Yeah, it seems the good captain aimed well, using the first tree as a trampoline, leaving the sails up to brake forward momentum and parachute some, and then using the second grove as a cushion. The keel may now be broken, the hull breached by branches, but a small price to pay for getting down in one piece.
As for the temple, I would imagine that the mana-clouds didn’t just go from "we can hold up a temple!" to "guess what, we’re just water vapour droplets!" at once, and as they are dissipating they provided some cushioning as well. It could also explain why the towers tilt as their foundation is no more, instead of collapsing into bricks, or glass shards, or whatever the darn thing is made of.
It also seems to me that the actual fall might not even have been that high, but that the temple landed on that mountaintop and slid down the rest of the way, making the impact at least somewhat more survivable.
I was also thinking, that the clouds went all the way with the rest of the temple together indicates that it still has some magical properties. As such, we don’t know how quickly the temple fall. It might have obeyed proper physics law, but it also could have descended in an uncomfortable, yet surviveble speed. Like descending with a roller-coaster…
the last panel… turg’s amazement, captain darcy’s wild-eyed, bruised, clothes a-shamble look, and the juxtaposition with his calm, matter-of-fact statement. made a stressful day sooo much better for the laugh!!
and love the title: very bulwer-lytton-esque! https://www.bulwer-lytton.com
Don’t assume ages, or knowledge. As Rancourt suspected, I, and I suspect quite a few others, got the reference, but as it had already been commented on, did not feel the need to comment further on it. *has been called a Hooloovoo, and admitted it*
During an aircraft emergency, it is essential that the pilots remain calm and think through the problem and their options, so that damage to passengers and aircraft is minimized.
Any landing you can walk away from is a good landing. Any landing where the aircraft can be flown again without extensive repairs is a great landing. Hmm, I guess that means that none of the space shuttles’ landings could be considered great, because they needed extensive repairs and refurbishment after each landing.
Of course space shuttles’ landings were not great, what do you expect from flying bricks? But we don’t have technology to make truly reusable vehicle capable of both landing on wings and aerodynamic braking. In fact, I suspect we don’t have technology to make truly reusable vehicle capable of aerodynamic braking period, or at least we didn’t had any when space shuttles were designed.
dammit i _knew_ it sounded like i should recognize it. not that adams didn’t have a bent for writing that could be entered in the b-l contest, that i thoroughly enjoyed, but there’s no excuse 🙁 i knew i was overdue to reread the trilogy, so here’s my kick in the ass to do so. After i rewatch the movies lol
Well, for all of the gods that have gone, at leat the most important one, the one they call Richmorris, has shown mercy. Physics may be merciless and unforgiving, but every now and then Luck and Grace get a vote in the quantum way things manage to fall just right.
Of course there will be casualties, that landing won’t be kind to Eddy’s old bones, and Lewie will be discovering that having flesh again means being able to feel bruises, and even a seemingly barren mountain may have some goats that got crushed, but all in all it seems everyone did pretty good in stopping the goddess of cruelty.
I thought the aircraft fell due to the loss of magic, not ingestion of geese in the engines. Sullenberger’s landing was a lot smoother and did not bounce.
Little-known fact: ingesting geese causes planes to crash not because they clog the jets’ air intake, but because geese radiate strong anti-magic fields. You don’t think 80,000 kg of metal and fuel stay in the air by PHYSICS, do you?
Hahah… actually my Dad was an aeronautics engineer. I remember him telling us about a 747 engine that came into the workshop one day that had sucked up a Canada Goose. They couldn’t salvage much of it apparently. He told us it was …. messy.
Ah, yes, throwing a bag of meat and bone into a system of rotating blades whose axle is balanced within a flaming controlled explosion will…
…make the explosion less controlled. And the spinning metal bits can be quite destructive to the other high-speed moving metal bits.
Skidding down a mountain makes a handy breaking system… of sorts. Hopefully those remaining clouds were ‘programed’ to preferentially cushion living things in case of a fall. So now the surviving mages, some no doubt injured, are stranded on an island, and without magic, communications and travel for them will be a LOT harder then it used to be. Hopefully some of that fleet of ships that had come for the conflict can be dispatched as a rescue group to get the mages.
That was a fantastic job by Darcy, particularly given likely waking up already in the beginnings of the fall!
Pick up your copies of YAFGC Volumes 1 - 5 at our online store. Multi-book bundles and sketch editions available.
I suppose that when you’re going to pilot an airship, learning to fall is the first thing they teach you.
The Temple looks much the worse for wear, alas.
t!
Also – bricks are heavy.
t!
The Temple is a mess, but I’d judge it a mess-with-hope-of-survival.
And now we have a new answer to the age-old tourist’s question, "Why did [Ancient Civilization] build so many ruins?"
"They didn’t. They built temples, but then they dropped them from a great height."
Yeah, it seems the good captain aimed well, using the first tree as a trampoline, leaving the sails up to brake forward momentum and parachute some, and then using the second grove as a cushion. The keel may now be broken, the hull breached by branches, but a small price to pay for getting down in one piece.
As for the temple, I would imagine that the mana-clouds didn’t just go from "we can hold up a temple!" to "guess what, we’re just water vapour droplets!" at once, and as they are dissipating they provided some cushioning as well. It could also explain why the towers tilt as their foundation is no more, instead of collapsing into bricks, or glass shards, or whatever the darn thing is made of.
It also seems to me that the actual fall might not even have been that high, but that the temple landed on that mountaintop and slid down the rest of the way, making the impact at least somewhat more survivable.
That’s a good point!
And it’s reassuring to remember the occupants were not in the towers.
t!
The towers might actually have been a safer location, considering *they* at least look reasonably intact, if toppled
> And it’s reassuring to remember the occupants were not in the towers.
Seconded emphatically. Hoping for a few bruises, at worst, among the until-a-moment-ago survivors!
I was also thinking, that the clouds went all the way with the rest of the temple together indicates that it still has some magical properties. As such, we don’t know how quickly the temple fall. It might have obeyed proper physics law, but it also could have descended in an uncomfortable, yet surviveble speed. Like descending with a roller-coaster…
It’s a templary situation. 😛
the last panel… turg’s amazement, captain darcy’s wild-eyed, bruised, clothes a-shamble look, and the juxtaposition with his calm, matter-of-fact statement. made a stressful day sooo much better for the laugh!!
and love the title: very bulwer-lytton-esque! https://www.bulwer-lytton.com
Or referencing The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, where the same basic phrase is used.
Not just the same basic phrase, it’s a direct quote. 🙂
And so far, the ground *has* been friendly.
t!
Shocking that more didn’t know the quote!
Kids these days….
And yes, I know some did, but maybe only a half dozen.
Perhaps a few hoopy froods who know where their towels are just smiled quietly.
Don’t assume ages, or knowledge. As Rancourt suspected, I, and I suspect quite a few others, got the reference, but as it had already been commented on, did not feel the need to comment further on it. *has been called a Hooloovoo, and admitted it*
During an aircraft emergency, it is essential that the pilots remain calm and think through the problem and their options, so that damage to passengers and aircraft is minimized.
Any landing you can walk away from is a good landing. Any landing where the aircraft can be flown again without extensive repairs is a great landing. Hmm, I guess that means that none of the space shuttles’ landings could be considered great, because they needed extensive repairs and refurbishment after each landing.
Of course space shuttles’ landings were not great, what do you expect from flying bricks? But we don’t have technology to make truly reusable vehicle capable of both landing on wings and aerodynamic braking. In fact, I suspect we don’t have technology to make truly reusable vehicle capable of aerodynamic braking period, or at least we didn’t had any when space shuttles were designed.
Always figured the majority of the damage came from the re-entry (what with the super-heating), not the landing, good to know the real facts
dammit i _knew_ it sounded like i should recognize it. not that adams didn’t have a bent for writing that could be entered in the b-l contest, that i thoroughly enjoyed, but there’s no excuse 🙁 i knew i was overdue to reread the trilogy, so here’s my kick in the ass to do so. After i rewatch the movies lol
That life, the universe, and everything.
Great use of Hitchhikers Guide there.
Well, for all of the gods that have gone, at leat the most important one, the one they call Richmorris, has shown mercy. Physics may be merciless and unforgiving, but every now and then Luck and Grace get a vote in the quantum way things manage to fall just right.
Of course there will be casualties, that landing won’t be kind to Eddy’s old bones, and Lewie will be discovering that having flesh again means being able to feel bruises, and even a seemingly barren mountain may have some goats that got crushed, but all in all it seems everyone did pretty good in stopping the goddess of cruelty.
Go (ouch!) team! (medic!)
Ten thousand points for the reference, Rich, plus several hundreds more for the captain’s hoopy piloting skills.
Reminds me of why Scrooge hired Launchpad in ducktales. Sure he crashes all the time- but everyone always *always* walks away from his crashes.
Bravo, Captain Darcy!
I understood that reference dot gif
Captain Darcy = The Sully Sullenberger of YAFGC.
Also appreciate the Hitchhiker references.
I thought the aircraft fell due to the loss of magic, not ingestion of geese in the engines. Sullenberger’s landing was a lot smoother and did not bounce.
Little-known fact: ingesting geese causes planes to crash not because they clog the jets’ air intake, but because geese radiate strong anti-magic fields. You don’t think 80,000 kg of metal and fuel stay in the air by PHYSICS, do you?
Hahah… actually my Dad was an aeronautics engineer. I remember him telling us about a 747 engine that came into the workshop one day that had sucked up a Canada Goose. They couldn’t salvage much of it apparently. He told us it was …. messy.
Is it true that the biggest problem engines have with geese is less their actual bodies, but rather those occasions when the bodies contain buckshot?
t!
That’s a good question. I don’t know. I never thought to ask!
> They couldn’t salvage much of it apparently.
Much of the engine, or much of the goose?
Couldn’t even scrape together a post-Christmas leftovers snack. 🙂
Ah, yes, throwing a bag of meat and bone into a system of rotating blades whose axle is balanced within a flaming controlled explosion will…
…make the explosion less controlled. And the spinning metal bits can be quite destructive to the other high-speed moving metal bits.
And goopy, too!
Worst pate de foie gras, ever!
Doubly impressive considering that the airship can’t autorotate or anything.
Skidding down a mountain makes a handy breaking system… of sorts. Hopefully those remaining clouds were ‘programed’ to preferentially cushion living things in case of a fall. So now the surviving mages, some no doubt injured, are stranded on an island, and without magic, communications and travel for them will be a LOT harder then it used to be. Hopefully some of that fleet of ships that had come for the conflict can be dispatched as a rescue group to get the mages.
That was a fantastic job by Darcy, particularly given likely waking up already in the beginnings of the fall!
Gravity is cruel, but also patient mistress. She knows that stairs are an inevitability.
Elsewhere I suspect Lewie is starting to remember all the benefits that came with being a Lich.
Actually, Being a Lich right now would be bad. A Lich is heavily reliant on strong Mana. A Lich in a no mana zone is a pile of bones.
Am I the only one who heard a bowling ball and pins crashing when looking at panels 2,3 & 4?
Well, damn. Now I always *will* hear that every time I see this strip…
My work here is done
*hands you some cookies in apology
Thank you, Fang FanGirl. This is some heavy subject matter, and I dearly needed the laugh you just shared with me.
I must be misreading.
I know, in the context of this strip above all others, you never would have used the word ‘heavy.’
t!
*headdesk*
It seems I do indeed roll a 1 sometimes. Profound apologies, t!
You’re welcome! Cookie?
> Profound apologies, t!
Rejected.
Deliberate formal tone of my reply notwithstanding, I had a decent chuckle.
I only accept apologies what are owed.
t!
Along with the law of gravity, there seems to be another, lesser known law that unconscious people tend to raise a leg in the air.
Hehehe… it’s a fun way of showing a chaotic pile of bodies and also an excuse t draw legs and feet, if one were needed. Feet are funny.
Just hope it isn’t the Captain’s leg!
I put it there with "burning wheel rolling away from the wrecked vehicle". Not including it would break several natural laws.
1: Love the HHGTTG reference
2: assume crash positions!
I think Captain Darcy is my new favorite character now.
*insert witticisms about air suspension systems/air-cushioned insoles here*