What do you mean?!? Hollywood taught me that a person wearing an unopened parachute is always falling much faster than one without any, and is also automatically converging on them, just in case a tandem landing is in the script…
It’s partially true, too. A hero falling with his head down, and arms held close to the body, has less air resistance (i.e., higher terminal velocity) than a flailing victim falling with his feet down. And with a suitable wind-resistant outfit, a qualified hero can also move his body and limbs around to change the airflow around him, thus changing his trajectory, to some degree.
If you want to bring dnd/pathfinder rules into it, the perception check to hear them gets harder with distance (base DC 0 for talking, -5 for shouting, +1 per ten feet)
But if it’s a free action, it takes much less than a round, and if it takes much less than a round, he hasn’t fallen any distance yet. He’s right under the bumper.
He probably can’t hear them over the extra noise of flying with the trunk lid open. Which brings up the question, why hasn’t he noticed he’s flying with the trunk lid open? Or, has he?
The trunk should certainly be noticeable, since it would increase turbulence and noise, but since he’s flying using only propulsion, there is no aerodynamic lift for the trunk to affect.
I tried an anagram server, no dice. It’s either the kiddie movie or an outfit that customizes weapons. To paraphrase Freud, sometimes a license plate is just a license plate…
Reach the stars
Fly a fantasy
Dream a dream
And what you see will be
Rhymes that keep their secrets
Will unfold behind the clouds
And there upon a rainbow
Is the answer to a never ending theme song
Welp, he’s killed off forever. Nice knowin’ yah whatever your name was/is, oh wait it’s Jonah, in the first panel. Anyway, say hi to director English for me.
I really love how this moment is made so much better by the rest of the comic being in lowercase. This wouldn’t have worked this well in the standard all-uppercase.
A real irony would be if Jonah actually survived the fall.
Then he’d have to somehow find Nera.
Then again, with all the commotion going on in the back, perhaps a curious Mr. Green would save Johah himself just for funsies.
That conversation would have taken about 10 seconds, so he’d be at about 90% terminal velocity at this point, not counting any falling done in the previous two panels.
It could be like when Zaphod Beeblebrox stepped into the executive office of Zarniwoop and ended up in an electronically generated universe. At some point they stepped into an artificial world, perhaps.
Remember, kids! Talking is a free action.
Well it’s not like there’s anything else they can do, unless there happens to be a parachute in the trunk of that car.
Wouldn’t do much good at this point, would it?
What do you mean?!? Hollywood taught me that a person wearing an unopened parachute is always falling much faster than one without any, and is also automatically converging on them, just in case a tandem landing is in the script…
It’s partially true, too. A hero falling with his head down, and arms held close to the body, has less air resistance (i.e., higher terminal velocity) than a flailing victim falling with his feet down. And with a suitable wind-resistant outfit, a qualified hero can also move his body and limbs around to change the airflow around him, thus changing his trajectory, to some degree.
Caught in the antigravity upwash, maybe?
If you want to bring dnd/pathfinder rules into it, the perception check to hear them gets harder with distance (base DC 0 for talking, -5 for shouting, +1 per ten feet)
Add to that the relative velocity of the medium, and he might be able to hear her (if he rolls well), but not her him.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TalkingIsAFreeAction
I am aware of the trope.
It doesn’t stop him from falling
But if it’s a free action, it takes much less than a round, and if it takes much less than a round, he hasn’t fallen any distance yet. He’s right under the bumper.
I would be really surprised if Mr. Green hasn’t noticed all the shouting by now.
He probably can’t hear them over the extra noise of flying with the trunk lid open. Which brings up the question, why hasn’t he noticed he’s flying with the trunk lid open? Or, has he?
main problem with the opened trunk lid, as far as I remember seventh grade, would be that it would cause the car to sink.
The trunk should certainly be noticeable, since it would increase turbulence and noise, but since he’s flying using only propulsion, there is no aerodynamic lift for the trunk to affect.
“FALKOR?”
Well, a character from “The Neverending Story,” which I’m sure reading these comments must feel like from time to time.
I tried an anagram server, no dice. It’s either the kiddie movie or an outfit that customizes weapons. To paraphrase Freud, sometimes a license plate is just a license plate…
From their website: “Falkor Defense is an engineering, aerospace and firearm manufacturer…”
Not sure if that’s what Jeff & Shaenon had in mind, but it actually seems kind of fitting for a guy in a flying car.
I’d bank on The Neverending Story. This comic looooves its children’s book references.
Curious; you seem to think this is an “either/or” reference situation…. 😉
There is a book, you know.
Falkor was a big, white, flying dragon. All this mean is Mr. Green is a yuuge nerd.
We don’t yet *know* it *is* Mr. Green.
Reach the stars
Fly a fantasy
Dream a dream
And what you see will be
Rhymes that keep their secrets
Will unfold behind the clouds
And there upon a rainbow
Is the answer to a never ending theme song
A-ah-ah-a-ah-ah-a-ah-ah
Neverending theme song
He’s a flying luck dragon from The Neverending Story. Our villain(?) has good taste.
The dragon and the car *are* the same color.
The luck dragon knows how to catch falling boys.
Welp, he’s killed off forever. Nice knowin’ yah whatever your name was/is, oh wait it’s Jonah, in the first panel. Anyway, say hi to director English for me.
Oh, you don’t think Director English is really gone, do you? He’s in a city full of zombies, for Pete’s sake.
I guess Atreyu is the one driving that car…
Shouldn’t it be Bastian, the fat kid that read the book in the book?
Was he fat? I just watched the movies.
It was one of the first things the book said, actually. Yes, he was fat.
I’m just worried that, on impact, Jonah Yu will find himself back in the theater, studying how Anasigma expects its people to polish their shoes…
I read that to mean Anasigma has a shoe-polishing factory
They very well might
That would make for a VERY long narrative detour.
Oh, Shaenon, this is why we love you
This one’s obviously one of my scripts.
And the plot thickens…
I really love how this moment is made so much better by the rest of the comic being in lowercase. This wouldn’t have worked this well in the standard all-uppercase.
A real irony would be if Jonah actually survived the fall.
Then he’d have to somehow find Nera.
Then again, with all the commotion going on in the back, perhaps a curious Mr. Green would save Johah himself just for funsies.
You know, it’s been a while since we’ve heard about Anasigma’s shoe policies…
That conversation would have taken about 10 seconds, so he’d be at about 90% terminal velocity at this point, not counting any falling done in the previous two panels.
And what if none of this is actually happening, and they’re actually stuck in a VR hell like Sweetheart was?
Yea, that possibility crossed my mind too.
Ditto.
It could be like when Zaphod Beeblebrox stepped into the executive office of Zarniwoop and ended up in an electronically generated universe. At some point they stepped into an artificial world, perhaps.