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The Old Hack

Story Friday April 1, 2022

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The costume isn't bad, but I was hoping for something a bit more dramatic and stereotypically "villainous" (villains usually get all the best costumes). On the other hand, I've been thinking about how Elliot considered the thing that would make him a villain being lack of restraint, and I'm starting to suspect this will actually be more "anti-hero" Elliot than a true "villain" Elliot.

I am concerned for Elliot though, and not just when it comes to his mind. I'm thinking he probably should have put some more points into endurance/resistance so his body could better handle his new speed and strength; judging by the look of his hands, all the sweat, and that off color to his forehead, he's in danger of injuring himself.

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52 minutes ago, ChronosCat said:

I'm thinking he probably should have put some more points into endurance/resistance so his body could better handle his new speed and strength; judging by the look of his hands, all the sweat, and that off color to his forehead, he's in danger of injuring himself.

I'm thinking that when they do come off the current "evilleadra" phase that in addition to being magically burned out, they are going to need to go to the hospital, much like Nanase did, but possibly more.  For example, broken hands.

 

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58 minutes ago, ChronosCat said:

The costume isn't bad, but I was hoping for something a bit more dramatic and stereotypically "villainous" (villains usually get all the best costumes). On the other hand, I've been thinking about how Elliot considered the thing that would make him a villain being lack of restraint, and I'm starting to suspect this will actually be more "anti-hero" Elliot than a true "villain" Elliot.

Seriously though, needs the goatee. :P

 

58 minutes ago, ChronosCat said:

I am concerned for Elliot though, and not just when it comes to his mind. I'm thinking he probably should have put some more points into endurance/resistance so his body could better handle his new speed and strength; judging by the look of his hands, all the sweat, and that off color to his forehead, he's in danger of injuring himself.

Then again, it's Elliot. His lack of introspection may be a saving grace here.

Unquestionably, at some level, his motives are good. That should count for something.

If nothing else, she does seem to be doing a number on Bad Owl Griffin.

 

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15 minutes ago, Darth Fluffy said:

If nothing else, she does seem to be doing a number on Bad Owl Griffin.

She does seem to be dodging the Griffins attack fairly well.  Plus, of course, punching the crap out of it. 

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Does doing bad things with good intentions still count as sort of good?  If so, this is not a truly villainous form

Second, is a colour change to the costume really the best indicator of alignment change imaginable?  Elliot's immediate circle of friends includes an actual artist as well as experts on every trope in comic books, movies, video, anime, and martial arts.  Elliot just is not trying.

Finally, can we really be certain that Elliot's attitude shift isn't just an April Fool's Comic?

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2 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

Finally, can we really be certain that Elliot's attitude shift isn't just an April Fool's Comic?

Too much has lead up to this for it to just be an April Fool's comic.

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3 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

Does doing bad things with good intentions still count as sort of good?  If so, this is not a truly villainous form.

As far as I've seen so far, Elliot may be showing poor judgement is using something he's been warned has consequences, and may be intentionally tossing aside empathy, which can't go well, but he hasn't actually done anything I'd consider bad. The Owl Griffin is so far the obvious villain here, and it better have a damn good excuse for attacking random inhabitants of this side, royalty or not.

 

3 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

Second, is a colour change to the costume really the best indicator of alignment change imaginable?  Elliot's immediate circle of friends includes an actual artist as well as experts on every trope in comic books, movies, video, anime, and martial arts.  Elliot just is not trying.

What, did Canada invade Texas again? I hate when that happens.

 

3 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

Finally, can we really be certain that Elliot's attitude shift isn't just an April Fool's Comic?

I'll echo mlooney, this is what we expected, Dan is too invested in this story line. It's not really a spoof of anything. Again, the goatee would have helped.

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Reading between the lines of this comic, it seems to me that by going super villain, Elliot is simply gaining access to power he already has, but that would ordinarily do him little good, since he hasn't the skill to use it. Cheer seems to be fighting while flying just fine, for example, despite Elliot's profession of ignorance on that topic. So, could this have been avoided by practicing Cheerleadra's skills? If so, where could she do it without gaining unwanted attention or causing major property damage? What could she do? Weightlifting comes to mind, if Elliot could access sufficiently heavy weights, but that seems pretty limited. Fly blindfolded through the forest to exercise flight, awareness, and, probably, endurance?

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Any system of warrior training suitable for mass use incorporates some form of training in self-restraint, often as part of a code of warrior-honor or indoctrination into laws and regulations of war. The restraint serves both to prevent injuring oneself (e.g. punching so hard that you break your own hand), and to prevent overly injuring the enemy when killing them is not justified.

Elliot has thrown off restraint in this scene, resulting in a boost to speed and strength. This may be likened to hysterical strength, similar to when Nanase first unlocked her Guardian Angel form. It is very likely that exhaustion and burnout for some time will result, as it had for Nanase. However, given the warning from the Emissary of Magic, there must be some other lasting negative consequences. Perhaps restraint can not be easily re-imposed, or Elliot has permanently burned off a fraction of his energy capacity.

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11 hours ago, ijuin said:

Perhaps restraint can not be easily re-imposed, or Elliot has permanently burned off a fraction of his energy capacity.

I'm still saying that Elliot will have burnout and a semi-permanent change to his "normal" personality.  This will be solved by the power of friendship in the form of hugs from some combination of Tedd, Grace and Ashley.  This is sorta foreshadowed by his and Ashley's argument over which one was the more evil.

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20 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

Does doing bad things with good intentions still count as sort of good?  If so, this is not a truly villainous form

That is one of the major differences between an anti-hero and a traditional villain, hence my suggesting this might be an anti-hero form. (Of course there's a bit more to the distinction than that; I've never heard of a person in a leadership or "mastermind" role being called an anti-hero. Anti-heros are usually expected to be a lot like "super" heroes or other "heroic vigilantes" except for being more violent and inclined to believe the ends justify the means; based on what we know right now, Elliot definitely seems to qualify in this respect as well.)

13 hours ago, ijuin said:

Elliot has thrown off restraint in this scene, resulting in a boost to speed and strength. This may be likened to hysterical strength, similar to when Nanase first unlocked her Guardian Angel form. It is very likely that exhaustion and burnout for some time will result, as it had for Nanase. However, given the warning from the Emissary of Magic, there must be some other lasting negative consequences. Perhaps restraint can not be easily re-imposed, or Elliot has permanently burned off a fraction of his energy capacity.

It's possible there will be lasting consequences (besides guilt), and with all the build-up to this I rather expect it. I've mentioned before that there might be a lasting effect on Elliot's mind. Another potential lasting consequence I've thought of is if this affects the direction Elliot's spells go in, resulting in him getting a devoted villain-form spell and or spells that would be dangerous/immoral to use.

However it also occurred to me, perhaps when the Emisary of Magic said it was a bad trade, he meant simply that it's a very uneven trade and thus might not produce the desired results. For example, the spell limits were designed to protect Elliot from hurting himself; what if the Villain-leadra form causes Elliot to burn out and/or physically injure himself (in a way de-transforming won't cure) before he can even win the fight? (Then again, the Emissary did list "points represent what he can safely handle" and "it's a bad trade" as separate arguments, so it's probably not quite that simple.)

 

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In spite of the Emissary's warning, there could be positive side effects, such as 'now that you've handled more power, you can handle more power'. Doesn't seem likely given the foreshadowing, but it would be an interesting turn-around.

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2 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

In spite of the Emissary's warning, there could be positive side effects, such as 'now that you've handled more power, you can handle more power'. Doesn't seem likely given the foreshadowing, but it would be an interesting turn-around.

Well, it is canon that magic works more or less like a RPG where if you do magic a lot, you get more spells.  It's possible that magic might scale up the power level you can take based on what power level you have taken.

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