Strong Female Protagonist II

[Nettlekid]

I think the people like me who want to see Allison experience some kind of negative because of what she did want that because it would make a far more interesting story than if nothing comes of it. It's a pretty clear setup to some kind of emotional growth payoff, but she needs to be jarred into changing her worldview. Look at the start of the chapter: Allison professes to believe in strength through unity, the professor says that a tyrant thinks that way, Allison is outraged at the idea of being called a tyrant, then behaves tyrannically in forcing Max to act against his will. There's the setup, that while she had professed to wanting people to work together, what she actually wants is for everyone to do what she tells them to and what she thinks is best. Some people seem to be okay with her forcing Max to use his power because Max was a jerk, which is exactly what the author has Allison thinking as well, and in Allison's mind justifies her action. But Max's behavior doesn't change Allison's, and the professor was still right about tyranny.

I agree with 137ben that this comic develops pretty slowly, and so anything that comes from Max will probably be pretty far down the road in real time. Right now Allison hasn't experienced any kind of blowback for having used force to make multiple people do something they didn't want. Max didn't want to use his power, and Feral didn't want to be saved. I think that the retribution people are looking for isn't something like "a meteor falls out of the sky and hits her for being a bad person," it's that we want to see the failing of Allison's policy of doing a bad thing with good intentions, by having those intentions break down. I think we could have gotten the retribution we were looking for if Feral had lashed out at Allison for taking matters into her own hands, and Allison would have been shaken because the person she thought would appreciate her actions doesn't. In the end Feral's saving turned out alright because of the established ridiculousness of saying that she is serving literally 100% of patients who need organs, so everything's good at the end of the day and we sweep that under the rug. Max is probably very angry, but we haven't seen him again yet.

To be clear, I'm not hoping for an ironic punishment, where maybe Allison is forced to use her powers in a way that she doesn't want to and she has a moment of clarity to realize that she feels as helpless as she made Max feel, or something like that. Because while ironic, it wouldn't actually be a reflection of her actions. The appropriate punishment is for the direct result of what she did to end up working against her, and something that wouldn't have happened if she hadn't acted with force. To compare it to something else, let's say...Think back to the last arc with Moonshadow killing men because they may or may not be rapists. She admitted that she's sure she's killed innocent people. An appropriate comeuppance would not be for someone to randomly kill her because she might have been guilty of X crime, it would be for the loved one of one of the innocent people she killed to take vengeance against her. The former could have happened regardless of her own actions, the latter happens only because of what she did. That's the kind of turnaround that would mean something.

[Vinyadan]

Well I sure hope that this Max deal was building up to something more than "OMG Clevin's much better my eyes are open I now want to proceed and brush his hair and his hair only."

[137beth]

I think that the retribution people are looking for isn't something like "a meteor falls out of the sky and hits her for being a bad person," it's that we want to see the failing of Allison's policy of doing a bad thing with good intentions, by having those intentions break down. I think we could have gotten the retribution we were looking for if Feral had lashed out at Allison for taking matters into her own hands, and Allison would have been shaken because the person she thought would appreciate her actions doesn't. In the end Feral's saving turned out alright because of the established ridiculousness of saying that she is serving literally 100% of patients who need organs, so everything's good at the end of the day and we sweep that under the rug.

I was under the impression that Tera has no idea what Allison had to do to power her up. I'd imagine that if/when she does find out, then we'll get Feral's angry or horrified reaction.

Also, let's not forget about where Allison got her information on Max: from a file Patrick sent her. She's been working closely with Lisa, who never met Menace and doesn't know Allison has been in contact with him the whole time. When it all comes out, Al will have more than one pissed off ally.

[Ibrinar]

Feral horrified by her forcing that guy via violence? I doubt it, feral has killed quite a few people I doubt threatening someone into compliance is particularly shocking for her, not that she might not object to it strongly but if it horrifies her (except on the "a super of her power could be really dangerous if she doesn't have ethical problems with forcing her will on people" level) that would just be hamfisted.

[Nettlekid]

Well I sure hope that this Max deal was building up to something more than "OMG Clevin's much better my eyes are open I now want to proceed and brush his hair and his hair only."

Yeah, this is going to be pretty polarizing. I'm not positive what the gestures in this update mean (is she touching his arm to encourage him, or to say "no don't go there?") and so I'll only be able to speak more about it on Friday when we get a little clarification, but if she ends up dating Clevin then that screams "author wish fulfillment of the girl choosing the wimpy nerdy guy because he's nicer than the stuck up pricks who shouldn't have been given a chance to begin with."

[Kantaki]

I had so hoped this wouldn't happen...
Now Clevin will inevitably turn*evil.

*out to be

[Morquard]

What do you mean "turn evil". For that he needs to be good first. Clearly he's the mastermind behind the biodynamic holocaust, which he did to make Alison paranoid and push everyone away, so he can then swoop in! No, he can't see the future, he's just that evil!

[Kantaki]

Patrick, Max...
Everyone Alison shows romantic interest in turns evil.*We are so lucky she isn't into Tara. The organ donation would have turned out to be part of some villainous plan.

*Or is revealed to be evil- still be evil in Pat’s case -same difference.
Either way, it's gonna happen to poor Clevin now.

[Temotei]

"By the way, if ever you show biodynamic power that could be used to help the world, I'll force you to use it my way. Is that okay?"

"Oh man oh man oh man"

[Vinyadan]

"Shut up and kiss me, you wicked tyrant."

[137beth]

Well, I'm relieved that this story won't be devolving into romance (yet, anyhow).

[Kantaki]

New comic.

Ali has a breakdown and everyone’s favourite Prof. returns.
Maybe there will actually be consequences from her little stunt.

I think Gurwara might have something to say about that one to Empress Alison I.

[137beth]

Granted, he doesn't know what Allison's done (unless he has some unknown power), but he can probably deduce that she's done something she isn't proud of based on her current mood.

[Ibrinar]

He never said becoming a dictator was the wrong answer, clearly he wants her to subjugate the world.

[Traab]

I just hope he is a bit more helpful this time than he is in class. With our luck he is going to keep pushing her to see how she will react.

[Vinyadan]

"OMG you're really worked up for that failing class thing, aren't you?"

[137beth]

I was excited for a SFP update this morning.
Then I remembered it was on hiatus.

Ah well, quality over quick release is a good thing, IMO.

[Maryring]

Man. The comic comment field's pretty depressing. So much hatred for the professor. But hey, new comic for the rest of us.

[Kantaki]

I can't wait to see what Gurwara has to say.
And how Ali will react.

[137beth]

I feel like Allison needs someone she can confide in whom she has a greater degree of trust in than Guwara. I just have no idea who that person would be. Lisa? Hector? I might guess Patrick, but I still think there's a decent chance that Patrick has been arranging Allison's and Max's encounters from the beginning, with the intent of getting Allison to do what she did.

[Traab]

I feel like Allison needs someone she can confide in whom she has a greater degree of trust in than Guwara. I just have no idea who that person would be. Lisa? Hector? I might guess Patrick, but I still think there's a decent chance that Patrick has been arranging Allison's and Max's encounters from the beginning, with the intent of getting Allison to do what she did.

The problem there is, she couldnt stand it if her friends hated her for what she did. What she needs most is an anonymous ear to listen to her that she can trust to keep it to themself. This is almost explicitly a scenario where a catholic would go to confession. Someone you can trust to be morally upright, wont talk about this to anyone, is not a friend you are desperate to not have hate you, might have some advice to hand out, etc etc etc.

[137beth]

The problem there is, she couldnt stand it if her friends hated her for what she did. What she needs most is an anonymous ear to listen to her that she can trust to keep it to themself. This is almost explicitly a scenario where a catholic would go to confession. Someone you can trust to be morally upright, wont talk about this to anyone, is not a friend you are desperate to not have hate you, might have some advice to hand out, etc etc etc.

Maria Rosenblum? She's not a perfect confidant, but I honestly can't think of anyone else who comes close to fitting the criteria you just gave.

[Lizard Lord]

Maria Rosenblum? She's not a perfect confidant, but I honestly can't think of anyone else who comes close to fitting the criteria you just gave.

That's kind of the point though isn't it? That being a previously established character disqualifies them?

[Lethologica]

Maria Rosenblum? She's not a perfect confidant, but I honestly can't think of anyone else who comes close to fitting the criteria you just gave.

*Anonymous
*Can be trusted to keep it to themself

I honestly don't see how Dr. Rosenblum comes closer than anyone else. Alison would agree--remember how cagy she was with Maria about Moonshadow?

[137beth]

Huh...did not expect this reaction from Guwara.

[Kantaki]

Huh...did not expect this reaction from Guwara.

Eh, he's not wrong.

Say whatever else you want about Ali’s stunt, but Max kinda had it coming.

[Ibrinar]

I assume philosophy will come next strip. But I personally had no idea how he would react, in his class he has brought up arguments to question her stance but he hasn't really taken one himself so I a don't really know his world view.

[137beth]

*Anonymous
*Can be trusted to keep it to themself

I honestly don't see how Dr. Rosenblum comes closer than anyone else. Alison would agree--remember how cagy she was with Maria about Moonshadow?

--Not anonymous, but not a friend she needs to like her.
--Can be reasonably trusted to keep things confidential if Allison asks, because that's part of her job.

Allison was only cagy asking about Mary because she was unsure of whether she actually saw Moonshadow, and wanted to know if the government had also suspected Moonshadow as confirmation. When Maria said that Mary had already been ruled out, Al immediately told her exactly what she was thinking.

But since today's strip came out, I should probably eat my words given that the professor seems like a better choice than I expected.

[Gez]

Eh, he's not wrong.

Say whatever else you want about Ali’s stunt, but Max kinda had it coming.

Which is a weak point of the story, IMO. It would have had more of a point if it didn't go out of its way to demonize the victims of supervigilantism. Moonshadow Mary is "pretty sure" that all the people she killed were really guilty; the John Galt parody had it coming, etc. Everything is fine, there's no real moral dilemma.

[Ibrinar]

Well unless you are a hardcore the ends justify the means person that would go about anyones corpse to reach their goals you are just much more likely to threaten someone in compliance you dislike. And the moral question does not go away, *******s are protected by morals too, we just care less about it. (Doing it to someone friendly is emotionally complexer and in that way might be more interesting in a story but the moral question does not change that much. Though I guess someone friendly would have to have more of a reason to refuse so that might make it more complex.)

Though for the vigilante killings I guess that might actually matter, if you consider death an appropriate punishment and only oppose vigilantes because of the higher chance of them getting the wrong person.