101 The Battle for Gobwin Knob, Page 91

[fractal]

For that matter, if the Thinkamancer is catching all of this, I bet Parson's got her in awe. This is the kind of thinkagram that's worth the trouble of sending.

[fractal]

Vinny: "Ansom! Obvious troll is Obvious!"

Yeah, now we know why Parson is so big, don't we. He's just a troll (as opposed to Bogroll, the twoll).

"And here we see the troll in his native environment, remote communication, engaged in his usual behavior, trolling."

[DCR]

I now initiate a 24 hour period known as "Parson is AWESOME".
Participate or not at your own choosing.

[Wonton]

I am SO in :P

[Thoughtbot360]

Really nice button pushing.

Not sure where Parson learned that Ansom has that big red button or that it would be that divisive for the side. All of Ansom's side could have been royal blood for all Parson knows. Of course I am missing stuff so shoot me back.

Not really, for recent "Parson's Klogs," Parson has found out that Marbits and such do not have royalty. He also found out that royalty is very important to some people (IE Ansom.) So he apparently put two and two and well, two again together and decided to try to this gambit with Ansom because he risked very little for potentially very much.

[rosebud]

A commoner that rebelled would to a degree at least be fearful of the wrath he was provoking.

Only if that system were part of the culture, which is not the case for those not led by royals. And (looking at Vinnie) not even the case for some royals.

What is amusing is Parson exploiting his weaknesses and neutralizing some of his strengths: leadership, planning, coalition building.

What I still don't understand is why they need pursue Gobwin Knob instead of going after Stanley, who is the main target and reason the coalition is joined together. While Ansom may have alienated his listeners, they are still joined against Stanley not joined for Ansom. Since Parson lacks much offensive at this point, they need not focus on Gobwin Knob, especially since (in their view) Parson does not claim himself to be an heir. If Stanley is eliminated, that ends the threat.

And I'm still wondering when and how a chorus of "Summer Nights" will manage to show up.

[RMS Oceanic]

And now I know his weakness. Hubris!

Parson just twolled Ansom. :) Whether or not this leads to rifts in the alliance remains to be seen, but I'm hopeful.

Also, good times were had with the juxtaposition of Parson's praise with Stanley being in a sitcom situation.

[Laurentio]

Well... Called Shot is that Parson is trying to strike Ansom on his weakness.
Long Shot, it's only the first part of the dialogue, that could quiet down a little, now that Ansom is ready for some reverse psychology suggestion.
Longer Shot, Parson is trying to put Ansom against every tool-aligned person, that includes... Charlie.
Longest Shot, this new plan could be partially inspired by Charlie himself, as a device to leave the alliance with honor (and keeping the money), and came in aid of Parson at a later time.
Longerest Shot, Charlie didn't inspire Parson directly, but left a "macro suggestion" inside the Thinkmancer's mind, during the "side call" moment (so the whirlwind is not simply che end of the contact, but a mind attack against Maggie). Maggie the unwilling mole? Sound funny to me (and Maggie would agree that Charlie is good at that play).

Laurentio

[Bendal]

Essentially Parson is telling Ansom that attacking his "superior" (Stanley) is no different than when Stanley offed HIS superior, making their actions no different at all.

Ansom's public reaction (now how did Parson know Ansom would take the call in view of his allies?) is all Parson could have asked for. Now let's see how it carries with everyone else...

[fractal]

That is the problem with ruling by divine right. The Divine might rescind it.

Meanwhile, Parson, though of a lesser station, is both stronger (we can assume) and smarter than Ansom, although perhaps not more morally fit.

[Arkenputtyknife]

(now how did Parson know Ansom would take the call in view of his allies?)

Ansom's camp appears to be in line of sight of the walls of GK (perhaps even from the higher parts of Efdup Tower if some pages are to be believed), so a keen-sighted lookout could see him meeting with his warlords and would report this information to Parson. I would expect this to be standard procedure and standing orders. Considering the very few sources of information now available to Parson, I'd expect him to be making the very most of what little he has.

[pasko77]

Hmmm, comic 101. I think that school is officially in session.

Would anyone explain this pun to me?
I guess it is something obvious for anybody in USA, but i don't really get it...

[TheTurnipKing]

Ooh. Nice manipulation.

That's gonna hurt after the next turn if Ansom sends most of his forces right into the lion's mouth.

[Krelon]

Mission accomplished, but... there will be random effects. When pushing someone that hard any thing can happen. It could go bad for Parson but I guess since he is in a very bad situation, taking chances is his best option.

Ansom could finally do the siege by the book not giving Parson a chance (cold hatred). Not so good for Parson and probably no chance to be spared after the battle.

Ansom could just order to storm through the tunnels to get it over with quickly (hot anger). Probably good for Parson.

Ansom could order Jillian to leave with the air units after all to squish the Tool to show that there is no new mandate from the Titans. Probably good for PArson cause this takes awy some forces and he can potentially get rid of the Tool.

I guess the alliance will hold, for now. Parson will need to back up his words (in the eyes of the other alliance leaders) somehow.

very nice twist of plot

[SteveMB]

Would anyone explain this pun to me?
I guess it is something obvious for anybody in USA, but i don't really get it...

It's a reference to classes being identified by number (e.g. Calculus 205, US History 310). The number "101" is often associated with the basic foundation-level class in some subject.

[Eldritch_Ent]

Well, he's clearly trying to split up the coalition... It was his stated goal what, three pages ago? And in the previous comic he said "I'd have to do this with one call", with "this" being "split the coalition"... (I may be captain obvious saying that, however.)

Either way, clearly Parson is to be feared. If you challenge him, expect epic mind games.

Either way, I think the alliance just took a big hit to it's "Loyalty" stat...

[The Old Hack]

Only if that system were part of the culture, which is not the case for those not led by royals. And (looking at Vinnie) not even the case for some royals.

Ah... but it is a part of their culture. Peripherally, perhaps, but this need not make the effect smaller. As a matter of fact, back when monarchy was a big thing, there were countries so desperate to have kings of their own that they imported them from other countries, or alternately made a vast effort to be considered kingdoms in their own right. Prussia would be a good example, its first king only became so after convincing a number of other monarchs to recognise him, and even then, he was only considered king in Prussia, not king of Prussia. (If the difference seems obscure... well, it is to me, too. But presumably it was an important qualifier back then, possibly to keep the upstart from getting too proud of himself.)

As to Vinnie... he is a cynic, he is a lot brighter than Ansom, and sometimes being inside a system is very helpful for seeing through its pretenses and flaws. He certainly knows Ansom, and the 'oof' may not only be for the social blunder but also for the rage he can see following hard on its wake.

[SteveMB]

That is the problem with ruling by divine right. The Divine might rescind it.

Meanwhile, Parson, though of a lesser station, is both stronger (we can assume) and smarter than Ansom, although perhaps not more morally fit.

Ansom's claim to be "smarter" than the guy who led him into a trap is bound to come off as a bit questionable.

To quote a call somebody made in a similar situation with a similar objective: "I'm laughing at the 'superior intellect'."

[dokein]

What I could see happening: Ansom INSISTS on doing a non-conventional and rushed attack through the tunnels. Parson is able to counter the force using his superior crap golems, resulting in coalition casualties. Together with the royalty statements, this unsuccessful attack results in the loss of any kind of trust between the other coalition members and Ansom.

[pasko77]

It's a reference to classes being identified by number (e.g. Calculus 205, US History 310). The number "101" is often associated with the basic foundation-level class in some subject.

Thanks.
So, in college (or what, high school?), are classes always identified by numbers?

Sorry for the OT.

[Bendal]

Parson just managed to equate Ansom's current actions with Stanley's regicide, and Ansom's response didn't go over all that well with his allies.

But how did Parson know Ansom wouldn't just take the call in private?

[Doran]

I would like to vote this strip as one of Parson's Crowning moments of awesome

Also initially I thought the last panel meant Stanley was somehow eavesdropping through the foolmancer link.

[Scutatus]

Psychological warfare at it's best. Brilliant. And right in front of the coalition leaders too. It will be interesting to see if some of his followers now begin to question Ansom's leadership...

Or if Ansom begins to doubt himself?

Even if all that happens is that he is moved into rash action, mission accomplished. :)

Nicely done Parson.

[Nargrakhan]

I've been supporting Lord Hamster's victory in this battle, ever since I knew of the strip and joined this board.

Nothing has changed that opinion.

Give them hell Lord Hamster... give them Hell...

[Achilles]

This comic has blown my mind... I believe I know what is going to happen but still... dang.

[Templar]

Vinnie's reaction was the best. When your good friend's inner boop-hole gets exposed in front of his peers, it's always tough to watch.

I'm a little surprised it was so easy to bait him, but I suppose we can chalk that up to Wanda's intimate knowledge of the subject, the subject's own hatreds and insecurities, and a desire to avoid decompressed storytelling by our author.

[zeropsm]

We know that thinkagrams shows up inside Ansom's head.( showed when Jillian sent the tinkagram to ansom on the donut...too lazy to link, sorry)

So, now ansom sounds just nuts to the coalition's leaders.

I can almost see the next strip:


"Even you, proud prince of the jetstones, have paid to get the help of a "tool attuned" leader...you're becoming useless evryday. All your scouts at the tunnel were whiped, and soon all the marbits will...this is what royals do...commit their people to death, to feed their own ego."

And BOOM...Charlie is out of play, and the coalition non-royal leaders lose ansom's confidence.

I think parson itself will not need to give his watch to charlie at all.

[SteveMB]

We know that thinkagrams shows up inside Ansom's head.( showed when Jillian sent the tinkagram to ansom on the donut...too lazy to link, sorry)

So, now ansom sounds just nuts to the coalition's leaders.

I think the basics of how people communicate by Thinkagram are common knowledge; it wouldn't seem "nuts" any more than a guy talking into a little black box seems "nuts" in the real world.

However, the raw display of the worst side of his "traditionalist royal" worldview surely can't be helpful (even setting aside what people think of the worldview itself, he's acting like an out-of-control hothead).

The idea that he might follow up by needling Ansom about his alliance with Charlie is interesting. (I don't think it's been stated that Charlie is attuned to the Arkendish -- Ansom's use of the Arkenpliers to dust uncroaked shows that even unattuned Arkentools manifest powers -- but it's strongly implied by the sparklies around it).

[Templar]

(I don't think it's been stated that Charlie is attuned to the Arkendish -- Ansom's use of the Arkenpliers to dust uncroaked shows that even unattuned Arkentools manifest powers -- but it's strongly implied by the sparklies around it).

And by Maggie's comments as well.

[warmachine]

Though goading your opponent is a good move, especially when traps are set, it's effect will be limited. Prince Ansom absolutely believes in his divine right but his best friend is not royalty, handles criticism that his campaign is driven by monarchist policy, leads a council of war with warlords of other nations and he's not above having sex with a mercenary. He's a good guy and as long you stay off political philosophy, you can work with him. Just tell him that he's got an Arkentool as well and that Stanley is an evil ****er who's losing the war, so can't be chosen of the Titans. A breakup of the alliance seems unlikely.

Ansom is still likely to do something rash, which helps Parson but Parson needs a lot more than that. Ansom has lost 40% of his siege engines but he's still got massive, numerical strength. Parson can't win against that without his battlefield overview and powerful, flying dragons to pick and win the fights on his terms.

Parson is going down fighting but I think he's doomed.