THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)

New Month, new Thread.

Hooray butts. Where's the poll?

Same place Boo hides out.

I couldn't think of one

If any other Mod thinks of one, please feel free to add it on.


Or if someone has a brainwave, PM me and I'll consider it. :)

Go ask Alice.

(Yes, this was a test.)

Ardent? Gavia?

Jack? Margaret Wheelwright? Not them, I guess.

The Night Walker? Nope.

Although I could plead laziness or lack of time, it's actually that the other names had characters missing in that font and so I stuck with what worked.  Even the ones I did needed extra work compared with what I did to the QC names.

Spoiler for the very last Alice Grove strip!
Then the Night Walker ate Gavia and they all lived happily ever after! The end!

Ardent'd go like "Thanks Night Walker. I was growing REALLY TIRED of my sister. That's why I tried to come here in the first place!

And butts, but that's beyond the point"

Do the weird dogs from the cave bark at the (_!_)?

New comic...

...I wonder how Alice became aware of this?   :-o

Well, how do you think she found out the plants eat deer?

I work in the woods. There are deer here. I hope I don't get mounted.

How's your throwing arm?

No, wait.  Alice probably just punched 'em.

How's your punching arm?

I could maybe injure a small child. Or, seeing as I'll be working with children I could probably just outrun them.

Quote from: explicit on 01 Apr 2015, 20:10
I work in the woods. There are deer here. I hope I don't get mounted.

Hopefully they at least perform a filesystem check first.

Meh, if you have to run fsck, you're already fscked.

I'm starting to think Alice is of a world different from our own.

Wouldn't IR eyeballs need a big glassy domes supercooled with liquid helium (like snakes have ;)

Isn't Bioengineered Mother Nature grand?  :-D


Well, that takes care of Ɠąѵìą wandering off

Not so sure about Ⱥɾժҽղէ

Well, that explains the deer! This place is sounding more and more like 'GMO Park' - a dumping ground for various bits of technology and its products that no-one wants or needs anymore.

I'm with Gavia, by the way: No going into the woods during the Rut!

Quote from: Energia on 01 Apr 2015, 21:09
Wouldn't IR eyeballs need a big glassy domes supercooled with liquid helium (like snakes have ;)

Liquid nitrogen should be enough.

Pit vipers have eyes too.

They can sense the heat from anything hotter than themselves. For snakes, this means anything hotter than the environment. For these deer, who knows? This sense will be no help in avoiding running into a tree. Unless the pits are kept colder than the trees.

Yeah, there's a reason that warm-blooded creatures don't see into the infrared. They'd be blinded from the heat of their own eyeballs. Or, given the lack of eyeballs in this case, the heat from the rest of the head.

Possible solution: An insulating layer behind the retina (or whatever else you'd like to call the heat-sensitive organ) that blocks the heat from the rest of the head.

Other possible solution: Don't overthink a webcomic.

Quote from: hedgie on 01 Apr 2015, 20:29
Meh, if you have to run fsck, you're already fscked.

And this is now my signature, thanks. If you don't mind that is.

Go ahead.  I think I lifted it from something similar said on Usenet ages ago, but I have found it to be quite true.

Quote from: Zebediah on 02 Apr 2015, 04:36
Yeah, there's a reason that warm-blooded creatures don't see into the infrared. They'd be blinded from the heat of their own eyeballs. Or, given the lack of eyeballs in this case, the heat from the rest of the head.

Possible solution: An insulating layer behind the retina (or whatever else you'd like to call the heat-sensitive organ) that blocks the heat from the rest of the head.

Other possible solution: Don't overthink a webcomic.

Thinking about it I found a single solution: they are cooled by air. The heat sensing membrane is very thin and the back is covered in mucus that receives direct flow of air from inhaled getting colder than the surround temperature while moisturizing the air.

07:28 hours on Friday 2nd of April and I thought of a Poll


Lucky me

? Characidae are fish.

The Characidae family includes piranhas. They are piranha plants.

Who knows, with genetic engineering they might even have a bit of piranha in their ancestry.

Quote from: Zebediah on 02 Apr 2015, 15:45
The Characidae family includes piranhas. They are piranha plants.

Who knows, with genetic engineering they might even have a bit of piranha in their ancestry.

Characidae family also include these cute little guys http://youtu.be/V95qslKg3wU

But you can use the name characidae on a creature that have no relation to fish if you use in the species name for example. You can even name a species batmani even if it isn't a bat, an ape or a bat-ape http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otocinclus_batmani

Comic...

:-o :-o :-o :-o :-o :-o :-o :-o :-o :-o x 100.

No wonder Alice is always grumpy. Thousands of years old, and she still gets stuck baby-sitting.

So, I'm thinking Alice Grove is set in the 5000s minimum, if it's on Earth. (I'm going for 3000 years minimum - 2000 would be "a couple thousand", 1000 would be "a thousand".)

"Observation" probably didn't mean reading the name plate on Night Walker or counting its tree rings.

So, we finally get a (vague) answer on who Alice is.  But the real question, which I've been wondering for most of these last two chapters, is still whose story is this, anyway?  Immortal witch aside, Alice is still as mysterious and aloof as she was in the beginning, and the siblings are still unsympathetic fish-out-of-water with no clear motive.  We don't know where they came from or why they're stuck here, we don't know who Alice is or why she's there, and we haven't really learned much about this world they're living in.  There's no hook.  If we had a window into this world, that might help--say, if the story was being narrated by Jack, who could give us some sort of normal perspective, because right now it's just two ridiculously spoiled kids being chaperoned by a mysteriously superpowered babysitter, and so far we haven't been given much reason to care.

I'm not really complaining, since I don't really have anything invested in this story--I read it because Jeph updates it twice a week, but I could easily stop anytime because there's nothing else keeping me here.  I just wish there was, is all.

I wonder if Gavia has an actual bed back home, or if she literally hovers to do everything in her life.

Maybe she's just really germophobic.  Like her many-times-great-grandmother...

Quote from: Gladstone on 02 Apr 2015, 20:09
whose story is this, anyway?

Well, given the title, I'd guess Alice. But  only in the same sense QC is about Marten, when really it's about all of the characters Jeph wants it to be about. Slow start aside, it has some minor intrigue. I agree with your assessment of everyone so far, however. Hopefully the babysitting thing ends sooner rather than later. He's clearly using it as a vehicle to describe the world he's creating, so once things are fleshed out a little more maybe we'll get more character development.

We'll find out next time her last name is McCloud

We've learned two things here.

1. Alice is a few thousand years old. This is the less interesting of the things we've just found out.

2. For all the technological wonder of the civilization that Ardent and Gavia are now estranged from, such longevity is rare, if at all heard of.

At least it doesn't sound like they have to go to Carousel

How very, very Granny Weatherwax of you, Alice. You haven't explicitly said that you are thousands of years old. You just implied it and let Gavia's imagination do the rest.

Being a 'witch' was a dodge, not an explanation. We still don't know how Alice does what she does. She's denied by implication having nanotech but she strikes me as the sort who can lie without a twitch, so we can't really be sure of much she says, especially about herself!

Quote from: Gladstone on 02 Apr 2015, 20:09
So, we finally get a (vague) answer on who Alice is.  But the real question, which I've been wondering for most of these last two chapters, is still whose story is this, anyway?

Mostly, I think that it will be answering the mystery that is Alice. I suspect that, like Granny in the Discworld books, she likes being the mysterious, morally ambiguous 'Wicked Witch'. What this will be will very much a journey in which we discover that she is very much a good person and a hero. It's just that being a hero is just a lot harder with far more challenging decisions than we see in the funny papers. Alice would prefer being an anti-hero or even an anti-villain; she will always deny being a good guy, but those who know and love her know the truth (and occasionally have to hit her upside the head to stop her sulking about it).

I also have the feeling that Gavia is becoming more and more prominent in the narrative. I'm starting to think that she is like that spectacularly talented witch that the Lancre Three met in a recent book (I think it was called Black Hat). Alice is going to teach her how best to use her powers and, more importantly, when not to use them (i.e. 'most of the time'). The B-plot could be titled: "How I Became a Witch by Gavia Vicissitude". Alice doesn't want an apprentice; actually there is, according to her, nothing that she wants less! However, the girl is just too powerful and talented to leave untrained!

There may be a C-plot about Ardent's learning curve and how he grew up to be a conscientious and mature man.

Ben: A Hat Full of Sky.

Quote from: Kugai on 02 Apr 2015, 22:35

We'll find out next time her last name is McCloud

Or Jones (http://gunnerkrigg.wikia.com/wiki/Jones).

Quote from: Loki on 03 Apr 2015, 00:45
Ben: A Hat Full of Sky.

That's one of them, yes. I suspect that Gavia is going to find herself walking a similar path to Tiffany with Alice being her "Granny" Esme Weatherwax.

Sorry for the double-post but I had to add this.

I was watching an Age of Ultron trailer and, oddly enough, I heard what Ultron says to Pietro and Wanda being said by Alice to Ardent and Gavia:

"I was made... to protect the world... So that the people would look to the skies... with hope instead of fear in their eyes."

I also got the Granny Weatherwax vibe from Alice in today's comic  :-D.

Really enjoying Alice Grove the last few strips I have to say, opening up a really intriguing world.

Quote from: Meilu on 02 Apr 2015, 21:28

Quote from: Gladstone on 02 Apr 2015, 20:09
whose story is this, anyway?

Well, given the title, I'd guess Alice.
[...]
He's clearly using it as a vehicle to describe the world he's creating, so once things are fleshed out a little more maybe we'll get more character development.

Yeah, about that...
the full title is "Alice Grove"

Seems clear to me that this is about the world and its complexities, of which Alice surely is a major one, but is not the only one necessarily  :angelface:

I like how you said what I said in a different way from what I originally said it, all while chopping it out of the quote.

Quote from: Gladstone on 02 Apr 2015, 20:09
whose story is this, anyway?

Weird dogs. It is always about weird dogs.

I have to say that I thorougly enjoy the Granny Weatherwax type of witch.
And up until now I never bought into the 'Alice is an AI' theory -- I still thought she's human -- but not so sure now, just because of the age thing. For story purposes, I still want her to be human (maybe from the same society as Ardent and Gavia), again because of the Granny Weatherwax principle: There wouldn't really be anything setting her apart as special, except observation and education, which are things she got for herself through hard work (and more opportunities than the people in town, probably).

Quote from: Gladstone on 02 Apr 2015, 20:09
So, we finally get a (vague) answer on who Alice is.  But the real question, which I've been wondering for most of these last two chapters, is still whose story is this, anyway?

I had a theory at one point early on that Jack was actually the protagonist, and that he would become Alice's apprentice and eventually become the conscience that she apparently lacks. But then Jack was eaten by a piranha plant, or abducted by weird dogs, or at least turned invisible.

All things considered, and given the massive mic dropping on yesterday's comic, I'm going to go with Alice being a manifestation of the world we're seeing. We should remember that the title is Alice Grove, not Alice's Grove.

Jack lives in busland with Raven, the two of them happy ever after.

Quote from: Mlle Germain on 04 Apr 2015, 04:01'Alice is an AI' theory -- I still thought she's human

I still don't think she's either.

For the moment, I still favor the theory that she's a human genetically or nanotechnically enhanced to longevity/immortality and certain "superpowers" (like overriding Gavia's brand of nanotech). I get the vibe of some tech even more advanced than that of the Praeses civilization that was deliberately banned a long time ago.

Alice being an embodiment of the world or a force of nature, something akin to Tom Bombadil or Jones*, still seems more likely to me than her being an AI in an android body.

*
[spoiler]Did I just put characters from Lord of the Rings and Gunnerkrigg Court in one sentence? I think I just did :psyduck: [/spoiler]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsIQ_kA77b4

Quote from: ssǝupɐW ɟo poɥʇǝW on 04 Apr 2015, 15:34

Quote from: Mlle Germain on 04 Apr 2015, 04:01'Alice is an AI' theory -- I still thought she's human

I still don't think she's either.

I can parse that sentence two ways, depending on what sense of "either" is intended.

You don't think she is either AI or human. Or you too don't think that she is. The latter could mean that that you too don't think that she is an AI, or that you too don't think that she is human.

I have no clue which you intended.

The former. I don't see how it could be interpreted any other way, I put two things and said I don't think she's either.

Oh well, at least it's clear now.

That interpretation actually only occured to me while I was typing. I was going to ask: you don't think that she is what, either?

Edit: this is probably because English is not my native language. Danish does not use the same word for the two meanings of either.

I guess I do think she's human, just not standard human. An immortal human with superpowers.

Going back a very long time, her name was Claire Bennett and her Uncle Peter and 'Uncle' Sylar taught her how to copy others' powers.

Quote from: BenRG on 05 Apr 2015, 10:53
Going back a very long time, her name was Claire Bennett and her Uncle Peter and 'Uncle' Sylar taught her how to copy others' powers.

I love you.

BenRG's Reference
^
^
^
My head.

It's a reference to the TV series Heroes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroes_%28TV_series%29). Claire's superpower was to be able to regenerate from any injury, even fatal ones. Fans and characters in-show both speculated that (like Wolverine in the X-Men universe), her powers made her functionally immortal.

Her uncle, Peter Petrelli, was an Empathic Power Mimic. Simply put, after meeting another super-powered individual and seeing them use their powers, he could mimic them perfectly.

Sylar was the main villain throughout the series. His power was a kind of super-intuition that let him understand how even the most complex things worked. He could also copy powers but he would have to kill the person whose powers he wanted to copy and examine their brain to understand how the power works and thus copy it. Interestingly, Sylar later learnt a non-lethal method of copying powers that involved learning to understand the person he was trying to copy. It occurs to me that Claire might have been taught that latter power (Sylar reformed at the climax of the show for reasons of his own).

The point is that Claire could throw herself thirty feet onto hard concrete and regenerate, so falling from that wind turbine wouldn't be much of a feat. Similarly, living for thousands of years after civilisation had moved on from Earth and then becoming the protector of the new civilisation arising in its place is within her abilities. Who knows how many other Supers' powers she might have also learnt to copy? Finally, with her power levels, it would make sense that the Praesides had exiled her on Earth to protect themselves and their 'perfect' society from her.

I suppose the reference wouldn't work with someone unfamiliar with Heroes, though.

Except she could heal from the damage, not prevent it in the first place. Alice was never hurt. And a 400 year character with her power showed that yeah, she would live for a very long time, barring outside influence.

Quote from: ssǝupɐW ɟo poɥʇǝW on 06 Apr 2015, 08:06
Except she could heal from the damage, not prevent it in the first place. Alice was never hurt.

Like I said, in a few thousand years, who knows how many talents she might have picked up, by hook or by crook?

I have never seen Heroes so the reference escaped me as well.

I do find the thought of something like Jones from GKC to be more plausable than her being straight human or even superhuman, though.

I think Alice was human once, a long time ago. Then she became - something else. Possibly something more, but definitely something not exactly human any more. But she still remembers what it was like to be human and is still able to understand them. She actually likes ordinary humans, although she frequently finds them exasperating.

Whether her role as caretaker of this village was something she took upon herself or something that was thrust upon her remains an unanswered question. Either way, she takes it very seriously. But I expect there's a part of her that would love to leave her responsibilities behind and go explore the universe, just to go see what's out there. Hence her frequent grumpiness.

Quote from: Meilu on 02 Apr 2015, 21:28
Well, given the title, I'd guess Alice. But  only in the same sense QC is about Marten, when really it's about all of the characters Jeph wants it to be about. Slow start aside, it has some minor intrigue. I agree with your assessment of everyone so far, however. Hopefully the babysitting thing ends sooner rather than later. He's clearly using it as a vehicle to describe the world he's creating, so once things are fleshed out a little more maybe we'll get more character development.

Quote from: BenRG on 03 Apr 2015, 00:04
Mostly, I think that it will be answering the mystery that is Alice. I suspect that, like Granny in the Discworld books, she likes being the mysterious, morally ambiguous 'Wicked Witch'. What this will be will very much a journey in which we discover that she is very much a good person and a hero. It's just that being a hero is just a lot harder with far more challenging decisions than we see in the funny papers. Alice would prefer being an anti-hero or even an anti-villain; she will always deny being a good guy, but those who know and love her know the truth (and occasionally have to hit her upside the head to stop her sulking about it).

I also have the feeling that Gavia is becoming more and more prominent in the narrative. I'm starting to think that she is like that spectacularly talented witch that the Lancre Three met in a recent book (I think it was called Black Hat). Alice is going to teach her how best to use her powers and, more importantly, when not to use them (i.e. 'most of the time'). The B-plot could be titled: "How I Became a Witch by Gavia Vicissitude". Alice doesn't want an apprentice; actually there is, according to her, nothing that she wants less! However, the girl is just too powerful and talented to leave untrained!

There may be a C-plot about Ardent's learning curve and how he grew up to be a conscientious and mature man.

Makes sense, I suppose.  I was just trying to point out that, regardless of the title, we're two chapters and six/seven months into the story, and none of the three characters, least of all Alice, really feel like the protagonist of the story yet.  We're watching people who know much more than us, and each other as well, and who aren't communicating any of that.  This is apparently a slow-burner of a story with an actual plot, unlike QC (whose primary characters were introduced and given at least some motivation in the very first strips), so I'm not expecting a massive info-dump.  Just a few answers would be nice.

Quote from: Zebediah on 04 Apr 2015, 04:04
I had a theory at one point early on that Jack was actually the protagonist, and that he would become Alice's apprentice and eventually become the conscience that she apparently lacks. But then Jack was eaten by a piranha plant, or abducted by weird dogs, or at least turned invisible.

That was my first thought, too.  Especially since Jack was the most "normal" character--we'd be able to get more information from him, through his daily life in wherever-this-place-is, to his impressions on Alice and the newcomers, and so on.  A window into this world, basically. 

And as I said before, I'm not complaining about this.  I just want a better excuse to keep reading than "because Jeph updates it the same time as QC."

Also, I wish I had Gavia's apple-slicing powers.

... does Gavia do ANYTHING without using her powers?

Ardent is certainly pampered if oatmeal is the most horrible tasting thing he's tasted.

Quote from: Gladstone on 06 Apr 2015, 19:36
Also, I wish I had Gavia's apple-slicing powers.

What a fancy-pants using nano-tech, I guess she's too good to use a laser knife like the rest of us. Harrumph.

I prefer using the Nd:YAG laser for my apple slicing needs.

Quote from: Neko_Ali on 06 Apr 2015, 19:55
... does Gavia do ANYTHING without using her powers?

Must be handy for the bathroom.  "Hey, why am I sitting here?  I bet I can just--" zip! "--yep, beam it all away!  Ha-HA!"

Phenomenal cosmic power.

And usable for much mischief. 

Hmm.  Alice's hair is the right colour, so perhaps she's a descendent of Hob Gadling who somehow got the same immortality.

And so, in devouring oatmeal, Ardent throws the meals he has become accustomed to into new relief.

That kid'll never be the same again.

Just adding another spanner into the works here - Alice said she did not use nano tech - But one alternative answer to that would be that she is nano tech. Hmmmm.

Funny, though--as of Page 1 (http://www.alicegrove.com/post/110592245349/and-were-back) of Chapter 2, "it's been weeks" since Ardent and Gavia first arrived, and this is the first time Alice has served oatmeal for breakfast?

(Ardent is probably exaggerating--otherwise, it would be very odd for Alice to wait "weeks" before asking Ardent and Gavia about their respective philosophical differences (http://www.alicegrove.com/post/110864583014/cute-lil-plant-guy).)

Quote from: Gladstone on 06 Apr 2015, 21:00
Funny, though--as of Page 1 (http://www.alicegrove.com/post/110592245349/and-were-back) of Chapter 2, "it's been weeks" since Ardent and Gavia first arrived, and this is the first time Alice has served oatmeal for breakfast?

(Ardent is probably exaggerating--otherwise, it would be very odd for Alice to wait "weeks" before asked Ardent and Gavia about their respective philosophical differences (http://www.alicegrove.com/post/110864583014/cute-lil-plant-guy).)

I was about to say almost exactly this. Ninja'd. Even aside from Oatmeal, wouldn't most breakfast choices be similarly bland?

"Whatt'ya mean you need food? You don't have photovoltaics in your nanotech?"

I think Alice is going to eventually put her foot down about Gavias excessive use of Nanotech.

Just as long as Gavia doesn't have to put her feet down on--ewwww--the ground.

Shades of Data in Star Trek- Generations: "I hate this drink! I loathe it!" "Another?" "Please!"

Something tells me that living with Ardent is going to test Alice's Zen quite intensely. Of course, like every sister in the history of humanity, Gavia is so used to it that it barely earns an eye-roll anymore!

Quote from: Neko_Ali on 06 Apr 2015, 19:55
... does Gavia do ANYTHING without using her powers?

Evidently not and my gut tells me that this is going to be a problem in the future, especially if active nanotech produces the signal that the Night Walker is waiting for!

Regarding continuity, this strip could be out-of-sequence with the others: a flashback to events closer to chapter 1.

Why couldn't Alice be an actual witch with actual magic?

Or a Technomage.

Quote from: Igorina, Monstrous RegimentI only said it tasted like horse piss. I never said I didn't like it!

Quote from: improvnerd on 06 Apr 2015, 23:25
Why couldn't Alice be an actual witch with actual magic?

We don't know a lot about this world so far. However, what we do know seems firmly sci-fi rather than fantasy. Therefore, I would imagine that the Arthur C Clark rule is in place: Anything that looks like magic is actually sufficiently advanced technology.

I guess Gavia's too good to use something as pedestrian as a plate or a chair. This might be a good habit to pick up if you lived in a tiny space station (one with no room for furniture), but on Earth it's just irritating.

It doesn't matter how Alice's body works or "what she is". Pinning her down as "cyborg" or "android" or "genetically modified" or "naturally occurring mutant" is mostly just technobabble, at least until we have more rules for how the Alice Grove world works. The only relevant thing we know about her nature is that she's not using nanotech.

Quote from: JephAlice doesn't believe in adding sugar to things.

Or cinnamon, butter, or milk? Maybe some fresh berries? Just completely plain oatmeal? Come on, Alice, live a little!

Not quite the same, but I came across this today.

http://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/13699/how-would-the-constant-presence-of-an-affable-undemanding-immortal-affect-a-soc

Quote from: Storel on 07 Apr 2015, 11:31

Quote from: JephAlice doesn't believe in adding sugar to things.

Or cinnamon, butter, or milk? Maybe some fresh berries? Just completely plain oatmeal? Come on, Alice, live a little!

At the level of economy that the villagers have, sugar and cinnamon are likely either rare and expensive imports, or entirely unknown.

Butter, milk and berries are probably around, though. Honey may be possible, if there are still bees.

It may be that Alice is working them into Natural Foods.

I would say that, as space born and raised, and going on both Gavia and Ardents reactions here, they're more likely to be used to highly processed and/or Replicator foodstuffs, and their completely unused to the taste, sight and smell of naturally occurring foodstuffs on a regular basis.

Quote from: Zebediah on 07 Apr 2015, 12:14
At the level of economy that the villagers have, sugar and cinnamon are likely either rare and expensive imports, or entirely unknown.
Butter, milk and berries are probably around, though. Honey may be possible, if there are still bees.

I can agree on the cinnamon though there are always analogues that fit the bill if you are diligent in your search.
As for sweeteners, just because sugar can is not local there is always something sweet available.
Honey, sugar beets or maple sap would seem appropriate to the locale and technology level but then again there may be other sources just as valid like ants ... very very very big ants.

Yeah, but the ants don't like it when you use them for sweetener... and Alice plays poker with them every Thursday.

Ant-e up.

They're too dangerous anyway. Instead of sweetener they might secrete ant-y matter.

Quote from: Gladstone on 06 Apr 2015, 20:15

Quote from: Neko_Ali on 06 Apr 2015, 19:55
... does Gavia do ANYTHING without using her powers?

Must be handy for the bathroom.  "Hey, why am I sitting here?  I bet I can just--" zip! "--yep, beam it all away!  Ha-HA!"

Phenomenal cosmic power.

Like the near-universal use of the Waste Spell in Sartorias-Deles.

These kids seem differently dressed than the folk we've seen so far.

Alice's strategy for avoiding trouble seems to have backfired.

Well, she would have gotten away with it, if it weren't for those meddling kids.

Ardent. You've been here for weeks. Get some clothes, son. Or at least a new pair of skivvies...

He actually had clothes a while back, but appears to have abandoned them.

Quote from: Half Empty Coffee Cup on 02 Apr 2015, 23:01
We've learned two things here.

1. Alice is a few thousand years old. This is the less interesting of the things we've just found out.

2. For all the technological wonder of the civilization that Ardent and Gavia are now estranged from, such longevity is rare, if at all heard of.

Score. Ages in the multi-millenia range, (mostly (Thanks, Alice)) debunked.

Ahhhh kids

I can already see Alice trying to break this up whilst not too obviously laughing her butt off. I wonder just where this may go and whether the blond kid will insist that Ardent is his pet because "I caught him an' everthin'!"

Now... why does the phrase 'Cutie Mark Crusaders' jump into my mind?

BTW - Gavia is right that Alice doesn't seem the sort to joke about stuff. Lie outright on the other hand? That's plausible!

Lie? When did she lie? She never said "I am Alice, I am eternal, tremble ye nations." Gavia asked a question, and Alice implied the answer was obvious.

Consider:
"How would you know that giant redwood tree is thousands of years old just by observation?"
"Think about it."

The more I look at this strip, the more I think the blonde who lassoed Ardent is a girl but it's difficult to be sure as I think they're all 10 years old or younger when sexual dimorphism is a lot less distinct.

I expect Gavia to block the big kid's attack with her nano-shield (impressing all three kids - "Woooaaahhh! Coooooolll!").

I suspect that the kids will insist that they have 'captured' the two space-teens and that they have to come back to town as 'prisoners' and that is how they get back to the town. Here's a thought: I don't think that Ardent and Gavia have ever been kids. I suspect that technology and social sophistication has slowly whittled childhood away to almost nothing in their world. So, I suspect that they may end up enjoying interacting with the Town's children in an innocent way.

Quote from: TinPenguin on 10 Apr 2015, 01:35
Lie? When did she lie? She never said "I am Alice, I am eternal, tremble ye nations." Gavia asked a question, and Alice implied the answer was obvious.

I'm talking about Alice's general demeanour. I have no problem believing that selected portions of her exposition in the chapter was potentially baldly untrue and in line with an agenda to frighten the Vicissitudes into compliance.

If you're going to "get the demon", I'm pretty sure that the absurdly pale floaty girl with red eyes looks more like the demon than the blue guy with a tail. Although the tail will imply some demonhood.

Please Gavia don't hurt 'em

Plus the floaty red-eyed girl is the one who firebombed the town. Definitely the demon.

Ardent's use of the term "baseline human" is straight out of Orion's Arm. 

Of course, since it seems to have been established that there is no strong AI in this series (which leaves me wondering what the Praeses are exactly) we know it's not Orion's Arm itself. 

Quote from: eschaton on 10 Apr 2015, 07:04
Of course, since it seems to have been established that there is no strong AI in this series (which leaves me wondering what the Praeses are exactly) we know it's not Orion's Arm itself.

Actually, all we've established is that Gavia believes that an AI distributed through a community of nano-machines is impossible. That's not entirely the same thing.

yeah, I don't think anything's quite Established yet at all, certainly not the non-existence of anything 

Alice herself is still a significant wildcard, we won't know her true limitations or the real parameters of her Grove and its position in the universe until a situation comes up that she can't handle (if it does)

Quote from: FunkyTuba on 10 Apr 2015, 10:31until a situation comes up that she can't handle (if it does)

Oh, it has.  She said she can't send Ardent and Gavia back.

Can't or won't?

She was annoyed enough with Ardent that I'm leaning towards "can't". If that was just a show, she's a very, very good actress.

Quote from: pwhodges on 10 Apr 2015, 11:29

Quote from: FunkyTuba on 10 Apr 2015, 10:31until a situation comes up that she can't handle (if it does)

Oh, it has.  She said she can't send Ardent and Gavia back.

Fair enough... that's one stated limitation, but it's also predicated on her pre-Gavia understanding of her situation. I'm thinking even Alice's bets are off at this point given their "specialest snowflakes" status and the IMPLICATIONS that derive from it.

Breaking News: Gavia still hasn't learned anything, also is not a piñata.

But Ardent HAS learned something. Sort of. A little bit.

Bad Gavia, bad.

At least Ardent knows how to wield a Smackystick.

Sadly, it's not thick enough to be a clue-by-four.

2 bops until she emits an 'Ow!'  She must have really been in the moment!

... and why is Hanners in the first panel?  :wink:

This may be just me but, either Gavia was playing along and got carried away or she has a wee bit of an anger management issue. If it's the latter, then we may have a clue as to why the Vicissitudes were marooned. I mean... she looked like a different person! DID or something?

Jeph did say that, sometimes, humour demands to take precedence over story. I get that but the insert panels were a bit too animé for me.

Her first appearance makes it easy to believe she has an anger management problem.

She just really likes using her powers. It half seems to me that it's like she just got them, so she wants to do everything with them. That, or she's had them so long she just doesn't really remember how to do things without.

I think it's a bit of both.

Gavia's so used to using her abilities and has, I feel, probably gotten just about everything she wants with them she knows no other way.

I think she's more the spoiled brat of the duo.

More, of course, being a relative thing.

It's official, Alice is better with kids than I am.

It reminds of Morticia Addams volunteering to read stories to children at the library.

Seems like scaring the crap out of kids might be the best thing Alice can do for them. Gavia has tried to set people on fire when threatened in the past, and it looks like she would have again if Ardent hadn't got out his bopping stick.

It also underscores the more general message that you don't mess with Alice stuff. If it's Alice stuff, it's off limits for a very good reason.

Also, how do we know Alice isn't speaking from experience?

She may have lived for thousands of years, but that doesn't mean she hasn't died lots of times.

Alice

Proud Award Winning Childcare Worker.

Does anybody else think the blond kid looks like a young Hanners?

Some people just don't have an instinct for children; Alice is clearly one of them! You can tell that this is not meant to be threatening by her body language. She's trying to be a kind, wise and maternal sage... and failing! :lol:

I'm also fairly sure Alice thinks that this whole incident is cute!

Notice that she didn't correct them about Gavia being a 'demon'. Psychology or possibly her own opinion on the girl? Gavia does have entitlement and anger issues as well as a homicidal side, after all!

Quote from: ChaoSera on 16 Apr 2015, 23:26
Does anybody else think the blond kid looks like a young Hanners?

Not really, beyond being a blonde girl.

Some Real Talk from Alice. If you intend on attacking the person who has firebombed your town with sufficiently advanced technology, the only thing saving you is that person's patience.

I love that last panel. Alice's gentle smile compared to the children's horrified expressions is brilliant.

Quote from: ChaoSera on 16 Apr 2015, 23:26
Does anybody else think the blond kid looks like a young Hanners?

Yep.  Even moreso in the previous comic. 

Potential future moment:

ALICE: "Children, it's obvious to me that you won't understand the dangers inherit in certain people until you are familiar with them. That's why you're going to be accompanying Miss Gavia and helping her to acclimatise to the town. Until I say differently."

KIDS and GAVIA: "Aaawww!"

I mean, my company would hire her as a teacher...

Alice is my spirit animal now.

Quote from: Half Empty Coffee Cup on 17 Apr 2015, 00:33
Some Real Talk from Alice. If you intend on attacking the person who has firebombed your town with sufficiently advanced technology, the only thing saving you is that person's patience.

Actually in this case it was that person's brother's BOPs

Well, nobody likes getting bopped.

I do think Alice is good with kids. I mean, I don't think she could have said anything better to completely discourage them from attacking Gavia ever again. That's real horror on those three little faces.

It also helps my theory that Alice is not taking the terrible twosome to town more because she is trying to protect them from the townsfolk rather than vice versa. It's possible their society traditionally reacts to the non-standard by utter destruction in the name of staying perfectly balanced. I have another theory that this society is descended from people who were deeply traumatised by science.

It is certainly supposed to be Alice's job to deal with the unusual though. The farmer instantly sent Jack to find her when they found Ardent, and later when Ardent was surprised the townsfolk weren't coming to see him Alice said it was because he was with her and so none of their business.

Quote from: osaka on 17 Apr 2015, 14:11
Well, nobody likes getting bopped.

Obviously, you don't have a fetish for head-trauma.  But sometimes, we are stranger creatures than any alien.

Quote from: ChaoSera on 16 Apr 2015, 23:26
Does anybody else think the blond kid looks like a young Hanners?

Specifically, young Hanners the first time she tried to show someone how to draw a kitty. (http://questionablecontent.net/random/kittydraw.png)

Of course I don't, that shit hurts a lot.
These people and their fetishes foken ell.
Stop the earth, I'm getting down here.
Buncha weird motherfuckers
Fuck is wrong with these people

Quote from: DSL on 18 Apr 2015, 08:27
Specifically, young Hanners the first time she tried to show someone how to draw a kitty. (http://questionablecontent.net/random/kittydraw.png)

Except that's not what young Hanners looks like, it's what current Hanners looks like. For a view of young Hanners, check out the flashback in the Station arc.

Quote from: improvnerd on 16 Apr 2015, 21:17
Also, how do we know Alice isn't speaking from experience?

She may have lived for thousands of years, but that doesn't mean she hasn't died lots of times.

Plot twist: She's a Trill.

Quote from: tywren on 18 Apr 2015, 16:51

Quote from: DSL on 18 Apr 2015, 08:27
Specifically, young Hanners the first time she tried to show someone how to draw a kitty. (http://questionablecontent.net/random/kittydraw.png)

Except that's not what young Hanners looks like, it's what current Hanners looks like. For a view of young Hanners, check out the flashback in the Station arc.

And young Hanners had demons aplenty of her own to defeat.

(http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk40/AndalusMan/Misc/weehanners_zpslc2ufurl.png)

I'm not sure being burned is the most painful way of dying. Breathe the fire in, and you suffocate quite soon. And 3rd degree burns stop hurting when the nerves get destroyed.

It's *not* dying by fire, but keeping yourself alive, seriously but not fatally burnt that stings a bit.

As I said to the nurse in the resus ward who was testing my arm for sensitivity "Yes, it hurts, that's good, nerves still exist". She felt a lot better about having to do it when she realised I knew why it was being done, and wanted it to be done. I could tell she was in intense distress about it beforehand - who wouldn't be? Fortunately it looked worse than it was. No permanent damage to airways, eyes or structures (nose, lips, eyelids etc), just upsetting to look at. Though I have to say that despite the warnings, when I looked in a mirror I felt relief that all I'd lost was my skin. It looked a mucky mess, but appearances were deceptive. Everything was healable in time, it just...stung a bit. Significantly uncomfy, especially since I have a bad reaction to morphine. Had I been fatally hurt, it wouldn't have been nearly so unpleasant. I prefer Life though.

I'm not saying being a serious burn victim is better than having to treat one - just psychologically easier. I'm not sure I could have done her job, so anything I could do to relieve her burden was needful.

Telling the children a little white lie that might stop them from getting into real trouble was responsible. And it is uncomfy, after all.

Ask Mance Ryder

New comic up on Jeph's website instead of the AG address: http://jephjacques.com/post/117133873740/alice-is-very-principled

Took a while, but I actually like Alice now.

Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards for you are crunchy and good with ketchup.

Eww, that's disgusting. You better not get any ketchup on my portion.

No no no.. The traditional witchy way of dealing with naughty children is baking.

The tree behind Ardent continuing the line of his body makes for a very weird effect.

Also, an outhouse can never be too clean.

Well ....

It does keep the kids in line I suppose..

Yep, I was right! Officially, Gavia is Alice's pet bound demon and it is her own fault!

So, outhouse cleaning again? Something tells me that Alice's list of options for nonlethal punishment is sort of short. Either that or she's a Hannelore-style obsessive when it comes to hygiene.

So, I'm sticking with my idea that the space teens and the kids are going to be spending time together and will possibly end up friends of a sort. I still get a 'Cutie Mark Crusaders' vibe from them - Always wandering off and doing daring and arguably self-destructively stupid things in dangerous parts of the world. Besides, kids are better at transcending boundaries and making 'forbidden' friends than adults.

Quote from: Neko_Ali on 22 Apr 2015, 20:23
No no no.. The traditional witchy way of dealing with naughty children is baking.

Alice is a very politically correct witch.
Or principled, as Jeph comments.

Or, Alice simply got tired of kid pies a few centuries back.

This is how weird religions start. I'm imagining a Book of Alice 000s of years hence.

Of course, Alice herself will be there to edit/revise.

That little Hannelore clone in the first panel is so cute.

That little Hannelore *time traveler*.

To be fair, most people are assholes.

Oh come on, Gavia! Play along! Pretending to be this mysterious supernatural powerhouse is practically Alice's only source of entertainment! Not that the alternative is any better for Gavia's pride!

So, kids; you seem to be saying that you're heard of this 'asshole' thing before...? Someone needs to was their parents and/or older siblings' mouths out with soap!

Am I the only one who has 'heard' Gavia's voice get progressively more and more shrill as this arc progresses?

I get the distinct feeling that Gavia is NOT used to being treated this way..


Kinda refreshing don't you think?  ;D



[gmod]Incidentally, in case you were unaware of it, I have changed and reset the Poll in the 'How Many Are Reading Alice Grove' Thread.[/gmod]

I imagine all those kids with the same attitude as Scooter near the end of BL2, when you go get something for him for the final mission. "Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooh... ok that makes sense"

Alice has a lot to learn about dealing with children.  For starters, criticize the behaviour, not the child.

For example, don't say Gavia is an asshole.  Just say she was behaving like an asshole.

Do we still know how old Gaviardent* are?

*portmanteaus aren't just for couples, damn it!

Quote from: ssǝupɐW ɟo poɥʇǝW on 24 Apr 2015, 09:28
Do we still know how old Gaviardent* are?

Only guesses but Gavia is quite short (possibly why she likes floating so much - it takes away the moral height disadvantage). They're both pretty emotionally immature too with Gavia verging on the childish. Assuming that this isn't a consequence of their upbringing and the nature of society 'Up', it's my opinion that they're both teens and that Gavia is the younger of the two - probably 13 or 14 whilst Ardent is 16-18.

I dunno, from the way that Gavia came looking for Ardent and seemed to think she could bring him home, I always saw Gavia as the older one.

Then again, I'm a younger brother with an older sister, so maybe I just always assume that's the case unless it's explicitly pointed out otherwise. Kind of like I assume everyone is Jewish unless I have a solid reason to think they aren't.

Ardent certainly seems the calmer and less violent of the two. That doesn't necessarily translate to older though.

And there is always the third option. Maybe they are twins.

Quote from: Wildroses on 24 Apr 2015, 23:15
And there is always the third option. Maybe they are twins.

This makes sense to me.  Although I never considered their respective ages I would not be surprised to find out they are twins.

Comic!!


Well, I suppose it's better than being poked with a sharp stick,

Alice is right: some things just seem to be inevitable and it's pointless trying to fight them. Unless she brings the space-teens to the town, curiosity and/or stupidity will get someone killed.

Now, is the awful thing for Gavia having to go to the Town? Or is it having to go to the town with her stupid brother? I can see her staying at a distance and explaining to everyone who seems likely to listen that, just because he's her brother, doesn't make him her responsibility. Which is cute, because that's exactly how she acts - that she has to be responsible for him.

Decent piece of advice from Ardent, but I'm pretty sure Gavia didn't need that.

Interesting, because in fact, Ardent actually seems more responsible than Gavia. Not by much, but sometimes.

I imagine Alice was probably keeping the terrible twosome away from her perfectly balanced townsfolk in the hope that the Praeses would take them back, but now it's becoming clear she is stuck with them I imagine Alice thinks it is probably her duty to properly integrate them.

My theory as for why Gavia doesn't want to go to town is sheer embarrassment as she doesn't want to face the townsfolk she threatened and caused explosions for. She'd never been planning to face them, she just wanted to find her brother and leave never to return. But now she's going to have to.

And I'm all for town. Maybe we'll get to see Jack again.

it seems that both G and A tailor their appearance to what they want to look like (blue skin, tails, plucky youth vs severe, float) and it would not surprise me in the least to find that there's more style to it than actual age.

they could both be old but immature, either one could be the elder, lots of possibilities

either one of them could be elders for that matter, and hiding it by means of appearance modification ... we just don't really know yet other than by their actions

NEXT UP: Ardent is 69. You know. For the cheap joke.

Jeph was all "hur hur (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1641), Ardent is 69" and Faye punched him in the dick.

And it is really bad when a figment of your own imagination punches you in the dick.

Quote from: BenRG on 27 Apr 2015, 23:48
Now, is the awful thing for Gavia having to go to the Town? Or is it having to go to the town with her stupid brother?

As I see it:
- Unlike Ardent, she has no interest in the people in the town.
- She knows they all hate/fear her because of the dramatic manner in which she arrived on the scene - and if anyone tries to attack her, she knows she won't be allowed to defend herself in the way she'd like to.

"don't just ask somebody if they wanna" is disturbingly ambiguous.

Only if the quote is taken in a vacuum. We know from previous experience what happened the last time Ardent asked someone that

Heck, I'm still disturbed that Ardent even said the word "fuck."  It seems out of place in this universe.  Too crude compared to how cartoony everything else seems.  I still think "bang" would work (and be funnier) in this case.

How is "bang" less crude than "fuck"?

Yeah, wrong word.  Not less crude, but less taboo.  Fuck has a lot of weight and history behind it, whereas bang is more juvenile.  I just feel it would be more appropriate in this context.

Bump uglies. Hump. Woohoo. Shag. Rumpy-pumpy. Bone. Intercourse.

Honestly I'm more weirded out by "bang" than I am "fuck" in this context.

Too each their own, I guess.

Quote from: ssǝupɐW ɟo poɥʇǝW on 30 Apr 2015, 18:06
Honestly I'm more weirded out by "bang" than I am "fuck" in this context.

Gavia would be misunderstood if she told a villager she wanted to bang.

New Month, New Poll

And I used Creative Licence

Quote from: Welu on 30 Apr 2015, 17:44
Bump uglies. Hump. Woohoo. Shag. Rumpy-pumpy. Bone. Intercourse.

Premarital hanky-panky.

Quote from: Loki on 03 May 2015, 00:55

Quote from: Welu on 30 Apr 2015, 17:44
Bump uglies. Hump. Woohoo. Shag. Rumpy-pumpy. Bone. Intercourse.

Premarital hanky-panky.

Wait, why only premarital? You can't have sex after marriage? I knew it!