Grrl Power #461 – Clandestilen
Dabbler’s involvement with Arc-SWAT is curious considering the existence of The Council, but Dabbler didn’t immigrate through normal channels. Actually it’s more of a migration. Well, it depends on how long she’s planning on staying. The sequence of events leading her to join the team would be fun to tell if I was a 5 pages a week kind of guy, but I suppose I’ll show it in chunks as the opportunity arises.
Also it turns out Dabbler was wrong about the alien tourism only being to post-FTL civilizations, as mentioned here, in a page called Don’t forget the alien sex tourism… hmm, kind of went to the well a few times already with that joke. Oh well. But thanks to The Veil, Earth is a very rare case of pre-FTL clandestine alien tourism.
You know, on the topic of doing it with aliens, one thing that rarely comes up in sci-fi shows (probably more so in books) would be smell. Odor to be more accurate. Assuming we’re dealing with basically humanoid aliens where they’re basically just exotic people, aliens would probably smell weird, and we would smell weird to them. Humans smell pretty bad in their natural state, fortunately we’ve invented showers and deodorant and mouthwash etc, and presumably aliens would have as well. Still, ignoring crazy stuff like silicon based life or something that exhales methane, differing biology, environments, and even food supply would affect the odor baseline. It would put a real kibosh on wanting to date the smoking hot green alien chick or the pretty blue alien boy if their breath smelled like the inside of a gym bag, or their sweat smelled like slightly off cheese.
I imagine in a cross species world like Babylon 5 or Deep Space 9, deodorants would focus more on eliminating odors than masking them, since lilacs might smell fine to us, but to an alien species it could trigger some adrenaline fight or flight response, or their most popular scented candle might smell like a summer horse grave to us.
Now that I think of it, a food court on a space station would be nightmarish. You think microwaved fish or kimchi or natto or McDonald’s smells bad? Just wait till you catch a whiff of boiled gork spleen or fizzy flume yolk or smelted Gazorpazorpian flugflaps all mixing together.
Speaking of punch cards.
Double res version will be posted over at Patreon as soon as I get up. $1 and up, but feel free to contribute as much as you like :)
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Dongs Ahoy!Full frontal and backal. Lots of skin, sex on some or all pages, explicit or otherwise.
I love dabblers look she looked dead sexy on the topp sexond picture and the bottom second.
Wait, Dabbler has four finger per hand? Why am i just now noticing this!
(well, i know why i am noticing it now (*´ω`*), i mean why didn’t i notice before)
That’s kinda like not noticing the hooves. ;)
Did you mean three, instead of four? Or were you counting the thumb as part of the total?
Dabbler has been depicted that way for quite some time. But she has more noticeable features, which might distract from that, so it is fairly understandable.
Actually, here is a better shot.
Mork Calling Orsen, Come In Orsen!
Nice Mork & Mindy reference!
Maybe “Mork & Mindy” was really a reality show?
You will probably find that one of the Council’s shell companies was a major sponsor. Make the public see aliens, amongst them, as being more friendly. In the even that the Veil might someday fail or be voluntarily lowered.
They have probably been behind quite a few portrayals of vampires as being cute, and werewolves as being fluffy. Likewise having demon bars and friendly demons, in Buffy and Angel. Perhaps culminating in public testing of opinion for how lowering the Veil might be taken, in a popular web-comic?
Don’t listen to A Gray Phantom, we loves you! Especially if you do know Sydney, and could arrange an introduction.
In that case, just how many TV shows & movies are actually reality shows/documentaries? And not just live action stuff, cartoons too? ARE THERE actually alien motorcycle riders from without your Solar system? Are there squishy alien brain-creatures combating genetically mutated Earth amphibians? What about living, sentient “robotic” life forms disguising as everyday vehicles….?
…Actually, ignore that last one! There is nothing to see here… <__> <_<
To answer this question, I only say “watch Cool World”.
For a game of ‘Vampire: the Masquerade’, some years ago, I designed a Malkavian character whose controlling delusion was a belief that ‘Buffy’ was a Reality TV series: Sadly the GM said “No!”
:(
Aww, that sounded really fun.
“Likewise having demon bars”
Like this place, for example: https://www.konradokonski.com/SITM/comic/title-0001/
Mork and Mindy *was* a spinoff of Happy Days, you know.
What better way to make think people think it was fictional?
So that worm in Panel 7 (with the Octo-Dad fellow). Is it a sandworm, or is it a reference to Spacetrawler?
(or I am just desperate for refs.. :)
It’s a sandworm. A tiny baby one to be sure.
Oh, Dune sandworm of Beatlejuice sandworm?
Looks like a movie shai-hulud to me.
Distinctly Dune.
Sandworn with a Futurama Brainslug.
nah, it’s just a silly hat the sandworm got at Space Disney resort…..
Oh I swore I saw an advert for sandworm hire there, if wearing a brainslug.
Since you mentioned punch cards, I couldn’t resist adding this (although it’s about punch cards of a slightly different sort).
Odd, totally blank, where you might expect a video to appear. Just has the caption, at the bottom, along with the voting icons, but nothing else. Even after trying the link a second time and waiting too.
Apparently, they pulled the clip from the site that was hosting it, which is a shame since it’s one of the best (and funniest) “I quit” scenes that I know of and comes from one of my most highly recommended movies. I guess that’s what I get for hoping it was just my browser being hinky again.
OTOH, I still can get it to play in my mind almost perfectly =OP
This one?
https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/21df542e-d1cf-4be8-ad5c-e8b24b182f77
Xactly, except it doesn’t show Moocher actually punching the clock.
YouTube has the movie trailer here. It does show him punching the punch clock, but not why or what happened next.
Clearly he was following the instructions on the sign.
Actually, he was doing what he was told, albeit in a more literal manner than the person who called him “Shorty” meant it.
Wow, a young Rorschach
RORSCHACH: You’r staring at my face. Got something to say?
BYSTANDER: No, no, sir. Nothing.
RORSCHACH: Out with it!
BYSTANDER: Your mask. It just looked like two dogs… uhh… you know doing… Um… forget it.
RORSCHACH: The name’s Rorschach, you figure it out.
BYSTANDER: Oh right! [thinks:]You project your subconscious thoughts, onto your mask.
(BYSTANDER ‘casually’ puts back against the wall)
I don’t want Dabbler to ever stop antagonising Maxima. It’s too funny, and it keeps Max on her toes (even if Dabbler would prefer to keep Max on her fingers hey-o!).
I want to see more “Maxima says” BINGO. There’s gotta be more.
we’re still waiting for the explanation for her saying..trouser weasel I think it was?
Trouser ferret, if I remember right.
Sydney will have to work hard, to catch up with Dabbler’s score.
Yorp is right.
Do you suppose they actually sat down and made lists of words, shuffled them, and put them on random cards, or just had Leon write a computer program? ☺
It is traditional to put them in a big transparent drum, roll it around, and draw out the results, at random.
Some words or phrases appeared on more than one card. So there may have been duplicate cards, for some of them. Or some (or all) cards are replaced, in the drum, after each person’s card is made up. I imagine they would want to ensure that everybody has a certain number of unique phrases though. So maybe 1/4 of the cards will be thrown out, and the rest put back in?
It would have been better if she said the universal greeting:
Bah-weep-graaaaagnah wheep nini bong…
Speaking of being in a category all their own…
That’s actually spelled “Bah weep graaagnah wheep ni ni bong!”
Huh. Different sources, ignore my snarky comment…
Rama lama ding dong.
Bah-weep-Graaaaagnah wheep ni ni bong?
Bah-weep-Graaaaagnah wheep ni ni bong!!
Where’s my Energon goodie?!?!?
There’s a few ways to SPELL it as well as a few different ways to say it, some with actions…
I’ve always preferred the simpler “bah-weep grah-nah-weep ninny-bong.” No need to stretch the grah out that much.
Steady as she goes, Bob. Snoopy visitors get mud in the eye, bye and bye. Film at eleven!
How do you know that aliens wouldn’t find human “natural” scent attractive and deodorants and mints repulsive?
Also definitely a possibility.
Prostho Plus! By Piers Anthony kinda explored an aspect of that. A diplomat from a herbivorous race was making no progress in talks with a carnivorous race, until it was pointed out his breath probably smelled like rotting vegetation to the carnivore’s sensitive noses
Tanya Huff has an interesting take on (actually di’Taken) on interspecies recreation and the role of smell (Think pheromones.) in her “Valor” series. Clearly, hers is a universe like that of Star Trek where most of the aliens are conveniently (especially for Riker in the later) humanoid and at least cross-interested.
Actually the MARINES are humanoid (All younger races that hadn’t eliminated their violent tendencies yet) although the term “Humanoid” is kinda broad. The Taykan look like elves other than their brightly colored living hair, the Krai look like oversized chimps whose eating habits caused specific regs to be put in place about NOT eating fellow soldiers as well as digestive systems and teeth so powerful they basically classify things as “Edible” and “Non-edible” (Theres a joke that they’ve been trying to recreate Krai tooth enamel for ship armor) and the Silsviss look (to me) like Killer Croc. That’s not counting the “Elder” races.
GURPs have got a gene-engineered human/ various animals hybrid which was specifically designed to be able to sustain itself off enemy corpses (amongst other things) if rations became short. So long as they have enough ammunition, they can keep fighting indefinitely. And if the ammo runs out they can just turn to sneaking up and nibbling the enemy.
I think in the Krai case it was them taking giant chunks out of officers that pi$$ed them off.
It takes a real genius to factor in the difference between creating something and commanding it.
I think that the Joker acquired two or three of those in one of Batman’s possible “futures” for the ‘Armageddon 2001’ storyline…
Did DaveB mean to say reveal in panel 8, or does reweal mean something I’m unaware of?
That is the Count’s accent (where he turns v into w) slipping through.
Ahhh, that makes sense. Thanks.
This makes it possible that when he says a ‘veil’ is protecting the planet he might mean a ‘whale’ is protecting the planet.
Invading Alien Armada: ‘Before we start out attack, let’s gather our ships behind that moon. AAH! That’s no moon, it’s a Space Whale!’ (gulp)
+1
An there’s a brain slug. Time to switch to a garlic shampoo.
I am suspicious of the hats now. Fedora wearing werewolf previously, now an alien in a fedora. The mansion of E has a species of mind-controlling beasty which look like hats! But the one on the worm is not even bothering to disguise itself.
What about werealiens, any variation of it.
Human turns into an alien creature or alien turns into a wolf etc any obscure variation would work.
Seems like a bigger issue than who would suck whose blood with vamps.
In the Grrl Power Verse weres only turn into mammals. Assuming that the magical lycanthropy virus can jump the xeno-species divide, then we might see squid-wolf lycans. Or sandworm-human lycans. But those are with aliens being infected with lycanthropy. I cannot see a mechanism for a baseline human to become a human-alien lycan.
If you throw cross-breeding into the mix (with the aid of suitably sophisticated technomagic), then you might end up with a second generation who qualify as such. But one of the parents would be an alien, so it would not be a normal human gaining such abilities.
I love that last panel. Dabbler is such an unabashed tease. It’s adorable.
Of course, I’ve been shipping purple and gold for awhile now. >.>;
So not interested in gold and corpse-white?
“Corpse White”
…Ingsol? Or did you mean Sydney?
I don’t see any gold in connection to Ingsol, so I would lean towards your second guess as being the correct one.
Check out Maxima’s body language in panel 1 here. Allow me to translate (bearing in mind the previous page was them witnessing Crimson and Scarlett doing their dominatrix scene with Thomas):
MAXIMA: As you clearly like dominant women, you are my kind of man. Here, what do you think about adding my nice purple hair to the theme? Look at my tempting fleshy neck, go on, just one quick nibble and we can be together forever!
Notice how irritated Ingsol is at being interrupted. And likewise Maxima. Who also gets in a bit of flirting, by complimenting Ingsol on being ancient (the older a vampire is the more powerful he is).
Then see Ingsol’s reaction. “I don’t know about ancient“. *flirt flirt*
Except that DaveB seemed to disagree when we suggested that she was flirting with him. In this thread he explained what she was doing.
Meh, shipping is a reader activity. :-P
Anyhow, it is the timing that is key. They had been in the dungeon for ages by that point. Did the hair come down whilst talking about stocks and shares? Or did that happen after kinky stuff?
Maxima might be consciously thinking that it is for the sensible reasons, as listed by Dave. But subconsciously? Bite me.
That… is actually a very astute reading of the visuals, Yorp. I’m having a little trouble unseeing it now.
It turns out there is a natural cause of ‘death by snu snu’. Or something very close to it, involving multi-limbed non-humans/a>.
It’s _always_ lethal when it comes to bees. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuptial_flight#After_the_flight
Also known as the “overdose of viagra spiders”?
Can someone explain or hint exactly what Dabbler is meant to be doing? Not a prude but I don’t get the verbal or hand reference (and never seen a little finger bent that way without dislocating) but could be just from being tired.
Full explanation, regarding the former, here.
The finger is perfectly normal. Were I to hypothetically have fingers, I could bend it further than that. Let alone a double-jointed cousin of mine, who could bend it that far then, start to arc it backwards!
In Dabbler’s case though, she is not even 1/6th human, so we should not expect her to have their limitations.
Actually… Dabbler’s hand position is meant to be the same position suggested (and rejected by Maxima) almost at the last panel of this page.
The day I read that page I got curious about what that hand position was supposed to be and why Maxima didn’t like Sydney’s suggestion. Hence, Urban Dictionary to the rescue!
Looks like a good old fashioned finger job to me. (Wash your hands and keep your fingernails trimmed. )
Cheers Yorp! Knew I could rely on you :) Box of Walkers mixed variety coming your way!
Oh very kind thought, thanks, but I had better send them back. Turns out that they can’t keep up the pace on walkies, even on four legs!
Maybe that’s not what he meant by walkers. Then again, I suppose there could be other possibilities.
Nope, referring to the good old classic British Crisps I know Yorp has a thing for them :D
They also make some fine dandy Scottish shortbread
Well remembered. :-)
Oddly enough Walkers is the one brand that I avoid, when shopping. Simply because they drove out the tastier competition That said the severe lack of salt and vinegar chips in Bulgaria does make even Walkers appealing!
Fortunately though I have this year, found my first source of salt and vinegar chips. Rather a rare treat mind, as they are the more expensive kettle-style chips. And weirdly I get them as the own-brand variety, from a German-owned superstore chain, Kaufland.
*cracks open a treat and starts munching* Fanks for reminding me I had those, in my shopping!
“Salt & Vinegar” and “Green Onion” (or “Spring Onion” depending on brand) are favourite chips for me as well, usually ‘ETA Spuds Ripple Cut’ but will get ‘Bluebird’ if they are on special
Why does Dabblers hand look like it only has three fingers?
Because it does. She is an alien and does not come with the human compliment of fingers, except when disguised as one.
I didn’t read every single comment before asking my own this time. Here’s my thought, and follow-up question:
Okay so it seems that lycanthropy in humans is semi-random species, but they’re all Earthling species. Humans, dogs, bunnies (cute), gazelles, and things (One Piece, square giraffe) are all related. Just go up the evolutionary tree to the point both species were the same species, and climb back down the ladder. That’s how we’re related to both cats and trees.
Q1: What of aliens? Beast Boy (Teen Titans) wondered if he could shift to alien animals, and found he could. If an alien got the lycanthrope curse, would they have an anthropomorphic form of an animal from their own world, our is it always an Earth-based species? If that’s the case then it isn’t a species that is related to the cursed; so you gotta wonder if there are humans with alien animal forms.
Q2: If it is based on planet of origin/evolutionary tree, what of something like Dabbler whose parentage is from at least 3 planets?
Q1: Clever thinking. I had been assuming that the magical lycanthrope virus carried the DNA, of the species it could turn people into with it. Along with a recessive variant that might express itself one time in ten. But, being magical, it may indeed operate the way you imply.
It is worth noting that the Grrl Power Verse weres only become mammals though, so no were-trees out there.
If your theory is right then lycanthropy might not be indigenous to Earth. Let us say that Spock was a were able to turn into one of the ‘teddy bears with claws’, from Vulcan, he might have infected a human with lycanthropy and they turned into a similar terrestrial were. In this case probably a were-grizzly. Or (about 1 in 10 times) into something less related, maybe a were-koala.
Q2: Perhaps it rolls a d6 (dice to you) and selects one at random, but weighed for the amount of DNA present from each parent species. So Dabbler would have a 2 in 6 chance of becoming a were-[something from the Doppelganger’s home planet].
Or it may just go with the most predominant DNA, in which case, for Dabbler, it would be something from the Succubus home planet. So maybe a were-Cerberus?
Dangit Yorp, now I’m imagining Dabbler’s… recharging session… with three functional heads.
You mean like Minerva? Who just happens to be dating the Werewolf of London (Ontario), and got turned into a were-Cerberus
And here is Min in her human form
Ahh, very handy if she wants to do incognito shopping, at the supermarket. ;-)
Also (shakes Crown Royal bag with 2 d30s, 1 d100, and all other AD&D die including percentile 10s)
Your nerd cred is hereby certified. :-D
Pfft, D100, you should have doing the classic 2D 10s (different colours of course and state which one is which). I will roll 6 D4 and cast magic missile at the Darkness……that will teach them for their Christmas songs!
I have a black d100, various elemental die (forest, granite, and lava d10 sets) and percentile 10s.
SCIENCE!
What is the thing with which she blinded me? =OP
Alex Trebek: Correct!
I’ll take “The Penis Mightier” for $600, Trebek.
I can’t recall ever seeing that category on Jeopardy. How about you, Weird Al?
But did you notice the clue: “This German Baroness could suck the chrome off a fender.”
I’m sick enough to have laughed at the category Colin Mochrie came up with one night on Who’s Line Is It Anyway?” when he said, “I’ll take ‘Animal Genitalia Audio Clues’ for $100 please, Alex.”
How about, in response to “Unlikely ways to impress women”, his line:
“I do murals with my own faeces.”
Or Ryan Styles reply to the category of “Bad parent’s motivational speeches”:
“A teacher, a teacher? Honey prostitutes make twice that money!”
Who needs pick up lines anyway when you can just introduce her to your brother Ruprecht?
“I do murals with my own faeces.” ………..
I am sure there are some who are into weird crap or even the normal sort.
Saturday Night Live’s “Celebrity Jeopardy” sketches, featuring Asshole Sean Connery trolling Alex Trebek at every turn.
Any vampire is also an alien if he travels to another planet.
Technically, anyone who travels anywhere other than their home country is an ‘alien’
OMG! I’m an alien?
Where is a mirror when I need it? Do my legs look grey? Do I have those big black eyes?
*howls at the moon*
Meaning you could Try and corral her, but she’d sleep with/spellbind the security and go about her merry way as soon as you tried.
I dunno, I think most humans smell fine in their natural state and only stink when they put on perfume and cologne.
@DaveB , umm, small typo on Ingsol bubble, it’s “Renewal”
Actually, it’s an accented version of the word “reveal”.
At least he didn’t try “rewelation”. Just thinking how that might sound hurts my brain.
“People, of Jewusawem! Wome, is yaww friend…”
One of Elmer Fudd’s ancestors?
Fwee Woderick! Fwee Woderick!
Wiff effery purchase!
Or, depending on where you shop, “Free Willy”.
“No mowe Wodewicks, Wandalls, or Wudolph The Wed-Nosed Weindeers! Give me a weal name, and I’ll wewease him.”
“RELEASE BRIAN!!”
“Oh, yeah, that’s a good ‘un! WEWEASE BWIAN!!”
“Oh, that’s IT! Fine, I won’t wewease ANYONE then! See if I -”
“Actually, sir, we have a ‘Brian’.”
“Weawwy?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Finawwy! I WILL, WEWEASE, BWIAN!”
Just remember to always look on the bright side of life.
Then there are the aliens that smell like freshly baked bread. Humans make them uneasy because they’re always salivating around them.
Only if they also TASTE like fresh baked bread. Although…
To quote a line from up Pompeii…….
That’s right….Knead it! Knead it! So do I dear but I cant always get it.
Dabbler’s line in the mini-comic is the best thing ever. I want the whole sub-strip on a shirt.
Ah, Horus, you make Odin proud.
And Zeus, too. He was the one who was so well known for not being able to keep it in his pants, after all.
Or feathers.
Greeks didn’t even have pants
Nor do some geeks. And I’m proud of it! Go on, girls give it a try!
Really hoping that other woman is licking her lips at the sight of your carry-person, and not at you :eek:
As for that third one (ignoring the middle image, where her face looks totally fake), she actually isn’t, technically, pants-less
XD
That’s who I meant, Ignoble. :P
On smell, there’s a usually reason we perceive something smelling bad, typically because the chemical itself is toxic or associated with organisms that are infectious. Being poisoned accidentally would be a concern.
Reminds me of an Outer Limits episode where the aliens had a glamor effect that started failing to work on anyone they had been around for a year. Supposedly they smelled like a ammonia or something. The plot hole is they’d logically leave the smell on anything they touched, which people should have noticed when they weren’t around.
They could have set up the glamour to be residual. If the effects linger after the alien has left, the smell could be actively blocked for anyone nearby, whether they were around when the alien was our not.
This may also explain the building of resistance to it.
No plot hole: maybe people did notice the smell, but assumed it was a cat pissing everywhere
The smell thing was mentioned (almost in passing, to be honest) in Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex. Which I expect you’ve read, but if not, go here and follow the link to “essay” at the bottom of the introduction.
I should think it wouldn’t just be smell, or scent, or odor, but doubtless also pheremones.
Presumably either succubus magic bypasses the physical senses, or they can produce appropriate pheremones on cue. Or both, who knows?
Punch cards: yep, we used to use them back in 1973.
What we need now,is an appearance by those tentacle aliens from Sesame Street,the ones who say “Yip Yip Yip Yip” a lot and are always consulting a book.
You mean these guys?
so THAT’S where the Kaiju “yip, yip, yip” monsters are from… i never knew that’s what the original inspiration was for the t-shirt i have…
DOY!… when i did a google search for an image of the t-shirt, Off-world Designs came up and i know i got it from them… and they have the description that i never saw since i bought it a Con…
Just the thing to watch on three hours of sleep. :D
I think Max needs to accept that Xuriel is a succubus, and is going to be making sexual innuendo whenever possible, and – in particular – is trying to yank Max’s chain. The more she reacts, the more Xuriel is going to enjoy it. Max needs to learn to assume the look of a long suffering saint at Xuriel’s innuendo, and roll with it.
If Dabbler was military Col. Leander might have something to work with, but as Dabbler is a civilian, Max’s control over Xuriel is much reduced. Of course keeping Xuriel from starting public orgies and other such nonsense is still necessary (if unfortunate).
Sort of like what my mom taught my siblings and I when we were growing up and complained about being teased: “If it didn’t bother you, they wouldn’t do it”.
Siblings always know what buttons to push.
That’s what Dabbles is trying to do, there are three in particular she wants to poke and tweak and twist
My mom’s point was that’s true only if one lets them. Once one stops providing them with the desired response (in this case annoyance), they tend to either stop or at least try another tactic.
A sound punch to the teeth will stop them (or a Gibbsslap)
Even if Maxima wasn’t sure about the meaning of the gesture, Dab’s slight licking of the lips and sly look pretty much give the game away. Furthermore, the look she’s giving Ingsol raises a few questions in my mind:
1) Why doesn’t she just find someone with infinite/renewable constitution/stamina, sort of like the guy who could refill any liquid?
2) Does she get a recharge from sex involving alien/supernatural partners?
3) Does she get a (lesser) charge from acts that are sensual but not necessarily sexual in nature?
In regards to #2: The Barberian is a superhuman, and Jeanie/Greenie is an alien. So… yes.
I could be wrong, but I thought that superpowers and supernaturals were distinct categories in the Haloverse. If so, Barber-arian wouldn’t count and I only vaguely recall a Greenie at best and have no memory of Dabs having any relations with (IIRC) her.
Greenie was the waitress at the club who Sydney spotted as an alien when she happened to grab her truesight ball. Dabbler brought her back to Archon afterward, took her up to her room, and head her wicked way with her. Sydney found Greenie sleeping it off on the media room couch the next morning.
Presumably because she likes variety?
I’d accept that as a partial explanation, but even then, it would be a good idea to have a back-up person if at all possible when variety isn’t available.
Yup, and even if you like variety, there will still be at least one (or three) First Choice(s) you like going back to knowing it will always be great :D
You know how Sidney loves spicy stuff You could have sidney meet an alien that loves spicy ness and they just have a bond over hot foods
How about an alien race that is intoxicated by capsaicin. Sydney would drink/eat them under the table!
Given that capsaicin only works on mammals, the chances of it working on non-earthlings seems less likely than the possibility of something else having an analogous effect.
“But. . . we’re sodium based. Sex with an earthling would be LITERALLY explosive.”
Lol.
Urge to glorify how the spice must flow is strong!
Ahh, I see plans within plans.
Paul Atreides
His sister, Alia Atreides
And the Fremen
DaveB, you forgot Dabbler in the Who’s Who.
Gene splicer joke? A+
That was the name of one of my City of Heroes characters! She followed the traditional mad scientist route of experimenting on herself. Repeatedly. Part plant and a bit of an animal.
And she had such a cute baby Venus Fly Trap. It used to love playing with any heroes it met!
Poiled slurgs, man, you do not want to be in the same food court as poiled slurgs.
True, but they make great oven cleaner.
So wait technically there’s no “supernatural” in this fictional universe, anything that can have science done to it is inherently reducible, humans may not have the technological means to cure vampirism but so long as that vampirism can be defined empirically it can be studied and eventually understood as just a genetic disorder or some sort of symbiosis. My point is if these diverse entities are not inherently diverse then as time goes by there are going to be more and more “Dabbler” entities, whether this is by reproduction, experimentation, education or simply cultural influence pretty soon everyone will have access to and be using alien technology, succubus magic, vampire immortality, etc. The only exception to this being the seemingly irreducible supers and their apparently reality defining abilities, of all the groups they’ll be the only group to gain from this melting pot effect without losing what makes them unique.
Does the council wish to maintain the privileged status quo? Then supers are a threat.
Does the council wish for integration and equality> Then supers are a threat.
That depends on how well magic and supernatural creatures behave when scientific reasoning and analysis are applied to them. As an example, how well does science cope at explaining religion?
Unquantifiable —–> This
If each magic user’s results vary, despite using identical techniques, then no experiment can be replicated.
Plus there is a gulf of time between observing* something and being able to explain how it does that.
It may be a long long time until science can explain why clapping prevents faeries from dying!
* I shall try not to exceed my daily quota of the spam word.
Science explains religion just fine. It’s a combination of a political system, a social system, and moral system. You’re told what to do, who to be, and how to think, in varying quantities depending on the ideology. In the days when civil order was harder to enforce, these systems existed as an international force rather than just an idea.
Note that “(non)-unified” refers to the inherent disunity conveyed by the ideology. Unified religions can form varying sects without severe infighting, while fractured religions often want to kill or shun unbelievers.
Non-dogmatic, unified religions (Confucianism, Buddhism) give birth to regions with weak intranational unity and thus much chaos, but also much development due to the quizzical nature inherent to such systems of thought.
Dogmatic, unified religions (Christianity, Atheism) give birth to regions with strong intranational unity but generally weak international unity. Most of these limit ones’ quizzical nature to a specific line of thought; those deviating from such line of thought are naturally outsiders. How xenophobia arises in this group changes more closely with national politics than the religion itself.
Dogmatic, fractured religions (Islam, Native American) give birth to regions with strong but xenophobic intranational unity; these regions generally do not develop until the religion is replaced. This is because the love for the nation is superceeded by the love for the religion, thus creating incredible amounts of infighting and/or isolationism.
Non-dogmatic, fractured religions (Paganism, Satanism, Shamanism, Economism) give birth to regions with general chaos, and so the idea of a “nation” is often a weak inference rather than a structure with real power. If any institution does hold power, it’s usually nothing more than a small group which qualifies more as a cult than a tribe.
Given that nations’ religious philosophies are so closely interlinked with the nations’ development, it’s easy to predict when a nation is on the rise or fall based on the qualities and quantities of their religions.
If you mean biologically, the answer is simple. We evolved a somatic predilection to whimsical thought as a general stepping stone toward various social goals. Not just religion of course – religion is instead a natural result of increased but undirected creativity. Put an enigmatic person in a room with a small bunch of other people, cut them off from the world, and you’ll have a brand new religion right quick (assuming they don’t kill eachother). It’s an efficient way to establish order in a small population.
All predicated on the assumption that ‘they are wrong, in their beliefs, and therefore everything must be explained in secular terms’. Rather unscientific, I feel. ;-)
But it does prove my point nicely, thanks. :-)
1) Your “science” may point out certain correlations between religious beliefs and certain political views, but that hardly “explains” religion.
2) Furthermore, your post fails to differentiate between ideological abstractions and individual beliefs.
3) Finally, much of statement seems to rely on opinion rather than quantifiable data. For example, how does one measure the “inherent disunity conveyed by the ideology” or determine whether a “quizzical nature [is] inherent to [a system] of thought” (not to mention that you fail to define what a “quizzical nature” is)? Until those challenges are met, that’s not science.
4) “We evolved a somatic predilection to whimsical thought as a general stepping stone toward various social goals” is based on speculation.
Seriously, If dabbler had punch cards, it would have deforested several planets
Might I recommend the book ‘Timberjak’?
Beautifully done facial expressions, throughout. Or face-analogues, as the case may be.
And Ingsol has such a perfect deadpan look.
Realistically there are more problems with alien food than just smell…
Firstly, plants are basically living chemical weapons factories, because they don’t want to be eaten. Species that feed on certain plants have evolved enzymes to process the chemicals so they don’t get sick. We don’t generally notice that because humans are unusually omnivorous (and masochistic, we take some of the worst compounds plants can make and call them spices… Those strong pungent flavours are nature’s way of telling you NOT to eat it). Most of the species on the planet have serious dietary restrictions on what they can eat. Even our closest companions, cats and dogs, can get seriously sick from eating people food.
Second, most of the building blocks of carbon life are chiral molecules, that means they come in left-handed and right-handed versions that are biologically incompatible. And for most of them there is no reason for biochemistry to favour one over the other, other than the random chance of whichever molecule version life on that planet happened to start using. So each planet’s biology will use random combination of dextro- and levo- amino acids and sugars. (Not to mention that there are more possible amino acids and sugars than life on Earth uses, so they might additionally not even use the same set of building blocks as you.)
So, even if the alien food won’t fatally poison you, you’re unlikely to get much nutrition out of it. You might not even get any food energy out of it, because you can’t digest levo-sugars.