2013/02/25 [DMFA #1381] Embellishments

[Lying Foo]

Oh hai Becka.

[Infranscia]

*takes a couple minutes to stop laughing* *then laughs a little more over the first part of the rant*

Oh wow.  Just... wow.  Those last two panels. XD  The hair spontaneously getting longer...  He also looks completely different with that expression.  At first I thought maybe his face shape was drawn differently.

But yeah.  Good for a few silly laughs.

[InsanityRequiem]

That is definitely one type of embellishment that no one would believe.

Now if she embellished it as some sort of actual fight(I think involving shanks), then it'd be more believable!

[Prroul]

Miss Amber, you are in violation of Skippy's List # 87: If the thought of something makes me giggle for longer than 15 seconds, I am to assume that I am not allowed to do it.

For which we are grateful 

Although if the part where BOB goes back to double-check their research is true, this could lead to some very interesting situations where  BOB is more concerned with whom spoofed a Phoenix Oracle than Abel, and might actually be willing to work with him in order to get the story about Merlitz straight.

After all, if anyone is willing to believe that Destania is responsible, it would be BOB. "Me? I'm a fairly weaksauce Cubi, barely able to hold a cosmetic shapechange. But Destania..." *shudder* "She even scares other Cubi. She's that scary. And dangerous. And malicious. And powerful. Did I mention scary?"

Suddenly, Abel goes from prime target to leftovers...

[Jasae Bushae]

After all, if anyone is willing to believe that Destania is responsible, it would be BOB. "Me? I'm a fairly weaksauce Cubi, barely able to hold a cosmetic shapechange. But Destania..." *shudder* "She even scares other Cubi. She's that scary. And dangerous. And malicious. And powerful. Did I mention scary?"

Suddenly, Abel goes from prime target to leftovers...

Yeah until someone who knows Dan realizes Destania is his mother and trigger happily assumes Dan and Alexi were in on it ^^;
Theres a reason  Abel was hardest on saying he was the only cubi what with the whole 'keeping a secret identity' just blackening the view of someone

[ChaosMageX]

Oh hai Becka.

Hmmm, I wonder if that could be the very same Becka that Destania was talking with on the phone earlier.

Either way, it's refreshing to see another horse with 3 fingers on each hand.  I am liking that part of Amber's new style.

[LionHeart]

I think Wildy should be saving the "embellishments" for her next novel...

[Amber Williams]

Either way, it's refreshing to see another horse with 3 fingers on each hand.  I am liking that part of Amber's new style.

It's more a race thing I've been trying to get better about.  Beings I usually try to have in more subdued colours and I've been trying to keep consistent on the hands better.  Where as creatures (or beings with creature heritage) will have wilder colours and in the case of the hands, the 2 finger/thumb with fluffy wrist combo if they are based off of hoof-based animals.

It's the real reason I could never accept Tape's comic as canonical, his cast is way too mundane in colour to ever truly fit in. Like a grey-headed stepchild.  

[Tapewolf]

It's the real reason I could never accept Tape's comic as canonical, his cast is way too mundane in colour to ever truly fit in. Like a grey-headed stepchild.  

Like Abel?

[joshofspam]

I can't help but think Wildy did that on purpose.

After all, if Abel started reading her mind as a potential threat, wouldn't that be a good way to troll Abel?

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

It's the real reason I could never accept Tape's comic as canonical, his cast is way too mundane in colour to ever truly fit in. Like a grey-headed stepchild. 

Like Abel?

Abels' hair shades in colour, which, although it looks normal, really isn't. As in, even if you cut the end off of his shiny glorious locks, the newly cut end will shade itself to look the same as it was before you cut it. At least, according to what Ambaargh said a while ago.

And while I don't recall anyone in your comic having graduated colours, I think Abel is the exception, rather than the rule...

[ChaosMageX]

Either way, it's refreshing to see another horse with 3 fingers on each hand.  I am liking that part of Amber's new style.

It's more a race thing I've been trying to get better about.  Beings I usually try to have in more subdued colours and I've been trying to keep consistent on the hands better.  Where as creatures (or beings with creature heritage) will have wilder colours and in the case of the hands, the 2 finger/thumb with fluffy wrist combo if they are based off of hoof-based animals.

Interesting.  So does that mean that the next time we see Kria with her Being disguise amulet on, she'll have three fingers on each hand instead of her usual two?

As for my equine fursona, the advantage of being a cubi is being able to shape-shift more fingers when extra dexterity is needed.  After all, I doubt one could things like typing with just two fingers, but then again I can't help but wonder what typewriter and computer keyboards look like on Furrae, since the majority of the population has just three fingers on each hand instead of four.

It's the real reason I could never accept Tape's comic as canonical, his cast is way too mundane in colour to ever truly fit in. Like a grey-headed stepchild.  

Well, for what it's worth, I've heard a few people comment that Daryil is like the Lady Gaga of Furrae, since he's always changing his hair color and outfit to more and more outrageous things.

[Amber Williams]

Interesting.  So does that mean that the next time we see Kria with her Being disguise amulet on, she'll have three fingers on each hand instead of her usual two?

Probably not.  Kria is rich and likely doesn't feel the need to hide the fact she is a demon.  It's just that the wings get in the way at times

In terms of fingers, cosmic-scale wise I usually have humans (and human/anthro hybrids on occasion) with 5 fingers, average anthros with 4 fingers (though some humans with anthro ancestry will also have 4 fingers) and then 3 fingers for a few more straight up anthro characters...sometimes even down to two.  Not that it really matters much in this comic, but I guess it will make more relevence in later comics.

As for typing whatmachallits, I have found that society is quite canny about adapting to their physical capabilities, so I figure a place where finger variations happen is likely going to have reflections of that rather than it being seen that having one less finger is a disability of sorts.  So whatever devices are made will likely reflect that since well...most folks making items want people to buy them so they can make money.

[ChaosMageX]

Interesting.  So does that mean that the next time we see Kria with her Being disguise amulet on, she'll have three fingers on each hand instead of her usual two?

Probably not.  Kria is rich and likely doesn't feel the need to hide the fact she is a demon.  It's just that the wings get in the way at times

In terms of fingers, cosmic-scale wise I usually have humans (and human/anthro hybrids on occasion) with 5 fingers, average anthros with 4 fingers (though some humans with anthro ancestry will also have 4 fingers) and then 3 fingers for a few more straight up anthro characters...sometimes even down to two.  Not that it really matters much in this comic, but I guess it will make more relevence in later comics.

Very interesting indeed.  I'm assuming 2 digits mostly occur in some of the weirder mythos.  Has this varying distribution of the number of digits on each hand had any effect on the standards for Furrae's numbering system?  Since decimal numbers have been used in the comic's dialog, is it just that a decimal numbering system has existed since the ancient times, created by the powers to be and generally accepted by all no matter what their total number of digits?  Or is Furrae's numbering system (or systems) more interesting than that?

While we're on the subject, if the average anthro leg configuration is plantigrade, then what about the "more straight up anthro characters"?  In general, how often do digitigrade and taur body configurations occur in anthro characters if they aren't the general norm for the species?

Since Kria, Lorenda, and Regina are all plantigrade, does that mean that Aliph was born plantigrade as well, and that like his horns, his digitigrade legs were a body modification done to accompany the adoption of his "Dark Pegasus" moniker?  Or was he actually born with that leg configuration through some sort of genetic anomaly?

And if DP's digitigrade legs were indeed a rather extreme body modification, between that and Wildy's tail, just how common are these operations and just how extreme can they get?  For instance, can someone who was born with two legs actually become a taur?

I apologize for the massive number of questions, but between your shifting art style and some of the more exotic non-cameo background characters I've seen throughout the comic, I've been wondering about some of these questions for quite a while now.

As for typing whatmachallits, I have found that society is quite canny about adapting to their physical capabilities, so I figure a place where finger variations happen is likely going to have reflections of that rather than it being seen that having one less finger is a disability of sorts.  So whatever devices are made will likely reflect that since well...most folks making items want people to buy them so they can make money.

Ah, cool.  It's certainly interesting to ponder what these keyboards would look like.  I personally think that for 4 digits and up, the keyboard would have a similar QWERTY configuration, with the farthest fingers from the thumb just doing a bit more work on those with 4 digits.

I think keyboards for those with 3 digits might get very interesting however, especially since their fingers are much larger than those with more fingers.  There are a number of possibilities, but at this moment I'm imagining something with more than three rows for the letters and fewer letters on each row, and typing would probably involve more wrist movement instead of just finger reaching.

I might have to try reading through Inhuman and see if I can spot any pages involving keyboards designed for alien species with three digits on each hand, but then again they might be designed for their native written alphabet, and in the case of Nikitaks, it might even involve distributing the alphabet between two separate keyboards.

[Vanvidum]

Wildy, that's terrible. You're supposed to leave the slashfics for the fans! 

Yet another reason to leave mind-filters up, I suppose.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Ah, cool.  It's certainly interesting to ponder what these keyboards would look like.  I personally think that for 4 digits and up, the keyboard would have a similar QWERTY configuration, with the farthest fingers from the thumb just doing a bit more work on those with 4 digits.

Since QWERTY is a "most pessimal" configuration, designed to slow down the typist so the initial typewriter keyboards could bounce back into place properly before the next key was hit (seriously - the springs weren't able to be made powerful enough to cope with faster typing, at the time), I doubt anyone anywhere else would use the same configuration.

Possibly something similar, yes, but not the same. And it's only an accident of history that we've stuck with it ever since, barring the odd person using Dvorak layouts.


And those are usually very odd persons. ;-]

[Nino]

After all, if anyone is willing to believe that Destania is responsible, it would be BOB. "Me? I'm a fairly weaksauce Cubi, barely able to hold a cosmetic shapechange. But Destania..." *shudder* "She even scares other Cubi. She's that scary. And dangerous. And malicious. And powerful. Did I mention scary?"

Suddenly, Abel goes from prime target to leftovers...

Yeah until someone who knows Dan realizes Destania is his mother and trigger happily assumes Dan and Alexi were in on it ^^;
Theres a reason  Abel was hardest on saying he was the only cubi what with the whole 'keeping a secret identity' just blackening the view of someone

Also, if the ploy actually did work and they actually went to confront Destania, it would probably mean certain death or defeat for them since she IS so powerful, and I don't think Abel would actually go as far to do that.

Though you could argue that direct murder isn't her style, especially if she felt like she could trick them again into attacking Abel again (maybe by shapechanging to look like him and attacking them?). I could be wrong. But either way it doesn't seem to be a great strategy for Abel to try and defer blame here without proof (and we're not even sure Destania really even killed Merlitz herself, or even that he's truly dead).

Also, the anime sweatdrop face after someone states a contradictory opinion always seems to me to translate into "I brought up a counterpoint so obvious that it makes it a little awkward even having to say it! Try thinking next time before you post!" :p

[Prroul]

Ah, cool.  It's certainly interesting to ponder what these keyboards would look like.  I personally think that for 4 digits and up, the keyboard would have a similar QWERTY configuration, with the farthest fingers from the thumb just doing a bit more work on those with 4 digits.

Since QWERTY is a "most pessimal" configuration, designed to slow down the typist so the initial typewriter keyboards could bounce back into place properly before the next key was hit (seriously - the springs weren't able to be made powerful enough to cope with faster typing, at the time), I doubt anyone anywhere else would use the same configuration.

Possibly something similar, yes, but not the same. And it's only an accident of history that we've stuck with it ever since, barring the odd person using Dvorak layouts.


And those are usually very odd persons. ;-]

Hey now, I resemble that remark... quite strongly, actually. I don't suffer from insanity, I revel in it.

Having said that, it's the same problem with Standard Measurements (is there anyone else in the world left who still uses it but the USA?) versus Metric. America was supposed to have made the conversion decades ago... only it never did. Probably for the same reason... no one wanted to learn a 'new' system, no matter how improved or logical it might be. A Base 10 measurement system just makes more sense with a base 10 numbering system.

Eh, I'd better jump off of that soapbox before I start getting into political topics. So suffice to say... yes, there are people who use Dvorac, and yes, we are an odd lot.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Hey now, I resemble that remark... quite strongly, actually. I don't suffer from insanity, I revel in it.

Likewise. In both senses...

[Zebra Bug]

Oh hai Becka.

Hmmm, I wonder if that could be the very same Becka that Destania was talking with on the phone earlier.

Well, that shows how much I pay attention to these things....I forgot about the whole Des' on the phone bit what with other developments....but...wow. Um...that certainly is putting the cats with the canaries....I really think that this Becka being the Becka Des' was talking to is a very good theory. And...who would ever suspect? But why would a Being be working covert for a Cubi in an Adventuring Guild? Makes sense for Des' to use her....but on her end? Any thoughts?

Wildy, that's terrible. You're supposed to leave the slashfics for the fans!  

Yet another reason to leave mind-filters up, I suppose.

'Slash' pairings are homosexual pairings, not heterosexual pairings. But I agree. Wildy is impinging on our fanfiction rights of crack shipping. I love reading about pairings that would totally never happen in cannon.  

On another note....I've been thinking (A dangerous pastime to be sure), and Aary was told that Destania was killed by Dan, or more specifically, "The life of Destania has ended at the hands of Daniel Ti'Fiona."...and the Phoenix(?) That BOB went to see told them, "Some Cubi from Lost Lake killed him." Well...that could be Abel, Dan, Aary, or Destania. Destania may not live there now, but she is FROM Lost Lake, or lived there for some time with her husband and children....and what if she means killed in a less literal sense? Did Aary dumping Merlitz kill him spiritually, emotionally? (Doubt it, but just trying to think deeper...)

[Eboreg]

@Zebra Bug: I think we've already established that that Phoenix Oracle was fake.

[joshofspam]

The strange thing I keep coming around to think about is if the cubi murders and Destania's plots have any relation to one another?

One was most definitely an old friend with possible contacts with her. Though that hints at either her covering her tracks or someone trying to get at her or simply find her.

Though I suppose her using any contacts to her own In's might also send up really big warning lights for those who are looking for something in particular that matches her way of doing things. Could the cubi murders be simply repercussions of steps taken in all her plots up to date?

If that's the case, there might be more going on then what we've actually seen as of yet.

[TacticalError]

Does Wildy really think she can kill Abel before he gets away? He can probably teleport without a warp-aci or just fly away in the middle of the night or something.

[Zebra Bug]

@Zebra Bug: I think we've already established that that Phoenix Oracle was fake.

I know, I am pretty much 90% certain that the Oracle was a fake, but that is so obvious a conclusion to come to, that there is the possibility of a plot twist. And it's fun to speculate.

[joshofspam]

Does Wildy really think she can kill Abel before he gets away? He can probably teleport without a warp-aci or just fly away in the middle of the night or something.

That's an interesting thought, Wildy has been known (I think) at least twice causing Abel one sided bodily harm and Aary has at least once laid incredible injury on him over an issue of major clothing malfunction.

But in all those incidents, Abel was making a point, acting as a distraction and just simply unconscious. Though on a different observation, she might be simply stating a fact. If she thinks she has a chance or not might not be the point of what she told Abel.

[Shadowdancer]

Can Phoenixes lie? I mean, there is at least one on the council if I remember right. 

Also, cubi can't shapeshift into Phoenixes, but what about patches, or simple dressup? Maybe even a hologram/illusion? Or maybe a robot-version or mind-controlled. 

[Eboreg]

Can Phoenixes lie? I mean, there is at least one on the council if I remember right. 

Also, cubi can't shapeshift into Phoenixes, but what about patches, or simple dressup? Maybe even a hologram/illusion? Or maybe a robot-version or mind-controlled. 

Or a little bit of gasoline and some element resistance.

[Zebra Bug]

Can Phoenixes lie? I mean, there is at least one on the council if I remember right. 

Also, cubi can't shapeshift into Phoenixes, but what about patches, or simple dressup? Maybe even a hologram/illusion? Or maybe a robot-version or mind-controlled. 

Or a little bit of gasoline and some element resistance.

Or just use the burning flames of irony.

[Tylor]

Do I understand right that "kill herself after two months" was Wildy's own initiative?

Also, is pretending to be a phoenix (or otherwise rigging prediction procedure) makes you automatic enemy of phoenixes? Which are very likely know where you live?

[Tapewolf]

Do I understand right that "kill herself after two months" was Wildy's own initiative?

I got the impression it was the result of hard bargaining.