07/14/08 [DMFA #921] - cue austin powers quotes

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

But THEN you'll have to add the "Undead" in when your posts get higher… what's the next rank after "Undead?"

Telemarketer.

[Kenji]

But THEN you'll have to add the "Undead" in when your posts get higher... what's the next rank after "Undead?"

Another one.

Troll?

[ChaosTiger]

you know when you watch too many cartoons when you can understand:

a) Pokemon
b) Coco
c) Schnitzel

I've seen some of a) but am clueless on the others. Searching either of them gives too many results (lots of them are food) to tell me what you're referring to.

Coco is from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Schnitzel is from the new cartoon Chowder (where all of the characters are named after food...)

[Jairus]

Frankly, Destania has wayyy more going in the super-villain department.  I mean, plotting genocide of an entire sapient species?  That pretty much clinches the super-villain title. 

The genocide could be just a front right now for what she's really planning/doing.

I shudder to think of how genocide can be a front for a plan. That just makes her sound far far worse.

*my bit snipped*

Dan defeated DP 3 times. this doesn't necessarily mean they haven't encountered each other at other times when DP wasn't in the middle of another scheme.

He still hasn't made much of an appearance in the comic, that's all I'm saying.

Lots of cartoons have better plots and acting than many other shows (and of course there are those that are worse than any other kind of show too).

I was being sarcastic.

Anyway, DP is shaping up. Can't wait to see what he's going to do next! Actually, another thought: did Amber plan this all out way back during DP's first appearance? I know she's planned out where Destania and Edward were for years, but what about this DP stuff?

[Ganurath]

Frankly, Destania has wayyy more going in the super-villain department.  I mean, plotting genocide of an entire sapient species?  That pretty much clinches the super-villain title. 

The genocide could be just a front right now for what she's really planning/doing.

I shudder to think of how genocide can be a front for a plan. That just makes her sound far far worse.

"President? Do you have any idea how much power I'd have to give up to be president? That's right, conspiracy buff, I spent seventy-five million dollars on a fake presidential campaign just to tick Superman off."

[Sofox]

Frankly, Destania has wayyy more going in the super-villain department.  I mean, plotting genocide of an entire sapient species?  That pretty much clinches the super-villain title. 

The genocide could be just a front right now for what she's really planning/doing.

I shudder to think of how genocide can be a front for a plan. That just makes her sound far far worse.

"President? Do you have any idea how much power I'd have to give up to be president? That's right, conspiracy buff, I spent seventy-five million dollars on a fake presidential campaign just to tick Superman off."

That quote was epic.

[Jairus]

No, that quote is a Crowning Moment of Awesome.

Come to think of it, are the Fay conspirators, Fa'Lina, Pip, Destania and Biggs-san all working together on this crazy plan? Because the thought that they're relying on Jyrras for some reason tells me that they should probably try to bring him in on their plans. And why can't the Dark Council pay any attention to Jyrras? What's going on? Augh! This arc is driving me crazy!

[AmigaDragon]

Frankly, Destania has wayyy more going in the super-villain department.  I mean, plotting genocide of an entire sapient species?  That pretty much clinches the super-villain title. 

The genocide could be just a front right now for what she's really planning/doing.

I shudder to think of how genocide can be a front for a plan. That just makes her sound far far worse.

I meant that the genocide plan not the actual genocide might just be a front.

[Jairus]

Yeah, but what is a plan for genocide a front too? Every time I think about it, it still creeps me out. Either you have someone who is plotting with multiple conspirators to wipe out an entire race, or you have someone who has a much larger plan that the original plan for genocide is only a part of. Both are pretty disturbing answers. Plus, she was fairly direct when she said that she was planning to exterminate the dragon race (I don't remember the exact wording, sorry).

[Gamma]

The way I understand it...

Biggs and Destiana are planning the destruction of the whole dragon race.

Falina has her own agenda based around Dan, not much more is known.

The Fae', including Pip, and the creature counsel all have keen interest in Jyrras's technology. I believe Biggs wants to use that with his plans and this possibly goes along with what the counsel wants to do. I'm not so sure the Fae' wish to destroy the dragons, I know of no reason they would wish that. Most Cubi and Were would though.

I'm not totally sure what's going on at all but Dan and Abel are very much involved in some deep stuff. We have yet to know exactly what Abel's resemblance has to do with anything yet or why it matters that Dan exists.

We all have ideas on this stuff but nothing is concrete yet.

*EDIT*
Ohh yeah!
"They're always after me lucky charms!"
"Zipp. It."

[Jairus]

So my earlier "What's going on?" is more accurate than I cared to admit. That's at least four different plans (and easily more) all revolving around Dan, Abel, and Jyrras. And we have no idea who is allied to whom and what any of these groups' ultimate goals are. I have a distinct feeling that everything would become much clearer if we had any idea of why Jyrras' technology - most of which has no magical residue in it whatsoever - is so blasted important.

I know this is going to sound stupid and a bit tangental, but in the fantasy universe I am currently developing, the Faerie species is practically immune to all forms of attack save one: cold iron, which in my universe means that it has no magical abilities or powers or magical anything whatsoever. As to why iron (and by extension steel) alone can harm Faerie, the theory is that iron is so stable that it disrupts the wild magic that Faerie are basically born from (the real answer is no one knows for sure). As to why the lack of magic is so important, any magic in the blade allows a Faerie to negate the damage caused to them by the blade (which is a bit like a red-hot poker being brought into contact with you, except it keeps getting hotter and more painful and there's nothing you can do to remove it from you). A purely non-magical iron/steel blade (which is really rare in a universe where sorcery allows any blacksmith to put a self-sharpening spell or a reinforcement spell into their blades) is rare enough that for most Faerie this isn't a problem. Of course, part of their problem is also the fact that one of the main character's inventions essentially negates normal magic in the area, and being an inventor he is surrounded by tools and gadgets that are currently free of any magical influence...

Anyway, yeah, it's tangental, but ever since I caught up with the storyline I've been wondering if the lack of magic in most of Jyrras' devices means that the Creature Council (and other magic-wielding entities) might find it difficult to affect them, meaning that any purely-technological weapon that Jyrras develops (like say, a gatling gun or a death ray) could potentially do them serious harm with them being hobbled in their ability to stop him. Albeit, the though of Jyrras running down the street gunning down Creatures with a freakin' gatling gun is a little weird and unlikely to happen.

PS: I should probably post my world-building exercises soon. I'd like to get feedback for this stuff.

[Gamma]

Not to burst your bubble but Amber has made more rules on Technology vs Magic clear recently, only in the forums mind you. It's actually way too easy for magic to effect a purely technology based item.

I had asked about some of this before and the response was basically that technology stops working or malfunctions horribly when close to most magic. There is a balance that can be achieved but getting there is pretty hard sometimes.

So basically a whole army of soldiers with assault rifles and what have you could be stopped by a Fae' sneezing or a Demon casting healing spells all round.

What's funny is that if Mab had chosen a toaster as a home it might still work. The simpler the device the more resistance to breaking.


PS. Chemically speaking Gold is an almost completely stable metal, especially when compared with Iron which reacts with just air and water. Now for the complete opposite you could have a totally unstable metal such as Potassium, Francium, or Sodium. Almost impossible to extract with old world technology but that could also be interesting for you.

[Jairus]

Ah, well I don't know about those rules. I'll have to dig through the forums to find them then. Phooie. Oh well. It was just an idea.

PS. Chemically speaking Gold is an almost completely stable metal, especially when compared with Iron which reacts with just air and water. Now for the complete opposite you could have a totally unstable metal such as Potassium, Francium, or Sodium. Almost impossible to extract with old world technology but that could also be interesting for you.

Ho boy. I'm about to go full ramble. Darnit, I need to post this stuff already! (Note: this is my stuff)

For one thing, gold is almost useless as a weapon. Any alchemist worth their salt can create it, albeit in small quantities - like a small coin - only. And most witches (the term for what is essentially a magical researcher) don't work with gold because there's so much wild magic clustered around it that it's almost impossible to work with (quick digression: wild magic is the term for magic that is focused by belief. Enough people believe in something, and it acts like a rudimentary spell. This is how gods and devils and weird weather conditions and various mythological weapons are formed). Silver, on the other hand, due to its believed properties of purification, is relatively easy to purify of magic and work with. As for the other fancy stuff... you can really only use stuff like that against mortal beings or other creatures. Faeries are beings of almost pure focused magic, so it takes a little extra to fight them. As for why I chose iron, I recall reading that nuclear fusion is only viable with elements lower on the periodic table and fission is only viable with elements higher on the table. I thought that that - plus the already established connotations of "cold iron" - was cool enough to work with it. Magic in my universe could almost be considered "imaginary physics:" stuff that falls outside of the normal purview of science but is still a part of it (like real numbers and imaginary numbers in mathematics). It is still being studied and researched, and new discoveries still happen.

As for my little world's level of technology... it's either modern or pretty darn close, though a handful of researchers (the afore mentioned inventor included) are pushing tech forward to a "twenty minutes into the future" stage. Extracting some of the more unstable elements wouldn't be too hard for them, and it might be possible to actually create them with alchemy.

Okay... that's a little longer than I intended.

[Aleolus]

...I thought evil villains *liked* monologuing?  C'mon, DP, at least try to keep up some appearances!

[Jairus]

...I thought evil villains *liked* monologuing?  C'mon, DP, at least try to keep up some appearances!

Yes, but since everyone except one person present already possesses knowledge of the prior events, he might not want to do it himself. The other two could explain everything to the new "girl." Besides, I like that in an evil villain!

[!KCA]

malfunctions

Dang. How often do we see Mab's claws?

[silentassassin]

is everyone forgetting this http://missmab.com/Comics/Vol_918.php

[Jairus]

is everyone forgetting this http://missmab.com/Comics/Vol_918.php

In regards to the monologuing issue? Well, I guess that could count as a monologue, but it doesn't fit the "Evil Villain Monologue" standard of explaining away everything about his past and motivations. It does give him a level of complexity that you wouldn't expect from a villain, so I guess we'll give it to him. However, it still seems like he doesn't want to do one at the drop of a hat, either...

[Mao]

It's not like he doesn't have slightly more pressing matters at hand of course.  You know.. intruders.. evil plot and so on.  Priorities people.. priorities.

[Alondro]

For one thing, gold is almost useless as a weapon. Any alchemist worth their salt can create it, albeit in small quantities - like a small coin - only. And most witches (the term for what is essentially a magical researcher) don't work with gold because there's so much wild magic clustered around it that it's almost impossible to work with (quick digression: wild magic is the term for magic that is focused by belief. Enough people believe in something, and it acts like a rudimentary spell. This is how gods and devils and weird weather conditions and various mythological weapons are formed). Silver, on the other hand, due to its believed properties of purification, is relatively easy to purify of magic and work with. As for the other fancy stuff... you can really only use stuff like that against mortal beings or other creatures. Faeries are beings of almost pure focused magic, so it takes a little extra to fight them. As for why I chose iron, I recall reading that nuclear fusion is only viable with elements lower on the periodic table and fission is only viable with elements higher on the table. I thought that that - plus the already established connotations of "cold iron" - was cool enough to work with it. Magic in my universe could almost be considered "imaginary physics:" stuff that falls outside of the normal purview of science but is still a part of it (like real numbers and imaginary numbers in mathematics). It is still being studied and researched, and new discoveries still happen.

How about rhodium?   

[Jairus]

How about rhodium?   

Just because something is expensive/rare doesn't mean you use it in magic. Witches do use materials like that, but most wizards and sorcerers do not. On the other hand, Nick (the inventor) is really branching out with what he uses (currently, one series of his inventions uses more titanium alloy than anything on their world has ever used before). Of course, Nick is considered a witch by his peers, despite the fact that he is neither a wizard nor a very good sorcerer: it's mainly what you do with your talents that makes you a witch, and considering that he has used his (albeit, limited) talents of sorcery to invent what is basically a magic-powered reactor, I also consider him a witch.

Unless you're talking about Alchemy in which case I'll just say this: at the higher levels of transmutation, it is possible to break matter down to its components (Protons, neutrons, etc...) and rebuild it into basically whatever you want. The problem is that even with magic this is intensive, and you're still not actually "creating" anything: ten grams of lead will result in ten grams of gold, but since gold is nearly twice as dense as lead you seemingly wind up with less gold, so it's not like you can have a brick wall and make a gold wall the exact same size. And despite alchemy's efficiency (power goes out, acts as a catalyst, most of it comes back) it is still tiring and also mentally demanding (Good alchemists memorize the structure of everything on the periodic table). It's actually easier to use alchemy to search for tiny bits of gold in the environment and assemble them into a lump of gold rather than create some gold. In short, you can basically make anything with alchemy, provided you have the power to back it up. That's not even getting into the field of conjured gold, but since that's magic it doesn't count.

I need to post this stuff. This is just getting stupid.

[AmigaDragon]

...I thought evil villains *liked* monologuing?  C'mon, DP, at least try to keep up some appearances!

Yes, but since everyone except one person present already possesses knowledge of the prior events, he might not want to do it himself. The other two could explain everything to the new "girl." Besides, I like that in an evil villain!

Just because he apparently doesn't want to monologue now, doesn't mean he'll prevent Hanna from giving some explanations of her own.

Unless you're talking about Alchemy in which case I'll just say this: at the higher levels of transmutation, it is possible to break matter down to its components (Protons, neutrons, etc...) and rebuild it into basically whatever you want. The problem is that even with magic this is intensive, and you're still not actually "creating" anything: ten grams of lead will result in ten grams of gold,

If you're disassembling the atomic components, what do you do with the leftovers? Lead has 82 protons and electrons and 125 neutrons (if I remember my junior high school science correctly and read the table correctly, that was about 30 years ago). Dropping the lead to gold leaves 3 protons and electrons and 8 neutrons left over which is enough for lithium and a couple spare neutrons.

[Jairus]

Unless you're talking about Alchemy in which case I'll just say this: at the higher levels of transmutation, it is possible to break matter down to its components (Protons, neutrons, etc...) and rebuild it into basically whatever you want. The problem is that even with magic this is intensive, and you're still not actually "creating" anything: ten grams of lead will result in ten grams of gold,

If you're disassembling the atomic components, what do you do with the leftovers? Lead has 82 protons and electrons and 125 neutrons (if I remember my junior high school science correctly and read the table correctly, that was about 30 years ago). Dropping the lead to gold leaves 3 protons and electrons and 8 neutrons left over which is enough for lithium and a couple spare neutrons.

Again, this is fairly high-level stuff. Most alchemists need a tremendously complicated magical array to pull this trick off: typically only dragons and master-level mages and Faerie have the experience to perform it without the array, and that'll only give you a small amount of transmuted material. Most alchemy is honestly about collecting and restructuring material already present in the environment (for example, collecting iron and carbon from the ground around you to rebuild it into an alchemically forged sword), or about sealing spells and magic inside objects (potions and the like). Transmutation is a specialty skill, and most mages who can perform it do something with the leftovers. It is worth quickly noting that magic is basically controlled through two means: Old fashioned and Modern, with Old fashioned working mostly on folklore and Modern being designed around the laws of physics to make it easier to circumvent them. A lot of Modern spells accommodate for stuff like leftovers, and most mages who use them aren't even aware of it. That's why few witches invent more than a handful of spells in their lifetimes: it takes a long time to design them, and even with magic most of them won't live to be more than three or four hundred years old. Even the most prolific spell inventor of all time - Merlin - only makes about ten spells every hundred years, and that's in a good century (for the record, he's practically immortal). Most of the time he only does about two or three in a century.

Remember, I'm still developing all of this. Problems are going to crop up, which is why I want to get this into some concise form and post it under the Tower of Art so that you people can help me find problems and fix them.

[DarkAudit]

And what does any of this have to do with the day's comic, or the arc in general?

[Jairus]

And what does any of this have to do with the day's comic, or the arc in general?

I know. I'm just responding to questions. Back on topic: poor Dan has just landed in the middle of an old argument. Kind of like Lorenda and Jyrras stumbling into the middle of Mab and Nutmeg's rivalry.

And neither side remembered to bring their puppets.

[Mao]

Yes, but this one is so far involving less spears, more threats and what will likely be less forgiveness.

[Jairus]

On the other hand, this one will start the rivalry between Dan and DP, whereas the other one kick-started rivalry/enmity (Albanion/Jyrras... gods that sounds like a bad fanfic) was just part of a Xanatos Gambit on the part of of Albanion and Mab to protect Jyrras for some inscrutable reason.

[Amber Williams]

NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRDS!

[Jairus]

NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRDS! D:

YOU created this universe!

[Mao]

Amber, was that a Robot Chicken moment?  I need to stop watching that show.