Grrl Power #661 – Melochondria
Yes, in case you were going to ask, somehow, Sydney managed to get her phone out of her pocket one handed and find a recording app without realizing she hadn’t been stabbed. Even subconsciously she commits to her bits.
I think “Supervillainique” would be successful as a fashion trend just because women could put on a mask instead of futzing with eyeliner in the mornings. The rest of the standard supervillain costumery might not be adopted so easily. The prevalence of underboob/boob keyhole, plunging decolletage, and stuff held in place by tape and otherwise held together by the Comic Code… well, that might be okay for clubbing, but probably not so much in corporate settings.
Well, if you were a lady CEO and just decided “You know what, fuck it, I’m going to dress the part.” and go to work the next day dressed head to toe in black leather, flanked by trained dobermans or tigers or something.
If you don’t recall Ashley, he’s the team’s super powered couturier, one of the Patreon driven cameos. I have a fair backlog of cameos to get to. This current alien planet apocalypse storyline hasn’t given me a lot of places to stick cameos, but the next storyline should have a bunch.
Edit: Forgot to mention this last night, but evidently, in the Grrlverse, esoteric threats travel much faster through the universe than the speed of light.
Double res version will be posted over at Patreon. $1 and up, but feel free to contribute as much as you like.
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OK, *called it.*
props to you you knew your angles of refraction.
What transparent flattery. ;-)
They should be DARK chocolate super atomic peppers. Milk chocolate doesn’t work too well with hot peppers. To me, they taste kinda nasty.
Milk chocolate is pretty nasty in almost any form or recipe. Dark chocolate is the only true chocolate, at any point below about 50% cacao it should not legally be allowed to carry the name chocolate any longer.
Children the world over would burn you in effigy. Dark chocolate is unsuited to young palates, it’s only as we get older that bitter flavors become attractive.
You’re right, but I think it is a cultural thing more than an age thing. Kids in some cultures grow up eating foods we might think are too extreme for young palates, such as really spicy foods or some really exotic foods that Western culture just does not embrace.
Western culture kids are fed bland foods and so they like bland foods until much later on in life. The wife and I once hosted a married couple and their two kids of about 10 and 7. The wife was an old college friend of my wife, and they were in town for a work meeting/celebration of the husband where spouses were welcome but not kids, so we were baby sitting while whey were at their event. I made pizza from scratch, it was fairly standard fare for me, with tomato sauce and mozzarella, but I also topped it with some goat cheese. The older of the two kids, a boy, ate it without complaint but we found out that he was just being polite. The younger, a girl, said that it “tasted funny” and didn’t care to eat it. We went into a “what can we feed these kids panic,” but oddly enough a can of pitted black olives just drained and dumped into a bowl was gladly accepted as a snack while I worked up a replacement meal. To me goat cheese is a really neutral flavor, but the kids just were not used to it. Since then I’ve stuck to things like mac and cheese and chicken fingers (home made, but still breaded with a fairly bland flour & bread crumb mixture and baked in the oven) and the like.
Do not equate ‘Western Culture’ as being “US Culture”
Nah that UK culture that has bland food the US culture is processed corn syrup in everything, those southern heathen, maple syrup is superior.
Bland, you say? Goodness Gracious Me!
I partly agree with the cultural thing, but I think taste is ultimately up to the individual.
As an example, I’m half Danish, and visiting my grandparents when we were young, my brother and I loved eating the food: homemade pickled beets, cooked red cabbage, pickled herring and liver-paste on dark pumpernickel rye bread, aged Havarti and crumbled blue cheese… yum. But my cousins, who were over there just as often, always got Grandma to make them mac n cheese, hotdogs, or spaghetti, and they didn’t really like the more Scandinavian stuff until they got much older.
We also both liked spicy/sour things from a young age. We had to get the “hot” salsa because medium got used up too quickly; at any one time, there were at least 3 different hot sauces to choose from; we’d fight over the pepperoncinis in the salad at Olive Garden; our favorite salad dressing at home was seasoned rice vinegar.
And now I have a daughter who is “not a spice girl” (her words), and for whom even black pepper is too spicy. Go figure.
Yup. My wife and I love spicy food. And she’s Chinese, so our kids grew up exposed to spices and both US and Chinese home cooking, along with restaurant fare from all over Asia (advantage of living in the SF Bay Area).
But the older one doesn’t like more than medium heat in her food while the younger thinks the hotter the better. And although they both like Chinese food, only the younger one is fond enough if it to cook it for herself, or to order more challenging things like chicken feet or pig’s ears in a restaurant.
…Funny, there’s a picture of a 3yr old me gnawing on a bar of 90% Lindt chocolate like I mean to devour the whole thing. But then again one of my cousin’s eats raw onions like they’re apples, and one of my nephew’s took a liking to straight horseradish… Personal tastes are not dependent on age, but exposure to different flavours. Granted they do change as a person is exposed to more and ages.
I may be childish, but considering i grew up enjoying things like Claremont’s run on X-men and Byrne’s run on Fantastic Four …. and music like Cambodia by Kim Wilde, Tarzan Boy by Baltimora and Samurai by Michael Cretu …. i’m not exactly a child.
Point is:
“Dark chocolate” is CRAP!
…. How do that sound?
Truthfully, though, it is down to taste, I prefer my milkchocolate, thank you very much, but if you like yours dark, i do not mind.
Have you ever tryed pure cocoa power as a spice? you are missing something
Cocoa powder is good but if I’m cooking it into a dish I’d rather 100% black chocolate.
For eating as is, I’m milk all the way unless the bitterness is paired off against something else like spice or citrus. The lighter end of dark (not to be confused with the garbage known as “plain” chocolate) is pretty good on candied ghost peppers.
Thank you Catelf
here I thought I was the only one that remembered that era of music. such good tunes.
I liked that run of Xmen as well but was more into gen X.
I agree Dark is just bitter and not worth it as a strait consumable. however if you cook with it then it becomes a lot better. My wife on the other hand prefers it to the other two types. (third being white chocolate)
Yeah, back then, Dark Chocolate was either Energy Chocolate or Cooking Chocolate, Milk and White were the everyday Eating Chocolate
Milk chocolate has no benefits. What is in regular or “dark” chocolate is destroyed by the lactose. Small amounts of dark chocolate every day, I prefer semi-sweet, can lower blood sugar levels too.
. . .
And “no chocolate” can lower it even further. The sweetness is less the milk in the milk chocolate, and more the extra sugar in it.
You’ve made your point crystal clear. I would go on a pun tirade, but I wouldn’t want to be a pane…
Jughead is not his “real” name. It’s Forsythe Pendleton Jones. Maybe you can see why he goes by Jughead now.
He’s also got a sister called Jellybean.
I’m thinking that Ashleys name WAS originally Jughead (parents were Archie comic fans)
and Jellybean’s real name is Forsythia
Hey Dave, just wanted to point out that this page and the previous page are both labeled as #660 for some reason. Just though I would point that out to you.
You may haz a virtual cookie.
But I only haz so many to paw out!
Mmm … you seem to be … different, to how I remember you.
Yes… really different.
https://dosclassics.com/old/yorpology/anatomy.htm
pulls out Tru-sight orb….
Well they got one part right.
“… the
real yorp is averaged to be about the size of a large
dog”
Funny thou, could not find any other decent references for ‘Yorp’
I ran across it reading old comments here with Syd and the jogger, with a comment link to a 404’d youtube vid.
I guess it is better to link to something that won’t disappear.
Whoops. Fixed now.
Since you’re fixing things:
“What’s okay, Boss?” in the last panel should probably read as “You okay, Boss?”.
What’s wrong with it? Is it because everyone speaks grammatically correct? :)
Yikes, I messed that up but good.
Or possibly “What’s wrong, Boss?”.
I think I see what happened now, though. I’ve done the same when writing.
Or possibly “What’s wrong, Boss?”.
I think I see what happened now. I have done the same when writing.
You wander off to answer the call of nature when you’re half through a lettering job and when you come back you add “and it won’t be me!” to “only one of us is walking out of this room…”
Of course it won’t be me… I’m flying.
Like that old “Are you fucking sorry” story.
Yeah. There really are organizations that let Hooded Figures in Shadow telecommute into their Secret Meetings.
Totally not kidding.
Body armor, it does a body good. Also bouncing of her force field a few times may have dulled it and slowed it down a tad.
That about has to be the case. I doubt those spikes were intended to be shot at a speed slow enough to be survived.
That was building shrapnel. The alien isn’t shooting flechette rays around the city, though that would suck.
Ahah! I knew it! Thabk you for the confirmation.
Flechette ray. Hmmm. That would be nasty. Suppose you’d have to fire a sabot full of darts via a rail gun or such.
I always loved that flak gun in Unreal, I pasted so many newbs. Some here, some there, some everywhere…
My favorite Unreal weapon is the ripper. Too many times I heard footsteps around a corner, and decapitated someone that didn’t know I was there!
But as for flechette ray- I think that’s probably like when Aang condensed a rock and broke it into pieces that he shot at the Phoenix King. It was very much like an earth-elemental machine gun.
Ooo yeah, one time I found that weapon most useful, was on the underwater base/’sub’ one tht was a 4 per team, assault map.
I think the best time I participated in with randoms was like 20 secs. Each person (of 4) went to one particular switch, and one that had the ripper did a shot that went from underwater up into a floor hole, into a second level hallway, bounced around a bit and hit a console.That was the most trickiest shot of the team.
funny thing was nobody ever got right up to a switch/thing to be destroyed you bounced grenades etc to hit what you went for.
can’t recall the game it was in, but my favourite weapon was a shuriken launcher, if you got the angle correct (and I somehow always did) you could hit someone a room away (or 4, or 5, or 6)
with some amazingly ridiculous bank shots.
During a Supers RPG campaign, one player insisted on not buying any body armor, natural bullet resistance, force field, or the like because “I can use my gadgets to get armor from things around me.”
Until the day he forgot.
He went from full health to damned-near-dead in one shot. One.
The team saved saved the character, but the player sidelined the character indefinitely immediately after. Something about PTSD,,,
My character was not part of that save – he was busy chasing down the SAM missile he’d thoughtlessly deflected towards Houston (I caught it, but just barely).
Resistant defenses, people. You need them. Kevlar it if you have to.
If you’re detected, engaged, and hit, armor makes sure you’re not penetrated.
Alright… time to say it. I seriously have an issue with forgetting who your Taylor is…
Sydney remembered who he was, she just could not look up his name in the Who’s Who.
She needs to level-up her 4th wall penetration power to do that.
Maybe THAT’s what the last Orb is for – Deadpool style 4th wall demolishing? :P
I’d love to see Sydney doing this kind of thing: https://youtu.be/9T5QzLD5koc?t=23s
I think Sydney would be rather conflicted about that deathmatch.
Nah, the pink powder puff can’t die, the pony-poser on the other flipper… can’t die enough!!!!
More meant how Pinkie Pie & Deadpool both jumped out of the video and started pulling apart the browser graphics. I can imagine Sydney using 4th wall breaking powers to take control of Dave’s wacom tablet and totally change the story and her stats to whatever she wants.
I’ve written characters that took control of the story and did things I didn’t want them to- just like in Twilight Zone season 1 episode 36.
She didn’t forget who he was, just what his name was
‘I think “Supervillainique” would be successful as a fashion trend just because women could put on a mask instead of futzing with eyeliner in the mornings’
Yes. I wholeheartedly support this. As a trans woman, it is really hard to pass even with makeup, so I’d love it if I could just pop on a mask and be gendered correctly based just on my body.
Please allow me to show solidarity.
Oooh Solidarity would be a Good name for a Super Hero! and his Nemesis is Antagonism with his henchmen the Discords!
You could always try and make it happen as a fashion trend. But it is probably one of those trains that’s waaaay more comfortable to hop onto once its already gotten going.
That would be illegal some places, mostly in regions where there were a lot of KKK.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-mask_laws
Huh, would make Keiko Kamen a whole different cartoon… well sorta.
It will be reduced to the same level as all other teen-to-low-30s female Hallow-e’en costumes: Slutty supervillain. Pretty much like the two you’ve pictured in today’s comic. So congratulations on predicting the trend, not that it really took much prognostication to figure that out.
I think when she ‘pulled’ the chunk out she should have realized it wasn’t actually stuck in her. And yes, it still will leave a mark, probably a lovely bruise.
If you are convinced you just had a chunk of steel (or whatever) jabbed in you, you might fixate on that until it finally groks that you don’t.
Nothing moves faster than the speed of light, except bad news and esoteric threats which follow their own special rules.
Happened to me. Guy tried to stab me, aimed straight for my heart. I spent a couple of minutes sure I was dead before I found out it hit something in my pocket.
“Forgot to mention this last night, but evidently, in the Grrlverse, esoteric threats travel much faster through the universe than the speed of light.”
This is a known property of quantum mechanics, called Scary Action at a Distance.
+1
There is a corollary property in quantum physics, having to do with how rumor and innuendo travels just as fast, known as “Snarky Action at a Distance.”
To be fair I thought Sydney was done for there too. Usually pointy things tend to shred through bullet-proof armour. Just proves Mr. Fox-Hair knows his Textiles.
Yes and no- the AFD’s are made out of a material that was initially created by Ashley using his powers, trying to come up with a way to improve EOD suits, considering it was only him discovering his powers that saved him from a similar scenario as to Sydney just faced.
All of them are passively enhanced by his powers, which gives them that -slight- edge over normal fabrics. It appears Sydney doesn’t have the oobtek inserts in right now, which is why she’ll be suffering from some serious bruising or maybe a cracked rib on top of the shock.
Also, never bullet-proof. Bullet Resistant.
Not so much ‘shred’, more that they’re harder to catch in the first place.
A blunt impactor like a bullet is wide enough that it’ll be trying to get through maybe 40 yarns (20 warp, 20 weft) at once, so unless it carries enough energy to break those yarns, it isn’t getting through. A needle can just slip in between yarns, without needing to break any. How fine a needle can do the trick depends on how tight the weave is, but that’s limited by the need for breathability. A pointed blade may be able to get its tip into the weave and focus the force on cutting only a few yarns at a time, but the outcome is very dependent on the specifics of the fabric, the blade, and the relative orientation between them. Looking at it, Sydney’s piece of shrapnel is probably somewhere between the ‘bullet’ and ‘blade’ cases.
So, that green and white er… sash. Is that one marketed to psychics, because it would take a lot of focus just to wear it without a wardrobe malfunction.
Double sided tape. Lots of dresses use that to stay in place. what is more interesting is how that thing works in the back. The sash looks like it goes over the lower back but not the butt.
Or in costuming spirit gum.
Ever seen a IRL Felicia character from Dark Stalkers?
Us that and strips of furry fabric when you absolutely do not want it to move…. Oooh damn.
is it strange if i think sydney with her hair down look like edward elric??
Nope. She has reminded me of him several times in the comic.
Yes but he did look pretty alluring when he dyed his hair in ’03/’04.
HAHA, BACK IN THE COMIC!
THE IRON CLOTH, SQUIRMING UNCOMFORTABLY AT THE THOUGHT OF SOMEONE FORCE-FEEDING HIM CHOCOLATE COVERED ATOMIC PEPPERS!
Seriously though, he likes his spice but that’s a bit much. Maybe dial it back to like, a Ghost Pepper?
I have always been opposed to costumes held up purely by the comic-code.
Makes Cosplay a real nightmare. (Also, I refuse to accept the practicality or the PHYSICS of wearing even 2-3″ heels in combat. Super balance or not, you are reducing your combat effectiveness for something as absurd as “style or fashion”, and do not get me started on the physics of it all.)
Part of Ashley’s power.
The joys of having a dress so properly tailored to your form that you don’t need anything to hold it up beyond contact with your body!
Unless you are actually highly trained specifically to use them as weapons or a flier who doesn’t have to be too highly trained to figure out how to kick/stab someone while in the air.
Sydney is unleashing a near-lethal amount of adorableness in her last panel.
Glad to see I’m not the only one who thinks so!
I feel like the villainous mask fashion trend might not be as low effort as you think. Unless it covers the eyes completely and is either selectively transparent or has an AR display on the interior, there’s no way to get the eye holes perfectly matched to your eyes. They’ll either be small enough that you can barely see though, or big enough that your eyelids and some of the surrounding face is visible. Which means you either look ridiculous, or before you put the mask on you need to put on a large volume of heavy, dark eyeliner so your skin isn’t visible.
I can’t find the specific article I read years ago calling out how dumb tiny black eye masks are, but they work just fine in comics because the general public are morons.
Weird, I’m suddenly getting error codes in response to “submit comment”.
OK, that went through so it actually hates something in the comment I was trying to make…
Let’s try this.
“Mirror lenses would work although you’d loose an important aspect of expression.”
like so many others callled it that was a thunk a common sound for hitting armor or buildings with out actullly going through
One last thing, can I say again how much I adore the fact that Ashley has Fashion Ninjas to assist him? Seriously Dave, 10/10 literally my favorite thing about the portrayal of his character.
Hm. If I can make a Cast List page suggestion, might I recommend putting all of the ‘Who’s Who’ bits that you’ve created at the bottom of the page, excepting those people who have larger biographies (i.e. those who are already on the page)?
In her defense, she was *hit*, and it’s not like she’s experienced the difference!
Don’t see how that’s different from this universe. The more arcane and esoteric the utterance, the greater power it has to bend, warp, and pierce through the fabric of space-time. On this level, Sydney’s ability to curse, snark, and trash-talk rolls up to clubs with Stephen Hawking and Neil D. Tyson.
I’m still waiting for the God-tier level Caffene withdrawal headache, or in her case, caaaaffffeeennnneeee!!!
Why Johnny Ringo! You look like somebody just…walked over your grave.
Hmm good thing that she was wearing that, but now that she is playing DEAD. It means she can wait for that thing to pass over her then she attacks it from behind or directly UNDER it.
Or until it thinks she’s dead and leaves with its huge ship. Of course, it may send out an army of drones to try and dig up her orbs to take them for itself.
The ninja tailor minions still crack me up.
I found it a little odd in the 7th panel that Sydney seems to let go of the shield orb, but it stays up. It’s in her left hand in the 6th panel, and she’s holding the shard in her right hand, but in the 7th, she’s opening her jacket with an empty left hand, and scratching the back of her head with that hand in the next panel. For a few moments I thought she might’ve just unconsciously found a way to leave her shield up without needing to keep hold of the orb-which would be a really nice upgrade, since she needs her shield in almost every combat or flight situation…
Buuut, upon further analysis and consideration, I think she might’ve just quickly dropped the shard and switched hands between panels (though, that would leave the shard floating around inside her bubble, which would be bad once she gets moving again)
Wow!
I came to the same conclusion, regarding the orb. The shard though Sydney just put in her lap. There is no floating involved, as she is no longer in space. The first panel shows that Halo must have returned to the planet and taken cover in the rubble.
As explained on the first page: Sydney didn’t let go of Mr Buble’s ball, she opened her jacket with one finger
And she returned to the planet a few pages back, the rubble she is hiding under is what fell on her last page
Sorry- by “floating around” I meant unsecured, not attached to anything, not literally floating. She could’ve tucked it into her belt or a pocket too, though I can’t see why she would. And yeah, I can see she is using one finger on her jacket, so she could be still holding onto the orb in that hand, it’s just not shown even a tiny bit, so you just have to assume.
(darn non-editing posts) Though, tucking it in somewhere would be a good idea anyway to prevent it from becoming a further hazard once she moves again (if she doesn’t get a chance to drop her shield before she does so)
Yeah, a bit more of a glow behind her jacket to indicate her ball is still in her hand would be good
Knowing Sydney, she will keep that shard as a souvenir
Hey, just wondering about when we will get to meet Marble Maiden. They noted she would get approached in a couple of weeks after the restaurant battle.
I’m interested in that plot thread too. DaveB does say here that the next arc has more opportunities for cameos, which could make sense for that kind of plotline. Here’s hoping!
Also fitting with the talk of outfits that, like Daphne suggests, require some cheating to keep them on.
So, sometime in the future Sydney decided to give Ashley a box of chocolate covered atomic fire peppers.
Sydney: “Here. Because your Kevlar thing saved my life”
Ashley: “Thank you Sydney.”
Some time after that, she shows up in Ashley’s lair for a new uniform, and is introduced to ” the Scoville collection”
Sydney: “Awesome! You named a collection after me. What is it?
*Cut to Sydney wearing something that resembles a string of dental floss*
Sydney: ” What the hell man? I wouldn’t even wear this in the shower. Dafuck is wrong with you? ”
“You don’t know?” *death glare*
“No…Did I do domething? ”
Ashley brandished the box of peppers. “You tried to kill me! I popped three of these in my mouth before I knew what they were! There was nothing to drink, and the doorknob fell off when I tried to leave my office! Then I slipped and somehow landed face first in the box. You ever get a hot pepper in the eye, Scoville? It really, really hurts. So congratulations, Scoville, that’s your new uniform. ”
Dabbler: “I like it. It’s much less stuffy than your usual creations.”
Sydney: “Why are you even here!?”
Dabbler: “Right now? I’m enjoying the view. Ow! Sonnofabitch how do keep hitting that spot?
+1 XD
Hell, +100
I wonder what he would do when she takes one of the peppers out, gulps it down and asks him “What… these? WEAK!” and he realizes “Holy BLEEP! This girl has a stomach of steel!”
Sydney! Stay away from Ashley! He’s going to use your stomach as a new fabric!
Are the ninjas also his food taster?
I would hope the fact that the box was covered in every single warning symbol known to man* would clue him into the fact that the contents were not normal chocolate.
* Including this one https://xkcd.com/2038/ and the ones designed to warn people thousands of years in the future.
I read about that.
How do you label nuke wastes for the future?
If *WE* were to find artifacts from the distant past, I don’t think
the ‘F.U.’ icon would keep it from being opened.
When does the comic update by the way? Is there a set schedule?
Monday and Thursday …6am eastern.
Thanks!
I always think that sydney looks better with her hair down.
i can see the letter on the box of chocolates:
dear ashley/fox-haired dude, the outfit you made me really saved my life *insert redacted bit about alternate universe alien world shenanigans* so to say thanks i got you this fine box of delicious chocolate covered super atomic peppers. keep rocking the fox tail hair dude.
Esoteric threats are considered a type of psychic attack and thus are faster then light
Cognizantly aware in the first few seconds that she’s been impaled, Sydney probably chose not to remove the object that struck her because she was probably briefed on basic first aid procedures regarding puncture wounds after the infamous scuba training needed stitches incident. However, once she got distracted by the need to log her final moments, that’s hwen she pulled it away from her belly button/oobtek abs.
*Gift plan* – Chocolate covered super atomic peppers!
*The guy, for who the gift was intended* – I feel like someone just walked over my grave!
Sydney, I’m sorry, but you are not Ripley.