Grrl Power #1006 – If everyone’s crying…
This page took a long time to lay out, cause I really wanted to include some dialog that I finally cut for space. Sydney starts off by saying “Didn’t Napoleon or Himmler or someone say…” and Arianna responds with “Sydney, as your public relations manager, I beseech you to never publicly quote anyone in Nazi high command. Even if they said two plus two equals four, please do not attribute them with the notion.” Her mom adds “I entirely concur.” To which Sydney says “Right, that makes sense. I… I wasn’t trying to invoke…”
But I couldn’t make it all comfortably fit. I just liked the exchange because it shows Arianna and Mom being on the same wavelength. I also assumed that bit would cause a bunch of comments about whether or not it’s appropriate to quote professional assholes even when they say something sensible. Jeffrey Dahmer might have said something very prescient and poignant at some point, but quotes are nearly as much about who said them as they are about what was being said, in my opinion. Einstein might very well have at some point in his life said “Sometimes when you fart, God rolls his dice to determine if something other than gas comes out.” But people never invoke Einstein for oddly phrased folksy flatulence wisdom. Besides, tons of quotes are mis-attributed, so really, you can probably just attribute whatever you want to whoever you want. After all, did not Galileo once say, “Thunderbolts and lightning, very very frightening me”?
Wearing the Cape #8 came out recently, for everyone into superhero novels. Also, WtC #7 came out a while ago, (which is unsurprising given that 8 is out, and considering how both time and numerical progression usually goes) and I think I forgot to pimp it, so check that link if you’re behind.
Wearing the Cape was my first superhero novel, and is among my favorites. It’s also the only series Sydney has had a cameo in (check the sidebar there if that is news to you).
Around the same time I read Confessions of a D-List Supervillain, which is another of my favorites, and actually does a great job of showing how an honest guy could get pushed into supervillainy.
I also read a She-Hulk novel, in which she had recently broken up with Tony Stark, and for some reason had a secret identity. Well, it was a secret so she could have a cool reveal at some point, but I remember the book being entertaining if not especially seminal.
Tamer: Enhancer 2 – Progress Update: Getting Proofed!
I want to keep noodling on it, but I could spend six months doing that, so I sent it off to the proofers last night. I will probably continue to tweak bits here and there while it’s getting the once over, but I expect to have it to you guys in early January?
This month’s vote incentive guest stars Lana of Spying with Lana. One of my own secret agents, Pixel, is trying to assist, with various levels of success and… nudity. Well, in the Patreon versions. The Vote Incentive will give you a pretty good idea of what might go down. Here’s a dedicated post in case you want to comment.
Check out Spying with Lana. Their current vote incentive features a certain gold-plated glamazon. Also it’s a funny comic with tons of skin.
Double res version will be posted over at Patreon. Feel free to contribute as much as you like.
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SeriouslySeriously you guys. If you like Grrl Power the check these out.
"Mature"Mature subject matter and occasionally something explicit but usually safe. Can't guarantee the ads are safe though.
Dongs Ahoy!Full frontal and backal. Lots of skin, sex on some or all pages, explicit or otherwise.
why is Sydney channeling Yoda’s species with that face?
And now I can’t unsee that.
Some things should have remained forgotten knowledge.
I was thinking Gollum.
My dutypridehonorblongata has a first name, it’s O S C A R…
Wow, that’s a long-lost reminder that I used to watch waaay too much TV back in the day…
I think “Arianna and Mom are entirely on the same wavelength” was already sufficiently established when they started morphing into each other.
No need to further elaborate on that front.
Da is perceptive. And Maxima is just the kind of officer she needs. Sydney will make a good soldier because of them.
Dad uses the power of fatherly insight. It’s super effective.
We often look like that, when we cry!!
I- I’m not crying! You’re crying shut up.
I’m not crying — You’re blurry
I am not crying. I am the ONION NINJA! Now cry for me.
I AM crying. I just stubbed my toe on the coffee table. Yup, gonna lose that nail.
I just got some trash in my eye…
truly, it is amazing how often large clouds of dust escape my computer desk. *glares at cat* *cat ignores me*
Maybe you’ve got an allergy to cat dander?…
alas, the cats come with the spouse. and the spouse like the cats more than me. If I had an allergy spouse would consider getting rid of cats about a month after I die. (when the money to pay the bills runs out). to be fair spouse would keep the cats even as the allergy chokes off her air.
Don’t see anywhere else to put this – the post that mentions Wearing the Cape #8 doesn’t seem to have a comment button – WtC #9 is out.
It’s not really a novel – It’s quite episodic. And one of the episodes has been published already as a stand-alone novella.
It’s a bit more a coherent whole than Team-Ups and Crossovers.
It pretty wraps up Astra’s origin/maturing process; but Harmon swears it’s not the last book.
Yup, just picked #9 up as a birthday present and is next on my “gotta read” pile. :-)
Yeah, I’m dumb. Had the wrong tab open. Oh well, let the previous books get some love, and I’ll post about 9 with next page.
Napoleon ACTUALLY said that “a man will not sell you his life, but he will give it away in exchange for a piece of ribbon” – which is a rather different thing. Morals weren’t involved at all
I love the D-List super villain books. Have them all on Audible!
Yep, they’re some of my favorite superhero novels. Just wish he’d come out with the next (last?) one.
Ah yes, as DaveB himself once said, “Attribute quotes to anyone, even in term papers. Especially in term papers! Cite whoever you want saying whatever you want! Do it!”
Very memorable quote and it really speaks to the epidemic of false narratives that plagues our world today.
That wasn’t DaveB that was Rogan.
… woosh?
_super_ woosh.
Don’t believe everything you see on the internet
-Abraham Lincoln
I have that t-shirt but it’s the one that says: “Don’t believe everything you read on the Internet just because there’s a picture with a quote next to it.” – Abraham Lincoln. The funny part is the first comment from everybody is there’s no picture on the shirt.
“Time to do some sketchy shit.”. -Abraham Lincoln on his comment for abolishing slavery of the Woolies in the Klingon Empire.
I’m pretty sure that was Ben Franklin.
“Give Pander all your money, puns are evil and should never be spoken or written, and all praise Deus, amen.”
– Mother Theresa
It’s a good thing my college years are far behind me. I would now be tempted to write a paper supported by reasonable sounding but wholly fictional citations. Lying with APA style.
That’s kinda the foundation of my whole masters….
College was never about learning new things, it was about how to be a better liar (and not getting caught)
Is that not the true measure of a liar: the degree of ability to avoid getting caught in the wildest of lies.
but please to be calling it RESEARCH!
(yes, the original is about plagarism, but it still fits)
Everyone I have ever heard say something like that, has been an “ignorant & proud of it” anti-intellectual.
In my case getting a masters degree was about learning enough of the basics to be able to figure out how to do the job the way that the current boss wants it done. In academia there is a lot of fuss over even the perception of plagiarism. If you are looking to publish I can kind of understand this. Out in the field it was a whole different matter. In the psychiatric hospital it was about get the assessment done, whip out the report and generate a treatment plan. The detail of how that process happened changed a number of times with different supervisors, attending psychiatrists, hospital superintendents and state level reorganizations and the whims of various managment fads.
shhhh they can take it away if you say that too loudly.
No…no.
I’m not saying my thesis is a bundled of lies, I’m saying it’s about the tendency of the proportion of people in the population talking unsubstantiated bullshit to increase with the increase of repressive/reactionary activities by the ruling class.
I would genuinely love to see the statistics on your findings.
I’ll let you know if I ever get the damn thing done.
My initial curiosity was piqued by a couple of old capitalist propaganda cartoons, “King of the workers,” and “Make mine freedom.”
I’m starting to I wonder if it Sydney’s default is 2 deny and deflect
Well, she IS going to therapy, and while the therapy is currently focused on Bigger Things, tackling “deny and deflect” is probably on her therapist’s to-address list. (Source: I have been in therapy and know people who have been in therapy who use the mechanism and have had therapists guide them through…not doing that, basically.)
Awww
this is when dad bravely sacrifices his shirt for the sake of his daughter’s dress uniform. Also, comments that there must be a cat around here somewhere to get this much dust/dander out. maybe a 7’6 cat girl named Mouse.
The only “cat” girl around turns into a 2m tall jaguar, with light-sabre claws.
Beast catgirls are the best catgirls.
If we did quote even Professional Assholes(TM) when they said something sensible, and geniuses when they said something stupid, it might help us ordinary mortals to remember that we’re all human beings here. The current practice lets us pretend that, while sure we have shortcomings and shadow-sides, *our* shadows aren’t as deep & dark as [insert PA here] — hey, PA is practically not even a human being at all. And it might give us hope that, if even genius could be that stupid, maybe we’re not so bad off compared to [Smart Person].
Well, you could cover both types by quoting Mark Hofmann about document forgery, asshole and genius in one package.
Bravo, well said!
As Abrahm Lincoln said 85% of quotes on the internet are wrongly attribuited
Yeah, that’s my favorite one. Alas, I remember it not using a specific number but “often”. Then again, he said a lot of similar things about quotes on the internet. According to the internet.
TO have someone you respect tell you that you have their respect in return can be a very powerfully emotional moment. Especially if you have a reputation for being a bit flippant and easily distracted much of the time. I imagine there are very few people in Sydney’s life that she respects more than Maxima, which speaks volumes about Maxima’s ability to lead given Sydney’s general mild sarcasm when it comes to things military.
Being in this situation* myself… (zero respect for the military but still work for them)… it is incredibly demonstrative about their leadership capabilities when an O4 sets you aside and has pretty much the chat with you as above. It doesn’t matter if you have respect about the military but the individual who you have worked with or for directly, recognizing you in this respect is… humbling.
*I can neither confirm nor deny I am a secret super hero.
Within Archon, being an O4 doesn’t mean that much in team dynamics.
She isn’t a platoon or brigade leader, but closer to a squad leader or whichever is one size above. So while they may have lietenants and majors there, when they’re actually in a foght, their dynamics get closer to that of privates, corporals and sergeants.
O5.
Max is lite kernel.
And possibly a Lt. Colonel.
*drum sting*
When in rest I expect it to be more like O3 in rest and when in fight I expect it to be more like O2
Explanation:
a. since supers are so valuable I suspect the military has a lot of support troops walking around for them, something like half you would spend on equipment and since Archon is nowadays at the large size for an artillery battalion I think there will be a lot of mundane people on the ground making sure that Archon is applied as effective as possible.
Granted most of these people wouldn’t be doctors, therapists, construction workers, trainers, tailors and other true human support troops, but more like scientists, lab assistants, field researchers and other people who don’t directly contribute to the cause, but provide all those true support troops with insights if those allow them to do their jobs better.
b. Archon seems to have a “mundane” soldier squad besides the super squad, which I’m certain is under Max command.
c. Arc-Swat has been shown to split up in seriously small units like the time Harem and Sydney were the only two on a mission with a command structure(Sconia scouting), which is understandable, because different supers excel in such different fields(Example: Math couldn’t do squad against a properly shielded alien tank, but would squash your average super speeder, while heatwave would turn the shielded alien tank in a puddle while getting absolutely decimated by a super speeder or a dude on a motorcycle).
This does assume that Maxima isn’t the highest command of ARCHON, but the commander of ARC-SWAT.
If I’m wrong you could up her in rest position by one, since that would mean she also commands PR, ARC-DARK, HR, ARC-SPARQ and the according disciplinary unit.
General Faust commands the conglomoration, but Max is in charge of field operations.
Speaking of Napoleon,if anyone is familiar with the Sharpe TV and novel series,then you’ll notice that the majority of high ranking British officers would buy their commissions instead of earning them.
Now how would Sydney or Max for that matter react if they met someone who bought their commissions?
That was the way it worked back then. Because being an officer was for the rich and powerful. Not by merit.
Course, a Noble who royally fucked up would be quickly DEMOTED again. Or passed over for higher promotions.
As Sharpe also shows.
Also, more permanent solutions were used. In the Seven Years War — 1756-1763 — Admiral Byng was prosecuted for ‘failing to “do his utmost’ at the Battle of Minorca”, and executed aboard his own flagship HMS Monarch. This led Voltaire to write “Ils tirent sur leurs amiraux afin d’encourager les autres”.
FWIW, the execution had the desired effect. Senior British officers became instantly much more belligerent and effective.
Let me translate from the original French:
“Don’t fail me again…Admiral.”
In napoleonic France nobles didn’t get these positions, because they had just lost the the French revolution.
And it wasn’t just Britain. I’m trying hard to think of a nation that didn’t sell military commissions… And failing.
If you want a good look at a real dysfunctional merit system. I highly recommend “Paths of Glory” (I think). Was a black and white movie about French military circa WWI. Had Michael Douglas and a few other first list actors in it. You did not want to be an enlisted man in that army. /shudder.
As to quotes, I’m fond of “If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn’t be called experimenting” (or something like that) attributed to Albert Einstein or so I’ve read.
And I also like “That is so cool! Poke it with a stick, see what it does.” No Idea who originally said it, but I think it sums up most of the human race.
Correction. It was Kirk Douglas in it.
But Albert Einstein wasn’t an experimental physicist. There’s a list of “failed predictions” that got copied from futurist to futurist as part of their “My predictions may seem ridiculously optimistic but just look at this list of people who were pessimistic and wrong.” forewords. I researched the list and almost all of them were bogus nonsense one way or another. No, the head of the patent office never said that everything had already been invented. Yes, the head of IBM once said that there was a market for about five computers. But he wasn’t making a prediction for 20 years down the road. He was talking about the market right then in 1943 for vacuum tube computers bigger than a house.
Funny you mention that, given the French attached their officers to Belgian Units, which were actually quite pissed about that, and several incompetent French Officers wasting Belgian Lives quickly had “accidents.”
One of the best Historically semi-accurate showings of this is the Young Indiana Jones movie “Trenches of Hell,” as Indy signs up with his friend Remy into the Belgian army.
An addendum to your last item is the phrase often used to signify “I am about to perform an experiment with unknown and possibly dangerous results”, A.K.A. “Hold my beer.”
There is still a big market in commissions in Britain, which as with all status goods there has lead to tons of theft and forging.
British nobles are fun, but in this case I think it’s actually useful for letting soldiers choose whether a financial reward would suit them better than a public reward.
The concept of buying a commission seems like it traces back to an older tradition – that of nobles being required to levy, and equip, their own troops. With a more modern professional standing army, you stop requiring feudal lords to raise their own forces, but, rather than requiring the state to pay the full costs, or raising taxes, the aristocracy (traditionally descended from successful military leaders) can buy in, supporting the war directly, maintaining their traditional leadership positions, and avoiding the social embarrassment of being just another enlistee.
I would pay money to see Harper’s reaction to Max. I imagine a string of curses and Gaelic prayers would follow.
“Social media will be the downfall of our Society”
Samuel Langhorne Clemens
Ah, Mark Twain. One of the great thinkers, even if he was an incredibly cynical old coot. He also said “Climate is what you expect. Weather is what you get.”
Well, we’ve certainly experienced “expectation change” in recent years, so I guess that tracks.
” Politicians and Daipers should be changed often, and for the same reason.”
Also S.L.C.
And also Robbin Williams!
At least Sydney is cautious about falling prey to “Muttley and his medals” syndrome.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z4rj9Qy3LY
The Nazi high command were excellent examples of what the haiku
“We think real monsters
Should look terrifying, but
They look like people.”
referred to, but they had some of the finest fighters in the history of warfare fighting for them. Hans-Ulrich Rudel, for instance; surely the greatest combat pilot of all time. I can admire the wolf as I line up the sights…
Rommel was also probably the finest Tank commander in history, and his tactics are still taught to tankers the world over.
Reminds me of a great bit from the Gulf War. Bunch of Iraqis are captured, and one noticed a quote from Rommel in the APC they’re herded into. He asks the Allied troops: “Why do you have a quote from your enemy?”
The Tankers reply: “If you’d paid attention to his story, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
“Rommel! You magnificent bastard. I read your God damned book!” – Gen George S. Patton
You learn from the best, whomever that may be.
It is easier to beat your enemy if you learn from him.
Interesting that you should pick Rudel as he was a particularly ardent Nazi. While he was very good at his job I would argue that there are a lot of pilots on both sides who were every bit the pilot that he was. Rommel, on the other hand, was very much out of favor with his bosses despite his tactical prowess at the time of his death due to his political failures.
Politically motivated promotions are nearly as useful as commercially purchased commissions in any military.
Running with the theme of politically motivated promotions and German pilots, Herman Goering and to a lesser degree Ernst Udet are both examples where this didn’t work out in the end. Goering survived WWI and he was a well known fighter ace. He had been a squadron commander but wasn’t regarded as one of the greats. What he brought to the table was celebrity and upper class respectability that the Nazis needed when they became actual players in the political scene. What Goering didn’t have, fortunately for the rest of the world, was skills for actual strategic leadership. Udet got promoted above his skill level then got screwed and scapegoated all the way around.
Ivan Kozhedub, for one, Soviet Russia’s greatest ace.
…and that is why Maxima is a good C.O.
“You shouldn’t do it for the ribbon, but that ribbon shows our pride in you”
So you don’t want her to make you proud? Weird values, Max.
No weird values at all. The fact is, no soldier (sailor or airman) likes show-offs, they are dangerous and attract bullets like flies. But well-thought and properly timed sorties have won victories and saved lives.
In this case, Syddles was able to not only save herself (after saving the entire squad by shielding them from the blast with Mr Bubble) but also bring valuable intelligence with her.
Hey, hey she once gave her the explicit command pull aggro and so she did. Sometimes attracting bullets is exactly what they want.
Not all of us can be destined at the firing side of the gun, some will find themselves in the visor.
JK.
Pretty much all Medal of Honor Recipients were on the business end of the barrel.
It doesn’t take balls to point a gun. it takes balls (Metaphorically or otherwise) to put yourself in the way of them pointed at someone else.
Point of order: WtC #9 (Joyeuse Guard) just came out, after a long gap from #8 (Repercussions).
DaveB “It’s just a ‘Figaro’ of speech.”
/applauds/ Magnifico.
So has there been a conversion table of awards vs the US military’s? Like is Sydney’s a Silver Star, Bronze Star, Medal of Honor, or what? Also do they have a combat infantry badge, or something similar? I am confused on what Sydney’s medal means.
Unit Commendation Medal. Below all the ones you mentioned, but still pretty high on the precedence list.
Special Forces, special Medals!
Can’t be a MoH, those tend to be awarded posthumourously
Tend to, but not always. Audie Murphy won every military combat valor medal the USA had to give, including the Medal of Honor, along with medals from France and Belgium, and lived to walk away. And given how MANY medals he had, his dress uniform *clanked* as he walked away.
He did most, though not all, of this while suffering from malaria.
And if that wasn’t bad-ass enough, when he became addicted to sedatives, he decided to just lock himself in a hotel room and go cold turkey from sheer f**king willpower.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audie_Murphy
But what about when associating the concept to somebody with negative credibility is the point? It seems appropriate to publicly attribute a quote about the loss of morality that is worrying you to a Nazi.
Line should have been “Didn’t X say ” and then Ariana could say “That was Himmler.” “Please don’t quote Nazi High command.”
Although I guess that would suggest Sydney doesn’t have the perfect knowledge of history suggested here, so maybe that ruins the story.
I don’t know. Uniformed and militarized Sydney feels… off and dystopian…
Well Sydney has been militarized since page 1 of the comic, albeit that we did not see her at work until page 4. However, even though out of uniform, the author did give us a clue by calling her “the big guns”.
But, yea, Sydney’s playful persona does sit at odds with her day job.
…god dammit.
Now I want to reenlist. ‘XI
Best panel is last panel. I lol’ed enough to scare a small child beside me in the c-store. XD
You are an interesting person.
You are kind, Yorpie.
*pets*
Not to go wildly off topic from the discussions above, but I have to wonder if there is some clothing magic going on or Max invested in some Super Strength wraps, because it seems that her magnificent mams have taken a holiday for the awards ceremony or something…
I guess she thinks they spoil the lines of her uniform, so she got some sort of bra of holding from Dabler.
Thinking back on a girl I knew in AFROTC, I can testify that dress uniforms do NOT have that effect on their own.
All the uniformed women in the graduation ceremony are drastically flattened, now that you mention it. It’s actually quite refreshing.
Yeah people forget that the medals and such handed out/awarded, which ever term applies, within the military its self to its members hold this significance.
Its not just the image of medals being diminished by video game achievements (of which many are pointless like..you watched the opening cut scene), but rather because the public has also seen high level officials hand out medals to civilians and military alike like they were lollipops. This really diminishes many people’s opinions of medals over all; forgetting the actual importance of those within the military its self.
Quick question, what is in the background? It looks like they are walking through a vine covered walls labyrinth.
If that isn’t some strategically laid out “landscaping” I’d be amazed.
Probably some “ornamental” hedgerows combined with raised/lowered terrain, funnelling people into various open areas. Lovely open spaces so the press can attend the shiny ceremonies and events without seeing everything outside of the building like the training areas.
If that happens to turn some areas into what might cynically be described as a “killbox”, well I just bet Arianna has a press relations lecture all waiting to go…
all the landscaping is taken care of by…hedge wizards
and we assume paid for by a hedge fund.
Its an amazing piece of topiary (of the non-pubic variety, probably). Which we see the edge of in the penultimate panel on page 1,000.
It is a psychological representation to remind the visitors that Archon is enacting an universal hedge-mony over the rest of the world’s use of supers in their armed forces.
Booooo!! Hisssssss!
flatulence wisdom really sounds a lot more like mark twain than einstein
Einstein IS widely believed to have declared that his second greatest discovery, after the theory of relativity, was putting whole eggs (in their shells) into soup. That way you end up with good soup, and hard boiled eggs.
Of course he “discovered” it by eating soup prepared by Jewish mothers… :p
“I discovered how Mum made such good soup” still counts as a discovery – it’s still a new-to-you method, even if it’s not a new-to-the-world method!
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Sydney with the anime eyes. https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1715
True, but it is probably the most disturbing.
Napoleon also said “A man does not have himself killed for a half-pence a day or for a petty distinction. You must speak to the soul in order to electrify him.”
Funny, the person I hear mostly used for nonsensical quotes is Mark Twain. I guess its his tone of voice and style of speaking. Number two on the list is any current politician (though lately they are getting up higher).
He was quite the pundit and widely published in his time, quite a few of his real quotes are very good. He was also kind of an arrogant jerk, but fame covereth a multitude of sins.
She’s not crying.
I’M crying.
But then, I’m a vet, and we tend to take such things seriously. Sydney is shaping up nicely if the appreciation of her commanders means that much to her. I’ve had a lot of things pinned on my uniform in the ancient days, and I never cried for any of them.
But it was a close thing.
the only reason she’s crying is she made max state the value of the medal out loud. you’re not supposed to do that. especially not right after they pin it on you. blanking cats are at it again!
‘Sydney starts off by saying “Didn’t Napoleon or Himmler or someone say…”’
In fairness to Syndney, Napoleon was basically Hitler1.0
Funny you mention that, given Prussia handing down that massive (for the time) War Reparation on France is basically why France was so adamant about slapping a similarly sized one on Germany in WW1.
Which, as we all know, led to Hitler’s rise to power and eventually WW2. Which is also why at the end of WW2, there WASN’T any crap about Reparations being tossed around. Out loud, anyways.
I would hazard a guess the WW1 reparations slapped on Germany were also a bit “get even” for losing Alsace-Lorraine in the 1870 Franco-Prussian War. For a very period before the USA became involved in the fighting and after Russia has collapsed, it looked very much like the troops from the Eastern Front would break the stalemate and France could fall. There had already been several mutinies in the French armed forces over conditions and leadership, which were quite effectively covered up at the time and only became known as archives were being opened up after WW2
Sun Zu is probably the most Misquoted one out there for Military people.
Yea. It is always best to check what he said, in the original Klingon.
Well played Yorp, well played indeed!
Speaking of the Original Klingon, Yorp, check out Mary Chieffo singing “Steel and Flame” on YouTube.
“You have not truly experienced Heavy Metal until you have heard it in the original Klingon.”
*wipes a tear away, with paw*