Grrl Power #349 – Inverting and abusing
Sydney’s abuse of genre savvy may eventually backfire on her. She could be burning trope karma for all she knows. But this is the beginning of the media circus that will be an important part of all the supers’ lives. Endless invitations to grand openings, clubs, morning news programs, talk shows, cooking programs, whatever. Eventually they’ll be rejecting far more than they’ll be accepting, though most of that will be filtered through Arianna’s staff.
I struggled with Aurelius’s use of the word “demarcation” because I had convinced myself there was a better word to use there. I wanted a word that meant something like demarcation, milestone, achievement or threshold that signifies a quantity which once achieved, tips you into a new category. Those words basically mean what I’m thinking of, but I still feel like there is an actual word that means exactly that, like it’s buzzing around on the tip of my tongue. Demarcation works, but it would be grammatically better if he said “A curious demarcation of wealth.” instead of “for” The word I want to exist would be grammatically better with “of.” It’s weird, even though English is, if not the language with the most words, then certainly a contender, but even in English it’s possible to find these sorts of gaps. I’m not sure if this is one of those times or if I’ve totally blanked on a perfectly cromulent word, but hey, new words get invented all the time.
In Sydney’s mind, the ability to afford an infinity pool means you have crossed from being a fiduciary plebeian into being “rich.” I’m not even sure those are especially expensive (and neither is Sydney) – more so than a regular pool to be certain, but they just feel opulent. That’s probably because while it’s possible to install one in your backyard, they certainly have more impact when attached to a house on a cliff, an ocean front property or a penthouse, so they’re more of an icing on the cake affair.
Sydney grew up in a very middle-to-upper middle class home. Her mom and dad do ok but were generally quite conservative with their money most of the time, to make sure they had enough for an annual summer vacation, to help Sydney with her first car, general planning for the future stuff. Growing up, Sydney was never flush with cash, but had enough to support her hobbies, and now that she’s living on her own she usually has enough to keep up with the usual luxuries but has to scramble whenever a big ticket item comes around like a new console or a trip to ComicCon, but little future proofing. We’ll have to see what having a flush bank account does to her in the coming chapters.
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.
Benchmark, instead of Demarkation
Yeah, benchmark.
Denomination would work too.
Benchmark’s the word I thought of as well
Perhaps the phrase you’re looking for is “phase transition”?
You mean, her “Class Transition Temperature”?
;-)
i say the word we want is signifier; “a strange signifier of wealth”.
i take it to mean a symbol for something, not necessarily grounded in objective reality.
Hmm, that is better than my first thought: benchmark. You’re hired as my personal word finder. One infinity pool annually work for you?
What I think Sidney needs to understand (and which I think Dabbler understands due to her position as “civilian specialist” instead of normal recruit) is the famous “position of f*ck you” and the concept of “f*ck you money”. As beautifully described here (very, very NSFW) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdfeXqHFmPI
Considering Dabbler is a succubus, I’m pretty sure she does understand the “position of f*ck you”. ALL the positions of f*ck you. And probably even some “positions of f*ck you” that aren’t included in the Kama Sutra.
The phrase “Thanos and the Infinity Pool” is now stuck in my head.
Let’s hope Sydney doesn’t make the top 10: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiUpBJVc-Fk
LOVE Halo’s expressions! The one in that last just caps it off! Great artwork and coloring too.
I tried Sydney’s trick at work, crying out that things couldn’t possibly get any better. Sadly, all I got were a few funny looks. :(
I guess I just don’t have any good guy / hero karma built up.
This is still set in 2010 or 2011, isn’t it? Shouldn’t the tickets be to the premiere of Avengers 1? o_O
Or maybe “The Wolverine: The Documentary on a Short Hairy Canadian” (seeing how he is real in their world)
He’s not. The drawing Sydney made of their wedding was a fantasy.
Yes, it is a fantasy, like someone dreaming about marrying Prince Harry, but that doesn’t rule him out as being real in their world
No, I seriously doubt that Sydney’s universe is the same one as the Marvel Comics characters. I mean, every other person in those comics is a mutant with super powers and they are relatively rare here. Besides, wouldn’t Sydney have ended up joining the X-Men or something rather than Archon?
Spoil Sydney’s dream wedding why dontcha :P
Bliss-haven, how about bliss haven? It is two words though.
Congratulations on your patreon DaveB :) 3500$ reached :)
I think DaveB may have stumbled onto a alternative to an old movie quote.
“You keep using that word. It does not mean exactly what you want to say, but is close enough for general conversation.”
See, a much better line. :)
looked at dictionaries, and a word I found is a noun that means a line that when crossed permits of no return and typically results in irrevocable commitment and the word is “Rubicon”
For my end, I think demarcation was perfect. Aurelius seems like he could be someone like my uncle; in that he could use words that are otherwise uncommon for people to vocalize in standard conversation, but do it so naturally that he simply seems to exude higher than average intellect without placing himself above you.
In a weird way you sort of feel smarter for having spoken to them, they’re like the intellectual version of those people that make everyone around them happier.
Agrecian!
Are there possibly ‘better’ words he could have used to sound smarter or more edumecated? Probably, but Goldie picked that one and it works perfectly fine
Generally I think that when you can’t think of the right word for something, it’s just because probably nobody would ever say what you’re trying to make them say. In this case, I think a more fluid response would have been to say something like, “That’s a weird line to draw, but sure,” or something like that, using a metaphor rather than a direct term.
Perhaps epitome is the word you are looking for? “A curious epitome of wealth”.
Epitome means ‘perfect example’ – not any sort of gradient or level or demarcation or benchmark.
Sydney should watch out, before the universe realizes that it’s only supposed to respond to terms like “Can’t possibly get any worse” or “There is no way this could go wrong” and then only in the WORST possible way.
Green Ball power: Trope Fulfillment Reality Warping. Next use dropping an Anvil on an enemy… Oh wait we already did that.
Except she wasn’t holding it (or any other) orb, which so far has been necessary to activate a power.
(Nice try, though).
+1 for the pun.
An Infinity Pool from what I could find out is 40,000 – 80,000 USD. Of course there’s also getting someone to install it properly. Still that’s kind of cool. But I’d personally put my “demarcation of wealth” for ‘personal island’, or ‘luxury submarine’. Still if a minimum wage worker earns 15,080 USD per year, and her first paycheck was more than that [being lame and rounding up to 16k]. That’d be about 7 paychecks till she can pay for everything needed to own an infinity pool. Or about 4 months, not bad.
I seem to be in the minority here, but I like “demarcation”. It has a lot of syllables, which makes it sound edumacated.
Same here
It’s not the standard word most people would use but I think it fits the character.
Delineate…delineation, maybe?
I prefer ‘benchmark’
Or, more importantly, she could afford to get some proper glasses.
CONSIDER THIS STRONGLY.
Is the word you are looking for, ‘indication’?
It sounds good as you have it, but I know the feeling of wanting to get the right word.
Is there a word for that?
Nothing with that meaning no. Perfectionism would incorporate it, but fails to narrow it down to just the search for a word. Yet it is something which we do a lot. We have need for such a word.
You look like just the right kind of person to come up with one. Finding one that people will happily adopt though, and working to spread its usage effectively, those are harder propositions.
I still maintain that I did the joke better:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13503408720A04680100&page=3#59
(At the Tempting Fate bit)
Still a hilarious comic, though.
She can’t have the wormhole, though, until the dude invents it and steals boudior pix from Maxima…
My view of tropes, cliches and stereotypes goes as thus:
“All of these had to come from somewhere, ergo they have some reliable grounds in reality, ergo I am completely morally in the right to use them to further my goals.”
Hahaha. He’s impressed because she’s spazz-adhd crazy. (Good on her for thinking to verify!)
Now someone needs to fanart of Sydney at the premier for Infinity War. I need before and after shots.
I’m betting she didn’t take it well.
Actually, she’s probably mad they didn’t come up with a better plan.
Just wait until she sees Infinity War, it’ll make her scream.
Heh, interesting to see how “infinity pool” and “Avengers 3” (subliminally or otherwise) leads to convergent comments about “Infinity War”.
How about Endgame? Hoo boy.
My plan for managing that kind of wealth would be: Hiring an accountant to do it for me. I’d pay them a bigger cut than you’re supposed to and tell them to focus on the most low-risk and easily movable investments available, never mind if my interests don’t even keep up with inflation. I want my fortune safe and boring, yet available to spend on any fun projects I might come up with. Getting people to draw comics and make videogames for me, building schools, running a self-sufficient community farm boat planted on international water would be high on the list. . .of course, I have more free time on my hands than Sydney.
Actually, it’s hard to imagine someone busy saving the world on a weekly basis would have a lot of use for more money than she can use. In her position I imagine I’d build up a generous pension fund and put the rest towards selected charitable
breast reductionoperations.So I was wondering how did Sydney feel about infinity war.
Just reading back and somehow only just not realized how chill that guy is about everything. He must have watched all the news reports in preparation for this day.
Spider-maaan, Spider-man,
Does whatever a spider can.
Everything’s going dark,
I don’t feel good Mr. Stark….
OH NO! There went the Spider-Man….
wait, does that mean Sydney went to the premier of Infinity War? i feel very sorry for whatever theater she was in.
I just realized – Sydney got invited to the Avengers: Infinitiy War premiere three years before it was released. Talking about working the system, Scoville junior.
With a premiere showing, there is no way in hell that Sydney would have been able to resist spoiling Infinity War to someone.
Ah yes, Avengers 3… That would be Infinity War, if I remember right. Strange how time goes eh?