SFP

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  • Incendax

    That’s a lot of component! I wonder how this impacts the Component = Emotion theory?

    • palmvos

      it impacts like a moving wall of water.

      • StClair

        Those can destroy cities, y’know.

        • palmvos

          the moving wall of water looks better than me on a wrecking ball.

    • Weatherheight

      I took Component to be something like “the modifications away from strict factual truth in a memory, caused by the the affect/emotions associated with that memory.”

    • Julia McGuire

      I still think it’s probably something to do with emotion. And the pool of component is going to lead into a bunch of emotional Patrick flashbacks, like the ones that he’s been inadvertently projecting at Alison.

  • Julia McGuire

    I think we might be headed towards some Patrick flashbacks.

  • TeaFace

    Another telepath maybe? Or something? Scoping out Allison’s brain, and then Patricks?

    • James Dempsey

      That’s the fascinating thing to me – they’ve been explicit that all supers are a certain age or younger. So according to the rules, he, himself, can’t be a super. My gut instinct is illusory appearance as misdirect, or some sort of technological option.

      • Mechwarrior

        He can’t be a metahuman by the settings rules only if his appearance is accurate to his physical age.

        • Ray Ingles

          Um… not necessarily. As Patrick said, speaking of biodynamics, the conspiracy apparently “knew about us, before we knew about ourselves. Maybe they were expecting us, maybe they even created us.”

          A conspiracy that knows a bunch about biodynamics may have had biodynamics before the storms that spread them far and wide.

          • elysdir

            Agreed. As of these last couple pages, I’m in favor of the theory that Gurwara is an older biodynamic.

          • The_Rippy_One

            It’s also possible that he is as old as he looks, and time traveled – not arguing strongly for this, but just covering the all the bases.

          • Arkone Axon

            There was an interesting online story that was supposed to be finished and turned into a book (after the tragic death of the author) about a superhero who declined either a special name or a costume; he just had awesome powers and was a bit emo and angsty about things. But one of his friends was a guy with the power to travel back in time… but not forwards. When they first met the friend was a teenager, but by the time of the start of the story the friend has become an old man. Just because he kept using his powers over and over and over again to help save lives.

            …And then it turned out he had been an eight year old kid when he first got his powers and immediately started using them…

      • Hiram

        He doesn’t have to be a super to be a trained psy-ops agent. If you’re part of a massive conspiracy that anticipated super powers then setting up countermeasures for is an obvious priority. But having such an agent assigned to a psychic at all times isn’t practical. So you make a subversive mental attack pattern. A mnemonic warfare agent. Patrick’s not having a mental breakdown, he’s experiencing a snow crash. A BLIT.

  • Markus

    You know AminaPat could probably have stopped Alison if she’d didn’t stop dramatically between each word.

    • Roman Snow

      Maybe she’s not, and the scene is just playing out this quickly.

      • Markus

        That is the joke, yes.

        • Roman Snow

          It is? See I was just speculating and didn’t realize I was making a joke at all, let alone the joke. That’s truly an honor.

  • Darkoneko Hellsing

    Holy shit he stole it. Secret’s out.

  • Gotham

    Is it just me who finds it uncanny that a man in his… later years can keep pace with the pursuit of the strongest human on earth who can fly at Mach speeds? And not just on a straight line but with stairs and impromptu platforming?
    And in a uncomfortable suit, moreover?

    How strong is his cardio

    • Tauls

      I’m pretty sure Alison only has powers right now because Patrick can’t imagine her without them. Since I’m guessing Gurwara’s powers fall under the mental manipulation category (or he’s a part of Patrick that Patrick doesn’t know about), he’s probably a fast as he wants to be. Also there ain’t no cardio in a brain.

      • Gotham

        For now, this is speculation no more wild than thinking that Alison is Patrick’s mother thanks to time travel.

        More likely: the webcomic /loves/ to find new and inventively infuriating ways to justify postponing the explanation about the friggin’ Conspiracy.

        • Johnny Awesome

          > Alison is Patrick’s mother thanks to time travel.
          This comic just took a very creepy turn… into magnificence.

          >infuriating ways to justify postponing the explanation
          so true, this is like watching 6 seasons of a tv show waiting for the two protagonists to finally kiss when we all saw the sparks flying in S01E01.

          • palmvos

            “so true, this is like watching 6 seasons of a tv show waiting for the two protagonists to finally kiss when we all saw the sparks flying in S01E01.”
            i seem to remember that show…..

          • That’s probably because it’s every show 😉

          • palmvos

            no… the one i’m thinking of had bruce willis as lead. yes, it went downhill after they kissed.

          • Khlovia

            Moonlighting.

        • Skudplastr

          Ohh, someone’s impatient. Nap-time, buddy!

      • GreatWyrmGold

        Why does this explanation require Gurwara to have powers again?

        • The_Rippy_One

          Well, powers, or access to someone with powers. The short answer is: He’s in Pat’s head, without being proximal to Pat’s brain (how Ms. Green got in). A certain amount of mental (or possibly temporal) screwery was also demonstrated on the teacher he replaced.

          On an additional note, it’s clear this isn’t Gurwara’s first rodeo in here, since Pat’s mind is probably relatively unique, and yet the Prof. got in, knew where to go, got at least some of what he wanted, and knows how to scoot upon discovery.

      • Andy Monserud

        I think it’s strange that people here seem to be assuming that Gurwara, as a conscious entity, is actually there.
        I assumed that, like the animuses (animi?) he was part of Patrick’s brain, acting to prevent Alison from getting the information and shaped like Gurwara because he was a convenient figure to lift from Alison’s own memories.

        • Andy Monserud

          That would allow him to be as fast as he needs to be, since this is, after all, Patrick’s party.

    • GreatWyrmGold

      Do you believe that Gurwara being stronger or faster has anything to do with his muscles in this place? You think that’s air Alison’s breathing now?

      • Gotham

        Thing is in terms of who’s the one who can believe the hardest they’re the strongest, I would have bet on the horse who /actually is/ the world’s strongest person, have the experience of having been knowing this for years, and also not intimidated in their belief by the physical fitness of an old dude

        • GreatWyrmGold

          1. Matrix reference.
          2. But seriously. They aren’t in the real world, what makes you think Allison and Gurwara are as capable as they are in the real world?

          • Gotham

            I know kung fu.

            And I just said so? If the mind-world works with believing in yourself, it’s going to be difficult to buy that Alison doubts her capacity to catch an old man. Now maybe it works according to other rules, for instance it’s not belief in yourself that makes might here, but philosophy skills. In such a case yeah, why not

          • Lisa Izo

            I think Allison has a lot of doubts about her ability to catch Gurwara, considering how badly he played her and was ahead of her mulitple steps for every second of their knowing each other.

            He’s mentally far far far ahead of Allison in what’s going on, and that translates to him being ahead of her in a chase.

          • Gotham

            I find myself again somewhat bemused by such Watsionan certainties when it should be pretty clear the actual reason this happened was “because the plot needed it to”

          • Lisa Izo

            I’m bemused that you’re dismissing my post as a Watsonian certainty by saying it’s because he runs at the speed of plot with watsonian certainty 🙂

            But seriously speaking, I’m just contesting you saying that Allison, without a doubt, is mentally certain that she can catch Gurwara, after there have been people saying that in a mindscape it’s not about belief in ones physical ability, but instead about confidence in ones abilities from a mental perspective…. especially after an entire arc of Gurwara repeatedly playing Allison like a fiddler on speed.

          • Gotham

            How do you justify my comment being a Watsonian certainty?

          • Lisa Izo

            I’m making a joke because it looked like you were trying to say that ‘the speed of plot’ is some sort of in-universe power (like Gwenpool).

          • Gotham

            Well certainly not one /in/-universe, which is the point

          • Lisa Izo

            Yes. That is the joke. That it looked like you were saying that Gurwara literally has the power of plot, which would make it an in-universe power, like Gwenpool. Hence my post.

          • Gotham

            I’m sorry it’s super hard to assess tone and intent when your joke was essentially a repeat of mine, I was sure there had to be more to it I was missing somehow

          • Lisa Izo

            No problemo. Text can be a tough medium, even with the emoticons.

    • Weatherheight

      The Cardio is strong with this one…
      I am one with the Cardio. The Cardio is with me.
      The dark side of the Cardio is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural.
      You must learn the ways of the Cardio, if you’re to come with me to Alderaan.

      You don’t believe in the Cardio, do you?
      I’ve never seen *anything* to make me believe that there’s one all-powerful Cardio controlling everything.
      The Cardio is what gives a Jedi his power. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together.

      • Weatherheight

        This is so ripe for abuse…

    • Brainsturm

      I do not. He is clearly moving at the Speed of Thought

      • Weatherheight

        “Just how fast is the Excalibur Gurwara?”
        “It travels at the speed of plot…”

        http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TravelingAtTheSpeedOfPlot

        • Xin

          Speed-of-plot travelling… Must be a less common dynamorphism classification.

          Too many plot-travellers make for… er, a Möbius strip? Non-Euclidian geometry? The mind boggles…

    • Shjade

      Mm…assuming just for a moment that it isn’t purely plot contrivance (I mean, it is, of course, but that’s the meta explanation), I see two possibilities:

      – his head start was larger than the perspective we see indicates.

      – the space around them (which is unstable/malleable, as indicated by the room breaking apart into Mario-style floating platforms) is stretching apart as they go, which, since she’s apparently running rather than flying, would continually create distance between them. Note: that’s not saying Gurwara is responsible for the space distortion, only that it’s happening and it’s to his advantage.

    • zellgato

      Honestly speaking his mental prowress is likely better than her’s

    • Incendax

      Not even slightly. Superman is a badass, but I would still bet on Professor Xavier in the mindscape.

      • Gotham

        You guys really need to discern a real question from an excuse to joke about Gurwara’s pristine cholesterol levels

        • Incendax

          Nothing about your post seems like a joke. It reads like an earnest and sincere criticism.

          • Gotham

            You guys really need to discern genuine criticism against y’all from an excuse to joke about the fact that all of this means Gurwara’s little flask only contains the healthiest of energy drinks instead of liver-shattering alcohol and it’s a bigger twist than knowing that the Conspiracy is held up by the Duck.

            …Amidst some, though very faint, bitterness at the all too common experience of being “well, actually”-ed to on the Internet?

            LOL JK XD LMFAO

          • Incendax

            Thank you for including LOL JK XD LMFAO in your post. It genuinely helps people like myself on the spectrum who cannot discern when you are being serious and when you are joking.

          • Gotham

            On the other hand, I’m flattered of the implication that my ramblings carry enough complexity for any to be lost on anyone.
            You can pretty much assume from now on that I never comment anything seriously because what I say is very often very very dumb

  • Dean

    At that moment , Alison realized that all of those hours spent playing Super Mario with Pintsize were about to pay off.

    • JohnTomato

      Cross-over with Questionable Content? 😉

      • AdamBombTV

        I wish. The dude who shrinks who she was on a super team with was also called Pintsize

        • JohnTomato

          Yes, I know. QC’s Pintsized came first.

  • MrSokar

    I finally remembered to check out the Critical Role episode with Molly. Realized I haven’t been keeping up with the comic either. oops

  • Olivier Faure

    Allison, I’m giving you slack because I know you’re used to being invincible and that means you’ve never had to develop a certain set of skills… BUT THAT’S NOT HOW SNEAK ATTACKS WORK.

    • “I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don’t have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that may not enable me to catch you right now (you’re looking way too smug as you plunge into that pastel vortex) but I will CHASE YOU ANYWAY because I’M ALISON GREEN.”

      • Khlovia

        Venture Bros ref FTW.

      • Arkone Axon

        Well, she is experienced with using torture to get what she wants…

  • Callinectes

    I like the floating blocks.

  • R Lex Eaton

    Cripes! Curse mental microcosm rules! Catch up with him and shove that cane down his gatdam nihilist throat!

    (Just to be clear, I like Gurwara’s purpose as a character. He just infuriates me as a person.)

  • This is going to end poorly.

    • GreatWyrmGold

      If it didn’t, there would be no story to tell.

  • MoonicaMusing

    a) I’m starting to think the Component isn’t emotion at all, but perhaps some sort of decay? Related to the degradation we’ve seen in Patrick’s physical self? Mental breakdown?

    b) Is there any way this Gurwara is also some projection or component of Patrick’s psyche? That doesn’t really mesh with his previous appearances… but neither the Anima or the records keeper seemed surprised or outraged at his presence. Does he have the power to affect how Alison (and possibly other students) would’ve perceived him in the real world? And would he have been capable of such coherent mentoring? I don’t really think this is something but I still kind of like to think that Patrick is capable of the kindness and fortitude we saw from Gurwara.

    • Lisa Izo

      a) Maybe component is part of Patrick’s power – how he can read other people’s thoughts in the first place. Maybe jumping into component is a gateway to jumping into someone else’s mind?

      b) Maybe Gurwara was hiding out in Allison’s mind until she did this mental linkup with Patrick, then he realized it was a good opportunity to steal some vital evidence which might prove or harm the Conspiracy? 🙂

  • GreatWyrmGold

    Somehow, this seems very Gurwara. Maybe it’s how he’s evading giving a straight answer by a route few people would have considered viable.

  • RobNiner ♫

    Stop right there, criminal scum.

  • Walter

    Second to last panel gifts us with hopping Guwara, which I didn’t know I needed till just now.

    • Rose

      I came to read the comments just to see if anyone commented on that panel haha. I love how his knees are bent in anticipation for his next hop.

  • Weatherheight

    Arjun’s eyes in that first panel…!
    Apparently, his power involves narrow escapes, somehow.

    • palmvos

      i thought that came with the major character package. you mean i have to buy that separately? but i wanted the ability to spontaneously use my environment to perform physically dubious stunts. I was going to take the permanent 80’s haircut (mullet) as a disadvantage….

  • Urthman

    Is it possible Guwara is *another* telepath invading Patrick’s mind?

    er…maybe a shapeshifting telepath disgusing herself as an old man?

    • Arkone Axon

      I’m leaning towards that theory as well. Whoever he is, he’s apparently not a Patrick.

  • Tsapki

    Where is a bipedal cephalopod when you need one?

    • palmvos

      running away of course.

  • Lisa Izo

    “Why is she running off that way, as if she’s chasing someone?”

    “I don’t know Record Keeper! There’s no one there! Why’s she about to jump into that Component?!”

  • Lisa Izo

    Probably would be easier to catch someone you’re chasing if you didn’t first warn them that you’re there if they don’t know you’re there first. Never really understood that in so much fiction (plus a lot of police or detective shows). People running at someone to catch them, but FIRST warning them that they’re going to get chased by yelling “HEY!” or “Don’t move!” or their name. 🙂 At least wait until you’re much, much closer.

    • Arkone Axon

      Probably instinctive; dogs generally don’t start chasing someone until they start barking as well, to alert the rest of the pack. Same thing with monkeys and other primates responding to intruders – raising a shout when giving chase is pretty standard to most mammals. It’s only when ambushing prey that they’re silent. And Alison wasn’t exactly stalking him.

      • Lisa Izo

        To be fair, monkeys responding to intruders loudly is to get AWAY from them and warn others to flee as well …. not to catch the intruders. Plus in real life, generally cops would at least try to block off avenues of escape first. It’s only in fiction that they yell at them before running after them. It’s just one of those tropes I never understood, but I guess instinct makes as much sense as any other reason would for doing it 🙂

        • Arkone Axon

          With regards to primates… depends on the situation and the primate. Spider monkeys are going to scream while fleeing, because most intruders are potential predators. But chimpanzees will fuck your shit up if you annoy them (and that includes humans who had previously spent years dispensing treats and affection to them). Baboons, gorillas… they may not be predators, but a gorilla will run AWAY from a lion… and TOWARDS a leopard. Leopards can hunt baby gorillas, but mama and papa gorillas use leopards for durability comparison tests with suitcases if they catch them.

          As for cops… depends on the cop, depends on the situation. Especially since the cop (assuming they’re not just surprise tackling someone to rough up at random, or serving a constitutionally questionable “no-knock warrant”) would be shouting at a suspect that they DON’T want to run. “Stop! Don’t make me chase you!” (and of course it’s best that you NOT run, because if they have to chase you they’re going to be a lot less “nice” about the arrest than if you cooperated) Same thing with vehicular chases – the sirens and loudspeakers are meant to stop the chase. I’ve seen videos of police cars giving chase while the cops literally begged the suspect to stop (mainly because they were riding motorcycles on dangerous roads. “You gonna die, boy! You gonna die! IT AIN’T WORTH IT! Pull over!”).

          (they didn’t pull over. The cop was in tears by the end)

          • palmvos

            “Leopards can hunt baby gorillas, but mama and papa gorillas use leopards for durability comparison tests with suitcases if they catch them.”

            I imagine that the suitcases come out on the better end of that comparison. I keep picturing a beat up leopard and a Samsonite suitcase…

          • Weatherheight

            A leopard being beaten up by a gorilla wielding a Samsonite suitcase…

          • palmvos

            film at 11

          • Arkone Axon

            A reminder for those who have no idea what we’re talking about:

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C-e96m4730

          • Lisa Izo

            I frequently find it odd where our conversations go on this forum.

          • Zorae42

            Plus, cops should announce that they’re cops and are there to arrest you. Otherwise the person they’re arresting may react violently to the unknown person running at them/grabbing them.

          • Arkone Axon

            Very true, and the violent reactions HAVE happened, they tend to have tragic results… and Lisa Izo could probably go into greater detail (since she’s the attorney and I’m not) about how it’s been fairly standard for the victims to be prosecuted aggressively for defending themselves, and also why the only reason this massively unconstitutional practice is allowed is “Drugs are bad, m’kay?”

            I still remember the experiences with some idiot officers who arrested me for quite literally walking down the street (I’m not joking, I’m not exaggerating, and the judge was pissed as hell that the prosecutor disagreed regarding the merits of the case). The same department that broke down someone’s door because of something I hadn’t previously known existed. Fairy cocaine. That’s a magical kind of cocaine that only appears when the cops want to break down someone’s door; it hovers over the toilet and flushes itself as soon as the cops enter.

            (Edit: Not my door, someone else’s. Someone they wanted to harass and give a hard time to. The “arresting me for walking down the street” was simply because I happened to know this other person and was therefore criminal scum by association)

  • Lostman

    I was just thinking… isn’t it weird that Gurwara shows up when Alison finds a Biodynamic that can strengthen the power of other Biodynamics. And now Gurwara shows up Patrick mind maze.

    • The_Rippy_One

      If, as has been supposition’d, Gurwara is a time traveler, then no, it really isn’t XD The really curious question is “What part of The Conspiracy does Gurwara need to learn about, such that he needs to sneak into Pat’s head and steal it?” (Or “What part of The Conspiracy does he want to make sure Pat ‘forgets’ about?”)

      Clearly, he knows that The Conspiracy exists – no reason to be there, otherwise (remember, up until this moment, we didn’t know if Pat was simply delusional. however, having Gurwara interested enough for these shenanigans implies a verification from a third party – he knows it’s real, too, and the information is valuable; unless he’s a figment of Pat’s imagination come to life and this is Pat distracting Pat >.> or, like Memento, and the status of the case. which would be hella mindscrew on multiple levels.).

      So, if he is somehow aware of The Conspiracy, either he knows about them in the way Pat does – second hand summation in the main – or he knows about them directly (like, he’s one of the kids The Conspiracy tried to end, or he’s from the future “Where Their Evil Is Law”). If it’s second hand, Pat’s treasure trove is incredibly valuable as a corroborating witness account. If it’s directly, though, it begs the question of what Pat could know that Gurwara couldn’t…and THAT is a very interesting question, indeed…

      • Lostman

        I was thinking that Gurwara was a agent of the Conspiracy.

        • The_Rippy_One

          he could be.

          actually, he could be both – it would make sense if The Conspiracy is a future-based group (and thus knew who would be truly significant because they saw the significance personally, and decided to kill them) if someone has something like a “temporal bubble” power to protect the group from the paradox shock

  • Do we know Patrick’s family background, or even his real last name? If “Gurwara” is a projection of some sort, could he be based on Patrick’s dad?

    • Crow

      The fact that he was only ever called “Patrick Andrews” when it had no connection to his Menace days makes me think it isn’t a fake name. It would read like lazy writing to never allude that he was living under a false identity and then go “Surprise! Bet you didn’t see that coming!”. Well, yeah. I didn’t see it coming because it wasn’t there to see. It’d be like going “Lisa is actually a GHOST! oooOOOOooo!” and expecting any response other than “There’s no reason that would be true…”.

  • McFrugal

    Damn that old dude is fast.

  • Teka the Budgie

    I do not like suspicious old man stealing pages of the conspiracy.

  • JohnTomato

    Is Gurwara handling the morality side of the culling conspiracy?

  • zarawesome

    *mario going into pipe noise*

  • zellgato

    I’m still thinking he’ll reveal tobe some old CIA guy or something like that

  • Eric Schissel

    I’m a bit slow and this is probably on the Tuesday page comments but – why wouldn’t Patrick/Anima/etc know about Gurwara? They seem to know everything else Alison knows, so why not Gurwara?

    • The_Rippy_One

      First part – Gurwara showed up after Al broke it off with Pat, and Pat is way too messed up to coherently “read” thoughts right now (receive them, sure – find a coherent meaning in them? unlikely). The idea that he has a coherent enough “idea” of Gurwara, and finds “him” useful enough to embody him as a simulacrum whose purpose is picking his own memory apart, seems highly suspect. Thus, the likely answer to Al’s question is “no, Pat doesn’t”

      potentially, because they never met. Depending on who Gurwara actually is, that is certainly arrangable, and Gurwara seems like someone who would not want Pat to know what he knows. Further, Gurwara might have avoided “the Five” on previous entries, if this isn’t his first, for much the same reason.

  • Joe in Australia

    So is this a Component portal or just a pool of Component? And is Gurwara entering it or exiting through it or dissolving into it? Or, what if Component is Gurwara?

  • Gotham

    Hey, by the way, I seem to remember something…

    It wouldn’t be our old dearest Alison if she weren’t disregarding critical warnings uttered less than five minutes ago, but what do we think? Was Patrick lying, or did she tell the truth, and how much does Gurwara know better?

  • Happyroach

    Well that’s a perfect example of Chekhov’s Component. Once Allison was warned not to touch the Component, I should have known she’d end up going into a pool of it.

  • Lisa Izo

    Gurwara: “Kids are always after me lucky charms!”

  • Dave M

    “Hey you, out there beyond the wall,
    Breaking bottles in the hall,
    Can you help me?
    Hey you, don’t tell me there’s no hope at all
    Together we stand, divided we fall.””

  • tygertyger

    Hmm. That’s an awful lot of “component” around Gurwara. I wonder, how much of that did he bring with him, how much did Alison bring, and how much was already there?

  • Ben Posin

    This is a decent example of why I’d prefer we get back into the real world ASAP. Since we’re in Patrick’s mind we have no idea whether that is the real Gurwara somehow in there too, a memory of a time the real Gurwara actually rifled through Patrick’s memories, a representation of Gurwara created by Patrick after meeting Gurwara and copying his mind to some degree, some other aspect of Patrick’s mind that for some reason Alison perceives as Gurwara, or a copy of Gurwara taken purely from Gurwara’s memories. Everything will be a surprise or revelation regardless of whether something really creative has been thought of just because we don’t know what is really going on or what anything means.

    • Crow

      I agree. These are questions and considerations that would be interesting and compelling in a novel, but not in a format where we get 5 sentences per week.