Anton Sherwood (Fo)Rest in Peace

Or maybe judges should be "re-clued," i.e., given a new clue. 

Objection!  Assumes original clue, not in evidence. 

Or maybe judges should be "re-clued," i.e., given a new clue. 

Objection!  Assumes original clue, not in evidence. 

Too true. I was being generous. 

Pierre WAS angry at Sv Sherwood because Sv Sherwood was laying down rules of engagement that were humiliating (in his mind's eye) to him, and he took it personally.

Actually, it was our arbitrator Sv. Rosenberg who laid down the ground rules for the duel. Sv. Sherwood merely provided the venue.

Well, this is why you always need to tell your friends that yes, you do sometimes enjoy people beating you.

Or at least that you're taking instruction on use of the quarterstaff, possibly as partial compensation for your labor. (A half staff would probably be too large for Libby to wield adequately, much less a full staff.)

A quarterstaff as I understand it is similar in size and concept to the Okinawan "Bo." Ideally about as long as shoulder- to head-high depending on the user.

Anyway, do I understand correctly that the "code of combat" (or other custom affecting protective actions on behalf of third parties) holding in the Belt did NOT require Emily to yell at Anton to "GET AWAY FROM THE GIRL!!" before drawing and firing?

A quarterstaff as I understand it is similar in size and concept to the Okinawan "Bo." Ideally about as long as shoulder- to head-high depending on the user.

Anyway, do I understand correctly that the "code of combat" (or other custom affecting protective actions on behalf of third parties) holding in the Belt did NOT require Emily to yell at Anton to "GET AWAY FROM THE GIRL!!" before drawing and firing?

That's part of the issue at stake.  Did she have enough information to assume a deadly response was required, or did she "jump the gun"?   

Actually, it was our arbitrator Sv. Rosenberg who laid down the ground rules for the duel. Sv. Sherwood merely provided the venue.

To be more precise, the seconds, Guy and Suki, decided the rules and Rosenberg was there to officiate.

I don't get to catch up all that often these days but wasn't that quite a jump? I read from the end of the duel to today's strip and Huh? Last I heard Libby was out in space and Sherwood was running his forest.

Isn't this the reason for the newlywed's segements, spacers between arcs? Not my strip or my story, surely the Great Gawds of Ceres know best.

Thanks though for what I think is the first ever outside view of Ceres City.

My judgement of the case so far, she should have yelled something to stop the situation, not escalate it. That was the idea under ZAP, stopping aggression not punnishment.

The "dominant" storyline here makes no sense in Cerean gravity.  Bamboo "branches" are small and generally very flexible -- why would they be snapping all the way down, rather than simply tending to drag and catch her?  A quarter-meter/sec acceleration isn't *nearly* enough for her to have actually been snapping them on the way down... in fact, even from way up, the first three or four she hit should have been sufficient to stop her acceleration almost entirely.

My judgement of the case so far, she should have yelled something to stop the situation, not escalate it. That was the idea under ZAP, stopping aggression not punnishment.

Emily interpreted Anton's moving his hand towards Libby's throat (to check for a pulse(?)) as an aggressive, perhaps lethal attack on an unconscious friend. Preventing this is in accordance with ZAP as I understand it. Libby may have a hypersensitivity regarding assaults on defenseless people due to her history. She's also, what, early- to mid- teens in age?

If the situation were actually as she perceived it to be her actions would probably have been justified. Because they were not, and because she didn't take precautions to assure herself that her perceptions were true (and did not, as you say, start her response with some less-lethal step such as yelling, "GET AWAY FROM THE GIRL!", she acted inappropriately. Why she did so does not matter, she is IMHO liable for reparations/restitution. The fact that she acted with intent to prevent rather than initiate aggression MAY be a mitigating factor in the type/amount of damages incurred.

Maybe the bamboo grows at a much lower density due t othe lower gravity? I used to harvest large bamboo that we used for building rafts and other structures in Boy Scouts, and while it looked identical to us, the 3 year old growths were much denser than the younger growth, indicating that it grows to a given height, then begins to grow denser.

Yeah, the trunks *definitely* get denser as they age.  The limbs, such as they are, however, remain really piddly affairs.  And if they grow less densely, then the story actually makes even *less* sense.  You wouldn't be hearing something that sounded like a beating, but rather a swishy-teary sort of sound as she went through it, and if she was falling at some sort of weird angle... bamboo bends....a full thirty seconds of fall in Cerean gravity still wouldn't get her up to an earth-equivalent speed, but would have given her more than enough time to grab at various bits as she was ....gradually floating faster... towards the ground.

I could be missing something, and it's as cut-and-dried as it's written so far, but Libby's testimony sounds fishy as hell to me, and I bet there's a reason why she's ducking out and trying not to be there in person.

I could be missing something, and it's as cut-and-dried as it's written so far, but Libby's testimony sounds fishy as hell to me, and I bet there's a reason why she's ducking out and trying not to be there in person.

Interesting thought.  I don't see a path that would exonerate Emily, but Libby may certainly have been up to something.  Perhaps she wanted to establish a romantic relationship with Anton, and had feigned a "damsel in distress" situation.  The noise could have been artificially created by Libby (perhaps breaking stalks, rather than branches) and was intended to be as noisy as possible to get Anton's attention, and before she got there she pretended to be unconscious.  Anton saw her, then Emily saw them, and we join the testimony in progress.

If this is the case, then we might ask if Libby herself bears some of the responsibility and liability for Anton's death.

I don't think she necessarily does -- it was clearly a wrongful shoot.  "Hey!  Get off her now!" followed by a meaningful muzzle movement, would have settled that easily enough.  But the Libby part bothers me quite a bit.

I don't think she necessarily does -- it was clearly a wrongful shoot.  "Hey!  Get off her now!" followed by a meaningful muzzle movement, would have settled that easily enough.  But the Libby part bothers me quite a bit.

Now that you guys mention it, Libby's actions do seem a tad off.  Maybe we're just reading too much into it, but hey, there's gotta be some mystery or suspense to the story, right?

I don't think she necessarily does -- it was clearly a wrongful shoot.  "Hey!  Get off her now!" followed by a meaningful muzzle movement, would have settled that easily enough.  But the Libby part bothers me quite a bit.

Now that you guys mention it, Libby's actions do seem a tad off.  Maybe we're just reading too much into it, but hey, there's gotta be some mystery or suspense to the story, right?

Without a certain amount of mystery and suspense, it's hardly a story, it's an anecdote.  Not that there isn't a place for anecdotes once in a while.