Comics Discussion => Flipside Discussion => Topic started by: bulmabriefs144 on November 04, 2019, 05:45:35 am
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I guess it's okay if I start? No discussion page yet.
So we have the title page Strength Is Kindness, and an ominous looking scene with Bell looking down at stuff.
Besides looking inordinately like a librarian, and making me think she's some super-powerful behind-the-scenes puppertmaster (always the quiet ones), I get a few impressions from Bell.
I mean, we've barely heard her talk but I immediately associate her with the anime Maho Tsukai Tai! where the entire first act had aliens versus witches (until they turned it into giant cherry blossom tree). I dunno how much that has to do with anything, but the big pmibous bell-shaped building sorta look the same.
The other thing is, I was reading Japanese borrowed words and "bell" apparently sounds so much like "bear" that they had to artificially make a new sound even though Japanese doesn't have a strong R sound. If she suddenly turns out to be like an angry bear, my suspicions will be confirmed.
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Qtalda is just creepy as fuck!
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Okay, I finally believe Qtalda wasn't the mastermind. A person who knows what a situation looks like would withdraw like this, while a manipulative type would tell ppl that it's all Suspiria's faylt then try to take power.
Also, invisible Qtalda is kinda cute.
I'm thinking the reason she's invisible btw is (stop me Brion if this turns out to be a spoiler) because in the course of testing her Death and Decay spell, she destroyed her own physical body and is basically a solid spirit.
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I'm STILL not convinced! Assholes can be insightful at points to see the shit they have ~ so carefully plotted out {or so they thought} blow up in their faces!
Remember, Qtalda's plan was not to kill off the Conclave..they were, after all, more than half of them already in her pocket... even the leader did not know he was no longer in control of the Conclave! The fact is she underestimated Suspiria's power and when Suspiria turned her ~ 'full-proof; "kill the annoying inconvenient little sorceress bitch" spell', back on her and her cronies.. it ROYALLY Screwed Qtalda's plans to remain the hidden control behind the Conclave.
Nah, I still think she's dirty...to her invisible core!
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Here's how I see it.
I had originally thought of her as a schemer to take ownership of the Conclave, something like gaslighting Suspiria until she did it for her.
After all of this, she would be like "Suspiria did it, look, look!" I also suspected Bell (as I say, always the quiet ones) did alot of mind-control stuff and was way stronger than the Conclave originally believed.
And yet, a person who realizes that they aren't legitimate, means... they would have committed an act in full view that it would gain them nothing and cost them disgrace. Qtalda could simply have allowed everyone to believe she is dead (she's invisible after all), and the others Crest was talking to would be like "Ummmm she does have parents, it's possible everyone was brainwashed." The blame would still entirely be on Suspiria, but Qtalda could be a secret joint leader and Bell would ostensibly be the official admin of the Conclave. Nobody would even know she's still there (literally), and this is all it would take for her to get away with her plans. Instead, she refuses power, and openly admits that she is still alive.
That's not "part of a longer plan" that's sabotaging any plans you might have.
This is not to say she is not, as Suspiria puts it an "evil bitch." But as things go, neither the Thin Man (more of a Cloudcuckoolander (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CloudCuckoolander) scientist type) nor Suspiria (too powerful and unstable for her own good) nor even Qtalda are what you'd call stock villains.
Omae wa mou shindeiru (http://flipside.keenspot.com/comic.php?i=1975)
Update: Yes, she'd rule exactly like this, if she were trying to takie over. Publicly assign someone else and pull their strings. Exactly like... uh oh. :o
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Yeah... same old schemes different flavor. I just hope we someday get to the truth behind Suspiria's claims... and I hope we have not seen the last of Suspriria.. or her pursuit of happiness. She didn't 'deserve' the fate she was dealt.
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I actually think Melter is right (which in effect means her parents are alive). But I think Qtalda wasn't induced to lying either. While she didn't exactly murder them, she probably wrecked her relationship with her parents.
We have seen this sort of thing happen in Book 0. Magic has great power, but seems to have that potential for horror. Like inducing madness or paranoia. Or heightening power to the point where reality is out of control. I'm strongly reminded of Dark City, which I suspect Brion has seen (or should see, because it's kinda his style) where the aliens have a reality warping ability called tuning. The higher the level, the more their personality gets distorted.
Suspiria's parents probably got a sales pitch but she didn't actually actually want to stat there (and felt kidnapped). Then when she went back, she was a different person, but her parents seemed to be different people instead. Sorta like not being sure whether the sun orbits the Earth or vice versa, or an animal confusing its own face for a rival animal and charging it. Perception can become skewed.
What one of the intermissions tells us in that her real name is Inverness, and she used to be rather quiet and like a waitress or something. If we flash forward, there's this flashy persona and a girl with wild hair who calls herself a genius. We see a little of the old Inverness when Crest is hanging out with her, but I feel like this persona was built as a defense mechanism for dealing with bullying. And her parents probably didn't have the same feelings towards her as before because of this.
What we do know is that in a manner of speaking, Qtalda isn't lying. And Melter seems like a thug but not a liar. Qtalda does have a manipulative personality, and probably gave her no choice about backing out once she joined.
But is conversion to stone actually death, or just extreme dormancy?
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I still think Crest could 'wake' her. He never even tried to use the sword to heal her.. its also part of her power...and I think as long as that sword is magical.. her will still lives on. If only Crest would believe and ... be a bit more creative!
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Okay, good point about the sword. Provided Crest can stab stone with it. But I theorize that instead her soul went somewhere else. Melter said her spirit essence was gone:
http://flipside.keenspot.com/comic.php?i=3781
So maybe she just wished herself away or something. A secluded place where she could learn to handle her powers without bending the reality her friends are in. I mean, she is a genius and Melter DID give her brief info on what would've been needed to properly break the seals for a bunch of higher levels. So maybe that's enough for her to figure out on her own what to do retroactively AND what to watch out for when breaking future seals. Or she wished herself to a place with people who could teach her properly.
Though something will have to go wrong or else she's going to return as quite an OP character. Maybe Mary switches off the computer at the bottom of the pit and all magic will be gone instantly. XD
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I was thinking the same thing, but was thinking Suspiria is alot more human and alot more small town girl than all that. I think Suspiria is resting in Regina's mind. It kinda makes sense:
1. Regina suddenly gains a level
2. And like Suspiria starts calling herself by a new name (it's possible that this happened sometime between the statue incident and her losing her orb and exiting the Pit)
3. And immediately Regina hooks up with Crest. This feels kinda like Seifer in FF8 getting whispered in the ear when Rinoa gets possessed, only more benign cuz she's like "I'm sharing a body with your former gf" Regina is herself since Suspiria knows about "making" people do stuff, so this is more an "asking" to live in her body (she seems calm meaning either she completely doesn't know which is problematic later if she suddenly finds out, or she agreed to it because it gets her a nice bf). :-*
That Regina changed her name means she probably does know she isn't the same person anymore.
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Huh? Y'know Bulma... I like that theory! And it seems... story-wise consistent! :-*
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Yikes, that'd be exactly the amount of creepiness I'm used to seeing in this comic. So, yeah, I am favoring that theory over my own, too.
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Plus it has the whole cutesy "she lives on in me :-* " thing taken to a horror level.
Well, I also think some of her is powering the sword.
What a strange world Qtalda lives in if she believes smashing a statue is "treating a gravestone honorably." I think we're seeing a good example of exactly why Suspi is so angry and emotionally damaged.
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Yeah. But I am going to miss the Horned Suspiria.. I thought she was Deadly Sexy! Strong-willed women are terribly attractive... at least to me.
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I love cute glass-cannon women, too, like in Saikano. It would be sad to lose Suspiria, too, now that Mary has become so stone-cold as well. And if you look at Moby I'm starting to see a trend happen. I wonder what leading the leftovers of the Phalanx-leftovers will do to her.
Anyway, ever since Suspiria stopped being that arrogant bitch from the story's beginning, she has become my favorite character of this comic. I'd be surprised if a character just died right after getting revealed that they're way more powerful than anyone could possibly imagine. I believe that having her snap and turn to stone was a smart way of getting an OP character out of the picture for now. I call that the least amount of time we'll have to wait for her to return is the time it takes for Mary to learn how to use computers. ;)
Btw: I semi-randomly browsed StackExchange and found this:
https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/518087/single-word-for-being-half-in-this-world-half-in-some-other-spooky-plane-of-exi
Maybe Suspiria is currently indeed in a liminal existence, trapped between this world and the other. She could still subtly influence Regina and the others like that, without being able to communicate directly as of now.
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today's montage of growing friendship scenes...
'Ever get the feeling you were being stalked by some invisible sorcerous schemer? Maybe I'm just being paranoid?!?
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Awe Maytag! You scheming little tart... your plan is evident now... skinny dipping in a private lake! Yeah, I'll 'Bet' it'll be a "Magical Experience"! :-*
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That face again...
It's been a while... (http://flipside.keenspot.com/comic.php?i=1823)
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Maybe it's body switching.... 😏
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No, she said the opposite of group nudity.
This means it's a Lake of Prudishness. ;D
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My first guess, before she said the thing about the "opposite" of nudity, was:
This lake is able to reflect what is on the opposite side instead of your own reflection. Say hello to Eye, the youngest cat-lady ever. But maybe the lake does have multiple magical effects, so I'm still hoping that something along these lines is what Maytag thought for for her.
Or maybe Eye has a multi-use portal with her by now.
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She isn't wet!
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Yeah, Maytag's not wet... interesting...
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They Might Be Giants had a song about this... 😌
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I'm not sure that IS a good idea, so after this post I'm gonna make a poll on exactly that topic.
I've talked about the book that I've been making, I think. One of the major factors in how magic works is that there are runes and Original Intent. Runes are effectively reactions at an atomic levwl (or something, despite me explaining it in depth, it always felt like there was something I needed to refine). Basically Original Intent is matter as designed and no amount of runes can change that, but they can simulate energy or matter reactions. For instance, Original Intent means that metal rusts and water is wet and fire burn people. This means much of matter (besides fire and water, and the latter is usually lacking in a great deal of water's traits like being able to drink it) cannot be created. It also makes it difficult to impossible to dramatically shapeshift, though things like height or sex can change, the face largely stays the same. Nor can a person make metal that doesn't rust through magic (alchemy is a diff story) or alter water so it isn't wet (though, as I mentioned before they can summon water that lacks most traits), but they can dry up water or rust metal.
It occurs to me that in order to do this, the water is either illusory (read: not much fun to swim in), or greatly distorted from its natural chemistry (possibly closer to gelatin than water). Starting to agree with with the knights Bern wanted to join. That water creeps me out.
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is it just me, or does May seem like she's kinda gone commando in that dress? maybe she has plans for that water between her and Bern.
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Crest, you fool! She's practically giving herself to you! Make your move! 😆
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Oh boy, these last two pages slowly start to add some creepiness into this atmosphere. I.e. "Suspiria might be inside of Regina"-like creepiness. I mean
1. Regina isn't actually certain about her feelings towards Crest.
2. She doesn't feel the need to worry about "being careful" anymore.
Especially the 2nd point is something a being would think after having gone through a phase where she could massively alter reality with nothing but a thought.
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I get your feeling ...and part of me is hoping Suspiria is inside Regina.. and part of me is also dreading it! lol!
And yes she is practically waiting on Crest to make the move! Even just a tender kiss would be nice...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXQViqx6GMY
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Why does what Regina just said make me feel a tad uncomfortable? 🤨 She SHOULD care about herself.... 🤔
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OH SNAP!!! :o
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The thing about brain surgery, even magical brain surgery, is that it doesn't get undone simply because you turned off the thing that did it.
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Considering the last intermission was spent doing just that, this is a bit too meta.
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I want to be serene, too.
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I can be calm about all things... except the fact that when my parents die, I'll probably be making well below minimum wage and still not have a significant other.
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Uhm... Maytag...this is the part where you lie, Lie LIE! Cause now is NOT the time and place to be frankly honest!!
You need to approach that conversation at a different point... in a different moment... explaining right now...will confuse and hurt Bernadette's feelings...
I feel a train wreak coming on...
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She doesn't need to lie.
Maytag's choices would be exactly the same as Bern's. For completely different reasons.
Bern chose A or B, because unlike Polly, she doesn't enjoy hurting people. She's principled and a pacifist.
Maytag is likely to choose A and B, because while she could technically do C easier than Bern, she likes big orgies, and she doesn't care about pain. In fact, she made a similar choice already. Actually cut her fingers off at one point to save Bern, and cut out her eyes to bet past the Dark Cell.
Also, let's try to move the forums to here... https://discord.gg/CqDASP
Since this forum has been crashing lately.
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Hmmmm... 'Doctor Maytag' has avoided the potential pitfalls of revealing her inner self's motivations and without lying. Honestly, I do not believe she will actually lie to Bern... but she may say reveal...misleading truths to conceal the actual truth. Who knows perhaps she may come clean about the true core of her personality....
I wonder how Bern will take that, Crest was not so... pleased.
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I'm not convinced that Bern doesn't know about her true self. I mean, you need to have a certain amount of intimacy to have regular sexual intimacy. And it's likely that these two have had more than a few off-panel experiences together.
I also think that Killer Chef (I forget her name, but the psycho girl who works for Tin Man in exchange fore creating horrible monsters) is wrong about Maytag.
Emotionally cold people seem similar to people with antisocial (read: psycho) personalities, but they aren't necessarily the same. In fact, I'm told that depressed people also often have blunted emotions. Maytag is cheerful enough, but we're not really sure what the "true core" is actually. Just that she's a bit bland emotionally, and also very driven and determined, but unlike an actual psycho, most of her drive appears to be to belong. To fit in, to have people like her and entertained by her. In fact, judging from her motivation to get through the Dark Cell even if her memory is gone, her eyes are gouged out, and she's in terrible pain, I would venture a guess that her desire to entertain is an authentic desire.
Maybe she's a sad and lonely person at heart, who hides behind a mask of deadpan (from herself), and hides behind another mask of split personality (from others). In fact, we've seen her actually crying a few times, and more even than her deadpan, it seemed real. When people decide they don't rust her anymore is when she gets must upset, and she seems happiest not cracking jokes but being very honest (http://flipside.keenspot.com/comic.php?i=1341).
Update: I don't feel that's 100% true, just as all outlooks have some levels of hypocrisy. She doesn't for instance starve herself or eat to obesity, or use most drugs aside from alcohol that I can see. Well, I imagine the potions probably antidote most drugs to the point that they're not fun anymore. But still, it seems her lack of boundaries doesn't extend to any sort of self-abuse. Probably because since she accepts most pain, trying to hurt herself would be vaguely like tickling yourself.
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Hmmm... I see your point. Her answer was... not what I was expecting... but it is consistent with her behavior, but I think also... Maytag is an experience junky.
Consistent with her stated views that her body she thinks of as a tool for experience... she truly treats her body like an amusement park taxi... every new experience is something she cherishes! As long as 'the taxi', her body is not damaged permanently to prevent her from gaining more experiences she is ever curious. So even things most might think of as undesirable to experience, entering the Dark cell, surviving a gang rape, being seared alive in a volcanic eruption, or slow drifting to sleep due to hypothermia in a snow storm she swallows whole... as long as she can survive it to experience more things.
A philosophy of 'What destroys, traumatizes, drives to heights of mind numbing ecstasy or utterly exhausts the body does not really touch the spirit other than to collect the memory of the experience'!
But Maytag, needs to be mindful that philosophy is a potential path to madness. There are some experiences that WILL and DO touch one's core spirit and can affect even risk one's sanity!
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Hmmm... I see your point. Her answer was... not what I was expecting... but it is consistent with her behavior, but I think also... Maytag is an experience junky.
Consistent with her stated views that her body she thinks of as a tool for experience... she truly treats her body like an amusement park taxi... every new experience is something she cherishes! As long as 'the taxi', her body is not damaged permanently to prevent her from gaining more experiences she is ever curious. So even things most might think of as undesirable to experience, entering the Dark cell, surviving a gang rape, being seared alive in a volcanic eruption, or slow drifting to sleep due to hypothermia in a snow storm she swallows whole... as long as she can survive it to experience more things.
A philosophy of 'What destroys, traumatizes, drives to heights of mind numbing ecstasy or utterly exhausts the body does not really touch the spirit other than to collect the memory of the experience'!
But Maytag, needs to be mindful that philosophy is a potential path to madness. There are some experiences that WILL and DO touch one's core spirit and can affect even risk one's sanity!
I think that's the proviso we need to keep in mind, and probably bottom line as to why she's not hooked on drugs.
Likewise, she's probably not keen on dumping herself into a volcano either, but grabbing some lava and tossing it one her hand (after she knew about that arm regeneration thing), would probably be just peachy. May would probably be okay with a winter walk before sunrise, so long as she had somewhere to go afterwards.
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I'm ready for a splash page of Bern and May embraced in a tender kiss! :-*
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Tee-Hee! Thanks Brion! :-*
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Tee-Hee! Thanks Brion! :-*
You're welcome!
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So is Bern... Polly's Red Door, everything else is 'Painted Black'? ;)
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Yup, this is Bern on a "Booty Call"! :-X
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Yeah, I'm not sure how well this will work.
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"Now drop those panties and show me dem titties!"
Rolls eyes ;) lol!
I'm hoping for the best, honestly...
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'Sigh', no truer words were spoken.
"Because you love me. And you care about me..."
Indeed, when you love someone, it's about them... not yourself. Many People get that confused... loving someone is not about what you feel you need from or even for them that's not love that purely about You.
Love is about wanting them to be happy... not about what YOU feel they need but about what THEY feel they need to be Happy! When you love someone...truly love someone, what brings them happiness - brings You happiness!
Love is Not Selfish. TRUE love is completely Selfless!
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HAHAHAHA! Brion you're fucking with us! lols! ;D
'snicker' No Fair Trolling the Fans! Tee-Hee!!!
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"Every turn a surprise, and every moment forever..."
And here are other Disney songs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gRxJqEuQPA
I'll have more such songs, so I guess this is to be continued.
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'Sweet' Polly "Purebread" - "We should take it slow..."
Bernadette - "..."
'Sweet' Polly "Purebread" - "!?!?"
Bernadette - "...nah. Gimme some Sugar Baby!" {smooch}
;D
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Intemission -
Haha! I see what you did there Brion... Sweet Polly Purebread from the 'Underdog' Cartoon was Also a Reporter! 'snicker'
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Yeah I didn't get the Sweet Polly Purebred reference (if it's Underdog it's probably purebred not purebread, though we might not have seen it in print) since the last time I watched Underdog was 32 years ago.
I am entertained with her interview with a dead person.