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Explosions From The Sky! Who is our ethereal explosives expert?

Ardent's mother.
- 6 (18.2%)
Ardent's guardian.
- 4 (12.1%)
Ardent's master (as in, pet).
- 4 (12.1%)
The Caretaker from the Next Block Over.
- 6 (18.2%)
Someone who likes things go Splodey.
- 4 (12.1%)
The Explosion Messiah.
- 0 (0%)
Alice's best friend from seventh grade.
- 1 (3%)
Alice's Nemesis from High school.
- 1 (3%)
Juicy's descendant.
- 2 (6.1%)
Just like Jeph said: Lady Explosion Jesus.
- 3 (9.1%)
Except she pronounces it "HAY-zeus."
- 2 (6.1%)

Total Members Voted: 29


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Author Topic: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014  (Read 79537 times)

Neko_Ali

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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #100 on: 19 Dec 2014, 06:00 »

I don't think anyone is questioning that. LEJ is an apparent danger to others, just not to Alice. Taking her out quickly is fair game. It's that look of unbridled evil glee on Alice's face as she straddles LEJ and prepares to unleash a serious beating. That's the face of someone who is either about to lose control and nearly kill somebody... Or the face of someone who has way to much power and control and has to resist killing everybody about to cut loose. The question is.. will she or someone stop her before she kills or permanently injures LEJ? And will she feel bad about it afterwards.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #101 on: 19 Dec 2014, 07:38 »

I've been expecting Ardent to stop her.
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Neko_Ali

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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #102 on: 19 Dec 2014, 07:58 »

I rather expect that myself. I don't think any of the locals could or would even try to stop her. They were to busy running away or being in awe of her. Maybe Jack.... But Ardent trying to put a stop to it seems the most likely. Or we'll come back next week and find Alice standing over the bloody, pummeled LEJ and going 'ooops.. over did it a bit'.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #103 on: 19 Dec 2014, 08:12 »

I rather expect that myself. I don't think any of the locals could or would even try to stop her. They were to busy running away or being in awe of her. Maybe Jack.... But Ardent trying to put a stop to it seems the most likely. Or we'll come back next week and find Alice standing over the bloody, pummeled LEJ and going 'ooops.. over did it a bit'.

My current favourite idea is that Alice hits Ms Explosion a few more times and then suddenly stops, her expression turns to one of horror and she says something like: "No, I'm not that person anymore..." Then she slowly stands up and growls at her opponent: "If you're smart, you'll stay down."

It's just a vague idea forming in my head at this point - That maybe looking after the locals and their territory is Alice's community service. She's a former violent criminal; the reason why she's so embarrassed about the adulation she gets is because she doesn't consider herself a good person worthy of praise, rather she's just a girl from the wrong side of the tracks, desperately trying to change herself for the better. It's hard when, as we see here, she gets an excuse to tap into her dark side.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #104 on: 19 Dec 2014, 09:57 »

LEJ is going to have that face seared into her nightmares if she survives. Just how much power does Alice have?!? (Too much. Far too much.)
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Neko_Ali

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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #105 on: 19 Dec 2014, 10:15 »

eh, We really haven't seen any expressions of power. She can fall a fair distance without being injured through some means. And she is immune to LEJ's nanotech tricks. Maybe she has the ability to hover, or maybe she just jumped up to smack down LEJ. But so far the only 'power' she's shown is being fairly tough and able to neutralize the nanotech shield. Pummelling someone who is a foot shorter than you and maybe 2/3 your weight doesn't require a lot of power... Especially when you hit them with a couple of sucker punches that knock the fight out of them right away.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #106 on: 19 Dec 2014, 10:48 »

The pummeling Alice is currently delivering looks pretty conventional. The look on her face at the end is revealing...something... not quite sure what yet.

Watching this sequence, it appears that Alice is simply immune to any harm that comes her way. The fall didn't hurt her (and I believe her words that she fell, not flew), her fist got through LEJ's nanotech. (LEJ herself looks more like the wizard of oz + nanotech at this point than any kind of supernatural being).

The fact that she's been characterized as a witch is interesting... I mean, what if the Salem trials actually had found a witch who was immune to anything the villagers would throw at her--that is--after stoning, pressing, burning, etc, what if she was annoyed but undamaged? Eventually they'd have to say "oops, our bad..." and deferentially ask her to use her powers for good. That's what this feels like to me.

Edit: just realized I basically plagiarized Neko_all's post... hopefully you'll take it as great minds thinking alike?  :angel:

Edit2: I also think the most likely scenario is that LEJ is someone that Ardent cares about and he'll step in here in a panel or two.

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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #107 on: 19 Dec 2014, 11:45 »

In any event, it's unlikely that Alice is going to execute LEJ right now simply because it would be a really poor scenario plot-wise. A previously unknown character shows up, starts bombing the place, and is immediately offed by Alice before we learn anything about her personality or motivations (or name, even) - what would be the point of that? No, there will be an interrogation where LEJ reveals why she was after Ardent, and what Alice does next will depend on LEJ's answers.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #108 on: 19 Dec 2014, 20:52 »

The pummeling Alice is currently delivering looks pretty conventional.
That kind of makes her having some abilities more likely. For starters, LEJ has a bunch of advanced defense tech, and Alice is able to easily break through it with pure fucking strength. That plus invulnerability and possibly flight (or at least sustained hovering) equals something.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #109 on: 19 Dec 2014, 23:38 »



The fact that she's been characterized as a witch is interesting... I mean, what if the Salem trials actually had found a witch who was immune to anything the villagers would throw at her--that is--after stoning, pressing, burning, etc, what if she was annoyed but undamaged? Eventually they'd have to say "oops, our bad..." and deferentially ask her to use her powers for good. That's what this feels like to me.

There is a character in Gunnerkrigg Court who is a bit like that.
Warning, obviously it's a spoiler.

(click to show/hide)

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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #110 on: 20 Dec 2014, 03:46 »

At least she wasn't like Agnes Nutter, loading her knickers with gunpowder and nails, when at the stake and calling the whole town to see.
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Neko_Ali

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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #111 on: 20 Dec 2014, 06:56 »

The pummeling Alice is currently delivering looks pretty conventional.
That kind of makes her having some abilities more likely. For starters, LEJ has a bunch of advanced defense tech, and Alice is able to easily break through it with pure fucking strength. That plus invulnerability and possibly flight (or at least sustained hovering) equals something.

I don't think she broke the shield with strength. She punched the shield and stopped. Then there were sparks around her fist and the shield shattered. I think she used some nanotech of her own or perhaps a locallized EMP effect to neutralize LEJ's shield then commenced with a beat down. So far the only thing I think I can say she has is being extremely tough and being familiar with advanced tech... I suspect Alice might be a cyborg or android.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #112 on: 20 Dec 2014, 07:45 »

eh, We really haven't seen any expressions of power. She can fall a fair distance without being injured through some means. And she is immune to LEJ's nanotech tricks. Maybe she has the ability to hover, or maybe she just jumped up to smack down LEJ. But so far the only 'power' she's shown is being fairly tough and able to neutralize the nanotech shield. Pummelling someone who is a foot shorter than you and maybe 2/3 your weight doesn't require a lot of power... Especially when you hit them with a couple of sucker punches that knock the fight out of them right away.

And the power to make a con man return his loot. And the power to heal an injured or sick arm. And the power to make a man stop drinking. Ending the strife between neighbours may not have taken anything unusual other than er immense prestige.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #113 on: 20 Dec 2014, 07:53 »

I don't think she broke the shield with strength. She punched the shield and stopped. Then there were sparks around her fist and the shield shattered.
Different interpretation, we won't know unless it tells us, but I think she just hit it so hard and so many times that it finally broke in panel one of the most recent comic.

I think she might have tech-disrupting powers that helped her shatter it, but I don't think she is herself tech.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #114 on: 20 Dec 2014, 10:25 »



I suspect Alice might be a cyborg or android.

Thank you, that's exactly what I was thinking.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #115 on: 20 Dec 2014, 14:43 »

Alice is something super human. Whether that comes from accessories or something that is a part of her is up for grabs, still.

What she just did, she shouldn't be able to do. Her confidence is whatever it is is pretty damned high (are you going save us? Yes.)

She fell off the windmill. She shouldn't have survived that. There's obviously rumor that she can fly, as Jack assumes she did. So far we've no reason to believe she lied about falling. Of course, being blown up, and coming out without even a burn on her overalls suggests she's superhumanly tough, but the windmill incident serves the story telling purpose of informing us that Alice is something other than what she appears.

As noted, the beating she just dished out would suggest a lot of things, several mutually exclusive--assuming extreme interpretation. I don't think there's enough evidence to say what she's doing one way or another. It could be a field effect of some kind (thus, no burns to her clothing). It could be that everything about her is from Krypton (Bizarrely invulnerable clothing). She might be flying (hovering out of ground effect is just a subset if flight). Maybe she just punches with ultra-human speed (though, I think that kind of full body rotation is a bit outside of humanly possible during any hang time she could get). If she isn't flying, then (assuming Alice is taller than average, based on the other humans she's met) she opened with 5+ foot vertical leap, so that implies at least ultrahuman, if not superhuman, strength.

The physics suggests flight and an energy field (Equal and opposite reaction, each punch during her leap would be pushing her back with same force it delivered, minus drag). But this is a comic, so there's no saying the physics apply.

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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #116 on: 20 Dec 2014, 15:12 »

I still maintain most of her prestige comes from headology. What she is physically, I don't know.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #117 on: 20 Dec 2014, 15:36 »

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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #118 on: 20 Dec 2014, 18:05 »

*ahem*

"But this is a comic, so there's no saying the physics apply."

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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #119 on: 20 Dec 2014, 18:09 »

Calling it now, Alice is Momo in Battle Mode (someone link the squirrel fight please)
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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #120 on: 20 Dec 2014, 18:47 »

Momo vs. Squirrel

(added a bracket! - Method)
« Last Edit: 20 Dec 2014, 18:48 by Method of Madness »
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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #121 on: 21 Dec 2014, 21:03 »

My apologies: Last message I posted was only the quote, because my internet cut out as I was submitting it and I haven't had it back for three days, so it's just been in half-baked limbo. Eugh.

My current favourite idea is that Alice hits Ms Explosion a few more times and then suddenly stops, her expression turns to one of horror and she says something like: "No, I'm not that person anymore..." Then she slowly stands up and growls at her opponent: "If you're smart, you'll stay down."

It's just a vague idea forming in my head at this point - That maybe looking after the locals and their territory is Alice's community service. She's a former violent criminal; the reason why she's so embarrassed about the adulation she gets is because she doesn't consider herself a good person worthy of praise, rather she's just a girl from the wrong side of the tracks, desperately trying to change herself for the better. It's hard when, as we see here, she gets an excuse to tap into her dark side.

I literally had the same idea as soon as you got past that first paragraph. I was about to echo the same thought, except I kept reading and realized you'd already stated it exceedingly eloquently. So, instead, I'm going to build on it with something I said earlier.

If what we're supposing is true, I want this to all end with the best form of World of Cardboard speech, the one I alluded to wanting earlier. The biggest point of the WoC speech is that, when it's originally delivered by Superman, it's that they hold back not because they're weak but because they're too strong. Too scary. In Superman's case, it's because of his own morality. In Alice's case, they could be holding back around the citizens because they're being held back by a higher power. Alice won't hold back with Lady Jesus Explosion because nobody is around to stop her, and Alice doesn't want to stop. If she stops anyway, when the reason holding back has only ever been external, then we've got a character who is always on the literal knife's edge, the precipice, of snapping and going too far because they're too tired of holding themselves back and, anyway, they don't want to.

One of the greatest Batman lines came after -- I'm quoting DC comic books here, again, aren't I? Damn it, I need to stop doing that, or at least quote Marvel a bit more to compensate -- Robin is murdered by The Joker. He's brought back in the Lazarus pits as the Red Hood and holds The Joker at gunpoint and gives Batman an ultimatum; kill The Joker, or kill what is essentially his beloved adopted son who he had already lost once.

And Batman says no, he won't make that choice, and turns to walk away.

Ex-Robin is dumbstruck, heartbroken, and demands to know why Batman would let The Joker live, even after everything he's done, even after everything he would do, why he wouldn't kill The Joker.

Is it because it would be too hard?

And Batman gets furious. "Even after all these years, you still don't understand," he says. "I don't kill because it would be too easy, not because it's hard. If I cross that line just once, the next would be easier, and then it would be harder not to, and that's not a line I want to cross. After that, there's no going back."

What was the point of all that, you ask? Of that long, rambling Batman quote? How does it relate to Alice.

Well.

Imagine Alice as somebody who has already crossed that line but is trying to step back, and the only person that has the power to pull them back is themselves, because what's stopped them before has already cast judgement and stuck them here, and isn't there to do it again.

Now imagine what happens when they stop wanting to hold themselves back.

Yeah.

I will also add that, in my too-short time in this forum, I typically read a message I find myself most agreeing with, hit the quote button, and then my eyes will drift to the top of the quote tag and see your name there. I assure you, it's unintentional that I tend to single you out the most.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #122 on: 22 Dec 2014, 16:30 »

I, for one, am ready for a new comic.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #123 on: 22 Dec 2014, 16:45 »

In contrasts to the idea of super humans, robots or cyborgs I propose something a bit more tangential.
What she has displayed as abilities reminded me of a certain overstuffed boozing gun slinger / mercenary who hailed from a high gravity planet. Bucky
The nature of his nurture resulted in above average strength and durability. The rest is just attitude.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #124 on: 22 Dec 2014, 17:54 »

Ah, I see.  Not old Ma Vicissitude at all, it's just Big Sis.
Yup.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #125 on: 22 Dec 2014, 18:14 »

That's a rather severe ass beating Alice has laid upon her, though I think getting punched silly is a small price to pay for lobbing bombs at people indiscriminately while looking for your brother.

Ardent appears to have lost his tail, though.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #126 on: 22 Dec 2014, 18:21 »

Oh, of course. I see the family resemblance.  :roll:
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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #127 on: 22 Dec 2014, 18:22 »

Ardent appears to have lost his tail, though.

Probably retracted out of fear.

Or maybe his disguise hologram is shutting down so he can show Alice the family resemblance.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #128 on: 22 Dec 2014, 18:47 »

That's a rather severe ass beating Alice has laid upon her, though I think getting punched silly is a small price to pay for lobbing bombs at people indiscriminately while looking for your brother.

You're right. And Alice even gave her a chance to NOT get her ass handed to her. She refused, and paid the price. I wouldn't have even given ArdentSis the chance. Although this is for the better, since maybe ArdentSis is still alive. Which maybe wouldn't be the case if Alice had started swingin'

I can see where Ardent was going with the "heterogeneous physique" thing he said a while ago too.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #129 on: 22 Dec 2014, 19:53 »

Well, there's a turn-up for the books!
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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #130 on: 22 Dec 2014, 23:27 »

She's his sister?!? Well, all I can say is either that's an unconventional family, they have weird genetics or one of them is seriously into body modifications! I also hope that the family knows a good dentist!

Oh, BTW, loved the Batman-style "This is My Town" thing! I'm just wondering how literal a statement that is.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #131 on: 23 Dec 2014, 00:11 »

One of 'em could be adopted. 
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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #132 on: 23 Dec 2014, 01:16 »

?

żQue?

Ardent is from a post nanotech society. A heavily armed one, based on old sis.

Nanotech is scifi for "magic." But aside from that, Ardent was very specific in pointing out that people are largely heterogeneous where he's from. He was also miffed that Alice didn't appreciate his tail.

Ardent is from a place where people choose how they look. He chose to be small, blue and mostly naked. His sister went with something else.

Alice doesn't seem to care.

The question that comes to mind for me is whether or not Alice is keeping her town ignorant of what is possible. They're obviously ignorant. But do they want it that way or did Alice make that choice for them?

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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #133 on: 23 Dec 2014, 01:48 »

The question that comes to mind for me is whether or not Alice is keeping her town ignorant of what is possible. They're obviously ignorant. But do they want it that way or did Alice make that choice for them?

If society 'outside' is massively self-modifying through nanotech and (likely) cybernetics and gene-splicing, then the concept of a 'pure' human might be increasingly lost. It is possible that the area where Alice lives is either a 'reservation' for non-conformist groups or an attempt by someone (or possibly a collection of governments and corporations) to maintain a 'pure' human bloodline, just in case all these modifications get out of hand and cause a genetic collapse (the so-called 'photocopying error' issue). For this reason, outside influences that might disrupt this purity must be kept to a minimum. However, I do think that these people are partially aware of what's going on (hence Jack and his uncle both immediately turning to Alice in an apparent crisis).

Who is Alice? She's from Outside, of course. She's the town's Caretaker, Protector, Guardian or whatever you call it. She is the one responsible for maintaining the purity, the balance and the order. It's just a paying job but, even though she attempts to affect a cynical, detached demeanour, I get the impression that she does feel a personal responsibility to these people and the little bubble world in which they live. Maybe, on a certain level, she considers it a happier life than that 'enjoyed' by those Outside.

BTW - I wonder if Ardent and his sister are from an Off-World Colony? That would explain 'up'.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #134 on: 23 Dec 2014, 05:05 »

You know what's less fun than being punched to death?

No, seriously, I'm asking, I can't think of anything..
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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #135 on: 23 Dec 2014, 06:24 »

Burning to death. Vivisection. I could think of others, but it would mean being more graphic than I care to be.

Ardent has already established a few strips ago that where he comes from people choose how they look and it's common for people to look very different from each other. So the fact that LEJ and Ardent look completely different shouldn't be at all surprising.

Alice's comments are kind of telling here.. I didn't think so earlier, but I think people's comments about this being an execution were a lot closer to the mark than not. Alice seems very possessive of the town and the people in it. And has no problem using excessive force to maintain her will. Her comments today aren't someone who's out of  control. I've been in that position she's in after losing control, where someone had to pull me off a person before beating them to death. It's not fun, and I was not thinking anything at all until two bigger kids dragged me off the guy. Alice though seems to be very much aware of what she was doing, and given the last comic was enjoying it to much.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #136 on: 23 Dec 2014, 09:39 »

Hmm. What if the Splodey Lady is Ardent's LITTLE sister? An adult would (should) have known that scaring inhabitants of a primitive planet is not kosher, and if an overseer/protector is present, not safe either. A spoiled/bored teenager on the other hand ... Anyway, it feels like this is her first contact with a primitive society running a scarcity-based economy. May be she missed that class in school?

I'm not saying that Alice was in best behavior in the previous strip. ArdentSis had it coming, but Alice could (should) have put a teenager (if she is a little sister) under control a bit less violently - irrespective of the fact that she was treating the primitives like pet rats. Yes, Alice was taking those explosions personally. Not an unnatural reaction at that display of racism, but cool it now, please.




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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #137 on: 23 Dec 2014, 12:19 »

Big Sis looks like an adult to me.

I don't see any signs that Alice has any familiarity with the Vicissitudes' culture.  There may be some kind of Guardian thing going on here, but I bet not the way people here are thinking of it.  Let's see what Jeph shows us.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #138 on: 23 Dec 2014, 13:24 »

I don't see any evidence that Alice is unaware of the outside culture(s).

"Assuming you're telling the truth--that you came here FROM SPACE as a TOURIST--which isn't supposed to be POSSIBLE--"

If one were to travel back in time, and have some random farmer from 1790 tell one this, I think one's initial reaction would be smug. You'd know that your little trip was possible, and having the primitive tell you it wasn't would underscore their ignorance.

But what if you knew it wasn't supposed to be possible? Because of timey whimey, wibbly-wobbly...stuff. Something you were sure no primitive could be aware of? Then your reaction might be less smug and more, "How do you know that?"

It's possible to read Ardent's question as a challenge: How do you know that your assumption is correct. But I think, putting it together with "I made it!" that Ardent is fully aware of some wibbly wobbly stuff that should have prevented him from getting in. He's wondering how this freaking kill-joy called Alice could possibly know.

I wouldn't be surprised is his "making it" has seriously disrupted that stuff, allowing "big" sis in (I'm not assuming sis is older that Ardent. I'm assuming she's more violent).

Alice is aware of the technology of the outside culture(s), and she's not afraid of it. I guess that could go either way--she could be too ignorant to know that she should be afraid of weaponized nanotechnology--but her confidence, and accuracy of prediction suggests she has a lot of experience with it.

Alice doesn't have to be from Outside to know what she knows, but I think it's a fair bet that she has been in contact with the outside enough to have a working idea of what it is like and what she is dealing with.

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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #139 on: 23 Dec 2014, 14:33 »

@ReindeerFlotilla,

Maybe it isn't the 'from space' thing that was so impossible. It was the 'come here as a tourist" thing that was so impossible. Maybe this little family's particular subgroup of post-humans have worked out long-range teleportation to get around the preserve's defences that were meant to keep them 100% isolated and interdicted. Additionally, in Alice's (admittedly cynical) world-view, of all the things for which to use this technology, coming to rubber-neck at the primitives isn't one that immediately occurs to her.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #140 on: 23 Dec 2014, 14:56 »

It is 'The Village' a few centuries on.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #141 on: 23 Dec 2014, 15:19 »

Maybe it isn't the 'from space' thing that was so impossible. It was the 'come here as a tourist" thing that was so impossible.

I'm not really trying to conjecture on what is or isn't supposed to be possible, or even on what Alice thinks is possible or not. The emphasis is in the original. That's how Alice said it.

What I am saying is that Alice is aware that something should have prevented Ardent getting in, and and so is Ardent. The point being that it shows Alice is familiar with the Outside. A case in point being her reluctance to think of Ardent as "Alien." She knows he's human (for whatever values of human apply in this universe). She's unsurprised that a human might be short, blue, pointy, with a tail. She has reason to believe that a human would not be from space (either people didn't live in space the last time she checked, or something prevents humans from transitioning between surface and orbit).

But mostly, she is supremely confident that she can deal with whatever might come in from outside. That suggests either a lot of experience with the Outside, or a thorough knowledge of what the Outside is capable of.

I recall some discussion of Alice's somewhat harsh response to Ardent being... repressive. But let's consider the facts as we know them now. Whatever she is, Alice is enormously powerful. She's also direct. She solves threats with her fists. There's a bit of the Doctor in her. Big sis attacked her town, but Alice was going to let that slide. Just like the 2005+ Doctor, what was done before Alice arrived is past. Not ignored, but she offered one chance.

One.

After that, she was was going to beat the girl to death, or at least to grievous injury (Blackened eyes, a broken nose, lacerations in the mouth--or internal bleeding in the GI or air way--between her first evil smile and Ardent's intervention, Alice knocked a tooth out of LEJ's mouth...or into it).

I don't know that the speculation about Alice's history is relevant, but the implications from it--that she has reason for not beating everything around her to a fine paste--applies to her "repressive" attitude. For whatever reason (she doesn't usually enjoy violence? Ardent hadn't risen to the level of threat required?) she had not flattened him. But her reactions to him are colored by the fact that what she is doing to his sister was how she would handle him if he crossed the line.

As of now, I suspect that this is not a side of herself she likes. Mostly because of the look she gave Jack when he asked if she would handle it in the event that Ardent became trouble. In retrospect, that look suggests a bit of "Yes, I will use the worst parts of me to protect your taking-it-for-granted ass." Basically, her whole attitude towards that situation reads a lot less like being a jerk and a lot more like "Don't make me angry, Mr. McGee. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry."

Probably too much speculation there. The main point: Alice's actions, from the moment she appeared and immediately fell off a windmill, strongly suggest she is highly familiar with the Outside.

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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #142 on: 23 Dec 2014, 15:43 »

Certainly she is familiar with the outside.  But I don't get the impression that she knows anything about wherever Ardent's from.
« Last Edit: 23 Dec 2014, 16:54 by ysth »
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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #143 on: 23 Dec 2014, 16:35 »

In fiction terms, one might expect her to. Realistically speaking, what do you know about Ruzayevka? Probably as much as I do, which is nothing. I pointed at a map and picked the closet thing. But what do you know about Russia?  I pointed at a map of Russia to make the point.

Alice may not know anything about the subculture Ardent comes from, but I'm betting she is familiar with the large culture it fits in. I suspect the villagers are as well, at a remove. There's a reason Jack expects her to protect them from things they don't understand. Maybe it's just that she said she would, but I suspect it's because they've seen her do this kind of thing before.

Maybe not so closely. Maybe with less explosion.

"You're with me. That means you're none of their business." Either Alice rules with an iron fist, not exactly ruled out by the scenes we've seen, or she has a habit of dealing with stuff, and the people know it's safer to let her handle it. It seems likely, if it's the latter, that stuff has include things from Outside.

Jack boy, you're a fast runner. Go get the witch." It's all folklore and nothing has ever happened around the village--Or enough people have encountered oddities from outside that it is generally known to each village that the first thing you do is call Alice, whether you've seen something or not.

"Did you do any research on our culture before you came?" Alice seems to expect outsiders to have information on what it's like in the village.  I would certainly expect the same to be true of most places in Russia, regarding where I live. I wouldn't assume most Russians have done any research, but I would expect the information to be available.

I don't know that Alice does know a lot about Ardent's home or not. That she only guessed "nanotech" suggests she's not playing with an information advantage (And also that there are other ways to achieve sinister upright flight and explosions). But she's familiar with places that use nanotech in that manner and do body modification, in the same way that I am familiar with Russia but ignorant of Ruzayevka.

Alice is the (self?) appointed manager of her "Grove," and it seems like "beating things that threaten it into bloody pulp" is part of the job description. I'm guessing that falls under the label "Guardian."

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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #144 on: 23 Dec 2014, 19:12 »

It is 'The Village' a few centuries on.
Ugh, I fucking hope not.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #145 on: 23 Dec 2014, 20:46 »

I kinda think it is

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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #146 on: 23 Dec 2014, 21:41 »

Good to know I can still count on you people to be silly.

LEJ earned her death. While I'm not exactly rooting for summary execution, the evidence at our disposal says that she's hilariously dangerous (by 'normal' human standards), volatile, and has the will to kill unarmed (as far as she knew) noncombatants attempting to dialogue. She had *no qualms* about killing a little country gal that, at best, mildly inconvenienced her by standing nearby.

I'd be hard-pressed to blame Alice if she simply snapped her neck and had done with it now. She *probably* won't, but how certain are you that the prisoner can be contained? That her viciousness and technology can be suppressed? If Alice fails to subdue LEJ, how many of the men, women, and children under her stewardship will die, screaming as their flesh cracks, boils, and burns?

Prooooobably not quite where it's gonna end up going, but hey.

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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #147 on: 23 Dec 2014, 22:24 »

It is 'The Village' a few centuries on.
Ugh, I fucking hope not.

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Oh, I get it, we've got an M. Night Shyamalon's The Village situation going on.


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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #148 on: 23 Dec 2014, 23:26 »

@de_la_NAE,

Don't ask me why, but I've got a feeling that Ms Explosion will be almost ridiculously submissive and apologetic. She wasn't expecting the primitives to have such an effective Guardian who would take her 'harmless game' so seriously. Yes, I'm thinking of a society so utopian, cynical and bored with its technology-produced perfection that lethal violence has become a sort of entertainment. Ardent was bored so he went to impregnate a few primatives. His sister was bored so she went out to kill a few people for giggles (What? Their nanotech will resurrect them after a few hours!).

I still need to hear brother and sister's story but, until then, that's my theory.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDT - December 2014
« Reply #149 on: 24 Dec 2014, 09:22 »

I don't think she was expecting a guardian at all.  That's one of the things that makes me think Alice's role is something at least slightly different than being mooted.
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