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 Post Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2018 5:46 am 
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It could be that the avatar has geographical restrictions we haven't seen yet. I don't think Oasis has ever been outside of the US, it could be she's simply limited to remaining within the coverage area of the satellite.

Schlock would no doubt change that if possible, but I don't think he's going to get the chance.

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 Post Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2018 1:52 am 
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(finally) updated the WOHFITAH and Oasis Facts sections of the OP

The OP now officially contains story spoilers for newcomers, so I'm experimenting with the newfangled spoiler tags. If it's too weird, let me know.

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 Post Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2018 12:48 am 
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Here's a thought: maybe Oasis' pyrokinesis isn't entirely(/at all?) based on the satellite.

Pete has obviously been leading us to believe it is, and Schlock definitely believes so. He tracked its location using a signal to the satellite from... Oasis? Dr. Steve's labs? I don't remember if it was entirely clear. But having Oasis use her pyrokinesis on a faraway object (the tree) seemed crucial for his triangulation, and I don't think it was ever clear why.

Anyway, my main reasoning is based on just two events: Oasis attacking Gwynn with fire (originally at http://archives.sluggy.com/book.php?cha ... 000-05-26; in http://archives.sluggy.com/book.php?cha ... 2009-07-07 Gwynn makes it clear that is was Oasis, not her) and Oasis burning Marcus' tongue (http://archives.sluggy.com/book.php?cha ... 2017-10-30). Basically, both of these seem to not quite match a direct beam from a satellite above.

With Gwynn, it seems like there is just a magical cloud of fire surrounding her, making it make sense for the audience to think Gwynn created it (looking back, we can see she was wrapped in a bubble defensively, but Pete did a good job of hiding that from us). In the next strip, it's gone again. Nothing actually seems to have burned. Gwynn wasn't on fire, and the surroundings apparently weren't either. This makes the fire seem more magical than technological.

With Chen, Roberts ordered Oasis to target Chen's tongue specifically, incinerating his entire head. We see his hair start to curl and smoke a bit just as he loses the capacity to speak clearly, presumably because his tongue is hot and/or swollen. But this precise targeting of his tongue (even if the rest of his head was heating some as well) does not seem to match a beam coming from the sky, which would presumably heat the top the most.

Possibly Oasis somehow receives energy in a beam from the satellite, and then redirects it magically or something. That would make some sense, and justify her being there at all from a weapons perspective.

On the other hand, it's just two incidents, and I could see this merely being some imprecision on Pete's part - or maybe Chen's whole head was heating up, or Gwynn put out the flames or something, although those both seem a bit like stretches to me. It's interesting how many other incidents - Zoe in the Mark whatever, Bun-bun fighting with her - actually do line up with a sky-based attack pretty well. But it's worth considering.

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 Post Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2018 10:26 am 
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FullMetalArchivist wrote:
On the other hand, it's just two incidents, and I could see this merely being some imprecision on Pete's part - or maybe Chen's whole head was heating up, or Gwynn put out the flames or something, although those both seem a bit like stretches to me. It's interesting how many other incidents - Zoe in the Mark whatever, Bun-bun fighting with her - actually do line up with a sky-based attack pretty well. But it's worth considering.


Three incidences. When she was remembering, the kids mocked her, and one of them said 'Liar Liar pants on fire' before going int flames himself. That appeared to be indoors.

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 Post Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2018 11:08 am 
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Hmm, another piece of the puzzle...so outer space...no spark, no magic. No web? Symbolically dead spiders...

Perhaps that is why Oasis is "outside the web." She is LITERALLY outside the web, floating in space.

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 Post Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2018 12:47 am 
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That's an interesting thought, and the story appears to be leaning that direction. But if so, then there's some crazy implications that need addressed. Like does being outside the fate web apply to anyone out in space? Are they all outside the fate web right now, in other words? And if so, how much of space? Just the vacuum, or everywhere that isn't Earth? Could you go live on another planet and make yourself permanently outside the web and what's the knock-on effect of that? Alternatively, do you return back to the fate web whenever you're on a sufficiently large gravity well, and if so, is it the same fate web or one specific to that planet? And of course, even if this has little to do with fate, all these questions still apply to magic in general. Lot's to think about...


In regards to the posts above yours about Oasis' fire ray inconsistencies, I would like to point out a few things. 1) With Chen, his entire head caught on fire not just his tongue, which could have been done from above, 2) We don't see the roof of the classroom when the kid catches on fire, but I'm sure a hole was burned through it, and 3) in the panel with Gwynn, she is being depicted at the center of an inferno which is swirling around her magical shield - it's her magic that's creating that shape not the fire. So as far as I can tell, none of these events directly contradict the physics of an invisible beam firing from orbit.

The only thing I can think of where the fire may have needed redirected is when that indoor pool or hot tub catches fire? But that might have started from the outside in, it's hard to tell

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 Post Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2018 7:15 pm 
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Yodimus_Prime wrote:
That's an interesting thought, and the story appears to be leaning that direction. But if so, then there's some crazy implications that need addressed. Like does being outside the fate web apply to anyone out in space? Are they all outside the fate web right now, in other words? And if so, how much of space? Just the vacuum, or everywhere that isn't Earth? Could you go live on another planet and make yourself permanently outside the web and what's the knock-on effect of that? Alternatively, do you return back to the fate web whenever you're on a sufficiently large gravity well, and if so, is it the same fate web or one specific to that planet? And of course, even if this has little to do with fate, all these questions still apply to magic in general. Lot's to think about...

Perhaps it depends on where one's consciousness originated? A lot of people have supposed that Oasis being outside the Web indicates a (semi-)divine nature, but it Oasis's mind first took shape in orbit aboard the O.A.S.I.S. satellite, and thus outside of magic/the Fate Web, would that not also explain it?

While somewhat tangential in an Oasis thread... has it ever been said whether Aylee (who ALSO comes from beyond Earth, after all) is part of the Web or not? If she is not, then that supports this notion that un-Earthly origins mean no Web connections.

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 Post Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2018 9:38 pm 
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I had thought it was more the "no unauthorized life inside the fate web" sort of thing.
But I guess either situation, outside Earth or unauthorized life, would beg the question of whether Sasha is also outside the web.

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 Post Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2018 3:51 pm 
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My sense for a while is that Dr. Steve intended for Oasis to become at least semi-independent. That "know thyself" command seems to imply more than her simply coming to understand that she's controlled by a satellite - whether that's an artificial intelligence or some other form of intelligence...

I think the Oasis story comes to a Pinocchio-like conclusion, with Oasis being completely separated and autonomous to the satellite. My guess is that she will also be mortal at that point.

If I am correct, then the question is whether there can be a similar transformation for Sasha. There is an inference that Sasha/Kusari is made in Oasis' image, but ultimately does not have Oasis' abilities. While Sasha/Kusari has been cold-blooded in carrying out her orders, Pete has provided hints that she does have her own thoughts - perhaps even caring for Riff, if not the rest of the gang. If that's true - then either there's a happy ending, where both transform to autonomous human beings, or Sasha/Kusari cannot make that transition, but sacrifices herself (herselves) to save the gang (or Riff at least...).

BUT, I also don't think it is that simple. There appears to be something that OASIS has that Sasha/Kusari does not - and Sasha/Kusari wants. Something tells me that autonomous-potential is not what Sasha/Kusari is trying to get right now... Partly because I'm not sure how that can be a transferrable power. But I'm not sure what other difference could be so important to Sasha/Kusari. Any guesses??

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 Post Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2018 10:03 pm 
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Well, Kusari has indicated that she wants to become the Harbinger and (presumably) got Roberts killed to make that argument to Schlock. I assume her singular focus now will be on acquiring the DFA cannon and installing it on her own satellite. In fact, she may be trying to keep Riff alive because she realizes that she will need him to do this.

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 Post Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2018 3:05 pm 
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Yeah, I never quite had the feels for Sasha like so many other Sluggites, so if her only reason for keeping Riff alive through all this was for her to take over - not necessarily as Harbinger - then her actions make sense, and a "redemption" path becomes far less likely. I find that scenario quite likely at this point, except that it leaves unexplained the apparent gesture of "regret" that day in the hotel room. What was that all about?

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 Post Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2018 11:39 pm 
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You know, the more I think about it the more I wonder whether Sasha/Kusari may have simply wanted to thank Torg for saving her but not known exactly what to say. After all, who else ever cared enough for Kusari to risk their life for her? (Whether or not she actually needed saving notwithstanding.) In that moment, I can see how she might have felt conflicted about pointing a gun in the face of a man who had—despite his earlier misgivings—eventually come to trust her as a true friend. Just like Mosp, I think Sasha felt she "owed him one".

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 Post Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2018 1:25 pm 
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kansaichris wrote:
You know, the more I think about it the more I wonder whether Sasha/Kusari may have simply wanted to thank Torg for saving her but not known exactly what to say. After all, who else ever cared enough for Kusari to risk their life for her? (Whether or not she actually needed saving notwithstanding.) In that moment, I can see how she might have felt conflicted about pointing a gun in the face of a man who had—despite his earlier misgivings—eventually come to trust her as a true friend. Just like Mosp, I think Sasha felt she "owed him one".

I think there is merit to this theory. Though we have been told that the only emotion she could emulate is envy, envy is a complex emotion. Maybe she envied her old situation enough to want to show gratitude enough to try to hold a place there in Torg's memory.

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 Post Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2018 1:41 am 
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I still find it strange that Schlock believes Kusari is only capable of emulating a single emotion (envy). I always thought that Sasha was able to exhibit a wide range of emotions, from happiness to contempt to regret and even erotic humor. Either Schlock doesn't understand Kusari as well as he thinks he does, or he has a pretty high bar for what qualifies as emulating an emotion.

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 Post Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2018 1:07 pm 
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kansaichris wrote:
I still find it strange that Schlock believes Kusari is only capable of emulating a single emotion (envy). I always thought that Sasha was able to exhibit a wide range of emotions... Either Schlock doesn't understand Kusari as well as he thinks he does, or he has a pretty high bar for what qualifies as emulating an emotion.

I agree. I wonder if he means what she can authentically feel? The only thing that "bothers" her?

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