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hkmaly

Story, Monday December 11, 2017

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The outback bugger. Then again, koalas are better than those roos.

Could be worse. Diane could make a metaphor out of an elephant. Then we could have a circus! :demonicduck:

51 minutes ago, Scotty said:

Maybe one of the vampires is a duck of the not-so-demonic-but-vegetarian kind?

Is it duck season already?

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1 hour ago, Scotty said:

Maybe one of the vampires is a duck of the not-so-demonic-but-vegetarian kind?

Next we'll be seeing Bunnicula... the vampire that leaves behind tomatoes bled white.

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1 hour ago, Stature said:

The outback bugger. Then again, koalas are better than those roos.

Could be worse. Diane could make a metaphor out of an elephant. Then we could have a circus! :demonicduck:

Is it duck season already?

It's Wabbit Season!

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...Um, yay for half-starburst background in panel eight?

18 hours ago, hkmaly said:

... and another fuzzy aberration.

I wonder, is Dan trying to reduce the darkness of this storyline with these deceptively cuddly-seeming Abberations, was he in a silly mood when designing them, or is it just a coincidence that we got two in a row?

8 hours ago, Scotty said:

Lucy's reaction there could also be interpreted as Lucy having been taking the whole "use boys to get free stuff" act more seriously than Diane. That would however have the potential of Lucy dumping Diane the same way that a number of the feminist club members dumped Susan after she attempt to rally people to help change the dress code.

That might also be a reason why Lucy treats Rhoda the way she does, Lucy might believe that Rhoda's making Diane soft.

I agree with you on why Lucy wasn't happy about Diane wanting to get a real relationship.

As for the way she treats Rhoda, I initially assumed she was just a bit of a bully and Rhoda was an easy target, but Dan doesn't usually go for such shallow characterization these days, so I expect that sooner or later we'll get a different explanation that paints Lucy in a better light. (Perhaps a bigger question: Why had Diane let Lucy pick on Rhoda, when Diane usually is protective of Rhoda? Does Diane just not notice?)

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42 minutes ago, ChronosCat said:

I wonder, is Dan trying to reduce the darkness of this storyline with these deceptively cuddly-seeming Abberations, was he in a silly mood when designing them, or is it just a coincidence that we got two in a row?

Or Dan couldn't resist making the "lions and tigers and bears" joke, (oh my!). Much as I would like to see Barney the creepy purple dinosaur next on the hit list, however, you've got a point. These aberrations do clash with the ones we've seen before. There was nothing cuddly about the Paris vampire; Sirleck was and is creepy as hell; the Spider Vampire was menace o'plenty; and while Big Mouth isn't the sharpest pencil in the box, cuddly he ain't. Scarf Face is kind of on the edge; nothing particularly menacing about his looks so far, but as I've said before, he's smarter.

And the "spontaneous combustion" feature is something Dan hasn't really hinted about before; he went to great trouble to have Dame Tara dispose of the remains of the Spider Vampire in mid-air--after she'd sliced it in at least three parts with her Guillotine attack (hey, another reference to France; I guess there's a France on the other side of the world, as if their vampires weren't enough of a problem.)

This could be a game-changer. If all the aberrations from now on conveniently turn into ash, clean-up should be easier in more ways than one. No inconvenient monster bodies or parts of bodies to explain away. And no one has brought out a smart phone since the stampede of distracted teens! Not even any of the three people we know who saw Pandora floating in the air! What's happening here? Has Big Mouth eaten all the distracted smartphone addicts  in the mall by now? Or Wiley's bears from Non-Sequitur?

And speaking of phones, what about Ashley's phone? Did Magus and/or Sirleck take it away? Did Ashley accidentally leave it at home? Did Ashley "accidentally" leave it at home?

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15 hours ago, Scotty said:
18 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

And Zeus?  I'm not sure what Immortal Law allows you to do with regard to Aberrations in combat, but "ABOVE YOU!" certainly falls within the realm of "Guide and Empower".  Why weren't you paying attention to give practical warnings like that?  OK, Susan ignored your first bit of advice to leave.  There are other things you can and should do besides argue with another sticky beak.

Zeus is worried about what would happen to him if either of them get hurt or worse, he's probably trying to triage the situation, get Diane to safety first, then go back for Susan.

So Zeus is focused on Diane, but Diane is focused on Susan.

Obviously. The point was that focusing on Diane might've not been good choice  in this moment.

15 hours ago, Scotty said:

I'm going to predict this is where Adrian makes his entrance into the fight, Susan's down, abberation looming over her, and suddenly... SLICE FROM BEHIND! And Adrian appears through the smoke.

I still hope Adrian will enter with SPELL and not sword.

13 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

Adrian didn't summon a sword against Abraham; he brought his sword cane to school. We don't know if he can summon magical weapons or enchant normal ones. But we do know he can make murder shrouds of exploding crows.

Yes.

12 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

I kind of presume Pandora destroyed the werewolves by giving Abraham the powers to destroy them.

Why just Abraham? I think she was guiding SEVERAL hunters until werewolves were extinct.

11 hours ago, Scotty said:

Not entirely sure how directly fighting vampires would be breaking Immortal law, but considering Immortals have tended to go out of their ways to get someone to kill them, it's probably a case of Immortals painting themselves into a corner, like they can't do anything to Humans beyond guide and empower and for some strange reason aberrations are still included under that? I dunno

But anyway, there's also Helena and Demetrius that might show up, maybe they found some extra reinforcements to fight the vampires?

Note that Helena and Demetrius never tried to attack vampire directly. So yes I think the aberrations are still included under empower and guide rule.

11 hours ago, Scotty said:
11 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

Well, maybe, but Lucy has never shown anything like admiration or sympathy for for any boy, and I kind of got the vibe that Lucy was really disappointed to hear Diane tell her she wanted a "real relationship".But your theory about Lucy crushing on Rhoda brings up the intriguing possibility of a real catfight...MRROOOOOWWWW!!!!!

Lucy's reaction there could also be interpreted as Lucy having been taking the whole "use boys to get free stuff" act more seriously than Diane. That would however have the potential of Lucy dumping Diane the same way that a number of the feminist club members dumped Susan after she attempt to rally people to help change the dress code.

That might also be a reason why Lucy treats Rhoda the way she does, Lucy might believe that Rhoda's making Diane soft.

Lucy: "What, that was an act?"

Note: While there is theoretical potential of Lucy dumping Diane, and Diane is definitely worried about it, I think ultimately Lucy will find out it was mistake because Diane was the leader of their group.

11 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

Also a plausible theory. Dan really hasn't developed Lucy very much, has he?

... aaand note that the "Lucy crushing Diane" and "Lucy taking the act seriously" doesn't exclude each other. Both may be true.

7 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

Yet another plot theory: Maybe the Scarf Vampire (or maybe it's a turtleneck?) will survive long enough to track down Sirleck and demand payback for sending him into a place crawling with vampire hunters. Scarf Guy seems smart enough to make a strategic withdrawal.

Crawling with vampire hunters and immortals. I like this idea, but I'm not sure he's smart enough to escape four immortals looking for him.

6 hours ago, Tuscahoma said:
7 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

Noooo, not him! I want him to stay safe and happy where he won't get hurt! >.<

Oddly enough, it was an X-Files episode with a teenager who was(?) a vampire that mentioned that vampires have a compulsion to count things, so Mulder spilled his sunflower seeds to distract the vampire.  Apparently this trait shows up in East European vampire mythology.  So the Count, despite being a muppet, might have been a truer vampire than we thought.

Assuming the East European mythology is correct, but considering WHERE most vampires come from it sounds like safe assumption.

2 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

And the "spontaneous combustion" feature is something Dan hasn't really hinted about before; he went to great trouble to have Dame Tara dispose of the remains of the Spider Vampire in mid-air--after she'd sliced it in at least three parts with her Guillotine attack (hey, another reference to France; I guess there's a France on the other side of the world, as if their vampires weren't enough of a problem.)

What makes you so sure he was dead after she sliced it in at least three parts? Remember, she didn't used magic weapon for that.

Also, she MIGHT've be showing off and go for overkill.

Also, he WAS on fire then. Maybe she just disposed him so quickly he didn't have time to turn to ash yet.

2 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

And no one has brought out a smart phone since the stampede of distracted teens! Not even any of the three people we know who saw Pandora floating in the air! What's happening here? Has Big Mouth eaten all the distracted smartphone addicts  in the mall by now?

Most people are not SO fast in bringing out their phones. I'm sure they are recording now. Unless they shown unusual amount of common sense and are actually running away from fight now.

2 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

And speaking of phones, what about Ashley's phone? Did Magus and/or Sirleck take it away? Did Ashley accidentally leave it at home? Did Ashley "accidentally" leave it at home?

... why should she "accidentally" leave at home?

Wait: you suspect she would like to pretend she didn't know how much time already passed on her date? Good girl like her?

I would assume either Magus/Sirleck took it away, or it was left at Elliot's house. Not that it would matter so much, it's normal phone.

Now, more interesting question is where are Elliot's and Ellen's DGB-issued phones with advanced encryption allowing freely speaking about classified information ... and possibly eavesdropping functionality and always-on tracking?

 

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1 hour ago, Tom Sewell said:

And no one has brought out a smart phone since the stampede of distracted teens! Not even any of the three people we know who saw Pandora floating in the air! What's happening here? Has Big Mouth eaten all the distracted smartphone addicts  in the mall by now? Or Wiley's bears from Non-Sequitur?

And speaking of phones, what about Ashley's phone? Did Magus and/or Sirleck take it away? Did Ashley accidentally leave it at home? Did Ashley "accidentally" leave it at home?

The "Apocalypse" part of the title makes me expect that much of this battle or series of battles will be highly public, smartphone videos included. It's entirely possible that Pandora floating, Raven's transformation, and maybe even Susan slaying the dragon-Aberration were all caught on video, but we won't find out until it's all over. (After all, the revelation it was all recorded will have more impact for the reader if it's at a point when our primary focus isn't on the fighting.)

As for Ashley's phone, she might still have it on her; with that "calm" spell on her she probably hasn't realized she has a reason to use it yet. (I don't know if Sirleck would have thought to take her phone away, but it wouldn't surprise me if Magus didn't think of it - if his world's a medeival one, and/or one where magic is commonplace, they might not even have phones.)

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1 minute ago, ChronosCat said:

wouldn't surprise me if Magus didn't think of it - if his world's a medeival one, and/or one where magic is commonplace

Even if communication via Fairy Doll is possible, telephones are still preferred.

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7 minutes ago, ChronosCat said:

The "Apocalypse" part of the title makes me expect that much of this battle or series of battles will be highly public, smartphone videos included.

Good point. Maybe Dan is building up suspense before the Big Reveal.

Here's a scenario: Carol Brown is actually on the scene with a video feed, arguing with her station manager to put the story on, while he (or maybe she) tells her it's just another stunt like the fake griffin last Saturday--I mean, a flying furry snake and a big talking Koala Bear in a funny little hat?!

12 minutes ago, ChronosCat said:

but it wouldn't surprise me if Magus didn't think of it - if his world's a medeival one, and/or one where magic is commonplace, they might not even have phones.)

Magus has been observing life in Moperville for over two years now, so I'm pretty sure he knows what people are doing with smartphones and even cars, even it he doesn't know how they work. After all, how many people in our world don't know how cars or phones work?

 

19 minutes ago, ChronosCat said:

Even if communication via Fairy Doll is possible, telephones are still preferred.

Maybe the Fairy Doll lobbyists have gotten restrictive laws, heavy taxes, and licensing fees on telephones in the Magusverse. You know, like Ma Bell in the old days.

 

35 minutes ago, hkmaly said:

Also, he WAS on fire then. Maybe she just disposed him so quickly he didn't have time to turn to ash yet.

Another good point. Spidey would have made a big pile of ash that could have taken longer to finish burning. Fortunately it seems to be white ash, so the DGB could maybe just pretend it was snow. Hey, it's January just a bit outside Chicago.

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16 minutes ago, ChronosCat said:

The "Apocalypse" part of the title makes me expect that much of this battle or series of battles will be highly public, smartphone videos included. It's entirely possible that Pandora floating, Raven's transformation, and maybe even Susan slaying the dragon-Aberration were all caught on video, but we won't find out until it's all over. (After all, the revelation it was all recorded will have more impact for the reader if it's at a point when our primary focus isn't on the fighting.)

Agree. Also, no crowd with phones in background is less work for Dan.

1 minute ago, Tom Sewell said:

Here's a scenario: Carol Brown is actually on the scene with a video feed, arguing with her station manager to put the story on, while he (or maybe she) tells her it's just another stunt like the fake griffin last Saturday--I mean, a flying furry snake and a big talking Koala Bear in a funny little hat?!

Why would she be there with camera ready? I think she will be lucky if she catches Adrian killing the last vampire. ... which would still be big story.

17 minutes ago, ChronosCat said:

As for Ashley's phone, she might still have it on her; with that "calm" spell on her she probably hasn't realized she has a reason to use it yet.

With that "calm" spell, maybe she realized that if she still has the phone, keeping it hidden might be smarter than trying to use it now and risk being caught. Unless she has Edward on speed dial and she can turn it on without taking the phone out, waiting for better opportunity makes more sense.

16 minutes ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:
19 minutes ago, ChronosCat said:

wouldn't surprise me if Magus didn't think of it - if his world's a medeival one, and/or one where magic is commonplace

Even if communication via Fairy Doll is possible, telephones are still preferred.

Really? :)

... ok, seriously: even with magic based communication being possible, not everyone might be skilled in magic enough to use one, and the shape of phone is mostly based on human physiology, not technical limits, so even magic-based communication device might look similar.

And Magus was in our world long enough to notice items so commonly used as phones. He may not realize phones have GPS or that they can be traced, but he must be aware they can be used for calling.

2 minutes ago, Tom Sewell said:

Magus has been observing life in Moperville for over two years now, so I'm pretty sure he knows what people are doing with smartphones and even cars, even it he doesn't know how they work. After all, how many people in our world don't know how cars or phones work?

Depends on required level of details.

4 minutes ago, Tom Sewell said:
42 minutes ago, hkmaly said:

Also, he WAS on fire then. Maybe she just disposed him so quickly he didn't have time to turn to ash yet.

Another good point. Spidey would have made a big pile of ash that could have taken longer to finish burning. Fortunately it seems to be white ash, so the DGB could maybe just pretend it was snow. Hey, it's January just a bit outside Chicago.

Or, like, maybe it was windy enough that that pile of ash dispersed before someone realized it might be suspicious.

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21 hours ago, Tuscahoma said:

Now this is just... wow.  I know it's a tense situation and Susan is in real danger, but come on, a koala vampire with a little hat?  He's not cute but he is.  I don't know; makes me want to hug him with a wooden stake.  I mean he and the bearded snake vampire are halfway to a muppet band.

Dan's comically-over the top horrors are not as terrifying as his subtle horrors.

19 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

That could be the point where Pandora irrevocably breaks Immortal Law to personally kill a vampire or five, and has a minute, tops, before getting reset.

Don't Immortals hate Aberrations? They may give her a pass.

19 hours ago, Tuscahoma said:

Or she could appear as a normal human, get in the way and be attacked.  If an immortal is attacked, aren't they able to defend themselves?  I presume that is how Pandora killed those werewolves without being reset (just as Voltaire was trying to bait Elliot into attacking him).

Good loophole.

17 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

I kind of presume Pandora destroyed the werewolves by giving Abraham the powers to destroy them.

I'm pretty sure Pandora wouldn't help Abraham given that he's responsible for the eternal werewolf that killed Adrian's father.

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I still hope the bonus involved shrimps and Tim Tams...

6 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

Even if communication via Fairy Doll is possible, telephones are still preferred.

We would be surprised when telepathic communication is used, especially superheroes.

It has been a long time without a crowd on their phones, saying they have footage.

11 hours ago, Vorlonagent said:

It's Wabbit Season!

Duck Season!

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58 minutes ago, partner555 said:
20 hours ago, Tuscahoma said:

Or she could appear as a normal human, get in the way and be attacked.  If an immortal is attacked, aren't they able to defend themselves?  I presume that is how Pandora killed those werewolves without being reset (just as Voltaire was trying to bait Elliot into attacking him).

Good loophole.

I'm not sure ... remember that intent counts. Maybe immortals are not allowed to deliberately bait someone into attacking. Or, like, they can but only if they convince themselves it's not what they are doing, which would totally match what Voltaire did.

1 hour ago, partner555 said:
18 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

I kind of presume Pandora destroyed the werewolves by giving Abraham the powers to destroy them.

I'm pretty sure Pandora wouldn't help Abraham given that he's responsible for the eternal werewolf that killed Adrian's father.

Where was THAT stated? It might be different werewolf completely.

 

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11 minutes ago, partner555 said:
16 minutes ago, hkmaly said:

Where was THAT stated? It might be different werewolf completely.

http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=2214

http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=2290

http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=2294

It was my conclusion from those three strips.

Weak. I mean, obviously it's possible, but there is no proof there.

On the other hand, regarding the "I'm pretty sure Pandora wouldn't help Abraham given that he's responsible for the eternal werewolf" ... based on http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=2294 I would say that no matter if there was direct connection between the werewolf killing Blaike and the one created by Abraham, I would conclude that Pandora would be unlikely to help Abraham. If she did, she would think about him differently.

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9 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

Magus has been observing life in Moperville for over two years now, so I'm pretty sure he knows what people are doing with smartphones and even cars, even it he doesn't know how they work. After all, how many people in our world don't know how cars or phones work?

True, I'm sure he knows about phones - the question is, is he familiar enough with them to think to plan around them?

Incidentally, be careful when editing quotes; you credited the following one to me when it was actually in response to me. :)

9 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

Even if communication via Fairy Doll is possible, telephones are still preferred.

I doubt everyone would have the Fairy Doll spell, but there might be some other more practical means of magical communication. Of course for non-magical individuals to use it, it would need to be a "wand" or other magical device, which would make it similar enough to cell phones (not necessarily smart, but that's not the point here) that it would make it unlikely Magus would overlook Ashely's phone.

However, this is assuming they had the technology for cell phones but didn't invent them because there was already an easily available magical equivalent. It's possible the presence of easily available magic stunted technological growth centuries ago, and they simply don't have the tech base to make cell phones despite not having a similarly convenient magical means of communication.

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8 hours ago, ChronosCat said:
17 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

Even if communication via Fairy Doll is possible, telephones are still preferred.

I doubt everyone would have the Fairy Doll spell,

Considering Andrea's assessment of that spell, I would consider that evident.

8 hours ago, ChronosCat said:

but there might be some other more practical means of magical communication. Of course for non-magical individuals to use it, it would need to be a "wand" or other magical device, which would make it similar enough to cell phones (not necessarily smart, but that's not the point here) that it would make it unlikely Magus would overlook Ashely's phone.

As I already mentioned, any device (wand included) expected to be used for voice call would likely have shape allowing to hold it with one end near ear and other near mouth, and any device expected to be used for video call would likely have shape like smartphone or Tarot card (note that Apple specially is working hard on making smartphones as thin as tarot cards).

8 hours ago, ChronosCat said:

However, this is assuming they had the technology for cell phones but didn't invent them because there was already an easily available magical equivalent. It's possible the presence of easily available magic stunted technological growth centuries ago, and they simply don't have the tech base to make cell phones despite not having a similarly convenient magical means of communication.

Communication is quite important area of research. If there would be considerable limits or problems in using magic for communication, there would be no reason to stun technological growth in the area. Unless, of course, the reason would basically be that magic users are trying to keep monopoly through preventing ANY research and are very successful in it.

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