08/31/09 [AS2 #67] - Curse you Change!

[Lego3400]

Yep that's Fi alright.  This confuses the Issue of the Teacher's base from even more....  Also it seems the patern on his/her beak/trunk can change color but not shifted away. That or he/she just likes it.

[Dagardo]

I seem to notice something resembling a bite mark on Fi's tail in the top panel. Either that or I'm out of it, my mind that is.

[Janus Whitefurr]

With an astonishingly appropriate (nick?)name like that, being a master of morphology seems to be an obvious choice for teaching.

Also, the purple-pink highlights around Fi and his wordbubbles is lovely. Very pretty tone.

[ChaosMageX]

It really would be fun to attend a class where the teacher is constantly changing forms.
It is a known fact that dynamic visual stimulation is one of the best ways to get people to pay attention to your lecture.
When what we're seeing is constantly changing, it instinctively forces our attention span time limit to reset as we act to note the change in our surroundings.

[Kirishala]

Yep that's Fi alright.  This confuses the Issue of the Teacher's base from even more....  Also it seems the patern on his/her beak/trunk can change color but not shifted away. That or he/she just likes it.

I'm pretty sure that ey just likes the pattern on eir nose/beak (for the moment at least), if you check the previous couple of comics you will see that ey didn't have it at first and it slowly appeared through the next couple of changes.

[Jairus]

Angry Fi is cute. Also, Cubi are shapeshifters. That teacher is confusing.

As for the important reason why Abel got dragged away... I wonder. I can see two reasons he got called away. Either May is dead or dying, and Fa'Lina wants to get him to the funeral or to see her one last time, or Edward turned up dead.

[Demont]

I'm abit lost on how long Able been at the Cubi school cause Fi is there and in Fi's profile he is only 3 years old. Can someone clue me in on this please? 

[Jairus]

I'm abit lost on how long Able been at the Cubi school cause Fi is there and in Fi's profile he is only 3 years old. Can someone clue me in on this please? 

Well, Fa'Lina kind of cycles her Warp Aci every couple of years, giving them a chance to rest. So, in the present, Fi's only been summoned for three years, I guess. So, three years in this body.

As for how long Abel's been at the school, outside of "years" we don't know yet. I think we'll learn soon enough, though.

[Baal Hadad]

It's funny--when I first saw this comic (literally seconds ago) I thought, "okay, it's official--I do not like Change.  And if I don't, what must ABEL think?"

But then I thought, why?

In fact, there's something...Zen?...about such a teacher--constantly changing means constantly having the attention of the students and allowing them to focus rather than get distracted, and it takes note of the fact that we are not our bodies, and nothing lasts.

So...I guess I do like Change after all.  Or maybe I do and I don't, but it doesn't matter because there's no fundamental difference between the two....





EDIT: And I JUST NOW realized that was Fi....  Not paying attention.... 

[Kuari]

Change just makes me want to scream, "MAKE UP YOUR MIND!!!"...  I mean, sheesh.  Tzeentch changes forms less.

More on topic though, wonder what's so urgent.

[Chaos]

Is that to say, that your opinion on this character fluctuates, as in is not stable? It wavers like this character's form? May I make the suggestion that you only like vim when ve has boobs?

[Starcat5]

I vote that Change is permanently set to "Shuffle", and could be said not to HAVE a base form anymore. One can only guess what hir "Love Life" is like. 

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

I love how this comic is bringing out all the random, weird, excessively stupid and overly politically correct optional gender tags that anyone feels might be appropriate.

What's wrong with "they", for crying out loud? It's worked for the last three hundred years, it should be good enough.

[hapless]

Ok, that answered one question... so...
Is Fi in last two panels trying to replicate the effect of a cat ruffling up its fur?

//h

[Tapewolf]

I kind of thought Fi was talking one-to-one with Abel at first, obviously not as the lecturer heard it too.

[Starcat5]

What's wrong with "they", for crying out loud?

Nothing, really. Only that I have never heard it used in such a context. To my knowledge, you need two or more people involved to invoke "they". So multiple personalities would be a "they". Multiple bodies MIGHT be a "they". Shapeshifters with no base form, genderless, duel-equiped (I hope you know what I mean by this one), and pre/post-op just don't fall under the category of "they" for me.

[Lucheek]

If Fa'Lina can teleport Abel herself, why does she need a warp aci?

[MT Hazard]

If Fa'Lina can teleport Abel herself, why does she need a warp aci?

A pet? a friend? A messenger? Just because?

Often these these things are a question of want, not need.

[Kitesfear]

For a sufficiently capable shapeshifter(and it does look like 'cubi 'shifting might not, technically, be so capable, but certainly seems able to more-or-less pull it off, atleast in terms of functionality), such concepts as 'base form' become almost arbitrary, meaningful only in terms of history and emotional attachment. And, of course, certain biological issues, depending on the specifics.

I find it amusing that some people(in general, not here) have trouble coming to grips with the notion that a shapeshifter can be more than 'base form' and, for lack of a better word, 'costume'.

Nothing, really. Only that I have never heard it used in such a context. To my knowledge, you need two or more people involved to invoke "they". So multiple personalities would be a "they". Multiple bodies MIGHT be a "they". Shapeshifters with no base form, genderless, duel-equiped (I hope you know what I mean by this one), and pre/post-op just don't fall under the category of "they" for me.

You've never heard of Singular They?

As in: One can only guess what their "Love Life" is like.

Strange - it's used all the time.

If Fa'Lina can teleport Abel herself, why does she need a warp aci?

It's rude to teleport people around without informing them first.

Also, maybe acting as a spotter? Or a focus?

[Wanderer]

I seem to notice something resembling a bite mark on Fi's tail in the top panel. Either that or I'm out of it, my mind that is.

You're out of your mind. The tail is completely unmarked.

[Aracia]

Yep that's Fi alright.  This confuses the Issue of the Teacher's base from even more....  Also it seems the patern on his/her beak/trunk can change color but not shifted away. That or he/she just likes it.

I'm pretty sure that ey just likes the pattern on eir nose/beak (for the moment at least), if you check the previous couple of comics you will see that ey didn't have it at first and it slowly appeared through the next couple of changes.

I may be silly, but I'm pretty sure Change's nose is one of the places where they prefer to start shifting from. On the previous pages, the color on their nose (and a few other areas that haven't always been in view) end up being the main color of the next form. I wouldn't be surprised if the next form is mostly red if we get to see it.

[KyleEverett]

You've never heard of Singular They?

As in: One can only guess what their "Love Life" is like.

Strange - it's used all the time.

Sorry to be a grammar freak. In your example the their is referring to an object we don't know about. It could very well be a plural couple. "One can only guess what his "Love Life" is like." is correct as well.

A singular "they" when gender isn't known may eventually be considered grammatically correct someday, but as of right now, the proper form is he or she. We English speakers just get lazy and don't want to say that all the time.

[127.0.0.2]

It really would be fun to attend a class where the teacher is constantly changing forms.
It is a known fact that dynamic visual stimulation is one of the best ways to get people to pay attention to your lecture.
When what we're seeing is constantly changing, it instinctively forces our attention span time limit to reset as we act to note the change in our surroundings.

Except that all the attention is drawn to the teacher and not to the lecture. Also, the student base would probably divide quickly into half #1, which is utterly fascinated and half #2 which is completely squicked out by the teacher. I don't think this educational strategy would work out...

I may be silly, but I'm pretty sure Change's nose is one of the places where they prefer to start shifting from. On the previous pages, the color on their nose (and a few other areas that haven't always been in view) end up being the main color of the next form. I wouldn't be surprised if the next form is mostly red if we get to see it.

You might be on to something there. I figure, if DMFA was a cartoon, we might watch her new color start from her nose and spread over her body in a kaleidoscope-like way. Though I'm not quite sure if I want to know what her voice would sound like. 

[Anodyne]

I may be silly, but I'm pretty sure Change's nose is one of the places where they prefer to start shifting from. On the previous pages, the color on their nose (and a few other areas that haven't always been in view) end up being the main color of the next form. I wouldn't be surprised if the next form is mostly red if we get to see it.

Actually, that red splotch appears to be their clan mark. It was over Change's right eye, to begin with, and stayed there for a bit. Now it seems to have been moved. (Or duplicated; we can't exactly see Change's right eye from the current angle.) Either option raises interesting possibilities, though; if you can move your clan marking, you could put it in a location that makes it easier to hide. If you can duplicate it, you can make it seem like a harmless body modification.

[Kitesfear]

Sorry to be a grammar freak. In your example the their is referring to an object we don't know about. It could very well be a plural couple. "One can only guess what his "Love Life" is like." is correct as well.

In and of itself, yes, it is a little ambiguous, which just means you have to rely a bit more on context to convey the writer's intent.

Alternatively, we could use it plural and refer to them in the context of the governing body of a cellular population.   

A singular "they" when gender isn't known may eventually be considered grammatically correct someday, but as of right now, the proper form is he or she. We English speakers just get lazy and don't want to say that all the time.

Aye, I'm aware of it's questionable status, but this is how languages evolve, afterall.

...

*sets KyleEverett's keyboard on fire*

FIGHT THE POWER! WOO! SEGREGATE GENDER-NEUTRAL AND MALE PRONOUNS NOW!

[Zedd]

If there is one song that makes me think about Change...

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!

[Starcat5]

I love how this comic is bringing out all the random, weird, excessively stupid and overly politically correct optional gender tags that anyone feels might be appropriate.

I've suddenly realized why your post has been bothering me so much. I did not use the tag "Shi" out of a sense of political correctness. I did it because that was the term I was most familiar with. When I came across the Chakat's Den nearly 15 years ago (I wasn't very interested in the site's contents then or now, but that isn't the point), it was my first experience with the concept of a hermaphrodite, or any non-standard gender. "Shi" is what they use, so "Shi" is what I use.

There is no official "Standard" for non-standard gender configurations. ...I've just spent an hour and a half rewriting the same paragraph to convey how upset I am over your referring to my terminology as "excessively stupid", while trying not to fall into the trap of unofficial moderation, which is against the rules, or starting a flame war by accident. At this point, I give up. I'm going to bed. I'll have forgotten the whole blasted thing by tomorrow anyway.

...and on a completely unrelated note, how did you get your avatar icon to rotate every time the page loads?

[Tapewolf]

...I've just spent an hour and a half rewriting the same paragraph to convey how upset I am over your referring to my terminology as "excessively stupid", while trying not to fall into the trap of unofficial moderation, which is against the rules, or starting a flame war by accident.

Well, for what it's worth, I think that was llearch's personal opinion rather than an edict passed down from On High (sometimes it can be hard to tell).

[Kuari]

...I just noticed....  we haven't seen Change's clan symbol...  yet we've seen a good portion of Change.  I can't help but wonder where the symbol is.

[Teroniss]

...I just noticed....  we haven't seen Change's clan symbol...  yet we've seen a good portion of Change.  I can't help but wonder where the symbol is.

Most likely, since most symbols we've seen have been red, Change's clan symbol is the marking overlapping his/her eye.