Grrl Power #300 – Absolute leverage leads to absolute extortion
A curiously innocuous page 300, considering that 100 was Dabbler’s introduction to Sydney and 200 was the start of the fight. Silly humans and their need to celebrate round numbers.
It would seem that the store might experience a slight uptick in sales in the foreseeable future. This is just the early bird reporters too. (ooh I forgot to draw the people looming outside.) Given the store’s previous history and sales records, it’s possible their inventory will be depleted by the weekend if not sooner.
Not a whole lot else to say about this page really. Oh, the poster on the wall behind Sydney is for the webcomic Superbitch (which actually has a book out, so it makes sense they’d have it in the store) The poster was fairly prominent in the middle panel until I added in the balloons and orbs. I’ve linked it a few times and it lives over in the “Webcomics I Like” block. When Maxima is feeling grumpy she probably goes and kicks around with the title’s main character. They’d probably get on well enough but eventually they’d piss each other off.
Here’s the link to the new comments highlighter for chrome, and the GitHub link which you can use to install on FireFox via Greasemonkey.
SuperheroThey're super, thanks for asking!
Meatspace ComicSeriously these are awesome. Check 'em out!
Not UpdatingNo longer updating or only updates sporadically, but definitely worth reading.
SeriouslySeriously you guys. If you like Grrl Power the check these out.
"Mature"Mature subject matter and occasionally something explicit but usually safe. Can't guarantee the ads are safe though.
Dongs Ahoy!Full frontal and backal. Lots of skin, sex on some or all pages, explicit or otherwise.
so I stopped reading this after like the 6th strip I think, thinking “oh if I wait a while ill be behind and can read multiple at once!” well I forgot about it…until today, when I found it and restarted reading it…and managed to shirk all my duties and get caught up with the comic. I have to say, thank you, and curse you, for making such a GLORIOUS comic, that distracts me enough that I get literally nothing done today that I had planned. (and even taking the effort to iron out as many loop holes as you can in their powers…) so thuck you (I tried combining thank you and f u into one…doesn’t work so well apparently…), thuck you greatly!
“There is no such thing as a new idea” has cropped up a few times in the comments here. Usually quoted by me, admittedly. But I thought it again, when watching a TED video recently. Seeing a guy coming up with an idea for creative thinking. Using a technique which I have practised for about a decade. Mind you, I doubt if I was being original, myself. Ironically enough.
He applies his to toy creating. I used mine for general creative thinking and writing. But, oddly enough, never for super heroes, which is an area that is particularly suited for that. So I have him to thank, for inspiring me to mention it here.
Looking back at it, I guess that, when it comes to role playing games, and computer games, I have always confined my creativity, by letting it be bounded by the system I am playing in. Which is good, in one way, as placing restrictions is one way to help creativity. Finding something which works well within a particular rules structure, or with limited building blocks. But it can also limit the scope of the creativity.
So here is a way to open that up, modified for this genre. If you are interested in creating characters for super hero games or writing purposes, that is. Find yourself a dictionary with a means of randomly selecting a word. Be it flipping through a paper one, or using a digital one, with a “random word” function. Let me know if you find a good one, that does not give you too many duff results.
Wiktionary gives lots of foreign language results. Sometimes that can be ok, but it is not so good if you are trying for concepts that are readily understood by others. Explaining that it was based on some obscure word, in a random language, is not the best for that. But does earn plus points for quirkiness, I guess.
But, however you do it, find a couple of decent words, at random. If one does not inspire you, then just ‘re-roll’. I got one that was depressing,* so did just that. Then see what potential powers can be inspired by those two words. If you can come up with three, then you are onto a winner. Be it primarily involving one, or both, or a combination. Anything more than that, and you also have power stunts, for ongoing development.
The results should not be too literal, or you will come up with some really duff characters, such as the supporting cast on the Tick (eg American Maid, who’s only power is to throw her stiletto shoes). My first use of this technique, for super hero purposes, came up with “Vital Spark” and “Scrappable”. Which really got my creative juices going! I have both a hero and his sidekick in mind, from that.
I hope it might give y’all some fun too.
* It literally had the word “depression” in the definition. And not in a ‘ooh, good, I can opt for emotion controlling powers’ kind of way. The tone was way off for the kind of super I would want.
That’s why I like the GURPS system so much…They got a whole plethora of ways you can come up with your own game, in your own style. If you don’t see something in the system that works quite right with what you have in mind, you can make it up! By finding parts in the system that seem similar to what you want, SJG shows you how to attach or modify game mechanics to fit what you’re looking for.
What’s Halo selling in the 6th frame?
The Strangers in Paradise Omnibus. Which should not be confused with The strange paradoxical omni-legged bus.
AAAAaaaaahhh
My brain is so relieved with this answer.
It was in the hurt of so many cells.
Now I feel relief.
AAAAaaaaahhh
Lol.
She’s selling her winning smile. Obviously.
Oh, no! We have slipped behind, in the voting, on the TWC list. But only by 15 votes, as at writing this.
Please vote. Your vote might be the one which pushes us back into 1st place!
Just voted and we are down by 30, with 3rd place about 100 behind us.
Push it! …Push it real good! doo de doo doo doo doo do do
As a dyed-in-the-wool conservative I don’t think allowing people to walk around with super powers is a particularly “progressive” idea. I think it’s a pretty common-sense idea. In fact, I think it’s a whole lot like allowing people to walk around armed – which is an idea that I and a lot of other conservatives are perfectly fine with, but a lot of progressives would blanch at.
This is especially true in Sydney’s case, because she IS in fact walking around armed, considering the PPO!
Just saying.
It’s progressive in that humans typically have a very tribal mentality. To paraphrase another phrase to describe tribal mentality “if you’re not one of us, we’re against you.” Most people don’t have super powers, and having super powers makes you sufficiently different so as to be ostracized from a group.
Also, you have to remember what the word “conservative” refers to. It refers to political conservatism. The meaning of this is in the root, to conserve. It has to do with conserving old values and traditions, for the sake of conserving them. Conservative means you’re resistant to any kind of change. Perhaps the most conservative group in the US would be the Amish, if not certain groups of Native Americans.
On the other hand, being accepting of change makes you progressive. However, there is a spectrum here. One can be somewhat conservative but also somewhat accepting of change. Only at the extreme is there total resistance to any kind of change. At the other extreme is a total abandonment of everything old.
I for one am what I call a “pragmatic moderate”. I neither embrace nor resist change for the sake of embracing or resisting it. I evaluate the old traditions and ways and the new ways, keep what works, discard what doesn’t. I see absolutely no point in being conserving traditions that no longer apply or are detrimental, and I see no point in embracing change that does not result in a net benefit.
I’m not sure how I would feel about super powers. Guns were at one point known as the “great equalizer”, allowing a physically weak person to stand up to a physically strong person. In that regard they are great for self defense and defense of one’s property, particularly in areas where it might be necessary. Japan is so low in violent crimes and theft that guns are pretty much unnecessary. In America that isn’t the case.
With superpowers, how does a common person defend themselves against a super powered home invader that’s bullets are ineffective against for any number of super powered reasons? Super powers being available only to a small minority of the population would thus create a lot of tribal mentality, and non-superpowered conservatives would likely turn on the supers due to the change, if not simply because their guns are rendered effectively useless against the likes of Sydney, Maxima, Achiles, pretty much anybody in the team except Heatwave, Math, Peggy, or Harem.
Even then, shooting Harem is not advisable, as she can easily take the gun from you after you’ve done so, because even if you instantly kill that one instance of her, she already has a fix on your location and can teleport there easily.
I would argue that by your definition it’s a conservative idea, because it has been established that supers existed long before the press conference and walked around freely, meaning that placing restrictions would be a change and thus progressive.
Ethymological I agree with the definition, sadly that’s not how it’s commonly used and so arguably not defined that way.
storm you said “allowing people to walk around armed – which is an idea that I and a lot of other conservatives are perfectly fine with”. It isn’t “a lot of”, it’s “most” conservatives. In the late 1800’s it was common for people (especially in the west) to go around armed, so they would be conserving an old rule, not progressing to get rid of them (I feel carrying a gun is fine if you pass a background check & a gun safety course). Since people having new powers isn’t something old, accepting them, and the people that have them, is progressive.
Sorry if this has been mentioned to death, but the link to page 100 doesn’t work. it actually goes to page 4. Love the Evil smile, buy the way. :}
Whoops, page 4 was /archives/60 and page 100 was /archives/601, it’s fixed now.
Apparently not as difficult as you’d think, Sydney… :(