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Messages - mittfh

Pages: 1 2 3 [4]
91
Flipside Discussion / Re: Chapter 40: Discussion
« on: March 29, 2014, 05:47:49 am »
If he can give her a partial payment first, she she be able to afford bailing out Bern and her sexy friend from Marvallo and probably have enough left over to buy her talk-show.

Except she doesn't yet know what Bern and Penny are up to - the last she heard from Bern, Bern was staying a while to help get dad back on the proverbial straight and narrow.

As for the wrong questions, she hasn't yet asked what the required task is or (crucially, given the money on offer), what the risks are, or the question it's probably best not to ask - who's funding him and why...

92
Flipside Discussion / Re: Chapter 40: Discussion
« on: March 27, 2014, 12:18:02 am »
Hehe - May's having similar thoughts to mine a couple of weeks ago:

(c) has he got twenty million gold?
If so, (i) what portion of his fortune is he prepared to give away?
(ii) will he really do so, or is he just bluffing?

I just love the way she completely blindsided him with that :) If she sees evidence of his wealth, I wonder if she'll then ask him up front how he acquired it...

93
Free Talk / Re: Post your desktop
« on: March 25, 2014, 03:14:32 pm »
(Yes, I know it's been over a year since anyone posted here, but I'm hoping the occasional thread necromancy might encourage a few people back...)

So I'm running Arch + xfce + Kwin + Cairo Dock across two monitors (a 24" full HD TV on the left [1980x1080], a 19" monitor to the right [1440x900]).
The preview below is 1117x359, clicking on it will take you to a near full sized version (3128x1005 compared to the 3360x1080 original).

The picture is a DIY photo of part of Kenilworth Castle - the central portion with the large windows was originally the Great Hall, with vaulted stores below.


94
Free Talk / Re: Forumite Picture thread
« on: March 25, 2014, 02:19:32 pm »
From a couple of years ago...

Helpful hint: I'm the one to the right of the picture :)

The blonde bombshell was Bessie, who lived to 12 years 1 day.

She was up and active right up until her final day, when mum noticed she was extremely lethargic (very unusual for Bessie!). The vet diagnosed internal bleeding and in the operation to clear it up, allegedly discovered a malignant tumour that they claimed had infested almost every organ in her body. With a prognosis of a few weeks life expectancy that would probably be in agony, mum decided to have her put to sleep while she was still under the influence of the anaesthetic. I'm hedging as it seems slightly suspicious that she displayed no signs whatsoever of being in the advanced stages of metastasis before that final day, and several other dogs on the estate succombed to the same fate within about a month of each other.


95
Hall of Games / Re: Guess who's next!
« on: March 25, 2014, 01:39:44 pm »
(So this thread's been abandoned for 18 months - as it's pinned, there's no harm in attempting to revive it)...

I'll go with Madhopps, since he's about the only person left here...

(Please, someone else prove me wrong!)

96
Hall of Games / Re: More Words!
« on: March 25, 2014, 01:37:04 pm »
Ascend

97
Hall of Games / Re: The Alphabet Game
« on: March 25, 2014, 01:31:35 pm »
Hmm...

...M...

...a tricky one...

...now let's see...

...what could there possibly be in the Flipsideverse starting with that letter? :D

M - Maytag.

98
Hall of Games / Re: The Alphabet Game
« on: March 24, 2014, 02:57:51 pm »
K is for Kings - while we haven't met any yet, and while Iscariot isn't a monarchy (it's a kind of oligarchy), May implies that monarchies do exist elsewhere in the Flipsideverse.

99
Flipside Discussion / Re: Chapter 40: Discussion
« on: March 21, 2014, 01:14:28 am »
Wahey! Rationality kicks in - and May's comment that most people wouldn't see more than a few hundred thousand in their entire lifetimes gives a perspective to the offer - it's like offering one of us a few hundred million (or maybe a billion or two) currency units (multiply that by a hundred if you're somewhere like Japan where one Yen is equivalent to a penny/cent elsewhere!), since for the ultra-wealthy, a few hundred thousand would seem like pocket money.

On the other hand, he isn't giving off any tell-tale signs of bluffing, and those around him seem unmoved by his apparent generosity - which begs the question even more, how the heck did he accumulate so much wealth? Does he have his own personal gold mine?!

[EDIT 9:50pm]

Ooh - a conspiracy theory! To date, we've only encountered one country: Iscariot (Marvallo, where Bern is currently having fun (not!), is a region of iscariot - see Intermission 6) - but so far I don't think we've been told Iscariot has a monarchy (unless I've forgotten it!) - the Conclave are the nearest thing to government, and appear to be answerable only to themselves.

100
Flipside Discussion / Re: Chapter 40: Discussion
« on: March 16, 2014, 12:39:59 am »
So not one million gold, but twenty million. Please May, don't let the rational side of your brain get switched off by the emotional side:

(a) you don't get something for nothing,
(b) if he's willing to part with twenty million, just how dangerous is the task he wants you to do?
(c) has he got twenty million gold?
If so, (i) what portion of his fortune is he prepared to give away?
(ii) will he really do so, or is he just bluffing?
(iii) is it a grant or a loan?
(iv) how did he acquire his wealth? Robbery, "donations" from previous test subjects, business / investments, or dug out of a hole in the ground?

It wouldn't surprise me if pushed on the subject, he'd claim he asked the Qualia how he could make money fast...

101
Flipside Discussion / Re: Chapter 40: Discussion
« on: March 12, 2014, 01:10:04 am »
And so Round 2 of the negotiations begins. I wonder how many rounds it will take before they arrive at a mutually acceptable compromise...

[EDIT Thursday 13th March]

I think I can see where this is going - Lehm will offer her one million gold if she agrees to do the dark cell thing, whereupon in return May will almost certainly ask for proof he can / will do so.
As the financial services disclaimer says, "Past performance is not a guide to future performance" - just because Lehm's been open and honest (albeit manipulative) to date, it doesn't necessarily mean he'll remain open and honest when the going gets tough. One million gold is a lot of money - how's he accumulated so much?

102
Hall of Games / Re: The Alphabet Game
« on: March 04, 2014, 12:24:04 am »
I is for the various occasions when characters have broken through the Fourth Wall and agreed to give interviews with their audience...

103
Hall of Games / Re: The Alphabet Game
« on: March 01, 2014, 01:57:55 pm »
I thought I'd wait and give a chance for others to jump in, but what the heck, maybe if us two keep playing, it will eventually tempt others over to the Hall of Games :)

G is for Glyph, who drove our intrepid quartet (Bern, May, Crest, Suspira) from Brahma to Eschelon.

104
Flipside Discussion / Re: Chapter 40: Discussion
« on: March 01, 2014, 01:52:12 pm »
Lehm still hasn't realised he's dealing with a (pretty darn good) poker player, which means (a) she's not going to trust him until he's proved his honesty beyond all reasonable doubt; (b) she's not going to give anything away, (c) she'll be more than capable of leading him (and his entourage) up the proverbial garden path before making a final decision.

Lehm may be a biodevisor and an unusual variety of seer, but he is evidently not a poker player. He's evidently unused to people saying "no", and it wouldn't surprise me if he's occasionally used the two week gambit before...

105
Flipside Discussion / Re: Chapter 40: Discussion
« on: February 22, 2014, 08:48:58 am »
(Merci beaucoup! :) )

So, dinnertime, and we find out the enigmatic Marce is a bit of a seamstress. Lehm's evidently done his research and found that May tends to be more confident when wearing her jester outfit.

As for the ring not working, it may be that Lehm's disabled it, on the other hand, it may be that in her current predicament, Bern's no longer wearing hers. No doubt we'll find out in due course :)

-oOo-

[Update: 25th Feb 2014 - to avoid a double post]

Hah! Sorry Lehm, you've just found someone who isn't taken in by your charms and hospitality - bad luck! :)

Although knowing May, she may qualify it as saying either (a) she'd only do so with the express authorisation of Bern, or (b) she'd only do it alongside Bern.

106
Flipside Discussion / Re: Chapter 39: Discussion
« on: February 19, 2014, 11:52:39 pm »
[Technically this is Chapter 40 discussion, but while we're waiting for that thread to be created...]

So, dinnertime, and we find out the enigmatic Marce is a bit of a seamstress. Lehm's evidently done his research and found that May tends to be more confident when wearing her jester outfit.

As for the ring not working, it may be that Lehm's disabled it, on the other hand, it may be that in her current predicament, Bern's no longer wearing hers.

107
Flipside Discussion / Re: Chapter 39: Discussion
« on: February 17, 2014, 10:00:17 am »
I can barely remember how Dark Cell was described earlier

Here's what Lehm asked of Maytag, together with the preamble (and yes, he does use double exclamation marks for added emphasis):

Quote from: Lehm in Chapter 37
So are the answers coming from the Qualia themselves, or from their creator?
Why am I allowed to find out information about the Qualia, but not about their creator?
Was a power such as mine anticipated?
Who or what is their creator?
And what is the purpose of magic?
Is it simply a generous gift for humanity?
What if our lives on this planet are nothing more than a game?
Or an experiment?

The answers to all of these questions are within my reach!
The truth must be revealed!! This world is shrouded by the greatest lie mankind has ever known! I believe it's my duty to lift that veil!!

Just so you know, Maytag, we didn't bring you here to experiment on you. There is something we need you to do. It involves a place called "Dark Cell." But we'll talk about that more tomorrow. For now, take some time to yourself to reflect on what I've told you. It's a lot to digest.

The journey down to Grant's house took about a month, then there were probably a couple more days to find his house - whereupon there was a brief reunion between Bern and May. Taking Grant to a healer, getting violent when they asked for money, getting arrested and taken to the Colosseum probably took about a week or so. So, if you ignore the brief flying visit from what was probably a week or two ago for them, they've probably been separated for about 1? months to date. As for how much longer they'll remain separated, barring a miracle another four months at the earliest: the sentence is 500 marks. Polly claimed it's possible to earn up to 50 marks a week (presumably at Rank A or S, so maybe up to 5 marks per fight?), while Rank D is the slow route (1 mark per fight?)

So, all together, a total separation time of somewhere between six months and a year looks a feasible range.

108
Hall of Games / Re: The Alphabet Game
« on: February 15, 2014, 12:21:54 am »
E is for Eschelon, where Crest's currently attempting to deal with a supercharged Suspira...

109
Flipside Discussion / Re: Chapter 39: Discussion
« on: February 14, 2014, 12:03:48 pm »
The title of chapter 40 is "The Dark Cell" so it is probably moving back to May.

Well, that cover image is of May, so it's likely returning to her experiences (and if it's a reflection of her attire in the Dark Cell, then we'll also be seeing plenty of strategically placed scenery / props!) - so I predict Chapter 41 will take us back to Suspira and Crest, and 42 back to Bern. 43 will either repeat the cycle or have the three groups meeting up again.

In the story's timeline, I think everything that's happened so far has taken place within a few months - while the story's largely been continuous, we have had a few time jumps, for example we're told Bern's ~600 mile journey South took about a month, and was covered in a single page.

110
Flipside Discussion / Re: Chapter 39: Discussion
« on: February 14, 2014, 12:35:23 am »
So it looks as though Chapter 40 will be continuing Bern's adventures in the Colosseum - possibly with Grant as well, if he gets too impatient to to wait for bureaucracy and breaches the "No violence" rule...

111
Flipside Discussion / Re: Chapter 39: Discussion
« on: February 10, 2014, 11:36:22 pm »
;D Boo-ya! Now Bern can show them what a true knight is capable of. Get'm, girl! And go, Daddy, for getting the sword!

That, of course, depends on whether he can convince the Powers That Be to give Bern the sword, which is far from guaranteed...

Meanwhile, I think I remember reading someone on a previous discussion thread predicting that Bern's actions would convince Grant to buy back the sword - whoever they were, congratulations on accuracy :)

112
Flipside Discussion / Re: Chapter 39: Discussion
« on: February 07, 2014, 08:27:14 am »
Ack! It seems as though Warden's peeved that Bern showed some skill - but not quite enough to defeat her. So, it looks as though Bern's now on the slow, lonely route to escaping the Colosseum unless / until she expands her range of tactics.

Still, not every inmate's going to be as tough as Warden, so with a bit of luck she may be able to advance beyond D before too long...

113
Hall of Games / Re: The Alphabet Game
« on: February 06, 2014, 01:00:45 am »
Yes, I'm aware of Book 0 and will get around to reading it sometime - but since Book 1 (to date) consumed every evening for a week plus most of the weekend (38 chapters --> 3 double size,  35 standard size = 41 chapter equivalents = 1,230 strips. Add 171 intermission strips = 1,401 strips), I'll hold off for the time being :)

C is for Crest, who started off as a fairly main character, got Demoted To Extra (which got Lampshaded in one intermission), but is starting to re-emerge again (once we've got back to events in Eschelon - probably in two chapters time, after finishing Bern's intro to the Colosseum and catching up on May's encounter with The Thin Man).

(And no, I'm not linking to TV Tropes - you're all more than capable of getting yourselves lost there without me making it even easier!)

114
Flipside Discussion / Re: Chapter 39: Discussion
« on: February 06, 2014, 12:46:14 am »
Ouch! That CRACK doesn't sound very healthy - hopefully Bern's got another strategy up her sleeve.

Even if she can't defeat Warden (and get promoted to Category A), the skill and initiative she's shown may be enough to raise her to a B.

115
Hall of Games / The Alphabet Game
« on: February 03, 2014, 03:14:49 pm »
Something a little different to previous games here, but something that's worked well on a few other fora I've participated in.

The concept's simple enough: work our way through the alphabet, naming characters / places / weapons / concepts etc. within the Flipside Universe. I'll kick off with A, the next poster finds something starting with B, the following poster C etc. If we manage to get to Z, we'll wrap around - at which point, if I remember, I'll put a summary of the answers to date at the bottom of this post so we don't repeat ourselves.

Obviously, some letters will be harder than others, so if a reasonable period of time (about a day?) transpires without anyone posting the next letter and you can't think of a word starting with it, you can cheat - either by using a word where it's the second letter (e.g. eXperiment) or skipping it.

So to get you started:

A is for Ashley (Former Assassin, Rogue Warrior according to her Bio page. Book 0 character?)

116
Flipside Discussion / Re: Chapter 39: Discussion
« on: February 03, 2014, 02:49:44 pm »
(Hi all, yes, first post here - spent most of last week reading the tale from start to present)

Bernie Being up close and personal to Warden limits Warden's ability to use the handheld cannon thingy she used a couple of strips ago, so it looks as though they're going to be using fists only. Added onto which, Warden can't use her chain as that's currently tying up Polly. Warden's rules state that if Bernie can knock her down, she'll automatically be promoted to Class A.

Once this match is over, given Bern's preferred fighting style is counter-attacks, it might be fruitful for her and Polly to discuss tactics at some time - perhaps when they get more experienced fighters, Polly starts off the fight (if their opponent doesn't make the first move) then Bern completes it. Of course, if they're fighting as a duo, it may mean they have to face two opponents - in which case, the perfect counter may be putting #2 in the way of #1's attack, or coaxing #1 and #2 to start attacking each other.

Regarding the speculation about Bern and Polly facing Mary / Mary's clones, I'd say very unlikely. Mary's currently up in Eschelon and will probably bump into Suspira and Crest at some point (possibly in Ch. 41, since 37 was the Three Paths, 38 was Suspira, 39 is Bern, so logically 40 will probably be Maytag). Bern and Polly are down in Marvallo - starting off at a town about a month's journey away from Eschelon (~600 miles [1]) - which, after all, is a different country (albeit there aren't any border controls - then again, with portals they'd probably be pointless). I don't think deporting criminals is The Conclave's style - besides which, dead people usually remain dead :)

Now if it's not considered too off-topic, a couple of quick thoughts on the other two paths:

Suspira probably still blames Mary for Kin's death, so I can't imagine the two teaming up soon. However, given both Maytag and The Thin Man speculating that despite her need for flesh and bloodlust, she doesn't necessarily have to be the ogre she is currently, maybe at some point in time she teams up with someone who happens to have (a) a conventional diet, (b) high pain resistance, (c) high regeneration ability. It's remotely possible Crest's healing sword may have a beneficial effect, but I wouldn't count on it.

With Maytag, The Dark Cell sounds rather ominous - albeit more of a psychological experiment rather than a biological one. I'm not yet convinced by the Qualia's existence - untold billions of nanobots floating around in the air, capable of producing any effect perceived as magical? Then again, The Thin Man is the closest we've got to Mad Scientist territory, the kind of villain who thinks his experiments will eventually benefit all of humanity, so in the grand scheme of things won't mind a few dozen / hundred failures en-route.

[1] In the real world, horses can travel about 20 miles a day (with breaks every couple of hours). So assuming Flipside months are approximately the same length as earth months (~30 days), then Bern's about 600 miles away from Eschelon. She may be slightly nearer or slightly farther, depending on where The Colosseum is in Marvallo.

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