Grrl Power #434 – Pinvy
As a thoroughly suburban individual, the idea of nice restaurants with apartments above them is foreign to me. It’s common in New York certainly, probably in most urban areas really. I just mention it cause when I googled “restaurant row” for some architectural ideas I was surprised to see a bunch of pictures of 2-5 story apartment buildings instead of what I thought I’d get which was a street with a bunch of stand alone restaurants on it.
I haven’t done much with the team interacting with fans yet, partially because drawing crowd scenes is a pain in the butt, even if they’re mostly implied. But still being famous is part of what superheroes would have to deal with, especially in the Grrl-verse, though really, the Avengers would probably have to deal with that stuff too. They might not get booked on Conan as part of their regular schedule like Arc-SWAT will be, but getting mobbed by idiots wanting to take selfies with them, even if they were in the middle of a fight would be a thing they’d have to deal with.
Sydney should be cold. Everyone else is wearing jackets. That’s just something that happened as I was drawing the page which is why it’s not mentioned in the dialog at all. Not that I don’t do rewrites as I draw the pages, but there wasn’t really any room to mention it. Not that NY never gets warm, but it’s definitely colder than where she came from. Yes Dabbler is wearing a lot less than Sydney, but imagine for a moment that succubi have a fairly high tolerance to the cold, expressly for the purpose of being able to show a lot of skin even when it’s snowing. Not “immune to ice lasers (iaser? iasei?)” tolerant, just relatively comfortable even when skinny dipping in icy water.
Edit: I forgot the lace pattern on Gwen’s dress and also her back tattoo, which I think we last saw on page 88.
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Great societal commentary, if even accidentally. Paparazzi are talking to three of the most powerful people on earth, and they ask about boyfriends.
Of course, I wonder if Dabbler has any effect on it. I doubt it does in this case, as that’s pretty much how media operate. But it does raise a few questions for me. Does even being around her make people think more about that sort of thing? Can she “turn it off” so to speak?
Absolutely. We have several examples of this, including the normally straight Sydney being captivated by Dabbler’s hypnoboobs. When Dabbler clearly was not actively attempting to seduce her. Every part of Succubi has that effect.
She can turn it down, but absorbing tantric energy is vital to her species life support. We can stop eating, but can only sustain that for so long before suffering health consequences. Succubi have similar problems with both food and tantric energy. Although I forget the exact turn of phrase Dabbler used describing it.
But I do recall that Dabber “never goes below a ten”.
That brings up the interesting question: If succubi can control their appetite – is there a succubus equivalent to bulemia? And if there is, what does tantric vomiting feel like to bystanders? Badly written Porno spoofs?
I think that answering your question would require Deep Thought…about a million or two years to figure out.
I wonder what the succubus concept of a ‘food fight’ looks like.
Either a cat fight over who gets whom, or a really rough orgy.
I believe she discussed property damage in the millions at one point…
It also raises the question is a succubus who doesn’t feed on others just a normalbus?
The results of humans exposed to “vomiting” from a tantic overindulgence…
Where else did you think all the cheeseball 70’s porn scripts about paying the pizza guy with “something other than money” or having the plumber stopping by to “clean out the pipes” came from?
If I remember, she can but she’ll“never go below an ten…”
Remember that time Sydney got Ambushed by the Reporters – once at home, onec at the shop?
Look up wich questions she wrote down there to relay to Arianna.
How is this social commentary? They’re celebrities. Finding out who celebrities are romantically invested in sells papers and magazines. They ask many of the questions that people who are interested in these celebrities would, themselves, ask. Female or male, doesn’t matter. Or do you not think Tom Hiddleston has been badgered to death about if he’s got a wife or girlfriend, and if he does, if he’d like another?
Price of fame is the interest of the masses.
Irony /ʌɪrəni/ noun.
For an example of its use, start a comment off with “How is this social commentary?” Then conclude with a social commentary.
If you don’t think this sort of thing being treated as a high priority question is more common with female celebrities, though, you’re living in a fantasy world. Also note the ‘are there pictures’ follow-up to Dabbler’s admittedly saucy reply.
In addition, there’s the nature of their celebrity. Colin Powell didn’t get routinely asked about his romantic involvements–the closest we came to that was questions about how his wife would feel about a possible run for president.
The guys at Archon will get fangirls, and there will be celeb columns that dish about them, but there will be nowhere near the attention (of this nature) paid to Achilles and Math that is going to be directed at even the least conventionally attractive female members.
Yeah, pretty much any way you look at it women are prettier than men and garner more attention for it. They did a study and found that while men are arroused by good looking members of whatever sex they are attracted to, heterosexual women are arroused by attractive members of both sexes even if they’re only interested in doing anything with one or the other. Therefore attractive women are attractive to three out of four sexual orientations while men are only attractive to two. Simple math dictates the press want more hot women than hot men on their pages.
“Paparazzi are talking to…”
Dave comment implies they are just fans.
Hmm, I guess that makes more sense. I saw the flashing lights in the final panel and it just looked like a crowed of photographers. But in second panel they definitely look more like fans.
Rude fans with smartphones
Since they made dabbler dial it down the first time she was introduced I have to assume she can shut off or dial all the way down her sucubus aura, not that she probably ever does turn it all the way off though.
Still wondering what Pixel’s power set is.
Pixel isn’t a super. She’s too small and normally-proportioned. She could be a mage but she could also just be an academic with no practical magical knowledge.
She super cute and looks harmless while carry a big magic artefact gun.
thats my theory.
Agree. IF she does have any powers they’re likely granted by one or more artifacts that she has, much like Halo’s Orbs.
I don’t know. She could have access to hammer space where she stores a giant mecha.
Superintelligence? Or simple, boring experience with/knowledge of artifacts that covers a wider range than Zephan’s. Not everyone has to be powered to be useful.
I think that the key difference between the two is that Zephan is a retired adventurer. Adventurers tend to be focused on results. “Blah blah, ok now that you got past the boring backstory, what do I push to make it zap?”
Whereas Pixel has been called in as the artefact expert. Therefore I would assume she is more of a scholar, than Zephan, given that she is leading the researching of Halo’s orbs.* Albeit that he is older, so probably has a lot more practical experience under his belt.
But, that said, Pixel is a field agent (per her bio), so her speciality is likely to lean towards the applied, rather than the theoretical side.
* Mind you we are privy to Zephanl’s inner thoughts. Which tend towards thinking Halo is a harbinger of the Great Old Ones. So perhaps he is just using Pixel as a “miner’s canary”. If she starts drooling and preying to some dark god, Zephan will get some advance warning. Allowing him to decide whether to unpack his old robes and sacrificial knife or, alternatively, see if he can hitch a ride off the planet!
Zephan’s innner thoughts: and that, as a demonologist, he really should “study” Dabbler more closely…
^_^
Adventurer, ”Blah, blah. How do I zap things with it?”
Scholar, ”Blah, blah. It zaps things, but where did it come from? Who made it? How does it work? May I take it apart?”
+1
Is Pixel even human?
Gasp!
Maybe Pixel is a Space Invader?
Maybe Pixel is a reference to a horrible Adam Sandler movie?
There is no such movie. None of us have heard of it and neither have you. There is nothing to see here, move along.
I actually liked it. I mean, it is what it is, but who goes in expecting more?
Zack Tilly, it was a great movie about aliens using rilly rilly old computer games to take over the world and a forgotten almost-champion being the only one with the knowledge and skill with the games to defeat them (it even had Peter Dinklage in it)
Not really sure what more you were expecting from it (maybe you weren’t around in the 80’s to understand the nostalgia)
I liked it too. I thought it was actually pretty good for an Adam Sandler movie. Generally I’m not a fan of his work.
Isn’t that the exact plot to a futurama episode? I didn’t actually see the movie so I dunno but,….
Futurama Did It
The moral of the story of Southpark, Season 6 Episode 7 (aka “the Simpsons did it”).
That is how little “X did it” is a argument.
They spent a zillion dollars to replicate an old Futurama episode, only not as good.
I think she’s a Hobbit. Note the lack of shoes when she first shows up.
Homo floresiensis, or the New Zealand variety?
Tolkiensis Homominimus
Lollipoppita Guildicus?
Nah that would be Lucas.
Going by her code name, I’m guessing she’s super tech savy.
Like Dave Davenport from ‘Natbonic’ (pre-mad, not post).
Slumming from the future, where we know Pixel’s power set –
Hee hee hee heehee heeheehee hee hee eeeheheeeheeheeeeeheehehee
Why was she asking Maxima? Didnt she sign a number of things at her shop the first morning?
Presumably, she was signing them “Sydney Scoville, Jr.” since she’s now making up a new “The Mighty Halo” signature.
Actually Sydney was signing autographs “The Mighty Halo” in the comic shop. You can see it just before she draws on that girls face… at “no extra charge”
Oops, Wrong reference. Corrected: “The Mighty Halo”
I think it’d look good to work that long line from when she was spooked into her sig as standard.
He he.
The distinction (per a reply by Dave, on an earlier comment, probably on the previous comment page) is that the fan in the comic shop specifically asked for it to be signed by “the Mightay Halo”. Whereas here they are just asking for her autograph. So this time she actually needed to ask the question above.
Welcome to the packed EU old world/ USA north east urban planning (or lack there of). Population density is high enough that ground space is at a premium, so ya stack living space on top of retail space. Sometimes even light industrial space.
You’re not living the northeast experience until the city half-builds a highway through your backyard. The rest will be completed around mid-2072.
Or puts a subway tunnel under your basement
“The railroad runs in the middle of the house…”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4BYdTrkWoo
^_^
As a city planning/engineer student I have to object. It’s seriously unsustainable to spread everything out. Having people live close to where they shop or work or otherwise spend their time they won’t need to travel as far. This is likely a requirement for a city to gain more space in the streets (due to a lesser need of cars) and less time spent travelling (due to vicinity), and all the good stuff following from these gains. The dependancy of cars is a serious problem for cities though, and how to make them less needed, less used, less owned, is a great challenge that needs to be addressed.
My brother is a great fan of making cities one giant building. That way there is no need for a car, everything you need is in the same building.
Or so goes his theory. No mention of where the tree museum goes though.
Does anyone else think Pixel looks really cute?
Yes, yes she does
A great man of us do. Of course, I’m pretty sure you could say that about any of the various ARC-team members and get at least a few hits.
I cannot answer. Other than to confirm a prior reader’s comment that she does look a bit Oompa Loompaish. However Dave has, separately, indicated that he has been experimenting with the [insert technical term about colour] on this page. Hence why someone else was commenting that Maxima looked more bronze than gold.
So cute
She’s adorable
Panel 2 Maxima…why I have an enduring crush on her.
Sydney might actually be surprised the number of men that would think she’s the prettiest of the three up there. She doesn’t have a bodacious figure, but she cute and trim and that means more to some.
OK, not *me* but some… :)
Sydney’s got a lot more going for her than she thinks she does. She could turn heads with surprisingly little difficulty but without going too in depth, she’s in the loop of “I’m not good looking, so there’s no point trying to look good.”
Ironically, she and Kenya probably have a lot more in common about body image issues than might seem apparent (or even likely) from appearances alone.
Some like me for example.
Dabbler’s skinlines changed from green to pink. I wonder if she fill up (or drain?) her reservoir in the offtime like Vehemence? That girlfriend must have provided quite a boost it seems.
Ah it might be just the glamour.
Or street lights…
Dave has been tweaking the colour on the whole page, so I would not read Dabbler’s change as being anything significant, on its own.
You know, I really hope that the comic goes on to show just how famous Sydney is and how she copes with it – or not. Would also like to see the Air Sydney Life-support Bubble-couch. :)
I’ve also been pondering her skill tree, and I think I’ve found a correlation. When Sydney is testing her top speed, we see four five-segmented circles on the flight ball, with one segment permanently occupied, which matches the line of four filled-in/one empty on the flight-ball skill tree. I think that’s the max speed track, with the one above it acceleration. The one above that? IDK.
Speculation: Once she’s filled all five of the max speed track, the lower one that’s hanging off it is for [I]interstellar[/I] flight.
That speed scale’s a bit weird. Mach 1 is 761mph and her top speed is mach 4 or 3,045mph.
250mph was 3/4 of the first circle.
In between 250 and 761 is 4/4 of No. 1, 2/4 of No. 2. There’s wriggle room as Maxima and Sydney could have accelerated to 500-600mph whilst talking, but…
Just before mach 1 fills in all of No.2 and the first segment of No. 3, leaving 4more to cover all of the ticks to Mach 4. I don’t get the scale used.
Nice find. Interstellar flight with limited airsource seems quite a dare! :D
I think the creators might have wanted the measurement to be more precise at slow speeds. If you’re fast OTOH, a ballpark estimate should be enough. So it’s probably some logarithmic scale or something.
No mach number has a fixed speed. Although I guess that you are quoting one that is “at sea level and some arbitrarily average temperature”. This is due to the speed that a given mach number turns out to be will vary depending on the temperature and atmospheric density.
It is a very technical term that high-speed pilots (namely fighter pilots and those who need to counter or support them) are comfortably familiar with (and weird aviation fan geeks). Which entertainment media and us, the general public,* tend to use out of context.
* Which I include myself in, despite several decades of experience, working in support of the aviation sector.
Crap got the links wrong.
Skill tree: https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1166
Flight speed: https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1852
Arianna needs to teach Sydney how to answer personal questions in ways that won’t make her cringe watching it later.
At no point does Sydney make me want to cringe. And I would do so if I thought she might feel that way herself, later. Call it an overdose of sensitivity.
Rather I just feel the urge to hug her. Several times, over the course of the page.
This is not an unusual sensation for me.
Sidney needs to WANT to learn what Arianna has to teach. An embarrassing interview or two would do the trick.
Is the cloth in Gwen’s hair just decorative or is it based on something specific? It kind of looks like a Hasidic prayer shawl.
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Qk022TDBGNs/U6mdKO0QV5I/AAAAAAAABng/gdm069kgXDA/s1600/Isidor+Kaufmann+%28+1853,+Arad+in+Hungary,+now+Romania-+1921%29+.+Rabbi+with+prayer+shawl.jpg
No just a… I don’t know what to call it. Towel? Kleenex? I mean it’s not either of those but it’s a silk thing roughly the size of a hanky she uses to tie up her hair.
Similar to rollers?
Doily?
a bandanna? I use one to keep my hair clean and out of the way when doing heavy cleaning, but mine is just a cotton or cotton-ploy blend, not silk.
In our house anything used to tie/hold back hair is collectively known as “a hair goobie” no matter whether its a bandanna, hair band, clip, whatever. =)
Kerchief?
Scarf?
Well, according to the SRD, succubi have cold resistance 10.
Which according to the DnD 3.5 suppliment Frostfall makes them immune to any natural cold.
Impressed that no one (yet) has (had) mentioned how much DaveB has improved when drawing Dabbles’ primary assets (the frontal globes)
With everything else to look at, I am surprised that what I noticed is how well her hands are depicted. Hands are very hard to draw realistically. (Even harder, considering the originals only have 4 fingers)
I am so hoping for an inviso butt grab in the planning here. Dabbler knows that Maxima can’t react to it in public.
Yeah, but Dabbles wouldn’t do something like that in public like they are right now, she likes to tease but believe she knows what the limit is
“Coldness Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Ice” aka. “CASEI”?
– Spelled as “Casey”, for those who like to introduce their enemies to their “little friends”
“Heat Neutralization by Tremendous Emissions of Ice” aka. “HeNTEI”?
– For those who like to introduce their “little friends” into their enemies
“Quantum Movement Reduction By Stimulated Emission of Cooled Dihydrogenmonoxid” aka. QMoRSECD?
– For those who put extra spikes on their weapons for no particular reason
This was meant as a reply to Dave’s discussion of the ice laser naming conundrum.
Funny what a badly written website will do when you deactivate javascript.
I enjoy the backgrounds on this page and the reflections in the windows a great deal. And that was before you called it to my attention with the mini-comic. Nice work, DaveB.
Gwen has something interesting between her shoulder blades. The central motif is clearly a red rose. The background I am less sure of, as it seems to be stylized. Possibly a web, or a (rather dead/deadly looking) thorny bush, or some kind of mystical sigil.
What I am even more unsure of is if this is a tatoo, part of her dress* or some kind of spell that has been painted on as a sigil?
* If it is this then it explains what the background is, just the bits taht connect to her dress-straps in an interesting, but possibly meaningless, pattern.
Aha, Dave has supplied my answers, via an edit to his blog. Which may have been there before I even asked the question.
DaveB I can visualise the scene (when Gwen was asked to check out the orbs initially) but it is not on #88. Nor #188, or #118. My search fu rolled a critical failure.
Use the titles, they are pretty memorable. In the scene you mentioned Gwen checked the tubey kinda X-Rays, and the title joked on that: “She used this spell to scan a hotdog once. Once”.
According Archives that’s page 80: https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/428
Well done. Your google fu is masterful.
Not even Google, just Ctrl-F on the Archives page.
Shhh, a master never reveals their secret >_>
Sydney, for a good large silenced percentage of us, you are far more attractive than either of them.
…ok, so if it’s in-person I’d prefer Dabbler. But that’s just because Dabbler.
Quite seriously, not counting the succubus effect, I’m far more attracted to Sydney than Dabbler.
Attracted in what way?
Who is this ‘us’ you speak of? On purely physical appearance, Dabbler takes the cake between the three of them. Then Maxima. Then Sydney. Ranking Sydney above any of the supers is a purely personal thing, because they are apparently genetically designed to hold to the concept of idealized beauty.
What I feel you might be referring to isn’t looks but other factors that can turn people off of Dabbler and Maxima as prospective partners for any length of time. The fact that Maxima’s a bit of a feminazi and physically imposing enough that the average reader would feel ashamed of themselves next to her. Dabbler’s sheer experience can be off-putting especially for sensitive types who feel they need to be just as good for their partner.
Some people look at the face first. And if they like the ‘girl next door’ look, Sydney is definitely more their type. Max has a strong/ harsh look, Dabbler has exotic good looks that are offputting to some. Considering JUST their faces, I can easily see Sydney attracting more men. She is also the most approachable, being neither angry/ exasperated looking or ‘out of my league’ looking.
Who is this ‘us’ you speak of?
Me, and at least five others, who have spoken up, so far, in response to this page. Let alone the silent majority* already mentioned.
* Who will be a majority, when compared to the lesser number who make a comment. Albeit that we may be in a minority, if compared to people with other tastes.
Who said majority? I just said percentage. I’m not stupid enough to claim it’s most people.
And sorry for the lack-of-meds-fueled attack on you when you were in fact defending me.
Think nothing of it.
*wags tail languidly*
looks ascue at yorp I recently was told dogs only pretend to like tummy rubs since people like giving them. is it true? or can I use one to applaud this convo?
Whoever told you that is deluded!
Jack Russells are very clever (second only to English sheep dogs). Buffy is entirely capable of telling exactly what she wants, in such a way that even my slow wits can follow. One of which is “OK, servant, I am bored with your attention now” (turning her head away and going limp). Any further, unwanted, attention will make her get up and move away, out of arms reach.
This however does not mean that any tummy rubbing is allowed to stop! Should that happen, before Buffy is satisfied, she will say “Servant you are not attending to my needs” (a quiet, short, sniff). Failure to continue tummy rubbing will result in a severe reprimand. “Servant, you must rub my tummy!” (poking her cold nose into whatever exposed bit of flesh she can reach).
Any other activity, when in this mood, (including stroking or head petting) will only be tolerated very briefly. Then will get a sniff, head turning and going limp. “Get it right or I will start looking for a less stupid servant!”
Of course Buffy knows that humans like giving tummy rubs, too. She manipulates this very cunningly. If she wants something, she will offer a tummy rub by assuming her meerkat pose. “Servant, you may rub my tummy now.” Usually this is all she wants. But if not, this is only maintained until she is able to then convince you to meet her other needs. Perhaps via staring at her food bowl, or any other nearby snack, whilst maintaining the pose.
If however you are too dumb to take the hint, she will withdraw tummy rubbing privileges, by moving out of arms reach, and start issuing her demands in a more direct fashion. “Servant, I require food.” (standing next to her food bowl and sniffing). I have had tummy blackmail used on me a number of times. It is probably this behaviour that your source is fixated on, without realising the other aspect too.
Needless to say I love tummy rubs!
*assumes meerkat pose*
Those factors that you think may be turn-offs for me — Maxima’s physical imposingness, Dabbler’s sexual experience that far outstrips not only mine but the entire combined population of the planet — they’re huge turn-ons.
I love a woman that can dominate me, and I don’t need (or necessarily want) to be the best lay a woman’s ever had, though I’m damn well going to try to be a good one. That lack of desire to be the best (or only) partner a woman’s had also frees me to look forward to the experience and teaching a woman that’s had a superior partner can provide. (Hell, it potentially makes ME a better lover than I would be otherwise.)
Did she enjoy having sex with me? Did I enjoy having sex with her? Both answers yes? Good. That’s all I need. (Also applicable when switching out the gendered pronouns, but I’m still more attracted to women than men.)
HA! Once it leaks out that Max is a big, ol’ nerd, her sex appeal to our types will sky-rocket.
I’m digging the Overwatch poster in the background.
Ahh, so that is what is on the building in panel 2. The logo has not permeated my consciousness yet. Although I have seen the compiled trailers. Which were suitably entertaining.
Mind you now that I do actually have a PC specced for gaming (albeit not at the top end),it is actually worth my while to ask what folks think of Overwatch?
I have a laptop that is decent, but not specced for gaming (though it has a dedicated graphics card). It runs the game as well as my internet will allow.
Everyone I speak to really enjoys the game. I find it much easier to get into than other games of similar nature, and the story behind it is compelling. As always, games of this nature are best when played with friends, but I only play with one and only sometimes, yet I still enjoy the game. I suck at competitive games in general, but at least I can contribute in this one, and I’m improving.
I’m liking it (and my desktop is in need of replacement for gaming purposes).
Sometimes I play well, sometimes I don’t, but I usually feel I can make some sort of difference, even if it’s drawing off half their team to come kill me which lets my team break their defensive line (D.Va on the point!).
And I normally hate fps stuff as my twitch sucks, but I have enough hero options I can manage (I ‘main’ Junkrat and Reinheardt).
Ha, I know how you feel.
While they are in New York Sydney needs to ask the city leaders if next New Year’s eve they would like to do a Bubble drop instead of a ball drop. Sydney could even have a celebrity guest or two in there with her for the occasion.
He he!
Adrianna would approve.
Hmmmm, so I saw one of the reporters called dabbler a slut, which made me cringe thanks to reading this earlier.
https://vanheist.deviantart.com/art/Steal-My-Sunshine-379202714
Where its the whole thing of taking what makes her special and beautiful and taking it from her, like in the comic I linked.
But then I have to wonder does she care? Does she like it? Or does it still hurt?
Sorry for the depressing comment, just thought it deserved thought.
Her entire culture is build around sex. So I doubt some stinking human calling her out for having lots of sex would bother her
Maybe, but it could be like someone calling you a fatty because your entire culture is based around eating, while they do it a lot less.
No, I disagree. Dabbler’s culture isn’t just based around sex, it actually encourages and praises sexuality to a great degree, and to a succubus having a strong sexual appetite likely is actually culturally desirable. The reporter almost certainly meant ‘slut’ as an insult, but Dabbler is secure enough in herself to not give much of a damn at all (except maybe as a cue to tease that reporter more).
To work within your simile, it’d be more like someone calling a person a ‘fatty’ when their culture prizes girth. Fatness would be a compliment to that culture. (There are health implications, but anorexia is just as unhealthy as obesity, so…)
Tl;dr: don’t assume that the cultural values that an insult is based on applies to other cultures.
I know for a fact that “fatty” in china isn’t necessarily an insult.
Or in Japan, for that matter. One college professor that I know, briefly taught in Japan (about 4 or 5 years, as part of an exchange program, IIRC), and he put on a few pounds while he was there. Sure enough, his students started commenting that “you’ve gotten fatter”.
At first he thought they were insulting him… but then a colleague explained that they were congratulating him. They thought that the reason for his weight gain was because he had secretly gotten married to a good cook!
So, yeah, like a lot of other commenters have already pointed out, it probably isn’t wise to make assumptions about what another culture would consider an insult or a complement. Even if Dabbler is aware that the ‘slut’ comment was intended to be an insult, I doubt she would take it as such.
Speaking of the word ‘slut’, before I forget, I’d also like to point out that I’ve been called a ‘slut’ before, by both homosexuals and heterosexuals, because I’m bisexual. Something about swinging both ways turns you into a slut or a traitor. Anyway, Dabbler pointed out that she ‘had a boyfriend the other night, then last night I had a girlfriend’… so it could be that. (Probably not, but it could be.)
If it makes you feel any better, I was told, by somebody in the LGBT community that “bi is just something that gay guys say to avoid attention and straight girls call themselvese to get attention.” Appairently, we are all lying. That is why I never got involved in my local community.
My oldest friend once told me “Just forget your fascination with lesbians. They do not become bi. They are either one or the other. Thinking otherwise is just wishful thinking.”
He was told this by a lesbian friend of his. A little while later, she became his girlfriend!
Some things just aren’t worth getting your knickers in a knot over. It doesn’t solve anything, and it just makes you walk funny. So on the few (fortunately, very few) occasions when I’ve been called a “slut”, my response was “meh, whatever.”
Or, as I told someone afterwards: “If I actually acted like I cared about being called a slut, it might send the wrong message. It might make them believe that I thought their opinion actually matters… which it doesn’t.”
One of my friends is annoyingly most definitely bi. Every few weeks she is mooning over some new significant other of one gender or the other. There is no doubt in the mind of anyone who knows her that she is truly bi-sexual.
Dabbler loves teasing Maxima, for her prudishness, so she is clearly fairly aware of the difference between human and succubus culture, in that regard. Plus has experience in dealing with other races. And is clever to boot, so I think she would be able to tell that it is not intended to be complimentary.
Not forgetting that if she is unfamiliar with the meaning of the word, she can look it up online, immediately, via her cybernetics.
Personally if I know that someone is attempting an insult I do find it irritating. Of course if what they say has no actual meaning, then it does change things. But mainly because you can use a witty comeback. This will amuse yourself and make you feel that you came out the better, in the exchange.
A couple of years ago, I was in the UK on holiday, and a white van was passing slowly, because of congestion. The passenger leaned out of the window and shouted “get a job”. Which I guess was his commentary on the fact that I have long hair.
Fortunately I got my come-back in quickly enough, that he heard it. “Actually I have two, one of which is as the managing director of a property management company!” Which made his eyes bulge and shut him up.
Sadly he was probably out of earshot when I added “Mind you its only purpose is to manage my mansion, so unfortunately it is not for profit.” Thus I probably left him with the false impression that I made money from that job. Which made me unhappy. Like these comments, real life has no edit dialogue feature.
Then I realised that it would just make me sound like I was bragging even more. Which made me feel it was probably for the best that they had moved on. It is not like it takes much to own property in Bulgaria, and mine is only a large house in the traditional mansion style. Very picturesque, but only just scraping through on the definition of a mansion. And not at all like the typical English country gent’s mansion.
So, witty retort or not you still end up going retrospective and glum that someone was trying to hurt your feelings, for their own schadenfreude.
*curls up into a ball, and stares gloomily at the wall*
*places a bowl of fresh Yorpie Snacks nearby*
Ooh, who cares about random, unkind, strangers, when you hang with a friendly, caring, community!
*munch munch, gobble gobble*
Fank u.
*tail wagging, eyes tearing up*
No Prob
BobYorp :Dcalling her a slut is about like calling many top I.T. guys ‘nerds’, to which the proper response is “why yes I am, thank you.”
What in one culture is an insult, in another, can be an extream compliment, or just a neutral statement of fact.
You.Say.that.with.PRIDE!
Slut would essentially be a compliment for Dabbler. Because there’s no sexual taboo like there is on humans. It’s a part of their daily life, as much as entertainment and eating is for us. “The difference between a slut and a whore is that the whore is getting paid to do a job, and the slut is just having fun.”
Also, while its connotations are rarely ever pleasant, calling someone a slut doesn’t have all that you linked attached to it. In this day and age it’s too easy to read something someone cooked up in their head and go “Wow this sounds right and more intelligently put than I could have done something similar. I accept this as true.” without considering things for yourself. It’s part of why the SJWs have so much blasted traction, the lack of individual thought.
Remember, it’s easy to make up your own meanings and attach them to words. If it’s easy for you to do that, it’s easy for others to do that. Don’t let other people define your vocabulary and redefine words to suit their own shortcomings and agendas.
I assume it was a member of the crowd, rather than a reporter. But, either way, there is always the option of this retort.
Sydney is still the sexiest of them, though Pixel may come close.
You know, there’s probably enough of a fan base that if dave asked for pictures of random hand positions or buildings he’d have to set up another site to act as an archive for the donations. stuff like “I need a picture of someone sitting backwards in a chair wearing a cowboy hat, holding a cake mixer in their left hand like a scepter” would probably not have that many stock images floating around.
Will we get to that dinner date and maybe a plausible explanation of Halo’s orbs?
I think that will have an arc to itself. This one seems to be going in a different direction, to the Florida Keys.
The latter are probably in the general vicinity of the actual origin (from the point of view of Sydney gaining possession of them, as opposed to indicating their place of creation).
On the subject of the “idealized human form”.
Whose ideal? I mean, possibly Dave’s, but is it possible that in this ‘verse, if you genetically acquire super powers, you change to your own personal vision of the ideal form? This might explain the difference in build between Harem and Anvil to an extent (I am sure Anvil… somehow works out and eats to build muscle as well, but is she fighting her super genes to do so?)
If someone was a BBW at heart, would they retain (or acquire) such a form after genetically manifesting super powers?
And… it’s a touchy subject, but… could such a manifestation result in a gender flip or shift in apparent racial/ethnic appearance?
Or is it more of an objective medical thing, where your BMI (for instance) struggles toward an ideal, regardless of your food and exercise habits?
Of course, none of this really applies to our three main characters here.
Maxima is further modified by alien tech, Sydney is a baseline human (probably) and Dabbler is basing her looks off of what arouses people the most (or what arouses most people).
El Goonish Shive is permanently listed in the sidebar linking to Dave’s favourite webcomics. So it is not inconceivable.
That would not fit in with the ethos of this comic, so no. Although it could be used to explore, for example, an individual who identifies as a different race. But I do not think it would be a good place for the comic to go.
Although I liked the suggestion, recently, that the supers powers are drawn from the individual’s own sub-consciousness, my actual reading of the setting is that the super look from the culture, as a whole. So a Masai super-hero would be even taller than Anvil, for example. Culturally they favour tall indivisuals, so I feel sure that this would express itself in the looks that the hero gains.
However they would not have Anvil’s muscular physique, because that is not part of the Masai image. Their warriors are tall, but slender. So whilst they would get the usual free fit body, that all supers do, I think they would be more athletic, but not as strong, as an average American hero.
Whilst rare individuals might desire to swap their race, it certainly would not be a culture-wide phenomenon. I feel safe to say that most people just view this as being weird.* So it would not make sense for that to happen if it is being influenced by the collective consciousness of a society.
* We can rationalise how it happens. And sympathise with the individuals it affects. Plus condemn social pressures which can contribute to the rare phenomenon. But I do not think that the majority of people, from any race or culture, would think this is healthy.
That’s an interesting hypothesis, because it might influence how supers look as a function of the era of their manifestation as well. A super from the era of Marilyn Monroe and (fit) Marlon Brando might look different from a super from the era of Twiggy.and (slim) Elvis.
I just thought of a mathematical angle too. People identifying as a different race* is very rare. As are supers, in this setting. So the odds would be astonishingly small that one would end up as a super, by purely random means.
Although we could visualise what might happen, if somebody eccentric, rich and influential had access to a skilled mad scientist.
* Note that this is distinct from finding them attractive.
When I was studying fashion illustration, one of the professors once said, that until they are trained out of it, people tend to draw either their self-image or their ideal self. Everybody pulled out their drawings and, sure enough–
Interestingly, one of my friends used to draw her female figures as short and squat (self image; she was quite petite and slender as well) but her male figures as exaggeratedly tall and thin (ideal; her eventual husband fit that mold in a more human fashion).
I used to draw idealized, but now tend to self-image (when I’m not getting bogged down in technique–never ask the centipede which foot he puts forward, especially when you’re the centipede).
It is probably more related to supers being in peak human health and fitness.
Peak fitness just happens to be the current media beauty ideal these days (not that long ago, it was actually being a little fat, since that meant you could afford more food and didn’t have to work hard).
So I doubt a super would become BBW
Also note that woman with bigger breasts (within reason) are also evolutionary stronger. Bigger breasts indicates that the owner is strong enough to support such big lumps of fat and still thrive.
So I’d say that the ‘idealized form’ is based on genetics.
No, the ‘idealized form’ is based on societal expectations, so don’t be surprised if Japan has more than one “E. Honda” and Russia a few “Borisina’s” (women who could bench press Hiro)
Wouldn’t worry about other characters wearing jackets–that’s just ridiculously common in a lot of works, regardless of apparent weather. Especially in cop shows–though at least in that case they might be wearing them to hide the shoulder holsters.
Think about it, how often do you see Lennie Briscoe or Colombo lose the trench coat? Buffy wore one a leather jacket year round while patrolling Sunnydale, and Kate Beckett wears one almost every episode. The list could go on for several pages.
Why do I notice this? Because I live in an area that’s an icebox for a big chunk of the year, which makes everybody sick of coats by spring, so people wearing them year round just looks weird.
Anyway, point is the “jacket as a fashion statement” thing is almost a trope in itself, and may not indicate that it’s actually cold in this scene.
In a supers game a friend of mine runs from time to time, the team uniform is a bomber jacket with the team logo patch on the left shoulder and the individual hero’s logo patch on the right, and the words “Federal Marshals” across the bank. We can have our own individual costume we can wear underneath the jacket if we wish, but that costume came out of our own pockets.
Pretty sure the GM liked the movies “The Fugitive” and “U.S. Marshals” a whole bunch.
It reminds me of watching a Clint Eastwood movie, at the cinema, in the UK. In it he played a member of the Secret Service, who was a former bodyguard to the President.
In it there was a scene where the agents were gathered at the airport, awaiting for the passengers to disembark. It was set up as a fairly sombre moment, given that they were on the lookout for potential assassins. I do not know how it played to American audiences. But in that cinema, everybody was howling in laughter…
All of the agents had “SECRET SERVICE” emblazoned across the backs of their jackets, in luminous yellow writing!
*chuckles*
Well, to be fair, they probably had to do that. The movie studio needs their “secret service agents” to be instantly recognizable by the audience. At the same time, they can not look too much like REAL secret service agents, or someone might get the bright idea of duplicating what they saw in the movie to try to get close to the President.
Same thing applies to any other federal agency. Take Mulder and Scully in the X-Files. To the average TV viewer, their FBI badges look real enough for suspension of disbelief, but any real FBI agent (or anyone who’s had the chance to examine a real FBI badge at close range) would be able to see the differences.
For example, for at least the first few episodes, the badges seen in the introduction said “Federal Bureau of Justice, Department of Investigation”. The official title of the organization is the “Federal Bureau of Investigation” (which is, of course, part of the Department of Justice). I can only assume that Chris Carter and the rest of the creators were afraid that someone might try to make fake FBI credentials from the opening stills, or that some day they would want to sell copies of Mulder and Scully’s credentials, and needed the organization’s name to be fictitious.
A similar story with military-based shows such as JAG (and, presumably, movies as well). As I understand it, the uniforms worn there are ***approximately*** accurate, but always contain certain flaws or inaccuracies that someone with proper expertise / training can easily spot. Would seem plausible that something similar goes on with police uniforms as well.
Exactly. As I’ve heard, it is literally illegal to replicate a police or military uniform as a costume, whether for amateur civilian use or professional media production, specifically because of the risk of abuse of such likenesses.
The loophole to this is that they can look fully-accurate to the untrained eye, but must contain errors or alterations that would be obvious to legitimate personnel.
Thusly, you get cop uniforms with modified/misplaced patches, military dress-formal with added/missing/made-up medals, etc.
This is most certainly not true.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schacht_v._United_States
Thank you kindly, your most splendiferous imperial majesty. I have always argued for accurate portrayals in film and TV. There is no need to take individuals, spotting such flaws, out of the moment.
*bows*
All due precautions need to be taken to avoid the props from falling into the wrong hands mind you. Barring that though, I do not feel that the merits, of the prior arguments, outweigh the importance of letting the public identify such uniforms (or identification badges) correctly.
Your average member of the public, blearily answering their front door, in the early hours of the morning needs to be able to judge if the cop in front of him, and the badge, seem real. Many folks will only have TV and film portrayals to go on.
Personally I used to watch “The Bill” a lot, in its early days. It was a production which went to lengths to ensure that they portrayed scenes authentically. For example always turning on the tape, in a formal interview, and making a suitable preamble saying the date, time, who is present etc.
Thus I would expect that the uniforms and IDs be accurate likewise. Had I, at that time, been stopped by a cop, and had a need to confirm they were not bogus, I would have had to rely on that knowledge.
Criminals, on the other hand, if forging documents or uniforms, can look them up very easily. Uniformed services make such readily available, to the public, for the very reason that the public need to know what the genuine article looks like!
Legal protections instead focus on punishing the perpetrators who make such copies for illegal use, the use of same and the misuse of the legitimate ones.
I can remember various Avengers and possibly the Defenders being on Late Night with David Letterman at times…
What about the issue of Marvel Team-Up in which Spiderman fought alongside the ‘Saturday Night Live’ people?
^_^
Ooh, I don’t think I ever saw that one–do you know approximately when that was?
https://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Marvel_Team-Up_Vol_1_74
It had Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray in it? Wow.
*singing*
Spider Man, Spider Man,
if there’s something strange,
in you neighborhood,
who you gonna call?
Ghostbusters!
Spider Man, Spider Man,
if there’s something weird,
and it don’t look good,
who you gonna call?
Ghostbusters!
Sydney’s fan just proved to be a real one.
When she said changing it might be worthless, the response was “That’s ok”
+1
Although the words “extra valuable” and realising that this will be the first ever signature of “The Mightay Halo” would get any investor drooling.* That is a document of historical importance.
But her tone of voice carried genuine sincerity, so I agree with you despite that.
* No “The Might__________________” does not count! If it isn’t completed, it is a failed attempt.
DaveB all the hard work you did on this page paid dividends. It is a masterful work. I find it staggering that you can complete such complex and detailed pages twice weekly.
If you are looking for constructive criticism, regarding the change in colouring, I feel it has worked extremely well. It suited these backgrounds well, and all of the characters look good with it. Barring, sad to say, Maxima and Pixel. I much prefer her shiny and gold. Whilst her outfit looks great, Max herself has lost her lustre.
Pixel, on the other paw, looks like she should sue the manufacturers of her “Tan in a Bottle”. They obviously made a duff batch!
Personally felt the subdued colours was because it was at night, and outside
Also personally don’t feel there is anything wrong with Pixel’s colouring, she is the only ‘Caucasian’ character that doesn’t look like an albino
Oh I know what you mean. I was born and bred in South Africa. During a seven year heat-wave, to boot. I was a properly brown sun-tanned pup. And well understood why ex-pat British people were called “rooinek”, which literally translated as “red neck”.
Which fortunately I did not end up getting called myself. Thanks to looking and sounding like an Afrikaner. Not to mention identifying as a South African.* Rooineks were foreigners!
So it is fairly surprising how pale most of the cast are, given that Dave is a Texan. Not that I mind. Sydney is sun-phobic, so would look weird tanned.
But do compare Pixel’s look above, to when we first saw her. Somewhat paler, granted. However still tanned. More importantly though (and purely in my opinion, so no problems if you disagree), that looks like a natural, healthy, tan. I am perfectly happy with darkening that up. However, it is the slightly** orange tinge , that makes the above seem artificial.
* I can remember being in a toy shop and picking out the soldiers I liked the look of the most. Which were Confederate American troops. Although my knowledge of world history was pretty much non-existent, at that point. Beyond the fact that I knew that the Nazis were bad guys, so I had already picked them as “the enemy”.
My mum asked me “don’t these look better?” Picking out some Red uniformed soldiers. “No way. Who would wear red? You would stand out a mile away!” There were no South African troops, so I guess it was ironic that I chose Southern soldiers, of some sort.
* I could well just be over-fussy here. Mine is just the voice of an artistically untrained member of the public. As proven by the fact that I would quite happily flag half of the Tate Modern’s art as “for incineration”.**
** If I were the only person under consideration, anyhow. Sadly my philosophy requires that I respect the (really weird) tastes of others. So
would not incinerate a single onewould only incinerate any unmade beds by Tracey Emin.****** Although, prior to any work being displayed to the public, I would insist that a cleaning lady be allowed to tidy up first. If she puts it in the bin, it is fine to incinerate it. And for each formaldehyde shark, or unmade bed, that gets burnt, I will subsequently give her a medal!
May just be a case of different screen resolutions, but can’t really see much of a difference between Pixie on this page and page #429
If so, maybe it is like that dress and is just an optical illusion, created by the background? Where different people see the same image differently. Because it does look disparate to me. But today’s background is very different, so could explain that.
Sorry about having been in a long rambly post mood yesterday. The self-editing part of my brain shut down.
Nothing to apologise for :D
You have good eyes. They do look different to me, so I did the software equivalent of “hole on a paper” to compare them suppressing the background, and… they are pretty much identical. Dave must have used the same palette, who would have guessed?
Yeah, you are a suburbanite. Even in San Francisco, which at less than 800K people is one of the smallest cities in the country, restaurants typically have living space above them. As for example, this view of Clement St (pronounced “cle-MENT”, not “CLEM-ent”, thank you!) at Third Ave:
https://tinyurl.com/z9y68x9
Granted, in S.F. the buildings tend to be two- or three-story Victorians instead of whatever New York’s got, but hey. 8-)
On a maybe unrelated note to this comic, I MAY have invented a signature for the Mighty Halo to use…? https://imgur.com/01UhOlD what do you think?
works for me.
Looks good to me. It does call upon cultural expectations nicely.
It just dawned on me, but for all Sydney’s geekiness and nerdiness, she’s actually forgotten that there are plenty of people who say (on the internet) that they prefer people who look like her (they could be lying though) over anyone who would look like Maxima or Dabbler.
I’d argue if this was RL (as the comic wants to make it out to be) that most would likely be freaked out about the idea of being with any as different as Dabbler (in normal form) and Maxima.
PLEASE tell me you’re going to be at NYCC this year?
all of the detail on this page and i only just now noticed the tattoo on gwens back…
That’s because DaveB forgot to add it at first
In the first panel, on the right paw side, we can see a property advertising its services with a pair of steer horns.
• Could this be another branch of the same Steak House chain, that they ate at the other night?
• If so, are the staff in the process of putting up hurricane hoarding?
• Is the waitress, who wanted to sue the villains for loosing her place of work, and suffering emotional distress, currently on duty there? Having been temporarily reassigned by head-office.
• Is Arianna presently also in there, helping her to start her civil case?
• Is Suzie News there too? Ostensibly to report on this precedent-setting legal case. But secretly hoping to ‘get to know Arianna better’!
Did we ever fin out the name of the former steakhouse?
It looks like this one has four letters, the first letter one of the following: ‘B, D, P, R’ followed by either ‘C, G, O, Q or S’ then ‘L’ and can only just see the top of the last letter to know that there are four letters
Glad to see it’s not just me on the “HMS AriZie” :D
Nope, beyond it ends in “Steakhouse”.*
However panel 3, of the linked page, does have a piece of circumstantial supporting evidence. Chains will typically have shared decor choices, and lo there are horns.
I can also suggest that the apparent co-incidence may not be so at all. If Arianna knew she was going to be in New York on business anyhow, she may have suggested the restaurant they are going into, precisely because it was across the street from where she had to go herself.
Hopefully Arianna and Suzie have failed to spot all the commotion, because they are making out in the restroom!
* I started my hunt one page beyond that. Then pressed on for a gazillion pages going “I know there was an exterior shot, with a sign, somewhere!”
To be fair I am usually am not very big on tattoos but I have to say Gwen has a very nice one.
Cold?
I just put it down to Dabbler or Gwen having a “Toasty Sunny Shiny Day” spell that they’ve cast on themselves and Sydney
https://clanofthecats.com/comic/cotc-dracula-568/
And, Of course, Max is immune to cold or she would have frozen at the high altitude.
Can maxima have a boyfriend? Physically? I know she can dial it back some, but certain involuntary actions remind me of the whole, man if steel women of kleenex article by Larry niven
That has been discussed before, don’t believe any definitive answer has been provided (plenty of volunteers though :wink: )
Supers who can grant powers to others, specifically toughness/endurance, would be in high demand and be owed many favors from the worlds most powerful.
Otherwise I suppose a tech genius super might do slightly less awesome business in virtual senses combined with a proxy android body or super suit or some kind?
I would opt for a ring of spell turning (this is not a super power dampening ability, so it could exist in the Grrl Powerverse). Firstly because amnesia is the worst experience I have ever had (twice at that), and would not want to repeat it (again).
Secondly because Dabbler obviously prefers new experiences. Every time she hit me on the head with her hammer of forgetfulness spell, she would actually erase her own memories, of the evening.* So she could have the thrill of her first encounter with me, time and time again!
* Obviously this is only for ironic gag purposes. I would happily choose to have a sledge hammer break my leg, if I could do that instead of having even temporary amnesia. As such, I would not wish that on anybody. Especially not someone I cared about!
I meant to say earlier, thank you for mentioning how an autograph should indeed differ from a cheque-signature.
I wonder if Dave decided to sign his autographs DaveB?
[hint: click the “B”]
Not all bastard swords are double edged…but most double edged swords certainly are bastards, by the street definition of the word.
The defining factor of the bastard sword is that it can be wielded one-handed and two-handed. It is the illegitimate loveshild of the shortsword and the zweihander. Most longswords are bastard swords, unless they have been specifically designed and ballanced for single hand use, like a rapier.
Less impressed by this corset. I mean, sorry Dabbler but smaller doesn’t mean better for me.