PaRARGdox 54
Getting off the rock: I figure that Gabby, who breathes fire, might not find swimming long distances much fun… and Mudge, well, maybe he’s a skilled oars man! Anyway, convenient, I know, but I had to cut them some breaks.
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Makes sense that Gabby would not be much into open water swimming. Mudge too for that matter. You have to wonder why they would take a boat across the strait, then leave it/ Maybe the boat is just there as decoration?
A friend asked me the same question – my immediate thought was that the exercise is initially about getting there undetected, providing you save the scientists, etc, etc then the test is over – you don’t need to go back the way you arrived. 😉
TBH, considering that they let any old student over there to practice, and that such emergencies aren’t unexpected, I wouldn’t be surprised if they stashed a few such boats over there for just such an occasion. This is probably not the first time someone’s been practicing that exercise when an alert went off.
My bet is that Magellan staff makes sure there’s always a boat out there for safety’s sake – they have so many people with unusual powers, who are often very inexperienced with their use, it wouldn’t surprise me if they often strand themselves on the island without an easy way to get back.
To me, it seems that a boat that was intended to be used for emergencies would be powered, tarp-covered, and sheltered. Grace’s posit seems more plausible, but I think she’s just trying to hide the TRUTH!
🙃😂
I really wonder how this experience will affect Charisma’s character development.
My guess is, not a lot, at least on the surface. Charisma was born as a tool for emotional manipulation, and probably thinks of ‘friendship’ and ‘caring’ as emotional weaknesses (which explains many of Epoch’s problems in trying to bond with her). No way she’d display such weakness to her arch-nemesis Jones! Pride and anger are totally expressions of strength, so she’s fine exhibiting those. While her internal landscape may be growing more complex, she’ll continue treating Jones with the same hostility and disdain she always has.
Not respect, though. Definitely not respect. Nope. Nuh-uh. No way.
Those colors on Charisma’s back and arms. It took me a moment of reflection to figure it. They are giant bruises aren’t they?
Yep, well spotted 😉
Well done! It really underscores the severity of her injuries. That type of bruising comes from massive internal trauma.
I just figured she unintentionally picked up a bunch of mud when she landed, okay crashed. Any landing you can walk away from… Oh right. Never mind.
I thought that too but if it was mud, it would be on her clothes as well.
At some point, i think you stop calling it ‘bruising’ and start calling it ‘internal bleeding’.
M.A.: It’s been there, all along, you’d only have to know where to look. Behold, readers… the Kayceesma ship! :ducks:
M.A.: I mean, dear reader, the subtext couldn’t be any more obvious, could it? “I saw it when you flew us in…” Now it is clear to me one of them is the Alpha character. Creator, your hand has been tipped!
As would be expected this early in development, your ‘ship’ is but a lifeboat. Perhaps it will grow…
(Personally, I prefer ‘Jopoch’)
It’s Charisma’s worst nightmare: she not only has to rely on Kaycee, but Kaycee is completely right. And then she has to use a method which was possibly used by Mudge, and for her to have any association with him…
“geting” is a possible typo – unless she is speaking funny because of her condition.
Well spotted, definitely a typo. Thanks for the head’s up!
I have to say, so far I’m a lot less invested in this arc than any of the others so far.
It’s not the first time the heroes have faced a huge, world-shaking problem, but it is the first time that it seems a Deux-ex Machina is going to be required to resolve it. Either that or this is the last arc in the comic.
Every time so far, the problem has advanced and been sorted out very organically by the characters involved. Even the DragonKlaw/Miasma issue was helped out by the characters using their abilities and courage, and Chang’s refusal to let the bad guy win. I’ve always been drawn in by the dire circumstance and the character’s approach to handling it.
But here… A single Rarg ship has nullified every useful power, shut down any tech around, neutralized magic, then blown holes in a structure I’m positive was designed to take punishment. Buildings on an island filled with superpowered beings can’t be basic contruction unless you want to be rebuilding things every other year.
So, they have no offense, no tech to reverse or neutralize the Rarg device, no magic to destroy or subvert the effect, no method of calling for help. And every reason to believe the Rarg can just fire it again if more heroes, like Magellan USA, arrive.
This whole thing makes the Kobiyashi Maru look easy…. And I’m less than impressed. I get the feeling Grace has written a storyline that looks great in theory, but will require a massive application of handwavium to resolve. It’s a situation that requires things that have been taken away by the very problem they need to resolve.
I mean, we’ve already gone well past the minute that our time-jumper can reverse, so that Chekov’s Gun is filled with blanks.
I’m obviously going to keep reading, and I truly hope that I’m wrong. Grace has never let us down before in terms of storytelling or characterization…. But it’s not looking any better for this arc than it is for the people in it.
I hope that you’re wrong too! 🙂 😉
Hey! Who’s flying this plane?! 🙃
It would appear that the Rarg are. :b
“Rarg. Rarg rarg rarg rarg. Rarg rarg rarg rarg rarg. RARG.”
*translation* “Attention passengers. The captain has turned off the NO BLEEDING sign. You are now free to run about the cabin screaming helplessly. Enjoy the rest of your flight!”
Hey, by the way, this story is only about a third of the way through… if that, and there’s a fair bit to go yet! 🙂
That’s what I thought I remembered you saying before, something like 160 pages… but I had convinced myself I must have imagined it🤪
I never really know how long most stories are going to be at the outset, I honestly expected both Bad Karma and Lock(e)down to be under 200 pages. So who knows with this one, because I sure don’t! Rest assured that there is still plenty of developments with actual consequences for key players to come. 🙂
There was a story I remember when you were going into it that you commented it was going to be a shorter issue, but it turned out to be another massive one. My memory is awful, though, and it could have been just you assuming Lock(e)down was going to be 200 pages at the start.
Very likely – some of the extra story happened wen I “realised” Locke Island was mobile… because I hadn’t when I started the story and that added a significant layer to the conflict! Also, doing justice to the nightmarescapes and the final conflict required way more pages than I’d anticipated!
Eh. It’s going to be at least 700 pages based on past predictions, heh heh.
Chapter 7. 700 pages. Makes sense, right?