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Why Ardent is there

5 (10.9%)

Why Ardent loves hats

2 (4.3%)

Who Alice REALLY is.

18 (39.1%)

The price of Hats in wherever.

7 (15.2%)

Wherever this place is.

14 (30.4%)

Total Members Voted: 41

[Mlle Germain]

This is how I understood what she said, too.
And I think she's right in a sense -- Ardent does seem to be mostly after being passively entertained by a culture that he considers primitive compared to his own to me. Also, he seems to expect to get special attention (and possibly perks?) because he's a stranger.

(I don't like Ardent. I wish the story was focused on Alice more. Only my personal opinion, of course.)

[mikmaxs]

Question:
Why would Ardent find human females sexy, for exactly the same reason that modern men find women sexy? Either it's just a thing because Jeph finds it funny, or else Ardent has been around human females (or at least, things that look exactly like human females) before. I don't know what this means, but it seems important.

[BenRG]

@Mikmaxs,

It is likely mostly for the lulz, yes. However there is such a thing as xenophilia.

[Zebediah]

It appears that Ardent is human, more or less - he's been genetically modified from a standard human body plan, but still falls in genus Homo. And he comes from a culture with lots of variation in body type, but that probably includes a fair number of "standard" human females. So why wouldn't he find them attractive?

[Method of Madness]

(I don't like Ardent. I wish the story was focused on Alice more. Only my personal opinion, of course.)

Alice's entire characteristic seems to be "good at falling" and "people trust her". I wonder if she likes being the most unusual person in town, which is why she's irked by Ardent.

@BenRG - "on the pull"?

[Half Empty Coffee Cup]

Alice still has Ardent beat for "most unusual person in town", if the crowd's attention is anything to go by.

[Method of Madness]

To Ardent's chagrin, yeah.

[SubaruStephen]

And he comes from a culture with lots of variation in body type, but that probably includes a fair number of "standard" human females. So why wouldn't he find them attractive?

Apparently he's an ass man to booty

[BenRG]

@BenRG - "on the pull"?

Sorry; British slang term for actively seeking casual sexual partners.

[Loki]

It appears that Ardent is human, more or less - he's been genetically modified from a standard human body plan, but still falls in genus Homo. And he comes from a culture with lots of variation in body type, but that probably includes a fair number of "standard" human females. So why wouldn't he find them attractive?

It is also likely he came to this world especially because he finds the human females attractive.

[explicit]

"I only asked if she wanted to fuck"

Yeah, asking girls "so you wanna bang?" never worked for me either. It's always, "no, go away creep" or "why are in my house?".

[SubaruStephen]

Yep, Ardent is clearly the sort of tourist who is on the pull! Alice is not pleased with that at all!!

BenRG nailed it! Ardent IS a sex tourist (from spaaaaaace!).

[Zebediah]

Okay, so Ardent's pretty easy to explain - he's an interplanetary sex tourist. But what the hell is Alice, exactly? She receives an extraordinary amount of respect from the townsfolk. More so than can be explained by her just being somebody who solves everyone's problems. Why is Jack so afraid of her? What is it that she can do to people who get out of line?

Warning - while you were typing 2 new replies have been posted. You may wish to review your post.

I type too damned slow. I wonder if Alice can fix that.

[Half Empty Coffee Cup]

The name is Ardent. Too Ardent.

[Kugai]

OMG!  It's Pintsize in a new body!!!!

[Loki]

Why is Jack so afraid of her? What is it that she can do to people who get out of line?

I suspect it's mostly headology. Fear usually doesn't really work by rationally estimating outcomes - it is fear of the unknown, and I am sure she does not a lot to stifle any rumors that must be abound.

I really like Ardent's tail in the last panel.

[Schmorgluck]

Wait... You're not supposed to ask?

[explicit]

Wait... You're not supposed to ask?

Looks like someone has egg on their face

[BenRG]

Oh... Shit. Yeah, she's the Caretaker alright and, based on Jack's fear, she has a reputation of doing whatever it takes to keep the experiment balanced.

What can she do? I've got a mental image of Ardent standing in front of a pit he just dug in the woods, Alice standing behind him with a gun pointed at his head. She's about to 'take care of it', as Jack so nervously put it. I doubt it will go that far but I think she has a lot of power and resources and the freedom to use them to protect these people.

[edit]
Of course, if she uses the 'headology' tactic, she could be very, very subtle. Maybe up to and including an entirely psychosomatic 'curse' that is a negative reinforcement against what he thinks he wants ("All hominids on this planet are non-symptomatic carriers of a permanently-disfiguring STD. The only way to escape it is to never enter this planet's ecosphere again."). Basically, not only make him leave and be afraid to ever come back but to also make sure everyone he contacts is afraid to ever visit.

[cloudbuster]

Ok, I just have to note that it is totally unfair to create a character that has one, notable, "really big" characteristic, then NOT SHOW US said characteristic!

[Schmorgluck]

So apparently it's okay to physically assault someone for asking a question...

[explicit]

I think I misread that, I was really drunk and missed the not. Is what I'm guessing.

[BenRG]

So apparently it's okay to physically assault someone for asking a question...

It is when the the question includes offensive language, cheapens the value of one of the most intimate parts of human behaviour and clearly is in violation of social standards for the local area. So, we've confirmed that, in Alice's town, "Sorry, I'm not from around these parts" is not a valid excuse.

[Zebediah]

If I walked up to a woman I'd never met before and immediately asked her if she wanted to fuck, I would not be at all surprised if I got slapped. Or worse.

[ysth]

All hominids on this planet are non-symptomatic carriers of a permanently-disfiguring STD

- it makes your tail fall off.

[Zebediah]

And turns you various shades of pink or brown.

[Method of Madness]

Ok, I just have to note that it is totally unfair to create a character that has one, notable, "really big" characteristic, then NOT SHOW US said characteristic!

Glad I'm not the only one who noticed this

[Uniquitous]

So I'm betting Ardent is from the Culture, possibly a ship-mind's avatar, and Alice is SC. Any takers?

[Method of Madness]

Culture? SC?

[Is it cold in here?]

Iain Banks, I believe.

Alice may not embody the highest standards of non-violence. Notice she's content that she intimidates people.

[Method of Madness]

Iain Banks?

[Kugai]

This gentleman I presume

[Channelore HellicottAtham]

I'm not entirely sure I like her yet, to be honest. I find she seems quite cool towards the primitives, almost as though being their 'fixer' is a hassle rather than a privilege of sorts. Or, if privilege does not seem the right word, an honour in that she is very respected and held in high esteem. I was feeling the townsfolk seemed somewhat fearful of her too, but I see that awe is a better way to look at it. It just jars me is all that they seem so humble and she has this look in her face and posture of almost dismissiveness. I am a Paramedic and have folk approach me at times in a similar sense (albeit less deferential thank dog), either after a job to express their gratitude, or entirely outside of a call setting just in saying how they respect what we do, and I could never be unmoved as she seems by such genuine expressions of gratitude.

The holodeck / AI prison farm / 'Better Than Life' type game hypotheses are interesting; I'd assumed her to be from another world one way or another as is obvious, but hadn't thought at all along such lines. Jeph did say AG was not within the QCverse and so for this reason I'd taken the few strips we have at face value rather than pondering the existence here too of the AI and other advanced technologies Marten et al live amidst.

[BenRG]

Overall, Alice has been generally neutral towards the locals. The only time she starts looking annoyed or defensive is when they start treating her like "The Witch". I still suspect she's sort of an aid worker from a far more advanced culture who is doing her best to help the locals live a happy, balanced and, most of all, harmonious, life. Nothing she has done is 'witchcraft', even though the locals insist on calling it that.

I think that when they look at her with awe and start acting as if she's their supernatural protector, it makes her profoundly uncomfortable. That's why she looks defensive and maybe a little hostile sometimes.

Put yourself in her work boots: How would you feel if you're just trying to do your best for the local community and people insist on treating you as if you are some kind of superhero? You'd probably feel annoyed too!

[ysth]

Question: what does the wind turbine power?  I haven't spotted any use of electricity by the hoi polloi yet.

[Neko_Ali]

Could be something for her own personal use. The turbine was pretty far from the farm, enough to send a fast runner. And farms tend to be outside of town, so the turbine would be pretty far away if all you have is foot and horsepower.

[BenRG]

Question: what does the wind turbine power?

Her 'witch's castle', of course. That's actually a fairly modern house with modern conveniences that looks like a magical fortress to the locals.

[pwhodges]

I'm picturing a house "out of its place", as Eutus's house in later episodes of Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi.

[Neko_Ali]

I'd prefer Howl's Moving Castle myself, but to each their own.

[MrNumbers]

Her house is obviously a series of interconnected garages and back sheds.

We all know all the best inventing is done in garages and back sheds.

Bedroom? Garage. Bathroom? Garage. Kitchen? Back shed, because it's obviously a grill and an eski, which are back-shed things.

Oh! And probably a slightly grease-stained library.

[Kugai]

It's underground, she keeps her Vorlon Transport there as well.

[ysth]

I googled for pictures of turkeys on wind turbines, but all I could find was this osprey:

[Method of Madness]

Nothing she has done is 'witchcraft'

I can think of one example of this not being true, or at least possibly not true.

[BenRG]

Nothing she has done is 'witchcraft'

I fan think of one example of this not being true, or at least possibly not true.

I think that I know what you're talking about. However, you can hand-wave this away if, as I suspect, Alice isn't exactly the local baseline for 'normal human'.

[KOK]

I find the last frame very odd. Why would miss Wheelwright need Alice's aproval? It sounds very condescending. Something an adult would say to a child.

[BenRG]

I find the last frame very odd. Why would miss Wheelwright need Alice's approval? It sounds very condescending. Something an adult would say to a child.

Ardent has been with Alice every time he's been seen by most of the townsfolk. Alice might want to reassure Miss W that she hasn't offended her by rejecting him. I also think she wants Jack out of the way so she can slap Ardent down (likely only metaphorically).

[Zebediah]

I think it was a way to make it absolutely clear to Ardent that what Miss Wheelwright did was OK. Because Ardent doesn't understand how out of line he was.

[Neko_Ali]

Given that we know from Ardent that there is technology to modify human bodies as desired and that Alice is 'not from around here' apparently I suspect that when she fell and was unhurt... it was exactly that. She's a lot tougher than other people. Maybe she's a modified human, android or cyborg. I'm really wondering what the purpose of this community is, or possibly planet. Since nobody has commented about being unable to leave the area yet. And a con man would find it extremely difficult to work within a closed community once people realize he is a con man... And I still wonder what Alice's function here is... She doesn't have the power it seems to just remove Ardent, so it seems unlikely she's a guardian or caretaker. But she is aware of a greater universe out there and the fact that this area/planet is supposed to be 'closed off' to it. It makes me wonder if she somehow didn't get stranded down there at some point and is just trying to stay low key but still help out the locals. So many questions.

[Method of Madness]

I don't think Ardent is a con man. I'm pretty sure he's exactly who he says he is.

[Neko_Ali]

I was referring to the scene earlier where someone thanked Alice for convincing a con man to give back his dad's savings. If this was some Village inspired tiny group everybody would know everyone else... You could pull a con like that once at best, and then you would probably have no where to spend it as the rest of the town turned on you. So there has to be more places out there. I agree, Ardent is no con man. He's not even the worst kind. He's just a clueless tourist.