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Post by xheralt on Oct 17, 2010 22:57:39 GMT
I think she teleported to bed again. I rather think so as well. She clearly did NOT go back down into the ravine, as her "I think I can get us back down there...." line indicates she'd intended. In fact, I'd go so far as to say every single one of the multiple bip-bip-bips in the following strip went to her bed (or at least her room) as well, because that's what's (subconsciously) most important to her right now. Unless it's Smutty Smitty subconsciously steering them to *his* room...because "that's how it works"
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Post by Casey on Oct 18, 2010 4:06:11 GMT
I do not yet see that there is any direct evidence to indicate that Smitty's ability has anything at all to do with Parley's ability.
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Post by xheralt on Oct 18, 2010 5:01:58 GMT
His talent would help regulate hers, while they are in contact. It's a straighforward consequence of what his talent demonstrably *does*. I go into this more in the [787] thread, page 4.
Without him, her 'ports were random, often subconscious reactions to external triggers (romantic films, for example). The stabilization he provides would not be something that would be obvious in the artwork, other than what is implied by her going bip-bip-bip-bip of her own intent and volition. I don't think it's an unreasonable assumption, I'll definitely be looking for some expository dialogue to confirm or disprove this.
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Post by jayne on Oct 18, 2010 5:13:38 GMT
I do not yet see that there is any direct evidence to indicate that Smitty's ability has anything at all to do with Parley's ability. I think its interesting that Smitty seems to be the trigger to Parley's ability. She seems to recognize that now, with a tender smile. Smitty's power is more uncontrolled. He brings order to chaos without putting any conscious will towards the act. He may have some effect on Parley's power but she managed to bip herself to wherever he is all on her own. We'll have to see what she can do apart from him to tell if there is an effect.
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Post by Mezzaphor on Oct 18, 2010 6:05:48 GMT
If Smitty's power to create order was indeed completely uncontrollable, that would be some delicious irony right there.
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Post by Casey on Oct 18, 2010 14:08:48 GMT
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Post by jayne on Oct 18, 2010 14:20:43 GMT
She figured out how it works but it has something to do with Smitty. Probably not his powers as much as how he makes her feel. Her first major breakthrough was when he gave her a flower. Her next major breakthrough features her holding him the whole time. I have no doubt she'll master her skill so she won't need Smitty (for this at least).
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Post by xheralt on Oct 19, 2010 8:22:17 GMT
Pfui, I liked my theory better. "The" answer just seems so...pat. "The power of love"....gah! Such a cliche!
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Post by Aris Katsaris on Oct 19, 2010 11:17:41 GMT
Xheralt, the answer by Tom doesn't say anything about "the power of love". He only says she figured out how it works.
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percival
Full Member
there's a storm a-brewin'
Posts: 119
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Post by percival on Oct 19, 2010 13:34:53 GMT
I'm hoping that Parley does require close proximity to Smit to teleport accurately. Her power seems almost too powerful if she can do it rapidly and at will.
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Post by hal9000 on Oct 19, 2010 18:20:27 GMT
I'm hoping that Parley does require close proximity to Smit to teleport accurately. Her power seems almost too powerful if she can do it rapidly and at will. We already have somebody whose power is literally the ability to make the universe conform to his will/best interests (smitty). While I do think that the interaction of their two powers is what makes the teleportation possible, to say that hers would be overpowered compared to the rest of the cast if it weren't bound to smitty would be to not comprehend exactly how powerful the rest of the cast actually is.
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Post by atteSmythe on Oct 19, 2010 18:38:49 GMT
We already have somebody whose power is literally the ability to make the universe conform to his will/best interests (smitty). While I do think that the interaction of their two powers is what makes the teleportation possible, to say that hers would be overpowered compared to the rest of the cast if it weren't bound to smitty would be to not comprehend exactly how powerful the rest of the cast actually is. Heh, I do find his talent the most intriguing so far - he managed to drop the blinker stone exactly where it needed to be without being told the point of the exercise, so it's not that he's specifically willing things to happen. His power is complicated. On the one hand, it's really cool if he just causes a reduction in local entropy (playing cards, sphere puzzle). On the other hand, the blinker stone and the scepter suggest it's be something more than just creating order (I could make an argument for the scepter being a lower-entropy solution, but it's a stretch, and I still think the blinker stone solution doesn't follow). It's more like creating rightness. Rightness could be either his own sense of what the world should be like, or localized to others in the area, or representative of some higher power. If this all tracks, only one of the latter two can be true.
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Post by Elaienar on Oct 19, 2010 23:56:48 GMT
It's more like creating rightness. Rightness could be either his own sense of what the world should be like, or localized to others in the area, or representative of some higher power. If this all tracks, only one of the latter two can be true. It looks like Antimony didn't tell him where they needed the stone to go, so it could be localised to others in the area ... but on the other hand, neither he nor Parley seemed particularly thrilled when the scepter showed up; Antimony didn't seem to care much, but I suppose she could have been thinking about how pointless the whole thing was and how much she wished it would be over ... which would be interesting if it were true, because that would seem to indicate that one person's perception of "rightness" will prevail over another's where Smith's power is concerned. Or you could just say that "rightness" is simply "a situation being concluded" - the cards need to be sorted and stacked, the puzzle needs to be put together, the scepter needs to be found, the stone needs to get to the bottom of the ravine (so that Antimony will stop having to try to get it there).
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Post by evilanagram on Oct 20, 2010 0:47:27 GMT
My theory is that Smitty's power is to advance the plot whenever necessary.
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percival
Full Member
there's a storm a-brewin'
Posts: 119
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Post by percival on Oct 20, 2010 0:55:29 GMT
We already have somebody whose power is literally the ability to make the universe conform to his will/best interests (smitty). I think that's an overstatement of Smitty's power, that would make him a god! Anyway there's definitely a danger in having characters too powerful. It invites plot holes of the form "wait why didn't they just...". Smitty's power is awe-inspiring, but he doesn't seem to have much conscious control over it, just as Parley alone doesn't have much conscious control of her power (so far). Requiring them to work together seems like a good limitation of their abilities.
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Post by bnpederson on Oct 20, 2010 1:14:50 GMT
Nobody's balancing a fighting game here so I'm not really seeing the point of discussing how powerful one character might be compared to another. As evilanagram said, Smitty's power is the same as every other character; to advance the plot. Any specific questions will be answered or they won't be.
And c'mon, we have a trickster god who can let another person put a thumbprint on the moon and create life. This isn't a comic that has issues with absurdly powerful characters.
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Post by Mezzaphor on Oct 20, 2010 2:24:13 GMT
But I desperately need to know whether Smitty could beat Goku and Batman in a fight!
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Post by hal9000 on Oct 20, 2010 3:22:52 GMT
But I desperately need to know whether Smitty could beat Goku and Batman in a fight! Is it pre or post-crisis batman?
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Post by blinkerstoned on Oct 21, 2010 13:24:26 GMT
But I desperately need to know whether Smitty could beat Goku and Batman in a fight! Is it pre or post-crisis batman? Knowing Smitty's powers,he won't even fight them.The matter will be resolved amicably,and they'll all sit down to have tea. ;D
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Post by xheralt on Oct 24, 2010 2:18:58 GMT
Xheralt, the answer by Tom doesn't say anything about "the power of love". He only says she figured out how it works. So, if this is just supposed to be self-realization overcoming self-denial, why is Tom so pointedly making this about love, in the strip? The glowy silver heart and everything. For Parley, somehow "being in love" catalyzed this internal realization in a way that weeks of not-smitten-by-Smitty experimentation did not. Having her life (and possibly her very soul) threatened (and self-preservation is supposed to be human's strongest urge) didn't do it, but kissing Smitty did. What else could it be *but* "the Power of Love"?
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Post by Casey on Oct 24, 2010 3:29:10 GMT
Xheralt, the answer by Tom doesn't say anything about "the power of love". He only says she figured out how it works. So, if this is just supposed to be self-realization overcoming self-denial, why is Tom so pointedly making this about love, in the strip? The glowy silver heart and everything. For Parley, somehow "being in love" catalyzed this internal realization in a way that weeks of not-smitten-by-Smitty experimentation did not. Having her life (and possibly her very soul) threatened (and self-preservation is supposed to be human's strongest urge) didn't do it, but kissing Smitty did. What else could it be *but* "the Power of Love"? Well...... Parley's ability was triggered by the heightened emotion of Smitty giving her the flower. Thereafter, it would be triggered again by heightened emotion when watching a chick flick and thinking about Smitty, for example. The idea of heightened emotion triggering latent superpowers isn't unusual, vis-à-vis Rogue from the X-Men discovering her ability when making out with her boyfriend for the first time (at least in the movie... I'm not a comics geek). But like Rogue (and any other X-Man), Parley doesn't require that specific stimulus to use her ability once the ability is figured out. If it helps, Tom recently posted something more on Formspring about it.
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