The runic circle reads “CYCLE CHARGE OVERLOAD” repeated over and over. Not sure about the order of the words, because it’s a circle and, while normally the spellcasting commands follow the order of “VERB POTENTIAL_QUALIFIERS NOUN(S)”, unfortunately, all the words here can fit in any category, so I went with the one that makes the most sense to me.
The runic circle reads “CYCLE CHARGE OVERLOAD” repeated over and over. Not sure about the order of the words, because it’s a circle and, while normally the spellcasting commands follow the order of “VERB POTENTIAL_QUALIFIERS NOUN(S)”, unfortunately, all the words here can fit in any category, so I went with the one that makes the most sense to me.
Essentially, it’s still the same command looping over and over. Saturate and overload the circle with Lightning energy and cycle the charge to run the circuit in perpetuity… give or take it’s been a while since I’ve dealt with circuits.
She’s not like the rest of the floof squad who can spontaneously fight the dragon (probably), but it seems he’ll learn that with a bit of warning, just about anyone can fight him.
You know, it occurs to me that Void Boy here might not be at full strength to begin with. He spent a whole lot of time talking with a ‘mere mortal’ there, and supposedly he wouldn’t care what Erin thought.
So why, from his point of view, would he bother doing anything beyond supposedly swatting the gnat out of his way?
Sit boy, sit. Stay. That’s a not-entirely-bad void boy. (I can’t make myself call him a good void boy..)
From a logical view point that makes sense but from a story point of view its an excuse for the writer demonstrate the villain’s expectations of all encounters given the power they wield and show the protagonists deepening understanding of said villain’s limits to satisficing story beats. I am very happy to see Tess being so Metal!
V.D.: Come now, you don’t have to paralyse your brother to ensure he gets his rest.
Tess: You say that, but if you were babysitting him post overchannel years ago, you’d be tempted do. Dude’s a terrible patient.
I was prepared for angry Tess, shouting at V.D. and feeling the pressure of fighting her brother. But seeing her deceptively calm and neutral, responding to V.D.’s long, polite threats with short, to-the-point counters, hits so much harder. Tess has always worn her heart on her non-existent sleeves, gaining this personality is one of, if not the, most important parts of her backstory; when she puts her emotions aside when getting serious, you know it’s bad.
Similarly, we’ve gotten so used to seeing Tess as a rough and ready punch-mage, I never considered her using runes until last page. It does make sense though; I’m thinking either Erin taught her or she picked up that skill on her travels. She doesn’t have a Void resistance like the others, so knows she needs to fight smarter rather than harder.
Tess is right, Erin knowing his sister died at V.D.’s hands would hurt more than Void disintegration to him; I can’t blame him trying to keep Tess and his other friends and family out of this mess. When he wakes up, potentially sooner rather than later after this lightning show, I hope he realises that he needed Tess along and this runic circle show is proof she can handle the risks.
Erid in control for a sec, coughing up smoke: “Thanks Tess, love ya sis” Collapses
Tess “Love ya too, bro. …Dang it, I don’t have any healing lacrima.”
Tess, it’s poor table etiquette to take the same actions on each turn (intended purely as a joke).
Sure is effective, though. I do hope VD doesn’t think up a countermeasure to this highly exploitable weakness.
Also, I wonder – did Erin share this tactic of paralysis (an entirely logical deduction), or did Tess organically reach the same conclusion on how to neutralize VD? Because that would be incredible.
Reminds me of Noah Antwiler’s rant in his Counter Monkey video called “The trouble with superheroes” where he talks about superhero tabletop rpgs. It is fun to read about X-men, it is not fun to play as one of them.
“Okay, you’re Wolverine. What are you doing this turn? I’m gonna stab a bad guy.” and “Okay, you’re Cyclops, what are you doing this turn? I’m gonna shoot the enemy with my eye beam. Okay,roll to hit.
Next turn.
Alright Cyclops, what are you doing this turn? I’m gonna shoot the bad guy with my eye beam. Oh, I’m not in range. Okay, I’m going to move in range and shoot the enemy with my Eye Beam.” Boooring!
Tess has exactly two moves, “Steel punch” and “Electrocute!” and that’s enough.
That Cyclops player lacks imagination. Here’s some ideas:
Optic blast the ground in a wide arc to make either a trench to slow down melee opponents or uproot a bank of earth for your team to take cover behind.
Optic blast in the direction opposite to where you want to go, using the force to propel yourself to your destination in an instant.
A fine, piercing optic blast to make precision holes in a target to damage essential components or make openings for other teammates to take advantage of.
There’s a great Reddit post that goes into these applications and many more in depth, and includes my favourite Cyclops beam moment where he sends a blast through a traffic light to hit multiple opponents. It’s a good read. (https://www.reddit.com/r/Cyclopswasright/comments/1360r69/breakdown_cyclops_optic_blast_and_all_the_ways_he/)
As for Wolverine, off the top of my head there’s enhanced senses for tracking/gauging opponents before a fight, relying on healing factor to be the team’s tank/meat shield at the front, and cutting up parts of the environment that could benefit the team. More limited than Cyclops, but the potential is there.
probably tess came to the conclusion on her own, erin himself said that paralyzing himself with lightning is a rookie mistake so self paralyzing is probably something common among lightning mages who are still learning, its less that “lightning is the weakness of the void dragon” and that “the void dragon frequently forgets that he is in the body of the only person who doesnt have any superhuman resistances in this group”
I think it’s less that V.D.’s main weakness is being zapped, more that being zapped is the most certain and non-harmful way to subdue him. The other elements are either not as effective at holding him back, or they risk unnecessarily harming Erin.
Plus, let’s be honest, Tess’s other potential moves either risk harming Erin or put her at risk of a Void blast; she only has lightning magic at her disposal, so she needs to apply it smartly.
Well DAMN. Way to go Tess!! I’d thought maybe she was sitting in a runic circle, but I’d completely missed any sign of one around Erin. That’s smart. She’s smart. Well played.
Lil bit nervous about how long she’ll have to hd that watch (surely she needs sleep at some point), but for the moment, I’n cheering.
“Huh, I *was* considering feeling bad about electrocuting you both, but know that you’re openly admitting that you plan to do much worse to him if I lose…get wrecked, clown dragon.”
Cool!!!! I figured she’d zap him. But I’m still worried she’ll tire eventually…and I’m sure the VD is betting on it. For now, his impatience is his weakness
It seems Erin shared the story of how he disabled himself to stop the Dragon last time, and Tess did listen and improvised her own version of it. Very clever. Let’s hope it suffices to keep the dragon stunned long enough – Tess has made it sound like Erin is likely to be out of commission for a while.
It appears that Tess was indeed hesitant to electrocute Erin, but VD talked her into it. Also, the Void Dragon has to be careful not to harm Erin’s body by channeling too much power through him, as that would deprive VD of a really powerful body.
it was a runic circle!!!!!!!!
With his body language and hair, that was definitely Yeowch. Good call, those who noticed the runes Friday.
The runic circle reads “CYCLE CHARGE OVERLOAD” repeated over and over. Not sure about the order of the words, because it’s a circle and, while normally the spellcasting commands follow the order of “VERB POTENTIAL_QUALIFIERS NOUN(S)”, unfortunately, all the words here can fit in any category, so I went with the one that makes the most sense to me.
The runic circle reads “CYCLE CHARGE OVERLOAD” repeated over and over. Not sure about the order of the words, because it’s a circle and, while normally the spellcasting commands follow the order of “VERB POTENTIAL_QUALIFIERS NOUN(S)”, unfortunately, all the words here can fit in any category, so I went with the one that makes the most sense to me.
the discord server thinks its overload cycle charge due to the spacing between the beginning of overload and end of charge
Essentially, it’s still the same command looping over and over. Saturate and overload the circle with Lightning energy and cycle the charge to run the circuit in perpetuity… give or take it’s been a while since I’ve dealt with circuits.
Smug as always, the Dragon says to yield
But is caught in a paralysing lightning field
Two things:
1) What do the runes say?
2) I’m going to be late to the next three updates due to matriculation exams, so wish me good luck?
Good luck!
The runes say CHARGE OVERLOAD CYCLE
Also good luck on your exams!
Curse you, real life for making me late! XD
I feel your pain.
Also, best of luck @OngoingConversationCouplet
Good luck! Matriculate away!
Good luck!
I don’t know the runes
But I wish you much good luck
And hope you do well!
The runes say:
Ring-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!
Gering-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!
Gering-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!
Wa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pow!
Wa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pow!
Wa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pow!
Hatee-hatee-hatee-ho!
Hatee-hatee-hatee-ho!
Hatee-hatee-hatee-ho!
Joff-tchoff-tchoffo-tchoffo-tchoff!
Tchoff-tchoff-tchoffo-tchoffo-tchoff!
Joff-tchoff-tchoffo-tchoffo-tchoff!
Jacha-chacha-chacha-chow!
Chacha-chacha-chacha-chow!
Chacha-chacha-chacha-chow!
Fraka-kaka-kaka-kaka-kow!
Fraka-kaka-kaka-kaka-kow!
Fraka-kaka-kaka-kaka-kow!
A-hee-ahee ha-hee!
A-hee-ahee ha-hee!
A-hee-ahee ha-hee!
A-oo-oo-oo-ooo! Woo-oo-oo-ooo!
Wa-wa-way-do Wub-wid-bid-dum-way-do Wa-wa-way-do
Bay-budabud-dum-bam
Mama-dum-day-do
Abay-ba-da bum-bum bay-do la
You’re definitely referencing something, but please explain what.
They’re referencing the song “what does the fox say”
Pretty sure the reference is “What Does the Fox Say?”
Jeez, haven’t thought about that in… Ten years? Yikes, where does the time go…
Wish you the best of luck!
Good luck, ongoing!
GO TESS!!
She’s not like the rest of the floof squad who can spontaneously fight the dragon (probably), but it seems he’ll learn that with a bit of warning, just about anyone can fight him.
Listen, the first time we met her she was spontaneously fighting *a* dragon…
if lightning doesn’t solve your problem, you’re not using enough of it
For mobile readers.
Alt-text: flips the “days since Erin has been electrocuted” sign back to 0
Image source: sting
Tumblr: this will surely turn out well
Bluesky: morning everybody
(That’s last page’s Bluesky text)
Bluesky Text: siblings are just like that sometimes
(it’s also last page’s tumblr text)
tumblr text: the cain instinct comes in clutch
How many times do we have to teach you this lesson old man!?
lets gooo age old tactic of electrocuting voidy ftw
Ha! I love Rorschach.
That runic circle has come in handy, yes. Will it knock him out, or will VD decide pain just isn’t for him?
“Ooh, lightning is Super Effective on Void Dragon, is it?” -Tess, offscreen after Erin talked about his experiences with possession.
who would win?
ANCIENT ELDRITCH DRAGON GOD
or
zap
my money is on the zap
Something is certainly going all according to plan, and I’m all here for it.
Good luck puppetting Erin’s body when his nervous system is set to 907FM: Thrash Metal Power
I really like how the two circles are linked at two points, so there’s a complete circuit. It’s a very nice touch.
“I am the VOID DRAGON” “oh, ‘dragon’ you say?”
TEEEEESSSSS <3
I love her so much <3
Also: Bzzzztzap.
I know I’m a die-hard Dainix fan but… I have to admit, I am coming around on the whole “Tess Is The Best” thing.
I’d hard to resist her allure, and not just because of an inherent attraction to shiny things.
Void’s going to absolutely despise electricity at this rate haha- also- Erin’s going to have a few fried braincells at this rate
You know, it occurs to me that Void Boy here might not be at full strength to begin with. He spent a whole lot of time talking with a ‘mere mortal’ there, and supposedly he wouldn’t care what Erin thought.
So why, from his point of view, would he bother doing anything beyond supposedly swatting the gnat out of his way?
Sit boy, sit. Stay. That’s a not-entirely-bad void boy. (I can’t make myself call him a good void boy..)
From a logical view point that makes sense but from a story point of view its an excuse for the writer demonstrate the villain’s expectations of all encounters given the power they wield and show the protagonists deepening understanding of said villain’s limits to satisficing story beats. I am very happy to see Tess being so Metal!
Ooohh I just went back to look, you can sorta see the runes in the last page! I know Red’s attentive to detail but I LOVE that little touch!
“agh my hubris!”
V.D.: Come now, you don’t have to paralyse your brother to ensure he gets his rest.
Tess: You say that, but if you were babysitting him post overchannel years ago, you’d be tempted do. Dude’s a terrible patient.
I was prepared for angry Tess, shouting at V.D. and feeling the pressure of fighting her brother. But seeing her deceptively calm and neutral, responding to V.D.’s long, polite threats with short, to-the-point counters, hits so much harder. Tess has always worn her heart on her non-existent sleeves, gaining this personality is one of, if not the, most important parts of her backstory; when she puts her emotions aside when getting serious, you know it’s bad.
Similarly, we’ve gotten so used to seeing Tess as a rough and ready punch-mage, I never considered her using runes until last page. It does make sense though; I’m thinking either Erin taught her or she picked up that skill on her travels. She doesn’t have a Void resistance like the others, so knows she needs to fight smarter rather than harder.
Tess is right, Erin knowing his sister died at V.D.’s hands would hurt more than Void disintegration to him; I can’t blame him trying to keep Tess and his other friends and family out of this mess. When he wakes up, potentially sooner rather than later after this lightning show, I hope he realises that he needed Tess along and this runic circle show is proof she can handle the risks.
Erid in control for a sec, coughing up smoke: “Thanks Tess, love ya sis” Collapses
Tess “Love ya too, bro. …Dang it, I don’t have any healing lacrima.”
O Tess you sassy lass! That puts the dragon-dawg in it’s proper place! Chef’s kiss!
Tess, it’s poor table etiquette to take the same actions on each turn (intended purely as a joke).
Sure is effective, though. I do hope VD doesn’t think up a countermeasure to this highly exploitable weakness.
Also, I wonder – did Erin share this tactic of paralysis (an entirely logical deduction), or did Tess organically reach the same conclusion on how to neutralize VD? Because that would be incredible.
Reminds me of Noah Antwiler’s rant in his Counter Monkey video called “The trouble with superheroes” where he talks about superhero tabletop rpgs. It is fun to read about X-men, it is not fun to play as one of them.
“Okay, you’re Wolverine. What are you doing this turn? I’m gonna stab a bad guy.” and “Okay, you’re Cyclops, what are you doing this turn? I’m gonna shoot the enemy with my eye beam. Okay,roll to hit.
Next turn.
Alright Cyclops, what are you doing this turn? I’m gonna shoot the bad guy with my eye beam. Oh, I’m not in range. Okay, I’m going to move in range and shoot the enemy with my Eye Beam.” Boooring!
Tess has exactly two moves, “Steel punch” and “Electrocute!” and that’s enough.
That Cyclops player lacks imagination. Here’s some ideas:
Optic blast the ground in a wide arc to make either a trench to slow down melee opponents or uproot a bank of earth for your team to take cover behind.
Optic blast in the direction opposite to where you want to go, using the force to propel yourself to your destination in an instant.
A fine, piercing optic blast to make precision holes in a target to damage essential components or make openings for other teammates to take advantage of.
There’s a great Reddit post that goes into these applications and many more in depth, and includes my favourite Cyclops beam moment where he sends a blast through a traffic light to hit multiple opponents. It’s a good read. (https://www.reddit.com/r/Cyclopswasright/comments/1360r69/breakdown_cyclops_optic_blast_and_all_the_ways_he/)
As for Wolverine, off the top of my head there’s enhanced senses for tracking/gauging opponents before a fight, relying on healing factor to be the team’s tank/meat shield at the front, and cutting up parts of the environment that could benefit the team. More limited than Cyclops, but the potential is there.
probably tess came to the conclusion on her own, erin himself said that paralyzing himself with lightning is a rookie mistake so self paralyzing is probably something common among lightning mages who are still learning, its less that “lightning is the weakness of the void dragon” and that “the void dragon frequently forgets that he is in the body of the only person who doesnt have any superhuman resistances in this group”
Ok, Voidy’s main weakness seems to be being zapped. Like, In the caves, Erin did it to keep him at bay, and here, Tess is doing It.
I think it’s less that V.D.’s main weakness is being zapped, more that being zapped is the most certain and non-harmful way to subdue him. The other elements are either not as effective at holding him back, or they risk unnecessarily harming Erin.
Plus, let’s be honest, Tess’s other potential moves either risk harming Erin or put her at risk of a Void blast; she only has lightning magic at her disposal, so she needs to apply it smartly.
“It seems no one warned you about me. …Wait, no one warned me about you!”
Well DAMN. Way to go Tess!! I’d thought maybe she was sitting in a runic circle, but I’d completely missed any sign of one around Erin. That’s smart. She’s smart. Well played.
Lil bit nervous about how long she’ll have to hd that watch (surely she needs sleep at some point), but for the moment, I’n cheering.
This is why Tess is my favorite character she’s so cool
TESS THE FUCKING GOAT
“Huh, I *was* considering feeling bad about electrocuting you both, but know that you’re openly admitting that you plan to do much worse to him if I lose…get wrecked, clown dragon.”
Cool!!!! I figured she’d zap him. But I’m still worried she’ll tire eventually…and I’m sure the VD is betting on it. For now, his impatience is his weakness
He really misunderstood how much she is not in the mood for his bullshit.
Tess is giving tired older sister and I’m here for it.
My SAT is tomorrow rahhhh Tess get his ass
“Finally, the chance to unload on my brother and be morally in the right”
It seems Erin shared the story of how he disabled himself to stop the Dragon last time, and Tess did listen and improvised her own version of it. Very clever. Let’s hope it suffices to keep the dragon stunned long enough – Tess has made it sound like Erin is likely to be out of commission for a while.
Was not expecting that but alright!
It appears that Tess was indeed hesitant to electrocute Erin, but VD talked her into it. Also, the Void Dragon has to be careful not to harm Erin’s body by channeling too much power through him, as that would deprive VD of a really powerful body.
Walter may have the untamed power of the void, but unfortunately for him Tess has a tazer.
MY GIRL TESSS <3