In spite of all the problems with Mopey’s attractiveness, the guardian beholder turned out to be much easier to overcome than one might have suspected.
So, the main take-aways from today’s episode are:
It’s not only Snuka, Mopey and the Professor, the other losers are there, as well. I mean, we don’t see Biff, right now, but since she’s got that invisibility cloak, that doesn’t have to mean anything.
And, having called them losers…they don’t actually seem to be that, at least not quite to the same level they used to. Whatever happened since we last saw the group, their abilities seem to have definitely grown.
Gregory has managed to stabilize the effects of his magic, mostly by learning to use reliable systems of reference to refer to the objects he wishes to summon. Using the GRAU designation system, used by the Soviet army to categorize its inventory, is not terribly fantasy-ish and leads to somewhat clumsy poetry, but it IS specific – and in a world with a mostly medieval technological base, modern artillery would tend to give one somewhat of an advantage.
But Gregory doesn’t really get to force that advantage, since the Barbarian was faster…naturally, since he saves a lot of planning time with that mindless charging thing. His abilities seem also to have increased, and his weaponry has definitely been upgraded: starting out with only a golf club, he now obviously wields the mighty WARHAMMER OF ZILLYHOO. An appropriate choice, since it’s extremely powerful…and since he’s probably too young to care about the indignity involved in wielding something with that kind of gaudy design. Plus, the warhammer of zillyhoo has a legendary history of being wielded by twerps, but that is another story, and it has been told another time.
More on Mon…uh, Thursday.
Pfft. Amateur. Everybody knows that when dealing with beholders, the proper GRAU designator to use is 8K11…
Also, if I may be allowed a nitpick, even though I am a big Homestuck fan, I didn’t recognise the Warhammer of Zillyhoo until I red the text, because it’s completely obscured by the character’s head… I think it would have been better if you’d drawn it resting against the floor or something, where we can see it and recognise it without having to read the text if we are familiar with the reference.
Well, yes…but Gregory was worried the TEL vehicle might not fit into the narrow fortress corridor, and what’s more, the 8k11’s manual states explicitly that it’s not suitable for use as indoor fireworks. XD
You’re right regarding that nitpick, though. I’ve changed the final panel according to your suggestion (hit refresh if it doesn’t show up changed for you). Thanks for the tip! =)
Bah, details. The TEL (GRAU 8U218) is based on the hull of the IS-3. It makes it’s own space… 😀
As for the suitability as an indoor firework, I tend to agree, because if you set one off it becomes an OUTDOOR firework within milliseconds.
Yes, much better, that’s exactly what I had in mind. The hammer is now immediately recognisable. This works beautifully.
Oh, just wait for today’s episode, and you’ll see that the 2A18 can also make its own space and become outdoorsy… XD