PaRARGdox 80
Rule 23: My non-cannon musings on Rule 23 is that someone in Euro-Magellan, at some time, had a very lamentable/laughable ability…Monsieur Soufflé, perhaps…?
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Next update: Sunday November 22: I had hoped to have rebuffered enough to resume twice weekly updates, but life is conspiring with other agendas. I am working towards getting Wednesday updates back, but this week will not be when that happens. It’s time to repel the Rarg! But first… some bickering.
That “No worries” in the first panel helped remind me, “Oh yeah, Kaycee’s Australian.” Sometimes that can drift out of one’s mind as they read, instead inserting one’s own nationality in the place of the character’s.
Now, me having read the response in the voice of Crocodile Dundee? That is just pop culture overriding my own brain.
Fortunately, 99.9% of Australians don’t speak like Crocodile Dundee (or Steve Irwin). 🙂
And not all Canadians say, eh? But its a stereotype that gets caught up into the psyche.
On the plus side, many Australians say “no worries”… including me!
Crikey sheila, dont come the raw prawn, we all speak strayan, no wukkin furries. Also, yes, I remember Monsieur Souffle now, they poked fun at him and he just collapsed, very sad.
It was a real shame. He was known for rising to any challenge!
New Magellanverse story:
The Rise And Fall of Monsieur Souffle
So do many Brits born in the ‘all the best children’s TV is coming from Aussie studios’ era – good ol’ Round The Twist ^_^
Okay, but so do I.
I can’t speak to ALL Canadians, of course, but the ones I’ve known (who haven’t lived in the US for years) have used “eh” pretty much exactly to match the stereotype. Seriously, it’s supposed to be exaggerated for effect when doing a send up, but it’s really just… about right.
Kind of endearing, in my experience, actually, but still… man, *ALL* the time.
Makes me think of the stereotypical way of speaking for those of us where I live, northern California. Like, y’know, it’s not, like, the way all of us, like, speak, and junk?
Sounds like they interpret “No Ability Shaming” as “No Non-ability Shaming” as well. They could well have had a loophole for norms, I’m glad they don’t.
Monsieur Souffle’s souffles NEVER fall. That’s a power to be respected. AND FEARED.
Well, if “ability” is “stuff you can do”, then for Jones that includes the fact that she can do what she does without a powered ability.
Ah, so she shames them for NEEDING powers? I like it!
TECHNICALLY, she does have a power. The power to detect when she’s in a mental illusion, like how she always can tell if Maya is mojo-ing her, even before Vostok met her.
I don’t think Paradoximan meant any offense. He was just being truthful, though blunt.
Not only that, the information was important in context.
It’s one of those things were tone of voice is really important, but impossible to really adequately demonstrate in written format.
I imagine given the team’s reaction, his tone was condescending. Or at least had a hint of it.
If anything, I think they should start being impressed with her. I mean, unless there’s a history of “token norms” being given accolades within the Magellenverse that ultimately wound up being perceived as unjustly awarded.
Hm! P-man’s remark didn’t strike me as ability-shaming. Although I guess it could be, depending on his tone of voice.
You know, I was just thinking, Kaycee’s origin is similar to Batman’s and arguably even more horrifying, but she seems a lot better balanced than Bats.
unlike Ol Bruce, Kaycee wasn’t going through it alone (with just a butler),
… I suspect she doesn’t have nearly as much money …
You think his wealth is a factor in his . stringent . personality?
Money doesn’t seem to be a great concern for most of the characters in this comic, which seems like a trope that is played up from the comic source.
He was wealthy enough that he didn’t need to deal with his trauma in a healthy way…
Ooh 😮 I’m getting Gormenghast vibes, with Batman possibly resembling Steerpike 🤔
Reminds me of a Big Bang episode I watched recently (I was in the hospital):
Sheldon: Batman never had problems tying his tie.
Leonard: Well, Batman never made his roommate do it, either.
Sheldon: His name was Alfred, and yes, he did.
She certainly has some money. Remember her gym?
Keeping in mind many of Kaycee’s own classmates thought she’d basically ridden some coat-tails to get her medal (at least until she saved them during Worst Fieldtrip Ever), I’d say that was a common rumor following the awards ceremony, so P-man probably picked up on that. So, yeah, I’d imagine his tone was condescending.
As for Maverick vs Batman, keep in mind the Kaycee we see now is one who got largely detraumatized by Vostok (so she’d stop blanking out during Bad Karma; he also tweaked her mind in other ways which may have calmed her down some). Future!Maverick, who likely never got help from Vostok (as there were no assaults from Miasma at the island in the original timeline) had a much stronger Batman vibe.
Good points. Also, Future!Maverick had some pretty nasty scarring which I would think could sour your outlook.
Okay, I think I finally got everyone’s names straight. But who’s the healer? I assume he’s not just a medic.
His name is Hans, and he’s a healer who heals with his hands… he is… Healing Hans. 😀
Grace, that pun is ridiculous. I approve.
😒
If we have to put up with this type of humor, that next update better come out soon!
🙃
Now I regret asking… 😀
Careful… Superskooled fears me for my puns 😛 You don’t want to start encouraging me here.. 😛
Seriously though, keep up the good work. and that guy is only upset that he doesn’t have a boat tied to him..
Cause he is a.. Pair-of-docks, man.
oh dear…😳
Despite this not being a pun, somehow makes me think there should be a Vanilla Ice cameo in the comic and him rapping “Go!Anna! Go!Anna! Go!”
Given that Go!Anna is a pun of sorts anyway… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goanna
And I appreciate that pun.
Superheroes with pun names are great. I have a soft spot for the silly names, despite not giving such to me characters, really (aside from maybe Multiblades with her ridiculous codename or B.A.D. with her codename just being her initials). “Paste Pot Pete” is by far better than “the Trapster”.
Hah!😂 Pete’s original villain identity was perfect for Silver Age silliness, but not so good when you’re trying to make that early transition to more credible Bronze Age storytelling. He should’ve just gone with the Trapster from the beginning 😉
Alliteration is always a fave of mine when it comes to names.
You would’ve been a great addition to the bullpen back in the early 60s!
Make Mine Marvel! 😁
Would have never guessed with Monster Marsupial Mech Man.
I have to wonder about Contessa Q’s nose ring. What’s to stop an enemy from pulling it out in battle?
Well, I would think, if somebody was that close, they’d probably be close enough to put their fingers in her nostrils and pull, so it wouldn’t be much of a disadvantage to have a nose ring.
If someone can get close enough to grab the nose ring, I think a more effective attack would be to just punch her in the nose.
In other comics, it would usually be protected by genre conventions. Here, it’s probably just impractical to try in a fight.
It would be a risk factor for snagging on something due to fighting, even if the enemy doesn’t actively try to pull it. But hey, until Edina Mode gets her way, capes are a way bigger risk than a small piercing. Looking at you Herr Red Defender.
Capes are only as risky as they are well attached; Dollar Bill taught a hard lesson about having suitable break-points in the fastenings.
As for the ring, perhaps it’s a way to keep it ‘worn’ without requiring a finger? Rings with some power are a staple of fantasy-type genres, including Supers, but there’s only so much space on one pair of hands. And some ring powers may be sufficiently vital that it’s worth the discomfort to reduce the risk of the ring (or the body part wearing it) being damaged.
Damn, this group is frightingly efficient 😮
Cracking down on shaming hardly before it takes place, apologising ,formulating strategies on the spot, taking action, being witty… okay, carry on, they are accepted 🙂
Yass! I’m ready to FAMP with the hot Phlache!
What? What’d I say?
How was saying that she has no powers ‘ability shaming’? Was it the tone he used?
That “haven’t you heard” bit on the front seemed to imply… disapproval, at the very least.
That, or being very, very impressed, and clearly by the response, it wasn’t that.
His “tone” had been “dismissive”, but “yeah”, “hard” to “convey” in “writing”… I should have used some air-quotes!!! lol 😉
Replying to the appropriate comment chain is also hard, heh heh.
There are several, though. One separate comment makes sense!
Now I gotta wonder what the other rules are. I’m now picturing a huge list like “2525 things Mr. Welch can no longer do during an RPG” (“Collateral Damage Man is not an appropriate name for a super hero.” “When accepting a challenge for a duel, I must allow the other guy time to find a pistol.” “No, I do not get XP for every single crewman on that Star Destroyer.”)
Rule 1: No “friendly” competitions to see who can rescue the most victims.
Rule 2: No arm wrestling challenges between heroes who have super strength and those who don’t.
Rule 3: Just because Europe has a lot of monuments doesn’t mean any are expendable backups.
Rule 4: Even if you can sing like, really, really good, don’t apply for Eurovision.
Rule 5: If you did participate in Eurovision, do not prioritize saving civilians in countries that gave you 12 points over those that gave you none. (This means you, Charisma!)
lol perfect
Rule 17: There is no rule 13. Don’t even include it in the list anymore. It was just a bad idea, OK? Let’s not talk about it anymore.
Now that I’ve thought about it, how does shutting off a broad spectrum of abilities work? Every individual hero’s powers function differently. Sure, there are similarities (there are a lot of flying bricks out there), but even how those abilities work is different. So how can it target specific aspects of a massive group of people without affecting everyone in the same way?
Hmm… it looks like the weapon the Rarg developed *from ‘borrowed’ Prometheus tech, which in turn was probably illegally obtained from Magellan* shuts off the connection between powered individuals and their power source. The most common source is the “etheric energy field” mentioned earlier in the story, so perhaps the weapon only affected that. Just guessing, but there does seem to be a similarity between the effect on powers AND the EMP effect, suggesting that the connection with the power source is being ‘burned out’, requiring a physical regeneration to reconnect to the power source. That could explain what happened with Sun and Jasmeen.
Pretty much this but also other fields like astral for types of magic.