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Gorilla Salad posted:In city fires that's totally true, but if you're caught up in a bush fire, it's the radiant heat that will get you Yeah, that's totally true. And to bring it back to my original point, I don't think being deprived of oxygen will hurt Allison much, at the very least it seems she can remain conscious long enough to do something about it.
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May 11, 2015 05:33
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paragon1 posted:Yeah, that's totally true. And to bring it back to my original point, I don't think being deprived of oxygen will hurt Allison much, at the very least it seems she can remain conscious long enough to do something about it. Carbon monoxide isn't a lack of oxygen, it binds preferentially to the hemoglobin transport site and doesn't leave. As a ligand with your blood chemistry, CO is more than two hundred times stronger than what you actually need to keep yourself alive. Toxic gasses work in more than one way, and they kill you through more than just not having oxygen in them. She breaths enough of the right toxic gas and she still falls over dead assuming that her powers don't work with precision on a molecular level. She should be acutely aware that she is still mortal at this point, since at the very least, Cleaver's blades are a death sentence if they nick an artery or cause enough bleeding, since she cannot be given first aid or even a transfusion. My personal take on Patrick pushing away Allison is that his motivation probably comes from a desire to spare her something, or protect her from something. Probably related to his supervillian past or his continuing shady dealings. Reading a bit further into that, something is either going to come back on him or he needs to make some major move that he cannot bring himself to do with her in his life. Obviously if one of his schemes is unraveling towards him, it's better for Allison if she has been distanced from him. Thematically though, it might make more sense if he actually has one of his plans that "fly under the radar until they are too late to stop" moving into endgame, and he doesn't like what its mere existence says about him and how little he has changed from his days in a costume masterminding a coup.
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May 11, 2015 09:29
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Jesus, she continues to shut him the gently caress down even still.
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May 12, 2015 09:41
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Holy poo poo, Allison! That's one way to do it.
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May 12, 2015 09:44
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Welp, looks like Patrick got what he wanted. Alison's thing for him is definitely over.
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May 12, 2015 09:56
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Not being able to read your own mind? What does that even feel like?
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May 12, 2015 09:56
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his speech seems way too rehearsed for something he hasn't reflected upon, tbh. Alison's earlier observation of the sheer oddity of the choice of engineered reaction by a mind-reader still seems unanswered; her present guess that it's an honest expression of unexamined thoughts seems implausible. "Oh, you know that I'm a good person. Is that what you know?" doesn't seem like the response of a person who doesn't reflect on their sense of self. although it's probably true he can't read the structure of his own thoughts the way he can read the structure of other people's (right down to inserting bookmarks). How would that even work? But realizing this does punch a hole in his plan to, for instance, figure out time travel by synthesizing other people's thoughts on time travel. ronya fucked around with this message at 10:05 on May 12, 2015 |
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May 12, 2015 10:03
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I'll probably read a couple more updates to see if this goes any further, but if all the time spent at this office just ends up "gently caress Patrick, I'm out" as it looks like it's going to right now, I think that wraps up what interest I still had in this comic.
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May 12, 2015 12:45
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Zerilan posted:I'll probably read a couple more updates to see if this goes any further, but if all the time spent at this office just ends up "gently caress Patrick, I'm out" as it looks like it's going to right now, I think that wraps up what interest I still had in this comic. McSpanky posted:If this turns into some David Xanatos matryoshka doll of "appearing to thwart my last plan WAS my plan all along!" absurdity, especially after the word salad we were just tossed around in for the past few weeks, I'm dropping this loving thing. two enter, one leaves
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May 12, 2015 12:52
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Ok, I'm done.
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May 12, 2015 13:22
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It's better than some incredibly complex scheme definitely, but the idea that this is the crushing blow to her image of him and his own self image is loving dumb. He spends more time examining himself than probably anyone else because he can know exactly what everyone around him thinks of him if he ever wants to. Plus we know that he never could control the minds of others, why is it surprising in any way that he has only normal control over his own mind? We learned he can apparently rifle through the minds of others in order to learn things, but since then I really don't see what new information we have gotten here or why this limitation is a game-changer. I would have been happier if Allison had just walked out on him last update or whatever, I mean his obvious lack of trust in some aspect of her character or intelligence is far more pressing to me than some limit in his abilities. I guess I find this unpalatable because when he said that poo poo about her crusade being about the approval of a powerful man seems to be true. She doesn't call their friendship off because of a difference in vision or desire; she doesn't want to leave because he's been a deliberately mean spirited ponce or that he seems to not respect her at all; she calls it because he isn't as smart or powerful as she had built him up to be, and because of that she no longer feels a need to follow his lead or keep his company. I mean she came here originally so he could solve her problem like a loving fairy godmother, but now that he isn't some magical demigod she has no need for him? I get Patrick's done some really bad stuff, but shouldn't that be of more concern than his powers or whatever? It's kind of disheartening because it boils human beings down to superpowers and most people have nothing in that metric.
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May 12, 2015 13:27
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Also again what "solves" the situation is just Alison using her physical strength/presence to subdue the other person while she goes on her own one-sided rant.
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May 12, 2015 13:29
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Uh, it's not that his power has limits. It's that she always assumed he understood himself, but now she how much he has deluded himself.
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May 12, 2015 13:29
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it's still ambiguous, I think. maybe deliberately so Alison tries to calm herself to force a focus on why Patrick is trying to manipulate her rather than what Patrick is actually saying, and Patrick immediately says one sentence that drives her into a rage and baits her into taking what he is saying at face value I mean, that's not really contradictory with anything we've been told about Patrick's powers his reaction in today's strip suggests that Alison is still hitting some sore points though
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May 12, 2015 13:41
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akulanization posted:she calls it because he isn't as smart or powerful as she had built him up to be, and because of that she no longer feels a need to follow his lead or keep his company. I mean she came here originally so he could solve her problem like a loving fairy godmother, but now that he isn't some magical demigod she has no need for him? I get Patrick's done some really bad stuff, but shouldn't that be of more concern than his powers or whatever? It looks like the only real change in things is that she's put Lisa Bradley on that same pedestal instead.
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May 12, 2015 14:41
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Yeah, I don't love this strip either. He presumably still, y'know... thinks thoughts, right? So I don't get what exactly Allison's point is here, or why this is the breaking point, and if this is the last we see of Patrick I'll be deeply disappointed.
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May 12, 2015 16:32
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CapnAndy posted:Yeah, I don't love this strip either. He presumably still, y'know... thinks thoughts, right? So I don't get what exactly Allison's point is here, or why this is the breaking point, and if this is the last we see of Patrick I'll be deeply disappointed. I imagine it's like, sort of same thing as being in a really loud crowded area where you can barely hear your own voice if you try speaking, except the same effect is happening with his thoughts all the time.
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May 12, 2015 16:48
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I think it is more that he only can not scan his mind like he can with others, but he never really examined his own views and thoughts. Not the way Allison examined herself anyway. He can have thoughts, but he never turned them inward. Sort of like the opposite of Allison here: has a direction, but his purpose and even internal logic is confused. I have to say though I have mixed feelings about this. Is Patrick being written out of the story here? Seems like a sudden, jarring way to do it. Unlucky7 fucked around with this message at 17:33 on May 12, 2015 |
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May 12, 2015 17:01
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So what was the loving point of his rant? Why was he messing with her, for what purpose? He appears totally clueless now.
Jackard fucked around with this message at 17:36 on May 12, 2015 |
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May 12, 2015 17:30
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I think he's just so absolutely sure of his own superiority that he never actually bothered to sit down and think about who he really was, what he stood for and who he wanted to become. He just naturally assumed he was right about everything and all his views were just totally loving dandy. Like every smart teenager, really. Except he's not a teen any more, so has no excuse. This was very probably the first time in his life he'd articulated his thoughts and it turns out, he's "that guy", you know, the one we've all had to deal with, who was really heavily into libertarianism and suddenly realised what a massive oval office it made him look in front of the cute girl he secretly obsesses over and who now thinks he's dirt.
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May 12, 2015 17:43
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So did we spend that much time in the office just for her to tell him to gently caress off and not actually accomplish anything?
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May 12, 2015 17:47
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And most people who get over that poo poo do so because other people who have their poo poo together a bit more help them out. Allison's admitted herself that the support she's gotten from other people is pretty much the main reason she's not some mass murderer with her powers like Cleaver. Patrick's power would make it near impossible to relate to other people especially when it's a mental power unlike pretty much everyone else who's just had more physical abilities. Allison's realized that he's basically in as much of a messed up state as she's been and her only real reaction so far is to smugly dismiss him and give him orders.
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May 12, 2015 17:52
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Unlucky7 posted:I have to say though I have mixed feelings about this. Is Patrick being written out of the story here? Seems like a sudden, jarring way to do it. Seriously, this is clearly leading to some kind of actual honesty from Patrick. He is going to have to say something heartfelt and without calculation to try and win her back. I agree that this this scene has gone on a bit long, but it feels necessary for the larger metaplot, of which vigilante slasher-lady is only a part.
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May 12, 2015 17:53
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Alison is lost. Her whole adolescence she's built herself up as a superhero that lives to fight evil and protect the innocent. Then Patrick showed her just how pointless all that was. She sees the real troubles of the world, and still sees herself as someone with the will and capability to solve them - she just doesn't know how. She's spent her whole life in the comic, and especially in this chapter, looking up to people smarter than herself in the hopes of figuring out just what she's supposed to do. And Patrick was first among them. That's what this chapter has been all about. Alison looking to her idols in the fact of a superhero who tried to fix one of the world's problems without anyone else's advice. And Patrick totally failed at being what she built him up to be. Patrick has been taking charge since he was a teenager, accountable to no one. Literally public enemy number one - who could he turn to even if he wanted to? So he's had to figure things out by himself, surrounded by a cacophony of thoughts and feelings. He's taken what he knew at 13 and built a philosophy on it, without ever having cause to examine his views. His worldview is a tower with no foundation and no support, because he's never had to explain it to anyone, so no one has ever criticised it. So, when Alison comes to him looking for perspective, he shares his. And they both find out it's terrible.
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May 12, 2015 18:13
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Gorilla Salad posted:I think he's just so absolutely sure of his own superiority that he never actually bothered to sit down and think about who he really was, what he stood for and who he wanted to become. He just naturally assumed he was right about everything and all his views were just totally loving dandy. The only problem with this is that he can see what the people around him think of him anytime he wants, and to get their perspectives on this he would need to reveal himself as the most wanted man on earth. I mean maybe he is wrong about very big things, but Allison just seemed to realize he was manipulating her and then it turns out he was just an idiot the entire time. Also, him never bothering to sit down and think through his views? Maybe that's a product of the fact that he runs a multinational company, is looking to root out a deadly international conspiracy to uphold the status quo, educating himself as best he is able, and making sure that an elaborate and dangerous criminal network he built is still on the leash. That isn't to say that he is a good person necessarily, but Allison has had the luxury of thinking all these deep thoughts man because she's been content to leave the doing to him. And leaving that aside, while Allison may know what she wants and who she is, she doesn't seem to get closer to solving even a facet of the problems she wants to confront, and her own insistence that "everything perfect for everyone, forever [is] the goal" hamstrings her ability to make what impact she can. She, for all her vaunted self reflection, hasn't gotten beyond trying to solve every problem all at once. They're both immature because they are both powerful 20somethings and so they are loving megalomaniacs, they aren't used to problems being too big and they haven't really failed so they assume it's impossible.
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May 12, 2015 18:22
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Squidster posted:Yes. This is clearly the moment at which the love interest of the comic, introduced early as a pivotal supporting character, is completely abandoned. Also the end of the Illuminati super-killer plot. Why not the end of the comic as well? I wish I could agree, but I lost a little faith in the writing in the comic to give it the benefit of the doubt.
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May 12, 2015 23:27
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Throwing a wrapped present through a man.
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May 15, 2015 10:11
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Wonder what he got her, it seems to have shocked her at least a little. A ring?
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May 15, 2015 10:23
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nimby posted:Wonder what he got her, it seems to have shocked her at least a little. I think it's more that she just realised she did something violent in anger, which she's been trying to avoid for about a decade.
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May 15, 2015 11:00
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I think she only thought of chucking it through his head and is shocked/ashamed at the thought.
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May 15, 2015 11:11
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I think her surprise is more from the fact that Patrick read her intention to throw it at him right out of her mind, and he still didn't try to dodge it. She probably never expected to actually hit him. (I suspect he knew perfectly well what the end result would be before reminding her of the gift too).
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May 15, 2015 13:04
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And that was the moment when Allison realized she had become her father.
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May 15, 2015 13:21
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Jackard posted:And that was the moment when Allison realized she had become her father. Her dad seems like a cool guy though.
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May 15, 2015 14:26
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Pretty sure this was all a ploy by Patrick ad Moon shadow is in the room with them. She swings her head in the other direction.
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May 15, 2015 14:36
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And that was the moment when Allison realized she had become that one judge from earlier in the chapter.
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May 15, 2015 14:36
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I penetrated Patrick's head with the present, raping him (in the head with a present).
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May 15, 2015 14:58
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Megadomesticabuser.
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May 15, 2015 18:17
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I have literally no idea how to read the last three panels today. Did she throw it, imagine throwing it but back down, what?
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May 16, 2015 00:55
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RiotGearEpsilon posted:I have literally no idea how to read the last three panels today. Did she throw it, imagine throwing it but back down, what? She threw it and hit him and was surprised because they both knew she was going to throw it at him.
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May 16, 2015 01:02
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She might have also seen what was in it when it burst open. Like, maybe it contained a book called "1001 Things To Throw At Your Boyfriend's Head".
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May 16, 2015 01:50
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