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 Post Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 4:30 am 
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Rare, but I wouldn't say terrifying. They made their choice pretty immediately. Now, their choice says a lot about them for sure. Either the Sashas generally default to nonlethal actions when left to their own devices among enemies (haha), or more likely, they weren't entirely full of it when they expressed their continued feelings for Riff back at the hotel.

I suspect Sasha has always seen Riff as someone of a similar mind to her. Both view the world in a technical way, and see morality as fairly black and white. They value action over communication, and are both afraid of commitment. In that vein, I now wonder if Sasha views herself as a monster who needs to be taken down. That's why she gave Torg that gun, and it's probably why she yelled at him that his fight was there with her - her sense of justice dictates that Torg is the most deserving of being the one to slay her. Hmmm...maybe, maybe not.

Also, "Kusashi" sounds like some kind of awful cucumber-based sushi roll. *shudder* nooo thanks :P

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 Post Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 2:54 pm 
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TCCPhreak wrote:
Kesandru wrote:
So, she didn't kill Riff because of a loophole. She obeys the letter of the order but not the intent. This explains a lot about her/them.

I read today's comic a bit different: Having a choice seems to be a rare and terrifying thing for them - just as if they were used to having someone higher up to give orders or answer questions.

Regards,

TCC

I'd be willing to buy that interpretation. However, as I noticed - and MerlinOfChaos gave voice to in the Reactions thread - Aylee plummeted to the ground, she did not "fly off somewhere". Sniper-Sasha had to have seen that. Kusari-Sasha must know that as well. So why prevaricate? Especially to each other?

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 Post Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2017 12:46 am 
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TCCPhreak wrote:
Kesandru wrote:
So, she didn't kill Riff because of a loophole. She obeys the letter of the order but not the intent. This explains a lot about her/them.

I read today's comic a bit different: Having a choice seems to be a rare and terrifying thing for them - just as if they were used to having someone higher up to give orders or answer questions.

Regards,

TCC


I think it's rare, but not necessarily terrifying.

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 Post Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2017 11:22 pm 
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So I think one of the big questions right now, besides how Kusari deals with free will, is the singular or multiple nature of her/them. Are there multiple minds kept aware of each other and under the same commands from Hereti-Corp? Or is there one mind, which can act using multiple bodies at once, just like using two arms/hands at once? Or somewhere in between?

Up until today's strip, Kusari and Sasha have both always referred to themselves as I, I think. But now the Kusashi are talking to each other, as 'we.' And one of them seems to be lying to the other about Aylee. But on the other hand, they said 'our choice' in a way that kind of implied it was impossible for them to ultimately have two different opinions on the matter, and resolved the choice without further conversation. And they are extremely adept at finishing each others' sentences.

Maybe it will pay to examine Pete's past approach to linked minds with Vrykolakas...

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 Post Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2017 4:01 pm 
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@FMA: The bit about Aylee is puzzling. Regardless of how the Kusari/Sasha minds work, you would think that if one Sasha knows something, then the other would. So is it possible for sniper-Sasha to lie to Kusari-Sasha about Aylee? That concept seems off...

On the other hand, I've noticed that twice now sniper-Sasha looks at Kusari-Sasha, as Kusari-Sasha notices something and/or reacts to something, before sniper-Sasha then joins in. In that sense it is at least not a perfectly synced hive mind... Yet given the examples that you've noted, they do seem to be syncing...?

In other words, I got nothing....

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 Post Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2017 11:43 pm 
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You're right, it does kind of look like Kusari-Sasha tends to take the lead over sniper-Sasha. It definitely looks like sniper-Sasha looked at her looking at Riff, and in the next strip it feels like she's following her again.

It's hard to tell, though. It would be helpful to see more of their interactions.

But the apparent lying does seem very strange... information does not seem guaranteed to flow from one unit to the other.

It's also interesting that Kusari-Sasha was stabbed in about the same place as Sasha when she was stabbed by Oasis, but seems much less affected by it. Of course, the other Sasha was stabbed a couple more times, as well.

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 Post Posted: Tue Oct 24, 2017 7:25 pm 
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I was just thinking. Now that we know Kusari is Sasha(s)...

...do we want to see Zoe fight for wisdom? :zoe:

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 Post Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2017 3:04 pm 
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Completely wild spec*:

I was thinking that we have many Sashas - one mind. Yet we see some hints that such thinking may not be so true. Sasha's apparent regret/remorse when she went to see Torg in the hotel room. Sniper-Sasha apparently lying (?) to Kusari-Sasha about Aylee, and Kusari-Sasha not catching on. It has also been implied that Sniper-Sasha looks to Kusari-Sasha... So what if many Sashas (or at least one other active one at any one time) are mostly controlled by a Kusari-Sasha, which has been programmed to be loyal to hC no matter what; but they have an otherwise "innocent" innate personality that can somewhat assert itself. If that is true, what happens to the control over the other Sasha(s) when Kusari-Sasha is killed? What control - if any - does hC have over the other Sasha(s) while they replace Kusari - which apparently takes some time to occur.

So what happens if Chen means physical binds, and Oasis promptly so stabs her sister so many lots? Would Sniper-Sasha be free to help the gang?

*I'm usually wildly wrong about any spec that I verbalize in these forums, but I'd kind of like to be right about this - and not just to be right....

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 Post Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2017 8:01 pm 
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swmartian wrote:
*I'm usually wildly wrong about any spec that I verbalize in these forums, but I'd kind of like to be right about this - and not just to be right....

It's okay, just spec the opposite of what you want to happen.

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 Post Posted: Sat Oct 28, 2017 12:37 am 
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The only thing that potentially makes that not work is multiple Sashas have been Kusari now. So it's most likely not the physical body that's bound to obey HeretiCorp, otherwise they'd have rogue Sashas every damn time Kusari's been killed.

On the other hand, if she was playing the long con, that could have been the case every time and she simply chose not to break cover. The thing about great double-agents is they're also great triple-agents

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 Post Posted: Sat Oct 28, 2017 9:22 pm 
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Kind of building off swmartian's idea, maybe the Kusari project has three parts: a computer (or completely synthetic mind of some kind) which literally interprets commands from the head of Hereti-Corp, a 'lead' Kusari/Sasha, and the other Sashas. When the Kusashi are in range of Hereti-Corp's network, the computer and lead are aware of the activities of all the others, and the computer sends signals to the lead (and others? not sure about that) which enforce obedience, according to existing programming/brainwashing. The Kusashi may be sent on missions outside of Hereti-Corp's range, but their activities will be recorded and later reviewed by the computer; if they disobey they will be punished, and lose 'status' (less likely to become lead). This enforces obedience as the Kusashi have an incentive even when they are not in range of the network, or a lead Kusashi/Kusari dies.

But, there is at least one Sasha (the one or more than one which actually spent time with the gang) who actually became attached to them. She/they was/were upset about the betrayal, which explains the interaction with Torg. It might even be the case that the story about a Sasha becoming attached to them, who was normally bad at forming relationships (as opposed to the one who married the senator's aide), was true, although possibly not told by the same Sasha.

This would allow the Sasha the gang knows to have some degree of character, and possibly play a redemptive role in what will happen.

Likely at most three Sashas have interacted with the gang, but I would guess two. Each Sasha has her own personality and is a separate person to an extent, and the Sasha who was killed by Oasis was actually a different Sasha, maybe. (Very much guesswork trying to decide which Sasha was which, but I'm thinking that the Sasha(s) that like(s) the gang the most have survived for plot reasons). The lead Kusari, being aware of all the Sashas and influenced by their emotions maybe kind of likes Riff, but 'our' Sasha was the one with the sniper, and lied about Aylee knowing she could get away with it, and mentioned bringing Riff because of personal reasons and/or a desire to see Hereti-Corp/Schlock/control over her destroyed.

This would also explain why an agent which we might have assumed Schlock would trust because of having direct control over was asked for a 'proof selfie.' Or maybe Schlock was just getting paranoid about Kusari after the bloody rampage incident; there's some evidence that way too.

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 Post Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2017 1:45 pm 
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Eh, I still like my "each Kusari has a different name" spec tying into the number 3, but I do think you're right in that the Sasha the gang interacted with is still alive. I felt that her "death" at the hands of Oasis was too easy, given that she was a main character and that we've seen her survive worse. My theory is that she's still alive, and that it's not a coincidence story-wise that she was "killed" not far from Sinthea's residence. I'm guessing Riff would not have been able to tell whether she was actually dead due to the ability we've seen of her being able to mimic death. Her vitals were probably just undetectable. She later revived in the ambulance, hence why the death wasn't reported on the news (I don't think her being HC quite covers it.), or Teresa intercepted the body. Assuming that the Kusari connection uses the fate web, a skilled fate magician, say Sinthea, could separate Sasha from the other Kusaris.

As for the redemption idea, I think that's essentially guaranteed. I think Pete's always meant for Sasha to be a sympathetic character, one that we were supposed to grow attached to, which is why so many in the community have responded to the betrayal with vitriol towards the character, and that's why the psychopath interpretation (which I do not agree with) was formed. But, through all that, Pete has still portrayed Sasha as someone we're supposed to feel attached to, even sympathetic toward. That's not something he'd be doing if he meant for her to be a psychopath or another run of the mill baddie. There's a bit of spec I've been sitting on, partly because I haven't been sure of where to put it, that there's a parallel between Sasha and Mosp and that this story is not about HC, but about Kusari and Oasis and about the start of Sasha's redemption arc.

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 Post Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2017 2:48 pm 
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Bulbazak wrote:
I felt that her "death" at the hands of Oasis was too easy, given that she was a main character and that we've seen her survive worse. My theory is that she's still alive, and that it's not a coincidence story-wise that she was "killed" not far from Sinthea's residence. I'm guessing Riff would not have been able to tell whether she was actually dead due to the ability we've seen of her being able to mimic death. Her vitals were probably just undetectable. She later revived in the ambulance, hence why the death wasn't reported on the news (I don't think her being HC quite covers it.), or Teresa intercepted the body.

No, that Sasha did die. Although hC managed to scrub any news of her death - at least until the gang leaked the story that she was a murderer, missing, and presumed dead - Schlock told Kusari-Sasha that she was dead, and the news went out to hC that she died a traitor.

I have a feeling that you're probably right about the redemption idea, though. Although perhaps I should not have said that out loud....

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 Post Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2017 2:11 am 
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I thought they explicitly said that Kusari didn't die in the fall with Feng, but I might be misremembering or misinterpreting what was said.

Bunny Suction wrote:
Lord Golbez wrote:
I don't understand why everyone is so set on trying to interpret the three pins as all being Sasha. Didn't Pete already pretty much confirm that Izzy was one of them?

Huzzuhwhah? (Translation: I don't think so, but if I missed that somehow can you point me to it?)


I doubt it because it was probably in an old news post or the defenders blog. In either case, both are gone now right? This would have been somewhere near the end of the circle arc or beginning of six months later. Something in reference to shirts I think?

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 Post Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2017 6:06 pm 
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I think I can now conclude that sniper Kusashi didn't technically lie about Aylee.

Aylee didn't just fall to the ground unconscious when she was shot. She was able to lean against that tree and pull the kusarigama out of her chest, and she was conscious enough to hear Kusashi talking while Bun-Bun, Oasis and Riff were all unconscious. Clearly the dart had less effect on her than on the others. It's also true that Aylee flew, and it must have been hard to see exactly where she landed among the trees.

Thus: "The darts worked well on Riff and Bun-Bun. Not [fully] effective against Aylee. She flew off and could be anywhere [within a not-too-big area over there].

Kusashi bent the truth like a real Aes Sedai, but she didn't actually say anything that was plainly false.

On another note, Kusashi apparently left Riff's trenchcoat behind, with his phone in it. She must have done that on purpose, expecting or hoping that it would be found.

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