Erfworld thread V: Baddie Will Not Post In Thread

[Marcelinari]

Nah, Janis has always been very tall. I think the first time we see her with a proper comparison to Sizemore is page 141 of book 1? She's sitting, so it's not a great panel, but she's substantially larger than Sizemore. She's walking around on the previous page, too, but perspective is a little strange there.

[Yuki Akuma]

Ace is also pretty close to that height - I think some Men can just be naturally tall, just like real humans.

It fits her whole "Earth mother" signamancy to be huge, anyway.

[-D-]

Janis, you sly gobwin, you.

[Bird]

As for the latest...

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Don't do it, Parson. At first, I was worried about Maggie--but she was fine with the idea of you & the archons, wasn't she? No, it's Sizemore you should worry about. You have sex with Janis, it's going to be one more ugly strike against your already terrible relationship with your dirtamancer. That ain't gonna end well.

Anyway, nice update, with some nice tie-ins to the stuff we learned during Digdoug. (Wonder how much the Transylvito stuff will tie into Forecastle?)

[-D-]

As for the latest...

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Don't do it, Parson. At first, I was worried about Maggie--but she was fine with the idea of you & the archons, wasn't she? No, it's Sizemore you should worry about. You have sex with Janis, it's going to be one more ugly strike against your already terrible relationship with your dirtamancer. That ain't gonna end well.

Anyway, nice update, with some nice tie-ins to the stuff we learned during Digdoug. (Wonder how much the Transylvito stuff will tie into Forecastle?)

Spoiler: Oh?

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Are you sure that Sizemore would be offended? I mean he slept around with other Date-a-mancers, why would he expect Janis to not sleep with his CW? Especially, if she could influence him to be more loving and less destructive. Also, I didn't get that Sizemore had a thing for Janis, other than she would comfort him in time of need. I had a more motherly, friendly vibes than sex partner.

[smuchmuch]

It's only now, looking at Parson and Janis, side by side, that I realise just how much parson seems to have shrunk compared to the start of the comic. Heck even from the start of volume 2, I think. Or maybe it's Erfworlder that have gone bigger.

[Bird]

Spoiler: Oh?

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Are you sure that Sizemore would be offended? I mean he slept around with other Date-a-mancers, why would he expect Janis to not sleep with his CW? Especially, if she could influence him to be more loving and less destructive. Also, I didn't get that Sizemore had a thing for Janis, other than she would comfort him in time of need. I had a more motherly, friendly vibes than sex partner.

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I confess I don't remember about Sizemore and the date-a-mancers. I agree that Sizemore doesn't have much rational cause for objection, and I agree that the vibes between Janis and Sizemore might be more friendly/motherly. However, Sizemore has already been so upset at Parson that I think Parson sleeping with Sizemore's friend/mother figure is only going to upset him more. Sizemore is especially fond of Janis. You don't want someone you're especially fond of sleeping with someone you have a long, simmering anger against, even if you're fine with her sleeping with other people in general.

Maybe I'm wrong, and Janis will know how to smooth this over, or Parson will take the experience and use it to relate to Sizemore better, somehow. And maybe it takes a long time for Sizemore to even find out. But on the face of it, this seems like something to wound him. Sizemore is a guy whose senses of safety & self have been shaken badly, in part due to Parson. Janis is his sanctum sanctorum...and now Parson is going there, too.

[Talesin]

It's only now, looking at Parson and Janis, side by side, that I realise just how much parson seems to have shrunk compared to the start of the comic. Heck even from the start of volume 2, I think. Or maybe it's Erfworlder that have gone bigger.

I guess he could be indirectly changing his Signamancy to fit in with the rest of Erf?

[Yuki Akuma]

It's only now, looking at Parson and Janis, side by side, that I realise just how much parson seems to have shrunk compared to the start of the comic. Heck even from the start of volume 2, I think. Or maybe it's Erfworlder that have gone bigger.

Counterpoint: for an Erfworlder, Janis is huge.

[Godskook]

Counterpoint: for an Erfworlder, Janis is huge.

Yeah, that's my assessment too.

[Porthos]

As for the latest...

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Don't do it, Parson. At first, I was worried about Maggie--but she was fine with the idea of you & the archons, wasn't she?

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Counterpoint: Maggie might not have cared about a harmless fling it it got Parson to "loosen up" (for her). That doesn't mean she'd want Parson to start making out with a Hippiemancer, though. Alternatively, she might not have cared about Parson as much then as perhaps she does now.

IF Maggie likes Parson in that way.

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As for a Janis/Parson hookup right now? I dunno. Something seems.... off about it all. Something that I can't quite place my finger on. It's not Janis trying to seduce Parson, I think. Parson's headspace is in a place where that is almost required, IMO.

No.... It's that whole "unequal balance of power" bit at play. Janis knows A LOT more about how, ahem, Date-a-mancy works in Erfworld than Parson does. Thinking about it, for some reason I'm getting a "Mrs. Robinson" vibe off all of this.

Or maybe not. But something is pinging my warning bells about all of this. Be interesting to see if I'm right or not.

...

Given it's Erfworld, I should probably accept the warning bells as a given, actually.

[-D-]

Spoiler: @Porthos

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Admit it, you just don't want next update to write about two fat person porking. Wow pork fits sooo well to that situation.

[Porthos]

Spoiler: @Porthos

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Admit it, you just don't want next update to write about two fat person porking. Wow pork fits sooo well to that situation.

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Considering I'm more Parson than Sizemore, that's really not it.

[smuchmuch]

Counterpoint: for an Erfworlder, Janis is huge.

Unless there's a trick of perspective, from older pictures where both of them were in the same position, she looks slightly taller than Sizemorebut not that much and he's not exactly a giant.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Is there anyone else who, once reading the word 'catfish' expected a picture of a keetom-type mermaid?

[Bird]

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Counterpoint: Maggie might not have cared about a harmless fling it it got Parson to "loosen up" (for her). That doesn't mean she'd want Parson to start making out with a Hippiemancer, though. Alternatively, she might not have cared about Parson as much then as perhaps she does now.

IF Maggie likes Parson in that way.

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As for a Janis/Parson hookup right now? I dunno. Something seems.... off about it all. Something that I can't quite place my finger on. It's not Janis trying to seduce Parson, I think. Parson's headspace is in a place where that is almost required, IMO.

No.... It's that whole "unequal balance of power" bit at play. Janis knows A LOT more about how, ahem, Date-a-mancy works in Erfworld than Parson does. Thinking about it, for some reason I'm getting a "Mrs. Robinson" vibe off all of this.

Or maybe not. But something is pinging my warning bells about all of this. Be interesting to see if I'm right or not.

...

Given it's Erfworld, I should probably accept the warning bells as a given, actually.

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Fair points about Maggie. I could imagine that she'd be more troubled by Parson being with a powerful hippiemancer than with an archon--Janis has the potential to compromise him in some way, after all. (Janis already laid seeds of doubt in his head against Maggie!) Plus, Maggie's feelings for Parson may have changed since the archon stuff, yeah.

As for your other point--agreed that there's a power imbalance. Janis has Parson on her turf. And she has lots of sexual experience, and he doesn't. It's fair to say he's much more vulnerable here than she is.

Plus, Parson worried in this very update about Flower Power messing with his mind. His anxiety over it at least raises the question of whether Janis would use her hippie juju to take advantage of him. I hope not, because she seems like a good person. Nobody but Parson seems to see the problem with sleeping with someone who has to follow your orders, though, so it's possible Erfworlders have altogether different views on consent than we'd like.

Even assuming that Janis isn't using any juju, how much of her intent to sleep with Parson is driven by her desire to turn him into a tool for bringing about world peace? And how much is that a problem?

Poor Parson. Every goddamn thing he does is so fraught with consequences.

[virgileso]

Unless there's a trick of perspective, from older pictures where both of them were in the same position, she looks slightly taller than Sizemorebut not that much and he's not exactly a giant.

I'm looking at the campire pic, and Sizemore can easily be a full head shorter than Janis. Sizemore is like chest high to Parson, so being a head taller than him would put them in the range that we're seeing Janis. I think it's just the expanded cast including tall people; Janis, Ossomer, Ace, and likely Don have all be shown to be appreciably taller than any other 'human'. And so far, Parson remains the tallest one of them all.

[Godskook]

Unless there's a trick of perspective, from older pictures where both of them were in the same position, she looks slightly taller than Sizemorebut not that much and he's not exactly a giant.

Picture 1 has nothing but really really bad perspectives for judging proportions.

Picture 2 shows that Janis is decidedly larger than Sizemore, but in ways that are very hard to appreciate, again because of perspective. But roughly speaking, in panel 11, we can tell that her armpits rise to almost above his shoulders, and her arms appear longer than his. There's singularly no panel in that shot to establish for sure that her legs are longer, but panel 11 does allow for it(her feet could just be extended to keep her knees roughly in-line with Sizemore's).

[TechnoWarforged]

Book 3 - Page 79:

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In Before "baby don't hurt me, don't hurt me... no more."

Alternatively

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"I want to know what love is.... I want you to show meeeeeeee"

[The Glyphstone]

Book 3 - Page 79:

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In Before "baby don't hurt me, don't hurt me... no more."

Alternatively

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"I want to know what love is.... I want you to show meeeeeeee"

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Show me this Erf thing you call love?

Incidentally, I think either Parson will chicken out, or something will interrupt.

[hajo]

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Show me this Erf thing you call love?

I think either Parson will chicken out, or something will interrupt.

I can see several ways this could work:
* "About sex, I know. About love, I don't."
* The picture of the preying mantis --> "Are you going to bite off my head afterwards ?"
* Economy&math --> "to live in peace, you first need to be able to live, i.e. cover upkeep and food. I did some calculations/sims..."

[Welf]

Haggar and Dickie are, at best, small elements within the plot line of Gobwin's Knob diplomatic initiative.

I don't think Haggar was supposed to be a minor element. They got presented as own faction in the beginning of book 2, they got several updates detailing their background, and had their livery shown in the top of the old website, next to Faq's, TV's, GK's and Jetstone's.

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Show me this Erf thing you call love?

Incidentally, I think either Parson will chicken out, or something will interrupt.

Or it will happen, complicating things with Maggie, his closet friend/supporter. And complicating things overall since that gives Janis a lever over Parson, and she has her own agenda. And I don't think it's a coincidence that they look at catfishes before they go to the tent.

[Godskook]

Or it will happen, complicating things with Maggie, his closet friend/supporter. And complicating things overall since that gives Janis a lever over Parson, and she has her own agenda. And I don't think it's a coincidence that they look at catfishes before they go to the tent.

That's really really interesting, but Janis strikes me as particularly too naive for that kind of subterfuge. Actually, unless she's a pawn for Marie's conspiring. Otoh, I don't think either wish Parson any more harm than waging war against war will put him into.

[Calemyr]

Spoiler: Complications ahoy!

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I'd say it doesn't happen, except for a few things: 1) This has been set up for some time. Parson and the Archons, Parson and Maggie, both set the stage and requirements before Parson would even consider something like this. All of those requirements are met with Janis, along with additional riders like she's already a proven ally and it was her idea in the first place. 2) The comic has had no qualms allowing for stupid people doing stupid things. That's actually largely what the story's all about, really. Parson damaging his bonds with his staff in a moment of carefully constructed weakness is not out of the question in this story. We've got plenty of people burning bigger bridges for much the same reason. 3) Erfworld has no problem being very forthright about what its characters get into behind closed doors, or in the throne room, or on a flying carpet, or in abandoned cities, or in a dungeon. For a setting without procreation, there's an awful lot of recreation going on already.

Janis is anything but stupid. She's had her hand in pretty much everything leading up to this point, from Parson's initial summoning to actively defusing a brewing confrontation between Parson and the mages. She's doing this for a very concrete reason. It could be as simple as finding Parson more attractive and in more ways than she initially let on to. It could be something as benevolent as feeling this is something Parson needs in order to grow and expand his perspective. It could be as innocent as believing that it will give her the influence to sway the eldritch abomination in the hamster armor and keep him from doing too much damage. Or it could be as insidious as trying to ensnare our protagonist and point him towards her aims rather than his own. We've seen the damage a clever hippiemancer can do already in the form of one particular Florist, and it's pretty clear that Janis could wipe the floor with Olive.

It would be interesting to see what impact such an event would have on the Parson/Maggie/Sizemore dynamic. Everyone's actual feelings are so vague that there's no telling how things will break when the cue ball hits. Was Maggie flirting with Parson or engaging in theoretical banter with a truly alien perspective? Does Sizemore resent Maggie (and what she allows him to do), or is he struggling with affection? Is Parson making the same mistake as Stanley in taking Sizemore for granted, just in a different way?

[Aquillion]

It's worth pointing out that (as Godskook implied above), we've seen that Janis can actually be fairly shockingly naive, at least based on her conversation with Marie -- she doesn't have as clear of a handle on the whole plan as it seems at first glance. And while she has a clear goal and perspective, she's been upfront about her intentions. So it is at least possible that she's doing this without any sinister agenda.

[Porthos]

New page is up:

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Least. Surprsing. Revelation. Ever.

Though I suppose Parson figuring it out first could be a bit surprising.

I did appreciate the "crossed signals" bit. Fits in retrospect.

[Bird]

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Parson has more of a romantic history than I expected.

I love Maggie sitting pensively in the background while everybody else laughs and plays. Perfect use of the text/art combination, too--we're told about her being desperately in love with Parson, and then the picture prods us to imagine what she's thinking, all without actually switching to her point of view. Suddenly I feel so bad for her--she bears her crush quite stoically, but she's in pain.

Of all the Erfworld romances (whether unrequited or not), this has to be the one I'm most interested in, because I really care about both parties, and recognize that they're both vulnerable in their own ways.

[Killer Angel]

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Parson has more of a romantic history than I expected.

That was my thought as well. Clearly, date-o-mancy runs strong in his veins.

[Yuki Akuma]

You know, thinking on it, it seems kinda ironic that one of the Hippiemancy disciplines is the one behind 90% of the mechanics of warfare.

It also amuses me than Date-a-mancers are probably the only Casters who could conceivably have a leadership bonus that applies generically rather than only to specific units.

Parson needs to ask Janis to give his leadership bonus a boost. Because I'm sure Date-a-mancy can do that. Whether any Date-a-mancer would want to do it is another matter...

[turbo164]

...

It also amuses me than Date-a-mancers are probably the only Casters who could conceivably have a leadership bonus that applies generically rather than only to specific units.
...

Maybe their bonus applies to any unit they've taken to dinner and a movie