Line #58 Webcomic/TheFarSideofUtopia


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2	[[caption-width-right:273:Peter and Kallisto before... [[{{RogueAgent}} You know.]]]]
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4	''[[http://www.pastutopia.com/ The Far Side of Utopia]]'' is a webcomic set TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture in an UrbanFantasy world where magic and technology starting to meld together. Several of the cast are {{Dimensional Traveler}}s and there at least several worlds/dimensions involved.
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6	It largely follows Peter Kepler and the various students of Levinworth Academy (a {{Magitek}} [[WizardingSchool mage school]] - where the known programs are "[[FunctionalMagic Magic Use]] and [[{{Magitek}} Engineering]]" and "[[{{Magitek}} Magic Technology]] and Theory"...).
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8	There is Peter, a [[RogueAgent rogue]] [[GovernmentAgencyOfFiction IDS (Interdimensional Security)]] agent with an unknown agenda, and his group. Tyler, the head of the MSB (Magic Security Branch) which is either a [[GovernmentAgencyOfFiction government branch]], an [[SchoolClubsAreSeriousBusiness afterschool club]], or [[SchoolClubFront likely both]], and Kally, an active IDS agent who is supposed to be keeping on eye on things. In addition, there is an increasing (possible to the point of never ending) list of background characters that show up, quickly going into Loads and Loads of characters territory.
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10	It currently updates once per week, though it's prone to ScheduleSlip.
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12	Can be read [[http://www.pastutopia.com here]].
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23	!!This webcomic provides examples of:
24	* AllInTheManual: A lot of the finer details about the universe of the comic (e.g. the magic system, how certain political systems like PACT work) aren't usually explained in the comic itself, due to the fact that most of the characters already know them. Instead, some of those details are stated in the fan wiki or by the author in TheRant for a comic page, or even in the comments if it won't act as a spoiler.
25	* ArtEvolution: The art is only okay, but when the earlier pages are redrawn it's fairly noticeable. [[http://pastutopia.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/2014-07-08-PetersNewCareerStudent.png Original]] vs [[http://pastutopia.com/?comic=comic-002 New]].
26	** It has come a long way [[http://pastutopia.com/?comic=comic-for-monday-march-13th in a few years]]
27	* ArtificialHuman: It's all but confirmed that [[spoiler: Mium]] and ILA are artificial humans of some sort. The rest of the people with strange hair colours may be as well.
28	** Turns out those with strange hair colours are DesignerBabies; may or may not still count as ArtificialHumans.
29	* ArtificialIntelligence: Some are present in this setting, [[SlidingScaleOfRobotIntelligence with various degrees of "intelligence"]], though most are not widely known to the public (at least in Malsa). One particular variety is a Self Modifying A.I., or S.M.A.I. for short. As the name implies, S.M.A.I.s are able to [[MechanicalEvolution edit and adjust their own parameters and coding in order to more efficiently carry out their goals and programming]]. Unfortunately, most people who are aware of S.M.A.I.s are often concerned about them as their ability to modify themselves makes S.M.A.I.s inherently unstable, which only gets worse as they get closer to the end of their "useful" lifespan. [[spoiler: One of the most notable examples of a S.M.A.I. in the story is Mium/M.Y.M.]]
30	* BigGood: Peter and M.Y.M. both qualify. The story starts as they finally enact their mysterious plans and draw in the rest of the cast who have no real idea what's really going on. See also GreaterScopeParagon
31	* BlackBox: Ark technology on Palindra (which has had several corporations like Avon trying to reverse engineer it for their own uses) and Kor's World technology for Central and the IDS. [[spoiler:Peter later voices some suspicions that the two may be the same, based on how similar they are and how certain projects on Palindra are either too old or too advanced to be reverse-engineered from the IDS.]]
32	* BloodKnight: [[http://www.comic-rocket.com/read/the-far-side-of-utopia/45 Naomi]]. [[http://pastutopia.com/?comic=comic-for-friday-june-5th Definitely]].
33	** [[http://pastutopia.com/?comic=comic-for-friday-november-27th She has job satisfaction...]][[http://pastutopia.com/?comic=comic-for-wednesday-september-30th a lot of it...]]
34	** [[spoiler:Sophie]], of all people, may qualify for this, as she was visibly excited at the prospect of fighting [[spoiler:Kallisto and her dragon when they came to arrest/kill her]].
35	* BoringButPractical: The IDS's use of magic tends towards this; instead of using big flashy spells, their first option in a fight is often casting a chain of smaller spells (usually with the aid of their [[{{Magitek}} autocasters]]) to quickly launch a barrage of projectiles at their opponent.
36	* ButForMeItWasTuesday: Part of the reason that the majority of the IDS or Central have not interfered with the situation in Malsa so far (besides from the complex politics surrounding it and the IDS members already involved) is that Malsa, and Palindra as a whole, are one of dozens, if not ''hundreds'', of worlds that the IDS are managing. As a result, most of Central don't yet see the conflict there as anything special by comparison.
37	* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: In regards to Eidos constructs (both animate and inanimate), there is a colour spectrum that goes from Blue -> Green -> Yellow -> Red, which denotes how "real" said construct is (i.e. how well they interact with reality and how stable they are), with Blue being the least (with the exception of a hypothetical pink/violet construct, which would so unreal as to not exist or be able to affect anything in reality, as per an author comment on [[https://pastutopia.com/comic/comic-for-monday-october-9th-2023/ this page]]) and Red being the most. Red "living" constructs in particular are noted to be very dangerous to face in a fight, as they can interact with physics much better than other constructs while still having the benefits of being a magical construct (e.g. losing a head may impede a red construct but it won't necessarily stop them). As a construct becomes more "real", it often (though not always) becomes stronger and more durable, though that comes with a bigger mana investment in creating them.
38	** It's notable that constructs can become more "real" past the Red stage (with the visual indicator of [[PaintingTheMedium gaining more lines, shading and even other colours than regular constructs]]), to the point that it blurs the line between a construct and a fully alive creature - Kally's dragon is a good example of this.
39	* CounterSpell: So far this, along with SuperToughness, is Mium's primary tactic in a fight when he's not allowed to use [[NoKillLikeOverkill ranged artillery]].
40	* CuteBruiser: Naomi, Ila, Mione... Almost a prerequisite for being a bruiser.
41	* CurtainsMatchTheWindows: While not universal even for the characters with unusual hair colors, there are a handful. Purple haired Naomi has purple eyes, her green haired friend has green eyes. Mium is a partial example - his hair and eyes are both blue, but not the same shade.
42	* DeadpanSnarker: Several of the cast members are this (including Peter, Miko, the Consul, and so on), throwing out sarcastic observations [[CasualDangerDialogue even in the middle of a fight]].
43	* DescriptionCut: [[https://pastutopia.com/comic/comic-for-monday-october-13th-2019/ When Naomi recommends to Peter]] that he go talk to Kallisto (who is currently sitting on the roof of a skyscraper with Fluffy currently summoned) as Kallisto has had a bit of a rough day due to [[spoiler:learning her former mentor had gone insane ''and'' having to fight a Kor's World soldier]], Peter says Kallisto is probably more concerned with what to feed her dragon for dinner that night. Cut to Kallisto and Fluffy, discussing that very subject (specifically, Kallisto telling her dragon he ''can't eat a human'' just because Kurun accidentally made him curious about what one would taste like).
44	* DesignerBabies: Designer Children are exactly that, children who were genetically modified from birth (perhaps before) to have enhanced abilities. Most of these children are usually more physically fit or smarter than a regular child (though there is no guarantee of this), and some of them also have enhanced or specific magical abilities. Making a Designer Child is an expensive process, so often they are seen as a sign of wealth, status, or both, with the Families having a large population of Designer Children among their ranks. Not much about the laws regarding Designer Children is known except that they have to have [[WorldOfTechnicolorHair unusual hair color]] and [[CurtainsMatchTheWindows a matching eye color]] as a sign that they're Designer Children, and it's (probably) illegal for them to dye their hair a different color.
45	* FantasticRacism: Some people in Central are rather dismissive of the people of Palindra, looking down on them as "backwater hicks" due to their ([[MadScience seemingly]]) low technology level when compared to Central. For reference, while Palindra is at least comparable to our modern day world, Central invented {{Magitek}} and has orbital habitat centers.
46	** There is also some of this within the Malsan Mage Families, particularly against members of a lower family branch or any relative confirmed to be [[RoyalBastard bastards, or "mutts"]].
47	* FictionalSport: The simply named 'Airball'. It's basically Tennis played with magic - hitting the ball physically is not required, and if the ball hits the ground, you lose the point, making it a bit less forgiving. People either rely on Kinetic Magic or SuperSpeed to play.
48	* FullContactMagic: Naomi's preferred form. According to the agent she was fighting, it's primarily accomplished by using magic to [[http://pastutopia.com/?comic=comic-for-wednesday-february-11th alter her Form]].
49	* FunctionalMagic: As outlined on [[http://wiki.pastutopia.com/index.php?title=Magic_System this page,]] (which is a wiki that the [[WordOfGod author runs]] and it lines up with what's seen and told in the comic), magic is performed by altering the properties of an object on a metaphysical level (a.k.a. Eidos, as it's called in-universe) to cause changes in the physical world (e.g. lowering or raising the acceleration of an object in motion). The strength of a mage is generally determined by a combination how far their range of affect is (from personal to a battlefield) and the complexity of their "calculations" in Eidos (e.g. creating animate constructs, changing the density and substance of an object), though there are also outliers with abilities that are not yet fully understood such as [[spoiler:teleportation]]. Short version: mages can "hack" the physics engine of reality to alter its code, give it commands, or load their own "programs" like summoning constructs.
50	** There are also at least two type of mages in this setting (at least as understood in Malsa; Central seems to have their own definitions such as "witches"):
51	*** There are '''Natural Mages''', who are wizards who have to study how to perform specific calculations in Eidos, but could theoretically perform any type of magic as long as they know the right calculation. The majority of people in this setting are technically Natural Mages, though most of them aren't trained to make full use of this.
52	*** The other category are '''Innate Mages''', who are people born with the ability to perform certain Eidos calculations by instinct, and thus are capable of casting them much faster than a Natural Mage normally would. They are technically also Natural Mages, but would still need to study to learn new spells and they often [[CripplingOverspecialization lean on their Innate ability as it just comes easier to them]]. Examples of Innate Mages are Naomi Atarah ([[MagicEnhancement physical enhancement]]) and Tyler Weber ([[AnIcePerson ice magic]]).
53	* GambitPileup: Starting to hit pretty hard as Peter's ThePlan begins to collide with pretty much every other faction's plots.
54	* GovernmentAgencyOfFiction: The IDS is this, as is the 'Bureau' and the MSB (which is a branch of the Bureau), with the later two being from a different government than the IDS. The establishment of the MSB created some tension between Malsa and the IDS, as the MSB was made to look after certain jurisdictions that the IDS was meant to cover.
55	* GreaterScopeParagon: Peter and M.Y.M. both qualify. Their full plans are unknown but presumably benevolent, they almost always are one step ahead of everyone else and their assets always seem to be close enough to pull off a dramatic rescue. See also BigGood and HeroOfAnotherStory
56	* HeroOfAnotherStory: The author has said in commentary that this is the case for many of the cast (such as Tyler or the Consul), it's just that the story starts from the point when Peter and his circle start attending Levinsworth, and they are our viewpoint characters for the most part.
57	* HuntingTheRogue: Shortly after Peter resurfaces near the start of the story, various factions within the IDS begin hunting him down, either to [[HeKnowsTooMuch prevent him from spilling any damaging information]] or to find out ''why'' he defected in the first place (and decide if he [[DefectorFromDecadence may have had good reason to do so]]).
58	* ImmortalLifeIsCheap: Most of the more fatal seeming incidents gravitate toward the cast members that don't die from things like being shot in the head, exploded, or thrown off tall buildings.
59	* InstantRunes: Whenever someone starts altering Eidos (basically using magic) these [[http://pastutopia.com/?comic=comic-for-friday-february-13th show up]], including when using [[{{Magitek}} autocasters]], though their appearance and color varies somewhat.
60	* InterserviceRivalry: This seems to be the biggest flaw of the IDS as a whole. Together, they represent a union of powers that could theoretically take on any force. In reality, the various departments are embroiled in their own schemes (some good, some bad, some potentially catastrophic), and are often lead by people who seem to hate the leaders of the other departments (stand-out examples are Bianca and Arron Kepler, though Arron is at least more justified, and actually didn't interfere much with her until things escalated).
61	** Peter himself [[http://pastutopia.com/comic/comic-for-monday-september-22nd-2019/ points out]] that if even 5% of the IDS could cooperate, they could do near anything... but he follows that up by giving a list of people working/had worked for the IDS (including himself and Arron) and stating the only two things most of those people have in common:
62	--> Peter:"''Three letters'' [The I.D.S.] associated with them and a ''dislike for most of the other people on that list.''"
63	* KillSat: The Skyhammer is pretty much what it says on the tin. The IDS Ace in the Hole in case the locals got rowdy. [[spoiler: Unfortunately for them, by the time they decided to use it, the locals had TheAce on their side.]]
64	* {{Macguffin}}: The Bridgepoint Data, a collection of Eidos data created and gathered by Central with the intention of helping them create their own Bridgepoints (essentially [[InterdimensionalTravelDevice a permanent gateway between dimensions]]; Central has so far had to rely on finding the rare natural Bridgepoints or making temporary portals). It's discovered fairly early on that Central's copy of the Data has been duplicated, and the original version likely sabotaged, by unknown parties. Peter uses the offer of finding the intact Bridgepoint Data as a bargaining chip to get Aaron to cooperate with him.
65	** [[spoiler:Except it's [[https://pastutopia.com/comic/comic-for-monday-february-6th-2023/ later revealed]] that Peter has had it for quite some time, and was possibly the original thief. He's been using the Data as essentially bait, leaving copies out in certain locations (preferably expendable ones due to Peter's tendency to attract explosions) to find out who would try to find it, ''how'' they could find it and what they try to do with it.]]
66	* MadScientist: Dr Mir, Dr Martin, pretty much any of the scientists working in Avon's secret science division, Peter to a certain extent (considering his work with AI, even assisting Dr Martin at one point). There's a lot of these around in Malsa it seems. [[spoiler:Possibly more so than even Peter suspects, as he visits a building to leave some bait in, only to find a secret medical ward that he had no idea about, who have just (accidentally) unleashed a demon...]]
67	* {{Magitek}}: While not the only form of magic, it is wide spread. Autocasters are the most common type seen so far, being a cross between a computer, a wand, and gun (though it varies which they lean the closest to, depending on their intended funtion). The biggest limitation of any {{Magitek}} in this setting is that it requires [[HumansAreSpecial a human to use at all]], as only they possess the 'Edios key' that can translate the magical calculations into actual effects.
68	* TheMultiverse: There are at least several dimensions involved in the story so far (one invading another has been referenced), but as only one has been shown, if they are AlternateUniverse or AnotherDimension isn't really known.
69	* MysteriousBacker: Peter is this to the MSB and Malsa. They don't trust him but need his help just enough that they can't tell him to go away either, especially when he comes to them instead of the other way around.
70	* NoodleImplements: Peter once submitted an expense report for [[http://pastutopia.com/?comic=comic-for-monday-march-20th a toy remote control plane, a replacement television remote, sixteen feet of barbed wire, a fifteen second ad slot on a local network, two fancy suits, and a mouse trap]] (though Kally's pretty sure the mouse trap was just him screwing with their boss)
71	* OccamsRazor: Referenced in [[https://pastutopia.com/comic/comic-for-thursday-may-4th/ this comic,]] where [[spoiler:Mium and Ila have kidnapped the President of another country as part of one of Peter's schemes. Said President tries to use it to try and reason out the specific goal behind his abduction, but only demonstrates why it's very dangerous to apply that type of thinking to politics, as pointed out by Mium.]]
72	* OurDemonsAreDifferent: According to this [[https://pastutopia.com/qa-11-28-2022/ Q&A from the author]], demons don't come from a literal hell, but instead are entities made of data that mostly live in Eidos. They can accumulate data the longer they live, becoming stronger and smarter with age, but can also ''lose'' data if they're hit with the right weapon or attack (e.g. an attack from/using a red construct). They otherwise behave the same as traditional demons (i.e. actively murderous unless controlled or restrained in some way).
73	* PerceptionFilter: Ellipsis. It allows the user to effectively be invisible to the naked eye, or makes the user look "unremarkable" or unrecognizable as themselves to observers. It can be seen through, though the only ones we've seen do this are Naomi (who used a type of AuraVision to do this), Tom (who's ''the'' expert in using Ellipsis) and Arron (who pioneered the trick, but who may or may not have been bluffing about actually seeing through it). The only confirmed users we've seen so far are Tom, Arron and Peter. It's unclear if this is magic or some sort of technology, [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs or both]].
74	* PoweredArmor: The soldier from Kor's World is sporting this. The Avon agents also had armor, but it wasn't clear if it was Powered or just futuristic riot gear.
75	** One common feature of PoweredArmor in this setting are [[{{Magitek}} devices known as 'Boost Engines']], which essentially casts a spell that reinforces the armor (and the person wearing it) to make them more stronger, more durable, etc. This has the added benefit of making it more difficult to cast a spell directly on someone using a Boost Engine as it makes their Eidos form "denser" and more difficult to alter.
76	* PunchedAcrossTheRoom: Naomi favors this, doing [[http://pastutopia.com/?comic=comic-for-wednesday-february-11th this]] [[http://pastutopia.com/?comic=comic-for-monday-february-16th twice]] to someone the first time she gets into a fight. The second attempt going through a small [[http://pastutopia.com/?comic=comic-for-wednesday-february-18th brick wall]] took.
77	* RealNameAsAnAlias: Peter Kepler resurfaced after hiding... using the name Peter Kepler. Either aiming to HiddenInPlainSight with a RefugeInAudacity or use himself as TheBait
78	* RedOniBlueOni: There is Mium and Naomi, who are almost ColorCodedForYourConvenience in this role; with Mium being blue and Naomi being the red (purple).
79	* RogueAgent: Peter went rogue before the start of the story for nebulous reasons; if it's just a cover, IDS Headquarters wants to talk to him real bad.
80	* SurpriseInspectionRuse: Mium and Naomi do this to infiltrate an IDS facility, though there's more effort put in than in the usual trope (such as Naomi dying her hair to hide her Designer Child status and, more importantly, Mium hacking their systems to hide the discrepancies in their credentials). It also reveals that Mium has spent some of his free time constructing "personalities" to run for certain situations, based mostly on Peter and Miko's somewhat sociopathic personalities, much to Naomi's concerns.
81	* StuffBlowingUp: [[https://pastutopia.com/comic/comic-for-monday-december-17th-2018/ There is a category of magic]] known as '''Rupture''' that essentially amounts to this trope. It's a somewhat common offense-oriented technique, particularly for Central mages, that's used as a "generic trump card" as it's very effective against both physical and Eidos-reinforced defenses, though it's not perfect, as mages like [[TheAce Tyler]] and [[PersonOfMassDestruction Rovak]] have avoided/survived it easily enough. In addition, according to TheRant [[https://pastutopia.com/comic/comic-for-monday-february-5th-2024/ on this page]], rupture based magic has a somewhat limited range in comparison to other methods of combat magic, such as magically reinforcing projectiles such as bullets (like Ila frequently does) that allow for much greater range and precision.
82	** Kallisto has a specific (indeed an outright unique) variant of this called '''Dragonfire''', which has a different method of application by her dragon breathing out "fire" that can cover a very large area (in contrast to Rupture which explodes from a single point and has limited range) and is ''vastly'' more powerful; Rupture can destroy a room or kill a person, Dragonfire can level a ''battlefield''. Dragonfire is so powerful and fast that even Kor's World soldiers wouldn't survive a hit from it without measures to mitigate it or dodge, and even doing so successfully [[https://pastutopia.com/comic/comic-for-monday-february-5th-2024/ doesn't mean they'll get out of it unscathed]]. The only drawback of Dragonfire is that it seems to require Kally to have summoned her dragon first to be able to use it, [[FridgeLogic despite the fact that technically both the dragon and Dragonfire both come from Kally to begin with]]. Even in-universe there is a lot of debate about how Dragonfire works exactly (Kally, for her part, sees it as "Dragons breath fire, people don't").
83	* SuperToughness: At least one of Mium's abilities include this, if the result of him jumping off the building was the concrete below coming out the loser from the fall is any indication.
84	* TechnicolorEyes: From the start had a broad range of eye colors being common, but still managed to achieve this with the introduction of Mir whose eyes take the usual-unusually colored eyes a step further.
85	* TheBait: There is no other reason for Peter to be using his real name; he can't have expected to [[RealNameAsAnAlias use his real name]] and stay HiddenInPlainSight considering who's looking for him (and we've seen him make fake identities stick with Mium).
86	* ThePlan: Peter certainly has one. That is, well, we hope Peter knows what he's doing because no one else does. But he definitely has one going. We hope.
87	* TomboyishPonytail: Naomi and Mione both have pony tails and tend to fit more into the tomboyish category than others.
88	* WalkingTank: [[spoiler:During the Arpon-Malsa war, Arpon reveals that they've developed these by essentially building a massive set of PoweredArmor with several more Boost Engines attached to them.]]
89	* WallOfText: Many pages can end up like this (or close to it) due to much of the cast being fairly verbose. This is particularly true with conversations with Peter.
90	* WizardingSchool: Levinworth Academy is the MagiTek equivalent of this - hasn't been specified yet if it equates more to magic college or magic highschool.
91	** Probably more a Magic College, seeing that Tyler Weber apparently has his own dwelling [[http://pastutopia.com/?comic=comic-for-monday-october-31st here.]] Even if it's a dormitory room, it's still more indicative of a college student than a high schooler). Okay--MAYBE it's a boarding or prep school type of situation, but signs point to college.
92	*** Considering when [[spoiler: a war rolls around the head of the [[SchoolClubsAreSeriousBusiness afterschool club]]]] gets essentially drafted, probably Magic College.
93	* WorldOfTechnicolorHair: At least half the characters (particularly the younger ones) have non-natural hair colors. It's implied that having non-natural hair colors means being a [[DesignerBabies Designer Child]].

Context Webcomic / TheFarSideofUtopia