Yeah. I mean, given how fundamentally irrational this setting is, I really don’t think we can rule out the possibility that they exist.
That said, it’s always interesting to me when I see characters in a setting with weirdness scoffing at something. I’m never sure if it’s the writers trying to say “Ok, these people know how their reality works, so you can believe that there really aren’t vampires in this world,” or if it’s the writers going “Ok, we’re totes gonna make this character look like an idiot.”
Mad Scientists may create all manner of wonders and terrors, demons and angels may menace D&D games, and Sasquatches and Jersey Devils may roam abroad, but I don’t believe we’ve ever seen any hint of extra-terrestrials in the main comics (Victorian Narbonic had them, but it’s not clear if that is canon or not; at the end it was hinted that Victorian Mell was going to turn Venus into an interplanetary trading hub, which would probably have a fairly significant effect on modern Earth).
To put it another way, you believe in giraffes and platypuses, so why not unicorns?
It would be actually supremely ironic (and entertaining) if people who are not oblivious to the “mad” nature of their world would turn out to be unable to see another (or several) further layers of very real “cray-cray” happening around them…
I wonder if they will be connected to the Megalogical Rocket Society that Helen Beta Narbon’s “insanity” shoulder pixie was picketing about, from almost a decade ago.
The turtle is just an ordinary talking turtle, and not a very bright one. All it can say is “Hello”. The possum scientist just thinks it’s their spokesperson, because they are so very special cray needs.
I agree. Artie once dropped a hint that “Skin Horse” wasn’t just a children’s book name; Ira has dropped hints of being far more than an addled guard, Unity’s acronym is as yet unrevealed; Unity still doesn’t have the Dane’s lightsaber, and how did he vanish, leaving only a black feather behind? Phil and the Crow clerk seem to be the only black birds around… Lotsa stuff I hope to see resolved.
Mainly, the lightsaber one…
Oh, Tip, that phrase is so 1980’s. The current term is “Possessing an alternate viewpoint on the universe.” (As opposed to the politically correct “reality-challenged”, which only caught on with “overly mannered individuals” who were afraid of offending anyone only to end up offending pretty much everyone.)
Of course, I personally still prefer “mad as a hatter”, but I’m a cat, what do I know, nyao?
No, in the 1980s, if someone was retarded, we called them retarded. If they were crazy, we called them crazy. If they were gifted (like Artie), we called them gifted. And amazingly, none of them was offended.
I, myself, am mildly psychotic, but you don’t hear me complaining when someone calls me crazy. In fact, when I was in sixth grade, a girl walked up to me and said, “you’re weird.” I looked her right in the eye and said, “thank you.”
But now, to please a bunch of idiots who don’t fall into ANY of those groups, we have to be PC and call them all “special needs”, which gets them all lumped into the same pile, where none of their needs get addressed.
If that’s the case, someone is gonna have to break it to him that that flying island was kind of… destroyed… a lot. I mean, the hamsters might have been able to repair it… in theory. But they blew their entire budget on the first attempt.
It’s going to turn out that the Golden Ones and their UFOs are quite real, isn’t it? ^_^
Yeah. I mean, given how fundamentally irrational this setting is, I really don’t think we can rule out the possibility that they exist.
That said, it’s always interesting to me when I see characters in a setting with weirdness scoffing at something. I’m never sure if it’s the writers trying to say “Ok, these people know how their reality works, so you can believe that there really aren’t vampires in this world,” or if it’s the writers going “Ok, we’re totes gonna make this character look like an idiot.”
The Rhesus Chart by Charles Stross, is particularly relevant to this point on vampires.
Spoiler: The vampires want you to think there’s no such thing as vampires.
Maybe it’s the “any day now” that’s considered crazy, not the Golden Ones or the UFOs?
“As if. The Golden Ones only take High Net Worth Individuals who’ve pre-booked.”
I feel like there’s got to be a name for that trope. “Characters in a weirdness setting scoffing at weirdness”
TVTropes calls it Arbitrary Skepticism.
Mad Scientists may create all manner of wonders and terrors, demons and angels may menace D&D games, and Sasquatches and Jersey Devils may roam abroad, but I don’t believe we’ve ever seen any hint of extra-terrestrials in the main comics (Victorian Narbonic had them, but it’s not clear if that is canon or not; at the end it was hinted that Victorian Mell was going to turn Venus into an interplanetary trading hub, which would probably have a fairly significant effect on modern Earth).
To put it another way, you believe in giraffes and platypuses, so why not unicorns?
It would be actually supremely ironic (and entertaining) if people who are not oblivious to the “mad” nature of their world would turn out to be unable to see another (or several) further layers of very real “cray-cray” happening around them…
Or just different shades of the reality.
I wonder if they will be connected to the Megalogical Rocket Society that Helen Beta Narbon’s “insanity” shoulder pixie was picketing about, from almost a decade ago.
Of course, given the Mad Science setting, _faking_ being an alien savior with flying saucers can’t be that difficult.
I thought the turtle was supposed to be the spokesperson? Where’d they go?
The turtle is just an ordinary talking turtle, and not a very bright one. All it can say is “Hello”. The possum scientist just thinks it’s their spokesperson, because they are so very special cray needs.
Didn’t we meet that possum at the transgenic convention? Wow.
Looks more like a rat than a possum– look at the teeth. Possums aren’t rodents. Also, he’s lots bigger.
Would that make him a rodent of unusual size?
Not in the world of Mad Science; there, it’d be weirder if he WAS tiny and went “Squeak.”
“Behold my greatest creation,” said Dr. Zoofacetus, “a human bestowed with the intellect of a rabbit!”
I worked with a few of those at my previous job, I think that’s why I’m still unemployed after a year.
I thought the point was that Dr Zoofacetus was from a race of tool-using rabbits who keep humans as pets.
In the case of a certain Republican party that shall remain nameless, that would actually be an improvement!
Better clueless than actively malign, I suppose…
You beat me to it. 😉
I hope the actively malign candidate and her backers Get Over It Real Soon Now… they’re hurting the country and don’t seem to notice, or perhaps care.
I’m not sure you can say ‘shall remain nameless’ immediately after saying something’s name.
I believe she was referring to a specific person when she said “party”. So she didn’t say the name.
A Transgenic Rapture?
It figures that someone would come up with that.
A while back they said things were going to get really weird. When is that going to start?
I grew up in the 60’s, maybe my standards for “really weird” are a little high…
This isn’t the weird part yet.
Like I wasn’t hooked before 😛
How can we tell?
I trust the genuine weirdness will sneak up on us when we’re looking the other way, as always.
If this turns out like narbonic when totally random plot threads begin to merge we re going to have a weirdest.
I agree. Artie once dropped a hint that “Skin Horse” wasn’t just a children’s book name; Ira has dropped hints of being far more than an addled guard, Unity’s acronym is as yet unrevealed; Unity still doesn’t have the Dane’s lightsaber, and how did he vanish, leaving only a black feather behind? Phil and the Crow clerk seem to be the only black birds around… Lotsa stuff I hope to see resolved.
Mainly, the lightsaber one…
Unity’s acronym has been revealed. It’s self-referential.
Unity’s
Nice
I
Tell
You
DAMN. That’s good. I can believe that one.
Ow. I never noticed that.
The reference, if anyone wants it.
To Lovetron!
Wow, Unity is being tactful…at least for her.
WAIT Hold on a sec is the guy the Knitting Lab Mouse of the Novosibirsk Institute of Cytology and Genetics?
http://www.neatorama.com/2013/10/07/Monument-to-Lab-Mice-Mouse-Knitting-a-DNA-Strand/
Wow! He looks just like someone I used to go to college with, nyao!
Actually, I really shouldn’t be so surprised, considering it was Miskatonic University, where “weird” is normal…
Just what *does* UFO stand for in this context? ‘Cause it doesn’t have to be Unidentified Flying Objects…
Uranium Frying Oblongs? Unadulterated Fake Ornaments?
Universe-crossing Flying Opossums?
Upward Facing Origami
Oh, Tip, that phrase is so 1980’s. The current term is “Possessing an alternate viewpoint on the universe.” (As opposed to the politically correct “reality-challenged”, which only caught on with “overly mannered individuals” who were afraid of offending anyone only to end up offending pretty much everyone.)
Of course, I personally still prefer “mad as a hatter”, but I’m a cat, what do I know, nyao?
No, in the 1980s, if someone was retarded, we called them retarded. If they were crazy, we called them crazy. If they were gifted (like Artie), we called them gifted. And amazingly, none of them was offended.
I, myself, am mildly psychotic, but you don’t hear me complaining when someone calls me crazy. In fact, when I was in sixth grade, a girl walked up to me and said, “you’re weird.” I looked her right in the eye and said, “thank you.”
But now, to please a bunch of idiots who don’t fall into ANY of those groups, we have to be PC and call them all “special needs”, which gets them all lumped into the same pile, where none of their needs get addressed.
Am I the only one who is thinking of the (probably golden) hamsters that had a flying island (which might be considered a UFO of sorts) from narbonic?
Nope. It would be a great connection if true.
If that’s the case, someone is gonna have to break it to him that that flying island was kind of… destroyed… a lot. I mean, the hamsters might have been able to repair it… in theory. But they blew their entire budget on the first attempt.
Actually, I’m pretty sure the term is “differently sane”