Author Topic: Chapter 46: Discussion  (Read 49357 times)

Furcas

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Re: Chapter 46: Discussion
« Reply #30 on: June 13, 2016, 01:54:21 pm »
Anyone remember Ash from Book Zero?

That was my thought as well. Although it could be a new character too.


bulmabriefs144

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Re: Chapter 46: Discussion
« Reply #31 on: June 13, 2016, 04:59:20 pm »
This btw is what I'm talking about. They'll probably handicap them too.
"この世界の悪があれば本当に、それは人類の心の内にあります."
(Truly, if there is evil in this world, it lies within the heart of mankind)
—Edward D. Morrison

sunphoenix

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Re: Chapter 46: Discussion
« Reply #32 on: June 17, 2016, 07:03:20 am »
"Escape"? Escape as in fighting for their eventual freedom by this country's rules, or "escape" as in eventually "escaping" by literally fighting to plot an escape, and slipping out? I do recall posting that they should do the former...

Also.. they are far to public now with their new found renown.. if they tried to make a break for it ..even if they were not stopped immediately.. who do you think would be sent after them?  Yeah that's right ALL the "S" rank fighters as now it would like letting a pair of weapons of mass destruction loose... and look really bad on the 'Authority' of the Arena and Marvello{?Sp} Government for them to get away with it.

You can bet though.. the Arena is going to try to scheme a way for Bern and Polly to be forced into some kind of perpetual debt to Keep them fighting in the arena... its profitable for them after all to keep them fighting!

Polly is Sooo sexy when she's mad!  Too bad she's 'batting' for the other team... though I think she might be Bi actually... so hope springs eternal! :)

EDIT1#:  Hahaha! Love Bern's insight!  Yes "S" rank is a trap.. its dangerous and why risk her or her beloved Polly getting hurt when all they need to do is be patient?  Of course when they refuse.. I'm sure the powers that be will have something to say about their choice..it may soon not be a choice!
« Last Edit: June 17, 2016, 01:52:49 pm by sunphoenix »
"...no amount of force can control a free man, a man whose mind is free.  No, not the rack, not fission bombs, not anything - you can't conquer a free man; the most you can do is Kill him." - Robert A. Heinlein

bulmabriefs144

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Re: Chapter 46: Discussion
« Reply #33 on: June 17, 2016, 03:45:12 pm »
There are always choices. One of the biggest illusions is that other people can force us to do something. They actually can't.

They can try to manipulate us into thinking this, but if we have neither fear nor desire they can't bait us with the carrot or hit us with the stick. After that, the most they can do is try to kill us, and then all they have is a corpse not power over us.

Suppose for example, someone wanted me to stop being trans. "Just be a boy again!" They try to scalp me from my current job, offering more hours or better pay if I just play along. I say "screw that" and refuse the job. They threaten to get me fired. Once again, "screw that." If I'm doing a good job at my job, I can explain exactly what they said, and they can't actually say anything that will make that happen. They have no power.

A good leader knows this, and tries to make appealing options so the person neither feels manipulated nor coerced. A failed leader tries force, and someone like Gandhi makes their "rule" fall apart.

Bern and Polly can make any choices they like. If the Warden and (the other guy) are smart, they'll think of something that will make them a ton of money through gambling and get them out of their hair as quickly as possible before they get angry. Messing with someone who can fight is a bad idea.

"この世界の悪があれば本当に、それは人類の心の内にあります."
(Truly, if there is evil in this world, it lies within the heart of mankind)
—Edward D. Morrison

sunphoenix

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Re: Chapter 46: Discussion
« Reply #34 on: June 17, 2016, 06:52:57 pm »
To ALL your points I whole-heartedly agree... Mrs Briefs!  No amount of coercion or temptation would force me to give up my Christian beliefs or my stand for the Sovereignty of Jehovah God's name!

Again.. "You can't control a man whose mind is free... ", unburdened by fear or desire! :)
"...no amount of force can control a free man, a man whose mind is free.  No, not the rack, not fission bombs, not anything - you can't conquer a free man; the most you can do is Kill him." - Robert A. Heinlein

bulmabriefs144

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Re: Chapter 46: Discussion
« Reply #35 on: June 20, 2016, 01:33:45 pm »
Yeas sorry, I kinda blatantly plagiarized your signature.  ;D
"この世界の悪があれば本当に、それは人類の心の内にあります."
(Truly, if there is evil in this world, it lies within the heart of mankind)
—Edward D. Morrison

SAGG

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Re: Chapter 46: Discussion
« Reply #36 on: June 20, 2016, 07:52:09 pm »
Well, those are famous Last Words. :) And Brion, I think it's "guarantee", not "gaurantee". ;) Watch as the Powers To Be manipulate our Heroic Duo into doing what the Powers To Be want them to do, which is to fight S-rankers....

monimoni

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Re: Chapter 46: Discussion
« Reply #37 on: June 22, 2016, 02:12:36 am »
"The hard and soft brothers"?  ;D

bulmabriefs144

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Re: Chapter 46: Discussion
« Reply #38 on: June 22, 2016, 01:16:26 pm »
I assume they mean with regard to fighting form. Soft is stuff like judo which counters stuff, hard is direct force attacks.

Powers that be, not powers to be.

I think the time for manipulation is over. They have probably heard the playing it safe speech. This is likely one of the S-rank fighters jumping into the arena.
"この世界の悪があれば本当に、それは人類の心の内にあります."
(Truly, if there is evil in this world, it lies within the heart of mankind)
—Edward D. Morrison

SAGG

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Re: Chapter 46: Discussion
« Reply #39 on: June 22, 2016, 04:16:16 pm »
I assume they mean with regard to fighting form. Soft is stuff like judo which counters stuff, hard is direct force attacks.

Powers that be, not powers to be.

I think the time for manipulation is over. They have probably heard the playing it safe speech. This is likely one of the S-rank fighters jumping into the arena.
Yep. Annnd now it begins....

bulmabriefs144

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Re: Chapter 46: Discussion
« Reply #40 on: June 24, 2016, 05:15:35 am »
They're pretty clever. They study their enemy well. Unfortunately, this kinda means the challenge of A rank is gone. Bern and Polly might opt for S rank just to have actual battles.
"この世界の悪があれば本当に、それは人類の心の内にあります."
(Truly, if there is evil in this world, it lies within the heart of mankind)
—Edward D. Morrison

SAGG

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Re: Chapter 46: Discussion
« Reply #41 on: June 24, 2016, 12:22:25 pm »
Um, I didn't expect THAT. :)  Well played, Brion!

Azure Priest

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Re: Chapter 46: Discussion
« Reply #42 on: June 25, 2016, 07:40:18 am »
" It's A TRAP." They're arguing to lure Bern and Polly into a false sense of security to launch an otherwise ill-advised attack and get their asses handed to them.

It's hard to think otherwise seeing as they had plenty of opportunity to discuss strategy while waiting for the match.

sunphoenix

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Re: Chapter 46: Discussion
« Reply #43 on: June 26, 2016, 08:24:26 pm »
They both sound like Fan-boys of the sexy 'dynamic duo'.

Like sports fans arguing over whose better... Michael Jordan or Lebron James! :)
"...no amount of force can control a free man, a man whose mind is free.  No, not the rack, not fission bombs, not anything - you can't conquer a free man; the most you can do is Kill him." - Robert A. Heinlein

SAGG

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Re: Chapter 46: Discussion
« Reply #44 on: June 27, 2016, 12:50:46 am »
Welp, THAT'S not working! :) What now, dude?

mittfh

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Re: Chapter 46: Discussion
« Reply #45 on: June 27, 2016, 11:20:22 am »
Oops - I think one of the brothers is in need of a new sword...

...and with the buildup required to perform that move, Bernadette had plenty of time to get into position.

Of course, what neither brother's realised is that neither Bern nor Polly individually are the true threat, but the combination of both. Meanwhile, with Polly's observation from p18 that they didn't pose a problem, she definitely didn't expect them to be that unchallenging (then again, neither did the MC).

Now is the thing attached to his brother's right arm a second weapon or a shield? If the latter, then the brothers are reduced to one weapon against the combination of Bern and Polly - added onto which, their reputation's just taken a bit of a dent...

dekutree64

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Re: Chapter 46: Discussion
« Reply #46 on: June 28, 2016, 03:41:03 am »

bulmabriefs144

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Re: Chapter 46: Discussion
« Reply #47 on: June 28, 2016, 04:31:45 am »
Oops - I think one of the brothers is in need of a new sword...

...and with the buildup required to perform that move, Bernadette had plenty of time to get into position.

Of course, what neither brother's realised is that neither Bern nor Polly individually are the true threat, but the combination of both. Meanwhile, with Polly's observation from p18 that they didn't pose a problem, she definitely didn't expect them to be that unchallenging (then again, neither did the MC).

Now is the thing attached to his brother's right arm a second weapon or a shield? If the latter, then the brothers are reduced to one weapon against the combination of Bern and Polly - added onto which, their reputation's just taken a bit of a dent...

He also took quite a bit of shrapnel from the looks of it.

Quote
Oh my god, he just ran in.

The Leeroy Jenkins story is always told from the party's perspective. But actually looking from Leeroy's perspective, what he did was pretty much on point, he did his job as an tank to generate aggro away from the party. They spent over a minute gabbing about strategy in the video, and display a complete inability to think on their feet. As in, they spend the whole time trying to follow someone who was leading the enemies around. Instead, they could have come up with a four second plan. "Wizards, ready your AOEs. Fighters and Rogues concentrate on one creature at a time to break their line. Buffers buff. Healers heal. I don't know what Leeroy is doing but let's just go in." Not the best pan, but enough to keep them alive for awhile. They had no plan B, they just followed Leeroy, broke formation and pretty much died from panic.
"この世界の悪があれば本当に、それは人類の心の内にあります."
(Truly, if there is evil in this world, it lies within the heart of mankind)
—Edward D. Morrison

monimoni

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Re: Chapter 46: Discussion
« Reply #48 on: June 30, 2016, 08:52:12 am »
Ouch. I sorta feel bad for them..
Hard brother might've had a point. But how do you defend against a flying steel ball?
« Last Edit: June 30, 2016, 08:54:02 am by monimoni »

mittfh

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Re: Chapter 46: Discussion
« Reply #49 on: June 30, 2016, 02:06:16 pm »
Ouch. I sorta feel bad for them..
Hard brother might've had a point. But how do you defend against a flying steel ball?

You either block it or move out of its trajectory - given in the last panel it looks as though Polly's already launched the ball, Hard's leaving it rather late to defend himself (perhaps still in shock about the downfall of Soft?), so this may turn out to be an unexpectedly short match.

bulmabriefs144

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Re: Chapter 46: Discussion
« Reply #50 on: June 30, 2016, 05:00:57 pm »
Someone's been watching too much of the Phantasm movies.  ;D


"この世界の悪があれば本当に、それは人類の心の内にあります."
(Truly, if there is evil in this world, it lies within the heart of mankind)
—Edward D. Morrison

sunphoenix

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Re: Chapter 46: Discussion
« Reply #51 on: July 01, 2016, 03:41:01 am »
...I think she's gonna 'ball' him!
"...no amount of force can control a free man, a man whose mind is free.  No, not the rack, not fission bombs, not anything - you can't conquer a free man; the most you can do is Kill him." - Robert A. Heinlein

monimoni

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Re: Chapter 46: Discussion
« Reply #52 on: July 01, 2016, 07:58:03 am »
Yeah. I guess guys with standard weapons have little chance against these two. Shouldve kept them both busy
« Last Edit: July 01, 2016, 08:03:51 am by monimoni »

bulmabriefs144

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Re: Chapter 46: Discussion
« Reply #53 on: July 01, 2016, 07:43:21 pm »
Interestingly, these weapons have a great deal in common with Taoism themes.

http://taoism.about.com/od/meditation/a/Fun_With_Mirrors.htm

Bern's weapon is a mirror, a group of swords that channel force from one to another, and also act as portals where attacks, "magical" or not, travel through to the other side.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baoding_balls

And Polly's balls are vaguely reminiscent of those metal exercise balls you rotate in your hand. This is exactly what this curve looked like when I saw.

Both groups are sort of a matchup of sword and shield motif. It looks like these ones are clearly skilled, but in terms of class ranking they are kinda needing to beef up the challenge. That said, it is important to remember that gladiators were originally slaves. If S rank was so great, you would think all the convicts would be out by now.
"この世界の悪があれば本当に、それは人類の心の内にあります."
(Truly, if there is evil in this world, it lies within the heart of mankind)
—Edward D. Morrison

sunphoenix

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Re: Chapter 46: Discussion
« Reply #54 on: July 04, 2016, 06:11:54 am »
FINISH HIM!

..flawless victory!
"...no amount of force can control a free man, a man whose mind is free.  No, not the rack, not fission bombs, not anything - you can't conquer a free man; the most you can do is Kill him." - Robert A. Heinlein

mittfh

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Re: Chapter 46: Discussion
« Reply #55 on: July 07, 2016, 12:12:29 am »
So both brothers are down for the count, but the MC hasn't announced Polly and Bern as the winners.

Hmmm.

Given the spectators have paid to see the fight, I wouldn't be surprised if the venue has a contingency plan for unexpectedly short fights, e.g. bring someone else out to fight the victors (although they may not get any extra credit for the extra match)...

bulmabriefs144

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Re: Chapter 46: Discussion
« Reply #56 on: July 07, 2016, 08:38:51 am »
You can do an S-Rank-up match. Or you can do A-Rank battle royal style, as an S-rank-up challenge. You choice.

 ;D

"この世界の悪があれば本当に、それは人類の心の内にあります."
(Truly, if there is evil in this world, it lies within the heart of mankind)
—Edward D. Morrison

monimoni

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Re: Chapter 46: Discussion
« Reply #57 on: July 09, 2016, 02:53:14 am »
Whoa. I had a feeling about this. Please don't kill Polly :(

sunphoenix

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Re: Chapter 46: Discussion
« Reply #58 on: July 09, 2016, 03:46:26 pm »
Oh Crap no.. Don't kill Polly!
"...no amount of force can control a free man, a man whose mind is free.  No, not the rack, not fission bombs, not anything - you can't conquer a free man; the most you can do is Kill him." - Robert A. Heinlein

Azure Priest

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Re: Chapter 46: Discussion
« Reply #59 on: July 09, 2016, 03:57:56 pm »
Well. We've already seen that they're willing to "overlook" the death penalty when one of their gladiators doesn't do what they want. They wanted Bern and Poly in S-class. Since Poly and Bern refused, out come the poison darts.