Book 2 – Page 64

[Dancing Cthulhu]

It's possible that Jojo was (accurately) trying to protest that hippymancy was unnecessary because he wasn't there to fight, and it had no effects other than the cosmetic. His dismay and departure in the end can be explained by Sizemore's demeanor alone. Or it could have been the hippymancy. Hard to say when there are excessive reasons.

I think that is very possible. I could see an implied "No. Janis you don't need to do that" or "No. Janis, we're just talking" or "No.No Jannis please don't" something. Since his holding his hands up seems more conciliatory then threatening or even defensive. Heh, Janis - cast first, ask questions later.

Although I guess it going "Show me Love" "No.Janis...." could have ended "I can't" or "I have to do this" and it still not really be an attack if he was well intentioned. Still, hope Jojo is ok after this. He and Janis seem to know each other (by sight at least). It would be a shame if some she got some hippiemancer goons to ruff him up for trying to interfere in their plans.

[The.Healing.Mage]

It's possible that ... Or it could have been the ... Hard to say when there are excessive reasons.

Congratulations, you now know all of experiment theory.

Or the artist couldn't make the Peace sign work as a background (Janis was hiding the branches) and had to flip it so you could tell what it was intended to be.

Man, you simply can't be ninja'ing me like this. T'aint fair. And that ninja was by a few hours, too, which is pretty huge. I was looking for the original question that you were answering, too. Hadn't even seen yours in my read-through. How are you that sneaky?

[Shuuwki]

So, what use was Janis? I don't mean that in a mean way, but Chewie wasn't attacking, Parson wasn't dropping the scroll so Chewie could cast it, and Chewie wasn't getting what he wanted. Seems to me he'd have left in frustration anyway, so why did Janice need to cast a spell? Maybe it prevented him from continuing his carnie patter, but it wasn't doing anything anyway, and apparently with the staff Parson is well protected against magic. So Chewi had noting left buy quick talk and attempting to fill Parson with a sense of urgency using infomercial language. Being from Stupidworld Parson should be rather immune to that.

Parson is looking down on Sizemore with an interesting expression, 6th panel. Sort like you would if you had a sword and a staff and were three times the size of some guy potentially threatening you, and your kid brother got in between you and he with a shovel to "protect" you...

Don't underestimate Jeftichew or Carnymancy. Think of the guys at carnivals selling 3 rings for a dollar, win the prize, swing the hammer and be the world's strongest man! Carnymancy is the magic of rigging the game, sure, but it's also the magic that makes the game attractive - the magic of making the sale. Parson was beginning to vacillate in the panel before Sizemore and Janis appeared.

[Lamech]

It's possible that Jojo was (accurately) trying to protest that hippymancy was unnecessary because he wasn't there to fight, and it had no effects other than the cosmetic. His dismay and departure in the end can be explained by Sizemore's demeanor alone. Or it could have been the hippymancy. Hard to say when there are excessive reasons.

I suspect this is probably the case. He had no intention of tricking Parson into doing anything. A simple banishment spell gets Parson gone, and probably if Parson went willingly convinces them to not resummon Parson. He probably just wanted to "make the sale" before Parson could change his mind. If Parson has the scroll he can change his mind at anytime, its not as good as banishing him now, but its okay.

[Smittaugh]

Just have to pass on something I noticed. Now, it depends on the perspective and just how tall Parson really is, however... Look at the last panel. Janis is tall. If Parson is around six feet tall, then she comes up to his shoulder, which , in my humble estimation, puts her just under average height for a Stupidworld female. At any rate, she's taller than the Erf girls we've seen so far. And in a world where signamancy is significant, I can't help but wonder what it means, if anything at all.

Great update, by the way. Thank you.

[EricH]

Sizemore's reaction to Parson catching the scroll with his arms full of Staff and Sword?

Awesome.

Huh. My read on it--based on years of teaching use of staff and sword--is that that expression translates as, "Holy crap, watch it, you could have taken my head off with that maneuver. Uh, sir." It's good to keep a healthy respect for the sharp metal, even if it's in ally's hands; and although Parson caught the scroll with his staff arm, reflexes tend to move the sword arm as well; from the illustration, it appears that if Sizemore hadn't been alert, he could have lost an ear, or worse.

[the_tick_rules]

peace on erf, awesome. I guess this is one of the few times flower power acutally got something done

[BLANDCorporatio]

What's Jojo blubbering about? If he says Parson is a whale then I've got to say "cetacean needed".

Parson is looking down on Sizemore with an interesting expression, 6th panel. Sort like you would if you had a sword and a staff and were three times the size of some guy potentially threatening you, and your kid brother got in between you and he with a shovel to "protect" you...

Sizemore is so baaaawwww in that panel.Though of course, Sizemore with a shovel might prove quite the obstacle for anyone.

[Sixty]

Nice update! Interesting to see if Parson sticks around to talking to Janis and Marie or says he REALLY needs to get going, thanks for the assist, later!

[Sojiko]

Carniemancers do more than rigging the game, they convince people to play even when they should know it's rigged.

Here, Parson obviously notices that dropping the magical protection in front of an unknown caster with an unknown scroll is a bad idea. Because even if what the carnie says is true (big if), that's still not a decision you can make that swiftly. But he keeps trying to press and force Parson to accept.

If you consider that even in the best case (he's saying the truth rather than hiding a more nefarious agenda) it's pretty much the same as disbanding Parson as far as Erfworld is concerned, getting Jetifew to back off efore he can convince Parson is important and appropriate for a Florist (because it seems clear that Janis specializes in Flower Power, Hippiemancy is as general as Stuffamancy which includes Dirtamancy but also Dollamancy and Dittomancy ; Date-a-mancy and Signamancy are different magics than Flower Power).
As for what she did : "give me love give me peace" followed by him giving his "weapon" is pretty clearly a spell that make someone more generous (it may be limited to wielded items like scrolls and weapons rather than any item, though).

And finally (and this is important), remember Parson was running because time is of the essence! The place is dangerous for him and his people are waiting for him. The Carniemancer was blocking him in the tunnel and endangering not only Parson (some other casters might not like Parson's newest trick) but all his men currently fighting (in Spacerock). Contrary to what someone was saying, Jetifew was certainly not going to give up just because Parson didn't look interested. A carnie doesn't give up just because you say "no" he keeps trying until he finally wear you down. Getting Parson moving demanded that the carnie be dealt with, one way or another. Making him unable to fulfill his mission by disarming him was a good way to do it peacefully (go go Flower Power!).

[drachefly]

What's Jojo blubbering about? If he says Parson is a whale then I've got to say "cetacean needed".

aaaargh!

[throwingrocks]

Sizemore's reaction to Parson catching the scroll with his arms full of Staff and Sword?

Awesome.

Huh. My read on it--based on years of teaching use of staff and sword--is that that expression translates as, "Holy crap, watch it, you could have taken my head off with that maneuver. Uh, sir." It's good to keep a healthy respect for the sharp metal, even if it's in ally's hands; and although Parson caught the scroll with his staff arm, reflexes tend to move the sword arm as well; from the illustration, it appears that if Sizemore hadn't been alert, he could have lost an ear, or worse.

That's exactly how I saw it too. Hence : Awesome.

[Smoker]

So, what use was Janis? I don't mean that in a mean way, but Chewie wasn't attacking, Parson wasn't dropping the scroll so Chewie could cast it, and Chewie wasn't getting what he wanted. Seems to me he'd have left in frustration anyway, so why did Janice need to cast a spell? Maybe it prevented him from continuing his carnie patter, but it wasn't doing anything anyway, and apparently with the staff Parson is well protected against magic. So Chewi had noting left buy quick talk and attempting to fill Parson with a sense of urgency using infomercial language. Being from Stupidworld Parson should be rather immune to that.

There was a deadlock in the tunnel. Jojo could (as far as he knew) have stayed there for the whole turn and tried to convince Parson to accept the spell and at the least he would have spoiled whatever Parson was planning to do. I guess its possible that Parson or Sizemore could attack Jojo, but there's a lot of reasons why Parson wouldn't allow it.

It wasn't until Janis neutralised Jojo that Parson could walk away safely (staff of suckage or not), and so now Jojo's lost any advantage he had. He knows that Parson is about to get on with his plan, so the best and only thing he can do is hope he's planted a seed and give the scroll over. Without Janis there to do whatever it is that she did, Jojo stil had the upper hand.

And casting the spell would have been an offensive action, since it is basically a banishment spell. Giving an item to someone (even if it is a spell that could cause them harm) is not offensive.

So anyway, Im very happy with the resolution here. It works well. Having said that, talking as a free action or not, Parson has to get a figgen move on. The Great Minds can arrive after and mistake Janis for an enemy and blast her, and then still serve a purpose to the story - dont let them delay him even more.

[MarbitChow]

And finally (and this is important), remember Parson was running because time is of the essence! The place is dangerous for him and his people are waiting for him. The Carniemancer was blocking him in the tunnel and endangering not only Parson (some other casters might not like Parson's newest trick) but all his men currently fighting (in Spacerock).

He's definitely rushing through because the MK is hazardous to him, but his men in Spacerock are operating in a different time bubble, as we learned during the updates between books 1 and 2. And, since the GMTTA haven't actually done anything yet, I suspect that Parson's time in the MK isn't quite over...

[kouhoutek]

He's definitely rushing through because the MK is hazardous to him, but his men in Spacerock are operating in a different time bubble, as we learned during the updates between books 1 and 2. And, since the GMTTA haven't actually done anything yet, I suspect that Parson's time in the MK isn't quite over...

Correct.

Especially now that Sizemore opened the other end of the tunnel. Before, random casters could only follow him into the tunnel...now they have a pretty good idea where he is going, and can try to intercept.

[Sieggy]

Why would they want to intercept Parson? Maggie alerted them so they could provide protection for him. However, Jojo got there before the GMTTA arrived. I suspect they're mindwiping, er, selectively editing the memories of the casters who saw Parson come through.

And meanwhile, back in Charlescomm, Charlie is crying "Curses!Foiled again!".

[Housellama]

Heh. NOTHING is ever totally defensive - I studied Aikido (Shin-shin Toitsu) in Japan under Tohei Sensei (who just passed away at age 91 last month - he will be really missed), which is one of the softer forms. Students were not permitted to watch the Masters do their drills, but I and another student found a tree outside the Dojo where we could climb up and watch them. We were astounded to see them use moves that were quite lethal if applied properly, which seemed to us to be a total contradiction of the focus & philosophy of Aikido. When we asked Sensei about this, he just kind of smiled and said that those were advanced forms that they didn't teach students - when we became Sensei, we could learn them. Then he had the tree trimmed . . .

Heh. "Then he had the tree trimmed."

Sensei was reminded of a very valuable lesson that day. The most dangerous thing is not any kind of lethal technique. It's knowledge. The knowledge was supposed to be restricted. Yet the tree allowed that knowledge to leak out. When you pointed that out, he taught you a lesson, that nothing is ever totally defensive, and was taught one in exchange.

And then he had the tree trimmed.

[slb]

Especially now that Sizemore opened the other end of the tunnel. Before, random casters could only follow him into the tunnel...now they have a pretty good idea where he is going, and can try to intercept.

He did not open the other end of the tunnel but created a new access straigh where Parson & Jojo were standing, also notice how the stairs arrive perpendicular to the tunnel direction.

[multilis]

If Charlie is a magnificent bastard and set this up, then this might actually be the outcome he wanted. And it is probably not over, we still have round 2: great thinkers who will try to compensate for Parson being delayed.

[Aquillion]

Loving the art from the Janis-casting panel and the 'Avedon' one following. :> So awesome.

And I'm guessing that Jojo wasn't going to just walk away if Parson refused- he might have started using his own spells to render Parson unable to defend against the scroll. So Janis's intervention was likely necessary (certainly Jojo seemed to think so, from the 'No. Janis...' comment).

Wonder how the Thinkamancers are going to come into play, since they're no longer needed to bail out Parson. Maybe they'll grab Jojo and force him to reveal who he was working for/in cahoots with?

Parson's not out of the woods yet. He still has to reach the portal, and this delay has given people a chance to react, to figure out what's going on with the tunnel and try to prevent it.