Wapsi Square Forum

Uh oh.

What. The. Puck.

How can a plant have electrical powers?

EDIT: Hold yer horses, I can only do three things at once...

Link! Where's the link? [sob]

Never mind http://wapsisquare.com/comic/something-bad/

Hmmm -- Explosive onset prepubescense?

Our little Whatsit is growing!

Atomic wrote:Hmmm -- Explosive onset prepubescense?

Our little Whatsit is glowing!

FTFY. She apparently set something ablaze when she did that to the tank.

My punnish mind is saying "tanker-ray djinn", but Castela is clearly too young to be drinking cocktails of that (spirituous) sort.

It would be a real shame if she has to rein in her imaginings, lest her imaginative play ends up blowing large glowing holes in the floor.

The only plant I've heard of having any sort of ability to explode is Eucalyptus. They can explode due to their oil, but that happens when they're already on fire.
If this is part of her animalistic side, the only organism I know of having the ability to create this sort of energetic reaction is the Bombardier Beetle.

Of course, we don't know the full extent of the gene splicing that went on in her creation. I don't think she's just half-blackthorn, half-human. I'm thinking she's got some other paranormal genes in her.

Actually, there are a number of pine trees that when they dry out become flammable to the point of explosive. Then there's the widowmaker tree down in Australia. Now that I think about it, the exploding pine trees are from Australia. So is Eucalyptus.

Damn. Everything wants to kill you in Australia.

captnq wrote:Actually, there are a number of pine trees that when they dry out become flammable to the point of explosive. Then there's the widowmaker tree down in Australia. Now that I think about it, the exploding pine trees are from Australia. So is Eucalyptus.

Damn. Everything wants to kill you in Australia.

It's not just in Australia. Even the Australian "expat" trees can be out to get you.

A guy I know is a fireman in San Francisco. A few years ago he was called out to help deal with a fire on Angel Island, out in the bay not far from Alcatraz.

It was burning through a stand of eucalyptus (which has a hot and very irritating smoke) and poison oak.

They quite sensibly decided to let thst one burn itself out, and stayed at a safe distance... not downwind from the fire. Dying of "itchy lung pneumonia" is not something I would care to experience.

I was always making my toys blow up... but I never did it with my bare hands...



... cool...

Castela wrote:My hand did something bad!

Yeah, I've been there.

Australia is aweful like that.

And there's a few things that article missed: the very ground wants to kill and eat you. Try hiking around the Great Australian Bight. I'd dare you, but that'd be too mean. There are chasms beneath false bottoms, much like crevasses in glaciers, that will crumble out from under you.

There are gum trees (these may be the widow makers) that will drop massive branches without a sound. They are a possible origin for the Australian myth of the Drop-Bear.

5 of the top ten most venomous snake species are in Australia.

EVEN THE CUTE WIDDLE KOALA BEARS WANT TO KILL YOU. The ones in the wild DO NOT like people, and they have very sharp claws, and both their claws and their teeth are laced with all kinds of horrific bacteria.

And the Tasmanian Tigers (also called the Thylacine in the pic above the article I linked to above)? Y'know, that species that was thought to be extinct for a long time? Maybe not. My guess is some came back to life because they got so bored being dead they gave Time the middle finger, came back to life just so they could get back to killing things.

EDIT:
Oh, I forgot about the Irukandji Jellyfish (a tiny, super-deadly, transparent jellyfish that will not only kill you, but it will hurt the whole time you are dying) and the Cassowary (stick an axe blade, raptor talons, and a bad attitude on an Ostrich). And the stonefish. And the blue-ringed octopus (venom that paralyzed you without knocking you out, so you stay awake the whole time you suffocate, unable to call for help). And the marble cone snail. Aaaand the Kangaroos can disembowel you with a kick. Even Wombats will maul you!

To quote TV Tropes: "If Australia killed Steve Irwin, what chance do you have?"

shadowinthelight wrote:

Castela wrote:My hand did something bad!

Yeah, I've been there.

Not like that, though.

Maybe this is a similar "talent" to that of Lilith?

jwhouk wrote:

shadowinthelight wrote:

Castela wrote:My hand did something bad!

Yeah, I've been there.

Not like that, though.

Maybe this is a similar "talent" to that of Lilith?

Well, the Blackthorn(s) are a mystical plant, yes?

Maybe that was just a little bit of 'wild/untrained' magic?

bonus tinfoil hat theory: It really was Corn Husk Maiden's magic that blew up the tank

wait a minute ... accidental use/discharge of magic ....

bonus X-Files level of thinking theory: You know when Calista said Castela was a human/Blackthorn hybrid? Maybe that's not quite the full truth.

If that was an accidental use of magic, which other paranormal species has been shown to have accidental use of magic occur in their children?

What if .... Castela is actually a human/Blackthorn/Fae hybrid?

Grantwhy wrote:...bonus X-Files level of thinking theory: You know when Calista said Castela was a human/Blackthorn hybrid? Maybe that's not quite the full truth.

If that was an accidental use of magic, which other paranormal species has been shown to have accidental use of magic occur in their children?

What if .... Castela is actually a human/Blackthorn/Fae hybrid?

Or just Blackthorn/Fae?

Actually....

This is similar to the powers of the X-Man Jubillee.
She'll be in the next X movie.
Wasn't there a photo posted recently?

GlytchMeister wrote:Australia is aweful like that.

5 of the top ten most venomous snake species are in Australia.

hmmm .... the one I heard was "9 of the top 10", or more accurately, "9 of the top 9" ... the must have do some recalibration of the venomous snake poison scale

On the bright side, there is some evidence that singing birds originated on the Australian land mass and then exported themselves world wide.

So, the next time you are woken by a bird singing at way-to-early o'clock, as an Australian I say "you're welcome"

GlytchMeister wrote:EDIT:
Oh, I forgot about the Irukandji Jellyfish (a tiny, super-deadly, transparent jellyfish that will not only kill you, but it will hurt the whole time you are dying) and the Cassowary (stick an axe blade, raptor talons, and a bad attitude on an Ostrich). And the stonefish. And the blue-ringed octopus (venom that paralyzed you without knocking you out, so you stay awake the whole time you suffocate, unable to call for help). And the marble cone snail. Aaaand the Kangaroos can disembowel you with a kick. Even Wombats will maul you!

And the platypus. The males have a poisonous spur and apparently not only is the poison *very* painful, it acts to decrease your pain threshold making anything other pain much worse.

Maybe she turned the tank into something else.

GlytchMeister wrote:

Grantwhy wrote:...bonus X-Files level of thinking theory: You know when Calista said Castela was a human/Blackthorn hybrid? Maybe that's not quite the full truth.

If that was an accidental use of magic, which other paranormal species has been shown to have accidental use of magic occur in their children?

What if .... Castela is actually a human/Blackthorn/Fae hybrid?

Or just Blackthorn/Fae?

I thought about that, but if my years of reading/watching science-fiction and/or fantasy has taught me one thing, it's that humans 'hybrid' with other species a more easily than most

Grantwhy wrote:

GlytchMeister wrote:

Grantwhy wrote:...bonus X-Files level of thinking theory: You know when Calista said Castela was a human/Blackthorn hybrid? Maybe that's not quite the full truth.

If that was an accidental use of magic, which other paranormal species has been shown to have accidental use of magic occur in their children?

What if .... Castela is actually a human/Blackthorn/Fae hybrid?

Or just Blackthorn/Fae?

I thought about that, but if my years of reading/watching science-fiction and/or fantasy has taught me one thing, it's that humans 'hybrid' with other species a more easily than most

The main exception being Uryuoms, who hybridise with just about anything with a pulse.

just for comparison, Calista's 'Anxiety Arc'

http://wapsisquare.com/comic/not-permanent/

The zappy effect seems different, and it caused pain/discomfort to Calista ... but the "haven't had one of those in years" line suggests to me it's a problem for younger Fae (pre-teen equivalent?) which might work with a Fae hybrid theory.

heh - I doubt Katherine's parenting classes covered this

if anyone could link to a page(s) where Calista does any magic intentionally it would be interesting to compare any zappy effects.