10/10/2011 [DMFA #1253] - Let's get ready for Abel hockey!

[RandomMetaphysics]

Ok, this comic made me laugh out loud. Amber, I tip my hat off to you! That last panel made my day.

[Jairus]

Oh dear, I laughed so hard it hurt. Ouch.

Also, Cubi ARE shapeshifters after all. I'm sure he can make himself into some amorphous tiny shape with a furry tail that can still run at a fairly high speed on pure terrified reflex... I'm overthinking this, aren't I?

[Balance]

Indeed. Amber's been knocking them out of the park lately, but I think this one got knocked clean into another timezone--which is no doubt where Abel would rather be.

[LoneHowler]

Cubi don't need physics just a wide enough opining to fit hammerspace. Still this made me laugh and I think for a long time I will still chuckle anytime I'll look at it

[Arcblade]

Ack, leader-beater shell!  Quick, use the mushrooms!  (why yes, I did play a bit too much Mario Kart.  Why do you ask?)

Or... on second thought, he also reminds me of Sonic the Hedgehog. 

At any rate, Happy Canadian Thanksgiving.  I am very thankful for Amber and Nathan Fillion, as per this. 

[justacritic]

Abel now has a face to face encounter with Deebs and M.A.C.E, I look forward towards his reaction. What's next, Lorenda and Jyrras try to deny seeing anything and Abel goes off believing he's gone off the deep end, or Lorenda and Jyrras tell the truth with Abel doing gods knows what later.  Anyway looks like Abel is living in interesting times

[Wurgel]

Deeps, OK. But will Jyrras explain M.A.C.E.? Or better: Does Lorenda knows about her?

[Ghostwish]

There is no super-star to save me from this side-bursting blue shell comedy.

[AmigaDragon]

TURTLE POWER!

[e_voyager]

IF  he was going to hide in the popcorn bowl why did he leave his tail out? did he forget he had a tail in his fear? i was laughed so hard i had to take a break then look at the comic again to see that Dweebs was surfing Abel's hide out as he retreated warp factor 1.  my fist thought was of the back to the future burning tire treads

[Wanderer]

IF  he was going to hide in the popcorn bowl why did he leave his tail out? did he forget he had a tail in his fear?

It's a cat thing. Many a feline has attempted to hide only to leave their tail sticking out in plain view.

[Alondro]

Forget the horror movie.  Just being in that house is going to lead Abel to centuries of therapy! 

[127.0.0.2]

Wait... Jyrras LAUGHING? I think I just felt the universe moving a tiny inch to the right.

Also, Cubi ARE shapeshifters after all. I'm sure he can make himself into some amorphous tiny shape with a furry tail that can still run at a fairly high speed on pure terrified reflex... I'm overthinking this, aren't I?

No, you aren't, I thought the same. Also, shapeshifting has just become even MORE awesome.

[Mrs_A_ZeTavia]

I agree, Deebs! Abel does indeed have some pretty hair!

My thought process when I saw Abel zooming across the floor:

1st thought: MARIO!!!!

2nd thought: I wanna ride on the bowl, too!!

And finally: I was reminded of this cat toy, that that my aunts have a bunch of around their house to entertain their cats.

TURTLE POWER!

OMG! XD This gave me a laugh I needed. Thanks!

Well an additional laugh, other than what the comic gave me, of course.

[Lurkie]

BWAAAHAHAHAHAHA!  "Comedy Gold" indeed!  Poor Abel is going to need even more therapy, on top of what he already needs! 

Oh dear, I laughed so hard it hurt. Ouch.

Also, Cubi ARE shapeshifters after all. I'm sure he can make himself into some amorphous tiny shape with a furry tail that can still run at a fairly high speed on pure terrified reflex... I'm overthinking this, aren't I?

Nah.  Attend.  (*ahem*)

"Because of their magical nature and shapeshifting abilities, 'Cubi must of necessity have a metabolic extension into the hyper-dimension.  This gives them the ability to shift their mass at will."

That is overthinking it.   

[Scrap Fish]

...They can change their mass?
...Or was that your overthink talking?
I'm honestly too tired to find out. Anyway, reality can take a hike. I endorse this comic, and all popcorn-bowl slides therein.

[Talis Mahn]

Me thinks Jyras forgot to mention someone to Lorenda.....  Let the explanations begin!
((Impersonating John Stewart of The Daily Show)) "Go oonnn!

Oh yes!  PURE WIN!!!!!!

[tiggertoo]

The reason Abel was able to hide under the popcorn bowl is very simple: he really really needed to. It's the magic of narrative necessity. And the reason his tail sticks out is a) he's a cat, b) it's much funnier that way, and c) if not, you wouldn't understand what was actually happening in the scene.

[Maark30]

Poor Abel, I wonder if this is karma hitting him upside his head for all those roommates  that he scared off (http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_425.php).

[ishidan]

IF  he was going to hide in the popcorn bowl why did he leave his tail out? did he forget he had a tail in his fear?

It's a cat thing. Many a feline has attempted to hide only to leave their tail sticking out in plain view.

Heh.  Cat stealth fails.  That reminds me of a cat I had when I was a kid.  That cat was bright Garfield-orange, and got it into his head to stalk some birds.  On the lawn.  Which was very, very green.

I'm watching this poor cat trying to sneak and sneak and sneak... birds glance over and see bright orange cat with "imma gonna getchu" expression, standing out like a neon sign against the dark green grass.  They all promptly take off.

The look on the cat's face was priceless.  He completely could not figure out what he had done wrong.

Of course that wasn't as funny as the time Dad spent all day giving the car a double coat of Turtle Wax (completely eliminating the rough, oxidized old paint and replacing it with slick, glassy shininess), then the cat tried to jump on the hood for a nap. 

[MT Hazard]

Good to see Debs and MACE again, hopefully they can be properly introduced to Abel this time.

[joshofspam]

I wonder if it gets freaky trying and failing to read the mind of an A.I. and living piece of sentient ABC gum for a cubi?

If a cubi sense of sensing emotion goes completly blank on an individual, it must be almost like they aren't their, right?

[thegayhare]

they are bound and determined to break that boy's brain

[Lurkie]

...They can change their mass?
...Or was that your overthink talking?

The overthink.  Definitely the overthink.    Mostly I was channeling "Doc" Smith's descriptions of his Palainians.  Palain VII is so cold (they consider Pluto to be positively balmy!) that the native life-forms must have a "metabolic extension into the hyper-dimension" to survive.

Can 'Cubi change mass?  The tri-wings almost certainly can, but normal 'Cubi?  Probably not.  'Course, it's all magic anyway, so who knows?

I'm honestly too tired to find out. Anyway, reality can take a hike. I endorse this comic, and all popcorn-bowl slides therein.

Agreed.  Loved the popcorn slide, and the bottle-brush tail. 

[e_voyager]

they are bound and determined to break that boy's brain

Maybe they are maybe they aren't. Dweebs and M.A.C.E. don't see anything unusual about there existence so they probably don't understand why Abel is reacting the way he is. but it is funny.

[Tapewolf]

Can 'Cubi change mass?  The tri-wings almost certainly can, but normal 'Cubi?  Probably not.  'Course, it's all magic anyway, so who knows?

If a Were can turn into a little squirrel, I'm sure a 'Cubi could too.  The way I see it - and this is just a guess - they can probably reduce their mass (or at least their size), but increasing it is a lot more difficult.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

The overthink.  Definitely the overthink.    Mostly I was channeling "Doc" Smith's descriptions of his Palainians.  Palain VII is so cold (they consider Pluto to be positively balmy!) that the native life-forms must have a "metabolic extension into the hyper-dimension" to survive.

Using anything from Edward Elmer Smith's work as a serious scientific guide is doomed to failure. I enjoy his work, but it's very dated (hardly surprising, given when it was written), somewhat simplistic, and missing a few details - for example, the ultra-slowed-down playback scene, where one of the Boskonian bases is suicided? A rough estimate of the time scales shows they would have had to stand there watching for something like two and a half weeks, according to a story I read once.

Makes sense. Certainly the numbers seem to work out for that.

Anyway, as a result, I enjoy his work, but I don't let my disbelief suspend far enough to apply it to anything else. ;-]

[joshofspam]

This might complicate things more. Though I don't know how Abel will really take it once Deeb's and Mace are explained to Abel.

Lorenda was going to tattle on Jyrras before they gave her a diabetic shot of sweet cuteness. I wonder how Abel react, seeing that one off his friend's dead bodies was resurrected and Deeb's and Mace live from a similar form of accident from the science side of things?

[Lurkie]

Can 'Cubi change mass?  The tri-wings almost certainly can, but normal 'Cubi?  Probably not.  'Course, it's all magic anyway, so who knows?

If a Were can turn into a little squirrel, I'm sure a 'Cubi could too.  The way I see it - and this is just a guess - they can probably reduce their mass (or at least their size), but increasing it is a lot more difficult.

Ah, I had forgotten about the Weres.  (*Checks the Demonology 101 page*)  Hm, yes, okay, they can change their mass.  Ooh, that gets messy.  Where does all the excess mass go?  Or come from when they change from squirrel to Being or Human form?  (And what happens if something goes wrong during the transfer?  That's a lot of energy being moved...)  Best to simply chalk it up to magic and not think about it too much.  :-)

Using anything from Edward Elmer Smith's work as a serious scientific guide is doomed to failure. I enjoy his work, but it's very dated (hardly surprising, given when it was written), somewhat simplistic, and missing a few details - for example, the ultra-slowed-down playback scene, where one of the Boskonian bases is suicided? A rough estimate of the time scales shows they would have had to stand there watching for something like two and a half weeks, according to a story I read once.

Makes sense. Certainly the numbers seem to work out for that.

Anyway, as a result, I enjoy his work, but I don't let my disbelief suspend far enough to apply it to anything else. ;-]

Hah!  No, I don't take his work seriously either.  :-)  (That whole "overthink" thing was meant in jest, after all.)  I do enjoy his work, but I have to admit that a lot of his underlying assumptions were... questionable, at best.  The Bergenholm, for instance.  You can't separate inertial mass from rest mass that way.  Even when he wrote those stories, that was a pretty iffy proposition.  To be fair, though, he did tend to watch his physics more than a lot of authors.  When an energy beam strikes a ray screen, for example, that energy is reflected, causing a lot of collateral damage.  Most authors don't seem to think about such things, more's the pity.  In a lot of stories, such energies would magically vanish, and never cause complications.

[Balance]

Ah, I had forgotten about the Weres.  (*Checks the Demonology 101 page*)  Hm, yes, okay, they can change their mass.  Ooh, that gets messy.  Where does all the excess mass go?  Or come from when they change from squirrel to Being or Human form?  (And what happens if something goes wrong during the transfer?  That's a lot of energy being moved...)  Best to simply chalk it up to magic and not think about it too much.  :-)

Don't forget about dragons, who are capable of major mass-changes without significant damage to the area. (Witness Pyroduck growing to mid-size in the basement of the inn.)

Multiple diimensions--including pocket dimensions--are established in the canon. So is teleportation to and from those dimensions. It's not that much of a stretch from demonstrated magical rules to postulate that shapeshifters capable of mass-shifting have access to a pocket dimension to dump and/or retrieve extra mass.

Of course, that leaves us the lovely image of a multiverse pocked with little pocket dimensions of random flesh. Or, perhaps worse, a universe-sized shared blob of organic goop.