Erf 112, Page 100!

[Coke_Can64]

I laughed real hard at "Omg h4x"...
I wonder if I could sig it...
Charlie fluently talking netspeak still strikes me odd, that or the fact that he talks twice as much as Parson... but that could be timing and such.

[dsollen]

I find it odd no one has brought up certin past speculation, specifically that charlie is from our world. I think the charlesncharg, net speak, and mork and mindy thing all seem to suggest it. If that were the case then perhaps the switching of sides is not purly about money but rather wanting to ally with another from our own world. When one thinks about it I don't see how charlie will benefit finacially because..

1. we already know that the treasurey was nearly drained in summoning (and feeding) parson so there is little hard cash to hand over and

2. from a meta gaming(comicing?) perspective parson can't give charlie his watch/gauntlet. It just wouldn't do from a story telling perspective for multuple reasons.

charlie said he 'liked the way parson thinks' and seems to get along with parson when others think he is simply wierd, charlie himself is thought of as strange (insert other previously mentioned reasons) I am currently putting my money on some realation between charles and the real world.

taken a step farther if we assume that charlie is from the real world that significantly increases the chances of parson getting a tool; if one person from our world gets it then it only makes sense others will.

[dragonseth]

I like that line of thinking, dsollen. I always keep hoping that Charlie is from our world, and will meet Parson face-to-face eventually. This is increasing my hopes for that.

[SteveMB]

I find it odd no one has brought up certin past speculation, specifically that charlie is from our world. I think the charlesncharg, net speak, and mork and mindy thing all seem to suggest it.

How so? There are all sorts of features of Erfworld that parallel real-world objects and cultural references for no particular reason*. (If you want a logical justification for it, the best bet seems to be to interpret it as a selection effect -- having all those parallels arise by coincidence, however unlikely, would happen somewhere in "all of existence", and Wanda locked onto Parson instead of any of the other possibilities because the parallels fit Stanley's directive to summon someone who would find things "familiar").

*Obviously, I mean no "in universe" reason.

[slayerx]

I find it odd no one has brought up certin past speculation, specifically that charlie is from our world. I think the charlesncharg, net speak, and mork and mindy thing all seem to suggest it.

Well not really...
The eyebook seems to translate thoughts into netspeak
Stanely also used some netspeak when he was talking in the eyebook with his use of "2", "u", "@" and ":("
Though it may depend on the person as Sizemore has not shown to speak netspeak when using it (though his username seemed like it was written in netspeak)...

And don't read to much into the mork and mindy, and charlesNChrg thing... i mean, pop culture references are a strong part of erfworld. If we used the mork and mindy thing to think Charlie was from parson's world, we would also need to question Sizemore's use of the kiss golems, Stanely's use of Kiss war paint, Ansom's dare devil outfit, Jillian and vinnie's dance outfits, or wanda's evil-lyn outfit with skeletor staff... really, we are consantly seeing erfwolrders making popculture references, why should charlie's use of it be more significant than anyone elses?

When one thinks about it I don't see how charlie will benefit finacially because..

1. we already know that the treasurey was nearly drained in summoning (and feeding) parson so there is little hard cash to hand over and

2. from a meta gaming(comicing?) perspective parson can't give charlie his watch/gauntlet. It just wouldn't do from a story telling perspective for multuple reasons.

Not sure what you find wrong with charlie getting the gauntlet... i mean, he's a merc and a man of business. he probably has a lot of use for an artifact that can produce mathamancy instantly; the thing isn't even bound to running out of magic like a mathamancer would be. and we have already been told that the gauntlet is worth an awful lot of shmuckers

[The Old Hack]

First off, I feel that it is fairly certain that Ansom has just ended his turn. The FERRRR-DURP signal is the exact same as the one sounded at the end of his turn in the beginning of the story (here). In other words, Parson's and Wanda's expectations came true, and now Parson has the time to make his play. Always provided, of course, that Stanley doesn't get himself croaked really fast at the beginning of his turn.

Charlie... what can I say other than that I love this guy, as a character at least. Mercenary all the way, and while he may care about his people, he cares more about pragmatism. (I admit, all the Thinkamancy makes me wonder if he is connected to another Charles altogether, one who is bound to a wheelchair. I guess we'll see eventually.)

And yes, hacking the Eyebooks is a power play... but a carefully considered one. He would not do it unless he was serious about changing sides, why tell the enemy that you have cracked their codes? In other words, he is jumping ship from the Coalition. In fact, it may be a double message: 1) see what I can do, don't mess with me, 2) yes, I am dead serious about changing sides.

I really look forward to seeing what will happen next.

[rosebud]

If Charlie does indeed make a deal with Parson and break with the Coalition, that's going to have some interesting effects on the Coalition.

Where does this "break with the Coalition" comment come from? He was allied with Ansom's side under contract for a few days. And Ansom ended the contract. As Vinny describes, "So now Jetstone releases Charles-comm form merc service". Charlie honored his contract and is free to make new ones. At the moment, neither Charlescomm nor Transylvito are allied with the Coalition. Under Ansom's plan, neither are de jure allied with the Coalition (in order to exploit the turn order). De facto, Transylvito is allied with the Coalition, of course. And they are assuming that is also the case with Charlescomm, but that is not mutual.

Mind you, there is one caveat: "Charlie and Don King have been apprised of this plan." So, depending on what was actually agreed to and what agreements Charlie makes, there could be a claim of double-dealing that could affect his reputation.

I have no idea what [Charlie will] actually come up with once he's considered his options.

There are so many possibilities. The one I dislike and find the least insightful is the gauntlet. Much more interesting ranges from the return of Jaclyn, to a share of spoils, to a share of future conquests, to service, and so forth.

Consider what Gobwin Knob is. ... is there such a thing as an extinct volcano?

Oh, that's what Barman's reply was in response to. Yes, there is such a thing, and I agree with the comment that this is suicide. Magma is several kilometers below the earth. Even if Sizemore could reach it, Gobwin Knob would be past tense since much less tunneling would be fatal to the city.

The thing about being a mercenary is if there's no war, there's no profit.

There is always war or the threat of it. This world is built on war. And Charlie's contract with Ansom was a recent and short one. This conflict -- one of many in Erfworld-- has been going on for a considerable time. And, no, you do not require war to make money. War is actually messy since you can lose forces. You merely need a threat to earn considerable fees. Charlescomm provides a wide array of services, including intelligence, escort, magical security, communication, and presumably physical security.

I can't see Charlie entirely turning his back on Jetstone

He has no contract with Jetstone now. There is technically no double dealing, something of which you accuse Charlescomm. Is there deceit? Perhaps. But he is dealing with only one party at a time.

If nothing else, it will prolong the war, and may encourage Jetstone to stump up even higher fees to keep Charlie's forces out of Parson's hands in later turns.

How dumb do you think Charlie is? If he makes a deal with Parson and against the Coalition and Translyvitto, he does so not as a petty negotiation tactic. His fees are already high and his reputation and survival is worth far more than playing games that would make him a target for retribution. An agreement either needs to not conflict with the Coalition or needs the likelihood of his side being in a better and preferably winning position. Otherwise Charlie is a fool, and nothing to this point has shown that to be the case.

For a mercenary war is good.

As explained above, there are always wars, and there is much to be made and less to be lost in times of uneasy "peace".

I dont understand why people want Parson to be freed from Stanley so badly

Who is clamoring for him to be freed? He has free reign right now, so it's a mostly non-issue now so long as Stanley stays alive.

Does this mean no more klogs from Parson?

I hope not! Of course, we might not be able to take them at face value anymore. It does at least seem somewhat separate, but possibly not entirely so?

it's unlikely that (the foolmancer) was ever in battle -- his job would be to stay home and conceal it

Those actions are a tactical part of a battle.

I was assuming the recorded history was some kind of back story or at least takes a while to become updated

The previous city battles presumably were in the past? Or perhaps they are local records only available to that side, which is all Stanley needs anyhow.

So now we need to know (what) Charlie is doing.

We'll know some more in either a day or two or a month or two.

Ansom should have had another group ... hire the extra Archons (and then join the other group)

Ansom is honorable and would not have expected the need. He also likely never saw a chance that Stanley's side would hire him since it was possibly well known that Stanley did not like Charlie. Anyhow, it's a moot point now.

the other two on the other hand have been strictly business when working for ansom; no matter how they might feel, they don't do anything they are not being paid to do.

I beg to disagree.

Charlie does not know that Parson never ordered wanda to attack...

Perhaps, but he presumably has full reports from his archons, so he presumably knows about the interactions between Wanda and Jillian, including both the spell she had on Jillian, its breaking, and the conversation between Jillian and Wanda prior to Wanda's attack. But I agree that, for Charlie, war is war and he understands.

Parson isn't outbidding ansom, he's outbidding Don King... and remember, that gauntlet of his is worth a lot of shmuckers.

In the past it was more of "this is my price and it is not negotiable". Mind you, there may be offers happening here, but I would really hate to see the gauntlet be the offer. There are so many more interesting possibilities. This strip has not been about the predictable, so for it to be that would be a double let down. Parson is cooler with the gauntlet, and the possibilities that abound are far more interesting than a mere rare item trade.

the only reason ansom is getting screwed over is because he canceled Charlie's current contract leaving Charlie open to accept new bidders

Ehh, it's because Charlie is a merc and Ansom is a royal. He had certain assumptions which turn out not to be true.

[Mr. Goodwraith]

Why "OMG"? "God" and "gods" aren't part of the Erfworld vocabulary that we've seen, except for this abbreviation. Shouldn't it be "OMT" for "Oh my Titans"?

[Tweed]

Under Ansom's plan, neither are de jure allied with the Coalition (in order to exploit the turn order). De facto, Transylvito is allied with the Coalition, of course. And they are assuming that is also the case with Charlescomm, but that is not mutual.

{scrubbed}

[happyturtle]

Why "OMG"? "God" and "gods" aren't part of the Erfworld vocabulary that we've seen, except for this abbreviation. Shouldn't it be "OMT" for "Oh my Titans"?

The Orlys say 'OMG'.

[rosebud]

I wrote it at 4 bloody AM. What'd you expect, a dissertation?

Hee hee. Of course! With full footnotes, too!

I start off with speculation ... followed by my rebuttal...

I did not follow where the comment on the volcano came from (it was not in a quote, which was a source of my confusion), so my apologies on that comment and misunderstanding. As for the rest, part of my reaction came from the assumption that AOL was the source of internet chat speak and that lolcats is where the term "lol" comes from, rather than the other way around. Sandwiched in between that assumption were two comments that seemed like wild speculation.

I understand a bit better what you were trying to imply, but it was not obvious what you were saying, in part because it depends on an assumption which I do not hold to be true based on the previous conversations in Erfworld. In particular, from the beginning, to their introduction to Parson, to later conversations, that is the communication.

You, as I understand it now, had the viewpoint that Parson's online communication was something that another Erfworlder would not understand. So in order to understand it, one needed magic. In my view, that was just how the devices worked, and Charlie is well versed with technology. Indeed, he seems the most technical of all sides that we have seen. So there was a claim that may or not be true (Charlie got in through the Parson-Maggie-Charlie link) followed by a explanation (how Charlie could understand Parson's words) that needed no explanation in my view.

Followed then by a history reference that was off by at least one or two decades. The incursion of AOL users into the Internet was viewed as a nightmare for many Usenet users and thus called the "September that never ended". (So named since September was when new college Freshman got online and invaded the newsgroups with fresh cluelessness). So to call internet jargon AOL-speak was somewhat akin to heresy for someone who predated (albeit slightly) that period. That was not your intent, but it provided that reaction.

As to the comments on your speculation on mind control, which are what seemed to irritate you the most, I may be underestimating the issues of thinkmancy, loyalty, and mind control, but they do not strike me as an issue here. Parson has tried to be careful, and it's something I view as more a distraction in this case than an interesting plotline.

You didn't even toss in your own speculation, ... [boop].

I hope the above explanation makes sense, and I would appreciate if you retracted those last comments. I wrote in part from irritation and part from each of us misunderstanding what the other was assuming and then trying to say. And saying it in ways that irritated the other. In the future, please understand that the world does not live in your head (unless you're John Malkovich ) and that your statements may require some context or precontext to be understood quickly. And please try to explain without confrontation, which can lead to needless irritation and arguments. Thanks.

[SteveMB]

Does this mean no more klogs from Parson?

I hope not! Of course, we might not be able to take them at face value anymore.

He seems to have assumed that nobody, even others on his side, would be able to read the Klog entries -- note that he managed to pack three affronts to His Toolishness into eight words ("...tiny(1) cute(2) people, who made me their leader(3)") in the first one.

[MattR]

Something just struck me, maybe were seeing Charlie hacking the book as a strength when infact it could be a weakness. Maybe he can't do the mind to mind thing communication without Parson choosing to be open to it.

Note the way Charlie says 'Parson?' is this because hes not certain he's reached the right person?

Also, it seems like a more dangerous way of communication if written records are kept. Where one hacker can go, more can boldly follow.

[rosebud]

Honestly? Who writes like this. You sound like an eighth-grader who stumbled upon a case book from the nineteenth century. Even if you're correct, you're coming across like a stuck-up officiate, and its killing your credibility, man.

I do. We are discussing a side (Charlescomm) that exploits fine distinctions in agreements. The terms "de facto" and "de jure" are common (17.3M and 1.3M results on the web, respectively), and they say what I mean. One is by informal agreement, and the other is by legal agreement. If that bothers you, so be it. The difference permits Charlescomm to make an alliance with Parson without breaking existing contractual agreements. I seem to use "de facto" frequently, but used "de jure" once in over 500 posts. That seems reasonable.

By the way, the word "officiate" is a verb. The noun form is "officiant". And "its" should be spelled "it's" when used as a contraction. I do not claim to be in expert in grammar or language, but when you are making an ad hominem attack -- oh, I'm sorry -- when you are attacking someone personally about their word choice, it helps to be careful about your own. It is preferable not to make them, however.

As to school years long past, you reminded me of my encounter with the word "archaic", which I originally mispronounced "ar-chay-ic". When I was in the eighth grade, I remember thinking that the word "archaic" was too obscure for common use. Today, if I am referring to early Greek art, it is often an adjective I use to describe a particular period or style. Outside of art, I seem to use it in writing about once every two or three years. If a word or term sounds peculiar at one point in your life, it may be be appropriate to use years later when you are more familiar with its usage and it says what you want to say.

[rosebud]

Not sure what you find wrong with charlie getting the gauntlet...

Pure selfishness! I'd like to see Parson keep it.

I'm still curious about his sword, too. He only has one turn, two tops before he needs it, yes?

In other words, Parson's and Wanda's expectations came true, and now Parson has the time to make his play.

Good point! Poor, poor Webinar! I kinda hope he and his level two girlfriend make it.

Charlie... what can I say other than that I love this guy, as a character at least. ... hacking the Eyebooks is a power play... but a carefully considered one. He would not do it unless he was serious about changing sides, why tell the enemy that you have cracked their codes?

I agree with your comments on Charlie, and I love your thoughts on the eyebook. That makes sense. It would be fun to see Parson in Charliecomm's setup. Firepower plus extreme tech.

[Oracle_Hunter]

Re: "H4x"

For me, this cemented the "Charlie is RL" TFHA Theory. Here's why:
1) L33t.

The worst we see in the eyebooks is Stanley, and he merely does normal misspellings and obvious keyboard shortcuts (@ = at, 2 = to). However, when dealing with more meme-ish text (kk thnxbai), it is completely beyond the comprehension of the well-educated Sizemore. This is likely because "kk thnxbai" is not English at all, but a code used in online games (further corrupted with "bai" rather than "bye").

"H4x" should be extra unintelligible since "to hack" is an idiom created for a universe with computers. Eyebooks are unique, and so it seems unlikely that anything else exists in the world to "hack" even if pop-culture filtered through.

LOL and OMG may or may not be further proof, since Orilies have been known to squawk this... but it may be like King Saline IV or Banhammer, which appear to be names without reference for Erfworlders.

2) "Sense of Humor"
Both Parson and Charlie are noted for being very strange, often with unusual senses of humor. The fact that both seem to connect on some level and are described similarly is the basis for the "Charlie is RL" theory.

[Arin]

Why "OMG"? "God" and "gods" aren't part of the Erfworld vocabulary that we've seen, except for this abbreviation. Shouldn't it be "OMT" for "Oh my Titans"?

Sure, if it were an Erfworld character talking. It was Parson, so our Earth-based God applies. ;)

[Arin]

By the way, the word "officiate" is a verb. The noun form is "officiant". And "its" should be spelled "it's" when used as a contraction. I do not claim to be in expert in grammar or language, but when you are making an ad hominem attack -- oh, I'm sorry -- when you are attacking someone personally about their word choice, it helps to be careful about your own. It is preferable not to make them, however.

Pwn'd. :)

(Sorry, I needed to enjoy the supreme irony of applauding an articulate post with netspeak. I'm sure /you/ understand. ;) )

[K2]

I love this comic, charlie has just been told to play for another team and he decides that a bid war is appropriate. awesome.

[The Old Hack]

Pure selfishness! I'd like to see Parson keep it.

I agree with that last. I like the gauntlet, too! Mind you, I did wonder about one thing earlier. Based purely on my own financial prejudices and ideas of how magic works, I wondered how it was possible that Parson could just receive an item potentially worth hundreds of thousands of Schmuckers as a Stupid Meal gift. Its value might even exceed the cost of the initial spell, and this somehow didn't seem right to me -- if the spell that summoned and keeps Parson here is that good, shouldn't it have cost more to produce? Then I realised that the gauntlet works in combination with Parson's calculator watch and is really more of a convenience device and stopped worrying.

I'm still curious about his sword, too. He only has one turn, two tops before he needs it, yes?

If he gets the last piece the start of this coming Turn, he is all set to make like Conan.

Good point! Poor, poor Webinar! I kinda hope he and his level two girlfriend make it.

*scratches head* I'm not really sure that the rather mean '2' Jillian used about her here refers to her level, I think it might mean either their leadership ability or their rank within the Coalition. But as to your sentiments, I agree with them. Poor Webinar looked so dejected when he entered the tunnels.

I agree with your comments on Charlie, and I love your thoughts on the eyebook. That makes sense. It would be fun to see Parson in Charliecomm's setup. Firepower plus extreme tech.

I just had a different thought, mind. It is faintly possible that Charlie only broke into the communication stream of the Eyebooks and cannot access past activities on them, and that he wants Parson to worry that they are more compromised than it seems. In such a case, it would also be a shrewd move; Parson is too cagey to merely hope for that and will likely treat a possible breach as an actual one.

But I consider a complete breach to be quite likely -- and indeed a possible factor in Charlie's considering to change sides now. If he is capable of reading Parson's plans, he now also has an even better idea of Parson's capabilities and might be very interested indeed in getting Parson on his side.

Mind you, there is one caveat: "Charlie and Don King have been apprised of this plan." So, depending on what was actually agreed to and what agreements Charlie makes, there could be a claim of double-dealing that could affect his reputation.

As was pointed out earlier -- by SteveMB, I think -- to apprise someone merely means to inform them. I suspect Ansom of making the assumption that just because the plan is his, both Don King and Charlie will jump to join it. But unlike the case of Don King, Ansom has no friendly voice to plead his case for Charlie.

In other words: Charlie gets told that his contract is broken and that he is supposed to make a new one with Don King. But since Ansom unwisely broke the contract before ensuring that Charlie would go along with the scheme, he has instead freed Charlie up to join whatever side he cares to. Possibly it is because he simply cannot imagine anyone wanting to throw their lots in with Stanley the Worm at this stage.

[Ptorquemada]

We don't know what Charlie wants or what he's offering yet, so it's hard to guess exactly how this is going to play out. However, everyone else is doing it, so I'll throw out my own wild speculation as well:

He wants Parson.

He's contacting Parson first because he wants to be sure Parson is willing. If there aren't any objections, then he'll contact Stanley and offer something in exchange.

Stanley's already pretty much written Parson off as a loss anyway, so even if all Charlie offers is information Stanley might well take it.

This works out to be a perceived win for most of the major players:

Charlie gets Parson, plus his mathamancy gizmo. Maybe he gets a bonus unit or two (Bogroll, Sizemore) out of the deal also. Also, he can save his shiny rep on this by just telling Don King when he calls "Yeah, about that... as happy as I'd be to take your money, I hate to see you waste it. I managed to get into their internal lines of communication, and did you know they're aware of your plan? Your units can sit in that pass waiting until the Titans come back but Stanley's never going to show. However, I found out some things while I was in there, so now I know a way to take the city without firing a shot, and all it's going to cost you is a few units out of the spoils; nothing major really, I'll just take their Warlord to replace Jaclyn, it's not even like he's got a high leadership bonus..."

Parson (and anyone else he brings along with him) gets to work for/with Charlie instead of Stanley. I'd say that's a win.

Stanley gets to live. Right now it's not looking good for him otherwise.

The Alliance gets to take Gobwin Knob without casualties. For a lot of them, that in itself will count as a win; even the ones that want Stanley croaked will see neutralizing his last city as a major step forward towards the ultimate goal.

Jillian and Ansom get ... well, they're definitely in the pro-croaking Stanley faction, so they're just about the only ones who don't get what they want. I predict Jillian reclaims Faq in order to dedicate it and herself to wiping Stanley off the face of Erf, and that Ansom comes with her de facto if not de jure. So they at least get a hobby.

Edit: I left out a couple of significant players:

Vinnie would probably also like to see Stanley croaked, but it doesn't seem to be personal with him the way it is with Ansom or Jillian.

Wanda got left out on purpose, and I thought I'd better clarify that. I have no idea what she would do if it turns out that this is the deal Charlie's offering. It depends on her own motivations, which have not exactly been made entirely clear. She's the wild card here.

[Oracle_Hunter]

He's contacting Parson first because he wants to be sure Parson is willing. If there aren't any objections, then he'll contact Stanley and offer something in exchange.

Stanley's already pretty much written Parson off as a loss anyway, so even if all Charlie offers is information Stanley might well take it.

Problem: Stanley hates Charlie with a burning passion. No way is he going to agree to anything Charlie offers him, much less speak to the man.

[Drammel]

The more I think of it more the I'm inclined to believe that Charlie is after something more lucrative than a calculator, despite its value on Erf.

I want to know if Charlie can contact Stanley. Did he bring his book? If so the following turn will play out on a rather large 'if'. Charlie contacts Stanley and points out what Stanley suspects, that this is the last turn Gobwin Knob will remain in Stanley's possession. Charlie will then offer a huge sum of shumckers to buy Gobwin Knob, which Stanley will find suspicious, but he is attempting to start a new side on this turn and he's also short on cash since he cannot take his treasury with him. Everyone and their uncle is still out to croak Stanley. I expect rebuilding defenses is an expensive prospect so Stanley will have no choice but to take the money, even if he has a personal dislike for Charlie.

That's the 'big if'. If it is possible to transfer ownership of a city (even a capital) for goods or services. If it is, then it is presumable the ownership of Gobwin Knob goes to Charlescomm, everyone and everything in Gobwin Knob is now under the rule of Charlie--not Stanley-- and when Stanley is croaked by the aligned Translyvito and Charlescomm forces (who act before Stanley this turn) Gobwin Knob does not become neutral. Translyvito and Charlescomm split the spoils of the battle including the money Charlie paid Stanley and the Arkenhammer which completes its destiny as a MacGuffin. Charlie in one deft move gains a city (with a strong defensive position), and the units within, including Parson a warlord he may or may not believe to be a military genius. I'll get to that.

It is now still Translyvito/Charlescomm's turn. At this point Ansom realizes that despite the demise of Stanley, Gobwin Knob has not become neutral and belongs to Charlie. Ansom contacts Charlie and asks why and how he took over the city his entire army was preparing to attack. To which Charlie can point out that he has bloodlessly ended the battle for Gobwin Knob and that he thought Ansom would be pleased, especially since Stanley is now croaked. Charlie's reputation remains pristine with the exception of double crossing Stanley which is a moot issue as no one on Erf will mourn his passing.

However, keep in mind that Ansom is still quite upset because of Parson's 'owning a tool = greater than Titanic mandate' justification for leadership. Furthermore, it will appear to Ansom that Charlie was the secret ally in the coalition. Since we know that Ansom has a problem with nonroyals coming to power and that Charlie owns the Arkendish (possibly the Arkenhammer by now) he will not end the conflict, but make an example of Charlie by continuing the assault on Gobwin Knob. On his turn.

Whether or not Charlie anticipated Ansom to attack his new city is irrelevant. He gets to test out Parson, his new warlord. If Parson fails Charlie is not at any real loss, and (unlike Stanley) becomes the sympathetic victim of unwarranted aggression. If Parson succeeds in his brilliant plan to save the day on this turn, then Charlie indeed has managed to snag a tactical genius and a city to boot. He wins no matter what.

Parson's future after Gobwin Knob is unclear, but I see him as being Charlie's 'ace in the hole'. The guy that Charlie sends in to win impossible situations. That is at least if any of this comes to pass.

[Ptorquemada]

Problem: Stanley hates Charlie with a burning passion. No way is he going to agree to anything Charlie offers him, much less speak to the man.

I didn't remember that strip specifically, but even without that quote one thing bothered me: Stanley has no particular reason to believe Charlie, even if he's telling the truth.

It could still work if Charlie makes the offer (and Charlie's specialty is comm; I doubt Stanley can not take the call if Charlie wants to talk). Stanley might go along with it, thinking in his half-clever way "The city was toast anyway, and now I know what they want me to think; I'll play along so they think I believed them."

[Occasional Sage]

<Lots of intelligent and entertaining stuff.

I think I like you.

As for why "people want to see Parson freed from Stanley," I think its a reaction to the title of the strip. "The Battle of" is the normal reference for an actual engagement; "The Battle for" implies other things to me, such as a change of ownership from causes other than direct battle between two parties.

[BarGamer]

@Rosebud: My reference to lolcats was the "In mah base, croakin ur d00ds" line. Yet another instance in which we misunderstood each other. I deleted the offensive lines.

Just a tip: You'd come off a lot less pretentious if you laid off on all the quote boxes. Seriously. You don't have to be right all the time, either. Half the fun of these kinds of threads, when a new comic is up, is going back and laughing at all the speculation that got debunked. If I'm wrong, but I had fun, I call it a win. In all your 500+ posts, how much fun did you have, being right?

Back to the wild, crazy, random, speculation: I will cheer when Stanley gets croaked, regardless of whether or not Parson had a Mathamancy-wearing-hand in it. XD

[BRC]

My Dream Outcome, Parson makes a deal to surrender GK To Charlie, who then takes on Parson, Wanda, Maggie and Sizemore as warlords/casters. They then get hired by Translevito to lay the smackdown on Jetstone because Ansom becomes obssessed with the whole Royalty/Arkentool thing and pretty much picks up stanley's quest as he tries to find an Arkentool that WILL attune to him, to prove that Royalty is favored by the Titans.

[Pebot]

call me crazy, but I don't think Parson wants to surrender to anyone, even Charlie. I say this because of what Parson says in his last Klog that he wants to see this played out.

So, I doubt that Parson will give up, maybe get a deal with Charlie, but not surrender

[ishnar]

Note the way Charlie says 'Parson?' is this because hes not certain he's reached the right person?

I'd say it's more because Charlie isn't sure that Parson has the book open. Sorta like how you might say, "Mom?" when you are talking to your mother's answering machine hoping she'll pickup.

wow, my speculation earlier in the thread got no responses, positive or negative, so disappointing.

[ShinyBrowncoat]

And, imo about Wanda's new creatures, they look like Wanda gave them orders? cause they seem to be flying away in the 5th panel.

Not flying away. Dancing!

ETA: OMFG! I just realized what dance Wanda is making them do!

ROTFLMGAO!!! That is sooooooooooooooooooooo perfect!