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Plus she can apparently project her image elsewhere.
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Jan 30, 2015 16:36
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| # ? May 19, 2024 00:15 |
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New comic! I guess that resolves all apparent logical conflicts regarding how her anomaly works, when it is an unknown source arbitrarily deciding what can and cannot affect her body according to some seemingly human-like idea of what is harmful and what isn't.
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Feb 3, 2015 18:03
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Slashrat posted:New comic! Turns out she's actually protected by g-g-g-g-ghosts!
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Feb 3, 2015 21:48
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I kinda reminds me of the character "Amber" from PS238. She was basically invulnerable as well by virtue of having a literal guardian spirit that blocked any attempt to harm her.
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Feb 3, 2015 22:10
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Slashrat posted:I kinda reminds me of the character "Amber" from PS238. She was basically invulnerable as well by virtue of having a literal guardian spirit that blocked any attempt to harm her. And one time something temporarily weakened this invisible protector and she caught a cold that nearly killed her because her natural immune system is pretty crap and the guardian spirit had recovered by then and was actively "protecting" her against medical drugs..
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Feb 3, 2015 23:05
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Mr.Pibbleton posted:Turns out she's actually protected by g-g-g-g-dead guys! Fixed that for you.
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Feb 4, 2015 03:33
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Holy poo poo, I just figured it out. I just realized why Alison is being so cagey here. She doesn't know if Moonshadow is killing people on government orders. That's why she's so interested in what the government knows, that's why she wants to know if they've confronted her. And what they're saying just feeds into her fears, because she knows Mary was at the scene, so if she's being told, "Oh, we checked her out, she's good" then she has to believe they're covering for her. And that means (In her mind) that the government is using Mary as an assassin. Which would seemingly corroborate Patrick's whole spiel about how the government uses biodynamics for their own purposes, and kills people that get on it's bad side.
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Feb 4, 2015 16:36
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Captain Bravo posted:Holy poo poo, I just figured it out. I just realized why Alison is being so cagey here. If that is the case it will be interesting to see why the government is killing seemingly unconnected civilian rapists. Especially when the marine corp exists. 
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Feb 4, 2015 16:50
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Captain Bravo posted:Holy poo poo, I just figured it out. I just realized why Alison is being so cagey here. Holy poo poo. Wow, I was not thinking of it that way, but holy poo poo. And she's basically had a conversation that would completely confirm that.
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Feb 4, 2015 18:57
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Trast posted:If that is the case it will be interesting to see why the government is killing seemingly unconnected civilian rapists. Especially when the marine corp exists. That was my thought too. There would be simpler ways to eliminate each perpetrator without leaving the obvious calling card of "invisible slasher". My best guess is that if the government is involved, it's a plan to stir up anti-biodynamic sentiments and get some legislation passed to put tighter restrictions on biodynamic rights. But that doesn't seem to mesh with anything else in the current plot minus the new rules regarding biodynamics like Paladin mentioned in the beginning of the chapter.
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Feb 4, 2015 21:35
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Could be she's employed to kill people by the government but is also doing it on the side for the rush/personal satisfaction/because she's too far gone/etc.
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Feb 4, 2015 21:49
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thebardyspoon posted:Could be she's employed to kill people by the government but is also doing it on the side for the rush/personal satisfaction/because she's too far gone/etc. I like that angle better. And it would explain why the government might be covering for her. It would probably look bad if the public found out that one of their heroic icons was performing government wetwork.
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Feb 4, 2015 22:01
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thebardyspoon posted:Could be she's employed to kill people by the government but is also doing it on the side for the rush/personal satisfaction/because she's too far gone/etc. She made a point of saying she's not getting paid for this. And if Moonshadow was acting under the government's direction, wouldn't she be getting targets from them instead of meeting people in barns or watching the news? For that matter, wouldn't she have just made them, literally, disappear instead of trying to send a message? (It may still possible Moonshadow has some sort of legal aegis--the government sponsored the Guardians' activity and everything, and even though the Guardians haven't been an active entity she made still have a lot of latitude and discretion--but it wouldn't make sense on either a thematic or factual level for this to be some kind of X-Files conspiracy.) Anyway, the way Alison's acting doesn't really add up to "discreetly trying to gather information." Her body language is nervous, not cagey, and her line of inquiry would probably be more general than leading straight to Moonshadow. (And why would her doctor be in on a murder conspiracy, anyway? That's the kind of thing you'd want to compartmentalize.) Her relationship with Rosenblum is one of trust--in this scene, she knows the truth, but she feels guilty about hiding it. She knows revealing that it's Moonshadow is the right thing to do, but she doesn't even want to acknowledge it.
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Feb 4, 2015 22:37
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Come on. Moonshadow's not employed by the government as an assassin. We know that. What Captain Bravo said is that Allison might, maybe, think that Moonshadow is. The gov't might be covering up or downplaying their knowledge for damage control and pr reasons, sure, but her actions are pretty clearly unsanctioned, and it's pretty silly to pull in a "she's a secret assassin using her super hero identity as cover, but she's gone rogue!" based off some goon's idle speculation.
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Feb 4, 2015 22:57
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Mazerunner posted:Come on. Moonshadow's not employed by the government as an assassin. We know that.
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Feb 4, 2015 23:13
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Brought To You By posted:Where did we learn that again? I thought the DEA had approached the Guardians but we don't know if Moonshadow actually refused them. She's worked for the government yea, as a part of the super hero team which led to some shady stuff in the later years, but there's zero reason for us, the audience, to make the jump to 'goverment-sanctioned assassin' because there's no proof or anything in the comic to suggest that Moonshadow has been working as such. There's enough circumstantial evidence that might lead Allison (who doesn't know as much as we do) to suspect that as Captain Bravo pointed out, but trying to fit Moonshadow's rampage into a framework where these are government targets isn't going to work. Now, is it possible that she did assassination work 'behind the scenes' as a Guardian, before going rogue? Sure, I guess. Nothing ruling it out. But there's also nothing to lead us to that conclusion, so, you know, let's not invent stuff before there's reason to?
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Feb 4, 2015 23:28
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No, I'm not saying that Moonshadow is working for the government. I'm saying that Alison thinks she is working for the government. As omniscient narrators, we know that Mary is doing this on her own, we know that she's just gone unhinged, and is no longer working for Uncle Sam. But all Alison knows is that her previous teammate, who was not homicidal, continued working for the government after she left. She also knows that the government started sending them on missions no longer dealing with Biodynamics, but on more mundane poo poo. Then the guardians are disbanded, all of a sudden this invisible slasher appears, and the government doctor is telling her the woman she knows is doing it, can't be the one responsible. There's a bunch of different ways she could think about this. Maybe the government is trying to stir up another biodynamic scare so they can reinstate the guardians? Maybe they're testing out their new invisible assassin? Maybe they're setting up previous invisible slasher kills so they can justify their next hit on a government target? Patrick has already filled her head with the idea that their government does some shady, underhanded poo poo with biodynamics. She's seen some of the ugly side of that already, and she knows that things got worse when she left. It's like a Magic Eye puzzle. Now that I've seen it, I can't unsee it.
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Feb 5, 2015 00:22
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Captain Bravo posted:No, I'm not saying that Moonshadow is working for the government. The one objection I would raise is that Patrick's conversation with Alison never once suggested "the government" was responsible for the targeted killings he uncovered, per se. Which would be appropriate since biodynamism is a transnational phenomena. We're probably talking about an independent group here, not just "THE US GOVERNMENT" and I think Alison knows that.
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Feb 5, 2015 00:40
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Captain Oblivious posted:The one objection I would raise is that Patrick's conversation with Alison never once suggested "the government" was responsible for the targeted killings he uncovered, per se.  ", and the theory still works.
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Feb 5, 2015 01:38
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Mazerunner posted:She's worked for the government yea, as a part of the super hero team which led to some shady stuff in the later years, but there's zero reason for us, the audience, to make the jump to 'goverment-sanctioned assassin' because there's no proof or anything in the comic to suggest that Moonshadow has been working as such. There's enough circumstantial evidence that might lead Allison (who doesn't know as much as we do) to suspect that as Captain Bravo pointed out, but trying to fit Moonshadow's rampage into a framework where these are government targets isn't going to work. I don't follow the theory that Moonshadow is building up to some political assassination, I just think that there is a third party at play here providing her with protection at best. Or maybe the paranoia has finally set in. It stands to reason that somehow Moonshadow has an alibi for the current crime, or at least Dr. Rosenblum is leading Allison to believe that for whatever reason. Now as far as the government employing Moonshadow, that might be a little far-fetched. All of her killings so far haven't been anything that would require vast resources (with the exception of the barn incident which is still plausible given Moonshadow's background); and seem to be very personal acts since she is focusing on a specific crime with a very specific criteria (Highly publicized rapists who don't get convicted). I'll just parrot Poisonous Mushroom and say you can replace "government" with "they" and it's still the same effect.
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Feb 5, 2015 04:03
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Brought To You By posted:I don't follow the theory that Moonshadow is building up to some political assassination Really? That's what you thought I was saying? That Moonshadow is about to stab the president? Christ, D- for reading comprehension. 
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Feb 5, 2015 04:22
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Captain Bravo posted:Really? That's what you thought I was saying? That Moonshadow is about to stab the president? Christ, D- for reading comprehension. Might want to see who I was responding to before you hand out report cards.
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Feb 5, 2015 04:43
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At least you're not arguing with a guy who unironically compared Allison to Hitler
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Feb 5, 2015 05:08
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Allison is being coy because Moonshadow is her friend and after being slandered herself she's in no rush to accuse anything.
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Feb 5, 2015 05:45
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Brought To You By posted:I don't follow the theory that Moonshadow is building up to some political assassination, I just think that there is a third party at play here providing her with protection at best. Or maybe the paranoia has finally set in. I... I think we might be arguing past each other here, but for clarity: Moonshadow's killings are done individually. She is not working for or doing them at anyone's behest other than her own. She is still official a Guardian and that gives her resources she wouldn't otherwise have, though. Moonshadow is escalating- she's gone from teens to judges to para-military to getting involved with Allison (although back to teen/young adult there). I suppose all her murders have a political component to them, but maybe she'll go after a more prominent public figure/one who doesn't actually have skeletons in their closet(/Allison). Whatever the case it is, again, based off Moonshadow's beliefs, not anyone else's. The discussion of government versus 'they' is in regards to the killings of various biodynamics with world changing powers that Patrick discovered. Nothing to do with Moonshadow or the current situation.
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Feb 5, 2015 06:08
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New comic "Invent a way to get everyone off this planet" seems like a perfectly reasonable precaution in case Allison snaps. She can't fly, and she's unlikely to reinvent space travel with her focus on studying the humanities. Anyway, good on her for voicing her concerns rather than keeping silent. The doctor seems trustworthy enough at any rate, even if the government turns out to be involved (though that probably just means we're in for the inevitable shocking betrayal).
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Feb 6, 2015 17:17
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Really though, they would just get that Ignominio guy to levitate her while hiding behind Cleaver, and then figure it out from there.
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Feb 6, 2015 17:44
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Even escaping the planet won't work for everyone if she's snapped hard enough that "get the gently caress out of here" is literally their only choice. She can't fly, but I'm pretty sure she can throw a pebble faster than a howitzer shell.
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Feb 6, 2015 21:16
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She has to eat, sleep and breathe , no? Just pour molten steel over her, then dump that block in the Marianas trench. At the very least, it'll buy you enough time to work on a more permanent solution.
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Feb 7, 2015 02:43
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I'd love to see the tactical workup for that.
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Feb 7, 2015 04:43
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The alt-text is on point as usual.
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Feb 7, 2015 04:46
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nimby posted:She has to eat, sleep and breathe , no? Just pour molten steel over her, then dump that block in the Marianas trench. At the very least, it'll buy you enough time to work on a more permanent solution. The U.S. government probably has a dozen plans in place for what to do if Alison went on a genocidal rampage and they all probably start with "Step 1: Find God."
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Feb 7, 2015 08:29
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solution to the genocidal allison problem: 1) build enormous hidden catapult 2) lure allison into the flingy part 3) launch her into orbit all the super strength in the world won't slow you down if you're already hurtling through the atmosphere/space
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Feb 7, 2015 09:48
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The Hulk is strong enough to swim through space
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Feb 7, 2015 09:53
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If her body responds to damage by increasing its defenses, wouldn't her hair be the most indestructible stuff possible by now?
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Feb 10, 2015 17:21
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EoRaptor posted:If her body responds to damage by increasing its defenses, wouldn't her hair be the most indestructible stuff possible by now? No, because it only does that sometimes. Her toughness is basically magic, because it has all the exceptions that you would need to live as a normal person like "can cut hair and nails" and "can digest food." EDIT: /looks at today's strip /apparently not Rand Brittain fucked around with this message at 17:35 on Feb 10, 2015 |
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Feb 10, 2015 17:33
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New comic's up, by the way. I wonder if that freeze-and-buzz technique would work on her skin.
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Feb 10, 2015 17:36
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I would hazard a guess that it only works because hair is dead matter. The same technique might maker her skin a bit red.
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Feb 10, 2015 19:08
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What has been suggested a couple of times is that her power is controlled by her autonomic system (or some superhero analogue). So the reason her hair can be cut (with difficulty) is that her system recognizes that it ought to be able to be removed and, on some level, she wants it to be removable. I wonder how automatic this actually is; would she become less invincible if she were suicidal?
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Feb 11, 2015 18:50
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Assuming a direct analogy to the autonomic system, probably not significantly so--a depressed person's heart rate and other vital signs will be different, but they won't just keel over. I don't think it's necessarily that her powers "want" her hair to be removed--it's been established that different parts of her body have different compositions (like how Cleaver was able to cut her skin but not her skull), so it may just be that her hair is weaker than the rest of her. Or maybe freezing her skin could make her more vulnerable too, in which case she's putting an even bigger amount of trust in Rosenblum here than it seems. Which, even if that's not literally what is happening, is why I think they're having the doctor cut her hair instead of a professional hair dresser. Rosenblum's her therapist, so this is just another way to build rapport and intimacy between them.
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Feb 11, 2015 23:13
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