[1682] Incredible progress

[Gotolei]

*handboom*

[ctso74]

We have witnessed a wild Bronic Boom. Such a feat will require her to indeed eat a whole cow. Unfortunately for any heartburn, that means lasers and all.

[snowflake]

I believe this is the first time the comic explicitly refers to eating animals (by humans, I mean). Since GC includes animals as speaking characters with personalities and life goals, I had assumed the omission was an intentional choice to avoid the obvious moral problem, which would be even stronger in the world of GC than it is in real life. Clearly I was wrong, and now the question is: will the comic actually deal with the moral conflict, or is this a throwaway gag? Bunny's reaction suggests the second, but it's not open-and-shut.

[arf]

Smitty seems somewhat eclipsed.

(I take it BunBoy only ever manged a half?)

[pasko]

I like to think that their hand boom was actually producing a shockwave.

[noone3]

Jun 10, 2016 7:21:04 GMT pasko said:

I like to think that their hand boom was actually producing a shockwave.

I wouldn't think of it otherwise.

And this "Jimmy Jims Face" of hers. Hope Smitty won't be too intimidated.

[hellohello]

Jun 10, 2016 7:16:33 GMT snowflake said:

I believe this is the first time the comic explicitly refers to eating animals (by humans, I mean). Since GC includes animals as speaking characters with personalities and life goals, I had assumed the omission was an intentional choice to avoid the obvious moral problem, which would be even stronger in the world of GC than it is in real life. Clearly I was wrong, and now the question is: will the comic actually deal with the moral conflict, or is this a throwaway gag? Bunny's reaction suggests the second, but it's not open-and-shut.

It includes SOME animals that are wise. I'm pretty sure Paz's mice are just regular mice. Who knows though? All their meat could be vat-grown and "a cow" is just a volumetric/weight amount.

[tiberius]

Jun 10, 2016 8:30:33 GMT hellohello said:

Jun 10, 2016 7:16:33 GMT snowflake said:

I believe this is the first time the comic explicitly refers to eating animals (by humans, I mean). Since GC includes animals as speaking characters with personalities and life goals, I had assumed the omission was an intentional choice to avoid the obvious moral problem, which would be even stronger in the world of GC than it is in real life. Clearly I was wrong, and now the question is: will the comic actually deal with the moral conflict, or is this a throwaway gag? Bunny's reaction suggests the second, but it's not open-and-shut.

It includes SOME animals that are wise. I'm pretty sure Paz's mice are just regular mice. Who knows though? All their meat could be vat-grown and "a cow" is just a volumetric/weight amount.

Wasn't there a bonus page once where a mouse was speaking to us?

Nevertheless, maybe Parley was thinking more of one of the laser cows, who knows?

I do like two things in particular today. One is the relationship between James and Parley. Parley seems to be the perfect fit for the job. Tough, competetive, with a positive attitude. I can see them both training and James going "Show me all you got, show me, you learned" and Parley reacting in a way like "Is that all? Make it harder, I can show you I'm up for the challenge". Wow, nicely displayed, Tom!

The second is Antimony's smile. There is hardly any awkwardness as feared in the threads of Wednesday or Monday. She's fine, she is happy with the situation and happy because Parley is back ... or maybe, she is happy Parley wants to eat laser cows ... because, after all, nobody trusts laser cows, right?

[hellohello]

Jun 10, 2016 9:07:32 GMT tiberius said:

Wasn't there a bonus page once where a mouse was speaking to us?

The mouse was saying mousey things to Paz.

[gilnar]

all seems to be well.

Ad the carnivore problem, just few pages back, Ms Bugsy said that animals geat eaten in the forest. And the court experiments on animals. I don't think there's a prevailing feeling in the forest or the court that it's a problem.

[Per]

Does Annie look very tall in the last panel? (Or Smitty and Parley both short.)

[OGRuddawg]

D'aww, Jimmy Jims has someone to go on adventures with, now.

[calpal]

New side comic when?  Because I really want to see her eat a whole cow training montage with Jimmy.

[fatexx544]

I dunno if this has been covered in previous threads, but does the Court have a steroid program or something?

Patty is clearly much stronger than she used to be, apparently stronger than she is used to given the hug. In the flashbacks. Eglamore also went from a fairly typical slim build in the flashbacks to the Mr. Muscley he is today.

Of course, we weren't given specific time frames for Egger's muscle growth so it seemed plausible that he was just working out. But this comic suggests Parley has gotten significantly stronger in just a couple months, while also being away somewhere?

Does anyone else think etheric doping might be involved?

[mynie]

ALL RIGHT I GUESS WE'RE GETTING PARLEY READY FOR HER...parley...WITH JEANNE

I MEAN IT'S ABOUT TIME AMIRITE

[atteSmythe]

Ok, now her hand is huge.

[arkadi]

Progress is measured by the amount of cow you can eat in one go.

[snowflake]

Jun 10, 2016 9:53:04 GMT gilnar said:

all seems to be well.

Ad the carnivore problem, just few pages back, Ms Bugsy said that animals geat eaten in the forest. And the court experiments on animals. I don't think there's a prevailing feeling in the forest or the court that it's a problem.

There's a difference between acknowledging predation in nature as a part of life, or resigning to the fact that an amoral institution like the Court does what it does, and having prey animals (like Bunny) enjoy casual friendly interaction with people who eat prey animals -- ones who are bred in captivity for that purpose -- out of conscious choice. I can sort of buy the idea that it's accepted, but accepted to the point that it doesn't mar social relationships? I think it poses a problem, one that at least deserved to be explained away canonically.

[Demonsul]

There's probably a difference between the magical animals with rational goals and ambitions you find in the forest (half of which can apparently talk, Im looking at you flying octopus) and the animals in the court/the ones we saw in Galicia which, when we see them speaking to Paz, speak only in simplistic terms and are likely no smarter than animals in our world. Which we all know about and eat anyway. Remember that bunnyboy wasn't a rabbit, he was a jackalope (I think).

[djublonskopf]

Jun 10, 2016 15:25:58 GMT snowflake said:

Jun 10, 2016 9:53:04 GMT gilnar said:

all seems to be well.

Ad the carnivore problem, just few pages back, Ms Bugsy said that animals geat eaten in the forest. And the court experiments on animals. I don't think there's a prevailing feeling in the forest or the court that it's a problem.

There's a difference between acknowledging predation in nature as a part of life, or resigning to the fact that an amoral institution like the Court does what it does, and having prey animals (like Bunny) enjoy casual friendly interaction with people who eat prey animals -- ones who are bred in captivity for that purpose -- out of conscious choice. I can sort of buy the idea that it's accepted, but accepted to the point that it doesn't mar social relationships? I think it poses a problem, one that at least deserved to be explained away canonically.

Just like a human doesn't feel much kinship with a rabbit or a fish, I suspect a rabbit doesn't feel much kinship with a cow. If Parley had suggested eating a rabbit (or a horned rabbit) that might have been a little more of an issue.

[Jelly Jellybean]

Jun 10, 2016 15:25:58 GMT snowflake said:

Jun 10, 2016 9:53:04 GMT gilnar said:

all seems to be well.

Ad the carnivore problem, just few pages back, Ms Bugsy said that animals geat eaten in the forest. And the court experiments on animals. I don't think there's a prevailing feeling in the forest or the court that it's a problem.

There's a difference between acknowledging predation in nature as a part of life, or resigning to the fact that an amoral institution like the Court does what it does, and having prey animals (like Bunny) enjoy casual friendly interaction with people who eat prey animals -- ones who are bred in captivity for that purpose -- out of conscious choice. I can sort of buy the idea that it's accepted, but accepted to the point that it doesn't mar social relationships? I think it poses a problem, one that at least deserved to be explained away canonically.

This has been discussed at various times in the forum, often leading to opinions about Paz.  Tom said that Paz is not a vegetarian.  I don't think she taunts her food, but it still funny to imagine her saying "Get in my belly! Om Nom Nom Nom..."

[Freedomfiend]

I think this is appropriate.

[snowflake]

Jun 10, 2016 15:54:11 GMT Demonsul said:

There's probably a difference between the magical animals with rational goals and ambitions you find in the forest (half of which can apparently talk, Im looking at you flying octopus) and the animals in the court/the ones we saw in Galicia which, when we see them speaking to Paz, speak only in simplistic terms and are likely no smarter than animals in our world. Which we all know about and eat anyway. Remember that bunnyboy wasn't a rabbit, he was a jackalope (I think).

I don't know if I agree with the characterization of the animals in Galicia. Traveler actually made a plan and tricked Paz into taking him out to sea in order to escape (which in itself required having goals sophisticated enough to override his basic survival instinct), and once he was gone, the other puppies started mythologizing him and talking about how brave he was (even having a concept of bravery as a positive trait requires a considerable amount of abstract thought). While animals in real life have some mental capabilities people are often in denial of (especially where food animals are concerned), the talking animals in the GC universe tend to have an additional layer of abstract thinking that comes with the ability to speak.

[Jelly Jellybean]

Jun 10, 2016 18:14:08 GMT snowflake said:

Jun 10, 2016 15:54:11 GMT Demonsul said:

There's probably a difference between the magical animals with rational goals and ambitions you find in the forest (half of which can apparently talk, Im looking at you flying octopus) and the animals in the court/the ones we saw in Galicia which, when we see them speaking to Paz, speak only in simplistic terms and are likely no smarter than animals in our world. Which we all know about and eat anyway. Remember that bunnyboy wasn't a rabbit, he was a jackalope (I think).

I don't know if I agree with the characterization of the animals in Galicia. Traveler actually made a plan and tricked Paz into taking him out to sea in order to escape (which in itself required having goals sophisticated enough to override his basic survival instinct), and once he was gone, the other puppies started mythologizing him and talking about how brave he was (even having a concept of bravery as a positive trait requires a considerable amount of abstract thought). While animals in real life have some mental capabilities people are often in denial of (especially where food animals are concerned), the talking animals in the GC universe tend to have an additional layer of abstract thinking that comes with the ability to speak.

Every reader's opinion will vary, but I don't think Traveller had a plan or tricked Paz.  I think Traveller was just a puppy reacting to circumstances, including the inexplicable call to swim away.  Paz was just being her normal self by caring for Traveller.  The only extra-normal part of that side comic was Paz's ability to communicate with the dogs and that was more of a story telling device than a plot element.

I personally don't think Tom intends to explore the moral implications of eating talking animals or being able to communicate with animals that are eaten, mostly because he hasn't done so in comic to date.  I know that is weak logic, but at this point I attribute its absence to it being a distraction from the stories Tom planned to tell since the early chapters.  It is an excellent topic for the forum to suck the marrow out of, but I wouldn't wait for more canon material.

[KartoffelnMcNugget]

Jun 10, 2016 14:56:26 GMT arkadi said:

Progress is measured by the amount of cow you can eat in one go.

Every cow is an individual cow if you are hungry enough

[matoyak]

Jun 10, 2016 11:44:24 GMT fatexx544 said:

I dunno if this has been covered in previous threads, but does the Court have a steroid program or something?

Patty is clearly much stronger than she used to be, apparently stronger than she is used to given the hug. In the flashbacks. Eglamore also went from a fairly typical slim build in the flashbacks to the Mr. Muscley he is today.

Of course, we weren't given specific time frames for Egger's muscle growth so it seemed plausible that he was just working out. But this comic suggests Parley has gotten significantly stronger in just a couple months, while also being away somewhere?

Does anyone else think etheric doping might be involved?

If you remove someone from normal society, strictly control their diet and exercise regime, and have them do essentially nothing but working out and training for months straight, you can get some severe changes and bulking up without any kind of steroid or ether use, especially if they're already fit. I mean, they probably have some kind of ether stuff going on (Ole Jimmie didn't get that jumping ability from bulking up), but what we've seen here from Parley isn't something that would require either.

[warrl]

Jun 10, 2016 11:44:24 GMT fatexx544 said:

I dunno if this has been covered in previous threads, but does the Court have a steroid program or something?

I'd go with "or something". Eglamore's predecessor Mr. Thorne was also quite a broad build, and was apparently rather older when Eglamore started training than Eglamore is now. Steroids were not such a big thing 35+ years before "now" (defining "now" as when we first saw Eglamore). What the court DOES have, and has used for a long time, is various sorts of magic.

Patty Parley is clearly much stronger than she used to be

Fixed that.

Does anyone else think etheric doping might be involved?

Yes, exactly. Etheric doping. NOT steroids. Timing doesn't fit for any but Parley, and Eglamore and Thorne show they aren't needed, so I doubt they'd be encouraged.

(On top of which, the various armors strongly suggest a huge difference in fighting style. Thorne in particular, and Eglamore to a lesser extent, their armor suggests an attitude of "who cares if you hit me?". For that they have to be massive and strong all over. Parley's armor, particularly combined with her teleporting, says "you'll be lucky to hit me at all, and you'll never hit me hard"; for that, she doesn't have the same huge need for strength or mass but she must be agile.)

[TBeholder]

Jun 10, 2016 7:06:39 GMT ctso74 said:

Unfortunately for any heartburn, that means lasers and all.

Yup. Hardcore.

Jun 10, 2016 20:25:53 GMT matoyak said:

If you remove someone from normal society, strictly control their diet and exercise regime, and have them do essentially nothing but working out and training for months straight, you can get some severe changes and bulking up

Speaking of which... Annie is smiling at the memories of her own workout season. After which she started to run up the walls and all that.

Jun 10, 2016 21:15:52 GMT warrl said:

I'd go with "or something". Eglamore's predecessor Mr. Thorne was also quite a broad build, and was apparently rather older when Eglamore started training than Eglamore is now. Steroids were not such a big thing 35+ years before "now" (defining "now" as when we first saw Eglamore). What the court DOES have, and has used for a long time, is various sorts of magic.

And borderline mad science. :]

[arnj]

Y'all, Parley's the best. Like I read this page and my only reaction was literally just saying "I'm gay" out loud to myself.

[tiberius]

Jun 10, 2016 21:15:52 GMT warrl said:

Jun 10, 2016 11:44:24 GMT fatexx544 said:

I dunno if this has been covered in previous threads, but does the Court have a steroid program or something?

I'd go with "or something". Eglamore's predecessor Mr. Thorne was also quite a broad build, and was apparently rather older when Eglamore started training than Eglamore is now. Steroids were not such a big thing 35+ years before "now" (defining "now" as when we first saw Eglamore). What the court DOES have, and has used for a long time, is various sorts of magic.

I admit, I'm nitpicking here, but research on steroids was going on already in the 20s of the last century. 1927 Heinrich Otto Wieland received the Nobel Price for Chemistry with his research on the " Constitution of bile acids and sterols and their connection to vitamins". 1950 the Nobel Price for Medicine was rewarded specifically for "Structure and biological effects of adrenal hormones".

But, I agree with you in general, though. I also think, the court has better methods than to use hormone altering drugs.