uncertain.And given the variety of vampires, the defense mechanisms likely vary as well, though I think the default might be regeneration effects(Makes more sense for beings that fear death). Though I don't think you need magical weapons to hurt vampires. "Magical weaponry harms them far more severely than those of normal make." That implies that non-magical weapons can hurt them, though it requires significantly more firepower to do anything significant. Even if her lespuko claws don't confer a special advantage, Grace likely could use her sheer absurd power to kill a vampire, it would just be a lot more work than if her claws did help.

[Scotty 1,061]

1 hour ago, Drasvin said:

That would depend on the vampire's defense mechanism. If it's regeneration based, then yes. Lespuko claws shut down regeneration effects. If the vampire instead has abnormally tough skin, that would be more uncertain.And given the variety of vampires, the defense mechanisms likely vary as well, though I think the default might be regeneration effects(Makes more sense for beings that fear death). Though I don't think you need magical weapons to hurt vampires. "Magical weaponry harms them far more severely than those of normal make." That implies that non-magical weapons can hurt them, though it requires significantly more firepower to do anything significant. Even if her lespuko claws don't confer a special advantage, Grace likely could use her sheer absurd power to kill a vampire, it would just be a lot more work than if her claws did help.

I would expect Grace's claws in her Omega Form would be very strong. I'm not sure how far I would go with how strong they'd be though, considering we've seen Tara take out chunks of concrete, Grace could probably strengthen her attacks with telekinesis, reinforcing the claws with Uryuom Power? She might have been automatically doing that while fighting Damien, but would of course need to learn how to do so without going into berserker mode.

[hkmaly 490]

51 minutes ago, Scotty said:

I would expect Grace's claws in her Omega Form would be very strong. I'm not sure how far I would go with how strong they'd be though, considering we've seen Tara take out chunks of concrete, Grace could probably strengthen her attacks with telekinesis, reinforcing the claws with Uryuom Power? She might have been automatically doing that while fighting Damien, but would of course need to learn how to do so without going into berserker mode.

The Omega Form might be automatically reinforcing the claws even without the berserker mode. Also, what's so bad on berserker mode?

Of course, Grace would prefer claymore to using her claws, but then she needs to buy one and put it in Susan's trunk.

[Scotty 1,061]

6 minutes ago, hkmaly said:

Also, what's so bad on berserker mode?

Well it did scare her how savage she was, she effectively lost control and let her animal instincts kick in, and it could have been much worse for Dr Scuiridae.

If she were to learn how to use her abilities without having to go berserk, she would be a force to contend with.

[hkmaly 490]

6 hours ago, Scotty said:

6 hours ago, hkmaly said:

Also, what's so bad on berserker mode?

Well it did scare her how savage she was, she effectively lost control and let her animal instincts kick in, and it could have been much worse for Dr Scuiridae.

That's why it's important for her to have no remorse for aberrations. No cure.

... aaand allies should give her space. Right.

6 hours ago, Scotty said:

If she were to learn how to use her abilities without having to go berserk, she would be a force to contend with.

Yes, but seems she only progresses very slowly.

[Scotty 1,061]

Just now, hkmaly said:

Yes, but seems she only progresses very slowly.

Yeah, but as you said, since she knows aberrations can't be cured and are the worst of the worst, one would hope that she has learned proper techniques to go along with the statement of "I shouldn't hold back." Lifting cars can only go so far before it happens to be George's car that she uses to kill an aberration.

 

[Tom Sewell 268]

5 hours ago, Scotty said:

Lifting cars can only go so far before it happens to be George's car that she uses to kill an aberration.

Yeah, but George has insurance for that.

[hkmaly 490]

6 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

12 hours ago, Scotty said:

Lifting cars can only go so far before it happens to be George's car that she uses to kill an aberration.

Yeah, but George has insurance for that.

He might not be only one. If that insurance company isn't stupid, they will use footage of the incident from youtube to promote that option, believing that the incident was isolated - and up to now, they still think the additional money for monster insurance was worth it. Of course, tomorrow they might regret it ... or maybe not, because the total number of cars wrecked by vampires still wouldn't be THAT high.

[Tom Sewell 268]

4 minutes ago, hkmaly said:

Of course, tomorrow they might regret it ... or maybe not, because the total number of cars wrecked by vampires still wouldn't be THAT high.

Gee, this Friday Night at the Moperville Mall would be the perfect place to hold a classic car event, wouldn't it? Look up how much a gull-wing Mercedes is worth now. Thirty-odd years ago I saw one here going for $300,000.

[hkmaly 490]

7 minutes ago, Tom Sewell said:

13 minutes ago, hkmaly said:

Of course, tomorrow they might regret it ... or maybe not, because the total number of cars wrecked by vampires still wouldn't be THAT high.

Gee, this Friday Night at the Moperville Mall would be the perfect place to hold a classic car event, wouldn't it? Look up how much a gull-wing Mercedes is worth now. Thirty-odd years ago I saw one here going for $300,000.

Yes, and maybe we should also have some celebrities to visit ... like, Ben Lee, Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez, Cristiano Ronaldo, David Beckham, Michael Flatley, Julia Roberts ...

[Scotty 1,061]

15 minutes ago, Tom Sewell said:

Gee, this Friday Night at the Moperville Mall would be the perfect place to hold a classic car event, wouldn't it? Look up how much a gull-wing Mercedes is worth now. Thirty-odd years ago I saw one here going for $300,000.

In the middle of winter? Doubt it, everyone owning classic cars and living in the northern US will very likely have them in storage with all fluid lines filled with anti-freeze. And I don't think Moperville has an indoor venue that could support a classic car show.

If anything, all car enthusiasts will either be at or watching on TV or Live Streaming the International Auto Show in Detroit which incidentally probably is happening at this moment in comic (the 2014 NAIAS went from Jan 13-26 so Sister III would be taking place during the first week of it, if the comic is currently in 2014) OR, they'll be in Scottsdale Arizona for the Barrett Jackson Auction (Jan 12-19 in 2014).

[Tom Sewell 268]

3 minutes ago, Scotty said:

In the middle of winter? Doubt it, everyone owning classic cars and living in the northern US will very likely have them in storage with all fluid lines filled with anti-freeze. And I don't think Moperville has an indoor venue that could support a classic car show.

I was thinking inside the mall, maybe some actual museum pieces, or high-end cars from luxury dealers, on the main floor. This is one of those atrium-style malls with walkways to access shops above the main floor. Actually, I live right across the street from such a mall, and I've seen cars on display on main floors in other atrium malls.

[Scotty 1,061]

Just now, Tom Sewell said:

I was thinking inside the mall, maybe some actual museum pieces, or high-end cars from luxury dealers, on the main floor. This is one of those atrium-style malls with walkways to access shops above the main floor. Actually, I live right across the street from such a mall, and I've seen cars on display on main floors in other atrium malls.

I've been to a mall that had vehicles parked in the corridors as well, but at best there was 6 or 7 of them, not really enough to call a car show. the Moperville mall doesn't strike me as a large mall either.

[Don Edwards 548]

13 hours ago, Scotty said:

Lifting cars can only go so far before it happens to be George's car that she uses to kill an aberration.

Cars as thrown weapons are not a good choice.