Erfworld Thread XI: Finally, it's HAMMER-TIME!

[deuterio12]

Basically everybody who was somebody was trying to research nukes, the USA simply had a lot more resources to spare to invest in said research. Even the germans managed to get some heavy water, which was then blown up by the brittish.

While I vastly prefer manga over comics overall, at least comics keep the power levels of their superheroes relatively stable.

You're being awfully generous here. Superman is struggling with a big building in one comic then casually shifting planets in the next. Batman is struggling with unarmed thugs in one comic to defeating demonic legions with sci-fi weaponry that give superman trouble in the next. Dr.Strange pulls new spells all the time. The Hulk's literally as strong as the plot demands and has been through more upgrades and downgrades than you can shake a sword at (and currently is at a "stronger than ever" state which would make Goku proud).

[keybounce]

Superman's varying hand to hand combat strength can be easily explained, and has been. The whole "I feel like I'm in a world of cardboard. But you, you can take it, can't you" speech.

Now, the eyebeams, the change from jumping to flying, the keeping up with Flash despite not being able to vibrate through the air molecules, etc -- that takes three infinitely large crisis to fix :-).

[deuterio12]

Superman's varying hand to hand combat strength can be easily explained, and has been. The whole "I feel like I'm in a world of cardboard. But you, you can take it, can't you" speech.

Except there was that whole Doomsday battle where supes gets killed by an opponent that, although quite strong, still isn't anywhere near planet-shifting/busting like some later (and silver-age) comics show.

Not to mention the whole arsenal of supes secondary powers, not only the eye-beams like you mentioned but also stuff like super-hearing that works in space (where there's no air for sound) and being able to somehow close black holes with his bare hands and that all that power is supposed to just come from collecting sun energy despite he still only having human surface, and wearing clothing over most of his body most of the time.

[Zalabim]

Sure it's ridiculous, but at least it looks cool. On a slight tangent, "POP HEIR" is just hanging ominously in the air without comment or elaboration. That's probably just one of the stupid things that happens when you just reverse a previous agreement instead of writing up a new one for the situation.

[Rockphed]

Sure it's ridiculous, but at least it looks cool. On a slight tangent, "POP HEIR" is just hanging ominously in the air without comment or elaboration. That's probably just one of the stupid things that happens when you just reverse a previous agreement instead of writing up a new one for the situation.

Wait, does Charlie now have to pop an heir or face penalties?

[RMS Oceanic]

Latest (September 7th) Comic:

Spoiler

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So while Rich has successfully wowed me with "the scale of the Snarl problem is far more vast than you could have imagined", Rob is inadvertently doing something similar, "the amount of twists in each attempt to outsmart each other is far more vast than you could have imagined", and at this stage it's beginning to wear on me. At what point does this day reach its climax and we finally see the chips fall? Did we need another twist to complicate things even further?

[guttering flame]

[...] all that power is supposed to just come from collecting sun energy despite he still only having human surface, and wearing clothing over most of his body most of the time.

Spoiler: (Literal) tinfoil hat theory:

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Assume Superman projects a powerful magnetic field (or the quasi-science Krypton equivalent) to collect energy from the sun. Perhaps bending Earth's protective magnetic field to concentrate deadly energy in his immediate area. Better yet assume he projects a krypto-field that constantly collects the entire neutrino bombardment flooding Earth (works somewhat even at night since neutrinos can pass through solid rock.) Superman is lucky no one on Earth figured up how he collects his power or aluminum sheets would cost a fortune and no one would dare come too close to him.

[Aquillion]

Wait, does Charlie now have to pop an heir or face penalties?

Alternatively, it could be "TV isn't allowed to pop a heir or it faces penalties", although you'd think Shirley would have caught that.

(Whereas the might be fine with forcing Charlie to pop an heir, especially if she cares about the side above his personal life.)

[Yana]

Is it possible for someone to sum up what this agreement is supposed to entail? I'm not having any success deciphering whatever is supposed to be going on.

[keybounce]

I want to say "no, it is not possible" :-)

[Jasdoif]

Is it possible for someone to sum up what this agreement is supposed to entail? I'm not having any success deciphering whatever is supposed to be going on.

The list of demands from Charlescomm to Transylvito is here; basically "give us our money back, give FAQ their stuff back, and toss in some people; or die". That also goes over why there are demands: Shirley wants to save Vanna and her "baby" (the Transylvitan heir yet to pop), and simply killing Caesar will end the heir-less side and prevent said heir from popping.

The current update includes Benjamin explaining the logistical details of meeting some of those demands.

The more recent agreement, between Transylvito and Gobwin Knob, should mean that when the agreement for the demands takes place, money will go to Gobwin Knob instead. Skyy's dialog in the current update suggests how they/she intend to bypass the transfer of units.

[DigoDragon]

Spoiler: New Update

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Yeah that collar so clashes with his outfit.

I guess it's insurance, as in Charlie can croak Caesar at any point if he attempts any action against CC? Not sure if Shirley is going to like that, but then I just assume at this point Shirley doesn't like any of Charlie's ideas.

[Name_Here]

So what was the deal with maleka (Maggie's doll/daughter) unraveling Bill's psyche? Has that been undone or is it being ignored?

I had figured Charlie was bluffing to get the deal Bill seems perfectly alert and talkative in this last update.

[halfeye]

New Update

The most recent I'm seeing is dated 2018.9.7, today is 2018.9.13, that's not new, or is something sneaky pre-update style going on?

[-D-]

So what was the deal with maleka (Maggie's doll/daughter) unraveling Bill's psyche? Has that been undone or is it being ignored?

I had figured Charlie was bluffing to get the deal Bill seems perfectly alert and talkative in this last update.

Bill is dead. He's essentially just a meat puppet. Shirley was speaking through him, hence Lady-Bill remarks.

[DigoDragon]

The most recent I'm seeing is dated 2018.9.7, today is 2018.9.13, that's not new, or is something sneaky pre-update style going on?

Could be sneaky post-update, because I don't remember seeing that one before. Looking back on this thread, I see RMS Oceanic mentioned it by label, but I don't see responses with the label so maybe it went under the radar when I scanned the thread last.

That's not a good sign for the comic, is it?

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Could be sneaky post-update, because I don't remember seeing that one before. Looking back on this thread, I see RMS Oceanic mentioned it by label, but I don't see responses with the label so maybe it went under the radar when I scanned the thread last.

That's not a good sign for the comic, is it?

It definitely posted when its stated. I guess people didn't notice!

[Razade]

It's posted when it's said. That's an Arkentool though. No idea what's going on or worth discussing at this point.

[Welf]

New update, page 340

I try to start a new trend where people write the page number in the link for further reference. It seems people tune in and out a but more and this might help finding where they left off.

Spoiler

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Sizemore is back and he gets humiliated again. This time it's a low blow. It's one thing if your incompetent boss with the intention span of a gerbil forgets your name and calls you "Dirtguy", but it really hurts if one of your best friends you opened up to thinks you have a limited intellect, and the most lateral guy you ever met confirms it. Sizemore is a humble and forgiving guy, but even he should have his pride hurt by this.

[HandofShadows]

Spoiler

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Sizemore is back and he gets humiliated again. This time it's a low blow. It's one thing if your incompetent boss with the intention span of a gerbil forgets your name and calls you "Dirtguy", but it really hurts if one of your best friends you opened up to thinks you have a limited intellect, and the most lateral guy you ever met confirms it. Sizemore is a humble and forgiving guy, but even he should have his pride hurt by this.

Spoiler

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There's not anything saying that's Sizemore is limited in intellect. It's that he has a certain way of thinking and that he didn't even realize it and that is holding him back. Parson is pointing out something Sizemore has never even considered before. Now, it hurt some yes, BUT it is also a revelation and now he can work to get past his problem. As people have said on the Erfworld forums Sizemore may be going to Master Class because of this. Also nice to see Parson getting something done.

[DigoDragon]

New update, page 340

I try to start a new trend where people write the page number in the link for further reference. It seems people tune in and out a but more and this might help finding where they left off.

Spoiler

Show

Sizemore is back and he gets humiliated again. This time it's a low blow. It's one thing if your incompetent boss with the intention span of a gerbil forgets your name and calls you "Dirtguy", but it really hurts if one of your best friends you opened up to thinks you have a limited intellect, and the most lateral guy you ever met confirms it. Sizemore is a humble and forgiving guy, but even he should have his pride hurt by this.

Spoiler: p. 340

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It hurt, but sometimes a friend needs to give you a bit of a kick in the seat to push you into a better mindset. In this case, to push Sizemore into changing the way he thinks about other disciplines so that he can properly use the Wonky Wrench.

I miss good talks like this. The kind of talks where Parson helps his side think outside a box.

[Calemyr]

Spoiler: p340

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It's pretty interesting, I can read both Parson's statement and Sizemore's response in two ways each.

Sincere Parson: Look buddy, I get it. I'm asking you to do something that runs completely counter to how you frame your world. I should have realized I was asking too much, Janice already pointed out the conflict between dirtamancy and other disciplines. But, I had to try, you know? No hard feelings.

Manipulative Parson: Well, of course you want to quit. It's not your thing, why would you want to stretch? Heck, even Janice - you know, that girl you have a thing for? - Janice told me you wouldn't be up for this. Must suck to have your crush call you out and be right about it.

Bitter Sizemore: So now even Janice, the the one person I respect most, is talking about me behind my back? Guess that resolves my split loyalty issues. Time to double down.

Inspired Sizemore: I hadn't thought about it that way... If Janice thinks that, though, I guess it makes sense. So how do I get around this roadblock?

I'm not really sure which combination I believe is correct, not even which one I prefer.

[Lethologica]

Spoiler: p340

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It's pretty interesting, I can read both Parson's statement and Sizemore's response in two ways each.

Sincere Parson: Look buddy, I get it. I'm asking you to do something that runs completely counter to how you frame your world. I should have realized I was asking too much, Janice already pointed out the conflict between dirtamancy and other disciplines. But, I had to try, you know? No hard feelings.

Manipulative Parson: Well, of course you want to quit. It's not your thing, why would you want to stretch? Heck, even Janice - you know, that girl you have a thing for? - Janice told me you wouldn't be up for this. Must suck to have your crush call you out and be right about it.

Bitter Sizemore: So now even Janice, the the one person I respect most, is talking about me behind my back? Guess that resolves my split loyalty issues. Time to double down.

Inspired Sizemore: I hadn't thought about it that way... If Janice thinks that, though, I guess it makes sense. So how do I get around this roadblock?

I'm not really sure which combination I believe is correct, not even which one I prefer.

Spoiler

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I'm strongly in favor of Sincere/Bitter. I see little inspiration in Janis' words, and Parson's manipulative side has always been heavily telegraphed and/or obvious in the moment.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

New update

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Both side feels cheated. Well at least its even.

[guttering flame]

This update felt long-winded.

[Rockphed]

This update felt long-winded.

I got through a single paragraph before I noped out. I really would rather not deal with text updates most of the time.

[Mando Knight]

I got through a single paragraph before I noped out. I really would rather not deal with text updates most of the time.

The long and short of it is:

Spoiler: TLDR

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The two temples accuse each other of cheating, because Ben's plan appears to have worked... but also Shirley couldn't immediately revert the collar to a pendant on her own anyway because it was first transformed through an Arkendish link.

The body of the text is mostly Huehue grumbling about how words--even his own words and metaphors--don't adequately envelop Signs, and blaming that for the contract issues.

[deuterio12]

I got through a single paragraph before I noped out. I really would rather not deal with text updates most of the time.

That's kinda funny since most of the text update is the towers ranting about how bad words are for describing things compared to pretty signs.

Which shows how stupid the towers are since the reason that actual contracts are mostly written with words and not pretty signs is precisely because when you get enough words you leave no room for ambiguity, while pretty signs, well, will always leave plenty of room for that.

[Anteros]

That's kinda funny since most of the text update is the towers ranting about how bad words are for describing things compared to pretty signs.

Which shows how stupid the towers are since the reason that actual contracts are mostly written with words and not pretty signs is precisely because when you get enough words you leave no room for ambiguity, while pretty signs, well, will always leave plenty of room for that.

Also deeply ironic considering that this used to be a comic and is now a poorly written novel with thousands of words that convey exactly nothing.

[guttering flame]

This wasn't a story update. The progress to plot and characters was microscopic. It was just (longwinded) worldbuilding, I guess. Not very interesting worldbuilding but for those who love knowing the mechanics this would be thrilling?