1190: "Time"

[DavidRa]

Hey guys. I checked out that Nature paper that hunjo posted on this page and saw the "Zanclean Channel" mentioned in fig. 2b. I checked to see whether this is the same flood as was on yesterday's Other Comic. Well, it was, but it's not on there, anymore. Was this already reported somewhere?

I believe you have been taken in (as was I) by the poster in this thread (mscha). As far as I know The Other Comic did not include mention of the Zanclean Flood.

Of course, it's always possible that the original post here was correct, and that Randall changed TOC, but that would imply Mustard spreading from OTC to TOC, and frankly that's doing my head in.

Plus ninja'd.

ETA: Virgin Pagepope. Decree ... decree ... You should all ... no that won't work ... Um ... Nope, I've got nothing. On that basis, the decree is to do whatever you think the decree should have been, unless you are opposed to the decrees, in which case you must not do the things you haven't been told to do by the decree you're ignoring. And since you've ignored the decree, you won't know what that is...

Instead of decree, Pagepope contained bobcat. Would not read again. And decree is now officially not a word

Spoiler:

[patzer]

Hey guys. I checked out that Nature paper that hunjo posted on this page and saw the "Zanclean Channel" mentioned in fig. 2b. I checked to see whether this is the same flood as was on yesterday's Other Comic. Well, it was, but it's not on there, anymore. Was this already reported somewhere?

I believe you have been taken in (as was I) by the poster in this thread. As far as I know the Other Comic did not include mention of the Zanclean Flood.

That's correct. mscha added the Zanclean Flood to the diagram, and a lot of people were fooled by it.

[maletero]

I believe you have been taken in (as was I) by the poster in this thread (mscha). As far as I know The Other Comic did not include mention of the Zanclean Flood.

Of course, it's always possible that the original post here was correct, and that Randall changed TOC, but that would imply Mustard spreading from OTC to TOC, and frankly that's doing my head in.

Man, I could have sworn. . . . Looking at the forged Other Comic, the font is a little different. I guess that goes to show that my immersion into the OTT has sort of distorted my view of reality. I have missed many MWF updates to the Other Comic while

Spoiler:

waiting for it.

[Fictioneer]

So in the context of this story I think they can survive on their rafts for at least 2 weeks, maybe a month, before it starts straining believability.

All well thought-out, but I predict a lot of seasickness starting in 3, 2, 1...

[NetWeasel]

Hey - what's the relative elevation between France's continental shelf vs the Sicily Sill?

Steven N. Ward's blog has a video of his simulation of the Zanclean Flood. (I don't know if there is sound or not; I wasn't getting any.) The important part of that simulation (to the current OTC) is between 1:50 and 2:05. You have to be quick with the pause button to see it, though. At 1:58, on the left side of the sea, there is a piece of land jutting out into the sea. I think the party is currently just southeast of that. about 2:02 starts the FloodPause, when water starts spilling over the Sicily Sill. Take a look at the sea level off the coast of France at that point.

Regardless of how much flow there is, this shows where the water goes, and most importantly, when it pauses.

[Valarya]

What is wavy-haired lady handing baby-bunny in the old-front (cripes, hyphens)?

Probably her molpysnake, or whatever she was holding earlier.

Oh. *checks past newpix* I didn't notice her holding a molpy earlier, and according to M3069 it was a different lady handing it to a kid. I almost thought it was a whip in this newpic.

And decree is now officially not a word

Hah! I both love and hate when that happens.

[ucim]

Just adding in
yappobiscuits: The High-Rising Sea
jjjdavidson: neat dylan attack!
Loved 'em both.

Not much to add right now.

Jose

[jjjdavidson]

Holy mustard, the Cueganites^½ have got a lot of rope to play with; look how those barrels are lashed. But where are the water bottles (or drinking mugs or whatever)? Somebody should be thirsty by now; in fact, in my experience there should be at least one little kid per newpix wanting a drink.

With all this sailing, it's time for a sea shanty!

The High-Rising Sea
Ottification of traditional sea shanty, "The Coasts of High Barbaree". Here's my favourite version, an epic metal take on it by Wilderun, but here's a more traditional (and cheesy) version. (Although this is really based on Wilderun's version because it's so amazing and brings a whole new epic dimension to the song.)

Spoiler:

Look ahead, look astern
Look the weather in the lee
Blow high! Blow low! And so sailed we
I see a raft to the windward
And more people there float free
A-sailing down along the coasts of high-rising sea

"Oh are you of our tribe
Or hill people?" cried we
Blow high! Blow low! And so sailed we
"Oh no, we're not hill people
But we're from your tribe!" Cried he
A-sailing down along the coasts of high-rising sea

"So push into the current!
We'll throw our rope to you!
And you can come and join us!
And we'll get you safely through!"

"We'll push into the current,
And catch your rope from you!
And we will join with your raft,
And we'll all get safely through!"

For broadside, for broadside
The rope flew straight and true
Blow high! Blow low! And so sailed we
Until at last we hauled them close
And joined them with our crew
A-sailing down along the coasts of high-rising sea

Through currents and debris
We rode the waters wide
Blow high! Blow low! And so sailed we
We must do all we can
To escape from the rising tide...

"Our plan, what is our plan?
Can we get across the plain?"
"No, we're already cut off
It'll only be in vain!"

There's nowhere left to run now,
Of that there is no doubt
Blow high! Blow low! And so sailed we
So get ready for the long haul,
'Cause we're going to ride it out!

Blow high!
Blow low!
And so sailed we!

Cap'm Yappo, that's an awefulsome shanty! I'm going to have to learn that tune; it'll drive my wife nuts. Especially if the older daughter and I start singing in harmony.

^½ I normally prefer Megball to Cuegan, but Megballite just doesn't ring, and Megballer is a bit chirpy. Although Cueganite sounds like some weird mineral only found in salt deposits.

[BlitzGirl]

O-kay. I counted all the chirpin' characters and came up with 38. THAT IS NOT FORTY, GREAT LORD RANDALL.
On the other hand, kudos for coming up with 38 identifiably different characters. That's really something.
If there are two more hiding in the geraft or the raftcastle (raftsicle, yummy), I hope they come out soon.
But as thirty-eight is "about forty" I think this might be it. Over five frames they really moved around.
I split up the rafts to maximize space; the raftcastle half of the newpix is on top, the other two rafts appear below.
(Click for larger size.)



Some notes:
I basically made up names for the group based on their hair. Some kids got "mini-" prefixed onto the name of an adult they resembled. The only two characters besides Cuegan and LaPetite not named for hair are "Sandy," the longish-haired woman with bangs who asked why the tables were sandy, and Rose, whose long hair reminded me all too much of Rosetta. I added a Bangs Brother (he became Newest, as I was running out of Bangses) as well as a female version, She-Bangs. The short-haired men were the toughest to distinguish but I think I got them sorted out. I shortened Buzzcut's name to Buzz because, compared to a few of the others, he doesn't really have a buzzcut. There are three or four obscured characters that I couldn't identify, but it's quite possible they came from this list.

Text version of characters list:

Spoiler:

1. Cueball
2. Megan
3. LaPetite
4. Bunny
5. Mini-Bunny
6. White Bunny
7. Gray Bun
8. Black Bun
9. Curly Bun
10. Pulled Back
11. Headband
12. Meg-a-like
13. Hat-Hair
14. Loopsy
15. Rose
16. Bob
17. Pony
18. Sandy
19. She-Bangs
20. Littlest Bangs Brother
21. Middle Bangs Brother
22. Biggest Bangs Brother
23. Newest Bangs Brother
24. Sparse
25. Curly
26. Buzz
27. Brick
28. Forelock
29. Roundhair
30. Lopside
31. Shortdo
32. Shorty
33. Mini-Shortdo
34. Spike
35. Two-Tone
36. Mini-Two-Tone
37. Afro
38. Part

Redundant:

Spoiler:

LARGE SIZE:

SMALL SIZE:

Keywords: BGUM The forty the thirty-eight all characters group cueganites cuegan people number identify locate name

redundant59.png (137.28 KiB) Viewed 17452 times

[IceIsNice]

O-kay...

I'm in awe!

[yappobiscuits]

Wowterful job on the identifications, BlitzGirl! Love the names too
There probably are just those 38. Cueball was definitely only estimating when he said "About forty", even though we have come to refer to them as "The Forty".

Cap'm Yappo, that's an awefulsome shanty! I'm going to have to learn that tune; it'll drive my wife nuts. Especially if the older daughter and I start singing in harmony.

^½ I normally prefer Megball to Cuegan, but Megballite just doesn't ring, and Megballer is a bit chirpy. Although Cueganite sounds like some weird mineral only found in salt deposits.

Thanks! Yeah, I too am a firm Megballer (Wow that sounds wrong) although I do still use Cueganites for the tribe.

[ucim]

Awesome work BlitzGirl! It's almost like it's your own family! (Our own family now)

Playing the last few frames in geekwagon, that was one big wave that went by. Some friskiness is starting.

Jose

[NetWeasel]

O-kay. I counted all the chirpin' characters and came up with 38.

Spoiler:

THAT IS NOT FORTY, GREAT LORD RANDALL.
On the other hand, kudos for coming up with 38 identifiably different characters. That's really something.
If there are two more hiding in the geraft or the raftcastle (raftsicle, yummy), I hope they come out soon.
But as thirty-eight is "about forty" I think this might be it. Over five frames they really moved around.
I split up the rafts to maximize space; the raftcastle half of the newpix is on top, the other two rafts appear below.
(Click for larger size.)



Some notes:
I basically made up names for the group based on their hair. Some kids got "mini-" prefixed onto the name of an adult they resembled. The only two characters besides Cuegan and LaPetite not named for hair are "Sandy," the longish-haired woman with bangs who asked why the tables were sandy, and Rose, whose long hair reminded me all too much of Rosetta. I added a Bangs Brother (he became Newest, as I was running out of Bangses) as well as a female version, She-Bangs. The short-haired men were the toughest to distinguish but I think I got them sorted out. I shortened Buzzcut's name to Buzz because, compared to a few of the others, he doesn't really have a buzzcut. There are three or four obscured characters that I couldn't identify, but it's quite possible they came from this list.

That's quite a piece of work -- kudos!

[Arky]

This "..." period feels to me like the calm before the storm. We've been high and we've been low during this section of the OTC but there's going to be at least one more moment of big drama and potential loss.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Prediction: After much turmoil, the Forty safely land on terra firma. On the way, they manage to save the Hill People's leader, resolving the longstanding enmity between the tribes. Megan and Cueball return to Chateau D'If to give Rosetta back her maps. They find the Beanies marooned in the waterlogged castle and ferry them to dry land. In the very last Timeframe, Rosetta crowns Megan and Cueball as king and queen of New Mediterranea and their true names are revealed. Thus ends time.

[jjjdavidson]

I finally have nearly all my graphs organized into one easily-navigated set of pages. Hopefully they'll be easy for me to update, as well, so that I can start producing new graphs again.

The only thing on these pages that hasn't been posted to the OTT already is the latest version of Post Rate by Time of Day for all users; it's a week out of date, as it uses the same 114 days of data as the individual user graphs I posted earlier.

Thanks again to mscha for the hosting space!
────────────────
@BlitzGirl, I am roughly equal parts amazed that Randall can draw identifiable stick characters and how you can so quickly tell them apart. Wow!

[BlitzGirl]

Thanks xuys!
Proof of concept: I applied the names to the latest newpix, m3072.



Redundant:

Spoiler:

Keywords: BGUM names named naming The forty the thirty-eight cueganites cuegan people raft raftcastle identify

redundant60.png (232.27 KiB) Viewed 17410 times

[hunjoh]

Somebody should be thirsty by now; in fact, in my experience there should be at least one little kid per newpix wanting a drink.

Nah, they're desert kids. They're tough.

[patzer]

ZoomONG out

[Valarya]

What is that structure on the left?!

[NetWeasel]

What is that structure on the left?!

trebouchet?
Beanie tower?

Something they can add to the Big Boat? Like a mast maybe?

[jjjdavidson]

ZoomONG out

Spoiler:

What the chirp is that on the left? It looks like the top of a telephone pole, complete with trailing wires.

I'll have to find out in the morning (if at all); it's wa-a-ay past coma time for me. Coma deep, Waters Waiters! "Yo-ho-ho and a steam bottle, ugh!" Good night, Mrs. MobTeeseboose, wherever you are! Molpy down....

[taixzo]

@Aluisio: I think "a war of puns" is the best explanation for that. I don't know any more technical term.
And yes, that could be considered a beanie, a knit cap, or many other different words, as has been pointed out by the ninjas.

And a tiger joins them on their watercraft and it becomes "Life of Pi" all over again, complete with new debates on pi in the OTT.

Or "Life of Lucky." And we could still have debates, perhaps about lucky numbers...

Therefore, my Lucky number is Pi!

Title text: still "...". (Is that the proper way to punctuate that?)

Anyway, molpy down.

Spoiler:

[Latent22]

Another OTVO Update
¹ Thanks to mscha as he is now hosting the current OTVO audio samples on his wonderful website!
Also he has added audio controls to his viewer so you can play the audio from there
Also update the Dialogue page to point to the new hosted files as well.

Looks like we will be using Dropbox to work on the audio files for now. We have it set up so the output SOUND dropbox folder is auto synced to mscha's server. Anyone wanting to help with the audio editing part of the project can create a dropbox account if they don't have one and PM me their dropbox acccount address so I can give their account write access to that shared folder. Also have an UPLOAD folder I can do the same with for any voice actors wanting a place to upload their samples.

The process is to take the raw audio samples and normalize the volume and remove any background noise. Then cut them up into single frame audio files and save them as mono mp3 files called np0832.mp3 for np832 for example and drop the files in the SOUND folder. Once they are in that folder your done and they can be previewed on mscha's site straight away which is ⁴. The idea is that It doesn't just have to depend on me doing all the voice editing and others or even the voice actors themselves can help if they have the audio editing skills. Learn to use Audacity it's a great program!

Also now that we have our main Cuegan voice actors I don't think we need to stand on too much ceremony and voting for the other smaller parts. If you think you can voice one of the 40 then just go to the dialogue link above and record their lines and upload it here or get dropbox access off me or e-mail it to (otvoproject at gmail dotage com). If we get competition for a part then we may have to pick the best person though.

Current voices we need:
Bunny (I think imjb1964 (M4) has the perfect voice for this one)
Littlest Bangs Brother (someone who can do a young boys voice)
Cueganite #1
Cueganite #2
Cueganite #3
Cueganite #4
Cueganite #5
LaPetite (young girl/womens voice. buffygirl wants to give this a one a go when she gets back later)
Rosetta (One of the hardest voices to do! I'm sure your up to it BlitzGirl as you implied you were her a few NP ago.)

Been some good discussion on here on how we could do Rosetta and beanish so keep that coming!

[tavella]

What is that structure on the left?!

trebouchet?
Beanie tower?

Looks like it could be one of the Hill People towers, like the one Megball passed on their run across the hills.

[jjjdavidson]

Anyway, molpy down.

Spoiler:

What on earth? Is that some sort of bird-of-paradise hedgemolpy?

[NetWeasel]

ZoomONG out

Spoiler:

Why the Zoomout?
To show that thing on the left?
Or is there a really big wave coming?

[yappobiscuits]

<snip>
LaPetite (young girl/womens voice. buffygirl wants to give this a one a go when she gets back later)

Going by her Megan samples, I think buffygirl could be great as LaPetite!

[ucim]

Why the Zoomout?
To show that thing on the left?
Or is there a really big wave coming?

In case we forgot just how b i g the sea is?

It's kind of like looking at a picture of a thunderhead... over a town... with a little airplane flying nearby... to scale. It's a good reminder of why it's not such a good idea.

Jose

[BlitzGirl]

<snip> Rosetta (One of the hardest voices to do! I'm sure your up to it BlitzGirl as you implied you were her a few NP ago.)

Well, I could certainly give it a try, I suppose - I'd need some direction so all you sound wizards can get the right effect for her.

ZoomONG out

Spoiler:

What the chirp is that on the left? It looks like the top of a telephone pole, complete with trailing wires.

I think I know what it is...



...part of the Hill People structure from newpix m2996.

Redundant:

Spoiler:

Keywords: Hill people structure comparison flotsam debris drift river water BGUM

redundant61.png (166.55 KiB) Viewed 17295 times

[k.bookbinder]

Molpy down.

Spoiler:

[Latent22]

<snip> Rosetta (One of the hardest voices to do! I'm sure your up to it BlitzGirl as you implied you were her a few NP ago.)

Well, I could certainly give it a try, I suppose - I'd need some direction so all you sound wizards can get the right effect for her.

This is interesting to read http://traevoli.com/backwards.php

One idea that has been raised is to play the audio backwards and then speak it like that and reverse it.

Spoiler:

Blindpost from NP1225:For some reason, when I first started thinking of Rosetta's voice wayyy back when she first appeared, I had an image of someone speaking through wax paper. But I think the best way to do it, to make it sound broken and distorted, would be to take a page from Twin Peaks and have her speak backwards (cf. the Dwarf in the famous Cooper's Dream sequence seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjeRCsoufII). I'm going to play around with an example if I ever make it back to the present.

I uploaded a really terrible recording of "Whence have you traveled here?" http://vocaroo.com/i/s00QL7PAOdXa just to give an example. Obviously my voice doesn't fit Rosetta's, and I don't think I could even attempt it in falsetto. It's extremely hard to do. Although it would be significantly easier for those who actually have a microphone hooked up to their computer and real audio editing software.

That link shows the steps you need to do to make it perfect but we don't want it perfect. We want it to sound almost non english but still understandable. But you just record yourself saying the lines normally and open the file in Audacity and click Effects->Reverse and then listen to your voice. May find it easier if you also do Effects->Change Tempo and drop the tempo down so you can listen to yourself speak slowly. You can then record yourself saying those same sounds. If you do speak it back slowly as well we can always increase the tempo back up again. You then reverse your recording and see if you can JUST understand it. Anyway just something to maybe try but it may be too hard to pull off.

Just playing around myself trying to do it and I found it's quite easy if you just listen to one word at a time and then record yourself saying that one word. Then reverse that one word and combine it together and build up the sentence that way. My memory is not good enough to learn how to say a whole backwards sentence!

Here is the output of my quick attempt

backwards.mp3

(85.96 KiB) Downloaded 177 times

It has 4 sections. Me normally. Then the backwards version of me normally. Then me trying to say the backwards version. And finally the reverse of that which sounds kind of wierd but thats the point.

[DavidRa]

LaPetite (young girl/womens voice. buffygirl wants to give this a one a go when she gets back later)

My daughter wants to have a crack at this (she only lurks, though, so if there's a good OTTer they should get priority)...

Been some good discussion on here on how we could do Rosetta and beanish so keep that coming!

I forgot I'd been thinking about this - the rest of the family plays something called "Animal Crossing" on the Nintendo 3DSXLQZ+Awesome (or whatever it's called). The animal characters have this sort of garbled speech thing where it's almost understandable.

If the Beanie voiceover could have a similar sort of process, but not as strongly done, it might work. Info here.

[yappobiscuits]

Bigger wavesONG

<snip> Rosetta (One of the hardest voices to do! I'm sure your up to it BlitzGirl as you implied you were her a few NP ago.)

Well, I could certainly give it a try, I suppose - I'd need some direction so all you sound wizards can get the right effect for her.

It'd be ⁴ if you could voice someone (Rosetta or otherwise), since I did really like your voice from your Megan sample.

Been some good discussion on here on how we could do Rosetta and beanish so keep that coming!

I was thinking for Beanish, something along the lines of those "how English sounds to non-English speakers" videos people were talking about earlier. Those kinda made up words that sound like they might be real words.

*yawn* Anyway. Molpy down. Just keep sailing, Cueganites...

Spoiler:

[AluisioASG]

Nice work, BlitzGirl and jjjdavison!

Oh, I made a post marker script. You can, well, mark and unmark posts (like upvote, except you can't downvote, just unupvote). That's all it does for now; I may add a list of marked posts in the future. If people use it to indicate interesting posts, the data collected could be useful for the weekly blog/podcast/graph.
Of course, there's no data collection without a server. (I wonder if I can send emails through JavaScript.)

dm214 doesn't seem to like irrelevant stuff slowing down his work ^{[citation needed]}, so please don't mark molpy-{up,down}/redundakitty-only pictures…

Now, it seems I missed some cakes.

Spoiler:

Davidy (I know it says Símon)


Random832 (couldn't find the right color ― so random… ― also, saw you on Raymond Chen's blog some time ago)


Valarya (because 600 = SPARTA!!!!!! * 2 ― and yes, that's a pirate cupcake)


azule

[b2bomberkrh]

Speaking of ONGs, it's not about “winning” or being “fr1st”, but about coming up with a creative ONG....

For the creativity challenged, here's a helpful list of 152 words containing "ong"

Spoiler:

along alongside among amongst belong belonged belonging belongings belongs bongs congeal congealed congealing congenial congeniality congenially congenital congest congested congestion congestive conglomerate conglomerates conglomeration congratulate congratulated congratulating congratulation congratulations congratulatory congregate congregated congregates congregating congregation congregational congregations congress congresses congressional congressionally congressman congressmen congresswoman congresswomen congruence congruent decongestant decongestants diphthong elongate elongated elongation fishmonger folksong furlong gong gongs headlong headstrong headstrongly headstrongness hopalong hourlong humongous incongruent incongruity incongruous incongruously lifelong long long-term longed longer longest longevity longhand longhorns longing longingly longings longitude longitudes longitudinal longs longshore longstanding mongering mongoose mongooses nongovernment nongovernmental oblong ongoing pong prolong prolongate prolonged prolonging prolongs prong pronged pronghorn prongs singsong song songbird songbirds songbook songs songwriter songwriters songwriting sponge sponged sponger spongers sponges sponging spongolith spongy strong strong-armed strong-willed stronger strongest stronghold strongholds strongly strongman thong throng throngs tongs tongue tongued tongues uncongeal uncongealed warmonger warmongering wrong wrongdoer wrongdoers wrongdoing wrongdoings wronged wrongful wrongfully wronging wrongly wrongs

Beerbong isn't on the list? And neither is...ooohh...no...I can't say it.

[neopifex]

Speaking of ONGs, it's not about “winning” or being “fr1st”, but about coming up with a creative ONG....

For the creativity challenged, here's a helpful list of 152 words containing "ong"

Spoiler:

along alongside among amongst belong belonged belonging belongings belongs bongs congeal congealed congealing congenial congeniality congenially congenital congest congested congestion congestive conglomerate conglomerates conglomeration congratulate congratulated congratulating congratulation congratulations congratulatory congregate congregated congregates congregating congregation congregational congregations congress congresses congressional congressionally congressman congressmen congresswoman congresswomen congruence congruent decongestant decongestants diphthong elongate elongated elongation fishmonger folksong furlong gong gongs headlong headstrong headstrongly headstrongness hopalong hourlong humongous incongruent incongruity incongruous incongruously lifelong long long-term longed longer longest longevity longhand longhorns longing longingly longings longitude longitudes longitudinal longs longshore longstanding mongering mongoose mongooses nongovernment nongovernmental oblong ongoing pong prolong prolongate prolonged prolonging prolongs prong pronged pronghorn prongs singsong song songbird songbirds songbook songs songwriter songwriters songwriting sponge sponged sponger spongers sponges sponging spongolith spongy strong strong-armed strong-willed stronger strongest stronghold strongholds strongly strongman thong throng throngs tongs tongue tongued tongues uncongeal uncongealed warmonger warmongering wrong wrongdoer wrongdoers wrongdoing wrongdoings wronged wrongful wrongfully wronging wrongly wrongs

Beerbong isn't on the list? And neither is...ooohh...no...I can't say it.

What's wrong with saying Hong Kong?

ETA: Time to coma.

_{^{molpykong down}}

[Zorin_75]

It has 4 sections. Me normally. Then the backwards version of me normally. Then me trying to say the backwards version. And finally the reverse of that which sounds kind of wierd but thats the point.

Nice effort, but TBH I hate that backwards thing, it's just been done too often (nevertherless still adore David Lynch).

[Latent22]

It has 4 sections. Me normally. Then the backwards version of me normally. Then me trying to say the backwards version. And finally the reverse of that which sounds kind of wierd but thats the point.

Nice effort, but TBH I hate that backwards thing, it's just been done too often (nevertherless still adore David Lynch).

Yeah we don't want to hear backwards speaking. We actually will only hear forwards speaking in the end result anyway. Though forcing someone to speak it backwards and then reverse it so it sounds like normal english has the effect of simulating someone who doesn't know how to speak the syllables properly and makes mistakes. I don't know if it really works until I hear someone with a voice more appropriate to Rosetta do it though.

[lgw]

Mini-ketchup:

The food question has bothered me ever since The Fading. If you have some clue about wilderness survival, and are stuck in the wilderness long term, starvation is the most likely way to die. I'm sure Cuegan took some provisions when they set out, but you just can't carry that much (and foraging for berries and grapes only helps a little if you don't already know where the food grows). Molpy hunting is often a net calorie loss (rabbits are infamous for this - you can't find and catch a rabbit without spending more calories than you get from one, on average, unless you use snares or dogs or some other trick). It's hard to believe the 40 are carrying more than a few day's food now, and I'm not sure they'd know how to fish.

If you are unexpectedly thrown into a survival situation exposure kills the quickest (a matter of hours), followed by dehydration (a matter of days), followed by starvation (a matter of weeks). We can rule out the threat exposure for this group.

That leaves dehydration as their next threat. They loaded on at least two barrels when they left camp, so that alone would give them at least couple of gallons per person. (Given our 2D perspective they could have loaded on a dozen barrels in two rows, and all we would have seen are the two barrels closest to us.) Plus all of the smaller containers of water they would have carried on. These are desert survivors, so I think water would have been one of their highest priorities.

If they can stay cool, in the shade, resting, they might be able to get their water consumption down to a couple of gallons per person per week. Also, all of this Atlantic water is going to be cool, lowering local temperature quite a bit, so from this point on we shouldn't be thinking of them sweltering in the heat. And if it rains, then they can replenish their water stores.

As far as food goes, I expect the water to be full of all kinds of molpies, swimming or freshly drowned. And many of those Atlantic fish that died from the trauma of becoming Mediterranean fish should start floating to the surface. That should supplement their food supplies nicely.

So in the context of this story I think they can survive on their rafts for at least 2 weeks, maybe a month, before it starts straining believability.

If you're skilled at wilderness survival, and it's above freezing, exposure and water you can deal with. You just need to have learned what to do (though bad water can be a real problem, it's far less of a concern in a true wilderness), and the Cueganites surely have. But food is a much harder problem: it's not just a matter of learning skills. From what we know from the few remaining hunter-gatherers in the 20th century, you pretty much have to have grown up in an area and learned every place likely to have food (and distinguish 200 species of edible plant from others of similar appearance - it's really an amazing skill set). Modern survival courses teach all this in some detail - it's possible to learn enough, but you basically spend all day foraging.

Anyhow, my point was food has been basically handwaved as an issue, in a comic where everything else is obsessed over for accuracy (even mentioning steam bottles for water), so it bothers me.

I didn't think of dead molpies on the surface. I like that. That might work for a while (dead things in the water become a bigger problem after a few days), even though I doubt the 40 can actually fish. I'm going to pretend that's the answer.

O-kay. I counted all the chirpin' characters and came up with 38. THAT IS NOT FORTY, GREAT LORD RANDALL.

Hey, Lex Luthor was hungry, OK? Can you blame him for eating 2? Stealing 40 cakes is hard work - that's 4 10s (or 5 8s) and that's a lot of cakes!

I think I know what it is...

...part of the Hill People structure from newpix m2996.

Yes! Brilliant!