Skin Horse

By Shaenon K. Garrity & Jeffrey C. Wells
By Shaenon K. Garrity & Jeffrey C. Wells
Color by Pancha Diaz
  • About Us
  • Cast
  • Store
  • Extras
  • Sponsors
  • Original Art for Sale
  • Our Patreon
RSS
2022-02-14
‹‹ First ‹ Prev Buy! Comments(57) Next › Last ››

2022-02-14

by shaenon on February 14, 2022 at 12:01 am
Chapter: Space-Bat-Angel-Dragon
Comments RSS

Discussion (57) ¬

  1. ngmatt
    February 14, 2022, 12:02 am | # | Reply

    I think he is spread a little thin

    • Duane B.
      February 14, 2022, 2:00 am | # | Reply

      Come back from the “light”, Nick!

    • Knuckles
      February 14, 2022, 5:57 am | # | Reply

      Like butter over too much bread?

      • Robert Nowall
        February 14, 2022, 9:05 am | # | Reply

        “Butter on bread? I’ll never get used to your strange Cuban customs!” —Lucy Ricardo.

  2. Frank
    February 14, 2022, 12:03 am | # | Reply

    Why doesn’t this plane have a manual yoke? It would be useful in these situatoins

    • Daibhid C
      February 14, 2022, 4:30 am | # | Reply

      While I firmly maintain my position that Ginny is not a Mad Scientist with capital letters, I freely admit there are some aspects of mad science she follows (which can be seen even in the scientists of our universe where Walden’s Disorder doesn’t exist). And one of them is that if you’ve built something with a cool and unusual interface, you don’t include a normal interface as well, because that implies a lack of confidence in the cool one.

      • jflb96
        February 14, 2022, 3:06 pm | # | Reply

        Also, if people see a normal interface, they’re not going to look for the cool one, so it’ll never get used

        • John Campbell
          February 14, 2022, 4:34 pm | # | Reply

          Once you’ve schlooped their brain out and hardwired it to the cool interface, that’s hardly a problem.

  3. Ladon
    February 14, 2022, 12:03 am | # | Reply

    They ain’t lemons, he can hold them

    • Frank
      February 14, 2022, 12:10 am | # | Reply

      Are you sure? they did buy them second-hand

    • jdreyfuss
      February 14, 2022, 11:24 am | # | Reply

      They ain’t heavy. They’re his brothers.

  4. Frank
    February 14, 2022, 12:04 am | # | Reply

    also: ♪You spin my world right round right round♪

  5. Owlmirror
    February 14, 2022, 12:21 am | # | Reply

    I wonder if anyone is thinking “Wedding processional airshow flyover”?

    You know, swirling and crisscrossing like synchronized swimmers or a marching band or drum corps, only in 3-D.

    [somewhere, Shaenon is snarling “That would be VERY HARD TO DRAW”]

    But maybe there’ll be a bunch of reaction shots.

    CHRIS: Wow, those drones look like a marching band!
    MARCIE: Or synchronized swimmers!
    JONAH: In 3-D!
    GAVOTTE: I did the choreography, of course.

    • Frank
      February 14, 2022, 8:32 am | # | Reply

      I doubt it, Drone swarms weren’t a thing back when the story was written

      • Tiff Hudson
        February 14, 2022, 9:23 am | # | Reply

        “Fly, my pretties!”

    • mickeyjf
      February 14, 2022, 11:05 am | # | Reply

      In the shape of a heart, and spelling our “be my valentine”…

  6. Dogstar32
    February 14, 2022, 12:25 am | # | Reply

    That way lies spooky carnival death

    • Candace
      February 14, 2022, 12:52 am | # | Reply

      That way lies Madness.

      • Shadowmehr
        February 14, 2022, 1:07 pm | # | Reply

        In this universe? That might be a good thing. It is a very well trodden path by now.

  7. warrenrose4254
    February 14, 2022, 2:12 am | # | Reply

    I suggest a synchronized landing, sort them out later 😉

    • warrenrose4254
      February 14, 2022, 2:14 am | # | Reply

      I think that’s a synchronized landing for the drones closest to the ground, then the next layer up, then Nick’s helicopter layer, then the remaining layers…? If all of them try to land on a height-averaged surface that’s probably called crashing 😀

      • warrenrose4254
        February 14, 2022, 2:18 am | # | Reply

        Ooh. They could make a frisbee galaxy with Nick’s helicopter at the center and orbit him as they descend? I think that might be less processing power if they all descend to ground from roughly the same height and engage landing gear as appropriate.

  8. Robert Nowall
    February 14, 2022, 6:21 am | # | Reply

    I suppose this wouldn’t be a good time to break the news to Nick that she’s pregnant…

    • David B Huber
      February 14, 2022, 7:49 am | # | Reply

      ROFL!

      • Moe Lane
        February 14, 2022, 10:58 am | # | Reply

        ROFL:ROFL:ROFL:ROFL
        ___^___ _
        L __/ [] \
        LOL===__ \
        L \___ ___ ___]
        I I
        ———-/

        • frank
          February 14, 2022, 2:19 pm | # | Reply

          ….is that the ROFLcopter?

          • JoB
            February 15, 2022, 12:42 am | #

            Complete with The Master Copter’s current bouts of *fzzzt*.

    • OneUniverse
      February 14, 2022, 3:20 pm | # | Reply

      Will the children be cyborgs? What genetic tricks (ala Beta), or other enhancements (from Ginny) would be inflicted on them?

      • Robert Nowall
        February 14, 2022, 6:55 pm | # | Reply

        If it’s a son, Nick would probably insist on circumcision.

  9. George the Archon
    February 14, 2022, 6:31 am | # | Reply

    I’m not seeing any wobbly font, but that ‘i just gotta let myself go’ and ‘I can hold them’ ‘I can hold them all!’ certainly sounds like some kind of breakthrough happening. Chills and goosebumps.

    • David B Huber
      February 14, 2022, 7:49 am | # | Reply

      Indeed.

    • Robert Nowall
      February 14, 2022, 9:26 am | # | Reply

      He *is* talking through the helicopter, while back in his body, his eyes have gone blue.

      • David B Huber
        February 14, 2022, 11:24 am | # | Reply

        Good observation, Robert. That means the “fzzt!” sound is coming from his aircraft body…

        • Robert Nowall
          February 14, 2022, 2:04 pm | # | Reply

          I figure the blue eyes is the Nick-in-the-body equivalent of a blue screen.

      • George the Archon
        February 14, 2022, 4:54 pm | # | Reply

        Nick has built-in Bluetooth confirmed.

        Actually seriously – good spot!

        • George the Archon
          February 14, 2022, 5:01 pm | # | Reply

          (Pretty sure it’s some kind of law that everything that has BT has to have a blindingly bright blue LED – the only thing that’s not realistic here’s is that it should be illuminated daylight bright in there from the glow! – I turned my lights down for a reason, I don’t need to see all the dust bunnies under my desk when I backup my phone to my PC, dongle designers…)

          (Why yes, I may have an axe to grind about blindingly bright Bluetooth indicator LEDs, why do you ask? )

          • awgiedawgie
            February 14, 2022, 6:48 pm | #

            Actually, an axe would probably take care of your blinding blue LED quite handily. …Of course, there may be some collateral damage.

          • George the Archon
            February 14, 2022, 7:35 pm | #

            @awgiedawgie (grins) very true!
            I’m reminded that my elderly mother once stopped a sealed smoke alarm from doing its ‘My ten year, non-replaceable battery is dying beep after 2am tried around, by using a broom handle. Repeatedly. It did indeed eventually stop.

            As for me, I already buy shaped stickers (LightDims) that cover a variety of LED panels and reduce the brightness by about half. (Bluetooth LEDs do always require two… )

          • JoB
            February 15, 2022, 12:46 am | #

            @awgiedawgie Yes, of course there’s be collateral damage! Those LEDs’ll easily burn a HOLE through any axe blade you put in front of them!

          • s854
            February 15, 2022, 5:55 pm | #

            JoB: It’ll only take a few minutes with a whetstone to sort that hole out.

  10. Jim Janney
    February 14, 2022, 9:42 am | # | Reply

    One mind to hold them all, and in the brightness spin them.

    • OneUniverse
      February 14, 2022, 3:21 pm | # | Reply

      My preciouses?

  11. Robert Nowall
    February 14, 2022, 10:04 am | # | Reply

    On a bright sunny morning,
    In a sky filled with danger,
    We met up with the copter
    And his girlfriend Ginny Lee.
    We came up in the middle
    Of disaster that was loomin’.
    He sees the flying weapons,
    And he’s thinking fight-or-flee.

    He said, “Guys, I don’t know that
    I can hack into their systems.
    There’s more than I can handle,
    There’s an awful lot of drones.
    So I think that I should tell you
    I am worried about failure.
    I don’t know if I can do it.
    I’m a copter and a clone.”

    Dr. Lee assessed the problem,
    That was keeping him from trying.
    And looked out at the forces
    Who are spoiling for a fight.
    She said, “Nick, I know you’ll do it,
    ‘Cause you’re freakin’ Nick Zerhakker.
    You’re more than just a copter
    And you’ve got to play it right.”

    “I just know you can hold ‘em,
    You can control ‘em.
    Know when to talk and play,
    And know when it’s won.
    I always found it funny
    When you know your are full able.
    There’ll be time enough for pettin’
    When the fightin’s done.”

    “Every lover knows
    It’s the secret to survival.
    It’s knowing when to make your move
    And knowing that it’s fine.
    ‘Cause every big adventure
    Has shown you’re not a loser,
    And after you take over them,
    Your lovin’ will be mine.”

    And when she finished speakin’
    She looked back out the window,
    Put on a face of hope,
    And waited for the shred.
    But somewhere in his courage,
    The copter, he controlled them.
    And in his further words,
    He repeated what she said.

    “I just know I can hold ‘em,
    I can control ‘em.
    Know when to talk and play,
    And know when it’s won.
    You always found it funny
    When I know I am full able.
    I’ll have time enough for everythin’
    When the fightin’s done.”

    —from “The Gambler,” written by Don Schlitz, sung by Kenny Rogers.

    • bergerjacques
      February 14, 2022, 10:42 am | # | Reply

      New a filk Hall of Fame for this to go.

      • David B Huber
        February 14, 2022, 11:20 am | # | Reply

        Hear, hear! 😉

      • Robert Nowall
        February 14, 2022, 6:54 pm | # | Reply

        And it took me under thirty minutes to write it out.

        • George the Archon
          February 14, 2022, 7:37 pm | # | Reply

          (Applauds)

    • OneUniverse
      February 14, 2022, 3:34 pm | # | Reply

      You’re always amazing.

  12. bergerjacques
    February 14, 2022, 10:40 am | # | Reply

    “Sleep, Nick. Tell them to Sleep.”

    • KIRT DANKMYER
      February 14, 2022, 12:22 pm | # | Reply

      Or a bit of destroying each other might cut down on the number he has to control as well.

    • OneUniverse
      February 14, 2022, 3:38 pm | # | Reply

      With the sleep command, will self-destruct be activated, like the Borg in that other universe?

  13. Pat
    February 14, 2022, 11:05 am | # | Reply

    I just now realized Nick is in control of a swarm of drones. Just like Gavotte!

    • Robert Nowall
      February 14, 2022, 1:26 pm | # | Reply

      Good! Gavotte needed a date for Nick and Gin’s wedding and reception…y’know, someone to dance with…

  14. Dewy
    February 14, 2022, 12:03 pm | # | Reply

    I’ll try spinning. That’s a good trick.

  15. UnDrewsual
    February 14, 2022, 12:36 pm | # | Reply

    Reminds me of Granny Weatherwax managing to control an entire swarm of bees. Nick just needs an “I Ate’nt Dead” sign

  16. Towering Barbarian
    February 14, 2022, 1:29 pm | # | Reply

    One Plane to hold them all,
    One Plane to find them,
    One Plane to bring them all… 🙂

  17. Robert Nowall
    February 14, 2022, 1:32 pm | # | Reply

    Nick’s drone taking over is done. The battle is over, he’s won. But he’s still hanging on so he’ll keep banging on the love of his life one-on-one.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

More by Jeff

  • The Scrivnarium

More by Shaenon

  • Horror Every Day
  • Li'l Mell
  • Monster of the Week
  • Narbonic
  • Shaenon.com
Creative Commons License
Skin Horse by Shaenon K. Garrity & Jeffrey C. Wells is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://www.skin-horse.com.

©2007-2022 Skin Horse | Powered by WordPress with ComicPress | Subscribe: RSS | Back to Top ↑