#s106

Annihilate him, Jade. This would be a good time to unleash that rage you've been cultivating.

CA: all of her FRAUDULENT MAGICS cannot come close to posin threat to my mastery ovver the TRUEST SCIENCES CA: an wwith my empiricists wwand i servve as the righteous hope that wwill incinerate delusion and the deluded alike

This dude's on some Methods of Rationality type shit.

I'm not sure why Eridan is on a crusade against magic. He's been insisting it was fake since his original introduction page, and it's pretty clear he has some sort of complex about it. Is there some unseen history here that we're not yet privy to?

GG: wow what are you talking about CA: so really you should be honored to inherit my old callin CA: both my armaments and my feud

To be fair to Eridan, he is accomplishing something useful here, even if it's by accident. Jade needs to get that rifle in her pen-pal's hands in order to fulfil the Endgame Bunny's time loop.

Recalling Eridan’s introduction reminds me that this is one of the most powerful riflekind weapons in existence. This should imply that top-tier weapons cost tens of millions of grist...

...but we just saw a weapon that costs much, much more.

Maybe the Proton Cannon has the same damage as the Crosshairs, but it also has an incredibly broken non-combat use.

GG: i have seen this before […] GG: i am very sure its the same rifle included with johns present […] CA: probably a cheap imitation of the original […] GG: i did not provide the weapons! GG: my penpal did […] GG: we worked on it together but he supplied the bunnys weapons GG: im pretty sure hes from the future! CA: wwhy GG: because he said hes my grandson

Really?

I suppose being raised by a Sburb veteran would explain why he uses terms like 'boonbuck' in casual speech - but almost nothing else makes sense when viewed through this lens.

If Pen-Pal is Jade's grandson, then he should be from decades in the future - presumably long after the game has ended. This doesn't sound like a problem, until you remember some of the references he made.

As much as it pains me to admit it, the Earth is probably gone for good - which means that any descendants of our Players will be raised somewhere else. Why would someone presumably raised in a completely different universe be so familiar with Earth's culture?

You could argue that he picked up his love of Earth movies from one of the surviving Earthlings, such as adult John - although that raises its own issues, because PP talks to John like he's never met him before. Maybe he died young, and passed his love of movies to PP posthumously - but as you can see, we're really having to stretch things to make this make sense.

Plus, there's an even bigger problem - namely, his 1920s 'accent'. None of the surviving Earthlings have it, and it's not like he just developed it spontaneously. If he was raised by Jade or her child, why does he talk like her grandfather would?

See, I'm still sure that PP is connected directly to Grandpa, and may well be the man himself - which means either PP is lying, or there's something more complicated going on here.

We don't know anything about Grandpa's life after he fled the Crocker household. If he was somehow raised by an adult, post-Sburb Jade, then he could consider her his grandmother, while still talking and acting like the Grandpa Harley we know. Plus, it would explain why he acts like he's from the past, but knows about the future. He already has a history of time travelling - maybe he's been doing it since he was a kid.

Similar to my old theory about Spades Slick, this one is a little too convoluted to be 100% true - but still I think there's something to this idea. Being raised by Jade would neatly explain where he got the bunny's weapons...

Ayy, it's another zero grist recipe!

The SORD..... also cost zero grist, but it was in a different denomination. Is there a difference between these recipes, or are they equivalent?

Maybe you need to have seen the grist denomination in question. Perhaps, if she hadn't encountered that gem before, Jade would be looking at an unusable question-mark recipe.

Loving the goggles on the Duttle. Truly, he is gazing into his own soul.

Anyway, we've finally finished all four alchemy sessions! That's a serious milestone - and a bittersweet one, because it might mean we're done with alchemy for good.

Oh, pack it in, Ampora.

Destroyed in five messages flat.

CA: lets not get distracted by your sad league of suitors and their flushed desperations CA: im offerin you the edge here CA: in your rivvalry wwith the other female

I never expected Eridan to endear himself to me this Act, but I am mildly impressed that he's actually more of a prick when talking to the humans.

CA: wwevve got the same abstratus CA: and i dont need this thing anymore CA: since i became more powwerful than you could evver imagine as a mighty wwizard of wwhite science

Presumably he's using needlekind now, like our other spellcaster.

Where did he get needlekind, actually? None of the other trolls use it, which I guess implies he picked it up from an Underling, like John did with bunnykind. If this game has been holding out on showing us magic-wielding Imps, I'm going to be pissed.

You make the JUNIOR COMPU-SOOTH SPECTAGOGGLES!

2.2 million grist? That's more than Fear No Anvil!

This thing must be crazy powerful. Judging by the name and ingredients, it may confer some sort of clairvoyance on its user. That feels like it would be more Rose's department - but then again, John's not the only Player with a rocket pack, so it's clearly possible to create gear that evokes an Aspect other than your own.

It worked! The result is a huge kickass PROTON CANNON.

Or you would, if you were able to afford the thing. Dave turbo-torrented you a lot of grist, but you don't have THAT much.

That's a little steep, yeah.

Mind you, Dave is on his way to mastering the LOHACse, so you might be able to afford it sooner than you think.

While wearing this outfit, you almost feel as if you were ripped straight from the animes!

Sick. It reminds me a little of Death from Soul Eater, actually.

Jade definitely watches anime. I know we haven't seen her discuss it in the comic, but we're all in agreement on this, right?

You make the GREEN SUN STREETSWEEPER! Aw yeah.

A million grist is a lot less than I'd expect to replicate a First Guardian's power level - but it still might replicate some of their abilities, just at a smaller scale.

You make… YOU MAKE………..

JOHNNY 5.

Hey, they can’t all be winners!

I am as impressed by the fluidity of this animation as I am terrified.

*incomprehensible screeches of terror*