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Such a great angry face. HP is so expressive.
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Aug 9, 2023 16:53
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Drakyn posted:And now, a tale of two very different teenager/demi-quasi-not-formally-an-authority-figure dynamics.
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Aug 9, 2023 16:56
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When you spend years telling frightened teenagers that "YOU and ONLY YOU must SAVE THE WHOLE CITY!*" I don't know why anyone would be surprised when they decide to take things into their own hands.  * = Not literally what they teach, but it's hard, especially for teenagers, not to absorb that as the subtext with all the talk about duty and sacrifice in the SD World.
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Aug 10, 2023 07:57
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As a social issue it runs deep. Their entire culture around magical girls is built around insisting they are not child soldiers. They aren't conscripted, they aren't formally trained, and they aren't organised, because any of these things would break the illusion that magical girls are a super cool thing that children should want to be and parents should support. Maybe this approach means a few more lives are lost than would happen in a stricter system... But at least everyone can sleep at night knowing no one's making them do it. Unfortunately this means when there is an outside context problem, an existential threat to the city, there's no support structure to handle it. Figuring out what to do is on the shoulders of a traumatised teenager.
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Aug 10, 2023 12:34
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I think both managers feel pretty helpless here, and hell, they are, which is why the girls feel going to them wouldn't accomplish much. But they still feel like they are in a position where they have to ensure their client's safety, even when they practically can't do much at all.
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Aug 10, 2023 12:55
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I don't think a culture inured to superpowered child soldiers would have a taboo around child soldiers. It's more like being a Soviet gymnast: some of you will die, some of you will have life-changing injuries, most of you will have a mediocre career before fading back into normal life, but a few will be celebrated national stars, and anyway your informed consent in the stakes - if you are identified early to have potential - may be less than entirely ideal. Unfortunately the reader is not shown how many children have the dream (it can't be that frequent, or it wouldn't be special) and yet do not participate in civil defence. The vivid and sudden hair colour should make it impossible to hide. But Rue does not appear to suffer any social sanction. Perhaps non-combat and non-useful powers are common enough that merely being an MG is not tantamount to being a useful MG.
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Aug 10, 2023 17:04
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I don't think they've actually stated in comic how long the magical girl thing has been going on, but I get the impression that it's fairly recent and the memory thing that's messing with everyone has them all thinking that it's more established. I don't know how much of that is really the text and how much is my impression, though.
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Aug 10, 2023 17:09
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ronya posted:I don't think a culture inured to superpowered child soldiers would have a taboo around child soldiers. It's more like being a Soviet gymnast: some of you will die, some of you will have life-changing injuries, most of you will have a mediocre career before fading back into normal life, but a few will be celebrated national stars, and anyway your informed consent in the stakes - if you are identified early to have potential - may be less than entirely ideal. Rue does also go out to fight, she just doesn't participate in the programs that are handled by the government to help. We do see Zoe being bullied for not going out to fight but attending the special magical girl school, though only once, so there is some stigma, but that also seems to be more about benefiting without the risks rather than not participating at all.
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Aug 10, 2023 17:13
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I think the extremely occasional girl who doesn't participate is probably essential to their 'it's fine it's totally voluntary' thing, even though all pressures make sure that the vast majority do.
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Aug 10, 2023 17:26
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It probably helps that there are non-combatant positions to make them feel like they can still contribute without risking their lives, like the dorm monitor where HP lives who makes a headcount when they return from their fights, or Vedika volunteering at the hospital, and possibly also the greenhouse magical girl at the school? She might not fight but be decently regarded by helping grow food in a limited surface area. Also, powers like Steffi's, who can make magically self-sustaining prothesis. I imagine that there might be other magical girls with support-type powers that could feasibly stay out of the fights without suffering too much reputation damage. Oh, and there were also healer types, right? They presumably stay at or near the emergency shelters if they aren't versatile or hardy enough to fight too. Also, Zoe might have been under more scrutiny than usual because of her popular older sister, maybe other kids slip under the radar a little better? isasphere fucked around with this message at 17:40 on Aug 10, 2023 |
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Aug 10, 2023 17:37
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Well to be fair Rue does patrol, so even if she rejects most everything else MG I imagine that is the most important one. I also doubt she would be stingy with her potions either if that was a thing that people needed and she could provide without endangering herself.
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Aug 10, 2023 20:07
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ultrafilter posted:I don't think they've actually stated in comic how long the magical girl thing has been going on, but I get the impression that it's fairly recent and the memory thing that's messing with everyone has them all thinking that it's more established. I don't know how much of that is really the text and how much is my impression, though. At least fifteen years, since HP's mom was a magical girl. And even back then the same basic structures seemed to be in place, like the shelters. So it seems unlikely that the girls of Team Spear were first generation pioneers or anything. So call it, what, twenty years minimum and possibly a lot longer than that?
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Aug 13, 2023 06:54
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Yeah, if I had to make a guess I'd imagine something like 110-120 years, and thus any first hand knowledge of the before-times have passed out of living memory.
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Aug 13, 2023 16:18
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According to the hard-to-read notes Undine had written in that history class,they also underwent a big political upheaval at some unknown-to-us point in the past, so that's even more reason to have lost a sense of what life was really like in previous generations. https://www.sleeplessdomain.com/comic/chapter-2-page-4 "It was eventually determined that -- had no-- magical potential -- caused an upheaval in the local power structure. People began to question whether those without the mayoreal blessing at the city should be allowed to vote. It became by -- progressives and tradition(alists) with the progressives -- ming and" That "mayoreal blessing" makes me wonder if it means just legal right to vote, or if it's about the magical powers, and if The Girl In White was the actual mayor at some point? And if she was also The Founder or just one more in a long line.
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Aug 13, 2023 16:26
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... It's not possible that only former MGs can vote right?
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Aug 14, 2023 08:21
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thechosenone posted:... It's not possible that only former MGs can vote right? That seems pretty unlikely in the current day. But remember there's a religious sect that believes magical girls are holy warriors chosen by their god. It's pretty plausible that historically a past regime in the City believed this gave them some sort of divine right to rule. In the previous page the teacher says something about moving to a more democratic system in C.Y. 127, so I guess they ran into problems with basing their power structure on what is essentially a random lottery. I would also imagine they're basing their calendar on the city's founding, so the city itself must have existed for over a century and, given this is a history class, probably two or more.
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Aug 14, 2023 10:23
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I imagine CY means City Year.
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Aug 14, 2023 10:40
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thechosenone posted:... It's not possible that only former MGs can vote right? Service guarantees citizenship! Or possibly did at some point in the past.
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Aug 14, 2023 15:38
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Chapter 21, Page 30 Wonder what the girls have planned now.
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Aug 20, 2023 14:45
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Their parents might intercept them yet!
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Aug 20, 2023 17:14
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Kokoro still so nervous about asking out the girl who is conclusively her girlfriend right now
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Aug 20, 2023 17:40
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Yeah it's adorable, though they've been together for what, a month? I always forget that the whole comic has taken place in the span of less than a year
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Aug 20, 2023 17:42
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quote:Wonder what the girls have planned now. Well it sounds like they were planning to go somewhere.
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Aug 22, 2023 00:53
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I have to imagine there’s one Denny’s equivalent that’s open post-barrier sweep that makes bank off all these hungry, moody teenagers who just got done killing monsters and really want a Moons Over My Hammy.
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Aug 22, 2023 04:31
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Bussamove posted:I have to imagine there’s one Denny’s equivalent that’s open post-barrier sweep that makes bank off all these hungry, moody teenagers who just got done killing monsters and really want a Moons Over My Hammy. Magical-girling probably burns a lot of calories. Gotta get stuck into some chicken-fried steak after whomping some beasties.
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Aug 22, 2023 15:44
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New page! Patreon update says things are starting to look up a little for Cube in her personal life and she's trying to get a better handle on her time for drawing, so the update rate will hopefully be stabilising a little.
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Aug 25, 2023 19:46
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Woah slow down there Undine, already asking to see her cat.
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Aug 25, 2023 19:53
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Accidentally smooth there HP.
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Aug 26, 2023 11:38
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https://www.sleeplessdomain.com/comic/chapter-21-page-32 It's too bad you can't let go, says girl who can't let go sharing a body/mind with another girl who can't let go 
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Sep 2, 2023 20:30
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Gyro or ice-cream cone... Edit: I keep forgetting crepes are a thing Twibbit fucked around with this message at 21:58 on Sep 2, 2023 |
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Sep 2, 2023 21:51
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Team gyro
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Sep 2, 2023 21:54
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Oh it's these assholes again.
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Sep 2, 2023 22:30
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Is letting go quite how you'd describe getting to this point, Tessa? Is it really? 
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Sep 2, 2023 22:48
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Undine is a water-controlling-girl, letting go is more of an ice-controlling-girl kind of thing.
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Sep 2, 2023 22:58
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nimby posted:Undine is a water-controlling-girl, letting go is more of an ice-controlling-girl kind of thing. Are you suggesting Undine should more go with the flow?
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Sep 2, 2023 23:27
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... Team up name is now blood flow!
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Sep 3, 2023 03:13
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Bussamove posted:Are you suggesting Undine should more go with the flow?
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Sep 3, 2023 03:46
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Bussamove posted:Are you suggesting Undine should more go with the flow? I was more of a suggestion that undine won't have earworm musical numbers, but yours also works.
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Sep 3, 2023 17:12
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Captain Oblivious posted:Is letting go quite how you'd describe getting to this point, Tessa? Is it really? I mean, she walked out expecting death. That's a kind of letting go. it only makes sense as a remark if post-merger Tessa doesn't really view herself in continuity with pre-merger Tessa, since she seems aware that her current motivations and goals are not Tessa original flavour's motivations (survivor guilt, etc.)
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Sep 3, 2023 21:03
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| # ? Apr 28, 2024 12:37 |
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We know you are, Anemone.
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Sep 11, 2023 20:41
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