SFP

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  • Some guy

    I can’t be the only one that knew exactly how the 4th panel was going to go halfway through the second one.

    • Ricardo Alves Junqueira Pentea

      I believe that was the idea. ^^

    • AdamBombTV

      It was either going to be this or a cute cuddly puppy… it was 50/50 really

  • owen

    Lime Green Alison is the most powerful Alison, I guess.

    • Mechwarrior

      Lime Green On Fire Alison

      • Xin

        The robots had lime green cannons also… wonder why that is.

        • Gotham

          Telepathic energy, or if you intend to use the scientific nomenclature, “mind lime juice”

          • AdamBombTV

            Not unlike an Appletini

        • GreatWyrmGold

          Green is Patrick’s favorite color. Good taste.

        • Weatherheight

          I refer you to Loranna’s previous comment… 😀
          http://strongfemaleprotagonist.com/issue-7/page-41-6/

          Is anyone else still kicking themselves over missing that..?

        • Mechwarrior

          It’s Patrick’s favorite flavor of jello?

    • Charles Moore

      I like “Lime green Allison Green.” better than what I came up with

      …which was “Giant snot rocket Allison”

      • Songwind

        Nostril Spawn, you dare to do battle against the nose of your birth????

        • Charles Moore

          Mucal invader, is there no end to your oozing?

  • MedinaSidonia

    I’m curious as to what percentage of readers were with me in thinking “…It’s the Stay-Puft Marshmallow man”.

    • StClair

      Choose! Choose the form of the Destructor! Choose, and perish!

      • AdamBombTV

        Back off man, I’m a scientist.

      • tygertyger

        I… can’t… even… 🙂

    • Mechwarrior

      I tried to think of the most harmless thing. Something that could never, ever destroy us.

  • Olivier Faure

    Subtle.

    Also, wow, Patrick mental image of “safe and warm is secure” is the girl who threw a mug in his face and is planning to throw him in jail? This guy has issues.

  • rpenner

    Ah… that’s adorkable. We… we are going to die.

  • Mr BreaksIt

    Well at least she left a good impression on him?

  • elilla

    awkwaaard

  • Dean

    And Alison is all “Is that REALLY how my hair looks?!”

    • JeffH

      Or, “That’s exactly how I’d do my hair if I didn’t need liquid nitrogen and power tools to cut it!”

      (Considering Patrick probably knows how she wishes her hair would look)

  • Zorae42

    Menace blames her for all the instability there and says she’s keeping him from his purpose – but she also makes him feel safe and secure.

    He really needs to get his feelings sorted out lol.

    • palmvos

      i suspect that many of us need our feelings sorted out…

  • Gotham

    We’re far enough from the scene to miss it, but here’s what the hearing-enhanced Brad would have heard:

    Clevin is /so/ single.

    • Lostman

      Am I the only one who thought this upon seeing giant Alison?
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OkpRK2_gVs

      • Arkone Axon

        So… you think giant Alison is going to try to pluck them up and eat them?

        • Tsapki

          Eh, only the mindless Titan’s tend to do that. The more advanced ones don’t really bother with eating people for the most part.

          • Arkone Axon

            I’ve never watched past the first episode. The many many MANY mistakes and flaws with their “defenses” and tactics were too offputting to me. Though a friend of mine who loves the show claimed that the tactics were made ineffectual on purpose, because of politics…

            …Which doesn’t really jibe with me because after the first time someone realized they could combine those sling harness things with two sturdy trees and a nice long pike to make a Titan sized ballista, orders to not do that again would go ignored…

          • Mechwarrior

            Yeah, and it was unrealistic how many time McClellan fell for Lee’s feints and bluffs. Man, the Civil War was so unbelievably written.

          • Arkone Axon

            I’m not talking about command level stupidity, I’m talking about the “stupid infantry spear carriers” being too sensible for that crap. Even in WWI they quickly stopped carrying the “trench fighting knives” in favor of their trench shovels (because the shovels were more effective weapons). In every war we’ve seen plenty of occasions where the enlisted ranks came up with FAR superior methods to whatever the “official” methods were. Smart officers recognize and adopt these methods; stupid officers (or, assuming what I was told is true, officers who genuinely intend to get their troops killed in order to keep the populace afraid of the enemy) prohibit the unofficial methods… which still get used, because a C.O.’s anger is preferable to getting sent home early… in a box.

          • Tsapki

            Not sure where the ballista thing comes in, may knowledge may be lacking.

            But my basic understanding was that anything other than cutting the back of the neck open only slows a Titan down at best.

          • Arkone Axon

            I’m referring to the “sling harness” concept, which lets them zip about. The moment I saw that, I immediately thought “Force Multiplier. They’re surrounded by big trees, each soldier can become a portable ballista at a moment’s notice.” And yes, I have been told that “anything other than the back of the neck only slows a Titan down.” Which… makes it a VERY viable tactic. Slow them down, stun them, then go for the weak spot.

            Hence my complaint about the enlisted ranks not adopting more effective tactics that work and let them win and survive, and ignoring commands to stick with official regulations and die in an orderly fashion. I HATE it when “mooks” get portrayed as faceless, anonymous, unintelligent nonpeople who don’t matter and have no brains. It’s one of the reasons why I’m a fan of Terry Pratchett. The guy who made so many of his books featuring mooks as protagonists… like Fred Colon, who was too stupid and good natured to be tricked, never spit into the food when bringing it to prisoners, and who “kept the cell keys in a tin box in the bottom drawer of his desk, a long way out of reach of any stick, hand, dog, cunningly thrown belt, or trained Klatchian monkey spider (making Fred Colon possibly unique in the annals of jail history).”

          • Evita

            There is another reason though – most don’t see titans as a real threat due to long period of peace, or try to not think about them too much; the titans come as a surprise. These people do have traditional ballistas and those aren’t very effective.

            They also don’t have trees everywhere, only on the training ground and during some expedition missions (which involve advanced forms of titans that make simple strategies ineffective.) The damage spikes can do may also be too low, considering the different physiology and the difficulty to reach knees and ankles, etc. with any predictability in an urban environment. Anyway, it doesn’t appear so ridiculous to me that these people don’t use other forms of weapons, and the show’s entertainment value comes from the characters and drama. To be entirely serious, the first thing I’d find stupid is the blade design, but I’m willing to let it slide.

          • Tsapki

            Ooh, hehe, you mean that weird razor blade build they have where the blade is detachable from the hilt? Yeah that was odd. I guess what they were going for was the idea that the blade needs to be sharp to the point that it sacrifices the durability of the weapon and so needs to be interchangable to be viable in extended combat.

          • Tsapki

            Ooh, the ODM gear or whatever they call it in the dub.

            There may be a few possible problems with the concept you are describing, though I don’t know the show well enough to be sure of anything. Honestly just the harness seems incredibly dangerous as someone not fully trained is just a likely to kill themselves going as fast as that thing flings them around. My basic understanding of the problem though in numbers. Out in the forest, since you mention trees I am guessing you are referring to the Scout Regimen, a group of soldiers run a realistic risk of running into a group of Titans have their number. For an average soldier it seems reasonable that three to focus on one Titan gives a decent chance at avoiding a fatality. The problem comes in a war of attrition scenario where the Titans only concern is the sun going down (though honestly, do we ever see night Titan hunting I wonder), where as the Scouts need to worry about food, water, horses and gas tanks off the top of my head.

          • Arkone Axon

            Yeah. I don’t know the show very well either – Mechwarrior would be the one to debate it with. I’d rather debate other shows that I like more. But in all… there was a couple of books by Eric Flynt and David Freer, “Rats, Bats and Vats” and the sequel. Where the conscript soldiers (both humans as well as genetically engineered auxiliaries) are expected to fight according to tactics meant to get them killed. Literally – the human colony is being secretly set up to lose to the alien invaders by a third species. Eventually the grunts begin to figure out more effective tactics… and then are rigorously opposed by their own high command, who are selected on the same basis as British Imperial officers (i.e. rich bastards who bought their commissions). The second book is actually more about the difficulties in fighting the incompetent, corrupt, and treacherous commanders and their civilian allies than it is about the alien invaders.

            (It’s a fun series. One of my favorite lines: “I am sorry, Senorita. But I do not know where to find a chainsaw.”)

          • Mechwarrior

            That was a good series. The big difference is that the soldiers in AoT are even less educated and have a phenomenal enough attrition rate. And anyone who demonstrates exceptional anti-Titan fighting skill gets promoted to the Elite Guard, who are stationed on the inside wall away from the Titans. Again, this gets discussed by the characters.

          • Mechwarrior

            It’s actually explained pretty thoroughly what’s going on in the series, but you’ll have to commit to watching most of the season before you get most of the pieces. I’m not ging to spoil it here.

      • Mechwarrior

        That’s not a Titan.

        This is a Titan!

      • Jared Rosenberg

        Not anymore.

    • Madame_K

      That ‘awwwwww’ came from me when I saw this panel.

      • Lexkat13

        I know. Isn’t Alison so cute with flaming greenish-yellow hair and that adorable dress?

    • Jared Rosenberg
  • cannibalism

    Patrick, this is what happens when you deny your own feelings. You create a mind-construct of your crush and use her to destroy yourself from within.

    • AdamBombTV

      Haven’t we ALL been there are some point or another?

    • Shjade

      It’s called a crush for a reason.

      • Incendax

        Hahahahahahaha. The punnery.

    • masterofbones

      Strong and safe are not the traits I would associate with passionate love. That’s much closer to a good friendship.

      Additionally, if a mindreader doesn’t want to be in a romantic relationship with someone, they probably have a damn good reason

  • R Lex Eaton

    Wait… a mental manifestation of power in humanoid form…

    Sentinel!Alison is Menace’s Stand!

    • Tsapki

      I was about to threaten to post the Pillar Man theme, but then it occurred to me that would be the wrong arc.

  • Bo Lindbergh

    Alison Green Freckles.

  • Franklin J Gomes

    Anybody else find the Sentinel’s clothing a strange choice. Maybe is me reading to much into the design, but is not the sort of thing Allison usually wear. Kind of an old fashioned dress.

    Here is what I think: Those are the clothes of Patrick’s mother.

    Before you say something, I am not going with an “Oedipus Complex” deal here. What I suggest is that the Sentinel is an amalgam of everything Patrick see as both powerful and protective.

    • Gotham

      It’s indeed very noticeably non-Alisonesque, but I wouldn’t ascribe it to such an easy answer.

      Who knows, maybe Patrick rejected Alison because of her unwaivering love of pants.
      I mean, “Patrick” necessarily reminds of Ireland, and Scotland is not far off. Maybe he’s all go kilt or go home.

      • Jay

        The Irish wore kilts as well, they’re just not as well known for it as the Scots. Fun fact, instead of a clan/family tartan, Irishmen will wear the tartan of the county they live in, or the national tartan if they are in the military.

        • Gotham

          That and the female version of him running around in his mind: it is now canon.

          Patrick became a supervillain because all he ever wanted was for society not to shun him while he felt so comfortable in a skirt.

    • Xin

      I am trying to recall… wasn’t “Sentinel” something to do with Lisa’s names and projects as well?

    • ikodata

      you guysssss
      It’s the dress she wore (sans the pocket) back in issue 3ish when they went to see feral together

      • Franklin J Gomes

        AH CRAP,!!! You are absolutely right

        But it makes sense. Patrick saw the most caring side of Allison during that arc…and she almost beat a lot of zealots to death to protect Feral. Perfect model for a comforting psychic machine of destruction.

  • BadExampleMan

    <dramatic chipmunk video />

  • Haven

    Is “sentinel” really the kind of word that makes people say “what? speak english!”?

    • Scott

      Given that, within this context and without any amplifying information, it could mean an almost unlimited number of things, yes. Yes it is.

      • Mnemnosyne

        I disagree, I think it’s pretty obvious what ‘Sentinel’ means in this context; the details may be hard to parse, such as that it’s useful to protect him from other telepaths, and the reason for its appearance, but in this context, Sentinel very, very obviously means a mental defense system of some sort.

        • Scott

          Good for you?
          Look, if this page didn’t have the second panel, would we still have understood what the sentinel was? Yes, almost certainly. However, without the second panel the reveal would likely have less of an impact for Allison and the audience. It also allowed for a little bit of exposition that otherwise would have been out of place since The Anima has been established as not providing amplifying information unless prompted. Yeah, perhaps this page could have been written in a way that was less reliant on cliched dialogue but…oh well.

    • JohnTomato

      Not if you’re a fan of the X-Men comics, not film, story arcs.

    • Flamma Man

      Yeah, seemed like “Context!” would have been a better demand rather than “English!”

      • elilla

        I for one thought “speak English!” sounded out-of-character for Alison.

        • Insatiable Booksluts

          I actually think she’s pretty well in character right now. She tries really hard to be sensitive to what she says but it doesn’t come naturally to her; she has a lot of “open mouth, insert foot” moments, especially when stressed.

    • Some guy

      She should have said “Be descriptive” instead, but with all the goofy bullshit that seems to happen in these kinds of mindscapes and the fact that it’s Alison and not Brad, I give her a pass.

  • Gotham

    Oh and also:
    Gotham • 7 days ago
    “Fun fact: the pure screaming chaos part is, obviously, in a constant state of multidimensional flux that breaks all sense, but once in a lifetime, it all aligns perfectly to be shaped like you, Alison.”
    “…that’s… flattering?”

    I request a little credit.

    • GreatWyrmGold

      Pure screaming chaos with no fixed form, mental safeguard and projection of things that make him feel secure, same difference.

    • Weatherheight

      Full marks…

    • AdamBombTV

      So… about those Lotto numbers.

  • lemmata

    I’m reasonably certain now that the woman Alison is talking to is Menace, and that Patrick is the one who built the city.

    • GreatWyrmGold

      I’ve been reasonably certain for a while that everyone in there except Alison (the little one) is Patrick, just different bits of him.

  • GreatWyrmGold

    “Why is its head on fire?”
    “…I would have thought you’d be more concerned about it looking like you.”
    “That’s why I’m concerned about its head being on fire!“

    • palmvos

      its a manifestation of ‘hunka hunka burning love’

    • Lisa Izo

      Because Alison is a hothead. 🙂

    • masterofbones

      Fire is powerful, and at the same time a tool used for warmth and security

    • Thechynd

      “I did just say that its a projection of everything that makes him feel warm. Just because its mostly about you, doesn’t mean its all about you.”

  • Songwind

    I figured it had to be Allison, or possibly his mom.

  • Weatherheight

    I wonder if the reason Real Alison was allowed in Patrick’s head was to confront PowerRingAvatar Alison, and who, exactly, wanted that confrontation. it’s the kind of thing a fellow’s Anima might encourage, challenging a mental image of someone with the reality of that someone.

  • Well I guess that gives more justification to why Al still has super powers even inside Patrick’s head.

  • Miss G.

    Was I the only one who thought that this is one disturbing form of flattery?

  • Grayson Towler

    Okay, that is just awesome.

    Please tell me she has an atomic breath beam.

    • palmvos

      she has an atomic breath beam.

      • Grayson Towler

        Sweet. Appreciate that.

  • JeffH

    So. AWESOME!

  • Emily Smith

    …WELP

  • Callinectes

    FEAR MY ALMOND EYES OF DOOOOM

  • pleasechangemymind

    I can’t tell whether it’s weird or particularly touching that BrainProtector!Alison is wearing the same dress she wore during their road trip to visit Feral in the hospital….

  • pleasechangemymind

    I can’t tell whether it’s weird or particularly touching that BrainProtector!Alison is wearing the same dress she wore during their road trip to visit Feral in the hospital…. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9bd3c45f5df94d9b90b2ce0f26c9c853bbde6854311f750466f9f2cef9ff3b3e.jpg

    • Nebty

      I knew I’d seen that dress before! That’s pretty adorable. In a weird kind of way.

    • palmvos

      we now see that this is once again alison’s fault- she fed him porn! (staring him probably) now hes fixated on her! how could we have missed that?

  • Arkone Axon

    This actually reminds me of a novella in a science fiction magazine where a college professor was getting involved in personal issues with two of the mortal people with the power of G-d (it’s complicated). One of them started hurling painful realities at him, past incidents from the points of view of his loved ones, such as when his daughter was having casual sex with boys in the bathroom back in high school, because she was so desperate for attention and love.

    …The part that actually broke him was when he got hit with the views of his severely autistic son, during an incident when the son threw some things at him and attacked him because he was yelling at the family. It left the guy on the floor in tears, realizing that his own son thought of him as a monster.

    Here Alison just found out that to Patrick, she’s both the embodiment of raw power (meaning there’s literally no one else stronger. She is it. She isn’t a victim, she’s the power that, when abused, creates victims), as well as a source of security and warmth (meaning she just found out how much he actually loves her… and look at how she treated him).

    • Arkone Axon

      And replying to MYSELF because I remembered another, more recent example to compare it to, but which deserved its own, shorter post. “Rick and Morty,” and the episode where Beth and Jerry went in for counseling. When the evil xenomorph version of Beth had her at its mercy, and explained, “I am the most powerful and brilliant being in the universe, because I am what Jerry imagines you to be – and that is how he thinks of you.”

      Beth: “…Okay, ouch…”

      • Gotham

        That’s “—so much greater than you actually are” at the end, otherwise the response doesn’t much make sense.

        I don’t think the idea of exploring Patrick’s conceptualized view of who Alison is will occur at all. This is clearly not what Patrick thinks Alison /actually/ is, by Anima!Patrick’s own admission. The logic clearly goes “power and safety fit Alison well”, not the other way around.

        I mean, Alison Prime is currently sleeping next to Patrick Prime, right? The tiny multicolored one here is pretty much his own projection-representation of what he thinks she actually is, informed by the fact that the real thing is right next to him and he’s reading her mind with perfect accuracy, hence pitch perfect.

        Patrick can’t objectify people (well, whom he meets, at least). He’s great.

    • Vespayik

      Patrick having feelings for Alison does not mean he’s owed anything from her. “..and look at how she treated him” ?? He was a manipulative jerk who provoked her until she was at her wit’s end. Was throwing the mug at him wrong? Yes. But Patrick has done so much worse and more.

      • Arkone Axon

        Yes, yes he has. He was literally a terrorist (as in, not figuratively, not put on a watch list by accident or due to someone abusing their powers; he was actually engaged in terrorist activity). He killed people. He declared war on the U.S. government (well, technically ALL the governments… but most specifically the one he saw as the greatest evil according to his own moral view).

        My point was that after looking at that, any attempt by Alison to claim oppression is beyond ridiculous. She can’t be oppressed by the cops because she sucks on the barrels, spits out the bullets, and sneers at them for trying to arrest her. She can’t be oppressed by men because there isn’t a man alive she can’t beat up and then threaten with injuries and/or death. She can’t be oppressed by the system because any institution that refuses to indulge her will lose out to competing institutions eager for the prestige of having her as a member. Even when her “friends” kicked her out of her own apartment, that only happened because she was too nice a person to tell them, “…no. You guys can get out. Or I can throw you out. And see if I can hit the lake with you from this distance.”

        Nobody said Patrick was owed anything. I’m just pointing out that when the mind reading friend that she perpetrated violence against (and then muttered “why couldn’t you just dodge?” which is one of the classic lines in the “abusive partner’s handbook”) needed a symbol of ultimate power and strength… he picked her.

  • Laurelinde

    Not to go all Ackbar or anything, but…this is a trap, right? That description, and then it looking like Alison, is just way too convenient somehow.

    Maybe it’s all the D&D playing talking, but, trap, trap, trap, trappity trap trap trap. Alison, do not roll a 1 right now.

    • Arkone Axon

      This isn’t the sort of trap you fall into from rolling poorly. This is the sort of trap you fall into from willful stupidity, to the point that the GM asks you, “…are you sure?” and you nod eagerly and say, “yes! This is the best plan ever!”

      • Laurelinde

        For me it’s not so much being here at all that is the trap to which I’m referring, but whether (or to what extent) she takes what she is seeing and being told at face value.

      • palmvos

        as a donkey around here can say… those are the best traps.

    • Tres Dracos

      Mm d&d… can we get a Table Titans / SFP crossover ?!?!

    • Stephanie

      Yeah, it feels very manipulative to me.

  • Franklin J Gomes

    I can’t believed. We have a comic with a giant angry green version of the heroine, and for almost a day after publication nobody have say it. So allow me:

    ALLISON SMAAAAAAASH!!!

  • Darkoneko Hellsing

    Oh you got to be kidding.

  • Philip Bourque

    You know, after the yelling and the mugging, I would have thought that Pat’s views on Alison being associated with safety and security would be somewhat cracked. Maybe Menace is masochistic?

    • Arkone Axon

      …Does this mean we’re going to see a version of Alison wearing leather and/or latex?

      • palmvos

        would it be wrong of me to ask for one of each?

    • masterofbones

      Alternatively, he sees fragments of Alison as individual aspects in the same way that fragments of patrick are running around here too.

      Alison is absolutely protective and strong. Those aspects of her are what make of this entity.

      • Philip Bourque

        Really? Because I’m seeing angry and violent.

        • Weatherheight

          That is also Alison, and it is also appropriate for a defense system.
          Most things are also more than one thing – this goes double for people and their mental constructs.

    • Zorae42

      Well, if I pet my cat wrong or when he doesn’t want me to he bites/scratches me. But I still think of him as comforting and soothing. A single instance of provoked violence against him doesn’t necessarily change the way he feels about her, nor make him masochistic.

  • Kid Chaos

    The Not-So-Jolly Green Giant. 💀

    • Arkone Axon

      I’m eating my peas! Look! I’m EATING MY PEAS! Don’t hurt me, I’ll eat my veggies!

      • palmvos

        :: is eating even more peas::
        i like peas… I have them at lunch most days.
        would that be appeasement?

  • RobNiner ♫

    She looks more like Alison than Alison does.

  • Graeme Sutton

    Alright I’m calling it. This whole scenario is just Patrick deliberately messing with her.

  • IE

    Alison: … *Not sure whether to be pissed off or flattered.*

  • Eva Smiljanić

    Yep called it

  • ladle

    Called it as soon as I saw ‘everything that he associates with strength and power’. Didn’t call the fire head though.

  • Well, that’s gotta be sort of flattering – “…everything that makes him feel safe and warm and secure…”, huh?

  • It occurs to me that beyond the appearance of the Staypuft Jello Girl we may also need to wonder about why the Anima is wearing a Tron suit (I’d call it a stealth suit but for the neon, which is fairly antithetical to stealth) and a utility belt. Someone probably is neither as helpless, nor as innocent ast they have been making out.

  • BMPDynamite

    HELP I’M CONFLICTED

    • palmvos

      always attack. when in doubt attack. does that help?

      • BMPDynamite

        jmgjisodcvcv

        I punched my keyboard. I don’t know if it helped.

        • palmvos

          George C. Scott and Patton both clap you hard on the back.
          “you’re learning!”

  • MoonicaMusing

    Alison. Not Megagirl. Hmm.