Star Power V: The Final Yawntier

[halfeye]

No offense but I hate it when people talk about what would kill you in space. Because last time I checked, we never tried. Neither on humans nor animals. And while this certainly seems like a more well founded guess than most I come across its still just an assumption, no?

Animal experiments show that rapid and complete recovery is normal for exposures shorter than 90 seconds, while longer full-body exposures are fatal and resuscitation has never been successful.[55] A study by NASA on eight chimpanzees found all of them survived two and a half minute exposures to vacuum.[56]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum

So, yes it has been tried, on the ground.

[Hopeless]

So the Countess is trying the long con since everything so far suggests her people corrupted the existing empire putting their loyalists in charge and then attacked since their lackeys are using their tech it makes it easy for them to overwhelm them once their lackeys are in charge.

Her claim about how the previous empires failed, doesn't explain why the Starpowered remained the one force that repelled them.

Sounds like the Countess was trying to wipe out the Starpowered because they remained the only force that prevented them from winning on every other occasion, maybe they tried to corrupt them as they do seem to think her people created them but that doesn't explain why they lost control doesn't it?

Why didn't they do that on the other occasions unless she doesn't realise her people needed them?

Well she did effectively extinquish her own species on the last occasion unless something survived her genocidal reaction...

Cue whoever teleported Danica is a survivor from the previous empire and the reveal what actually happened...

Care to guess the odds this is the case?

[Kato]

@vacuum: Yikes, I didn't know animal testing went that far. And regarding humans... still seems like there no (recorded deaths). But I guess while humans might be able to think of something to last slightly longer than a clueless animal, I guess it wouldn't be too different.
sidenote: Space might not be magic but there's more that can kill you than just vacuum. Like cosmic rays. Though, I guess someone can easily give me numbers and tell me it's not that bad.



Countess is still being annoying with her "totally philosophic speech" about what will happen to a good empire. Yes, better be ruled by tyrants who always were tyrants than good guys who became tyrants. And one example it totally proof of principle.

[Traab]

So the Countess is trying the long con since everything so far suggests her people corrupted the existing empire putting their loyalists in charge and then attacked since their lackeys are using their tech it makes it easy for them to overwhelm them once their lackeys are in charge.

Her claim about how the previous empires failed, doesn't explain why the Starpowered remained the one force that repelled them.

Sounds like the Countess was trying to wipe out the Starpowered because they remained the only force that prevented them from winning on every other occasion, maybe they tried to corrupt them as they do seem to think her people created them but that doesn't explain why they lost control doesn't it?

Why didn't they do that on the other occasions unless she doesn't realise her people needed them?

Well she did effectively extinquish her own species on the last occasion unless something survived her genocidal reaction...

Cue whoever teleported Danica is a survivor from the previous empire and the reveal what actually happened...

Care to guess the odds this is the case?

This is pretty clearly a star wars analogy right down to the jedi/star powered that stand against her. Its also a fairly reasonable synopsis of every empire that has ever existed on earth. They rise, they have a golden age, then they decay and fall apart, for reasons both internal and external. Her argument is probably a true one, as far as it goes, but just because in a thousand years the empire might become bloated and decayed is no reason to do away with it now. Its like saying, "You know that delicious fruit will spoil eventually right? Then why bother eating any of it now?"

On the other hand, she provides an interesting outlook very different from "ours" in that she comes from a race thats functionally elvishly unaging, or "timeless space" has some sort of odd temporal effect where she can watch ages go by in a regular lifetime. Its clearly not a stasis because they have to rebuild after each failed invasion, but the idea that she basically gets to watch time go by in fast forward is an interesting one, as it would have an effect on how she perceives the value of things created. If you build something that lasts decades, to her it might as well be a sand castle built at low tide. It will be gone so fast as to be meaningless. Even an empire of a thousand years is not so much as a single generation to her. Imagine if you watched as every nation on earth rose and fell every 20 years or so. You wouldnt have much respect for how they were governed would you?

[random11]

So far, the countess interrogation scenes contributed nothing to the chapter they appeared in, and were at best, loosely related with a concept like showing the difference between how the countess thinks and how the good guys behave.

Will this time be different?
Don't know, but honestly I don't really care.
The countess scenes feel to me more like an unpredictable commercial break in a show than actual content.
Also, she is not a major threat now, and despite all the buildup she never WAS a real threat.

The only interesting thing about her is the question of how the script will force her to be a major villain again.

Link to update

[Hopeless]

I think given her serpentine physiology she might have some form of hypnotic ability and is slowly brainwashing her listener.

Imagine she rebuilds her forces using the people she's mentally enslaved and she causes a civil war in an attempt to restore her fortunes all that's left is to reveal she isn't the only survivor and the others turn up wanting to conquer but want her dealt with first off as she's considered a greater threat!

[random11]

Update

Is this mysterious stranger here to help, or is this another trap?

Ohhhhh, he's trying to force tension with the comment again.
That's so adorable.

[Vinyadan]

I hate those comments. If you use the RSS, it's a big bunch of spoilers.

[Kornaki]

Spoiler

Show

He's clearly here to give her the last runestone thing

[Kato]

Update




Ohhhhh, he's trying to force tension with the comment again.
That's so adorable.

Yeah... btw, what other trap is he talking about? But maybe it is a trap. That would be cool.

[guttering flame]

Yeah... btw, what other trap is he talking about? But maybe it is a trap. That would be cool.

Spotlight is the trap. As long as Beena stays in the circle she'll stay alive. If she leaves it she'll fall into eternal darkness (otherwise known as messy death) Danica must find a way to free her. She will have to use her HEALING-STARLIGHT powers to shine on Beena while she takes her to the hospital. This will prove DANICA IS GOOD!!! Danica and robed figure will become GOOD FRIENDS.

[Zaq]

I know that we've seen this Totally-Not-Chozo guy before, but it took me longer than I expected to find the actual page. For some reason, I had given Mookie more credit than I probably should have, and I thought that we might have a plot point exist for more than one issue—silly me! So I was looking in previous issues and couldn't find it until I got to this issue.

My takeaway is that the pacing is so slow that I had thought that the start of the issue was much longer ago than it actually was.

[Kornaki]

I know that we've seen this Totally-Not-Chozo guy before, but it took me longer than I expected to find the actual page. For some reason, I had given Mookie more credit than I probably should have, and I thought that we might have a plot point exist for more than one issue—silly me! So I was looking in previous issues and couldn't find it until I got to this issue.

My takeaway is that the pacing is so slow that I had thought that the start of the issue was much longer ago than it actually was.

And you know the wild tweest is that when he says he won't fail his master, he isn't talking about defending the key, he's talking about giving it away to the star powered asap. That's why he had to summon her.

[Welf]

In other news, I recently got my handmade Star Powered Sentinel Doll from the kickstarter. A collector's edition of which only 30 exist. Suck on that. But I'm a bit disappointed they don't meet the requirement of article 9 and 10 of the Contract of the Foundation of the European Community.

Anyway, here some photos:

Spoiler

Show

[Traab]

Are you fricking kidding me? I have seen my grade school age nephew churn out better quality crap than that. You cant even identify it as star powered related.

[mwchase]

Am I reading that right? International shipping from pledges and add-ons of $5?

[Welf]

You read correctly. I don't think they calculated that through and likely made a loss an that one.

[random11]

Update

Look here strange guy with a sword.
You brought ME here, so either tell me what you want, or just let me go.

It's not like the keys are that important for me anyway, I don't even know what is my motivation for collection them!


Anyway, it could have been funny if she wouldn't manage to dodge in time.

[Traab]

Eh, it makes sense I suppose. The hydro test was to see what sort of person she was. Is she the type to try to use force at the first chance to get what she wants? And now this one, is she strong enough to keep and protect this key and what it unlocks? And of course the puzzles were there to make sure she is smart enough to do so.

[Vinyadan]

We need a "is she organized enough not to lose it on her desk" test.

[random11]

Eh, it makes sense I suppose. The hydro test was to see what sort of person she was. Is she the type to try to use force at the first chance to get what she wants? And now this one, is she strong enough to keep and protect this key and what it unlocks? And of course the puzzles were there to make sure she is smart enough to do so.

This makes sense if he actually said "this will be a trial by combat" or something like this.
Otherwise, what happens if she would go for this key before the "trial of pacifism"? She would fail the test because the last one just attacked her without warning, same goes for the test with the golems.

Testing her strength is acceptable, sending conflicting messages on what she is tested for isn't.

[Traab]

This makes sense if he actually said "this will be a trial by combat" or something like this.
Otherwise, what happens if she would go for this key before the "trial of pacifism"? She would fail the test because the last one just attacked her without warning, same goes for the test with the golems.

Testing her strength is acceptable, sending conflicting messages on what she is tested for isn't.

Didnt the whole quest send her in a specific direction? I dont think she was made aware of the location of every key at the same time was she? And once again, they are testing to see if she is smart enough to figure this stuff out. Its not much of a test if they just give you all the answers.

[Vinyadan]

Didnt the whole quest send her in a specific direction? I dont think she was made aware of the location of every key at the same time was she? And once again, they are testing to see if she is smart enough to figure this stuff out. Its not much of a test if they just give you all the answers.

OMG Mookie makes sense

[Traab]

OMG Mookie makes sense

I know! I swear its almost physically painful to be defending him, but in this case I dont think he has screwed up.

[Zaq]

I know! I swear its almost physically painful to be defending him, but in this case I dont think he has screwed up.

Eh, yes and no. His biggest sin here is that everything that's happened since getting transported to Mr.-Not-Chozo has had absolutely zero connection to the dogfight with the Vorp Angels (i.e., the rest of the issue). Even getting transported made no real sense. He clearly had a checklist of two items that he wanted to include in this issue (1. Fight Vorp Angels. 2. Get key.), but he either didn't think about how to link the two of them or simply paced things so poorly that his self-imposed page limit made it impossible to actually put them together.

I mean, look at the conversation in panel 1.

Danica: "Who are you? Where are we?"
[We're as confused as you are, Danica. Well, mostly. It's obvious where you are and who this dude is, but that's just because Mookie is predictable rather than because it makes sense for you to be here. From your perspective, though, there's no reason for you to expect that a random teleport (that you didn't purposefully trigger, if you triggered it at all) would take you away from the people shooting you and your friend and into the stronghold of the MacGuffin.]
Chozo: "You are in the fourth and final vault above Umantro. I am its guardian. You are here for the fourth and final key."
[There is no nuance or subtlety to this exposition, but it does serve to make it painfully clear that yes, this is what we think it is.]
Danica: "Yes, I suppose I am."
[No, Danica, that actually isn't accurate. You're here because you got randomly plot-warped here, and while you're looking for the fourth key in a general sense, that wasn't why you powered up and flew out here, and nothing that you've been doing for the last 18 pages has had to do with going to the vault to find the key. You aren't there "for the fourth and final key." You're there because some jackass teleported you there, and the fact that it just happens to be a location that was on your to-do list wasn't actually part of why you're there.]

I mean, let's say that you had made a plan to go to the hospital for some reason other than needing treatment—let's say that you had planned on applying for a job there and wanted to drop off your résumé in person. Maybe you even told the doctor under whom you wanted to work that you were going to do this [I know that you wouldn't give a résumé to an actual doctor instead of to someone from HR, but stay with me]. You were planning on going there later this week, but you hadn't planned on going this morning. However, over the course of the morning's activities, some kind of horrifying trauma befell you—let's say you got hit by a car. You black out and get taken to, of course, the hospital. Even if you manage to pass along your résumé while you're there, that isn't why you were at the hospital. It's true that you had planned to go to the hospital for a specific purpose, it's true that you ended up at the hospital, and it might even be true that you take care of the planned purpose while you're there, but it isn't true that your plans are what ended you up at the hospital.

I know, I know, fictional narratives don't work the way actual human interactions work, and I understand that you deciding that you want to work at this hospital isn't the same as following the steps of a quest laid out by some ancient but prescient folks who left a legacy specifically for You, The Chosen One. But still, there's no connection between Danica trying to rescue Beena from the Vorp Angels and her getting zapped to the "final vault."

I mean, it wouldn't have been impossible to put in at least a weak connection here. Chozo Man could have decided that Danica was taking too long (despite waiting for untold eons) and could have forcibly summoned her there. He might have taken pity on Beena (he is watching them, right?) and invoked his Summon SPS ability on her behalf. Mitch could have activated an emergency teleport function set to "find nearest spot that's safe for non-star-powered individuals," which would have made the fact that the dogfight took place near Umantro actually relevant (even though that would still be breaking the "don't use magic to solve problems in novel ways without also introducing novel problems" rule). Maybe the fact that Danica was (allegedly) risking her life to save a civilian could have set off some kind of contingency (or even just alerted Chozo Man to her presence). None of these would have been good connections, but they would have been something. (This could still be explained later, but the fact remains that the scene is going to feel disjoint until there's some kind of explanation.)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There's a separate issue here that I doubt Mookie will address, though I don't really expect him to. Once we accept that Danica is at the vault and is being menaced by its guardian, there's the potential to have some interesting tension stemming from the role of "ancient guardian zealously protecting a MacGuffin." Basically, does this character actually want to give the key to Danica or not?

From the protagonist's perspective (this is especially true in games, but still true in non-interactive fiction), the guardian is an obstacle to be overcome. Maybe the guardian was set in place by the vague Ancient Ones who sealed the MacGuffin in the first place, maybe the guardian just took up residence there, or maybe there's other forces at play, but within the protagonist's narrative, the guardian is in the way and should be eventually overcome. But what about the guardian's perspective? Leaving aside the fact that no real human can fully comprehend the thought processes of someone who has been single-mindedly guarding a MacGuffin for untold eons, how does the guardian feel about the protagonist showing up and trying to claim the quest item?

We could have a story where the guardian is required to put up some resistance, but where they're actually happy to be able to pass the quest item down to a worthy hero. We could have a story where the guardian's mindset is not "only the Chosen One, pure of heart and bright in spirit, may have this, and my job is to make sure that whoever challenges me is in fact the Chosen One" but rather "I am to guard this at all costs, and no one may have it while I have any power to stop them." We could have a story where the guardian is bound (by oath, magic, or something else) to guard the item [cf Chozo Man saying "I will not fail you, Master"] but where they look forward to being overcome so that they can just stop guarding it (whether that means dying or moving on or something else)—this is different from the my first example in that the guardian is less interested in making sure that the right person has the item and more interested in just being done with their eternal vigil. And that's just to start!

If, in fact, Chozo Man chose to bring Danica here, that would indicate that he is at least partially interested in Danica succeeding. If his goal was to keep the key away from everyone, he wouldn't bring people into the vault. We don't yet have a good understanding of what he requires from Danica in order to fulfill his role. I'm not optimistic that we'll see any nuance here, of course. But wouldn't it be nice if we did?

[Oracle_Hunter]

Update!

Somehow, it didn't occur to me that the dudes who landed in the Pencil Backstory would be Snakepeople.

It makes perfect sense, of course, since the SPS were founded by people who stole The Starpower from the Snaketongue Empire -- and who better to steal it than insiders?

[Traab]

Convenient weakening is convenient! Seriously, she shows absolutely no signs of damage in any way, now all of a sudden, despite not taking a single hit so far as I can tell, she is bleeding out of her mouth and barely able to move. DRAMA!

[Kato]

Yeah, Danica suddenly being in any way damaged is stupid... But we need it so she can be saved by

The Power of Friendship!!!

I mean, technically she failed the test of strength here but I'm sure her getting help will make up for that somehow.

[MReav]

Yeah, Danica suddenly being in any way damaged is stupid... But we need it so she can be saved by

The Power of Friendship!!!

I mean, technically she failed the test of strength here but I'm sure her getting help will make up for that somehow.

I don't think it's The Power of Friendship. It's "Your slaves are willing to die for you!"

[random11]

Update

Shock and awe, it was just a test...

Although she could have just kill him by accident in self defence and fail a test that was forced on her.
Or be evil, kill him and carve his body for the key.
Or lose, since evidently this is NOT a test of skill and strength after all.
Not to mention that seeking knowledge instead of violence was the test in the water city, the one she was supposed to pass BEFORE HE ATTACKED HER.


So, is there still someone here able to defend the validity of his test?